In effect, this makes the broadcast network the single window of the ADAG’s 200 million customers. The announcement came through a filing at the Bombay Stock Exchange.

With this development, the company’s portfolio can be marketed and developed through a singular point. ADAG’s businesses touch almost every point of a consumer’s life in India through the areas of communication, entertainment, infrastructure and power through companies like Reliance Mobile, Reliance World outlets, BIG Cinema, Zapak game complexes, 92.7 BIG FM, Mumbai Metro One, Worli Sea Link, Delhi Airport Metro Express and many more. Advertisers have multiple points through which Reliance customers can be reached.

It is possible that RBNL’s portfolio could be the largest in the country in the media arena. This new move is to be activated to its fullest potential through the well-trained integrated media sales team that Reliance has in place. Speaking at a TV interview, the CEO of RBNL said that the single window for all media assets that the ADAG has would be known as BIG CONNECT. It will have a 250 member sales team who are currently servicing more than a thousand clients every month through the 52 offices that they have running across the country. The idea is to create sustainable advertising integrated relationships with the media as well as the client, he said. The group anticipates that this move will contribute to significantly boosting revenues. He also hinted that there was a possibility of the group could be looking at a qualified institutional placement quite soon.

It seems like all the components are in place to ensure that this one platform that gives advertisers access to approximately 200 million customers throughout the country, is utilized to its fullest. Brands can now easily connect and engage their target audiences, and advertisers can rely on the extensive reliable network that the group already has in place to ensure that their marketing goes through exactly as they envision.

The new move by RBNL is taking integrated marketing to new heights, transforming the group into the largest media house in India.

The campaign which got started in June aims at convincing US billionaires to give away at least half of their fortunes either during their lifetimes or after death. Billionaires who responded promptly include Mayor Michael Bloomberg, CNN founder Ted Turner and entertainment executive Barry Diller.

The Giving Pledge, as it has come to be called, has listed out the names of all individuals and their kin who have committed to the project.

The people behind the campaign have also said that many of the donors have committed to sums much more than the 50 per cent minimum level. Sating that the pledge is more of a moral commitment than a legal contract, the campaign also hopes that the billionaires who pledge their money to philanthropy would publicly state their intention in writing.

Leading from the front, Buffet pledged 99 per cent of his money in 2006 to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and family charities. Meanwhile, Bill and Melinda Gates have also given away more than $28 billion to their own foundation.

Giving Pledge has also stated that the aim of the whole initiative is to target billionaires who would want to give away. However, the initiative may also be believed as have stemmed from the efforts taken by many in the past so as to encourage and acknowledge such charitable deeds.

A study, carried out by SMC Capitals, gives statistics showing that there are approximately 3.1 crore people who use social networking sites like Orkut, Twitter and Facebook, as opposed to just 1.7 crore who have a Demat account. A Demat account is mandatory for people who trade in the stock market in India.

The fact that there are twice as many people using social networking sites and only half the number trading stocks is considered to be an incredible finding, especially when one considers that the networking sites have become popular only in the past three years or so. This leads the company to tentatively conclude that the average, Indians are still wary of the stock market. This is seen as a clear indication that though the consumer market in India has grown to huge proportions, India as an investor is still in infant stages.

Another allied area that had interesting statistics is the mobile phone arena. There are almost 2 crore new mobile connections taken in a single month, compared to two lakh Demat accounts taken – another clear indication of the fact that the investing trend is a very low one in India. Factors that are considered responsible for the huge popularity of social networking is are that 60% of India’s population is below the 30 years mark – almost all of whom will definitely link to social networking sites and mobile phones. Also, there is the unbeatable advantage that being part of a social networking site happens absolutely free of cost, whereas taking a Demat account means that the user will have to pay for it.

Wet-bulb temperature is similar to the feeling of wet skin being exposed to air in motion

Atmospheric humidity is an additional factor that is considered while measuring wet-bulb temperature which is done by covering the bulb of a standard thermometer with a wet cloth and ventilating it completely.

Researcher and Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Purdue University, Matthew Huber said that most mammals including humans have an internal body temperature of around 98.6 degree Fahrenheit. If such mammals are subjected to a wet-bulb temperature higher than 95 degrees Fahrenheit for more than six hours, then they will feel a level of heat stress that can be dangerous.
The occurrence of very high wet bulb temperatures is less in the present scenario, though there exist places on the planet where temperatures exceed 100 degrees. Such hot places have very less humidity, such as the “dry heat” present in Arizona. The absence of humidity allows the body to cool itself by perspiring and stay comfortable.

The study was unable to predict the likelihood of excessive wet-bulb temperatures, but it pointed out its impact. Entire nations might face high heat stress levels and mass adaptation measures would be necessary. A 12 degree rise in temperature could lead to excess wet-bulb temperature in certain regions whereas a 21 degree temperature rise could lead to half the people in the world living in uninhabitable heat conditions.

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and conducted by Matthew Huber along with Professor Steven Sherwood, who is employed at University of New South Wales’ Climate Change Research Centre. The climate modeling was done by Huber on supercomputers owned by Purdue University’s central IT organization, Information Technology at Purdue (ITaP). Steven Sherwood was in charge of calculating different wet-bulb temperatures. The results of the research will appear as a paper in the May 6 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The channel will only broadcast content in the liberal French-speaking city of Quebec initially, although an English version to be broadcasted across Canada will be introduced in 2011. Subscription for Vanessa, priced at $14.95, is set to begin in September.

The programme content on Vanessa will primarily consist of erotic-themed dramas, documentaries, reality shows and magazine shows. The channel’s softcore content will be broadcast in HD.

The Canada Radio and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) which oversees and regulates content on all channels, has directed the porn channel to follow industry codes related to violence and portray both sexes as being equal.

The rules also say that the channel must obtain 20 percent of its content from local sources. This leaves 80 percent of the channel’s content to be sourced from California’s sex industry located in the San Fernando Valley.

The CRTC allowed the channel to start airing after overcoming earlier protests from religious groups that said that the 20 percent local source rule could give lead more youth into jobs in the adult industry.

Canada, which already has a Naked News Channel, also has adult content broadcast by cable services and satellite TV channels. The programme content for these broadcasts is obtained from US sources.

Thanks to the reports of several instances rape – the most famous of them was of Scarlett Keeling - and other crimes being reported in the national and international media. As if in an attempt to revive the flagging fortunes of the tourism scene in the beach state, the administration is looking at the e-route to make things work to its advantage.

According to sources, Goa is set to log on to social networking websites in its bid to restore lost glory. The Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) has plans to get on to Twitter and Facebook in an attempt at image building initiatives.

Officials at GTFC have been quoted as saying that social networking has the potential to help Goa reach out to new clients and also keep in touch with existing guests who have Goa on their annual holiday itinerary. If this works out, GTDC would be the first state-run agency to have its presence on Twitter.

Goa has been battered by bad press and travel advisories of late. The state, known for its sunny beaches, has been struggling to maintain its foreign tourist inflow after crimes against foreigners were reported extensively.

Though bad media coverage had been bane to the tourist destination, some amount of relief had come from  a steady inflow of tourists from Russia. Visitors from Russia almost saved the industry from disaster with around 40,000 arrivals recorded. The numbers are expected to go up with the state set to log on to the social networking websites.  On Twitter and Facebook, Goa will be trying to paint a positive picture of the state so that tourists from far and wide take note.

Our take is that Goa is messed up for a long, long time. Goa’s politicians are in the news, always, for corruption, assault, rape or sundry criminal charges. There is a strong stream of thought in Goa that foreign tourists – at least, the hippies – are ruining local culture. Even the state government is not immune to it – often suggesting that tourists cover up, and that local customs need to be followed – and trivialising crimes against tourists. Then there is the flourishing mafia and drug trade – but at least, drugs have always been part of any tourist hotspot in the world.

Social networking on Facebook or Twitter can boomerang if serious changes are not made in the way Goa is being run. When you have something to hide or are embarrassed about, going out into conversational media is not always safe. Clean up your house first, Goa!

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed and the details are yet to be worked out between the two companies.

The future of the present joint venture between PepsiCo and Hindustan Unilever to market, sell and distribute Lipton Iced Tea was earlier in question owing to the new MoU. This is particularly because of HUL and Tata Tea being competitors in the packaged tea market. However, a joint statement has been issued by Tata Tea and PepsiCo stating that the new venture does not intend to clash with the existing arrangements of both companies.

Company insiders say that the new company to be formed may also absorb PepsiCo’s non-carbonated beverages like Aquafina packaged water, Tropicana juices and Nimbooz lime juice into itself. Tata Tea’s liquid beverage like Himalayan packaged drinking water and a fruit juice and tea-based drink called T!ON are also likely to be a part of the new entity.

The listing of the new venture is still unclear as Tata Tea is listed in India whereas PepsiCo is not. The new company’s shareholding pattern will also have to be decided upon. As of Friday, Tata Tea’s shares closed with a 2.83 percent rise at Rs 1,000.05 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Veterans in the industry say that Tata Tea is following in the footsteps of Nestle to position itself as a “health and wellness” company by adding to its value. This could be due to a recent report by the Tata Strategic Management Group pointing out the 24 percent annual growth in the health and wellness and food sector in India. It has already changed its position once from a plantation brand to a beverage brand. The company’s global acquisitions include companies such as Tetley, Good Earth and Eight O’Clock Coffee.

According to the joint proposal, Raytheon Company is to provide electronics and infrared imaging sights, which will improve greatly the target-accuracy as well as enhance the overall system lethality of the T-72 tanks on the battlefield, Fritz Treyz, vice-president (India operations) of Raytheon Network Centric Systems, said in a statement.

L&T will make available the sensors and the fire-control system of the T-72 tanks as also execute the final integration, together with customer support, according to M V Kotwal, senior executive vice-president of Larsen and Toubro.

Larsen and Toubro, Kotwal said, is the only company in India in the private sector which leads the tank-upgrading programme and that the combination of L&T and Raytheon Company has the capability to execute a project like upgrading the T-72 tanks.

The T-72 tank, designed by the erstwhile Soviet Union, is a main battle tank (MBT), which entered production in 1971. Both chronologically and in terms of design, the T-72 tank belongs to the same generation of tanks as the M60 series tanks of the United States, the Chieftain tank of Britain, and the Leopard 1 of Germany.

Fritz Treyz, of Raytheon, also announced that Larsen and Toubro and Raytheon Company are exploring other opportunities aimed at providing ‘net-centric’ solutions to modernise defence systems not only in India but also elsewhere in the world.

So far, Raytheon Company has supplied 20,000 thermal sights in over 15 countries.

Raytheon Company – the industry leader in the fields of defence, electronics, space, information technology and technical services – reported sales worth about $25 billion in 2009.

Edelweiss Capital, together with its subsidiary Edelweiss Investments and Finance, has signed an agreement with Anagram Capital to acquire Anagram for Rs 164 crore.

Rashesh Shah, group chairman of Edelweiss Capital, said in a statement that the company’s acquisition of Anagram Capital is “in line with” Edelweiss Capital’s strategy to expand its retail-broking business. The reach and diversified client base of Anagram Capital will give a fillip to the retail-broking and distribution businesses of Edelweiss Capital, Shah added.

Edelweiss Capital said it plans to operate Anagram Capital – the acquisition of which is subject to regulatory approval – as a subsidiary. Edelweiss explained that it will place emphasis on Anagram Capital’s continuity as well as building on the present business and people, along with investments in products, research, technology and training.

Edelweiss Capital provides private client broking, investment-banking institutional equities, investment advisory services, asset management, and wealth management services through its 43 offices in 19 cities in India.

Anagram Capital, based in Ahmedabad in Gujarat, has a nationwide network of over 137 branches and about 1,300 sub-brokers. The company says it has over 1,80,000 clients and that its average daily volume in equity trading is about Rs 800 crore.

Anagram Capital, which is a part of the Rs 2,000-crore Arvind Lalbhai Group, reported a net profit of Rs 3.5 crore in fiscal 2008-09.

According to reports, Sanjay Lalbhai, Arvind Lalbhai’s nephew and chairman and managing director of Arvind Mills Limited, had been seeking to sell off Anagram Capital for some time now for a price of about Rs 225 crore. However, the potential buyers had offered prices that ranged from Rs 120 crore to Rs 150 crore.

The Jeevan Nischay plan is a close-ended.

Jeevan Nischay has some similarity with the Jeevan Astha, introduced in 2009, which was claimed to have been a potential investment option when the global economy was in recession and when few showed interest in making market investments.

According to Life Insurance Corporation of India, Jeevan Nischay is a single-premium policy with guaranteed maturity benefits exclusively for existing policyholders of LIC. So, one has to have at least one existing LIC policy to make one eligible to buy Jeevan Nischay.

Jeevan Nischay, now open for subscription, is available until the end of March 2010.

According to the terms of the Jeevan Nischay policy, the maximum amount that one can invest will be linked to the extent of protection one has already bought. This means that a person with a term insurance of Rs 10 lakh is allowed to invest a maximum of Rs 1 lakh.

Jeevan Nischay is available to only those who are not subject to any additional charges for ill health, Life Insurance Corporation of India, the leading life insurer of India, said.

The plan covers only the mandatory 5 times of the premium amount for the first year of insurance. For subsequent years, the sum insured will be equivalent to the premium paid.

Since Jeevan Nischay offers only fundamental protection, it is similar to a bond, in which one pays only a one-time premium.

Jeevan Nischay will be available to anyone between the ages of 18 to 50. For a person who is 30 years old, an investment of Rs 1 lakh will mature into Rs 1.71 lakh after 10 years.

The policy terms are 5 years, 7 years, and 10 years.

According to investment experts, the main weakness of the Jeevan Nischay plan is that it is not as “simple and straightforward” as the highly successful Jeevan Astha that LIC launched in 2009. Since it offers only basic insurance cover, there is a lot of underwriting requirements for Jeevan Nischay. ‘High net worth individual’ investors may be put off by the underwriting requirements when the insurance cover provided is little.

The minimum amount can be invested in the Jeevan Nischay plan is Rs 10,000. But, if the premium amount is Rs 25,000 or more, the policyholder will get a higher maturity sum assured because of the incentives available.

Loans are available under Jeevan Nischay plan, and the rate of interest will be decided by the Life Insurance Corporation of India from time to time.

The policyholder of Jeevan Nischay is free to surrender the policy after one year of the policy’s commencement.

With the Jeevan Nischay, LIC aims at tapping the maturity plans that were offered under its previous investment plan named Bima Gold. At the time of its launch,

Bima Gold had achieved a sale of 1 crore policies.

According to the record of 2009, the Jeevan Astha plan fetched earnings worth Rs 10,000 crore with the status of guaranteed returns.