India's fourth Navigational Satellite IRNSS-1D successfully launched

--> India successfully launched the IRNSS-1D, the fourth in the series of seven navigational satellites, onboard PSLV-C27 on 28 March 2015.

--> Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C27) lifted off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota at 5.19pm and placed IRNSS (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System)-1D weighing 1,425kg in a sub-geostationary orbit after a 20minutes flight.

--> PSLV-C27 that lifted off from the second launch pad was an `XL' version of the PSLV rocket as was the case with the previous three launches.

--> With the launch of IRNSS 1 D, four active satellites will be transmitting navigation signals. This meets the minimum number of satellites required for the system to be fully functional enabling a navigation receiver to compute position.

--> The first three satellites in the series were launched from Sriharikota in July 2013, April 2014 and October 2014.

Know more about IRNSS-1D

* IRNSS-1D will be the fourth in the series of seven Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) after IRNSS-1A, IRNSS-1B and IRNSS-1C.

* IRNSS-1D was launched onboard PSLV-C27.

* It is designed to provide accurate position information services to users in the country as well as the area extending up to 1,500 km from its boundary, which is its principal service area.

* The satellite will help in enhancing the satellite based navigation system of India which is currently under development. The navigational system that will develop will be a regional one targeted towards South Asia. The satellite will provide navigation, tracking and mapping services.

* The satellite is also one among the seven of the IRNSS constellation of satellites meant to be launched to provide navigational services to the region; while it should also be noted that four satellites would be sufficient to start operations of the system, the remaining three would make it more accurate and efficient.

* IRNSS-1D satellite will have two payloads: a navigation payload and CDMA ranging payload in addition with a laser retro-reflector. The payload generates navigation signals at L5 and S-band. The design of the payload makes the IRNSS system inter-operable and compatible with Global Positioning System (GPS) and Galileo.

* The satellite is powered by two solar arrays, which generate power up to 1,660 watts, and has a life-time of ten year.

* The satellite will be placed in geosynchronous orbit.

* The total cost of the launching of satellite and the mission is estimated approximately 1,400 crore Rupees.

Read More

IRCTC New Website Launched: Migrated to Next Generation e-Ticketing System

IRCTC Launched next generation e Ticketing system to book your train ticket more faster and user friendly manner than earlier.

Now, When you login you will be automatically redirected to the new website with the message  "Dear Customer, You have been successfully migrated to Next Generation e-Ticketing website. To Print/Cancel/FileTDR of your old transactions done before migration, click "My Transactions" below. To book e-tickets , click "Proceed For Booking". After migration new transactions can be viewed in "Booked Ticket History" in Next Generation e-Ticketing website". The screen shot is as follows:

Accounts are being migrated in a phased manner and hence sometimes your account may take time to get migrated to the new system and till then you will continue in older version.

To book a ticket in new version you have to click on Proceed for Booking option. Then you will be redirected to the new website. 

In the new look you have to give input same as older website with details like From Station, To Station, Journey Date and Ticket Type. In the earlier version option to choose General/Tatkal ticket was also available there. But in the new look it has been moved into the next page for more friendliness. This move seems good considering the fact that you will be able to view multiple availability status without any Page refresh for General/Tatkal at same time. In the earlier version we have to go back each time.

You can access new eticketing site directly at nget.irctc.co.in

We feel that the site needs more improvement. Hope IRCTC will make the required changes in the days to come. Enjoy booking in new website!!!

Read More

Facebook to buy WhatsApp message service for $19 billion

>> Facebook Inc will buy fast-growing mobile-messaging startup WhatsApp for $19 billion in cash and stock in a landmark deal that places the world's largest social network closer to the heart of mobile communications and may bring younger users into the fold.

>> The transaction involves $4 billion in cash, $12 billion in stock and $3 billion in restricted stock that vests over several years. The WhatsApp deal is worth more than Facebook raised in its own IPO and underscores the social network's determination to win the market for messaging.

>> Founded by a Ukrainian immigrant who dropped out of college, Jan Koum, and a Stanford alumnus, Brian Acton, WhatsApp is a Silicon Valley startup fairy tale, rocketing to 450 million users in five years and adding another million daily.

>>"No one in the history of the world has ever done something like this," Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on a conference call on Wednesday. Zuckerberg, who famously closed a $1 billion deal to buy photo-sharing service Instagram over a weekend in mid-2012, revealed on Wednesday that he proposed the tie-up over dinner with CEO Koum just 10 days earlier, on the night of Feb. 9.

>> WhatsApp was the leader among a wave of smartphone-based messaging apps that are now sweeping across North America, Asia and Europe. Although WhatsApp has adhered strictly to its core functionality of mimicking texting, other apps, such as Line in Japan or Tencent Holdings Ltd's WeChat, offer games or even e-commerce on top of their popular messaging features.

>> The deal provides Facebook entree to new users, including teens who eschew the mainstream social networks but prefer WhatsApp and rivals, which have exploded in size as private messaging takes off.

>> "People are calling them 'Facebook Nevers,'" said Jeremy Liew, a partner at Lightspeed and an early investor in Snapchat.

How the service will pay for itself is not yet clear.

>> Zuckerberg and Koum on the conference call did not say how the company would make money beyond a $1 annual fee, which is not charged for the first year. "The right strategy is to continue to focus on growth and product," Zuckerberg said.

>> Zuckerberg and Koum said that WhatsApp will continue to operate independently, and promised to continue its policy of no advertising.

>> "Communication is the one thing that you have to use daily, and it has a strong network effect," said Jonathan Teo, an early investor in Snapchat, another red-hot messaging company that flirted year ago with a multibillion dollar acquisition offer from Facebook.

>> "Facebook is more about content and has not yet fully figured out communication."

Read More

Know about GSLV D5 launch & GSAT-14 Satellite: Useful for all competitive Exams

>>  ISRO on 5 January 2014 (Sunday) launched a 1,982 kg Indian communication satellite GSAT 14 aboard its new and improved version of the indigenous GSLV called the GSLV D5.

>> The successful launch was a morale booster for ISRO which helps commercial launches using the GSLV and even prepare for a proposed Chandrayaan 2 mission in the days to come.

Highlights of India's GSLV D5's mission

1) GSLV-D5 launched 1982 Kg GSAT-14, a communication satellite, into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).

2) GSLV-D5 mission was launched from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

3) GSLV-D5 is the eighth flight of India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). It is also the fourth developmental flight of GSLV.

4) During this flight, the indigenously developed Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) was flight tested for the second time.

5) The flight duration of GSLV-D5 was 17 min 8 sec.

6) GSLV D5's mission was aborted at the eleventh hour on August 19 last year due to a fuel leak in its second stage. ISRO stopped the countdown 74 minutes ahead of the scheduled launch at 1650 hours after noticing the leakage.

7) After reaching GTO, GSAT-14 will use its own propulsion system to reach its geostationary orbital home.

8) GSAT-14 is the twenty third geostationary communication satellite of India built by ISRO.

9) Four of GSAT-14's predecessors were launched by GSLV during 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2007 respectively. After its commissioning, GSAT-14 will join the group of India's nine operational geostationary satellites.

10) GSAT-14 will help provide many satellite based communication services to the country including tele-education and tele-medicine.

Information Source: ISRO

Read More

GSLV-D5 launch successful: Significant achievement of India's prowess over indigenous cryogenic technology

>> One of India’s most ambitious dreams became a reality on Sunday when its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D5), powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine, effortlessly put the 1,982-kg GSAT-14 communication satellite into a perfect orbit after 17 minutes of flight.

>> The launch marks a significant achievement of India's prowess over indigenous cryogenic technology.

>> The grand success caps 20 years of hard work by ISRO’s engineers, after being denied cryogenic technology under pressure from the U.S., suffering a heartbreaking failure with an indigenous cryogenic engine flight in April 2010 and having had to scrub its second attempt with an indigenous cryogenic engine in August 2013. “I am proud to say that ISRO has done it…,” ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan announced.

>> Last year, on August 19, an anomaly in the second stage of liquid propellant of GSLV-D5 prompted Isro to call off the launch and it could not go beyond ignition.

>> The precision of the cryogenic upper stage was such that it put the GSAT-14 into an orbit with a perigee of 179 km, against the target of 180 km, and the apogee achieved was off by a mere 50 km for a target of 36,000 km.

>> The mission’s success means India now has the ability to put satellites weighing more than two tonnes in orbit, joining the elite club of the U.S., Russia, France, Japan and China who have mastered this perilous technology of using cryogenic propellants -- liquid oxygen at minus 183 degrees Celsius and liquid hydrogen at minus 253 degrees’ Celsius.

Read More

Isro's Mars Orbiter Mission successfully placed in Mars transfer trajectory

Isro's Mars Orbiter Mission successfully placed in Mars transfer trajectory

>> Crossing a major milestone in the country's space history, Isro's Mars Orbiter Mission on Sunday ventured out of Earth's sphere of influence for the first time in an attempt to reach the red planet's orbit.

>> The critical manoeuvre to place the Mars orbiter spacecraft in the Mars transfer trajectory was successfully carried out almost an hour past midnight.

>> During this manoeuvre, which began at 00:49 hours, the spacecraft's 440 Newton liquid engine was fired for about 22 minutes providing a velocity increment of 648 metres/second to the spacecraft.

>> "Following the completion of this manoeuvre, the Earth orbiting phase of the spacecraft ended. The spacecraft is now on a course to encounter Mars after a journey of about 10 months around the Sun," the Bangalore-headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation said in a statement.

>> Isro performed the trans-Mars injection, a "crucial event" intended for hurling its Mars orbiter spacecraft into the planned orbit around the Sun, marking the first step towards the 300 day voyage to reach the orbit of the red planet after crossing roughly 680 million kilometres.

>> Isro has planned four mid-course corrections in case of any deviation along its path to the Martian orbit.

>> The space agency is scheduled to make four corrections in the course of the spacecraft's voyage to Mars before it is expected to reach the orbit of the red planet in September 2014.

>> It had performed five orbit-raising manoeuvres on its Mars Orbiter, raising the apogee (farthest point from Earth) of the spacecraft to over 1.92 lakh kilometres, before it performed the "mother of all slingshots".

>> The spacecraft is being continuously monitored from the Spacecraft Control Centre at Isro Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bangalore with support from Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) antennae at Byalalu, the space agency added.

>> Isro's PSLV C 25 successfully injected the 1,350-kg 'Mangalyaan' Orbiter (Mars craft) into the orbit around the earth some 44 minutes after a text book launch at 2.38 PM from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota on November 5, marking the successful completion of the first stage of the Rs 450-crore mission.

Read More

Things you must know about ‘Mangalyaan’- ISRO Mars mission

Things you must know about ‘Mangalyaan’- ISRO Mars mission

India has launched its Mars mission ‘Mangalyaan’ from the Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) centre at Sriharikota on 05 November 2013 (Tuesday). If it goes well, India will join the league of countries like America, Russia and Europe to undertake a successful Mars mission.

The important move by India is being watched by the world. Here are some of the highlights of the Mars mission of India:

Distance to Mars: 400 million km

Duration of journey: 300 days

Launch time: 23 minutes as the rocket will be visible to ISRO through its own ground for this period.

Mars orbit insertion date: September 12, 2014

Next major date: November 30, when the aircraft will begin its journey to Mars. Before this date, it will continue to revolve around Earth

Cost of mission: Rs 450 crore

MISSION'S OBJECTIVES

# Orbit manoeuvres to ensure final capture into Martian orbit

# Development of force models and algorithms for orbit and attitude computations and analyses

# Maintain the probe in all phases of the mission, meeting power, communications, thermal and payload operation requirements

# Look for methane on Mars, for detection of life on the planet

EYE ON THE SKY

# During the launch, the Mangalyaan Mission will be tracked by two specially equippeed Shipping Corporation of India ships--Yamuna and Nalanda, positioned in the South Pacific Ocean.

# During its journey from Earth to Mars, the MarsOrbiter will be tracked using the Indian Deep Space Network at Baylalu on the outskirts of Bangalore and sea-borne S-band terminals.

# At the time of the Mars capture in September 2014, tracking and communication with the satelite will be done using the 70-metre antenna of NASA's deep space network at Canberra in Australia.

The Team

S K Shivakumar: The Director of the ISRO Satellite Centre, which built the Mars Orbiter and spacecraft. An engineer from the Indian Institute of Science, he was earlier the head of ISRO's telemetry, tracking and command network, ISTRAC.

Dr Mylswamy Annnadurai: The Programme Director of IRS & SSS (Indian Remote Sensing & Small, Science and Student Satellites) at ISRO, he was the project director of the Moon Mission and is overseeing the one to Mars as well.

P Kunhikrishnan: He is the Mission Director for the launcher. From the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, Kunhikrishnan has seven successful PSLV launches under his belt since 2009.

S Arunan: The Project Director for the Mars Orbiter. For the senior scientist with the ISRO Satellite Centre, the Mars Mission is a maiden venture as Project Director. His team created the Mars Orbiter for ISRO in 12 months.

Dr V Kesavaraju: The Mission Director for the post-launch operations. A team led by Dr Kesavaraju of the ISRO Satellite Centre will monitor the Mars Mission following its launch, including tracking it in outer space.

Inputs from: The Indian Express

Read More

India’s first ever mission to Mars "Mangalyaan" completed its first stage

India’s first ever mission to Mars "Mangalyaan" completed its first stage

>>India’s first ever mission to Mars successfully completed its first stage on Tuesday, as a rocket carrying the Mangalyaan Mars orbiter delivered the spacecraft into earth’s orbit, some 45 minutes after lift-off.

>> "I am happy to announce that the Mars orbiter mission first phase is a success," said Indian Space Research Organisation chairman K Radhakrishnan soon after the rocket injected the spacecraft into an Earth orbit about 45 minutes of flight. About 90 minutes after a drizzle raised minor concerns about weather among lay people, the 44.4m PSLV-C25 carrying in its head India's first Mars orbiter, lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 2.38pm.

>> The textbook lift-off of ISRO’s workhorse launch vehicle PSLV C25 at 2.38 p.m. from Satish Dhawan Space Centre here, about 100 km from Chennai, was witnessed among others by Minister of State in PMO, V. Narayanasamy, US Ambassador to India, Nancy Powell, Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman, K. Radhakrishnan, and a host of other officials.

>> The XL version of PSLV C 25 had carried Chandrayaan 1, the country’s maiden moon mission, in 2008.

>> After going around Earth for 20-25 days in an elliptical orbit (perigee of 250 km and apogee of 23,500 km), the Rs 450-crore orbiter would begin a nine-month long voyage to Mars around 12.42 a.m. on December 1.

>> It is expected to reach the red planet’s orbit by September 24, 2014 and go around in an elliptical orbit (periapsis of 366 km and apo-apsis of 80,000 km).

>> The Mars mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation is aimed at establishing the country’s capability to reach the red planet and focus on looking for the presence of methane, an indicator of life in Mars.

>> Mars Orbiter has five scientific instruments — Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP), Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM), Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA), Mars Colour Camera (MCC) and Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS).

>> European Space Agency (ESA) of the European consortium, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the US and Roscosmos of Russia are the three agencies which have successfully sent their missions to the red planet.

>> India would be the sixth after the US, USSR/Russia, European Union, China and Japan to launch a Mars mission.

Read More

Samsung unveils Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Gear smartwatch

Samsung unveils Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Gear smartwatch

Samsung on 04 September 2013 launched Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Gear at IFA, a trade event in Berlin. Samsung said that both devices will go on sale in 149 countries by September 25. In India, both the devices are likely to be launched before end of September. No country-specific pricing has been announced so far.

The highlight of the event was Galaxy Gear, a smartwatch. Samsung has launched it at least weeks ahead of a similar product expected from its rival Apple. The so-called smartwatch is what some technology analysts believe could become this year's must-have holiday gift.

Samsung says the Gear can act as an extension to a smartphone by discreetly alerting users to incoming messages and calls on its display screen, which measures 1.63 inches diagonally. Users can even make calls, secret agent-style, without getting out their phone. The Gear also sports a basic 1.9MP camera and works with popular social media and fitness apps such as Twitter and RunKeeper.

The Android-powered device starts shipping in most countries by September 25, starting at $299. It will be compatible initially with two Samsung products -- the Galaxy Note III, and the Galaxy Tab 10.1, a tablet with a 10.1-inch screen, which was also launched on Wednesday.

Galaxy Gear uses a SuperAMOLED screen. It has 4GB internal storage, a camera, 800MHz processor, 512MB RAM and will pair with compatible devices using Bluetooth connection. The watch weighs 74 grams.

Galaxy Note 3, meanwhile, is a big phablet with cutting edge hardware. It has a 5.7-inch SuperAMOLED screen with FullHD resolution, a 13MP camera that can shoot 4K videos and a multi-functional stylus. The 4G model of Note 3 will be powered by a 2.2GHz quad-core processor while the 3G model, which will be available in India, will be powered by a 1.9GHz octacore processor. It will have 32GB internal storage, 3GB RAM and 3200 mAh battery. User will be able to expand storage through a microSD card.

It measures 151.2mm x 79.2mm x 8.3mm and weighs 168 grams. The device has a 2MP front camera.

"Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is a powerful, original approach that enables users to tell the stories of their lives through dynamic and seamless expressions of their passions across work, play and life experiences. With a simple click of the S Pen button, users can unlock opportunities for self-expression, features that transform everyday activities into extraordinary events and access to new experiences delivered to them on Note 3's larger screen," said JK Shin, CEO and president of IT & mobile division at Samsung Electronics.

With smartphones and tablets now ubiquitous, electronics companies are trying to create a new category of products to lure consumer spending. That includes building advanced computing technology into everyday objects such as wristwatches and glasses.

Sony introduced its latest smartwatch in June and unveiled an update on Wednesday. Google is working on Google Glass -- a device designed to work like a smartphone and worn like a pair of glasses. Apple is seeking an iWatch trademark. Apple had no comment on Wednesday on its plans. It has an event scheduled next Tuesday, during which it is expected to unveil new iPhones.

Read More

Google launches new Nexus 7

Google launches new Nexus 7

Google, on 24 July 2013, introduced a sleeker version of its Nexus 7 tablet as the Internet company escalated its battle with Apple and Amazon.com in the mobile computing market.

Chromecast

Google also announced a $35 device — Chromecast — that will let you watch Netflix, YouTube and other content on a high-definition TV. Simply plug the Chromecast into the TV’s HDMI port, and it’ll display content from your phone, tablet or laptop.

The Chromecast is available right away, while the new Nexus 7 devices go on sale in the U.S. on Tuesday. It is available in Google’s online store and various other retailers.

The extra firepower added to the second generation of Nexus 7 tablets will come with a higher price. A model with 16 gigabytes of storage will sell for $229, a $30 per increase from the original Nexus 7 released a year ago.

Sundar Pichai, head of Android and Chrome software, said that the Internet company would make a profit off the new product.

That’s still 30 per cent below the $329 that Apple Inc. charges for its iPad Mini.

A comparable Kindle Fire HD tablet from Amazon.com Inc. currently sells for $199.

A 32-gigabyte version of the Nexus 7 will be priced at $269, an increase of $20.

Google Inc. says the new line of Nexus tablets boasts a higher-definition 17.5-centimetre display screen and a processor that promises to be nearly as twice as fast.

Dual stereo speakers have been added for richer sound, and the device’s battery duration has been extended by about an hour.

The Nexus 7 will also be the first device to get the 4.3 version of its Android software.

Read More

India launched its first navigation satellite IRNSS-1A from Sriharikota on 01 July 2013

India launched its first navigation satellite IRNSS-1A from Sriharikota on 01 July 2013

India’s first dedicated navigation satellite, the IRNSS-1A, developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation, was successfully put in orbit on 01.07.2013(Monday) night.

The launch vehicle, PSLV-C22, bearing the 1,425-kg navigation satellite, blasted off the launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at the scheduled lift-off time of 11.41 p.m.

As the PSLV-C22 tore into the night skies and set off four stages of ignition and separation, all the while gaining in altitude and velocity, down on earth, twitchy mission controllers at the command centre awaited the final confirmation of the mission’s success.

About 20 minutes after the lift-off, the PSLV-C22 completed its task of injecting the IRNSS-1A into a sub geosynchronous transfer orbit with a 284-km perigee (nearest point to the Earth) and 20,650 km apogee (farthest point from the Earth).

As the final act of the rocket separating from the satellite unfurled on the giant screen at the mission control room, the gathering of scientists and engineers broke into cheers and applause.

Once again, Team ISRO had pulled off with clockwork precision the roughly 65-hour countdown that began on June 29 and ended in the lift-off close to midnight on July 1.

ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan, who congratulated the team, said that with the successful launch, India had entered a new era in space applications.

The IRNSS-1A is the first of the proposed seven satellites in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. Apart from India, its benefits would extend to a range of 1,500 km in the region.

With a mission life of 10 years, it will deliver applications ranging across terrestrial, aerial and marine navigation, disaster management, tracking of vehicles, guiding hikers and travellers, and visual-voice navigation for drivers.

The PSLV-XL used for the launch does not directly transfer satellites into a geosynchronous orbit. Instead, it puts the satellite into an interim sub Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (sub-GTO), from where thrusters are used to push the satellite into geosynchronous orbit.

Once it has been injected into the preliminary orbit, solar panels of the satellite are automatically deployed and the Master Control Facility at Hassan, Karnataka, takes over the control of the satellite — from the initial orbit raising manoeuvres to the final placement in the circular geosynchronous orbit.

Some of the features of the IRNSS-1A are two solar panels with ultra triple junction solar cells that can generate about 1,660 watts of electrical power, Sun and star sensors as well as gyroscopes to provide orientation.

It also carries Corner Cube Retro Reflectors for laser imaging and is endowed with a highly accurate Rubidium atomic clock. India began its space journey in 1975 with the launch of Aryabhatta using a Russian rocket and till date, it has completed over 100 space missions.

Read More

SBI to charge customers Rs 60 per year for SMS alerts

SBI to charge customers Rs 60 per year for SMS alerts

State Bank of India (SBI) customers will have to pay Rs 60 per year for getting SMS alerts, a move which is likely to be followed by other public sector lenders.

"With effect from quarter ending June 2013, SMS charges of Rs 15 inclusive of service tax per quarter will be recovered," SBI said in an announcement. The country's largest bank, which has about 18.5 crore customers, did not specify whether the charges are for special alerts only or even debit or credit card transaction alerts sent as per regulatory guidelines will also come under this.

Private sector banks ICICI and HDFC are already charging Rs 60 per year, excluding service tax, for sending special SMSes other than withdrawal and deposit alerts to its customers.

At present, service tax rate is 12 per cent and education cess is 3 per cent of the service tax amount. Kotak Mahindra Bank charges Rs 25 per quarter for SMS alerts and updates.

SBI's fee income during the fourth quarter of 2012-13 declined by 8.13 per cent to Rs 3,873 crore as compared to Rs 4,216 crore in the corresponding quarter. On an annual basis, the fee income fell by 5.02 per cent to Rs 11,484 crore as against Rs 12,091 crore in 2011-12.

Last month, Canara Bank announced a levy of about Rs 112 as annual fee on its ATM debit cards from July 1.

The bank, which currently issues the cards free of cost, said in a circular that a need has been felt to offer the services at competitive rates in tune with "market trends".

"It has been decided to charge a nominal fee of Rs 100 per card plus applicable service tax on completion of one year from the date of issue/renewal of the card and thereafter to be charged yearly," it said.

Several other banks, including SBI, also charge an annual fee in the same range.

Canara Bank further said the annual fee will not apply to debit cards issued to customers with Canara Small Savings Account, Basic Savings Bank Account and Financial Savings Bank Account.

Read More

Tianhe-2 is now the World's Fastest Supercomputer

Tianhe-2 is now the fastest Supercomputer of the world

China's Tianhe-2 supercomputer, also called Milkyway-2, was revealed as the fastest super computer of the world by Ars Technica, the technology magazine  on 17 June 2013. Recently measured at speeds of nearly 31 petaflops surpassing the current record holder US machine called Titan by 74 per cent. And the interesting thing is that it was not even running at its full capacity! According to Ars Technica, the fastest result was achieved using 90 per cent of the machine capacity. The stats come from a five-hour Linpack test using 14,336 nodes and 50 GB of memory of each node.Present record holder Titan is the Cray XK7 system-based at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the US.

Tianhe-2 achieved the processing speeds of 33.86 petaflops (1000 trillion calculations) per second on a benchmarking test. Scheduled to be installed at the National Supercomputer Center in Guangzhou before the end of this year, Tianhe-2 is being assembled and tested at China's National University for Defense Technology (NUDT). Once operational, Tianhe-2 "will provide an open platform for research and education and provide high performance computing service for southern China," Dongarra wrote, according to Ars Technica.

Almost all the parts of Tianhe-2 are developed in China, apart from the main processors which are designed by Intel, the US firm. The primary features of Tianhe-2 are also developed in China and these include the Operating System, interconnect, software as well as the front-end processors. The cost of this supercomputer is 100 million US dollar. The peak performance speed of this computer, according to National University of Defence Technology, is 54.9 quadrillion operations per second. It encompasses 16000 nodes, each with three Xeon Phi processors and two Intel Xeon Ivy Bridge processors, which gives it a combined total of 3120000 computing cores.

However, it is important to note that US is still leading in overall supercomputer rankings. 252 systems of US make it to the list of top 500 supercomputers of the world. The overall number of European machines is 112, while that of Asian machines is 119.

The Top 500 list is produced two times in a year. The supercomputers in this list are rated on the basis of their speed of performance in a benchmark test which is conducted by experts from US as well as Germany. Tianhe-2 is the follow-up to Tianhe-1, which was #1 in the world in November 2010 and ranked eighth in the most recent list, with a speed of 2.57 petaflops. 

Read More

Book your train tickets through SMS from July 1, 2013

Book your train tickets through SMS from July 1, 2013

From July 1, you will be able to book your train ticket through your mobile phone at a cost of Rs. 6, through a simple text-messaging-based facility or a menu-based dialling service. The bookings can be made from anywhere and at any time in a secure manner. There is no need to log onto the internet or stand in a queue. Any mobile user can operate this system using handsets ranging from feature phones to smartphones.

IRCTC has developed a software, a menu-based dialling service. A system called unstructured supplementary data (USSD) is used where you have to dial the numbers on the menu offered. Payment is made through mobile wallet. There is no need for an internet connection and customers will not have to pay any data charges.

The IRCTC said that it has provided a simple user-guided menu to book tickets, search stations and check the availability of berths.

“For the SMS-based ticket service, passengers will have to register their mobile numbers with IRCTC and their respective banks (26 banks presently available) to generate Mobile Money Identifier (MMID), a seven-digit random number. For the menu-based USSD system, there is no need to register with the bank and payment can be authorized through a mobile wallet. Six berths or seats can be booked in a single transaction through the new systems”.

It is a two-SMS process — at the cost of Rs. 3 per SMS. The revenue for the mobile service providers come from the two SMSes and no other extra charge will have to be paid by the ticket purchaser. Banks will charge payment gateway at the rate of Rs. 5 for any transaction below Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 10 for an amount in excess of this.

IRCTC is introducing the mobile wallet concept, from which the ticket fare and its service charge will be deducted. The advantage of the service is that tickets can be booked from anywhere in the country with a mobile tower reach. IRCTC has claimed that the mobile phone process will be faster, reliable and secure and no hard copy of the ticket will be necessary while undertaking the journey. The SMS confirmation will be valid.

Railway Minister C.P. Joshi will launch the scheme on July 1.

THE TWO OPTIONS ARE:

1. SMS-based booking

* Registered IRCTC users can use this service. You also need to register your mobile number with IRCTC as well as your bank, which provides Mobile Money Identifier (MMID) and one-time password (OTP)

* Send SMS to designated number in following format: BOOK

* You receive a transaction ID

* Make payment with an SMS to designated number in the following format

PAY

2) USSD (menu-based dialling)

* Dial designated number, select 'book tickets' option, select 'reservation' (user is prompted to enter his IRCTC user ID once only), enter details (station, train no., date, etc)

* Enter mPIN for authorizing payment through mobile wallet

* Booking confirmation SMS is sent by IRCTC

Read More