Nokia cuts 7,000 jobs

Phonemaker outsources Symbian activities

* To outsource legacy Symbian activities to Accenture

* 3,000 staff to transfer to Accenture

* To lay off 4,000 staff, most in Finland, Denmark, UK

* Aims to cut annual phone unit R&D costs by 1 bln euros

* Shares up 4.2 pct in New York (Adds Accenture, Elop comments, links, updates shares)

Nokia will axe 7,000 jobs and outsource its Symbian software development unit to cut $1.46 billion U.S. in costs as it struggles to compete in the world smartphone market.

On Wednesday, Nokia, the world's largest phone maker by volume, detailed an overhaul of its phone business following its decision to start using Microsoft software instead of its own Symbian platform.

The move includes laying off 4,000 staff and transferring another 3,000 to services firm Accenture -a total of 12 per cent of its phone unit workforce.Accenture will take over Nokia's Symbian software activities and will become a primary software partner for future smartphones running on Microsoft's Windows platform.

Nokia investors welcomed the Ac-centure deal as a quicker and cheaper way to exit its Symbian operations than full-scale layoffs requiring big severance packages, sending Nokia shares 3.3 per cent higher on the Helsinki stock exchange. Nokia shares were up 4.3 per cent in New York, while Accenture was 0.3 per cent firmer.

"This is about keeping focus within Nokia on Windows Phone. It helps to get rid of any doubts on where this company is going," said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi.

Nokia's chief executive Stephen Elop told Finnish national broadcaster YLE it was possible the first Nokia phone running on Windows software could reach customers this year.

Accenture said the deal gives it additional scale in mobile, an important initiative for the company, putting it "at the heart of" Nokia and Microsoft -which are developing the third major mobile platform in addition to Google and Apple.

The deal does not include Symbian software code.

The job cuts and site closings let Nokia cut annual business research and development costs by 1 billion euros, or 18 per cent, by 2013 from 5.65 billion in 2010.

"Restructuring had been widely expected, but Nokia will be hoping that the transfer of 3,000 jobs to Accenture will help cushion the blow as it ramps down its Symbian investments," said Ben Wood, head of research at CCS Insight.

Nokia's market share in smartphones has fallen sharply over the past few years as it loses out to Apple and other manufacturers of high-end handsets.

"The competitive environment has changed rapidly," Elop told a news conference in Helsinki, while outlining which parts of its operations will be hit the most.

Nokia said most of the 4,000 layoffs will take place in Finland, Denmark and Britain, with all workers staying on the payroll through 2011.

FINNISH COMPANY

The job cuts and site closings let Nokia cut annual business research and development costs by 1 billion euros, or 18 percent, by 2013 from 5.65 billion in 2010.

"Restructuring had been widely expected, but Nokia will be hoping that the transfer of 3,000 of jobs to Accenture will help cushion the blow as it ramps down its Symbian investments," said Ben Wood, head of research at CCS Insight.

Nokia's market share in smartphones has fallen sharply over the past few years as it loses out to Apple ( AAPL.O) and other manufacturers of high-end handsets.

"The competitive environment has changed rapidly," Elop told a news conference in Helsinki, while outlining which parts of its operations will be hit the most.

Nokia said most of the 4,000 layoffs will take place in Finland, Denmark and Britain, with all workers staying on the payroll through 2011.

Nokia hired Elop from Microsoft last year to replace Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo in a bid to compete more effectively in the smartphone market. He is the first non-Finn to run the company, which evolved from a rubber boots-to-TVs conglomerate into a global mobile phone maker in the 1990s.

In its native Finland, Nokia will cut 1,400 jobs.

"This went slightly better than expected because Nokia transfers Symbian development. These 1,400 people ... should have quite good chances to find new jobs," said Pertti Porokari, chairman of the Union of Professional Engineers in Finland.

Nokia said it would wind down its large operations in Copenhagen, cutting 950 jobs there, and close its second headquarters in White Plains, New York.

The move crushed Finnish media speculations of Nokia planning to move its headquarters to the United States.

"Finland absolutely remains in the heart of Nokia's future," Elop said.

Job cuts at Finland's flagship company are a blow to confidence in the country, already struggling with unemployment of around 8 percent.

Worries about jobs and possible cuts to social welfare helped the populist True Finns party in the country's general election earlier this month.

Nokia's telecom gear arm Nokia Siemens Networks cut about 9,000 jobs after it started operations in 2007. (Additional reporting by Terhi Kinnunen and Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Dan Lalor, Erica Billingham and Robert MacMillan) ($1=0.6838 euro)

Sony says hacked PlayStation Network credit card data was encrypted

Sony said that all credit card information on its hacked PlayStation Network was protected with encryption. As the outage for the online game service for the PlayStation 3 entered its eighth day, the company sought to reassure angry users.

Sony is telling PlayStation users that it had encrypted the credit card data that hackers may have stolen, reducing but not eliminating the chances that thieves could have used the information.

Sony Corp. said in a blog post Wednesday that while it had no direct evidence the data was even taken, it cannot rule out the possibility. It did not say how strong the encryption was, and it is possible for hackers to decipher files that are weakly encrypted — it's just more difficult.

"All of the data was protected, and access was restricted both physically and through the perimeter and security of the network. The entire credit card table was encrypted and we have no evidence that credit card data was taken," the company wrote in its blog post.

Users were angry that Sony took six days to inform them that their personal data had been stolen, but the exact nature of the credit card theft isn’t precisely known. I was among those 77 million PSN and Qriocity users who had my personal data stolen, and I received an apologetic email from Sony yesterday. Sony clearly has a long way to go to earn back the trust of gamers, and it seems to be aware that communicating clearly and quickly has to be its priority right now.

Patrick Seybold, spokesman for Sony, said in an updated statement that the “entire credit card table was encrypted and we have no evidence that credit card data was taken.” The personal data, such as names and emails, was not encrypted. Sony said it cannot rule out the possibility that credit card information was taken. If it was, then then card number and date of issuance was likely taken, but not the credit card security number on the back of a card.

“First off, we want to again thank you for your patience,” Seybold said. “We know that the PlayStation Network and Qriocity outage has been frustrating for you. We know you are upset, and so we are taking steps to make our services safer and more secure than ever before. We sincerely regret any inconvenience or concern this outage has caused, and rest assured that we’re going to get the services back online as quickly as we can.”

Sony has hired a “recognized technology security firm” to conduct a full investigation of the “malicious attack” against the PSN. Sony said it won’t ask anyone for their credit card, social security or other personally identifiable information. Sony suggests users that users log on and change the password once the PSN service comes back, presumably within a week. Consumers can visit Sony’s support site for more notices.

Sony says its is adding several measures to improve the security of the PSN once it comes back online, including moving the company’s network infrastructure and data center to a new more secure location.

Sony says that of the 77 million PlayStation Network accounts, about 36 million are in the U.S. and elsewhere in the Americas, 32 million in Europe and 9 million in Asia, mostly in Japan.

Progress spacecraft heads to ISS on supply mission

As NASA space shuttle Endeavour gets ready for its final space mission tomorrow, Russia's Progress unmanned cargo spacecraft has headed to the International Space Station on a supply mission.

Federal space agency Roscosmos on Wednesday successfully launched the Progress M-10M spaceship to the ISS.

The spacecraft was launched by a Soyuz-U rocket. The three-stage rocket blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan at 1305 GMT (1705 local time).

The lift-off mass for the spacecraft was 7290 kg, Roscosmos said.

The space capsule, carrying 2.6 tons of cargo, including fuel, water, food, medical and scientific equipment, is scheduled for automated docking with the Russian Pirs module of the ISS at 1429 GMT on Friday.

The Russian segment of the orbital space lab was vacated by the Progress M-09M space frieghter which had undocked from it last Friday.

Wednesday’s launch is the second Progress space freighter launch by Russia this year. The country plans to send six Progress ships to the ISS in 2011.

An unmanned Russian cargo vessel set off Wednesday on a mission to supply the crew on board the International Space Station with a new shipment of equipment and supplies.

The M-10M Progress lifted off from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan and was due to dock to the ISS on Friday at 1429 GMT, the Russian Federal Space Agency said in a statement.

The vessel was carrying 2.6 tonnes of supplies and scientific equipment for the international crew, which includes an Italian, two NASA astronauts and three Russians.

Besides the usual shipment of oxygen and other necessities, the latest consignment also included vegetable seeds and some fruit flies that could help the team grow the first garden in space, the Russian newsru.com website reported.

The ISS, built up from the first module launched by Russia in 1998, is orbiting 350 kilometres (220 miles) from Earth.

Caterpillars and the next generation of rolling robots

A worm-shaped robot that can both inch like a caterpillar and roll at comparatively high speeds has been built by researchers at Tufts Univ. as part of a Pentagon research effort to make robots capable of squeezing into tight spaces. The 10-cm robot has a flexible silicone body with shape-memory alloy coils that act as muscles. When applied with electrical pulses, the robot curls into a wheel and almost instantly starts rolling at more than 50 cm per second.

The millions of years of natural selection that lies behind the immense biodiversity found on our planet is fertile ground for keeping robotics research rolling ... in this case, literally. Some caterpillars in the Crambidae family have the amazing ability to spring into a wheel shape and roll away when it's time to get out of Dodge fast, and it is this talent that has inspired the creation of GoQBot – a 3-inch cm long soft-bodied robot that could provide a blueprint for versatile search and rescue robots of the future.

The gut-sliding locomotion of caterpillars has already formed the basis of research into soft-bodied robots. In this case scientists are mimicking the caterpillar's ability known as "ballistic rolling" – one of the fastest wheeling behaviors in nature – with the aim of creating limbless robots which can move fast as well as wriggle into tight spaces.

"GoQBot demonstrates a solution by reconfiguring its body and could therefore enhance several robotic applications such as urban rescue, building inspection, and environmental monitoring," said lead author Huai-Ti Lin from the Department of Biology, Tufts University. "Due to the increased speed and range, limbless crawling robots with ballistic rolling capability could be deployed more generally at a disaster site such as a tsunami aftermath. The robot can wheel to a debris field and wiggle into the danger for us."

The GoQBot (the "Q" is a reference to the shape it makes before scooting away) takes less than 100 ms to reconfigure from flat to wheel-shaped before rolling away at over half a meter per second. Each roll covers a distance of around 10-inches.

The 3-inch long robot is made of silicone rubber and actuated by embedded shape memory alloy coils. It's also fitted with five infrared emitters along its side to enable high-speed 3D motion tracking.

The study is published this week in the IOP journal Bioinspiration & Biomimetics.

The video below shows the GoQbot's ballistic rolling ability in real-time:

New Twitter version for Android

The official Twitter application for Android, which has a fair amount of bugs, has been fixed with a new update. Twitter version 2.0.2 adds a lot of new functionality.

The application now adds much needed search improvements including tabbed search display and search history controls.

Twicca is a fast, free, full-featured Twitter client for Android that proves iOS doesn’t have a complete lock on beautifully designed apps.The app has been in beta since last year, even though it works flawlessly. Many people have never heard of it because all information for the app was in Japanese at first. It wasn’t until the Android Market entry for twicca was translated to English that people outside Japan began downloading it in droves.

It now uses a more secure SSL connection for data transfer between the device and the network. Besides, an all improved data management system allows the smartphone to save crucial storage space.

All this and some design changes make the application more friendly to the eye while utilising the available space in a much better way. Now users will also be able to open links embedded in the tweets directly from where they are without having to copy and paste it in the browser for opening.

twicca is a quick and nimble Twitter client that has all the main features that we expect these days, but the main draw to the app is the interface. It’s not only gorgeous, but highly efficient since the whole thing is based around quick readability and colour labels. Users can tag each account they follow with one of 10 colours, which makes scrolling quickly through the main feed more efficient (since you can ignore certain colours if you’re short on time).

Aside from the look and feel of the app, something else that sets it apart from other Twitter clients on Android is its ability to use plug-ins. Users who like their Twitter client to be as minimal as possible can keep the app the way it is, while others can install tiny, unobtrusive plug-ins. Plug-ins for twicca range from adding the ability to upload photos to popular image hosts like Twitpic or Flickr, to enabling the app to post updates to Facebook or Tumblr. It can post images on its own with a plug-in, but uses yfrog by default.

Already available in the app are the usual features like URL shortening, viewing Trending Topics or local trends, reporting or blocking accounts, multiple methods of retweeting, @name autocompletion, lists, Twitter Search and geo-tagging. Users can manage their own profile directly from the app as well, to include uploading a new profile picture. Nearly every popular image hosting service is viewable in the feed without leaving the app, too.

There are only a couple of limitations that stick out with twicca. One is that the app can only handle one account, so a lot of power users will probably want to stick to something like TweetDeck. The other is the widget, since there’s only one size available, and it doesn’t show tweets. On the other hand, the widget is extremely useful because it doesn’t show tweets — it provides quick access to different functions of the app instead.

twicca is a free Twitter client for devices running Android 1.6 or newer, and is available at the Android Market.

Sony shares fall 5 percent as Playstation woes threaten

A day after Sony revealed personal data had been stolen consumers are concerned about what may happen to their data next and angry with Sony for the slow release of information and the lack of details.

Angry Sony consumers criticized the company of not informing them their personal data had been stolen immediately after discovering the data breach on April 19. Sony shut down the PlayStation Network and Qriocity music services to investigate the breach and to prevent any future attacks, but did not provide any details about the cause or effects of the playstation Network outage or the data breach until April 26.

It’s already prompted at least one customer to bring a lawsuit against Sony. The first class action lawsuit on behalf of angry PlayStation Network members was filed by Kristopher Jones of Alabama on April 27 in the United States District Court for the North District of California. The lawsuit accuses Sony of breach of warranty, negligent data security and violations of consumers’ rights of privacy.

* Sony may face legal action due to Internet security breach

* Analyst estimates losses to top $1.5 bln

* Gamers threaten to leave Playstation network

* Stock falls 5 pct, biggest drop since mid-March

(Adds details, background)

Shares in Sony Corp fell 5 percent on Thursday as a massive leak of data on its Playstation games console users sparked global legal scrutiny and threatened to crimp its business.

In the United States, several members of Congress seized on the breach, in which hackers stole names, addresses and possibly credit card details from users of Sony's PlayStation Network, in one of the largest Internet security break-ins ever.

There is concern that loyal PlayStation gamers could ditch Sony in the wake of the data theft and analysts said the hacking could steer people looking to buy a video game console toward Microsoft Corp's Xbox, which has its own popular online network.

"I am outraged that my personal information may have been accessed by hackers," said Rich Chiang, a Playstation and Xbox user based in Shanghai.

"It is shocking that Sony has been so aggressive in going after people who have hacked their products and services, yet was this unprepared for the consequences of angering that community," said Chiang, an executive with a Chinese gaming firm.

"It is also disturbing that Sony took a full week after the breach to fully announce the details of the incident."

Sony's PlayStation Network, a service that produces an estimated $500 million in annual revenues, provides access to online games, movies and TV show.

By 0320 GMT (11:20 p.m. ET on Wednesday), Sony shares were down 4.8 percent in a broader market up 1.3 percent. The shares fell the most since mid-March.

Security experts said Sony needs to account for the loss of that business -- as well as damage to its brand -- when it tallies up the cost of dealing with the breach. Other costs include notifying customers of the attack and bringing in experts to cleanse its network.

Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute said the theft could cost Sony more than $1.5 billion, or an average of $20 for each of the 77 million customers whose data was potentially compromised. Poneman's firm specializes in securing information on computer networks.

Sony pulled the plug on the network on April 19 after finding out about the breach, but it did not tell the public about the hackers' attack until a week later.

The delay, which Sony said was needed to conduct a forensic investigation, may remind its overseas customers of the foot dragging by Toyota that earned the Japan's leading automaker the distain of consumers.

Sony shares have fallen more than 8 percent this week, with investors nervous about the fall out of the data leak episode.

HTC Flyer is Scheduled to arrive July 6

Tentatively the HTC Flyer Android tablet will be available to consumers July 6. The 7 inch tab has not received a great deal of press. The Android 2.3 tablet has a single core 1.5GHz Qualcomm processor , 1GB of RAM, a rear 1.3mp rear facing camera and a 5mp front facing camera, GPS, 32BB internal storage, WiFi and Bluetooth. All of this does not sound like such a great sales pitch in a world of Android tablets with the 3.0 Honeycomb system with dual processors.

We wouldn’t say that HTC’s Android tablet, the HTC Flyer, is the most talked about device from the company, but yes, it does have its own followers. The 7 inch tab is expected to release on July 6 from T-Mobile. That’s not an official date, so no guarantees.

At a time when Honeycomb and dual core processors are all over the tablet market, an Android 2.3 tablet with a single core processor doesn’t sound so awesome. However, the HTC Flyer has a strong set of specs. The 7 inch tablet is powered by a 1.5GHz Qualcomm processor and features 1GB RAM, a front (5mp) and rear (1.3mp) facing camera, 32GB internal storage, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HTC Sense, and more. There’s the digital stylus too that can be used to take notes, doodle, and even draw intricate graphics. Pretty handy for taking down notes in meetings, classes, and the like.

The Wi-Fi only, 16GB HTC Flyer is available for preorder from Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile standalone stores for $499. T-Mobile could easily sell the tab for $200-$250 with its 2-year contractual agreement and mail-in rebate. So, hold on if you don’t mind the wait.

The fact that the HTC Flyer will be getting Honeycomb’d later is also a point in its favor. A recent HTC tweet reconfirms that In case you weren’t aware, we will be updating Flyer to Honeycomb shortly after launch. That’s encouraging, especially the “shortly after” reference.

T-Mobile will also be stocking other devices from HTC – HTC Sensation and HTC Doubleshot (in three colors). With the G2x and G-Slate from LG also coming to T-Mobile shelves, the carrier is sure to have a great sale season..

India Gets All China-y, Restricts Free Speech on the Web

Free speech advocates and Internet users are protesting new Indian regulations restricting Web content that, among other things, can be considered “disparaging,” “harassing,” “blasphemous” or “hateful.”

Just weeks after India banned a book that suggests that Gandhi was bisexual, the world's largest democracy decides to further emulate its repressive neighbor to the northeast. New regulations seek to limit freedom of speech online. The list of objectionable content includes anything that “threatens the unity, integrity, defense, security or sovereignty of India, friendly relations with foreign states or public order.” Popular sites like Facebook and Google's YouTube would be required to take down offensive content within 36 hours. Some local Internet firms say it may actually be an improvement on an old rule holding companies responsible for third-party content — a law that permitted police to arrest eBay's top Indian exec in 2004 because the site was auctioning a video of a teenage couple acting out poses that may or may not have already been covered in one of its culture's ancient texts.

The list of objectionable content is sweeping and includes anything that “threatens the unity, integrity, defense, security or sovereignty of India, friendly relations with foreign states or public order.”

The rules highlight the ambivalence with which Indian officials have long treated freedom of expression. The country’s constitution allows “reasonable restrictions” on free speech but lawmakers have periodically stretched that definition to ban books, movies and other material about sensitive subjects like sex, politics and religion.

Although fewer than 10 percent of Indians have access to the Internet, that number has been growing fast — especially on mobile devices. There are more than 700 million cellphone accounts in India.

The country has also established a thriving technology industry that writes software and creates Web services primarily for Western clients.

Using a freedom of information law, the Center for Internet and Society, a Bangalore-based research and advocacy group, recently obtained and published a list of 11 Web banned by the Department of Information Technology. Other government agencies have probably blocked more sites, the group said.

The new Internet rules go further than existing Indian laws and restrictions, said Sunil Abraham, the executive director for the Center for Internet and Society. The rules require Internet “intermediaries” — an all-encompassing group that includes sites like Youtube and Facebook and companies that host Web sites or provide Internet connections — to respond to any demand to take down offensive content within 36 hours. The rules do not provide a way for content producers to defend their work or appeal a decision to take content down.

“These rules overly favor those who want to clamp down on freedom of expression,” Mr. Abraham said. “Whenever there are limits of freedom of expression, in order for those limits to be considered constitutionally valid, those limits have to be clear and not be very vague. Many of these rules that seek to place limits are very, very vague.”

An official for the People’s Union for Civil Liberties, an advocacy group based in New Delhi, said on Wednesday that it was considering a legal challenge to the constitutionality of the new rules.

“What are we, Saudi Arabia?” said Pushkar Raj, the group’s general secretary. “We don’t expect this from India. This is something very serious.”

An official at the Department of Information Technology, Gulshan Rai, did not return calls and messages.

The rules are based on a 2008 information technology law that India’s Parliament passed shortly after a three-day siege on Mumbai by Pakistan-based terrorists that killed more than 163 people. That law, among other things, granted authorities more expansive powers to monitor electronic communications for reasons of national security. It also granted privacy protections to consumers.

Subho Ray, the president of the Internet and Mobile Association of India, which represents companies like Google and eBay, said the liability waiver was a big improvement over a previous law that had been used to hold intermediaries liable for hosting content created by others. In 2004, for instance, the police arrested eBay’s top India executive because a user of the company’s Indian auction site had offered to sell a video clip of a teenage couple having sex.

Mr. Ray said his association had not taken a stand on the new regulations. An India-based spokeswoman for Google declined to comment on the new rules, saying the company needed more time to respond.

Along with the new content regulations, the government also issued rules governing data security, Internet cafes and the electronic provision of government services.

Apple iPad 2 arrives in India on April 29

The second generation of the world's best selling tablet computer, the Apple iPad is officially landing in India on April 29. On 20th April, Apple COO Timothy Cook told investors that they would roll out the new iPad 2 model to 13 more countries as early as next week.The iPad 2 will start selling in Japan on April 28 and on April 29 in India and nine other countries.

Apple, transitioning to the new iPad 2 introduced on March 11, couldn’t make enough to meet demand. The shortfall led to lower sales than analysts predicted. Apple is ramping up production as it prepares to start selling the tablet computer in 13 additional countries this month, Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook said on a conference call yesterday.

The Apple announcement did not mention the prices in Indian rupees or any specific pricing for India. According to Apple, he iPad 2 with Wi-Fi will be available for $499 (Rs 22,161) for the 16GB model, $599 (Rs 26,602) for the 32GB model and $699 (Rs 31,043) for the 64GB model. iPad 2 with Wi-Fi + 3G will be available for a suggested retail price of $629 (Rs 27,934) for the 16GB model, $729 (Rs 32,375) for the 32GB model and $829 (Rs 36,816) for the 64GB model.

Even before Apple announced the official release of the iPad 2 for India, it was already available in the Indian market through online shopping sites, such as HomeShop18.com, and a number of retail vendors.

The iPad 2 is thinner than the iPhone 4, twice as fast as the first generation iPad and is also camera-equipped for taking photos and video chatting. The battery life is also the same as the original - about 10 hours of usage and a month on standby.

The iPad 2 was launched on March 11 in the US and went on sale in 26 other markets from March 26. Apple has been criticised for its delayed releases in the Indian market, often only months before the company announces a new generation of the product. With a relatively early release in India, Apple could be making amends to appease consumers and sceptics in one of the world's largest growing markets for consumer electronics.

Apple sold 4.7 million iPads of both kinds in its latest quarter. Apple launched the original iPad last April, and it's turned out to be the first really successful tablet computer. The company has sold 19.5 million iPads through the latest quarter. According to Apple the demand for iPads is greater than the supply and the company couldn't manufacture the new iPads fast enough.

The rush for iPads sparked dozens of copycat touch-screen devices, but so far, none have broken into the mainstream consciousness the way the iPad has.

Apple's iPad is expected to continue to dominate the tablet market, controlling more than half of the tablet market for the next three years, but its share is seen gradually declining to 47 per cent in 2015 from 69 per cent this year, giving way to Android devices.

Women Scientists Fellowship Scheme 2011

The Fellowship Scheme for Women Scientists for societal programmes is an initiative of the Department of Science & Technology. This scheme is addressed to women scientists and technologists who took a ‘break in their careers’ due to to social responsibilities but have a desire to return to mainstream science and work as bench-level s Women scientists desiring to apply for this scheme are required to develop their own research project/ proposals demonstrating science and technological applications for societal benefits. The fellowships will provide an opportunity to women scientists to re-enter research after a break in career, through support for S&T based R&D project scientists. addressing needs of people in unorganised urban or rural areas and give them an opportunity for S&T capacity building on issues relevant in societal programmes. The scholarship will be given initially for two years and may be extended to the third year in exceptional cases

the National Policy on Science, Technology and Innovation states that the establishment of the Swaziland National Commission for Research, Science and Technology (SNCRST) will not necessarily result in the formulation of a research policy.
The commission will advise government on matters relating to research and the scientific and technological activities necessary for the proper development of the country.
The SNCRST will replace the existing National Research Council (NRC). Such a policy will make it possible for Swaziland to integrate the type of research needed to ensure that national development thrives on a sustainable basis.
Meanwhile, former principal secretary for agriculture Noah Nkambule has suggested that applied research should be done. He urged people not to write research papers simply to promote themselves.

INDIA has made available an amount of about E196.7 million (€20 million) towards the development of science and technology in the country. Royal Science and Technology Park Project Manager Moses Zungu said this money would be used towards capacity building.

He said they wanted to train both women and men to capacitate the upcoming biotechnology park.
The country currently has few experts in science and technology with the University of Swaziland (UNISWA) dominating in areas of research.
The National Policy on Science, Technology and Innovation states that in the higher education sector, the only institutions that undertake research are UNISWA academic staff, UNISWA Research Centre (URC) and the Swaziland Institute for Research and Traditional Medicine, Indigenous and Traditional Food Plants (SIRMIP).
A study conducted showed that within the Public Enterprise Sector, only the Swaziland Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (SPTC) is known to be undertaking research, though at a limited extent.
research
“It is worth noting that even though some of the institutions in this sector do not have researchers, they do carry-out research through the services of UNISWA academic staff,” the policy states.
Further, the policy reveals that it was highly likely that an autonomous policy making body to be called the Swaziland national Commission for Research, Science and Technology (SNCRST) would be established in the near future with the aim of facilitating S&T/R&D (Research and Experimental Development) activities and would have short-term, medium-term and long-term priorities.
expected
It is also expected to work closely with the Directorate for Research, Science and Technology to be established within the ministry of information communication and technology (ICT). It is also anticipated that the Royal Science and Technology Park together with the Biotechnology Park would be established soon.
This is expected to act as a bridge between public and higher education institutions and industry with the view to maximising value addition, especially in agricultural products and also ensure that research findings developed elsewhere are made available to industry and the general public to solve problems and create/exploit opportunities.

New internet rules open to arbitrary interpretation

Six years after an e-commerce CEO's arrest for a pornographic CD sold from his website, the government has introduced a liability on intermediaries such as Facebook and Google to "act within 36 hours" of receiving information about offensive content.

Fresh guidelines, which are part of Information Technology (guidelines for cyber cafe) Rules 2011, will require cyber café owners to "tell users" not to surf websites that contain "pornographic or obscene material". Experts termed the rule arbitrary, saying that watching pornography is not an offence in India.

According to the rules notified on April 11, all cyber cafes in the country will have to register with an "agency as notified" by the government. While some of the guidelines deal with the security threat posed by "anonymous internet users", most aim to make sure that people don't use cyber cafés to access pornographic material.

One glaring example of an ill-thought-out provision is the prohibition on saying something that is "insulting any other nation". Since this expression has been mentioned without any qualifications, it could be invoked against anybody who talks disparagingly about other countries.

Apart from encroaching on free speech, the subjective notion of insulting a nation — as opposed to valid criticism — opens scope for arbitrariness and politically motivated interpretation. The authorities may not, for instance, take action against any content that is bashing Pakistan but may be touchy about similar attacks on the US.

Since such violations and the remedial action taken on them could become a subject of police probe, the rules state that "the intermediary shall preserve such information and associated records for at least 90 days for investigation purposes".

Given their legal repercussions, activists termed the new rules "draconian". Pranesh Prakash of Centre of Internet and Society alleged, "The rules seek to expand government's reach to control content on the internet. This is neither reasonable nor constitutional as the rules undermine the free speech guaranteed by the Constitution."

The intermediaries are also required to appoint a grievance officer and publish his contact details as well as the mechanism by which "users or any victim who suffers" can notify their complaints. The grievance officer is required to redress the complaints within one month of the receipt of the complaint.

Industry sources hold that the 36-hour deadline imposed on the intermediaries to take action on complaints would unduly affect their freedom as service providers in the Indian jurisdiction. A Google spokesperson told TOI that the proposed guidelines could be "particularly damaging to the abilities of Indians who are increasingly using the internet in order to communicate, and the many businesses that depend upon online collaboration to prosper."

Pawan Duggal, a lawyer who specializes in IT laws, said the new guidelines were arbitrary. "Watching pornography is not illegal in India," he said. "It's absurd to ask cyber café owners to tell their customers not to access pornographic material even as law allows individuals to access adult websites unless it's not child pornography. The new rules require a second look."

The new rules suggest café owners install filtering software and keep a log of all websites accessed by customers for at least one year. Café owners have also been asked not to build a cabin/cubicle with a height of more than four and half feet. In a cyber café where there are no cubicles, "owners will have to place computers with the screens facing outward" or towards open space. The move is aimed at reducing privacy a cyber café user can get.

Duggal said if implemented earnestly, the new rules will put most of cyber café owners out of business.

Internet activists termed the guidelines "unconstitutional". Pranesh Prakash, a programme manager with Centre of Internet and Society, said the rules will violate privacy and will hamper internet users' ability to freely express themselves.

The new rules make it mandatory for user to carry an identity card. Cyber café owners have been asked to give user logs to the "registration agency" every month as well keep these records along with the log of websites accessed at the cyber café safe for a period of one year. A few café owners said that technically, it would be a daunting task to keep a record of every website accessed using their computers for a year.

While minors, if carrying identity cards have been permitted to use computers in a cyber café, they won't be allowed inside cubicles if not accompanied by guardians or parents. There is also provision of photographing cyber café users using a webcam or other device. The photographs will have to be authenticated by the user. Prakash said that photographing users raises serious privacy questions, especially in the case of children.