Epic and $30 tablet

EPIC is an India browser thats making news these days. Will it be popular in India? Time will tell.

Any internet user can now download the browser for free by logging onto the website www.epicbrowser.com “Epic provides a uniquely Indian browsing experience. Epic’s India sidebar supports Indian content by providing users access to the latest national and regional news from popular publications, live television channels, videos, stock quotes, live cricket scores, top music albums, and local events”, it said.

Users can choose from 1500+ customized Indian themes and wallpapers ranging from freedom fighters to famous Bollywood and regional film stars. Writing in Indian languages is supported throughout Epic. Users can instantly write in Indian languages on any webpage or in Write, Epic’s free built-in word processor. Twelve Indian languages are currently supported, the statement said.[source]

IBN LIVE Reports:
India unveiled a Rs 1,500 (around $ 30) tablet PC designed specifically for students.

"If more companies decide to manufacture a similar device, prices will come down automatically," Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said after unveiling the low cost-access-cum computing device here.

The device would be made available to students in 2011.

When the ministry floated the concept of a low cost laptop some years ago, officials said it would cost Rs 500 ($ 10). It will now cost about three times the initial projections.

The ministry expects the prices to drop to Rs 1,000 ($ 20) and reach Rs 500 ($ 10) as innovations are introduced.

The device, no bigger than a conventional laptop, is a single unit system with a touch screen and a built in keyboard along with 2GB RAM, Wi-Fi connectivity, USB port and powered by a 2-watt system to suit poor power supply areas.

"This is real and tangible and we will take it forward. Sun will rise for the Indian students in 2011," he said.

The ministry also invited private players to produce similar low cost computers.

"When we started the project, the response from the private sector was lukewarm. Now many are willing to join the innovation," Sibal said.

The ministry started its efforts by holding discussions on this concept with a group of experts at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Madras and IIT Bombay, a ministry official said.

The low cost tablets will be distributed in institutions by the HRD ministry. The final price will depend on the transportation cost.

"We will give some subsidy on the device. As far as transport is concerned, if the transport cost in less, the government can bear that as well," Sibal added.

Commonwealth games cost shot up by 1500%

As per this DNA report the cost of CWG Delhi has shot up by a gigantic 1500%.

"The cost of the Games has astronomically shot up by 1500% from the initial assessment. This is a matter of serious economic irregularity. While in 2002 Manchester Games $14.63 million were spent, in CWG 2006 at Melbourne it was $1 billion, but in CWG 2010, it would be 18 times more," BJP general secretary Vijay Goel said.

The BJP leader maintained that when the NDA government won the right to hold the Games, the budget was Rs132 crore but now it is Rs87,000 crore. "It is a tragedy that in the name of speedy construction, many procedural requirements have been blatantly violated in tenders and bidding," he said.

Expressing concern at the "slow" speed of work, Goel asked prime minister Manmohan Singh to ensure that the projects are completed on a "war footing".

He further alleged that despite Singh's intervention and appointment of many officials to supervise the Games preparations, the situation had not improved.

"The successful start and completion of the Games seems to be a far cry... We are moving very slow and in a slipshod manner... It is an ultra alarming situation. Only a miracle can bring about in-time readiness of the infrastructure," Goel said.