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Microsoft releases biggest patch, fixes Windows 7

Microsoft Corp issued its biggest software patch on record on Tuesday to fix a range of security issues in its programs, including the yet to be released Windows 7 operating system.

In a monthly update sent to users of its software, Microsoft released 13 security bulletins, or patches, to address 34 vulnerabilities it identified across its Windows, Internet Explorer, Silverlight, Office and other products.

It said six of the patches were high priority and should be deployed immediately. The patches -- which update software to write over glitches -- are designed to protect users from hackers or malicious software downloaded from the Internet.

Several of the patches affect Windows 7, the software maker's new operating system, which will be officially unveiled next week, but has been widely used in test versions.

Such an early sign of security issues on Windows 7 is potentially worrisome for Microsoft, which is hoping its new operating system will erase bad feelings among many customers who bought the predecessor, Vista.

A Microsoft spokesperson could not immediately say whether the company had identified further security problems with Windows 7. The company generally does not disclose such problems until it has patches available.

The vulnerabilities in Windows 7, including the risk of having a PC taken over by a hacker, were serious flaws, but to be expected, according to Dave Marcus, senior researcher at software security firm McAfee Inc.

"As long as human beings are writing code there are always going to be vulnerabilities," he said.

Tuesday's update included the largest number of patches to be issued on a single day by Microsoft.

Corporate users will need to test the patches before they deploy them to make sure they do not cause machines to crash because of compatibility issues with existing software.

(Reporting by Bill Rigby and Jim Finkle; editing by Carol Bishopric and Andre Grenon)

Meet India's youngest headmaster

In a country where we are in a continuous hunt for heroes and demi-gods to inspire us, the search ends in a small hamlet in West Bengal.

Known for his passion for education, Babar Ali is perhaps India's youngest school principal who is teaching hundreds of poor students of his village in his own backyard.

16-year-old Babar says his only motto in life is 'education for all'. Since 2002, every evening, he has donned the role of a principal at the Anand Siksha Niketan in Gangapur village which makes him India's youngest headmaster. The students line up in Babar's backyard, where he teaches them just the way his teachers teach him in school.

Babar Ali in an interview said that he never wanted to play cricket or soccer when he was young but what he loved the most was enacting the role of a teacher. What started off as child play took serious shape in 2002 when Babar Ali, with the help of his parents, set up a room to teach on his ancestral land.

He also added that when he was in class V, he started the school with eight students. From a humble beginning, the school today provides basic education for almost 800 students with the help of 10 well-qualified teachers. What is most notable is that the students are taught for free as they come from poor families - some even work as maids and cleaners in the mornings and come to attend Babar's school in the afternoon.

But even most of the inspiring stories have some grim realities which Babar has to face daily. The government only provides funds for midday meal and books till class IV and for the expenses he has to depend on donations. He, however, hopes for better support in the coming years so he can make all his fellow students and village kids literate, and able to stand on their own feet.

Top ranking for Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

New Delhi, Oct 13 (IANS) The Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore has been rated the best in South Asia in terms of visibility and scholarly papers on the net in the latest ranking of such institutions by Cybermetric Lab, the largest public research institution in Spain.

The Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai, the National Informatics Centre in Bangalore, the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai make up the top five universities in the subcontinent.

In fact all the top 10 slots are for institutions in India, with two universities in Sri Lanka - University of Moratuwa and University of Colombo placed 10th and 11th on the list.

The highest ranked institution from Pakistan is the Lahore University of Management Sciences at the 17th position.

The other names in the top 10 are: The Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai, the International Institute of Information Technology in Hyderabad, the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, the University of Delhi and the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.

'Candidate students should use additional criteria if they are trying to choose university. Webometrics ranking correlates well with quality of education provided and academic prestige,' said a statement from Cybermetric Lab.

A total of 15,000 universities globally were analysed, of which about 5,000 were ranked in the list.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, US was the top-ranked university in the world with the rest 20 positions also held by American universities.

2009 Nobel Prizes

• 
  
  • 2009 -  Chemistry, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan
  •            Chemistry, Thomas A. Steitz
  •            Chemistry, Ada E. Yonath
  •            Economics, Elinor Ostrom
  •            Economics, Oliver E. Williamson
  •            Literature, Herta Müller
  •            Medicine, Elizabeth H. Blackburn
  •            Medicine, Carol W. Greider
  •            Medicine, Jack W. Szostak
  •            Peace, Barack Obama
  •            Physics, Willard S. Boyle
  •            Physics, Charles K. Kao
  •            Physics, George E. Smith
  
  
  

Online donation to credible NGOs working to help the flood affected in Andhra Pradesh

     
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US recession may last until 2010: Survey

US finance executives believe the American economy is still in recession, despite signs growth may have resumed in the third quarter, a survey showed on Tuesday.

The survey conducted by the Association for Financial Professionals also showed that many executives in the financial sector did not expect their organizations to resume hiring or capital spending in the next six months.

The poll was carried out on Monday and nearly 1,000 chief financial officers and treasury executives participated.

About 69 per cent of respondents believed the recession, that started in December 2007, would continue well into 2010. Only 11 per cent believed the downturn had ended, while 20 per cent only saw it winding down before the end of the year.

The survey's findings are at odds with recent economic data and forecasts from private institutions that suggest the economy started growing in the third quarter after the longest and deepest contraction since the 1930s.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents in Monday's survey expected to maintain payrolls at current levels in the next six months, while 22 per cent saw a further reduction. Only 14 per cent anticipated their organization would resume hiring.

The finance sector is one of the areas worst hit by the recession, which was mainly triggered by the collapse of US housing market and the ensuing global credit crisis.

About 58 per cent of respondents expected to either maintain or cut capital spending over the next six months, while 21 per cent believed their organizations would increase spending, the survey showed.

More than half said their organizations' access to capital had stabilized over the last six months, with access to bank lending improving for 22 per cent of the respondents. They remained wary of weak consumer spending and the possibility that a double-dip recession.

US recession over: Survey

The worst US recession since the Great Depression has ended, but weak household spending as the labor market struggles to create jobs will slow the pace of the economy's recovery, according to a survey released on Monday.

The survey of 44 professional forecasters released by the National Association for Business Economics, also known as the NABE, found that 80 per cent of the respondents believed the economy was growing again after four straight quarters of declines.

"The great recession is over," NABE President-Elect Lynn Reaser said.

"The vast majority of business economists believe that the recession has ended, but that the economic recovery is likely to be more moderate than those typically experienced following steep declines."

Recessions in the United States are dated by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The private-sector group, which does not define a recession as two consecutive quarters of decline in real gross domestic product, often takes months to make determinations.

The recession that started in December 2007 is the longest and deepest since the 1930s. It was triggered by the US housing market's collapse and the ensuing global credit crisis.

While the economy is believed to have rebounded in the third quarter, analysts believe that ordinary Americans will probably not see much difference as unemployment will remain high well into 2010, restraining consumption.

"We don't necessarily expect the US economy to fall into a double-dip recession. This time round, consumers will be reluctant to join the party," said Paul Ashworth, senior US economist at Capital Economics in Toronto.

The NABE survey, conducted in September, predicted real GDP growth expanding at an annual pace of 2.9 per cent over the second half of this year. Output for all of 2009 is expected to contract 2.5 per cent and next year, rebound 2.6 per cent.

Much of the anticipated recovery was seen driven by businesses rebuilding their inventories after aggressively reducing unwanted stockpiles of unsold goods to match weak demand.

HOUSING PRICES TO HIT BOTTOM

Investment in the residential market would also add to growth, with the majority of the survey's respondents convinced that the housing market downturn, which has lasted more than three years, was close to coming to an end.
About two-thirds of respondents believed house prices will reach a bottom this year. The survey found that high house prices would not pose a threat to the sector's recovery.

The survey predicted that the unemployment rate will rise to 10 per cent in the first quarter of 2010 and edge down to 9.5 per cent by the end of that year. The labor market was not expected to regain most of the jobs destroyed in the recession until 2012 or beyond.

The weak labor market will continue to weigh on consumer spending, slowing the recovery. The jobless rate climbed to 9.8 per cent in September -- a 26-year high -- from August's 9.7 per cent.

Labor market slack, combined with weak wage growth, meant inflation would not be an obstacle to the economic recovery and the Federal Reserve will not be under pressure to raise interest rates, the survey found.

"With improving credit markets, the US economy can return to solid growth next year without worry about rising inflation," Reaser said.

The US central bank was seen leaving its overnight benchmark lending rate near zero until late next spring, followed by measured increases that would take the rate to 1 per cent by the end of 2010, the survey showed.

Despite signs of improvement in the financial markets, most respondents believed that it would take some time for them to return to normal. Only 29 per cent believed this would happen in the second half of next year.

Respondents also expected the US dollar to weaken further this year and into 2010, but did not see this contributing to a narrowing of the country's trade deficit as the economic revival stimulates demand for imports.

The dollar has lost about 5.8 per cent of its value against a basket of currencies so far this year, largely because of worries over the government's growing budget deficit and expectations that the Fed will keep interest rates at super-low levels for a while.