India gets it right with 7 in one go

Proving its reliability once again, Isro's workhorse rocket PSLV hoisted the 960-kg Oceansat-2 and six smaller satellites into space with textbook precision on Wednesday.

The ocean-scanning satellite will help fishermen save lakhs of rupees each year and provide data for better weather forecasting.

The 44.4 metre 230-tonne PSLV C-14 rose into the clear sky at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Shar, Sriharikota, 90 km from Nellore, at 11.51 am.

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France for India in United Nations Security Council

The US may have done the heavy-lifting to get India out from the nuclear cold but the ground for it was laid almost a decade ago by France.

The former French President, Mr Jacques Chirac, was not in favour of imposing US-led sanctions against India following the 1998 nuclear tests. Instead, he advocated a special status for India in the nuclear arena without having to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Decades earlier, the French nuclear establishment sent a note acknowledging India’s technological prowess after the peaceful nuclear test in 1974. A few years later France stepped in to fill the breach after the US stopped supplying nuclear fuel for the Tarapur reactors.

“No country has shown greater understanding towards India than France has,” a source said, as Paris rolls out the red carpet for the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh’s, visit as chief guest for the French National Day on July 14.

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India deserves foreign varsities: Sibal

The union HRD minister, Mr Kapil Sibal, informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday that the government would enter into joint ventures with foreign universities soon.

He added that the draft bill enabling this was being sent by the ministry to the cabinet for its approval.

“There is nothing wrong if foreign universities operate in the country,” he said, “India deserves the best.”

Mr Sibal said that the government would also set up more IITs and IIMs across the country. “India should also build the best,” he said.

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Centre on monsoon flu alert

Six more per sons tested positive for the A-H1N1 swine flu virus in different parts of the country on Sunday, the largest number in a single day. The total number of confirmed infections in India now stands at 23.

Three of these were in Hyderabad, two in Bengaluru and one — a schoolboy from Jalandhar just returned with a school group from the US — in New Delhi.

The Union health ministry held a high-level review meeting with officials of the National Disaster Management Authority and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases to ensure the disease does not spread with the monsoon looming.

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Airborne Warning and Control System in India on May 20

The Indian Air Force will receive its first Phalcon Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) from Israel on May 20, Chief of Air Staff Fali Homi Major said on Thursday.

The AWACS would provide the IAF means to track incoming missiles and look deep inside neighbouring countries without violating any air space.

“Lots of things are happening and there are more things to be done which my successors will continue,” Major, who retires on May 31 after 42 years of service, said here on the sidelines of a farewell function organised by the Eastern Air ComAir Command here.

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Ash beats Khans, Hrithik

The Slumdog Millionaire may be the toast of the season with its bouquet of Oscar nominations, but Aishwarya Rai has emerged as the most bankable star from India in Hollywood and has been ranked even more valuable than the “Khans of Bollywood” in a new Forbes list.

Rai is among half a dozen Bollywood actors on the list of “Hollywood’s Most Valuable Actors”, compiled by the American publication known for its rankings of the world’s richest persons. Other Indians on the list include Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Irrfan Khan and Hrithik Roshan.

Although at 387th position in the global list of as many as 1,411 actors from across the world, Rai is ranked highest among all the Indian actors and is the only female actor from the country having made to this elite club.

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India finds link in Kasab gene

DNA samples drawn from Ajmal Kasab, the only terrorist captured alive, have matched with imprints on a life jacket found on MV Kuber, the fishing trawler that brought the 26/11 gunmen to Mumbai.

“The sweat analysis from a life jacket found on the Kuber matched with the DNA samples of Kasab,” a top forensic official said. Kasab and nine others boarded the Gujarat-based fishing vessel in international waters sailed to within a few nautical miles off Mumbai.

DNA analysis of another five terrorists involved in the carnage is being conducted in the Kalina Forensic Science Laboratory.

In another development, the National Security Adviser, Mr M.K. Narayanan was contradicted for a second time in three days on Thursday by the home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, who said that India had not received any response on the dossier given to Pakistan on the Mumbai attacks.

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Obama: United States is best for India

The US President, Mr Barack Obama, said Indians “should know that they have no better friend and partner than the people of the US”.

“Our nations have built broad and vibrant partnerships in every field of human endeavor,” he said, sending “the warmest greetings of the American people to the people of India” on the occasion of India’s Republic Day.

“It is our shared values that form the bedrock of a robust relationship across peoples and governments,” Mr Obama said.

“Those values and ideals provide the strength that enables us to meet any challenge, particularly from those who use violence to try to undermine our free and open societies.” He also wished the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, a quick recovery after the heart surgery.

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China, United Nations helped Laskhar-e-Tayyaba front

Even as India and the West try to get the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the frontal organisation of the Pakistan-based terror outfit Laskhar-e-Tayyaba banned, it has emerged that China had thrice in the past blocked efforts at the UN Security Council to proscribe the organisation.

With India putting in a formal request for declaring JuD as a terrorist outfit for its involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks, all eyes are now on Beijing’s decision on the matter.

The sanctions committee of the Council had circulated a note to its members that the US, backed by Britain and France, had twice tried to add JuD chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed to the list of individuals and organisations connected to terrorism last May, but the move was blocked by China. A similar attempt directed against the organisation in April 2006 was also blocked by China.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that the JuD was helped by the UN in gaining a foothold in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir following the 2005 earthquake.

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India says Pakistan steps are just not enough

The pressure brought to bear upon it by the international community in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai might be beginning to tell on Pakistan, but New Delhi has made it known that token detentions of a handful of terrorists was simply not enough.

Adopting an aggressive stance, the government and Indian intelligence agencies have suggested to Pakistan that it take more concrete action.

Cosmetic action such as the reported detention of Jaish-e-Mohammed founder Maulana Masood Azhar was not adequate, the sources said. They also said that Islamabad must come clean on its support to terrorists, and demonstrate its sincerity by handing over fugitives wanted by New Delhi for various terrorist attacks in India.

The Indian intelligence agencies have made it clear that Pakistan needs to hand over 20 terrorists in order to complete the investigation of various terrorist attacks in India.

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India is top priority, says Obama

A stronger relationship with India and a close strategic partnership will be a “top priority” of the Barack Obama administration, says the Democratic presidential candidate.

“The US should be working with India on a range of critical issues, from preventing terrorism to promoting peace and stability in Asia,” Mr Obama said in an exclusive interview with IANS.

“Mr Joe Biden and I will make building a stronger relationship, including a close strategic partnership, with India a top priority.”

On his agenda for working with New Delhi, he said: “I also believe India is a natural strategic partner for America in the 21st century and that the US should be working with India on a range of critical issues from preventing terrorism to promoting peace and stability in Asia.”

Mr Obama elaborated on a wide range of issues, from comprehensive immigration reforms and making globalisation and trade work for American workers, to seeking the active participation of the Indian American community in the process of change that he has advocated.

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India becomes nuclear market

India and France on Tuesday sealed a landmark agreement on civil nuclear cooperation that covers supply of reactors and atomic fuel. The step brings India back into the nuclear mainstream after 34 years of isolation.

The agreement will form the basis of wide-ranging bilateral cooperation from basic and applied research to full civil nuclear cooperation, including reactors, nuclear fuel supply, nuclear safety, radiation and environment protection and nuclear fuel cycle management. The agreement was initialed following bilateral talks between the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the French President, Mr Nicolas Sarkozy. The pact comes nearly three weeks after India won a crucial NSG waiver.

Squaring his shoulders, Dr Singh said: “We have added a new dimension to our strategic partnership by signing an inter-governmental agreement on civil nuclear cooperation.” France is the first country to sign a nuclear agreement after the NSG waiver. “I conveyed to President Sarkozy our gratitude for France’s consistent support to our civil nuclear initiative,” Dr Singh said.

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US Congress gets 123 deal

US President George W. Bush has commended the 123 Agreement to the US Congress for its approval.

The White House said in a statement it was transmitting the text of the agreement and other relevant documents to legislators “to ensure passage on the agreement this year.” Mr Bush has also invited Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the White House on September 25. “The President looks forward to welcoming Prime Minister Singh to the White House on September 25 to strengthen the strategic partnership and to build upon our progress in other areas of cooperation, such as agriculture, education, trade and defence,” White House press secretary Ms Dana Perino said in Washington.

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Capital starts race to clear deal

Washington is scrambling to get the India US nuclear deal past the Congress despite dissenting voices from some Democrats who hope to deprive US President George W. Bush of a major foreign policy triumph.

US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday that time was running short but she will have conversations with House International Affairs Committee chairman Howard Berman and Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Joseph Biden on Monday or Tuesday. The US Congress meets Monday.

The first thing “is that we still have a little more to do on the determinations for the Hyde Act, and we will try to complete that,” Ms Rice said in Algiers.

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Unites States plans nuclear rewrite to build Nuclear Suppliers Gconsensus

The draft of the India-specific waiver is likely to undergo further changes to make the language more acceptable to the NSG and to enable a consensus.

“The US has pledged to revise the draft and serious attempts are being made,” a diplomat said on the sidelines of its plenary in Vienna on Thursday.

US under secretary of state William Burns indicated the possibility of tweaking the language when he said some countries had raised “important questions that need to be addressed”.

The discussions, he said, were “constructive... and clearly aimed at reaching an early consensus.” New Delhi emphasised it cannot go “beyond” its commitment to Parliament, and said it would walk out of the deal if not satisfied.

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United States: No deal if India tests

In a major embarrassment for the Manmohan Singh government, a US state department letter to a Congressman, written in January but made public only now, made it clear the United States will terminate all nuclear cooperation, including fuel supply, if India conducts a nuclear test.

The letter reinforces the supremacy of America’s Hyde Act over its 123 Agreement with India, and says the “fuel supply assurances” were “not legally binding” but simply a commitment by President George W. Bush. These assurances, the Washington Post quoted the state department letter as saying, would not “insulate India against the consequences of a nuclear test or a violation of non-proliferation commitments.”

This disclosure comes on the eve of the NSG’s crucial Vienna meeting Thursday. It negates some of the Prime Minister’s statements within Parliament and outside: that the nuclear deal does not in any way affect India’s right to test and that the deal would ensure uninterrupted supply of fuel.

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Bindra Shoots Gold: Just One In A Billion

Abhinav Bindra won India’s first-ever individual Olympic gold medal when he claimed the men’s 10m air rifle shooting title in Beijing Monday.

Bindra, 25, a businessman from Chandigarh, followed his world championship title two years ago to finally win a landmark gold medal for India.

Speaking to this newspaper from Beijing, Bindra said, “Life cannot get better than this. I’m thrilled about winning the gold... It’s very difficult to describe how I feel because the winning moment is yet to sink in. I guess it was my day today.” Dedicating his victory to family and fellow Indians, Bindra said: “I know my country was yearning for this medal a very long time. After missing a medal at Athens by a whisker, I knew I had to win here.”

On his performance: “After having qualified fourth for the final, I knew I had to go all out... My start wasn’t impressive, but things started looking up soon.” In his moment of glory, Bindra added: “This is just the beginning... I want to win more Olympic medals.

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Central Intelligence Agency: Inter Service Intelligence has ties with militant

The CIA has confronted Pakistan with new evidence about ties between the country’s spy service with some militant groups responsible for rising violence in Afghanistan, possibly including suicide bombing at the Indian Embassy in Kabul earlier this month.

A top official of CIA has secretly travelled to Islamabad this month and confronted Pakistan’s senior officials with new information about deepening ties between the ISI and the militants operating in tribal areas, the New York Times reported quoting American military and intelligence officials.

The secret visit of CIA’s deputy director Stephen R. Kappes, to Pakistan on July 12, along with Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, was described by several American military and intelligence officials in interviews to the daily, They made it clear that they welcomed the decision by the CIA to take a harder line toward the ISI’s dealings with militant groups.

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Bush is all praise for Prime Minister: ‘I respect India’

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, battling climate change at the G-8 in Japan and back home, told US President George W.Bush in a meeting early on Wednesday morning that their relationship had evolved into a “genuine strategic partnership” while Mr Bush said they “talked about the India-US nuclear deal, and how important it is for our respective countries.”

“And I am very pleased with the state of our relationship, which has truly acquired the characteristic of a genuine strategic partnership,” Dr Singh told Mr Bush at the 50-minute meeting a day after the Left finalised its decision to withdraw support to the UPA government at the Centre. He also told Mr Bush that there had been progress in all areas, including “nuclear cooperation, space coordination” and “defence cooperation”.

The meeting at Toyako stood out for the bonhomie between two leaders struggling to leave behind a legacy that will last beyond their terms. President Bush described the meeting with the Prime Minister, which lasted some what longer than scheduled, as “a typical conversation between friends” and time and again employed the word “respect” to outline his feelings about American engagement of India. It is this cordiality that may become a sharper weapon in the hands of the Left parties, which oppose the nuclear deal with the US.

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4 Indians die in blast at embassy in Kabul

four Indians killed in what was the deadliest suicide bombing in Kabul ever and the first major attack on an Indian diplomatic mission overseas were expected to be airlifted here late on Monday night.

An IAF aircraft, which ferried a team of foreign ministry officials, to the Afghan capital earlier in the day, was flying home with the bodies of India’s defence attache Brig. Ravi Datt Mehta, diplomat V.Venkateswara Rao and two Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel Ajai Pathaniya and Roop Singh.

At around 8.15 am on Monday, a man rammed an explosives-laden car into a vehicle that would have dropped Brig. Mehta and Rao safely inside the compound. The two officials and their driver, an Afghan named Niamatullah, died instantly.

The blast claimed at least 40 lives, mostly civilians waiting for Indian visas, and injured close to 140 others.

For a people to whom suicide attacks are not uncommon, Monday’s attack was unlike any they had seen or heard of. The blast could be heard for miles. The Indian Army on Monday reacted with shock to the killing of India’s defence attaché in Afghanistan, Brig. Ravi Datt Mehta, in a bomb blast on Monday. Officially, the Army stated that Brig.

Mehta “was martyred in a dastardly act of terrorism”.

Brig. Mehta is the most senior officer of the Indian Army to be killed by terrorists in recent times.

Army sources said it was a distinct possibility that the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI along with the Taliban had planned the attack on the Indian defence attaché to instil fear with the purpose of curtailing India’s influence in Afghanistan.

Brig. Mehta was commissioned into the Army in 1976 in the Intelligence Corps and is survived by his wife and two children. One of his children is an Indian Air Force officer of the rank of Flight Lieutenant. His wife and children are currently in Afghanistan on a visit. Brig. Mehta had assumed the office of Indian defence attaché in Afghanistan in February this year.

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Reliance Industries Limited gas to cost $25 a barrel

India’s dependence on imported energy will come down by the end of this year as Reliance Industries starts producing natural gas from its KG-D6 block.

In times of high energy costs, the price of $4.2 per million British thermal units (mmbtu) will be music to the ears of consumers. This roughly translates to an equivalent price of $25.2 per barrel of crude oil, Mr Mukesh Ambani told shareholders here on Thursday, a fraction of the international price of crude oil, which is at $135 per barrel.

Till a few years ago, natural gas was far cheaper than crude because of plentiful supply and the fact that it could only be sold where there was a pipeline network. However, the recent years have seen natural gas prices rising in tandem with oil.

Currently, the spot market price of liquefied natural gas (LNG) is close to $1920/mmbtu, which is equivalent to $120 per barrel of crude oil.

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GMR gets high rise jolt

GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL) has received a setback with the Union civil aviation ministry making it clear that the power of issuing no objection certificates for high-rise buildings in the vicinity of the new airport at Shamshabad would rest with the Airports Authority of India.

GHIAL and AAI were at loggerheads on who should issue NOCs and to clear the ambiguity, the municipal administration and urban development department sought a clarification from the ministry, sources said.

In a recent communication to the state, the ministry said all the applications for NOCs should be routed through the AAI officials concerned. Accordingly, the government instructed the Hyderabad Airport Development Authority (Hada) and the director of town and country planning.

Meanwhile, the NOC affair took a new turn with the Airport Authority of India not accepting applications from the builders. Several builders rushed to Maud complaining against the standoff between GHIAL and AAI, forcing the principal secretary, Mr S.P. Singh, to convene a meeting on Tuesday to resolve the issue. Official sources told this correspondent that the meeting, however, could not take place as the AAI representatives did not attend.

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Rahul says he’s busy, can’t join torch relay

The Congress MP, Mr Rahul Gandhi, is learnt to have declined the Indian Olympic Association’s invitation on Wednesday to carry the Olympic torch on the India leg of its global relay on April 17. Sources within the Congress Party said, however, that Mr Gandhi was yet to receive a formal invitation from the IOA.

The sources said that Mr Gandhi was not likely to participate in the Olympic torch relay in New Delhi as he wanted to focus on his work as party general secretary. Mr Gandhi had earlier declined a berth in the Union council of ministers in the recent reshuffle citing the same reason.

Indian soccer captain Baichung Bhutia had earlier refused to run in the torch relay. The former ace policewoman, Ms Kiran Bedi, has also refused to take part in the run on the grounds that the stifling security measures put in place would kill the “spirit of freedom” that should pervade the event.

The IOA president, Mr Suresh Kalmadi, who is now in Beijing, said that besides Mr Rahul Gandhi he had also invited young parliamentarians such as Mr Jyotiraditya Scindia, Mr Jitin Prasada and Mr Sachin Pilot to participate in the Olympic torch relay

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European Union to offer Indian techies Blue Cards

The Indian emigration dream could acquire a new colour if the European Union succeeds in introducing "Blue Cards" to attract highly-skilled workers.

The new visa regime, similar to the American "Green Card", would allow high-skill workers with at least three years of experience and a recognised university degree to work in an EU member state.

The European Commission introduced the proposal in October 2007. It will now be negotiated with the member states in the Council of Ministers, and the European Parliament will be consulted.

The proposal needs unanimous approval by all 27 member states of the EU. To be adopted, the member states have to reach an agreement in the council and Parliament has to deliver an opinion. Also, the member states will need to harmonise their national laws during a two-year period. The


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India puts in space Israeli spy satellite

Israel on Monday used an Indian space vehicle to place its radar imaging satellite TecSar, which some have interpreted as a spy satellite, into a predetermined orbit from the launch pad at the SHAR centre in Sriharikota, about 80 km north of Chennai.

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C10, with its precious 300-kg payload, lifted off from the first launch pad at SHAR at 9.15 am and placed TecSar, a "synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology satellite", 1,185 seconds later in the intended orbit with a perigee (nearest point to earth) of 450 km and apogee (farthest point from earth) of 580 km with an orbital inclination of 41 degrees with respect to the equator.

[Israeli defence officials were quoted by AP in a report from Jerusalem as saying that Tel Aviv's spy satellite will be able to track goings-on in Iranian territory even at night and in cloudy...

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Article taken from the issue: 22 Jan 2008

Bishan Bedi calls Bhajji a ‘chucker'

Former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi, no stranger to controversy, may have stirred the pot once again when pointing a finger at Harbhajan Singh's bowling action. In Australia to play charity cricket, Mr Bedi was quite uncharitable about two leading off-spinners of world cricket today (Harbhajan and Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan) when he spoke to a Melbourne newspaper. Speaking to the Sunday Age, Mr Bedi said: "He (Harbhajan) is not any different (from..

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Article taken from the issue: 3 Dec, 2007