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PuneTimes.com: Setting a precedent in medical tourism, renowned orthopaedic surgeon K H Sancheti on Friday announced an exclusive tie-up with the Oman government to treat a batch of 272 patients with advanced complications from arthritis, scoliosis (spine deformity) and major mismanaged fractures.

“This is probably the first tie-up at the government level,” Sancheti, who has been awarded the Padma Bhushan said, explaining that collaborations with government agencies abroad will further boost medical tourism prospects in India.

Similar efforts are being tapped to forge partnerships with governments in the United Arab Emirates, Kenya and Bahrain, Sancheti said. Sancheti was part of the three-member team that operated upon former prime minister A B Vajpayee’s knee.

PuneTimes.com The latest hike in interest rates on home loans by major banks has barely caused a dent in the city’s residential property market, which continues to thrive on the economic boom set off by the information technology (IT) industry.

India’s largest housing finance company HDFC, Punjab National Bank and the Oriental Bank of Commerce hiked interest rates on home loans by at least half a percentage point (0.5%) on August 1, while others like the State Bank of India and the Bank of Baroda are expected to follow suit soon.

With the recent hike, the floating rate for home loans from HDFC will be 9.5% as against the previous 9%. The fixed rate loan borrowers will now have to shell out 11%, from 10.5% earlier.

TechTree.com: Bharti Airtel has reportedly signed a deal worth over $100 million with IBM to offer new products, services, and applications to its customers in the country.

According to Bharti, the company will invest over $100 million to deliver the country’s first “service delivery platform” (SDP), in partnership with IBM. The implementation of SDP will enable Bharti Airtel to have an integrated environment, incorporating all of Airtel’s content and applications services under one platform.

Satish Khatu, general manager - global technology services, IBM Asia Pacific, said that this implementation will allow Bharti to offer a significantly enhanced spectrum of content and value-added services to its customers. It will also enable them to continue to maintain their competitive advantage and leadership in the market.

TechTree.com: Apple Computer has reportedly teamed-up with three major car manufacturers to allow consumers enjoy and control their iPod’s high-quality sound through their car stereo systems.

Apple has signed an agreement with Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and Mazda for them to offer an easy iPod connection in the majority of their brands and models. Under the arrangement, users will also be able to use car stereo controls to select music on their iPods.

Speaking at the occasion, Greg Joswiak, vice president - worldwide iPod product marketing, Apple, said, “We are delighted that Ford, General Motors, and Mazda will support iPod connectivity in nearly all of their new models.”

“More than 70 percent of 2007-model US automobiles will offer iPod integration, with General Motors alone making it available on all 56 of its models,” Joswiak said.

TechTree.com: RealNetworks, Google, and Mozilla Corp have announced a new multi-year agreement, under which Real will offer the Google Toolbar and Mozilla’s Firefox Web browser along with its RealPlayer.

As per the deal, when users install RealPlayer, they will also be given the option to install either the Google Toolbar or Firefox free-of-cost. The Google Toolbar is a very popular addition to a Web browser that allows consumers to quickly conduct a Web search. While, Firefox is a very popular Web browser that simplifies how consumers browse the Web, and offers pop-up blocking, tabbed browsing, and enhanced Web security.

Rob Glaser, chairman and chief executive officer, Real, said, “Real and Google share a common passion for innovation that has enhanced the Web experience. The Google Toolbar has been a welcome addition to Real customers, because Google simplifies and enhances how they interact with the Web. We think our customers will feel the same way about the Firefox Web browser.”

BetaNews.com: Book publisher HarperCollins said Thursday it was launching a feature on its site called “Browse Inside,” which would allow visitors to peer inside the works of some of its most notable authors. The company initially announced last year that it planned to digitize its catalog of books.

The company already allows prospective book buyers to read portions of its books through Amazon’s “Look Inside” feature, however the new effort is a completely in-house initiative. By controlling the digitization, HarperCollins would also control how the books are is distributed.

In a recent interview with the Associated Press Thursday, CEO Jane Friedman said the company saw it as the next logical step, and expected to leverage the service in social networking environments as well. Some of the publisher’s most prominent authors would be digitized, including Michael Crichton and others.