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India’s No. 3 software services exporter, Wipro Ltd, expects demand for new software and systems to stagnate for up to two years as a result of the global economic slowdown, a top executive said on Saturday.

In response, Wipro plans to focus on providing operations services and helping clients cut costs, Wipro joint Chief Executive Girish Paranjpe said in an interview.

He sees a return to growth in the new software and systems segment ‘18 to 24 months from now’ when clients could look to launch new products or streamline internal systems which have come about through mergers and acquisitions.

“We are really using this next 12 to 18 months to invest in that capability, so that when growth returns and clients look at their own internal systems more rationally, we are there and well positioned to help them actually to execute on that.”

Paranjpe, speaking on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, declined to give a projection for revenue growth in the 2009/10 fiscal year, but said he thought Wipro could attain its target of 18 per cent revenue growth for the full 2008/09 year to March.

Wipro’s profits rose 8.7 per cent in the October to December period, but it said last week that it anticipated a quarter-on-quarter decline in revenue for the January-to-March quarter.

Wipro, which counts Citigroup, Credit Suisse and Cisco among its clients, had so far not seen any impact on its business from the recent revelations of overstated profits and fictitious assets at rival Satyam Computer Services, Paranjpe said.

“So far we have not seen any fallout in terms of cancelled orders or withdrawn inquiries or anything of that sort, maybe just a higher degree of due diligence from new prospects before they close the deal,” he said.

Wipro had not proactively approached any of Satyam’s clients, he added.

“But some of the clients have tried to make contingency plans, saying that if they wanted to continue their business operations without Satyam being in the fray, how could we help,” he said.

“We don’t want the reputation of the industry to go down, so as long as clients’ business operations don’t suffer, broadly they will be alright.”

Not every state in the nation has a state dinosaur, but Texas does. Now, however, the extinct creature could get a new official name.

It makes sense that the state of everything giant would celebrate a behemoth paleo-beast. In 1997, the legislature named Pleurocoelus the Texas state dinosaur. The sauropod (member of a group of plant eaters with long necks and tails) apparently plodded on saucer-like hind feet and weighed 40,000 to 90,000 pounds (18,000 to 40,000 kg), with a body length of up to 60 feet (18 meters).

The reign of Pleurocoelus in the Lone Star State may be a short one, though.

On Jan. 7, State Rep. Charles Geren of Fort Worth filed a resolution to change the state dinosaur from Pleurocoelus to Paluxysaurus jonesi to correctly name the massive sauropod whose tracks and bones litter the Jones Ranch, which is in central Texas near Glen Rose. Geren filed his resolution on behalf of constituents at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.

“I think it’s going to be good for Texas paleontology and dinosaur research in general,” said Aaron Pan, the museum’s curator of science. “This dinosaur is unique to Texas, and it is the most abundant dinosaur fossil found in the Glen Rose area.”

Many of the world’s most interesting dinosaur discoveries have come from North America. In addition to Texas, just a handful of states have officially designated a state dinosaur, including:

• Colorado: Stegosaurus
• District of Columbia: Capitalsaurus
• Maryland: Astrodon johnstoni
• Missouri: Hypsibema missouriensis
• New Jersey: Hadrosaurus foulkii
• Wyoming: Triceratops

The call for a name change is the result of 2007 research in the journal Palaeontologia Electronica in which Peter Rose, then at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, disputed the Texas dinosaur’s identity.

Rose analyzed sauropod bones at the Jones Ranch (in and around Paluxy River near Glen Rose). His analyses showed the bones didn’t match up with Pleurocoelus bones first found in Maryland in the late 1800s. The Texas dino had been given the same name as what was thought to be its counterpart in Maryland.

In fact, the dinosaur remains in Texas belong to a completely new genus and species, Rose said. Paluxysaurus jonesi lived some 112 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period (144 million to 65 million years ago).

Rather than a complete mistaken identity, Rose points out scientists had never thoroughly examined the dinosaur fossils littering the state.

“At the time sauropod tracks and bones were first discovered in Texas, only Pleurocoelus was known from North America for this particular time period (Early Cretaceous),” Rose told LiveScience. “In 1974, Wann Langston Jr. described some sauropod fossils from central Texas that he determined to be similar enough to those from Maryland that he referred them to the genus Pleurocoelus.”

He added, “I think from that point on, all subsequent sauropod discoveries in Texas were assumed to be that genus as well.”

Lewis Hamilton was reportedly left red-faced after being upstaged in front of his girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger by a Saudi Arabian royal.

The British F1 racing driver had apparently arrived at London’s O2 to see his singer-love perform with her Pussycat Doll band - and unexpectedly received a big smacker for 50 red roses and a diamond necklace worth 100,000 pounds.

But it was a Sheikh who had sent the gifts to the lead singer of the American girl band.

“It was all a bit awkward for Lewis. He showed up and got an almighty embrace from Nicole to thank him for his gift,” the Sun quoted a source as saying.

“He had got her a pressie but it was something pretty simple and he seemed a bit baffled by her overreaction.

“It soon became clear she thought the diamonds and the roses were from him, especially when she opened the card.

“They both saw the funny side - but Lewis will be upping his efforts next time,” the source added.

Women who transition more quickly through menopause are at increased risk for a higher rate of progression of “preclinical atherosclerosis” - narrowing of arteries caused by the thickening of their walls, concludes a new study.

Cardiologist C. Noel Bairey Merz, M.D, led the multifaceted Los Angeles Atherosclerosis Study (LAAS), in which 203 women between ages 45 and 60 were evaluated.

While fifty-two women were premenopausal, 20 were perimenopausal and 131 were postmenopausal, none of them had been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease.

They were evaluated when they entered the study and at two 18-month intervals, providing a snapshot over a three-year period of time.

Evaluations included carotid intimal-media thickness (cIMT) measurements and objective measures of menopausal status based on hormone levels and physiologic changes, not subjective factors, such as hot flashes and estimates of menstrual cycling.

It was found that women who transitioned from being premenopausal to being fully postmenopausal within three years had more build-up of fatty plaque in their carotid arteries.

Thus the researchers suggested that women who transition through menopause rapidly are at greater risk of early development of heart disease.

“We know that more fatty plaque accumulation predicts future heart attacks and strokes, but this is our first venture into this particular line of inquiry. This is an observational study, which doesn’t provide specific recommendations for patient evaluation and treatment, but it does raise questions,” said Bairey Merz.

She added: “The findings suggest that we study this more definitively to possibly determine if women undergoing a more rapid menopause might benefit from early hormone replacement therapy.

“In the meantime, physicians could consider using carotid intimal-media thickness measurement or other cardiovascular screenings for women who are rapidly transitioning or who have certain risk factors, such as cigarette smoking or chemotherapy, which are known to accelerate transition through the menopause.”

However, she cautioned that patients should not use the study to self-diagnose or presume they may be at higher risk because of symptoms.

The total number of porn websites blocked in China has reached 726, with the imposition of ban on another 244 sites last week.

The Government crackdown on porn websites had begun on January 5, according to Xinhua news agency.

A statement issued by the Special Operation Office for Crackdown on Online Porn and Lewd Content revealed that about a third of the closed websites had not registered with governmental departments, reports the China Daily.

The statement further added that such websites violated the top legislature’s regulations, and other laws regarding public distribution of sexual images.

The month-long campaign against Internet porn was launched by the State Council’s Information Office, Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Culture as well as four other government agencies.

In a Jan. 15 story about video game sales, The Associated Press reported erroneously that Nintendo boosted the production of the Wii by 50 percent in July. Nintendo increased production by 33 percent worldwide, which led to a 50 percent supply increase in U.S. stores during the recently ended holiday period.

The number of registered users to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s personal video blog passed 3,500 Tuesday afternoon, a spokesman said here.

The Russian president has had a video blog on the Kremlin site since the autumn of 2008, but visitors who register may now leave their own comments. The interactive service on the president’s personal web-page was launched Monday.

‘As of 5 p.m., 3,519 people had registered on the website, and 168 were refused registration due to the blog’s rules,’ the spokesman said. ‘Another 443 are waiting for confirmation of their registration.’

Comments are only accepted in Russian and visitors could be denied access if they use abusive or foul language, or words that could promote hatred or discrimination towards minority groups or minors.

Visitors may also be denied access if they attempt to use the site for commercial or advertising purposes. Comments will be edited before being published to avoid grammatical and spelling mistakes, the site said.

In order to leave a comment on the president’s personal video blog, visitors have to register with the official Kremlin site. The registration process requires users to provide a screen name as well as their name, age, education, e-mail address and the country or region where they live.

By Tuesday evening, there were 603 comments left on the site and another 132 were waiting to be edited, the spokesman said. There are 10 employees who handle the traffic on the president’s website.

The president’s press secretary, Natalya Timakova, said the president planned to respond to some of the comments.

‘Some of the more interesting comments left may be answered by the president himself,’ Timakova told RIA Novosti.

Medvedev has promoted the use of computers and Internet in schools throughout Russia, and has three computer screens on his desk in his Kremlin office.

Hiring an Arizona personal injury lawyer is one of the best things you can do to protect your rights after an accident. They will be able to handle all of the problems that you’ll face and it’s just a good idea to have an experienced professional on your side. You might not know just how to find one though. Don’t worry. It’s easier than ever before to find a perfect person to take up your cause. You just need to know the right places to look.

The first place to look should be the plethora of online sources for Arizona personal injury lawyers. There are plenty or directories and listings available that detail the lawyers ready for your business. There are usually even notes about past cases and experience, so you can narrow it down to a field of lawyers who are just right for your case. This is at least a good place to start your search. It’s also fairly easy to manage if you are stressed and busy with the other problems of the crash. Checking online directories should be easy to squeeze in during a few spare minutes.

Once you have your list narrowed, just start asking around. You can usually call and set up a consultation to get more advice and see what they’d do for you. I don’t know a better way to sort through the list of Arizona personal injury attorneys. If are looking to hire one, then you should invest this time to find the one that’s just right.

An Indian-origin scientist at the University of Warwick is developing car technology to help produce synthetic bones for the benefit of patients undergoing bone implant surgery.The method is being developed by Dr Kajal Mallick along with postgraduate researcher James Meredith at the university’s Warwick Manufacturing Group.

The researchers believe the method could offer substantial clinical benefits to patients undergoing bone implant surgery.

The technique involves state-of-the-art extrusion of the implant material through a mould, to produce a 3-dimensional honeycomb texture, with uniform pores throughout.

The material can then be sculpted by the surgeon to precisely match the defect. After implantation bone cells will be transported into the implant and begin to form new bone.

“We worked with a Japanese company which manufactures catalytic converters and used their facility to produce samples which we could then test in the laboratory,” explained Mallick.

“We found that we were able to use calcium phosphates – a family of bioceramics that are routinely used in bone implant operations, but by using this technique we were able to improve significantly both the strength and porosity of the implant,” he said.

Energy officials in Kiev Tuesday said Russian natural gas was slowly moving into Ukraine’s pipeline system, rejecting allegations from Moscow that Ukraine was blocking the flow.

‘Gas has started to come in (to Ukraine’s pipeline system from Russia),’ an official from the Ukrainian natural gas monopoly Naftogaz Ukrainy said. ‘Pressure in the system is rising.’

The Naftogaz declaration contradicted claims by officials from the Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom that Ukraine was preventing Russian gas from moving towards Europe.

Russia Tuesday morning ended an embargo on natural gas shipments into Ukraine’s pipeline system by opening the tap into one of Ukraine’s five trans-country transportation mains.

Pressure at the inlet had risen by midday Tuesday to a volume of 76.2 million cubic metres of Russian natural gas being pumped Westward daily, a Naftogaz official said.

Ukrainian energy engineers were according to Ukrainska Pravda magazine likely to struggle to deliver the gas in full volume to its outlet on the Ukraine-Romania border, as Ukraine’s natural gas transportation system is interconnected and raising pressure in a single southern pipeline, without gas moving elsewhere in the system, is technically difficult.

The Kremlin cut off gas shipments to Ukraine last week, citing siphoning by Kiev as grounds. Ukrainian officials have never admitted to stealing Russian gas, saying Russian gas was diverted to maintain pressure in Ukraine’s pipeline system, or taken as payment for shipment of Russian gas through Ukrainian pipelines.