Seaweed may prove a viable future biofuel, especially if harvested in summer. The use of kelp (laminaria digitata) could provide an important alternative to terrestrial grown biofuels. However, the suitability of its chemical composition varies on a seasonal basis. Harvesting the kelp in July, when carbohydrate levels are at their highest, would ensure optimal sugar release for biofuel production.

Biofuels from the sea

Business Standard

Cyber attackers are creating mayhem in the digital world, forcing a wide range of companies, young and old, to re-think their digital security best practices. Not surprisingly, the $60-billion-plus IT services industry in India, known for being a pioneer in establishing quality standards that has impressed its global clients, is not taking chances.

IT firms resolve to thwart cyber attacks 

The telecom commission, the highest decision making body of the department of telecommunications (DoT), on Tuesday met to discuss various issues, including one-time charge on operators for holding excess spectrum and the sale of surplus VSNL land. But the meeting remained inconclusive.

No headway in telecom commission meeting

Pune-based Zensar Technologies an offshore outsourcing company today announced a surge in its retail business with significant new wins in the SAP and Oracle application implementation and offshore support business, company said in a statement today.

Zensar to provide solutions for retail business

Global telecom major Vodafone&rsquo;s minority partner in India, Analjit Singh, may take over as the chairman of the group&rsquo;s Indian operations, after Essar group exits the venture.

Analjit Singh may step in as Vodafone chairman

&ldquo;We are in the final stages of signing the contract. It is a global and a very visible deal,&rdquo; Dilbagh Gill, head (sports, media and entertainment vertical) at Mahindra Satyam, told Business Standard from Boston.

Satyam all set for big-ticket F1 deal

The University of Glasgow has received a grant from the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation to further help in the diagnosis of malaria. The $100,000 award would go towards developing a device which uses mobile-phone derived technology to detect and separate red blood cells infected with malaria parasites.

Now, malaria diagnostic sensors in mobile phones 

Global IT firm IBM along with its financing unit IBM Global Finance (IGF), is changing the way IT procurement is done in India.

IGF to help IBM with procurement process

Virtusa Corporation, a US -based IT consulting, technology implementation and application outsourcing services provider, has acquired substantially all the assets of ALaS Consulting LLC for an aggregate cash consideration of $27.8 million (approximately Rs 124 crore).

Virtusa buys ALaS Consulting for $28 mn

Hyderabad-based IT services and consulting firm Infotech Enterprises Ltd today said it was categorised as a leader in verticals like aerospace, defence and transportation in a new study on R&amp;D service providers. The Global R&amp;D Service Providers Rating 2011, undertaken by advisory firm Zinnov Management Consulting, was based on parameters such as human capital, capabilities, financials, ecosystem linkages, and infrastructure and business sustainability, according to a company release.

Infotech`s R&D figures in Zinnov study

Over 50,000 viewers from across the globe visited the Facebook site late tonight, making the live webcast from the company&rsquo;s Palo Alto headquarters come to a crawl. The social networking giant was expected to talk about plans for a new in-browser video chat product, powered by Skype. That&rsquo;s what CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced &mdash; a multi-chat product with video calling.

Facebook launches video chat powered by Skype

Actually, that title is currently held by Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and chief executive of Facebook&mdash;the very service that Google+ was meant to challenge.

Facebook's Zuckerberg is most popular on Google+

With mobile spam on the rise, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has issued new guidelines to protect India&rsquo;s 750 million mobile phone users. According to the guidelines, Trai updates the National Consumer Preference Registry (NCPR) twice a week. Telemarketing companies are also required to update their databases twice a week to ensure that all outbound messages and calls are vetted against the database.

Soon, an SMS scrubber app for marketers

Ultraviolet semiconductor diode lasers are widely used in data processing, information storage and biology. However, their applications have been limited by their size, cost and power.

Lasers to kill viruses and improve DVDs

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will, this October, present an early result of a new algorithm that uses data from a tracking system to predict and prevent collisions between small aircraft. In the last 10 years alone, 112 small planes have been involved in mid-air collisions, while thousands more have reported close calls.

In the quest for safer skies

One of the peskiest household pests, while disastrous to homes, could prove to be a boon for cars, according to a Purdue University study.

Termites help biofuel cause

Researchers at The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital, Los Angeles, have successfully created a tissue-engineered small intestine in mice that replicates the intestinal structures of natural intestine-a necessary first step towards applying this regenerative medicine technique to humans some day.

Intestine grown in laboratory

Among the oldest BPOs to have set shop in the country, and ranked among the top-five by Nasscom seven years in a row, WNS started operations in 1996 as an offshore unit of British Airways. It was then an in-house shared service organisation. From there, to being the first Indian BPO to be listed on the NYSE in 2006, WNS has constantly kept ahead of competition, winning a slew of awards along the way. The company is among the top employers in the BPO space.

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Keshav Murugesh, CEO, WNS, on the BPO sector 

MACH, a Luxembourg-based company that provides 650-odd mobile network operators (of the 850 GSM operators globally) with roaming, interconnect, messaging and direct billing solutions, is gearing up to support the deployment of third-generation (3G) services in India. Chief executive officer Morten Brogger shares with K Rajani Kanth the company&rsquo;s plans for India, including investments and its newly-launched data clearing platform, to open new services to mobile operators with 3G.

Q&A: Morten Brogger, CEO, MACH

Mobile Number Portability (MNP) requests jumped nearly 24% in May to 10.57 million subscribers, from 8.541 million in the preceding month, showed Trai data released today.

MNP requests surge 24% to 10.57 mn users in May

Press Trust of India

Leading telecom player Bharti Airtel on Thursday announced restructuring of its Indian and South Asian operations to streamline its businesses and reduce the cost structure.

Bharti rejigs ops for better synergy

Tech News: Latest Techn news & updates on Smart Watches, Gaming Console, iOS updates with launch date and price straight from Business Standard.com.

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