Sagar Newspost Inc

Electricity Access Still Insufficient in Developing Countries

2012-01-31T08:23:00.001-08:00

Electricity Access Still Insufficient in Developing Countries

Lack of access to electricity results in health, environmental, and livelihood challenges.

Washington, D.C.----Despite massive gains in global access to electricity over the last two decades, governments and development organizations must continue to invest in electrification to achieve critical health, environmental, and livelihood outcomes, according to new research published by the Worldwatch Institute for its Vital Signs Online publication.

Between 1990 and 2008, close to 2 billion people worldwide gained access to electricity. But the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that more than 1.3 billion people still lack access to electricity, while the United Nations estimates that another 1 billion have unreliable access. The UN General Assembly has designated 2012 as the "International Year of Sustainable Energy for All," providing an opportunity to raise awareness of the extent and impacts of the electrification challenge.

"Modern energy sources provide people with lighting, heating, refrigeration, cooking, water pumping, and other services that are essential for reducing poverty, improving health and education, and increasing incomes," write report authors Michael Renner and Matthew Lucky. "It will be difficult to achieve a number of the UN's Millennium Development Goals without improving energy access." Among the UN goals, targeted at 2015, are combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases and eradicating poverty and hunger.

At least 2.7 billion people, and possibly more than 3 billion, lack access to modern fuels for cooking and heating. They rely instead on traditional biomass sources, such as firewood, charcoal, manure, and crop residues, that can emit harmful indoor air pollutants when burned. These pollutants cause nearly 2 million premature deaths worldwide each year, an estimated 44 percent of them in children. Among adult deaths, 60 percent are women. Traditional energy usage also contributes to environmental impacts including forest and woodland degradation, soil erosion, and black carbon emissions that contribute to global climate change.

Electrification varies widely between rural and urban areas in developing countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, the rural electrification rate is just 14 percent, compared with 60 percent in urban areas.

"As new approaches to electrification evolve----ones that don't rely on expensive regional or national grids but rather a diversity of locally available energy resources----we can begin to reach for the goal of access to electricity for all, rural as well as urban," said Worldwatch President Robert Engelman. "But access to electricity needs to be based wherever possible on low-carbon energy, since we need to preserve a climate conducive to health and well-being."

Improved cook stoves can play an important role in reducing energy poverty, enabling people to utilize more modern fuels or to use traditional fuels more efficiently. Improved cook stoves can double or triple the efficiency of traditional fuels, reducing indoor air pollutants. Consuming less fuel also saves time and money, leaving people with more disposable income and allowing them to invest more in their futures.

A growing number of governments, international agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and businesses are working to overcome energy poverty, focusing in particular on the use of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. To date, 68 developing-country governments have adopted formal targets for improving access to electricity; 17 countries have targets for providing access to modern fuels, and 11 have targets for providing access to improved cook stoves.

According to the IEA, some US$1.9 billion was invested worldwide in 2009 in extending access to modern energy services, such as electricity and clean cooking facilities. The agency projects that between 2010 and 2030, an average of $14 billion will be spent annually, mostly on urban grid connections. But this projected funding will likely still leave 1 billion people, largely those who live in the most remote areas of developing countries, without electricity. Average annual investments will need to rise to $48 billion to provide universal modern energy access, the IEA reports.

Further highlights from the study:

The largest populations lacking access to electricity are in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Combined, these two regions account for more than 80 percent of all people worldwide lacking electricity access;
Latin America's electricity access is generally quite high, at 93.2 percent overall, but Haiti remains a regional outlier, with only 39 percent of its population having access.
The largest populations that rely on traditional biomass for energy are in the developing regions of Asia, with 836 million in India alone. Altogether, 54 percent of the population of developing Asia relies on traditional biomass fuels.

###

Notes to Journalists: For a complimentary copy of this trend, please contact Supriya Kumar at skumar@worldwatch.org.

About the Worldwatch Institute:

Worldwatch is an independent research organization based in Washington, D.C. that works on energy, resource, and environmental issues. The Institute's State of the World report is published annually in more than 20 languages. For more information, visit www.worldwatch.org.

Syria army moves to retake Damascus suburbs from rebels

2012-01-30T08:35:00.000-08:00

Syrian army has moved to retake control of Damascus suburbs from rebel forces. Activists say, the troops backed by tanks have been shelling rebel-held areas to the east and north of the city.

Dozens of people have reportedly been killed in what activists describe as the fiercest fighting around the capital during the 10 month-uprising.

Activists said more than 2,000 troops and 50 tanks had been involved in an attack early on Sunday on eastern suburbs of Damascus, barely 5km from the city centre.

There were similar reports from the mountain town of Rankous , about 30km to the north. Anti-government groups said it had become a "disaster zone" with columns of smoke rising from homes hit by shellfire.

The major escalation came as the Arab League suspended its month-old monitoring mission in the country.

The Arab League said, the move was prompted by a dramatic increase in violence in recent days.

The League wants the UN Security Council to endorse a peace plan that would see President Bashar al-Assad stepping aside to make way for new elections.

Syrian government while condemning the move by the League, accused it of trying to increase pressure for foreign intervention.

MEETING OF INDIAN COAST GUARD AND JAPAN COAST GUARD

2012-01-29T08:27:00.000-08:00

HIGH LEVEL MEETING AND COMBINEDEXERCISES BETWEEN INDIAN COAST GUARD AND JAPANCOAST GUARD

NewDelhi, 29 Jan 2012:A high level delegation ledby Admiral Hisayasu Suzuki, the Commandant, Japan Coast Guard (JCG), is visitingIndia from 26-30 Jan 2012, for theXI^th High Level Meeting and Combined Exercises, with the IndianCoast Guard (ICG). The visit, was in pursuance of the Memorandum of Cooperation(MoC), signed between the two Coast Guards on 24 November 2006, whichstipulates that the heads of the two organizations meet alternately in Indiaand Japan, to discuss maritime issues of mutual concerns and formulate acooperative approach to address these.The Memorandum of Cooperation between thetwo Coast Guards encompasses issues of maritime search and rescue, combatingmarine pollution, technical assistance for responding to natural disasters andexchange of information regarding crimes at sea, including smuggling andillicit trafficking.The first ICG-JCG combined exercises werecarried out in November 2000 off Chennai, in which one JCG ship participatedand was overseen by a high level delegation of JCG, led by the then Commandantof JCG. This also laid the foundation for development of close interactionbetween the two organisations that included regular visits and exercises,sharing of information and expertise and training visits
During the XI^th ICG-JCG HighLevel discussions, it was mutually agreed to strengthen the cooperation onevolving collaborative approach, in addressing a spectrum of maritime issuesconcerning safety and security. The visit was also very significant inproviding renewed impetus to strong ties that exist between the two CoastGuards as the Japan Coast Guard Ship has visited India, after a gap of sixyears, for the combined exercises with the ICG off Chennai.
A delegation from the Information SharingCentre, Singapore established under the Regional Cooperation Agreement onCombating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) alsoparticipated in the exercise. This was significant in furthering theinteraction among the participating agencies on anti-piracy issues.

India, EU making good progress on trade pact

2012-01-29T00:00:00.000-08:00

India and the European Union are making steady progress towards concluding the ambitious bilateral trade opening pact on goods, services and investment.

This was disclosed by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum, WEF meeting in Davos, Switzerland yesterday.

He said, it will have a positive impact not just for India and the EU, but for others also, as it will help keeping the global economy robust.

Sources said, the annual India-EU Summit is slated to be held in the second week of February in New Delhi and some announcements regarding the trade pact is expected.

Australia crush India by 298 runs in Adelaide

2012-01-28T09:00:00.001-08:00

Australia crush India by 298 runs to complete 4-0 whitewash. Why Team India test temperament is at low ebb is moot point.

Senior players failed to show the defensive game of cricket,lacked maturity to stay at site and failed to deliver on fast tracks which needs quick reflexes.Practice and fitness is key mantra to which senior players needs to play more test games thus building their games and none of the senior players wants to have rest is matter of concern.Bench strength of team India needs to be tested with regular induction but the cartel makes the strategy hard to bend. Sachin Tendulkar God of Cricket failed to present his 100th international century and is without a century for 25 Test and one-day innings media reports his last hundred was in the World Cup last March. Team India big names famous for their batting standards in game of cricket are reduced to paper tigers in the test format of games and selectors needs to reinvent his team or he should too exit for the sake of the game. Virender Sehwag: said to NDTV,"Haven't done good, will have to look at my performance." cricketwallah Cricketwallah tweets. Srikant said in one of the seminar,We started the game of 1983 world cup just to enjoy the foreign trip and were never serious about win but it was Skipper Kapil Dev who kept on pursuing that we can win the world cup.Srikant the selector needs to think that team India can retain the number one status is games administrators are serious on the subject and donot look for only spin of money. India batsmen with rich experience lacked patience to stay at crease and were cheaply bowled by the Oz bowlers with their penetrative bowling.

India slumped to their second successive overseas series whitewash after losing the fourth and final Test against Australia by a humiliating 298 runs in Adelaide on Saturday. Chasing 500 for a win, India were bundled out for 201 runs in 69.4 overs in their second innings. Australia won the Test series 4-0 after having scored comprehensive wins in the previous three games. India, thus, suffered their eighth straight overseas defeat after having whitewashed 0-4 in England last year. Resuming at 166 for six, the Indians lasted almost an hour and 13-odd overs during, which they added 35 runs before being bowled out for 201, handing Australia a clean sweep in the series. The sight of Indian tailenders prompted Australian captain Michael Clarke to start the proceedings with his faster bowlers and they responded to his skipper’s call by removing the two overnight batsmen Ishant Sharma (2) and Wriddhiman Saha (3) in the first three overs of the day. Ishant was the first to depart, poking at a Ryan Harris delivery, which wicketkeeper Brad Haddin had no problem in pouncing. Next over, Saha followed suit in identical fashion, caught by Haddin off Peter Siddle. Zaheer, unlike his previous innings in the series, seemed determined to spent time at the crease rather than flashing at every delivery. He batted for 18 balls, from which he scored 15 runs with the help of four boundaries before Ben Hilfenhaus sent him packing. Zaheer lobbed a simple catch to David Warner in the covers while trying to pull a short delivery off Hilfenhaus. Umesh Yadav was the last wicket to fall, handing Haddin his third catch of the morning off Nathan Lyon’s bowling. Ravichandran Ashwin remained unbeaten for India on 15, which came off 31 balls. Off-spinner Lyon turned out to be the best bowler for Australia, finishing with impressive figures of four for 63, while Harris picked up three wickets for 41 runs.

फिर भी थप्पड़ को मेरे साथ जोड़ा जा रहा है

2012-01-27T08:20:00.001-08:00

….फिर भी थप्पड़ को मेरे साथ जोड़ा जा रहा है

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Jan Lokpal

पिछले ३० साल से मैं भ्रष्टाचारियों के खिलाफ़ लड़ रहा हूं, न मैंने किसी को थप्पड़ मारा है, न ही किसी को मारने के लिए कहा, फिर भी थप्पड़ को मेरे साथ जोड़ा जा रहा है। थप्पड़ के बारे में मेरे बयान को बगैर सोचे, न समझते हुए इस देश के बहुत बड़े अपराधी के रूप में मेरा चित्र रंगाया जा रहा है, जो कि दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण है।
मैं तो पहले भी बता चुका हूं कि गांधीजी के पैरों के पास बैठने की भी मेरी पात्रता नहीं है, गांधीजी के साथ मुझे जोड़ना ठीक नहीं। गांधीजी ने तो किसी के लिए कठोर शब्द प्रयोग करने का भी शुमार हिंसा में किया है। लेकिन मैंने कई बार देश और समाज के साथ गद्दारी करने वालों का विरोध कर कठोर शब्दों का प्रयोग किया है, जो कि मैं मानता हूं कि देश और समाज की भलाई के ही लिए किया है, हालाँकि गांधीजी के विचारों में वह भी हिंसा ही है।
एक दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण साजिश के तहत थप्पड़ के बारे में गलतफहमियाँ फैला कर मेरी बदनामी करने के प्रयास किये जा रहे हैं। यह पहली घटना नहीं है। मेरी बदनामी की कोशिशें कई बार हो चुकी हैं। लेकिन सत्य हमेशा सत्य ही होता है। इतिहास गवाह है कि सत्य को कोई झूठ नहीं साबित कर पाया। फिर भी सत्य के मार्ग पर चलने वालों को काफी तकलीफें सहनी पड़ी हैं। उनकी हमेशा निन्दा होती रही है, बुराई के साथ उन्हें संघर्ष भी करना पड़ा है, फिर हम पाते हैं कि मानव जाति के इतिहास में सत्य कभी भी पराजित नहीं हुआ। सत्य हमेशा सत्य ही रहा है। इस बात का मैंने अपने जीवन में खुद अनुभव किया है। पिछले २५ सालों से मेरी बदनामी के प्रयास होते रहे हैं। लेकिन मन्दिर में रहने वाले अण्णा पर उससे कोई फर्क नहीं पड़ता। क्योंकि अण्णा अपने निजी स्वार्थ के लिए कुछ भी तो नहीं कर रहा है। निन्दा करने वालों को मैं बताना चाहता हूं कि थप्पड़ का सच क्या है। ‘अण्णा कहते हैं भ्रष्टाचारियों को थप्पड़ मारो।’ इसी बात को लेकर इस थप्पड़ को गांधीजी की समाधि के साथ तक जोड़ा गया…’गांधी के चोले में थप्पड़’, ‘क्यों पड़ी अण्णा को थप्पड़ की जरूरत’, वगैरह-वगैरह। इन बातों को कह कर मेरी बदनामी का चित्र रंगाया गया जो कि मैं समझता हूं कि एक दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण घटना है।
१६ अगस्त को रामलीला मैदान में भ्रष्टाचार के विरोध में हुए आन्दोलन में करोड़ों की संख्या में देश की जनता रास्ते पर उतर आई थी। मैंने बार-बार जनता से अपील की कि सभी भाई-बहनों ने, युवकों ने शान्ति के मार्ग ही से आन्दोलन करना है। कहीं पर भी हिंसा नहीं करनी है। अहिंसा में बहुत शक्ति है। अगर कहीं छुटपुट भी हिंसा हुई तो सरकार इस आन्दोलन को तोड़ देगी, कुचल देगी। इतना विशाल आन्दोलन हुआ मगर पूरा का पूरा शान्तिपूर्ण हुआ। न सिर्फ देश में बल्कि पूरी दुनिया में इस बात की चर्चा जरूर हुई कि भारत में करोड़ों लोग रास्ते पर उतर आए, पर देश भर में कहीं भी एक पत्थर भी किसी ने नहीं उठाया। इसके पीछे क्या रहस्य छिपा है?
२५ सालों से आन्दोलन चल रहे हैं, कभी भी जीवन में हिंसा का विचार नहीं आया। १६ अगस्त २०११ के इतने बड़े आन्दोलन में कभी हिंसा का विचार मन में नहीं आया। वहीं आन्दोलन के सिर्फ चार महीने बाद हिंसा करने या करवाने के विचार कैसे आ सकते हैं? इन चार महीनों के दौरान कई स्थानों पर मेरी बड़ी-बड़ी सभाएं हुईं। न मैंने कहीं हिंसा की बात रखी, न ही जनता ने भी हिंसा की है। भारतीय सेना में सेवा के दौरान १९६३ से लेकर १९७६ तक १२ वर्ष मैं पाकिस्तान जैसे देश के दुश्मन के साथ लड़ता रहा। खुद के स्वार्थ के लिए नहीं पर देश व समाज के हित के लिए मैंने २६ साल की उम्र में लड़ाई में भी हिस्सा लिया है। आज भी देश में छिपे हुए भ्रष्टाचारियों के साथ जंग जारी है, पर हिंसात्मक नहीं, अहिंसा के मार्ग से जारी है। १९७५ में पहले तो स्वामी विवेकानन्द जी और बाद में गांधीजी के विचारों का प्रभाव जीवन पर हुआ। उस कारण जीवन में कभी भी किसी के साथ हिंसात्मक लड़ाई नहीं की। २५ सालों से भ्रष्ट प्रवृत्ति के खिलाफ़ चल रही इस लड़ाई में राजनीति के कई खिलाड़ियों ने यदि मेरी हद से ज्यादा बदनामी की है, मुझे जेल में भी भिजवाया गया, तरह-तरह के दुर्व्यवहार किये गये, फिर भी मैंने कभी भी थप्पड़ मारने की भाषा नहीं की। इतने वर्षों में न मैंने किसी को थप्पड़ मारा, न ही किसी को मारने के लिए उकसाया। भ्रष्टाचारियों के खिलाफ़ कानूनी लड़ाई के फलस्वरूप ६ कैबिनेट मिनिस्टर तथा ४०० से अधिक भ्रष्ट अधिकारियों को अपने घर जाना पड़ा। उस समय भी मेरे साथ उन लोगों ने भाँति-भाँति के दुर्व्यवहार किये, लेकिन उनके साथ भी थप्पड़ की भाषा मैंने कभी नहीं की। समाज और देश की भलाई के लिए कई बार मैंने आन्दोलन किये लेकिन उनमें हमेशा खुद आत्मक्लेश करना और उसकी संवेदना जनता को हो इसी प्रकार से आन्दोलन किये गये, कभी भी थप्पड़ की भाषा का प्रयोग नहीं हुआ।
आत्मक्लेश के तीन अनशन पिछले १० महीनों में किये, नतीजा यह हुआ कि महीने भर से बीमार पड़ा हूं। फिर भी मेरा हौसला कम नहीं हुआ है। पूर्णतया स्वस्थ हो जाऊं तो फिर से भ्रष्टाचारी प्रवृत्ति के विरोध में मैं देश भर में जनता को सम्बोधित करने निकल पडूंगा। उसमें थप्पड़ की बात कभी भी नहीं होगी। कुछ लोगों ने जो यह थप्पड़ का माहौल खड़ा किया है उसके पीछे असलियत क्या है यह मैं जनता को बताना चाहता हूं। वैसे मैं कभी फिल्में देखता नहीं और बीमारी के कारण महीने भर से कमरे के बाहर भी नहीं गया। हमारे कार्यकर्ता यह सन्देश ले आए कि एक फिल्म बनी है ‘गली-गली में चोर’ जो कि भ्रष्टाचार निर्मूलन के विषय पर बनाई गई है। इस फिल्म को दिखाने हेतु फिल्म के निर्माता एवं कलाकार हमारे गाँव में आ रहे हैं। मुझे फिल्म दिखाने की उनकी तीव्र इच्छा थी और चूंकि भ्रष्टाचार निर्मूलन विषय पर आधारित है इसलिए फिल्म देखने को मैं राजी हो गया। मैंने फिल्म देखी। एक परिवार पर पुलिस व राजनीति वाले मिल कर इतने अन्याय अत्याचार करते हैं कि उनका जीना दूभर हो जाता है। अत्याचार सहने की उनकी क्षमता खत्म हो जाती है। पुलिस वाले और राजनायिक विधायक मिल कर उन्हें झूठे मुकदमे में फँसा देते हैं, सताते जाते हैं, फर्जी कागज़ात बना कर उन्हें घर से बेघर करने की कोशिश करते हैं। यह ज़ुल्मों सितम इतना हद से बढ़ जाता है कि अब इसके आगे सह पाना उन्हें असम्भव हो जाता है। आखिरकार भ्रष्टाचार के खिलाफ़ लड़ने वाला उस परिवार का मुखिया तंग आकर पुलिस वाला और विधायक दोनों के मुंह पर थप्पड़ जमा देता है और जनता को संगठित कर एक जन आन्दोलन को आरम्भ कर देता है।
फिल्म देखने के बाद मुझे फिल्म के बारे में पूछा गया तो मैंने बताया कि फिल्म अच्छी बनी है। आदमी की सहन करने की भी सीमा होती है। अन्याय अत्याचार हद से बढ़ जाए और वह सीमा लाँघ जाएं तो उस आदमी के सामने सिवा थप्पड़ मारने के क्या पर्याय रहता है? यही बात मैंने मीडिया के सामने भी कही। अण्णा हजारे ने न तो किसी को थप्पड़ मारा और न ही किसी को थप्पड़ मारने का सन्देश दिया। बस, इतना ही कहा कि जब सहन करने की क्षमता खत्म हो जाती है तो अन्याय और अत्याचार से ग्रस्त आदमी के सामने सिवा थप्पड़ मारने के कोई पर्याय नहीं बचता।
गांधीजी और स्वामी विवेकानन्द जी के विचारों से प्रेरणा पाकर भ्रष्टाचार के खिलाफ़ लड़ाई लड़ रहा हूं। इस लड़ाई में मैंने किसी को भी थप्पड़ नहीं मारा है और न ही भविष्य में कभी मारूंगा। लेकिन यह एक मिसाल है कि कोई बदनामी करने पर उतारू हो ही जाए तो कैसे बदनामी की जाती है। न मैंने थप्पड़ मारा, न किसी को मारने के लिए उकसाया। फिल्म देख कर जैसे मुझे लगा मैंने बता दिया। उसी बात को लेकर राजनीति होने लगी और कई लोग षड़यन्त्र बनाने में जुट गये।
जाहिर है कि राजनीति से जुड़े कई लोगों ने हमारे आन्दोलन को बदनाम करने का षड़यन्त्र रचा है। टीम अण्णा के सभी सदस्यों पर आरोप प्रत्यारोप कर उन्हें बदनाम करने की कई कोशिशें हुई हैं। मेरी बदनामी के भी कई प्रयास हुए। सुना है कि राजनीति वालों ने इस काम में करोड़ों रुपये खर्च भी किये हैं। फिर भी उन्हें सफलता नहीं मिली क्योंकि मैंने अपने जीवन में कहीं छोटा दाग भी नहीं लगने दिया। ऊपर बताये जैसे कोई उदाहरण मेरे साथ जोड़कर मुझे बदनाम करने की साजिश की जाती है। मेरी बदनामी करने वालों को मेरी विनती है कि मैंने क्या बोला इसका सच यदि जानना चाहते हों तो ‘ऑनलाईन प्रश्न-उत्तर’ हो जाएं। किसने किसको क्या कहा और फिल्म में जो थप्पड़ मारा गया उसकी असलियत क्या है इस पर बहस करने को मैं तैयार हूं। मुझे इस बात का भी अन्देशा है कि वे राजनायिक जो हमारे आन्दोलन को एक खतरे के रूप में देखते हैं, उन्होंने हमारी बदनामी का षड़यन्त्र रचा है। लेकिन उन लोगों ने कितने भी कोशिशें कीं तो भी हमारे आन्दोलन पर न ही इसके पूर्व में भी कोई असर हुआ है और न ही भविष्य में भी पड़ेगा।
जिस आदमी ने अपना जीवन समाज और देश के लिए अर्पण किया है, ३५ साल पूर्व अपना घर छोड़ने के बाद फिर से कभी घर नहीं लौटा, अपने भाइयों के बच्चों के नाम तक जिसको मालूम नहीं, करोड़ों रुपयों की योजनाएं पूरी कीं पर कहीं भी बैंक बैलेन्स नहीं रखा है, ऐसे आदमी पर उन राजनायिकों ने कितने भी झूठे आरोप लगाये तो भी क्या होने वाला है? ना ही जनता पर उसका कोई असर होगा। क्यों कि सच तो सच ही होता है। जो आदमी अपने जीवन में शुद्ध आचार, शुद्ध विचार, निष्कलंक जीवन, त्याग और अपमान सहने की शक्ति रखता हो, उसी के शब्दों का लोगों पर प्रभाव होता है। भ्रष्टाचार में डूबे लोगों ने कितने ही आरोप लगाये तो भी उनका असर नहीं होगा।
मेरा स्वास्थ्य सुधरने के बाद जब मैं देश भर में निकल पडूंगा तब इन भ्रष्टाचारियों की समझ में आएगा कि ऐसे आरोपों का कोई प्रभाव नहीं पड़ता है। बीमारी के कारण मैं पाँच राज्यों में नहीं जा पाया, लेकिन २०१४ में होने वाले चुनावों के पहले मैं पूरे देश भर में जाऊंगा और मतदाताओं को जगाऊंगा। भ्रष्टाचार के विरोध में जो लम्बी लड़ाई लड़नी है, उसकी तैयारी करूंगा। जनता हमारे साथ है। क्योंकि जनता के लिए भ्रष्टाचार एक बहुत बड़ी समस्या है, और उसी की लड़ाई हम लड़ रहे हैं।
केन्द्र में जन लोकपाल, राज्यों में जन लोकायुक्त, ग्राम सभा को पूरे अधिकार, राईट टू रिजेक्ट जैसे कई कानून बनवाने हैं। आज गरीब किसानों की जमीनें मार पीट कर हथिया ली जाती हैं, जैसा कि कभी अंग्रेजों के जमाने में हुआ करता था। शिक्षा के क्षेत्र में भी कई सारी समस्याएं हैं, जिस वजह से गरीबों के बच्चें उच्च शिक्षा नहीं ले पाते हैं।
सही मायने में देश में प्रजातन्त्र लाना हो तो इन विषयों को लेकर लम्बी लड़ाई लड़नी पड़ेगी जो कई वर्षों तक चल सकती है। देश में प्रजातन्त्र, गणतन्त्र कायम करने के लिए एक ही रास्ता है और वह है जन आन्दोलन का। रात-दिन भ्रष्टाचार में लगे लोगों ने कितने भी आरोप लगाए तो भी ऐसे आरोपों का कोई प्रभाव नहीं होगा। ये लोग ना तो भ्रष्टाचार को मिटाएंगे, ना ही गणतन्त्र- प्रजातन्त्र को कारगर बनाने का प्रयास करेंगे। क्योंकि अगर वे ऐसा करेंगे तो उन्हें डर है कि कहीं अपने हाथों में केन्द्रित सत्ता कम न हो जाये। उन्हें तो ऐसा करने को बाध्य करना होगा और वह केवल जन आन्दोलन के माध्यम से ही सम्भव है। और इसी कारण हमारे संविधान ने जनता को आन्दोलन करने का मौलिक अधिकार दिया है। उसी अधिकार का प्रयोग कर हम सब जनता को उसके अधिकार दिलाने की भरसक कोशिश करेंगे।
कि.बा. उपनाम अण्णा हज़ारे

India Art Fair2012

2012-01-27T06:44:00.000-08:00

India Art Fair2012

THINK ABOUT IT , Ladies and Gentlemen

2012-01-27T06:40:00.000-08:00

First Rank in State in Secondary School Examination

First Rank in University in Plus Two

First Rank in IIT Entrance Examination

First Rank in All India IIT Computer Science

First Rank in IAS Entrance Examination

First Rank in IAS Training Institute

On passing out from IIT Chennai Mr. Narayanaswamy was offered scholarship by the

prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology , USA .. He who came from a

middle class family believed that he had a moral obligation to give something in return

for the lakhs of rupees the government spent on him as an IIT student. He had the

intelligence and conviction to realize that this money came also from the poorest of

the poor - who pay up the excise duty on textiles when they buy cloth, who pay up customs,

excise and sales tax on diesel when they travel in a bus, and in numerous other ways

indirectly pay the government. So he decided to join IAS hoping he could do something

for the people of this country. How many young men have the will power to resist such

an offer from USA ? Narayanaswamy did never look at IAS as a black money spinner as

his later life bears testimony to this fact.

After a decade of meritorious service in IAS, today, Narayanaswamy is being forced

out of the IAS profession. Do you know why?

A real estate agent wanted to fill up a paddy field which is banned under law.

An application came up before Narayanaswamy who was sub collector the,

for an exemption from this rule for this plot of land. Upon visiting the site he

found that the complaint from 60 poor families that they will face water logging

due to the waste water from a nearby Government Medical College if this paddy field

was filled up was correct. Narayanswamy came under intense political pressure but

he did what was right - refused permission for filling up the paddy field. That was his

first confrontation with politicians.

Soon after his marriage his father-in-law closed down a public road to build compound

wall for his plot of land. People approached Narayanaswamy with complaint.

When talking with his own father-in-law did not help, he removed the obstructing wall

with police help. The result, his marriage broke up.

As district Collector he raided the house of a liquor baron who had defaulted Rupees 11 crores

payment to government and carried out revenue recovery. A Minister directly telephoned him

and ordered to return the forfeited articles to the house of the liquor baron.

Narayanswamy politely replied that it is difficult. The minister replied that Narayanaswamy will suffer.

In his district it was a practice to collect crores of rupees for earthen bunds meant for poor farmers, but which were never constructed. A bill for rupees 8 crores came up before Narayanaswamy. He inspected the bund. He found it very weak and said that he will pass the bill after the rainy season to ensure that the bund served the purpose. As expected the earthen bund was too weak to stand the rain and it disappeared in the rain. But he created a lot of enemies for saving 8 crores public money.

The net result of all such unholy activities was that he was asked to go on leave by the government.

Later such an illustrious officer was posted as "State Co-Ordinator, Quality Improvement Programme for Schools".

This is what the politician will do to a honest officer with backbone - post him in the most

powerless position to teach him a lesson. Since he found that nothing can be achieved for the people if he continued with the State Service he opted for central service. But that too was denied on some technical ground.

What will you do when you have a brilliant computer career anywhere in the world you choose with the backing of several advanced technical papers too published in international journals to your credit?

When you are powerless to do anything for the people, why should you waste your life as the Co-Ordinator for a Schools Programme?

Mr. Narayanaswamy is on the verge of leaving IAS to go to Paris to take up a well paid United Nations assignment.

The politicians can laugh thinking another obstacle has been removed. But it is the helpless people of this country who will lose - not Narayanaswamy. But you have the power to support capable and honest bureaucrats like Narayaswamy, G.R.Khairnar and Alphons Kannamthanam who have suffered a lot under self seeking politicians who rule us. You have even the power to replace such politicians with these kind of people dedicated to the country. The question is will you do the little you can do NOW? At least a vote or word in support of such personalities?

Visit IDSA at www.idsa.in
-- Brigadier Arun Sahgal,PhD Joint Director Institute of National Security Studies, Visiting Fellow, Vivekananda International Foundation and Distinguished Fellow School of Geopolitics Manipal Academy of Higher Education E-5 Panchshila Park, New Delhi -110017 Tel 26492069 Cell - 09313747633 E Mail brigarun.sahgal@gmail.com

Indian Railway Finance Corporation Limited Offers Tax Free Bonds

2012-01-27T00:00:00.000-08:00

Indian Railway Finance Corporation Limited Offers Tax Free Bonds
Tranche-I to Raise upto Rs. 6,300 Crore
Public Issue to Open Tomorrow

Indian Railway Finance CorporationLimited (IRFC), the financing arm of Indian Railways, is proposing toissue Tax Free, Secured, Redeemable, Non-Convertible Bonds of face value of Rs.1,000 each in the nature of Debentures, having benefits under Section10(15)(iv)(h) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, as amended (‘Bonds’) aggregatingto Rs.3,000 crore with an option toretain oversubscription of upto the shelf limit of` Rs.6,300 crore (‘Issue’).

Theapplication for subscription of Bonds should be for a minimum of 10 Bonds andin multiples of 5 Bonds thereafter. The Issue willopen for subscription on January 27, 2012, and close on February 10, 2012, orearlier (subject to the Issue being open for a minimum period of 3 days), orextension by such period, upto a period of 30 daysfrom the date of opening of the Issue, as may be decided by the Board ofDirectors or by a duly constituted committee of the Company. The Bonds shallcarry a coupon rate of 8.00% p.a for 10 years (SeriesI) and 8.10% p.a for 15 years (Series II). Anadditional coupon rate of 0.15% p.a. and 0.20% p.a. on series 1 and series 2respectively shall be available to Resident Indian individuals, Hindu UndividedFamilies through the Karta and Non Resident Indians on repatriation as well asnon-repatriation basis, applying for an amount aggregating uptoand including Rs.5lakhs across all Series in the tranche (availableonly to the original allottees). The Bonds areproposed to be listed on NSE and BSE.

TheBonds have been rated ‘CRISILAAA/Stable’ by CRISIL, ‘[ICRA] AAA’ by ICRA and ‘CARE AAA’ by CARE, indicating highestdegree of safety for timely servicing of financial obligations.

Investorswill have an option to hold the bonds either in physical or in demat form. TheBonds will be secured by way of a pari passu charge on the movable assets of the Companycomprising of rolling stock such as wagons, locomotives and coaches.

SBICapital Markets Limited, A. K. Capital Services Limited and ICICI SecuritiesLimited are the Lead Managers to the Issue. Indian Bank shall be the Trustee tothe Issue.

TheCompany intends to utilize the Issue proceeds for financing the acquisition ofrolling stock and financing the capacity enhancement works in the IndianRailways.

All investors proposing to participate inthe Issue should invest only on the basis of the information contained in theShelf Prospectus and the Prospectus Tranche-1, both dated January 19, 2012.

The Shelf Prospectus and the Prospectus Tranche 1 are availableon the website of the NSE and BSE at www.nseindia.com and www.bseindia.com , the website of SEBI at www.sebi.gov.in,the website of the Company at www.irfc.nic.in and the respective websites of the LeadManagers at www.sbicaps.com, www.akcapindia.com and www.icicisecurities.com.

IRFCis the financing arm of the Indian Railways. 100% shareholding in IRFC is heldby the President of India acting through Ministry of Railways. The Company hasbeen notified as a Public Financial Institution under Section 4A of theCompanies Act, 1956 and registered as a Non-Banking Finance Company withoutaccepting public deposits (Infrastructure Finance Company) with the ReserveBank of India. The Company’s principal business is borrowing funds from thecommercial markets to finance the acquisition of new rolling stock which isthen leased to the Indian Railways. IRFC is a consistently profit making PublicSector Undertaking that has funded rolling stock of book value of Rs.69,843crore (5,567 locomotives, 33,856 passenger coaches, 14,90,300 freight wagonsand 85 cranes and track machines) for Indian Railways (as on 30.09.2011). Networth of IRFC as on 30.09.2011 stood at approximately Rs.4,487.50crores with Nil Non-Performing Assets. The Companyrecorded a net profit after tax of Rs.485.20 crore for year ended 31.03.2011compared to Rs. 442.69 crore for year ended 31.03.2010.

Vivekananda Memorial Programme for Museum Excellence

2012-01-26T21:15:00.000-08:00

Union Finance Minster Shri Pranab Mukherjeewould be leaving for the two day official visit to Chicago, US on the early morning ofSaturday,28^th January, 2012. During his visit, the FinanceMinister’s first engagement on arrival would be to address the Chicago Councilon Global Affairs where large number of business leaders ofthe Corporate World are likely to participate.
Finance Minister Shri Mukherjeeinclude unveiling of Swami Vivekananda Memorial Plaque at the Art Institute of Chicago, inaugurationof exhibitions of Tagore Paintings at ArtInstitute of Chicago and signing of two agreements by the Ministry of Culture,Government of India with the (a)Art Institute of Chicago for the “VivekanandaMemorial Programme for Museum Excellence” and (b)with the University of Chicago for an endowment to establish “The IndianMinistry of Culture Vivekananda Chair.”
During his visit, the FinanceMinister’s first engagement on arrival would be to address the Chicago Councilon Global Affairs where large number of business leaders ofthe Corporate World are likely to participate. These business leaderswould mainly be from Fortune 500 companies as Chicago is Headquarter of 32 suchcompanies including Boeing, Caterpillar, McDonalds, Kraft, Abbott Laboratoriesand Sara Lee among others. During his address, theFinance Minister Shri Mukherjee is likely to sharehis perception about the Indian and Global economy especially when the worldeconomic situation is in a state of flux. On the other hand, India todayoccupies the leadership position in the world order across various fields andhas enormous resources, technology and skills with a pre eminent position. TheFinance Minister Shri Mukherjee is likely to envisagethe shared goals and objectives with these business leaders and invite them tobecome an active partner in India growth story.

PM Dr Singh welcome First woman PM of Thailand, Ms.Yingluck Shinawatra

2012-01-25T23:58:00.000-08:00

India showcases military might

2012-01-25T23:11:00.000-08:00

An impressive display of armour and unmanned aerial vehicles recently added to India's military prowess was on full display at the 63rd Republic Day parade on Thursday that also showcased the country's rich heritage.

The early morning chill did not deter people along the 8-km-parade route as they gathered on both sides of the majestic Rajpath, the country's ceremonial boulevard facing the Raisina Hills, and cheered the contingents as they went past portraying the diverse culture of the country.

The well-turned out and synchronised military and police formations led by General Officer Commanding (Delhi) Lt Gen V K Pillai marched proudly to the lilting tunes of bands through the Rajpath where President Pratibha Patil, who is the Supreme Commander of Armed Forces, took salute.

The impressive march-past was watched by Chief Guest Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Defence Minister A K Antony, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Marshal of Air Force Arjan Singh and top political and military brass. Police and other para-military forces turned Delhi into a a virtual fortress for the Republic Day celebrations as helicpoters scanned from air, snipers kept a hawk-eye vigil from rooftops and armed personnel at every nook and corner provided a ground-to-air security apparatus.

Minutes before the parade began, Singh, Antony and chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force laid wreaths at 'Amar Jawan Jyoti', an eternal flame in the memory of those who laid down their lives while defending the nation. After the customary 21-gun salute and unfurling of the national tricolour, President Patil presented Ashok Chakra -- the highest peacetime gallantry award -- posthumously to Lieutenant Navdeep Singh who died foiling an infiltration attempt by Pakistan-based terrorists along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir.

Then, four Mi-17 helicopters zoomed in from skies on the western side showering flower petals on thousands of spectators, signalling the start of the impressive parade followed by winners of Param Vir Chakra, highest war-time gallantry award, and Ashok Chakra and mounted columns of 61 Cavalry.

The Army showcased its impressive weaponry which included T-72 tanks, Carrier Motor Tracked vehicle, Smerch missile Launcher, Multi Barrel Rocket System 'Pinaka' and Full Width Mine Plough.

It also displayed the NBC (Nuclear- Biological-Chemical) Chemical Purification System and Jammer Station.

Demonstrating its air power, Army's also conducted a flypast of three indegenously made advanced light helicopters Dhruv.

The Army contingent from Parachute Regiment, Bengal Engineer Group, The Brigade of the Guards, Kumaon Regiment, Assam Regiment, Mahar Regiment and Gorkha Rifles marched to the tunes of 'Arjuna', Thimmaya, 'Gangotri' and 'Veer Gorkha' military numbers.

The next to follow were smartly-dressed Navy personnel and then the Air Force contingent, led by Flight Lieutenant Sneha Shekhawat, marching to the tunes of 'Jai Bharati' and 'Air Battle'.

The Navy showcased models of the Delhi Class guided missile destroyer and IL-38 (Sea Dragon) Long-Range Maritime Reconnaissance aircraft. The 3,000-km-range nuclear-capable Agni-IV missile, successfully flight tested in November last year, stole the limelight as people cheered and clapped when the weapons system's model came near them.

Commentaries gave an insight into the capabilities of the sophisticated missile system. The DRDO also put on display for the first time the 150- km range Prahaar tactical battlefield support missile and the Rustom-1 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV).

Other marching contingents were those of camel-mounted BSF, Assam Rifles, Coast Guard, CRPF, ITBP, CISF, SSB, RPF, Delhi Police, NCC and NSS.

As the country's armed and police forces demonstrated their might, states and different departments put up an impressive show when they showcased their rich cultural diversity in full display in 23 tableaux -- 13 from states and ten from ministries.

Another highlight of the event was that West Bengal became part of the parade after 13 years as it showcased the university town of Shantiniketan, the living abode of Rabindranath Tagore, that symbolises the avant garde vision of an international, educational and cultural institution.

The Jammu and Kashmir tableaux depicts the architectural heritage of its capital Srinagar during the medieval period, while Chhatisgrah showcased the Dondaki art and claywork by artists late Sonabhai Rajwar, Darogaram and Atmadas Manikpuri.

The one by Maharashtra boasted of its rich culture, natural wonders and historical monuments and attractive tourist destinations.

The north-eastern state of Meghalaya depicted the Jaintia Festivals and the most colourful dance by the major tribal community inhabiting the state, while Rajasthan brought alive the 'Aamber Fort' which has an unique artistic style that blends both Hindu and Mughal elements.

Assam showcased its enthralling Bhortal dance, while the Punjab tableaux adorned the larger than life figure of Sher-e-Punjab Maharaja Ranjit Singh atop the Lahore fort. Goa, Nagaland and Sikkim are other states who showcased their cultural heritage.

The Union Textiles Ministry's tableaux displayed the range of Indian handicrafts, reflecting the journey of Indian handicrafts from the traditional to the modern world, representing the rich cultural heritage from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.

2012-01-25T21:34:00.000-08:00

New Vaccine Approach Gives Hope to Those Living with HIV

Jesse Emspak, LiveScience Contributor

Date: 25 January 2012

Brian Brown has been taking antiretroviral drugs for five years. If he stops, the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, in his body will multiply and eventually, he'll get really sick. "You have to take them with food," Brown said. "Even if you aren't really hungry." A 39-year-old licensed practical nurse, Brown has to remember to take his drugs daily. It's a routine familiar to people with all kinds of chronic diseases, including HIV and diabetes.
Brown got a break, though. In 2010, he was part of a study of a new kind of vaccine for HIV, called Vacc-4x, from a company called Bionor. He was able to stop taking his two drugs for almost two years. The vaccine didn't cure him, but it cut down the number of HIV viral particles in his body to nearly undetectable levels, and his immune system's virus-fighting cells, called T-cells, went up.
Vacc-4x is just one HIV treatment that illustrates a new approach to HIV vaccines that has gained increasing currency in the last few years. Most people think of vaccines as a preventative measure, and early efforts to control HIV were focused on that strategy. The problem is that even though some are promising, preventing infection doesn’t do any good for the 34 million people worldwide who are already infected. To stop the spread, the key might be a post-infection vaccine like those given for rabies.
HIV, however, is a tough nut to crack. It attacks the very cells that detect and kill invading pathogens. Even when it isn't actively replicating, it can live in tissues in the nervous system or the gut for years. This is one reason HIV takes so long to manifest, and why the immune system has a tough time recognizing it and destroying infected cells. [7 Devastating Infectious Diseases]

Indian Ports Capacity Rises to 1160 Million Metric Tonnes

2012-01-25T21:20:00.000-08:00

Indian Ports Capacity Rises to 1160 Million Metric Tonnes As India charts its voyage as the port of call for world trade, ports and terminals see the dire need to meet the growing demand in both infrastructure and capacity for vessels crisscrossing between the West and the East. About 95 per cent of our overseas cargo by volume and 75 per cent by value are carried by sea. The major ports thus play a key role in facilitating external trade. Development of India’s Port and Shipping industry is therefore critical to sustaining current levels and achieving higher levels of growth in the years to come.

The capacity of Indian ports stood at 1 billion metric tonnes per annum in the month of January, last year. The capacity has risen to 1160 million metric tonnes as on 31.12.2011.

The recently concluded “India Maritime Week” in New Delhi provided the perfect platform for policy makers, decision makers and industry captains working across diverse spheres to share a common cause of development of the maritime sector. The Conference deliberated on a number of issues ranging from equipment for handling huge loads and capacities, leverage technologies, enterprise resource planning to the international port perspective, the inland dimension, trends and changes in global freight flows etc.

The India Maritime Week, 2012 that concluded this week, brought together national and global leaders, experts, policymakers, investors and all stakeholders in the field of maritime activity.

CD case of Mr. Shanti Bhushan

2012-01-25T20:21:00.001-08:00

TheCourt of CMM, Tis Hazari today (i.e. 25.01.2012) rejected the closure reportfiled by Delhi Police in the alleged fabricated CD case of Mr. Shanti Bhushanand directed the Delhi Police to do further investigation as the Court foundthat many issues have not been investigated by the Delhi Police at all. Toquote from the order:

· Itisfurther not clear as to whyinvestigating agency did not conduct any investigation towards knowing thesource from where the said CD was prepared. This is not the case ofinvestigating agency that the said CD came from a thin air.

· Theleast which was expected from the investigating agency was to have probed as toaround which time this CD was prepared.

· Whythe voice samples of ShriMulayam Singh Yadav, Shri Amar Singh and Complainantwere not taken for comparing their voices with the voices appearing in the CD.

· Whythe statement of ShriVirendraDutta, the then Advocate General of UP who isstated to be present at the time of the said conversation at the residence ofShri Amar Singh was not recorded.

· Fromthe entire gamut of facts as argued before this Court, this Court fails tounderstand as to what prompted the investigating agency to limit itsinvestigation in the matter to the ingredients of section 469 IPC….

· At this stage this Court find some substance in theargument of Shri V.K. Ohri, ld. Counsel for the Complainant, that based uponthe facts that couple of sentences in the alleged conversation were verbatimcopied from an earlier recorded conversation of the year 2006 betweenShriMulayam Singh Yadavand Shri Amar Singh……

· Thereis another disturbing feature which needs mention here is as to why theinvestigating officers rather than conducting through investigation in thematter rush to the prosecution for opinion to file cancellation report in thematter, knowing fully well that the matter was investigated only in a limitedfashion.

· The prosecuting agency clearly failed to investigatewhat was the motive of creating such a CD. Was it to malign the complainant andin turn thwart the “Civil Society movement” on “Lokpal Bill” , which he hadundertaken or was it a ploy to make the Hon’ble Supreme Court Judge to recusehimself from the Bench, which was hearing 2G spectrum case…

· Herethe investigation has been based merely on the opinion of the experts and noinvestigation on factual aspects has been conducted.

· Inview of the above discussion this Courtis of the firm opinion that the investigation in the matter has not beenconducted properly.”

Someadditional facts which show that a fair and independent investigation has notbeen done by the Delhi Police are as follows:

· The fact that the CD is totally fabricated hadalready become apparent from the forensic reports of CFSL, Chandigarh, TruthLab Hyderabad and Mr.George Papcun of Sound Evidence, USA. The CFSL, Chandigarh in its report(obtained under the RTI) to Delhi Police categorically stated that the CD isnot original and is a post-production edited version. The reports of Truth Laband Mr. George Papcun gave finding that the speeches of Maulayam Singh and AmarSingh have been bodily lifted from Amar Singh’s CD of 2006 which was filed inthe Supreme Court.

· The Delhi Police completely ignored theaforementioned three reports.It closed the investigation on the basis of twocompletely perverse reports procured by it from CFSL, CBI, Delhi and IndianComputer Emergency Response Team, (ICERT) Delhi, which is not even competent todo such forensic examination.For any forensic lab to arrive at such aconclusion was almost impossible when it had already been discovered that someparts of the conversation are bodily lifted from an earlier conversationbetween Shri Amar Singh and ShriMulayam Singh Yadav, which conversation is partof a CD which has already been filed before this Hon’ble Court since 2006 andis part of the Court record in the Amar Singh Tapes case.

· Though the complaint was lodged on 14/04/2011(around 12:30 pm) before Delhi Police but the Police till the evening of 17^thApril, 2011 could not manage to get the copy of the CD despite the fact that itwas circulating freely among all sections of the media.

· It is only after the press conference which was heldby Mr. PrashantBhushanin the evening of 17/04/2011 one constable came around8:15 pm in the night and collected the CD from Mr. Bhushan’s office. Mr.Bhushan along with the CD in dispute also gave another CD containing relevantextracts of Amar Singh’s CD of 2006 as well as the aforementioned two reports. However,the Police denied before the Court of receiving any such report from Bhushanseven though the constable had signed a receipt also.

· The Delhi Police leaked the report of the CSL,Delhi to media promptly but suppressed the report of the CFSL, Chandigarh.Several letters were written to the IO, the Commissioner of Police and theUnion Home Minister to know about the findings of the CFSL, Chandigarh reportbut the same was denied to him on the ground that it would hamper the ongoinginvestigation. In fact, on 04/05/2011, the Addl. DCP, Mr. Rao, the IO in thepresent case, denied of receiving any such report though as per the mediareport the CFSL report was already submitted to the Special Cell, Delhi Policeby that time.

· The Delhi Police didnot send Mr. Amar Singh’s CD of 2006 to any of the forensic laboratories.

· The Delhi Police didnot examine the experts of CFSL, Chandigarh and Truth Lab.

Inview of the above facts can one expect a genuine and fair investigation fromthe same agency which has so far done a completely dishonest investigationapparently under political pressure?

US remains the one indispensable nation in world affairs: Obama

2012-01-24T22:20:00.001-08:00

America remains the one indispensable nation in the world affairs and those who talk that its power is towards decline do not know what they are talking about, US President Barack Obama said.

"Yes, the world is changing; no, we can't control every event. But America remains the one indispensable nation in world affairs and as long as I am President, I intend to keep it that way," Obama said in his State of the Union Address to the Congress.

In his nationally televised speech delivered at the Capitol Hill, Obama said the renewal of American leadership can be felt across the globe.

"Our oldest alliances in Europe and Asia are stronger than ever. Our ties to the Americas are deeper. Our iron-clad commitment to Israel's security has meant the closest military cooperation between our two countries in history," he said.

"We have made it clear that America is a Pacific power, and a new beginning in Burma has lit a new hope. From the coalitions we have built to secure nuclear materials, to the missions we have led against hunger and disease; from the blows we have dealt to our enemies; to the enduring power of our moral example, America is back," Obama said.

"Anyone who tells you otherwise, anyone who tells you that America is in decline or that our influence has waned, doesn't know what they are talking about," Obama said in an apparent reference to the criticism to his foreign policy coming from Republican presidential candidates.

"That's not the message we get from leaders around the world, all of whom are eager to work with us. That's not how people feel from Tokyo to Berlin; from Cape Town to Rio; where opinions of America are higher than they have been in years," he said.

Obama said he has proposed a new defense strategy that ensures the US maintain the finest military in the world, while saving nearly half a trillion dollars in our budget.

"To stay one step ahead of our adversaries, I have already sent this Congress legislation that will secure our country from the growing danger of cyber-threats," he said.

Obama said one of his proudest possessions is the flag that the SEAL Team took with them on the mission to get Bin Laden.

"On it are each of their names. Some may be Democrats. Some may be Republicans. But that doesn't matter. Just like it didn't matter that day in the Situation Room, when I sat next to Bob Gates a man who was George Bush's defense secretary; and Hillary Clinton, a woman who ran against me for president," he said.

"All that mattered that day was the mission. No one thought about politics. No one thought about themselves. One of the young men involved in the raid later told me that he didn't deserve credit for the mission," Obama said.

It only succeeded, he said, because every single member of that unit did their job.

"The pilot who landed the helicopter that spun out of control; the translator who kept others from entering the compound; the troops who separated the women and children from the fight; the SEALs who charged up the stairs," he said.

"More than that, the mission only succeeded because every member of that unit trusted each other because you can't charge up those stairs, into darkness and danger, unless you know that there is someone behind you, watching your back," Obama said.

Determined to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapon: Obama

The United States is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, President Barack Obama, said adding that no option is off the table against Tehran as the tension between the two nation has increased in recent weeks.

"Let there be no doubt: America is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and I will take no options off the table to achieve that goal," Obama said in his State of the Union address to the Congress.

Recent weeks has seen an increased tension between the two countries. Obama, at the same time, noted that a peaceful resolution of this issue is still possible.

"A peaceful resolution of this issue is still possible, and far better, and if Iran changes course and meets its obligations, it can rejoin the community of nations," he said.

The President said his administration will safeguard the US' own security against those who threaten its citizens, friends, and interests.

"Look at Iran. Through the power of our diplomacy, a world that was once divided about how to deal with Iran's nuclear program now stands as one," he said.

"The regime is more isolated than ever before; its leaders are faced with crippling sanctions, and as long as they shirk their responsibilities, this pressure will not relent," the US President said.

Referring to the Arab spring in his speech, Obama said "as the tide of war recedes, a wave of change has washed across the Middle East and North Africa, from Tunis to Cairo; from Sana'a to Tripoli. A year ago, Gaddafi was one of the world's longest-serving dictators a murderer with American blood on his hands. Today, he is gone."

"And in Syria, I have no doubt that the Assad regime will soon discover that the forces of change can't be reversed, and that human dignity can't be denied," Obama said referring to the developments in Syria.

"How this incredible transformation will end remains uncertain. But we have a huge stake in the outcome. And while it is ultimately up to the people of the region to decide their fate, we will advocate for those values that have served our own country so well. We will stand against violence and intimidation," he said.

"We will stand for the rights and dignity of all human beings men and women; Christians, Muslims, and Jews. We will support policies that lead to strong and stable democracies and open markets, because tyranny is no match for liberty," Obama said.

BJP promises good governance

2012-01-24T03:54:00.000-08:00

With just six days left for elections to the Punjab Assembly, the Bhartiya Janata Party on Tuesday released its manifesto promising good governance to the people and a strong Lokayukta.

BJP said it would adopt cost control methodology to check spiralling prices of commodities, will generate new avenues for youngsters and iron out all troubles of industry and traders.

They said the state would also be made power surplus, urban development would be prime focus and everyone would be provided education and living facilities.

The manifesto was released by the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley in the presence of party's General Secretary J P Nadda and campaign in-charge and MP Navjot Sidhu in Jalandhar on Tuesday.

Among the major parties the Congress had taken the lead in releasing its manifesto followed by SAD which released its manifesto on Sunday.

Elections to the 117-member state assembly are to be held on 30^th January and the campaigning ends on Saturday evening.

"All the leaders, who have amassed wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income, will face tune as their entire wealth would be declared government property.

"Special arrangements would be made to address public grievances. The administrative arrangements would be made transparent and accountable as well as new strength would be infused in them. More services would be brought under Right to Service Act's ambit," the party assured.

Through the manifesto, electorates have been promised that center's wrong policies, which have spiralled inflation, would be brought under control, public distribution system would be strengthened and octroi would be lifted from diesel and petrol bringing much needed respite to the city dwellers, as is being given to their rural counterparts.

Unemployed youth were assured that BJP government would fasten the procedure of filling seats that have been lying vacant since long, the manifesto said adding the youngsters would be imparted skill development training to make them more employable.

The BJP also promised to make Punjab a power surplus state and to meet this target all the thermal power plants under construction would be completed on time.

Efforts would also be made to produce power from non-conventional sources of energy. A 24-hour power supply would be ensured in rural and urban areas alike, it added.

Besides this, the Pakistan borders posts of Attari (Amritsar) and Hussainiwala (Ferozepur) would be encouraged with increased trading activity and the central government would be pressurised to extend its Delhi-Mumbai corridor till Amritsar.

In order to ensure development in education, the recruitment of teachers in state would continue and every girl, student of Dalit and backward class would be given free education.

The manifesto said computer education would be introduced from primary classes onwards and in the field of technical education the earn-while-learn concept would be introduced.

Students from poor, Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes would be provided free training for IAS and PCS exams, it added.

To strengthen the health facilities in state, district level super specialty hospitals would be set-up.

Government help would be given to people suffering from cancer and chronic diseases and the free delivery and mother-child care facility schemes at government hospitals would be continued.

District level rehabilitation centers for drug addicts would be upgraded technically and all kind of help would be extended, the party said.

The BJP promised development and programmes in other fields including housing, strict action in cases of crime against women and NRI brides, increase in minimum wages, regularization of temporary employees, introduction of modern buses as part of public transport system, honouring sports persons, provide one rank one pension to ex-servicemen and increase old age pension.

Concerted efforts also would be made for rehabilitation of Hindu and Sikh families that have migrated from Pakistan, it said.

RBI may not cut interest rates at policy review today

2012-01-23T21:19:00.001-08:00

The Reserve Bank has indicated that it may not cut interest rates to promote growth in its policy review on Tuesday as inflation, which came down in December, still poses a risk to the economy.

The GDP growth rate during the current fiscal, the RBI said, is likely to fall below its earlier projection of 7.6 per cent, though inflation may moderate to 7 per cent by March-end.

"The critical factors in the rate action ahead will be core inflation and exchange rate pass-through (impact of rupee depreciation on oil prices)... Monetary actions will need to strike a balance between risks to growth and inflation," said the Macroeconomic and Monetary Developments Review released by the RBI on the eve of its third quarter policy announcement.

The RBI has increased interest rates 13 times since March, 2010, to contain inflation and India Inc has been demanding a cut in the rates to arrest declining economic growth, which is expected to moderate to 7 per cent in 2011-12 from 8.5 per cent a year ago.

The RBI-sponsored survey by professional forecasters has revised the growth projection for the current fiscal downward to 7 per cent, which is lower than the central bank's projection of 7.6 per cent.

"Growth is likely to turn weaker than earlier anticipated," the RBI said.

The RBI further said, "Even as the growth slowdown emerges as the major challenge, inflation risks persist, posing a challenge for monetary policy in achieving low and stable inflation with minimal sacrifice of growth."

Pushing for fast-tracking of economic reforms like reducing subsidy and implementing DTC and GST to arrest fiscal deficit, the RBI said its monetary actions were neutralised by the expansionary policies of the government.

RBI said that unless fiscal reforms are expedited, the Centre could miss the rolling target of fiscal deficit at 4.1 per cent of GDP for 2012-13 as set out in 2011-12 Budget.

"Prospectively, improvement in fiscal situation in 2012-13 is not only contingent upon the growth performance but also on the progress in implementation of tax and expenditure reforms," RBI said.

On the expenditure front, it said, the government needs to move towards deregulation of pricing of diesel for controlling its expenditure on petroleum subsidies.

The government will face additional pressures on account of food subsidies when the proposed Food Security Bill is enacted and implemented, it said, adding that the government needs to control its expenditure on petroleum subsidies.

Subsidies and the resultant higher fiscal deficit may help in keeping inflation suppressed in near term, but over time the impact of higher subsidy induced deficit would exert pressure on the inflation path.

Concerned over rupee depreciation and widening current account deficit, the Reserve Bank on Monday underlined the need for policy reforms to improve investment climate.

"Going forward, there is need to reduce dependence on debt flows by encouraging renewed equity flows through acceleration of policy reforms aimed at improving the investment climate," RBI said in its Macro-economic and Monetary Developments Review.

It said that the composition of capital inflows has shifted towards debt, and financing of Current Account Deficit (CAD) has resulted into exchange rate pressure.

"With a widening CAD, larger fiscal spending could affect growth and stability in the economy," RBI said.

Development of Agriculture under Macro Management of Agriculture

2012-01-23T21:08:00.001-08:00

Development of Agriculture under Macro Management of Agriculture

Under Macro Management of Agriculture (MMA) scheme Rs. 762.68 crore has been released to various States and Union Territories for the development of agriculture in 2011-12 as on 30.12.2011. Total allocation for the current financial year is to the tune Rs. 780 crore.

The scheme was launched in 2000-01 by integrating 27 centrally sponsored schemes moving away from a programmatic to a macro management mode of assistance to the States in the form of Work Plans prepared by the States and implemented in a spirit of partnership with the States.

In 2008-09, the scheme was revised to improve its efficacy in supplementing and complementing the efforts of the States towards enhancement of agricultural production and productivity, in the larger context of broad based inclusive growth highlighted in the 11th Five Year Plan Document as well as the National Policy on Farmers, 2007. The role of the scheme was redefined to avoid overlapping and duplication of efforts and to make it more relevant to the present agriculture scenario in the States to achieve the basic objective of food security and to improve the livelihood system for rural masses.

The revised scheme comprises 10 sub-schemes relating to crop production and natural resource management. These include integrated cereal development programmes, integrated development programmes for pulses and oilseeds and sustainable development of sugarcane based copping system, balanced and integrated use of fertilizers, promotion of mechanization of agriculture among small farmers, national watershed development project for rain-fed areas, soil conservation.

Syria rejects Arab League

2012-01-22T20:37:00.001-08:00

DAMASCUS: Syria on Monday rejected an Arab League (AL) plan for President Bashar al-Assad to transfer power to his deputy, calling the initiative a "flagrant interference," state TV quoted an official as saying.

"Syria rejects the decisions taken which are outside an Arab working plan, and considers them an attack on its national sovereignty and a flagrant interference in internal affairs," the official was quoted as saying.

Film Festival Persistence Resistance.

2012-01-22T04:11:00.000-08:00

Film Festival
Persistence Resistance.
The dates for the festival are 9-17 Feb, 2012. In its fifth year, Persistence Resistance 2012 will be held in multiple venues.
Feb 9-11: British Council, New Delhi
Feb 10: North campus, Delhi University (in collaboration with margHumanities)
Feb 12-15: India International Centre, New Delhi
Feb 17: Max Mueller Bhavan/Goethe Institut, New Delhi.
Persistence Resistance is premised on the belief that documentary practices in any place actively participate in the shaping of our times. While celebrating the documentary form and practice, Persistence Resistance also acknowledges the audience as a powerful and resistive force that constantly constructs myriad ways of using and recycling images in an attempt to break out of the censorious trappings of the cinema hall. Keeping up with continually evolving viewing trends, Persistence Resistance attempts to create diverse spaces of viewing films, from the auditorium to the video parlours and video libraries. It offers a space for interacting with filmmakers as well as installations, and all of these aim to take account of the viewers' sensory perceptions, as well as recognizing the viewer as having a self-identity.
Persistence Resistance is an attempt at bringing together the documentary, the documentary filmmaker and the audience to collectively create and redefine public cultures.
In its fifth year, Persistence Resistance 2012 will screen Indian and international films, celebrating the independent documentary artists' deep engagement with the myriad forms that the documentary affords. The festival will also premiere some recent works.

To Commemorate our War Heroes a VIF Event

2012-01-22T04:10:00.000-08:00

ToCommemorate our War Heroes

onthe eve of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose’s Birth Anniversary,

VivekanandaInternational Foundation

Cordially Invites You To The Launch Of

Frozen Fury: Capt (hony) Bana Singh PVC, Hero ofSiachen

                                                 &

Digital Versions of Indian War Comics on Akash Tablets

                                                by

                 GenV K Singh PVSM, AVSM,YSM,ADC
                             Chief of the Army Staff

                                                at

                    1700hrson Monday, January 23rd, 2012

Venue: Vivekananda International Foundation
            3 San Martin Marg, Chanakyapuri
            New Delhi - 110021

Balochistan: Is US backing London’s plan to dismember Pakistan? -- Ramtanu Maitra

2012-01-22T04:08:00.000-08:00

Those who think Pakistan’s only problem is the rising tide of jihadism in that country are grossly mistaken. There are indications that the London-led project to separate Balochistan from Pakistan has now been given an impetus. The objectives are many. To name a few: It would weaken a belligerent Pakistan; create a buffer between Pakistan and Afghanistan; secure a strong foothold along the southeastern borders of Iran; and undo China’s long-term plan to link up the Karakoram Highway in the north to the Arabian Sea, by a land bridge running through Balochistan.

The British plan to separate Balochistan is a longstanding one. Britain’s Foreign Policy Centre (FPC) arranged a seminar on the Balochistan province of Pakistan in collaboration with the so-called Balochistan Rights Movement on June 27, 2006 in the House of Commons. The seminar was a one-sided attack on Pakistan for “colonizing” Balochistan and suppressing the Baloch people. Its chairman Stephen Twiggs, is a member of parliament from Enfield Southgate, who chairs Labour Friends of Israel (LFI), a Westminster-based pro-Israel lobby group working within the Labour Party. Twiggs has been involved with the FPC from its inception in 1998, and as a member of the board from 1998 to 2006. FPC wields considerable influence in Westminster, and is also consulted routinely by the Foreign Office and Downing Street on matters relating to the Middle East. Tony Blair is known to consult its members about Middle East policy.

In June 2006, Pakistan’s Senate Committee on Defense accused British intelligence of “abetting the insurgency in the province bordering Iran [Balochistan]”, according to the Press Trust of India, Aug. 9, 2006. Ten British MPs were involved in a closed-door session of the Senate Committee on Defense regarding alleged MI6 support to Baloch separatists. Also of relevance are reports of CIA and Mossad support to Baloch rebels in Iran and Southern Afghanistan.

US military analyst Lt. Col. Ralph Peters, writing in the June 2006 issue of The Armed Forces Journal, suggested that Pakistan should be broken up, leading to the formation of a separate country, “Greater Balochistan” or “Free Balochistan.” The latter would incorporate the Pakistani and Iranian Baloch provinces into a single political entity.

Fresh cry to break up Pakistan

Although at the time, for the George W. Bush Administration, and later the Obama Administration, the dismemberment of Pakistan had taken a back seat—not because Pakistan was an ally, but to ensure help from Islamabad’s security and military apparatus in finding a way out of the Afghan mess—it is likely that the option to create an independent Balochistan was very much on Washington’s agenda for a long while. Now, as relations between the United States and Pakistan have soured to a point that many in Washington consider that the differences between the two are irreconcilable, particularly on security matters, the pro-British Obama Administration has seemingly joined hands with the “break up Pakistan” faction in Washington.

US expert on Balochistan, Selig Harrison, writing for The National Interest, Feb. 1, 2011, urged the Obama Administration to create an independent Balochistan, and laid out the steps that the United States should take to make that happen. He said that Washington should do more to support anti-Islamist forces along the southern Arabian sea coast. First, it should support anti-Islamist Sindhi leaders of the Sufi variant of Islam, with their network of 124,000 shrines. Most important, it should aid the 6 million Baloch insurgents fighting for independence from Pakistan in the face of growing ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) repression. Pakistan has given China a base at Gwadar in the heart of Baloch territory; an independent Balochistan would serve US strategic interests, in addition to the immediate goal of countering Islamist forces.

Subsequently, M. Chris Mason, a retired diplomat with long service in South Asia, and a senior fellow at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies in Washington, in an article titled, “Solve the Pakistan problem by redrawing the map,” for the Toronto Globe and Mail on Dec. 21, 2011, let it all hang out. “The permanent solution to the Pakistan problem,” he wrote, “is not more of this chest-beating appeasement. The answer lies in 20th-century history. In 1947, when India gained independence, a British Empire in full retreat left behind an unworkable mess on both sides of India—called Pakistan—whose elements had nothing in common except the religion of Islam. In 1971, this postcolonial Frankenstein came a step closer to rectification when Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, became an independent state.

“The answer to the current Pakistani train wreck is to continue this natural process by recognizing Baluchistan’s legitimate claim to independence. Baluchistan was an independent nation for more than 1,000 years when Great Britain notionally annexed it in the mid-19th century. The Baluchis were never consulted about becoming a part of Pakistan, and since then, they have been the victims of alternating persecution and neglect by the Pakistani state, abuse which escalated to genocide when it was discovered in the 1970s that most of the region’s natural resources lie underneath their soil. Since then, tens of thousands of Baluchis have been slaughtered by the Pakistani army, which has used napalm and tanks indiscriminately against an unarmed population.

“Changing maps is difficult only because it is initially unimaginable to diplomats and politicians. Although redrawing maps is the definition of failure for the United Nations and the US State Department, it has, in fact, been by such a wide margin the most effective solution to regional violence over the past 50 years that there is really nothing in second place. Among the most obvious recent examples (apart from the former Soviet Union) are North and South Sudan, Kosovo, Eritrea, Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, East Timor and Bangladesh.

“An independent Baluchistan would, in fact, solve many of the region’s most intractable problems overnight. It would create a territorial buffer between rogue states Iran and Pakistan. It would provide a transportation and pipeline corridor for Afghanistan and Central Asia to the impressive but underutilized new port at Gwadar. It would solve all of NATO’s logistical problems in Afghanistan, allow us to root the Taliban out of the former province and provide greater access to Waziristan, to subdue our enemies there. And it would contain the rogue nuclear state of Pakistan and its A.Q. Khan network of nuclear proliferation-for-profit on three landward sides.”

Other players in the fray

Twiggs’ orchestrations in the FPC are not the only Israeli footprints in the new-fangled Great Game to create a buffer-state between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Pakistan and Iran. The Iranian government accuses Jundullah, a terrorist group that has carried out myriad terrorist actions in the area bordering the Sunni-majority Balochistan-Sistan province of predominantly Shi’a Iran over the last decade. Jundullah came into existence in Balochistan in 2003, and Iran has claimed that it was working hand-in-glove with the US, Israel, and al-Qaeda, perpetrating acts of terrorism and supporting separatism. Jundullah planned its terrorist acts against Iran from military camps in Pakistan, Tehran claimed.

More evidence of Israeli involvement, however, becomes visible on the Baloch diaspora’s website, Government of Balochistan (GOB) in Exile. The website says the Baloch diaspora established the newly formed “democratic, liberal and secular” government in Jerusalem in 2006. Its address is: The World Baloch Jewish Alliance Building: P.O. Box 5631: Jerusalem, Israel.

Another arch-enemy of Pakistan, India, which would like to weaken Islamabad’s influence in Afghanistan and promote its own, has long been accused by the Pakistani security agencies of aiding and abetting the Baloch secessionists with a wink and a nod from Washington. New Delhi vehemently refutes those accusations. Nonetheless, a cable from the US Embassy in Islamabad, leaked by the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, disclosed that there was enough evidence of Indian involvement in Waziristan and other tribal areas of Pakistan, as well as Balochistan.

The Express Tribune, which is part of the International Herald Tribune group, reported on Dec. 3, 2010, that, according to the WikiLeaks cable, a draft of a presentation shared with the US by Pakistan’s National Security Advisor Mahmud Ali Durrani, stated that Pakistani parliamentarians were also told that India and Russia were involved in the insurgency in Balochistan. The Express Tribune reported that ISI chief Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha said that India has established nine training camps along the Afghan-Balochistan border, where it is training members of the Baloch Liberation Army. He also claimed that “India and the UAE (reportedly due to its opposition to construction of the Gwadar Port) were funding and arming the Baloch. Pasha also claimed that the Russian government was directly involved in funding/training/supporting the insurgency.”

The article also said “former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf had also raised the point with US officials in September 2007.” According to a memo, he had asked the US to intervene against “the ‘deliberate’ attempt of Kabul and New Delhi to destabilize Balochistan.”

Why Balochistan?

President Obama has clearly stated that the drive to build up American military presence in the Asia-Pacific region stems from identifying two enemies of the United States—China and Iran. While Iran is the immediate one, China is potentially the greater bête noire.

Prior to, or after, issuance of those statements, a number of developments have occurred rapidly in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. Besides Washington’s distancing itself from Islamabad, the US has begun openly to court the Taliban, an avowed Wahhabite enemy of Shi’a Iran. Vice President Joe Biden has reminded us recently that President Obama had never identified the Taliban as an enemy. The Taliban has also opened an office in Qatar, a vassal-emirate of Britain, and where the US has military installations; they hope to negotiate with the US/NATO to resolve the Afghanistan imbroglio, and to stake a claim in Kabul. The American plan is seemingly to wean the Taliban away from Pakistan, and bring to power in Kabul a force that is avowedly anti-Iran. Since Iran has been identified by Obama and his Administration as its enemy, the enemy of Iran, the Taliban, may soon become Washington’s friend.

In order to bring pressure on Iran, the US has also tripled the size of the Shindand Air Base in western Afghanistan, about 20 miles from the Iranian border. Having been in the works since the Fall of 2010, completion of the “Far East Expansion” makes the base second in size only to Bastion Field in Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The project is part of a $500 million military construction effort to support Regional Command West, and turn Shindand into the premier flight-training base in Afghanistan. The expansion is slated to become the new living and work area for more than 3,000 Coalition forces and government contractors. Their relocation will make possible the construction of a new 1.3-mile NATO training runway, scheduled to begin early 2012.

So, what is now on Washington’s mind? To begin with, the Obama Administration may have concluded that in order to “deal” with Iran, the US/NATO would like to create a “trouble-free” Afghanistan, which, in Washington’s book, means putting Kabul, and, in essence, all of Afghanistan, under the control of the “friendly” Afghan Taliban and separating the group from its loose ties with Pakistan.

It also means that if and when Balochistan becomes an independent country, London and Washington will secure a direct access to Central Asia using the Arabian Sea. Such an arrangement would smooth US/NATO logistical requirements and pose a permanent threat to the security of Iran’s Strait of Hormuz, a stone’s throw from the western tip of Balochistan. In the interim, a vigorous secessionist movement unleashed within Balochistan will enable the anti-Iran crusaders to weaken Iran’s northeastern region through irregular warfare.

In the long term, perhaps, the London-Washington objective is to prevent China from coming into the Arabian Sea in the south from the Karakoram Highway in the North, thus establishing a supply line which would enable a faster development of its western part bordering Central Asia. London and Washington believe that by preventing the economic development and security of western China, they would be in a position to set up satrapies on the southern flank of Russia, another potential major enemy.

The China angle

One of the first indications of China’s long-term interest in Pakistan was construction of the Karakoram Highway (KHH), or “Friendship Highway,” jointly, by the governments of Pakistan and China, completed in 1986. It connects the northern areas of Pakistan to the ancient Silk Road. It runs approximately 1,300 km from Kashgar in the Xinjiang region of China, to Havelian in the Abbottabad District of Pakistan. An extension of the highway meets the Grand Trunk Road at Hasan Abdal, west of Islamabad. The highway cuts through the collision zone between the Asian and Indian continents, where China, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India come within 250 kilometers of each other.

On June 30, 2006, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Pakistani Highway Administration and China’s state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) to rebuild and upgrade the KKH. According to S. Fredrick Starr, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, and chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, a new North-South phase of the corridor is underway. Examples of this thrust are: the rebuilding of the KKH; the new route running from southwest Xinjiang across Tajik Badakhshan; the planned US highway bridge over Pansh, linking Tajikistan with Afghanistan’s main north-south routes; the improvement of existing highways from the Urals and western Siberia to Central Asia, and their extension to Afghanistan; and developing road and rail routes from Iran’s port of Bandar-Abbas, north across Turkmenistan and Tajikistan to Russia.

China, meanwhile, has integrated its western and central regions, and is now in a position to use the KKH and other links for expanding trade with West and South Asia. To further strengthen the KKH, a railway line alongside it, connecting Pakistan and western China, is now under consideration as an integral part of the TEC (Trade and Energy Corridor) project. The railroad is intended not only for trade but also to transport oil and gas by tankers, in case a pipeline is not a viable option. This rail track will be linked to Gwadar, where oil-refining and storage facilities are now under construction. (Source: “Prospects of Pakistan becoming a trade and energy corridor for China”: Fazal-ur-Rahman.) In other words, China envisions the Gwadar Port to become a trans-shipment hub for the landlocked Central Asian states, Afghanistan, and Western China.

The second leg of China’s Pakistan policy is the development of Gwadar Port on Pakistan’s Makran coast in Balochistan, not far from the Strait of Hormuz. The Gwadar Port project got underway soon after 9/11. On March 22, 2002, China flew in Vice Premier Wu Bangguo to lay the foundation stone, and the first phase of the project was completed in 2005. The overall cost is estimated at $1.16 billion; the Chinese contribution to finance the first phase was $198 million, while Pakistan invested $50 million.

Since the completion of Phase I, Pakistan has taken some interesting decisions. On Feb 1, 2007, Islamabad allowed the Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) to sign a 40-year agreement with the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA), one of the biggest port operators in the world, and its subsidiary Concessional Holding Company, for development and operation of the tax-free port and duty-free trade zone. The concessions given to the operators had already been approved by Shaukat Aziz, former prime minister of Pakistan, on Jan. 23, 2007.

However, a decade-long war in Afghanistan and rapid deterioration of security conditions within Balochistan, have stymied progress in the development of the Gwadar Port. According to Pakistani Sen. Ismail Buledi, the Port of Singapore Authority is relying only on government cargo, thus grossly deviating from the master plan of the government. He added that the port should be given to China, so it can be operated according to the master plan. “If the Gwadar Port is marketed well, the regional ports will lose considerable business,” he said. “It is time we took right decisions. Otherwise Gwadar Port may lose this opportunity to the fast developing Iranian port of Chabahar.”

It is evident that in the Chinese scheme of things, the key to the success of its Pakistan policy lies with the Gwadar Port. In choosing a port site to link up with the KKH, Gwadar’s location is ideal. It is on the Arabian Sea coast in the southwestern tip of Pakistan’s strife-torn province of Balochistan, and faces the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz. However, it seems that both London and Washington are ready to use their muscles to prevent China from achieving that goal.

Identity (Smart) Cards for People of A&N Islands

2012-01-21T09:12:00.000-08:00

Home Minister Launches Resident Identity (Smart) Cards for People of A&N Islands. The Union Home Minister Shri P. Chidambaram, launched the first batch of Resident Identity Cards under the coastal National Population Register (NPR) project at Porthrapur village in South Andaman district of Andaman & Nicobar Islands today in the presence of Lt. Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lt. General Bhupender Singh. Smt. Bhulaxmi, a resident of Porthrapur, was the first recipient of the Resident Identity Card. The RIC, is a smart card having 64 KB micro processor chip. The National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, has finalized the visual layout of the card. It incorporates several physical security features like Guilloché patterns, hot stamped hologram and micro text etc.

Chief Secretary of Andaman & Nicobar Islands Shri Shakti Sinha, Registrar General & Census Commissioner India, Dr. C. Chandramouli, Deputy Director General (NPR), Shri S.K.Chakarabarti, Director of Census Operations ,Shri V. Abraham, Chairman & Managing Director of ECIL, Shri Y.S.Mayya and a host of other dignitaries from the Central Government and UT Administration were present on the occasion.

In Andaman & Nicobar Islands, 365 villages and the town of Port Blair have been covered under the coastal NPR project. A total of 3,88,398 persons have been covered. Of this, 2,82,885 persons above the age of 18 years would be issued identity cards.

The Government of India had decided to create a National Population Register (NPR) in the country. As a first step, the coastal NPR project was taken up in coastal areas of 9 maritime states (Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal) and 4 UTs (Andaman & Nicobar, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Daman & Diu) as one of the measures for strengthening the security of the coastline of the country. The demographic data collection of 1.2 crore persons and the biometrics of 75 lakh persons in the 3331 coastal villages under the coastal NPR project have been completed. At present, production of identity (smart) cards is underway. Till date, 5 lakh cards have already been produced.

The scheme envisages collection of specific items of information of each individual in the coastal areas and issue of Resident Identity (smart) cards (RIC) to all usual residents, who are of age 18 years and above. In all, 3331 coastal villages have been covered in the first phase of the project in these States/UTs. In Andaman & Nicobar Islands, besides villages, the town of Port Blair has also been covered. The approved cost of the scheme is Rs. 216.31 crore. The data collection for the project was done by house to house enumeration by Government officials who were assisted by data entry operators. The collected data was verified by the Government officials after publishing in the local areas and inviting claims and objections. The data was also subjected to biometric de-duplication.

The production and personalization of the RIC cards have been undertaken through the CPSUs. They have setup state-of-the-art production and personalization facilities at secure premises for the coastal NPR project. The delivery of the RICs would be undertaken by India Post for secure delivery to the usual residents.

Press Invitation:Saturday 21/01/12

2012-01-20T21:34:00.001-08:00

Press Invitation:

A workshop is being organised tomorrow (Saturday 21/01/12) at 11.30 Am on "Religious Reservation- a national & social injustice" in Speaker hall of Constitution club Rafi marg, New Delhi-110001.

Kindly send your representative/corespondance/cameraman to cover the event organised by Sanskratik Gaurav Sansthan, New Delhi-1.

REGARDS

VINOD BANSAL
(MEDIA CHIEF)
VISHWA HINDU PARISHAD, DELHI
M - 98109 49109

New President and Vice President of ICSI for 2012

2012-01-20T01:00:00.000-08:00

New President and Vice President of ICSI for 2012:

The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) has got its new President and Vice President for the year 2012. In an election held in New Delhi today Mr. Nesar Ahmad has been elected as PRESIDENT while Mr. S. N. Ananthasubramanian has been elected as the VICE PRESIDENT.

In the year 2011 Mr. Ahmad was the Vice-President of the Institute. He is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India and also a Practising Company Secretary at New Delhi. While Mr. S. N. Ananthasubramanian, the new Vice President is currently a Practising Company Secretary at Thane (Maharashtra).

The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) is a statutory professional body constituted under the Company Secretaries Act, 1980 (Act No. 56 of 1980) passed by the Parliament of India.

India growth rate to be 7.2 percent:FM

2012-01-19T19:57:00.000-08:00

Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that the growth rate would be around 7.2 percent during the current year. He said that due to current uncertainty in global economy as euro zone crisis is still unresolved and volatility in international commodity prices especially fuel etc, it may be difficult to contain the fiscal deficit at 4.6 percent as targeted during the last budget. The Finance Minister said that this is a very challenging year for all of us. He said that we have to work together to meet these challenges. He was addressing the CMDs/CEOs of Banking and Financial Institutions in a pre-Budget meeting here today. The Finance Minister Shri Mukherjee stated that all banks and financial institutions whether public or private have a common goal of working towards a healthy economy. The Minister said that we should work together to attain this common objective. Shri Mukherjee said that the international crisis of 2008 and the ongoing Euro Zone crisis have impacted us also and resulted in problems of inflation, deceleration of GDP and fiscal deficit. He sought suggestions from the various stakeholders in formulating the Budget for 2012-13 in the current economic situation.

The representatives of Banks and Financial Institutions gave various suggestions. It was stated that there was a case for increasing the credit to GDP ratio in India which is one of the lowest in the world. It was mentioned that our savings rate is about 32 percent but only one third of it reaches the banks. Therefore, there is a need for removal of handicaps which banks face in mobilizing the deposits. In view of the high costs of education, it was said that it will be useful if education loan guarantee scheme could be launched. It was suggested that there should be a separate taxation window for pension funds and long term funds. The need to support infrastructure funding was highlighted. A demand was made to make banks eligible entities to issue tax free infrastructure bonds. The requirement for special incentives for investors to invest in infrastructure bonds was also highlighted. A need for clarity and broadening of the definition of the infrastructure was also raised. The participants said that infrastructure should be taken as a priority sector and there should be an independent regulator for infrastructure. It was suggested that single window clearance for the infrastructure sector projects including power projects would go a long way in attracting huge investment in this sector. It was suggested that there was a need for rationalization of transaction charges in the secondary market and also to boost microfinance. Regarding financial inclusion, it was said that banks who have done well in this regard may be given incentives in order to take them to the second level of economic inclusion. Participants focussed on the need to encourage agriculture lending, SME lending and highlighted the issues of rural ware housing and food inflation etc.

Beside the Union Finance Minister Shri Mukherjee, the Minister of State for Finance, Shri Namo Narain Meena, Adviser to FM, Secretary (Economic Affairs), Secretary (Expenditure), Secretary (Financial Services), Secretary(Disinvestment), Chief Economic Advisor and Chairman, CBDT were present among others. The meeting was attended among others by Shri K.C. Chakraborty, Dy. Governor, RBI, Chairperson/CMD of various banks and Financial Institutions including Shri Prakash Bakshi from NABARD, Shri R.V. Verma from National Housing Bank, Shri Pratip Chauduri from State Bank of India, Shri D.K. Mehrotra from LIC, Ms. Chanda Kochhar from ICICI Bank, Shri K.R. Kamath from Punjab National Bank, Shri T.C.A. Ranganathan from EXIM Bank, Ms. Naina Lal Kidwai from HSBC, Shri S.K. Goel from IIFCL, Shri Sunder Rajan Raman from Canara Bank, Shri R.M. Malla from IDBI, Shri M. Narendra from Indian Overseas Bank, Shri Arun Kaul from UCO Bank, Ms. Shikha Sharma from Axis Bank, Shri Rana Kapoor from Yes Bank and Shri A.R. Sekar from New India Assurance Co. Ltd. Beside them, Shri Uday Kotak,Vice Chairman and MD, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., Shri Atul Kumar Rai, CEO,IFCI and Shri Raman Aggarwal from FIDC also attended the aforesaid meeting among others.

Launch Of Frozen Fury: Capt (hony) Bana Singh PVC, Hero of Siachen

2012-01-19T08:35:00.000-08:00

ToCommemorate our War Heroes

onthe eve of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose’s Birth Anniversary,

VivekanandaInternational Foundation

Cordially Invites You To The Launch Of

Frozen Fury: Capt (hony) Bana Singh PVC, Hero ofSiachen

                                                at

                    1700hrson Monday, January 23rd, 2012

Venue: Vivekananda International Foundation
            3 San Martin Marg, Chanakyapuri
            New Delhi - 110021

Disappeared Tibetan protester found jailed in China

2012-01-18T19:53:00.001-08:00

Disappeared Tibetan protester found jailed in China
January 18, 2012

A 42-year-old Tibetan man detained and rendered disappeared after a protest in Ngaba Town of Sichuan Province in Mar 2011 following Chinese police beating of a young Tibetan monk who had immolated himself has been found sentenced to a three-year jail term. Kalsang, also called Gonkar, of Thangwa Mai Tragyal family in Ngaba Town, was found serving his jail term at a place called Mianyang, located near the provincial capital Chengdu, RFA.org Jan 13 cited a source in Tibet as saying.

He was reported to have been initially detained at the Ngaba County detention centre, where he was severely beaten and tortured, and then rendered disappeared for nine months.

His family was reported to have learnt only in early Jan 2012 that he had been secretly tried and sentenced. His family of farmers – consisting of his parents, wife, and three children – were neither informed about his detention, trial, or sentence nor allowed to visit him in prison.

The self-immolation in Mar 2011 by a young monk named Phuntsog of Kirti Monastery in Ngaba Town and his severe beating by Chinese security forces had led to massive protests by local Tibetans, leading to deaths and arrests of of Tibetans and severe clampdown on the monastery and the local Tibetans by the Chinese authorities.

I&B Ministry web display of Citizen & Client Charter

2012-01-18T11:25:00.000-08:00

Citizen and Client Charter uploaded on I&B Ministry Website

The Ministry ofInformation & Broadcasting has uploaded Citizen/ Client’s Charter on itswebsite. The vision of the Citizen/ Client’s Charter is to create an enablingenvironment for Media and Entertainment sector, with appropriate policyframework, to help it grow at a sustainable annual growth rate of above 12 percent and, in the process, take the benefits of the emerging technologies todisseminate information on the Government’s policies, programmes and itsachievement, and facilitate value based wholesome entertainment for the peopleof India.

The Mission of the Charteris:

· To effectively disseminate informationon the policies, programmes and achievements of Government while ensuring freeflow of information to the public and safeguarding freedom of the press andmedia in general.

· To promote, facilitate and develop theBroadcasting Industry in Indiaand strengthen the Public Service Broadcaster.

· To promote and develop good and value based content for healthy entertainment ofpeople of all ages and create a policy framework for achieving this.

· Universal Digitalization forbroadcasting by 2017.

· Expansion of FM Radio network to allcities with a population of one lakh and above by2014.

· To restore, digitalize, preserve andenhance public access to the archival wealth of films, video and audioresources.

· Digital conversion of Indian Films by2017.

· Human Resource Development and settingup of the Centres if Excellence for Media andEntertainment sectors

TheCharter outlines all the major services rendered by the Ministry to the citizens alongwith the procedureand the stipulated timelines. The subject listed areas follows:

· Issue of license for providing DTH servicesto prospective licensee.

· Issue of License to Multi SystemOperators.

· Setting up teleports by TV Channels foruplinking/ downlinking.

· Issue of permission for Uplinking/ Downlinking of TV Channelsuplinked from India.

· Issue of Permission for Down linking of TV Channels uplinkedfrom Abroad.

· Setting up of Community Radio Stations(CRS) by Non-Governmental Organisations(NGO),Educational Institutes and Krishi VigyanKendras /Institutes.

· Issue of approval letter for thepublication of Indian editions of foreign magazines/ journal/ periodical /NewMagazine by an entity having foreign investment in the category of Speciality/ Technical/ Scientific.

· Issue of approval letter for thepublication of Indian editions of foreign magazines dealing with news andcurrent affairs/ newspapers by an entity having foreign investment/ facsimileedition of foreign newspaper by an entity having/not having foreign investment.

· To facilitate and encourage the MediaUnits falling under the administrative control of Ministry to discharge theirfunctions as per their individual Citizens’ Charter and to issue instructionsthereof.

· Issue of permission letter to theforeign Producers for shooting of feature films for TV/Cinema and realityshows/commercial TV serials.

TheCharter also highlights the Evaluation Criteria, Performance and ServiceStandards for each of the services identified.

Govt files caveat in SC on the age row

2012-01-18T09:37:00.000-08:00

Govt on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court with a caveat on Army Chief Gen V K Singh's petition on the age row. PM Manmohan Singh discussed the issue with Defence Minister A K Antony.

Even as it approached the apex court with the petition that it be heard before any order is passed, the government appeared to be waiting with bated breath on how the court proceeds on Gen Singh's petition that may come up for hearing on Friday.

The government took the expected step of filing a caveat in the Supreme Court requesting to be heard before passing any order on the writ petition filed by Gen Singh on Monday challenging the Defence Ministry's decision not to accept his position that he was born in 1951.

Defence Minister A K Antony and Law Minister Salman Khurshid held a meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss the pros and cons of the Army Chief's action. There was no official word on what the government's strategy would be.

However, there was speculation that Gen Singh may be asked to proceed on leave pending the apex court's view on his petition. But there was no confirmation of such a course from the Ministry of Defence.

Meanwhile, Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma, who was in Malaysia on a two-day visit, was called back on Tuesday in view of the developments that may have taken the government by surprise.

All eyes are now on the Supreme Court even as some legal experts were of the view that Gen Singh should have approached Armed Forces Tribunal for redress of his complaint that his date of birth be taken as May 10,1951 and not as May 10,1950.

The apex court will be hearing on Friday a petition filed by The Grenadiers Association, Rohtak Chapter, in support of Gen Singh.

It remains to be seen as to whether the court admits the petition filed by Gen Singh under Article 32 of the Constitution guaranteeing fundamental rights.

In his petition, the Army Chief is believed to have sought a direction to declare his date of birth as May 10,1951 and for grant of all consequential reliefs and benefits.

The petition contended that the July 21, 2011 order of the Defence Ministry had set aside an order of the Adjutant General's Branch on February 25, 2011 that recognised his date of birth as May 10, 1951.

The petition held that it was an ex parte decision of the Ministry in violation of principles of natural justice on the opinion given by the Attorney General.

Gen Singh claimed that the Defence Ministry unilaterally, on the Attorney General's advice, treated 25^th February order as null and void.

Advocate Prabhjit Jauhar, who is one of the lawyers for Singh, said the General has argued that the Law Ministry had also given a similar opinion on 14^th February 2011.

CNEB All India Amateur Golf Championship.

2012-01-17T02:30:00.000-08:00

Chikka goes for aunique hat-trick at CNEB All India Amateur Golf Championship.

Chandigarh, January 16: S Chikkarangappa will be a strongfavourite to retain his CNEB All India Amateur Championships title when the 111^thedition of the Indian Golf Union’s flagship event tees off at the ChandigarhGolf Club on January 17.

Chikka,who is leading the IGU’s Order of Merit, is going for the first hat-trick since1930, when E L Watts, completed his fourth successive win. Since then no playerhas won the All India Amateur Championships three times in a row.

TheInternational challenge will include four teams from outside India. Thestrongest will be from England, to be represented by Jack Colegate and CurtisGriffiths, who are both members of the England A Squad. Other foreign teamsinclude Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, whose players have won the title in the past.Bhutan has also sent a strong contingent.

Oneof the oldest amateur championships in the world, the All India AmateurChampionship started in 1892 and is run by the Indian Golf Union. It has a36-hole stroke play qualifying competition over the first two days from whichthe leading 32 players proceed to the match play knockout event.

ManjitSingh, President, the Indian Golf Union, said, “The All India Amateurchampionship has a rich history and it is one of the foremost amateur events inthe world. Over the years, it has produced champions who have gone to becomesome of the best professionals in the world and even won Majors like CharlSchwartzel at the Masters this year. We are confident that this event willcontinue to throw up hugely talented golfers in the coming years.”

RDSTiwana, Managing Director, SLAM G, said, “We are proud to be put in charge of aprestigious assignment like the Amateur Golf Tour and are happy to see that ourrelentless efforts to raise the bar have been appreciated by the players, IGUand the media. The Amateur golf tour is no longer just another run of the millaffair but has now attained the stature of a very coveted event in amateursports in the country as well as abroad.”

S.Chikkarangappa, Currently No. 1 on the Indian Amateur Tour Circuit, said, “I amhappy to come back to the Chandigarh Golf Club once again and hopeful to winthe All India title third time in a row. It is indeed heartening to see thevast improvement in the all round delivery of the amateur circuit in the lastone year thanks to SLAM G. I hope SLAM G remains associated with the Tour sothat the experience over the last 11 months continuous in the season to come.”

Lastyear in Bangalore, Chikka, considered one of the brightest prospects in Indiangolf, retained the title he won in 2010, beating fellow Bangalorean PritamHaridas in the final. When Chikka won the title in 2010 at 17, he was the youngestever winner of the All India Amateurs.

WithIndian amateurs showing great promise over the last 18 months, the tournamentwill bring to the fore the strength of Indian amateur golf. In 2011, Chikka,after winning the All India title in his hometown in February, also won theInter-State, Southern India and Western India titles, besides losing in thefinal of Goodricke East India. But Chikka will not have it easy and will be agiven a run for his money by the likes of Honey Baisoya, who stunned Chikka inthe final of Goodricke East India Matchplay. Baisoya was also second at theNorthern India.

AnotherBangalore lad, Khalin Joshi has also been in good form, finishing second toChikka at both Southern and Western India championships. He would be hoping tohave his revenge on the biggest stage of Indian amateur golf.

Amongthe others, who could upset the form book are Angad Cheema, who topped the RCGCCup, the experienced Manav Das, seasoned Gagan Verma and the dangerous UdayanMane, winner of the Maharashtra Open and semi-finalist at 2011 All IndiaAmateurs.

Amongthe dark horses will be Ashbeer Saini, semi-finalist at the Northern India,Sidharth Semwal, runner-up at the Maharashtra Open, and the young TrishulChinappa, also of Bangalore.

Englandlast sent a team six years ago, and before that in 2004 England’s James Smithreached the semi-finals. The only English winner of the title has been formerEngland captain Malcolm Lewis, who triumphed at Calcutta in 1981.

Thisyear, Jack Colegate, who is leading the English charge, an emerging Englishtalent on the national scene, having finished tied third in the 2010 FaldoSeries Grand Final. He was also fifth in the McEvoy Trophy.

Theother Englishman Curtis Griffiths, 18, was an England under 16 cap in 2009 andmade his debut as a boy international in last year’s European Boys TeamChampionships and also helped England win the Boys Home Internationals.

TheAll India Amateur is one of the most prestigious events in the world, with itswinners including the likes of 2011 Masters champion, South Africa’s CharlSchwartzel, who was the 2001 winner in All-India. Other leading stars, now topprofessionals on the world stage include, Frenchman Christian Cevaer (1992),India’s Jyoti Randhawa (1993), South Africa’s Richard Sterne (2000). In morerecent times, Asian Tour stars, Siddikur Rehman of Bangladesh won in 2004 andHimmat Rai was champion in 2005.

ABOUT THE ALL INDIAAMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIPS

The All India Amateur Championship was first held at the Royal Calcutta GolfClub in 1892 as a four-round stroke play championship. The first winner wasJ.F. Macnair. This was also the year in which Lord Lansdowne became the firstPatron of the RCGC Club.

Justbefore the turn of the century, in 1898, the event was changed in format tomatch play. It is now played as a stroke play for 36 days over first two daysand then the top 32 players figure in a knock out Matchplay. The final is a36-hole affair.

Inthe early years, the event was generally held in Calcutta and the RCGC andTollygunge were the hosts. After 1960, Delhi became a regular host and Bombay,as it was then called was added as another staging venue in 1964.

Morerecently the Indian Golf Union, in an endeavor to popularize the game, hastaken the championships to Bangalore, Chandigarh, Coimbatore and Pune also.Chandigarh last held the Championships in 2007.

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority Looks for Investment Opportunities in India

2012-01-16T21:29:00.001-08:00

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority Looks for Investment Opportunities in India
AIDA and Indian Government to form Joint Working Group to Finalize Projects Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) one of the World’s largest Sovereign wealth fund has expressed keen interest in investing in India. Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Managing Director of ADIA met the Minister of Commerce Industry and Textiles Shri Anand Sharma to discuss the opportunities of investment in India. Both side agreed to finalize a Joint Working Group to expedite the process. “We will be very happy to see your participation in India’s infrastructure building” said Shri Sharma. “This is an opportunity to enter this huge market” said Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Shri Sharma mentioned that India will be investing US$ 1 trillion in infrastructure over the next 5 years and huge opportunities exist which include investment along the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor. Returns on infrastructure in India are amongst the highest in the world. The DMIC projects , which are being de-risked before bidding by obtaining all necessary regulatory approvals, might appeal to ADIA for investments as such investments are likely to be profitable. Besides, the huge pent up demand for infrastructure in India makes most PPP projects viable and thus offers huge opportunities for investments.

Keeping in mind the worsening investment climate in developed nations both the leader agreed that UAE and India should engage more. Shri Sharma emphasized need to diversify the investment portfolio and proposed that 3-4 new areas must be identified for closer interaction. Minister said that Pharma, Service Sector and engineering along with agro-processing can be the potential areas. AIDA asked for more support for their explorations of opportunities in Indian market. Shri Sharma also stressed the need for UAE to encourage other members of Gulf Cooperation Council(GCC) for early holding of 3rd round of negotiations on proposed Free Trade Agreement between India and GCC to be held in New Delhi.

UAE is the topmost trading partner of India in the entire West Asia & North Africa (WANA) Region representing about 63% of India’s total trade with GCC countries 2010-11. Bilateral trade has registered an increase over 300% in the last five years. The total trade in 2010 has been US$ 60.357 billion. The exports from India have been US$ 29.456 and imports have been US$ 30.9 billion. Bilateral trade between January to November 2011 has been US $ 66.564 billion. The bilateral trade does not reflect the full potential and can be further exploited to mutual advantage of both the countries, felt the two leaders.

Mansoor Ijaz wanted more time to come to Pakistan

2012-01-16T05:03:00.000-08:00

Zardari’s role is in question in another issue-Memogate-concerning the country these days, which has brought the powerful army in the country in a face off situation with the Government led by Prime Minister Gilani.

An important sitting of the Judicial commission was slated on Monday in which the Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz was scheduled to appear on Monday.

But he failed to make his appearance citing security reasons. He sought time till 25^th January to come to Pakistan to testify before the Supreme Court appointed panel.

Shortly after the commission began its third sitting on Monday morning, Ijaz’s lawyer Akram Sheikh said his client wanted more time to come to Pakistan to appear before the panel.

Sheikh said Ijaz had been receiving threats and wanted to get insurance done for the safety of himself and his family.

The lawyer further said that Ijaz had made an appointment at the Pakistani Embassy at Berne in Switzerland on Monday to get a visa to travel to the country.

Commission asked Sheikh to clarify once and for all whether Ijaz intended to come to Pakistan. In a related development, the lawyer of Pakistan’s former envoy to the US Hussain Haqqani on Monday contended that Ijaz would not come to Pakistan and was setting all sorts of unnecessary conditions for his visit.

Haqqani was forced to resign after Ijaz made public a mysterious memo that had sought US help to stave off a feared military coup in Pakistan after the killing of Osama bin Laden in May last year.

Ijaz on Sunday announced that he would visit Pakistan to depose before the apex court to ‘tell the truth’ about the ‘secret memo’ which he claims was written on behalf of President Asif Ali Zardari.

Ijaz claims that the secret memo was written former Pakistan envoy to Pakistan envoy to the US, Hussain Haqqani on behalf of Zardari.

India, China special representatives' meet for border talks

2012-01-15T00:00:00.001-08:00

Special Representatives from India and China will meet in New Delhi tomorrow for the fifteenth round of border talks. The two countries have already concluded an agreement on political parameters and guiding principles to address the boarder issue in 2005. An external affairs ministry said in New Delhi in addition to discussions on the India-China boundary issue, they will hold discussions on a wide range of bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest in the two day deliberations. India's special representative and National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, will hold talks with China's State Councillor and special representative Dai Bingguo .They are expected to focus on evolving a framework for delineating the border on the map.The two sides are now in the second stage of boundary negotiations, which entails evolving a framework for demarcating the border. Mr. Shivshankar Menon said in New Delhi earlier this week that India and China have demonstrated an ability to deal with difficult issues and to build a cooperative partnership based on common interests. He expressed confidence that the two countries will be able to successfully face the challenges that the new geopolitics is throwing up, and would best serve their own national interests by further deepening their strategic cooperative relationship. Sending a positive signal ahead of the talks, Chinese special representative Mr. Dai told Indian officials in Bejing that both countries needed to handle issues wisely, calmly and properly to prevent them from becoming barriers. The talks were earlier scheduled to take place last year in November.

600 file nominations for 70 seats in Utt’khand

2012-01-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

600 file nominations for 70 seats in Utt’khand

Over 600 candidates have so far filed their nominations for 70 assembly seats in Uttarakhand where polling is scheduled to be held on 30th January.

The exact number of candidates who have filed nominations till expiry of deadline on Thursday evening, would be known later, Uttarakhand Chief Election Officer Radha Raturi said.

State minister Matbar Singh Kandari (BJP), former minister Nav Prabhat (Cong), and Manish Tiwari (Cong), nephew of veteran Congress leader and former Uttarakhand Chief Minister N D Tiwari were among those who filed their nomination papers on the last day on Thursday.

The scrutiny of nomination papers would be held on Friday while the last date of withdrawal of names is 16^th Jan.

Both ruling BJP and main opposition Congress have fielded their candidates on all the 70 seats in the hill state where nearly 64 lakh voters are expected to exercise their franchise. (DD-12.1)

Taiwan Ma Ying-jeou re-elected

2012-01-14T21:23:00.001-08:00

Taiwan's China-friendly president Ma Ying-jeou re-elected

Taiwan voters re-elected incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou on Saturday, endorsing his push for closer ties with Beijing and removing a potential irritant in Sino-U.S. relations as those two powers head for a year of political transition.

The election had been expected to be tight, but the Central Election Commission said the Nationalist Party's Ma Ying-jeou won about 51.6 percent of the vote versus about 45.6 percent for Tsai Ing-wen of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party.

"In the next four years, cross-strait relations will be more peaceful, with greater mutual trust and the chance of conflict will be less," Ma, 61, told thousands of his supporters, many clapping, waving red and blue Taiwan flags and cheering in the pouring rain outside the party headquarters in downtown Taipei.

There was no official comment from Beijing, but the Communist Party's official newspaper, the People's Daily, welcomed the outcome.

"This result shows that striving for peace, development and stability has become mainstream public opinion on the island of Taiwan, and this will promote the advance of cross-strait relations," said a commentary on its website (www.people.com.cn)

"In recent years, the peaceful development of cross-strait relations has brought dividends, and many members of Taiwan's public feel this deeply."

The election outcome would be a relief to China. The opposition DPP's independence-leaning stance has long angered Beijing, even though Tsai had tried to distance herself from that position in the campaign.

Analysts had said a DPP win would have put ties with China in limbo, and sharpened Beijing's differences with the United States.

Law Ministry control over the Election Commission:Khurshid

2012-01-13T10:50:00.000-08:00

Law Ministry control over the Election Commission:Khurshid

Law Ministry control over the Election Commission:KhurshidPM Manmohan Singh has assured the poll body that the govt is committed to upholding its functional autonomy guaranteed by the Constitution.Khurshid had ruffled feathers by saying in a TV interview that the Law Ministry has control over the Election Commission, prompting Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi to write to the Prime Minister on 29th December, last year.Khurshid, while making the statement, was talking in the context of Team Anna's objection to CBI being retained under government control under the Lokpal Bill when he said "every institution is under some control". This is the second time in recent days that Khurshid has drawn the EC's ire. The Commission had on Tuesday served show cause notice on the minister for promising 9 per cent sub-quota for minorities in UP while campaigning for his wife Louise in Farrukhabad on Sunday. The minister has denied having violated the Model Code of Conduct, saying the promise was made by the Congress in its manifesto released in the run-up to the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. The EC is yet to take a decision on it.

Posted Yesterday by Press Confe

We can block websites like China if steps not taken

2012-01-12T08:55:00.001-08:00

We can block websites like China if steps not taken: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court has warned social networking site Facebook India and search engine Google India that websites can be blocked like in China if they fail to devise a mechanism to check and remove objectionable material from their web pages.

"Like China, we will block all such websites," Justice Suresh Kait said on Thursday while asking counsel for Facebook and Google India to develop a mechanism to keep a check and remove offensive and objectionable material from their web pages.

Justice Kait, who did not stay the proceedings against the two websites before magistrate's court, however agreed with the plea of lawyers that they would not press for an effective hearing in the trial court on Friday.

Former Additional Solicitor General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Google India, said the postings of "obscene, objectionable and defamatory" articles and other things cannot be filtered or monitored.

"No human interference is possible, and moreover, it can't be feasible to check such incidents. Billions of people across the globe, post their articles on the website. Yes, they may be defamatory, obscene but cannot be checked," he said.

Rohatgi tried to distinguish between Google India and its US-based holding company Google Inc.

"The US-based Google Inc is the service provider and not me (Google India) and hence, we are not liable for the action of my holding company. Moreover, it is criminal case where a vicarious liability can be fastened on a company which has no role, whatsoever, in the alleged offence."

Google India, which is not a service provider, is a subsidiary of Google Inc and is a separate entity distinct from its holding US-based firm, said Rohatgi.

"Google India is a subsidiary of Google Inc and has a separate legal identity. Moreover, it is not bound by the acts or offences committed by its holding company," he said.

Even Google Inc cannot be held accountable for the acts of third parties who simply used the websites for posting or publishing "obscene or objectionable" materials, he said.

"We cannot control billion minds. Some are conservative, some are liberal and some write all the defamatory and obnoxious articles on web pages. There is a procedure for getting them removed," he said.

So far, it was nobody's case that either the complainant or the government approached the service provider seeking removal of the alleged defamatory material from websites.

Another advocate N K Kaul, appearing for Google India, said "nobody has done the homework. With great respect, neither the complainant nor the trial judge did the homework before setting the criminal law into motion."

Search engines like Google India did not host material and it simply takes a netizen to his destination, he said.

He assured the court that if the complainant provides defamatory articles to Google India, then it can use its good office in getting them removed by its holding US-based firm.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) A S Chandhiok, appearing for the Centre, objected to the plea of Google India saying the US-based Google Inc has sufficient mechanism to know that what is offending material.

Posted 48 minutes ago by Nareshkumarsagar

2012-01-11T07:55:00.000-08:00

Industrialization of Animal Agriculture Jeopardizes Food Security, says Humane Society International

NEW DELHI (January 11, 2012) —Humane Society International has released a report critical of the idea that inhumane confinement of animals in industrial production facilities somehow enhances food security. In reality, the HSI report demonstrated, the industrialization of animal agriculture does just the opposite, jeopardizing food security by degrading the environment, threatening human health, and diminishing income-earning opportunities in rural areas.

“There is strong scientific evidence of the negative impacts of these animal factories on people and animals,” said Chetana Mirle, Ph.D., director of farm animal protection for HSI. “We must do a better job of supporting small-farmer led and animal welfare-friendly agriculture, as well as implementing stronger environmental and farm animal welfare regulations.”

In India, 140 to 200 million egg-laying hens are confined to barren, wire battery cages so restrictive they cannot even spread their wings. Each bird has less living space than an A4 sheet of paper. With no opportunity to experience most natural behaviors, such as nesting, dust bathing, perching and foraging, these birds endure lives wrought with suffering. Factory farms that confine more than 50,000 birds within a single shed are increasingly common in the country.

In 2008, more than 720 million chickens were slaughtered in India for their meat. These broiler chickens also experience crowded confinement and other adverse conditions.

The HSI report, The Impact of Industrial Farm Animal Production on Food Security in the Developing World, reviews the growing body of evidence showing that industrial farm animal production fails to improve food security. Some highlights of the document are:

· Increasingly inhumane conditions for animals on farms do not benefit people. For example, the growing confinement of India’s egg laying hens in cramped battery cages has failed to significantly improve the nutritional outcomes for low-income communities.

· More humane farming practices can benefit human communities as well as animals. The report urges the government to implement progressive environmental, public health, and animal welfare regulations to minimize the negative impacts of industrial farm animal production on animals, the environment, and vulnerable human populations.

Media Contact: N.G.Jayasimha: (0)9490732614, ngjayasimha@hsi.org

India, Israel should cooperate to checkmate terror: Krishna

2012-01-11T01:00:00.000-08:00

India, Israel should cooperate to checkmate terror: Krishna

Israel is a "natural ally" of India, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said on Tuesday as he sought a strategy with the Jewish state to "checkmate" the scourge of international terrorism.

Krishna, the first Indian foreign minister to visit Israel in over a decade, met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said, international terrorism is a "problem" for both countries and emphasised on need for greater bilateral trade relations.

"India is a natural ally of Israel in all these frontiers of science. I look forward to an increased economic content to our existing areas of cooperation," he said, ahead of his breakfast meeting with Netanyahu.

Krishna said India has learnt so much from Israel, particularly in the field of agriculture and science and technological innovation.

Krishna said terrorism is a "problem" that is being commonly faced by both Israel as well as India.

"So I think we will have to workout a strategy as how we address ourselves to the scourge of international terrorism which has become a curse for the entire humanity. "I think our efforts should be to checkmate it and ultimately eradicate terror from the face of the earth," Krishna said.

Netanyahu responded by saying that he was looking forward to discussing "all areas of cooperation".

Krishna's comments came in the backdrop of increasing cooperation between Tel Aviv and New Delhi in the field of homeland security and defence. On Monday, Krishna called on Israeli President Shimon Peres who described India as the "greatest democracy on earth".

He also said Israel wants New Delhi to become a permanent member of the expanded United Nations Security Council.

Peres said Tel Aviv was following New Delhi with "great care and interest". Israel has emerged as the second biggest defence supplier to New Delhi after Russia. From a buyer-seller relationship, both India and Israel are now trying to branch out to joint research and development initiatives.

Sources said that after Mumbai attacks, India recognised Israel's expertise in Homeland Security and related sectors. Many Israeli companies are active in India providing their services to the public and private sectors.

Both the countries are in discussion on a Free Trade Agreement and Israeli Prime Minister on Tuesday said he believes that it will have a multiplier effect on the bilateral trade volume.

The bilateral trade and economic relations have progressed rapidly in recent years. From a mere USD 200 million in 1992, the bilateral trade with Israel was expected to reach USD 5 billion by last year-end. The figure does not include defence purchases.

International Conference on Science Communication for Science Temper

2012-01-10T07:44:00.000-08:00

International Conference on Science Communication for Science Temper

10-12January 2011 at NASC Complex, Near Pusa Campus, New Delhi

10 January 2012, New Delhi

The three-day International Conference on ScienceCommunication for Scientific Temper jointly organized by CSIR-NISCAIR, VigyanPrasar & NCSTC started today at NASC Complex, Pusa. The gathering was givena warm welcome by Dr Subodh Mahanty, Director, Vigyan Prasar. Presenting theStatement of Scientific Temper, Dr Gangan Prathap, Director, CSIR-NISCAIRtraced the history of Scientific temper from ancient to modern period.

Prof Bernard Schiele from the University ofQuebec, Montreal presented the keynote address. Deliberating upon “ScienceCommunication: New World, New Challenges”, he touched upon the science-societydynamic, how science was communicated in the past and what are today’schallenges. He stressed the need for participation and dialogue processes inspreading scientific temper.

Mahesh Bhatt, a renowned film producer fromBollywood, known for commitment to scientific temper, felt happy to beassociated with the forum which hopes to re-ignite the fires of the scientifictemper in the hearts of every Indian. He said that “Doubt”, which has beenlooked upon by culture as a sign of weakness, requires more courage thanconviction does, and needs more energy. The scientific temper that JawaharlalNehru crusaded for, is born from a heartbeat; and that heartbeat is doubt. A society which is not decorous enough toconcede to itself that we are billions of times more ignorant thanknowledgeable, is doomed. Even the scientific community needs to wake up andface the blunt truth that their uncritical faith in scientific knowledge hascreated many of the problems now threatening the planet; and our wholesalereliance on scientific progress is both untenable and myopic. He said that knowledge and insightsaccumulate fastest in the minds of those who hold an ‘ignorance based’ worldview. Saying no two leaves/snowflakes are the same, we need to recognize thisuniqueness of every moment in every individual, to realize the true wonder oflife. He suggested to look into the plants life where as the new leaves grow,the older ones wither away and learn how we can work with our ideas, concepts, andbeliefs in every sphere of our lives. The plant shows us what it means to beundogmatic. To put it simply, it showsus how to stay dynamic and adaptable. That is what the scientific temper is allabout.

The chief Guest Hon’ble Justice Markandey Katju, Chairman,Press Council of India and former Judge, Supreme Court of India in his inauguraladdress on the occasion of International Conference on Science communicationfor scientific temper jointly organized by CSIR-NISCAIR, VP & NCSTC saidthe purpose of doing science is to harness it for the benefit of mankind totheir lives better and happier. He believed that only science can solve acountry like India’s problems. Sighting poverty, unemployment, uncontrolledprice raise, problems of healthcare, education, housing, childrenmalnourishment, farmers’ suicides, etc he suggested that it should be our mottoto abolish these evils and make our country prosperous. He recommended the FourPeople’s Principles (following the Chinese revolutionary and President, Sun YatSen’s Three People’s Principles) Science,Democracy, Livelihood and Unity of the People to be the guiding principlesfor salvation of India’s problems.

Highlighting the ancient Indians’ scientific achievements,eg. the decimal system in mathematics, plastic surgery in medicine and townplanning (Indus Valley civilization), etc., he said that we subsequently tookto unscientific path of superstitions and empty rituals, which led to disaster.Today, we are far behind the Western countries in science, and that is the realcause of our poverty and other social evils. Inculcating scientific temperamenton a massive scale is the need of the hour. He stressed the need to change theentire mindset of our masses, who are presently engulfed in casteism, communalismand superstitions. He said India, as a country of great diversity in castes,languages, religions, ethnic groups, etc., adopts only secularism that givesequal respect to all communities.

Dr P M Bhargava, former VC, National KnowledgeCommission in his presidential remarks briefly explained the study that heconducted with 1000 people for superstitious belief for ex. What would they doif a black cat crosses their path. He said 70% of the people mostly theeducated and financially secured, opted to change their path. This is the stateof scientific temper in India. Pandit Nehru’s commitment to scientific temper wasobvious with the fact that he was the president of the Association ofscientific workers of India, an association set up by Dr. Bhargava. Possibly hewas the first PM to be a president of a union. He said understanding the basicmethods of science is scientific temper. Scientific knowledge is verifiable,repeatable and falsifiable. It keeps on changing and there is no ultimatetruth. There has to be a recommendation that the human problems can be solved onlyby scientific methods and not be invoking supernatural powers. He recollectedhis involvement with the 1980 scientific temper statement. He said that evenduring that time many scientists were not willing to sign the statement. Givingthe infamous example ‘fish swallowing’ in Hyderabad for asthmatic complaints,he was critical about people including the educated going for such occulttreatment. He felt the need for a dedicated Indian TV Science channel to dispelsuch irrational beliefs.

Sh. Gauhar Raza, the mentor of the whole event,from CSIR-NISCAIR thanked one and all who were part and parcel of the event.

Briefbackground

Science is as old as the Universe itself.Understanding ‘Science’ can be attributed to the ‘Sixth’ sense. However,communication of science lagged behind even after language developed.Collective progress takes a country selectively ahead. Science, until itreaches masses, is as good as no science. Scientifically aware society shunsignorance and thereby superstition. Dissemination of scientific information inmodes and means understandable by masses is the key. Science communication hasbeen the backbone of man’s progress since beginning. Efficient and speedy communicationof scientific information as well as its instant access have been crucial foroverall development of mankind. Inculcation of scientific knowledge to themasses, in other words “scientific temper”, has broken many cultural, socialand religious dogmas that were otherwise hindering the progress of the humancivilization. Acquisition of scientific temper is must for any society toprogress and those who failed to acquire lagged behind in time and space.

Scientific temper is an indigenous discourse richwith potential for cross cultural, gender and environmental sensitivity andladen with a continuous struggle against the ill effects of technology on onehand and extra scientific belief systems on the other. It is necessary forpeople to deal rationally with every mundane issues of the society. In India,the notion of scientific temper was well articulated by the first PrimeMinister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Disseminating science isconstitutional obligation.

Spearheading the fundamental duty of spreading ofscientific temper, Scientists, academicians, artists, filmmakers, dancers andmusicians are sharing the stage “ScienceCommunication for Scientific Temper” for three days during 10-12 January2012, at NASC Complex, Pusa, New Delhi. The occasion is the First International Conference on ScienceCommunication for Scientific Temper being organized jointly by premierScience communication and publishing institutes CSIR- National Institute ofScience Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR), Vigyan Prasar (VP)and National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC), DST,Government of India.

The first statement on scientific temper by therenowned/legendary Science Communicators Prof P N Haskar, Dr Raja Ramanna andDr P M Bhargava was revisited in October 2011 at Palampur after three decadesin the National Workshop on Scientific Temper—Science and Nation Building:Revisiting Nehruvian Agenda, organized by CSIR-NISCAIR and Vigyan Prasar (VP).This International Conference onScience Communication for Scientific Temper intends to have aconceptually clarity and develop indicators to benchmark the scientific temper.It proposes to bridge the two disciplinary domains—science communication andpublic understanding of science. It is also aimed at nucleating new groups inIndia and in countries where science communication and public understanding ofscience research is in nascent stages. About 200 delegates from 20 countriesare attending this International Conference. This gathering will provide anopportunity to share the experiences between the developing and developedworld, and to inspire young and trans-disciplinary researchers to bring theirfresh perspective and experience from other fields of research with similarconcerns.

Programmein brief

The 3-day International Conference on “ScienceCommunication for Scientific Temper” has five Plenary Sessions and fifteenParallel Sessions with about 88 lectures spread over three days from 10 January2012. All the sessions are chaired by eminent scholars and sciencecommunicators. Altogether, there are thirteen invited lectures by resourcepersons from different walks of life. Day 1 has one Plenary session and sixParallel sessions. Both, the Plenary as well as Parallel sessions have 90 minduration each. The first Plenary session is preceded by Inaugural ceremonywhere Dr Subodh Mahanti, Director, VP welcomes the invitees, delegates,President Dr P M Bhargava, former VC, National Knowledge Commission and theChief Guest Justice Markandey Katju, Chairman, Press Council of India followedby presentation of Scientific Temper Statement by Dr Gangan Prathap, Director,CSIR-NISCAIR. The keynote address will be delivered by Prof Bernard Schiele,Professor of Communications at the University of Quebec at Montreal, Canadafollowed by the well-known bollywood personality film producer, Mahesh Bhattsharing his views on the statement on Scientific Temper. Dr Bhargava will begiving Presidential remarks and the ceremony concludes with Gauhar Raza payingvote of thanks.

The first Plenary session is essentially a paneldiscussion on “History and notion of Scientific Temper” under the chairmanshipof Dr P S Ahuja, Director, CSIR-IHBT, Palampur and four panellists: Hak Soo Kimof Sogang University, south Korea, Dinesh Mohan, IIT-D, Dinesh Abrol,CSIR-NISTADS and Irfan Habib from NUEPA. The six Parallel sessions for day-1are as follows: Television and scientific temper, New electronic media andscientific temper, Radio and scientific temper, Hand on science activities,Science communication through Indian languages, and Extension activities anddevelopment of ST.

Day-2 has two plenary sessions (panel discussion)on History of Science Communication and Trends in Science Communication chairedby Dr PM Bhargava and Prof Deepak Pental, Former VC, Delhi University,respectively. The panellists are T Jayaraman (TISS), Anil Kumar (CUSAT),Mridula Mukherjee (JNU) and TV Venkateswaran (VP) for PL-2; and Cludia Aguirre(Colombia), Carmelo Polino (Argentina), Arpana Caur and PVS Kumar for PL-3.Post-lunch there are six parallel sessions viz. Science fiction: A way to buildST; Science museums and extension centres; Development communication and ST;Science movements across India; Science, superstitions and scientific temper;and Role of education in building ST.

On the concluding day i.e. day-3, we have twoPlenary sessions (PL-4 & 5), “Indicators of scientific temper” and “Globaltrends in science communication/PUS” chaired by Steve Fuller, University ofWarwick, UK, and Anuj Sinha, Former Head, NCSTC, respectively. The panellistsfor PL-4 are Fabienne Crettaz von Roten, (University of Lausanne, Switzerland),HE Wei, HU Junping and XUAN Liang, (CRISP, China), and Gauhar Raza; and thepanellists for PL-5 are Hester du Plessis, (HSRC, South Africa), LuisaMassarani (Brazil), Kristina Petkova (Bulgaria), ZHANG Huiliang and LI Zhaohui(CRISP, China). The last three parallel sessions are on Policy issues andgovernment practices, Indicators of scientific temper, and Role of education inbuilding ST.

Briefabout Organizers

CSIR-National Institute of Science Communicationand Information Resources (NISCAIR), a constituent establishment of CSIR is apremier institute in Science Communication and Publishing promoting science to diverseconstituents at all levels, using appropriate technologies. It provides formallinkages of communication among the scientific community in the form ofresearch journals in different areas of S&T, information on plant, animaland mineral wealth of the country; Science popularization; Harness ITapplications in information management with particular reference to sciencecommunication and modernizing libraries; Act as a facilitator in furtheringeconomic, social, industrial, scientific and commercial development byproviding timely access to relevant and accurate information; Develop HR inscience communication, library, documentation and information science, andS&T information management systems and services, IPR, herbarium techniques,etc. The institute also offers wide range of information products and servicesranging from production of S&T publications, translation &interpretation from foreign languages to English (scientific documents).NISCAIR also undertakes projects in its area of activities.

Vigyan Prasar (VP), established in 1989 as anautonomous organisation under Department of Science and Technology, Governmentof India, takes up large-scale science popularization tasks/activities, topromote and propagate scientific and rational outlook, to act as aresource-cum-facility centre for S&T communication. VP develops anddisseminates and market a variety of software on S & T popularization indifferent Indian languages (Audio, Video, Radio, TV, Print, Learning packages,Kits, Toys). It organizes training programmes on use and dissemination ofsoftware produced.

National Council for Science & TechnologyCommunication (NCSTC) is an Apex Organisation under the Department of Science& Technology, Government of India that endeavours to communicate Scienceand Technology, stimulate S & T temper, and coordinate and orchestrate suchefforts. Main objectives of the council are: to create excitement concerningadvances in Science & Technology, to enable informed decision-making at thegrass roots level, and to encourage intelligent debate on developmental issues.

Sarkozy,Merkel meet today

2012-01-09T09:36:00.001-08:00

Sarkozy,Merkel meet today;to take stock of Employment, growth on agenda

The French President Nicholas Sarkozy is meeting the German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin today for talks on the Euro zone debt crisis.

The two leaders will consider measures to boost economic growth and create jobs.

On the agenda today is the tax of a new euro zone treaty to enforce greater budgetary discipline for those countries using the single currency.

Tax on financial transactions will also come up for discussions between the two leaders.

Indo-Serbian duo Paes, Tipsarevic enter semis of Chennai Open

2012-01-08T01:32:00.000-08:00

The Indo-Serbian duo of third seeds Leander Paes and Janko Tipsarevic kept alive chances of a title showdown with the Indian pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna after advancing to the semifinals of the doubles event at the Aircel Chennai Open 2012.

Paes and Tipsarevic beat their Slovak-Italian opposition of Igor Zelanay and Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-4 in just 65 minutes on Thursday.

Paes said after the game that he loved playing with Tipsarevic because "he shows his love for the game every time he goes out to play."

Tipsarevic for his part said he never hesistated to ask Paes questions about things about the game he did not know.

The first set was a closely fought affair between Paes/Tipsarevic and their Slovak-Italian opposition till the third seeds broke back their opposition in the eighth game after being broken in the previous game.

The break gave Paes and Tipsarevic a 5-3 lead, which they added to in the next game and wrapped up the set on serve. Paes/Tipsarevic also broke the oppositon in game four of the first set.

The break back in game 8 was a tad fortuitous, as Tipsarevic, who netted a number of backhand returns from a forward position throughout the match, again saw his backhand let him down as he hit a backhand return long to let the opposition draw level and off the leash momentarily.

However, with the teams on deuce, Fognini hit a forehand return wide from the back of the court to gift the game to Paes/Tipsarevic.

As for Paes, he showed his wealth of experience, be it using the pace on Fognini's serves to either play deft drop shots or placing them at unexpected corners of the court.

The second set saw a more concerted effort from Fognini and Zelanay, who managed to win four games though did not break Paes/Tipsarevic.

Paes/Tipsarevic broke them in game five, however, and the Serbian served out the match in the tenth game when Zelanay hit a forehand return wide.

Paes/Tipsarevic will meet Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram in the semifinals.

10th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas function begins

2012-01-07T00:30:00.000-08:00

10th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas function begins in Jaipur today. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will formally inaugurate the event on Sunday. Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Mrs Kamla Prasad Bisesar will also present in the inaugural ceremony.

About 1,500 NRI’S from 54 countries have reached Jaipur to attend this three-day event. President Mrs Pratibha Devisingh Patil will address the valedictory session on January 9 and present the Pravasi Bhartiya Samman.

Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago will be the chief guest of this session. The official Jaipur correspondent reports that seminars on various issued will also be organized during this event.

Age bar for widows to be lowered:Ramesh

2012-01-06T21:52:00.001-08:00

Government today said that the age bar for the widows, who are beneficiaries of the central pension scheme will be lowered from the existing 40 to 18 years. At present only the widows under the age bracket of 40 to 59 years are entitled for the benefits. Delivering a keynote address here on the subject Agrarian Single Women: Distress, Access to Livelihood, Services and Justice, Union Rural Development Minister Shri Jairam Ramesh said four crore such women in the country face a bleak future as there is no sufficient help forthcoming for them. The Minister also expressed hope that the pension amount for the widows, old-aged and physically challenged persons will also be raised from the existing 200 rupees per month to 500 rupees per month as he had already taken up the matter with the Finance Minister. He said, all attempts will be made to provide more and more jobs to the single women under MGNREGA and all such people who had worked for 15 days in a year under the scheme will be entitled for availing the benefits of Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana. He informed that out of 12 crore beneficiaries of the scheme so far, 25 percent of them are women-headed households. Shri Jairam Ramesh assured the delegates that the problems of the single women will be adequately addressed in the 12th Five year plan.

Explosion in China kills 3

2012-01-05T19:48:00.000-08:00

China, three people have been killed and four others injured in an explosion in a workshop in Zhejiang Province. Local authorities today said the accident occured last evening when a reaction kettle exploded and triggered a fire in a chemical plant located in the Nanhu district of Jiaxing city.

According to fire fighters, all seven workers trapped in the workshop were rescued shortly afterward, but two died at the scene and another died after medical treatment failed. Police said an investigation on the accident is under way.

UK reassures Indian and other international students that country is safe

2012-01-05T19:46:00.001-08:00

Universities UK, the representative body of varsities in the UK, has sought to reassure Indian and other international students that the country is safe and tolerant with low levels of violence and street crime.

Expressing sadness at the killing of Indian student Anuj Bidve in Salford on December 26 in an unprovoked attack,
Professor Eric Thomas, president of Universities UK, said that such incidents were rare in the country.

He said, the British people have been appalled by this terrible event and Monday night's vigil bore witness to national and local feeling. The police are investigating the murder and they will bring the perpetrators to justice.

CIC: SC to disclose under RTI appointment procedures of Judges

2012-01-04T20:15:00.000-08:00

Central Information Commission has held that all information in the possession of the office of the Chief Justice of India is not completely exempt from the disclosure under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

The CIC said this while directing the Supreme Court to disclose communication exchange between Chief Justice of India and the Law Ministry on the question of proposed changes in appointment procedure of Judges.

Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra said in an order that the procedure of appointment of judges or any proposal for modifying that procedure should necessarily be available in the public domain so that the citizens know what is transpiring among the major stake holders.

The order came on an appeal by RTI activist Subhash Agrawal to access written communication between the CJI's office and then Union law minister Veerapa Moily on the proposal to modify the procedure for appointment of Judges.

Gujarat Kensville Challenge

2012-01-03T18:24:00.000-08:00

New Delhi, January 3:The Gujarat Kensville Challenge, which was a big success in its inauguraledition last January, is back for a second year at the Kensville Golf andCountry Club from January 26 to 29, 2012.

The KensvilleGolf and Country Club is a Jeev Milkha Singh ‘Signature’ course. India’s leading golfer for morethan a decade now, Jeev said “Such events will give Indian golf a huge boost asour professionals battle it out with the up and coming European players.”

The 2011staging of the Euros 200,000 event was the first-ever European Challenge Tourevent to be held in India, andwas won by India’sGaganjeet Bhullar, who beat off a strong challenge to take the Euros 32,000first prize.

Bhullar isset to return to defend his title and whilst this will undoubtedly be a hugedraw, just as much of interest to the local golfing enthusiasts and the widergolfing world will be the professional debut of another much-awaited name -Peter Uihlein, a 22-year-old American, who is being referred to as the nextTiger Woods and has chosen to launch his pro career at the Gujarat KensvilleChallenge.

23-year-oldBhullar, the first Indian to win a European Challenge Tour event, has won twiceon the Asian Tour, and is seen as one of India’s brightest young golf stars.“I am looking forward to defending the title and give the year a good start,”said Bhullar, who recorded early year victories in both 2010 and 2011 - he willbe hoping to start 2012 off in similar fashion.

Uihlein had aglittering amateur career, twice being voted America’s top junior player and retainingthe World’s No. 1 Amateur spot for 52 weeks from June 2010 during which time hewon the prestigious 2010 US Amateur Championship. He is hoping to follow in thefootsteps of the likes of Thomas Bjorn (1995), Henrik Stenson (2000), JohanEdfors (2003), Marc Warren (2005), David Horsey (2008) and Edoardo Molinari(2009), who won the European Challenge Tour Order of Merit and have gone on tobecome big stars on the European and World golfing stages.

“We aredelighted to be staging The Gujarat Kensville Challenge 2012, the second yearof our commitment to bring world-class golf to Indiaand Gujarat in particular. Last year’s eventwas a great success and, with Gaganjeet Bhullar winning, a great advert for thedevelopment of Indian golf at the top professional level. We are very excitedabout this year’s event with the introduction of the Qualifying Round tofurther expand opportunities for local players and the strength of the field -you can get no better testament to the event’s increasing pedigree than to havelast year’s champion return to defend his title and a prodigious talent likePeter Uihlein choose to launch his professional career at Kensville” commentedSameer Sinha, Managing Director of the KGCC and Director of The Savvy Group,the tournament’s sponsor and promoter.

The event isco-sanctioned by the European Challenge Tour and the Indian domestic Tour, theProfessional Golf Tour of India.

Egyptians vote in final round of polls

2012-01-03T07:46:00.001-08:00

Egyptians on Tuesday voted in the third and final round of the landmark elections to the lower house of Parliament in the post-Mubarak era, which have so far been dominated by Islamist parties.

Polling stations opened at 8 am local time in nine governorates of Qalubyia, North Sinai, South Sinai, the New Valley, Marsa Matrouh, Dakahlia, Minya, Qena and Gharbia.

These constituencies contain areas where a considerable mass of Christian voters reside as well as places where the norms are based on tribalism.

As many as 2,754 candidates are vying for 150 seats. The run-off elections will be held on 10^th – 11^th January.

Around 15 million voters were eligible to cast their votes to elect members of Parliament and the polling was being held under full judicial supervision.

The first two rounds of elections handed Islamists top slots, with the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood getting the first position and the ultra-conservative Salafi Nur party securing the second spot.

The first Parliamentary elections since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in a popular uprising in February kicked off on 28^th November. The second round had taken place on 14^th December.

Voters have been asked to elect 498 members of the lower house of Parliament, while 10 others will be appointed by interim military leader Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi.

The voters will again cast their ballots on 29^th January to elect the Shura Council, the upper house of Parliament.

The ruling Generals, who assumed power after Mubarak was toppled, have vowed to quit after the Presidential elections, expected in June.

Final election results are due to be announced on 13^th January.

“99th Indian Science Congress”.DRDO

2012-01-03T00:30:00.000-08:00

DRDO presents a grand exposition of its technologies and series of invited talks from its leading scientists during the ensuing “99th Indian Science Congress”.Scheduled to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister Dr. Man Mohan Singh tomorrow in Bhubaneswar at the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University. Glimpse of technological might of the Defence Research & Development Organisation-DRDO, like the tradition of earlier years, will be on display at the “Pride of India-Science Expo”, a part of the “99th ISC”, where DRDO scientists from over 30 laboratories will be present for lively interactions with the visitors, especially students. The main aim is to present the science and technologies in strategic sector for national security and the excitement of scientific challenges to the young creative minds.

The star attractions among the outdoor models are strategic and tactical missiles Agni and Prithvi, Nag, Akash, BrahMos and Astra. The indoor models will cover the entire gamut of R&D in DRDO. Prominent will be India’s own Light Combat Aircraft-Tejas; UAVs NISHANT and Lakshya, Bridging systems Sarvatra& BLT T-72; Autonomous Underwater Vehicle; Torpedoes; and Decoys. Military Communication equipment; Electronic Warfare systems, Night Vision Devices: Microwave Devices; NBC protective systems; Agro-animal technologies and “Packaged Food products” will be the other attractions.

A key ingredient of the DRDO presence will be the public lecture “Innovations in Science & Technology - A DRDO Perspective” by the noted scientist and well known expert in missile technologies Dr. Vijay Kumar Saraswat, SA to RM, Secretary, Department of Defence Research and Director General DRDO, on Wednesday, Jan 04, 2012. He will also interact with the participants of Children’s Science Congress later the day.

Dr. W Selvamurthy, Distinguished Scientist and Chief Controller (R&D), will chair a Session on NBC Defence Technologies for Armed Forces and Civilians on Thursday and deliver the Theme Lecture. DRDO has developed many products related to NBC Defence for Service use like NBC Recce Vehicle to monitor and demarcate the contaminated area and transmit the data to the command and control centres for further planning, response and management;NBC water purification system; self-contained underground field shelters to house about 30 men for four days; highly effective antigen kits; individual protective suits and respiratory management and resuscitative devices. Sixty four products/systems have been developed for early detection, personnel protection, decontamination and medical management. Most of these products are already productionised and inducted into armed forces in large quantities. All these items are in production and being used by the Services making the country self-reliant in this vital area. They also have the potential to be used in the civil sector. The session comprises four lectures by Directors of DRDO Laboratories on various aspects of NBC Technologies.

The Session II of Women’s Science Congress on Thursday will be chaired by Dr. ShashiBala Singh, Director, DIPAS, Delhi. DrChitraRajagopal, Associate Director, CFEES, Delhi and DrTessy Thomas, Project Director, Agni 4, ASL , Hyderabad will be Co-Chairs. This session will also have lectures by Ms. Nabanita R Krishnan, Director DMIST, DRDO Headquarters and Dr G Rohini Devi, Programme Director, ASL, Hyderabad.

GOPIO TO HOST TRINIDAD & TOBAGO PRIME MINISTER KAMLA PERSAD-BISSESSAR IN KOLKATA

2012-01-02T20:52:00.001-08:00

GOPIO International is hosting a special luncheon in Kolkata on January 11, 2012 for Trinidad & Tobago's Prime Minister, Hon. Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who is making a historic visit to the Kolkata Memorial on the first anniversary of its unveiling. Hon. Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the first female Prime Minister of the twin-island state will be the chief guest at Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) 2012 to be held in Jaipur on January 7-9, 2012.

The Kolkata Memorial pays tribute to those who left India as indentured Indian laborers from 1834 thru' 1920 and is inscribed with memorial plaques in Hindi and English in "recognition and remembrance of their journeys as Indian indentured laborers taken to far away lands seeking better livelihoods for themselves and their descendants".

It was inaugurated on January 11, 2011 at Kidderpore Depot along the Hoogley River in Kolkata by Hon Vayalar Ravi, Minister of India's Overseas Indian Affairs, along with now Chief Minister of West Bengal, Hon Mamta Banerjee. The unveiling was a attended by hundreds from several countries including Guyana, Trinidad, Surname, Guadeloupe, USA, Canada, UK, Netherlands, Switzerland, South Africa, Kenya, Fiji, Mauritius, Re-Union Islands, New Zealand, Australia and other many others countries where Indians and persons of Indian origin reside.

A large contingent of PIOs from the Caribbean region will be in attendance as well as many GOPIO members from local and international groups. The event will be one of the highlights of the first official state visit to India by Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar.

Attendance to the planned luncheon is by invitation only.

For details, Contact Mridul Pathak (GOPIO Int'l Life Member) at calonline@gmail.com.

Sonia Lit Lamp on 127th Foundation Day Congress

2012-01-01T02:29:00.001-08:00

This year 2011was difficult one:PM

2012-01-01T00:20:00.001-08:00

This year was difficult one-2011:PM
Dr MM Singh said, "The year that has just ended was a very difficult year for the world" and in this regard cited the economic crisis,socio economic tensions, "political upheavals in many developing
countries" and "a revolution of rising expectations fostered by the extraordinary reach of the electronic media and the connectivity provided by new social networking platforms."
These issues kept governments around the world "on their toes", he said, adding that "we in India have had our share of problems.",Talking in the context of India specifically, Singh said the economy
slowed down, inflation edged up and "concern about corruption moved to the centre stage".
Counselling against despondency, he said, "we must address the new concerns that have arisen while remaining steadfast in our commitment to put the nation on a development path which ensures rapid, inclusiveand sustainable growth".
"I want to assure you all on this New Year's day that I personally will work to provide an honest and more efficient government, a more productive, competitive and robust economy and a more equitable and
just social and political order." Singh, who was one of the architects of liberalisation initiated in
1991, said that process was aimed at freeing the citizens from the"dead weight" of bureaucracy and corruption.
"...Old forms of corruption have vanished, new forms of corruption have emerged which need to be tackled. Elimination of corruption is critical to support genuine entrepreneurship," he said, adding "It is also the demand of the ordinary citizen who encounters corruption all too often in everyday transactions with those in authority.
Posted by Nksagar at 12

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T02:27:00.000-08:00

November 4, 2011