GPS is a satellite-based navigation system which works in any weather conditions 24 hours a day. ]]> New Delhi, August 20 (IANS) The global positioning system (GPS) technology will be installed on trains in the next two years to avoid accidents, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said Friday.

GPS is a satellite-based navigation system which works in any weather conditions 24 hours a day.

“The project for introducing GPS in the trains is under consideration and in two years it will be in place,” Banerjee informed the Rajya Sabha during question hour.

“It will be helpful in reducing the number of accidents even on unmanned signals,” she added.

A survey in Britain found that over a quarter of men will wait at least half an hour before asking for directions. ]]> London, Aug 20 (IANS) Men spend nearly 450 km a year lost on the road — a distance equivalent from Delhi to Amritsar.

A survey in Britain found that over a quarter of men will wait at least half an hour before asking for directions.

Incidentally, 12 percent of the respondents were too proud to even ask for help at all, Daily Express reported Friday.

Men who are older than 55 have the best sense of direction and they got lost just 26 times a year on average.

Those who are below 25 years got lost 37 times a year despite being armed with satellite guided navigation devices.

The survey was carried out by motor insurer Sheilas’ Wheels.

It revealed that 74 percent of the women were more happy to ask for directions, with 37 percent pulling over as soon as they got lost, as compared to 30 percent of the male drivers.

Sharapova pulled in $24.5 million over the past year, including $1 million earned from prize money and the rest derived from endorsements and appearance fees, Forbes said. ]]> New York, Aug 20 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova was named the world’s highest-paid female athlete by Forbes magazine.

Sharapova pulled in $24.5 million over the past year, including $1 million earned from prize money and the rest derived from endorsements and appearance fees, Forbes said.

Sharapova, 23, became an overnight tennis sensation at the age of 17 when she won Wimbledon in 2004, and quickly showed her business acumen by signing lucrative contracts with global brands like Canon, Motorola, Tiffany, Land Rover, and Colgate-Palmolive.

But her biggest deal is with Nike, which re-signed the Russian star in January to an eight-year contract worth up to $70 million.

Sharapova also receives royalties from her own line of bags and shoes through Nike subsidiary Cole Haan.

The Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, occupy the No. 2 and No. 3 slots in the Forbes’ list, respectively. According to the survey, Serena’s earnings account for $20.2 million, while Venus earned $15.4 million over the past year.

Sharapova dropped from the 76th to 81st place on this year’s Forbes ranking of the richest and most powerful actors, actresses, athletes and musicians.

–IANS/RIA Novosti

snb

New high-resolution images have turned up geographical features on the moon that indicate it has shrunk within the last 800 million years - or practically yesterday in astronomical terms, said Tom Watters, a scientist at the Centre for Earth and Planetary Studies at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. ]]> Washington, Aug 20 (DPA) The moon is smaller than it used to be and could still be shrinking, NASA scientists said Thursday pointing to new evidence that the moon has contracted relatively recently.

New high-resolution images have turned up geographical features on the moon that indicate it has shrunk within the last 800 million years – or practically yesterday in astronomical terms, said Tom Watters, a scientist at the Centre for Earth and Planetary Studies at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington.

The findings could indicate that as the moon has cooled since its formation it has contracted and could still be tectonically active today, Watters said.

The images come from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been mapping the moon since last summer as part of a two-pronged mission that also involved crashing a rocket into the moon’s surface.

"We are in the final phase for the Commonwealth Games. We requested the prime minister and the cabinet secretary to give us 10 government officers. They have come at our request and they will co-ordinate. They have not come to take over the organising committee as reported in some sections of the media. The media is saying that my wings have been clipped, probably because I was a fighter pilot," said Kalmadi at a press conference. ]]> New Delhi, Aug 19 (IANS) Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (CGOC) chairman Suresh Kalmadi Thursday said the government had appointed 11 top bureaucrats to oversee the last phase of work for the mega event at the request of the organising committee and there was no “take over” of the Games.

“We are in the final phase for the Commonwealth Games. We requested the prime minister and the cabinet secretary to give us 10 government officers. They have come at our request and they will co-ordinate. They have not come to take over the organising committee as reported in some sections of the media. The media is saying that my wings have been clipped, probably because I was a fighter pilot,” said Kalmadi at a press conference.

The officials, of the rank of additional secretary and joint secretary, were named by the Cabinet Secretariat and given charge of one stadium, a government spokesman said.

The officers are Subodh Kumar (additional secretary, Department of Telecommunication), S.R. Rao (additional secretary, Department of Information Techonolgy), R.C. Mishra (additional secretary, Ministry of Urban Development), Amarjeet Singh (executive director, Janasankhya Sthirata Kosh, Ministry of Health), J.S. Deepak (joint secretary, Ministry of Commerce), Rohit Nandan (joint secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation), Shashi Shekar (OSD, Power Trading Corporation Ltd), Taradatt (joint secretary, Cabinet Secretariat), Gopal Krishna (secretary, Sports Authority of India), Rajeev Kapoor (joint secretary, Department of Personnel and Training) and Injeti Srinivas (joint secretary, Ministry of Sports).

The newly appointed officials will report directly to Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar, the spokesman said.

Deepak will be in charge of the sprawling Commonwealth Games village coming up on the banks of the Yamuna river. The Indira Gandhi stadium will be overseen by Misra and the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in the city’s heart which will host the opening and closing ceremonies by Rao.

The appointments came on a day when United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chief Sonia Gandhi made it plain that the October 3-14 Games were “a matter of national pride and efforts should be made to hold them successfully”.

Thursday’s move followed widespread reports of corruption and delays in the preparations for the Games, prompting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to meet ministers and officials Saturday to review the works.

Earlier Thursday, Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike Fennell met Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit for about 30 minutes to discuss issues related to the Games and infrastructure development.

Minister of State for Planning V. Narayanasamy said in a written statement that the fiscal deficit targets had been recommended by the 13th Finance Commission. ]]> New Delhi, Aug 19 (IANS) All states and union territories are expected to achieve 3 percent fiscal deficit latest by 2014-15 as part of fiscal consolidation, the Rajya Sabha was told Thursday.

Minister of State for Planning V. Narayanasamy said in a written statement that the fiscal deficit targets had been recommended by the 13th Finance Commission.

“The government has accepted the recommendations,” he said.

"The details of the Integrated Action Plan are in the process of being finalized," the minister said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha. ]]> New Delhi, Aug 19 (IANS) The government is working on an Integrated Action Plan to address development issues in areas affected by Maoist violence, Minister of State for Planning V. Narayanasamy said Thursday.

“The details of the Integrated Action Plan are in the process of being finalized,” the minister said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

He said the Planning Commission had initiated the process of preparation of the action plan with the help of states, district administrations, elected representatives and other stakeholders.

–Indo-Asian news Service

mr/

Minister of State for Planning V. Narayanasamy identified the states as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. ]]> New Delhi, Aug 19 (IANS) Eight states account for 193.8 million poor people out of the national total of 301.7 million, the Rajya Sabha was informed Thursday.

Minister of State for Planning V. Narayanasamy identified the states as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

In a written reply to Rama Chandra Khuntia, the minister quoted the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative to say that 421 million people in these states were “multi-dimensionally poor”.

The report also stated that the concentration of poverty was more among social groups like Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, the minister said.

He, however, pointed out that the official estimates of poverty in India were based on data obtained from surveys carried out by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO).

He added that the Planning Commission estimates showed that 41.4 percent of the population lived below the poverty line in Bihar.

aeCERT, the telecommunications regulatory authority in the Gulf signed an agreement with Microsoft Gulf to promote its Security Cooperation Programme (SCP), which would help enable secure computing environments in government offices as well as of common citizens. ]]> Abu Dhabi, Aug 19 (IANS/WAM) Microsoft Inc. will work towards strengthening the security of information systems and networks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

aeCERT, the telecommunications regulatory authority in the Gulf signed an agreement with Microsoft Gulf to promote its Security Cooperation Programme (SCP), which would help enable secure computing environments in government offices as well as of common citizens.

Microsoft would help in incident response, attack mitigation and guide the aeCERT respond better to minimise the impact of attacks on information technology infrastructure, said Mohammed Al Nasser Al Ghanim, director of the aeCERT.

“National security is imperative and government bodies must place security at the forefront of their information technology requirements,” said Charbel Fakhoury, regional general manager of Microsoft Gulf.

–IANS/WAM

pm/vt