2007 the year of rewards to India

The year 2007 has been a very fruitful year with India shining in all major events apart from the blooming economy which is having the dollar dance to its tunes and exposing ample employment oppurtunities with many blossoming industries under the desired encouragement given by the respective state governments
TAJMAHALthe symbol of love and the greatest monument India ever possesed and continous to live up to its expectations by again being included in the new 7 wonders of the world exposing the rich cultural heritage of India.
MUKESH AMBANI of Reliance Industries with his grit determination and hardwork earned the distinction of being the richest man in the world prevailing over the Microsoft
Chairman BillGates ,with two more prominent Indians listing among the top ten comprising of Mr.Lakshmi mittal of Mittal Industries and Aziz Premji of Wipro.
TEAM INDIA lifted the prestigious and innagural 20 20 World Cup Cricket 2007 title defeating Pakistan in a nail biting finish under the leadership of Young Dhoni and his team of young blood who won laurels and bountiful of rewards for winning the title.
ASIA CUP HOCKEY 2007 even though the upliftment of our
national sport hockey is mediocore still team india amassed to win the Asia cup trouncing Korea 7-2 in the finals played at Chennai and also creating a world record for scoring 20 goals against Sri Lanka in the preliminary rounds .
NEHRU CUP FOOTBALL2007 the game of football is not so
enthralling as played in European countries , the game is not overwhelming as compared to the cricket, even though ranked 157 in the world rankings pulled up their socks in winning the Nehru cup football cup defeating Syria 1-0 and received a rousing applause for the achievement .
WORLD CHESS TITLE the game of brains Chess has been dominated by the Indian classy counter part Visvanathan
Anand who with his clever moves by his wizard brain earned him the world title for the year 2007 and stands No-1 in the World rankings and has lifted Indias name to dizzy heights
With even Pankaj Advani rousing to claim his world cup title in the Billiards event, India stands tall and high with three world cup titles in its Kitty for the year 2007.
May we wish many more laurels to our country India in the coming year 2008 and wish every one a happy and prosperous New Year.

Fraudsters target net banking users

Thiruvananthapuram: A former call centre employee who checked the status of her bank account online recently was dismayed to find that Rs.7,900 had been transferred to another account without her knowledge.

The 41-year-old woman, who wanted her name to be withheld, told Hindu The that she had received an e-mail purportedly from the customer service centre of the bank on November 1.

The e-mail said the bank’s central server was down and users of its online banking facility were required to re-enter their account details. The e-mail had a link on which she did not click.

She logged on directly to what appeared to be the bank’s web site. She entered her customer identity (username) and password. She also changed her password.

On December 12, she checked her account online and found that she had lost the money. It had been transferred to another account of the same bank somewhere in north India. She contacted the customer service centre of the bank, which denied sending her any such e-mail.

The woman said she later checked the e-mail again and by clicking the link accessed the same web site (supposedly that of the bank) where she had entered her account details earlier. She suspects the fraud committed was an ‘inside’ job. The woman said she used the online banking facility mostly for booking railway tickets.

Circle Inspector E.S. Bijumon of the Hi-Tech Cell, who is investigating the woman’s complaint, said it was a classic case of ‘phishing.’ He said more than 10 such cases, mostly from Ernkaulam district, were reported recently.

It is a method of operation by which online fraudsters ‘fish’ for usernames, passwords and credit/debit card details of (mostly) online banking facility users. They obtain e-mail addresses of potential victims by scouring the Internet.

He said ‘phishing’ attempts were usually in the form of an e-mail appearing to be from one’s bank. Such e-mails had a link which when clicked on would lead the customer to a fraudulent ‘log on page’ designed to capture his or her account details. Such phoney web sites closely resemble those of credible banks. ‘Phishing’ e-mails often prompt customers to confirm, provide or update sensitive information by conveying a sense of urgency (such as a breakdown of their bank’s servers).

The police said the link on the e-mail received by the victim led to a U.S-based server and not the one handling the bank’s online operations. The ‘phishing’ e-mail received by the woman had originated from the same server.

The police said customers should check with their bank before responding to e-mails concerning their accounts.

Some ‘phishing’ e-mails hide Trojan Horse software capable of capturing the customer’s computer keystrokes. Such a software relays captured information back to the sender, enabling them to figure out the user names and passwords of other people.

JRD Tata

Born: July 29, 1904
Died: on November 29, 1993
Achievements:
He had the honor of being India's first pilot; was Chairman of Tata & Sons for 50 years; launched Air India International as India's first international airline; received Bharat Ratna in 1992.
JRD Tata was one of the most enterprising Indian entrepreneurs. He was a pioneer aviator and built one of the largest industrial houses of India.
JRD Tata was born on July 29, 1904 in Paris. His mother was a French, while his father was Parsi. JRD's full name was Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata and he was popularly known as Jeh to his friends. JRD's father Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata and Sri Jamsetji Tata shared their greatness from the same great-great- grandfather, Ervad Jamsheed Tata, a priest of Navsari.
JRD Tata was the second of four children. He was educated in France, Japan and England before being drafted into the French army for a mandatory one-year period. JRD wanted to extend his service in the forces but destiny had something else in store for him. By leaving the French army JRD's life was saved because shortly thereafter, the regiment in which he served was totally wiped out during an expedition in Morocco.
JRD Tata joined Tata & Sons as an unpaid apprentice in 1925. He has great interest in flying. On February 10, 1929, JRD became the first Indian to pass the pilot's examination. With this distinctive honor of being India's first pilot, he was instrumental in giving wings to India by building Tata Airlines, which ultimately became Air India. His passion for flying was fulfilled with the formation of the Tata Aviation Service in 1932.
In 1938, at the age of 34, JRD was elected Chairman of Tata & Sons making him the head of the largest industrial group in India. He started with 14 enterprises under his leadership and half a century later on July 26, 1988, when he left , Tata & Sons was a conglomerate of 95 enterprises which they either started or in which they had controlling interest.
JRD was the trustee of Sir Dorabji Tata Trust from its inception in 1932, which remained under his wings for over half a century. Under his guidance, this Trust established Asia's first cancer hospital, the Tata Memorial Center for Cancer, Research and Treatment, Bombay, 1941. It also founded the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, 1936 (TISS), the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, 1945 (TIFR), and the National Center for Performing Arts.
In 1948, JRD Tata launched Air India International as India's first international airline. In 1953, the Indian Government appointed JRD as Chairman of Air-India and a director on the Board of Indian Airlines-a position JRD retained for 25-years. For his crowning achievements in Aviation, JRD was bestowed with the title of Honorary Air Commodore of India.
In 1956, JRD Tata initiated a program of closer "employee association with management" to give workers a stronger voice in the affairs of the company. He firmly believed in employee welfare and espoused the principles of an eight-hour working day, free medical aid, workers' provident scheme, and workmen's accident compensation schemes, which were later, adopted as statutory requirements in India.
JRD Tata cared greatly for his workers. In 1979, Tata Steel instituted a new practice; a worker is deemed to be "at work" from the moment he leaves home for work till he returns home from work. The company is financially liable to the worker if any mishap takes place on the way to and from work. Tata Steel Township was also selected as a UN Global Compact City because of the quality of life, conditions of sanitation, roads and welfare that were offered by Tata Steel.
JRD Tata received a number of awards. He received the Padma Vibhushan in 1957 on the eve of silver jubilee of Air India. He also received the Guggenheim Medal for aviation in 1988. In 1992, because of his selfless humanitarian endeavors, JRD Tata was awarded India's highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna-one of the rarest instances in which this award was granted during a person's lifetime. In the same year, JRD Tata was also bestowed with the United Nations Population Award for his crusading endeavors towards initiating and successfully implementing the family planning movement in India, much before it became an official government policy.
JRD Tata died in Geneva, Switzerland on November 29, 1993 at the age of 89. On his death, the Indian Parliament was adjourned in his memory-an honor not usually given to persons who are not Members of Parliament.

Dr. Vikram Sarabhai

Vikram Sarabhai died on 30 December 1971 at Kovalam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. He was visiting Thiruvananthapuram to attend the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Thumba railway station. During his last days, he was under a great amount of stress due to excessive travelling and a huge work-load which adversely affected his health.
Indian Space Program
The establishment of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was one of his greatest achievements. He successfully convinced the government of the importance of a space programme for a developing country like India after the Russian Sputnik launch. Dr. Sarabhai emphasized the importance of a space program in his quote:
"There are some who question the relevance of space activities in a developing nation. To us, there is no ambiguity of purpose. We do not have the fantasy of competing with the economically advanced nations in the exploration of the moon or the planets or manned space-flight. "
"But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society."
Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha, widely regarded as the father of India's nuclear science program, supported Dr. Sarabhai in setting up the first rocket launching station in India. This center was established at Thumba near Thiruvananthapuram on the coast of the Arabian Sea, primarily because of its proximity to the equator. After a remarkable effort in setting up the infrastructure, personnel, communication links, and launch pads, the inaugural flight was launched on November 21, 1963 with a sodium vapour payload.
As a result of Dr. Sarabhai's dialogue with NASA in 1966, the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) was launched during July 1975 - July 1976 (when Dr.Sarabhai was no more).
Dr. Sarabhai started a project for the fabrication and launch of an Indian Satellite. As a result, the first Indian satellite, Aryabhata, was put in orbit in 1975 from a Russian Cosmodrome.
Dr. Sarabhai was very interested in science education and founded a Community Science Centre at Ahmedabad in 1966. Today, the Centre is called the Vikram A Sarabhai Community Science Centre.
He led the family's 'Sarabhai' diversified business group.
His interests varied from science to sports to statistics. He set up Operations Research Group (ORG), the first market research organization in the country.
Dr Vikram Sarabhai established many institutes which are of international repute. Most notable among them are IIMs (Indian Institute Of Management) which are considered world class for their management studies. Also he helped establishing PRL (Physical Research Laboratory) which is doing commendable job in R&D in Physics. Dr Vikram Sarabhai setup ATIRA (Ahmedabad Textiles Industrial Research Association) which helped the booming textiles business in Ahmedabad. He also setup CEPT (Center for Environmental Planning and Technology). Not stopping with all these he went ahead and setup BMA (Blind Men Association) which helps visually challenged people with necessary skills and support.
Awards
Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award (1962)
Padma Bhushan (1966)
Padma Vibhushan, posthumous (after-death) (1972)
Distinguished Positions
President of the Physics section, Indian Science Congress (1962),
President of the General Conference of the I.A.E.A., Verína (1970),
Vice-President, Fourth U.N. Conference on `Peaceful uses of Atomic Energy' (1971)
Honors
The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, (VSSC), a research institute specialising in solid and liquid propellants for rockets located in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) , capital of Kerala state, is named in his memory.
Along with other Ahmedabad-based industrialists, he played a major role in the creation of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

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