The Union Minister of Communications and IT, A. Raja unveiled WiMAX embedded laptop computers at a global WiMAX exposition cum conference in New Delhi. The expo cum conference has been organized by WiMAX forum in association with Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). Endowed with Intel chip, the WiMAX laptops will extend computing power and connectivity to tertiary towns and remote areas in India.

Speaking on the occasion, the IT minister has emphasized on the fact that the WiMAX spectrum should be used optimally by operators for providing next-generation Internet services. The introduction of WiMAX or wireless broadband will enable all the IT related industrial sectors to meet their needs. WiMAX is supposed to deliver high speed internet service at any time, any where.

A WiMAX Applications Lab is likely to be set up at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. This lab is expected to focus solely on improving the WiMAX quality of experience and WiMAX community services for underserved areas. WiMAX out scores wired connection by offering the subscribers to access applications along with mobility and portability.

The fusion between tradition and modern technology in India is nowhere more apparent than in the growing popularity of online matrimonial websites, which are booming, according to new research.

Empower Research’s latest report, A Web Partner for Life: Indian Matrimony Web Sites are Modernizing Matchmaking for the Offline World and Positioning to be Lifelong Portals for the Online One, says this trend is set to continue.

“One of the most popular lifetime milestones emerging on the web is marriage matchmaking,” says managing partner Kyung Hang. “Its popularity has grown mainly due to convenience and costs savings, and, as a result, the online matrimonial industry will reach 20.8 million registrations with revenues of $63 million by 2010 -2011.”

This postitions such sites well to pick up further business from their users. The report says, “Indian matrimony sites are emerging as leading candidates in controlling access to a majority of future, web-based personal services/products – because of the still-evolving, online behavior of the average consumer, these match-making destinations have an advantage in creating lifelong customer stickiness with the developing Indian web user. This position of strength could very well change the future internet landscape in one of the largest national economies in the coming years.”

Some of the most popular sites include Bharat Matrimony, Shaadi.com and sulekha.com. However, all these matrimonial sites face hurdles in terms of Indians’ sensitivity about revealing personal information, which users fear may get into the wrong hands. The report emphasises the importaqnce of measures such as thorough security checking, data control and user experience enhancement under one broad umbrella brand.

Hang also believes that portals need to upgrade the sites with Web 2.0 technology and social network tools.

Based on user suggestions through the customer service desk and user research programmes, Shaadi.com – owned by the People Group – has recently introduced its users to Matrimony 2.0. People Group CEO and chairman  Anupam Mittal says, “We have always put our members at the forefront of our business strategy – we’re now thrilled to be able to put them in control.”

As Bollywood films and music are becoming increasing popular world wide, many web sites started offering legally free access to listen to Bollywood Hindi songs. We can find dozens of web sites that offer legally free music streaming but only very few are providing good quality streaming with minimal or very less pop-ups ads.
Here are the few best web sites that offer high quality Bollywood Hindi MP3 songs streaming for free
in.com
in.com web site is from the popular web18 Venture that also owns Indian news channels CNN IBN & IBN Live. The user interface of in.com is the best when compared to the rest of the web sites that offer free music streaming. The quality of songs streaming, esthetic look and feel with web 2.0 standards makes in.com to stand out from other sites. Personally in.com is my favourite web site to listen to the latest Bollywood songs.

The downside of the web site is the lack of huge collection of albums. The number of music albums available are considerably small when compared to other web sites. But if you are looking for latest Bollywood Hindi songs then in.com is the best place to hang around.
Raaga.com
Raaga is one of the first web sites that started offering free music online. It’s been around for several years and has a huge collection of songs. Almost every Hindi Movie Album, Private Albums, Ghazals are available for streaming.

You should install Real Player plug-in (i don’t like this software) to listen to the songs. Also the pop-up ads are very notorious, you need a pop-up blocker software to browser through this site.
MusicIndiaOnline.com
MusicIndiaOnline.com has a very good collection of Bollywood Hindi songs for streaming. But the web site does not follow any of the web 2.0 standards. The layout is very plain and advertisements are slapped top, left & bottom of every page.

Apart from providing free streaming of Bollywood Hindi songs, the web site also features music reviews, most popular songs lists( current top 10 & 20 songs).
DhinGaNa.com
At Dhingana.com you can not only listen to Bollywood Hindi songs but also you can build a social network with people who loves music. Dhingana platform allow you to discover new music and share it with your friends easily.
To play your favourite movie songs you can explore Alphabetical Album List or Recent Album List or Most Listened Album List. Also there is an option to filter the movie albums based on the time – Today, This Week, This Month and All Time
MusicPlug.in
I love the domain name of this site as it is chosen creatively like del.icio.us. The site has good collection of Bollywood Hindi Songs with zero pop-up ads. Another nice feature is that it offers high quality music playback for high speed Internet connections and medium quality music quality playback for low speed Internet connections.
Dishant.com
This is another source for good Hindi music online.
Rediff Music
Rediff, the popular portal for Indian news, movies, reviews, classifieds and shopping, offers free music streaming. But the user interface is so unusable you never think of going to this site until or unless they have the songs that are not available anywhere else on the web.
These are the web sites that I came across and personally used to listen to songs online. Hope you will also find these web sites useful to listen music.
What are your favourite web sites to listen Hindi songs? If we missed any of your favourite sites lets us hear through comments.

Gone are the days,”when you used to pay 60-70 cents a minute, even 7 – 8 cents nows days”
Gone are the days, “when we worried about spending 10’s of dollars to buy cheap and good calling cards
Gone are the days, “when we have to worry about all types of charges eating up our balance in the card
Gone are the days, “trying to hunt down for cheap and best calling cards and services”
Gone are the days, “worry about getting disconnected when our balance dry’s up in the account”
Gone are the days, “we switch back and forth from Reliance, Airtel and other cards to get cheap rates”
Rumor: Verified.
Status: Valid and Good one. Magic Jack can be used to call from anywhere to USA only for a cheap $20/year subscription.

Details:
Who wants to pay for calling to India now, when we have a free way to do. Yes, it is almost free now calling to India. Its even better, they can call us too.Thanks to Magic Jack. Another wonderful invention of man kind especially a savior to NRI’s about to get married. They understand what I am talking. Been there, done that. (For other, let me give an hint. Big International Calling card spenders are NRI’s who just got engaged and have 3-6 months of time before marriage.)
Anyway, I heard about this Magic Jack about 6 months ago but never gave thought about it. Because I thought its only for local long distance in USA and I was getting pretty good deal with Vonage. I didn’t care to check it out. Just a month ago, one of my friend mentioned about it again. He said,he just sent a Magic jack to his parents back in India. Once they plug-in to the USB adapter intheir computer. Wallah!!! They can immediately able to make the international call to USA. That was cool except you have to have a pretty good broadband connection in your home. Nowadays, that is not a problem. BSNL and many other companies are offering broadband internet connection for much cheaper than it used to be.
True Test:
Obviously as a desi(bargain hunter) I jumped into researching more on it to see whether it will be a viable solution for my parents. News reaches very fast in this internet era. My wife’s cousin who just got an admission in USA for his masters got this news about Magic Jack from his seniors. He wanted us to order a Magic Jack for his parents even when he was in India. We sent it via my wife’s parents who visited us. Once he got it, he installed and called us one fine day. I was able to hear him “loud and clear”. He is now in USA and his parents call him every other day. Isn’t it sweet of him? I guess its getting very popular with Indian students who can’t afford to call using calling card everytime.
How much and How it works?
Alright, I know lot of questions popup in your mind. How much is it and is it worth? What is the support and so forth? After my initial research, it seems to be steller deal until it works. It works in a simple VOIP technology similar to Vonage or any Internet phone. It works great when the broadband connection is good but if you encountered there is no phone support. Only email support and I don’t blame it for just $20 a year subscription.
Is it worth it?
Just think about it. If you are paying $5 for an hour worth of talk to India from USA, most NRI’s spend $10/week – $40/month = $500 a year. A $20 deal for calling anytime from India to USA all around the year is an unbeatable price. It will work from anywhere to call to USA. The concept is, once you connect to the computer which has Internet. You will automatically get a local USA number. Connect your phone to the adapter jack and you can call any other USA number since long distance is free. Thats simple as it is.
Hope I convinced you to buy one. But I am yet to get one for my parents because they don’t use computer all the time and sometimes get stuck with it. It has lot of Pro’s especially saving dollars but whether it suits your situation is the question you need to ask.

Reliance Communications will offer free netbook(mini laptops) with their WiFi Internet Service NetConnect Datacard for a two year contract.Reliance has roped in Intel, Acer, Asus, HCL and Lenovo to provide their netbook with this free netbook give away offer.That is the buyer will have option of not only one but many netbooks offered by these laptop manufacturers.ASUS has Eee PC netbooks,Lenovo has S9/S10 Ideapads,Acer offer Acer Aspire One, and HCL offers leaptops.The contract will be : With two year subscription of the Reliance NetConnect Datacard service (Rs. 1,500 per month) the buyer will get a Netbook free.This will actually cost 1500×24=36000 Indian Rupee(INR).Means in Rs.36,000 you will get a netbook plus 2 year WiFi Internet Datacard usage.No official word yet from the Reliance Communications regarding this Offer.(source:gigaom)

Few would dispute that the year 2008 has been tough on investors. This holds especially true for first-time investors i.e. the ones whose tryst with equity markets only began in the last few years. After having seen the markets surge to record highs, the downturn has certainly caught several investors off-guard.

And the despondency is not restricted only to those who have participated in equity markets via the direct equity investment route. Even investors in equity mutual funds have borne the brunt of falling markets. As a result, several investors are in panic mode. Some are even contemplating redeeming all their mutual fund investments and instead making investments in risk-free avenues like fixed deposits and bonds.

But is that the right course of action? We don’t think so. To begin with, investors must conduct an honest appraisal of their risk profile and investment horizon. Also, they must candidly answer the question – why did I get invested in a given mutual fund?

If an investor truly believes that he can take on higher risk and is willing to stay invested for the long-haul (at least 3-5 years), then we believe there is no reason to panic. In fact, given the attractive valuations, investors should consider adding to their investment portfolios. As regards, the reasons for getting invested – if it was to achieve a predetermined investment objective, then it’s all the more reason to stay the course.

Conversely, if the answers are on the lines of ‘have a low risk appetite’, ‘wanted to make a quick buck’ or ‘to ride the rising markets for the short-term’, there is a cause for concern. Such investors got invested in avenues that were wrong for them or made investments for the wrong reasons. In either case, they would do well to work out an exit strategy in consultation with their investment advisors.

As for investors who have the requisite risk-taking ability, investment horizon and clearly defined objectives backed by investment plans, it’s a good time to evaluate if they are invested in the right avenues i.e. in this case, the right mutual funds. Even the best of plans will not deliver if poorly-managed funds are deployed to achieve them. However the evaluation process needs to be a proper one.

To begin with, investors would do well to understand the fund’s nature and investment style, before evaluating its performance. For example, an aggressively-managed equity fund that professes to take stock and sector bets should be expected to deliver above-average results in rising markets. On the other hand, when markets move southwards, such a fund is likely to be worse hit as well. This is keeping in line with the fund’s high risk – high return investment proposition. Comparing the fund’s performance on the downturn with that of a conservatively-managed equity fund would be unfair, akin to comparing apples with oranges.

Similarly, understanding the fund’s investment universe is vital as well. For instance, a professed mid cap fund would be predominantly invested in stocks from the mid cap segment. Expecting it to feature among the top performers at a time when large caps are rallying would be unfair.

Another common mistake is considering funds in isolation. Any advisor worth his salt will emphasise on the importance of diversification. Hence the norm is existence of investment portfolios, instead of investments in single funds in a standalone manner. The key to a well-constructed portfolio is that the downturn in an investment avenue can be offset by an upturn in another. Similarly in a mutual fund portfolio, the presence of diverse investment propositions and styles should help the investor’s cause. Broadly speaking, so long as the investment portfolio is on course to accomplish the predetermined investment objectives, investors should be fine.

Clearly conducting an appropriate evaluation is easier said than done. Hence investors would do well to engage the services of their investment advisors for the evaluation exercise. The next step is to take corrective measures.

Now depending on the specifics of each case, it could vary right from altering the allocations to various funds, exiting some funds and investing in new ones to doing nothing. Surprised? Don’t be. It’s possible that investors are already invested in funds that are right for them and in the right allocation as well. And it is not uncommon even for the best of funds to hit a rough patch. If no material changes have occurred in a fund’s investment proposition and its ability to deliver over the long-term is undiminished, keeping the faith and staying put wouldn’t be a bad idea.

The importance of the evaluation exercise, especially in testing times cannot be overstated. From an investor’s perspective, the key lies in striking a balance between pressing the panic buttons and being complacent. Also, engaging the services of a competent investment advisor is vital.

In previous week I was thinking that soon one dollar would become equal to 50 rupees. Just after one week, my prediction became correct. Now one US dollar is around 50 rupees. Now I think it is right time to tell you the history of Indian currency, rupee. The origin of the word “rupee” is found in the Sanskrit word rup or rupyah, which means “wrought silver,” originally “something provided with an image, a coin,” from rupah “shape, likeness, image.” Before independence, India was a land of hundreds of princely states. They used to run their own coins and currency notes.

After Independence in 1947, the Indian government brought out the new design Re. 1 note in 1949. The Lion Capital of Asoka was used for the design of that note.

Devaluation of Rupee started in 1960s due to war with China and Pakistan, large government budget deficits and drought there was problem of inflation in India. There was sharp rise in prices. So Indian Government was forced to start some liberal policies to stabilize the economy which finally resulted into huge devaluation of Rupee.

During mid eighties, India started having balance of payments problems and by the end of 1990, India was in serious economic trouble. Our foreign exchange reserves had dried up to the point that India could barely finance three weeks’ worth of imports. Once again, the government decided to devaluate the Rupee. By the start of 21st century, the Rupee stopped declining and stabilized at 45. However in mid-2007, the rupee started gaining strength one dollar came below 40 Rupees. Now again due to recent economic crisis in world economy, one dollar has started touching the historical figure of 50 Rupees.

Mobile companies may opt for price hikes post-Diwali with the dollar touching a high of Rs 49.95. Among the handset marketers, companies like Spice Mobiles, Meridian Mobile and HTC confirmed of 15% price hike after Diwali.Leading mobile phone manufacturers like Motorola, Sony Ericsson, and Samsung are watching the exchange rate closely to follow suit.Handset manufacturers import around 60% of the components from China and Taiwan. Consequently, this is a double expense for manufacturers as even the Chinese yuan is weakening against the dollar. One dollar was worth 6.85 yuan till date.Almost all the new models of all the mobile phone brands will see a price increase of 12-15%. This is mainly because of the import costs that have gone up dramatically over the last few weeks.LG Company is just waiting and watching about the recent happenings and due to the competition, they are not going in for a price hike this week. But an official source informed that if the dollar rises further after Diwali, they will certainly take a call on this.However, the market leader Nokia continues to remain silent on the issue.