New York, IBM team up to stop false tax refunds

New York state announced Friday that it had stopped $400 million in questionable 2010 tax returns from being disbursed, with the help of IBM technology.

Officials from both IBM and New York’s tax commission said, in the long run, it was much easier to prevent fraudulent refunds from going out than trying to recapture that lost money. 

The officials also said the analytics used by New York give the state better defense against false tax returns filed by prisoners and others. In all, IBM’s Shaun Barry said, the partnership has saved $1.6 billion over seven years.

“It’s exceeded anybody’s expectations,” said Barry, IBM’s global leader for fraud-management solutions. “What’s interesting is that New York is now finding people switching to other schemes because of this.”

New York and IBM had earlier announced that analytics had helped the state collect $83 million in taxes. 

The latest announcement comes as many states continue to struggle with difficult budget situations. 

Thomas Mattox, New York’s tax commissioner, told The Hill that, while his state’s diverse population provided tax collection challenges not found in some other places, he believes the sort of analytics now on display in New York could be applied elsewhere.

“The core infrastructure around leveraging analytics – you can absolutely do that among all 50 states,” Mattox said. “I think it’s in all of our interests to see a broader adoption of these kinds of tool sets.”

Gilani sends message to Kabul

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, May 23 (UPI) -- Pakistan's prime minister, back from a productive China trip, sent his foreign secretary to Kabul carrying a "special message," his office said.
Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, who visited China last week following the May 2 killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden by U.S. forces in Pakistan, asked his foreign secretary, Salman Bashir, to "deliver the prime minister's special message to Afghan President Hamid Karzai," Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported Monday, quoting a statement from Gilani's office.
No details of Bashir's trip or about the message were given.
The report said during Gilani's meetings with Chinese leaders, the two countries agreed to coordinate efforts on the Afghan situation.
Dawn quoted a close Gilani aide that through his message, the prime minister wants to take Karzai on board on his talks with Chinese leaders on Afghanistan.
Dawn quoted diplomatic sources that Gilani has lately been seeking to set up an alliance among Pakistan, Afghanistan and China. Gilani's government considers China as Pakistan's "best and most trusted friend."
Among agreements reached in China during Gilani's visit, Pakistan will immediately get 50 JF-17 Thunder combat jets from China fitted with more sophisticated avionics and would be fully funded by China, a Pakistani official said.
Pakistan's relations with the United States remain strained since the U.S. forces launched a raid on bin Laden's compound in the Pakistani garrison city of Abbottabad.
Dawn said Pakistan may want to speed up Gilani's alliance effort after Manmohan Singh, prime minister of Pakistan's arch rival India, visited Kabul this month during which India and Afghanistan reportedly announced a strategic partnership.

Indian shares down 1 pct on weak Asia

May 23 (Reuters) - Indian shares fell more than 1 percent in early trade on Monday in line with Asian peers that were down on debt worries in the euro zone. Financials led the fall.

Is Dawood Ibrahim roaming in India, not in Pakistan?

New Delhi, May 20: "Most wanted" terror list error has pushed India in a miserable situation which raise questions about the credibility of the country at international platform. Two of the terrorists, whose names were featured in the list handed over to Pakistan, have been found residing in Mumbai's Arthur Road jail.

The ruling government, which has been isolated by the simultaneous criticism of Opposition parties, claimed that despite the latest goof-up, government will not recall the declared list.

Internal Affairs secretary UK Bansal said, "Error has been accepted. Responsibility will be fixed for the mistake. There is no possibility of recalling the list. MHA is reviewing the list."

Wazhul Kamar Khan and Feroz Abdul Rashid Khan's names were enlisted at number 41 and 24 in the "most wanted" terrorists list. Both of them have been found in Mumbai's jail.

Meanwhile, many people started questioning about the authenticity of the entire list and speculation began mulling on Dawood Ibrahim, the underworld don who has topped the list.

Earlier, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram stated, "We have often asked Pakistan to extradite or transfer Dawood to us. I think we know that Dawood Ibrahim lives in a house in Karachi. I think the broad coordinates of the location are also known. But the Pakistan flatly denies that Dawood Ibrahim is in Pakistan."

However, the recent blunder by the Indian government indeed created doubt about Dawood's presence in India. Recently, a deadly attack on Dawood's brother Iqbal Kaskar hints the presence of D-company in India.

Dead Osama hampers Dawood's son's marriage party in Pak

Karachi, New Delhi, May 23: The former al-Qaeda chief, the dreaded terrorist, Osama bin Laden had topped the "most wanted terrorists" list published by the US. After a long hide and seek battle, Barack Obama's men, however, succeeded to kill their biggest enemy right under the nose of Pakistanis who allegedly guarded the 9/11 attacks mastermind. Now, it's India's turn to accomplish its long pending task to nab the 1993 Mumbai blasts culprit.

Soon after the US' secret mission to "kill Osama" in Pakistan's Abbottabad city, Dawood, who lives in a bungalow in Karachi's Cliffton Road area, started absconding as life-threats are mulling over the underworld don. Indian intelligence agencies with the help of Interpol have collected enough evidence to expose that Pakistani government is giving full support and is sheltering Dawood Ibrahim.

Citing the tensed situation, close sources to Dawood's family stated that the underworld don decided to postpone his son Moin's marriage reception, though "the nikah will take place as per the schedule on May 27, a Friday."

Sources said, "The wedding reception was to be held on May 28. However, due to the ongoing difficulties, Dawood has postponed the reception and a new date has not been fixed yet."

"Dawood wanted to throw a big party for Moin's wedding since it would be the last wedding of his children. But due to the changing scenario, he is taking precaution," added the source.

Dawood's jittery might have been intensed when his brother and aides were attacked by some unidentified goons in Mumbai recently.

It seems that India has been confronted with a stern challenge to nail down its enemy - Dawood Ibrahim. There are several media footage of Dawood hobnobbing with Pakistani government officials, and influential persons and that too in the heartland of Pakistani administration. The strongest proof that Dawood insteed is residing in Pakistan is the wedding of Dawoods' daughter Mahrooq to Pakistani cricketer Javed Miadad's son Junaid in 2005.

Facebook helps traffic cops nail high-profile offenders

The social networking site Facebook has proved to be a great help to the Delhi Traffic Police in identifying the traffic offenders. After booking a judge of a lower court, the traffic police have prosecuted vehicles belonging to son of a senior BJP leader, a Delhi Police SHO, a municipal councilor, a journalist and a relative of a legislator.

Challans to all these 'highprofile' offenders were issued on one single day.

"What a day already. I picked up five photos from (Facebook) uploads and these turned out to be the vehicles of a Gandhi Nagar SHO, a municipal councilor, a press person and a relative of MLA. All of these have been prosecuted. May be these are small steps in establishing rule of law," said joint commissioner of police (traffic) Satyendra Garg.

Garg said that the city has become absolutely unmanageable because traffic violations are being done by people who should set examples. "On the contrary, rules are being broken by people who are supposedly powerful. Why does it happen that people do not follow rules?" he said.

Foreign companies increasing jobs in U.S., Europe

Companies in growing markets like China and India are adding more jobs in North America and Europe, a shift from the usual hiring patterns, says a new study from IBM.

Out today, IBM's new "Working Beyond Borders" study found that growth in jobs is now moving two ways--from emerging economies tapping into more mature markets as well as the more traditional reverse pattern.

The reason for the trend? As more companies expand globally, they're hiring people with the creativity, flexibility, and speed needed to help their expansion, prompting them to increase their staffing in North America, Western Europe, and other mature markets.

Specifically, IBM found that 45 percent of companies in India plan to increase their headcount in North America, while 44 percent will expand in Western Europe. And 33 percent of businesses in China are looking to add staff in North America, while 14 percent will boost headcount in Western Europe.

"The silver lining of globalization is that the shift toward expansion will require companies to redirect their workforce to locations that provide the greatest opportunities, not just the lowest costs, and at the same time, re-imagine their management strategies to reflect an increasingly dynamic workforce," Denis Brousseau, vice president of organization and people for IBM Global Business Services, said in a statement.

Despite this recent trend, much of the increase in hiring over the next three years will still happen in emerging growth regions, such as China, India, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. Whichever direction it goes, this new global focus on job growth will force companies to rethink how they attract and manage workers from around the world, according to IBM

Indian companies hiring workers in North America: Report

Washington, May 23 (IANS) Faced with rising wages at home, India's outsourcing giants have looked for growth opportunities in the US with many of them hiring workers in North America, according to a media report.

With Washington crimping visas for visiting Indian workers, some companies such as Mumbai-based Aegis Communications are slowly hiring workers locally as their largest corporate customers are based in North America, the Washington Post reported Sunday.

'Many of them are call centre workers. Many are African Americans without college degrees. Some lack high school diplomas,' it noted saying, 'In this evolution, outsourcing has come home.'

Aegis, a subsidiary of India's Essar Group, an energy, telecom and metals conglomerate, is quoted as saying it's pioneering the next generation of outsourcing: putting the work close to its global customers.

Its executives call the practice 'near-sourcing', 'diverse shoring' and, sometimes, 'cross-shoring'.

Companies such as Tata Consultancy Services, Genpact and Infosys are the largest users of the H-1B visa programme and have collectively brought as many as 30,000 workers into the country in a year on H-1B or other visas.

But the companies that use the visa programmes have faced opposition from US labour unions as well as age-discrimination lawsuits from American tech workers alleging that they were passed over by the hiring practices, the Post noted.

At the same time, as high unemployment lingers and the economic recovery lags, India-based companies have seized on an opportunity to improve their image and expand their US businesses by taking over companies and hiring more US talent, it said.

Tata Consultancy Services, for example, is ramping up its North American presence in major deals with Citibank, Dow Chemical and Hilton Worldwide.

It plans to hire more than 1,000 Americans in 2011 and to base 10,000 of its 185,000 global employees in the country.

The Post cited Robert Webb, chief information officer at Hilton Worldwide, as predicting that the India-based companies 'will evolve to be more like one of the traditional consulting firms in the US' by taking on higher-end capabilities such as business planning, industry knowledge and change management.

Sony Ericsson Engages Fans On FB

Global - Sony Ericsson has launched a global competition via Facebook to find the ultimate reviewer who will get a first look at its upcoming phones. 

Tapping into its fanbase of more than 4.7 million Facebook fans, the competition will allow Sony Ericsson to engage with its consumers and give the selected few, first look at its upcoming phones.  

"This is an exciting new competition to help us keep in touch with our fans," Quentin Cordier, product manager at Sony Ericsson, said. 

The few who are selected to review the phones will have to submit a video review which will then be uploaded onto its Facebook page. To ensure continuous engagement FB fans of the brand will get to vote for their favorite review to decide the winner.

"Whether they are social media addicts or karaoke kings and queens, this is a great opportunity for them to get involved with our products before anyone else," Cordier added.

RJ SHREYA'S PROFILE

A little touchy and a lot senti thats Shreya. Cant stop her when she gets her fits of laughter and cant console her when a little leg pulling will make her a spoilt cry baby.

Touches your heart instantly with her melodious voice that gells smoothly with the old melodies ,the classic songs that are exclusively with her.


Latest movie : Shor In The City

I'm currently reading : YOU CAN WIN

Current fav song : party abhi baaki hai

Quote for the day : khud jiyo auro ko bhi jeene do

Zodiac sign : Aquarius

Personality type : Emotional …..get emotional almost on everything on this earth

RJ-ing style : GILLI GILI BOO

Fashion : Long straight hair

Passions : Sleeping

Sports : cricket se philhaal raahat

Books : Nancy drews,Sydneys, Enid Blyton ,Eric Sehgal so many

Fav food : Crazy for Chinese . My team says that soon I will look like one

Fav actor : The one whom I cannot figure out what is he better at acting or dance .Hritik Roshan

Fav songs : All my purani jeans songs

Movies : maine Pyar Kiya, DDLJ, Titanic,A WEDNESDAY

Fav movie moments : when a listener came with her grand mum carrying her on a trolley to meet me

I love :People who have attitude

I hate : cockroaches and dual face people

RJ GARIMA'S PROFILE

I AM A FUN LOVING PERSON JO JAB BOLNA SHURU KARTI HAI TO CHUP HONE KA NAAM NAHIN LETI HAI....
BAAKI MERE BAARE MEIN JO BAATEIN AAPKO PATAA KARNI HAI, WOH JAANNE KE LIYE NEECHE DEKHO....


Latest movie : DUM MAARO DUM (ONE TIME WATCH)

I'm currently reading : RADIO MIRCHI KI DIARY

Current fav song : GAYE TUM GAYE KYON RAAT BAAQI HAI....

Quote for the day : DUNIYA BURA MAANE TO GOLI MAARO !!!

Zodiac sign : Sagittarius

Personality type : MINDBLOWING

RJ-ing style : JHAKAAS!!!

Fashion : ANYTHING IN BLACK

Passions : MUSIC

Sports : BADMINTON

Books : All Sydney Sheldon Novels

Fav food : GOLGAPPE

Fav actor : MAIN KHUD APNI FAVOURITE HOON

Fav songs : HUMEIN TUMSE PYAR KITNA...

Movies : DDLJ,DEV D,SAATHIYA

Fav movie moments : WHEN I WAS SELECTED AS AN RJ IN RADIO MIRCHI

I love :GOSHEE (MY RABBIT)

I hate : PEOPLE WID ATTITUDE

RADIO MIRCHI 98.3 BIG FM RJ CHARU'S PROFILE

CHARU JOINED IN AS A FRESHER WITH ABSOLUTELY NO KNOWLEDGE ABOUT "RADIO" OR ANY OTHER INDUSTRY FOR THAT MATTER...
BUT, TODAY KANPUR LOVES TO GO BACK TO HOME, EVERY EVENING, WITH HER !!!!
SHE IS BUBBLY, CHIRPY, NAUGHTY, CUTE, SPOILT...
SHE IS AN ABSOLUTE BRAT !!!!

SHE WILL TELL YOU ALL THAT YOU WANT TO KNOW,
OR RATHER ALL THAT YOU SHOULD KNOW,
SHE WILL KEEP U SO BLOODY UPDATED THAT YOUR FRIEND WOULD ENVY YOU AT DA PARTIES, BUT, ONLY IF THEY DONT LISTEN TO HER....

TUNE IN TO MIRCHI TO KNOW ALL DAT'S HAPPENING NEAR YOU OR EVEN FAR AWAY FROM YOU...
AND NOT TO FORGET,YOU WILL FALL IN LOVE WITH HER STUPID JOKES!!!!
EVERY EVENING,
MON-SAT, 4:00PM-9:00PM, ON BUMPER 2 BUMPER...


Latest movie : dum maaro dum dekhna chahitey hain....!

I'm currently reading : nothing....

Current fav song : tarkeebein.... sheila ki jawani.....

Quote for the day : don't take any decision, when very angry and, don't make any promise when very happy, dono khatarnak hain...

Zodiac sign : Aquarius

Personality type : very extroverd !!!!

RJ-ing style : Very local, energetic, full natak.

Fashion : is very important.

Passions : eating lovely food, all the time…

Sports : basket ball, GULLY CRICKET.

Books : 2 states

Fav food : almost everything, xcept non-veg...

Fav actor : abey bahut saare hain bey..

Fav songs : loads of....

Movies : loads..

Fav movie moments : nahi hai koi fav moment, to kya jaan le loge nahi hai to, insaan hain, nahi ho sakta kabhie kabhie....

I love :long holidays, GOOD FOOTWEAR, GOOD CLOTHES...

I hate : NOBODY !!!!

Sony admits to data breach

Sony has acknowledged that personal information of its PlayStation Network customers has been compromised.

However, the massive security breach occurred a week before Sony issued an announcement.

A warning to over 70 million customers was posted on Sony's blog stating that their personal information, including customer names, addresses, e-mail addresses, birthdays, PlayStation Network and Qriocity passwords, and user names, as well as online user handles, was obtained illegally by an "unauthorized person."

The data was accessed between April 17 and April 19, according to Sony.

The blog went on to say;

"While there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility," a company spokesman wrote today. "If you have provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity, out of an abundance of caution we are advising you that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have been obtained."

Sony has taken PSN off-line whilst they rebuild it.

This Mother's Day Give Tech Support Instead of Chocolate

Mother's Day is this Sunday, which means that flower shops will be busy, Hallmark stock should be up, and you can expect long lines at brunches as children of all ages try to figure out some meaningful way to thank Moms for all they do, and all they mean to us. This Mother's Day, maybe you can get your mom a clue so she can get more use out of her PC and maybe video chat with the grandkids every once in awhile.

My older boys use Y ouTube and Hulu in place of television, and get most of their movie content streamed from Netflix instead of watching cable networks like HBO or Showtime. They live in some alternate, pixelated, 8-bit universe called Minecraft, but they stop by to raid the refrigerator every once in awhile if they get hungry.

My daughter has been five for all of two weeks, and yet she is adept in the ways of iOS. She searches for and watches YouTube clips on the iPad that crack her up. She draws awesome artwork using the Adobe Ideas app, she can create beautifully unique patterns in Gravilux, and she has mastered getting the maximum stars on every level of Cut the Rope--on the iPad and the iPhone. We never taught her really. Somehow, navigating iOS and using the iPhone and iPad just came naturally to her.

Technology evolves rapidly, and each successive generation seems to be ‘smarter' than the one before it--as if all of the tech knowledge of the past was genetically encoded in them at birth, and they used that as a foundation to build on and learn even more. It seems only fair then, on a day dedicated to repaying moms for being moms, that sons and daughters should pay it forward by sharing some of that advanced tech wisdom with their mother.

In fact, next to a bouquet of flowers and a card, the gift of tech support may be the most thoughtful thing you can give your mom on Mother's Day.A survey by security vendor F-Secure found that 71 percent of respondents have conducted some form of tech support for their mothers. A quarter of those surveyed indicated that they provide tech support for their moms frequently.