Now, pay Rs 5 lakh and have your own FM station In a move to bring FM radio to rural India, the government

will consider allowing small towns with population of about 1 lakh to have FM stations with a limited footprint. The cost of frequency for these non-news channels will be just Rs 50 lakh. The ministry of information and broadcasting plans to auction 839 channels in 249 cities in phase III of the bidding, Union I&B minister Ambika Soni said. The cities have been divided into four groups A,B,C and D according to their population. Cities under category D are the ones with maximum population of one lakh like Ambala in Haryana, Bharuch in Gujarat, Bharatpur in Rajasthan and Bokaro in Jharkhand. To bid for a station in such cities, a sum of just Rs 50 lakh is required as mininum net worth, in addition to the bidding price which starts from a minimum reserve price of Rs 5 lakh. Chandrayaan-II awaits Government nod Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman K. Radhakrishnan said Chandrayaan-II, the countrys second mission to Moon, was in the last phase of securing approval from the Government and a decision was likely to be announced soon. Presenting an overview of the forthcoming space missions, Dr. Radhakrishnan said Chandrayaan-II was slated for 2014 launch. But it would take place only after the successful testing of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-II with the indigenous cryogenic stage. Chandrayaan II envisaged a rover to explore the Moons surface. There would be a separate mission to study the corona of the Sun. Astrosat, Indias observatory in space, was slated for launch in 2013. Scientists from ISRO, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai and the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore, were also involved. Pan masala ban: more States follow Kerala Though the Kerala High Court is yet to consider the cases filed by manufacturers of gutka and pan masala products challenging the ban imposed by the government on the sale, manufacture, storage and distribution of pan masala and related products in the State, the State of Bihar has fully endorsed the ban, with the Patna High Court throwing out a writ petition filed by the pan masala manufacturers, seeking a stay on the ban. Bihar is the third State, after Madhya Pradesh and Kerala, to impose a ban on the manufacture, sale, distribution of gutka, pan masala and its variants, utilising the provisions in the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sale) Regulation 2011. In Kerala, the ban on pan masala products was issued on May 22, 2012, utilising the provisions in the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sale) Regulation 2011. Regulation 2.3.4 says that tobacco and nicotine shall not be used as ingredients in any food products. Section 30 of the Food Safety Standards Act 2006 says that the Commissioner of Food Safety shall prohibit in the interest of public health, the manufacture, storage, distribution or sale of any article of food, either in the whole of the State or any area or part thereof for such period, not exceeding one year. Tehran abuzz as Israeli-authored book says Mossad killed scientists The latest literary sensation in Tehran is a thriller about Irans nuclear programme that is laden with espionage, cunning and political murder. But its authors are not former Iranian intelligence operatives or Iranian military fiction writers. They are not the Iranian equivalent of Tom Clancy. The book, 'Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israels Secret Wars' , has set off a buzz among both government and opposition news media inside Iran for the assertion by its authors Yossi Melman, widely regarded as a leading Israeli military and intelligence journalist, and Dan Raviv, a CBS national political correspondent, that five Iranian nuclear scientists killed in the past five years were all assassinated by operatives, most likely of Persian- Jewish heritage, employed by Mossad, Israels intelligence agency. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied it is responsible for the assassinations. It was published in English by Levant Books, a small company in New York.

Page 1 of 3 15th July 2012


Pre-Inca tomb in Peru may be of aristocrat Archeaologists said they have discovered a tomb about 1,200 years old, from the pre-Inca Sican era, in northern Peru. Human remains and jewellery were found on July 4 along with the tomb, likely that of a member of the aristocracy of the Sican or Lambayeque elite, head researcher Carlos Wester La Torre told. A gold earflap, a silver-plated crown, and some 120 silver and copper ornaments that served as emblems of power, along with 116 pieces of pottery and seashells were found in the tomb. The tomb was located in a burial chamber some six meters deep in the Chotuna-Chornancap sanctuary near Chiclayo, at the same location where the remains of a Sican priestess were found in October 2011. This discovery is very important because we now know one of the elite classes of Lambayeque culture, said Wester La Torre. The Sican culture, also referred to as the Lambayeque culture, worshipped the Sican Lord. It emerged between 700 and 750 AD, remaining in force until 1375, reaching its high point between 900 and 1100. At that time, there were about seven to eight Sican lords representing heavenly powers on Earth, complete with masked face, upturned eyes and pointed ears. Solar flare erupts from giant sunspot A huge solar storm the second major flare to erupt from the Sun in less than a week has triggered a coronal mass ejection which is expected to reach the Earth tomorrow, scientists have claimed The powerful flare, sent a wave of plasma toward Earth at a speed of about 1,400 km per second and its expected to reach the planet by 5:00 GMT (10:20 India time) tomorrow. While it may spark a minor geomagnetic storm, power stations, satellites and astronauts need not worry, the scientists said Lenovo may pip Hewlett-Packard to become world's biggest PC maker Lenovo is on track to overtake Hewlett-Packard as the world's biggest PC maker by sales, making it the first Chinese company to grab the top spot globally in a technology sector. The ThinkPad maker's rise highlights the advance of China's technology firms on the world stage in recent years thanks to a combination of aggressive pricing, overseas acquisitions and their taking advantage of a fast-growing home market. Lenovo, which became the world's No. 2 PC vendor in the third quarter of 2011, had a 14.9 percent global market share in the April-June quarter this year, a mere 0.6 percentage point away from HP's 15.5 per cent, according to research firm IDC's latest data. Figures from industry tracker Gartner show an even narrower gap, with Lenovo just 0.2 percentage point from HP. Chip-maker Nvidia's 400,000 user accounts hacked US semiconductor maker Nvidia says up to 400,000 users of its forums have had their encrypted passwords compromised in attacks dating back to early July. It's the latest in a stream of data thefts which has hit major internet companies over the past few weeks. Search provider Yahoo, networking sites LinkedIn and FormSpring, and dating site eHarmony have all recently reported breaches which collectively compromised the online credentials of millions of users. Nokia reduces Lumia 900's price by 50% Nokia Oyj has cut the US price of its flagship smartphone in half, barely three months after its launch, in an effort to stanch losses in market share to rivals such as Apple and Samsung Electronics. The cost of the 'Lumia 900' Windows phone has been reduced to $49.99 from $99 with a two-year agreement. Featuring a 4.3-inch screen, 1.4GHz processor and 8-megapixel camera, the Lumia 900 uses largely untried software from Microsoft. Jorge Lorenzo cruises to Italian MotoGP win Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo easily won the Italian MotoGP, stretching his advantage at the top of the riders' championship with an assured performance. Spaniard Lorenzo took the lead from compatriot Dani Pedrosa on the second corner and never relinquished it, finishing over five seconds ahead of his countryman and grabbing his fifth win in nine races this season. Dovizioso took third ahead of Stefan Bradl, Valentino Rossi, Cal Crutchlow and Nicky Hayden, who all finished within two seconds of each other.

Page 2 of 3 15th July 2012


Deepika Kumari joins Tata Steel as Manager Ace archer and member of the Indian Olympic Contingent for the London Olympics, Deepika Kumari has joined Tata Steel as a manager in the company's Sports Department. Deepika, current world number one, had won a gold medal in the individual event at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and a Bronze in the team event. She had also won a bronze at the Guangzhou Asian Games. Deepika joins a host of eminent sportspersons in the company such as Bachendri Pal, the first Indian woman to conquer Mt Everest, Chess Grandmaster Dibyendu Barua, Arjuna Awardee Charles Borromeo and fellow archer Jayanta Talukdar. Deepika had joined Tata Archery Academy in 2008 and has since honed her skills in archery in the academy. Zach Johnson tops Troy Matteson in playoff to win John Deere Zach Johnson won the John Deere Classic on the second playoff hole, hitting his second shot to within a foot for a birdie putt to beat Troy Matteson. After Johnson and Matteson double-bogeyed the 18th on the first playoff hole, Johnson hit a 193-yard second shot from a bunker to 12 inches from the cup on the second playoff hole, again on the 18th. Matteson needed to sink a 43-footer to match Johnson's birdie, but didn't get the putt to the hole. It was Johnson's second win of the season and ninth of his career Tipsarevic beats Monaco to win Mercedes Cup Top-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia won his first title of the year by beating Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in a rain-delayed Mercedes Cup final. Tipsarevic was the only top-10 player not to have won a tournament this year. The Serb is No. 8 in the world. The second-seeded Monaco was seeking his third title of the year. Tipsarevic surrendered a 4-1 lead in the second set after a brief rain delay and he also dropped his serve after a longer, 20-minute interruption in the third. He then won the next two games on Monaco's serve to capture his first title on clay.

Page 3 of 3 15th July 2012