With Cloud Bigtable, Google is launching a new NoSQL database offering today that, as the name implies, is powered by the company’s Bigtable data storage system, but with the added twist that it’s compatible with the Apache HBase API — which itself is based on Google’s Bigtable project. Bigtable powers the likes of Gmail, Google Search and Google Analytics, so this is definitely a battle-tested service.

Google promises that Cloud Bigtable will offer single-digit millisecond latency and 2x the performance per dollar when compared to the likes of HBase and Cassandra. Because it supports the HBase API, Cloud Bigtable can be integrated with all the existing applications in the Hadoop ecosystem, but it also supports Google’s Cloud Dataflow.

The first year of the new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government is one of the best years for India in terms of liberalisation and economic reforms, a top US expert has said.

“While we cannot claim this has been a perfect year in terms of liberalising the economy, it has been one of the best years on record. Certainly well ahead of the first year of either the Vajpayee or the Singh governments,” said Rick Rossow, senior fellow and Wadhwani Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies – a prominent think-tank.

Bollywood star Salman Khan was on Wednesday convicted by a sessions court of culpable homicide for the death of a homeless man in a hit-and-run in 2002 and faces up to 10 years in jail. Sentencing is expected later in the day.

Judge D.W. Deshpande of the Mumbai court upheld prosecution charges that Salman, 49, was driving under the influence of alcohol and did not have a licence when he lost control of his Toyota Land Cruiser on the night of September 28, 2002.

The office of the Union comptroller and auditor general (CAG) has questioned why Reliance Industries (RIL) was allowed to charge a marketing margin on natural gas in dollar terms when that allowed to state-owned GAIL was approved in rupee terms.

The auditor recommended the petroleum ministry ensure the latter methodology be adopted for supply of natural gas from domestic sources for use in sectors where the government bears the subsidy burden.

State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is planning to use its Tapti assets in the western offshore to advance production of gas and condensate from its neighbouring Daman field, under a Rs 5,219-crore plan.

The assets comprise the Tapti gas processing platform, gas gathering stations and sub-sea pipelines.

Services sector growth lost momentum for the second straight month in April on weaker domestic demand, raising hopes for an imminent rate cut by RBI, an HSBC survey said today.

The manufacturing sector also saw its growth rate coming down in the last month, as per another HSBC survey released earlier this week, which coupled with a moderate inflation may convince the Reserve Bank to cut its policy rate for the third time this year.

On across-the-board selling in late morning deals, the stock markets nosedived to four-month lows with the benchmark BSE Sensex plunging 630.64 pts points to below 27,000-level and NSE Nifty falling 180.50 points.

Sentiments were weak in the absence of trigger amid host of negative factors in the backdrop of sustained FII outflows.

Soon, you may able to travel on planes that fly on jet fuel from black fungus that is commonly found in decaying leaves, soil and rotting fruit, thanks to a new research.

Washington State University research, led by Professor Birgitte Ahring, used the bacteria Aspergillus carbonarius ITEM 5010 to create long chains of hydrocarbons, the chief component of petroleum products, similar to those in aviation fuels.

The markets have spiralled down this morning, with both the Sensex and Nifty touching their lowest in almost four months, amid geo-political concerns in the Middle-East with index heavyweights leading the decline.

At 10.30am, the BSE Sensex had plunged over 500 points to break below its crucial psychological level of 27,000 and the Nifty has also came under pressure to break below its crucial support 200-DMA. The Sensex was at 26,897, lower by 542 points and the Nifty is at 8,151, dowen 168 points.

Benchmark share indices ended flat, amid a volatile trading session, as gains in ONGC and Kotak Mahindra Bank shares helped offset most of the losses. Further, the sharp fall in Chinese stocks also weighed on sentiment.

The 30-share Sensex ended down 50 points at 27,440 and the 50-share Nifty closed 7 points lower at 8,324.

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