BPO: The Security Angle Will offshoring work to India be hit by the recent case where some former employees of Mphasis stole money from the accounts of some Citibank customers? Not really, says Anil Padmanabhan in New York.

The bitterly contested elections in the United States lastNovember sealed more than just the second term Presidency of GeorgeBush. It also put the lid on what was till that moment a rising tideof political protest, led by the Democratic Party, againstoutsourcing.

So when four months later, the Mphasis scandal surfaced, the firstimpression was that the opponents of outsourcing would see freshwind. However, these fears were belied. Weeks later there was barelya ripple, and there is nothing out there to suggest that things wouldalter dramatically either.

Harris Miller, President of the Information Technology Associationof America, a leading trade association serving the …

Role of interannual vegetation variability in climate

NOWCAST

In the past two decades, numerical studies have shown that surface properties controlled in part by vegetation (e.g., albedo, soil moisture, and surface roughness) can affect climate. These studies, however, focus on drastic variations at the land surface. Still unclear is whether typical interannual variations in vegetation density have a detectable impact on interannual climate variability.

We investigated the degree to which the observed interannual variability of vegetation phenology affects hydrological fluxes over land through a series of offline and online simulations with the Mosaic land surface model. First, we constructed an idealized offline experiment …

National League Standings

All Times EDT

East Division

W L Pct GB

Philadelphia 48 39 .552 _

Florida 44 42 .512 3 1/2

New York 42 44 .488 5 1/2

Atlanta 41 46 .471 7

Washington 34 54 .386 14 1/2

Central Division

W L Pct GB

Chicago 52 35 .598 _

St. Louis …

Mountaintop removal panel plans final meeting: Legislation may be needed to implement findings of task force

The Underwood administration has not yet concluded how, or if, itwill implement the findings of a task force asked to reviewmountaintop removal strip mining.

"There's a good chance" that legislation will be needed, said DanPage, spokesman for Gov. Cecil Underwood.

Underwood will receive the task force's final report a day or twoafter the group holds its final meeting, which is scheduledWednesdayevening, Page said.Marshall University President Wade Gilley, chairman of the taskforce, and three of its members briefed Underwood Monday afternoon,Page said."It was the governor's first briefing on this," Page said."He told them to 'go …

ISU: Big test for new coach

Whenever you take over for a coach who was fired, you know you'renot taking over a program on the way up. Todd Berry is ready for thechallenge.

Berry left his job as East Carolina's offensive coordinator andbrought with him running back Daryl Jones, who had a chance to be astarter at ECU.

And coach Jim Heacock, who was fired after a 5-6 season, did notleave the cupboard bare.

Berry inherits preseason All-American Todd Kurz, who handlespunting and kicking duties.

"Without a doubt he's one of the best …

Italian Football Results

MILAN (AP) — Results in the Serie A (home teams listed first):

Friday's Game

Lecce 1, Roma 2

Saturday's Game

Juventus 0, AC Milan 1

Sunday's Games

Sampdoria 2, Cesena 3

Bologna 2, Cagliari 2

Chievo Verona 0, Parma 0

Fiorentina 3, Catania 0

Inter Milan 5, Genoa 2

Napoli 0, Brescia 0

Udinese 1, …

6 killed in suspected drug violence in Bolivia

Officials say three Serbs and three Bolivians have been killed in suspected drug violence in the Andean country's east.

Prosecutor Basilio Villca says another man was injured in Friday's shootings in a part of Santa Cruz province known as a drug smuggling corridor.

Villca says the six victims are between the ages of 21 and 31, and the bodies were found in various …