Malabar Time

Microsoft Announces Windows 10 Release Date

It’s coming very soon

Microsoft will launch Windows 10 on July 29th. The technology giant had previously promised to release the next version of its computer operating system sometime this summer. That date represents aggressive timing for a company that has, at times, had difficult launches for major products. The Redmond, Washington-based company has been releasing increasingly polished preview builds of the software over the past few months.

Windows 10 will be available as a free upgrade for users of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. To publicize that, the company is making a small notification appear in users’ task bars. Clicking on the notification, pops up a slide show extolling the benefits of Windows 10. Some of the new features include: the return of the Start menu, an all-new Internet browser, and Cortana, a digital personal assistant making to Google Now or Apple’s Siri.

Solar Impulse plane to make unscheduled landing in Japan because of bad weather

By UnknownNo comments

A solar plane attempting to fly around the world without a drop of fuel plans to make an unscheduled stop in Nagoya, Japan, because of bad weather.

Swiss pilot André Borschberg took off from Nanjing, China, on Sunday on what was to be the longest leg of the journey, an 8,175-kilometer (5,079-mile) flight to Hawaii.

Instead, the Solar Impulse 2 will land in Nagoya, Japan, according to the website and Twitter feed for the plane.

Japanese Transport Ministry and Nagoya airport officials confirmed that they are making arrangements for an unanticipated landing at one of two airports.

The journey started in March in Abu Dhabi, and the plane has stopped in Oman, India, Myanmar and China. The flight from Nanjing to Hawaii is the seventh of 12 flights and the riskiest.

Want to hire Indian workers in UAE? You can no longer recruit directly

By UnknownNo comments

If you are looking to hire Indian workers in the UAE, there is a set of new procedures in place that need to be adhered to for bringing workers from India into this country.

According to Embassy of India in Abu Dhabi, all foreign employers who seeks to recruit Indian workers now need to register with the eMigrate system (www.emigrate.gov.in). The registration application will then be vetted by the Indian Mission before any foreign employer is allowed to proceed further with the hiring process.

After the potential employer is vetted by the mission as per the rules outlined, foreign employers will have to then raise the demand for Indian workers on the eMigrate system and seek a permit to recruit themselves or select recruiting agents in online manner.

“Such foreign employers shall be required to declare the terms and conditions of employment of each category of the job at the time of applying for the demand registration,” the embassy said in a statement.

“The declared terms and conditions of employment will act as a specimen contract and will form the part of employment contract at the time of actual recruitment. The procedure to fill the online form has been explained on the website,” the statement added.

The biggest recruiters in the UAE will be the first ones to be impacted by this system. The embassy specifies that employers looking to hire more than 150 Indian workers are required to register online with immediate effect in order to raise demand and seek a permit to recruit directly or select registered agencies.

Such employers may include construction firms and large supermarket chains, among others.

For those who are looking to employ between 50-150 Indian workers, the deadline to register online has been set before June 30, 2015.

Employers recruiting between 20-50 Indian workers are required to do the needful before July 31, 2015 and for those looking to hire less than 20 Indian workers get the maximum levy and are required to register online before August 31, 2015.

The embassy noted that, for foreign employers who wish to recruit Indian workers directly, a provision for applying for permit from Registering Authority in Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs is available online. However, they can do so only after getting registered in the eMigrate system with immediate effect.

The new rules are applicable for Indian workers with an ECR (Emigration Clearance Required) stamp on their passports, a set of blue-collared workers that is estimated to be more than 40 per cent of the 2 million-plus Indians working in the UAE.

The new ruling does not mention about domestic help, drivers and nannies that are hired by individuals.

Blatter shocked by US anti-corruption tactics campaign

By UnknownNo comments

Zurich (AFP) - FIFA president Sepp Blatter expressed shock at the tactics used by the US anti-corruption investigators but insisted he was not a target.

The 79-year-old Swiss official, on the offensive after being re-elected to a new term on Friday, also slammed what he called a "hate" campaign by European football leaders.

Blatter said he suspected the arrest of seven FIFA officials in Zurich on Wednesday under a US anti-corruption warrant was an attempt to "interfere with the congress" that returned him to power.

"There are signs which cannot be mistaken: the Americans were candidates for the 2022 World Cup and they lost," he told Swiss television channel RTS.

"I am not certain, but it doesn't smell good."

He described the US as the "number one sponsor" of Jordan, home country of his challenger for the FIFA presidency, Prince Ali bin al Hussein.

The Jordanian prince, who had the backing of European football body UEFA, withdrew from Friday's race after the first round of voting.

The seven arrested officials were all detained for corruption cases in North and South America and Blatter said they could have been arrested on their home territory or at a FIFA executive committee six weeks ago.

He also condemned comments about FIFA made by senior members of the US judiciary, including Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who lamented the "rampant, systemic and deep-rooted" corruption in football. Another official spoke of a "World Cup of fraud".

"Of course I am shocked," Blatter responded. "I would never as FIFA president make comments about another organisation without being certain of what has happened."

- More charges -

US authorities have so far indicted 14 people, including the seven held in Zurich, on charges of involvement in $150 million of bribes for sports media contracts. They include two FIFA vice presidents.

A senior US legal official has said more indictments are likely in the case.

Blatter said he had been "affected" by the scandal that has hit world football's governing body but denied he was the FIFA official that US investigators say authorised a $10 million payment to disgraced former FIFA vice president Jack Warner.

"I have been affected by what has happened and I have been hurt by the attacks," he said.

The US indictment says in 2008 a "high ranking FIFA official" authorised a $10 million payment to Warner, a former head of the North and Central American confederation, which was money intended as a bribe.

Blatter said: "I don't go into these allegations. If such a thing is under investigation let it go (on) and definitely that's not me."

Britain's Sunday Times newspaper reported that Blatter would be quizzed by Swiss prosecutors along with nine other serving FIFA officials as part of a separate criminal investigation into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids.

The report refers to an inquiry launched by team of prosecutors based in Bern two months ago, codenamed Operation Darwin, but the source of the information was not made clear.

- Forgive but not forget -

"It is a hate that comes not just from one person at UEFA, it comes from the UEFA organisation that cannot understand that in 1998 I became president," Blatter added in the interview.

Asked whether he would forgive UEFA chief Michel Platini, Blatter said "I forgive everyone but I do not forget."

European football leaders expressed concern at Blatter's win and have hinted they could take new action against FIFA.

Platini has said UEFA will review relations with FIFA on June 6.

English Football Association Greg Dyke indicated England could be ready to back a European boycott of the World Cup.

An English vice president of FIFA, David Gill, refused to take up his place on the executive committee on Saturday because of Blatter's victory.

But German football legend Franz Beckenbauer, a former FIFA executive member, called for urgent dialogue between UEFA and FIFA.

"I think that they are currently poles apart. The only thing that can help is to communicate," Beckenbauer told German sports news agency SID, an AFP subsidiary.

"They need to talk fast. Because what is happening is detrimental not only to the federations but also for football," Beckenbauer added.

But even Prince William, second in line to the British throne and president of the English FA, waded into the controversy calling on FIFA to "show that it can represent the interests of fair play and put the sport first".

He called on sponsors and other backers to apply pressure on football's governing body.

Sponsors and government leaders have hammered FIFA over the corruption scandal.

FIFA sponsors Coca-Cola, Budweiser and McDonald's called after the election result for quick moves to transparency.

Credit card giant Visa has threatened to "reassess" its sponsorship if FIFA does not clean up its act.

Blatter said he was organising a personal visit with sponsors in a bid to reassure them.

European football 'breakaway plan' could put pressure on - Fifa - to reform

By UnknownNo comments

The proposal, made by Danish Uefa executive committee member Allan Hansen, has been around since before the re-election of the beleaguered Sepp Blatter as Fifa's president last week, but could now be re-examined.