News

IndianExpress: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued moratorium orders at the United Western Bank Ltd to protect depositors. Pune has reason to feel concerned. With 19 branches and a network of 17 ATMs, the bank’s Pune region alone accounts for a deposit base of some Rs 900 crore.

The moratorium became effective from 2 pm on Saturday, and will be valid till December 1 or an earlier date, if alternate arrangements are put in place, says the RBI circular. During this period, the apex bank will consider various options, including amalgamation of UWB with another bank. The bank, among only a handful of private banks of yore, has 3,200 employees.

In the next three months, UWB will be permitted to make only those payments that have been specified in the Order of Moratorium and the depositors of the bank will be permitted to withdraw up to Rs 10,000 only from their savings bank account or current account or any other deposit account through any of the branches of the bank. The bank’s ATM network will remain closed.

IndianExpress: Things may get a lot easier for aspiring Chartered Accountants, as drastic revisions in the course syllabus will reduce the duration, allowing registration after Std. X instead of Std. XII, and usher in more hands-on, practical orientation.

This was announced by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India’s (ICAI) Board of Studies Chairman V. Murali at a press conference today.

Going by the current syllabus, a student now requires a minimum of five years and four months to complete the course, assuming he/she clears all examinations on first attempt.

IndianExpress: A GROUP of youngsters staging street plays near City Post Office on Laxmi Road for the past five days have been drawing big crowds. On the fringes, others in yellow coats have their eyes trained on the spectators, looking for tell-tale signs.

Once the play is over, they move in to chat with those they have identified and if the target does have a problem, he is handed a small yellow booklet that tells him how and where to seek help.

These are interpersonal communicators of Population Services International (PSI), a Washington-based social marketing organisation working for the prevention of HIV/AIDS and funded by the Bill and Melinda’s Gates Foundation’s Avahan India AIDS Initiative.

IndianExpress: VISA and registration procedures for foreign students may soon be facilitated through a single-window system at the Pune University, Commissioner of Police Dhananjay Jadhav announced on Saturday. Efforts to launch the scheme are currently on, he added.

At a seminar organised at Pune University by the International Students Centre and the Ministry of External Affairs on Friday, foreign students and researchers had stated that they faced rude behaviour and corruption while approaching Foreigners Registration Officers for registration and visa extension.

News.com: Zee Tawasha is an unabashed BlackBerry addict, constantly sending urgent e-mails to employees at 30 mobile phone stores he owns across California, Arizona and Nevada.

Until recently, he used his fingers to painstakingly type out messages on the wireless device’s cramped keyboard.

But with a new service launched by his network provider Sprint Nextel on Friday, Tawasha can press a button and say the recipient’s name and dictate a message of up to 20 words into his BlackBerry’s receiver.

Within about a minute, the full message appears on the screen and he can send it off with one keystroke.

TechTree: Huawei Technologies India has opened a new facility in Bangalore to develop optical network products and wireless LAN solutions for its global customers.

The company says the new R&D center will focus on its next generation Optix Series of intelligent optical network products based on cutting-edge optical technologies.

Reportedly, the optical network products will be initially designed and developed in Bangalore for Huawei’s leading customers includuing Fibernet and Viatel in the UK, NEUF in France, DFN in Germany, and Telemar in Brazil.

TechTree: Autodesk recently announced Autodesk 3ds Max 9 software, the latest version of its world-renowned 3D modeling, animation, and rendering solution. 3ds Max 9 supports 64-bit technologies, providing digital artists with the tools for next-generation games development, design visualization, and film and television visual effects production.

According to company sources, 3ds Max has been used to realize countless breakthrough projects, including New York City’s Freedom Tower; games such as Assassin’s Creed, Gears of War, Guild Wars, and Mass Effect; and blockbuster films such as Aeon Flux, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. 3ds Max 9 will be showcased at the Autodesk booth 1706 at SIGGRAPH 2006 between August 1 and 3 at the Boston Convention Center.