Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the country's largest software services firm, is expanding its operations in the UK with a new centre in Liverpool.

"The company has invested in a new delivery centre in Liverpool, dedicated to delivering government services that require Impact Level 3 (IL3) security constraints," it said in a statement.

TCS' new facility will be fully operational in July and will house over 300 employees, the statement added.

The software services firm plans to use the facility to deliver services to the Home Office, following a multi-million, multi-year contract that was awarded in November 2012, to manage the technology needs and support services of the newly formed Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

The new facility will provide secure applications development and maintenance centre for business applications and operational delivery centre for outsourced business process and IT services.

"Our investment in a new delivery centre in Liverpool will allow us to effectively meet the business objectives of DBS to modernise and transform its business while supporting our longer-term strategy for increased participation in transformation programmes for the UK public sector," TCS Country Head (UK and Ireland) Shankar Narayanan said.

As part of the agreement with the Home Office, TCS will implement a programme to transform DBS, including introduction of electronic applications and improved online services to enhance user experience.

DBS and TCS will also collaborate to update the organisation's business processes to help improve decision making, reduce processing times and improve information gathering between disclosures and barring services, the company said.

TCS' government clients in the UK include National Employment Savings Trust (NEST), Cardiff City Council, Child Maintenance Group (CMG is a division of DWP) and The Big Lottery Fund, among others.

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Ultrabook.......

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Delhi gang rape case: ‘she deserved it’ is not a good argument

The gang rape of a 23-year-old woman and the beating of her male friend on a moving bus in New Delhi Sunday night has produced debates about women’s rights in India and about whether the death penalty — or castration — are suitable remedies for the situation. It has not prompted, from what I can see, any speculation that the woman got what she deserved because she was dressed like a slut… until today.

For anyone who has missed the story, here’s what has happened so far, according to multiple media reports: the woman and her friend boarded the bus. They thought it was operating on a public route, but the driver and the men on board apparently were out for a joyride instead. They raped the woman, beat the pair with an iron rod, and threw them out of the bus and left them to die on the street. Police have arrested some of the men, politicians are in high dudgeon, and the woman is in the hospital. She suffered damage not only to her reproductive system, but to her intestines.http://nitishsingh34.blogspot.in/

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Windows Phone 8

NEW DELHI: Microsoft announced Windows Phone 8 (WP8), the latest version of its mobile operating system in June. The phones powered by it are now appearing in the Indian market. HTC 8X and HTC 8S are already available, though finding them is not too easy. Nokia andSamsung are gearing up to launch their WP8 devices. 

But how does the OS compare to Android and iOS, which powers iPhone? Are WP8 smartphones better than Android devices and iPhone? 

Let's take a look at WP8 features that are likely to matter to consumers and see what has changed compared to the earlier version of the OS. 

User interface: In terms of user interface, WP8 doesn't change anything. Just like the earlier versions of the software, WP8 looks beautiful with layered users interface, clean lines, and lots of square boxes - Microsoft calls them tiles - that replace program icons. These tiles, unlike icons, are bigger and can display nuggets of information. For example, the Mail tile can show the number of unread mails. The layers in the OS give the user interface a 2D effect. It is a very unique and modern design and works well. We tested WP8 with HTC 8X and found no lag or low frame rates in the user interface. 

New lockscreen: The original Windows Phone had no notification system. It relied on live tiles to show new information to users. But WP8 has a lockscreen where six apps can show their notifications. However, compared to what competitors have in their mobile software, it is still basic. Apps can also use lockscreen as a canvas where they can show information or change content. For example, Bing app can refresh the lockscreen wallpaper to match it with whatever it is showing on its website. 

Customizable homescreen: Previous versions of WP had an empty bar on right side of the homescreen. This, we believe, was added for design reasons as it gave the screen some depth and highlighted its 2D effect. But in WP8 it is gone. Now the live tiles can stretch across the screen and show more content. The tiles can also be resized as tiny small or big. This makes the homescreen on WP8 immensely customizable. 

Rooms: This is a new feature that allows users to club their contacts together. Once a Room has been created with a few contacts, the users part of it can share calendar, chat room, videos and photos etc with ease. 

Support for better hardware: With Windows Phone, Microsoft decides what sort of hardware its partners can put in the devices. Compared to the previous WP versions, WP8 supports better hardware, including dual-core processors, 720P resolution screen, better cameras and 1GB RAM. It also supports storage expansion through microSD cards, something that was not available to WP users earlier. 

Kid's Corner: This is one of the signature features of WP8. It allows users to create a separate list of apps that restrict any kid using the phone to that list. This means, when your kid is playing Angry Birds on the phone, he can't go to your Twitter app, even accidentally. For people who don't share their phones with kids, this feature may not matter much. But those who do will appreciate the usefulness of it. 

Integration with Twitter and Facebook: This is something that WP has since very beginning and nothing changes in the latest version of the OS. WP8 can not only show your social buddies as part of your contacts but can also fetch updates from their Facebook or Twitter feeds into the People app. Meanwhile, your mention on these websites appears in Me app. Some people find it pretty useful. However, in our use we found that Me or People apps are not full-fledged social networking apps. Third-part apps are still necessary. But using them leads to the scenario where several apps show same content. 

Useful maps: For WP map and location services Microsoft earlier relied on Bing maps. But with WP8, it is using data provided by Nokia. This makes the maps and location services in WP8 lot more useful, especially to users in India. 

Better multitasking: Windows Phone 7 allowed users to switch between apps but as soon as an app went into the background, the app was paused. It was resumed again when a user switched to it. In WP8, Microsoft has fine-tuned the resuming to make it fast, as well as has added support for apps that require active data connection when they are in the background. But the multitasking still feels jarring. Freezing video player or word processor works fine but for apps like Rowi, which is supposed to run all the time to pull tweets whenever they are posted, it doesn't work. Though at the moment, it is also likely that older apps like Rowi are yet to be updated for WP8. 

How it compares to Android
Primarily, WP8 devices are going to compete against Android phones. While earlier versions of WP were no match for Android, with WP8 things look more balanced. Android phones have better flexibility in how you use them, better multimedia performance, access to more (and better quality) apps, a much better notification system, more useful multitasking and most likely better hardware at a given price point. However, WP8 devices have a better user interface with fast performance and are likely to have better physical design. They are also simpler to use compared to Android devices. 

How it compares to iOS
While iPhone 5 is a very good device, iOS is getting a little long in the tooth. WP8 has a better user interface, better-integrated maps, better file management. In terms of performance, both iOS and WP8 are on equal footing. iOS is slightly better as far as multitasking and notification system are concerned. But the area where iOS wins big, nullifying most WP8's advantages, is the ecosystem. iPhones have access to significantly better and more useful apps compared to what WP8 phonescan get at the moment. 

Bottomline
Windows Phone has improved a lot. In its current iterations it is now a valid choice for people who are fed up of how slow or laggy Android feels or don't like the fact that most Android phones don't get timely updates. 

Similarly, a WP8 device is a reasonable option if you want a well-designed phone that is simple to use but don't like iPhone, either because it has a smaller screen or due to its high cost. 

But there are compromises involved. Like multitasking quirks. Or lack of proper notification system. Or a not-so-well-stocked app store. It's all about figuring out what is important to you. In nutshell, all we can say is that: If you want a phone that 'just works', get an iPhone. If you want the best value for money, best features and the most flexible phone, get an Android device. And if you want something that has a fresh interface, fast performance, looks great and is easy to use, get a Windows Phone 8 device.

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Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday said that the culprit of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks Mohammad Ajmal Kasab has been buried inside Pune's Yerwada Jail where he was hanged at 7:30 am this morning.


"Kasab was taken to Yerwada Jail on November 19 and his death sentence was executed in the morning today," Chavan said.

The Supreme Court had upheld the special court's verdict, which held Kasab guilty for killing 56 people at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus on November 26, 2008 along with his group leader Ismail Khan.

Kasab had filed a mercy petition before President Pranab Mukherjee who turned it down on November 5. The Union Home Ministry had fixed the date of November 21 to execute Kasab.

Smita Salaskar, wife of slain encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar who fell victim to Kasab's bullet, expressed satisfaction over Kasab's hanging.

Police Inspector Salaskar was among the first causalities along with Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare and Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamte during the November 2008 attacks on the megapolis.

"The sentence was executed bit late but I am satisfied. I will resume celebrating Diwali now," says Salaskar, who has stopped celebrating festivals since her husband's killing.

"The entire family is happy to hear the news that Kasab was hanged, ahead of fourth anniversary of the attack," Smita said.

The hanging would surely send a message across the globe that India would not tolerate any terror attack, Smita said, adding, "I hope death sentence of Parliament House attack convict Afzal Guru would also be executed soon."

"The first thing that comes to my mind is what happened is good. We are happy that we have got justice," wife of a railway ticket collector, who was killed in the carnage, said reacting to Kasab's hanging.

Ragini Sharma, whose husband S K Sharma was killed in the 2008 terror strike, said she would like to thank the President for rejecting Kasab's mercy plea.

"I would like to thank the President. However, it got delayed but we did get justice. I am happy that it (the hanging) was done secretly, otherwide some human rights people would have opposed it," she said.

Vishnu Zende, an announcer at the Chhtrapati Shivaji Terminus, the railway station here which was one of the targets of the attack, said, "I had never thought that I would get to hear this news like this. "I am very happy that he has been hanged. All the people who died in the terror attack have been given tribute by hanging him," Zende, who had helped save many lives by making announcements over the public address system in the station about the strike, said.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena said that Kasab's execution was Maharashtra government's tribute to late Bal Thackeray.

"It is Maharashtra government's tribute to late Balasaheb Thackeray," commented Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut.
http://nitishsingh34.blogspot.in/

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The world's first geneticallymodified humans have been created, it was revealed last night. The disclosure that 30 healthy babies were born after a series of experiments in the United States provoked another furious debate about ethics. So far, two of the babies have been tested and have been found to contain genes from three 'parents'.
Fifteen of the children were born in the past three years as a result of one experimental programme at the Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science of St Barnabas in New Jersey.

The babies were born to women who had problems conceiving. Extra genes from a female donor were inserted into their eggs before they were fertilised in an attempt to enable them to conceive. Genetic fingerprint tests on two one-year- old children confirm that they have inherited DNA from three adults --two women and one man.
The fact that the children have inherited the extra genes and incorporated them into their 'germline' means that they will, in turn, be able to pass them on to their own offspring. Altering the human germline - in effect tinkering with the very make-up of our species - is a technique shunned by the vast majority of the world's scientists.
Geneticists fear that one day this method could be used to create new races of humans with extra, desired characteristics such as strength or high intelligence.

Writing in the journal Human Reproduction, the researchers, led by fertility pioneer Professor Jacques Cohen, say that this 'is the first case of human germline genetic modification resulting in normal healthy children'. Some experts severely criticised the experiments. Lord Winston, of the Hammersmith Hospital in West London, told the BBC yesterday: 'Regarding the treat-ment of the infertile, there is no evidence that this technique is worth doing . . . I am very surprised that it was even carried out at this stage. It would certainly not be allowed in Britain.'

John Smeaton, national director of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, said: 'One has tremendous sympathy for couples who suffer infertility problems. But this seems to be a further illustration of the fact that the whole process of in vitro fertilisation as a means of conceiving babies leads to babies being regarded as objects on a production line.

'It is a further and very worrying step down the wrong road for humanity.' Professor Cohen and his colleagues diagnosed that the women were infertile because they had defects in tiny structures in their egg cells, called mitochondria.
They took eggs from donors and, using a fine needle, sucked some of the internal material - containing 'healthy' mitochondria - and injected it into eggs from the women wanting to conceive. Because mitochondria contain genes, the babies resulting from the treatment have inherited DNA from both women. These genes can now be passed down the germline along the maternal line.

A spokesman for the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), which regulates 'assisted reproduction' technology in Britain, said that it would not license the technique here because it involved altering the germline.
Jacques Cohen is regarded as a brilliant but controversial scientist who has pushed the boundaries of assisted reproduction technologies.

He developed a technique which allows infertile men to have their own children, by injecting sperm DNA straight into the egg in the lab. Prior to this, only infertile women were able to conceive using IVF. Last year, Professor Cohen said that his expertise would allow him to clone children --a prospect treated with horror by the mainstream scientific community.

'It would be an afternoon's work for one of my students,' he said, adding that he had been approached by 'at least three' individuals wishing to create a cloned child, but had turned down their requests.http://nitishsingh34.blogspot.in/

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New Delhi: Delhi Metro services will stop three hours before the normal time of 11 PM on November 13 on account of Diwali. On November 15 next, Delhi Metro will make 200 extra train trips as it anticipates huge rush on 'Bhai Duj'. On Tuesday, the last Metro train service will start at 8:00 PM from terminal stations of all the six lines - Dilshad Garden, Rithala, Jahangir Puri, Huda City Centre, Noida City Centre, Dwarka Sector-21, Yamuna Bank, Vaishali, Inderlok, Mundka, Central Secretariat and Badarpur Metro stations. Metro train services will run as usual for rest of the day...http://nitishsingh34.blogspot.in/

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