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• How iPads Make Eyes Itchy and Inflamed
• Yahoo May Layoff Thousands Starting Next Week
• Facebook Hires Allahabad student for 1.3 crore
• Bangalore, India’s Costliest City

How iPads Make Eyes Itchy and Inflamed Posted: 02 Apr 2012 05:18 AM PDT Hours of staring at iPads and smartphones have left many young people with dry eyes, which makes them itchy, inflamed and gritty. The mind can ‘forget’ to blink, when we are concentrating on the screen, says Christine Purslow, director of the contact lenses and anterior eye research unit at Cardiff University. It affects the eye’s lubrication system. We normally blink 12-15 times a minute, but using a computer screen can cut this to seven or eight a minute, adds Purslow. This leaves the tear film – the lubricating substance that protects eye surface, not working properly. About 30 percent of those over 50 years have dry eye but numbers are rising, with many more young people affected, the Daily Mail reports “As a nation we are getting older, which means the proportion suffering age-related dry eye is increasing, where the tear film over the surface of the eye deteriorates with age,” Purslow said. “But younger people are experiencing problems because of the modern office, with computers and air conditioning making it worse, as well as home use of display screens,” said Purslow. “Using a screen on your lap, the iPad for example, has a similar effect to using a screen on your desk – you blink less,” said Purslow. Soft contact lens wearers were particularly at risk. Clinical trials show that tear substitutes can remedy the problem by stabilising the tear film within two to three months. Source: IANS

Yahoo May Layoff Thousands Starting Next Week Posted: 02 Apr 2012 04:58 AM PDT New York: Close on the heels of new Chief Executive Officer Scott Thompson taking charge at Yahoo Inc, the internet giant is planning to begin layoffs of thousands of employees next week as a part of restructuring its operations, according to a media report.   “Yahoo is preparing to begin layoffs of what could be thousands of employees starting next week…and is then expected to announce a new restructuring of the company the week after,” technology blog AllThingsD said, citing a source.   The move would represent the first major change under new Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson, formerly head of eBay’s PayPal unit, who took over in January, months after the Yahoo post got empty following Carol Bartz’s departure in September 2011.   The The layoffs will not take place at once and would mainly affect Yahoo’s product, research and marketing groups. Yahoo, which has nearly 14,000 employees, has been struggling to increase its share in the internet market amid tough competition from Google and Facebook.   As a part of the new restructuring plan still being finalized, Yahoo could be a much smaller organization with a focus on media and advertising business. Source: PTI

Facebook Hires Allahabad student for 1.3 crore Posted: 02 Apr 2012 04:52 AM PDT Final year is a time for engineering students to do a lot of things, from trying to spend time with friends and celebrating friendship to reflecting on sins in the past (and praying that God would help one get through campus placements). Campus placements are one of the most important events in a student's life, especially since it gives one the chance to have things easy since it removes the need to actually go out and search for a job.   Given that only those with the brains and grades to get through actually make it to the end, one student happens to have it all—the brains, grades, and luck to get through an interview with Facebook.   The student, who is from Kanpur, is in his final year at the Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology. He had to go through nine rounds of telephonic interview before he got selected, and will have to fly out to Menlo Park, California after he's done with his final exams, according to a report from the Hindustan Times. He received the appointment letter to join Facebook as a software engineer, on March 27, according to which he will be paid $262,500(around Rs 13,355,000) per annum. The offer is one of the biggest made by Facebook to any student in India–the largest was when it hired a student from IIT Madras for an annual sum of around $333,200 (i.e. Rs 1.7 crore).   Facebook has been hiring students from technology institutions in India, especially IITs. This is the first time the planet's largest social network has recruited someone from an 'NIT'. Dr Tanuj Nandan (the MNIT press and media relation officer) said this was the highest annual package offered to any B. Tech student of the 30 National Institutes of Technology (NITs) in the country so far.   The student wished to remain unnamed, because of security concerns.

Bangalore, India’s Costliest City Posted: 02 Apr 2012 04:41 AM PDT Tech capital, Bangalore is the costliest Indian city revealed the Reserve Bank of India’s Consumer Price Index (CPI). Bangalore is seen a couple of notches higher than the all-India cost-of-living average.   Bangalore had a CPI of 200, while the financial capital Mumbai was just a mark behind with a CPI of 199. The national CPI average was seen at 198.   The CPI measures a standard basket of items like food, clothing and transport, across the cities. Surprisingly, in the price race, Delhi is placed very low in the table at 181. Delhi has a benefit of the subsidies galore it receives from the Centre. Chennai was seen with a CPI of 187, while Kolkata was at 184.   Hyderabad, the City of Pearls, is the second most inexpensive city to live in, after Delhi. The city falls easy on the pocket due to low house rents, low power costs and cheap food.   Bangalore's high cost of living has been credited to the city's IT sector-led growth and the high cost of fuel. Bangalore has the highest city tax structure in the country, and Karnataka has the highest state taxation; it sources most consumer goods from other states, accounting for the high commodity cost.   Furthermore, Bangalore is also known to be a city with the most quality conscious consumers who do not mind paying a little extra; it is a city with the highest consumption of organic food stuff. The cost of education as well is one of the highest in the city. Budget analyst Ravi Duggal told TOI that "there were different reasons for differential living costs among cities, including the aspiration of people." Talking of Delhi and Mumbai, he further added that "Where education is concerned, Delhi has more public education facilities than Mumbai.” LPG costs are also noted to be the highest in Bangalore at Rs 415 per 14.2 kg cylinder compared with Rs 405 in Kolkata, Rs 402 in Mumbai and the highly subsidized Rs 393.50 in Chennai and Rs 399 in New Delhi. While Mumbai is the second most expensive city in India, this is attributed to the high rent in the city. Economist, Vibhuti Patel of SNDT University was quoted saying to TOI "There are many factors, the chief being high rentals. Over 40 percent of the salary of an average Mumbaikar goes into paying rent.”

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