Massive solar eruptions may hit Earth

The strongest geomagnetic storm in more than six years could affect airline routes, power grids and satellites, the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center said.

The sun unleashed two massive X-class solar flares on March 6, 2012. The flare erupted from the giant active sunspot AR1429

Internet firms agree to install 'do-not-track' browser button

Washington, Feb 24 (ANI): A coalition of Internet firms, including US-based Google, have agreed to support a "do-not-track" button to be installed in web browsers that would help protect the privacy of computer users across the globe.
The 'do-not-track' feature has been announced as part of the White House's call for Congress to pass a "Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights" that will allow Internet users greater control over how their personal information is collected and used online.
For more than a year, Internet browser companies have resisted embedding the button.
But slowly, various browsing companies have adopted the feature, including Mozilla with its Firefox browser, Microsoft with Internet Explorer and Apple with its Mountain Lion operating system.
People who clicked on the button, however, were still being tracked because advertisers and tracking companies hadn't agreed to honor the system, The Wall Street Journal reports.
According to the Digital Advertising Alliance, which represents over 400 companies, firms will now have to begin adopting and honoring the system within nine months.
But the new do-not-track button is not going to stop all Web tracking, the report said.
The companies have agreed to stop using the data about people's Web browsing habits to customize ads, and have agreed not to use the data for employment, credit, health-care or insurance purposes.
But the data can still be used for some purposes such as "market research" and "product development" and can still be obtained by law enforcement officers, the paper said.
The do-not-track button also wouldn't block companies such as Facebook from tracking their members through "Like" buttons and other functions. (ANI)

Frenchman sues Google over streetview image of him urinating in yard

Melbourne, Mar 3 (ANI, Yahoo news): A French man is taking legal action against Google for making him the butt of jokes in his village after the company's Street View service put on the internet a picture of him urinating in his garden, his lawyer has said.
"He discovered the existence of this photo after noticing that he had become an object of ridicule," the Herald Sun quoted lawyer Jean-Noel Bouillaud as saying.
The slightly hazy picture shows an individual relieving himself in a garden in the village in the west-central Maine-et-Loire department.
"My client lives in a tiny hamlet where everyone recognised him," Bouillaud said.
He further said that his client was on his own property and the gate to his garden was closed at the time the photo was taken.
The man is suing the internet giant in a court in the city of Angers for infringement of his privacy and of his right not to have his photo published without his accord.
He also wants the offending photograph to be withdrawn from the site.
Google's lawyer, Christophe Bigot, said the lawsuit against his company was "implausible."
Street View allows users to take a ground level panoramic view of some locations on Google Maps, based on still photographs taken by specially equipped vehicles. (ANI)

A good picture from Yahoo pics of the week :03 Mar 2012

A woman dries her saree, a traditional cloth used for women's clothing, after washing it on the banks of river Tawi in Jammu March 3, 2012. REUTERS/Mukesh Gupta

Interesting facts

1. A lady named Marthe Odile Charton (C), 100, celebrated her 25th Leap Day birthday, in Ingersheim near Colmar, Eastern France, February 29, 2012. Odile is a "leaper" born on February 29,1912 in Ingersheim. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler

2. Boys between the ages of 7 and 18 in Myanmar are traditionally sent by their family to experience the life of a monk for a short span of time. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar

(Source: Yahoo pictures of the week March 3,2012)

US special forces stationed in India, reveals Pentagon

TOI, 2 Mar 2012

WASHINGTON: US special forces teams are currently stationed in five South Asian countries including India as part of the counter-terrorism cooperation with these nations, a top Pentagon commander has disclosed.

These teams have been deployed by US Pacific Command as part of its effort to enhance their counter-terrorism capabilities, in particular in the maritime domain, Admiral Robert Willard, the PACOM Commander said on Thursday.

"We have currently special forces assist teams - Pacific assist teams is the term - laid down in Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, as well as India," Willard told lawmakers at a Congressional hearing in response to a question on co-operation with India on counter-terrorism issues.

"We are working very closely with India with regard to their counter-terrorism capabilities and in particular on the maritime domain but also government to government, not necessarily DOD (department of defence) but other agencies assisting them in terms of their internal counter-terror and counterinsurgency challenges," Willard said.

(To read the full report, follow the title link to TOI news article.)

One who doesn't earn Rs50000 per month, is a poor by Persi standard

Not many Indians will qualify to be above poverty line if the Persi standard, as set by Bombay Persi Panchayet, is followed in differentiating 'poor' Indians from 'rich' Indians.

See this news that came online at TOI today (3 Mar 2012)
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MUMBAI: The Bombay Parsi Punchayet on Friday told the Bombay High Court that it considers a Parsi who earns under Rs 50,000 a month to be "poor" and hence eligible for allotment of a flat at subsidised rent.

A division bench of Justices P B Majmudar and Ramesh Dhanuka was hearing a petition filed by Rohinton Taraporewala against BPP's president Dinshaw Mehta and other trustees.

Taraporewala, who is in his 60s, lives in Tarapur. He has contended in his petition that he is "poor and eligible'' for housing, but BPP has allotted flats at Panthaky Baug in Andheri to people who are "richer" than him. He has also said that he and his wife are ailing and require to live in Mumbai to avail of medical treatment.

When the matter came up for hearing, Taraporewala's lawyer was not present. BPP advocate Percy Gandhi said a copy of the petition had not been served to his client. "He is not poor and has moved court because he was not allotted a flat at Panthaky Baug. He is very rich and has acres and acres of land. These flats are for the poor and needy,'' said Gandhi.

To a query from the judges as to who is defined as poor by the BPP, Gandhi replied, "A person earning income below Rs 50,000 a month is regarded as poor.'' Justice Majmudar remarked, "We have not come across any poor Parsi."

On October 15, 2009 the HC allowed BPP to sell 108 flats at Panthaky Baug at rates approved by the Charity Commissioner to cross-subsidise housing for needy Parsis. Some 300 flats are to be constructed and given on a merit-rating scheme.

Gandhi submitted that the108 flats "are also to be also sold to poor and needy Parsis'' and as Taraporewala is "not poor", he was not allotted a flat. Directing that a copy of the petition be served on BPP, the judges have adjourned the matter for two weeks.