Transtromer has been a perennial favorite for the 10 million kronor ($1.5 million) award, and in recent years Swedish journalists have waited outside his apartment in Stockholm on the day the literature prize was announced.

Transtromer’s most famous works include the 1966 “Windows and Stones,” in which he depicts themes from his many travels and “Baltics” from 1974.

His works have been translated into more than 50 languages and influenced poets around the globe, particularly in North America.

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Three U.S.-born scientists won the Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday for discovering that the universe is expanding at an accelerating pace, a stunning revelation that suggests the cosmos will eventually freeze to ice.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said American Saul Perlmutter would share the 10 million kronor ($1.5 million) award with U.S.-Australian Brian Schmidt and U.S. scientist Adam Riess. Working in two separate research teams during the 1990s — Perlmutter in one and Schmidt and Riess in the other — the scientists raced to map the universe’s expansion by analyzing a particular type of supernovas, or exploding stars.

The world’s cheapest tablet , and made in India as well, was launched on Wednesday. Priced at about Rs 2000, Aakash has been developed by the Indian Institute of Technology.

The low-cost tablet is primarily meant for educational purposes and features Android OS along with Wi-Fi connectivity. It features a 2GB Flash memory with 2GB Micro SD card that is expandable upto 32GB with two full USB ports, a miniSD card and a SIM card slot.

The device comes with a 2100mAh battery that will last upto two to three hours.The tablet has been developed as a part of the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology that aims to link 25,000 colleges and 400 universities for an e-learning programme.

The device is expected to give some of the more costly tablet computers tough competition as it will also offer PDF reader, video conferencing functioning, sci-lab, media player, remote device management capability, multimedia input-output interface option and multiple content viewer.

Speaking at an award ceremony held in New Delhi by the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) last month, Communications and Information Technology minister Kapil Sibal had said that the tablet would help children go beyond the boundary of classroom and teachers to acquire knowledge through IT.

Three scientists won the Nobel Medicine Prize today for work on the immune system, but in a surprising twist the jury learned that one of the winners of the award that cannot be given posthumously had died just days before.

The winners were Bruce Beutler of the United States, Luxembourg-born Jules Hoffmann, who is a naturalised French citizen, and Ralph Steinman of Canada, who it was discovered Monday had died on September 30.

“This year’s Nobel laureates have revolutionised our understanding of the immune system by discovering key principles for its activation,” the jury said in a statement.

The three were lauded for their work on the body’s complex defence system in which signalling molecules unleash antibodies and killer cells to respond to invading microbes.

Understanding this throws open the door to new drugs and also tackling immune disorders, such as asthma, rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease, in which the body mysteriously attacks itself.

“Their work has opened up new avenues for the development of prevention and therapy against infections, cancer and inflammatory diseases,” the jury said.

Nobel laureate scientist dies days before award

Three scientists who unlocked secrets of the body’s immune system, opening doors to new vaccines and cancer treatments, won the 2011 Nobel prize for medicine yesterday.

American Bruce Beutler and French biologist Jules Hoffmann, who studied the first stages of immune responses to attack, share the $1.5 million (€1.1 million) award with Canadian-born Ralph Steinman, whose discovery of dendritic cells in the 1970s is key to understanding the body’s next line of defence against disease.

However, within minutes of the award being announced, a problem arose. It emerged that one of the three, Mr Steinman, had died of cancer just three days before he could be told of his award. A sufferer of pancreatic cancer, he used his own discoveries to extend his life.

Colleagues of Mr Steinman (68) at Rockefeller University in New York called it a “bittersweet” honour.

Survey Of India, The National Survey and Mapping Organisation of the country under the Department of Science & Technology, is the OLDEST SCIENTIFIC DEPARTMENT OF THE GOVT. OF INDIA. It was set up in 1767 and has evolved rich traditions over the years. In its assigned role as the nation’s Principal Mapping Agency, Survey of India bears a special responsibility to ensure that the country’s domain is explored and mapped suitably, provide base maps for expeditious and integrated development and ensure that all resources contribute with their full measure to the progress, prosperity and security of our country now and for generations to come.

Short History

The history of the Survey of India dates back to the 18th Century. Forerunners of army of the East India Company and Surveyors had an onerous task of exploring the unknown. Bit by bit the tapestry of Indian terrain was completed by the painstaking efforts of a distinguished line of Surveyors such as Mr. Lambton and Sir George Everest. It is a tribute to the foresight of such Surveyors that at the time of independence the country inherited a survey network built on scientific principles. The great Trigonometric series spanning the country from North to South East to West are some of the best geodetic control series available in the world. The scientific principles of surveying have since been augmented by the latest technology to meet the multidisciplinary requirement of data from planners and scientists.

Organised into only 5 Directorates in 1950, mainly to look after the mapping needs of Defense Forces in North West and North East, the Department has now grown into 18 Directorates spread in all parts of the country to provide the basic map coverage required for the development of the country. Its technology, latest in the world, has been oriented to meet the needs of defense forces, planners and scientists in the field of geo-sciences, land and resource management. Its expert advice is being utilised by various Ministries and undertakings of Govt. of India in many sensitive areas including settlement of International borders, State boundaries and in assisting planned development of hitherto under developed areas.

Faced with the requirement of digital topographical data, the department has created three Digital Centres during late eighties to generate Digital Topographical Data Base for the entire country for use in various planning processes and creation of geographic information system. Its specialised Directorates such as Geodetic and Research Branch, and Survey Training Institute have been further strengthened to meet the growing requirement of user community. The department is also assisting in many scientific programs of the Nation related to the field of geo-physics, remote sensing and digital data transfers. Vision:

Vision

Survey Of India will take a leadership role in providing user focused,cost effective,reliable and quality geospatial data,information and intelligence for meeting the needs of national security, sustainable national development,and new information markets.

Mission

Survey Of India dedicates itself to the advancement of theory, practice, collection and applications of geospatial data,and promotes an active exchange of information ,ideas, and technological innovations amongst the data producers and users who will get access to such data of highest possible resolution at an affordable cost in the near real-time environment.

National Aquatic Animal

River Dolphin is the National Aquatic Animal of India. This mammal is also said to represent the purity of the holy Ganga as it can only survive in pure and fresh water. Platanista gangetica has a long pointed snout and also have visible teeth in both the upper and lower jaws. Their eyes lack a lens and therefore function solely as a means of detecting the direction of light. Dolphins tend to swim with one fin trailing along the substrate while rooting around with their beak to catch shrimp and fish. Dolphins have a fairly thick body with light grey-brown skin often with a hue of pink. The fins are large and the dorsal fin is triangular and undeveloped. This mammal has a forehead that rises steeply and has very small eyes. River Dolphins are solitary creatures and females tend to be larger than males. They are locally known as susu, because of the noise it makes while breathing. This species inhabits parts of the Ganges, Meghna and Brahmaputra rivers in India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, and the Karnaphuli River in Bangladesh.

River dolphin is a critically endangered species in India and therefore, has been included in the Schedule I for the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The main reasons for decline in population of the species are poaching and habitat degradation due to declining flow, heavy siltation, construction of barrages causing physical barrier for this migratory species.

Source: National Portal Content Management Team

ICANN Allows New Domain Endings

The Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) finalized plans to let companies insert their own endings in domain names, allowing them to register domains like .brand instead of .com or .org.

Canon Inc., for example, will be applying for the domain ending .canon.

Applications may also be submitted for generic terms such as .sports, .travel, or .music. It costs $185,000 per application, and they may be submitted between 12 January 2012 and 12 April 2012.

The change has been called the most dramatic change in the Internet in four decades as it will give companies far more latitude in customizing their domains and will vastly open the possibilities of what can be typed into the domains, which has until now been constrained to 22 top-level endings and country-specific endings like .UK.

Speaking in Singapore at the event of the announcement, Rod Beckstrom, President and Chief Executive Officer of ICANN said, “ICANN has opened the Internet’s addressing system to the limitless possibilities of the human imagination. No one can predict where this historic decision will take us.”

In addition, the application process is specially designed to stave off cybersquatting, when people buy domain names in anticipation of selling them to brands in the future.

The approval should lead to crafty innovations in Internet marketing and branding, with companies putting forth creative domain names like iwant.beer and whatsfor.dinner.