Nagaland: Districts register negative population growth

Kohima:  The provisional census 2011 of Nagaland, which registers a negative decadal population growth, has revealed that two districts in the state recorded a negative growth at over 30 per cent while another two districts recorded a 20 per cent population increase over the last census.
     
The district wise break of population census and literacy status has shown the districts of Longleng and Kiphire recorded negative decadal population growth at minus (-) 58.39 per cent and minus (-) 30.54 per cent respectively followed by Mokokchung at minus (-) 16.77 per cent.
    
However, districts of Dimapur and Kohima registered decadal growth at 23.13 per cent and 22.80 per cent respectively against the national average of decadal population growth of 17.64 per cent.
    
The provisional population census 2011 of Nagaland was today formally released by state governor Nikhil Kumar here at a function which was attended by chief minister Neiphiu Rio, chief secretary Lalthara, senior government officials .'
leaders of civil society groups.
    
Although Nagaland made a giant leap on literacy front recording the average at over 80 per cent, gross disparity exists among the districts on literacy rates.
    
The state had recorded literacy rate at 21.05 per cent with female rate of 14.02 per cent when Nagaland attained statehood.
    
The 2011 census registered the states literacy rate at 80.11 per cent with female rate 76.69 per cent. The state recorded the literacy rate at 67 per cent in 2001.
    
While Mokokchung recorded the literacy rate at 92.68 per cent, Mon registered the same only at 56.60 per cent, an increase of 14.77 per cent over the decade.
     
The Nagaland government rejected the 2001 census through a cabinet decision as it found the data were grossly exaggerated recording 64 per cent decadal population growth in the state.
     
Both the governor and the chief minister expressed happiness over the proper census exercise this time in the state and congratulated the officials of census directorate led by Hekhali Zhimomi and leaders of civil societies for the successful conduct of population enumeration.

Will Anna Hazare end fast tonight? Breakthrough achieved, suggest activists

New Delhi:  Will Anna Hazare end his fast tonight? After a meeting between the government and social activists this evening, a breakthrough is likely, says Arvin Kejriwal, who was present at the latest round of negotiations over a new law to combat corruption in the government.

Telecom Minister met this evening with social activists Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Swami Agnivesh. Sources have told NDTV that a committee to draft Lokpal Bill will be formally notified. This committee is likely to have 2 chairmen, one of them from the civil society as activists have been demanding.

At Jantar Manatar in Delhi, a short drive away, 6000 men, women and children sang "We shall overcome" in support of  what began as a hunger strike and cascaded into a people's revolution. (Read: Anna's latest letters to PM and Sonia)

Jantar Mantar has become the Ground Zero of this movemet; its icon is Anna Hazare - the 72-year-old Gandhian who went on a "fast-unto-death" on Monday. He has two demands: That the government introduce a bill to tackle corruption immediately, and that politicians alone not be in charge of drafting that bill.  Several activists and lakhs of Indians have merged as one umbrella group - India Against Corruption. In cities across the country. Fasts and rallies are held everyday, daring the government to ignore the power of a people earlier desperate and now determined for change.

Mr Hazare spends his days and nights addressing the large crowds that gather before him.  His negotiations with the government are conducted via letters (he wrote again to the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi today) and through Swami Agnivesh and Mr Kejriwal.  In talks  yesterday with Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal, the activists managed to win a major concession. -the government agreed that a committee to draft the anti-corruption law or Jan Lokpal Bill would have five ministers and five representatives of civil society.  The sticking points were who would chair the committee, and what its legal status would be. (What is Jan Lokpal Bill? | Why Hazare opposes it) 

Activists first said they wanted Mr Hazare as Chairman. Mr Hazare said he wanted to be a member, not the head.  He then suggested that former Chief Justice of India JS Verma or retired Supreme Court judge Santosh Hegde be  made the Chair.  Mr Sibal said this morning that ministers would not be a part of a committee chaired by a non-elected representative.

The government also said that it cannot sanction Mr Hazare's request for a formal notification on the committee - an informal announcement will have to suffice. Activists say that without legal status, the committee will not be taken seriously." But this evening, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, "No government can abdicate its Constitutional responsibility by accepting the impossible condition."

This evening, Mr Hazare offered a compromise - two chairmen, one from the government, one from civil society.

He also wrote to the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi, urging them to be more proactive in ending the impasse.

He urged Sonia Gandhi and her National Advisory Council - set up to interface with civil society and provide legislative and policy inputs - to discuss the "broad content of the Lokpal Bill...and recommend the outcome to the govt."  Mr Hazare has urged the Prime Minister to reconsider appointing Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee as the head of the committee to draft the Lokpal Bill. "People are demanding non-political person as chair. I am not interested in this role. I propose Justice Verma or Justice Hedge as chair," he wrote. 

The government says that protocol and precedent must both be weighed.  Allowing non-elected representatives to help draft legislation is dangerous, suggested Mr Sibal.  And that is why, he said, the committee cannot be formally notified in Parliament.  Instead, an announcement would have to suffice.  Activists including Mr Hazare say that's not good enough - without legal status, the committee's suggestions will not be taken seriously.

As the government tries to hold its ground, Mr Hazare is being urged by lakhs of Indians across the world not to cede his. Mr Hazare has long used hunger strikes as his tool of protest.  But a younger audience of Indians has made his acquaintance through his India Against Corruption campaign.  In colleges across the country, students are fasting in solidarity with him.  In cities across the country, housewives, executives and schoolchildren are taking the time to join rallies that have a singular agenda - zero-tolerance for corruption. (Watch: Cambridge students join Anna's crusade)

Since September last year, India has confronted corruption scams of unprecedented scale. The list is topped by a telecom swindle that saw 2G spectrum being sold at throwaway prices in 2008 by then Telecom Minister A Raja.  He is now in jail. His actions are estimated to have cost the government upto Rs. 1.76 lakh crore. As a series of financial skeletons have tumbled out of the government's closet, public anger has risen along with a determination to be the change.

Andhra Minister slaps aide

Hyderabad:  Andhra Pradesh Minister for Handlooms and Textiles P. Shankar Rao publicly slapped his personal assistant Friday when the latter failed to attend to the minister's mobile phone when it rang during a meeting

Venkatesh was slapped in the presence of officials and media persons at Bobbili town in Vijayanagaram district.

The minister was speaking at a meeting with officials during a visit to the industrial growth centre in the town. He was upset when his mobile rang and his support staff was not available to attend to it.

That was when Venkatesh rushed in. Rao slapped him on the face.

The minister's action evoked strong condemnation from all quarters. The opposition and government employees' associations demanded that Rao should apologise.

The minister, known for his short temper, had once scolded a police officer.

Facebook opens up its server and data center designs

In the movie "The Fight Club," Tyler Durden, the character played by Brad Pitt, says, "The first rule of fight club is you do not talk about fight club."

The same rule, by and large, has applied to the architecture of cloud computing -- the massive, energy-hungry data centers and servers that power services like Google, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon, which companies treat as proprietary secrets. But Facebook is opening the design of its custom-built servers and soon-to-be new data center in Oregon to others in the industry.

"It is time to stop treating data centers like fight club," Jonathan Heiliger, Facebook's vice president of technical operations, said at a news conference on Thursday at Facebook's headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif.

Mr. Heiliger said that with a team of three engineers, Facebook had designed stripped-down servers that were 38 percent more efficient and 24 percent cheaper than those sold by major server makers. He also said that Facebook's new data center, which is in Prineville, Ore., is being cooled entirely with air, helping to reduce both its energy bills and carbon footprint. The data center is expected to open this month.

While Facebook is earning praise from technology industry partners, who say its openness about its designs will help everyone become more efficient, the company is being criticized by some environmentalists for choosing Prineville as the location for its new data center, because the majority of the electricity is generated by coal. Facebook is also building a data center in North Carolina, where the local utility relies heavily on coal and nuclear power.

"If Facebook wants to be a truly green company, it needs to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions," Casey Harrell, climate campaigner at Greenpeace, said in a statement. "The way to do that is decouple its growth from its emissions footprint by using clean, renewable energy to power its business instead of dirty coal and dangerous nuclear power."

In building its own servers and data centers, Facebook is following in the footsteps of Google, which designed much of the infrastructure that powers its services. While Google has remained fairly tight-lipped about its innovations, Facebook said it was starting what it calls the Open Compute Project, making its design available to anyone in the industry.

"We are not the only ones who need the kind of hardware that we are building out," said Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder and chief executive of Facebook. Mr. Zuckerberg said that by sharing the company's designs, Facebook would benefit because as more companies adopt those designs, the cost of the custom servers would decline. Companies like Zynga said they were considering using Facebook's designs.

Mr. Heiliger also said that by getting rid of air-conditioning systems that cool most data centers, the Prineville one had drastically reduced a important measure of efficiency, known as power usage effectiveness. While the average data center has a P.U.E. of 1.5, the Prineville facility has a P.U.E. of 1.07. Google, Microsoft and other large data center operators have also claimed P.U.E. ratios that are significantly lower than industry averages.

One place where fight club rules still apply is on the topic of energy consumption. Neither Facebook nor other major Internet companies have been willing to talk about the increasingly large amount of electricity that they consume or how many servers they have. Mr. Heiliger said Facebook had tens of thousands of servers but declined to say how much electricity the company gobbled up.

Facebook opens up its server and data center designs

Miguel Helft, New York Times, Updated: April 08, 2011 11:38 IST

In the movie "The Fight Club," Tyler Durden, the character played by Brad Pitt, says, "The first rule of fight club is you do not talk about fight club."

The same rule, by and large, has applied to the architecture of cloud computing -- the massive, energy-hungry data centers and servers that power services like Google, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon, which companies treat as proprietary secrets. But Facebook is opening the design of its custom-built servers and soon-to-be new data center in Oregon to others in the industry.

"It is time to stop treating data centers like fight club," Jonathan Heiliger, Facebook's vice president of technical operations, said at a news conference on Thursday at Facebook's headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif.

Mr. Heiliger said that with a team of three engineers, Facebook had designed stripped-down servers that were 38 percent more efficient and 24 percent cheaper than those sold by major server makers. He also said that Facebook's new data center, which is in Prineville, Ore., is being cooled entirely with air, helping to reduce both its energy bills and carbon footprint. The data center is expected to open this month.

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While Facebook is earning praise from technology industry partners, who say its openness about its designs will help everyone become more efficient, the company is being criticized by some environmentalists for choosing Prineville as the location for its new data center, because the majority of the electricity is generated by coal. Facebook is also building a data center in North Carolina, where the local utility relies heavily on coal and nuclear power.

"If Facebook wants to be a truly green company, it needs to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions," Casey Harrell, climate campaigner at Greenpeace, said in a statement. "The way to do that is decouple its growth from its emissions footprint by using clean, renewable energy to power its business instead of dirty coal and dangerous nuclear power."

In building its own servers and data centers, Facebook is following in the footsteps of Google, which designed much of the infrastructure that powers its services. While Google has remained fairly tight-lipped about its innovations, Facebook said it was starting what it calls the Open Compute Project, making its design available to anyone in the industry.

"We are not the only ones who need the kind of hardware that we are building out," said Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder and chief executive of Facebook. Mr. Zuckerberg said that by sharing the company's designs, Facebook would benefit because as more companies adopt those designs, the cost of the custom servers would decline. Companies like Zynga said they were considering using Facebook's designs.

Mr. Heiliger also said that by getting rid of air-conditioning systems that cool most data centers, the Prineville one had drastically reduced a important measure of efficiency, known as power usage effectiveness. While the average data center has a P.U.E. of 1.5, the Prineville facility has a P.U.E. of 1.07. Google, Microsoft and other large data center operators have also claimed P.U.E. ratios that are significantly lower than industry averages.

One place where fight club rules still apply is on the topic of energy consumption. Neither Facebook nor other major Internet companies have been willing to talk about the increasingly large amount of electricity that they consume or how many servers they have. Mr. Heiliger said Facebook had tens of thousands of servers but declined to say how much electricity the company gobbled up.

US to use Facebook, Twitter to issue terror alerts

Terror alerts from the government will soon have just two levels of warnings -- elevated and imminent -- and those will be relayed to the public only under certain circumstances. Color codes are out; Facebook and Twitter will sometimes be in, according to a Homeland Security draft obtained by The Associated Press.

Some terror warnings could be withheld from the public if announcing a threat would risk exposing an intelligence operation or an ongoing investigation, according to the government's confidential plan.

Like a gallon of milk, the new terror warnings will each come with a stamped expiration date.

The new system, replacing the five color-coded levels, is expected to be in place by April 27.

A 19-page document, marked "for official use only" and dated April 1, describes the step-by-step process that would occur behind the scenes when the government believes terrorists might be threatening Americans. It describes the sequence of notifying members of Congress, then counter terrorism officials in states and cities, then governors and mayors and, ultimately, the public.

It even specifies details about how many minutes U.S. officials can wait before organizing urgent conference calls to discuss pending threats. It places the Homeland Security secretary, currently Janet Napolitano, in charge of the National Terrorism Advisory System.

The new terror alerts would also be published online using Facebook and Twitter "when appropriate," the plan said, but only after federal, state and local leaders have been notified.

The government has struggled with how much information to share with the public about specific threats, sometimes over concern about revealing classified intelligence or law enforcement efforts to disrupt an unfolding plot. But the color warnings that became one of the government's most visible anti-terrorism programs since the September 2001 attacks were criticized as too vague to be useful and were sometimes mocked by TV comedians.

The new advisory system is designed to be easier to understand and more specific, but it's unclear how often the public will receive warnings. The message will always depend on the threat and the intelligence behind it.

For example, if there is a specific threat that terrorists are looking to hide explosives in backpacks around U.S. airports, the government might issue a public warning that would be announced in airports telling travelers to be extra vigilant and report any unattended backpacks or other suspicious activity.

If the intelligence community believes a terror threat is so serious that an alert should be issued, the warning would offer specific information for specific audiences. The Homeland  Security secretary would make the final decision on whether to issue an alert and to whom -- sometimes just to law enforcement and other times to the public.

According to the draft plan, an "elevated" alert would warn of a credible threat against the U.S. It probably would not specify timing or targets, but it could reveal terrorist trends that intelligence officials believe should be shared in order to prevent an attack. That alert would expire after no more than 30 days but could be extended.

An "imminent" alert would warn about a credible, specific and impending terrorist threat or an on-going attack against the U.S. That alert would expire after no more than seven days, though it, too, could be extended.

There hasn't been a change in the color warnings since 2006, despite an uptick in attempted attacks and terror plots against the U.S. That's because the counter terrorism community has found other ways to notify relevant people about a particular threat. In December 2010, intelligence officials learned that a terrorist organization was looking to use insulated beverage containers to hide explosives. That information was relayed to the aviation industry to be watchful. Less formal warnings like that will continue under the new system.

In the past, there was no established system for determining whether to raise or lower the threat level, said James Carafano, a national security expert at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington think tank. In part because of this, travelers have heard about nonspecific "orange" level threats in airports since August 2006 when the government responded to an al-Qaida plot to detonate liquid explosive bombs hidden in soft drink bottles on aircraft bound for the United States and Canada.

While there was coordination among U.S. counter terrorism officials about the threat, "it was pretty much kind of a gut call," said Carafano, who was on a 2009 advisory committee to review the color alerts and suggest ways to improve them.

According to the draft plan, before an official alert is issued, there is a multi-step process that must be followed, starting with intelligence sharing among multiple federal, state and local agencies, including the FBI, the National Counter terrorism Center and the White House. If the threat is considered serious enough, a Homeland Security official will call for a meeting of a special counter terrorism advisory board. That board would be expected to meet within 30 minutes of being called. If it's decided an alert is necessary, it would need to be issued within two hours.
"
The plan is not yet final, as we will continue to meet and exercise with our partners to finalize a plan that meets everyone's needs," Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said.

New search technology is enhanced with videos

The line between cyberspace and the physical world is blurring with a new search technology being demonstrated by Autonomy, a British software publisher.

The firm is demonstrating a software-based machine-vision recognition system intended for smartphones and tablet computers that embeds images and videos directly on top of the image of a real object on the user's display.

Today so-called augmented reality is already widely available on both iPhones and Android phones through software applications like Google Goggles. Hundreds of other apps overlay geographical information on smartphone displays.

But Autonomy embeds moving imagery within the display of images of the real world in a way that's visually convincing. For instance, a game maker might use it so that a person holding a camera phone up to a building would see the building's image on the screen with a dragon entwined around it.

Called Aurasma, the software is based on the company's IDOL pattern recognizer, which has been stripped down to run on an iPhone 4.

Requiring all of the computing horsepower the hand-held Apple smartphone can muster, the software makes it possible for the phone to recognize a database of about a half-million objects. It then uses the iPhone's computing power to correctly insert a video image into the scene captured on the screen of the handset or tablet by its camera.

In a demonstration, the company was able to duplicate the effect seen in Harry Potter movies of newspapers with the people in their pictures coming to life. The software finds a video of an event captured in the photograph.

Autonomy plans to make Aurasma available as a free application on smartphones next month.

For consumers, the first application will be created by a movie studio that is working on an augmented reality game that accompanies the release of a new movie. It will be possible to hunt for hidden virtual reality objects in a city. By giving the underlying technology away, Michael Lynch, Autonomy's chief executive and founder, is hoping that he has an answer to the frequently asked question: "What comes after Google?"

There is now a broad consensus that the future of search will link search technologies with geographical location. Although the software can muddy the distinction between what is real and what is virtual, its most practical application would be in commerce and helping people search for bargains in the real world.

"We have been convinced for a long time that the idea of typing keywords into a search box is a byproduct and not an end," said Mr. Lynch. "If you're truly going to interact between the physical world and the virtual world, you're not going to do that sitting in your bedroom at the keyboard."

In addition to making the technology available on smartphones and tablets as an application, Autonomy intends to offer a free software module that will allow developers to build their own application. For example, a store or a shopping mall could customize a version for a shoppers who turn their camera phones on physical objects as they walk by. Autonomy already has partnerships with telecommunications companies in Europe, Russia and Latin America. Mr. Lynch said it was negotiating a similar deal in the United States.

Autonomy also plans to create channels for advertisers, hoping it can create something similar to Google's AdWords network.

G.E. plans to build largest solar panel plant in U.S.

In a move that could shake up the American solar industry, General Electric plans to announce on Thursday that it will build the nation's largest photovoltaic panel factory, with the goal of becoming a major player in the market.

"For the past five years, we've been investing extremely heavily in solar," said Victor Abate, vice president for G.E.'s renewable energy business. "Going to scale is the next move."

The plant, whose location has not been determined, will employ 400 workers and create 600 related jobs, according to G.E. The factory would annually produce solar panels that would generate 400 megawatts of energy, the company said, and would begin manufacturing thin-film photovoltaic panels made of a material called cadmium telluride in 2013. While less efficient than conventional solar panels, thin-film photovoltaic can be produced at a lower cost and have proven attractive to developers and utilities building large-scale power plants.

G.E. has signed agreements to supply solar panels to generate 100 megawatts of electric power to customers, including a deal for panels generating 60 megawatts with NextEra Energy Resources.

G.E., a manufacturing giant, operates in a range of energy businesses, from nuclear power plants to natural gas turbines. It has been aggressively expanding its energy portfolio, particularly through acquisitions.

Mr. Abate said G.E. had completed its purchase of PrimeStar Solar, the Arvada, Colo., company that made the thin-film photovoltaic panels. G.E. said the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory recently certified that a PrimeStar solar panels manufactured at its factory in Colorado had set a 12.8 percent efficiency record for cadmium telluride technology. Conventional solar panels typically are 16 to 20 percent efficient at converting sunlight into electricity.

"We believe we'll be a cost leader, a technology leader and we're excited about our position in a 75-gigawatt solar market over next five years," said Mr. Abate.

The global conglomerate's entry into the highly competitive photovoltaic market is likely to prove a significant challenge to First Solar, the thin-film market leader and the dominant manufacturer of cadmium telluride panels.

Also at risk are start-ups like Abound Solar, a Colorado company that in December obtained a $400 million federal loan guarantee to build factories to manufacture cadmium telluride panels.

G.E.'s initial panel manufacturing capacity will be a fraction of the more than 2,300 megawatts of capacity that First Solar, based in Tempe, Ariz., plans to have online by the end of 2011.

But Mr. Abate said that G.E.'s solar effort would parallel the rise of its wind energy business.

"It's a $6 billion platform and it was a couple of hundred million dollars in '02," he said of the company's wind division. "When you look at G.E., we're very good at scale. In '05, we were building 10 turbines a week. By '08, we were doing 13 a day."

But as with its wind business, G.E. will face competition from low-cost, government-subsidized Chinese manufacturers.

The United States government has offered a range of subsidies to help American solar panel makers, including loan guarantees for new factories. G.E. said it was not applying for a loan guarantee but was exploring applying for state and federal manufacturing tax credits.

Prices for conventional silicon-based solar modules have plummeted 50 percent in recent years and are expected to continue to fall, in large part because of the rapid expansion of Chinese manufacturing capacity. That has put particular pressure on thin-film companies to increase the efficiency of their panels and maintain a technological edge.

Mr. Abate said G.E. would focus on improving the 12.8 percent efficiency of its panels as well as lowering costs.

"We see our way to much higher efficiencies than that," he said. "We probably can cut costs 50 percent over the next several years."  

Sony Ericsson launches the Xperia Play and the Xperia Arc in India

Sony Ericsson has added to its Xperia smartphone lineup in India with the launch of the Xperia Arc and the Xperia Play in India for Rs. 32,000 and Rs. 35,000 respectively.

Lets start with the self-proclaimed gaming smartphone: The Xperia Play.

The Xperia Play is a PlayStation certified smartphone running Android 2.3 Gingerbread and boasts of dedicated Dual Shock style gaming controls along with six axis motion controls.

Under the hood, the Xperia Play runs on a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 CPU with Adreno 205 GPU and 1GB ROM. The device has a 4-inch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 854x480 pixel and internal storage of 400MB expandable to 32GB via a micro SD card. The rear of the device houses a 5MP camera with LED flash. The Xperia Play will come preloaded with 6 games and 70 games will be available for download via the PlayStation Pocket Store.

Although the device has a strong lineup of games, it's the hardware configuration that is a little disappointing. While the world is moving to dual core processors in smartphones, the Xperia Play still has a single-core processor. The battery life too is a bit disappointing as the company claims 3.5 hours of juice when the device is used solely for gaming.

Being a gaming phone it sacrifices phone ergonomics in favour of the normal phone. The headphone and charging jacks are placed in a way that they are best used while gaming - while using it as a phone or a music player, the placement does not seem to be as good. The volume rocker has also been displaced to give way to the L/R buttons of the game controller.

Does the device justify a price tag of Rs. 35,000? Take a look at our video review to find out.

The Xperia Arc on the other hand is just 8.7mm thin at its slimmest point. The device boasts of a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8255 CPU with Adreno 205 GPU, Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS, a 4.2-inch BRAVIA engine reality capacitive touch-screen display with a resolution of 854x480 pixels.

The device has 320MB internal storage expandable upto 32GB via micro SD card. The rear of the device houses an 8.1 MP camera with Sony Exmor R image sensor.

The Xperia Arc is a stunning device if viewed as a standalone product. But compare it to the current market offerings and you have better options out there at better price points. LG has recently launched the Optimus X2 that boasts of a NVIDIA Tegra 2 Dual core processor and Android 2.2 upgradable to 2.3. The camera on both the devices too has an 8MP censor. The Arc however has a larger screen by 0.2-inches and boasts of Sony's BRAVIA technology.

Both the Xperia Arc and the Xperia Play boast of Sony Ericsson's custom built UI called Timescape that integrates all your social media, messaging and communication under one app. 

FUJIFILM launches 12 digital cameras in India

FUJIFILM has announced the launch and availability of 12 new digital camera models in India. The company has introduced the following cameras:  AV200 and AX300 (A series), JV200, JX300 (J series), FinePix X100, T200, F500 EXR, HS20, S2950, S3300, S4000 and Z900. Earlier this year FUJIFILM launched the Real 3DW3 - a camera that can shoot photographs and video in 3D.

All the models launched have the ability to shoot video in 720p and boast of features such as Digital Image Stabilization, Motion Panorama mode, Face Detection technology, Picture Search, Scene Recognition Auto, Blink Detection, Smile & Shoot mode and Facebook/You Tube web upload.

Details of the cameras launched are below.

FinePix X100 (Rs.64,999)

If you are one who has ever seen a Leica M3, then you will immediately relate to the Fujifilm FinePix 100. It has a retro look and feel to it so much so that if anyone sees the camera from the front will think that you have picked it up from your grandfather's closet. See the rear of the device, and you will realize how much technology has advanced in the past 40 years!

The FinePix X100 has a Hybrid Viewfinder that combines the window-type "bright frame" optical viewfinder found in rangefinder-type film cameras such as the classic 135-size or medium-format cameras, and the electronic viewfinder system incorporated in most compact or mirror less digital cameras. This gives photographers a retro or modern feel while shooting images depending on their mood.

The camera has a reverse Galilean optical finder with a 0.5× magnification and features all-glass elements made from high-refractive index glass and demonstrates low chromatic aberration and distortion. It has a 23mm F2 Fujinon Lens. Its 12.3 Megapixel APS-C CMOS Sensor & EXR Processor enables the capture of images from low sensitivity to high sensitivity.

The only downside to this camera is that it has no flash and the lens has no zoom.
FinePix HS20 (Rs.24,999)

For those of you that like to get up close and personal with you subjects without going close to them, the FinePix HS20 might just be for you. Why? Well for starters it has a 30x Manual Barrel zoom and high-speed auto focus. The FinePix HS20 also has a new EXR CMOS sensor, high speed continuous shooting capability, and can shoot stills in 16-megapixel resolution.

FinePixF500EXR (Rs. 17,999)

All you amateurs that want a little more than a straight point and shoot may consider the FinePixF500EXR. The camera's features include an all-new 16 megapixel EXR CMOS sensor, 3.0 inch LCD with 460,000 pixel and new User Interface using vector fonts and graphics, anti blur technologies and GPS functionality. The GPS functionality helps you tag the location where you take the pictures.

Other features include, Full HD movie capture, Motion Panorama 360 mode and Photobook Assist function.

S series (S2950, S3300 and S4000) (Rs. 9,999, Rs. 14,999 and Rs. 17,999 respectively)
For the photography enthusiast inside you that is tired of a simple point and shoot and is not ready for a DSLR may want to check out the pro-sumer S series offered by FUJIFILM.

The new S2950, S3300 and S4000 cameras have zoom lenses that are 18x zoom, 26x zoom and 30x zoom respectively. These cameras also have Playback functions, Face Detection, Auto red-eye removal; Multi-frame playback (with micro thumbnail) and Photobook assist features. The new S series cameras all have a high-resolution 14-megapixel CCDs and 24mm wide-angle lenses. The S series cameras have a bright 3.0-inch LCD screens.

The S4000 and theS2950 also allow you to upload your images directly to the web.

FinePix T200 (Rs.9,999)

This 14-megapixel camera has a slim body and is available in black colour. Its face recognition and image search along with photo book assist are a boon for the casual photographer. An ISO of 3200 ensures good sensitivity. It has a 2.7-inch rear LCD with 230,000 dots that enables the user to view the scene with maximum clarity.

 J series(JV200 and JX300) (Rs. 5,999 and Rs. 6,999)

The J Series along with the below mentioned A series are budget point and shoot cameras that offer a variety of features making them an ideal option as your first point and shoot digital camera.

The J series come in slim metal-bodied design with 2.7-inch LCD screen.  These cameras are loaded with features like sharp Fujinon zoom lenses, Scene Recognition Auto, Panorama Shooting Mode, Movie Mode with Sound, Picture Search etc. The Smile & Shoot Mode works with FUJIFILM's Face Detection technology to detect smiles on faces. It will not take a picture until it detects a smile. Another new feature is Blink Detection that warns users if they have captured an image with people blinking, so that they can re-shoot if necessary. The J series is also enabled with Facebook/You Tube easy web upload.

A series (AV200 and AX300) (Rs. 4,999 and Rs. 5,499 respectively)

An ideal camera for your children's first camping trip as the A series cameras are not expensive and easy to use. Although you can take a look at the entry-level Kodak cameras for similar price points.

Both AV200 and AX300 are 14 megapixel cameras with 3x (AV200) and 5x (AX300) Fujinon zoom lens. These cameras are light-weight and easy-to-use. Loaded with features such as Digital Image Stabilization, Single and Tracking Auto Focus, Motion Panorama mode, Scene Recognition Auto, Face Detection technology and convenient Picture Search (by Face, by Scene and by Date) the A series is aimed at beginners. Like the other models FUJIFILM AV200 and AX300 also support 720p HD movie capture.
 

US: Prostitutes' killer had sophisticated understanding of police techniques

Long Island:  Whoever killed four prostitutes, and possibly four other people, and then dumped their bodies in heavy underbrush along a beachfront causeway on Long Island appears to have a sophisticated understanding of police investigative techniques, according to people briefed on the case.

A series of taunting phone calls made to the teenage sister of one of the victims -- calls that the police suspect came from the killer -- were made from in or around some of the most crowded locations in New York City, including Madison Square Garden and Times Square, according to the people briefed on the case and to the mother of Melissa Barthelemy, that victim.

The locations, detectives say, were probably chosen because they allowed the caller to blend into crowds, so that if investigators pinpointed his location from the cellphone's signal, they would be unable to pick him out of the crowd using any nearby surveillance cameras, one of the people said.

This fact, as well as the killer's use of disposable cellphones to contact the four victims who have been identified -- women in their 20s who advertised their services on Craigslist -- suggested to some investigators that the killer was well versed in criminal investigative techniques, gleaned either through personal experience or in some other way, and could even be in law enforcement himself.

"He is a guy who is aware of how we utilize technology," one investigator said. "Frankly, people are thinking maybe he could be a cop" -- either one still in law enforcement or one who has moved on.

"Without question, this guy is smart, this guy is not a dope," the investigator continued. "It's a guy who thinks about things."

Also, the caller kept each of his vulgar, mocking and insulting calls to less than three minutes, according to the dead woman's mother, Lynn Barthelemy. The caller made about a half-dozen calls over roughly five weeks to the victim's sister.

One investigator said the brief duration of the calls thwarted efforts by the New York Police Department to use the signal to pinpoint the caller's location and find him, something Lynn Barthelemy said they told her they tried to do four times.

New York investigators began those efforts about a week after Melissa Barthelemy, a 24-year-old who lived in the Bronx, disappeared around July 10, 2009.

The investigator, and several others, emphasized that the idea that the killer could be an active or former law enforcement officer was just one theory being examined by homicide investigators in Suffolk County, where the bodies were found.

The Suffolk Police Department's chief of detectives, Dominick Varrone, would say only, "Our investigative team is considering many theories and all possibilities."

The police commissioner, Richard Dormer, said in a statement late Friday that "no suspect has been identified in the Gilgo Beach homicides."

Ms. Barthelemy's body was one of four uncovered over the course of three days in December in the thick undergrowth along Ocean Parkway, near Gilgo Beach, in the town of Babylon. All were dumped in burlap sacks.

It is unclear whether the county medical examiner's office, working with its counterpart in New York City, has determined the causes of death in the four cases.

The discovery marked the third time in two decades that a serial killer of prostitutes had stalked Long Island.

After the snow melted, the Suffolk police intensified their search in the area. On March 29, a Marine Unit officer discovered a fifth set of remains, and two days later, three more sets of remains were found, more than a mile east of where the first bodies were found clustered.

Two officials briefed on the case said it appeared that those additional sets of remains had been dumped many years prior to those found in December, and there were no burlap sacks.

They said there were other differences that set them apart from the four bodies that have been identified, but they would not describe them.

Both of the officials suggested that the differences raised the possibility that remains found in the past two weeks -- the police have yet to identify them or even say whether they have determined the gender of the dead -- were unrelated to the four Craigslist women.

But they also said the differences could be ascribed to the development of the killer's technique over time.

On July 10 nearly two years ago, Ms. Barthelemy saw a client and then deposited $900 into her bank account, her mother said. That night she called an old boyfriend, but he did not pick up. Then she disappeared.

Melissa Barthelemy's teenage sister, Amanda, was preparing to fly to New York from Buffalo and visit with her sister, but the trip was called off because the family could not reach Melissa. Concerned, the Barthelemys pleaded with the New York police to help find her.

Then Amanda began to receive calls, about one each week, from her missing sister's cellphone. The voice on the other end was calm and bland, and never yelled or laughed, her mother said.

Lynn Barthelemy would not say what was said in those calls. She said the authorities told her not to disclose details so that they could use that information, which they believe only the killer would know, to weed out false confessions.

The family's lawyer, Steven M. Cohen of Buffalo, said the caller had made remarks that were "disparaging of the sister, because of her lifestyle."

"We can't for certain make the leap that the person who called the sister was the killer, although I believe that to be the case," Mr. Cohen said. "If you accept it was the killer calling, he certainly had feelings of anger towards prostitutes."

Lynn Barthelemy said detectives had told her they rushed to several locations during the calls, which never lasted more than three minutes, but were unable to identify a suspect.

In one instance, the police learned that Melissa Barthelemy's phone had been turned on near Massapequa, on Long Island, and that someone had gained access to her voice mail, the victim's mother said, but that happened only once.

The caller did not ever say that Ms. Barthelemy was dead or suggest that she was alive, Lynn Barthelemy said.

"He kept us hopeful," she said.

She still wonders what prompted the calls. It was as if he was "trying to finalize things," she said.

Daughter's taunt makes Afridi desperate to improve batting

Karachi: "I will focus on improving my batting during the tour. It has become really weak," Afridi told reporters here on Friday of the ODI series against the West Indies later this month.

"Even my daughter has started calling me 'Baba Boom Boom Out' because of my poor batting performance," he smiled.

Afridi finished the 2011 World Cup as the joint highest wicket-taker but flopped miserably with the bat.

"It is not an easy tour and we will have to give our best to achieve best results," he said.

Afridi was recently advised by former Pakistan captain Imran Khan to come out of Test retirement and also lead the country in the longer form of the game.

However, Afridi said that he has no plans to return to Test cricket.

"I don't have any plans to make a Tests' return," he said. "I think I am not the best choice for that format."

Afridi said Pakistan has the potential to become the world's best team.

"My team has improved a lot recently and our performance in the World Cup under pressure was commendable. I can say if we continue the same progress, we can become like the Aussies who were considered as invincible few years back."

Afridi expressed disappointment over the comments of senior all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, who after being dropped for the tour of West Indies complained he was given few chances in the World Cup. "It is not true. The team management gave equal chances to all the players," said Afridi.

Find 5 honest ministers, Baba Ramdev dares govt

New Delhi:  Yoga guru Baba Ramdev today backed Anna Hazare's fight against corruption by visiting the site of the anti-corruption crusader's hunger strike here.
    
"I am in support of Hazare. I am also fasting today," Ramdev said at Jantar Mantar, the nerve centre of Hazare's protest.
    
Taking potshots at the Centre, which faces a series of scams, Ramdev said, "Our bill proposes a 10- member drafting committee in which five will be from civil society and five from the government. But I am afraid if will they manage to get even five politicians who are not corrupt and join this committee. I don't think so."
    
The yoga guru also took a jibe at the Prime Minister being "unaware" of corruption and said the "PM should shed the attitude of 'Bhisma' and now he should work like 'Bhima'".

    
He also branded the UPA government at the Centre "deaf, dumb and blind" and asked it to bring back black money stashed in foreign bank accounts.
    
Ramdev, who had earlier launched tirade against corruption through his 'Bharat Swabhimabman Aandolan' demanded capital punishment for corrupt people.
    
Meanwhile, noted social activist Medha Patkar rubbished reports that she is not in support of some of the provisions in the bill and said she was here to participate in the movement.
    
Patkar also accused the government of dilly-dallying in accepting the civil society's demands and of "conspiring" to kill Hazare by forcing him to continue his fast.
    
She demanded immediate arrest of all those involved in 2G and CWG scams.

Noted lawyer and Rajya Sabha member Ram Jethmalani also came out in support of the crusade, saying "he will use whatever strength he has to fight against corruption. All patriots should support the cause."

Environmentalist Vandana Shiva also lauded Hazare's efforts and said he is among the firsts to work for corruption eradication.
    
Among a growing number of those who came out in support of Hazare were celebrities like actor Anupam Kher, music director Vishal Dadlani, choreographer Farah Khan and American-origin actor Tom Alter.
    
A 103-year-old P Mudgal Swami, a freedom fighter, battled his age to meet Hazare.
    
A group of about 500 advocates from the Supreme Court Bar Council also showed their support to the fasting Gandhian.

Won't force Arjun to become a cricketer: Sachin

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Mumbai: Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar on Thursday said that Indian team's World Cup victory has had a huge impact on his son, Arjun, but he would not force him to become a cricketer.

Talking to reporters at Wankhede Stadium -- the venue of the historic triumph -- Tendulkar said, "I was inspired by Indian team's victory in 1983 World Cup. The 2011 victory has made a huge impact on my son Arjun... I will not pressurise him to become a cricketer. He can choose what he wants to do."

Tendulkar was at the stadium to meet his Mumbai Indians team-mates, and partake of the mood on the eve of Indian Premier League's start in Chennai on Friday.

Talking about his mother's reaction when he returned home after the 2011 World Cup victory, Tendulkar said he could see joy in her eyes.

"When I returned home, my mother became very emotional, and there were tears of happiness (in her eyes)." His mother greeted him with traditional 'aarati'.

"When we returned to the hotel, there were huge crowds waving at us... I have never seen anything like this before," he said, talking about the jubilation after the historic win.

When asked about Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi's controversial remarks about Indians, Sachin refused to say much.

"No comments...I have no control over what someone has to say," he said.

Anna Hazare breaks his fast, says real fight begins now

New Delhi:  Social activist Anna Hazare finally ended his hunger strike at Jantar Mw Delhi today. The 72-year-old Gandhian went on a "fast-unto-death" on April 5 demanding that the government introduce a bill to tackle corruption immediately, and t

"This victory is a result of your sacrifice," he told his supporters at Jantar Mantar, adding that "this is only the beginning. Our real fight begins now. If the government does not pass Lokpal Bill, I will come back to fight again."

Before breaking his fast, Mr Hazare also offered water to some of his supporters who had fasted along with him.

It took Mr Hazare almost 98 hours of fasting to accomplish every point of an agenda that seemed preposterously ambitious when the week began. Till India pitched in, expressing its solidarity with rallies around Mr Hazare's cause.  

Earlier this morning, the government issued a notification on the joint committee to draft the Lokpal Bill. A copy of this was handed over to Mr Hazare's representative Swami Agnivesh, who then gave it to Mr Hazare. (What is Jan Lokpal Bill?)

The government has agreed that the panel that will draft the Lokpal Bill will include five representatives of civil society, including Mr Hazare, and five ministers. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will be the Chairman of the panel; and former Law Minister Shanti Bhushan, who has been picked by Mr Hazare, will be the co-Chairman.

Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily, Home Minister P Chidambaram, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal and Minister for Minority Affairs Salman Khursheed will be the other government representatives on the panel.

Besides Shanti Bhushan, those representing civil society on the panel will be Anna Hazare himself, eminent lawyer Prashant Bhushan, retired Supreme Court Judge Santosh Hegde and RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal.

On Friday, it was decided that the joint committee will be notified formally with a government order that will explain its term and references, conferring legislative authority upon it. Mr Hazare had said he will break his fast after the order is out; Kapil Sibal had said it will be issued at 10 am on Saturday. But when Swami Agnivesh went to collect the order from Kapil Sibal this morning, he was handed over a copy of the notification on the joint committee to draft the Lokpal Bill - this was the activists' original demand. "We have got much more than we expected," Swami Agnivesh said, coming out of the minister's residence.

While Mr Hazare has his reservations about the title "co-Chairman," he has been assured that the post comes with the same powers and authority as the Chairman's. It was this concern that led to a two-hour delay on Friday between the meeting that negotiated the compromise and Mr Hazare's public announcement to end his fast.

The breakthrough came after Mr Hazare's representatives - Kiran Bedi, Swami Agnivesh, and Arvind Kejriwal, all activists in their own right - met with three senior ministers on Friday evening. The government's delegates were Law Minister Veerappa Moily, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal and Minorities' Affairs Minister Salman Khursheed.

At two meetings on Friday- in the morning and evening - Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister urged senior ministers to end the impasse.

The government's unprecedented concessions were thrust upon it partly by Sonia Gandhi, who in a statement on Thursday night spelled out her support for Mr Hazare's stand and urged him to end his fast. An equal amount of pressure was applied by lakhs of Indians online and offline, who swapped cynicism for a determination to be the change.

That mood reflected on Friday evening at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, a short drive away from where the ministers were finalising a peace treaty with the activists. Six thousand men, women and children sang "We shall overcome".  A few minutes later, Mr Hazare addressed them, reassuring them that he was in good health. "You are my strength," he said.

For the last few days, Mr Hazare has with these speeches drawn middle class out of its inertia. For every demand that Mr Hazare presented, the government had an equal and opposite reaction. And slowly, it began conceding one point after another, till it was game, set and match for Mr Hazare.

Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said on Friday, "This sets a precedent - it shows how civil society and government can work together. We are happy that we are now ending these days of uncertainty through a resolution in which both sides had confidence in each other."

Mr Sibal expressed hope that the bill would be introduced in the Monsoon Session of Parliament. (Watch)

The government and activists on Friday swapped their drafts of the bill - wide differences have existed between the two versions so far.

Since September last year, India has confronted corruption scams of unprecedented scale.  The list is topped by a telecom swindle that saw 2G spectrum being sold at throwaway prices in 2008 by then Telecom Minister A Raja. He is now in jail. His actions are estimated to have cost the government upto Rs. 1.76 lakh crore. As a series of financial skeletons have tumbled out of the government's closet, public anger has been escalating. The country needed a rallying point, and Mr Hazare provided an inspiring one