Delhi gang rape Victim's father wants world to know her real name

A traumatised father of the 23-year- old Delhi gang-rape victim wants the world to know his daughter's real name to give courage to other victims while demanding death for all the six accused "beasts".

Following the girl's brutal assault in a moving bus in Delhi on December 16, the Indian media has refrained from naming her.

She died on December 29 at a Singapore hospital where she was shifted to from Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital in an extremely critical condition.

"We want the world to know her real name. My daughter didn't do anything wrong, she died while protecting herself. I am proud of her. Revealing her name will give courage to other women who have survived these attacks. They will find strength from my daughter," the victim's 53-year-old father told The Sunday People, the Daily Mirror's Sunday edition, in his ancestral village in Ballia in Uttar Pradesh.

His comments sparked off a debate on the social media. Naming her would give a face to the movement seeking strict laws for crimes against women, a Facebook post said.

Another said, the victim already has several pseudonyms given by the media and the people will fight back.

The newspaper posted the father's picture with his name. It then revealed the victim's name, saying it had the permission of the father.

The father showed the family album with photographs of his daughter smiling. While in some photographs she was wearing traditional saree, in others, she was mostly in western clothes.

The newspaper said in deference to the father's wish not to make public her picture, it was not doing so.

Indian law forbids revealing of the name of a rape victim unless her family agrees to it.

Since her death, the girl's family has retreated to their village.

"At first I wanted to see the men responsible face to face but I don't want to any more. I just want to hear that the courts have punished them and they will be hanged," the newspaper quoted the father as saying.

"Death for all six of them. These men are beasts. They should be made an example of and that society will not allow such things to happen," the girl's father said.

The girl's father told the newspaper that the friend of the victim was not her boyfriend, just a very brave friend who tried to save her.

"There was no question of her marrying because we belong to different castes. She never expressed a desire to marry. She was concentrating on her studies and wanted a job first," he said.

The father also revealed that the girl often mentioned how much her friend tried to save her.

"She kept telling her mother he tried his best to help but they kept beating him with a rod," the father said.

Samsung India officially launches Galaxy Music Duos

Samsung seems to have silently launched Galaxy Music Duos smartphone in the Indian market. The company had unveiled it internationally in October 2012 and begun taking pre-orders in India in the first week of December. The official cost of the device in India is Rs 9,199, though the street price is Rs 8,990. 
The all-new Galaxy Music Duos is a dual-sim smartphone aimed at music lovers and comes with two speakers in the front, a dedicated music key and audio technologies like Sound Alive and SRS. This device has a 3-inch LCD touchscreen with 240x320-pixel resolution and runs on an 850MHz processor with 512MB RAM. It has 4GB internal memory and supports 32GB microSD cards for expansion.

Powered by a 1,300mAh battery, the device comes with a 3MP camera without flash and also misses a front-facing snapper. For connectivity, Samsung Galaxy Music Duos has features like Wi-Fi, 3G, 2G, Bluetooth 3.0 and microUSB.

Galaxy Music Duos features Always On technology, which allows users to take calls on one sim, while keeping calls on the other sim on waiting.

Key specs of Samsung Galaxy Music Duos:

Display: 3-inch LCD touchscreen with 240x320-pixel resolution;
Operating system: Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich);
Processor: 850MHz;
RAM: 512MB;
Memory: 4GB internal, support for 32GB microSD card;
Camera: 3MP rear camera;
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, 3G, 2G, Bluetooth 3.0 and microUSB;
Battery: 1,300mAh;
Misc: Dedicated music key, Sound Alive and SRS audio technologies, dual frontal speakers, Always On

Acer to launch 7-inch Android 4.1 tablet at Rs 7999 in India

The competition in the budget tablet market seems to be getting hotter. Acer is reportedly all set to launch its upcoming Iconia Tab B1 for Rs 7,999 in India. The tablet is speculated to be rolled out in early 2013. 

Previously, Wall Street Journal quoted a source as saying that Acer was working on a $99 tablet that will have a 7-inch screen with 1024x600presolution and run on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). A US Federal Communications Commission(FCC) application for the tablet revealed others specifications of the Google Nexus 7 rival, including 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 512MB RAM, 8GB onboard storage, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi as well as microSD support. 

Though it made an appearance at US FCC, the tablet according to WSJ, is aimed primarily at emerging markets. Images of Acer Iconia Tab B1 surfaced on a Serbian forum and were confirmed to be real by WSJ's source. 

Earlier in November, Asus-manufactured Google Nexus 7 was launched at Rs 19,999 in India, much higher than expected, considering that the device sells for $199 in US. According to a CyberMedia research, Micromax was the leader in the Indian tablet market in second quarter of 2012. In October last year, Manufacturers Association of IT predicts that the country's tablet market is set to grow by 40% till 2015-16, to 7.3 million units from 0.95 million units in 2012. 

Acer Iconia B1 Specifications

• Display screen size 7.0 inches LCD capacitive touchscreen
• Display resolutions are 1024 x 768
• Acer Iconia B1 is provided with a 1.2 GHz dual core processor
• It runs on Android V4.1 Jelly Bean operating system
• Internal memory is 8GB
• Expandable memory up to 32 GB
• RAM provided is 512 MB
• Audio player AAC, FLAC, MP#, WMA, WAV and OGG
• Video Player AVC MPEG-4, AVI j264

If Acer captures the attention of the Indian tablet buyers with its Iconia Tab B1, it is expected to give tough competition to Micromax's Funbook series, the leader in the tablet segment in India. It is widely expected that the Taiwanese manufacturer will showcase the device at Consumer Electronics Show, scheduled for Jan 8 to 11, 2013, in the US.

Mid-tier IT companies may give small increment in 2013

Faced with continuing uncertainty in their largest markets, US and Europe, mid-sized technology outsourcing companies will give out tepid pay hikes and cut down on their campus hiring in 2013.

Coming out of a slow year when the IT industry saw slowing revenue growth thanks to clients being more cautious about technology spending, software services exporters such as Infinite Technologies, Mastek, Mahindra Satyam andInfotech Enterprises said the pay hikes could be as low as 5% this year.

Compared to double-digit pay hikes till a few years ago, salary increments in India's $100-billion (Rs 5.5 lakh crore) IT industry has been consistently declining since the financial crisis of 2008, from which US and Europe is yet to completely recover. "Wage hikes for IT employees will be lower than last year due to slowdown in the US and European markets and pricing pressure from clients there," said BVR Mohan Reddy, chairman and managing director of Hyderabad-based Infotech Enterprises, which employs about 10,000 people.

It had given out average pay hike of 15% to its offshore employees and 3% to employees in onsite locations in US or Europe. "Hiring too will be lower compared to last year," Reddy said.

Indian IT companies typically give out salary increases during the first three months of the financial year that starts in April while campus job offers are made in November-December. IT firms hire close to 1.5 lakh students from campuses every year. But with large companies unable to predict near-term growth with any degree of certainty, industry watchers say they are doubtful about robust growth among larger IT companies, let alone tier-II firms.
"There are no signs of de-growth as of now, but companies have clearly become more selective about hiring," said Aditya Narayan Mishra, head of staffing business at human resources firm Randstad India.

Hyderabad-based Mahindra Satyam, for instance, said it plans to cut down on its campus hiring by 50% in the coming year due to the unpredictable business environment.

"You can be sure that it will be a muted year," said Hari Thalapalli, chief people officer at Mahindra Satyam, which gave 6.5% hike to offshore and 1.5% to onsite employees last year.

Thalapalli's concerns are echoed by other executives in the industry such as Farid Kazani, chief financial officer at Mumbai-based Mastek who said that as of now things look "quite muted."

"We don't expect a major increase (in pay hike) due to the on-going pressure in the IT sector," Kazani said. With large firms such as Infosys and Wipro offering meagre hikes and postponing hiring decisions, Kazani said mid-tier IT firms find it easier to retain employees. "There is no pressure to hire or offer wage hikes." Mastek said it will take a final call on pay hikes in a month's time.

Last year, the country's second-largest IT exporter Infosys had delayed joining dates of over 20,000 freshers and did not give pay hikes to its over 150,000 employees during the normal schedule, citing volatility in business environment. Its cross-town rival Wipro gave 8% average wage hike to its offshore and 3% to onsite staff. This year it will be below 10%," said Upinder Zutshi, chief executive officer at Infinite. "The coming year will be challenging.

15 best countries for business

New Zealand is ranked as the best country for business, according to Forbes. The report states that the United States continues to lose ground against other nations in Forbes’ annual look at the best countries for business.
(Source: Forbes)

1. New Zealand

The island country, New Zealand has a modern, prosperous and developed market economy. The country is heavily dependent on international trade and has a high demand for agricultural products.

GDP: GDP: $162 billion

GDP per capita: $39,300

Public debt as % of GDP: 36%

2. Denmark

Officially the Kingdom of Denmark has a developed mixed market economy and the country’s economy stands out for its economic freedom. It has a large labour force and its support for free trade is high.

GDP: $333 billion

GDP per capita: $59,684

Public debt as % of GDP: 44%

3. Hong Kong

Hong Kong is a special administrative region and is considered to be one of the world’s leading financial centers. The country has a major capitalist service economy characterized by low taxation and free trade.

GDP: $244 billion

GDP per capita: $34,457

Public debt as % of GDP: 30%

4. Singapore

Singapore has a highly developed market based economy. It is known to have one of the freest, innovative, competitive and business-friendly environments worldwide. The economy depends heavily on exports and refining imported goods, especially in manufacturing.

GDP: $240 billion

GDP per capita: $46,241

Public debt as % of GDP: 118%

5. Canada

Canada has a mixed economy and manufacturing, mining and service sectors have transformed the nation from a rural economy to an industrialized one. The country is one of the world's largest suppliers of agricultural products.

GDP: $1.7 trillion

GDP per capita: $50,345

Public debt as % of GDP: 87%

6. Ireland

The economy of Ireland mainly focuses on services and high-tech industries. Exports play a very important role and Ireland is considered to be one of the world’s most profitable countries.

GDP: $217 billion

GDP per capita: $48,423

Public debt as % of GDP: 105%

7. Sweden

Sweden is an export oriented mixed economy and is heavily oriented towards foreign trade. The country’s engineering, telecommunications, automotive and pharmaceutical industries are of great importance.

GDP: $538 billion

GDP per capita: $56,927

Public debt as % of GDP: 38%

8. Norway
Norway is a mixed economy. It features a combination of free market activity and large state ownership in certain key sectors. It is also one of the largest oil exporters in the world.

GDP: $486 billion

GDP per capita: $98,102

Public debt as % of GDP: 58%

9. Finland

Although Finland was relatively late for industrialization, the country’s economy grows rapidly. The country is highly integrated in the global economy, and international trade.

GDP: $266 billion

GDP per capita: $49,391

Public debt as % of GDP: 49%

10. United Kingdom

United Kingdom was the world’s first industrialized countries and is a now considered as one of the great powers in with its economic influence. The country has a partially regulated market economy.

GDP: $2.4 trillion

GDP per capita: $38,818

Public debt as % of GDP: 86%

11. Australia

Australia is a developed country which enjoys its high economic freedom. It is considered to be a wealthy economy with a market economy. The country is a major exporter of agricultural products.

GDP: $1.4 trillion

GDP per capita: $60,642

Public debt as % of GDP: 27%

12. United States

The United States of America has a capitalist mixed economy which has a developed infrastructure, high productivity and sufficient natural resources. Apart from being known for its large exports the country is also one of the largest importers of goods.

GDP: $15.1 trillion

GDP per capita: $48,442

Public debt as % of GDP: 68%

13. Belgium

Belgium has a strong globalised economy and it is characterized by high productive work force. The country is heavily is service-oriented and has an integrated transport infrastructure.

GDP: $512 billion

GDP per capita: $46,469

Public debt as % of GDP: 100%

14. Netherlands

The Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy that is well known for its liberal stance. Shipping, fishing, trade, and banking have been leading sectors of the country’s economy.

GDP: $836 billion

GDP per capita: $50,087

Public debt as % of GDP: 65%

15. Switzerland

Switzerland is known as one of the most stable, prosperous and wealthiest economy. The high tech economy’s main sector is manufacturing and the Switzerland’s largest exported goods are chemicals.

GDP: $636 billion

GDP per capita: $80,391

Public debt as % of GDP: 52%