‘IELTS’ set to lose 'monopoly' in Australia

The Australian government is considering accepting other
exams for assessment of would-be immigrants' English language skills
Australia's new arrivals could have a more than one test of English to opt for .
The rival exams like TOEFL are considered as important alternatives for testing english skills.
The Australian newspaper quoted an immigration and citizenship department spokesman as saying that the minister in charge, Chris Evans, had written to ETS, the US company that produces Toefl, and other test providers to tell them of "his in-principal support for the acceptance of more than one English language test under the migration regulations".
In 2008 immigration officials launched a review of the Ielts monopoly by inviting other test providers to make their case for recognition.
The new Skilled Occupation List has been compiled by Skills Australia, an independent body established by the government to assess workforce needs. "This list is designed to target occupations of longer-term economic value and will deliver highly skilled migrants while breaking the nexus between permanent residency and low-value education courses," Evans said.

Courtesy guardian.co.uk

Let's talk About Technology.

Let's talk about Latest 'TOP FIVE NEWS'

Courtesy news.cnet.com

1.)As hacker claims, Soldier leaked Google attack investigation details

June 13 ,Sunday

An Army analyst jailed for allegedly leaking a video of a controversial Iraq air strike also allegedly leaked classified information about a U.S. investigation into cyberattacks on Google that originated in China, the hacker who turned in the analyst told CNET on Saturday.

U.S. Army intelligence analyst Bradley Manning had confided to well-known hacker Adrian Lamo in e-mails and instant messages that he was the one who provided the 2007 video of a military helicopter gunning down journalists and civilians in Iraq, as well as other information, to whistleblower Web site Wikileaks, Lamo has said.

Along with leaking another video of an attack in which nearly 200 civilians were killed in Afghanistan in 2009 and leaking 260,000 classified U.S. diplomatic cables, Manning told Lamo that he leaked the code name and details of a government investigation being conducted regarding the attacks on Google, Lamo said.

Lamo said he could not say anything more or risk arrest for disclosing classified information.

The U.S. State Department complained to China about the cyberattacks, which Google announced in January and which helped push Google to withdraw its search engine from the Chinese market. More than 30 other companies were targeted in the cybertattacks, which appeared to target source code and, in Google's case, also Gmail accounts of human rights activists. The Chinese government has denied any involvement in the cyberattacks.

Any further details can be furnished by Government officials , however government officials could not immediately be reached for comment on Saturday night.

2.) Smart ForTwo electric minicar headed to U.S. cities

BROOKLYN--Fans of the Smart ForTwo can buff up their enviro-image with an electric drive version of the minicar coming to the U.S. this fall.

Smart USA offered test rides of the ForTwo Electric Drive this week here, where I got a chance to get behind the wheel and take it for a spin on the streets of New York.

Overall, the ForTwo fits the bill as a clever city car because its size makes it easy to maneuver through city traffic and park, provided that you don't have much stuff to haul around. The ForTwo Electric Drive smooths out the gasoline version's choppy transmission and lets minicar owners pull the plug on their oil habits.

Unlike other electric vehicles, the ForTwo is going after a niche audience of sustainably minded people and business owners who want a car that stands out in a crowd. But the design of the ForTwo Electric Drive is significant beyond its initial target customer because it represents a product category--small, electric city cars--with large potential but also clear challenges related to infrastructure.

With this initial roll-out in the U.S., Smart USA expects that about 80 percent of the customers will be businesses, which generally will have the luxury of a place to charge the cars at night. With its unique look, the electric minicar will be a "rolling statement on environmental awareness and oil dependence," said Derek Kaufman, the vice president of business development for Smart USA, which is based outside Detroit.

Daimler, which owns the Smart brand and manufactures the ForTwo, will start volume production in early 2012 and sell it as a 2013 model year car in the U.S.

3.) Probe returns to Earth after asteroid landing

Five years after touching down on a distant asteroid, Japan's Hayabusa space probe returned to Earth on Sunday, landing in the Australian Outback after a spectacular fireball.

Officials at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) aren't sure whether the probe managed to collect samples from asteroid Itokawa after its three-month rendezvous with the small space rock in 2005. They would be the first samples returned from the surface of an asteroid.

The probe burned up on reentry, streaking through

the night sky (see pic here), and Hayabusa's heat-resistant container landed with the aid of a parachute in South Australia's Woomera Prohibited Range.

Earth photographed by the asteroid probe Hayabusa before reentry.

(Credit: JAXA)

4.)World Cup pushes Internet to new record
Akamai's metrics from Friday.

(Credit: Akamai)

World Cup fever pushed the Internet to a new record on Friday, according to measurements from Akamai.

Traffic to news sites globally started a steady climb about 6 a.m. Eastern time and peaked six hours later at noon, reaching nearly 12.1 million visitors per minute.

The day's traffic far exceeded the previous record of 8.5 million visitors per minute, which was set when Barack Obama won the U.S. presidential election in 2008.

As of Saturday afternoon, Web traffic to news sites was still heavy at 5.7 million visitors per minute.

Solar light bulb to shine on developing world

Here's a bright idea for the planet. A Hong Kong-based company has introduced what it bills as the world's only solar-powered light bulb with the hope of reaching millions of people with little or no access to electricity.

5.)Nokero's N100 solar LED light bulb

The Nokero N100 solar LED light bulb is meant to replace kerosene lamps as a lighting source in the developing world. The company says 1.6 billion people still lack sufficient access to electricity, and many burn fossil fuels for light, which can be dangerous and expensive.

The N100 solar bulb is about the size of a standard incandescent bulb and has four small solar panels in its rainproof plastic housing. Five LEDs and a replaceable NiMH battery inside provide up to four hours of light when the device is fully charged. People hang it outside during the day and then turn it on at night.

The life of the N100 is basically 5 to 10 years, according to Nokero representative Tom Boyd.

A single bulb is $15; a case of 48 costs $480. The company offers a "significant" discount when buying a thousand or more. It adds that the bulb pays for itself within months when used in place of a kerosene lantern

'Australian International Education Climate' appears turbulent

Australian international education is facingthe current situation described as "a perfect storm". This is the result of a host of negative factors for Australian education all operating at the same time. 

Of course, the global financial crisis, which has weakened has demand because parents and students have found themselves under financial stress. 

The weakening American dollar - and strengthening Aussie dollar - has made Australia more expensive while, at the same time, America has become a less expensive destination for foreign students.Students, particularly those from China, students who would have formerly come to Australia are now choosing to study in the USA. Because of the financial crisis, American universities have become more interested in attracting fee-paying international students. 

Indeed, they are now using IDP, the marketing agency originally founded by Australian universities, to compete with Australia. They are also employing other agents; in many cases, the same agents used by Australian universities. 

The fees at many American state universities are lower than Australian Counterparts. The US government is helping universities by relaxing visa requirements and greatly speeding up visa processing times. The UK, the second most popular study destinationafter the USA, has also freed up its visa system and it also makes visa decisions faster than we do in Australia. 

Australia is also suffering from the terrible publicity surrounding attacks on Indian students, the collapse of private providers (which sometimes leaves students stranded and out of pocket) and the just completed review of the ESOS Act, which gives the impression that Australian education has been poorly regulated. Not surprisingly, many agents have lost confidence in Australian education, preferring to send students to the USA and UK instead. 

Alas, this is not the end of our problems. The Australian government surprised and worried international students by cancelling the old list of occupations acceptable for immigration and then, after several months of uncertainty, replacing the list with a new and much smaller one. Students are now worried that the rules may change again. 

While our competitors are relaxing their visa requirements, the Australian government has tightened ours requiring Chinese students (who make up one-third of higher education enrolments) to show that they have $18,000 in the bank for every year of proposed study. 

All this factors are creating a stormy environment in which Australian education will definetly suffer. 

Courtesy onlineopinion.com.au