1)Total Telephone subscriber base reaches 509 Million
2)Wireless subscription reaches 473.7 Million
3)Wireline subscription declines to 37.8 Million
4)14.98 Million new additions in Wireless
5)Wireline subscription declines by 0.02 Million
6)Overall Tele-density reaches 43.70
7)Broadband subscription is 7.41 million

The number of telephone subscribers in India increased to 509.03 Million at the
end of September-09 from 494.07 Million in August-2009, thereby registering a
growth rate of 3.03%. With this, the overall Tele-density in India reaches
43.50. The set target of 500 million telephones by the end of 2010 has
been achieved by September 2009.

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Popularity: 26% [?]

2009, broadband, India, market, share, subscribers, subsctibtion, telecom, wireless, wireline

Do you know that doing a harmless online search on your favourite Bollywood actress can land you in trouble? Yes according to a recent study by computer security company McAfee, most of the popular search terms like current events, gadgets and celebrities are used by cyber criminals to lure their victims. The study, The Web’s Most Dangerous Search Terms, finds that these terms differ across the globe, while in US the most dangerous search terms include word unscrambler, free music downloads and MySpace. In France, they include poker, solitaire, deezer and billiards. Bebo, friv, hot UK deals and YouTube are the most dangerous search terms of UK. Wondering what are the most dangerous search terms of India? Read on to find out.

Waptrick

One of the largest Mobile Java Games sites Waptrick is the most dangerous search term in India. According to McAfee the search term has a maximum risk percentage of 30.09 per cent. The `maximum risk’ here refers to the maximum percentage of risky sites a user might encounter on a single page of search results. From Waptrick site users can download free content specifically customised for phones. This includes music, ringtones, wallpapers, animations, logos and adult videos.

Katrina Kaif

The second most dangerous search term in India is the Bollywood’s current heartthrob Katrina Kaif. According to the ‘The Web’s Most Dangerous Search Terms’ report the actress is one of the most dangerous online search words in India and queries related to her name can come up with results linking to malicious software and online scams. The report says the search word Katrina Kaif has a maximum risk percentage of 28.6.

Orkut

Google’s popular social networking site Orkut ranks at no. 3 on the most dangerous Indian search terms list. According to the report, the social networking platform has a maximum risk percentage of 25.96. Over the past few years, Orkut has been several times hit by many scams that compromise the user’s computer by downloading malicious malware. In December 2008, Orkut was hit by a Worm that compromised over 400,000 users. According to research reports, Orkut is most popular in Brazil and India.

Yahoo Mail

At no. 4 on the list is Yahoo Mail. According to McAfee report, California-based Yahoo’s free email service has a maximum risk percentage of 25.96. McAfee says, “Hackers are most successful when they can attract a large number of victims. One way to target big crowds online is to track current events – everything from celebrity meltdowns and natural disasters to holidays and popular music.” One key tool cyber criminals use to snare their victims is to get them to download a computer file or programme that comes with a malicious payload.

Shahid Kapur

Bollywood’s lover boy Shahid Kapur may still not be among the most bankable stars in terms of boxoffice performance. However, the chocolate hero, courtesy his huge online fan following, surely seem to be a bankable property for criminals. Shahid ranks at no. 5 in the list. Among the most Googled young actors, Shahid Kapoor beats his rivals Ranbir Kapoor and Imran Khan in terms of online search. The report says that the term Shahid Kapur has a maximum risk level of 22.2 per cent. The report highlights that celebrities are used by scammers and hackers to lure internet users to download malicious codes. According to the security firm, “Hackers and cyber criminals are often able to persuade searchers to download files carrying malicious software that can cause consumers to expose their personal and financial data.”

Rediffmail
	Free email service Rediffmail is at no. 6 on the list of most dangerous search terms in India. The maximum risk percentage of search term Rediffmail is at 20 per cent, according to McAfee report.

How to earn money

Another dangerous search phrase is: ‘How to earn money’. With the global economic crisis leading to huge job losses, the phrase has shot up on Internet searches. The report says that the term has a maximum risk percentage of 16.7. Also, with global economic crisis, the report says many scammers would zero in on growing pool of victims looking for methods. Also, the report highlights that the chance to make good money while you ‘work from home’ lures many people to their first run in with Internet scammers. During the recession, McAfee has observed a growing number of malicious search results targeted at people who want to save money or earn extra income.

Namitha Kapoor
	An online search on Telegu actress Namitha Kapoor can be as dangerous as looking for ‘How to earn money’ ideas. Namitha according to the report has a maximum risk level of 16.7 per cent. The South Indian beauty’s growing popularity on the Web is exploited by scammers in luring the Netizens to phishing and other online scams.

Shimla

Many people may not find Shimla a perfect holiday destination, however, the capital of Himachal Pradesh continues to be the most popular destination, a fact reflected by its online search rating. Shimala continues to be high on search rating charts and with it, its risk level. The term Shimla shares maximum risk percentage of 16.7 along with ‘How to earn money’ and Namitha Kapoor. According to the MacAfee report, popular places like these are used to lure unsuspecting consumers to websites. Hackers and cyber criminals are often able to persuade searchers to download files carrying malicious software that can cause consumers to expose their personal and financial data.

Beijing 2008 Olympic games
	At no 10 on the list of most dangerous web search terms in India is Beijing 2008 Olympic games. According to McAfee report, the term has a maximum risk level of 14.3 per cent. During the games, users were warned of Olympic themed messages as many phishing attacks lured Netizens with messages declaring recipients winners of the Olympic lottery.

Popularity: 5% [?]

India, keywords, most dangerous search terms

India seems to be following China’s footsteps with a recent proposal to censor the internet space. This proposal comes on the heels of the recent proposal by government to censor news channels during emergency situations that eventually failed to come into effect. Though, the TV censorship was to be initiated only during emergency, the internet will be screened even under normal circumstances.

A Central government officer will be assigned to monitor the websites and news portals and block those materials considered as a threat to national security. The draft rules were prepared by the department of information technology. The rules are drafted under the recent amendments to the information technology (IT) Act. Though the act was passed by Parliament last December, it will not come into effect until the various rules under it are finalized.

According to this rule, every State or Central government department will be able to decide if a certain material relating to its jurisdiction is against the norms. If there is a complaint raised against a web host, the designated officer will give out a judgment after looking into the issue. Though, these new measures can harm the freedom of press, there is a small amount relief in a proposal to set up a review committee.

Popularity: 4% [?]

china, India, internet censorship

International Business Machines (IBM) Corp. plans to lay off about 5,000 US employees, with many of the jobs being transferred to India, a media report said on Thursday.

The technology giant has been steadily building its work force in India and other locations while reducing the number of workers based in the US, The Wall Street Journal said citing people familiar with the situation.

Foreign workers accounted for 71 per cent of Big Blue’s nearly 400,000 employees at the start of the year, up from about 65 per cent in 2006.

Noting that outsourcing to India has long been a hot-button topic for IT employees in the US, the Journal said as US employers have shed millions of jobs in recent months, workers and politicians have stepped up their criticisms of the practice with little impact.

For IBM, shifting work to lower-cost countries has helped the company win overseas contracts and maintain healthy profits in its services business, which is its largest in terms of revenue and employment. IBM employed 74,000 people in India in 2007, the latest figures available.

IBM’s latest round of cuts show that even companies that have so far navigated the global recession profitably are continuing to slash costs, the financial daily said. In January, IBM reported $4.42 billion in quarterly profit.

Among other companies that are profitable, Microsoft Corp. announced plans for 5,000 layoffs earlier this year and Hewlett-Packard Co. is cutting some 25,000 people in the wake of its acquisition of Electronic Data Systems Corp., a rival of IBM’s services business.

Many of the IBM job eliminations are scheduled to take place in its global application-services group, which writes specialised software for businesses.

Some of these workers received a notice on Wednesday indicating that nearly 2,000 workers in that group were due to be told they would be “participating in IBM’s current resource reduction action”.

An IBM spokesman declined to comment, the paper said. The company has said it expects to spend about $300 million to $400 million on severance-related charges this year, with most of it in the first half.

Click to find Employee reviews for IBM and Layoff details

Sourced from: http://businesstoday.intoday.in

Popularity: 4% [?]

IBM, India, jobcuts, jobs, US