Indo-Nepal rail link to be active by 2004

On November 7th, 2003, India and Nepal agreed to run trains on a 5.3-km (3.3-mile) track between Sirsiya, a dry port in Nepal and the Indian town of Raxaul, from where trains can travel to Kolkata. The $10 million dry port was built with the help of World Bank three years ago at Sirsiya, near the business hub of Birjung, close to the border with India.

The rough estimation by Nepal's commerce ministry states that the trains will complete the 800-km (500-mile) journey in 36 hours against six days by road and reduce transport costs by $16.2 million a year. Apparently the agreement will not only save time but also greatly reduce transit problems and boost the trade in Nepal.

The first train would roll into Nepal by March 2004 after a private India-Nepal joint venture company takes over the management of the dry port, Purushottam Ojha, joint secretary in Nepal's commerce ministry, said.

For more detail news on this, please visit http://www.khattam.com/enews/

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Honda cars to offer pre-crash radar braking

Honda Motor Co. has developed a new computerized radar system that warns drivers of an impending crash with slight braking and a tweaking of the seat belt.

Honda's system works even before the driver responds unlike Toyota's system where the system would not go on until the driver first steps on the brakes.

In Honda, the radar is placed in the front of the car stashed behind the "H" logo which detects vehicles within a range of about 100 meters (300 feet) ahead. The system initially pulls on the seat belt and brakes slightly to warn the driver. A buzzer also goes off and a small light flashes on the dashboard.

If the driver steps on the brakes, another system kicks in to strengthen the power of the brakes. If the driver fails to respond, the car brakes more and tightens the seat belt further to soften the blow of the crash.


This intelligent and beautiful "collision mitigation brake system'' will be offered on the most expensive model of the new Inspire sedan that goes on sale for 3.5 million yen (US$30,000) in Japan Thursday, Honda officials said Wednesday.



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Broadband through power lines soon

Pals, Tech guys are working hard to get you Broadband through power lines. After struggling for years, companies have overcome technical hurdles such as interference on the power lines and getting around electrical transformers that block broadband signals. Using fibre-optic line, the internet signal will be injected into power line after it has left power station. The signal then moves to neighborhoods, using equipment on power poles to leapfrog transformers and flow into homes. The technology will use the existing eletrical wiring at home (The wiring in the test home is more than 40 years old). The only extra equipment a consumer needs is a modem that plugs into an electric outlet and connects to a computer or Internet gadget. This equipments sizes not bigger than a deck of card and costs less than $70.



The testing of the technology is being conducted by Current Technologies, a company based in Germantown, Maryland in association with Potomac Electric Power Co.. The test covers about 70 homes in Maryland. Recently Federal Communications Commission chairman Michael Powell visited the test house to get a preview of the technology. He loved the same and preferred to have the service in his home also. The only concern of FCC is that Internet transmissions carried over power lines could emit signals inside and outside the home that cause interference.



The tech is on the card for near future. Just keep the fingers crossed for this possibly cheap and better way of getting access to NET.




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Yahoo! preparing to compete its business partner Google

Yahoo! has announced the improvements in its search engine in attempt to compete against the most popular search engine on the web - Google - leaving the world with speculation that Yahoo! will want to end its nearly three years relationship with Google. Yahoo! played a vital role in the success of Google. Not only it encouraged Google to create its search engine but also provided boost in later's profile by licensing Google's software to run the searches on its popular online portal. Today, Yahoo!'s searches are powered by Google technology. However, with its tremendous success, Google has intered in the area of other services like news and shopping pages, that traverse Yahoo's turf. As the first step towards the preparation for the competition, Yahoo! acquired Google rival Inktomi last month for $279.5 million and it has a plan to implement the later's tool in its search engine this year end.



Great start by Yahoo! ,however; its not going to be easy task to topple Google that has become synonymous with online searching in every part of this world.




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Excellent initiative to stop legal way of spreading AIDS in India

In one of the state called Andhra Pradesh in India, the government is working on making mandatory undergoing pre-marital test for HIV/AIDS. In the absence of such system, people would get married without their knowledge that they are carrying the deadly virus and communicate the same to their innocent partner and children respectively. This system will enable people to be aware of their status on HIV test beforehand and prevent such marriages.

Excellent initiative ! Rest of the world should follow the same and introduce this system. Not to forget, 'Honesty' is the keyword to make this intelligent and innovative initiation a great success. Lets all of us fight back AIDS together, a disease that threatens the existence of humankind itself.


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Want to send SMS from your land line to mobile counterpart??

Yes, it will be possible soon. Software named Ajay Sandesh, from a Rajasthan, India based company - Rising Sun Innovation, is ready to provide this facility of sending SMS from the land line to mobile. The software needs to be deployed at the landline service provider's end for this feature to come alive. Once software is deployed, landline users would be provided with a password which will enable them to open an account and then send the message to mobile using their basic phone. So, cheer up landline users !!!!

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Tribute to the Astronauts of space shuttle Columbia

The only motto of their mission was to help humankind to find the way to fight against its unsolved problems. They had successfully completed the mission of experimenting in zero gravity and researching on the effects of space on health and they were just minutes away from wrapping up 16 days of their stay and work in space, however; they could not return back to their home planet successfully. We, as a human, owe a lot to them. Lets pay a tribute to this group of heroes which also includes the daughter of India, Kalpana Chawala.

"All mankind is in their debt.
Each of these astronauts had the daring and discipline required of their calling. Each of them knew great endeavors are inseparable from great risk, and each of them accepted those risks willingly, even joyfully, in the cause of discovery.
We really are pound of these great people." - Dattatreya Sakrepatna, Bangalore, India

"Once again been struck with the loss,loss of great minds and courageous people . First Apollo, then Challenger, and now Columbia. I grieve for the
crew and for their families." - Meena Nandy, Bangalore, India

"I deeply feel the loss of seven wonderful people in this earth who sacrificed their life for noble cause. May their soul live in peace and may God give courage & strength to their families to bear this tragedy." - Gagan Shrestha, Nepal

If you want, you can also send your words of condolence and I will post it in this blog.

Alien Currency adopted in West Bengal, India

In a place called Alipur in West Bengal, India, people use Bhutanese currency for their daily transaction also. The reason as per the local people is that firstly most of the business there is related to Bhutan and secondly the shortage of Indian currency. The use of foreign currency like this is illegal but no serious action has been taken by Local Government againt this till date. Local people use this currency very comfortably and they claim that they have not faced any hassles using the same. I want to remind you that this kind of currency usage can be seen between Nepal and India. In the border area of these two countries, it is common scene people using the currency of the neighbouring country for their daily payment pattern also, however; that is legal.

For more information on Nepal click here.

Good News to all Nepalese around the world

Nepali Government and Maoists have finally announced cease fire in the country. The Government took the first positive step and withdrew the tag of terrorist from the group.The government has also taken back the price on the head of key Maoist leaders and has promised that it would request interpol to withdraw the warrant against Maoist leaders. Fortunately, the maoists have accepted and recognised this as a positive step and have agreed to cease all offensive actions and would take part in peace talks. Soon the round table meeting will start. I am so thankful to God that he finally showed some sign of peace and progress in Nepal. I wish Nepal and all Nepalese "All The Best" !!!

For more information on Nepal click here