ప్రపంచం తీరూ తెన్నూ

The gem-encrusted gold finial from the octagonal golden throne of Tipu Sultan, which is to be sold by Bonhams on 2nd April, in London.

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is seeking patent for the world famous Tirupathi Laddu. The Tirupati laddu, famous for its size, may soon get intellectual property right, the sources said. TTD, which is a trusty for the world's richest Tirumala Venkateswara Temple at Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh, is seeking geographical exclusivity for the delicacy. It has submitted already submitted an application before the Geographical Indication Registry seeking the GI tag. "We have received the application regarding the Geographical Indication tag for Tirupati laddus," Controller General of Patents, Designs, and Trade Marks P H Kurian said. The Tirupati laddu, made at Tirumala, is intensely sweet and made of tiny syrup-soaked balls called boondi. This is sold as Prasadam of Lord Venkateshwara.

Correlating the ups and down in the Indian rupee with the stock market, Vijay Bhambwani, CEO, bsplindia.com, suggests that if the rupee continues with its downward fall, the Indian stock market may fall breach October lows and fall further. “If the rupee falls below the 53.0-53.50 mark vis-a-vis the USD, expect a mini meltdown atleast in the equity markets. In that case, the 2250 level (on Nifty) will be breached easily to form a new low. The possibility of that low being below the 2000 levels on the Nifty spot is fairly high,” he says. Bhambwani supports his outlook by comparing the value of rupee at the time of October lows. “The October 2008 lows were made with the INR at 51.20 - 51.40 band. The rupee has breached the 52 level since then. Clearly the nation’s ‘share price’ (currency) indicates weakness. The curency market is a far more accurate barometer of the nation’s health compared to the equity indices. Whether you like it or not, we are under siege. Had it not been March (NAV ...

After outsourcing, President Barack Obama is opposed to the idea of inviting overseas nurses including from India to bridge the huge shortage which is expected to touch half a million in the US in the next seven years. Arguing it makes absolutely no sense to import nurses, Obama said the best possible approach to meet the shortfall is to train people inside the country. The US like most of the Western countries is faced with acute shortage of nurses and in recent years it has allowed medical personnel from India, China and Philippines to immigrate to work in hospitals. Last week, a legislation was introduced in the US Congress to create a special category of nursing visas, which would facilitate much faster and easier brining of trained nurses from Asian countries like India.

Can we assume that our Mobile Phone Number will be our Identity Number. As the Government is working on Number Portabillity it is easy to convert our Mobile Phone Number as our Id No. If Alcatel-Lucent's plans go well we may have it very short. But it is still in the conceptual stage. "We are working with the government of India so that mobile number can be used as Id Number of a person," said Alcatel-Lucent India president Vivek Mohan. The company is a global provider of telecommunications solutions to service providers, enterprises and governments. "It is significant since the number is unique and we already have around half a billion mobile customers in the country. It has the potential to touch the basis of human life, which is what an application should do," Mohan said at ongoing EmTech India seminar organised by media house CyberMedia here. According to Mohan, the situation was expected to change with telecom operators focusing on new technologies and appl...

REPO, REVERSE REPO SLASHED Signalling a further cut in home, auto and other loan rates, the RBI on 4th March, 2009 slashed the rates at which it lends and borrows short-term funds from banks by half a per cent. RBI cut Repo (overnight lending rate) by 50 basis points to 5 per cent and Reverse Repo (overnight borrowing rate) identically to 3.5 per cent with immediate effect.  The decision, RBI said, "will further encourage banks to provide credit for productive purposes at viable interest rates. Bankers said rates would come down in the days to come. The decisions will reduce the borrowing costs of banks, who have been citing high cost of funds as a key handicap for not passing on the full benefit to customers. The Reserve Bank has cited global developments for this decission. The central bank, in a detailed note explaining the new measures, has said since the third quarter review on January 27, the global financial and economic conditions have deteriorated further. "The fourt...

Aishwarya Naraynswami from Chennai performing 'Bharatnatyam' during 'Khajuraho Festival of Dances 2009', in Khajuraho on 3rd March 2009.

Classical vocalist Gangubai Hangal presents the 'Puttaraj Samman' to vocalist Lalit J Rao in Hubli on 3rd March, 2009.