London: Computer scientists in the US are developing technology that will transform cars into intelligent vehicles fitted with aircraft-style black boxes that can record information about driving behaviour during accidents.
The car, which is being developed by researchers at computer chip giant Intel, will record information about the vehicle speed, steering and braking along with video footage from inside and outside the vehicle, The Telegraph reported.
This would be automatically sent to police and insurance companies in the event of an accident to make it easier to determine the cause of car crashes and identify the person responsible.
The device forms part of an intelligent car envisaged by researchers at Intel. They are developing technology that will transform cars into smart vehicles that are able to detect dangers on the road and even take over control from motorists.
They have been in discussions with car manufacturers about developing cars that are permanently connected to the Internet and other vehicles using wireless technology.
Camera systems that can recognise street signs and then take over control of a car if the motorist tries to drive the wrong way up a one-way street, for example, are being developed for use in vehicles.
On board sensors will also be able to detect pot holes in the road and report their location to road maintenance authorities as the car is moving.
The cars will also be able to track the location of surrounding vehicles and alert drivers if they get too close or try to change lanes when another vehicle is in their blind spot.
The technology was revealed at a research showcase by Intel in Santa Clara, California, last week. The company has been in discussions with car manufacturers about putting the technology into new vehicles.
Justin Ratner, the director of Intel Laboratories and chief technology officer, said: "We are looking at a whole range of enhancements that will improve the driving experience, safety and security of vehicles.
"The intelligent vehicle is what we are talking about here. Once a car is connected, more or less on a continuous basis, all sorts of interesting possibilities present themselves.
"With vision systems on cars, it is perfectly reasonable for a car on its own to see the sign that says 'wrong way' or 'do not enter' and bring the vehicle to a halt at the side of the road so we don't have these senseless accidents where someone has failed to recognise a sign.
"We have talked to highway maintenance departments about using sensors that are already in cars to report the GPS coordinates for pot holes in the road to the maintenance department."
Insurance companies are expected to welcome on-board car systems that will reduce the risk of accidents.
A spokesman for the Association of British Insurers said that aviation style black box technology for recording the circumstances around accidents could also help speed up payouts by reducing delays in determining causes of accidents
The car, which is being developed by researchers at computer chip giant Intel, will record information about the vehicle speed, steering and braking along with video footage from inside and outside the vehicle, The Telegraph reported.
This would be automatically sent to police and insurance companies in the event of an accident to make it easier to determine the cause of car crashes and identify the person responsible.
The device forms part of an intelligent car envisaged by researchers at Intel. They are developing technology that will transform cars into smart vehicles that are able to detect dangers on the road and even take over control from motorists.
They have been in discussions with car manufacturers about developing cars that are permanently connected to the Internet and other vehicles using wireless technology.
Camera systems that can recognise street signs and then take over control of a car if the motorist tries to drive the wrong way up a one-way street, for example, are being developed for use in vehicles.
On board sensors will also be able to detect pot holes in the road and report their location to road maintenance authorities as the car is moving.
The cars will also be able to track the location of surrounding vehicles and alert drivers if they get too close or try to change lanes when another vehicle is in their blind spot.
The technology was revealed at a research showcase by Intel in Santa Clara, California, last week. The company has been in discussions with car manufacturers about putting the technology into new vehicles.
Justin Ratner, the director of Intel Laboratories and chief technology officer, said: "We are looking at a whole range of enhancements that will improve the driving experience, safety and security of vehicles.
"The intelligent vehicle is what we are talking about here. Once a car is connected, more or less on a continuous basis, all sorts of interesting possibilities present themselves.
"With vision systems on cars, it is perfectly reasonable for a car on its own to see the sign that says 'wrong way' or 'do not enter' and bring the vehicle to a halt at the side of the road so we don't have these senseless accidents where someone has failed to recognise a sign.
"We have talked to highway maintenance departments about using sensors that are already in cars to report the GPS coordinates for pot holes in the road to the maintenance department."
Insurance companies are expected to welcome on-board car systems that will reduce the risk of accidents.
A spokesman for the Association of British Insurers said that aviation style black box technology for recording the circumstances around accidents could also help speed up payouts by reducing delays in determining causes of accidents
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New Delhi: It is what you may call charity with benefit. Indians staying in the U.S. could in next three months avail tax concession on the money they will spend on social welfare projects at their native places in India.
Under the 'India Development Foundation for Overseas Indians', an initiative of Ministry of Overseas Indians, they will get tax exemption if they want to build schools, primary health centres and other infrastructure in their villages and places of origin in India.
The Ministry has already started the process of registering the foundation in the US and it will be in place in next three months, Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi told PTI in an interview.
After the US, the ministry will register the foundation in other countries, including the UK and the Gulf. According to official data, there are about 24 million Indians overseas.
The foundation, a 'not-for-profit' trust being set up under the Indian Trust Act, 1882, by the Ministry, will be the nodal agency to implement the projects across the country in cooperation with state governments and selected NGOs.
Designed to help in rural infrastructure development, the minister said his ministry would not only target millionaires or rich NRIs for contribution but the average Indian diaspora who want to give back to the society.
Under the 'India Development Foundation for Overseas Indians', an initiative of Ministry of Overseas Indians, they will get tax exemption if they want to build schools, primary health centres and other infrastructure in their villages and places of origin in India.
The Ministry has already started the process of registering the foundation in the US and it will be in place in next three months, Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi told PTI in an interview.
After the US, the ministry will register the foundation in other countries, including the UK and the Gulf. According to official data, there are about 24 million Indians overseas.
The foundation, a 'not-for-profit' trust being set up under the Indian Trust Act, 1882, by the Ministry, will be the nodal agency to implement the projects across the country in cooperation with state governments and selected NGOs.
Designed to help in rural infrastructure development, the minister said his ministry would not only target millionaires or rich NRIs for contribution but the average Indian diaspora who want to give back to the society.
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Bangalore: Hundreds of IT firms, including Indian bellwethers Infosys Technologies and Wipro will remain closed Monday due to the nationwide shutdown against the hike in fuel prices.
"As a precaution, we have given Monday off to our employees working in the Bangalore campus. They will compensate by working on Saturday (July 10)," Infosys Chief Executive Krish Gopalakrishnan told IANS.
The global software major, however, made arrangements for employees working on essential projects and business process outsourcing (BPO) services to work during the day, when the shutdown will be observed from dawn to dusk.
"We have made arrangement for those software engineers handling key projects for overnight stay and transport to essential staff on day shift," Gopalakrishnan said.
The $4.8-billion Infosys has its largest software development park in the electronics city, about 30 km from here, where about 16,000 employees work in its sprawling campus.
Similarly, Wipro, which has two software development parks in the electronics city and on the city's outskirts, declared a holiday, directing its employees to report for duty July 10 in lieu of Monday.
"We have declared a holiday for our employees July 5 in view of the nationwide shutdown. They have been asked to work July 10 though it's a weekend," Wipro Executive Vice-President Suresh Senapaty said.
The country's largest IT bellwether - Tata Consulting Services (TCS) was yet to decide whether to give off or not to its employees working in the Bangalore software development centre at Whitefield, about 20 km from the city.
"We will let you know later. There is no decision yet. In case we decide to declare holiday, the employees will be duly intimated by e-mail and sms," a company official said.
Due to uncertainty of public transport by the state-run Bangalore Metropolitan Corporation (BMTC), hundreds of small and medium enterprises in IT and biotech sectors have extended the weekend holiday to their employees up to Monday.
"With auto-rickshaw and taxi associations deciding to not to ply in support of the shutdown, we have asked our employees to stay back in the absence of official information on public transport being available," Deepk Chandra of a start-up IT firm in the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) said.
As a precautionary measure, several multinational firms have also decided to give an off Monday and ask their employees to compensate by working on a Saturday.
The nationwide shutdown has been called by the leading opposition parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is the ruling party in this southern state for the first time, the Janata Dal-United and the Left parties
"As a precaution, we have given Monday off to our employees working in the Bangalore campus. They will compensate by working on Saturday (July 10)," Infosys Chief Executive Krish Gopalakrishnan told IANS.
The global software major, however, made arrangements for employees working on essential projects and business process outsourcing (BPO) services to work during the day, when the shutdown will be observed from dawn to dusk.
"We have made arrangement for those software engineers handling key projects for overnight stay and transport to essential staff on day shift," Gopalakrishnan said.
The $4.8-billion Infosys has its largest software development park in the electronics city, about 30 km from here, where about 16,000 employees work in its sprawling campus.
Similarly, Wipro, which has two software development parks in the electronics city and on the city's outskirts, declared a holiday, directing its employees to report for duty July 10 in lieu of Monday.
"We have declared a holiday for our employees July 5 in view of the nationwide shutdown. They have been asked to work July 10 though it's a weekend," Wipro Executive Vice-President Suresh Senapaty said.
The country's largest IT bellwether - Tata Consulting Services (TCS) was yet to decide whether to give off or not to its employees working in the Bangalore software development centre at Whitefield, about 20 km from the city.
"We will let you know later. There is no decision yet. In case we decide to declare holiday, the employees will be duly intimated by e-mail and sms," a company official said.
Due to uncertainty of public transport by the state-run Bangalore Metropolitan Corporation (BMTC), hundreds of small and medium enterprises in IT and biotech sectors have extended the weekend holiday to their employees up to Monday.
"With auto-rickshaw and taxi associations deciding to not to ply in support of the shutdown, we have asked our employees to stay back in the absence of official information on public transport being available," Deepk Chandra of a start-up IT firm in the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) said.
As a precautionary measure, several multinational firms have also decided to give an off Monday and ask their employees to compensate by working on a Saturday.
The nationwide shutdown has been called by the leading opposition parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is the ruling party in this southern state for the first time, the Janata Dal-United and the Left parties
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New Delhi: Leading telecom operator Bharti Airtel has made access to online social networking site Facebook free for its over 130 million subscribers, said the company. The offer will, however, be available only for two months till Aug 31.
The Facebook site will be available in English, Hindi and five more Indian languages - Punjabi, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam. 
"For the two-month period, the partnership enables Airtel customers to access Facebook's full mobile site faster and at no data cost from their Airtel mobiles via m.facebook.com," said an Airtel statement.
Customers, accessing mobile Internet for the first time need to SMS 'FACEBOOK' to 54321 to take advantage of this offer.
The Facebook site will be available in English, Hindi and five more Indian languages - Punjabi, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam.
"For the two-month period, the partnership enables Airtel customers to access Facebook's full mobile site faster and at no data cost from their Airtel mobiles via m.facebook.com," said an Airtel statement.
Customers, accessing mobile Internet for the first time need to SMS 'FACEBOOK' to 54321 to take advantage of this offer.
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Bangalore: Technology firms Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro and QuEST, apart from private sector aviation companies such as Mahindra Aerospace and L&T , are among the vendors currently in discussions with the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) for providing software, designing and manufacturing around 500 regional transport aircraft, reports Peerzada Abrar from The Economic Times. 
India's ambitious civil aviation program (RTA-70 ) is aimed at building planes for carrying 70-90 passengers on short haul flights, and rival similar aircrafts from ATR, which currently dominates the country's skies.
Officials at NAL, the premier agency spearheading the project, confirmed that alliances are being worked out. "Negotiations are on with various private players like TCS, Infosys, Wipro to provide expertise in software, hardware and product development," a senior NAL official said on conditions of anonymity. The design and development of the prototype is estimated to cost about Rs. 5,000 crore and is expected to be ready by 2015-16 for flight trials.
Of the 500 planes, 200 will be sold to Indian defence, 200 to civil aviation companies and 100 units are to be exported. The project committee will explore the need to go in for a public-private partnership (PPP) at the beginning, so as to involve the Indian aerospace industry, which will be responsible for production at a later stage and marketing and servicing subsequently, officials added.
At the peak of the project, about 500 people from state-run agencies and around 2,000 people from the industry will be involved.
According to Roddam Narasimha, one of India's top aerospace scientists and a member of the high-powered committee for the country's national civil aircraft development project, RTA-70 is just a step in building a successful and globally competitive civil aviation program. "Public-private partnership is part of our vision for this project. We never had a civil aeronautical aircraft programme, nor have we made serious attempts," Narasimha said. "On the other hand, China is very far ahead of us. They are challenging Airbus 320 and Boeing 737 and may actually move ahead of them," he added.
China's answer to Boeing and Airbus is the Comac C919 aircraft. Its introduction was low-key , a move consistent with how Chinese firms prefer to operate overseas.
The aircraft designed and built entirely in China, will compete directly against industry leaders Airbus 320 and Boeing 737 after completing flight trials in four years. It should be available commercially by 2016.
"You will be surprised to know that 10 years ago, Indian Aeronautics was ahead of China. We had developed some of the key technologies on our own such as Carbon Fibre Wings and Flight Control System. India should take an initiative for a Civil Aeronautics Flight Programme. This project is a step in that direction," said Narasimha.
As trained people in the aerospace area are limited, the committee will rope in design experts from state-run organisations such as Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to share some of the project workload. The committee is headed by former chairman of ISRO, G Madhavan Nair.
The project committee has decided to form nine sub-committees to prepare reports on various parameters such as choice of engine, composite materials, avionics, landing gear, control systems, short haul runways, setting up of design bureau, hiring people, engaging the industry and infrastructure required for operating the regional transport aircraft service.
"The major projects have got delayed, not because we lack capabilities, but due to indecisiveness at the policy level. We want to develop an aircraft that serves not only India, but the world," said Narasimha.
The committee hopes the prototype will be rolled out in the next 5-6 years for flight testing and certification for initial operational clearance. By then, it plans to have production facility in place with the industry.
Besides Nair, CSIR director-general Samir K Brahmchari, ISRO chairman K Radhakrish
nan, DRDO chairman VK Saraswat, NAL director AR Upadhyaya, HAL chairman Ashok Nayak, Space Commission member Roddam Narasimha, Hinduja Automotive vice-chairman V Sumantran and Kinetic Engineering director Arun Firodia are the members of the high-powered committee.
India's ambitious civil aviation program (RTA-70 ) is aimed at building planes for carrying 70-90 passengers on short haul flights, and rival similar aircrafts from ATR, which currently dominates the country's skies.
Officials at NAL, the premier agency spearheading the project, confirmed that alliances are being worked out. "Negotiations are on with various private players like TCS, Infosys, Wipro to provide expertise in software, hardware and product development," a senior NAL official said on conditions of anonymity. The design and development of the prototype is estimated to cost about Rs. 5,000 crore and is expected to be ready by 2015-16 for flight trials.
Of the 500 planes, 200 will be sold to Indian defence, 200 to civil aviation companies and 100 units are to be exported. The project committee will explore the need to go in for a public-private partnership (PPP) at the beginning, so as to involve the Indian aerospace industry, which will be responsible for production at a later stage and marketing and servicing subsequently, officials added.
At the peak of the project, about 500 people from state-run agencies and around 2,000 people from the industry will be involved.
According to Roddam Narasimha, one of India's top aerospace scientists and a member of the high-powered committee for the country's national civil aircraft development project, RTA-70 is just a step in building a successful and globally competitive civil aviation program. "Public-private partnership is part of our vision for this project. We never had a civil aeronautical aircraft programme, nor have we made serious attempts," Narasimha said. "On the other hand, China is very far ahead of us. They are challenging Airbus 320 and Boeing 737 and may actually move ahead of them," he added.
China's answer to Boeing and Airbus is the Comac C919 aircraft. Its introduction was low-key , a move consistent with how Chinese firms prefer to operate overseas.
The aircraft designed and built entirely in China, will compete directly against industry leaders Airbus 320 and Boeing 737 after completing flight trials in four years. It should be available commercially by 2016.
"You will be surprised to know that 10 years ago, Indian Aeronautics was ahead of China. We had developed some of the key technologies on our own such as Carbon Fibre Wings and Flight Control System. India should take an initiative for a Civil Aeronautics Flight Programme. This project is a step in that direction," said Narasimha.
As trained people in the aerospace area are limited, the committee will rope in design experts from state-run organisations such as Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to share some of the project workload. The committee is headed by former chairman of ISRO, G Madhavan Nair.
The project committee has decided to form nine sub-committees to prepare reports on various parameters such as choice of engine, composite materials, avionics, landing gear, control systems, short haul runways, setting up of design bureau, hiring people, engaging the industry and infrastructure required for operating the regional transport aircraft service.
"The major projects have got delayed, not because we lack capabilities, but due to indecisiveness at the policy level. We want to develop an aircraft that serves not only India, but the world," said Narasimha.
The committee hopes the prototype will be rolled out in the next 5-6 years for flight testing and certification for initial operational clearance. By then, it plans to have production facility in place with the industry.
Besides Nair, CSIR director-general Samir K Brahmchari, ISRO chairman K Radhakrish
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New Delhi: The country's largest insurance company, LIC, plans to recruit around 10,000 employees in the current fiscal to give a push to its growth plans.
"We are planning to hire a good number of people this year as well. We intend to hire 10,000 people this year across the various cadre," LIC Managing Director A K Dasgupta told PTI. 
Last year, LIC hired same number of people across various cadre including some lateral recruitment for the first time.
Of the total, about 5,000 development officers would be recruited in line with the growth plan, he said.
Besides, the corporation is planning to recruit people in class I cadre, specialised cadre like legal etc, he added.
At present, LIC has about 1,15,000 employees including about 21,000 class-I officers.
Meanwhile, LIC is also planning to expand its overseas presence by setting up a subsidiary in Singapore.
"We are planning to hire a good number of people this year as well. We intend to hire 10,000 people this year across the various cadre," LIC Managing Director A K Dasgupta told PTI.
Last year, LIC hired same number of people across various cadre including some lateral recruitment for the first time.
Of the total, about 5,000 development officers would be recruited in line with the growth plan, he said.
Besides, the corporation is planning to recruit people in class I cadre, specialised cadre like legal etc, he added.
At present, LIC has about 1,15,000 employees including about 21,000 class-I officers.
Meanwhile, LIC is also planning to expand its overseas presence by setting up a subsidiary in Singapore.
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The company brings an IT management platform that allows businesses to monitor, control and automate their "computing endpoints", such as laptops, desktops and servers from a single view.
It also boasts the built-in intelligence that can identify which devices are not in compliance with IT policies and recommend security fixes or software updates to 500,000 machines in minutes. In a statement, Al Zollar, general manager of IBM Tivoli software, said: "BigFix automates some of the most time-intensive IT tasks across the most complex global networks, helping save organisations significant amounts of time, labour and expense. BigFix's real-time visibility and control for globally distributed computing devices will complement IBM's existing smarter datacentre offerings and strengthen our ability to build security into the fabric of the enterprise."
The company also highlighted this acquisition as its eleventh in the security-related field since 2006. BigFix will become part of IBM's software group.
This story originally appeared as IBM acquires BigFix to advance smart data center vision on ZDNet.com.
It also boasts the built-in intelligence that can identify which devices are not in compliance with IT policies and recommend security fixes or software updates to 500,000 machines in minutes. In a statement, Al Zollar, general manager of IBM Tivoli software, said: "BigFix automates some of the most time-intensive IT tasks across the most complex global networks, helping save organisations significant amounts of time, labour and expense. BigFix's real-time visibility and control for globally distributed computing devices will complement IBM's existing smarter datacentre offerings and strengthen our ability to build security into the fabric of the enterprise."
The company also highlighted this acquisition as its eleventh in the security-related field since 2006. BigFix will become part of IBM's software group.
This story originally appeared as IBM acquires BigFix to advance smart data center vision on ZDNet.com.
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