[ppiindia] India to train Chinese tech professionals
The Economic Times Online Printed from economictimes.indiatimes.com > News By Industry > Infotech> ITeS India to train Chinese tech pros ANIL K JOSEPH PTI[ THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2005 11:11:09 AM] BEIJING: A Pune-based company has inked an agreement with the Shenzhen government to train some 1,000 Chinese software project managers in India with a view to transform the booming southern Chinese city into the outsourcing capital of the Communist giant. Some 1,000 software project managers will undergo training in India in a government scheme to turn Shenzhen city into China's top software outsourcing destination, director of the administration office of Shenzhen Software Park, Zeng Guozhong said. The agreement was signed on Wednesday after several months of negotiations with Zensar Technologies, a RPG Group company, to set up the Centre of Excellence (CoE), an organisation to provide courses and work experience for China's software project managers, Zeng was quoted as saying by China Daily on Thursday. The Chinese trainees will learn etiquette, communication and negotiation skills as well as international standards for the software outsourcing industry for three months, Zeng, whose office selects candidates for the programme, said. They will then go to work for Zensar in dealing with US and European clients for their remaining time in India before their six month training period ends, he added. Zeng admitted that Chinese software companies did not have the wherewithal to win major outsourcing deals from Western countries. "The companies are frustrated, not because they can't win deals, but because they're not sure how to run the projects successfully. The lack of qualified project managers is becoming a serious problem," Zeng said. More industry insiders, quoted by China Daily say they are starting to believe China will become India's strongest competitor, which currently has a 90 per cent share of the US and European software outsourcing business. A survey by AT Kearney, a leading consultancy company, suggested that China should improve management skills as well as better language proficiency and education to grab a larger stake in the outsourcing market. To take a bigger slice of the industry, the local government has also pledged to allocate more funds to improve infrastructure. "The municipal government and district government will invest at least 600 million yuan ($72.5 million) this year to improve the infrastructure and working conditions of local software companies," Shenzhen vice mayor Liu Yingli said. "The project is significant since the human factor is becoming more and more crucial to the development of the city's software outsourcing industry," Zeng said. "Without sufficient project managers with international experience, the software companies will become less attractive to foreign clients, especially from Europe, the United States and Japan," he said. The Shenzhen government will subsidise 1,000 such trainees over three years with 15,000 yuan ($1,812) each, or about one-third of the total training fee. The rest will be paid by the companies and individuals. The scheme may be applied nationwide in three years, Zeng said. The software outsourcing business has grown rapidly in this IT-driven southern boom town riding a wave of foreign companies selecting China as an IT offshore (ITO) and business offshore destination (BPO). It's estimated that the software outsourcing business generated an output of about $100 million in 2004, doubling the figure of a 2003, said Zeng, predicting that annual growth could be maintained at about 50 per cent. According to Gartner Group, China's ITO business is expected to grow at 44 per cent annually, potentially becoming a $2.5 billion industry by 2008. ©Bennett, Coleman and Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. Bring education to life by funding a specific classroom project. http://us.click.yahoo.com/4F6XtA/_WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web
[ppiindia] Fearful report for IT services workers ?
News.blog: Outsourcing Outsourcing index Fearful report for IT services workers? January 20, 2005, 11:52 AM PST Another research report is weighing in on the topic of sending information technology work overseas, with a rather alarming statistic for U.S. workers at IT services companies. The report, from United Kingdom-based Bullhound, focuses attention on IT services companies and is bullish overall about the offshore trend. "IT offshore outsourcing is here to stay, and we believe that a vast majority of companies will eventually have to adopt some kind of dual-shore delivery model," it says. That model is heavily stacked with workers on the lower-wage shore, according to Bullhound. "A 70/30 offshore/on-site staffing mix is increasingly being considered 'optimal' by the industry from a profitability and execution perspective," the report says. One argument in favor of an unbridled global market in tech software and services is that lower prices will promote wider use of IT in the U.S. economy and therefore lead to greater demand for IT skills in the United States. If this theory turns out to be true, thousands of U.S. techies at companies like IBM and Electronic Data Systems presumably would be able to find work, even if much IT work is done in places like Bangalore. If the theory is bunk, and the U.S. doesn't take steps to curb offshoring, U.S. technology workers may face a bleak future. On the other hand, there are signs that tech operations in the United States can thrive amid offshoring, which isn't always ideal. What's more, big tech services companies may be slow in moving work abroad, according to Bullhound. "Due to the size of companies like IBM (319,000 employees), it will take years before these companies can significantly shift their delivery mix," the report says. --Ed Frauenheim Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Give the gift of life to a sick child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/lGEjbB/6WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Food for the brain
Curcumin = curcuma longa (Wikipedia). Melihat tampilannya, tak salah lagi bahwa curcumin adalah kunyit, yaitu bahan yang banyak dipakai pada masakan Padang dan jamu di Jawa. Bahan ini sudah lama dikenal khasiatnya sebagai anti-oxydant. Salam, RM -- (TIME Asia) (January 17, 2005 / Vol. 165, No. 2 Food for the Brain Can an ingredient in Indian curry help prevent Alzheimer's? BY BRYAN WALSH Fans of Indian cuisine know a spicy curry can go straight to the headand now medical science backs them up. A recent study by researchers at the University of California Los Angeles and the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Healthcare System concludes that curcumin, the substance that gives the curry spice turmeric its yellow pigment, may help combat Alzheimer's disease. In India's ancient Ayurvedic health system, the spice is known as an anti-inflammatory and a cleanser of blood. Alzheimer's researchers became interested in it due to evidence that the prevalence of the neurological disease among the elderly in India may be considerably lower than that in the U.S. In the study, scientists found that elderly lab rats fed curcumin experienced a reduction in the beta-amyloid proteins found in the brains of Alzheimer's victims. When researchers tested curcumin on human beta-amyloid proteins in a test tube, the chemical blocked the proteins from forming destructive plaquesmeaning that curcumin could be useful for treating Alzheimer's, and more importantly, for preventing it. Dr. Greg Cole, the lead researcher, hopes that curcumin could be for Alzheimer's what aspirin has become for heart disease: a simple, safe and affordable preventative. New Delhi-based restaurant consultant J. Inder Singh Kalra, who has touted the holistic value of Indian food on his TV cooking show for years, hopes such news will instruct younger Indians, who have been turning to unhealthy Western food. "It's the great tragedy of this country," says Kalra, "that we won't value our own culture unless it comes back to us from the West." Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Give the gift of life to a sick child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/lGEjbB/6WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Earthquake antidote:foam
from the January 27, 2005 edition - http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0127/p17s01-stgn.html On the horizon Compiled from wire services Earthquake antidote: foam Polystyrene - used to make disposable foam cups - turns out to be a great way to build earthquake-resistant homes. A two-story structure made with polystyrene and cement boards, shaken harder than any earthquake has ever shaken anything, remained standing in tests performed at a Cincinnati earthquake lab last week. Now, a group of scientists hope to convince poor residents of seismologically active areas to replace their mud huts with foam homes. "These inexpensive composite panels can be used to build homes that are safer, less expensive to build and operate, and more comfortable than conventional home construction," says Henry Kelly, president of the Federation of American Scientists, a nonprofit scientific group promoting responsible use of technology. The tests were conducted on a "shake table," which simulates an earthquake. The structure survived forces greater than 10 on the Richter scale. The earthquake that caused last month's Asian tsunamis registered a 9. Distant relatives: whales and hippos A second look at some 40 million-year-old fossils provides a "missing link" to suggest that the closest living relative of whales is the hippo, a group of scientists said Monday. Although the hippopotamus does not seem a likely relative of whales, genetic study has suggested they are close. Now, a team at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Poitiers in France, and the University of N'Djamena in Chad say they have found more evidence in the fossil record. Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team proposed a new theory that whales and hippos had a common water-loving ancestor that lived 50 million to 60 million years ago. >From it evolved two groups - one which gradually moved into the water full time, and a large and diverse group of pig-like animals. The theory would class whales, dolphins and porpoises with cloven-hoofed mammals such as cattle, pigs, and camels. Great lakes troubled by dredging Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are losing vast amounts of water because of erosion from a decades-old dredging project, according to a new study. The lakes, connected geologically, saw levels drop when a commercial navigation channel was dug at the bottom of the St. Clair River in 1962, boosting the flow south toward Lake Erie. But, according to a report issued Monday, previously undetected erosion has made the channel more than 60 feet deep in some places - twice as deep as needed for shipping. Several environmental organizations said the report illustrates the unintended consequences of dredging, sand mining, shoreline alteration, and other activities. Scientists make petrified wood Researchers have found a way to achieve in days what takes nature millions of years - convert wood to mineral. The ability to make petrified wood could hold promise for separating industrial chemicals, filtering pollutants, and soaking up contamination, says Yongsoon Shin, research scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash. To create petrified wood, researchers gave a half-inch cube of pine an acid bath, then soaked it in a silica solution for days. The wood was air-dried, cooked in an argon-filled furnace at temperatures as high as 1,400 degrees C, and cooled in argon to room temperature. The result was a new silicon carbide that exactly replicates petrified wood, Dr. Shin says. The results were published in the latest edition of the journal Advanced Materials. Full HTML version of this story which may include photos, graphics, and related links -- Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Help save the life of a child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/mGEjbB/5WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subj
[ppiindia] As more firms send research to India and China, could the US fall behind?
TIME Asia 31st January, 2005 The New Ideas Labs As more firms send research to India and China, could the U.S. fall behind? BY ARAVIND ADIGA AND JYOTI THOTTAM A decade ago, Whitefield, a remote suburb of Bangalore, made headlines on those rare occasions when gangs of armed bandits burst into homes at night. Today that former stretch of farmland and scattered houses is disturbed only by giant cranes, cement mixers and trucks piled up with white sand. Buildings of glass and steel are rising all over, as Bangalore's fast-expanding outsourcing industry radiates far beyond the city. Perhaps the most impressive spot in Whitefield is the campus of SAP Labs. The main building, with its comfortable sofas and a sunny atrium, is a sumptuous workplace by Indian standards. But what is most remarkable about that site, built by the German software giant SAP, is what's going on inside. SAP Labs' 1,400 employees in Bangalore form the company's largest research-and-development unit outside Germany. Instead of dumping its call-center work and low-end programming in Whitefield, SAP relies on the area's computer scientists and engineers to carry out its most critical activity. More than 10% of the patents filed by SAP originate in Bangalore, and the influx of Indian engineers is accelerating the adoption of English at SAP and loosening up its traditionally rigid attitude toward software engineering, says Martin Prinz, the joint managing director of SAP Labs India. "The Bangalore center is starting to change SAP." That transformation is just one example of a realignment by U.S. and European companies that is turning India from a distant satellite of Silicon Valley into one of the inner hubs of global technology. Since 2003, Yahoo's software-development center has been nestling up to the pizza joints and blue-jean shops on Bangalore's swank Mahatma Gandhi Road. Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin visited their company's R&D center in Bangalore last October and said they plan to create a mirror image of Google's U.S. research team in India. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer visited India a month later, unveiling a new campus and plans to hire hundreds of software engineers. "We want access to the phenomenal engineering talent graduating out of Indian universities," Ballmer told reporters. Intel hired 800 people in India last year, and CEO Craig Barrett last fall inaugurated construction of a new building. To be sure, research and development is still just a sliver of India's tech boom. The bulk of the more than $16 billion earned by India's tech outsourcers in 2004 came from call-center work and low-end programming. Worldwide, only 0.3% of the $180 billion spent each year on developing software products goes to India. But, as with the earlier wave of tech outsourcing, R&D in India may prove to be too good a bargain to ignore: the cost of developing a basic software product in India is about $2 million, or just 40% of the cost in the U.S., according to India's IT industry group Nasscom. "We're likely to see an explosion in R&D outsourcing in 2005 and 2006," says Partha Iyengar, an analyst at the research firm Gartner who is based in Pune. If that happens, India's tech sector could enter a new, more mature phase of growth. U.S. and European firms would have a fresh way to nurture innovation. But they will also face the risks of laying the building blocks of their technological future far from home. "I really worry about R&D," says Ralph Wyndrum, a former research executive at AT&T and president-elect of IEEE, a professional group for engineering. If outsourcing erodes opportunities for engineers in the U.S., he says, "then you're not going to have the innovation that gives you a competitive edge." Giants like Intel and Microsoft are bellwethers for other technology firms, but the seeds of globalized R&D were planted decades earlier. "The old model of research was Bell Labs'," says Ronil Hira, a professor of public policy at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Working on everything from basic science to prototypes of new products, centralized labs produced landmarks like the transistor, and every major corporation had such incubators. That changed over the past 20 years, as businesses started to shift their R&D money away from basic science in centralized labs (they would rely on universities for that) and toward design-and-development work done elsewherecloser to production sites, by private research companies and eventually overseas. More recently, the digital revolution narrowed the focus of R&D to software. From cars to cell phones to toasters, "a large part of the value of a project becomes embedded in the software," Hira says. So countries like India, with strong capabilities in software development, have gained leverage in attracting the work. Joining the tech companies congregating in Bangalore is a diverse group of manufacturers developing software for their products. Philips, the Dutch consumer-e
[ppiindia] A nation of drop-outs
Kekhawatiran Andreas Mihardja ada benarnya: orang berprestasi di India didominasi oleh kasta brahmin (dan, by extension oleh kelas baru yang naik kelas, Parsees dan upper class Muslims/ismailiah; Red.). Meskipun dari awal pemerintah sudah mendesain kebijakan sosial/pendidilan melalui affirmative action agar golongan terbawah dari yang terbawah yaitu para harijan/untouchables dapat menikmati pendidikan, tapi tetap saja sebagian besar golongan ini tidak mampu (kesan saya: tidak mau) naik kelas. Padahal mereka yang masuk golongan terbawah ini jumlahnya ratusan juta orang. Akibat selanjutnya, terjadi pockets of development. Sementara Azim Premji (Wipro), Narayana Murthy - Nanda Nilekani (Infosys) dan TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) sudah berada di invisible continent (Kennichi Ohmae, 2004) dan Ambani bersaudara dan banyak yang lainnya berjaya di old continent, ratusan juta lainnya drop out dari pendidikan dasar dan tak punya atau tidak mau punya pengharapan lagi. Salam, RM - JANUARY 31, 2005 INTERNATIONAL COVER STORY (Business Standard) India: A Nation Of Dropouts While the rest of the world frets about the economic effects of an aging population, one country that will grow increasingly younger is India. By 2050, its 1 billion population will hit 1.57 billion. According to India's census bureau, 40% of the populace is below the age of 18, and by 2015, 55% will be under 20. That sounds like plenty of worker bees to fulfill the promise of making India a services and manufacturing power over the next two decades. The bad news is that India could easily squander its demographic edge. Despite the success of a few world-class schools such as the Indian Institutes of Technology, India's education system is in a dismal state overall. India spends just 3.5% of its gross domestic product on education, way below China's 8%. Of its 1 million schools, most are state-run and substandard. "The teachers just sit around talking, and my child has learned nothing," says Sasikala Nadar, wife of a Bombay fisherman, who wants to transfer her 4-year-old daughter to a private school, whatever the cost. While 96% of India's children enroll in primary school, by the age of 10 about 40% have dropped out, says the education department. Just over a third of high school students graduate. Without a much deeper reservoir of educated youth, India may see its gains in software and manufacturing evaporate. "No country can survive if its young lose hope about their future," says Vivek Paul, vice-chairman of Wipro Ltd. (WIT ), India's premier software company. According to a 2004 study on India's manufacturing exports by McKinsey and the Confederation of Indian Industry, the nation will need 1.5 million trained technicians every year for the next decade -- twice the number it currently produces -- to be able to boost its manufactured exports from $40 billion a year to $300 billion, the amount exported by China. The government is slowly responding. Last year, New Delhi made schooling compulsory for all children under 14 and pledged to double spending on education, to 6% of GDP. In 2004 the Azim Premji Foundation implemented an incentive scheme, whereby state schools with the best student and teacher attendance and the biggest improvement in scores, win $500. Others, such as Madhav Chavan, co-founder of an educational nonprofit, Pratham, are developing village parent-teacher associations to improve state schools. "We are trying to change a huge, entrenched system," says Chavan. Unless he and others succeed in making radical changes, that system may squander India's greatest asset. By Manjeet Kripalani in Bombay Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC/NC today! http://us.click.yahoo.com/5F6XtA/.WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http:
[ppiindia] India and ISRO all set to launch lunar mission in 2007
India, ISRO all set to launch lunar mission in 2007 Wednesday, January 26, 2005 [India News]: Indian Space Research Organisation's will launch unmanned lunar mission in 2007 as scheduled, said ISRO Chairman P. Madhavan Nair. "ISRO has completed all design activities for the mission. We are in the process of building special instruments required for the mission," he told reporters during a meeting at Satyabhama deemed university. ISRO had also designed a special three stage tracking network to monitor the mission, when the spacecraft was in orbit. A special ground station had been designed and would come up near Bangalore, he said. The spacecraft would keep on circling the moon and would send data, he said, adding a small equipment in the spacecraft would detach itself and descend to the moon surface. This would also send data. The Communication satellite INSAT 4A with 12 KU band and 12 C Band transponders would be launched from the launch pad at French Guyana in May this year. The satellite would weigh 3.5 tonnes and would enable 100 television channels to transmit programmes, he said. ISRO would also launch a carto satellite from Sriharikota by end of March or in early April this year. This would help mapping the landmass of the country. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Help save the life of a child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/mGEjbB/5WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Indian radiation technology gets international approval
Indian radiation technology gets international approval 14.50 IST 08th Jan 2005 By IndiaExpress Bureau Indian radiation technology and its quality has succeeded in getting seal of international approval with the export of cobalt-60, a radio active substance used in disinfecting medical instruments, related products and other materials, to Canada, a senior official of Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology (BRIT), has said. BRIT exported 400 million curie cobalt-60 to a private firm in Canada last year earning Rs. One crore, its chief executive officer J K Ghosh told reporters in Kota, Rajasthan, yesterday. Efforts are being made to export the atomic product after meeting needs of cobalt-based units in the country, Ghosh said. Cobalt-60 is recovered from adjuster rods after their use in atomic power projects. The capacity of Rajasthan Atomic Power Project Cobalt Facility (RAPCOF), near here, which produced 10 lakh curie cobalt-60 in the current year, was being raised from the present capacity of 20 lakh curie to 25 lakh curie, he said. BRIT, he said, was spending Rs.18 crores on expansion and modernization of RAPCOF for processing the product. Currently, Rawatbhata atomic power unit sends cobalt-60 by separating it from used adjuster rods to Trombay in Mumbai for processing. However, after expansion of RAPCOF, established in 1974-75 having present capacity of storing 30 lakh curie cobalt-60, the product would be supplied directly to consumers from Rawatbhata, he added. The expanded unit of producing cobalt-60 would be ready by July end but the production would be started after formal approval from atomic energy regulation board and other agencies, he added. Catatan: 1 lakh = 100,000 Salam, RM Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/O.5XsA/8WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] India shining at World Economic Forum
India shining at WEF Ak Bhattacharya / Davos January 28, 2005 (Business Standard) Infosys, Reliance among 44 global strategic partners. India Inc seems to have arrived. Two Indian companies Infosys and Reliance Industries are among the 44 global strategic partners, which are contributing their expertise and resources to the organisation of the 2005 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF)here. This is unusual. Infosys and Reliance are now listed along with 42 other strategic partners, which include names like ABB, Audi, Boeing, BP, Coca-Cola, Computer Associates, HP, IBM, McKinsey, Microsoft, Nestle, New York Stock Exchange, and PepsiCo. Infosys Chairman and Chief Mentor. NR Narayana Murthy is also one of the co-chairs of the annual meeting this year. He is only the second Indian to have been made the co-chair in this prestigious annual event. Rahul Bajaj of Bajaj Auto was made a co-chair a few years ago. Narayana Murthys colleagues on the panel of co-chairs include Bill Gates of Microsoft, Lubna S Olayan, CEO of Olayan Financing Company, Charles O Prince, CEO of Citigroup, John A Thain, CEO of the New York Stock Exchange, and Daniel Vasella, chairman and CEO, Novartis. The honour of becoming a strategic partner does not come free. According to a knowledgeable industry source, a company has to shell out at least $100,000 (about Rs 44 lakh). In return, the company can sponsor delegates, and hold special meetings, and gets an opportunity to interact and network with its international business associates and global political leaders. Over 2,000 business and political leaders are gathered at the annual meeting this year. Which is why some members of the Indian industry delegation at the WEF meeting are surprised at the sudden decision of Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, to cancel his visit to Davos. Ambani was to have taken part in a session on Asia's new multinationals on Friday, along with Malvinder Mohan Singh, president, Ranbaxy Laboratories. Nikhil Meswani, executive director, Reliance Industries, was also expected to take part in a session on India and the world in 2025 on Saturday. The information so far is that Meswani, too, has pulled out. What, however, has caught the attention of Indian industry leaders attending the meeting, is what the senior Ambani wrote while defining a great leader in a special WEF publication. "There is evidence to prove that great companies do not require charismatic leaders. Charismatic, flamboyant and swashbuckling leaders are, on the contrary, anathema for building great companies. If we look around, we can find innumerable examples of humble, disciplined and dedicated leaders committed to building great companies," Ambani wrote. Anil Ambani, vice-chairman of Reliance Industries, who is now engaged in a battle with his elder brother over ownership issues, used to be a regular visitor to the WEF annual meetings at Davos. But this year, Anil Ambani also has skipped the meeting. In sharp contrast, Infosys has taken full advantage of being one of the strategic partners. Its CEO, Nandan Nilekani, has written about the "Infosys Predictability" in a special WEF publication, explaining how operating with complete transparency in every aspect of business has been its blueprint for building the company and creating predictability for customers, investors and other companies. "All this suggests how India, along with China, is now recognised as a key player in the global business environment and the meetings in Davos signify this crucial change in the way India Inc has grown," said Tarun Das, chief mentor of the Confederation of Indian Industry. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC/NC today! http://us.click.yahoo.com/5F6XtA/.WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL
[ppiindia] Tata prepares to take on the world
Tata prepares to take on the world OUR BUREAU Pune, Jan 25 The $430 million Tetley Tea deal, buying Singapores NatSteel, Daewoos Commercial Vehicle and Tyco, the groups $2 billion plan for Bangladesh and the Ferro-chrome plant in South Africa. These are just the trailers. There is a big picture waiting to unspool. Expect more action on the global canvas from the Tata Group. This is what Alan Rosling executive director, Tata Sons had to say about the groups global ambitions and indicated that the world would be hearing more from the Tata Group in the coming years. All this was the consequence of our globalisation effort and not the beginning, he said. They were building an international group with its roots in India with world class systems, world class size anchored in India but equally welcome the local markets they enter in across the globe is what the Group is looking at. After getting a grip on the Tata brand in the domestic market the Tata Group will go international now. The Tata brand is the only asset Tata Sons has, said Mr Rosling. The group will be promoting the Tata Group brand globally and it has already started a one to one communication process for this. The group has been monitoring the Tata Brand in India for the last six years and the brands image has improved and become positive here and the group plans to do the same internationally. The idea is to have a positive image globally and be known as a well managed ethical business out of India, Mr Rosling said. The Tata brand is critical in our international drive, he added. The Group is also internationalizing its business development efforts and will be expanding the presence of Tata Sons globally, he said. They will be going to important markets on their on. Till now only group companies have set up offices, Mr Rosling told the CEO Forum of the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture in Pune. Citing the Tata Groups ambitious plans in Bangladesh Mr Rosling said they could get to do this kind of a project only by going as a group and it would not have been possible for individual companies. We could overcome the hurdle of being from India and it is a good example of a group acting together which can open doors, he said. Tata Groups plan in Bangladesh would be the biggest investment in Bangladesh and it will be 20 times their average FDI. We are doing feasibility studies now and looking at financing from all agencies, he said. Bangladesh investments include the 1,000 mw power plant, steel and fertilizer plant and it was to access the abundance of gas there and do value add. A Baker Scholar from Harvard Business School, Mr Rosling attributed the success the group has been having to the Tata Quality Management Systems based on the Malcolm Baldridge Model which the group has been following for 10 years. We are running ahead of the Malcom Baldridge model and adding our own ideas which they have not thought of, he said. Mr Rosling said these systems are being tweaked to have international scope. When Ratan Tata took over as chairman of the group in 1991 it coincided with the liberalisation and globalisation initiatives in the country. Ratan Tata understood the flip side of liberalisation and globalisation and he spent the 90s transforming the Tata group companies, Mr Rosling said. He communicated with his people, raised their sights and challenged companies to raise the level of their ambitions. These companies had to earn their right to exist, they had to benchmark themselves against the best in the world and had to display their clear competitive advantage. The results were there for all to see in the transformation of Tata Steel, the Indica project by Tata Motors and Tata Tea Tetley acquisition. URL: http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=80753 Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. Bring education to life by funding a specific classroom project. http://us.click.yahoo.com/4F6XtA/_WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yaho
[ppiindia] China sets up special cell for Indian IT giants
Wednesday, January 26, 2005 Infotech China sets up special cell for Indian IT giants PRESS TRUST OF INDIA Beijing, January 25 China has set up a special division to woo Indian software majors, especially the four giants-- TCS, Infosys, Wipro and Satyam-- to help them expand their operations in the country, a senior official said on Tuesday. "We have set up the Sino-India cooperative office under the national software export base recently to help Indian software companies to expand their operations in China, especially Beijing," Dr Zhu Peifen, a senior Chinese official said. "This is the first time we have set up a special division for a particular country," Zhu, director, hi-tech industry development division of development and reform Commission of Beijing government told PTI in Beijing. Zhu, who recently visited India said that TCS, Infosys, Wipro and Satyam, which have operations in China, were looking at the booming Chinese information technology market in a big way and at least two of them had major expansion plans, including setting up a base in Beijing. However, Zhu declined to name the two companies, which have expressed keen interest in expanding operations to the Chinese capital. The Sino-India cooperative office, established a month ago is staffed by 12 Chinese software experts, who will act as a go-between with Indian software companies and look into their needs so as to help them set up bases in China, especially in Beijing, which has so far been shunned by Indian software companies who have opted for the gleaming eastern metropolis, Shanghai. URL: http://www.financialexpress.com/latest_full_story.php?content_id=80685 Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Give the gift of life to a sick child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/lGEjbB/6WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Asia's first 'business' lab launched at ITM
Asia's first 'business' lab launched in ITM The Institute for Technology & Management, Mumbai will now offer real-time experiential learning in MBA financial markets. Tuesday, January 25, 2005 NEW DELHI: With the launch of its business simulation lab, Institute for Technology & Management (ITM), Mumbai has become Asia's first center of excellence to teach management students about "real-time experiential learning in modern financial markets", as an integral part of its MBA - FM. According to the press release, the lab uses simulations of modern financial markets to give students first-hand experience of how different types of markets respond to information, how different types of market participants exploit informational advantages (or protect themselves against informational disadvantages) and how regulations on trading and information disclosure affect market behavior and trader wealth. The business simulation lab has 30 dual flat panel trading stations equipped with NSE.it software and real-time data feeds, Bloomberg data feed, three plasma projection screens, two Trans-Lux datawalls and an integrated sound system. In addition, the lab has a growing stock of applications software. The high-tech business simulation lab enables students, faculty and staff to interact with the global financial community and its resources in a real-time setting. Simulations are conducted in collaboration with teams from NSE.it, Spider software, MoneyLine, Telerate and CRISIL Market Wire. Using high-speed dedicated Internet access this lab receives live data feeds of the market. The lab's primary focus is to promote experiential learning by providing an opportunity for students to implement the material they are learning in the classroom. It allows a variety of financial markets, including double auctions, clearinghouse markets, and dealer markets, and allows a variety of options determining market transparency and trading privileges. The software allows each participant to manage a firm (or part of a firm), choosing investment, financing and reporting policies, product lines, production and sales prices; the software will allow the firms to interact in a complex economy. CyberMedia News Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. Bring education to life by funding a specific classroom project. http://us.click.yahoo.com/4F6XtA/_WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Hewitt wins in five
Agaknya Lleyton Hewitt tidak mengecewakan publik Australia. Pada tanggal 26 Januari 2005 ini yang adalah Australia Day, dia jungkir balik sampai 5 sets selama 4 jam lebih melawan David Nalbandian. Di set akhir, dia menang 10-8. Salam, RM - (australianopen.com) Hewitt Wins in Five, Roddick Two-and-a-Half by Damian Glass Wednesday, 26 January, 2005 Lleyton Hewitt has had to survive a comeback from Argentine David Nalbandian to win a classic five-set quarter-final at the Centenary Australian Open, setting up a semi-final clash with No.2 seed Andy Roddick. In a remarkable match which lasted for just over four hours, Hewitt defeated Nalbandian 6-3 6-2 1-6 3-6 10-8, with the Australian struggling in the third and fourth sets, seemingly restricted by his troublesome hip flexor injury. But, in his trademark style, Hewitt rallied in the deciding set as the two combatants played out a memorable contest. The marathon final set lasted for more than 100 minutes and featured only one break of serve - which came in the 17th game and ultimately proved decisive for the Australian. On Nalbandian's serve, Hewitt had a break-point and attacked a short ball, meeting it on the full in mid-court and driving a backhand down the line to secure the crucial break of serve in the fifth set to lead 9-8. For the first time Hewitt had a chance to serve for the match and, in contrast to most of Hewitt's other service games in the set, the Australian raced to a 40-0 lead. The Australian's serve had been under more pressure than the Argentine's but with a sniff of victory, needed only one match point to win a see-sawing contest. The match had looked set for an early finish as Hewitt grabbed a two-sets-to-love lead but just as a fireworks display as part of the Australia Day celebrations went off outside Rod Laver Arena during the start of third set, Hewitt appeared to lose his concentration. Nalbandian seized his chance to get back in the match, breezing through the third and fourth sets 6-1 6-3 to take the momentum into the deciding set. With the advantage of serving first, the Argentine had the upper hand and Hewitt was forced to defend grimly knowing that losing his serve could mean losing the match. However, at no stage in the final set did Hewitt face a break point on his serve, meaning he never had to defend a match point. Earlier on Rod Laver Arena, Roddick progressed to the semi-finals after his opponent - Russian No.26 seed Nikolay Davydenko - was forced to retire due to the extreme heat, with the American on track to record a straight-sets win, leading 6-3 7-5 4-1. Davydenko had made it through to the last eight without conceding a set. Along the way he had claimed the scalps of two seeded players - including No.7 seed Tim Henman - but in three previous attempts against Roddick, the Russian had yet to register a win. But it was clear on Rod Laver Arena that Davydenko was going to have to negotiate a lot more than Roddick's 200km/h serve. The oppressive conditions were shaping as the biggest threat to Davydenko's progress in the tournament After his fourth-round defeat of Argentine Guillermo Canas in straight sets, Davydenko gave a hint of the difficulties he may face having to play Roddick in the stifling heat. Davydenko revealed that he would have struggled to continue against Canas had the match been forced into a fourth or fifth set. With the temperature on Rod Laver Arena hovering in the high 30's when the match started at 4pm, Davydenko began confidently against Roddick. He matched the world No.2 until the eighth game of the first set when the American broke serve to take a 5-3 lead. Roddick took the set 6-3 and, after breaking Davydenko's serve to take a 3-2 lead in the second set, the first signs of Davydenko's trouble with the stifling conditions began to show. "(At first) I took a break for one or two minutes and the next two or three points were OK. I can play. I can control everything. But then I felt something is coming, coming so bad and then everything felt not so good," Davydenko said. "I didn't play with Roddick, I play by myself, I played with the weather." Davydenko called for a doctor for the first time at the change of ends and after a short delay in which he complained of shortness of breath and used a Ventolin spray, the Russian returned to court. After that, as the players rested at every change of ends, Davydenko wore an ice vest to cool his body temperature down and initially it seemed to have the desired effect. Davydenko broke back and leading 5-4 in the second set he had a set point on Roddick's serve. But Roddick held on and immediately broke Davydenko to secure a 6-5 lead. The American then served the set out to take it 7-5. Down two-sets-to-love and with the conditions not improving, Davydenko's serve was broken twice in the third set. At 1-4 the Russian decided enough was enough and voluntarily ended his stay in the Australian Open
[ppiindia] India's IT challenge ==> World Economic Forum
(Forbes.com) World Economic Forum India's IT Challenge Tara Murphy, 01.25.05, 2:55 PM ET Think of India and information technology, and, if you are in the U.S. or Europe, you tend to think of outsourcing. But the world doesn't look quite as rosy from the opposite end of the telescope. True, business-process outsourcing is the fastest-growing part of the industry's revenue and is driving 30% growth in India's IT exports. But sustaining that growth rate is a challenge, and new, lower-cost rivals are going after the business. Forbes.com Editor Paul Maidment discusses these and other issues affecting the sector. Paul, what is the state of the sector? India's three leading IT companies--the giant Tata group's consulting arm TCS, Infosys and Wipro--get about 80% of their revenue from overseas sales--and 80% of that is accounted for by the U.S. But a weakening dollar and the political scrutiny in the U.S., where nine states are considering anti-outsourcing legislation, have put pressure on India's IT sector to diversify its export markets. Where else is it looking? Indian IT companies are making substantial inroads in the U.K., which is responsible for two-thirds of their European earnings. Labor union opposition to outsourcing there is diminishing. A recent IMF study found that the practice has not led to a net loss of jobs in Britain, and the U.K.'s employer organization, the Confederation of British Industry, reckoned outsourcing provided a net gain to the U.K economy last year of $30 billion. One Indian company has even set up a new call center in Northern Ireland--sort of reverse outsourcing. What about elsewhere in Europe? Much slower going than in the English-speaking world, but that is starting to change notably in France and Germany. A lack of French and German speakers is an obstacle to overcome. Most educated Indians are trilingual--speaking Hindi and their regional language. But their third language is invariably English. Some Indians working in call centers are being retrained to speak English with either an American or British accent, according the market they are serving. How is that going? Some Indian regional accents, especially those from the north, have proved easier to remodel than those from the south. The problem here is that the IT industry is largely based in the south around Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai. A lot of new outsourced operations have been put in the north, near Delhi and Chandigarh--where Dell put a call center--to take advantage of better accents, but they are a long way from the industry's skill pool down south. Is language a barrier to Asian-Pacific markets, too? Absolutely. Indian companies have made barely any impression on the Japanese market for primarily that reason, though there are also some taxation issues. In places like China, the Philippines and Mauritius, Indian companies are buying into local IT firms as a way to get around the language issue. What are the prospects for the domestic IT market? India is a large country with a huge and still poor rural population. Until recent economic liberalization, it was a highly protected economy. Only 1.4% of the population owns PCs. But the government has an ambitious project to wire India for broadband. It is setting up what it calls an e-communications network for government offices, and encouraging the country's small businesses to get online too. But again remember, this is in a country where basic telephone and electricity services are often unreliable. Large companies often run their own networks for both. Won't the domestic market be increasingly important to India's IT companies as they begin to face more international competition? Yes. Other countries are starting to erode India's cost advantage in outsourcing, and particularly places where English-speaking skills are available. The Philippines has become a serious competitor. China is another growing rival. It has a more comprehensive and reliable infrastructure than India. Plus the diaspora of overseas Chinese is bigger that that of nonresident Indians, particularly in the U.S. and Southeast Asia. Vietnam is an emerging lower-cost rival to Indian firms there too. Even further down the cost ladder are French-speaking ex-colonies such as the Seychelles or Mauritius. They have the language advantage in European markets, How are Indian companies tackling these challenges? Two ways: First, by moving more into R&D. Satellite-mapping technology is one area it is specializing in. Microsoft moved one of its mapping projects to India, for example. Second, by more vertical integration, to offer clients a more comprehensive range of services. That is driving some of the international acquisitions Indian IT companies are making, such as here in the U.S. with UpStream, Essar Teleholdings and Aegis Communications. At the same time, they are buying outsourcing operations in lower-cost countries such as Mauritius and the Philippines.
[ppiindia] U.S. vows to attain global warning system
January 21, 2005 U.S. Vows to Attain Global Warning System By JAMES BROOKE KOBE, Japan Jan. 20 - With Japan promising to start immediately stitching together an emergency tsunami and earthquake warning system for the Indian Ocean, the United States on Thursday pledged "to do whatever it takes" to expand the system to cover the globe. "The United States feels that never again should lives be lost because a global tsunami warning system doesn't exist," Howard H. Baker Jr., United States ambassador to Japan, told representatives of 150 nations gathered here for a United Nations conference on reducing disasters. With the death and destruction of the Indian Ocean tsunami fresh in delegates' minds, a consensus among donor countries emerged that a global system would build on a tsunami alert system that has protected Pacific Rim countries for four decades and that the effort would be coordinated by the United Nations. "In the matter of a year, at latest 18 months, there should be a basic regional capacity on tsunami early warning," Sálvano Briceño, director of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, said at a news conference here. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has proposed an Indian Ocean network of deep-sea buoys and communications centers that would cost $30 million and go into operation by mid-2006. Mr. Briceño said Japan had pledged $4 million toward the project, and Sweden $1.5 million. Japan, the conference host and contributor of the word tsunami to the world vocabulary, has emerged as a leader in providing money and technical support. On average, Japan has 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or over. A major challenge will be to build a system where different nations can get access to data in a rapid and uniform way, said Mark P. Lagon, United States deputy assistant secretary of state. "NATO has existed for decades and there are interoperability problems, meshing is difficult," he said in an interview. The network would be designed to detect and warn against "all hazards" - droughts, wildfires, floods, typhoons, hurricanes, landslides, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis. "The problem is reaching out to the people in the fishing villages, and the fishermen," Jan Egeland, United Nations under secretary general for humanitarian affairs, said. "You need a system of sirens, SMS on mobile phones, and radio." If a regional warning system had been in place in the Indian Ocean on the morning after Christmas, many thousands of people could have avoided death or injury, specialists told delegates to the five-day conference here. The message resonated deeply in this port, where 6,433 died in a pre-dawn earthquake that destroyed much of the city 10 years ago last Monday. "A minimum of 10 percent of the billions now spent on disaster relief of all nations should be earmarked for disaster risk reduction," Mr. Egeland proposed. "I am acutely aware of how much money is being spent on being fire brigades, us putting plaster on the wound, and too little on preventing the devastation and suffering in the first place." Preparedness sea walls, flood control canals, tighter building and zoning codes can have a real impact, said Yoshitaka Murata, Japan's minister for disaster management. "After World War II, every major typhoon cost us thousands of lives," Mr. Murata said. "Today the number of victims from typhoons has been greatly reduced." Last fall, the 10 typhoons that pummeled Japan caused $10 billion in damage, but took only 212 lives, government figures show. But even in Japan, a nation acutely aware of tsunami dangers, one-third of 21 eastern Hokkaido localities warned about a tsunami threat on Sept. 26, 2003, did not follow instructions to tell residents of coastal areas to evacuate. In the 14 towns that did, only 20 percent of people evacuated. Many people went down to the shore to watch the wave come in. The meeting also sought to focus attention on the cumulative toll of natural disasters. From 1992 through 2001, natural disasters killed 622,000 people, and affected two billion. The New York Times Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC/NC today! http://us.click.yahoo.com/5F6XtA/.WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg a
[ppiindia] What's drawing India's youth to software jobs?
Andy Mukherjee is a columnist for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own. What's Drawing India's Youth to Software Jobs?: Andy Mukherjee Jan. 25 (Bloomberg) -- By hiring Prity Tewary, Wipro Ltd., India's third-biggest software exporter, may have found the key to expanding the engineering talent pool Indian universities produce in a year. For the last two years, the 24-year-old Tewary, who has a bachelor's degree in computer applications, has worked as a project engineer, writing code for the overseas clients of Wipro. She and 1,100 others, many of them plain vanilla science graduates, are studying for a four-year master of science degree in software, telecommunications and microelectronics on Saturdays. Wipro is paying their tuition fees, providing them with classroom resources on its sprawling, university-type campuses, and giving them stipends that start at 6,000 rupees ($137) a month. In turn, the student-workers are helping the company go beyond the limited universe of 184,000 fresh engineers available each year for hiring as programmers. ``We build our own engineers,'' says S.K. Bhagavan, who oversees Wipro's in-house ``talent transformation'' team of 70 faculty members. In a year, Bhagavan's team conducts 150,000 hours of training, and that includes coaching in ``soft skills'' needed by a workforce that interacts with clients globally. Youth Magnet The non-technical lessons, available on the company's Intranet and a must-read for any employee visiting a client outside of India, range from introduction to English breakfast (``Many British people eat toast with butter or margarine and jam.'') to why it's impolite to ask an American how much money he makes (``In India, elders would think nothing of asking younger people for that information,'' Bhagavan explains.). Software companies have become a magnet for India's youth, as much for the promise of a good life as for the opportunity to learn skills that are useful in the global marketplace but aren't covered in standard university curriculum. The Wipro Academy of Software Excellence turned out its first batch of 36 students in 2001. Now, the annual intake has increased to 500. Seven out of 10 employees hired in the last three years by Infosys Technologies Ltd., Wipro's slightly bigger competitor by market value, were fresh graduates. In order to raise the quality of the talent it hires, the Bangalore-based company has now released some of the courseware it uses to train its employees to universities under a $2 million ``Campus Connect'' initiative. Talent Search For Wipro, which has about 40,000 people and is building a new campus in Bangalore to accommodate another 12,500, its investment in education is based on sound economics. The upper end of the labor market is getting uncomfortably tight for Indian software companies. Wipro paid an average $5,000 a year for engineers it recruited from engineering schools last year, a figure that may appear unappetizing to the 3,700 students graduating from the top- notch Indian Institutes of Technology, or the IITs. The top students in an IIT graduating class are increasingly being pursued by employers such as McKinsey & Co., Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp., often with offers exceeding $100,000 a year. ``This year, when we go to the IITs to hire, we think it'll be a challenge,'' says Bijay Sahoo, chief of human resources at Wipro. ``The same compensation which we paid for the last three years may not work going forward in IIT campuses. Other engineering colleges are still okay.'' Capping Costs With wage costs account for half of revenue, investors and analysts are increasingly scrutinizing the ability of Indian software services companies to boost their profit margin by negotiating higher prices with clients or by sending more of the work they do onsite for their U.S. and European clients to India where programmers take a sixth of U.S. wages. It looks like there's another way to control costs. The trick, as Wipro has discovered, is to find eager youngsters like Tewary who aren't engineers, but who are hungry for employable education and who can be put on live projects together with more experienced engineers with only three months of initial training. At an aggregate level too, India needs to convert more of its generalist scientific talent into software professionals to sustain the industry's competitiveness. Out of a total population of 7.7 million science and technology professionals in 2000, about half, or 3.8 million, were science graduates. Only 970,000 were graduate engineers, according to an estimate by the Institute of Applied Manpower Research in New Delhi. While India does need more science doctorates to carry out research, it doesn't need more unemployed physics graduates. Tewary says prospects of money and glamour drew her to Bangalore. ``It's a great opportunity,'' she says, taking a moment from a post-lunch chat with colleagues, most
[ppiindia] Alicia Molik menang atas Venus Williams
Tiap hari saya ikuti jalannya pertandingan tennis dunia Australia Open 2005 yang digelar di Melbourne. Kemarin ada duel yang menawan antara Venus Williams (peringkat satu dunia dari Amerika) melawan pemain muda belia Alicia Molik (Australia). Diluar dugaan, ternyata Alicia Molik yang menang. Tepuk tangan penonton tidak luar biasa, padahal dua hari kemudian jatuh Australia Day yang adalah hari besar bangsa Australia. Setahun yang lalu, tepat pada Australia Day bertanding Roger Federer (Swiss) melawan Lleyton Hewitt (Australia). Seperti kita tahu, Roger Federer yang menang. Istimewanya, ternyata penonton tidak mengamuk tapi malahan dengan tulus menyalami si Roger Federer. Moral of the story? isi sendiri. Salam, RM -- Venus Williams' major drought continues - JOHN PYE, AP Sports Writer Monday, January 24, 2005 (01-24) 10:56 PST MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Venus Williams was out of step and out of time. Facing three match points, she stumbled chasing a ball, and her off-balance forehand flopped into the net, giving Alicia Molik a 7-5, 7-6 (3) upset Monday in the fourth round of the Australian Open. A group of women in the crowd of 14,225 unfurled a banner reading: "Venus, you've been eclipsed." But Williams didn't see it that way, even if she hasn't been past the quarterfinals at the past six Grand Slam tournaments. "I feel like that was one I definitely should have won. I just was off of my rhythm," the eighth-seeded Williams said. "I definitely didn't produce my best tennis, that's for sure." She made 28 unforced errors, two more than the 10th-seeded Molik, who faces top-ranked Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinals. Davenport cruised past No. 13 Karolina Sprem 6-2, 6-2 and has dropped just one set in four matches. Williams insists she's just as competitive now in big matches as she was when she won the 2001 U.S. Open final for the last of her four major titles. "Absolutely!" she said. A string of injuries that hampered her last year couldn't be blamed for this loss. At times, she showed glimpses of grace -- a leaping overhead winner in the fifth game of the second set was a prime example. But Williams clearly wasn't at her best. She swatted at one of Molik's looping forehands as if it were an irritating insect, missing the ball twice before it landed behind her. "This is a huge feat; I beat Venus," said Molik, the singles bronze medalist at the Athens Olympics. "I beat her playing my tennis, and I didn't wait for her to make mistakes, and that's something I can be pretty proud of." Molik is the first Australian woman in the Open quarterfinals since Anne Minter in 1988. Two other top women lost: French Open champion Anastasia Myskina and No. 6 Elena Dementieva, the runner-up at the French Open and U.S. Open. In men's action, No. 2 Andy Roddick, No. 3 Lleyton Hewitt, No. 9 David Nalbandian and No. 26 Nikolay Davydenko moved into the quarterfinals. Myskina and Dementieva were among seven Russians to make it to the round of 16, but only Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova and U.S. Open titlist Svetlana Kuznetsova reached the quarterfinals. They will face each other on Tuesday, when men's No. 1 seed Roger Federer will try to keep his 25-match winning streak alive against four-time Australian Open winner Andre Agassi. The third-seeded Myskina had 45 unforced errors in her 6-4, 6-2 loss to No. 19 Nathalie Dechy, a 25-year-old Frenchwoman in the quarterfinals of a major for the first time in 37 appearances. "I couldn't focus during the match. I lost a lot of easy balls," Myskina said. "I think I have to forget this match." Dementieva led 12th-seeded Patty Schnyder by a set and two breaks before losing 6-7 (6), 7-6 (4), 6-2 in a match marred by 116 unforced errors. Williams lost 13 games through three straight-set wins before facing Molik and thought she was in decent form. "I would definitely say that when I'm playing well, I feel like I'm the best. And today was not my best, absolutely not my best," Williams said. "I wasn't hitting it cleanly enough. I felt like my movement wasn't as good as the previous rounds." Asked if Molik can win the title, Williams said she'd like to think her younger sister, Serena, could get in the way. "You know, it's out of my hands now," Williams said. "I kind of want Serena to win. So that's my horse now." Roddick struggled with the serve of Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber but smacked 15 aces and overcame a second-set letdown to win 6-3, 7-6 (8), 6-1. "I actually had a little trouble getting used to a serve coming from a righty, as weird as that sounds," said Roddick, who opened with matches against three straight left-handers. "Took me a little while to get on it." He next faces Davydenko, who beat No. 12 Guillermo Canas 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. Against the 102nd-ranked Kohlschreiber, Roddick was erratic in the second set, doubling his unforced errors to 12 and throwing his racket to the court
[ppiindia] Google releases photo organizing software
Saya kerepotan waktu membangun BLOG dengan foto yang saya buat di Picasa. Dengan menyatunya Picasa di Google, saya yakin kesulitan itu teratasi. Salam, RM --- January 18, 2005 Google Releases Photo Organizing Software By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 12:42 a.m. ET NEW YORK (AP) -- Search engine leader Google Inc. released free software Tuesday for organizing and finding the hundreds or thousands of digital photos often stored on a computer's hard drive. Using technology developed by Picasa Inc., which Google bought last year, the new software will try to make keeping a photo collection and editing pictures simple even for beginners, said Lars Perkins, Picasa's general manager. Rather than requiring users to import individual photos from their drives, the Picasa software automatically detects them as they are added -- whether sent via e-mail or transferred from a digital camera. Picasa tries to do away with complexities such as file names and folders. Photos are dumped into one bucket, sorted by date, but the software can quickly pull photos from date ranges or events as requested. In the new version, users will be able to mark the best pictures with a gold star and search only for those. Picasa initially cost $29 but became a free download after its acquisition by Google. Version 2 of Picasa will also be a free download. The new software will have better tools for restoring color and removing red eyes. New editing features include the ability to make the sky bluer; to blur the background and focus on a subject; or to rotate photographs slightly to compensate for any camera tilt. All changes can be reversed, and the software stores different versions without requiring users to perform a ``save as'' command and rename the file. Captions are automatically attached to the photo file so that they go with the photo to Web sites and CDs. Picasa is not Google's first venture onto the desktop. Though the company got its start as an Internet search engine, Google released in October a desktop search tool that automatically records e-mail, Web pages and chat conversations and finds Word, Excel and PowerPoint files stored on the computer. Picasa 2 is available only for Windows computer and requires Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer browser, version 5.01 or higher, or Mozilla Firefox. The Associated Press Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC/NC today! http://us.click.yahoo.com/5F6XtA/.WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Stanford Graduate School of Business goes to India
Stanford Graduate School of Business Goes to India FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Helen K. Chang, 650-723-3358, Fax: 650-725-6750 January 13, 2005 STANFORD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESSMUMBAIThe Stanford Graduate School of Business hosted its first ever Executive Forums in India on Jan. 6, 10, and 12 with one-day management seminars and networking events in New Delhi, Bangalore, and Mumbai, respectively. More than 450 business executives, Stanford University alumni, and distinguished guests registered for the events in the three cities. We want to be at the vanguard of Indias exciting economic growth, not only in terms of attracting the best candidates to our programs but also learning about what challenges Indian business leaders are facing, said Dan Rudolph, senior associate dean for operations at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, in an interview with a reporter from the Business Standard. In each city, Rudolph kicked off the program with an overview of Stanford and the Business School, one of seven schools at Stanford University. The Stanford Graduate School of Business has two products: ideas and leaders, he said. We produce ideas through our world-renowned faculty who develop case studies and write path-breaking research and textbooks. Through our 23,000 alumni around the globe, we are changing lives, changing organizations, and changing the world. Stanford Business School offers four programs, said Rudolph: the two-year MBA program to educate future leaders, a one-year Stanford Sloan Masters Program for mid-career executives, a doctoral program to produce future scholars and teachers, and executive education programs for experienced managers. Following Rudolphs introduction, two of the Schools faculty members presented lectures based on their research. V. Seenu Srinivasan, the Adams Distinguished Professor of Management and director of the Strategic Marketing Management Executive Program, is an internationally known specialist in marketing and one of the few professionals who has revolutionized academic and applied thinking in this area. Srinivasan has twice been honored with the John Little Award from the Marketing Science Society for the best marketing article published in its journal. His lecture focused on Brand Equity: Measuring, Analyzing, and Predicting. Robert Burgelman, the Edmund W. Littlefield Professor of Management and director of the Stanford Executive Program, is an expert on corporate entrepreneurship, strategic business exit, and the role of strategy in firm evolution. He lectured on Strategy Is Destiny: A Perspective on Strategic Leadership. A reception and dinner followed the presentations. The Executive Forums in India were presented by the Executive Education Program and sponsored by the Stanford Business School Alumni Association as an outgrowth of alumni reunion events around the world. Forums have also been held in China, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Denmark, England, Germany, Switzerland, and Mexico. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Give the gift of life to a sick child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/lGEjbB/6WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] The cause of science in Bangalore
Senang rasanya melihat rak-rak buku iptek berbahasa Indonesia di toko buku Gramedia di Podok Indah Mall. Judulnya berbagai macam, mulai teknik sipil sampai nanotek. Yang lebih menggembirakan adalah buku populer untuk menggairahkan minat remaja pada fisika. Buku itu berjudul "Fisika untuk Semua" oleh Prof. Johannes Surya, Ph.D. Disitu ada sub-bab tersendiri tentang fisikawan C.V Raman dan fisikawan asal Asia lainnya yang memenangkan Hadiah Nobel. C.V. Raman dikenang dunia dengan Raman effect-nya. Selamat mengikuti. Salam, RM - C.V. Raman (second from right) poses with other dignitaries at the inaugural meeting of the Indian Academy of Sciences in Bangalore on July 31, 1934. BANGALORE NEEDS no introduction to the scientific fraternity in India and abroad. The City is home for many reputed science institutes and forums and the Indian Academy of Sciences is one among them. The Indian Academy of Sciences was founded on April 27, 1934 by the Nobel Laureate, Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (1888-1970), with the objective of "promoting the progress and uphold the cause of science, both in pure and applied branches." The Diwan of Mysore, Sir Mirza M. Ismail, formally inaugurated the Academy on July 31, 1934 at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, in the presence of distinguished scientists. The Academy, established with 65 founding Fellows, is registered as a society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. The foundation of the Academy is not an isolated event but was part of an intellectual renaissance that swept the country in the first few decades of the last century. The Academy has come a long way in the last 70 years and its evolution has seen the continuity of the objectives of the founder and the adaptation to the changing needs of science and the nation. Noted scientists such as T.S. Sadasivan, M.G.K. Menon, Satish Dhawan, S. Varadarajan, C.N.R. Rao and K. Kasturirangan have served as Presidents of the Academy. Science education panel The Academy conducts a number of programmes. The Council of the Academy set up a science education panel to organise activities for science teachers and students all over India. The Academy has 845 Fellows, who are distinguished scientists, covering all areas of sciences. The Council of the Academy elects about 25 Fellows each year after rigorous scrutiny of their work. A few scientists from abroad have been elected as Honorary Fellows, they include Nobel Laureates. The building of the Indian Academy of Sciences. Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash The Academy brought out a report titled "University Education in Science" in 1994. The report has been referred widely by many science agencies such as Department of Science and Technology, says the Chairman of the Science Education Panel of the Academy, N. Mukunda, who is also the Professor at Centre for Theoretical Studies, IISc, Bangalore. Summer Fellowships The Academy awards summer fellowships to bright students and motivated teachers to work with Fellows of the Academy on research-oriented projects. Approximately 150 and 50 fellowships to students and teachers respectively are offered every year. Besides travel expenses, the selected teachers will be provided an honorarium of Rs. 6,000 per month and students Rs. 4,000 per month. The duration of the fellowship is two months. The Academy has decided to give fellowship to 250 students and teachers this year. The fellowships provides a forum for interaction of students and teachers with distinguished scientists. The Academy has invited proposals from interested students and teachers for summer research fellowships-2005. The proposals should include a brief resume of the applicant, a one-page description of the planned activity, the Fellow with whom the applicant would like to work and the tentative dates of work as convenient to the applicant. The students' application should include a recommendation letter from a teacher familiar with their work. January 31, 2005 is the last date to reach the completed proposals to the Academy office. Information of selection along with concurrence of the Fellow will be dispatched by early March 2005. In 2003, 116 students and 30 teachers were offered fellowships. There were 1,260 students' and 152 teachers' applications, respectively. In 2004, the Academy offered fellowship to 167 students and 37 teachers. As many as 1689 students and 152 teachers applied. A large number of candidates apply for fellowship in Life Sciences (40 per cent) followed by Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and so on, says Prof. Mukunda. Refresher courses This is a programme to help teachers of colleges and universities to improve their knowledge and teaching skills. The duration is two weeks and approximately 30 teachers selected from all over the country undergo a rigorous course of lectures, discussions and problem-solving sessions. During the last five years, refresher courses on
[ppiindia] Key molecule in plant photo-protection identified
January 20, 2005 news releases | receive our news releases by email | science beat Key Molecule in Plant Photo-Protection Identified Contact: Lynn Yarris (510) 486-5375, [EMAIL PROTECTED] BERKELEY, CA Another important piece to the photosynthesis puzzle is now in place. Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energys Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California at Berkeley have identified one of the key molecules that help protect plants from oxidation damage as the result of absorbing too much light. The researchers determined that when chlorophyll molecules in green plants take in more solar energy than they are able to immediately use, molecules of zeaxanthin, a member of the carotenoid family of pigment molecules, carry away the excess energy. (teks foto) >From left, Graham Fleming, Nancy Holt and Kris Niyogi, of Berkeley Lab's Physical Biosciences Division, have identified a key molecule in the photo-protection mechanism of green plants. This study was led by Graham Fleming, director of Berkeley Labs Physical Biosciences Division and a chemistry professor with UC Berkeley, and Kris Niyogi, who also holds joint appointments with Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley. Its results are reported in the January 21, 2005 issue of the journal Science. Co-authoring the paper with Fleming and Niyogi were Nancy Holt, plus Donatas Zigmantas, Leonas Valkunas and Xiao-Ping Li. Through photosynthesis, green plants are able to harvest energy from sunlight and convert it to chemical energy at an energy transfer efficiency rate of approximately 97 percent. If scientists can create artificial versions of photosynthesis, the dream of solar power as a clean, efficient and sustainable source of energy for humanity could be realized. A potential pitfall for any sunlight-harvesting system is that if the system becomes overloaded with absorbed energy, it will likely suffer some form of damage. Plants solve this problem on a daily basis with a photo-protective mechanism called feedback de-excitation quenching. Excess energy, detected by changes in pH levels (the feedback mechanism), is safely dissipated from one molecular system to another, where it can then be routed down relatively harmless chemical reaction pathways. Said Fleming, This defense mechanism is so sensitive to changing light conditions, it will even respond to the passing of clouds overhead. It is one of Natures supreme examples of nanoscale engineering. The light harvesting system of plants consists of two protein complexes, Photosystem I and Photosystem II. Each complex features antennae made up of chlorophyll and carotenoid molecules that gain extra excitation energy when they capture photons. This excitation energy is funneled through a series of molecules into a reaction center where it is converted to chemical energy. Scientists have long suspected that the photo-protective mechanism involved carotenoids in Photosystem II, but, until now, the details were unknown. Said Holt, While it takes from 10 to 15 minutes for a plants feedback de-excitation quenching mechanism to maximize, the individual steps in the quenching process occur on picosecond and even femtosecond time-scales (a femtosecond is one millionth of a billionth of a second). To identify these steps, we needed the ultrafast spectroscopic capabilities that have only recently become available. The Berkeley researchers used femtosecond spectroscopic techniques to follow the movement of absorbed excitation energy in the thylakoid membranes of spinach leaves, which are large and proficient at quenching excess solar energy. They found that intense exposure to light triggers the formation of zeaxanthin molecules which are able to interact with the excited chlorophyll molecules. During this interaction, energy is dissipated via a charge exchange mechanism in which the zeaxanthin gives up an electron to the chlorophyll. The charge exchange brings the chlorophylls energy back down to its ground state and turns the zeaxanthin into a radical cation which, unlike an excited chlorophyll molecule, is a non-oxidizing agent. Green plants use photosynthesis to convert sunlight to chemical energy, but too much sunlight can result in oxidation damage. To confirm that zeaxanthin was indeed the key player in the energy quenching, and not some other intermediate, the Berkeley researchers conducted similar tests on special mutant strains of Arabidopsis thaliana, a weed that serves as a model organism for plant studies. These mutant strains were genetically engineered to either over express or not express at all the gene, psbS, which codes for an eponymous protein that is essential for the quenching process (most likely by binding zeaxanthin to chlorophyll). Our work with the mutant strains of Arabidopsis thaliana clearly showed that formation of zeaxanthin and its charge exchange with chlorophyll were respons
[ppiindia] India musn't treat inflows as bad cholesterol
Bloomberg Columnists Andy Mukherjee is a columnist for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own. India Mustn't Treat Inflows as Bad Cholesterol: Andy Mukherjee Jan. 18 (Bloomberg) -- It was a perilous idea that could have cost investors billions of dollars and set back the clock on India's progress by a decade if it lingered a few more hours. ``A view needs to be taken on the quality and quantity of foreign institutional investment flows,'' Reserve Bank of India Governor Y.V. Reddy said in a Jan. 12 speech in Mumbai. ``Price- based measures such as taxes could be examined though their effectiveness is arguable.'' Luckily for investors, the speech came after market hours and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram was quick to control the damage. The governor had been misunderstood, he said, and there was no plan whatsoever to cap or tax foreign inflows. Following the minister's remark, Governor Reddy modified his speech the same evening. ``Price-based measures such as taxes could be examined though their effectiveness is arguable and hence may not be desirable,'' the expanded sentence read. End of the matter? For now, yes. Still, support for Chilean-style controls on portfolio flows has been strong since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, which reinforced the commonly held belief that unlike foreign direct investment, which leads to new factories and jobs and stays for the long haul, foreign institutional investment is a fickle friend, which does nothing for the recipient nation. Is there really a clear-cut hierarchy of capital flows, with foreign direct investment at the top? Not if you believe Harvard University economist Ricardo Hausmann, whose research has shown that a preference for foreign direct investment is nothing more than a ``good cholesterol'' fallacy. `Good Cholesterol' Can Kill Too Here's how the erroneous notion works: Foreign direct investment, drawn by a country's strengths and bringing with it technology and managerial skills, is beneficial, just like some cholesterols are good for the body. On the other hand, short-term overseas debt, which results from speculative considerations like exchange-rate differentials, is akin to bad cholesterol. Foreign equity investment falls somewhere in between. >From a study of Latin America in the 1990s, Hausmann concluded that there's no ``good cholesterol.'' The share of foreign direct investment in total capital flows is larger in countries that are riskier, more distant, financially underdeveloped and institutionally weak, Hausmann found. An overseas investor starting a factory isn't superior to one who's simply lending money or buying shares in the local market. India's own experience should prove this point. Gas Leak No action by any hedge fund has hurt India nearly as much as the 1984 gas leak from Union Carbide Corp.'s factory in central India. Union Carbide, one of the first American companies to invest in India, set up the Bhopal factory to ``help the country's agricultural sector increase its productivity and contribute more significantly to meeting the food needs of one of the world's most heavily populated regions.'' All India got from that investment was the dubious distinction of having hosted the world's worst-ever industrial disaster that killed between 16,000 and 30,000 people and injured 500,000 others. And what about Enron Corp.'s $3 billion power plant near Mumbai, the biggest foreign direct investment in India? The 740- megawatt plant has been shut for more than three years, and Indian banks are scrambling to get back some of the $1.4 billion Enron and its partners borrowed to fund the project. When overseas investors buy shares in Bangalore-based Wipro Ltd., India's third-biggest exporter of computer software, they do much more than bid up the company's share price and make chairman Azim Premji the richest Indian. The money that institutional investors bring into a capital-starved country like India allows interest rates to fall. Lower interest rates make it possible for local companies to expand and create more jobs. Sudden Stop? Inflows do create challenges. In the year to March 31, 2004, India received $11.4 billion in portfolio investments from overseas investors, compared with $3.1 billion of foreign direct investment in the same period. If Governor Reddy doesn't manage the flows, the rupee could become overvalued. And that could lead to a painful devaluation later. On the other hand, if the central bank continues to neutralize the inflows by buying them up for reserves, and then selling bonds to ``sterilize'' the liquidity released in the process, the nation incurs both quasi-fiscal and economic costs. So, what's Reddy to do? An investment recovery is already under way in India and that will take care of a good part of the liquidity surge. The central bank's priority ought to be to strengthen the banking system, which is dominated by inefficient state-owned banks. A mode
[ppiindia] Global MapAid seeks clearer disaster maps
www.sfgate.com Global MapAid seeks clearer disaster maps Stanford project helps aid groups get real-time data - David R. Baker, Chronicle Staff Writer Monday, January 17, 2005 Picture landing in a remote stretch of Sumatra ravaged by last month's tsunami, your ship or plane loaded with medicine or food for survivors. You're ready to help, but you're not sure where all the hospitals and health clinics are. You don't know which roads are passable and which have been washed out. You can't find all the refugee camps scattered along the coast. And the camps, clinics and blocked roads don't show up on any standard map. A project hatched at Stanford University may be able to help. Called Global MapAid, the effort builds maps of disaster zones or other areas where international aid agencies work. With a combination of handheld computers, satellite phones and innovative software, the organization can quickly draft and update maps that show the washed-out roads and altered coastline, the location of aid centers, even areas with contaminated water. After starting as a student project, Global MapAid has registered as a nonprofit organization. Its founder and chairman, who helped create a similar group in England, just secured a $12,000 grant to visit Sumatra next month and demonstrate the process for the aid agencies gathered there. To date, the mapping project has garnered critical acclaim but has not been truly deployed in any disaster areas. The founder, Rupert Douglas-Bate, hit upon the idea years ago while working on a relief mission to Bosnia. Trained as a water engineer, he was assigned to repair drinking water systems that he couldn't find. "I didn't know where any of them were," he said. "There were minefields everywhere. ... I didn't know where the refugees were. It would have been incredibly helpful to have a series of maps that showed, 'These refugees are here.' " He was neither the first nor the last relief worker to run into the same problem. "If you don't have current intelligence, it can get you killed," said Randy Strash, strategic director of emergency response operations at the World Vision aid organization. His organization has viewed a demonstration of the Global MapAid system, and he thinks the maps could prove useful. Strash had to draw his own maps when he visited Kigali, Rwanda, during that country's 1994 civil war. He pitched his tent on the grounds of a girls school, not realizing that one of the warring parties had seized the houses across the street for its top leadership. He also didn't know the location of the local warehouses that aid organizations would need to use. "I had a map of the country," Strash said. "What I needed was a map that told me that stuff." Global MapAid's system is designed to compile that kind of information in simple, visual form. To start, Global MapAid would take basic maps of a disaster zone, showing towns, cities and roads. Then the group or an aid organization working with it would hire residents of the area to serve as data collection teams. Team members would receive a field kit of equipment costing about $2,000 each. The kits, tucked into small bags that look like carry-on luggage, contain a handheld computer, a satellite phone and a battery. Team members would be trained to enter information on the handheld, hook the computer to the satellite phone every few hours and send the data to a field office where it could be compiled. Then the teams would wander their community, recording what they found. The kinds of data collected would vary depending on what local aid agencies need. The workers might locate and count schools and hospitals. They could locate clusters of infectious disease. Specially designed software at the field office would take the data streaming in via satellite and quickly incorporate it into maps. Douglas-Bate went to Stanford two years ago on a fellowship, hoping to design just such a system. He had spent more than a decade working in international relief for such organizations as World Vision and the Red Cross. At Stanford, he gathered together students and faculty with expertise in cartography and computer coding to assemble the system. "He was very good at bringing together people from different disciplines, " said former Stanford Professor Gordon Bloom, who worked with Douglas-Bate, still serves as an adviser to the group and now directs Harvard University's Social Entrepreneurship Collaboratory. "He created a very multidisciplinary approach to solving social problems." The project won a prize in 2003 in a competition organized by the Business Association of Stanford Engineering Students to reward innovative business plans that address social problems. Douglas-Bate is now making the rounds of venture capital firms and charitable organizations, looking for funding. Although the tsunami will be the immediate focus of the group's efforts, Douglas-Bate wants the group
[ppiindia] Measuring literacy in a world gone digital
Alangkah enaknya menjadi pelajar/mahasiswa sekarang ini. Untuk menyusun karangan atau paper, bahannya tinggal mengambil di Google. Tapi awas, selain sumber terpercaya juga ada sumber blo'on dan sengaja mengeluarkan racun, Joe Vialis, umpamanya. Pelajar yang sedikit kritis tentunya segera tahu Joe Vialis adalah racun. Untungnya, Educational Testing Service, badan yang menghasilkan SAT, akan mengembangkan test untuk menguji kemampuan pelajar untuk memanfaatkan dunia cyber dan kemampuannya untuk memilah-milah mana sumber yang patut dikutip, mana yang semacam Joe Vialis. Salam, RM --- January 17, 2005 Measuring Literacy in a World Gone Digital By TOM ZELLER Jr. There was a time when researching a high school or college term paper was a far simpler thing. A student writing about, say, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, might have checked out a book on the history of aviation from the local library or tucked into the family's dog-eared Britannica. An ambitious college freshman might have augmented the research by looking up some old newspaper clips on microfilm or picking up a monograph in the stacks. Today, in a matter of minutes, students can identify these and thousands of other potential resources on the Internet - and, as any teacher will attest, they are not always adept at sorting the wheat from the chaff. Now the Educational Testing Service, the nonprofit group behind the SAT, Graduate Record Examination and other college tests, has developed a new test that it says can assess students' ability to make good critical evaluations of the vast amount of material available to them. The Information and Communications Technology literacy assessment, which will be introduced at about two dozen colleges and universities later this month, is intended to measure students' ability to manage exercises like sorting e-mail messages or manipulating tables and charts, and to assess how well they organize and interpret information from many sources and in myriad forms. About 10,000 undergraduates at schools from the University of California, Los Angeles to Bronx Community College are expected to take the test during the first offering period, which ends March 31. Still, just what is meant by "information" or even "technological" literacy remains a hotly debated topic in academic circles, and there is no widespread agreement on whether such skills can be taught, much less measured in a test. What seems certain, however, is that a lucrative market is emerging for testing companies that are willing to fill the perceived need. The initial technology test is aimed at midlevel college students, but the Educational Testing Service says it has also received inquiries from high schools and businesses. And while the new assessment is not a high-stakes requirement for academic advancement like the SAT, it seems inevitable that most students will one day need to prove themselves along these lines. Part of the problem, many educators say, is that the traditional vetting process for information is now so easily bypassed. "In an earlier time, information came, really, from only one place: the university library," said Lorie Roth, the assistant vice chancellor of academic programs for the California State University system, one of seven school systems that worked with the testing company over the last two years to develop the test. "Now it is all part of one giant continuum, and often the student is the sole arbiter of what is good information, what is bad information and what all the shades are in between." But not everyone agrees that measuring information literacy can be done, even with a standardized test. "There is a basic problem with identifying a single set of skills that could possibly relate to all people," said Stanley Wilder, the associate dean of the River Campus Libraries at the University of Rochester in New York, who wrote a withering assessment of the information literacy movement in The Chronicle of Higher Education two weeks ago. "There isn't a serious critique of any of the assumptions that info-literacy makes," Mr. Wilder said in an interview. "They'll tell you that it teaches critical thinking, but there's never been a study that measures whether students are really lacking this, or whether libraries can impact this." Be that as it may, it is true that the information literacy movement could prove a windfall for companies like the Educational Testing Service. Developing metrics for measuring how much students know - or how much they have yet to learn - has become a lucrative market. Eduventures, a research firm in Boston, estimated the assessment market for prekindergarten to Grade 12 - excluding the college years and beyond - at $1.8 billion for 2003. Given President Bush's announcement last Wednesday that he plans to expand the standardized testing mandated under the No Child Left Behind Act - which includes a commitment to "ensuring that every student is technologically li
[ppiindia] India's choice
Obat antiretroviral hanya memperpanjang umur, dan dengan demikian menjaga produktivitas, para penderita HIV/Aids. Jelasnya, antiretroviral bukan obat penyembuh HIV/Aids karena sampai sekarang penyakit satu ini belum ada obatnya. Sekalipun khasiat obat antiretroviral 'cuma' segitu, obat ini sangat dirasakan keperluannya di Brazil, negara-negara Afrika dan India dimana prevalensi HIV/Aids sangat tinggi. Masalahnya, harga obat ini amat tinggi, maklum pemegang patent-nya, yaitu Pfizer telah mengeluarkan biaya yang amat besar untuk R&D. Dengan cara menjiplak, India telah memprodusir obat antiretroviral ini. Sejumlah negara telah mengadakan pressure kepada Pfizer agar tidak keberatan terhadap industri farmasi lain yang menghasilkan obat yang sama dengan harga terjangkau oleh orang miskin. Tapi Pfizer tidak bergeming. Hasilnya, Indonesia tidak berani mengimport obat retroviral dari India. Salam, RM January 18, 2005 The New York Times EDITORIAL India's Choice For an AIDS patient in a poor country lucky enough to get antiretroviral treatment, chances are that the pills that stave off death come from India. Generic knockoffs of AIDS drugs made by Indian manufacturers - now treating patients in 200 countries - have brought the price of antiretroviral therapy down to $140 a year from $12,000. That luck may soon run out. India has become the world's supplier of cheap AIDS drugs because it has the necessary raw materials and a thriving and sophisticated copycat drug industry made possible by laws that grant patents to the process of making medicines, rather than to the drugs themselves. But when India signed the World Trade Organization's agreement on intellectual property in 1994, it was required to institute patents on products by Jan. 1, 2005. These rules have little to do with free trade and more to do with the lobbying power of the American and European pharmaceutical industries. India's government has issued rules that will effectively end the copycat industry for newer drugs. For the world's poor, this will be a double hit - cutting off the supply of affordable medicines and removing the generic competition that drives down the cost of brand-name drugs. But there is still a chance to fix the flaws in these rules, because they are contained in a decree that must be approved by Parliament. Heavily influenced by multinational and Indian drug makers eager to sell patented medicines to India's huge middle class, the decree is so tilted toward the pharmaceutical industry that it does not even take advantage of rights countries enjoy under the W.T.O. to protect public health. In November 2001, members of the World Trade Organization agreed that countries can issue compulsory licenses to permit generic production of patented drugs without the patent holder's agreement in order to protect public health, at home or abroad. But under the Indian decree, getting a compulsory license would be slow and difficult; each application would face a fight from multinational drug firms and the governments that do their bidding. India should adopt laws that expedite compulsory licenses, including allowing challenges to proceed after production begins instead of holding it up. In addition, India must close an important loophole affecting the sick overseas: under the current rules, Malawi, for example, could not import from India an inexpensive version of a medicine that is not under patent in Malawi. This needs to be changed. Industry lobbyists managed to insert two noxious provisions in the decree that go well beyond the W.T.O. rules. The decree would limit efforts to challenge patents before they take effect. Also, it is uncomfortably vague about whether companies could engage in "evergreening" - extending their patents by switching from a capsule to tablet, for example, or finding a new use for the product. This practice, a problem in America and elsewhere, extends monopolies and discourages innovation. While some drugs - those that existed before 1995 - will always be off patent in India, some widely used drugs are at risk. So are new generations of much more expensive AIDS drugs that will soon be needed worldwide as resistance builds to current medicines. If the decree is not changed before Parliament approves it, it will be very difficult for India to supply them. India's parliamentarians must keep in mind that this arcane dispute is actually a crucial battleground for the health of hundreds of millions of people in India and worldwide. The New York Times Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Help save the life of a child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/mGEjbB/5WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Pers
[nasional_list] [ppiindia] Titan mission 'resounding success
** Mailing List Nasional Indonesia PPI India Forum ** Titan mission 'resounding success' By Paul Rincon BBC News science reporter in Darmstadt, Germany Scientists have released the first results from the Huygens probe's journey to Saturn's moon Titan, along with amazing new images. They also played sounds recorded as Huygens dived towards the surface. Measurements suggest the area it landed on has the consistency of "creme brulee" and may have once been flooded. The European Space Agency said it would launch an enquiry into the loss of one of two information channels during transmission of the probe's data. But overall the mission has been a resounding success, scientists agreed. Professor David Southwood, Esa's director of science, was emotional as he read from the poem On First Looking Into Chapman's Homer by John Keats to sum up the team's sense of exhilaration at exploring a new world. "It continues to reassure us that people working together in interpersonal relationships that are dedicated to a goal can produce incredible, incredible things. And that's what has happened here," said Alphonso Diaz, associate administrator for science at the US space agency (Nasa). Tangerine sky The colour image shows the surface of Titan is bright orange with a tangerine sky, with "boulders" probably formed from ice. HUYGENS' INSTRUMENTS 1. HASI - measures physical and electrical properties of Titan's atmosphere 2. GCMS - identifies and measures chemical species abundant in moon's 'air' 3. ACP - draws in and analyses atmospheric aerosol particles 4. DISR - images descent and investigates light levels 5. DWE - studies direction and strength of Titan's winds 6. SSP - determines physical properties of moon's surface Aerial photographs from the descent show drainage channels apparently flowing off land into what seems to be a dark ocean, possibly composed of some tarry substance. It also shows a bank of what could be methane fog shrouding the landscape. Professor John Zarnecki, principal investigator on Huygens' surface science package (SSP) said the area where Huygens landed appeared to have a thin crust that overlies a material with more uniform consistency something like wet sand. "Maybe this suggests it was wet not so long ago and hasn't penetrated so far into the surface," said Dr Marty Tomasko, head of the Huygens imaging instrument. Scientists also unveiled measurements of the chemical methane in Titan's atmosphere. The chemistry of Titan is thought to be similar to that of Earth 4.6 billion years ago and could provide clues to how life first arose on our planet. The loss of the data channel has resulted in about 350 images being returned by the probe instead of over 700. It will also slow down the speedy return of data from an experiment to measure winds on Titan. Lightning strikes Professor Southwood said the human error that had caused the problem was "an Esa responsibility". "There is some aspect of humanity in every godlike occurrence. And there was a blemish yesterday," said Professor Southwood. "That's the cosmos reminding us we're just human." He reminded the audience that there was an abundance of data so far for scientists to work through. The sounds of Titan's stormy atmosphere were recorded with an onboard microphone, and scientists hope they might even hear lightning strikes when they analyse the data. The Cassini spacecraft arrived at Saturn in July 2004. It released the Huygens probe towards Titan on 25 December. The European-built craft entered Titan's atmosphere at an altitude of 1,270km (789 miles) at about 1000 GMT on Friday. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/4177401.stm Published: 2005/01/15 14:51:38 GMT © BBC MMV Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Help save the life of a child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/mGEjbB/5WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTE
[ppiindia] New model for high-speed broadband transmissions
(Center for Digital Education) New Model for High-Speed Broadband Transmissions Penn State researchers develop new model for high-speed broadband transmissions over U.S. overhead electric power lines By Newsdesk - January 2005 Penn State engineers have developed a new model for high-speed broadband transmissions over U.S. overhead electric power lines and estimate that, at full data rate handling capacity, the lines can provide bit rates that far exceed DSL or cable over similar spans. Mohsen Kavehrad, the W. L. Weiss professor of electrical engineering and director of the Center for Information and Communications Technology Research, led the investigation. He says, "Although broadband power line (BPL) service trials are now underway on a limited basis in some locations in the U.S., these trials run at DSL- comparable rates of 2 or 3 megabits per second. "We've run a computer simulation with our new power line model and found that, under ideal conditions, the maximum achievable bit rate was close to a gigabit per second per kilometer on an overhead medium voltage unshielded U.S. electric power line that has been properly conditioned through impedance matching. The gigabit can be shared by a half dozen homes in a neighborhood to provide rates in the hundreds of megabits per second range, much higher than DSL and even cable." Kavehrad adds, "If you condition those power lines properly, they're an omni-present national treasure waiting to be tapped for broadband Internet service delivery, especially in rural areas where cable or DSL are unavailable." The researchers say they are the first to evaluate data rate handling capacity for overhead medium voltage unshielded U. S. electric power lines and outlined their findings at the IEEE Consumer Communications & Networking Conference in Las Vegas, Nev., Jan. 5. Their paper is titled, "Transmission Channel Model and Capacity of Overhead Multi-conductor Medium-Voltage Power-lines for Broadband Communications." The authors are Pouyan Amirshahi, a doctoral candidate in electrical engineering, and Kavehrad. In their paper, the authors note that the junctions and branches in the U.S. overhead electrical grid cause broadband signals to reflect and produce multipath-like effects on these lines. This causes degradation in power-line broadband transmission performance and decreases transmission capacity. Kavehrad explains, "The signal can bounce back and forth in the lines if there is no proper impedance matching. The bouncing takes energy away from the signal and the loss is reflected in the ultimate capacity. "In service, performance will depend on how close the power company chooses to place the repeaters," he adds. The researchers are continuing their studies. Kavehrad predicts that the engineering issues to make BPL a technical alternative to DSL and cable will be solved. Whether it will be an economical alternative remains to be seen since there are interference issues that have to be overcome. The study was supported by a grant from AT&T Corporation. Newsdesk Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Give the gift of life to a sick child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/lGEjbB/6WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Memberi les privat lewat internet
Halo Pak/Ibu guru di Indonesia, terbuka luas peluang mendapat penghasilan tambahan. Demand berupa anak-anak Amerika yang memerlukan pelajaran tambahan matematika dan science. Seumpama Anda bisa charge seorang anak $4/jam, atau separo upah minimum, dan umpama Anda punya murid 4 anak, maka dalam satu jam Anda mendapat penghasilan tambahan $40 !!! Lumayan kan? Tentu saja syaratnya Anda harus mahir Bahasa Inggris dan mahir ber-internet ria pakai head-set. Salam, RM Sunday, January 16, 2005 Tuition Outsourcing: California, Boston kids dial India to brush up maths, science BINU KARUNAKARAN & SMITA NAIR KOCHI/MUMBAI, JANUARY 15 Twice a week, Ann Maria, a sixth grader at Silver Oak Elementary School, California, logs on the Internet from home. Shes not chatting up with friends, but connecting to her personal tutoralready online, armed with a headset and a pen mousein a cubicle almost a timezone away in Kochi. Your neighbourhood tuition teacher, riding on the Information Technology Enabled Service (ITES) wave, has now gone global and his monthly pay packet has turned meatieranywhere between $10 and $40 an hour. We started last year with three teachers and around 10 students. There are 17 teachers now and around 160 students, says Bina George, manager, HR and Administration of the Canadian subsidiary. What Bina adds up in numbers is actually a business model which is slowly transforming neighbourhood classroom models across India into global education outsourcing hubs. As the education season goes into the second leg across US and Europe, the demand for tutorial assistance only stands to increase, say industry observers. And with schools recommending additional training for students performing below-average, tutors across Asia stand to gain. Says Shanthanu Prakash, CEO, Educomp Datamatics Ltd, a company which tutors students from the Santa Barbara school district in the US: The demand abroad is growing as there is a huge dearth of tuition teachers, especially in the USA, UK and Middle East. Around a year old in India, more players are in the line to pick up this model in 2005, coinciding with new outsourcing contracts from foreign shores. And investments for an organised set-upinfrastructure, networking and brainbank could be around Rs 4 to 5 crore. Satya Narayanan, chairman of Career Launcher says the time has finally come for India to emerge in this domain. This year and the next will see a lot of action in terms of new contracts between international education companies outsourcing tutorial teaching contracts to India, more so from the US market. His logic: superior intellectual power compared to competitors like China, Phillipines, Singapore and other Asia Pacific countries, and a huge English-speaking teachers community. Says Kiran Karnik, president, National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM): Foreign countries today acknowledge Indias intellectual brand thanks to efforts of institutes like IIMs and IITs. This model could be one of the best service exports which could finally globalise the education industry. In an industry report on Internet enhanced learning, NASSCOM has pegged 2005 to be the year when markets will reach a stage of maturity where benefits of e-learning are more apparent...as opposed to being an isolated human resource function or a lofty concept. It is going to change the way education is taught in India and globally. More employment opportunities with a higher payscale and better content delivery will take place. Also, this would lead to corporatisation of education, lending it better branding, says Narayanan. Says 20-year-old Ruchi Dudeja, one of the 10 online brains who guide the school district of Massachusetts at Career Launcher: Tutoring Americans on their own syllabus is never tough as we Indians are easily intellectually superior. Dudeja guides eighth grade students through the binary kingdom. And having got into classroom tuitions four years ago for extra pocket money, the new platform earns her Rs 15,000 per month. With voice-enabled interaction and pre-designed content packages, these online tutors get trained themselves in accent and foreign culture, similar to their BPO counterparts. Teachers have to be certified by administrators at the foreign company as well as the Indian agency which completes the outsourcing, says Narayanan. The minimum requirement is a degree and ability to communicate through technology. While Nasscom predicts a big market in the personal online tutoring domain, Educomps Prakash feels the court is not yet open to all. Only companies with a background in education training and content development can dabble in this at present. BPO companies alone cannot perform in this sector, he says. Yet, expansion plans are busily being drawn up. Growing Star hopes to scale its 57-seater capacity this year. Educom, which
[ppiindia] Indonesian defence minister denies deadline for foreign troops
Agaknya terjadi kesalahan penyampaian komunikasi disini. Salam, RM STI Jan 16, 2005 Indonesian defence minister denies deadline for foreign troops JAKARTA - Indonesia's Defence Minister said on Sunday that there is no three-month deadline for foreign troops involved in the massive tsunami relief operation to be out of the country and said Jakarta would like to improve military relations with Washington. 'We would like to emphasise that March 26 is not a deadline for involvement of foreign military personnel in the relief effort,' Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono said after a meeting with US Deputy Secretary of Defence Paul Wolfowitz. 'It is a benchmark for the Indonesian government to improve and accelerate its relief efforts so that by March 26 the large part of the burden of the relief effort will be carried by the Indonesian government and Indonesian authorities,' he added. Mr Sudarsono also said that Jakarta is keen to boost relations between the US and Indonesian militaries, that have been severely curtailed for years by widespread allegations of human rights abuses by Indonesian troops. -- AP Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Give the gift of life to a sick child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/lGEjbB/6WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Do you want to live forever ?
TechnologyReview.com Do You Want to Live Forever? By Sherwin Nuland Febuary 2005 Wandering through the quadrangles and medieval bastions of learning at the University of Cambridge one overcast Sunday afternoon a few months ago, I found myself ruminating on how this venerable place had been a crucible for the scientific revolution that changed humankinds perceptions of itself and of the world. The notion of Cambridge as a source of grand transformative concepts was very much on my mind that day, because I had traveled to England to meet a contemporary Cantabrigian who aspires to a historical role similar to those enjoyed by Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, and William Harvey. Aubrey David Nicholas Jasper de Grey is convinced that he has formulated the theoretical means by which human beings might live thousands of yearsindefinitely, in fact. Perhaps theoretical is too small a word. De Grey has mapped out his proposed course in such detail that he believes it may be possible for his objective to be achieved within as short a period as 25 years, in time for many readers of Technology Review to avail themselves of its formulationsand, not incidentally, in time for his 41-year-old self as well. Like Bacon, de Grey has never stationed himself at a laboratory bench to attempt a single hands-on experiment, at least not in human biology. He is without qualifications for that, and makes no pretensions to being anything other than what he is, a computer scientist who has taught himself natural science. Aubrey de Grey is a man of ideas, and he has set himself toward the goal of transforming the basis of what it means to be human. For reasons that his memory cannot now retrieve, de Grey has been convinced since childhood that aging is, in his words, something we need to fix. Having become interested in biology after marrying a geneticist in 1991, he began poring over texts, and autodidacted until he had mastered the subject. The more he learned, the more he became convinced that the postponement of death was a problem that could very well have real solutions and that he might be just the person to find them. As he reviewed the possible reasons why so little progress had been made in spite of the remarkable molecular and cellular discoveries of recent decades, he came to the conclusion that the problem might be far less difficult to solve than some thought; it seemed to him related to a factor too often brushed under the table when the motivations of scientists are discussed, namely the small likelihood of achieving promising results within the period required for academic advancementcareerism, in a word. As he puts it, High-risk fields are not the most conducive to getting promoted quickly. De Grey began reading the relevant literature in late 1995 and after only a few months had learned so much that he was able to explain previously unidentified influences affecting mutations in mitochondria, the intracellular structures that release energy from certain chemical processes necessary to cell function. Having contacted an expert in this area of research who told him that he had indeed made a new discovery, he published his first biological research paper in 1997, in the peer-reviewed journal BioEssays (A Proposed Refinement of the Mitochondrial Free Radical Theory of Aging, de Grey, ADNJ, BioEssays 19(2)161166, 1997). By July 2000, further assiduous application had brought him to what some have called his eureka moment, the insight he speaks of as his realization that aging could be described as a reasonably small set of accumulating and eventually pathogenic molecular and cellular changes in our bodies, each of which is potentially amenable to repair. This concept became the theme of all the theoretical investigation he would do from that moment on; it became the leitmotif of his life. He determined to approach longevity as what can only be called a problem in engineering. If it is possible to know all the components of the variety of processes that cause animal tissues to age, he reasoned, it might also be possible to design remedies for each of them. All along the way, de Grey would be continually surprised at the relative ease with which the necessary knowledge could be masteredor at least, the ease with which he himself could master it. Here I must issue a caveat, a variant of those seen in television commercials featuring daredevilish stunts: Do not attempt this on your own. It is extremely hazardous and requires special abilities. For if you can take a single impression away from spending even a modicum of time with Aubrey de Grey, it is that he is the possessor of special abilities. As he surveyed the literature, de Grey reached the conclusion that there are seven distinct ingredients in the aging process, and that emerging understanding of molecular biology shows promise of one day providing appropriate technologies by which each of them might be manipulatedperturbed, in the
[ppiindia] Media Lab Europe closing after failing to attract sponsors
Posted on Fri, Jan. 14, 2005 Media Lab Europe closing after failing to attract sponsors DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) - Media Lab Europe, a high-tech research center founded by the Irish government and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, announced Friday that it is closing because it's run out of money. The project, launched in 2000 as a 10-year collaboration and modeled on a similar lab at the U.S. university, had high hopes of promoting innovation and incubating successful products in Europe. It was supposed to become self-financing -- like MIT's 20-year-old, industrially funded Media Lab in Cambridge, Mass. -- with intellectual property developed through the partnership shared with financial contributors. The lab's business model required around $13 million a year from corporate sponsors -- but only a fraction of the hoped-for money came. ``In the end, it was too deep and too long a recession,'' said Simon Jones, the lab's managing director. In its most recent accounts, Media Lab Europe said it spent about $10.6 million in 2003 and raised just $3.3 million. This was the second unsuccessful attempt by MIT to set up a Media Lab offshoot abroad, following on the success of MIT's industrially funded center in Cambridge. In 2003, the university pulled out of a collaboration in India after less than two years, blaming a clash in research styles. MIT Chancellor Phil Clay issued a statement, saying Media Lab Europe ``was caught in the economic downturn affecting the digital and telecommunications industries'' shortly after the project's launch. ``We are grateful that the Irish Government shares MIT's view that this kind of initiative is important,'' Clay said. Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern had attracted the MIT-inspired project by offering a $45 million start-up grant. Ahern envisioned that the lab -- based in a former warehouse of the Guinness brewery in a traditionally rough quarter of Dublin -- could become the focal point for a ``digital hub'' of high-tech companies. About three dozen mostly small firms have been attracted to the area, aided by their own government grants. But with the lab's cash reserves rapidly running out, the government and MIT spent months arguing over who should chiefly subsidize the loss-making effort. In the end, neither would. More than 50 people will lose their jobs when the lab closes Feb. 1. Noel Dempsey, the government's communications minister, said Ahern was ``very disappointed it has come to this. At the time it seemed to be the right thing to do. ... Unfortunately the model is not a sustainable one in the current climate.'' In its closure statement, the lab's board of directors -- among them U.S. tech guru Nicholas Negroponte and U2 guitarist The Edge -- suggested the project might have become profitable if given a longer lifeline. ``It is important to acknowledge the innovative work of the lab since it was established,'' the board said. ``Much of this work has been coming to fruition in recent months, with 14 patent applications filed and a number of commercialization opportunities being explored.'' -- www.siliconvalley.com Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Give the gift of life to a sick child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/lGEjbB/6WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Amid disaster, new confidence
Meskipun pekerjaan saya di India habis dan berada kembali di tanah air karena pensiun, insya Allah saya akan tetap meliput berita non-politik dan non-agama seperti sedia kala. Hari ini saya baca tulisan menarik dari Fareed Zakaria di News Week. Komentarnya tepat seperti kesan saya tentang sikap bangsa ini dalam menghadapi bencana tsunami -- dengan sikap matang dan maju. Kalau di Indonesia Surya Paloh dengan koran Media Indonesia dan Metro TV adalah tokoh utama penggalang solidaritas untuk korban tsunami di Aceh, maka di India tokoh sentralnya adalah PM Manmohan Singh yang berhasil mengumpulkan dana sumbangan dari masyarakat sampai sebesar $ 80 juta. Seperti Fareed Zakaria, saya juga mengamati koran India tidak lagi terlalu dipenuhi berita politik, tapi sekarang dipenuhi oleh berita menarik tentang pengusaha sukses (Lakshi Mittal, Ambani, Azim Premji, Nandan Nilekani, Narayana Murthy), kemajuan teknologi, fashion, malls baru, dan tentu saja Bolliwood. Koran Times of India tampilannya tidak lagi hambar, tapi mirip koran tabloid. Yang jadi top story bulan ini, selain soal tsunami tentu saja, adalah sengketa yang kurang jelas antara dua bersaudara, Mukesh dan Anil Ambani pemilik konglomerasi industri Reliance Group. Kalau kasus ini merebak pada masa lalu, paling-paling beritanya menyelip sedikit di kolom bisnis. Tidak usah heran, karena saat ini 3 juta orang India menjadi pemegang saham Reliance. Salam, RM - (Newsweek) January 17, 2005 Amid Disaster, New Confidence In Chennai, a private street-cleaning movement now has 17,000 chapters By Fareed Zakaria For more articles by Fareed Zakaria, visit the archive. To understand how much and how fast India is changing, look at its response to the tsunami. I don't mean the government's reaction but that of individual Indians. In the two weeks after the tidal wave hit, the Prime Minister's Relief Fund, the main agency to which people make donations, has collected about $80 million. After the Gujarat earthquake of April 2001, it took almost one year to collect the same amount of money. And remember that the 2001 earthquake was massive (7.9 on the Richter scale), killed more Indians (30,000) than the tsunami appears to have, and also got intense media attention (Bill Clinton headed the fund-raising efforts). What has changed in these four years is the most important new reality about India: the growing wealth, strength and confidence of Indian society. Until a few years ago, Indian newspapers were filled with the affairs of the state. Usually written in a cryptic jargon filled with abbreviations (PM TO PROPOSE UGC EXPANSION AT AICC MEETING), they reported on the workings of the government, major political parties and bureaucratic bodies. Pick up an Indian newspaper today and it is overflowing with stories about businessmen, technological fads, fashion designers, new shopping malls and, of course, Bollywood, which now makes more movies every year than Hollywood. The Times of India, once the country's most venerated newspaper, now has the look and feel of a colorful tabloid. India's biggest story for the past month, aside from the tsunami, has been the rift between Mukesh Ambani and his younger brother, who run India's largest company, Reliance Industries. Twenty years ago, this tale would have been relegated to the (thin) business section of a paper; today it's front-page news. It makes senseafter all, Reliance has 3 million shareholders. In New Delhi, where I was last week, people ponder prospects for further economic reforms. Some think they are going too slow; others are heartened that at least they are moving forward. This discussion has been going on for two decades. But the real story might be that 20 years of modest but persistent reforms in India have had huge effects. Over the past 15 years, India has been the second fastest-growing large economy in the world (after China), with an average growth rate of 6 percent. Per capita income in the country has almost doubled (from an admittedly tiny base), and more than 100 million Indians have moved out of poverty. The animal spirits of Indian capitalism, long suppressed, have been unleashed. Gurcharan Das, the former CEO of Procter & Gamble in India, and one of the first chroniclers of these shifts in attitude, told me a story of a poor young teenager he encountered. The boy told Das that in order to succeed, he had three goals. He wanted to learn to use Windows, to write an invoice and to learn 400 words of English. "Why 400 words?" asked Das. The boy explained that that's what it took to pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language, the base requirement for admission to an American university. "Now, this guy probably won't get into an American college, but this is the way people are thinking all over India," Das said. Of course, all the legendary problems of Indian government remain: subsidies, regulation, red tape, bureaucracy and inefficiency are all s
[ppiindia] Mengapa ditolak penganpunan utang ?
Hari ini ada pernyataan yang agak aneh: Indonesia menolak tawaran pengurangan hutang. Setengah tidak percaya, saya cross-checked beberapa sumber berita ternyata hasilnya sama saja. Sebagai rakyat biasa, saya agak heran. Kesempatan emas yang tidak akan terulang untuk kedua kali mumpung negara-negara besar menawarkan pemotongan utang, mengapa tidak disambar saja, begitu pikir saya. Yah, sudahlah, pikiran saya kan dangkal. Mungkin, bapak-bapak yang diatas sana mempunyai pikiran yang amat jitu untuk menyelamatkan bangsa yang sudah terpuruk ini, kata saya menghibur diri. Kalaulah dikatakan bahwa pemotongan utang akan menurunkan kredibilitas RI tercinta ini, bukankah kita sekarang sudah hampir-hampir tidak punya kredibilitas lagi? Lalu apanya yang mau diselamatkan lagi? Dan saat ini bukan kita yang ngemis-ngemis agar utang kita diampuni saja, tapi justru yang empunya pihutang yang menawarkan !!! Ah, mungkin saja saya yang tidak pandai karena bukan ekonoom. Segera setelah saya mendengar kita menolak pengampunan utang itu, ingatan saya melayang ke situasi Mexico dibawah Presiden Carlinas de Gortari (1988-1992). Waktu itu kepercayaan pihak luar terhadap Mexico hampir nol. Tapi Mexico dengan tangkas menerima tawaran Brady's Plan untuk memangkas hutang negara-negara berpendapatan menengah. Dan Mexico berhasil gemilang, hutang pemerintah dipotong 35% !!!, dan pemerintah Amerika memaksa swastanya untuk menerima debt-for-equity swap. Mungkin awak yang bodoh ini menyamakan begitu saja keadaan kita saat ini dengan keadaan Mexico masa 1988-1992, entahlah. Anda yang pintar-pintar, care to enlighten me? Salam, RM -- Globalization Poverty Development Sustainability Appendix 3 Commercial debt restructuring Developments in 1997 Debt and debt service reduction operations in low-income countries Swaps in middle-income countries Other restructuring in middle-income countries Debt conversion programs Debt for equity Debt for development Back to Contents Since 1989 the restructuring of developing country debt to commercial banks has occurred largely through buybacks supported by the International Development Associations (IDA) Debt Reduction Facility for low-income countries1 and through officially supported debt and debt service reduction programs (Brady operations) for middle-income countries.2 These programs have helped resolve long-standing concerns of debtors and commercial bank creditors and have improved these countries creditworthiness, in some cases contributing to the restoration of market access. Some middle-income countries have recently come full circle, entering the market to retire collateralized Brady bonds through exchanges for uncollateralized instruments and through debt buybacks. Officially supported programs and associated market swap operations reduced developing countries debt to commercial banks by $53.2 billion between 1989 and December 1997 (table A3.1). This reduction, equivalent to 23 percent of the $231.2 billion of eligible commercial bank debt (including interest arrears), was effected through buybacks, cash payments, and writeoffs. Since 1989, 33 countries have completed 41 debt and debt service reduction operations under the aegis of the Debt Reduction Facility, the Brady Plan, and, most recently, voluntary swap operations by major Latin American countries. Eighteen low-income countries have extinguished $12.6 billion of the $18.2 billion of eligible principal and interest arrears due to commercial banks under the Debt Reduction Facility and, more recently, under debt and debt service reduction operations. Fifteen middle-income countries have eliminated nearly 20 percent of their $213.0 billion in commercial bank debt. Financing costs of officially supported operationsfunds expended for buybacks and other cash payments and for principal and interest collateral needed to guarantee the debt exchangeshave totaled $23.6 billion. Financing, net of the $3.7 billion of concerted new money provided by commercial banks, came in almost equal shares from debtor countries and official lenders. The World Banks participation amounted to $4.7 billion, or about 37 percent of foreign financing requirements net of concerted commercial bank lending. Back to top Back to Contents Developments in 1997 Nine debt reduction agreements between debtor countries and their commercial bank creditors were concluded in 1997, restructuring $19.1 billion in debt and reducing outstanding debt by $6.9 billion (see table A3.1). Among low-income countries, Togo bought back $46.1 million at an average price of 12.5 cents per dollar in a deal supported by the Debt Reduction Facility (table A3.2) and Côte dIvoire and Vietnam restructured $7.3 billion under the Brady initiative. Bosnia and Herzegovina concluded an agreement with commercial bank creditors to restructure $1.3 billion, including $0.7 billion in interest arrears. Among middle-income countries, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuad
[ppiindia] U.S. calls Indonesia deadline for troop pullout reasonable
January 14, 2005 AID RESTRICTIONS U.S. Calls Indonesia Deadline for Troop Pullout Reasonable By RAYMOND BONNER JAKARTA, Indonesia, Jan. 13 - The American ambassador here said Thursday that the United States was not troubled by the Indonesian government's demands that aid workers in Aceh Province register and that all foreign troops be gone by the end of March, describing the restrictions as "reasonable" and "unremarkable." "It's their country," Ambassador B. Lynn Pascoe said at a news conference at the fortified American Embassy, adding that "they have every right to decide" how long American troops are needed. He said Indonesia's intention to have foreign troops leave and its own people take over the reconstruction after 90 days "sounds like a perfectly reasonable position to me." Mr. Pascoe's comments came as administration officials contended that Indonesia was not imposing a strict time limit, but rather giving an estimate of how long foreign soldiers would be needed. The Indonesian vice president, Jusuf Kalla, said Wednesday that foreign troops could stay "no longer than three months." In an interview Thursday on the PBS program "The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer," Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said he would not characterize the announcement as a deadline. "It was an expectation that the work would be finished and there would not be a need for foreign troops after three months," he said. This is a highly nationalistic country, and the Bush administration is clearly concerned about the reactions of Indonesians to the presence of the American troops. Ambassador Pascoe's comments were all the more significant given that American diplomats rarely speak publicly. Even at the senior level, they are not supposed to comment on the record without approval from Washington, and in the last several years, there have been fewer than a handful of on-the-record remarks by American diplomats here. On Thursday, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz sought to play down the decision, saying he expected American military relief operations to end well before then. "I would hope that we would not be needed as a military long before March," he told reporters traveling with him to Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka to inspect damaged areas. Mr. Wolfowitz added: "For any country it is a sensitive issue to have foreign troops on your territory. It would be sensitive in the United States, and I can tell you that it is extremely sensitive in Indonesia." On Thursday, Mr. Pascoe, a career diplomat who took up his post three months ago, not only spoke on the record, but called a news conference, which was heavily attended by Indonesian journalists. He emphasized that this was an Indonesian operation, and went out of his way to defend the Indonesian government. The only criticism came when Mr. Pascoe, in response to a question, said the "high level of corruption" here was a "very serious problem." The Indonesian government has hired Ernst & Young to audit the foreign funds being sent for relief, said William Frej, director of the United States Agency for International Development office here. Mr. Pascoe also said the United States military did not have any problem with allowing an Indonesian soldier on American helicopters, another recent demand by the government. The Indonesian government has said its curbs on aid workers in Aceh are necessary for their protection. Aceh has been torn by a civil war between the government and separatist rebels for nearly 30 years. Many Indonesians do not accept the government's reason for the restrictions. It is more likely, they say, that the military wants to reassert control over the province. The New York Times Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC/NC today! http://us.click.yahoo.com/5F6XtA/.WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send
[ppiindia] Once a village, now nothing: even the bodies are gone
January 14, 2005 ABSENT REMAINS Once a Village, Now Nothing: Even the Bodies Are Gone By IAN FISHER CALANG, Indonesia, Jan. 13 - This town was not just destroyed. It vanished. After almost three weeks, only 323 bodies have been found. Before Dec. 26, when the tsunami swept in from both sides of the pretty tropical peninsula that once cradled Calang, 7,300 people lived here. There is no hint of the 5,627 people missing, and the reality is settling in that 8 in 10 people in Calang were whisked clean away. "It seems impossible," said a student here, Suhardi, 20, still dumbstruck. The waves left little behind, not people and not houses. There is, in fact, almost nothing left to see. Concrete foundations were stripped bare. There is some rubble, though far less than might be expected given that every home, coffee shop, fish restaurant and mosque was leveled, apart from one rich man's manor, now a two-story skeleton of partial walls and bone-white columns. "There is only one," Col. Ikin Sodikin, an Indonesian Army officer, said as he pointed out the sole standing house. He chuckled in resignation, as people sometimes do in the face of things no one can really grasp. "All Calang has just disappeared," he said. Calang is one of many villages on the western coast of Aceh Province wiped from the map of Indonesia, where suffering along the land closest to the earthquake's epicenter has been compounded by its remoteness. In the next village south, Kreung Sabe, half the town's residents died, and all but 500 of the 4,400 people who lived there before the tsunami are homeless. They now must walk seven miles to a port where relief supplies are delivered with what they say is still not enough food or medicine. Just south of Kreung Sabe, a fishing village called Panga and three others nearby were flattened completely, with not a single house standing. In Panga itself, 793 of 1,108 people died, local leaders say, in a place with no airstrip, no port and roads completely washed out. It took a week for the first relief to arrive. Maybe 100 bodies, soldiers say, still lay around a swamp. "I've been encouraging people to come get them," said Lt. Col. Reza Utama, who lost 20 of his own men stationed here. But no body bags or rubber gloves have been delivered, and so Colonel Utama said, "people are a bit reluctant." This strip of coast southwest of the regional capital, Banda Aceh, itself devastated by the tsunami, appears to have suffered some of the worst proportional losses on Dec. 26. In the region hit by the earthquake and then the tsunami, this is also one of the places that help was last to reach. And that assistance, nearly three weeks later, seems both heroic and not quite enough. People complain of surviving on just rice and instant noodles. A local leader in Panga, named Ismaelis, said children were suffering from fever, vomiting and diarrhea. "We don't mind being orphans if the aid is coming," said Sharudin, 18, who lost his parents and four siblings. "If the aid doesn't come, it would be better if we just died with our parents." It is not for lack of trying: American military helicopters, Indonesian ships and aircraft, along with a flotilla of private boats are getting through to most places. (One aid official reported finding a village near Panga on Wednesday where residents said they had not seen any outside help.) But the devastation is so great, the numbers in need so huge, with much terrain accessible only by helicopter. On Wednesday, two aid boats capsized, residents said, in the treacherous surf off Panga. "It's a lot of people in some really remote places that aren't accessible," Maurice Knight, with the private consulting company International Resources Group, of Washington, D.C., said on a boat trip this week along the coast as part of his work coordinating relief efforts. "I think the fact is that it's going to have to be a scaling up, and that is going to take two months." But time is not unlimited: Rick Brennan, the health director for the aid group International Rescue Committee, camped out for two days here, said enough supplies were getting in to keep people basically fed and healthy. There are no signs of child malnutrition or outbreaks of serious diseases like cholera. He estimated, though, that 80 percent of the children had suffered from diarrhea, and sanitation in ever-more-crowded refugee camps is far from adequate to ensure health or prevent major disease outbreaks. "From a humanitarian point of view, we need to move quickly," he said. Perhaps more than any other place hit by the tsunami, the focus here is on the living - on getting food and medicine here more quickly, of drafting plans to resettle the homeless into refugee camps that are safe, clean and accessible. And perhaps more than anywhere else, there is no choice but to think more about the living, because so few of the dead have been found. Unlike elsewhere, there are no mass graves in this town, no pa
[ppiindia] Xenophobia thicker than humanity
Dalam situasi normal, mana ada negara yang cuek atas kehadiran armada asing berikut lebih dari 13,000 personil AL dalam wilayahnya ? Jadi dalam situasi normal, sikap Panglima TNI masuk akal, sama masuk akalnya dengan 2 x 2 = 4. Namun situasi bencana tsunami di Aceh, adalah situasi bencana besar yang mengharuskan pertolongan secepatnya. TNI bukannya tidak berbuat apa-apa, mereka bekerja siang malam tanpa memikirkan anak isteri lagi, dalam situasi stress berat, kurang tenaga kurang alat. Jangan dibandingkan TNI dengan personil Armada Ketujuh, yang terakhir ini punya banyak tenaga, puluhan/ratusan helicopter besar, dan hovercraft untuk mengangkut alat-alat berat. Aemada Ketujuh juga saya percaya tidak ingin tinggal lama-lama di Aceh karena pekerjaan besar lainnya sudah menunggu. Salam, RM - (Editorial The Jakarta Post, Jan 13, 2005) Xenophobia thicker than humanity On Wednesday morning, a major radio station in Jakarta invited its listeners to comment on the Indonesian Military's (TNI) decision to restrict the movements of international aid workers and foreign military personnel while in Aceh. The answers given by the listeners have likely upset the government, especially the TNI's top brass, because most listeners were not only opposed to the TNI's decision, but also questioned the real motives of the TNI. Such a reaction reflects the high suspicion that remains toward the military, who for decades were a tool of oppression. "We should not be paranoid about the foreigners, who are very sincere in helping people in Aceh," one listener from Central Jakarta said. It is obviously a good move by the TNI Chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto to say he wants to ensure the safety of some 2,000 foreign civilians, who are now working on the humanitarian mission in the tsunami-devastated province. As a host, Indonesia is responsible for the security and protection of the humanitarian workers. Indonesia could not have handled this unprecedented disaster on its own. The nation needs international assistance. Although it seems restrictive, the general's decision to require the volunteers to be escorted by TNI soldiers during trips outside of Banda Aceh actually makes sense because there is still a war going on. With seemingly little fear of the many risks inherent, the volunteers have come here out of a strong sense of compassion for the suffering victims and have been motivated to help the Acehnese build a totally new life. Foreign military ships and planes are also required to have military liaison officers accompany them and get clearance from the TNI for all movements. Meanwhile, the government has indicated that the foreign presence would not last more than three months. But, as reflected in the radio talk show, many people doubt that the restrictive measures are merely aimed at protecting the foreign volunteers. TNI generals have admitted they would not have enough resources to handle the relief and rehabilitation alone, and thus need the foreign help. So, why then did Gen. Endriartono make such a controversial decision, while thousands of guests are now in Aceh to help us? Most of them likely realize the dangers during their humanitarian mission, but still they have come. Why? Because of a sense of humanity; that is the only answer for their readiness to take a risk. A risk that may be in the form of armed gunmen, another earthquake aftershock or malaria. We should thank the hard-working guests because without their help, the suffering of the victims of the natural disaster would be much worse. Despite the radio listeners responses, it has become all too evident from local media reports that there is a growing feeling of xenophobia here, at least in certain parts of society. We accept the foreigners' relief, but at the same time we are suspicious of them and do not appreciate what they have done. From television reports, it has become abundantly clear that the Acehnese have welcomed the foreigners, including American soldiers. People who live far away from these appreciative victims still question the foreign presence, while for victims, they are saviors. Perhaps it is ridiculous to say that such behavior also proves that many of us have no compassion for our brothers and sisters in Aceh, not just when they were oppressed by the government, but even now as they struggle to survive amidst such a horrible calamity. Many Indonesians are very firm in their opinion that the government must do everything possible to ensure the integrity of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI), therefore, they also feel that any rebellious acts in Aceh must be harshly punished to ensure that the soil of that province remains part of the nation state. Of course, we also hope the foreign guests realize that they are guests in Aceh, regardless of how much we need their help. Guests are expected to adapt to the conditions of their hosts. We do hope that the negative st
[ppiindia] Facing a multinational onslaught
Facing a multinational onslaught Sanjay K Pillai / New Delhi January 12, 2005 (Business Week) Multinational companies are beginning to hire the best and the brightest from campuses and they're stepping up their hiring. The outcome could be job hopping. Heres a forecast that information technology company men would ignore at their peril IT company employees will start to demand fatter pay cheques and job hop in the next 12 months. That warning comes from Partha Iyengar, vice president at Gartner Inc. Says he: I expect the mercenary behaviour to reappear in the next 12 months. Oddly enough, the reason the IT industry will start to see huge attrition rates is the very success of outsourcing to India. Spurred by this, multinational companies around the world have decided to come to India, set up shop and hire aggressively. That should be music to the ears of the thousands of employees at IT companies who are itching to switch jobs, at a time when attrition rates at software companies are hovering around the high teens. See wholl be hiring Company Current headcount AdditionsTime --- - - Sap AG 1100 3000 2006 Merrill Lynch800 TCS+Satyam 2000 2005 EDS 2000 CSC 1800 3000 2005 Philips Software over 1000 double - Xansa- 7000 2007 People soft 3601000 2005 GE 15000 8000 2005 Accenture1 WNS Global 5000 6500-7000 2005 Honeywell - 90-100 per month in 2004 - Sun Microsystems 700850-9002005 JP Morgan20004000 Nxt couple of yrs Mellon 2100 2500 - Aviva3700 760 in India: 190 in SL 2005 Veritas 6751350 2005 Reuters 3401200 2005 Syntel 8501350-1400 - Royal & Sun - 1100 Nxt few yrs Hughes Software 3000 5500 2006 Alcatel 6001200 2005 Cap Gemini 1100 2600 2005 Lyolds TSB 1500 2500 2005 Ness Tech1350 2700 2005 Deloitte 500-1000 5000 Nxt 5yrs A quick look at the number of people multinationals are hiring tell the story. The top three multinational companies, IBM, Cognizant Technology and Accenture, added over 15,000 people in India in the last 10 months. Include Daksh, which IBM acquired, and the number leaps to around 20,000. At the same time, the top three Indian software companies too added about 20,000 people in India. Wipro itself recruited over 5,000 people in the quarter ended in September. So the number of people being hired could be similar for both the top local and multinational companies in the months ahead. Accenture which has about 10,000 people in India is expected to double its headcount by the end of this year. A look at the next 10 or so multinationals that have a presence in India and the next 10 Indian software companies reveals a very different story. Multinationals such as Microsoft, Oracle Corporation, Electronic Data Systems, Computer Sciences Corporation, Cisco Systems, Intel, Xansa, SAP, PeopleSoft, Cap Gemini and Deloitte have cumulatively ramped up by over 20,000 people in India in the last 10 months and have announced plans of hiring an equal number, if not more, in the coming months and years. In contrast, 10 Indian mid-tier IT companies like Patni Computers, NIIT, Mastek, i-flex, Polaris, CMC, Tata Infotech, Mahindra British Telecom, Birlasoft and MPhasis BFL have cumulatively added less than 10,000 people. That doesnt exactly auger well for their future it can be argued that the IT services business is a people intensive game. Notes an analyst at a Chennai-based IT firm: Multinationals are stealing the thunder from Indian companies. History always repeats itself. It happened to the fast moving consumer goods, financial services, automobile and pharmaceutical industries. We are now seeing a replay of it in IT services. The bottomline, he contends, is that the Indian IT services industry is losing out to multinationals when it comes to recruitment. Agrees Vivek Paul, vice chairman of the Bangalore-based Wipro Ltd: Foreign companies will end up hiring more Indians than Indian companies will, not because they are US or foreign based service companies but because of US companies setting shop in India. This will be a very fast growing area. A recent AC Nielsen-ORG Marg campus survey confirms this. Microsoft, Intel, Texas Instruments and other multinationals outgunned Infosys Technologies, Wipro and Satyam as preferred employer
[ppiindia] Health care? Ask Cuba
Sejelek-jeleknya sosialisme, paling tidak sistem itu membawa kebaikan pada dua hal, yaitu jaminan kesehatan masyarakat dan pendidikan untuk semua warganegara. Dan kesehatan serta pendidikan berbanding lurus dengan perolehan medali Olimpiade. Salam, RM January 12, 2005 OP-ED COLUMNIST Health Care? Ask Cuba By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF ere's a wrenching fact: If the U.S. had an infant mortality rate as good as Cuba's, we would save an additional 2,212 American babies a year. Yes, Cuba's. Babies are less likely to survive in America, with a health care system that we think is the best in the world, than in impoverished and autocratic Cuba. According to the latest C.I.A. World Factbook, Cuba is one of 41 countries that have better infant mortality rates than the U.S. Even more troubling, the rate in the U.S. has worsened recently. In every year since 1958, America's infant mortality rate improved, or at least held steady. But in 2002, it got worse: 7 babies died for each thousand live births, while that rate was 6.8 deaths the year before. Those numbers, buried in a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, didn't get much attention. But they are part of a pattern of recent statistics dribbling out of the federal government suggesting that for those on the bottom in America, life in our new Gilded Age is getting crueler. "America's children are at greater risk than they've been in for at least a decade," said Dr. Irwin Redlener, associate dean at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University and president of the Children's Health Fund. "The rising rate of infant mortality is an early warning that we're headed in the wrong direction, with no relief in sight." It's too early to know just what to make of the increase in infant mortality in 2002 for American babies. Reliable data for 2003 and 2004 are not out yet. Sandy Smith of the Centers for Disease Control says that the statisticians are pretty sure there was not a further deterioration in 2003, but that it's too soon to know whether there was an improvement or just a leveling off at the higher rate. Singapore has the best infant mortality rate in the world: 2.3 babies die before the age of 1 for every 1,000 live births. Sweden, Japan and Iceland all have a rate that is less than half of ours. If we had a rate as good as Singapore's, we would save 18,900 babies each year. Or to put it another way, our policy failures in Iraq may be killing Americans at a rate of about 800 a year, but our health care failures at home are resulting in incomparably more deaths - of infants. And their mothers, because women are 70 percent more likely to die in childbirth in America than in Europe. Of course, deaths in maternity wards occur one by one, and don't generate the national attention, grief and alarm of an explosion in Falluja or a tsunami in Sri Lanka. But they are far more frequent: every day, on average, 77 babies die in the U.S. and one woman dies in childbirth. Bolstering public health isn't as dramatic as spending $300 million for a single F/A-22 Raptor fighter jet, but it can be a far more efficient way of protecting Americans. For example, during World War II, the employment boom meant that many poor Americans enjoyed regular health care for the first time. So even though 405,000 Americans died in the war, life expectancy in the U.S. actually increased between 1940 and 1945, rising three years for whites and five years for blacks. True, infant mortality and many other American health problems are largely intertwined with poverty, and experience suggests that neither the left nor the right has easy solutions for intractable poverty. But some of the steps the government is now taking or talking about - like cutting back further on entitlements, particularly those giving children access to health care - would aggravate the situation. Last year, a study by the Institute of Medicine, a branch of the National Academy of Sciences, estimated that the lack of health insurance coverage causes 18,000 unnecessary deaths a year. As readers know, I complain regularly about the Chinese government's brutality in imprisoning dissidents, Christians and, lately, Zhao Yan, a New York Times colleague in Beijing. Yet for all their ruthlessness, China's dictators have managed to drive down the infant mortality rate in Beijing to 4.6 per thousand; in contrast, New York City's rate is 6.5. We should celebrate this freedom that we enjoy in America - by complaining about and working to address pockets of poverty and failures in our health care system. It's simply unacceptable that the average baby is less likely to survive in the U.S. than in Beijing or Havana. The New York Times Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Help save the life of a child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.'
[ppiindia] JNU scientists design infertility diagnostic kit for men
Sebuah kabar baik buat rekan-rekan yang sedang belajar di JNU. Salam, RM -- JNU scientists design infertility diagnostic kit for men Friday, January 07, 2005 AHMEDABAD: Scientists at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi have identified a gene that has a role in male fertility and developed a kit to diagnose infertility in men. The same gene also appears to have a role, in causing apoptosis or cell death which may be significant in future for cancer treatment. The team is studying the possibility of using this in controlling cancer, Dr Kasuri Datta from the School of Environmental Sciences said here delivering a lecture at the ongoing Indian Science Congress here last evening. "Our data suggest that the protein produced by this gene is multifunctional," she said adding "We have patented the infertility kit which will be commercialised," The kit is the result of an earlier discovery by the same team of a gene called "HABP1" which produces this protein called "hyaluronan binding protein". "We have now assigned functions to it," she said adding it plays a role in regulating cell cycle and cell motility. Stating that motility of sperms is critical in fertility, she said low level of this protein in sperms is associated with infertility. Thus, diagnosis of infertility could be done by measuring the levels of this protein in sperms, she said. Datta said that the team also found that over expression of this protein in animal cells leads to "vacuolation" causing apoptosis (cell death). Though vacuolation is an usual process in plant cells, in animal cells it implies toxicity and stress leading to cell death, she said adding it may have a role in cancer, a condition in which cells stop dying and continue uncontrolled proliferation. The anti-cancer drugs make these cells to undergo apoptosis. "Thus our finding suggests that gene which can cause apoptosis is present within the body and this gene may be used in designing a treatment strategy for cancer," she said. The team is now investigating this aspect, she said. IANS Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Help save the life of a child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/mGEjbB/5WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Andhra Pradesh to digitize lkand records
Saya berharap DKI juga mendigitalkan akte kepemilikan tanah di wilayah Jabotabek. Salam, RM - AP to digitise land records Our Economy Bureau Hyderabad, Jan 10 The Andhra Pradesh government has embarked on a revolutionary project to digitise land records, while integrating other administrative functions like revenue, survey and registration with it. Christened as integrated land information system, the programme is being implemented in Nizamabad district as a pilot project initially, and later it will be extend to cover the entire state. The programme is aimed at replacing the defective system of registration of title deeds and to improve transparency in landed property holdings, AP chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy said. The cost of the project is estimated at Rs 20 crore and targeted to be completed in 24 months from the date of commencement. On-line land records will enable property buyers to register property in cyberspace in a hassle-free atmosphere and will bring down the number of benami (illegal) transactions. However, to introduce online registration, the government has to bring in a new law. We are in the process of bringing a new act and confident to get the Union governments approval too, the CM said. With bhumiti, a GIS and digitisation software developed jointly by the revenue department has already been in use to scan basic survey records across the state. The department has also gone for additional record rooms and mobile record storage systems called compactors in each district for scientific storage of records. In a bid to equip manpower with the knowledge of electronic record storage systems, the government is establishing AP Academy of Land Information Management under survey, settlements and land records department. URL: http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=79 Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Help save the life of a child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/mGEjbB/5WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Science for development ?
(Newindpress) Science for development? Thursday January 6 2005 17:18 IST David Dickson It was meant to happen in 1999. The year the World Conference of Science, held in Budapest in July, was meant to draw the attention of world political leaders to the importance of science and technology in promoting economic and social prosperity. This in turn was to trigger a raft of political activity in developed and developing countries to boost efforts in this area. Unfortunately this did not happen. For most countries, the focus of aid policy remained on alleviating poverty directly, an approach that has reduced science to a peripheral, even optional, add-on'. This attitude was reflected in a lack of political interest in science and technology within developing countries. Although many sent their science ministers to the Budapest meeting, few felt the topic of sufficient importance to deserve the attention of more politically significant figures such as finance ministers. Promising signs have been emerging over the past 12 months, from institutions such as the World Bank, the United Nations, and the British government, that the tide may have turned at last. 2005 could be the year science climbs back on to the international development agenda, reoccupying the position from which it had been displaced for the past two decades. If this does happen, however, the new challenge will be to avoid the mistakes of the past by ensuring that science and technology are integrated into policies at all levels, and not seen as offering instant cures to deep-rooted social and economic problems. Science and technology must become embedded in the social fabric of developing countries. Lessons of the tsunami There could not be a more dramatic or terrible illustration of this need than the devastation that swept through the coastal communities of South and South-East Asia as a result of the recent tsunami. It seems almost a natural law that when disaster strikes those who suffer most, and whose needs for both protection and help are therefore the greatest, are those who are already the most disadvantaged. This is true not only between developed and developing countries the richer countries on the Pacific rim, for example, have already installed sensitive tsunami-detection systems but also within the developing countries themselves. There is obviously no way that science and technology could have prevented the underlying events that caused such a tragic loss of life. But there is evidence that the technology exists, in fields such as seismic detection, hydrological dynamics and telecommunications, with the potential at least in principle to prevent the loss of life occurring on the scale that it did. One obvious measure would have been to ensure such communities were provided with a more sophisticated early-warning system. This is now being put in place in many of the countries that were affected. Government of India, for example, has already announced a significant enhancement of its detection capabilities. There are lessons for ways in which scientific information is communicated. There have been reports of the frustration experienced by scientists who have, in recent years, been unable to convince government officials of the dangers revealed by their seismological investigations into the likelihood of an earthquake occurring in the region. This frustration turned to despair on December 26 as many of those same scientists, having detected the earthquake almost immediately, failed to convince government officials of the likely outcome and thus their warnings were not communicated to many thousands. Research has also pointed to other potential protective strategies. For example, researchers at the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai, India, have noted that destruction of mangrove forests along Asian coastlines have increased their vulnerability to storms. But, again, their warning seems to have gone largely unheeded in the pressure for commercial exploitation, for example, for shrimp farming. Science into development It is clear that as the surviving members of shattered communities around the Indian Ocean attempt to rebuild their lives, science and technology have a key role to play in providing them the knowledge and tools to do so in a secure and sustainable way. At a national and regional level, it is essential that researchers in developing countries become directly engaged in discussions on the ways in which their skills can be better integrated into the policy machinery. It is also important that these countries build the scientific and technological skills that will enable them not only to identify the most effective protective strategies, but also to put these strategies into practice. The same might also be said about the need to build an effective capacity in science communication. For instance, a better awareness of the dangers of tsunamis among local radio and t
[ppiindia] Relawan Aceh
Satu-satunya relawan Aceh yang saya menjadi kenal adalah Ibu Wahyu Setyowati, seorang co-founder sekaligus director dari Dilts Foundation yang berkantor di Pejaten Timur, Pasar Minggu, Jaksel (website: dilts-foundation.org). Beruntung setelah kedatangan saya ke tanah air for good, tadi malam saya dan isteri serta keponakan (Nova) diundang oleh Ibu Devi Tana dan Bapak Tony Hariman untuk makan malam dirumah mereka di Kemang Timur sambil mendengar penjelasan dari Ibu Wahyu sambil diputarkan video hasil sorotan sendiri. Sejak Aceh terbuka untuk relawan, Ibu Wahyu sudah dua kali pergi kesana, dan baru kembali dua hari yang lalu. Dari penjelasan Ibu Wahyu disertai tayangan video, saya peroleh kesan sebagai berikut: 1) Tenaga dan logistik sangat diperlukan, melebihi perlunya bantuan dana dan barang. Ini mengingat terputusnya jalan darat dan jembatan, sedangkan jalan yang tersisa dari Medan menuju Meulaboh dan Banda Aceh harus melewati wilayah yang ada GAM-nya, tidak jarang GAM mengancam nyawa relawan dan menjarah bahan bantuan yang dibawanya. 2) Diam-diam, TNI dan Brimob patut diacungi empat jempol keatas. Mereka bekerja dibawah stress berat dan baru dirotasi dan baru kalau masa penugasannya di Aceh selesai. Mereka melakukan semua dirty chores, mulai dari menyingkirkan semua puing sampai mengangkat dan mengubur yang sudah menggelembung dan meleleh. Tak jarang GAM yang tak bisa dibedakan dari penduduk Aceh biasa, menembak TNI yang sedang mengangkat mayat, karena itu dalam video ditayangkan siap dengan bedil terkokang. Pernah kejadian, anggota GAM memberondong dengan bedil yang diambil dari TNI yang sedang tertidur dan mengakibatkan tewasnya beberapa TNI dan pelurunya mengenai relawan, padahal orang GAM ini sudah ditolong TNI yang memberinya makan/minum dan tidur ditenda TNI. Sambil membongkat puing dan mengangkat mayat, ada TNI yang bergumam mengharap siapa tahu dia menemukan mayat isteri dan anaknya yang hilang, begitu tiap detik tiap hari. 3) Bahaya tangan relawan (dan TNI) melepuh kena infeksi (infonya di fwd oleh Jonih) adalah benar, bahkan kalau sudah mengenakan sepatu dan sarung tangan sekalipun, karena cairan mayat menyiprat kelengan baju dan celana. Sudah ada beberapa relawan dan TNI kena amputasi. 4) Personil US Navy dan relawan asing lainnya punya peranan penting, tapi ada semacam pembagian tugas diantara mereka dengan relawan dalam negeri. Khusus relawan dalam negeri, yayasan harus menyediakan ticket pulang setelah mereka kerja rodi di Aceh. 5) Entah karena shock atau apa, kelihatan di video penduduk setempat hanya terbengong-bengong sambil jadi penonton saja. Harus diakui, penduduk setempat malas dan kurang inisiatif. Bahkan ada yang mengambil keuntungan dari keadaan darurat ini: mereka minta dibayar Rp. 300,000 untuk mengangkat mayat. Justru yang mau rodi adalah relawan dari luar Aceh. Sedikit tentang Dilts Foundation. Tergugah untuk mengubah nasib anak jalanan, Ibu Wahyu Setyowati Dilts dan suaminya Dr. Russel Dilts memulai kegiatan pada bulan Mei 1996, dengan cara menghimpun para keluarga, kawan-kawan, dokter, guru, pekerja sosial dan mahasiswa yang rela memberikan waktu, keahlian dan tenaga mereka. Baru pada tanggal 1 Mei 2000, yayasan ini disyahkan jadi badan hukum bidang pelayanan pendidikan dan kesehatan. Kini DF punya semacam pusat pendidikan yang menampung lebih dari 150 anak jalanan umur 4-15 tahun. Sekolah ini buka setiap hari, pengajarannya sama dengan SD/SMP. Tahun 2004, ada 20 siswa yang lulus ujian dan mendaftar ke sekolah negeri. Lulusan DF masing-masing menerima beasiswa yang cukup untuk membayar SPP, buku, pakaian seragam, dan uang saku sekedarnya disampingh mendapat les tambahan. Untuk anak-anak yang umurnya diatas 15 tahun, DF memberi pelatihan life skills dan ketrampilan untuk mencari nafkah (menggambar dikain sutra, tukang radio/TV, dan montir sepeda motor). Dalam waktu dekat, DF akan memberio pelatihan kredit kecil, membikin pupuk dari kotoran kota, dan pengelolaan warteg. Di bidang pelayanan kesehatan, DF membangun jaringan dengan kalangan dokter, rumah sakit, berbagai asosiasi professi, dan berbagai yayasan guna memberikan pemeriksaan kesehatan termasuk pertolongan segera bagi anak-anak yang memerlukan bantuan khusus. Pada tahun 2003, DF mengerahkan bantuan sukarela dokter untuk pemeriksaan gratis bagi lebih dari 200 anak-anak asuhan DF. Pada tahun 2002, team kesehatan DF termasuk 10 orang dokter membangun semacam puskesmas di Aceh dan memberi pertolongan kesehatan bagi lebih dari 4000 anak Aceh. DF juga membantu menaggulangi penyakit menular. DF sedang menangani kasus TBC bagi 60 anak asuhannya berikut keluarga, dan bergiat memberi penyuluhan mengatasi HIV/AIDS dan penyakit demam berdarah. Rekan belia yang berminat untuk menjadi relawan, silahkan menghubungi alamat DF yang dacari di website-nya. Salam, RM Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn.
[ppiindia] Indonesia praises India for its help
Presiden SBY kan sudah menegaskan, bahwa kita terima bantuan asalkan bentuknya hibah bukan hutang baru dalam bentuk apapun. Jadi, terhadap tawaran Menlu Natmar Singh ini kita harus tegas bilang: thanks, but no thanks. Salam, RM -- Indonesia praises India for its help Friday, January 07, 2005 JAKARTA: India has offered concessional credit to be used for reconstructing roads, buildings and harbour to tsunami-battered Indonesia which praised New Delhi for despatching quick relief to countries affected by the disaster. "India's offer of assistance to tsunami affected nations has been met by surprise mixed with admiration by other countries and organisations," External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh, who was here to attend the day-long emergency summit on tsunami relief, said today. Since India was also badly hit by the tsunami "they were lumping us with the others but now we are seen separate offering our help and assistance," he said. Singh, who met Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono this morning, said the President had thanked him profusely for India's help. "Apart from the assistance sent so far, we could also offer them concessional credit for reconstructing roads, buildings, harbours, ten units of fully equipped hospitals," Singh told the Indonesian president. siliconindia Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC/NC today! http://us.click.yahoo.com/5F6XtA/.WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] (unknown)
Masyarakat sudah pintar, tidak gampang dibodohi lagi. Jangan-jangan pestol itu jadi penyangkalan, karena tidak ada lagi sidik jari Adiguna disana. Salam, RM Evidence sufficient to charge Adiguna, legal expert says Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta January 11, 2005 With the discovery of the gun allegedly used in the shooting death Yohannes Berchmans Haerudy Natong alias Rudy at the Hilton Hotel in Central Jakarta, police have all evidence and witnesses they need to charge the sole suspect Adiguna Sutowo with murder. Legal expert from the University of Indonesia Rudy Satrio said that the police should immediately submit the case file to the prosecutor's office and do not have to prolong the investigation for no reason. "Police already have people who have identified Adiguna as the killer, they have recently obtained the gun used in the shooting, and they have laboratory results on the gun and the bullet. So, there is no reason to delay submitting the case," Rudy Satrio told The Jakarta Post. The police said on Friday that they would try to submit the case to prosecutors within a week. The police announced on Saturday that they had received the gun used in the murder from a man identified as Wwn alias Sfr on Friday night. The gun is a black and silver Smith and Wesson revolver. Three bullets, similar to the bullets found earlier in Adiguna's room, were still in the gun. Ballistic tests conducted subsequently confirmed that the projectile found in Rudy's head came from the gun. According to police, Wwn, who was standing a meter away when the incident happened, was given the gun by Adiguna right after the suspect shot Rudy. Afraid of being accused as the murderer, Wwn walked away then disappeared for a week, but kept on following up the news on the case, the police said. "Finally, he returned the gun to clear his name and help the police investigation," national police chief detective Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung Sudjono told the Post. Suyitno said Wwn had admitted seeing Adiguna shoot Rudy on Jan. 1 sometime at 3:30 a.m. at Hilton's Fluid Club Bar. Earlier, at least three of 19 witnesses interrogated by the police testified that it was Adiguna who shot Rudy. "We are now guarding all the witnesses to protect them until they testify in court. Their testimony may endanger their lives. So, please help us protect the witnesses by not revealing their full names. However, they are all in safe place right now," Suyitno told reporters. Rudy Satrio said that all the police have to do is to get testimony from experts to complete the case, and assign the relevant articles from several laws. "I think there will be no more problems. The police should apply the right articles and laws while the prosecutors should use the articles with the heaviest punishment, such as article 340 of the Criminal Code on premeditated murder with maximum punishment of death," said Rudy Satrio. Police have announced that they would charge Adiguna with murder under Article 338 of the Criminal Code, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years, Article 1 of Emergency Law No. 12/1951 carrying the death penalty, and Article 59 of Law No. 5/1997 with a minimum punishment of 4 years in prison. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Give the gift of life to a sick child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/lGEjbB/6WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] C-DAC --- high tech road to supercomputing
Untuk membuat supercomputer yang tidak jauh dari yang dipunyai Amerika dan Jepang, tidak cukup dengan satu dua orang brilliant tanpa semangat kebangsaan yang tinggi. Kalau India dibolehkan membeli Cray supercomputer yang memang dapat digunakan dual-purpose (sipil dan militer), agaknya India akan terus bergantung pada Amerika. Seperti diketahui, supercomputer adalah strategis untuk keperlua negara modern: dia dengan akurat dapat menghitung arah rudal dean mensimulasi percobaan senjata nuklir, dan fisikawan di CERN lab mustahil bekerja tanpa supercomputer. Untung India tidak menanggapi penolakan itu secara konfrontatif, tapi segera mementuk C-DAC (Centre for Developing Advanced Computers). Hanya dalam tempo 3 tahun, yaitu pada tahun 1991, Dr. Vijay Batra dengan teamnya dapat merampungkan Param 8000, yang ditingkatkan kemampuannya dengan Param 1 pada tahun 1993. Param generasi mutakhir (2003) kemampuannya 1000 kali lipat dari Param 8000. Salam, RM Vol:22 Iss:01 URL: http://www.flonnet.com/fl2201/stories/20050114002909500.htm SPECIAL FEATURE: C-DAC -- HIGH-TECH ROAD TO DEVELOPMENT Target: Teraflops ANAND PARTHASARATHY Among the supercomputing initiatives launched in India, C-DAC's Param sees techno-commercial fruition even as it puts India in the global `teraflop' club. The C-DAC Knowledge Park in Bangalore, which houses the Terascale Supercomputing Facility. The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) was established in March 1988 as a scientific society of the Department of Information Technology (formerly Department of Electronics) of the Union Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (formerly Ministry of IT). Primarily a research and development institution involved in the design, development and deployment of advanced IT-based solutions, the two thrust areas for its first decade were supercomputing and Indian language computing. Over the years, C-DAC has diversified its activities to address the requirements in various areas - financial and capital market simulation and modelling, network and Internet software, health care, real-time systems, e-governance, data warehousing, artificial intelligence and natural language processing. In February 2003, the government announced the merger of the Electronics Research and Development Centre, India (ER&DCI), the National Centre for Software Technology (NCST), and the Centre for Electronics Design and Technology, India (CEDTI), Mohali, with C-DAC. The restructured C-DAC was expected to offer economies of scale and avoid duplication of work. In effect, the enlarged C-DAC has become a major R&D player, with an asset base of around Rs.220 crores and a staff strength that has more than doubled to 1,600. Its revenue is expected to be around Rs.100 crores: A feature of C-DAC, right from its inception, has been the entrepreneurial and techno-commercial thrust given to all its work, as a result of which it usually generated at least half of what the government spent on it. Some inevitable overlap in responsibilities have largely been adjusted and two years after the `merger' (which was effected from December 2002), "C-DAC Mk II" is just about ready to address more challenging tasks warranted by its new strength in human and infrastructural resources. In a new era driven by the Internet's global reach, C-DAC has the technological muscle to deliver on large national projects in the public interest that private industry may not always be able to address. In its 17th year, C-DAC is ready. The challenge is to harness its rich talent and resources in a sensible manner that will ultimately make a difference to the people of India. The following pages mirror its past achievements as well as its potential for future good. WHEN C-DAC was born in 1988, four separate initiatives in supercomputing were being pursued in India. The pioneer was the Bangalore-based National Aeronautical Laboratory (now National Aerospace Laboratory), which even by 1986 had put together what was possibly the first parallel processing platform in India - the Flosolver. In Delhi, Sam Pitroda had motivated the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) to put together its own supercomputing machine - CHIPPS (C-DOT's High-Performance Parallel Processing System). The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) had their own in-house compulsions to create large number-crunchers: The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) began work that culminated in the Anupam supercomputer that Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL) produced in small numbers. The DRDO, driven by the need for advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) studies for its Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) project, set up a new unit in Hyderabad - Anurag - which created its own high-performance computer, PACE (Processor for Aeronautical
[ppiindia] How the tsunami warning system works
(Sify News) How the tsunami warning system works By Richard Ingham in Paris Wednesday, 05 January , 2005, 10:29 A tsunami alert system is a combination of real-time sensors, data-crunching computers, orbiting satellites -- and the nuts-and-bolts task of training the public to respond to warnings. This mix of silicon and psychology is already in place in the Pacific Ocean and will be the format for providing the Indian Ocean with its own early-warning system, experts say. The first political steps towards setting up a regional warning network are likely to be taken at a major summit in Jakarta on Thursday to discuss the relief effort for the December 26 disaster. That will be followed up with technical work among large countries at the final day of a UN-sponsored World Conference on Disaster Reduction, taking place in Kobe, Japan, from January 18-22, the organisers told AFP Tuesday. "A tsunami early warning system is not a top-down, instrument-only initiative," Reid Basher of the UN's International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) told AFP in an interview from Bonn. "The biggest challenge is how to get the message across to people at risk and to get them to respond." The matrix for the Indian Ocean network is the Tsunami Warning System (TWS), operating in the Pacific since 1968. When an earthquake occurs, participating states send seismic data to a centre based in Hawaii, which assesses whether the temblor's location and severity could generate a tsunami. If so, it sends out a warning of an imminent hazard, detailing the wave's predicted arrival at estimated coastal locations within a given time. This information is supplemented by tidal gauges, buoys and pressure sensors that are scattered around coastlines and on the ocean floor. These detect the passage of a big wave and radio the data back to the national and regional centre, thus fine-tuning knowledge as to the size of the wave, its direction and speed. If no wave is detected, the warning is cancelled. In many countries, setting up the system of seismographs and wave monitors will be the biggest expense, said Basher. "In many places, the existing instruments are used for scientific research or as historical gauges of sea levels. They have to be upgraded, so that they provide real fast, real-time monitoring." But hi tech is only one phase of a tsunami alert system. A country may well receive an early warning, several hours or more before a Great Wave strikes. But to make use of it, that country has to have an efficient national alert system, with equipment which functions, with competent officials and a public trained to respond swiftly and without panic, Basher said. It means carrying out awareness campaigns in homes, schools, hospitals and businesses in vulnerable regions. This is the time-honoured business of using posters, radio and TV messages and carrying out occasional training exercises, advising people to evacuate to higher ground, not to head to the beach to watch the incoming wave and to stay tuned to local media until the emergency is over. For a monitoring system to operate in the Indian Ocean, "at least four or five countries" would be needed to pool their efforts. Fewer than that means there would be insufficient coverage of the region, said Basher. He put costs at "at least a few million" dollars per country per year. Such investment is worth it, says Frank Gonzalez, a tsunami researcher at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle. "The commitment needed is not insignificant for a country or an international community, but there is no doubt in my mind that tens of thousands of lives would have been saved in Asia," he said last week. The Indian Ocean is not the only place to be lacking a tsunami alert. The system is also absent in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, both of which are vulnerable to rare but potentially murderous giant waves, according to scientists. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Help save the life of a child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/mGEjbB/5WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Sat
[ppiindia] The lost generation ex
The Times of India Online Printed from timesofindia.indiatimes.com > All That Matters The Lost Generation Ex INDIASPORA/CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA [ SUNDAY, JANUARY 09, 2005 12:45:56 AM ] The migration of Indian minds to the west, particularly to the United States, came in three broad streams. The initial flow came in the '60s and '70s, when Washington first relaxed its immigration policies (in 1965) to allow large number of white collar professionals to enter US academia and government institutions. The second wave came in the '80s and '90s, mostly riding on the private sector technology boom. The third wave, still coming in, is the younger, turn-of-the-century flow, mainly from the university route. Each group has distinctive traits. Today's immigrants are intimately connected to India. They bring India and Indian-ness to the US, from Bollywood patois to Bangalore lingo. They travel home at least once a year; some shuttle between Bangalore and Bay Area with homes in both places. Thanks to cable television and Internet, they can watch Jay Leno in New Delhi and Shekhar Suman in New York, attend a rock concert in Goa and a Hindustani gig in Dallas. They can disembark in Frankfurt, Tokyo, or Seattle, rent a car, and drive into town using mapquest or GPS. They are more internationalists than immigrants. The '80s generation are those who have made it good in the US. Many are beginning to return to India after some years of disconnect, seeing it both as an opportunity to give something back and as an investment destination. This is the generation of Vinod Khoslas and Vinod Dhams, multi-millionaire geniuses who make frequent trips to India to part with their moolahs and methods. They bring energy and enterprise. They are the "Bobby-boomers" because they left India after the movies Bobby and Sholay . But it's the first group, the '60s immigrants, we know little about. We can call them the Dilip Kumar generation, although I've heard them dubbed the AT&T flock. This is because they came here when AT&T was still a monopoly and it cost $3 a minute to call India. Flying home was a luxury so they returned perhaps once in five years, if that. There were few Indian grocery stores, Blockbuster did not stock Bollywood movies, and there were no cricket games on cable. Many of them submerged their Indian-ness to become all too American. They are today's Lost Generation Ex of Indian-Americans. They have just retired or are starting to, typically as division heads in the government, universities or corporations. They might not be instant millionaires like the tech tycoons, but they have a nice nest egg for retirement, they are accomplished in their fields, and a treasure trove of knowledge and expertise. Many have helped build America's infrastructure, from bridges, dams, roads and metros to designing automobiles and aircraft. One such Gen Ex-er, Dr Tadepalli Murty, is among the world's foremost authorities on tsunamis. Like him, there are retirees and semi-retirees in many fields. Hal Iyengar is a structural engineer who worked on Chicago's Sears Towers among many famous highrises. Rangaswamy Srinivasan pioneered lasik eye surgery. Haren Gandhi engineered cutting edge automotive technology. C Kumar Patel did seminal work on lasers. There are hundreds of such distinguished Gen Ex-ers. In many cases, these golden oldies belong to a truly lost generation. Their ABCDs (American Born Confident Desis) are married and gone; they have little contact with NextGen grandchildren. Most of them would be happy to give their expertise to India. In the final stretch of their careers, they seek no returns. But they have been disconnected from India for many years. It may be worth India's time to connect to them again. ©Bennett, Coleman and Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/O.5XsA/8WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECT
[ppiindia] What is dual citizenship
Memang ada perbedaan besar antara orang India di perantauan dengan orang Indonesia di perantauan. Tetapi tidak ada salahnya kita kaji bersama konsep dwi-kewarganegaraan ini. Anak saya Niken yang diperantauan segera bilang: those lucky Indians. I wish I were them. Salam, RM - Date:08/01/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/01/08/stories/2005010807200100.htm What is dual citizenship By Amit Baruah NEW DELHI, JAN. 7. On December 23, 2003, Parliament passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003. Those eligible to become citizens of India as on January 26, 1950, could now apply for dual Indian citizenship. Rules giving effect to this were notified in March 2004. Dual citizenship allows the person to live in India indefinitely, unlike the Person of Indian Origin (PIO) card, which permitted a single stay for a period of six months. Dual citizens do not have voting rights. Neither can they be elected to public office. As per the amended law, persons of Indian origin who were citizens of Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Cyprus, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States were eligible to apply for dual citizenship. Today's announcement by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, extends dual citizenship to all PIOs who migrated from India after January 26, 1950. It addresses a major anomaly that restricted dual citizenship to principally developed, Western nations. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act now needs to be amended further because the previous list specified 16 nations. Taxation laws applying to dual citizens are similar to those applicable to Non-Resident Indians (NRIs). Dual taxation avoidance agreements signed by India with other countries are applicable. Any person who has been at any time a citizen of Pakistan, Bangladesh or any other country that the Central Government may notify in future is not entitled to dual citizenship. The process of registering dual citizens has already commenced. Forms can be filled and submitted to the Indian collectorate or consulate concerned. They are available on the websites of select Indian missions abroad. So far, the process of registration is slow, information with the External Affairs Ministry suggests. Obtaining dual citizenship costs $275. The Hindu Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Give the gift of life to a sick child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/lGEjbB/6WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Brains abroad
Tenaga terdidik yang ngendon di luar negeri jangan dianggap barang hilang, begitu nasehat McKinsey Ltd. Diam-diam, Taiwan memanfaatkan mereka. Sistem ekonomi negara dimana PB pernah tinggal ini memang seperti magnit bagi mereka yang berorientasi ekonomi-pasar. Ditambah lagi dengan adanya kebijakan baru yang mendorong terbentuknya usaha venture capital, dan negara mendanai riset dan PENDIDIKAN secara besar-besaran -- semua ini menjadi daya tarik tersendiri bagi warga Taiwan yang ngendon diluar untuk pulang. Tak boleh dilupakan peranan Hsinshu industrial park yang memfokuskan diri pada hi-tech. Orang Taiwan yang hijrah dari Silicon Valley mendirikan lebih dari 50% usaha disana. Kalau tidak salah Acer juga ada disana. Sumbangan Hsinshu pada GDP tidak tanggung-tanggung: 10% !!! Salam, RM - McKinsey Quarterly Brains Abroad The McKinsey Quarterly, 12.13.04, 5:30 PM ET To study a banyan tree, you not only must know its main stem in its own soil, but also must trace the growth of its greatness in the further soil, for then you can know the true nature of its vitality.--Rabindranath Tagore The McKinsey Quarterly makes available its research by special arrangement with Forbes.com. Click here to read the full text of this article on The McKinsey Quarterly site. Free registration is required. Consider a few statistics. In the 1990s, roughly 650,000 people from emerging markets migrated to the United States on professional-employment visas. Over 40% of the foreign-born adults in the United States have at least some college education, thereby making that country the epicenter of the global talent drain. Foreign-born workers now make up 20% of all employees in the U.S. information technology sector. About 30% of the 1998 graduating class of the famed Indian Institute of Technology--and a staggering 80% of the graduates in computer science--headed for graduate schools or jobs in the United States. Some 80% of foreign doctoral students in science and engineering plan to stay there after graduation--up from 50% in 1985. Roughly a third of the R&D professionals of developing countries have left them to work in the United States, the members of the European Union, or Japan. As the global war for talent heats up, this flow of the best and the brightest from developing countries is likely to increase. Singapore is recruiting in China, India, and Malaysia to fill IT positions. Japan forecasts that it will have to import at least 30,000 high-technology workers over the next five years. The United States has nearly doubled the annual quota of temporary work visas it grants to foreign professionals--to 195,000, from 115,000. Many fear that this talent drain will have lasting economic repercussions on the developing world, robbing it not only of the skills of these workers but also of their influence on the productivity of others. Now more than ever, intangible capital (such as intellectual property and brands) rather than physical capital separates the winners from the rest. Developing and retaining highly skilled professionals is therefore a crucial long-term investment for any country. It is unrealistic to think that this trend can be reversed in the near future. Although emerging markets have generally offered a hodgepodge of regulatory and fiscal incentives to lure emigrants back home, these efforts have largely failed--no surprise, since most emigrants quickly become acculturated to their new countries and create personal and professional ties there. Moreover, the emigrants' main reason for leaving--a lack of comparable career opportunities at home--remains unresolved. For most countries, tackling the fundamental causes of the talent drain will take years. Comprehensive economic reform is required to increase competition and level the playing field, to strengthen financial systems, and to streamline regulatory requirements. Taiwan is a rare exception: its long commitment to building a market-oriented economy--coupled with initiatives such as the creation of a venture capital industry and investments in research and education--has prompted many expatriates to return. The Hsinchu Science-Based Industrial Park is a key attraction: Silicon Valley returnees started more than half of the companies there, and it now accounts for roughly 10% of Taiwan's gross national product. But the hard reality is that few emerging markets have any hope, in the foreseeable future, of creating the type and volume of economic opportunities needed to reverse or even substantially slow the brain drain. Governments shouldn't view emigrants as entirely lost resources, however, for they can be used to promote economic growth. The emigrants' technical and business skills, commercial relationships, and financial capital can all be harnessed to make long-distance economic contributions through foreign direct investment, venture funding, financial investments, and commercial and educational exchanges. Y
[ppiindia] Tsunami tests U.S. Forces' logistics
Salah satu dari yang paling effektif memberi bantuan ke Aceh adalah US Navy. Kesulitan transportasi darat diterobos dengan pengerahan 76 helicopter Seahawk yang diterbangkan dari helicopter carrier Bonhomme Richard. Sebanyak 90 pesawat diterbangkan dari kapal induk Abraham Lincoln. Jumlah personil yang dikerahkan untuk operasi ini 130,000 anggota navy dan sipil. Untuk pekerjaan besar ini, keluar biaya $5.6 juta/hari -- khusus untuk biaya logistik. Belum terhitung harga beras, gula dan obat-obatan yang semuanya berasal dari USAID, Care, Save the Children Fund, dan lain-lain. Salam, RM - (The New York Times) January 9, 2005 MILITARY Tsunami Tests U.S. Forces' Logistics, but Gives Pentagon a Chance to Show a Human Face By THOM SHANKER and JAMES BROOKE WASHINGTON, Jan. 8 - The huge American relief operation in the Indian Ocean carries risks for the Pentagon but also rewards, employing combat resources at a time the armed forces are stretched thin, but putting forth an image of an American military that is as caring and efficient in saving lives as it is violent and efficient in slaying adversaries. Senior Pentagon and military officials say the Defense Department carefully balanced its strategic needs with the imperative to open up logistical bottlenecks and begin ferrying water, food, medical supplies and shelter in one of the most challenging relief operations of the last 50 years. The latest estimates indicate that the Pentagon's portion of the relief effort is costing about $5.6 million per day, and that the military already has spent $40 million on the mission, Defense Department officials said Friday. Total American combat assets - including ships and aircraft - now ordered into the region for tsunami relief are valued at $20 billion. In the hours after the tsunami leveled coastal villages across the Indian Ocean, killing more than 150,000 and leaving millions displaced, the Bush administration began crunching numbers to calculate relief donations. But a very different kind of risk analysis was under way deep inside the Pentagon and at the military's Pacific Command in Hawaii, these officials said. Senior military planners calculated in just a few hours how much combat power would have to be preserved for commanders in the Pacific to maintain a credible deterrent against North Korea, and even China, while sending relief assistance. Senior officers said the most important discussion was with Gen. Leon J. LaPorte, the commander of American forces in South Korea. "In this particular case, we talked about Korea in some depth," said Adm. Thomas B. Fargo, commander of all American forces in the Pacific. "We did a solid risk assessment, and I am comfortable with our posture." Although large military commitments to Iraq and Afghanistan have stretched the American forces worldwide, Pentagon and Pacific command planners realized there was an unintended benefit, especially in the decision to move heavy bombers from home bases in the United States to Asia, within easy striking distance of North Korea. This step was taken to maintain a strong deterrent in the Pacific as American military forces flowed toward Iraq. These changes to the traditional force posture in the region have allowed the commitment of a large military contingent to the aid mission. As of Friday, approximately 13,000 American military personnel, nearly 20 warships and about 90 aircraft were assigned to the relief effort, said Lt. Gen. Robert R. Blackman, commander of American military efforts for the relief mission. While the military has focused on fighting wars, the relief mission showed how swiftly it can shift missions and provide, on a large scale, such mundane but lifesaving capabilities as global transportation, cargo handling, water purification and emergency medical care. The aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, for example, carries as much municipal infrastructure in the Indian Ocean as many American cities. Officers and enlisted personnel involved in the mission say they are grateful for the change of pace and proud of the relief mission, which presents the world with an image of an American military saving lives of tsunami victims in countries where the United States has strong military ties, and in some where it has few. Brig. Gen. Jan-Marc Jouas, commander of the 18th Wing at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, the largest air base in the Pacific, said the military's relief effort symbolized the full range of the American armed services' engagement. "It shows we are here for more than just the defense of Japan, an ally," he said. "We are here for other missions, the commitment to the defense of Korea, humanitarian missions, disaster relief." In describing the balance struck by his Air Force assets, General Jouas said the American air wing at Kadena sent cargo transports, refueling tankers and helicopters to the Indian Ocean to take part in tsunami relief but kept ready in
[ppiindia] Malaysia allows Acehnese tsunami survivors to stay: reports
Bagaimana Pemda Batam? Salam, RM - Malaysia allows Acehnese tsunami survivor to stay: Reports KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia will allow a 20-year-old Acehnese tsunami survivor to remain in the country after he was rescued from the Indian Ocean, reports said on Saturday. Rizal Shahputra, from the devastated town of Meulaboh in Indonesia's Aceh province which was hardest hit by the Dec. 26 tsunamis, is recovering in a Malaysian hospital after being rescued Monday evening by a container vessel. Shattered by the total destruction of his village, and with his parents and two siblings feared to have perished, he had said there was nothing left for him to return to in Aceh. "I have nothing left to go back to, I want to remain here," Rizal was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times on Friday. "He is most welcome to start anew and work here," Home Minister Azmi Khalid was quoted as telling the New Straits Times. Azmi praised Rizal's determination to live after floating at sea for more than a week. "Such determination is a rare trait in a person, especially when faced with extreme hardship," he said. "His character is a perfect example. There are not many individuals out there with such characteristics. "We support employers to take him in. I will also personally assist him," he said. "I think there will be no problem in granting his request. I will leave it to the Indonesian embassy to provide him with the proper documents so that we can meet his request," Azmi was quoted as saying by the Star. Azmi said he did not believe that the gesture by the Malaysian government in this case would result in a flood of similar requests. "Aceh would be bustling with infrastructure development soon. Many of them would not be faced with unemployment for long as their skills would be much needed in the construction of buildings and roads there," he said. Rizal is the second tsunami survivor rescued by Malaysian ships after housewife Malawati Daud was plucked out a week ago by a fishing boat after drifting in the sea for five days. Malawati, 23, who is pregnant, survived by eating fruit off an uprooted palm trunk she was clinging to and floating packets of instant noodles. She is currently receiving treatment and counseling in a hospital in northern Penang state. (**) Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. Bring education to life by funding a specific classroom project. http://us.click.yahoo.com/4F6XtA/_WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Public urged not to fear foreign soldiers' presence
Bravo, Theo Sambuaga, Ketua Komisi I DPR. Salam, RM (The Jakarta Post, Jan 08, 2005) Public urged not to fear foreign soldiers' presence JAKARTA (Agencies): A lawmaker urged Indonesians on Saturday not to be suspicious of the motives of the foreign militaries aiding victims of the massive tsunami that hit Sumatra island. "We need their assistance," said Theo Sambuaga, chairman of the House of Representatives defense and information committee, as quoted by the Antara news agency. "The (Indonesian) government has coordinated their presence since the first day. I am sure they come not for war but a humanitarian operation." He said Indonesians should be grateful for the foreign warships off the coast of shattered Aceh province because their own military did not have the capability to help all those in need without the outsiders. American vessels including an aircraft carrier are among those along the coast. Ship-based U.S. Navy and Marine helicopter crews have flown scores of missions to coastal villages, delivering food and water and evacuating injured survivors. Australia, whose ties with Indonesia have sometimes been tense, has also senttroops to help. Anger at the United States has run high in predominantly Muslim Indonesia since the Iraq war. The idea of American troops in Indonesia would have been unthinkable before the Dec. 26 disaster, which killed more than 100,000 people in Aceh, but Indonesians have expressed thanks for their presence, according to the Associated Press. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Give the gift of life to a sick child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/lGEjbB/6WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Family of four spent New Year's Eve sorting out relief donations
STI Jan 9, 2005 Family of four spent New Year's Eve sorting out relief donations IT WAS 9pm on New Year's Eve. While most people were at parties getting ready to usher in the new year, the Tehs - Thien Yew, 49, Lai Yip, 47, Ernest, 16, and Erwin, 12 - were at a disused school at Lowland Road, waiting in the dark for a lorryload of donations for aid agency Mercy Relief to arrive. Earlier that day, Mrs Teh, deputy director for conservation and development services at the Urban Redevelopment Authority, had been looking for space to store the goods. After many phone calls, she hit pay dirt with the Singapore Land Authority, which offered the grounds that had been vacated by Serangoon Secondary School in October. The school is now a bustling centre of activity, with volunteers sorting and packing donated items such as medical supplies, old clothes and bottled water. Mrs Teh has been dropping by the centre after work. 'I come down to see who I need to chase to get something done,' she said with a laugh. 'But Thien Yew is the one who checks out all the centres, sees what needs to be moved and arranges transport.' Mr Teh, a businessman, has been helping out at Mercy Relief since last month. From morning to night, he traverses the island, ensuring that the donation centres are running smoothly, and buying supplies like tape. He got involved when a friend volunteering with the aid agency asked him to transport some donation tins. 'When I got to the office, the whole place was abuzz,' he said. 'Everybody was trying to do everything. So I wanted to try to chip in and organise things.' Erwin, a Secondary One student at Tanjong Katong Secondary, said of his father: 'When people turn to him, he can't say no. He's a very helpful person. I'm proud of him.'For more information, call 6332-6320 or visit www.mercyrelief.org Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. Bring education to life by funding a specific classroom project. http://us.click.yahoo.com/4F6XtA/_WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Diet and lose weight ? Scientists say 'Prove it'
(The New York Times) January 4, 2005 Diet and Lose Weight? Scientists Say 'Prove It!' By GINA KOLATA With obesity much on Americans' minds, an entire industry has sprung up selling diets and diet books, meal replacements and exercise programs, nutritional supplements and Internet-based coaching, all in an effort to help people lose weight. But a new study, published today, finds little evidence that commercial weight-loss programs are effective in helping people drop excess pounds. Almost no rigorous studies of the programs have been carried out, the researchers report. And federal officials say that companies are often unwilling to conduct such studies, arguing that they are in the business of treatment, not research. "In general, the industry has always been opposed to making outcomes disclosures," said Richard Cleland, the assistant director for advertising practices at the Federal Trade Commission. "They have always given various rationales," Mr. Cleland said, from "'It's too expensive,' to even arguing that part of this is selling the dream, and if you know what the truth is, it's harder to sell the dream." The study, published in today's issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, found that with the exception of Weight Watchers, no commercial program had published reliable data from randomized trials showing that people who participated weighed less a few months later than people who did not participate. And even in the Weight Watchers study, the researchers said, the results were modest, with a 5 percent weight loss after three to six months of dieting, much of it regained. Advertisements for weight loss centers often make it seem that success is guaranteed for anyone who really wants it. They feature smiling, thin, healthy people - results, the advertisements imply, of simply following the program. Scientists, however, want something more. They would like to see carefully controlled studies that follow program participants over a couple of years and compare their success with that of nonparticipants. But that sort of study is almost never done, said Dr. Thomas Wadden, director of the weight and eating disorders program at the University of Pennsylvania and the lead author of the new study. It is not as if no one has asked the companies to conduct such research, he and others said. About a decade ago, Dr. Wadden, Mr. Cleland and others met with commercial weight loss companies at the Federal Trade Commission to discuss getting some solid data on the programs' effectiveness. "We tried to come up with a set of voluntary guidelines with the idea that these would be disclosures that weight loss centers would make prior to consumers' signing on the bottom line," said Mr. Cleland. "At the end of the day we agreed to disagree on the issue of outcomes disclosure. I was convinced that it could be done, but it was not something the industry was going to voluntarily do." The F.T.C., he said, could not force companies to do the studies. Lynn McAfee, the director of medical advocacy for the Council on Size and Weight Discrimination, was aghast at the conclusion. "I don't understand how you can have a product you never evaluate for effectiveness," Ms. McAfee said. "It was a slap in the face to all people of size." Still, patients and their doctors need information, Dr. Wadden said. So he and his colleague, Dr. Adam Gilden Tsai, collected what information they could on the prices, the methods, and the success of nine commercial weight loss programs, like Jenny Craig, eDiets and Optifast and self-help programs, like Overeaters Anonymous. The investigators looked at the data presented on company Web sites, called the companies and searched medical journals for published papers. In their review, they included studies published from 1966 to 2003, finding 108 that assessed commercial programs. Of those, only 10 met their criteria. For example, the studies had to have lasted at least 12 weeks and to have assessed weight-loss outcomes after a year. Dr. Wadden said that even in that handful of studies, hardly any of them reported data for everyone who enrolled in the weight-loss programs. Most included only people who had completed the programs, making the outcomes "definitely best-case scenarios," he said. The costs of commercial weight-loss programs can vary from $65 for three months on eDiets to $167 for the same time in Weight Watchers to more than $2,000 for a medically supervised low-calorie diet. "Given the lack of good comparative data, it may make sense to try the cheaper alternatives first," Mr. Cleland said. Other experts said that patients might want to forgo the programs altogether. "Doctors could do as well as these programs" in helping people lose weight, said Dr. George Blackburn, an obesity specialist at Harvard Medical School, simply by counseling people to diet and exercise. He added, "Doctors can, ought to and are qualified to get involved." The Weight Watchers study, publi
[ppiindia] When not to outsource
(Forbes) International When Not To Outsource Penelope Patsuris, 01.05.05, 6:00 AM ET Outsourcing is often viewed in black and white terms--a boon for corporate America and a bust for U.S. workers. Every job and every business strategy is seen as potential fodder for the outsourcing mill, with the assumption that the cost savings reaped from the practice will simply pour back into the company coffers. Not so fast. Companies are beginning to realize that there are plenty of cases in which outsourcing is not the best business strategy--even when it comes to manufacturing, a realm that's generally considered well suited to the practice. TPI, a consulting firm based in the Woodlands, Tex., often tells clients to steer clear of outsourcing. "When people come to me with their outsourcing ideas, I usually advise them against 30% or 40% of the initiatives that they had in mind," says TPI project director Paul Schmidt, "even though that doesn't maximize my sales." Some deals will continue to make sense. Companies as diverse as Best Buy (nyse: BBY - news - people ), Procter & Gamble (nyse: PG - news - people ), Verizon Communications (nyse: VZ - news - people ) and Ford Motor (nyse: F - news - people ) are reaping tremendous strategic advantages thanks to the practice. "The issue isn't that less will be outsourced," says Harvard Business School professor Rajiv Lal. "It's just going to be a matter of what is outsourced." It takes a complex calculus to determine whether outsourcing makes sense, so there are few hard and fast rules. But the general theme that underlies our guidelines is simple: The option that offers the biggest cost savings isn't always the best one. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. Bring education to life by funding a specific classroom project. http://us.click.yahoo.com/4F6XtA/_WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Dual citizenship to all overseas Indians
Hari ini konperensi NRI (non-resident Indians) dari seluruh dunia bertempat di Hilton Hotel, Mumbai, ditutup. Pimpinan sidang adalah (lupa namanya) Wakil Presiden Suriname. Pemerintah India berkepentingan besar pada NRI, dan kelihatan memobilisasi mereka untuk pembangunan negara. Di Amerika saja ada 2 juta orang NRI yang hanpir semuanya mapan, dengan penghasilan rata-rata $62,000/tahun/orang. Pada masa jaya-jayanya Silicon Valley, populasi NRI disana hampir 50%. Banyak yang jadi dokter di Amerika. Akhir-akhir ini mereka terjun ke politik, salah satunya adalah Bobby Jindal (32 tahun) yang jadi senator asal Louisianna. Tapi NRI yang paling disebut-sebut adalah steel baron Lakshmi Mittal yang adalah orang terkaya di UK. Salam, RM -- Saturday, January 08, 2005 Dual citizenship to all overseas Indians: PM PRESS TRUST OF INDIA Mumbai, January 7 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday announced dual citizenship to all overseas Indians who had migrated from the country after January 26, 1950. "The government has decided to offer dual citizenship to all overseas Indians who have migrated from the country after January 26 1950, as long as their home countries allow dual citizenship under their law," Singh said in his inaugural address at the third Pravasi Bhartiya Divas in Mumbai on Friday. He said that the government would simplify the procedure for registration of People of Indian Origin (PIO) for granting them dual citizenship. URL: http://www.financialexpress.com/latest_full_story.php?content_id=79077 Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/O.5XsA/8WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] President Kalam pays tribute to his role model scientists
Kalam pays tribute to his role model scientists Wednesday, January 05, 2005 AHMEDABAD: President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is a role model for many, but who are his role models? He answered the question while addressing a special session of the 92nd session of the Indian Science Congress here Wednesday. "There are three people I admire most: D.A. Kothari, Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai," he said. "Kothari was the country's first scientific advisor to the defence minister. Homi Bhaha started the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and later established the Atomic Energy Commission. "Vikram Sarabhai, my 'guru', established the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL)," he said. Kalam added that all the three were physicists who contributed to the nation's development. IANS Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC/NC today! http://us.click.yahoo.com/5F6XtA/.WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] C-Reactive Protein has a big role in heart disease
January 6, 2005 Two Studies Suggest a Protein Has a Big Role in Heart Disease By GINA KOLATA educing the levels of a certain protein secreted by the body may be as powerful a tool in slowing heart disease and preventing heart attacks and cardiac-related death as lowering cholesterol, two teams of researchers are reporting today. The studies, being published in The New England Journal of Medicine, provide the strongest evidence yet that the protein - known as CRP, for C-reactive protein - plays a role in heart disease. The participants were patients with severe heart disease who were taking high doses of statin drugs, which reduce both cholesterol and CRP. Lower CRP levels, the researchers found, were linked to a slower progression of atherosclerosis and fewer heart attacks and deaths. And this effect was independent of the effect of lowering cholesterol. "What we now have is hard clinical evidence that reducing CRP is at least as important as lowering cholesterol," said Dr. Paul Ridker of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, the lead author of one of the studies. But other heart disease researchers cautioned that more work was needed to prove that CRP directly causes heart disease. And most agreed that because the new studies involved only people with severe heart disease, it remained unknown whether healthy people would benefit from reducing their CRP levels. Still, the study investigators said they suspected that the results would be shown to apply more broadly. If they are correct, a huge new market for the already popular statins could be opened among people whose cholesterol levels are normal but who have high levels of CRP. Of people stricken by heart attacks, half have normal cholesterol readings. Dr. Ridker's study addressed the question of whether CRP levels independently predicted heart attacks and deaths. The second study, by Dr. Steven E. Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic and his colleagues, asked whether CRP independently predicted heart disease progression. In both cases, the investigators concluded, the answer was yes. (They, like most researchers in this field, have received support from drug companies, and Dr. Ridker is also an inventor of a test for CRP that his institution licensed. He and his laboratory profit from the use of the test.) Some heart disease experts said the new studies offered persuasive evidence that doctors should focus on keeping CRP levels low in patients with severe heart disease. "This is missing-link evidence," said Dr. Sidney Smith, a cardiologist at the University of North Carolina who is a past president of the American Heart Association and co-chairman of a committee of the heart association and the American College of Cardiology that sets treatment guidelines. Others, though, said CRP could instead be a marker for something else being fought by statin drugs to reduce heart disease risk. "These are very important papers," said Dr. James I. Cleeman, coordinator of the National Cholesterol Education Program at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. "They are provocative. But we need to recognize that the relationship between CRP and heart disease is a developing story. This adds to the evidence, but I'm not sure it settles the issue." CRP levels are low in healthy young people - usually less than one milligram per liter of blood - but they rise with age and with obesity, diabetes, smoking and a sedentary life. If people lose weight, stop smoking, exercise or take oral diabetes drugs, their CRP levels fall. But a third of the population has levels greater than three milligrams, and levels that high have been associated with heart disease risk, Dr. Ridker said. Even before the new findings, evidence had been mounting that CRP and heart disease were somehow linked. Scientists have developed hypotheses to explain why, proposing that the protein could cause plaque to develop in coronary arteries, lead plaque to burst open or bring on the formation of blood clots that then block arteries and cause heart attacks. Some drug companies have started programs to develop drugs that make a specific target of CRP and prevent its synthesis. But what the findings of those studies mean remains uncertain. That CRP levels drop with exercise and weight loss, for example, has led some experts to argue that the protein is a marker of heart disease risk, not a cause, just as gray hair is a marker rather than a cause of aging. CRP is made in the liver and also in the walls of coronary arteries and possibly elsewhere in the body. Its levels, which can be measured with a simple blood test, often rise and remain high in patients who have chronic inflammation from conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, for example, or periodontal disease. Patients with chronic inflammation also have an increased risk of heart disease. Questions remain as to the protein's normal purpose in the body. CRP was discovered about 70 years ago by scientists who were trying to unde
[ppiindia] Asian economies catching up with US
Friday, January 07, 2005 India catching up with US: Top biz lobby PRESS TRUST OF INDIA Washington, January 6 Asian economies like India and China are posing an unprecedented challenge to US competitiveness, a top American business lobby has warned, seeking firm government steps to secure the nation's leadership. The US Chamber of Commerce, representing three million firms, said although the United States was strong and outperforming virtually all of the major economies in the world, it has failed to address this challenge. "We have a good economy today - the kind of economy that much of the rest of the world only dream about," the Chamber's President, Thomas Donohue, said at a news conference on Wednesday outlining the group's priority issues for 2005. "Yet, we must also recognise that our competitive position is being challenged as never before," he said. "The rapidly developing economies of China, India and East Asia are becoming major players in cutting edge industries." They are catching up with the United States, particularly in technology, business services and high-end manufacturing, he said. Aside from Asia, Donohue said, the US needed to be wary of the European Union, which was consolidating and enlarging its economic power while aggressively expanding its regulatory impact in areas from anti-trust policy to food production to climatic change. "In many respects, our nation has failed to answer this growing competition," he said. Donohue said Asian economies were stepping up economic growth, beefing up technology, boosting training programmes and improving education quality. URL: http://www.financialexpress.com/latest_full_story.php?content_id=78974 Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Help save the life of a child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/mGEjbB/5WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] How difficult is it to make it big in America?
Saturday, January 08,2005 How difficult was it to make it big in America? LALITHA SUHASINI Mumbai, January 7: Muhammad Majeed, a 23-year-old B. Pharma student from Kerala left for US with $8 in 1975, and established Sabinsa Corporation in 1988. My friends told me coming back to India would be my biggest mistake, but I believed Bangalore had great industrial climate, Majeed said at the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin meet in conjunction with the third Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Mumbai. Today, I would ask NRIs to wait before starting operations in Bangalore because its not conducive to growth there are terrible traffic jams and the prices are escalating, said Majeed, who founded Bangalore-based Sami Labs in 1991, with manufacturing units in Kunigal and Nelamangala, an R&D unit in Singasandara and a corporate office in Peenya. He is even looking at Uttaranchal, and plans to send a research team to Chhattisgarh since it has unexplored natural resources. He also wants to expand in Hyderabad and Tamil Nadu, besides setting up a herbal farm in Maharashtra. Sabinsa Corporations, which has its worth in $50 million in sales, started as a trading company in the US for generic drugs like Ibroufen, and later manufactured and sold standardised herbal extracts like Gugulipid used in cholestrol reduction and Boswellia used for treating arthritis. But how difficult was it to make it big in America which is fixated on Indian herbal treatments? The word Ayurveda was a tongue twister in 1991, claims the 54-year-old, whose company won its first Indian National Award in Basic Drugs in 1995. URL: http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=40476 Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/O.5XsA/8WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] No more untouchables
Untouchables di India adalah golongan terbawah dari yang terbawah, yaitu harijan. Marilah kita jadikan Adiguna Suitowo orang pariah seperti itu. Salam, RM -- (Editorial Jakarta Post, January 08, 2005) No more untouchables How much do people trust our police and judicial system? About as much as a passing stranger in a dark alley at midnight. This may sound extremely unfair to our esteemed police force, to the hardworking prosecutors at the Attorney General's Office and the sapient judges who preside over our courts. But this is the objective reality of how most Indonesians feel. When a regular Joe Blow shoots a man at point-blank range in front of a handful of witnesses, few doubt -- while still adhering to the principle of "presumed innocence" -- that the suspect will face a severe jail sentence. However, when power and money come into play, the parameters of justice seem to loosen. The murder of Yohanes B.H. Natong, better known as Rudi, in the early hours of New Year's Day seems like a simple case for the police to resolve. Several witnesses can testify that they saw the bartender shot in the head by Adiguna Sutowo. Another witness saw the suspect after the shooting hand the gun to a friend who hastily left the scene of the crime. This is no ordinary suspect though. Adiguna is a member of one of the most powerful families from the New Order era. His father, the late Ibnu Sutowo, was the head of state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina, ruling imperiously over the company's finances and driving it to the brink of bankruptcy. Adiguna's brother, Ponco, is one of the country's most successful businessmen and owns a large share of the Hilton Hotel, where the crime took place. We have learned of discreet telephone conversations and text messages between senior officers of the National Police and the Jakarta Police with Adiguna's "people", including Ponco. There is certainly no harm in establishing contact with investigating officers and we should certainly give the police every opportunity to pursue their investigation. However, this revelation does give rise to suspicion and speculation. Adiguna is entitled to the best defense possible if he feels wrongly accused. Police, on the other hand, must conduct their investigation in the most thorough and timely manner possible, oblivious to the suspect's circle of influence. Despite the seemingly overwhelming evidence -- which includes blood tests that confirm the suspect was on drugs at the time of the murder -- and the assertion of no less than President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that this crime is intolerable, there remains an uneasy feeling that if the public lets down its guard this case could eventually fade away into obscurity. There have been too many cases of gun abuse reported over the past year involving well connected individuals whose cases were conveniently left in a state of abeyance. It is important to remind our policemen and women of their sacred duty to serve and protect. To keep justice on track despite the pull of politics and money. And to ensure equality before the law irrespective of a person's rank in society. Reformasi ushered in a new era for the police force. Their long coveted ambition to be separated from the military has been realized. Their role as the primary executors of national security has been acknowledged. It is time to show with distinction they are worthy of the responsibilities handed to them. For their part, the police have consciously attempted to professionalize and improve their image as guardians of civil order. But there is still a long way to go from acting like a trustworthy force to being a force that people feel they can entrust with their safety. Strict adherence to investigative procedures in this case will help close this gap in trust. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Give the gift of life to a sick child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/lGEjbB/6WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on th
[ppiindia] Australians may let Achenese immigrate
A friend in need is a friend indeed ? Ya, memang orang Aussie hampir selalu mengulurkan tangan dikala kita sedang membutuhkan. Dulu buruh pelabuhan Aussie memboikot kapal-kapal Belanda sebagai pressure agar segera memberikan pengakuan kepada RI, begitu pula ketika kita berjuang mendapatkan kembali Irja. Chritley, wakil Aussie di Komisi 3-negara, secara terang-terangan memihak RI yang baru merdeka. Dst, dst. Kini Aussie balapan menjadi penyumbang terbesar korban tsunami. Dan, ketika Pemda Batam tengil, malah kemungkinan Aussie membuka pintu bagi korban tsunami untuk berimigrasi ke Australia. Salam, RM - Australian may let Acehnese immigrate Tiarma Siboro and Fadli, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta/Batam (January 08, 2005) A leading human rights group lamented on Friday an earlier move by Batam officials to deny entry for dozens of Acehnese refugees, while the Australian government offered to give refuge to some survivors of the Dec. 26 Asian tsunami disaster. The group said that the move by Batam was a result of the central government's poor handling of refugee affairs. "We cannot blame the Batam administration for refusing the entry of Acehnese refugees because they, indeed, are responsible to register the movement of people in their region. "The problem is with the central government as it has failed to take immediate action to register and relocate the huge number of refugees from Aceh who have poured into various places nationwide," said Ruffendi Jamin for Aceh Working Group, a coalition of various non-governmental organizations concerned with Aceh issues. The Batam administration denied on Thursday the entry of dozens of tsunami survivors, arguing that the refugees failed to meet the requirements in its Bylaw No. 2/2001 on population control. Based on the Bylaw, any visitor who wants to stay in the city has to produce an identity card as well as a return ticket and a cash deposit. "The central government must provide clear instructions as to whether provincial administrations must waive such entry regulations for the refugees," Ruffendi said. Meanwhile, Australian Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone said that Australia's refugee intake was normally determined on an annual basis in concert with the United Nations, but that could be revised in the case of a major disaster. "Our refugee and humanitarian intake is settled on an annual basis on advice from the UN as to where we should take people from," she said as quoted by AFP. "Where there's been a disaster or a crisis has broken out, frequently our intake then shifts to that area to meet that need." The Acehnese refugees in Batam, meanwhile, were released from a quarantine center on Friday afternoon to stay with their relatives who reside on the island. "We finally allowed them to enter Batam after we were convinced that they had relatives who they could stay with," head of Sekupang quarantine center Yan Jamaris said. He, however, refused to elaborate when asked if the refugees paid the deposit fee. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Help save the life of a child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/mGEjbB/5WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Waves of change
Saya punya quiz: Mengapa tsunami tidak menghempas pantai selatan Jawa atau Pulau Christmas yang masih berdekatan? Dari segi geofisika, barangkali bisa diterangkan oleh RDP yang memang ahlinya. Yang ahli perklenikan juga monggo. Yang jelas, marilah kita berharap hendaknya musibah ini membawa berkah. Berkah ini sudah terjadi di Srilanka. Seperti kita tahu, wilayah utara dan timur adalah basis LTTE dan sekarang gerilyawan LTTE dan tentara Srilanka bahu membahu mengatur pertolongan. Yang begini ini, saya belum dengar apakah sudah terjadi di Aceh. Berkah kedua, dunia sudah dipersatukan oleh bencana ini, bahkan negara-negara besar sudah mengisyaratkan akan memangkas hutang negara-negara yang terkena. Kalau itu jadi kenyataan, kita akan berterima kasih. Soal berterima kasih, orang Asia tidak perlu diingatkan lagi karena mereka/kita adalah orang-orang yang cukup berperadaban. Sudah barang tentu, kitapun hendaknya mengubah perilaku kita yang sering lebih boros dari penduduk negara-negara kaya. Kalau itu yang terjadi, jangan-jangan mereka mengubah niat. Salam, RM - The New York Times January 7, 2005 OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR Waves of Change By DAVID HALE Chicago CIVILIZATION exists by geologic consent, subject to change without notice," wrote the historian Will Durant. The tsunami that struck Asia last month, caused by an earthquake off the coast of Indonesia, is a reminder of the validity of Durant's thesis; so far it has left some 140,000 people dead. Throughout human history, earthquakes have set in motion great economic changes and political revolutions. Last month's tsunami was devastating in its toll on human life, but its economic and political effects may be more modest. The San Francisco earthquake in 1906 was an important catalyst for the financial shocks that led to the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913. Because British insurance companies underwrote the majority of the city's insurance policies, millions of pounds of insurance claims were soon presented in London. The insurance claims generated a huge outflow of gold from London, which forced the Bank of England to nearly double British interest rates and to lobby British banks to stop buying American debt. Higher interest rates played a role in creating a financial panic in America, and Congress was so alarmed that it established a commission to investigate whether the government should play a greater role managing the money supply. The result of the commission's work was the creation of the Federal Reserve Bank. Most of the businesses and people affected by last month's tsunami are relatively poor, and few had insurance. As a result, estimates of the insurance cost of the disaster are about $10 billion. The losses to the various national economies may also not exceed $10 billion. Aceh, the Indonesian province where up to 100,000 people may have been killed, accounts for only about 2 percent of the country's gross domestic product. Thailand's southern provinces, which were overrun by the tsunami, contribute only about 2 percent of the country's G.D.P. Sri Lanka, however, suffered extensive damage to its tourism, fishing and agricultural sectors. Tourism is a major industry there, directly or indirectly accounting for nearly 11 percent of gross domestic product, and the devastation in southern Sri Lanka could reduce G.D.P. by 2 percent to 3 percent this year. The regional impact will be modest, though, because Sri Lanka's economy is only about $74 billion compared with $478 billion for Thailand and $759 billion for Indonesia. Thailand and Indonesia could suffer greater economic losses if their tourism industries decline; tourism is 12 percent of Thailand's economy and 10 percent of Indonesia's. But as the terrorist attack in Bali in 2002 and the SARS epidemic in 2003 demonstrated, shock events do not usually affect tourism for longer than a few months if people perceive that danger has passed. In fact, Thai hotel stocks declined on the day after the tsunami but have since recovered. Earthquakes have also generated great political shocks. An earthquake in November 1755 destroyed Lisbon and killed at least 60,000 people. It also encouraged Portugal's foreign minister, Sebastião de Carvalho, to usurp power from the king and launch a campaign against the Roman Catholic Church. Carvalho effectively reigned over Portugal until 1777. In 1972, an earthquake in Nicaragua helped to nurture an incipient revolution against the ruling Somoza family. Outraged at the government's response to the catastrophe, many Nicaraguans in Managua turned to the Sandinistas, who ousted the Somozas in 1979. Last month's earthquake could have important political implications because it struck regions in Indonesia and Sri Lanka that are home to domestic insurgent groups. Separatists in Aceh and Tamils in Sri Lanka have been challenging their governments for more than 20 years. The Indonesian government was initially slo
[ppiindia] Batam rejects Aceh refugees
Perda No.2/2001 ada tujuannya, yaitu untuk memagari Pulau Batam agar daerah itu tidak kebanjiran pendatang. Namun, pengungsi Aceh yang ditampung oleh keluarganya disana harus dikecualikan. Kalau tidak begitu, Pemda terpaksa harus rela kena cap lebih egoistis dan materialistis daripada Barat. Salam, RM --- Batam rejects Aceh refugee Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Batam Jan 07, 2004 Dozens of survivors of the quake-triggered tsunami have found they cannot even enter Batam to find their relatives. Authorities denied them entry because they failed to meet requirements as stated in the city's regulations. Under Batam Bylaw No. 2/2001 on population control, any visitor requesting to temporarily stay in the city has to produce an identity card as well as a return ticket and a deposit. On of the refugees, Maswir, said on Thursday that he came to Batam after finding out that refugee camps in Medan and Banda Aceh were not fit to live in. "I came here because I have relatives in Batam, but it turns out that there are just so many requirements to enter the island," Maswir sighed. "The authorities asked many things like a return ticket, my relatives' address, as well as deposit money." The 34-year-old arrived in Batam with 30 other refugees from Aceh on Wednesday, by ship from Medan. "My ticket was given to me by people who felt sorry for me," Maswir said. The refugees failed to show proper identification and deposit money. Every person arriving by sea is required to deposit Rp 130,000 (US$14) per day to the authorities before being granted entry to the city. The refugees were sent to the Sekupang Transit House where they had to spend the night until the next ship arrived to take them back to where they had came from. Head of Batam's population and civil registration office, Buralimar, said he was aware of the refugees' arrival in the city, ostensibly to seek help from their relatives. According to office data, there were 35 people who were currently staying at the transit house. He dismissed the suggestion that such regulations were insensitive to the plight of tsunami survivors. "There have been people claiming to be tsunami victims but it turned out they were just looking for jobs," he said. *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] USS Abraham Lincoln enjoys Aceh humanitarian mission
'USS Abraham Lincoln' enjoys Aceh humanitarian mission A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, On board the 'USS Abraham Lincoln' off Banda Aceh Coast (January 07, 2005) The ship's alarm sounded at 5:40 a.m., prompting Lt. Eric Danielsen, a helicopter pilot, to quickly rise from his bed in his small cabin in the aircraft carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln. He took a shower and rushed to the morning briefing, which was attended by other crew members and pilots of helicopters deployed for humanitarian purposes to Aceh. After the briefing, Danielsen and his colleagues had breakfast in the ship's public dining room. At about 8.30 a.m, the young lieutenant and about 10 other pilots left for Banda Aceh, flying Seahawk choppers. Upon their arrival at the Iskandar Muda Air Force Base in Banda Aceh, they were briefed by Indonesian Military officers as to where they should drop food and medicine supplies and pick up injured survivors of the Dec. 26 massive quake and ensuing tsunamis. Each chopper makes three to four short trips a day, as far as the worst-hit Meulaboh area, West Aceh, which takes an hour from the air base. They return to the USS Abraham Lincoln in the evening. Danielsen and other crew members and pilots have kept up this busy routine since Saturday, the first day the ship commenced its Aceh mission. "We work from early in the morning until the sun sets," Danielsen said on Monday night. The work is exhausting, but he said he was glad to join the mission. "Aceh has been devastated and the Acehnese people deserve help," he said. The Abraham Lincoln -- named after the U.S.'s 16th president -- is part of the U.S. Asia Pacific Command deployed to Aceh for the humanitarian mission. Besides the aircraft carrier, three other U.S. ships are stationed off the Aceh coast to provide support for domestic and international relief operations in the wake of the tsunami catastrophe, which killed over 94,000 people in this country, mostly in Aceh. The USS Abraham Lincoln, the U.S.'s fifth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, contributes about 9 to 11 helicopters a day. "Basically, the main duties of the U.S. choppers are to conduct surveys of locate tsunami survivors and refugees, drop food and medicine supplies, and, after off-loading the goods, take sick people from devastated areas to medical facilities in Banda Aceh for treatment," said Capt. Kendall L. Card, the ship's commanding officer. "The Indonesian government has control over our operations. We receive the plan and execute the day-to-day functions," he explained. According to Kendall, the aircraft carrier will stay off the coast of Aceh "until our services are no longer needed." The presence of the helicopters means that food and medicinal aid can be dropped everywhere, particularly in remote areas where land transportation has been impossible after roads and bridges were destroyed by the tsunami. This is not the first humanitarian mission for the nuclear-powered mother ship. In October 1983, the Abraham Lincoln was ordered to the coast of Somalia to assist U.N. humanitarian operations. The carrier spent four weeks flying patrols over the city of Mogadishu and surrounding areas, backing American ground troops during Operation Restore Hope. Earlier, the ship supported evacuation operations following the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991. In the operation named Fiery Vigil, the mother ship led a 23-ship armada that sea-lifted 20,000 evacuees. The armada relocated approximately 45,000 people from Subic Bay Naval Station, making it the largest peacetime evacuation of active duty military personnel and family members in history. Other crew members of the USS Abraham Lincoln said, while they had participated in other such missions, they had been stunned by the destruction in Aceh. "In my 17 years in service, I never saw devastation of this magnitude," said Sr. Chief. Jesse Cash, who joined the humanitarian mission against famine in Liberia back in 1990. "This was an act of God. We are here and happy to help," said helicopter ground crew member Kevin Ferguson. Table == Brief data about the ship General Characteristics Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding Co, Va. Commissioned: Nov. 11, 1989 Power Plant: Two nuclear reactors, four shafts Length, overall: 332.85 meters Flight Deck Width: 76.8 meters Beam: 40.84 meters Displacement: Approx. 97,000 tons full load Speed: 30+ knots Aircraft: 85 Cost: about $4.5 billion Crew: Ship's Company: 3,200 Air Wing: 2,480 Service Life: 50 years Interesting Figures Dirty laundry washed each day: 5,550 pounds (about 2,523 kg) Loaves of bread baked each day: 800 Milk consumed each day: 660 gallons Number of eggs consumed each day: 180 dozen Fresh vegetables consumed each day: 800 pounds (about 364 kg) Some soldiers say it takes at least two or three months in order to never get lost again inside the huge ship Accidents An F-18 Hornet j
[ppiindia] Wealthy, arrogant, armed and above the law
Sayang orang-orang ini tidak menyadari bahwa jaman sudah berganti. Salam, RM --- Wealthy, arrogant, armed and above the law Meydiatama Suryodiningrat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta (January 07, 2004) A waiter returns a rejected credit card to a feisty damsel at a table. She responds by complaining to her boyfriend. Coolly he pulls out a revolver then "pops" the waiter in the head -- what a scene. Neither Coppola nor Scorsese could not have directed it better. A plot out of The Godfather or Goodfellas. But we aren't talking about "made men" here, and the setting is nowhere near Sicily. It's no movie. This is real life -- involving real people on New Year's Day at the Hilton hotel in Jakarta. An innocent waiter putting himself through college shot dead in arrogance by a man born into one of the New Order's influential families. One can only wonder at what motivated the suspect to shoot a man so coolly in cold blood, or, for that matter, tote a gun at a party at the Hilton. It was not a mob hit, nor was the suspect -- a drunken Adiguna Sutowo, son of former Pertamina chief and Soeharto chum Ibnu Sutowo -- facing any potential danger. What sort of drink makes a man lose his senses so completely that he commits murder? Just how captivating was his lady companion that it moved him to take another life? The shooting in the wee hours of 2005 typifies the behavior many privileged offspring. Young men who like their sports cars as slick as their guns, their money as easy as their women. Self-proclaimed businessmen whose only business is to exploit their fathers' connections. Vestiges of an era Indonesians have rejected. A dying breed who, apparently, aren't dying fast enough. The first generation came from familiar stock -- the children of privileged officers and officials from the first decade of the New Order. A nepotistic national corporation which produced businesspeople who were more like freeloaders than entrepreneurs. The potentate of the pack -- Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo Mandala Putra -- is in prison. Serving time for ordering the murder of a Supreme Court judge. But the likes of him are still roaming wild and their arrogance emulated by a new generation of spoilt brats. This time its new stock though. Related to reform era politicians, high priced lawyers or successful tycoons. But they carry with them the same vanity as their predecessors. Son of businessman-cum-politician Oesman Sapta attempted last year to shoot a security guard who tried to intervene in an altercation at the parking lot of a South Jakarta cafe. In a separate incident a 29-year-old, allegedly connected to an influential Jakarta "businessman" fired half a dozen rounds at a Kijang van after a fender bender with his Porsche. Many cases remain pending, eventually forgotten. "Eighty-six" a common term at police headquarters for sensitive cases conveniently shelved. Money and influence buys not only fast cars, but also fast justice -- by all accounts the former case remains in limbo while the suspect in the latter one was not even detained. For Adiguna, there is little doubt that he will stand trial. The exposure generated makes the case too big to sweep under the carpet. With proper permits, guns are legal in this country. About 9,702 civilians are registered gun owners in this country, with some 800 in Jakarta. But permits and regulations do little if gun owners, most of whom hail from upper-class families, continue to act like aristocrats above the law. The objective of reformasi was not simply a revision of political institutions, but a change in consciousness from a class society marked by privilege and rank to one of equity and justice. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government has pledged that corruptors will be prosecuted. Nevertheless, ensuring due process in "ordinary" cases involving the wealthy and influential is just as important in inspiring trust in the police and the beleaguered justice system. This case is a test as to whether lady justice is truly blind or just shortsighted. An end to impunity, or injustice for all. Otherwise the only value of this latest incident is to remind people: Be careful who you talk to in this town, or you just might end up dead! Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Help save the life of a child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/mGEjbB/5WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap
[ppiindia] Adiguna's blood contained traces of illicit drugs
Awas, anak-anak dan menantu Sutowo adalah orang-orang tega dan julig (sly). Boleh jadi mereka sudah menyuruh pengacara untuk mengancam polisi dan jaksa. Jangan terlalu gembira dulu dengan penemuan adanya indikasi bahwa Adiguna mengkonsumsi narkoba. Bisa-bisa nanti yang dipersalahkan adalah narkobanya, bukan Adiguna Sutowo. Salam, RM Adiguna's blood contained trace of illicit drugs Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta January 07, 2005 Police announced on Thursday that samples of urine and blood of Adiguna Sutowo, taken a day after the shooting incident that killed Yohannes Berchmans Haerudy Natong alias Rudy, contained methamphetamine and phenmetrazine, two psychotropic subtances. National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung Sudjono said Adiguna, as the sole suspect of the Jan. 1 incident at the Hilton Hotel, would be charged under Law No. 5/1997 on psychotropic substances. "These two substances are known as shabu-shabu to the public. Obviously, he consumed shabu-shabu before the incident. However, he was cognizant when he pulled the trigger," said Suyitno. Article 59 of Law No. 5/1997 stipulates that a drug user could face a minimum sentence of four years in prison. Suyitno said the suspect would also be charged with murder and illegal gun possession. Article 338 of the Criminal Code states that premeditated murder carries a maximum sentence of 15 year's imprisonment, while according to Article 1 of Law No. 12/1951 a person illegally in the possession of a gun can be given the death sentence. Several witnesses testified that Adiguna, a son of Ibnu Sutowo, a former director of state oil and gas company Pertamina, carried the gun and pulled the trigger. "At least three witnesses of the 19 witnesses questioned so far testified that Adiguna held the gun. One of them, a barman identified as S, saw Adiguna fire the gun at Rudy," said Suyitno. He guaranteed that police would protect all witnesses testifying against the suspect and denied a report suggesting that the key suspect had disappeared. The incident allegedly took place at 3:30 a.m after the New Year's celebration inside Hilton Hotel's Fluid Club. Witnesses said that Adiguna argued with Rudy, a trainee waiter, when Rudy told Adiguna's female companion that her credit card had been rejected and asked for another one. Police have interrogated Adiguna's female companion identified as T. Suyitno said she continued to deny seeing the incident. "She signed an affidavit. If we can prove later that she lied, we can charge her under one of the articles in the Criminal Code," said Suyitno. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/O.5XsA/8WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] GM trees and forests are on their way
Jan 6th 2005 >From The Economist GM trees are on their way IN SEPTEMBER 2004, a group of scientists from around the world announced that they had deciphered yet another genome. By and large, the world shrugged and ignored them. The organism in question was neither cuddly and furry, nor edible, nor dangerous, so no one cared. It was, in fact, the black cottonwood, a species of poplar tree, and its was the first arboreal genome to be unravelled. But perhaps the world should have paid attention, because unravelling a genome is a step towards tinkering with it. And that, in the end, could lead to genetically modified forests. The black cottonwood was given the honour of being first tree because it and its relatives are fast-growing and therefore important in forestry. For some people, though, they do not grow fast enough. As America's Department of Energy, which sponsored and led the cottonwood genome project, puts it, the objective of the research was to provide insights that will lead to faster growing trees, trees that produce more biomass for conversion to fuels, while also sequestering carbon from the atmosphere. It might also lead to trees with phytoremediation traits that can be used to clean up hazardous waste sites. It is also pretty sure to lead to a lot of environmental protesthence, perhaps, the environmental emphasis of the energy department's mission statement. Given the argument about genetically modified field-crops that has taken place in some parts of the world, genetically modified forests are likely to provoke an incandescent response. Soya, maize, cotton and the like were already heavily modified for human use before biotechnologists got their hands on them. One result is that they do not do very well in the big, bad, competitive world outside the farmer's field. But trees, even the sorts favoured by foresters, are wild organisms. GM trees really might do well against their natural conspecifics. The wood and the trees Lofty mission statements aside, the principal commercial goals of arboreal genome research are faster growth and more useful wood. The advantage of the former is obvious: more timber more quickly. More useful wood, in this context, mainly means wood that is more useful to the paper industry, an enormous consumer of trees. In particular, this industry wants to reduce the amount of lignin in the wood it uses. Lignin is one of the structural elements in the walls of the cells of which wood is composed. Paper is made from another of those elements, cellulose. The lignin acts as a glue, binding the cellulose fibres together, so an enormous amount of chemical and mechanical effort has to be expended on removing it. The hope is that trees can be modified to make less lignin, and more cellulose. In a lucky break, it looks as though it might be possible to achieve both goals simultaneously. A few years ago a group of researchers at Michigan Technological University, led by Vincent Chiang, started the ball rolling. They produced aspens, another species of poplar, that have 45% less lignin and 15% more cellulose than their wild brethren, and grow almost twice as fast, as well. The mixture the team achieved leaves the combined mass of lignin and cellulose in the trunk more or less unchanged and, contrary to the expectations of many critics, the resulting trees are as strong as unmodified ones. The trick Dr Chiang and his colleagues used was to suppress the activity of one of the genes in the biochemical pathway that trees employ to make lignin. They did this using so-called antisense technology. Antisense technology depends on the fact that the message carried by a gene is encoded in only one of the two strands of the famous DNA double helix. Because of the precise pairing between the components of the two strands, the other strand carries what can, in essence, be described as an antimessage. The message itself is copied into a single-stranded messenger molecule which carries it to the protein-making parts of the cell, where it is translated. But if this messenger meets a single-stranded antimessenger before it arrives, the two will pair up. That silences the messenger. Dr Chiang therefore inserted into his aspens a gene that makes antimessengers to the lignin gene in question. Wood can be improved in other ways, too. When it comes to papermaking, long fibres of cellulose are preferable to short ones. Thomas Moritz, of the Umea Plant Science Centre in Sweden, and his colleagues, have found out how to make hybrid poplars that reflect this industrial preference. In this case they did it by making a gene work overtime, rather than by suppressing its activity. The gene they chose is involved in the synthesis of a hormone called gibberellin and, once again, a side-effect of the alteration was to cause the trees to grow faster. How such genetically modified trees would fit in with the natural environment is, of course, an important questionand it is important
[ppiindia] Scientists develop hydrogen motorcycles
(Z News) Scientists develop hydrogen motorcycle Ahmedabad, Jan 04: As part of India's hydrogen energy programme, scientists have built a hydrogen motorcycle which would soon be tested in Delhi, Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy sources said today. The country had made several achievements in the area of hydrogen energy and had come up with efficient production methods in laboratory conditions and successfully demonstrated utilisation in motorcycles and three wheelers, Dr S K Chopra, senior advisor at the Central Ministry said. Besides, success had also been achieved in biological production of hydrogen from organic waste and bio gas, Chopra said at the plenary in the 92nd Indian Science Congress. The demonstration of the hydrogen motorcycle had been done in Varanasi and it would soon be demonstrated in Delhi, he added. Scientists are working in the area of fuel cells in which hydrogen and oxygen combine to produce electricity and water. Japn and the US were leading in this area, he said. Stating there was an urgent need to move towards cleaner energy resources and technologies, Chopra said this would reduce environmental pollution and promote human health. Utilisation of solar energy was a good option but its utilisation in all its forms has many inherent problems which prevents its use on large scale as a substitute to the existing fossil fuels, he explained. The world was now moving towards a solar hydrogen system and many countries were now working towards the transition to the hydrogen economy, he said adding India could show the way in this frontier energy technology area as it was already working on a hydrogen energy road map and programme to bring about transition to new solar hydrogen economy. Bureau Report Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. Bring education to life by funding a specific classroom project. http://us.click.yahoo.com/4F6XtA/_WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] India shows its sphere of influence to the world
India menunjukkan kebolehan kekuatan lautnya dengan mengirim personil, kapal-kapal dan helicopter AL ke Sri Lanka untuk membantu mereka yang terkena musibah tsunami disana. Ya, sea power adalah world power. Imperium Inggris ketika jaya-jayanya adalah kekuatan laut. Begitu pula imperium Soviet. Idem ditto Amerika, bahkan dulunya US Navy memegang matra udara, baru pada tahun 1940-an lahir US Air Force. Meskipun India miskin duwit, tapi Indian Navy bermatra udara-laut. Kalau kita jalan-jalan ke Goa, di sebelah bandara sipil ada pangkalan satuan udara Indian Navy: disitu kelihatan pesawat pengintai jarak jauh Ilyushin (atau Antonov?) dan campuran helicopter Mi (Mikoyan) dan Allouette. Di kawasan Samudra Pasifik, hanya India dan Australia yang punya blue water navy. Blue water navy artinya kapal perangnya mampu melayari samudra, bukan coastal waters saja. Ketika saya menghadiri acara Western Navy diatas kapal, saya lihat kapal korvet (frigates) yang ada helicopternya. Navy helicopter berfungsi mengawal armada dan dipersenjatai dengan sea-mines yang mampu melumpuhkan kapal selam lawan. Blue water navy tidak saja merajai permukaan laut, tapi juga bawah laut dengan kapal selam; baru-baru ini Indian Navy mencoba meluncurkan rudal jarak sedang dari kapal selamnya. Salam, RM - India shows its sphere of influence to the world CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 05, 2005 10:00:15 PM ] "The reason why India was approached to join the team of core nations was because it is a country with major capabilities. We have the largest navy in the Indian Ocean," Ambassador Sen acknowledged, adding, "There are good reasons why it is called the Indian Ocea...it has always been in the Indian sphere of influence." To get a measure of India's territorial expanse, Sen said western experts should try superimposing the map of Europe over that of India. It is often overlooked, even by Indians, that the distance from Delhi to Dushanbe in Central Asia is less than to many southern Indian cities, he said, recalling the vision of J.N.Dixit, India's National Security Advisor who died on Sunday. "Sad as it is, it took the tsunami to realize India's expanse," Sen said. "Even the British who drew our maps first have no idea of this now." President Bush, who has repeatedly credited New Delhi India with justifiable global power aspirations despite its myriad problems, virtually affirmed its credentials after his visit to the embassy. He even announced his intention to visit India this year. "I want to thank the Indian government for taking a lead in this issue. One of the first things that we did was to put together a core group of nations, nations that are capable of organizing relief efforts around the region, and the Indian government has been especially strong, as a part of this core group," Bush acknowledged. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC/NC today! http://us.click.yahoo.com/5F6XtA/.WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] We humbly thank you
Thank you, thank you, thank you all. Editorial The Jakarta Post sudah mewakili sanubari rakyat Indonesia. Tidak disangsikan lagi, bahwa musibah ini mengurangi kesombongan kita, dan mengikis prejudice kita. Semoga. Salam, RM -- (Editorial Jakarta Post, 6 Januari 2005) We humbly thank you It has been obvious from the beginning that the devastation caused by the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami was simply too enormous for Indonesia to deal with alone. The huge death toll, the massive destruction and the hundreds of thousands of people now forced to live in refugee camps are simply unprecedented. Indonesia is not alone: The tsunami also brought untold deaths and destruction in Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Maldives, and on the opposite end of the Indian Ocean, in Somalia and Kenya. But there is no doubt that Indonesia, particularly the province of Aceh, suffered the worst because of its close proximity to the epicenter of the 9.0-magnitude earthquake. No country in the world has ever had to deal with devastation of this magnitude. Amidst all this, Indonesia, and the people of Aceh in particular, can find comfort in the fact that they are not alone in their struggle to overcome the grief and to rebuild their lives. As the scale of the calamity became understood last Sunday and Monday, the international community rushed to assist the people of Aceh. The Acehnese have not been alone in coming to terms with the reality that their lives have been turned upside down by a catastrophe beyond anyone's control. And now, more than one week later, as they begin to rebuild their shattered lives, they should also know that the nation and the rest of the world are with them. Thanks to global media coverage and the technology to bring the news and images of the disaster to people's living rooms almost instantaneously, the cries for help from the people of Aceh, India and Sri Lanka -- the three countries worst hit -- were heard loud and clear all across the world. The scale of death, destruction and displacement of people is simply beyond the imagination of most people. But one thing most can comprehend, to some degree, is the suffering that people go through after losing loved ones, their homes or their livelihood. The global response to the Indian Ocean disaster has been, to say the least, fantastic, and equally unprecedented. Some countries and governments reacted spontaneously. Others took longer before they realized the full extent of the devastation. But in all, upwards of $2.3 billion worth of humanitarian relief has been raised or pledged from governments and international organizations. Japan leads the pack with $500 million and the United States follows with $350 million. But Germany is planning to top all that with a pledge of $668 million. It is not solely governments, the various agencies of the United Nations and non-governmental relief organizations have responded with unprecedented generosity. The public in many countries have been touched by what they saw on their television screens. They too have donated generously. Some governments have pledged to match every dollar that their citizens donate for the Asian disaster. The United States is now fully involved in this global movement. President George W. Bush and his predecessors Bill Clinton and George H. Bush visited the Indonesian Embassy in Washington on Monday to reassure Indonesia of American support. The two former presidents have been tasked to lead a private fund raising drive that will further bolster U.S. assistance. President Bush has ordered flags in government offices be flown at half-mast to mourn the deaths all over the Indian Ocean rim. And there are the humanitarian operations either jointly or individually conducted by the military from Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, the United States, Japan, Malaysia, Germany, Pakistan and India to bring desperately needed relief supplies to victims and survivors. The emergency summit in Jakarta to discuss the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the stricken areas today presents an opportunity for Indonesia to express its great appreciation -- not only on behalf of the people in Aceh, but also for the victims in other Asian countries -- for all the help and the expression of solidarity, given in the wake of the disaster, by people and governments of the world. Not all those generous countries are represented today, but given the presence of a horde of international media, the message will get to everyone. The magnitude of the destruction caused by the earthquake and tsunami has made us humble of the powers that nature has over mankind. But we are even more humbled by the generosity shown by the people all around the world. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC
[ppiindia] Official says 30,000 terrorists in Iraq
Official Says 30,000 Terrorists in Iraq Wed Jan 5, 3:01 PM ET By MAAMOUN YOUSSEF, Associated Press Writer CAIRO, Egypt - As many as 30,000 well-trained terrorists are actively operating throughout Iraq (news - web sites) at the behest of former regime leaders based in Syria, Iraq's intelligence chief said in Wednesday edition of a pan-Arab newspaper. Maj. Gen. Mohammed Abdullah al-Shahwani told the daily newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat that the men, who are well-organized and trained, include former Baath party members, Islamic militant groups and unemployed former army members. "We officially call them terrorists," he told the London-based newspaper. "They are between 20,000 and 30,000 armed men operating all over Iraq, mainly in the Sunni areas where they receive moral support from about 200,000 people." Al-Shahwani said terrorist attacks could affect Iraq's Jan. 30 election for a constitutional assembly, predicting that some people will stay away from polling stations because they are afraid of possible assaults. "Whether these attacks would increase or decrease, this depends on the elections result. But our expectation, as a security organ, is that the attacks will recede and end in one year," he said. He said the insurgents receive financial support from former leading Baathist Mohammed Younis al-Ahmed and Sabaawi al-Hassan, a half brother of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites). Al-Ahmed and al-Hassan are in Syria and easily moving in and out of Iraq, al-Shahwani said. Saddam's former deputy, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, also is working with insurgents, he said. President Bush (news - web sites) has warned Syria against "meddling" in the internal affairs of Iraq. Syria has denied Iraqi accusations that terrorists are receiving support from Damascus and freely crossing the border. Iraq also has accused Iran of allowing the insurgents to cross into Iraqi territory. The Iraqi intelligence chief said he had seen no changes in Syrian and Iranian policies following the Iraqi accusations. "The problems are still coming from these two countries because the borders are open and the support is going on to serve their interests," he said. On Sunday, the State Department's No. 2 official Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Syria had improved security along its border with Iraq but needed to do more to keep armed supporters of Saddam from sneaking across. Al-Shahwani said insurgent activities in Fallujah have receded since a U.S.-Iraqi military campaign last month but leading members fled to different areas. He named "hot areas" where insurgents were active, including the so-called Sunni Triangle, eastern Diyala province and areas north of Hillah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad. He also said armed groups were seen searching people in the northern city of Mosul and in Baghdad areas such as Haifa Street and the districts of Azamiyah, Doura and Ghazaliyah, as well as the road leading to the airport. Al-Shahwani was pensioned by Saddam in 1984 and defected from Iraq in 1990. He formed an opposition military group backed by the U.S. administration. Saddam executed several members of his group, including al-Shahwani's three sons. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Give the gift of life to a sick child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/lGEjbB/6WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Advanced courses in high school may not mean success at college
Setuju dengan tulisan dibawah ini, bahwa IB tidak menjamin keberhasilan di college. Seperti pernah saya singgung waktu gayung bersambut ke Dr. No, materi IB adalah materi college. Dua tahun terakhir dari high school, terpaksa siswa harus berjuang mati-matian menyelesaikan syllabus IB -- biasanya hanya sedikit yang berhasil. Selain ada soal ketidakadilan dengan siswa lain yang tidak punya uang untuk masuk sekolah yang meyelenggarakan IB, program ini ada bahayanya. Pertama, setelah energi habis (burnt out) ada siswa yang loyo setelah di college -- contohnya banyak. Kedua, setelah mengenal calculus dan advanced physics dan advanced chemistry, si student meremehkan materi freshman yang mathematics-nya mulai lagi dengan algebra. Akibat sikap meremehkan ini bisa fatal, tanpa disadari. Salam, RM - washingtonpost.com Advanced Courses in High School May Not Mean Success at College Report Urges Students to Take Exams After Honors Programs By Jay Mathews Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, December 23, 2004; Page A07 College-level courses offered in high school, such as Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB), do not appear to improve academic performance in college, unless students take the tests at the end of each course, according to a major study by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley. But, the report emphasized, performing well on the difficult exams is a better predictor of success in college than nearly anything else in a student's high school record. The report is expected to create controversy among college recruiters, high school educators and students preparing for college, because the most selective colleges virtually require that students take AP or IB. Many school districts, including several in the Washington area, give extra grade points for taking college-level courses, a practice the Berkeley researchers say may have gone too far. The AP program, run by the New York-based College Board, is one of the fastest-growing in the country. The number of students taking AP exams rose from 133,702 in 1981 to 1,017,396 in 2004. The IB program, although much smaller, also grew rapidly. The Berkeley study, based on a sample of 81,445 students at eight University of California campuses, contradicts in some ways a 1999 U.S. Education Department report, based on a sample of about 8,700 students, that said the more intense academic experience provided by honors or college-level courses in high school made it more likely that those students, particularly minorities, would graduate from college. The Berkeley report, obtained yesterday by The Washington Post, is also at odds with recent research by the National Center for Educational Accountability, based on 78,079 Texas college students, that suggested even doing poorly on a college-level test in high school was more likely to improve chances of college graduation than not taking the course and test at all. The 29-page report by Saul Geiser and Veronica Santelices did, however, endorse the view among high school educators, particularly in the Washington area, that taking AP and IB courses and tests is important preparation for college. The scores on the difficult AP tests "have a greater predictive weight [on future college academic performance] than any other factor except high school grades," the report said. The Berkeley study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, was inspired by the University of California admissions policy of giving a full extra grade point -- making each A worth five points rather than four -- for any grade in any AP, IB or honors course, even if the student did not take the three-hour AP or five-hour IB exams. The report notes that more than 40 percent of AP students in California may be getting that credit without taking the exams and not being any more prepared for college than students who did not take AP courses and did not get the extra grade point. This is particularly unfair to low-income and minority students who "typically have less access to AP courses than those from schools with higher college-going rates," the report said. "Admissions officers need to reconsider the manner in which AP and honors courses are treated in 'high stakes' admissions," the report said. "Such reconsideration assumes special importance in light of the disparity in AP honors participation among groups that have been historically underrepresented in higher education." Washington area AP and IB administrators said the report buttressed their own view that the college-level courses risk being diluted by weak or uncertain teachers unless all students in them are required to take the May exams, which are written and scored by outside experts. Bernadette Glaze, specialist for advanced academic programs in the Fairfax County schools, said that her system began to require that all AP and IB students take the final examinations in 1998. Schools delete the bonus
[ppiindia] A clear line between life and death
Kapak induk Abraham Lincoln, 13,000 personil, 46 helicopter Seahawk yang melakukan 30 sorties tiap hari, 21 kapal, dan 29 pesawat semuanya membawa bantuan, mungkin bagaikan setitik air di samudra mengingat begitu besarnya kerusakan di Aceh. Salam, RM --- washingtonpost.com A Clear Line Between Life and Death By Alan Sipress and Glenn Kessler Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, January 5, 2005; Page A01 LAMNO, Indonesia, Jan. 4 -- From the skies above Aceh's devastated western coastline, no sign of civilization remains except for the barren concrete foundations of houses sheared clean and wooden debris scattered like multicolored confetti. But several miles inland, some isolated settlements were spared by the tsunami that devastated the tip of Sumatra island Dec. 26, killing more than 94,000 people in Indonesia alone. Villagers walk along the main roads toward the spots where U.S. Navy Seahawk helicopters have been dropping emergency supplies of food and water for the past three days. The line between life and death was evident Tuesday looking down at the countryside from one of the Seahawks. As far as the wall of briny water had advanced, rice fields of the once verdant western coast were transformed into a broad swath of brown sludge. But inches beyond the reach of the wave, the paddies glistened emerald green. The Seahawks, based on the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, which is stationed off Sumatra, are running at least 30 relief missions a day to towns and villages on the west coast. The flights are part of a U.S. military operation throughout the region affected by the earthquake and resulting tsunami. The effort involves about 13,000 personnel, 21 ships, 46 helicopters and 29 other aircraft. "I think we are bringing more military assets into the region," said Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, who arrived in Jakarta late Tuesday for a trip to Aceh on Wednesday. "I think there is large quantities of food on the way, fresh water on the way, medical supplies on the way." Powell, accompanied by President Bush's brother, Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, stressed humanitarian needs in the region while on a tour of the tsunami-stricken countries. Powell and Bush spent part of Tuesday in Phuket, Thailand, viewing the damage left by the tsunami and inspecting relief efforts. In Indonesia, Powell expressed the hope that U.S. aid could begin to reverse the rise of anti-Americanism in the region by demonstrating that "America is not an anti-Islamic, anti-Muslim nation." Indonesia is the world's largest Islamic nation; about 88 percent of its 238 million people are Muslim. U.N. officials have warned that tens of thousands of people in northern Sumatra have not yet received help following the earthquake and tsunami. More than 139,000 people were killed in the catastrophe, and millions have been left homeless in at least 12 countries, according to relief officials. Powell said scenes of U.S. helicopter pilots delivering aid, coupled with a demonstration of "American generosity" through a range of other humanitarian activities, would reduce the ability of radical groups to recruit terrorists. "It dries up those pools of dissatisfaction which might give rise to terrorist activities," Powell said after meeting with senior Indonesian officials in Jakarta, the capital. He slept Tuesday at the JW Marriott hotel, which was bombed by Muslim extremists in August 2003, killing 12 people. Powell was scheduled to attend an international donors meeting in Jakarta on Thursday. More than $2 billion has been pledged to the recovery effort, including $350 million from the United States, not including the military operation. Rain and flooding in some areas were hampering international relief efforts on Tuesday, but there has been "extraordinary progress" said Jan Egeland, the U.N. emergency relief coordinator. Egeland said he had asked the Bush administration to provide a C-17 transport plane that would ferry bulldozers to be used to expand the runway at Banda Aceh. The airport in the provincial capital, a hub for relief aid, was blocked for hours when a Boeing 737 cargo plane carrying supplies hit a water buffalo on the runway. Aceh's west coast was closest to the gargantuan earthquake that triggered the tsunami, and much of the region is cut off because of decimated roads and washed-out bridges. On one Navy helicopter mission over the west coast, a young man walking on a road through the paddies paused at the sound of the approaching Seahawk and stared up. Then he waved. Petty Officer Jason Dexter, 24, of Coronado, Calif., clad in an olive flight suit and white helmet, stuck his gloved hand through the open door of helicopter and waved back. The Seahawk descended with a roar into Lamno, a town of simple wood homes with rusty corrugated metal roofs located about 25 miles over cloud-tipped mountains from Banda Aceh. Most of the structures were still standing. The
[ppiindia] Tsunami carnage shocks Powell
Tsunami carnage shocks Powell Wednesday, January 5, 2005 Posted: 9:40 AM EST (1440 GMT) BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has taken a firsthand look at the tsunami-ravaged Indonesian province of Aceh by helicopter, saying he was shocked by what he saw. "I have never seen anything like this," Powell, a military veteran, told reporters at a news conference in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh following a two-hour helicopter tour of the surrounding area with Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the brother of President George W. Bush. "We've all seen pictures on our television sets and in our newspapers of the damage that occurred here, but only by seeing it in person from a helicopter flying low over the city can you get a real appreciation of what it must have been like when the tsunami came through and caused so much death and destruction." Powell spoke shortly before millions of people in Europe observed three minutes silence to mourn the dead and the missing. (Full story) Meanwhile, a senior U.S. official said Powell is growing frustrated with the slow process of whittling down the list of unaccounted-for Americans, and has told his aides he wants faster progress. As of midnight Tuesday, the U.S. list had been cut to 3,000 people -- down from 4,000 earlier that day. Sixteen Americans have been confirmed dead. In conversations with some European leaders after visiting Thailand, Powell said there is a need to get dental records and DNA samples from relatives of those remaining unaccounted for. The bodies now being recovered are decomposed and bloated, making them hard to identify. The death toll from the December 26 earthquake and tsunamis, which shattered tourist resorts and seaside communities from Thailand to East Africa, has topped 155,000. More than 94,000 of the dead were in Indonesia. Hundreds of villages along the coast of Sumatra have vanished. All that remains are a few blocks or pieces of wood -- and in some cases a mosque, better built than other buildings. Roads and bridges, too, are gone, making reaching the survivors -- who would have been forced to flee into the hills, mountains and rain forests beyond the coast -- all but impossible. Banda Aceh airport has become the nerve center of the relief effort following the disaster that has killed at least 94,000 people on the northwest end of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Aid packages for Indonesia are being flown first to Medan, on the east coast, then northwest by airplane to Banda Aceh, where U.S. helicopters fly aid to survivors where they are found. When the helicopters return to the airport, they usually bring a load of seriously injured people who have gone without medical care for 10 days. With hospitals full, many are being treated at a makeshift medical clinic at the airport. Many of those less seriously injured are walking up the beach, subsisting on coconuts as they try to make their way to help. Powell, who will brief the U.S. president and members of Congress when he returns to Washington, said the trip gave him a better understanding of the needs of Banda Aceh and the challenges facing the Indonesian government. The United States will increase the number of helicopters working out of Banda Aceh, Powell said, without giving specifics. Washington has said it plans to double the number of U.S. military helicopters operating in the tsunami-stricken regions from 46 to more than 90. (Full story) The United States has so far pledged $350 million for relief efforts, and Powell promised more if it is needed "because of the human dimensions of this catastrophe." Powell said on Tuesday in Thailand that the United States had thrown its financial and military weight into southern Asia relief efforts, not to gain favor in the Islamic world, but because it's what Americans do. "We are doing it regardless of religion," he said, "but I think it does give the Muslim world -- and the rest of the world -- an opportunity to see American generosity, American values in action, where we care about the dignity of every individual and the worth of every individual." (Full story) Indonesia is the largest Muslim nation in the world and was the hardest hit by the disaster. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. Bring education to life by funding a specific classroom project. http://us.click.yahoo.com/4F6XtA/_WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap td
Re: [ppiindia] A clear line between life and death
Heheh. Maksud saya juga begitu kok. Saya pakai kata setitik air dalam samudra, itu kan agar saya tidak dituduh antek Amerika saja. Maklumlah, disini kan masih banyak orang yang antipati amat sangat kepada Amerika. Terima kasih. Salam, RM --- Ambon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Setitik atau sejuta ton bantuan, patut kita > berterimakasih karena ada yang > prihatin dan rela membantu, sebab diri sendiri tak > mampu untuk mengatasi > situasi.. > > Masalah pokok ialah supaya semua bamtuan sampai > kepada yang benar-benar > membutuhkan, dan bukan hilang ditengah jalan dimakan > rayap atau tikus-tikus > rakus. > > InsyaAlloh! > > - Original Message - > From: "rahardjo mustadjab" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; > ; > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Wisnu Sindhutrisno" > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; > "Kenny Joe" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Nithianandum > Katherayson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2005 12:53 PM > Subject: [ppiindia] A clear line between life and > death > > > > > > Kapak induk Abraham Lincoln, 13,000 personil, 46 > > helicopter Seahawk yang melakukan 30 sorties tiap > > hari, 21 kapal, dan 29 pesawat semuanya membawa > > bantuan, mungkin bagaikan setitik air di samudra > > mengingat begitu besarnya kerusakan di Aceh. > > > > Salam, > > RM > > > > --- > > > > washingtonpost.com > > A Clear Line Between Life and Death > > > > By Alan Sipress and Glenn Kessler > > Washington Post Foreign Service > > Wednesday, January 5, 2005; Page A01 > > > > > > LAMNO, Indonesia, Jan. 4 -- From the skies above > > Aceh's devastated western coastline, no sign of > > civilization remains except for the barren > concrete > > foundations of houses sheared clean and wooden > debris > > scattered like multicolored confetti. > > > > But several miles inland, some isolated > settlements > > were spared by the tsunami that devastated the tip > of > > Sumatra island Dec. 26, killing more than 94,000 > > people in Indonesia alone. Villagers walk along > the > > main roads toward the spots where U.S. Navy > Seahawk > > helicopters have been dropping emergency supplies > of > > food and water for the past three days. > > > > The line between life and death was evident > Tuesday > > looking down at the countryside from one of the > > Seahawks. As far as the wall of briny water had > > advanced, rice fields of the once verdant western > > coast were transformed into a broad swath of brown > > sludge. But inches beyond the reach of the wave, > the > > paddies glistened emerald green. > > > > The Seahawks, based on the USS Abraham Lincoln > > aircraft carrier, which is stationed off Sumatra, > are > > running at least 30 relief missions a day to towns > and > > villages on the west coast. > > > > The flights are part of a U.S. military operation > > throughout the region affected by the earthquake > and > > resulting tsunami. The effort involves about > 13,000 > > personnel, 21 ships, 46 helicopters and 29 other > > aircraft. > > > > "I think we are bringing more military assets into > the > > region," said Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, > who > > arrived in Jakarta late Tuesday for a trip to Aceh > on > > Wednesday. "I think there is large quantities of > food > > on the way, fresh water on the way, medical > supplies > > on the way." > > > > Powell, accompanied by President Bush's brother, > Gov. > > Jeb Bush of Florida, stressed humanitarian needs > in > > the region while on a tour of the tsunami-stricken > > countries. Powell and Bush spent part of Tuesday > in > > Phuket, Thailand, viewing the damage left by the > > tsunami and inspecting relief efforts. > > > > In Indonesia, Powell expressed the hope that U.S. > aid > > could begin to reverse the rise of > anti-Americanism in > > the region by demonstrating that "America is not > an > > anti-Islamic, anti-Muslim nation." > > > > Indonesia is the world's largest Islamic nation; > about > > 88 percent of its 238 million people are Muslim. > U.N. > > officials have warned that tens of thousands of > people > > in northern Sumatra have not yet received help > > following the earthquake and tsunami. More than > > 139,000 people were
[ppiindia] Images of 2004 ... and 2005
Baru saja rekan saya, Irena Krasnicka, dari Czech Republic, menelpon dan menyatakan kesedihannya setelah mengikuti perkembangan bencana tsunami di Aceh. Saya sampaikan terima kasih, setelah dia mengatakan bahwa ia ikut menyumbang sekedarnya bersama orang Czeko lainnya. Kebetulan bulan Februari yad dia akan pergi ke Jakarta dan Jogja untuk urusan pekerjaan dia. Salam, RM --- Images of 2004... and 2005 Farzana Contractor (Afternoon) Wednesday, January 05, 2005 12:30:18 IST There is nothing like a New Year, really. Not when you consider how the aftermath of the Tsunami disaster just goes on extending from one day to another, one year to the next. Yes, the mood is somber and there are images which have come forth which we will never be able to wipe out from memory. The diary picture of Afternoon, on the last day of the year was so, so, so sad. The distraught old man, sitting looking down, head in hand... what were his thoughts? So hapless, a life beyond tears? Such sadness. But on the other hand, the other side of it. The nice stories. Ones which exemplify human courage, show animal loyalty, the good side of human nature, the generosity of the world. For me, the nicest image was one that showed a Buddhist monk freeing birds from a cage - symbolising the freeing of entrapped spirits of those dead; deaths that were violent and too quick, yet painful. Then there was the series of pictures. The Swedish mother in a bikini, running daringly and purposefully into the sea and the fury of the Tsunami. She had to save her children who were snorkeling. Phew! Only a mother could do that. To think all of the five in the family are back in their homeland safe and sound after being tossed around in the waves! Destiny. And how about the family dog that dragged his seven-year-old master out of danger, up a hill. Imagine the joy of the mother who thought him dead since she had had to let go of his hand so she could escape with two younger ones in two arms! Then there were the eight elephants on a Thai beach trumpeting in panic even as the earth was ripping open on a seabed, oceans away. These were the 'joy-ride' jumbos who couldn't be pacified all morning and who ran away, to a nearby hill, berserk, a full hour before the tidal waves hit the shore. All the tourists on their backs were saved! Well, and then there is the whole world getting together in a common cause: to help the survivors put their broken lives together again. Presidents urging America to contribute generously, a cricket benefit match in Australia, tennis auctions, charity music shows, giving up-a-day's salary and what not. But all this is because feelings are in 'flow' now. It's when the ebb sets in, that genuine help and sincere effort will be needed. And the need will not be finance as much as to be there and do what young Vivek Oberoi is doing today. Go there three months from now, six months later and a year or two after that too and help those affected find their place in the sun. In another three weeks it will be four years since the Bhuj earthquake and you know what, most of us have forgotten the victims, but they are still suffering. Farzana Contractor is the CEO of this newspaperand the editor of UpperCrust. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/O.5XsA/8WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM ~-> *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Post-tsunami India's image rises globally
India tidak ingin kelihatan sebagai sosok yang egoistis. Meskipun juga tertimpa kesusahan, tetapi dia ikut menyingsingkan lengan baju membantu Sri Lanka, bantuan tenaga tidak kalah nilainya dengan bantuan duwit. Itu satu point. Point lainnya, adalah penolakan bantuan dari pemerintah lain (bukan Amerika saja). Mungkin cara berpikirnya begini: malu ah, lha wong waktu Florida kena bencana hebat tahun lalu dan waktu gempa dan taifun menimpa Jepang, kita tidak kirim bela sungkawa apalagi bantuan. Mungkin begitu sebabnya, sekalipun tidak dinyatakan. Bravo !!! Salam, RM Post-tsunami India's image rises globally Wednesday January 5 2005 00:00 IST IANS WASHINGTON: India has displayed maturity in its management of the ravages caused by last week's tsunami - helping other countries in the region and in helping itself - leading to a changed perception of the country in the eyes of the international community. "It's a new and confident India which also recognizes its responsibilities," asserted renowned economist Jagdish Bhagwati. In an interview with IANS, Bhagwati says in helping other countries around the world in its own time of crisis, "It's not just international power play but rather a display of maturity. It's not with a sense of pride but rather as an obligation." "There will be a changed perception of India following this disaster," says Anirban Basu, former director of the Towson University Regional Economic Studies Institute in greater Washington. "India is not just a technical leader in South Asia and Southeast Asia, but a leader in taking up the tsunami warning system. I think people have looked at India till now not much more than a leader in South Asia," said Basu, CEO of Sage Policy Group, advisors to state, federal and private companies. New Delhi promptly began helping Sri Lanka with ships and army personnel to reach difficult areas and deliver aid, even as it coped with its own death toll that touches 9,000 with thousands still unaccounted for. "The fact that it is able to take care of itself also comes out in the Bush administration's response - and the work of the Indian government which has cemented the bond - President Bush clubbed India with Japan and Australia. So it has worked out very nicely for India's image even for altruistic purposes," Bhagwati emphasized. "India also took matters in stride although it did not suffer as huge a loss as Sri Lanka or Indonesia," Bhagwati noted. "It showed it doesn't really need these huge organisations like Oxfam etc., who want to get mileage out of this. Our own people have the commitment - big and small NGOs who don't need to get on CNN," he added. "Ultimately, Indian ships are going out to help, just like the US - that shows its status." Bhagwati indicated he was most impressed by the non-governmental organizations in India that have fuelled the "revolution of perceived possibilities and rising expectations". India, he said, "is both a democracy and a major force", and NGOs had helped make the democracy more responsive to people. "These NGOs provide people with their sense of confidence, not necessarily the political parties." According to Anirban Basu, India's aid effort in the region was "an amazing transformation" for a country that was an aid recipient at one time. Though it still may get aid from organizations like the World Bank "India is a powerhouse in so many ways but also houses a very large community of poor, and there is no shame in that," Basu insisted. "India will remain a study in contradictions - home to cutting edge technology and also to millions of poor, but a rising tide lifts all boats," he said metaphorically without intending a pun in the current disaster. *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Tiga serangkai Maimonides + Ibnu Rushd + Thomas Aquinas ====> Re: [ppiindia] Re: Orang Baik Dihukum Tuhan
--- Robertus Budiarto <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Ade menganjurkan kita supaya tetap memakai Logika. > Sebuah masukan yang baik. Memang tulisan saya TIDAK > MENGANJURKAN untuk membuang logika. Tulisan saya > hanya bermaksud untuk menunjukkan batas Logika dan > sekaligus menegaskan bahwa Tuhan memiliki Misteri > yang tak tertembus Logika itu. Jadi jangan sok suci > atau memaki orang dgn nama Tuhan. Selain itu mungkin > melalui akal rasional, mudah-mudahan bisa mengurangi > kegetiran saudara-saudariku yg tertimpa bencana > Tsunami. > > > > Sebaliknya untuk urusan duniawi, saya menganjurkan > untuk selalu menggunakan Logika alias akal waras. > (Tentu saja TIDAK HANYA logika). Saya dalam hal ini > setuju dengan Einstein yg mengatakan, "Tuhan itu > tidak bermain dadu." > > Semua masalah di dunia selalu ada reasonnya. Sejarah > membuktikan hal ini. Secara berproses umat manusia > menemukan hal2 yang dulu dianggap gaib atau > mustahil. Bahkan jika Tuhan membuat mukjijat > sekalipun, proses terjadinya mukjijat nantinya akan > mampu diulas secara rasional/ilmiah HOW it happens? > Cuman untuk tahu WHY, kayanya itu urusan Tuhan. > Stephen Hawking bercita-cita menemukan persamaan > matematika, fisika yg dapat menjelaskan asal usul > universum. Namun Stephen sendiri tak akan mampu > menjelaskan mengapa Universum lahir. > > Logika / akal sehat harus selalu digunakan. > Mengapa saya punya asumsi seperti itu? Karena > Manusialah satu2nya mahluk Tuhan yg dikaruniai akal > budi, sungguh berdosa jika manusia tidak memelihara > dan menggunakan akal budinya. (aku rasa Ibnu Rusyid > dan "murid"nya Thomas Aquinas jg mengatakan hal yg > sama). > > Jadi malah "berdosa" jika manusia tidak menggunakan > akal budinya. > > Mengenai Tuhan sendiri banyak saksi ahli dalam > sejarah yg menyatakan bahwa Logika, bahasa kita > terbatas menjelaskan fenomena Tuhan sesungguhnya, > tidak heran Lao Tse mengatakan: "Yang tahu tidak > bicara, yang bicara tidak tahu". > > Wassalam > Bobby B Wah Anda mengingatkan semasa saya mengikuti kuliah filsafat dulu, memang ada tingkat-tingkat berpikir yang diterangkan oleh Santo Thomas Aquinas yang adalah filsuf plus matematikus plus astronoom. Thomas Aquinas hidup ketika Eropa masih dalam Jaman Kegelapan, artinya belum rasional dan belum enlightened. Sebaliknya, dunia Islam Andalus sudah mengenal rasio yang dikembangkan Yunani tempo doeloe. Thomas Aquinas mampu berkomunikasi dengan Ibnu Rushd dari Andalus, dan memperkenalkan falsafah Yunani ke Eropa. Jangan dilupakan, ketika itu filsuf besar adalah tigas serangkai: Thomas Aquinas (Katholik), Averoes atau Ibnu Rushd (Islam) dan Maimonides (Yahudi) -- benar-benar mewakili 3 agama besar samawi. Tapi sepertinya sekarang orang lupa pada 3 serangkai itu. Baca cerita dibawah ini. Released December 20, 2003 The Wisdom Fund, P. O. Box 2723, Arlington, VA 22202 Website: http://www.twf.org -- Press Contact: Jacob Bender Lessons From the Three Wise Men by Jacob Bender I write not as a scholar, but as a humble student of the three great traditions that spring from our common father Abraham, PBUH, and of the bonds that tie Jew to Christian, Christian to Muslim, Muslim to Jew. Yet even though our prayers speak of peace, these are dark and difficult times, and we live in an age when war has replaced dialogue, when terrorism has replaced tolerance, when ignorance has replaced understanding. My own response to the events of 9/11 was to begin work on a documentary film that I entitled "Reason and Revelation: Averroes, Maimonides, Aquinas in Their Time and Ours." Who were these three men, Averroes the Muslim, Moses Maimonides the Jew and Thomas Aquinas the Christian, these three geniuses from a long-ago age, and what, if anything, do they have to teach us today? Before we can answer that question, we must first explore, as will my film, the world into which they were born. In the case of Averroes and Maimonides, that world was Al-Andalus, the splendor of Spain, the centuries of Islam in Iberia. I believe there are three reasons that learning about Al-Andalus is crucial to the world today: First, the level of civilization that Al-Andalus achieved. At a time when the rest of Europe was shrouded in the Dark Ages, the Muslim city of Cordoba in Al-Andalus was the most advanced city on the entire European Continent. In philosophy, architecture, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, poetry, theology, and numerous other fields of human endeavor, medieval Islam was the world's most advanced civilization. Second, Al-Andalus in particular, and Islamic civilization in general, served as both the repository of ancient Greek knowledge and science, and the transmission point in its journey to the Christian-dominated West. And third, the culture of Al-Andalus is now justly celebrated for the extent that religious pluralism and tolerance were hallmarks of this most glorious age, as manifested in Islam's respect for ahl al-kit_b, the "People of t
[ppiindia] Gulf Arabs wonder: are they being stingy with aid ?
(The New York Times) January 4, 2005 DISASTER DONATIONS Gulf Arabs Wonder: Are They Being Stingy With Aid? By NEIL MacFARQUHAR CAIRO, Jan. 3 - The newspaper Al Qabas in Kuwait set off a debate spreading throughout the country and beyond on Monday by suggesting that Kuwait deserves its reputation for being cheap and oblivious to people who go there to work as servants, given the relatively low level of aid it has donated to the tsunami victims at a time when the state treasury is bursting with an oil bonanza. Noting that the bulk of the nannies, drivers, menial laborers and other servants who keep most households running in the emirate come from Southeast Asia - imported workers easily outnumber the native population - some Kuwaitis agree that the country and its Persian Gulf neighbors need to be doing much more. But the campaign to shut down Islamic charities accused of financing terrorism has left many people confused about where to turn when they do want to donate money. And a few extremist Friday Prayer leaders and other religious commentators fueled the uncertainty by suggesting that the tsunami destruction was the wrath of God. Gauging the extent of private donations for the region proved difficult because nobody seems to be collecting the information. Many donations are channeled through the government-backed Red Crescent societies, but senior officials either did not return phone calls or said they were too busy to make a tally. There were random charitable acts around the region. In an echo of the debate about skinflints that occurred in the United States over the government's level of aid, though, a front-page editorial in Al Qabas on Sunday said gulf Arabs had an obligation to dig deeper in their pockets for the people of Southeast Asia because of the longstanding ties between the two regions. "We have to give them more; we are rich," Waleed al-Nusif, the editor in chief of Al Qabas, said in a telephone interview. "The price of oil doubled, so we have no excuse." After the paper's editorial appeared, the Kuwaiti cabinet raised its announced donation on Sunday to $10 million, from $2 million, having previously doubled it. Kuwait is expected to run a budget surplus this year of roughly $10 billion, and Mr. Nusif noted that the government had just distributed an estimated $700 million to the Kuwaiti people themselves, the public share of the unanticipated revenue. He said Kuwait should give a minimum of $100 million, not least because many of the country's 1.29 million foreigners of a total population of 2.25 million come from the devastated regions. "They built Kuwait, and they raised our children," said Mr. Nusif, noting that before successive oil booms, India and other countries opened their doors to Kuwaitis, who were then relatively poor. The paper also advised Kuwaitis to check with their housemaids to see if they wanted to phone home in case family members were dead or missing. It was not the kind of reminder necessary for an older generation of Kuwaitis, Mr. Nusif said. "Our fathers were more generous than we are," he said. "They had suffered more." The editorial became the hot topic in diwaniyas, the nightly salons where men gather to chew over the issues of the day. "We should show more sympathy, especially since we have a budget surplus and these are our neighbors in Southeast Asia," said Saad al-Ajmi, a former Kuwaiti minister of information. He believes more private donations will be coming. The Qabas editorial did not cite Kuwait alone in seeking to fatten donations. It said all the Arab gulf countries benefiting from huge oil revenues should give more. Qatar and Saudi Arabia have each pledged $10 million, while Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan, the ruler of the United Arab Emirates, raised his country's cash contribution tenfold, to $20 million, on Monday night. Most pledges from the gulf Arab nations were made in the first hours after the earthquake, and as the scale becomes apparent, more money will be pledged, officials said. The Islamic Development Bank in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, said it would distribute $10 million in emergency aid to Indonesia, the Maldives, Somalia, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka. The Thai Embassy in Kuwait said some people were dropping by to give money, with one business phoning to say it wanted to bring $14,000. The Kuwaiti Embassy in Jakarta announced that it was chartering a ship to deliver aid to devastated Aceh Province in Indonesia. In Riyadh, the Saudi capital, Dr. Saleh al-Tuwaijri, vice president of the Saudi Red Crescent Society, said the government's $10 million donation would go directly to sister organizations in the affected countries. He said that per capita giving in the gulf was generally high, but that ordinary citizens faced obstacles to making donations because so many private charities had been closed under American pressure on suspicion of helping finance terrorism. No replacement mechanism has b
[ppiindia] CDs on Ramanujan
Vol:22 Iss:01 URL: http://www.flonnet.com/fl2201/stories/20050114004910600.htm Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920) adalah salah satu matematikus India yang paling brilliant. Banyak sumbangannya pada teori analitik bilangan, persamaan fungsi elips, dan persamaan tak terhingga. Setelah pindah-pindah sekolah, dia masuk SMA pada umur 11 tahun. Pada umur 17 tahun, dia mempelajari sigma dari (1/n) dan menghitung konstanta Euler sampai angka 15 dibelakang titik (koma). Dia lalu mempelajari bilangan Bernoulli ==> persamaan Bernouli sering jadi bahan ujian masuk IIT !!! Karena nilai SMA-nya amat baik, dia dapat beasiswa di Kumbakonam Government College, tetapi setahun kemudian dicabut karena nilainya untuk mata pelajaran selain matematika jeblog. Dia tidak diterima di University of Madras, karena dia hanya lulus di matematika. Kendati begitu, dia banyak memberikan soal dan jawabnya yang dimuat di Journal of Indian Mathematical Society. Setelah karyanya mengenai bilangan Bernouli dimuat, dia jadi orang terkenal di Madras padahal waktu itu dia belum lulus college apapun. Karena itu dia tidak boleh mengajar, dan terpaksa melamar jadi pegawai akuntan dan diterima. Untuk yang jadi kepala akuntan adalah S.N. Ayar yang adalah seorang matematikus, dia ini kemudian menulis makalah berjudul On the Distribution of Primes yang berdasarkan manuskrip yang ditulis Ramanunjan. Singkat cerita, pada umur 29 tahun barulah Ramanujan lulus dari Cambridge dengan gelar B.Sc (4 tahun kemudian gelarnya dipersamakan dengan Ph.D, karena disertasinya pantas untuk gelar doctor). Sebagai seorang brahmin yang taat agama, dia berpantang makan daging, maka dia dapat kesulitan besar hidup di Inggris, sehingga sakit-sakitan. Pada umur 31 tahun, Ramanujan terpilih jadi anggota Cambridge Philosophical Society, dan 3 hari kemudian namanya masuk dalam Royal Society of London, dan pada tahun yang sama dia terpilih jadi Fellow of Trinity College Cambridge. Pada awal tahun 1919, Ramanujan pulang ke India, dan meninggal dunia setahun kemudian pada umur 33 tahun. Dalam surat-suratnya ke Hardy sewaktu Ramanujan masih tinggal di India, kedapatan banyak hal yang mentakjubkan. Disana ada Riemann series (yang juga digeluti oleh John Nash, ingat The Beautiful Mind ?), elliptical integrals, hypergeometric series, dan persamaan fungsi dari fungsi zeta. Dia juga menemukan jawaban atas soal yang diajukan oleh Gauss dan Kramer mengenai hypergeometric series. Banyak rumus yang diajukannya menjadi terbukti setelah kematian Ramanujan. Dalam makalah yang ditulisnya bersama Hardy, Ramanujan manulis rumus asimptot untuk p(n), yang kemudian dibuktikan oleh Rademacher. Ketika Ramanujan meninggal, dia mewariskan banyak manuskrip yang belum pernah diterbitkan yang penuh dengan teorema yang terus ditelaah oleh banyak matematikus. G.N. Watson menerbitkan 14 makalah berjudul Theorems Stated by Ramanujan. (Bahan: JJ O'Connor and E.F. Robertson) Salam, RM --- SPECIAL FEATURE: C-DAC -- HIGH-TECH ROAD TO DEVELOPMENT CDs on Ramanujan THE Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, and C-DAC's National Multimedia Resource Centre, Pune, have jointly produced two CD ROMs on the Life and Work of the Indian mathematical genius, Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920). The first contains the biographical details in multimedia format along with the scanned contents of the original notebooks of Ramanujan and his Collected Papers. It also contains video interviews with eminent mathematicians and biographical articles on Ramanujan. It includes over 150 rare photographs, video clips of places of interest such as the houses where Ramanujan lived in Kumbakonam and Namakkal. The second CD contains the five-volume work of Bruce C. Berndt, published by Springer-Verlag, entitled "Ramanujan's Notebooks", so it is possible to access both the original entries in the Notebooks and the work of Berndt on each one of them. It also contains over 5,000 pages of mathematical content. This is the first multimedia initiative for preserving the scientific heritage of Ramanujan. The CD set was launched in New Delhi on December 22. *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
[ppiindia] Age old warning systems saved Andaman tribes
Siapa tahu, suku Baduy dan Kubu juga mampu membaca bakal datangnya bencana tsunami: ikan berlompatan ke darat, ular pada menjauh dari pantai. Kemana mBah Soel? Salam, RM NATIONAL QUAKE-ABORIGINE Age old early warning systems saved Andaman tribes: ASI Kolkata, Jan 3 (PTI) The five aboriginal tribes inhabiting the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, our last missing link with early civilisation, have emerged unscathed from the tsunamis because of their age old "warning systems". "The tribals get wind of impending danger from biological warning signals like the cry of birds and change in the behavioural patterns of marine animals. They must have run to the forests for safety. No casualties have been reported among these five tribes," ASI Director Dr V R Rao told PTI today. This has promted the Anthropological Survey of India (ASI) to propose its immediate documentation to save coastal populations from similar disasters in future. His team in the badly-hit islands reported the well being of all five aborigines tribes -- Jarwas, Onges, Shompens, Sentenelese and Great Andamanese. Early warning systems developed by their forefathers and adapted successfully by the tribals must have sent the first alarm signals and given them time to run for safety, he said. These tribes could be traced down to the mesolithic and upper paleolithic era (from 2 to 6 years ago), he said. They had inherited a wealth of indigenous knowledge that had not yet been recorded. "Anthropologists have been recording these aspects for long. But the question is to properly document them and find means to create a national resource base upon which a coastal signalling system can be operated. "We have proposed to the Centre to take up immediate documentation of these systems and geomorphological changes triggered by the tsunami since these would be fresh in the memory of the tribals now," Rao said. The team of ASI anthropologists along with government officials of the islands' welfare department, however, had reported some casualties among the Nicobarese tribe, who date back to the Neolithic area (about 5000 to 7000 years ago). They inhabit 12 islands including the devastated Car Nicobar, Charwa and Teressa isles. "We have no confirmed reports on the number of casualties among Nicobarese and would not like to hazard a guess. Since the epicentre of the earthquake was closer to the Nicobar island, the Nicobarese, which are the most populated among the tribes (about 30,000), have been hit," Rao said. The Nicobarese, he said, were not forest dependant and were primarily horticulturists and agriculturists. The Shompens, with a population of about 200, were the only Mongoloid tribe in the region while the rest were Negroids and had escaped the watery onslaught as they lived in the higher forest areas. "The forest areas of both Jarwas and Shompens are intact," he added. However, the ASI was concerned about the earth eruption in the North Sentenelese island, home to the Sentenelese tribes, which had thrown up huge marine debris hitting the tribe's marine resources adversely. Earth eruption contributes to increase in coastal land. "The earth eruption is not allowing them to harvest their marine resources. Relief agencies will have to concentrate on this aspect," Rao added. According to the latest census figures, the Jarwas number about 270, the Onges about 100 and the Great Andamanese around 45. *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Plan to bring Chinese cars to U.S.
Catatan: Jeblognya pasaran mobil Yugo di US bukan lantaran produksinya terganggu karena perang di Yugoslavia saja. Utamanya karena faktor keamanan berkendara. Sekalipun mobil ini salah satu yang termurah di kelasnya (1300 cc), bahkan mungkin yang termurah, tapi Yugo America banyak kena sue dari consumers. Soalnya, karena mobil ini tidak punya chassis, karenanya hemat bahan bakar karena ringan. Tetapi kalau terjadi tabrakan, bisa dibayangkan, mobil akan remuk seperti kerupuk. Salam, RM --- Plan to bring Chinese cars to U.S. Sunday, January 2, 2005 Posted: 2358 GMT (0758 HKT) DETROIT (AP) -- The man who brought the Yugo and Subaru to the United States has a new project -- becoming the first mass importer of low-cost Chinese-made cars. Chery Automobile Co., owned by the Chinese government, has signed a deal with auto entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin and his privately held Visionary Vehicles LLC of New York to sell Chery's cars in the United States, Visionary announced Sunday. The companies aim to sell 250,000 vehicles in five models in their first year, 2007, with the goal of selling 1 million units of eight to 10 models by 2012, Visionary Vehicles chief of staff Paul Lambert said Sunday. Lambert said the company will aim at selling vehicles well below the price of models now available while matching the quality of Japanese carmakers. "America doesn't need another car company unless we can do it at 30 percent below market with quality and styling," Lambert said. "We've got to have a Toyota-Lexus-like quality." The vehicles will carry 10-year, 100,000-mile (160,000-kilometer) warranties, Visionary said. No brand name has been selected. Visionary will invest $200 million in new Chery products for the U.S. market. Bricklin was behind the selling of the low-cost Yugoslavia-made Yugo cars in the United States in the late 1980s and early 1990s. His company, Yugo America Inc., collapsed in 1992 amid falling sales and production problems in war-torn Yugoslavia. He also started importing Subaru cars from Japan in 1968. In 1974, he founded a short-lived Canadian company to build a gull-winged Bricklin SV-1 sports car. Chery is China's eighth-largest automaker. It was founded in 1997 and sold about 90,000 vehicles in China in 2004. South Korea's GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co. sued Chery in December, accusing it of illegally copying one of its car models, the Chevrolet Spark. The exclusive distribution agreement is for five new Chery models that would go on sale in January 2007 -- a compact sedan, midsize sedan, car-sport utility crossover sedan, sport/luxury coupe and an SUV. "The North American automobile market is complex, competitive and always changing," Chery President Yin Tongyao said in a written statement. "We are looking forward to working with Visionary Vehicles and taking advantage of Malcolm's expertise as we enter it." Chery officials "are very ambitious people," Lambert said. "They have a tremendous desire to learn." *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] RI TVs's disastrous Aceh coverage
Ibu Irma sudah mengatakan semua uneg-unegnya tentang TV Indonesia, termasuk TV-7 (konon kepunyaan Kompas). Tidak perlu saya tambahi lagi. Salam, RM -- Print January 04, 2005 (Letters, The Jakarta Post) RI TV's disastrous Aceh coverage Despite the deepest grief for our fellow Indonesians who became victims of the horrible tsunami disaster in Aceh and North Sumatra, I have been amazed and even confused at how the local TV stations, except Metro TV, have responded to the tragic situation. I cannot believe that the news and updates of this sad tragedy are only aired during their regular news schedules. I guess the people running these stations are stone-hearted humans or they just do not care enough, even after we have lost perhaps 100,000 lives. In this respect, I appreciate Metro TV for their continuous airing of the latest development of the disaster. The same must be done by other TV stations, considering the magnitude of disaster. Indeed, in the last couple of days, a couple of stations have started to have additional info in the form of tiny moving news tickers at the bottom of the screen. But they often only contain details of the station's bank accounts for donations to Aceh as well as names of donors. That is the extent of it! Other than that, it is business as usual for these TV stations. It is truly unbelievable that the portion of news for one of the worst disasters in history is so small that even for certain TV stations, the ongoing "Reza and Ajie" celebrity divorce news has a higher priority. What a sad situation. Back in 2001, a couple days after the Sept. 11 tragedy in the United States, almost all the TV stations aired the latest situation updates for several days. It is still clear in my mind as well, how several TV stations aired the moments of the U.S. invasion in Iraq and continued for the first few weeks. One TV station even continuously aired the live updates in cooperation with an Arabic TV station. I have not seen a similar response to the catastrophe that has occurred in our own land and to our fellow citizens. Certainly what happened in Aceh should be given a much greater proportion than the above-mentioned events. Why should we care anymore about celebrity breakups or reunions. Our tears should be for our poor brothers, sisters and children in Aceh and North Sumatra. IRMA F. SUMARYANTO, Tangerang, Banten *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Singapore to be UN regional relief centre
Ini soal nyawa, yang terpenting adalah bantuan cepat sampai ke rakyat Aceh, harus didahulukan adalah air dalam botol makanan dan obat. Bantuan lain boleh menyusul. Karena infrastruktur transportasi darat hancur lebur begitu pula landasan terbang tidak ada lagi, kecuali yang masih tersisa di Banda Aceh, maka satu-satunya cara delivery yang bisa diandalkan adalah melalui heli besar yang diterbangkan wira-wiri dari kapal induk US Navy. Bung Filsuf, sudahkah kamu menyumbang lewat jalur apa saja, Unicef atau Care atau Save the Children Fund, misalnya. Jawab dengan jujur. Ini bukan saatnya memaki-maki. Salam, RM - STI Jan 4, 2005 Singapore to be UN regional relief centre Today, PM Lee and Defence Minister Teo visit disaster areas in Aceh By Chua Mui Hoong Senior Political Correspondent SINGAPORE will be a regional coordination centre for international relief operations to countries hit by the tsunami disaster. The United Nations has accepted Singapore's offer of its air and naval facilities, as well as office space and logistics facilities, to ease the distribution of aid in the region. A coordination centre will also be set up in the next few days in the Paya Lebar or Changi areas to be near the air and naval bases. It will remain as long as needed. In coming weeks, UN officials as well as a flotilla of aid supplies and aircraft are expected to call at Paya Lebar Air Base, Changi Naval Base and the new crisis centre, en route to some of the worst-hit disaster areas, such as Aceh in northern Sumatra. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean are visiting disaster areas in Medan, Meulaboh and Banda Aceh in Sumatra today. Ministry of Foreign Affairs deputy secretary Andrew Tan said at a media briefing yesterday that the offer to the UN flowed naturally from Singapore's position as a transport and logistics hub. The open offer to take advantage of Singapore's good infrastructure came with an assurance that aid would be handled efficiently. 'We'll make sure it gets channelled to the right places, leveraging upon the fact that the Singapore Armed Forces have people on the ground, and have access at sea which can be secondary staging points, and also helicopter access to distribute the aid to villages and affected areas,' he said. Singapore's port authority earlier said it would waive all charges for handling relief supplies sent through its ports. So far, more than US$2 billion (S$3.3 billion) in aid from governments worldwide has been pledged. Individuals have donated millions more, after the Dec 26 earthquake unleashed tsunamis that left nearly 150,000 dead in southern and South-east Asia and Africa. As aid flows to affected areas, logistical bottlenecks have surfaced, as the tsunamis destroyed roads, jetties and airports. Singapore can 'help release some of the logjams', said Mr Tan. In its biggest ever humanitarian response effort, Singapore has sent 10 helicopters, two landing ships and more than 800 military, police, civil defence and medical personnel, mainly to Thailand and Indonesia. They will be made available to help UN relief operations. Singapore's helicopter landing ship RSS Endurance achieved a breakthrough yesterday when it established a landing site at Meulaboh in western Sumatra, which had become inaccessible except by helicopter. Ships can now offload vehicles, supplies and heavy engineering equipment to clear roads and debris. Singapore also played a pivotal part in initiating Thursday's summit of world leaders to coordinate international responses to the disaster. It will be held in Jakarta, with Malaysia and Myanmar the latest to confirm they would attend. The offer to the UN is the latest in Singapore's response. Asked how much the effort would cost Singapore, Mr Tan said it would be 'significant', far exceeding the $5 million pledged by the government. But what was important now, he said, was getting the aid to those affected, and reaching Singaporeans who need to be contacted. As at 5 pm yesterday, there were 51 Singaporeans still uncontactable, down from 81. The number missing was 12, and those confirmed dead remained at nine. *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo
[ppiindia] Marine life could take centuries to recover from killer waves
(Sun Network) Marine life could take centuries to recover from killer waves Hong Kong - Beaches around South Asia devastated by tsunamis could be restored to their former glory within a few years, but the marine life through which the huge waves passed could take centuries to recover, experts say. Coral reefs, mangroves, fish and other marine life had been damaged by the tsunamis which rose out of the Indian Ocean on Sunday, triggered by a massive earthquake near the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The disaster has left more than 119,000 people dead and up to five million displaced in the region, with Indonesia, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka the worst affected countries. "It is so hard to say in brief, but the level of devastation of coastal areas by the disaster is obvious," director of Conservation International in the Indonesian resort island of Bali, Ketut Sarjana Putra, said. "It will take a long time to recover." The ocean's seagrass bed and mangrove ecosystem would also be affected, Putra said, but it is the reefs that bore the brunt of the destruction. "The coral reef system might be totally destroyed. It will take hundreds of years to grow back," he said. The health of the reefs could in turn dramatically affect the size of fish populations which rely on them for their habitat. Lyle Vail, director of the Lizard Island Research Station on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, said damage to coral reefs from a tsunami would likely be similar to that from a cyclone. When a tsunami passes, reef structures grind into each other causing extensive damage. In serious cases recovery would be slow as there would be fewer larval animals to repopulate the coral. A major problem would be a loss of fish, displaced by the waves from their habitat, and other forms of protein which depend on the reefs. Regional marine programme co-ordinator for South and Southeast Asia with the IUCN (World Conservation Union) in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Jerker Tamelander, said damage to the marine ecosystem could be "very, very serious." "You have a region where the marine ecosystem is stressed and degraded as it is," he told. Tamelander said many coral reefs in the Indian Ocean were just beginning to recover from damage caused by the changing water temperatures generated by the El Nino weather pattern. "In the region as a whole I think we can expect very severe ecosystem effects," he said, adding the recovery process for coral reefs could take "decades to centuries". A major problem would be the amount of silt, sand and organic matter churned into the water which would then "smother" vegetation and marine life. Coral could also have been damaged by exposure to the air as water was sucked back from the shore before the tsunamis hit. Tamelander says in some cases mangroves, which protect the shore from erosion and often serve as nurseries for young fish, would also have been completely uprooted and destroyed. "There will be ramifications over the coming years," such as shoreline change, he says. Michael Keough, professor of marine ecology at the University of Melbourne, said while relatively little research has been done on the impact of tsunamis on reefs, clearly the damage was potentially very serious. Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Maldives all have extensive reef systems in the affected areas, he said. "It is difficult to tell just how far offshore the damage extends," he said. A tsunami passes more quickly than a cyclone but it may have more power which would intensify as it entered shallower water, where the coral reefs grow. Apart from the reefs, many of the affected areas also have fish farming operations near the shore which would have been inundated. It was difficult to predict how long recovery would take, Keough said. "In cases of severe damage there are cases where you do not see much recovery after 30 years," he said. *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Reinventing the wheel (and the tire, too)
Kapan ban Michelin tanpa udara ini mampir di Indonesia? Salam, RM January 3, 2005 TECHNOLOGY Reinventing the Wheel (and the Tire, Too) By NORMAN MAYERSOHN REENVILLE, S.C. THE first automobile to use air-filled tires was a racecar built by André and Édouard Michelin in the early 1890's. More than a century later, the French company founded by the Michelin brothers is so identified with pneumatic tires that its mascot, Bibendum, is a man made of little else. Now, after decades spent persuading the world to ride on air, the company has begun work on an innovation that could render the pneumatic tire obsolete. Engineers at Michelin's American technology center here envision a future in which vehicles would ride on what they call the Tweel, a combined tire and wheel that could never go flat because it contains no air. Arriving at a conference room recently to explain the development project, a research engineer, Bart Thompson, used the Segway Human Transporter that he rode to the meeting to illustrate his points. Aboard this high-tech visual aid - one of those self-balancing electric scooters best remembered for the optimistic claim that it would reinvent personal transportation - Mr. Thompson whizzed down the hallway and out to the lobby, pirouetting among the benches and planters to demonstrate the flexibility of the Tweel. To be sure, the Segway would be a very small market for Michelin, the world's leading tiremaker, but it is an apt demonstration vehicle for the Tweel. The first commercial use of the integrated tire and wheel assembly will be on the stair-climbing iBOT wheelchair, another product developed by Dean Kamen, the Segway's inventor; Michelin said it would announce another application at the Detroit auto show next week. The tiremaker has high expectations for the Tweel project. The concept of a single-piece tire and wheel assembly is one the company expects to spread to passenger cars and, eventually, to construction equipment and aircraft. The Tweel offers a number of benefits beyond the obvious attraction of being impervious to nails in the road. The tread will last two to three times as long as today's radial tires, Michelin says, and when it does wear thin it can be retreaded. For manufacturers, the Tweel offers an opportunity to reduce the number of parts, eliminating most of the 23 components of a typical new tire as well as the costly air-pressure monitors that will soon be required on new vehicles in the United States. In recent years, manufacturers have devoted an increasing amount of attention to tires that let motorists continue driving after a puncture, for 100 miles or more, at a reduced speed. Several such "run flat" designs are now available, providing convenience and peace of mind for travelers as well as freeing automakers to eliminate the weight and cost of spare tires. Michelin, which markets run-flat tires under the Pax name, took a different approach in developing the Tweel. Its goal: a replacement for traditional tires that is designed to function without air in the first place. Mounted on a car, the Tweel is a single unit, though it actually begins as an assembly of four pieces bonded together: the hub, a polyurethane spoke section, a "shear band" surrounding the spokes, and the tread band - the rubber layer that wraps around the circumference and touches the pavement. While the Tweel's hub functions as it would in a normal wheel - a rigid attachment point to the axle - the polyurethane spokes are flexible to help absorb road impacts. The shear band surrounding the spokes effectively takes the place of the air pressure, distributing the load. The tread is similar in appearance to a conventional tire. One of the basic shortcomings of a tire filled with air is that the inflation pressure is distributed equally around the tire, both up and down (vertically) as well as side-to side (laterally). That property keeps the tire round, but it also means that raising the pressure to improve cornering - increasing lateral stiffness - also adds up-down stiffness, making the ride harsher. With the Tweel's injection-molded spokes, those characteristics are no longer linked - a point of particular excitement to an engineer like Mr. Thompson because of the potential it holds for improving handling response. The spokes can be engineered to give the Tweel five times as much lateral stiffness as current pneumatic tires without any loss of ride comfort. The Tweel auto project is in its infancy - "Version 1.0," Mr. Thompson said - and only a single set of car Tweels exist. A test drive in a Tweel-equipped Audi A4 sedan on roads around Michelin's research center proved to be far less exotic than the construction method or appearance would suggest. The prototype Tweels are noisy, as Mr. Thompson warned they would be, a problem traced to vibration in the spokes. The Tweels also transmit
[ppiindia] 100 years of Einstein
100 years of Einstein Miraculous visions Dec 29th 2004 >From The Economist print edition A century after Einstein's miracle year, most people still do not understand exactly what it was he did. Here, we attempt to elucidate IN THE span of 18 months, Isaac Newton invented calculus, constructed a theory of optics, explained how gravity works and discovered his laws of motion. As a result, 1665 and the early months of 1666 are termed his annus mirabilis. It was a sustained sprint of intellectual achievement that no one thought could ever be equalled. But in a span of a few years just before 1900, it all began to unravel. One phenomenon after another was discovered which could not be explained by the laws of classical physics. The theories of Newton, and of James Clerk Maxwell who followed him in the mid-19th century by crafting a more comprehensive account of electromagnetism, were in trouble. Then, in 1905, a young patent clerk named Albert Einstein found the way forward. In five remarkable papers, he showed that atoms are real (it was still controversial at the time), presented his special theory of relativity, and put quantum theory on its feet. It was a different achievement from Newton's year, but Einstein's annus mirabilis was no less remarkable. He did not, like Newton, have to invent entirely new forms of mathematics. However, he had to revise notions of space and time fundamentally. And unlike Newton, who did not publish his results for nearly 20 years, so obsessed was he with secrecy and working out the details, Einstein released his papers one after another, as a fusillade of ideas. For Einstein, it was just a beginninghe would go on to create the general theory of relativity and to pioneer quantum mechanics. While Newton came up with one system for explaining the world, Einstein thus came up with two. Unfortunately, his discoveriesrelativity and quantum theorycontradict one another. Both cannot be true everywhere, although both are remarkably accurate in their respective domains of the very large and the very small. Einstein would spend the last years of his life attempting to reconcile the two theories, and failing. But then, no one else has succeeded in fixing the problems either, and Einstein was perhaps the one who saw them most clearly. A noble prize When Einstein was awarded a Nobel prize, in 1921, it was for the first of his papers of 1905, which proved the existence of photonsparticles of light. Up until that paper, completed on March 17th and published in Annalen der Physik (as were the other 1905 papers), light had been supposed to be a wave, since this explains the interference patterns created when it passes through a grating. Einstein, however, began from a different premise, by considering the so-called black-body experiment. A black body is a notional heated box that emits electromagnetic radiation (light, and its cousins such as radio and X-rays) at all frequencies. One of the main problems of physics at the turn of the century was that black-body radiation was predicted to increase indefinitely at higher frequencies, which was physically impossible. Five years earlier, Max Planck, a respected elder statesman of German physics, had supposed that a black body could emit radiation only at discrete frequencies. The gaps between these frequencies are the quantum jumps from which quantum theory ultimately derives its name. Quantising radiation in this way gets round the problem of indefinitely increasing frequencies. Planck, however, stopped short of making the deduction that quantising light means that it is made of particles rather than waves. Einstein, by contrast, concluded just that. Furthermore, he went on to show how this assumption explained the photoelectric effect, another physical mystery of the time. The photoelectric effect occurs when light shines on to an electrical conductor. The light knocks electrons out of their orbits and causes a current to flow. The paradox was that shining a brighter beam at the conductor did not increase the voltage, although the current increased. The light, in other words, was producing more electrons, but not more energetic electrons. Turn up the frequency of the light beam, however, and the voltage goes up. Einstein showed that this is explained if light is composed of particles (which only later came to be called photons) whose energy is proportional to their frequency. Although physics students today are often taught that it was a quirk of the Nobel committee to give the prize to Einstein for his quantum work rather than relativity, the truth is that everyone at the time, including Einstein, believed it to be the more surprising result. When, late in 1905, he sent a friend some reprints of his papers, he said, I am sending you some papers which may be of interest. Only one of them is revolutionary. He was referring to the photoelectric paper, rather than anything on relativity. As he later wrote, It was
Re: [ppiindia] Yale University woos Indian brains
--- ANDREAS MIHARDJA <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Tetapi suatu soal yg saya tetap sulit terima adalah > -- Yg highly educated hanya dari class Brahma dan yg > dari class Catri dapat kita hitung. Kebanyakanpun > kalau mereka dari class Catri [ saya hanya lihat > dari namanya] mereka keturunan Shik. Apakah dari > class lebih bawah kita dapat lihat - ini mungkin > mustahil - kecuali kalau mereka ganti agama. > Silahkan yg diIndia berikan info utk kita semua > Andreas Sdr. Andreas, Hampir tidak mungkin untuk membuat generalisasi kasta sekarang. Sekalipun orang India bermayoritas Hindu, tapi boleh dikata bangsa ini multi-etnik dan multi-budaya. Ada yang Islam (Sunni, Bori/Syiah, dan Ismaili/Syiah), katholik (dibawa ke Kerala oleh Santo Thomas pada tahun 50 A.D.), ada yang Sikh (ini kaum monotheists sempalan dari Hindu yang tidak mengenal kasta), ada Jain (ini juga sempalan dari Hindu yang tidak mengenal kasta), dan ada Zoroastrians atau Parsi (ini juga monotheisdts yang asal mulanya dari tanah Parsi atau Iran sekarang). Industrialisasi mengakibatkan banyak orang menaiki vertical mobility dan menjadi middle class atau upper middle class, diluar kaum brahmin. Misalnya, Azim Premji, orang terkaya dari usaha sofware adalah Muslim Ismaili. Habil Khorakiwala, boss farma industri Wockhardt dan Apollo Hospitals adalah muslim Bori. Keluarga Tata (JRD Tata dan Ratan Tata) dan Adi Godrej dan hampir seluruh orang Parsi dari dulu sudah menempati strata sosial atas. Menilik kasta Vaisha dari namanya saja (profession) hampir tidak mungkin. Karena surname Doctor, Engineer, Contractor, dan Merchant tidak lagi melulu orang Hindu. Ada Kalpana Contractor, editor-in-chief majalah Upper Crust ternyata orang Parsi. Ali Ashgar Engineer ulama liberal sahabat Gus Dur ternyata muslim Bori. Memang benar, kaum brahmin entah mungkin dari dulu terbiasa berfilosofi, sampai ke cucu-cucupun jadi professor dan engineers dan scientists. Yang terkenal adalah Shakuntala Devi, anak ajaib yang mampu mengalahkan komputer (generasi pertama). Mereka ini gampang ditilik dari nama sanskritnya, misalnya Shailesh Haribhkati. Akibat policy affirmative action sejak jaman Nehru, kaum harijan (untouchables) dibidang pendidikan dan pekerjaan, mereka naik kelas, yang terkenal adalah Dr. Ambedkar peletak konstitusi India, mantan Presiden Narayan dan mantan Chief Minister Maharashtra Shusil Kumar Shinde. Tetapi setahu saya, mereka yang naik kelas adalah politisi. Salam, RM P.S. Tulisan dibawah ini mungkin sedikit membantu. A CULTURE OF DIVERSITY SHASHI THAROOR The idea of India is not based on language, not on geography, not on ethnicity and not on religion. The idea of India is of one land embracing many. HOW CAN ONE approach the India of snow peaks and tropical jungles, with seventeen major languages and 22,000 district "dialects" (some spoken by more people than Danish or Norwegian), inhabited by nearly 940 million individuals of every ethnic extraction known to humanity? How does one come to terms with a country whose population is 51% illiterate but which has educated the world's second-largest pool of trained scientists and engineers, whose teeming cities overflow while four out of five Indians scratch a living from the soil? What is the due to understanding a country rife with despair and disrepair, which nonetheless moved a Mogul emperor to claim, "If on Earth there he paradise or bliss, it is this, it is this, it is this..."? How does one gauge a culture which elevated non-violence to an effective moral principle, but whose freedom was born in blood and whose independence still soaks in it? How does one explain a land where peasant organizations and suspicious officials attempt to close down Kentucky Fried Chicken as a threat to the nation, where a former Prime Minister bitterly criticizes the sale of Pepsi-Cola "in a country where villagers don't have clean drinking water, and which invents more sophisticated software For US computer manufacturers than and other country in the world? How can one portray the present, let alone the future, of an ageless civilization that is the birthplace of four major religions, a dozen different traditions of classical dance, eighty-five political parties and 300 ways of cooking the potato? The short answer is that it can't be done - at least not to everyone's satisfaction. Any truism about India can be immediately' contradicted by another truism about India. The country's national motto, emblazoned on its governmental crest, is "Satyameva Jayate": Truth Always Triumphs. The question remains, however: whose truth? It is a question to which there are at least 940 million answers. BUT THAT SORT of answer is no answer at all. Another answer may lie in a single insight: the singular thing about India is that you can only speak of it in the plural. There are many Indias. Everything exists in countless variants. There is no single standard, no fixed stereotype, no one way". This plu
[ppiindia] Yale University woos Indian brains
Yale Univ woos Indian brains A high-level delegation visits India with sizeable scholarships and stipends for Indian students for the academic year 2004-2005. Thursday, December 23, 2004 BANGALORE: Dr. Richard C. Levin, President of Yale University, America's leading research institution, will be leading a team of high level Yale faculty and administrators to India during the first week of January 2005. The Yale delegation is scheduled to meet senior central and state government leaders and captains of the industry in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. With the South Asian region gaining prominence in global, economic and political affairs, India plays an important role in Yale's internationalisation effort to become a leading global university. In its commitment to attract promising Indian students, Yale plans to announce sizeable scholarships and stipends for Indian students for the academic year 2004-2005 through its unique admission process. According to Dr Levin, "It is our aspiration to still be one of the world's best universities fifty years from now, and the same will be achieved by excelling not only in the humanities, the fine arts, the social sciences and the law; but being among the very best in science and technology. Yale has committed to invest $1 billion in science and technology fields in this decade and we strongly believe that students from India can help us achieve our goal." Yale has an impressive roster of distinguished alumni in India who have been successful across the spectrum of government, business, science and academia. Some of the notable names are Dr. Rakesh Mohan, Finance Secretary, Government of India; Indra Nooyi, President, Pepsi Co.; Fareed Zakaria, Editor, Newsweek International; and Ramesh Ramanathan, Director, Janaagraha. Four of the last six American Presidents have been Yale graduates. India ranks fourth in number of international students currently pursuing studies at Yale after China, Canada and Korea. "We share historical ties with India as Yale got its name from Elihu Yale, the 17th century Governor of Madras. We were also the first institution in the western hemisphere in the early 1840s to offer a course on Sanskrit to our students," said Dr Levin. "We look forward to our visit to India with a view to further cement this association by leveraging our strengths in science, engineering and medicine through collaborations with leading Indian educational institutions for the benefit of the Indian students," he added. During the four-city visit, Dr Levin will be delivering keynote addresses at various forums and alumni events including a panel discussion on 'Beyond 2020: India in the Global Economy' where he will be sharing the platform with Dr. Rakesh Mohan and Dr. T.N. Srinivasan, Chair of South Asian Studies Council at Yale. The 12-member Yale delegation visiting India has senior academicians from different faculties including Linda Koch Lorimer, Vice President and Secretary, Yale University; Dr. T.N. Srinivasan, Professor of Economics and the Chair of the South Asian Studies Council; Dr. Michael Merson, Professor of Public Health and Dean of the School of Epidemiology & Public Health; and Dr. Shyam Sunder, Professor of Accounting, Economics and Finance. CIOL Bureau *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] GE completes global outsourcing sale
GE Completes Global Outsourcing Sale The Associated Press Friday, December 31, 2004; 10:56 AM NEW YORK - General Electric Co. completed the sale of a majority stake in its global outsourcing business to two U.S.-based equity firms for $500 million, the conglomerate said Friday. General Electric sold a 60 percent stake in GE Capital International Services, or Gecis, to U.S. private equity firms General Atlantic Partners LLC and Oak Hill Capital Partners LLC, which will broaden the customer base for its outsourcing services, General Electric said. General Electric will keep 40 percent of Gecis, based in New Dehli and primarily focused on back office operations for GE and others in India. General Electric has said it will remain the biggest customer as the company expands its client base, adding sectors. General Electric, based in Fairfield, Conn., was among the first U.S. companies to set up business-processing outsourcing operations in India, taking advantage of its large pool of English-speaking workers ready to work for low wages and tech-savvy entrepreneurs. Set up in 1997 in Gurgaon, a town adjoining New Delhi, the company rapidly expanded its operations in the past five years. It employs about 17,000 people in centers located in India, China, Hungary and Mexico. Revenues in 2004 were expected to reach $420 million, compared with $26 million in 1999. The Gecis sale is the largest-ever transaction involving an outsourcing company. Industry executives have said it could signal a wider trend of multinationals selling back-office operations to cut costs. *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] ISRO goes global
(SiliconIndia) ISRO goes global Thursday, December 30, 2004 NEW DELHI :In 2004 the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) stepped out into the world and took steps to engage it. This marks a watershed in the life of an organisation that has had to rely on its own devices. During the year, India hosted a high profile conference in Bangalore on Indo-US civilian space co-operation, attended by top NASA officials and a host of US aerospace companies. ISRO is looking at innovative ways to engage multinational aerospace firms like Boeing, to take its own growth to the next level. ISRO announced at the conference that it had awarded a contract to US-based Raytheon to supply major subsystems for an ambitious satellite-based augmented navigation network, GAGAN. Boeing circulated a press note saying it had US government approval to talk to ISRO on finding common ground. Experts studying the impact of US strategic and the closely-linked trade policies, however, point out that not much has changed on the ground. This is despite Kenneth Juster, a US undersecretary in the department of commerce, telling the conference that over 90 per cent of export licence applications were either cleared or didnt need licences. Export of technologies needed by ISRO continue to be stringently monitored by the US state department. Licences continue to be denied most of the time. Plus, in the run up to the US presidential elections, ISRO saw little change in the policy of disallowing exports of technologies from US-based firms which could speed up ISROs programmes. US exports of high technology to ISRO or related entities was only at some $57 million last year. G Madhavan Nair, ISROs chairman has gone on record saying it could be tripled or more. Some think tanks explain this caution by pointing to the use of an ISRO-developed engine in the countrys ballistic missile, Agni, or even the organisations capability to provide satellite imagery with a one-metre resolution for border security. ISRO officials say these were no more than spin-off applications and never at the heart of their strongly civilian mandate. Nair was being both pragmatic and elliptically eloquent when he suggested at the conference that perhaps it will take some time for mutual trust to develop. Engines for ballistic missiles apart, the year also showed how tightly protected the third party satellite launch services market is. ISRO has launched four small satellites, including a Korean and a German payload. Three more such satellites will be launched in late 2005 or early 2006, onboard ISROs polar satellite launch vehicles, for Singapore, Europe and Indonesia. But, a cartel, including American and European private launch vehicle companies, backed by their respective governments, will not allow parties with commercial satellites that are significant for other satellite based downstream businesses to seek ISROs services. The September 11 attacks on the US made matters worse, a senior ISRO official said. There was already overcapacity in the launch vehicle market and the reduction in the number of satellites launched post-9/11 didnt help, an official said. Having thrived on being stonewalled by the West, ISRO is looking at alternatives. The Next Steps initiative on co-operation in high technology areas, started by former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and American President George Bush is part of the effort to remove political roadblocks in the way of ISROs commercial ventures. At the same time, outsourcing, which Indian IT has shown works for American firms, is being explored as a possibility in space as well. We have perfected and standardised the two-tonne class satellites platform, says a senior ISRO official, which can be customised to go with any payload. The platform typically comprises 60 per cent of the weight of a satellite and supports the payload, which forms the actual mission of a satellite. There are very few manufacturers who have a proven platform with a space heritage. So, US firms are being offered the attractive option of having ISRO build platforms very cost effectively for payloads of their choice. This could open up a new revenue stream for ISROs marketing arm, Antrix, which last year did sales of nearly Rs 300 crore. As part of the process of becoming bigger, ISRO has been raising its engagement with private companies to make parts for satellites, rockets and even rocket fuel for its missions. Today we have a robust network of private companies who supply products and services. Up to 70 per cent of the value of any given project is accounted for by our private sector partners, ISRO officials say. The year saw ISRO get a more public image, not the least because its first inter-planetary mission, the Chandrayaan moon mission, got the nod from the Centre. A second launchpad at Sriharikota reached near operational stage and ISRO publicised plans to build an entirely new t
[ppiindia] Website created by an Italian schoolboy helps find the missing persons
(CIOL) Website helps find the missing A free web page set up by a schoolboy helps find the missing of the Asian Tsunami disaster by merely enabling people post information and getting responses. Thursday, December 30, 2004 ROME: An Internet site set up by an Italian schoolboy and previously dedicated to "The Simpsons", is helping people track down loved ones missing since the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster. Valerio Natale, a 14-year-old high school student, says two missing Italian tourists-- Dario Collodi and Liliana Giordanino -- have already been found thanks to postings on his web page: http://www.tuttosimpsons.altervista.org/index.htm. "I was paging through the newspaper and saw lots of ads from people looking for relatives," Natale told Reuters. "I asked myself, Why not make a free site that can help everybody? So I made a free site, which used to be dedicated to the famous American cartoon family, the Simpsons." The site is devoted almost entirely to Italian citizens who disappeared in Thailand, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and India when the tsunami hit on Sunday, killing tens of thousands. It lists the names and ages of those missing, email addresses and phone numbers of worried friends and relatives, a link for photos of the missing, plus useful phone numbers such as Italian consulates, and hotels in Thailand. The site has had 82,000 hits in two days, Natale said. *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Four developments to watch
AUGUST 9, 2004 DEVELOPMENTS TO WATCH Illumination Brighter LEDs Could Give Lightbulbs The Boot Light-emitting diodes are likely to replace old-fashioned bulbs someday. They use a fraction of the power and can last 100 times as long. Yet while they have shown up in car signals and traffic lights, LEDs have so far been too costly to supplant the bulbs and tubes that light houses, offices, and factories. Cheaper, brighter LEDs may soon make inroads in these spaces, too. A group led by E. Fred Schubert, professor of electrical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has patented a new design for LEDs using "omni-directional reflectors" (ODRS) that amplify total light output. Compared with conventional LEDs, they deliver up to twice as much light, says Schubert. The key is the ODRs' ability to reflect photons even at extreme angles. Current designs, Schubert adds, often convert these photons into heat rather than emit them as light. The new diodes will be cooler and more reliable, and each application will require fewer of them. That, plus the fact that the manufacturing process doesn't change much, should help bring prices down. One LED maker is ready to test the new design, and devices could be on the market in three years. By Adam Aston Illumination Sizing Up Earthquakes Before They Happen Cities can prepare for earthquakes more effectively and cheaply if they know the maximum potential threat along certain sections of a fault, says Charles Rubin, a professor at Central Washington University in Ellensburg. How can they find out? Rubin and his colleagues dug trenches parallel to the San Andreas Fault northeast of Los Angeles to study large earthquakes that preceded a famous quake in 1857. Examining multiple extinct river beds and measuring how they were cleft, they found that the quake-induced gaps from six large earthquakes all measured roughly 7.5 meters. To get this much slip, each quake must have produced ruptures about 220 miles long, and had a magnitude of 7.5 to 8, Rubin says. He is studying other earthquake zones in Taiwan and the U.S. to test the thesis that quakes along each discrete portion of a fault occur at roughly the same magnitude. Illumination A Juicier Battery For Electric Cars BatScap, a French company, has a lithium-polymer battery that may inspire auto makers to produce more environmentally friendly cars. The technology has already been proven in smaller devices such as laptops, cameras, and iPods, but BatScap says this is the first such battery that's large enough to power a vehicle. A unit of conglomerate Bolloré, BatScap spent $85 million and 12 years developing the cell. In an electric car, it would need recharging only once every 120 to 180 miles, BatScap claims, and could go 93,000 miles without needing to be replaced. Vincent Bolloré, CEO of the parent company, says running his battery will cost consumers just 2 cents a mile, saving owners $2,500 a year in gasoline and other costs. He hopes to show it off in an electric car at the Salon Automobile de Genève next March. The batteries may not fully address one of the biggest complaints about electric cars: poor performance. But the same technology could bring big benefits to gas-electric hybrids, says BatScap. By Jasper Perkins Illumination Of Rainforest Bugs And Medicinal Sponges -- For years scientists have assumed that insect attacks on plants limit biodiversity in the rainforest. But when researchers from the University of Utah and the National University of the Peruvian Amazon studied local insects interacting with transplanted trees, they discovered the opposite. Plants that devote energy to fending off insects grow more slowly -- a handicap that sometimes prevents them from taking over whole terrains at the expense of less hardy species. The bugs thus help preserve the variety of niches and habitats, says University of Utah graduate student Paul Fine. -- Drug-resistant malaria, a growing scourge in many parts of the world, may meet its match in a humble shallow-water sponge. Scientists at L'Institut de Recherche Pour le Développement (IRD) in Paris say members of the sponge genus Phloeodictyon, found near New Caledonia, contain substances with antimalarial properties -- compounds not found in the deepwater varieties. In nature, says IRD chemist Cécile Debitus, the protective molecules may serve to fight off parasites unique to shallow waters. By Daryl Hannah The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply
[ppiindia] Reap biotech rewards through suitable infrastructure
Date:02/01/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/ `Reap biotech rewards thru suitable infrastructure' V. Rishi Kumar (foto) Dr Raghu Kalluri Hyderabad , Jan. 1 DR Raghu Kalluri, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School, and the Programme Director in Matrix Biology in Boston, has founded about six biotechnology companies in the US and has embarked on a mission to integrate the IP created by US experts with the R&D expertise of Indian manpower. Now in India on a brief visit, Dr Kalluri told Business Line how the Indian policy makers need to create the necessary infrastructure first and straightaway enable Indian biotechnology companies grow and mature, before actually speaking about biotechnology funds. "Often even experts expect to replicate what they did with IT to BT. In fact it is not the case. Typically, from research to actual success, it could take up to 10 years and possibly involve about $150 million and this can only be understood in the context of the global scenario. But what can happen in the Indian context is, we can actually harness the potential of the research and development capability here with the intellectual property created by the US research agencies and make it a win-win situation. The issue here is about creating the necessary infrastructure, the culture for work and the IP necessary through research and industry joint ventures as is the case with Harvard," he explained. If that happens, many venture capitalists are willing to fund biotechnology initiatives and wait for longer periods for better returns. If you look at the US example, the biotechnology industry is estimated at $50 billion and continues to grow at a steady pace. This was possible through good research and industry partnership, he said. Dr Kalluri, who is associated with the formation of Nugenix, Convergence Pharmaceuticals, EAI Corporation, Nephrotech Inc, and Biostratum, said that the work culture in large research driven institutions such as Harvard, is tuned to the success of the IP thus created by researchers, which can then be licensed. "I specialise in the area where the research is focussed on how the environment influences the functioning of a human cell. Research related to this area and areas such as liver diseases, kidney ailments and embryonic stem cells are being focussed lately. It is in such areas that US universities and research centres having large IP base, can partner with Indian companies and leverage potential of the large talent pool here," he said. The Hindu Business Line *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Utah Muslims and Mormons send aid to tsunami victims
Muslims, Mormons send aid to tsunami victims SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (AFP): Mormons and Muslims joined forces to send 64 tons of medical supplies, hygiene kits, clothing and shoes to Indonesia for tsunami disaster victims, the groups announced on Friday. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provided the aid and Islamic Relief Worldwide paid the freight, Mormon spokesman Dale Bills said. A chartered MD-11 cargo plane was loaded in Salt Lake City for a New Year's Day flight to Medan on the island of Sumatra in northern Indonesia, Bills said. Distribution in the disaster area will be directed by both organizations. The two groups have worked jointly since 2003 to provide aid to Iraq, to Bangladesh flood victims and Sudanese victims of famine. (***) *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Restive Poso town enters New Year with two bomb blasts
Jangan harapkan perasaan dari subhumans ini, mereka jelas tidak punya. Selagi dunia berduka dan sibuk menyumbangkan dana dan tenaga sebisanya, mereka sibuk membunuh secara pengecut. Sungguh perbuatan tanpa makna. Salam, RM - Restive Poso town enters New Year with two bomb blasts JAKARTA (AFP): Two home-made bombs exploded in a town in the sectarian violence-hit Indonesian province of Central Sulawesi early Saturday just minutes into the New Year, but there were no casualties, police said. The first bomb exploded on a street in the center Poso town just 45 minutes after midnight and another one went off a few streets away shortly after, Second Brig. Ridwan of Poso Police said. There were no casualties and no significant damage, Ridwan said, adding that both bombs exploded on vacant plots of land. The blasts were the only disturbance to otherwise calm year- end celebrations in Central Sulawesi, which has seen sporadic sectarian violence between Muslims and Christians since 2000. Up to 1,000 people have died in the violence. The government brokered a peace deal in December 2001 but intermittent unrest has continued. On Christmas Eve in Poso, a Christian cleric and his friend were seriously injured in an attack by several men armed with machetes. (***) *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Bush: lower flags for tsunami victims
No comment aja, yah. Salam, RM - Bush: Lower flags for tsunami victims President says carnage 'defies comprehension' Saturday, January 1, 2005 Posted: 10:26 AM EST (1526 GMT) CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) -- President Bush, seeking to bolster America's humanitarian image after the Indian Ocean tsunamis, called Saturday for flags to be flown at half-staff next week to honor victims of the disaster. A day after he raised the U.S. aid contribution to $350 million from $35 million, Bush used his weekly radio address to emphasize the need for private relief donations for devastated areas where massive waves killed at least 124,000 people and left five million others homeless. "The carnage is of a scale that defies comprehension," Bush said, noting that $15 million of the U.S. aid has been disbursed to relief organizations in the Indian Ocean region. "I have signed a proclamation calling for our nation's flag to be flown at half-staff this coming week. As the people of this devastated region struggle to recover, we offer our love and compassion, and our assurance that America will be there to help." He acknowledged that countries face a daunting task dealing with the consequences of the tsunamis. "Their relief resources are stretched nearly to the limit," said Bush, whose administration was criticized this week for the pace and scale of its response to the disaster. The administration initially pledged $15 million for tsunami relief but upped that to $35 million under political pressure. On Friday it announced the amount would be raised to $350 million, but critics say it is still too little. Bush is sending a delegation led by Secretary of State Colin Powell and including the president's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, to tour devastated areas in southeast Asia and assess assistance needs. Critics have noted that the government authorized $13.6 billion in aid for hurricane-battered U.S. states, mainly Florida, before last month's election. Bush said Americans were making important private donations to the relief effort but urged contributions through the Web site of the federal government's volunteer program, USA Freedom Corps, at www.usafreedomcorps.gov. "Donor and fund-raiser alike represent the best of our country and offer an example to the world," he said. "Let us be mindful that even in this modern age, our world still requires compassion, tolerance and generosity from each of us." *** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *** __ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[ppiindia] Tsunami survivors mob U.S. aid copters
Bukan, istilah yang tepat bukan "mobbing", melainkan memeluk melepaskan kerinduan antara dua saudara yang sering saling salah paham. Salam, RM Tsunami Survivors Mob U.S. Aid Copters 25 minutes ago By DENIS D. GRAY, Associated Press Writer ABOARD THE USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN - Desperate, homeless villagers on the tsunami-ravaged island of Sumatra mobbed American helicopters carrying aid Saturday as the U.S. military launched its largest operation in the region since the Vietnam War, ferrying food and other emergency relief to survivors across the disaster zone. >From dawn until sunset on New Year's Day, 12 Seahawk helicopters shuttled supplies and advance teams from offshore naval vessels while reconnaissance aircraft brought back stark images of wave-wrecked coastal landscapes and their hungry, traumatized inhabitants. "They came from all directions, crawling under the craft, knocking on the pilot's door, pushing to get into the cabin," said Petty Officer First Class Brennan Zwack. "But when they saw we had no more food inside, they backed away, saying `Thank you, thank you.'" "The mob decided how we distributed the food. There were so many hands outstretched I don't think any package touched the ground," added Zwack, of Sioux Falls, S.D. The helicopters took off from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, staged in calm waters about three miles off the Indonesian province of Aceh along with four other vessels to launch the sprawling U.S. military operation. More than a dozen other ships were en route to southern Asian waters, with the USS Bonhomme Richard, an amphibious assault vessel carrying Marines, headed for Sri Lanka, which along with Indonesia was the worst-hit area. The mission involves thousands of sailors and Marines, along with some 1,000 land-based troops. Governments and global organizations have pledged about $2 billion in tsunami disaster relief, the United Nations (news - web sites) said Saturday. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi raised Japan's offer to $500 million from $30 million, topping President Bush (news - web sites)'s pledge Friday of $350 million. Thailand's Vietnam War-era air base of Utapao has become the airlift hub for the region. C-130 transport planes were already conducting sorties to Jakarta and the Sumatran cities of Medan and Banda Aceh, according to a statement Saturday by the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta. U.S. Navy (news - web sites) medical staff are also on the ground in Meulaboh, a decimated fishing village where several thousand bodies have been recovered. The Navy is considering a request from Jakarta to establish a field hospital there. As many as 100,000 people are feared dead on Sumatra, which was closest to the epicenter of last Sunday's catastrophic quake and tsunami. Although aid has been piling up in regional airports, officials have had trouble getting it out to the areas in need and the U.S. military was expected to ease the bottleneck. The Lincoln's operations officer, Cmdr. Matthew J. Faletti, said the New Year's Day effort off Sumatra was focused on ferrying emergency relief, including biscuits, energy drinks and instant noodles, to communities along the 120-mile stretch of seacoast south of the city of Banda Aceh. Most of the 25,000 pounds of aid supplies delivered Saturday were picked up from Australian and other foreign shipments at Banda Aceh and then rushed by the helicopters to coastal town, where tens of thousands were killed by the giant wall of water. U.S. military medical and damage assessment teams were also landed with helicopters flying in heavy winds, rain and low clouds. Supplies had to be dropped from craft hovering over some water-logged areas where landing proved impossible. "There is nothing left to speak of at these coastal areas," said Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Vorce, a pilot from San Diego, California. The tsunami left a swath of destruction as deep as two miles inland, with trees mowed down like grass and the only evidence of buildings in many communities the bare foundations, pilots said. Many residents were camped out on high ground, either afraid to return to the seacoast or having nothing to return to. The town of Meuloboh, where some 50,000 people had once lived, was about 80 percent destroyed, Faletti estimated. The pilots encountered a number of foreign and Indonesian aid workers but distribution of supplies was difficult since the vital coastal road, most bridges and two small airports near Meuloboh had been washed away. "It looks like the sheer force of the water buckled the road from underneath," Vorce said. Officers said information was being gathered on how best American resources could be used including the skills of machinists, masons, carpenters, divers and general laborers among the more than 6,000 crew members on the giant carrier. "Everyone is champing at the bit to go out and help," said Vorce. "Today wasn't about a paycheck.
[ppiindia] Tsunami: a technology blunder
Tsunami: A technology blunder As thousands perish due to the gigantic killer wave, fingers point at forecasting agencies, ill-equipped to predict such calamities. Shrikanth G Tuesday, December 28, 2004 CHENNAI: If technology and tsunami had gone hand in hand on December 26, 2004, may be more than 12,000 lives would have been saved all across South-East Asia. The killer tsunami that also struck South India, claimed more than 7000 lives and scores are still missing till reports last came in. Worst hit was Tamil Nadu and Port Blair. In Chennai's Marina beach, scores of people have perished. Thousands have disappeared in Cuddalore, Nagapatnam, and Kanyakumari. Even as people in Chennai come into grips of this mindless fury of nature, questions are being asked about the role metrological agencies play in forecasting such calamities in advance. Tsunami Warning Systems (TWS) has been in vogue since the 1960's and has been in use in the Pacific Ocean in the US island of Hawaii. The TWS in Honolulu commissioned in 1965 by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) is the fruition of efforts by various countries and predictions are arrived by collaborating with other centers in Chile, France, Japan, and Russia. The TWS predicts an impending Tsunami by closely monitoring the seismic movements and the corresponding sea level increase after significant earthquakes. Over the years the historical data of tsunamis in Pacific Ocean has also been mapped and managed by the Novosibirsk Tsunami Laboratory at the Russian Academy of Sciences enabling the coastal cities in the West to survive a tsunami attack. Unfortunately, the killer tsunami that stuck the Asian countries is out of the Pacific TWS network. If any of the South East Asian countries had deployed similar TWS systems and networked other Asian geographies, fatalities would have been on a lesser scale. Need better forecasting The metrological agencies across the countries spanning Thailand, Malaysia, India had grossly failed in sensing wave patterns in the aftermath of the Sumatra earthquake. Even a simple common sense approach that earthquakes were followed by heightened oceanic activity is missing from the forecasting agencies in predicting this calamity. While earthquakes cannot be predicted in all cases, tidal activities can. While, some put the blame game on the met agencies one has to also factor that seas surrounding South India are not known for violent behavior and hence, nobody might have imagined such a thing will actually happen here. Notwithstanding, all countries, which have a huge coastline, have to implement TWS that not only predicts tsunamis, but also at the same time can give valuable insights on post seismic tidal activities. The need for TWS in India is most pressing, considering the mind-boggling speed and violence of the tsunami. For instance, tsunamis can reach speeds of 497 miles per hour when it hits land. During the tsunami that hit Chile in 1960, the waves reached Japan within 24 hours, which is 10,439 miles from Chile. The tsunami that hit south India clearly demonstrates that coastal regions are vulnerable to such calamities and an earthquake in any one of the hundreds of islands in the Indian Ocean region might trigger tsunamis in the future. Irrespective of the future tsunami threats, India should learn from the current crisis and adopt a strategy for reacting to such calamities in the future. The IT impact It would be rather crude to ponder over the question as to whether Chennai will loose its IT sheen due to the impact of the natural calamity. While the loss of men and material is appalling, the larger impact will set in the days ahead. At this point in time, most of the IT heads we spoke to said that it is business as usual and that they will in some way help or contribute towards the relief operations. However, if there is a sequel to the tsunami in Chennai, then most companies will surely look beyond the human angle. For instance, the Old Mahabalipuram Road that runs parallel to the Bay of Bengal is home to major IT companies like Cognizant, Infosys and TCS among others. As the sea is actually, a good distance away from these IT companies, they are an unlikely target for tsunamis. But, Chennai can lose its impression of being a 'safe place' to set up disaster recovery sites (DRS) as bigger tsunamis than this, can travel many miles inland. Despite the very low threat perception right now, the fear of tsunamis re-occurring anytime will gain credence. This probably will prompt the companies to move DRS sites, which are near coastal areas in Chennai. However, an immediate fallout on IT is unlikely as some in the industry draw analogy to the Silicon Valley in California, which itself is situated in an earthquake prone area. With IT and other economic consequences being secondary, at this point in time, one can only hope that Chennai and other parts of the state and country, will pull through one of
