Bajaj Auto planning to launch 250cc variant of Pulsar brand

Bajaj Auto, one of the India’s leading 2 wheeler manufacturers, is reportedly working on a plan to launch a new 250cc variant of their Pulsar brand later this year.

Bajaj Auto hasn’t made any confirmation pertaining to 250cc variant of Pulsar, but emerging reports suggest that the new model could be launched in September.

Mr. Rajiv Bajaj, managing director of Bajaj Auto, also stated that the Pulsar series would get an upgrade in September.

The potential 250cc variant of the popular Pulsar motor cycle will allow Bajaj Auto to defend it market share from the new breed of 250cc motorcycles which have recently been rolled out in India.

The Pulsar 220 DTS-I is the premium bike in the Pulsar Series in India, and it has been reporting strong sales as it offers a blend of power, style, reliability, and affordability.

Recently, Bajaj Auto allowed all Bajaj dealers to sell and service Bajaj Pulsar 220 and Avenger 220, in a move that will make these motorcycles available at a lot more sales points across India. Earlier, the sales of Bajaj Pulsar 220 and Avenger 220 were restricted to Bajaj Pro Biking dealerships.

Meet India's first WOMAN to own a Harley Davidson

The first woman to buy a Harley Davidson in the country talks about her love for bikes.

If you think that Harley Davidson is a male icon, think again. Women are not impervious to the mystique of the heavyweight super bikes. Look at Sheeja Mathews of Bangalore who has recently acquired one, becoming the first woman owner of a Harley Davidson in India.

Google+ disk space cockup creates notification spam-storm

Google+ blitzed early adopters of the social networking service with spammy notifications over the weekend following a technical glitch. The Chocolate Factory said the problem was due to the service having run out of disk space.
The spam messages carried some of the hallmarks of those generated by dodgy apps of the type that have become a regular nuisance on Facebook over recent months. In reality, however, the messages were the product of bugs in the Google+ code, which had kicked in because the site was unable to cope with early demand.

Vic Gundotra, senior vice-president of social for Google, apologised for the snafu in astatus message on his Google+ account.

Please accept our apologies for the spam we caused this afternoon.For about 80 minutes we ran out of disk space on the service that keeps track of notifications. Hence our system continued to try sending notifications. Over, and over again. Yikes.
We didn't expect to hit these high thresholds so quickly, but we should have.
Thank you for helping us during this field trial, and once again, we are very sorry for the spam.

Google+ is, of course, only a few days old – a newborn in the world of social networking – so problems of one type or another can be expected. Even so, and given its capacity to run its own massive data centres for core operations such as ad brokerage, you wouldn't expect Google to run into problems such as running out of disc space for anything.

Twitter is Not Safe, Say Experts

Experts in Reuters article commented that as compared to the other sites, security on Twitter is not safe. The quote was commented after the site’s security was inspected and it was found that Twitter sent out fake reports to the Fox News saying that President Barack Obama is dead.

The fake news was given because the site was hacked. The article also said that if twitter had adopted the Two-factor authentication, then they would surely have been able to stop the hacking.

As compared to other sites like Google and Facebook, Twitter simply allows the users commune with the site using a common decoded link, which can make it easier for possible hackers to whip the passwords.

Twitter Spokeswoman Lynn Fox refused to utter whether the company proposed to add two-factor authentication or make https encryption an evasion and she further commented that for every social networking site, it becomes the duty of the users to protect their passwords.

She adds, "We take safety very seriously and we all the time look for ways to help the users to make their accounts more protected”.

Daniel Diermeier, a Professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, also commented that Twitter needs to entrust to do a systematic assessment of their security and the practices.

Scientists in Scotland decode potato genome

An international team of scientists based in Scotland has decoded the full DNA sequence of the potato for the first time.

The breakthrough holds out the promise of boosting harvests of one of the world's most important staple crops.

Researchers at the James Hutton Institute in Dundee say it should soon be possible to develop improved varieties of potato much more quickly.

The genome of an organism is a map of how all of its genes are put together.

Each gene controls different aspects of how the organism grows and develops.

Slight changes in these instructions give rise to different varieties.

Each individual has a slightly different version of the DNA sequence for the species.

Professor Iain Gordon, chief executive of the James Hutton Institute, said decoding the potato genome should enable breeders to create varieties which are more nutritious, as well as resistant to pests and diseases.

Colour and flavour


He hopes it will help meet the challenge of feeding the world's soaring population.

The research is far from complete. Analysing the genetic sequence of the plant will take several more years.

At the moment it can take more than 10 years to breed an improved variety.

By locating the genes that control traits like yield, colour, starchiness and flavour, the research should make it possible to develop better spuds much more quickly.

Potatoes provide the world's fourth-largest crop, with an annual, global yield of 330m tonnes.

Wish to adopt a tiger? Zoo may allow you soon

KOLKATA: If you dream to adopt a tiger or an elephant, your wait might end very soon provided you shell out a few lakhs.

Alipore Zoological Gardens is considering the idea of introducing an "adopt an animal" scheme, which will not only generate more revenue for the authority, but also raise awareness about animals in the society. Any individual or company will be able to sponsor an animal or a group of animals for a maximum period of one year.

"We have not yet decided on the rates of sponsorship. The amount might only include the food and health expenses of animals. We may later incorporate the charges of zoo keepers," said a senior garden official.

Such a system of adopting animals has already been introduced in Hyderabad, Mysore and Pune zoos.

A plaque with the company logo and name of the person sponsoring the enclosure will be displayed on a dimension board. Special benefits, including guided tours, free entry passes and an opportunity for closer interaction with animals will be provided to the sponsors. They can also film or photograph the animal for publicity.

According to preliminary discussions, those sponsoring a tiger may have to pay anything between Rs 2.5 lakh and 3 lakh while for a giraffe, it may be around Rs 1.5 lakh. An elephant can be sponsored for anything between Rs 3 lakh and 4 lakh. "All these sums only include the food and health cost of animals," said the zoo official.

The decision was taken since introducing the policy will encourage love for animals in society.

"The individual or groups that sponsor animals develop an affinity and affection towards nature. There are people in society who want to help animals.

The corporate body also gets recognition as nature lovers. The zoo gets financial assistance which helps in the upkeep of animals. In other zoos where animal adoption has been introduced, certain animals have become the mascot, helping the zoo rope in more finds," added another official.

Adoption, however, will not give individuals the right to handle animals inside the enclosure. "They will also not have any jurisdiction over the management of the animals as the zoo is guided by the Wildlife Act that cannot be violated," explained the officer.

Though the plan is at a nascent state, there are several corporate houses which have already expressed the desire to adopt animals. "An advertising company, a multinational bank and Ballygunj Shiksha Sadan School are among those who had once shown interest in the project. Thus, we hope to get adequate response," concluded the zoo official. In Singapore zoo, those who adopt animals can also celebrate birthdays inside the campus. "It may be an extremely forward thinking plan in the Indian scenario. For the moment, basic adoption plan are on the anvil," the zoo official added.

"We have not taken a decision yet. The reason why zoological gardens allow adoption of animals is because it is a source of revenue and also spreads awareness," said forest secretary KS Rajendrakumar.

Facebook plans to hire public policy expert in India

MUMBAI: Amid growing privacy concerns across the world, including India, Facebook, the world's largest social network, plans to hire a public policy expert in India. With nearly 25 million active users in India, Facebook lags behind Google, which counts nearly 60 million users in the country.

As these Internet giants seek to expand their base in India's lucrative Internet market, they face challenges of regulatory hurdles, misinterpreted features and lack of awareness among government departments. Last month, Bangalore asked Google to stop collecting images for its Street View service on security concerns.

"Companies are realising that they have to liaison with the government to ensure that their perspectives are reaching the right ears. Corporates are picking up to influence policy development as it happens and also want to sensitise the government for potential requirements that the sector demands that directly affect companies like Facebook," said Pawan Duggal, a lawyer specialising in IT laws and Internet.