Google has just announced this year's Anita Borg Scholarship winners.

The scholarships given to female undergraduate and graduate students are based on the strength of candidates' academic background and demonstrated leadership.

Interestingly there is a significant presence of girls of Indian origin in the list (almost 4 out of 19).

Check out the entire list here.

Outlook India has an interesting piece on how online tutorial is becoming the next big thing for the Indian KPO industry.

According to market estimates, online tutoring companies in India earned around $10 million last year and 80 per cent of the earnings were from the US.

At present, there are four main Indian e-tuition providers: Educomp (Delhi), TutorVista (Bangalore), Growing Stars (Kerala) and Career Launcher (Delhi).

Since Indian tutors charge less ($20-$30 per hour) than Americans ($60-$100 per hour) and because Indians are known for their proficiency in maths and science, business is booming for the handful of e-tutoring firms in India.

Get the entire piece here.

Rapid economic growth is changing the face of India and China, mostly for the better but sometimes for the worst.

At the core of this change is the new jobs that are being created for the poor - in IT and outsourced services for India and manufacturing in China.

BusinessWeek is running an engaging slideshow with images reflecting the changes that are happening on the ground, and the people whose lives are getting transformed.

Sujatha Rao had hoped to reach out to corporates attending the conference but those in attendance before her were a handful of journalists, representatives of Non Governmental Organisations and interested individuals.

"We lost 500,000 people to AIDS last year. There are 5.2 million HIV infected people in India," she said.

Rediff gives a profile of the woman with supposedly India's toughest job (a subjective opinion that. I am sure Smt. Rabri Devi would have a distinct other view, what with looking after 9 kids and 47 cows/buffaloes).

This is ideal story for indian geeks working for American MNCs. American MNCs use Indian offices to dump maintainance work, low quality work in India. All the low end jobs are being shifted to Indian offices. This should be used by Indian Geeks as learning opportunity. While working for American MNC's they can build side business and start their own venture.

Signal Vs. Noise says

At SxSW a few weeks ago I spoke about starting a side business instead of quitting your job. Build something on the side. Give it a go and see what happens. The constraint of less time will help you focus on what’s important. If there’s something there, then take it the next step.

The world's largest democracy or the world's largest hoax, India means different things to different people.

Shobha warrier gives us a better picture on how are things on the ground:

Now that the assembly election dates for West Bengal, Kerala, Assam, Pondicherry and Tamil Nadu have been announced, I have started visualising the arrogant, supercilious and aloof politicians suddenly transforming themselves into friendly and smiling folk. I see them coming down from their high pedestals with folded hands, walking through dirty lanes, talking to the unkempt people and lifting the unwashed children with running noses.

Read her complete post here.

Rediff.com has story on a major terrorist attack in the Hindu holy city, Varanasi. There were atleast 2 seperate bombs that exploded.

At least 20 persons were killed and over 50 injured when two blasts rocked Varanasi on Tuesday evening.


According to the police, two blasts occurred almost simultaneously at about 6.30 pm. The first blast took place at the Sankat Mochan Hanuman temple that was crowded on Tuesday, believed to be a special day for Lord Hanuman.

Here is the link to the article: 2 blasts rock Varanasi; 20 dead

Many economists, prior to the 'Bush visit', have opined that India is now verge of becoming a Super-Power. The Delhi-Washington alliance only adds strength to their calculations. Here's the speculation:

"The world - and particularly the United States - is courting India as it never has before. Fascinated by the new growth story, perhaps wary of Asia's Chinese superpower, searching to hedge some bets, the world has woken up to India's potential," Zakaria in the latest issue of Newsweek (March 6).

Read more about India, as the potential super-power in Asia and what makes it better than China.

A study that appears in the journal Science claims that the melting of Greenland's ice has doubled in the last 10 years:

"In 1996 Greenland was losing about 100 cu km of ice per year," says Eric Rignot of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, lead author of the study, which he presented at last week's meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in St. Louis, Mo. "This year it will lose more than twice as much."

By comparison, he says, in 1996 Greenland dumped 90 times as much water into the sea as Los Angeles consumed; last year it was up to 225 times. "In the next 10 years," says Rignot, "it wouldn't surprise me if the rate doubled again."

Rediff reports about the first case of avian bird flu hitting Indian poultry.

In the first instance of the deadly avian flu virus in India, the Maharashtra government on Saturday said chicken have died of the disease in the Nandurbar and Dhule districts, which have a large number of poultry farms, even as the state authorities have rushed immediate medical help to the affected areas.

Read more on the same here.