ICICI Bank, First Data form merchant acquiring JV 0
8:39 AMImage via Wikipedia
ICICI Merchant Services plans to build on the bank's existing acquiring portfolio of approximately 150,000 merchants, while ICICI Bank will continue as a settlement banker for the merchants.
"POS (point of sale terminals) and non-cash transactions would play a very significant role in the next couple of years. Electronic transactions are a convenient and safe way to manage commerce and trade," ICICI Bank, Deputy Managing Director, Sandeep Bakhshi, told reporters at a conference here.
Bakhshi said this joint venture would help optimise and improve efficiencies of the bank's business, meet customer needs effectively and increase service quality.
"This business has been positive for us over the last couple of years. All customers across our database will continue to be a part of our merchant acquiring business," Bakhshi said.
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Yeah, no skateboarding music player mobile phone for Microsoft, rather the exciting news out of Redmond is that its Office 2010 applications suite is nearly out of beta and on release will be available in four different versions.
Micrsoft expects sales to be high. It said that in just seven weeks, more than two million people around the world have downloaded the beta version. To get a better appreciation for that number, says Rachel Bondi, general manager of Microsoft Office, "it's a rate of more than 40,000 downloads per day. That's approximately twice the number of people who run the Boston Marathon each year, or the entire population of Olympia, WA, or Annapolis, MD, downloading the Office 2010 beta every day!" Wow, two Boston Marathons. That really puts it into context.
Office 2010 will be released in four versions, Office Home and Business, Office Professional, Office Home and Student, and Office Professional Academic, and they will cost $279, $499, $149, and $99, respectively. Product key card versions are also available and cost a little less, presumably since they do not require boxing and all that other non-green stuff.
Unlike the other options, this can only be used on one machine, however, while for example the home and business, and professional editions can be installed on two.
Most interestingly however, the Vole said it will drop all discounted 'upgrade' pricing for customers who previously bought earlier versions of its Office productivity suite. This will in effect amount to a hefty price increase for a lot of users.
We imagine that this decision by Microsoft will drive more people to download the free - and interoperable with Microsoft Office - Open Document Format (ODF) alternative, Openoffice.org.
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President Obama returned today from his vacation in Hawaii as the United States steps up air travel security and refocuses its attention on Yemen, where threats from al Qaeda groups have forced several embassies to close. The U.S. embassy in Yemen's capital city of San'a was closed for a second straight day because of ongoing threats by al Qaeda. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today said these threats predate this holiday season, and added that the embassy will open "when security conditions permit."
United States officials are not alone in their concerns about an imminent al Qaeda threat in Yemen. Japan also closed its embassy, as did the British for unspecified "security reasons."
Security at the embassies and other potential Western targets in Yemen is tighter than ever as fears of an attack mount.
Yemen has been the site of suspected terror activity for some time. In September 2008, twin suicide car bombs at the U.S. embassy killed more than a dozen people. But officials suspect a new attack could be worse. Intelligence indicates that four or five suicide bombers are in the "operational stage," either on their way or already heading for targets inside San'a, according to U.S. officials.
On Dec. 17, Yemeni security forces managed to kill three suicide bombers and find a vest of a fourth. But officials believe different suicide bombers have been trained for new attacks.
A U.S. official tells ABC News that it is believed that Umar Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old who planned to blow up U.S.-bound Northwest Flight 253, was trained and equipped at the same al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula training camp in Abyan that was struck by U.S. cruise missiles, and then followed by an attack from Yemeni ground forces, on Dec. 17th.
The clampdown on terror suspects has already begun in the volatile Arab country. Just outside of the capital, government forces clashed with al Qaeda militants and officials said several had been killed. Yemeni forces in San'a today went after Nazil al Hanq, a key leader of the Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which claimed responsibility for the botched Christmas Day terror plot to blow up a Detroit-bound airline. Al Hanq would be a big catch for the Yemenis because they believe he was one of the men behind plans by al Qaeda to blow up Western or Yemeni government targets. But even though security forces killed two men close to him in the firefight, they were unable to get al Hanq. Embassies are likely to stay closed until further notice.
Until the past few weeks, Yemeni forces had been focusing specifically on rebel group al Houthi in the northern part of the country, and separatists in the south. But with local officials acknowledging that al Qaeda is now stronger than ever, Yemeni forces are gearing up for more intense fighting around the country.
"Their idea is to overtake whole of Yemen," Yemen Army Gen. Yahya M.A. Saleh told ABC News. "Al Houthi wants part of Yemen, separatist groups want part of Yemen, al Qaeda wants the whole Yemen, not only to stay in Yemen, but to spread all over the world and export terrorists."
Additional U.S. special forces have been deployed to Yemen to help the local army and security forces with counterterrorism training, and to provide intelligence and firepower.
"Instability in Yemen is a threat to regional stability and even global stability," Clinton today said at a joint press conference with Hamad Bin Jassim Jabr Al-Thani, Prime Minster and Foreign Minister of Qatar. "This is a difficult set of challenges but they have to be addressed."
Training and providing assistance to locals will be the key to fighting the war against terrorism but Americans shouldn't expect U.S. military action in Yemen, Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward said today,
"It's confusing, I think, to the average person," he said on "Good Morning America. "We've got these ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but al Qaeda sanctuaries are in Pakistan, in places like Yemen, we don't have ground wars going on.
"The president there has taken a very aggressive stance in going after al Qaeda -- the key to this ground operations by other countries, quite frankly," Woodward told "GMA's" George Stephanopoulos.
And it is not only in Pakistan and Yemen where alleged terror groups are breeding.
"Somalia ... is another place of worry," Woodward said. "In fact, there are dozens of places of worry where there are al Qaeda cells around the world."
Obama, who cut his vacation short, plans to hold an inter-agency meeting Tuesday to discuss missed intelligence signals and security failures in the case of the 23-year-old Nigerian national who attempted to blow up a U.S.-bound airplane on Christmas day. Yemen and future security measures are also likely to be the subjects of discussion. Read More
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James Cameron's "Avatar" may have smashed box-office records, but it's receiving less-than-stellar reviews from some conservative writers who have panned the movie's blunt political messaging. "I call it the 'liberal tell,' where the early and obvious politics of the film gives away the entire story before the second act begins, and 'Avatar' might be the sorriest example of this yet," wrote conservative movie critic John Nolte.
Filmmaker Cameron does little to hide the political nuances in his $230 million hit, which has grossed more than $1 billion worldwide and is on its way to becoming one of the top 10 highest domestic grossing movies of all time.
From its portrayal of the corporation that wants to take over the natural resources on the planet Pandora -- a not-so-subtle allusion to the likes of Halliburton and defense contractor Blackwater -- to distinct religious, anti-war and pro-environment themes, the film's political messaging has rubbed many conservatives the wrong way. "I wasn't infuriated by 'Avatar.' I was infuriated by the way it framed the culture-war debate... as if there are no secular people on the right," Jonah Goldberg, editor-at-large of the National Review, told ABC News.
Some conservatives have panned the movie not just for its overt political tones, but its criticism of American actions.
"'Avatar' is a thinly disguised, heavy-handed and simplistic sci-fi fantasy/allegory critical of America from our founding straight through to the Iraq War," wrote Nolte. "It looks like a big-budget animated film with a garish color palette right off a hippie's tie dye shirt."
The inhabitants of the planet Pandora in the film, the Na'vi, live in harmony with their natural surroundings and have strong faith in the powers of their goddess Eywa. But the RDA corporation, run by humans, sets up shop on Pandora to exploit its mineral resources. It will do anything to obtain Pandora's "nobtainium," even if that means destroying the Na'vi, their habitat and their faith.
Some conservative writers say they are outraged by strong religious undertones in the movie.
"Like the holiday season itself, the science fiction epic is a crass embodiment of capitalistic excess wrapped around a deeply felt religious message," Conservative writer and blogger Ross Douthat wrote in an op-ed in the New York Times. "'Avatar' is Cameron's long apologia for pantheism -- a faith that equates God with Nature, and calls humanity into religious communion with the natural world." Read More
President Says Government Had "Sufficient Information" to Uncover Christmas Plane Plot But Failed to Connect the Dots
President Obama said today that the nation's security and intelligence system "failed in a potentially disastrous way" when a passenger was able to board a U.S.-bound flight with explosives strapped to his underwear.
"When a suspected terrorist is able to board a plane with explosives on Christmas Day, the system has failed in a potentially disastrous way," the president said after meeting with his national security team for nearly two hours at the White House.
"And it's my responsibility to find out why and to correct that failure so we can prevent such attacks in the future."
Obama said the security and intelligence breakdown was not because of insufficient information, but rather a failure to connect the dots.
"This was not a failure to collect intelligence. It was a failure to integrate and understand the intelligence that we already have," he said. "The information was there."
Obama had tougher words behind closed doors. He told members of his national security team this afternoon that the intelligence failure around the attempted Christmas day attack was a "screw-up" and that they only dodged a bullet because of brave individuals of Flight 253. "This was a screw-up that could have been disastrous. We dodged a bullet but just barely. It was averted by brave individuals, not because the system worked, and that is not acceptable. While there will be a tendency for finger pointing, I will not tolerate it," the president said in the Situation Room, according to a White House official.
An administration official said there was no finger pointing in the meeting today and that the leaders of each agency and department took responsibility for failures at their respective organizations.
Each agency brought to the table steps they've already taken to improve their systems and increase the safety of the American people safer, which the president outlined today.
Obama said he would accept that intelligence is "imperfect" but that was not the case with the security lapse on Northwest Flight 253 last month.
"It is increasingly clear that intelligence was not fully analyzed or fully leveraged. That's not acceptable, and I will not tolerate it," he said.
The president reiterated that his administration will not back off its plan to shut down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, but said that detainees will not be sent to Yemen because of the "ongoing security situation" there.
"Make no mistake. We will close Guantanamo prison, which has damaged our national security interests and become a tremendous recruiting tool for al Qaeda," Obama said. "In fact, that was an explicit rationale for the formation of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula."
The president said that it was the administration's intent to transfer to detainees to other countries "only under conditions that provide assurances that our security is being protected."
As a result, "We will not be transferring additional detainees back to Yemen at this time," he said. Read More
President Obama said today that the nation's security and intelligence system "failed in a potentially disastrous way" when a passenger was able to board a U.S.-bound flight with explosives strapped to his underwear.
"When a suspected terrorist is able to board a plane with explosives on Christmas Day, the system has failed in a potentially disastrous way," the president said after meeting with his national security team for nearly two hours at the White House.
"And it's my responsibility to find out why and to correct that failure so we can prevent such attacks in the future."
Obama said the security and intelligence breakdown was not because of insufficient information, but rather a failure to connect the dots.
"This was not a failure to collect intelligence. It was a failure to integrate and understand the intelligence that we already have," he said. "The information was there."
Obama had tougher words behind closed doors. He told members of his national security team this afternoon that the intelligence failure around the attempted Christmas day attack was a "screw-up" and that they only dodged a bullet because of brave individuals of Flight 253. "This was a screw-up that could have been disastrous. We dodged a bullet but just barely. It was averted by brave individuals, not because the system worked, and that is not acceptable. While there will be a tendency for finger pointing, I will not tolerate it," the president said in the Situation Room, according to a White House official.
An administration official said there was no finger pointing in the meeting today and that the leaders of each agency and department took responsibility for failures at their respective organizations.
Each agency brought to the table steps they've already taken to improve their systems and increase the safety of the American people safer, which the president outlined today.
Obama said he would accept that intelligence is "imperfect" but that was not the case with the security lapse on Northwest Flight 253 last month.
"It is increasingly clear that intelligence was not fully analyzed or fully leveraged. That's not acceptable, and I will not tolerate it," he said.
The president reiterated that his administration will not back off its plan to shut down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, but said that detainees will not be sent to Yemen because of the "ongoing security situation" there.
"Make no mistake. We will close Guantanamo prison, which has damaged our national security interests and become a tremendous recruiting tool for al Qaeda," Obama said. "In fact, that was an explicit rationale for the formation of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula."
The president said that it was the administration's intent to transfer to detainees to other countries "only under conditions that provide assurances that our security is being protected."
As a result, "We will not be transferring additional detainees back to Yemen at this time," he said. Read More
NFL Goodell's Hypocrisy
Contrary to what our judicial system says, there are just some things you don’t need a trial, judge and jury for. Like that show, “The Jersey Shore” for example. I only needed to watch two minutes worth before coming to the obvious conclusion that every one of those f’ers should be taken out back and shot. While I’m not calling for a similar penalty for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, I’d say he deserves at least a kick in the nuts for his rank hypocrisy.I’m talking about his statement last week, when he said the NFL Rules Committee will be looking into a way to address the “Colts Situation” as it is being referred to. Last week, in their game against the Jets, Indianapolis chose to sit many of their starters rather than risk injuries that might hurt their chance to win the Super Bowl. It is a common tactic, but the Colts game is at the forefront for two reasons:
1 – Nobody believes the NY Jets could beat the Colts with Peyton Manning and the starters in for the whole game (and they were, in fact, losing when Manning was taken out.)
2 – It supposedly gave a free ticket to the playoffs to the Jets, while costing other teams - like the Houston Texans and the defending champion Pittsburgh Steelers - a post season berth.
I have no truck with number one – the Manning-led Colts would destroy the Jets.
As for number two, it is, well...number two. The Steelers aren’t in the playoffs because they lost the heart and soul of their defense, Troy Polamalu – and because without him they lost to the Raiders, Bears, Browns and Chiefs – all teams that finished with losing records. Same thing for the Texans – they missed the post season because their normally reliable place kicker missed key field goals in at least three different games, and because they lost to the Jets, at home in Houston, in week one. Tough to blame those circumstances on Colt’s coach Jim Caldwell.
But here is the true hypocrisy of the league. They say it’s not fair to the fans to purchase tickets to a week 17 game that the teams themselves treat like a preseason exhibition game. To the average fan, that statement slides by as passable, but season ticket holders must be screaming in anger. A few years ago the league made it possible for teams to include pre-season tickets as part of the season ticket package, meaning if fans wanted season tickets they were forced to buy tickets for all four pre-season games also.
Pretty bad, right? Here’s something even more telling – the sports betting aspect of the situation. The league foolishly mentioned that it will consider requiring teams to publicly announce which players will play, and which will sit.
Why would the public need to know who will play and who will not?
Regardless of NFL lip service about maintaining the game’s integrity, the answer lies, ironically, in their lack of integrity. The only people who care about who plays and who doesn’t, other than opposing coaches, are sports books, sports bettors and fantasy league participants. But, that reason cannot be mentioned, in line with the league’s long-standing “see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil” policy when it comes to the true driving force behind their incredible revenue – betting. So, for diversion, Goodell claims to be acting in the best interest of the game and its fans.
For the good of the league, Roger, really, is that what you’re going to try and sell us?
In October, the House Judiciary Committee held meetings on the increasing evidence of football-related cases of brain injury.
Goodell couldn’t be bothered to attend. One Congresswoman compared the NFL’s stance on links between playing football and conditions such as dementia and Alzheimers to the tobacco companies denial of links between smoking and lung diseases.
This latest intrusion into the game has nothing to do with the best interest of the fans or the league. Fact is, without betting there is no league, there are no fans. The popularity the sport enjoys would cease to exist, and with it – the billions of dollars the league makes.
It’s been rumored that Roger Goodell will be stepping down after next season. Based on his penchant for hypocrisy, I’d say a long and successful career in politics awaits him…
I want to make you mine, all the time… oh wait. Hello. I’m here on behalf of the WordPress development team and community to announce the immediate availability of WordPress version 2.9 “Carmen” named in honor of magical jazz vocalist Carmen McRae (whom we’ve added to our Last.fm WP release station). You can upgrade easily from your Dashboard by going to Tools > Upgrade, or you can download from WordPress.org. And of course, it wouldn’t be a major release without a short video summarizing some of the cool things about the new version:
The coolest new stuff from a user point of view is:
The coolest new stuff from a user point of view is:
- Global undo/”trash” feature, which means that if you accidentally delete a post or comment you can bring it back from the grave (i.e., the Trash). This also eliminates those annoying “are you sure” messages we used to have on every delete.
- Built-in image editor allows you to crop, edit, rotate, flip, and scale your images to show them who’s boss. This is the first wave of our many planned media-handling improvements.
- Batch plugin update and compatibility checking, which means you can update 10 plugins at once, versus having to do multiple clicks for each one, and we’re using the new compatibility data from the plugins directory to give you a better idea of whether your plugins are compatible with new releases of WordPress. This should take the fear and hassle out of upgrading.
- Easier video embeds that allow you to just paste a URL on its own line and have it magically turn it into the proper embed code, with Oembed support for YouTube, Daily Motion, Blip.tv, Flickr, Hulu, Viddler, Qik, Revision3, Scribd, Google Video, Photobucket, PollDaddy, and WordPress.tv (and more in the next release).
- We now have
rel=canonical
support for better SEO. - There is automatic database optimization support, which you can enable in your
wp-config.php
file by addingdefine('WP_ALLOW_REPAIR', true);
. - Themes can register “post thumbnails” which allow them to attach an image to the post, especially useful for magazine-style themes.
- A new
commentmeta
table that allows arbitrary key/value pairs to be attached to comments, just like posts, so you can now expand greatly what you can do in the comment framework. - Custom post types have been upgraded with better API support so you can juggle more types than just post, page, and attachment. (More of this planned for 3.0.)
- You can set custom theme directories, so a plugin can register a theme to be bundled with it or you can have multiple shared theme directories on your server.
- We’ve upgraded TinyMCE WYSIWYG editing and Simplepie.
- Sidebars can now have descriptions so it’s more obvious what and where they do what they do.
- Specify category templates not just by ID, like before, but by slug, which will make it easier for theme developers to do custom things with categories — like post types!
- Registration and profiles are now extensible to allow you to collect things more easily, like a user’s Twitter account or any other fields you can imagine.
- The XML-RPC API has been extended to allow changing the user registration option. We fixed some Atom API attachment issues.
- Create custom galleries with the new include and exclude attributes that allow you to pull attachments from any post, not just the current one.
- When you’re editing files in the theme and plugin editors it remembers your location and takes you back to that line after you save. (Thank goodness!!!)
- The Press This bookmarklet has been improved and is faster than ever; give it a try for on-the-fly blogging from wherever you are on the internet.
- Custom taxonomies are now included in the WXR export file and imported correctly.
- Better hooks and filters for excerpts, smilies, HTTP requests, user profiles, author links, taxonomies, SSL support, tag clouds, query_posts and WP_Query
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