However, the company’s Asia-Pacific boss Farhad Irani warned that personal payments remained switched off.

“We are currently making changes to comply with Indian regulations for settlements for exports of goods and services, and we anticipate that as of Wednesday, March 3rd, we will be able to resume the bank withdrawal service,” he said in a PayPal blog post.

“As part of the changes, you will be required to fill out a new field entitled ‘Export Code’ when you request a withdrawal. This information is required under the current laws of India in order to identify the nature of cross-border merchant transactions.”

The RBI told PayPal to get its house in order by getting specific approvals to allow personal inward remittances to India, which Irani admitted the firm doesn’t currently have.

“Until we get these approvals, personal payments into India will remain suspended,” he said.

“We know the past few weeks have been difficult and I would like to assure you that we have been working tirelessly to resolve the situation and restore our service. PayPal’s highest priority is to always ensure we comply with all applicable regulations everywhere we do business around the world.”

Last month the online payment service suspended transactions in India and confirmed that the shutdown was because of questions over whether personal payments were remittances – payments from ex-pat Indian workers. – (Courtesy:theregister.co.uk)

Though temporarily, PayPal has given a mini cardiac arrest to several India-based PayPal users by shunning payment transactions to and from India. Apart from that, these users can’t even transfer their funds to local Indian banks to withdraw their balance. All this was conveyed by a standard mailer that every India-based PayPal user received.

Here’s a standard mail sent to Indian users:

Hello USER,

Your payment of AMOUNT has been sent back to the sender of the payment.

We reversed this payment because we have stopped allowing personal payments to be sent to or from India.

If this was a payment for a purchase of goods or services, and not a personal payment, then you may contact the buyer and have him or her resend the payment as follows: (a) click the Send Money tab, (b) select Goods, and (c) provide a shipping address.

If this payment was a personal payment such as a gift, then we have requested that the sender find another payment method until we restore personal payments to and from India.

We are trying to resolve this issue as quickly as possible and we re sorry for any inconvenience.

Thank you,

PayPal

Nayar’s post indicates that the situation is temporary and the issue is to address the questions about the service that PayPal’s business partners and other stakeholders have.

Over the weekend, we met some bothered India-based PayPal users who were literally clueless on whether their funds would be recoverable ever. Advertising professional Kenroy Rodricks said, ” I’ve about $1,000 stuck in PayPal account which I can’t transfer or perform any transactions with. PayPal is my only gateway where I send and receive payments from clients abroad.” We’re sure that Nayar’s assurance to restore the payments as soon as possible will give a ray of hope to many such India-based PayPal users.

Let’s not forget a fact here that PayPal was acquired by eBay in 2002. Yes, it’s the same eBay that first bought Skype and 65 per cent stake of Skype to an investor group. We may not be surprised if PayPal undergoes the same process. What really freaks anyone out where books like ‘The Secret of Hacking’ Third Edition covers topics – How Hackers Hack Paypal account and credit card Hacking (fully untracable), are sold offbeing sold over the web. (Courtesy : techtree.com)

Seamlessly blending the traditional with the modern, the music spanned the differences of language, enthralling old and young, touching the very heart strings at a time when Australia-India bilateral relations have come under strain following attacks on Indians in this country.

Music transcends boundaries and Saturday night it did, as Sydneysiders were taken on a journey of peace and joy by Rahman and his amazing troupe of nearly 40 musicians, dancers and supporting artists over 2-1/2 hours even as ominous clouds threatened to give way. A steady drizzle began as the sonorous sounds of “Khwaja Mere Khwaja” filled the cool night air.

It being one of the most anticipated concerts staged as part of the three-week Sydney Festival, people had begun securing places as early as 12 p.m. to get up and close with their music idol at the Parramatta Park, in the western Sydney suburb of Parramatta which has the largest population of Indian and South Asians in Australia.

Even the American-born Premier of New South Wales, Kristina Keneally, couldn’t conceal her excitement.

She said: “This event is a celebration of Indian culture, music and dance and acknowledges the invaluable contribution that the Indian community has made to the social fabric of NSW. It sends a clear message that NSW is a welcoming place for people of every country to study, live and work.”

For the 20 young boys and girls, who got a chance to perform with the world renowned maestro, it was the most exhilarating experience.

“It was a mind blowing opportunity that comes probably only once in a lifetime. We had intense rehearsals for five days and were really nervous, but once on stage, the energy and power of the music just consumed us all,” Akshita Mohan, 18, a resident of suburban Westleigh who was one of the supporting dancers, told IANS.

It is not often that an artiste of Rahman’s calibre performs for free, but that is typical of the man and his music.

“The concert is a gesture of friendship and goodwill between the two countries. I hope this solidarity continues to grow and blossom through the coming years,” said Rahman amidst deafening applause.

For those who couldn’t brave the crowds, the concert was telecast live by Australian Broadcasting Corporation to 44 countries with Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden, who plays for Chennai Super Kings as one of the hosts.

Rahman, who flew back home Sunday morning, was a guest of the NSW state government and Sydney Festival, which is Australia’s largest annual cultural event, showcasing a broad spectrum of Australian and international dance, theatre, visual arts and music.

As festival director Lindy Hume told IANS: “There are only a handful of living artists in any genre whose work is instantly and easily embraced in both eastern and western cultures – and one of them is A.R. Rahman. The message of this concert is one of harmony and cultural understanding between Australia and India, two countries who share so much more than a national day (Jan 26) and love of cricket.” (Courtesy: indiatimes.com)

Interestingly, while Shah Rukh Khan follows 12 people, including actors Uday Chopra, Priyanka Chopra, Abhishek Bachchan and filmmaker Karan Johar, the fake one, only follows two — Johar, and The Onion, an American news source.

Most of the posts made by the imposter are replications of Shah Rukh’s tweets, but his last post goes beyond merely copying SRK. It reads: “hope u all have seen the promo of the movie My Name is Khan http://bit.ly/5n6bQ1, would like to know ur responses”, and the link directs you to the official website of the film.

Although fake Twitter IDs are not uncommon, they have been a source of distress to prominent personalities in the past. Many people who thought they were following politician Rahul Gandhi were left disappointed when politician Shashi Tharoor clarified that the account was a fake.

Actress Preity Zinta confessed to joining twitter only to counter an imposter who was twittering pretending to be her. Although actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is not on Twitter, there are plenty of people pretending to be her, one of whom has more than 10,000 followers. (Courtesy : www.hindustantimes.com)

Now, this channel will add one more feature to entertain cartoon lovers. Cartoon Network on Tuesday said it would make available its comic characters like Ben 10, Powerpuff Girls, Johnny Bravo and Dexter on mobile handsets. hurray!!! “Comics of kids’ favourite Ben 10, Powerpuff Girls, Johnny Bravo and Dexter will be now available on mobile handsets through telecom operators like Airtel, Idea, Reliance Mobile and TATA DoCoMo,” Cartoon Network said in a statement. Mobile users can download Cartoon Network comics at varied price points from Re one per day, Rs 10 per week and Rs 30 per month, depending on their operator.

The DNA mapping of a 52-year-old man from Jharkhand has found marked genetic variations that suggest vulnerability to cardiovascular disorders, colorectal cancer and schizophrenia. While scientists say it’s not yet time to generalise, the finding calls for genetic sequencing of more people across the country. The institute plans to map the DNA of ten Indians from different states soon.

”The findings will definitely be a hypothesis for future genetic studies. If more Indians show similar variations, it could establish a clearer pattern,” said Sridhar Sivasubbu, who led the project along with Vinod Scaria.

It primarily took two dedicated men and a machine for India to crack the human genome in 45 days — a feat that took 13 years for scores of scientists from six developed countries. Aiding scientists Sivasubbu and Scaria in mapping the 310 crore base pairs that constituted the Jharkhand man’s DNA was a supercomputer the institute had acquired in 2006. While the two scientists toiled for long hours, the supercomputer analysed data at the speed of four trillion operations per second.

Gene mapping promises predictive healthcare by identifying specific vulnerabilities of a population to certain diseases and developing new methods of prevention and targeted treatment.

Though the human genome project was completed in 2003, region and community specific mapping helps identify susceptibilities of different populations. Indians are found to be genetically more vulnerable to diabetes and heart diseases.

”Since the genome technology was readily available to us, it took us much less time,” says a modest Scaria from his lab at the IGIB.

”The first time is always tough, as every attempt is involves trial and error,” he says about the first human genome project in which scientists from the US, UK, France, Germany, Japan and China worked from 1990 to 2003. But it wasn’t easy for the two scientists who worked up to 18 hours a day in the lab. ”We’d never been there, never done it. The biggest challenge was that it took a totally new set of analytical and computational skills. Once we attained that, there was no looking back,” says Sivasubbu.

Although the supercomputer speeded up analysis by more than 500 times compared to ordinary computers, scientists had to perform the manual work of immobilising the sample on glass slide, adding one nucleotide at a time and photographing it using a high-resolution digital camera. Each nucleotide was identified by peculiar colour it emits. The international consortia working on human genome project has decided to sequence DNA of 1,000 people across the globe by 2012. ( Courtesy: indiatimes.com)

Recently when she appeared in some product launch, media asked her so many questions about her break up, which made her too much angry and upset. On being asked what she plans to do about the tattoo, she only kept a well known silence. “Is the brand coming out with a cream that will erase your tattoo?”, this question really made her update.

She then answered only one question which was about her life after break up. “Are you happy after your break-up with Ranbir?”, on this question she replied, “Of course, I am happy. Don’t I look happy?”

And after the horrible press meeting, Deepika finally said goodbye to media and left asap.

The HP Climate Change Photography Contest, in association with Sanctuary Asia and WWF-India asks you to record these changes happening around you. A single, striking image has the power to tell a story that truly hits home. Through your photos, we hope to spread your message to the world and help bring about a change in the way we look at our planet.
The jury will look for images that will help draw attention to the challenges and solutions of climate change and drive us toward local and global action. You are limited only by your imagination.

Win prizes worth Rs.3 lakhs! Prizes include a chance to feature your winning entry on the cover of Sanctuary Asia and gift hampers from HP and Snapfish.Contest Closes- 31st December 2009, Winner Announcement- 10th February 2010.

so, friends. Capture your moments and let the world view your photography.

Prizes:

Weekly prize: – 12 nos – Photosmart printer – ( the most popular/ voted highest by the browsers)
Grand Prizes:
First Prize – 1 no – 1dv6 fully loaded entertainment PC + picture featured on SA cover
Second Prize – 3 nos – 1HP Mini + 1 Photosmart printer
Third prize – 5 nos – 1 Photosmart printer

Terms & Conditions for The HP Climate Change Photography Contest 09

1. The Entrant must be the sole author and the owner of the copyright of all photos submitted. Participants must declare at the time of registration – that the entry is their own work and must agree to the terms and conditions mentioned hereunder.
2. The maximum number of photographs that one user can upload is 5
3. All photo entries submitted need to be in JPEG file format for quality assurance
4. The size limit of one photograph is 4MB
5. Each Entry must have a caption of less than 160 characters
6. Manipulation: The competition allows only basic adjustments to be applied to the entire image; helping to ensure that the winning image is selected based on photographic merit rather than computer skills. The faithful representation of a natural form, behavior or phenomenon must be maintained. Sandwich shots, double exposures, photographs, which consist in any way more than one separate image, is not eligible for the competition. Images may be cropped before submission, and limited digital manipulation such as ‘cleaning’, sharpening, adjusting levels, burning, dodging, curves, color and contrast is permissible where applied to the image as a whole. However, entries that has other wise been significantly enhanced or altered in whole or in part using programs such as Adobe Photoshop will not be admissible.
7. The picture uploaded must not contain any illicit material
8. Only images of wild subjects in a non-captive state will be considered. Take care not to disturb birds and other wildlife when taking photographs. Nest shots are not permitted. If cruel or unethical practices are suspected by any of the judges, the entry will be disqualified.
9. Only users of Indian Nationality are eligible for entry to the contest.
10. While copyright remains with the photographer, HP, Sanctuary magazine and WWF India reserve the right to reproduce entries in print, online and other media (with appropriate photo-credits). Images may also be used elsewhere in connection with the contest.
11. The contest is open to public, including employees of Sanctuary Asia, WWF India and Hewlett-Packard India.
12. The winners will be chosen by a panel of judges, whose decision will be final. No correspondence will be exchanged to discuss the merits and demerits of images that are not selected. In the event the entries do not meet the judges’ standards, the organizers reserve the right to refrain from declaring an award.
13. The prizes are not exchangeable for any item and are non transferable. The decision of the judges with respect to the model of the prizes shall be final and no dispute shall be entertained in this regard.
14. Users will have to register to enter the contest. Registration and entry for the contest is free.
15. For any queries regarding the contest please email us on hpcapturechange@in.com

Jury Details:
The Jury members include representatives from WWF India, Sanctuary Asia and Hewlett-Packard India.
• Dr Sejal Worah, Programme Director, WWF-India
• Mr. Bittu Sahgal, Editor, Sanctuary magazine.
• Bina Raj-Debur, Director Corporate Marketing, Hewlett-Packard India

Email all your queries to hpcapturechange@in.com

“Rough diamonds is another area and, of course, there are the traditional commodities like tea and other commodities which have been part of the traditional basket of goods and services. I think Russia is emerging as a major investor in India,” he said.  “I agree,” Medvedev said as he smilingly responded to Manmohan Singh’s remarks. Medvedev also said the two countries were “moving forward” in “strengthening” their strategic partnership. “Levels of trust and partnership (between India and Russia) are growing. Even in the economic crisis we expanded our trade to $5 billion this year. We plan to increase our trade to $10 billion next year,” he said.

Courtesy : indiatimes.com

In comparison with day four, the end came swift. Sangakkara was yet to get his eye in again when Zaheer bowled the perfect left-armer’s outswinger that took the edge. After that it was all a matter of time: both Rangana Herath and Nuwan Kulasekara succumbed to sharp short deliveries from Zaheer. Muttiah Muralitharan scored a quick 14 but edged Harbhajan Singh to MS Dhoni to kick off India’s celebrations. (Courtesy : cricinfo.com)

Lataji also said in very humble & sweet tones that she was very grateful to the film industry for her achievements. She further said that she was an Indian singer and she owed all her success to the Indian audience.

She is the second Indian to be given this prestigious award by France. The first star to be given this honor was none other than the bollywood superstar Mr.Amitabh Bachchan.

Sir Ben plans to play Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in his dream project called “Taj”, Daniela will act as Kandhari Begum, Shah Jahan’s first wife of Persian origin, While Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai may feature as Mumtaz Mahal.

A.R. Rahman won two Oscars for “Slumdog Millionaire”, which was the very first Oscar for A.R.Rahman. He also won the best original score award at the 2009 Golden Globe Award. Amazing Victory. The 52th edition of the Annual Grammy Awards will be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles Jan 31 next year. Let’s hope that Rahman’s music spread the magic again.

As the deadlines to get the IMEI ended yesterday, people thronged different centres till late in the evening to reinstall the genuine number in their handsets.Those who failed were unfortunate as their handsets became inactive from the mid-night. Following the government directives, the service providers in Chhattisgarh had cut off the services on the handsets that did not had an authenticated IMEI number.