Blast outside the Indian Embassy in Kabul

A powerful bomb blast outside the gates of the Indian embassy in Kabul led to the death of 44 people which included senior diplomat V Venkateshwara Rao - a 1990 batch IFS officer and the Indian Defense attack academy, Brig R D Mehta. They were entering the embassy gates in the car which was rammed into by the suicide bomber's Toyota Corolla packed with explosives.

Taliban has denied any role in the bombing which saw several world leaders condemn the dastardly attack. The Afghan authorities and intelligence officials in India have indicated that the ISI, Pakistan's spy agency, may be involved in the blast.

Microsoft acquires Navic Networks

Microsoft Corp. has acquired Navic Networks, a Waltham (Massachusetts)- based company that specializes in emerging forms of TV advertising technology for an undisclosed amount. This deal is the latest step by Microsoft to turn itself into a one-stop shop for digital advertising. Microsoft's biggest deal in the advertising market was a $6 billion acquisition of Seattle-based aQuantive a last year.

BRIC nations set for mobile boom

According to a report by eMarketers, India along with other BRIC countries like Brazil, Russia and China is likely to become home to over 1.7 billion users by 2012. India is likely to have 560 million mobile users, while China is expected to top the chart with 800 million. India would be followed by Russia with 189 million users and Brazil at 176 million. Currently India has over 270 million mobile users.