IITians now queue up for defense jobs

Call it an effect of sixth pay commission or recession. For the first time ever, 12 percent of the total recruitment at the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has been from the topnotch IITs of India. Every year, DRDO recruits 500 scientists for all of its 52 labs. This year, 60 of them have been from IITs.

In previous years, all the labs of the organization would manage to recruit one or two engineering graduates from the premier institutes. DRDO human resource officials told Times of India, "After the sixth Pay Commission, the pay, packages and promotion schemes were more streamlined and so was career growth. The scientists no longer have to wait for vacancies to get promotions. Plus, the allotment for awards for the scientists has increased to Rs 2 crore annually, double the allotment last year."

Sources said, "Seeing the economic scenario, IITians have flocked to the defence organization this year."

DRDO mainly recruits employees through a common scientist entry test and through campus recruitment across 40 campuses, IITs, central universities and others. The IITians were primarily recruited through the latter. The tag of IIT does not give any weightage in this recruitment process.

In another trend, 30 Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) were also recruited in 2008, of the 150 applicants. Most were to scientist D and E categories, some to science fields and engineering areas of R&D.

The DRDO also has the ROSSA scheme in place now. About 40 scientists, fresh PhD holders, were taken in under the 'registration of students with scholastic aptitudeï' scheme.

Even those who left DRDO for private sector are coming back. About 20 scientists are in line to be placed back.

Sources: Silicon India

Indians third highest online spenders in Asia Pacific

Undeterred by the slowdown, Indians continued to spend online in the last quarter of 2008 to emerge as the third highest spenders on the Internet in the Asia Pacific region, a report released Thursday by electronic payments giant VISA said.

The report said Indian online shoppers increased their purchases by 42 percent, or by about $1,000 per shopper to $3,450, compared to the $2,420 spent in the previous quarter.

This made them the third highest spenders in the Asia Pacific region in the last fiscal's last quarter, VISA said. Singapore with an online buy of $4,018 per shopper and Hong Kong with $3,791 topped the charts.

The survey was carried out among 9,142 Internet users aged between 18 to 49 years across six countries and territories from the Asia Pacific region.

Among the categories surveyed, all top three online spend areas were travel-related services.

According to the survey, the highest areas of spending in the past 12 months were airline tickets, which accounted for an average $970 per shopper annually. This was followed by online travel agents ($647) and travel accommodation ($527).

Said country manager of Visa South Asia Uttam Nayak: "Consumers are tuned to the convenience of shopping for travel services online."

The trend to shop online looks set to continue with 81 percent of respondents stating they were likely to shop online again in the next 12 months.

Koreans (96 percent), Japanese (90 percent) and Australians (83 percent) are most likely to make purchases again online, the survey said.

Sources: Silicon India

Microsoft to strip Internet Explorer browser

Microsoft is to strip its Internet Explorer browser from the new version of its Windows 7 operating system that it sells in Europe, the company announced Thursday.

Microsoft said the move was designed to meet criticism from European Union (EU) regulators who have launched an investigation into whether bundling the browser with the operating system is in breach of European anti-trust rules.

"Given the pending Microsoft to strip Internet Explorer browser from European Windows, we will offer it separately and on an easy-to-install basis to both computer manufacturers and users," Microsoft said in a statement.

"This means that computer manufacturers and users will be free to install Internet Explorer on Windows 7, or not, as they prefer."

Windows 7 is scheduled to be generally available Oct 22. Ironically, Microsoft is making the changes as rival firms like Firefox, Apple Safari and Google Chrome chip away at Internet Explorer's once unassailable lead.

Sources: Silicon India

India is an 'absolutely critical country' for U.S.

U.S. President Barack Obama has despatched a personal letter to New Delhi making it clear that India is "an absolutely critical country" with which Washington is keen to work, a top official has said.

U.S. Undersecretary of State William Burns, who is in New Delhi to make the first high level contact with the Manmohan Singh government since its return to power, would be delivering the "presidential letter", the envoy, Richard Holbrooke, told reporters Wednesday without providing details on the contents.

"It's a private letter," said Holbrooke. "But the important thing is that the number three person in the Department of State has gone to India to reaffirm immediately after the election,"said the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"Burns is now beginning the dialogue with the newly elected government in an atmosphere of great positive feelings," he said. "And without getting into Indian politics, all I can say is that all of us - Secretary (of State) Hillary Clinton, Bill Burns, myself, President Obama - everyone looks forward to working with the newly elected Indian Government."

"He is carrying the messages that I would have carried if I had had time to go to New Delhi on this trip, but I couldn't do it," said the envoy, who visited Pakistan last week to assess relief efforts to help the estimated two million people who have fled a Pakistani offensive against the Taliban.

"All I can tell you is that this Administration believes that what happens in Afghanistan and Pakistan is of vital interest to our national security. And ...that India is a country that we must keep in the closest consultations with."

"And we consider India an absolutely critical country in the region," Holbrooke said. "They're not part of the problem, but they are vitally affected, and we want to work closely with them," he added explaining what some observers have described as a hole in Obama administration's foreign policy focused on Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"The Indians were very frank with us. They wanted to keep in touch with us during the election period, but they had to wait through the election, just like we do. It's the world's two greatest democracies."

Holbrooke, who visited New Delhi on his first two trips to the region, said next week he would be meeting the new Indian ambassador to the U.S., Meera Shankar, whom he already met twice.

Sources : Silicon India