| Battery-operated buses for city’s V5 roads
The salary of Panjab University Professors, who were allowed to continue in service after attaining the age of 62, will be released soon. Appearing before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, university counsel Anupam Gupta made a statement to his effect in response to an application filed by 10 professors of various departments. The applicants had claimed they had not been given salary. In their petition they had claimed that the authorities were not complying with the provisions pertaining to extension of age from 62 to 65 years, following which the High Court had granted a stay on their retirement. Those who had moved the petition were Prof DD Bansal of bio-chemistry, Santosh Kumar Sharma of the department of correspondence, Naresh Kochhar of the department of geology, Mohinder Singh Johal of the department of zoology, Sudesh Verma of the department of chemistry, Paramjeet Singh of the department of chemical engineering, ML Sharma of the department of botany, G Kumara Verma of the department of Indian Theatre, DS Gill of the department of chemistry and Mina Surjit Singh of the department of English.
MPs put Gigaba on the spot
Home Affairs Deputy Minister Malusi Gigaba faced a grilling from MPs on Tuesday, who demanded that he account for the perennially chaotic state of his department. Gigaba's attempt to pass the buck to his director-general, Mavuso Msimang, was shot down by the portfolio committee chairperson, Patrick Chauke, who put his foot down firmly and demanded political accountability. This comes hardly a week after the Cabinet said it would haul ministers and their directors general before the executive to account for poor bookkeeping practices. .
Vista at one year: Progress and pain
Microsoft released Windows Vista to the world one year ago with ads likening the new PC operating system to such awe-inspiring moments as the first American spaceflight and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Charles Walling just wants it to work with his printer. The retired Seattle warehouseman has spent hours on the Dell tech support line, installed all the drivers and, yes, double-checked all the cords and plugs. No luck. The cause of the problem isn't clear, but Walling knows one thing: The same printer worked with Windows Vista's predecessor, Windows XP. .
Lovestruck teens run off, leave parents heartbroken
The parents of two lovelorn teenagers from the Flint area tried to keep them apart. Instead, it's the parents who are apart from their children after the teens ran away with a family minivan, an Xbox 360 video game system and a dog named Mandy. Five days later, the parents still haven't heard from the youths and they're worried what began as a quaint excursion could end as something different. .
Video games seen benefiting from toy scares
Games stand to benefit from the troubles in toyland: the hangover from the infamous recalls of dozens of Chinese-made items containing lead and other toxins.
Game-makers' revenues are forecast to climb 19% or more, according to Wedbush Morgan Securities, fueled by lower prices for consoles, a plethora of must-have games such as "Super Mario Galaxy" and the popularity of Nintendo Co.'s Wii and hand-held DS consoles, which appeal to a broad age range.
At the same time, retail toy sales are expected to decline by 2%, to $23 billion, said Gerrick Johnson, an analyst with BMO Capital Markets.
"There's definitely money leaving that sector," he said. "It's logical to assume that video games might be viewed by some parents as an alternative."
The recalls are contributing, but only modestly, to the growth in games, said Anita Baker, analyst at market research firm NPD Group.
Hopefuls spar over education strategies
The two best-known Democratic candidates for governor used their debut debate to take their first direct shots at each other Tuesday, centering on one's future plan for building schools and the other's past votes to raise college tuition. "There will be a big new state bureaucracy in Raleigh that will own school buildings in your district. That's how I see Richard's plan," said Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, describing a program offered by her opponent, State Treasurer Richard Moore. The two Democrats squared off in the second hour of debates in front of a meeting of state school board members from across the state. The three Republican candidates dueled during the first hour of the forum, with each group answering the same questions from a moderator. Each party will select its nominee in May.
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