Technology Slice Blog

Brahmos Cruise Missile - An upgraded version of 290- km range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was successfully test fired by India today from Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur off the Orissa coast. "Block III version of BrahMos with advanced guidance and upgraded software, incorporating high manoeuvres at multiple points and steep dive from high altitude was flight tested successfully from Launch Complex III of ITR," its Director S P Dash said after the test fire from a mobile launcher at 1100 hours. All telemetry and tracking stations including naval ships near the terminal point have confirmed the mission's success, he said. "It was a text book launch and the mission was successful," distinguished defence scientist A Sivathannu Pillai, who is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director of BrahMos Aerospace said. The 8.4 meter missile which can fly at 2.8 times the speed of sound is capable of carrying conventional warheads o...

World Cup Bid - Sony Corp. Chief Executive Howard Stringer was part of the Japanese delegation pitching its case to FIFA in Zurich on Wednesday to host the 2022 World Cup. Japan is considered a long-shot at winning the bid since it co-hosted the World Cup with South Korea only eight years ago. FIFA is expected to choose the hosts for both the 2018 and 2022 tournaments on Thursday, with a decision due any time from around 15.00 GMT. For 2022, Japan is competing against the United States, Australia, South Korea and Qatar. Japan Real Time spoke with the Sony head honcho and unabashed sports enthusiast to talk about the Japanese bid and whether he feels torn about pushing for Japan’s bid as Welsh-born American citizen. Here is an edited transcript of the conversation. JRT: So how did the presentation go yesterday? HS: We were very happy with the presentation. But if you read the British press, you would think it’s all about politics. I don’t know if it is or it isn’t. The London b...

Spying On Drudge - * Right's attack on TSA invasion of privacy going bust? It appears the American people aren't in sync with Drudge or Rush Limbaugh, whose latest rant is: "Keep your hands off my tea bag, Mr. President." A big majority of flyers, 71 percent, tells Gallup that a loss of personal privacy from body-scans and pat-downs is worth it in order to prevent terrorism. And that's even though a majority say they would be "bothered" or "angry" about getting a pat-down. * But: While the right's attack on the pat-downs is laughably hypocritical, it's still fair to ask whether we should be so willing to sacrifice civil liberties and privacy rights in the face of incohate fears of terrorism. * Holding the line on the Bush tax cuts? Heading into a showdown with the GOP, the White House appears to be reiterating its insistence that the middle class tax cuts be made permanent, which is a non-starter for Republicans who are not budgi...

Britvic Profit Up - British soft drinks maker Britvic (BVIC.L) met forecasts with a 22 percent increase in year profit that reflected revenue growth and tight management of costs, and predicted more growth in 2011. "The group's extensive brand and innovation plans, combined with satisfactory trading in the first few weeks of the new financial year, mean we are in good shape to deliver another robust set of results for the year ahead," Chief Executive Paul Moody said on Thursday. But he cautioned that he expected the consumer and cost environment to remain challenging and Britvic took a non-cash impairment charge of 104.2 million pounds ($162.6 million) on the carrying value of Britvic Ireland's intangible and property assets. Britvic, whose brands include Robinsons, Tango and Fruit Shoot, made a pretax profit of 109.1 million pounds for the 53 weeks to Oct. 3, in line with analysts' consensus forecast of 109.2 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, ...

Kiran Reddy Government In Trouble - Trouble is brewing in the Kiran Kumar Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh barely a day after 39 ministers were sworn in. Two ministers have already quit the ministry unhappy with the portfolios given to them. Ten more ministers are said to be unsatisfied and want to go to Delhi to meet Sonia Gandhi to represent their cases to her. Early on Thursday, a few unhappy ministers met at the home of one of them, called up Sonia's political secretary, Ahmed Patel, and requested him to organize a meeting with "Madam". However, Patel is believed to have told them to stay put in Hyderabad and await the arrival of AICC members Ghulam Nabi Azad and Veerappa Moily. The ministers were also advised to attend the cabinet meeting scheduled for later in the day. Analysts say some of the complaining ministers are obviously Jaganmohan Reddy men and the strategy is planned beforehand. "This is Jagan a tactic. Everyone is anticipating that he will bre...

Airport Closures In The UK - As Britain remains held in the big freeze, Scotland and England shut down after heavy snowfall these last few days. Edinburgh Airport will remain closed until at least 12:00pm today, Thursday 2nd December. There will be no departing and arriving flights at Gatwick today, Thursday 2nd December. The runway will remain closed until at least 6:00am Friday 3rd December. The following airports will remain closed this morning: London City, Southampton (until at least 2:00pm today), Humberside, and Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield. There will be severe delays and some flight cancellations today at Heathrow Airport. Otherwise all other British airports will remain open throughout the day with delays and cancellations. Passengers are advised to contact their airline to check flight status before making their way to the airport. For a comprehensive list of airline contact numbers, see the Heathrow website. Airport Closures In The UK

NASA Press Conference - NASA has announced to national journalists and media groups to watch a press conference on December 2, 2010 that could involve revealing a shocking new discovery about the possibility that alien life exists. Alien life is a topic that people have talked about for decades and is constantly debated. The press conference will be broadcast on CNN. NASA claims that in this press conference, an astrobiology finding will be discussed that will impact the search for extraterrestrial life. Many people want to know what the meaning behind that phrase could be. Several ideas are water on other planets, aquatic bacteria and even living organisms found on Saturn’s moon. Only the people at NASA know until tomorrow’s press conference when all our curiosities will be quenched. NASA Press Conference