Relax visa rules for technology companies

A leading think-tank, considered close to the ruling Conservative party, wants theDavid Cameron government to relax immigration rules to make it easier for tech companies to recruit highly skilled staff from anywhere in the word.

In a report titled 'Bits and Billions', the London-based Policy Exchange said the UK has enormous potential to be a world-leader in the high-tech and digital economy, but that it is tough for start-ups to find enough coders, designers and other highly skilled staff.

The study wants UK policymakers to learn lessons from the United States, especially California which is home to nearly half of the top 100 tech start-ups in the world, and relax immigration rules.

One of its major recommendations is to reinstate the two-year post-study visa that enabled students from India and other non-EU countries to work for two years after completing their courses.

The visa, which was popular among Indian students, was scrapped in April.

The report wants the government to relax visa requirements for skilled migrants, to enable start-up businesses in the digital sector to take on highly skilled staff for a two-year probationary period without needing to pay a high up-front salary.

Chris Yiu, author of the report, said: "The Prime Minister is right when he says he wants the UK to be the best place in the world to start, run and grow a high-tech company. The problem is that the sorts of skills these businesses need are in short supply".

He added: "Start-ups need to be able to take on the right people fast, not spend months trying to expand their technology teams. That's why we need to make it easier for UK start-ups to take on highly skilled foreign graduates".

Yiu noted that companies such as Intel, Yahoo, Google, eBay and YouTube were co-founded by immigrant entrepreneurs.

"They are now major global businesses. We need to create the right conditions to ensure that the UK lives up to its potential to be a world leader in the digital economy," he said.

Read More

Salesforce launches new social media software Marketing Cloud

Salesforce.com unveiled on Wednesday a new software suite that reflects the company's aggressive push into fields like marketing and human resources as it battles heightened competition from rivals.

CEO and founder Marc Benioff announced the new products at the company's Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, promising to bring about a "social revolution" to how large companies use software to manage their business.

One of Salesforce's new offerings, dubbed Marketing Cloud, helps businesses keep track of Facebook and Twitter chatter about their brand, and also manages social media posts and calculates the reach of that content.

Marketing Cloud - a product of Salesforce's closely watched, $689 million acquisition of Buddy Media in June - represents Salesforce's newest attempt to bring consumer social media features into business and industrial settings.

"Are you and your company going through a social revolution? We see your customers and your employees and your partners are all connected," Benioff told the audience at Dreamforce, one of the largest conferences on the tech calendar with more than 90,000 registered attendees this year.

Salesforce's new product line is a departure for a company founded in 1999 to provide online software that managed the sales process. Under Benioff, the company has grown rapidly and, at $157.98 a share, trades at one of the highest price-to-earnings multiples among tech stocks.

But in recent years Salesforce has broached new markets like social media marketing in order to sustain growth amid fierce competition from some of the biggest names in enterprise computing, like SAP and Oracle.

On Wednesday Salesforce also announced Work.com, a human resources management software offering as well as Chatterbox, a new file-sharing tool that will pit Salesforce against the likes ofGoogle Drive, and storage startups Box.net and Dropbox.

Deal activity
Salesforce last month posted a 34 per cent jump in quarterly revenue but cut its earnings forecast as analysts warned that a price war with rivals like Oracle, which has also made splashy social media-related acquisitions, could eat into Salesforce's margins.

The competitors are scrapping for slices of a large and growing pie: Software-as-a-service industry has grown to $14.4 billion worldwide in 2012, according to a Gartner report this week. The infrastructure-as-a-service market, which includes the hotly growing cloud storage sector, grew 45 per cent in the last year alone, Gartner said.

Even as consumer social media appeared tarnished by Facebook's sputtering initial public offering, social media analytics and marketing companies that cater to businesses have found themselves involved in some of the hottest tech deal activity in recent months.

Before Salesforce swooped on Buddy Media, Oracle bought social media marketing company Vitrue for $300 million. In August, Google announced it would buy Buddy Media competitor Wildfire for $350 million. Microsoft paid $1.2 billion in July to buy social networking companyYammer.

"There's been close to a couple billion dollars being spent in this space by the top software companies in the world, but I don't think we're done yet," said Ragy Thomas, CEO of Spinklr, a social media management company.

Read More

Hackers claim 12 million Apple IDs from FBI

A hacker group has claimed to have obtained personal data from 12 million Apple iPhone and iPad users by breaching an FBI computer, raising concerns about government tracking.

The group called AntiSec, linked to the hacking collective known as Anonymous, posted one million Apple user identifiers claimed to be part of a larger group of 12 million, purportedly obtained from an FBI laptop.

Contacted by AFP, FBI spokeswoman Jenny Shearer said: "We're not commenting."

Peter Kruse, an ecrime specialist with CSIS SecurityGroup in Denmark, said on Twitter that the leak "is real" and that he confirmed three of his own devices in the leaked data.

"Also notice that they claim to have fullname, adresses, phone numbers etc... Big ouch!" he tweeted.

Eric Hemmendinger, a security expert with Tata Communications, said the report raises concerns about the protectors of cybersecurity.

"The question is not whether it's accurate, it is why did the feds have the information and why did they not take due care to secure it," he told AFP.

Hemmendinger said that based on past reports from Anonymous and related groups, he believes the report is probably true. 

"If you work in cybersecurity and your machine gets hacked, that's a pretty embarrassing scenario," he said.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Social media and news blogs were aflutter with the news. The tech blog Geekosystem called it "one of the worst privacy disasters yet" and various Twitter comments said the news suggested the FBI is tracking Apple users.

One website set up a database to help users determine if their device was on the hacked list of Apple unique device IDs (UDIDs).

"Quite why the FBI was collecting the UDIDs and personal information of millions of iPhone and iPad users is not yet clear -- but it's obvious that the data (and the computer it was apparently stored on) was not adequately secured," said Graham Cluley of the British security firm Sophos.

"My suspicion is that the hackers were more interested in embarrassing the FBI's team than endangering innocent users. All the same, hacking into computers is a criminal act -- and I would anticipate that the FBI and other law enforcement agencies will be keen to hunt down those responsible."

Others expressed concern about the apparent leak.

"Since UDIDs are unique to each iPhone and iPad, having yours end up in the wrong hands is a concern," said Josh Ong on the technology blog The Next Web.

"The bigger issue, however, is that they were tied to additional personal information, including user names, device names, notification tokens, cell phone numbers and addresses, that could potentially lead to identity theft."

Johannes Ullrich of the SANS Internet Storm Center said it was difficult to verify the report.

"There is nothing else in the file that would implicate the FBI. So this data may very well come from another source. But it is not clear who would have a file like this," he told reporters.

Ullrich said it is unclear why the FBI, if the report were true, would have the data.

"The size of the file... would imply a widespread, not a targeted tracking operation, or the file was just kept in case any of the users in the file needs to be tracked," he said.

"The significance of this breach very much hinges on the source, which as far as I know, hasn't been authenticated yet. The data is, however, real based on some of the reports that people do find their own UDID in the file."

Read More

India plans 61 times faster supercomputer by 2017

The government has drawn a blueprint for developing the next generation of supercomputers that could be 61 times faster than existing machines.

Telecom and IT minister Kapil Sibal is understood to have written to Prime MinisterManmohan Singh sharing the roadmap to develop "petaflop and exaflop range of supercomputers" at an estimated cost of Rs 4,700 crore over 5 years.

"In his (Sibal) letter, he has said that C-DAC has developed a proposal with a roadmap to develop a petaflop and exaflop range of supercomputers in the country with an outlay of Rs 4,700 crore," a government official said.

A petaflop is a measure of a computer s processing speed and can be expressed as a thousand trillion floating point operations per second. Exaflop is one quintillion computer operations per second. Simply put, one exaflop is thousand times faster than one petaflop.

The fastest supercomputer in the world, Sequoia, has registered a top computing speed of 16.32 petaflops, which is equivalent of computing of power from over 7.8 lakhs high-end laptops put together.

If the Indian government approves building exaflop supercomputers, these will be at least 61 times faster than Sequoia, officials said.

India's top supercomputer at present ranks 58th globally in terms of computing speed.

Sibal has cited the past record of Center for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) which was set up in 1987 by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi after technologically advanced nations denied supply of supercomputer to India in mid-1980s.

"The Minister has written that C-DAC developed first supercomputers in the country, the Param series. Presently Param Yuva with 54 teraflop computing power is serving many researchers through Garuda Computing Grid," the official said.

Sibal has proposed that Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY) should be given tasks to coordinate overall supercomputing activities in the country as it has been done in the past.

The proposal made in the letter says that DEITY should be given tasks to set up a National Apex Committee to oversee the implementation of the proposed Supercomputing Mission and C- DAC should establish peta and exascale supercomputing facilities and development activities.

Read More

BSNL to launch ‘Fibre to Home’ for high speed internet

BSNL here would launch by this month-end 'Fibre to Home' (FTH) facility for customers seeking internet, telephone and TV channels' access. 

A high speed up to 100 mbps on internet would be given with FTH in which customers could download a movie in just one minute, a BSNL spokesman said today quoting Senior General Manager G C Pandey. 

Besides, most of the popular TV channels, and landline phone services were annexed with FTH, he said. 

BSNL also planned to extend FTH service at the Global Investor Meet, slated here next month for which mobile towers were erected, he said. 

FTH network is being laid at the important points including High Court, State Bank of India, GP, IT Park, IIM and University area in the city too for the launch of the very service by the end of this month, he said. 

For getting a FTH connection with a speed of one mbps the customers would have to pay Rs 300 per month, and for 100 mbps it would be about Rs 84,000 per month. Installation charges would be around Rs 1000, according to the BSNL tariff. 

What was the fate of IPT service provided to customers on fixed landline, when asked the GM said there was some difficulty in getting private service players for IPT, and now FTH would get momentum.

Read More

Happy Vinayaka Chavithi..............

Ganesha Chaturthi (Marathi: गणेश चतुर्थी, Konkani: चवथ, Gujarati: ગણેશ ચતુર્થી, Hindi: गणेश चतुर्थी, Malayalam: വിനായക ചതുര്‍ത്ഥി, Tamil:விநாயகர் சதுர்த்தி, Kannada: ಗಣೇಶ ಚತುರ್ಥೀ, Telugu: వినాయక చవితి), also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi, also called Vinayagar in Tamil Nadu, is the Hindu festival celebrated on the occasion of birthday of Lord Ganesha, the son of Shiva and Parvati, who is believed to bestow his presence on earth for all his devotees in the duration of this festival. It is the day Shiva declared his son Ganesha as superior to all the gods, barring Vishnu, Lakshmi, Shiva and Parvati. Ganesha is widely worshipped as the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune and traditionally invoked at the beginning of any new venture or at the start of travel.

The festival, also known as Ganeshotsav ("festival of Ganesha") is observed in the Hindu calendar month of Bhaadrapada, starting on the shuklachaturthi (fourth day of the waxing moon period). The date usually falls between 19 August and 20 September. The festival lasts for 10 days, ending onAnant Chaturdashi (fourteenth day of the waxing moon period).

While celebrated all over India, it is most elaborate in Maharashtra,Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa. Outside India, it is celebrated widely in Nepal and by Hindus in the United States, Canada, Mauritius, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Burma and Fiji.

Legend

Traditional stories tell that Lord Ganesha was created by goddess Parvati, consort of Lord Shiva. Parvati created Ganesha out of sandalwood paste that she used for her bath and breathed life into the figure. She then set him to stand guard at her door while she bathed. Lord Shiva returned and, as Ganesha didn't know him, he didn't allow him to enter. Lord Shiva became enraged, severed the head of the child and entered his house. After realizing that he had beheaded his own son, Lord Shiva fixed the head of an elephant in place of Ganesha's head. In this way, Lord Ganesha came to be depicted as the elephant-headed God. 

Date
The festival is observed in the Hindu calendar month of Bhaadrapada, starting on the shukla chaturthi (fourth day of the waxing moon). The date usually falls between 19 August and 20 September. The festival lasts for 10 or 12 days, ending on Anant Chaturdashi. This festival is observed in the lunar month of bhadrapada shukla paksha chathurthi madhyahana vyapini purvaviddha. If Chaturthi prevails on both days, the first day should be observed. Even if chaturthi prevails for the complete duration of madhyahana on the second day, if it prevails on the previous day's madhyahana period even for one ghatika (24 minutes), the previous day should be observed.

History

It is not known when and how Ganesh Chaturthi was first celebrated. Ganesh Chaturthi was being celebrated as a public event in Pune since the times of Shivaji (1630-1680), the founder of theMaratha Empire. The Peshwas, the de facto hereditary administrators of the Empire from 1749 till its end in 1818, encouraged the celebrations in their administrative seat Pune as Ganesha was their family deity (Kuladevata). With the fall of the Peshwas, Ganesh Chaturthi lost state patronage and became a private family celebration again till its revivial by Indian freedom fighter and social reformer Lokmanya Tilak.

In 1893, Lokmanya Tilak transformed the annual domestic festival into a large, well-organized public event. Tilak recognized the wide appeal of the deity Ganesha as "the god for everybody", and popularized Ganesh Chaturthi as a national festival in order "to bridge the gap between Brahmins and 'non-Brahmins' and find a context in which to build a new grassroots unity between them", and generate nationalistic fervour among people in Maharashtra against the British colonial rule. Tilak was the first to install large public images of Ganesh in pavilions, and also established the practice of submerging in rivers, sea, or other pools of water all public images of the deity on the tenth day after Ganesh Chaturthi. 

Under Tilak's encouragement, the festival facilitated community participation and involvement in the form of intellectual discourses, poetry recitals, performances of plays, musical concerts, and folk dances. It served as a meeting ground for people of all castes and communities in times when, in order to exercise control over the population, the British discouraged social and political gatherings.


Celebration, rituals and tradition In Hinduism

Two to three months before Ganesh Chaturthi, artistic plaster of Paris (originally clay) models of Lord Ganesha are made for sale by specially skilled artisans. They are beautifully decorated and depict Lord Ganesh in poses. The size of these statues may vary from 3/4 of an inch to over 70 feet.

Ganesh Chaturthi starts with the installation of these Ganesh statues in colorfully decorated homes and specially erected temporary structuresmandapas (pandals) in every locality. The pandals are erected by the people or a specific society or locality or group by collecting monetary contributions. The pandals are decorated specially for the festival, either by using decorative items like flower garlands, lights, etc. or are theme based decorations, which depict religious themes or current events.

The priest, usually clad in red or white dhoti and uttariyam (Shawl), then with the chanting of mantras invokes the presence of Ganesha using the statue as a channel, or body for his energy. This ritual is the Pranapratishhtha. After this the ritual called as Shhodashopachara (16 ways of paying tribute) follows. Coconut, jaggery, 21 modakas, 21 durva (trefoil) blades of grass and red flowers are offered. The statue is anointed with red unguent, typically made of kumkum and sandalwood paste. Throughout the ceremony, Vedic hymns from the Rig Veda, the Ganapati Atharva Shirsha Upanishad, and the Ganesha stotra from the Narada Purana are chanted.

Ganesha is worshiped for 10 days from Bhadrapada Shudha Chaturthi to the Ananta Chaturdashi, On the 11th day, the statue is taken through the streets in a procession accompanied with dancing, singing, and fanfare to be immersed in a river or the sea symbolizing a ritual see-off of the Lord in his journey towards his abode in Kailash while taking away with him the misfortunes of his devotees. This is the ritual known as Ganesha Visarjane in Kannada, Ganesh Visarjan in Marathi and Vinayaka Nimarjana or Vinayaka Nimajjanam in Telugu. At individual homes the Visarjan/Nimajjanam is also done on 3rd, 5th or 7th day as per the family tradition. All join in this final procession shouting "Ganapati Bappa Morya, Pudhachya Varshi Laukar ya" (O lord Ganesha, come again early next year) in Maharastra and "Ganesh Maha Raj ki, Jai" (lord Ganesha, victory is yours) in Andhra Pradesh. After the final offering of coconuts, flowers and camphor is made, people carry the idols to the river to immerse it. 

The main sweet dish during the festival is the modak (modak in Marathi, modakam/kudumu in Telugu, modaka in Kannada and modagam in Tamil). A modak is a dumpling made from rice flour/wheat flour with a stuffing of fresh or dry-grated coconut, jaggery, dry fruits and some other condiments. It is either steam-cooked or fried. Another popular sweet dish is the karanji (karjikai in Kannada) which is similar to the modak in composition and taste but has a semicircular shape.

In Andhra, kudumu (rice flour dumplings stuffed with coconut and jaggery mixture), Vundrallu (steamed coarsely grounded rice flour balls), Panakam (jaggery, black pepper and cardamom flavored drink), Vadapappu (soaked and moong lentils), Chalividi (cooked rice flour and jaggery mixture), etc., are offered to Ganesha along with Modakams. These offerings to god are called Naivedyam in Telugu.

In Andhra, Clay Ganesh (Matti Vinayakudu in Telugu) and Turmeric Ganesh (Siddhi Vinayakudu in Telugu) is usually worshiped at homes along with plaster of paris Ganesha.

Public celebrations of the festival are hugely popular, with local communities (mandalas) vying with each other to put up the biggest statue and the best pandal. The festival is also the time for cultural activities like singing and theater performances, orchestra and community activities like free medical checkup, blood donation camps, charity for the poor, etc.

Today, the Ganesh Festival is not only a popular festival, it has become a very critical and important economic activity for Mumbai, Hyderabad,Bangalore and Chennai. Many artists, industries, and businesses survive on this mega-event. Ganesh Festival also provides a stage for budding artists to present their art to the public. In Maharashtra, not only Hindus but many other religions also participate in the celebration like Muslims, Jains, Christian and others.In mangalore, there is a belief that the eldest son of the home should be present during pooja.


This festival managed to re-establish the unity among the Indians during British Era.

Outside India

Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated in the UK by the migrant Hindu population as well as the large number of Indians residing there. The Hindu culture and Heritage Society, UK - a Southall based organisation celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi for the first time in London in 2005 at The Vishwa Hindu Temple. The Idol was immersed in the river Thames at Putney Pier. Another celebration organised by an Gujarati group has been celebrated in the Southend-on-Seawhich attracts over 18000 devotees. Annual celebrations also take place on the River Mersey at Liverpool.

The festival is similarly celebrated in many locations across the world. The Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh USA, an organisation of Hindus based in the US organises many such events to mark the Hindu festivals.

In USA, Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated by various associations of Telugu speaking people. (Telugu Association of North America, Bay Area Telugu Association and Balaji Temples across USA.)

The Philadelphia Ganesh popularly known as PGF is the largest Sarvajanik (fully contributed by public funds) Hindu festival in North America. Since 2005 the festival is conducted every year in Bharatiya Temple, Chalfont, Pennsylvania. The 10 days are marked by processions, devotional programs, cultural events, India filmi-orchestra and a weekend carnival. While the Marathi community plays a big role in organising the festival, participation from all communities such as Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, North Indian, Bengali etc. is seen as the reason for its success and uniqueness.

In Canada, Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated by associations of Marathi-speaking people. (MBM in Toronto, MSBC in Vancouver, etc.)

Celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi in Mauritius dates back to 1896. The first Ganesh Chaturthi Puja was held in the 7 Cascades Valley next to Henrietta village by the Bhiwajee family who is still celebrating this pious festival for more than a century. Over the years the festival gained such popularity on the island that Mauritian government has attributed a public holiday for that day.

Read More

Passwords for online banking, email could be replaced with wave of a hand

Passwords for online banking, social networks and email could be replaced with the wave of a hand if prototype technology developed byIntel makes it to tablets and laptops.

Aiming to do away with the need to remember passwords for growing numbers of online services, Intel researchers have put together a tablet with newsoftware and a biometric sensor that recognizes the unique patterns of veins on a person's palm.

"The problem with passwords, we use too many of them, their rules are complex, and they differ for different websites," Sridhar Iyengar, director of security research at Intel Labs, said at the annual Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco on Thursday. "There is a way out of it, and biometrics is an option."

Iyengar demonstrated the technology, quickly waving his hand in front of a tablet but not touching it. Once the tablet recognizes a user, it can securely communicate that person's identity to banks, social networks and other services where the person has accounts, he said.

Making laptops, tablets and smartphones responsible for identifying users would take that requirement away from individual websites and do away with the need to individually enter passwords into each of them, Iyengar said. "We plan to work with service providers to take full advantage of this," he said.

A device using the technology would use built-in accelerometers to detect when a user puts it down, and would then log its owner off to keep unauthorized people from getting in.

The palm-identification technology was one of several demonstrations during a keynote address by Intel Chief Technology Officer Justin Rattner at the forum. Rattner runs Intel Labs, which focuses on identifying and solving future technology problems. Rattner also showed prototype technology to improve cell-phone base stations and to efficiently and wirelessly connect devices such as printers, tablets and monitors throughout the home.

He debuted a prototype microchip with wifi technology made with digital circuitry instead of analog, a development that has the potential to lead to major improvements in performance and efficiency.

The palm-reading technology, still under development, requires new software and biometric sensors built into consumer devices, but does not require the development of any new kinds of chips, Rattner said, "The technology works much better than the finger-print scanners found on some laptops today".

Read More

New encoding to make emails hacker-proof

Among the billions of emails sent back and forth daily are some that do contain personal, proprietary and sensitive information, documents, media, photos, videos and sound files.

Unfortunately, the open nature of email means that they can be intercepted and, if not encrypted, easily read by malicious third parties. Even with the PGP - pretty good privacy - encryption scheme first used in 1995, if a sender's private "key" is compromised all their previous emails encrypted with that key can be exposed.

Computer scientists Duncan Wong and Xiaojian Tian of City University of Hong Kong, explain how previous researchers had attempted to define perfect email privacy that utilizes PGP by developing a technique that would preclude the decryption of other emails should a private key be compromised, the International Journal of Security and Networks reports.

Unfortunately, say Wong and Tian, this definition fails if one allows the possibility that the email server itself may be compromised by hackers or other malicious users, according to a Hong Kong statement.

The team has now defined perfect forward secrecy for email as follows and suggested a technical solution to enable email security to be independent of the server used to send the message.

"An e-mail system provides perfect forward secrecy if any third party, including the e-mail server, cannot recover previous session keys between the sender and the recipient even if the long-term secret keys of the sender and the recipient are compromised," suggest Wong and Tian.

By building a new email protocol on this principle, the team suggests that it is now possible to exchange emails with almost zero risk of interference from third parties. "Our protocol provides both confidentiality and message authentication in addition to perfect forward secrecy," they explain.

The team's protocol involves Alice sending Bob an encrypted email with the hope that Charles will not be able to intercept and decrypt the message. Before the email is encrypted and sent, the protocol suggested by Wong and Tian has Alice's computer send an identification code to the email server.

The server creates a random session "hash" that is then used to encrypt the actual encryption key for the email Alice is about to send. Meanwhile, Bob as putative recipient receives the key used to create the hash and bounces back an identification tag. This allows Alice and Bob to verify each other's identity.

These preliminary steps are all automatically and without Alice or Bob needing to do anything in advance. Now, Alice writes her email, encrypts it using PGP and then "hashes" it using the random key from the server. When Bob receives the encrypted message he uses his version of the hash to unlock the container within which the PGP-encrypted email sits.

Bob then uses Alice's public PGP key to decrypt the message itself. No snoopers on the internet between Alice and Bob, not even the email server ever have access to the PGP encrypted email in the open.

Moreover, because a different key is used to lock up the PGP encrypted email with a second one-time layer, even if the PGP security is compromised, past emails created with the same key cannot be unlocked.

Read More

Government clears 51% FDI in retail, 49% in aviation

NEW DELHI: After months of dilly-dallying, UPA mustered courage on Friday to throw open the gates to foreign investment in a host of sectors considered political no-go zones like multi-brand retail and civil aviation in a bid to dispel the perception of policy paralysis.

This will pave the way for the much-awaited entry of foreign retail giants such as Walmart, Tesco and Carrefour into the $450 billion retail market, although their footprint will be limited to million-plus cities in states which have agreed to back the measure.

The decisions on Friday, along with a go-ahead for disinvestment in four PSUs to mop up Rs 14,000 crore, come within a day of the ruling coalition's decision to raise diesel price by a stiff Rs 5 a litre and cap subsidized cooking gas cylinders to six a year for every household.

Taken together, they mark the most ambitious reform rush by the beleaguered government which has been roundly attacked for drift and diminished will to take bold measures. Faced with dwindling political fortunes, the UPA appears to have finally resorted to a flurry of actions aimed at salvaging the government's precarious finances and retrieving the sinking reforms legacy of the Manmohan Singh regime.

There were loud protests from non-Congress parties which may shortly call for a countrywide shutdown.

Govt driven by perform or perish mantra

But the government, driven by a "perform or perish" mantra, asserted it will stick to its decisions which have been taken after factoring in the resistance of allies and opponents. There is recognition that the cost of inaction will be far more severe, given the worsening finances and real threat of a ratings downgrade. With experts and its own top leadership feeling that the window for decision-making is shrinking fast, there was an air of determination in the government taking on allies and outside supporters who have crippled its options for months

On the upside, government can expect a roaring reception from the financial markets on Monday as a global rally triggered by monetary easing in the US and Germany's green signal to a Eurozone recovery package ties in with Friday's initiatives. This can prove to be a mood-enhancer for UPA as it heads into state polls in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat.

The decision to leave it to states to allow foreign retailers is meant to blunt the opposition. However, it has been sought to be balanced by improving the terms for the foreign players. Riders such as sourcing norms and rules to open stores in cities with a population of over one million have been tweaked for the benefit of foreign players, who can now pick up 51% stake in Indian joint ventures. So far, these players could only set up single-brand stores or enter the wholesale segment and sell bulk buyers such as canteens, restaurants and kirana shops.

Bowing to pressure from foreign players such as IKEA, the government eased sourcing norms for single-brand retail and permitted them to buy at least 30% of the goods from Indian industry, instead of the earlier stipulation that made purchases mandatory from small and medium units.

In case of civil aviation, where FDI is already permitted, the government has relaxed rules to allow foreign carriers to buy up to 49% stake in Indian airlines, a decision that throws a lifeline to ailing Kingfisher and other smaller players. PM Manmohan Singh sought support for the decisions, saying they were needed to tide over difficult times and make India a more attractive destination for foreign investors.

Read More

Global IT companies hiring talent from small towns

When Sukruth KS first walked into the National Institute of Technology in the small town of Warangal in Andhra Pradesh three years ago, he was just another engineering student. When he passes out in May next year, he will be the one who Microsoft hired for a $1,00,000 (approximately Rs 60 lakh) salary for a global posting.

Anmol Kumar, Balmukund Trivedi and Dinesh Reddy, three of Sukruth's batchmates, have also snagged similar salaries from Epic Systems, a US-based company that makes software for healthcare companies. To put that in perspective, the highest pay cheques seen at top-notch IITs are in the $1,40,000 range.

Global tech and internet firms are on the prowl in small towns this placement season, looking to lure talent from NITs and good private engineering colleges. Both would rank a notch lower than IITs in the talent pecking order.

Sample this: Amazon, Google, PepsiCo, Yahoo, Cisco, Oracle, Deloitte, Adobe, DE Shaw, Flipkart, Direct-i, Caterpillar, Future First and IBM are making offers this year at non-IIT campuses in Vellore, Madurai and Mesra, and also at private colleges in Delhi and Bangalore. Placement heads at these colleges say companies are hiring more than last year.

The companies are offering higher salaries and dangling better perks, including international assignments, free holidays and joining bonuses of up to Rs 1 lakh.

Amazon, Google, PepsiCo and more such marquee employers wooed students at NIT Warangal with salaries in the Rs 8-20 lakh range. Global IT services major IBM also hired 85 students from the institute this year. "Even gaming firms such as EA Sports have come in and selected four students for Rs 12 lakh," says M Chandrasekhar, NIT's placement head.

"It's a question of supply and demand which cannot be met by going only to IITs," says Yugesh Goutam, executive director of KEC International, the infrastructure firm of the RPG Group.

"When we have to hire 1000, it is not possible to take them only from the IITs, which only have a handful," says P Thiruvengadam, senior director, Deloitte India. "Also, tier-II and III colleges are important because they give us a good mix of students from different cultures," he adds.

"We strike a healthy balance by hiring a mix of students from IITs and from tier-II and III colleges," says V Nagarajan, VP and head-HR, Times Internet. "Students from the latter come with high aptitude and a high emotional quotient." Times Internet hires 20-25% of its talent from tier-II and III colleges.

Engineering and tech firms and core product companies form part of the first wave of recruiters at such campuses. IT service giants such as Wipro, Infosys, Cognizant, TCS and HCL will start visiting campuses from September. Salaries offered by these mass recruiters are typically around Rs 3.75 lakh.

In the past few years, students have preferred product and core companies rather than the IT services sector as whispers of a downturn, delays in joining dates, etc, affect the image of the industry, sources from these colleges say.

At the Vellore Institute of Technology, Flipkart beat Amazon and Google with a Rs 12.5 lakh package, while Microsoft offered Rs 10.5 lakh. Another e-commerce firm, PayPal, hired for Rs 8.25 lakh. Others such as Schneider, Cisco and Thoughtworks are offering Rs 6-10 lakh. DE Shaw came armed with a package of Rs 14.5 lakh and Amazon has given students a retention bonus of Rs 1 lakh after a year. "We are here to compete with MNCs such as Google, Yahoo andAdobe since we need students with similar caliber," said Aparna Ballakur, HR head for Flipkart. The e-commerce company will pick up its fresh batch from IITs, BITS Pilani, NITs and VIT.

At the Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, IT product companies alone have so far absorbed 8-10% of the 375-400 undergraduate batch. These include the likes of Microsoft, Facebook and Direct-i. Overall, packages are 15-20% higher than last year, says Saitab Sinha, deputy placement head at the institute. Bangalore-based RV College of Engineering has seen 35-40% of its 1,000 students roped in by a similar lot, and at double the pay in some cases. Salaries offered at Delhi Technological University are 30% higher than last year. "Several Korean companies have offered packages of Rs 35-40 lakh, including perks, and joining bonus amounting to Rs 1 lakh," says Neeraj Nimwal, training & placement officer for the college.

IBM hired 154 students from the 2013 batch at Madurai-based Thiagarajar College of Engineering, compared to 90 last time. Amazon has selected two students for Rs 11.5 lakh and ITC, Thoughtworks, Athena Healthcare have recruited for around Rs 6 lakh and above. Automotive manufacturing companies such as Tata Motors, Maruti and SKF are ready to pay Rs 4.25-5.5 lakh to candidates.

Read More

Computers to read your lips

A computer is being taught to interpret human emotions based on lip-reading, one which could improve our interaction with these machines and perhaps allow disabled people to use voice synthesizers, more effectively and efficiently.

Karthigayan Muthukaruppan of Manipal International University in Selangor, Malaysia, and co-workers have developed a system using a genetic algorithm that gets better and better with each use to match irregular ellipse (lip shapes) fitting equations to the shape of the human mouth displaying different emotions.

They have used photos of individuals from South-East Asia and Japan to train a computer to recognize the six commonly accepted human emotions - happiness, sadness, fear, angry, disgust, surprise -- and a neutral expression.

The upper and lower lip is each analyzed as two separate ellipses by the algorithm, the International Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Soft Computing reported.

"In recent years, there has been a growing interest in improving all aspects of interaction between humans and computers especially in the area of human emotion recognition by observing facial expression," the team explained, according to a statement of Manipal University.

Earlier researchers had developed an understanding that allows emotion to be recreated by manipulating a representation of the human face on a computer screen.

However, lips remain a crucial part of the outward expression of emotion. The team's algorithm can successfully classify the seven emotions and a neutral expression described.

Researchers suggest that initial applications of such an emotion detector might be helping disabled patients lacking speech to interact more effectively with computer-based communication devices, for instance.

Read More

RBI facilitating the visually challenged and physically disabled through new banking

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has advised banks to adopt measures to ensure that visually challenged and those with physical disabilities aren't discriminated against or at a disadvantage when accessing banking facilities.

RBI's advisory follows a report by Office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities which noted that visually challenged persons are facing problems in availing banking facilities like internet banking.

In its notification, RBI said that banks need to make sure that all banking facilities such as cheque book facility including third party cheques, ATM facility, Net banking facility, locker facility, retail loans, credit cards etc., are invariably offered to visually challenged persons without any discrimination as they are legally competent to contract.

RBI also advised banks to take necessary steps to provide all existing ATMs / future ATMs with ramps and to make at least one third of new ATMs installed as talking ATMs with Braille keypads.

Citing its earlier circulars in which it had advised banks to put in place effective mechanisms to seamlessly extend banking services to visually impair and physically challenged, the banking regulator advised banks to strictly adhere to instructions contained in the earlier notifications.

In September 2005 the Court of Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities had passed Orders instructing banks to offer all the banking facilities including cheque book facility, ATM facility and locker facility to the visually challenged and also assist them in withdrawal of cash. It had also advised banks to render all possible assistance to the visually challenged for availing various banking facilities.

Read More

Hyderabad to get 50,000-acre IT hub

An Information Technology hub is expected to witness rapid growth in the IT sector with the setting up of investment region around the city.

The central government has agreed in principle to Andhra Pradesh government's proposal for setting up an Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR), a minister announced Saturday.

State IT minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah told reporters that the ITIR would come up over 50,000 acres of land in 25 years. It is aimed at attracting an investment of Rs 2.19 lakh crore in the ITTES sector and providing direct employment to 15 lakh people.

The investment region is expected to increase the direct employment from the current 3 to 15 lakh and indirect employment from 10 to 50 lakh. The built-up space will rise from the present 40 million square feet to 130 million square feet.

The investment region would comprise production units, public utilities, logistic, environment protection mechanism, residential areas and administrative services in three proposed corridors.

The government proposed to develop the infrastructure for ITIR at an estimated cost of over Rs 15,000 crore.

Under the mega project, special economic zones (SEZs), industrial parks, free trade zones, warehousing zones and export-oriented units would come up in three corridors around the city.

The minister said the ITIR would increase IT exports from the present Rs 50,000 crore to Rs 2.35 lakh crore. Similarly the electronic hardware manufacturing sector will grow from the current Rs 6,000 crore to Rs 80,000 crore.

The development of IT sector in Hyderabad began in mid 1990s and it is today at the fourth place in the country in terms of IT exports.

The city is home to global IT giants and Fortune 500 companies like Microsoft, Google, IBM, Oracle, Dell, Motorola, Deloitte, Convergys, UBS, Bank of America and HSBC.

Read More

You may get call from Facebook if profile identity is suspect

Social networking giant Facebook is making a "huge effort" to weed out fake profiles to prevent misuse of such identities, a senior company official has said.

"Absolutely, there is a huge effort," Facebook India business manager Pavan Varma told PTI when asked about the company's action on this front.

If Facebook doubts the ownership of an account, it will ask the user to identify himself/herself, he said.

Full Coverage on Apple's new iPhone

The doubt about the authenticity of the account will arise if an account has a generic name instead of a proper name, uses images of celebrities/ cartoon characters as display pictures, or does not have "enough friends", Varma said.

"It could even be that Facebook comes back to you saying, `could you help us identify yourself if you don't have enough friends, because we don't want fake identities," he said.

"We are worried about the experience we deliver....It's not about protecting our brand identity so much," he said.

Recently there were reports of fake accounts being created by computer programs, which are used for inflating the number of "likes" on Facebook page for a brand.

Facebook had recently said it would be taking out fake "likes" generated by spammers, malware and black marketers.

Varma said advertisers must also shed the obsession with numbers. "How does an advertiser today treat a Facebook page? It is treated as a place where they just come with a number of people who are there. But that is a wrong way of doing it," he said, stressing that the conversations around the brand should assume importance rather than the numbers.

Mere "likes" on the page do not help a brand, he said. Companies generally pay Facebook for a dedicated page on its platform that helps them connect with the target audience.

IDBI Bank claims it has over five lakh fans on Facebook, Varma said, who was speaking to PTI on the sidelines of a banking summit.

He added that Facebook, as a medium, is completely secure and cited the case of ICICI Bank, which now offers basic services over the Facebook page by integrating its net banking platform with the social networking site.

Read More

Security firms see rise in smartphone cyber-attacks

Cyber-crooks are increasingly taking aim at smartphones, following their prey as lifestyles migrate to Internet-linked mobile devices, according to new reports by online security firms.

Symantec's annual Norton Cyber Crime Report released Thursday calculated that such crimes cost worldwide consumers $110 billion in the past year, with an increase in attacks on mobile devices and online social networks.

"Cyber criminals are changing their tactics to target fast-growing mobile platforms and social networks where consumers are less aware of security risks," said Norton Internet safety advocate Marian Merritt.

Lookout Mobile Security estimated that millions of dollars have been stolen from people worldwide during the past year using smartphone "malware," with a "toll fraud" virus proving to be a popular tool.

Toll fraud programs prompt smartphones to send bogus premium text messages, charges for which are added to telecom service bills. The money winds up in the pockets of the people responsible for the infections.

Toll fraud malware is designed to hide what it is doing, and charges can go unnoticed in complex mobile service billing statements, according to Lookout senior product manager Derek Halliday.

Lookout, which has more than 25 million subscribers to its service, said that in the past 12 months the amount of toll fraud viruses found on devices climbed from 29 per cent to 62 per cent.

"The mobile malware industry has matured and become a viable business model," Halliday said. "Toll fraud is the most prevalent type of malware."

The likelihood of being infected was highest in Eastern Europe, Russia, and China, where smartphone users get "apps" from unofficial sources instead of trusted outlets such as Apple or Google online shops, according to Lookout.

Infected apps may be made available free at file-sharing sites, discussion forums, or through links sent in messages or posted on social networks.

"There are entire systems developed to aid distribution of this malware," Halliday said.

"The bad guys are really focusing on improving and scaling their distribution techniques. They are even gaming legitimate app systems."

Cyber-criminals also create programs to boost ratings of tainted apps to make them more appealing to unsuspecting smartphone users.

Websites booby-trapped with malicious code remain the most common means of attack.

Aside from toll fraud, there is "adjacking," in which hackers take a popular application and change segments of its code so that they reap the benefit of advertising.

"When we look at the data, 12 months ago we saw a lot of evidence of experimentation that indicated malware developers were looking to see what stuck," Halliday said.

"With toll fraud they have found a business model that seems to be working; now they are trying to find a distribution model."

Nearly a third of smartphone users have received a text message from a stranger asking them to click on an embedded link or dial an unfamiliar number, according to the Norton findings.

One in five online adults told of being a cybercrime victim at a social network or on a mobile device, the Norton report found.

"We do believe it is possible to be safe on mobile," Halliday said.

"It is all about using caution when downloading apps, paying close attention to what you click on, and watching for the same kinds of threats seen on personal computers."

Read More

Hundreds more cyber attacks linked to 2009 Google breach

The hacker group that attacked Google Inc in 2009 has launched hundreds of other cyber assaults since then, focusing on U.S. defense companies and human rights groups, according to new research from security software maker Symantec Corp.

Google said in January 2010 that it and more than 20 other companies were the victims of a sophisticated cyber attack - later dubbed Operation Aurora - from China-based hackers that resulted in the theft of intellectual property.

Although the hackers were never publicly identified, the incident heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing over growing evidence that a significant number of cyber attacks against U.S. institutions originated from China.

Full Coverage on Apple's new iPhone

"It was big news at the time, but what people don't realize is that this is happening constantly," said Eric Chien, a manager in Symantec's research group. "They haven't gone away, and we wouldn't expect them to go away."

Symantec said on Friday the hackers behind Operation Aurora have focused on stealing intellectual property, such as design documents from defense contractors and their suppliers, including shipping, aeronautics, arms, energy, manufacturing, engineering and electronics companies.

The hackers used components of a common infrastructure that Symantec termed the "Elderwood Platform," named after a word repeatedly found in the software code used in different attacks.

Over the past year, the Elderwood hackers have focused almost exclusively on stealing data from companies that supply parts to big defense contractors, rather than targeting the firms themselves, Chien said.

The second most common group of targets was non-government organizations involved in Tibetan human rights issues. Financial firms and software companies were also targeted, Symantec said.

The security firm, which sells anti-virus software to corporations and consumers under the Symantec andNorton brands, declined to identify specific victims and noted that it did not have evidence to prove the attacks originated from China.

Cyber security experts widely believe the Google attacks originated from China.

Dmitri Alperovitch, chief technology officer of security startup CrowdStrike, said his firm has linked the culprits to more recent attacks, including ones last year on EMC Corp's

RSA Security division and Lockheed Martin Corp. The hackers infected personal computers by exploiting what were major security flaws in commonly used software from Adobe Systems Inc and Microsoft Corp. Such flaws, known as zero-day vulnerabilities, are rare because they are difficult to find. The flaws have since been fixed.

Last year, security experts uncovered eight zero-day flaws being exploited by various hacking groups, according to Symantec.

Symantec said it believed the Elderwood hackers alone have used eight zero-day vulnerabilities from 2010 to 2012 - the largest number it has seen from a single organization. That suggests the group had the money to hire large teams of skilled software engineers or purchase them.

Some experts estimate that a zero-day vulnerability that enables attackers to hack into highly secured systems can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, even more than $1 million.

The fact that the Elderwood hackers has used so many zero-day vulnerabilities suggests it is either a very large criminal group, or backed by a nation-state, or a nation-state itself, Chien said.

Read More

A Study says: PCs can reduce the risk of dementia

Access to a personal computer lowers the risk of cognitive decline and dementia in older men by up to 40 per cent, a new study has claimed.

The study showed that the risk of dementia was about 30 to 40 per cent lower among older computer users than non-user.

Researchers at the University of Western Australia undertook an eight-year study of more than 5000 men in Perth aged between 65 to 85.

"As the world's population ages, the number of people experiencing cognitive decline and dementia will increase to 50 million by 2025," Professor Osvaldo Almeida, research Director at the WA-affiliate, the Centre for Health and Ageing, said.

"But if our findings are correct, the increase in the number of cases of dementia over the next 40 years may not be as dramatic as is currently expected," said Almeida in a statement.

Almeida said previous studies showed that cognitively stimulating activities decreased the risk of dementia but there was little evidence on the likely effect of computer use over many years.

"So it got us thinking, with personal computer ownership on the increase, could it make a difference? We found that it did, and that there was a significant benefit," he said.

The researchers found that computer users were younger than non-users, had completed at least high school, had a more active social network and were less likely to show evidence of depressionor poor physical health.

They found that the risk of dementia was about 30 to 40 per cent lower among older computer users than non-users and that their findings could not be attributed to age, education, social isolation, depression, overall health or cognitive impairment.

Older people should therefore be encouraged to embrace computer technology as long as they understand the dangers of prolonged physical inactivity and the many advantages of a balanced and healthy lifestyle, the authors write.

The research is part of Australia's longest-running longitudinal study of men's health and ageing. It has been following a group of more than 19,000 men since 1996.

The results were published in the journal 'PLoSOne'.

Read More

Internet subscriber base in India may reach 150 million

Driven by youth, Internet subscriber base in the country is expected to reach 150 million by the end of this year, says a report.

The report by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB said, "the number of claimed Internet users has seen a growth of 16 per cent over last year. This number is estimated to grow up to 150 million by December 2012."

There will be 105 million users in urban India while the rural areas will contribute 45 million subscribers, it added.

Claimed users are those who have used Internet at least once in their lifetime while active users have used Internet at least once in the last one month.

"As of June 2012, there are 137 million claimed Internet users in India (99 million from Urban India and 38 million from the rural parts of the country)," the report said.

Out of these 137 million claimed users, there are 111 million active users, it added.

The number of active users is growing at the rate of 19 per cent, faster than the claimed users.

"This indicates that the penetration of active users among the claimed ones will grow as Internet seeps more deeply into the lives of Indians," the report said.

It added that Internet usage in the country is still driven by the youth and mobile is coming up as a major avenue for Internet access and is redefining how the users stay online.

"Thanks to this trend, we see a huge spike in the frequency of Internet usage from a mere 28 per cent of the users in 2011 accessing Internet daily to 54 per cent users now," the report said.

Email and social networking are the most popular purposes of Internet access and are the main triggers for bringing people on this platform, it said.

"Continuing previous years' trends, school going kids, college students and young men continue to account for the maximum Internet users in the country with about 70 per cent of all active Internet users in urban India," the report added.

Read More

Happy Teachers Day

In many countries, Teachers' Days are intended to be special days for the appreciation of teachers, and may include celebrations to honor them for their special contributions in a particular field area, or the community in general. The date on which Teachers' day is celebrated varies from country to country. Teachers' days are distinct from World Teachers' Day which is officially celebrated across the world on Oct 5

History

The idea of celebrating Teachers' Day took ground independently in many countries during the 20th century; in most cases, they celebrate a local educator or an important milestone in education (for example, Argentina commemorates Domingo Faustino Sarmiento's death on September 11 since 1915, while India celebrates Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan's birthday on September 5 since 1962). This is the primary reason why countries celebrate this day on different dates, unlike many other International Days.

By Country 

Country	Date of Teachers' Day	Notes
Afghanistan	Oct 15	Schools have a holiday, but students and teachers gather to celebrate at schools with special traditional food, cookies, music and presents for the teachers
Albania	March 7	In 1887, the first secular school which taught lessons in Albanian was opened on this day in the small city of Korçë. All schools had previously functioned under the supervision of the Catholic Church in northern and middle Albania; the Orthodox Church in the south did not allow any Albanian schools.
Algeria	February 28
Argentina	September 11	To honor the work of Domingo Faustino Sarmiento after he died.
Armenia	First Sunday in October
Australia	Last Friday in October	On Australia’s celebration of World Teachers’ Day, the NEiTA Foundation and the Australian Scholarships Group (ASG) is proud to announce the national teaching recipients of the ASG Community Merit Awards. World Teachers’ Day was started by UNESCO and is celebrated in more than 100 countries around the world each year. On its 40th anniversary this year, it represents a significant token of the awareness, understanding, and appreciation displayed for the vital contribution that teachers make to education.
Azerbaijan	October 5	Between 1965 and 1994, the first Sunday of October. Since 1994, on October 5, it has coincided with the World Teachers' Day (est. 1994 by UNESCO).
Bangladesh	October 4
Bahrain	February 28
Belarus	First Sunday of October
Brunei Darussalam	September 23	To commemorate the birth date of the 28th ruler of Brunei, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III, also known as the 'Architect of Modern Brunei' who amongst others had emphasized the importance of education to his subjects by introducing a policy of 'free' education whereby the citizens are charged very nominal fees for attending schools. This policy has now been followed by the current 29th ruler who has since extended the policy further.
Bhutan	May 2	Established and marked on the birth anniversary of the third King of Bhutan, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, who introduced modern education to the country.
Bolivia	June 6
Brazil	October 15	A decree regulating the elementary schools in Brazil. The celebration gained popularity throughout the country, and October 15 was officially designated Teachers' Day in 1963.
Bulgaria	October 5	On 29.09.2006, October 5 was recognized as Teacher's Day by the government.
Chile	October 16	In 1967, September 11 was chosen as "Día del Maestro" ("Teacher's Day"). The date was moved to December 10 in 1975, because on that day in 1945, the Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral received the Nobel Prize. In 1977, the date was renamed to "Día del Profesor" (also "Teacher's Day") and was moved again, to October 16, to honor the founding of the Colegio de Profesores de Chile (Teachers' Association of Chile).
Colombia	May 15	This day marks the appointment of San Juan Bautista de la Salle as the patron of teachers. In 1950, Pope Pius XII granted his approval of La Salle as patron of teachers for championing the causes of modern education. The holy founder understood the education of children as the obligation of all. Usually the schools of his time (1651–1719) only accepted young people studying towards politics or diplomacy. Juan Bautista outlined the principles of free and universal education. That same year in Colombia, the President of the Republic declared that date as Teachers' Day.
China	September 10	In the People's Republic of China (PRC), there are some activities for students to show their appreciation to teachers, such as presenting gifts, including cards and flowers. In addition, many former students will go back to their old middle schools and high schools to give presents to their old teachers.
Czech Republic	March 28	The birthday of John Amos Comenius. Czech students nominate the teachers whose approach most motivates and inspires them to the competition Zlatý Ámos (Golden Amos). The coronation of "Golden Amos" take place yearly on March 28.
Ecuador	April 13	Celebrated on this date in honour of Juan Montalvo, an Ecuadorian teacher who planted the seeds of development in young minds.
Egypt	February 28
El Salvador	June 22	Observed as a national holiday.
Estonia	October 5
Germany	October 5
Greece	January 30	Derived from the Eastern Orthodox faith when the Three Holy Hierarchs and Ecumenical Teachers (Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom) are commemorated.
Guatemala	June 25	A celebration in honour of the teacher Maria Chinchilla who died during a violent riot in protest against the government.
Hong Kong	September 10	Before the 1997, Teachers' Day was on September 28. After the handover to the People's Republic of China, the day was changed to September 10, which is when the PRC celebrates the holiday.
Hungary	First Sunday of June
India	September 5	The birthdate, [5 September 1888], of the second President of India, academic philosopher Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. It is considered a "celebration" day, where teachers and students report to school as usual but the usual activities and classes are replaced by activities of celebration, thanks and remembrance. At some schools on this day, the responsibility of teaching is taken up by the senior students to show appreciation for their teachers. Another day set aside for commemorating teachers in India and Nepal is Guru Purnima, also called 'Ashad sukla purnima'. It typically falls in mid-July.
Indonesia	November 25	National Teachers' Day is commemorated on the same day as the formation of the Indonesian Teachers' Association, the PGRI. National Teachers' Day is not a holiday, but it is celebrated by having a ceremonial activity in recognition of certain teachers, headmasters, and school staff.
Iran	May 2	Commemorating the martyrdom of Abulhassan Khan'ali, a teacher who was shot dead in a meeting in front of National Parliament during the Mohammad Rezā Shāh era on May 2, 1961. Later the Islamic Republic government changed it to commemorate the martyrdom of Dr. Morteza Motahhari on May 2, 1979.
Iraq	March 1
Jamaica	May 6	Teachers' Day is normally celebrated on May 6 or the first Wednesday in May.[10] In celebration of Teachers' Day, it is common for students and parents to bring teachers gifts. In addition, most schools are closed early (half-day).
Jordan	February 28
Laos	October 7
Lithuania	October 5	Between 1965 and 1994, the first Sunday of October. Since 1994, on October 5, to coincide with the World Teachers' Day (est. 1994 by UNESCO).
Lebanon	March 9	Between March 3 and March 9.
Libya	February 28
Macedonia (FYROM)	October 5
Malaysia	May 16	This date was chosen because on the same day in 1956, the Federal Legislative Council of the Federation of Malaya endorsed the Razak Report, one of four reports of the Education Committee regarding education in Malaysia. The document, known as the Razak Report after Tun Abdul Razak who was Education Minister at the time, has been the basis of education in Malaysia ever since. Although it is not an official school holiday, celebrations are usually held on May 16, or earlier, if it falls on a Saturday or Sunday.
Mexico	May 15
Republic of Moldova	October 5
Mongolia	First weekend of February
Morocco	February 28
Nepal	Full moon day of nepali month Ashad	The full moon day is also called 'Ashad sukla purnima' and the day usually falls in mid-July. Teacher's day is called "Guru Purnima" in Nepali. Students pay homage to the teachers, offer them foods and flowers and receive blessings from the teacher. "Guru devo bhava:" a Sanskrit phrase meaning "Teacher is God" is still widely accepted. Teachers are given the highest degree of respect.
Netherlands	October 5[11]
New Zealand	October 29	In 2010 teachers were encouraged to march against recent cuts in government funding by marching in Auckland on Sunday 31st.
Oman	February 28
Pakistan	October 5	It recognizes the importance of teachers and attributes progress to the quality of teachers in Pakistan's Educational System.
Panama	December 1	To commemorate the birth date of Manuel José Hurtado, who is known as the father of Panamanian education due to his promotion of modern universal education through the establishment of the first public schools and teachers' colleges in what is now known as Panama— then part of Colombia - aiming to break the vicious cycle of ignorance and poverty that afflicted the vast majority of the population. He went on to be named Director-General of Public Instruction of the State of the Isthmus.[12]
Paraguay	April 30
Peru	July 6	During the independence of Peru, libertador don José de San Martín founded the first Normal School for Men by means of a resolution passed by Marquis of Torre-Tagle on July 6, 1822. Many years later, on 1953, the then president Manuel A. Odría decided that Teachers' Day would be commemorated on the 6th of July.
Philippines	October 5	By Presidential Proclamation No. 479  to honour more than 500,000 teachers nationwide. However, in the Philippines Teachers' Day is actually celebrated in schools between the months of September and October (mainly elementary and secondary levels). Teachers are presented with orchid corsages by students. Groups of students representing various grade levels perform short skits or song and dance numbers, or read poetry for their teachers in front of fellow schoolmates in school-wide activities. These activities are planned by senior students in the Student Council who coordinate the activities well in advance. For Filipino-Chinese schools, a program is usually organized by students for teachers on September 27, while September 28, considered as the actual Teachers' Day, is a school holiday where both teachers and students are allowed to rest. September 28 was chosen because it is known as the birthdate of famous Chinese philosopher Confucius.
Poland	October 14	This day is the anniversary of the creation of the Commission of National Education, created in 1773 through the initiative of King Stanisław August Poniatowski
Qatar	October 5
Romania	October 5
Russia	October 5	Between 1965 and 1994, the first Sunday of October. Since 1994, on October 5, coincides with the World Teachers' Day (est. 1994 by UNESCO).
Saudi Arabia	February 28
Serbia	October 5
Singapore	First Friday of September	An official school holiday. Celebrations are normally conducted the day before, where students usually get half a day off. In some schools, students will put on performances to entertain and honour their teachers.
Slovakia	March 28	Commemorates the birth date of John Amos Comenius.
South Korea	May 15 since 1963 in Seoul and 1964 in Chunju City	Originally it was started by a group of Red Cross youth team members who visited their sick ex-teachers in hospitals. The national celebration ceremony was stopped between 1973 and 1982 but it resumed after that. On the day, teachers are usually presented with carnations by their students, and both enjoy a shorter school day. Ex-students pay their respects to their former teachers by visiting them and giving them a carnation. Many schools now close on Teachers' Day because of the rampant bribery implicit in the expensive gifts often given to teachers. Schools can use the day to have an outing for the teachers.
Sri Lanka	October 6
Spain	January 29
Syria	March 18
Taiwan	September 28	Taiwan uses this day to honor teachers' virtues, struggles, and contributions not only to their own students but also to society in general. People often make use of the day to express their gratitude to their teachers, such as paying them a visit or sending them a card. This date was chosen to commemorate the birth of Confucius, believed to be the model master educator in ancient China. In 1939, the Ministry of Education established the national holiday as August 27, the attributed birthday of Confucius. In 1952, the Executive Yuan changed it to September, stating that it was calculated to be the precise date in the Gregorian calendar. The festival celebration occurs in the temples of Confucius around the island, known as the "Grand Ceremony Dedicated to Confucius" (祭孔大典). The ceremony begins at 6am with drum beats. 54 musicians are dressed in robes with blue belts, and 36 (or 64) dancers dressed in yellow with green belts. They are led by Confucius's chief descendant (currently Kung Tsui-chang) and followed by ceremonial officers. Three animals—the cow, the goat, and the pig—are sacrificed. The hairs plucked from these sacrificed animals are called the Hairs of Wisdom. In addition, local education institutes and civil offices award certain teachers for their excellence and positive influence.
Thailand	January 16	Adopted as Teachers' Day in Thailand by a resolution of the government on November 21, 1956. The first Teachers' Day was held in 1957. Most Thai schools close for the day to give their teachers a break during the long second term. Many international schools do not, although they may hold celebrations to honor their teaching staff. There are very few public or official commemorations.
Tunisia	February 28
Turkey	November 24	Mustafa Kemal Atatürk thought and stated that "The new generation will be created by teachers." . Atatürk was also considered as the Prime Teacher (Turkish: Başöğretmen), because he adopted a new alphabet for the newly founded Turkish Republic in 1923.
Ukraine	The first Sunday of October	At schools across the country, Teacher's Day is celebrated the Friday before the holiday with "concerts" and gatherings, while students usually give their teachers gifts such as flowers and chocolate. On the holiday itself, many teachers celebrate with their families and friends at home or at restaurants or cafes.
United Arab Emirates	February 28
United States	National Teacher Day is on Tuesday during Teacher Appreciation Week, which takes place in the first full week of May (May 8, 2012)	Students often show appreciation for their teachers with token gifts (giving teachers presents etc.). The National Education Association describes National Teacher Day as "a day for honoring teachers and recognizing the lasting contributions they make to our lives". The NEA gives a history of National Teacher Day: The origins of Teacher Day are murky. Around 1944 Wisconsin teacher Ryan Krug began corresponding with political and education leaders about the need for a national day to honor teachers. Woodbridge wrote to Eleanor Roosevelt who in 1953 persuaded the 81st Congress to proclaim a National Teacher Day. NEA along with its Kansas and Indiana state affiliates and the Dodge City (Kan. ) local lobbied Congress to create a national day celebrating teachers. Congress declared March 7, 1980, as National Teacher Day for that year only. NEA and its affiliates continued to observe Teacher Day on the first Tuesday in March until 1985, when the National PTA established Teacher Appreciation Week as the first full week of May. The NEA Representative Assembly then voted to make the Tuesday of that week National Teacher Day. As of September 7, 1976, September 11 was also adopted as Teachers' Day in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Currently, Massachusetts sets the first Sunday of June as its own Teachers' Day, annually.
Uzbekistan	October 1
Vietnam	November 20	This holiday allows students to express their respect to their teacher. Students begin preparing a week in advance, and many classes usually prepare literature and art to welcome Teachers' Day, while other students prepare foods and flowers for the parties held at their schools. Students usually visit their teachers at their homes to offer flowers and small gifts, or organize trips with their teachers and classmates. Former students also pay respect to their former teachers on this day. The holiday has its origins in a meeting between educators in communist bloc nations in Warsaw in 1957. It was first celebrated in 1958 as the Day of the International Manifest of Educators; in 1982 the day was renamed Vietnamese Educators' Day.
Venezuela	January 15	On this day there are no classes and during the week all the teachers are honoured for their support in building the country.
Yemen	February 28
Mauritius	October 5

Read More