Bill Gates launches hunt for top Indian student geeks
BANGALORE, India, Dec 9 (AFP) Microsoft chairman Bill Gates launched Friday a talent hunt for India's top student technologists and urged developers to cash in on the digital age. Addressing more than 5,000 developers at the grounds of a historic palace here in India's high-tech capital, Gates said the search dubbed "Code 4 Bill" recognised India's role in nurturing technical talent.
"This is something we have never done before anywhere," Gates said. "It is aimed at pre-final and final year students. The best amongst the participants will get an opportunity to work with my Technical Assistants Team for a year. "I will get to know them. I am very excited about this," he said.
Registrations for the contest will start in January 2006 and students will be tested for their technical and analytical skills. They will also be interviewed by Microsoft technical teams. "Twenty selected students will also intern with Microsoft India before the final selection," Gates said.
India's software industry clocked revenues of more than 17 billion dollars in the last fiscal year to March 2005 and is driven by a large pool of skilled professionals working for almost one-seventh the salaries of their counterparts in the United States.

New cable link b/w UAE-PK

[WAM News agency reports] Emirates Telecommunications & Marine Services FZE- e-marine- a subsidiary of Etisalat, has announced the completion of a new submarine cable connecting UAE and Pakistan, branching to Oman. The project to lay over 1200 kms of submarine cable, awarded to e-marine by Tyco and owned by Trans World Associates (TWA), Pakistan, was completed ahead of planned schedule. Read the news item here.

PK and Iran linking via fiber optic

Pakistan and Iran have decided to establish a working group to address any operational problems ahead of building an optic fiber link between the two countries within the next one year. The decision was taken during a meeting between Minister for Information Technology Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari and Iran's deputy communication minister Kamal Mohamedpour here on Thursday.

The two countries have also decided exchange expertise and technical know-how in the area of telecom training for which officials from the both countries would visit each other to view the status of training facilities and find ways to further coordination and cooperation. Read more here: http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/article_11238.shtml