Govt unveils Rs 3,300 cr plan for naxal districts

Saturday 27 November, 2010.



With an aim of tackling naxalism through development, the government has unveiled a special Rs 3300 crore action plan in 60 affected tribal and backward districts acrossnine states.
The Integrated Action Plan (IAP) is intended to provide immediate redressal to problemsof the people in tribal and backward districts in the sector like healthcare, drinking water, education and roads.
The IAP would be given as an additional central assistance scheme on 100 percent grant basis to be implemented in two years,Home Minister P Chidambaram said about the decision taken at the meeting of Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs heldon Thursday.
"In the current year (2010-11), a block grantof Rs 25 crore will be made available to eachof the 60 districts for which the schemes will be decided by a committee headed by the distrcit collector with district SP and district forest officer as members," Chidambaram said.
The projects would have to be completed byMarch in a "concrete" and "visible" manner, he said.
The works would be taken up by district collectors by 1st December, he said, adding the block amount of Rs 25 crore will have tobe utilised in the remaining four months of the current fiscal.
Elaborating on the action plan, he said the grant would be utilised by a committee headed by district collectors of the state to undertake doable projects like construction of link roads, Panchayat Ghar (office building) etc.
The government, he added, proposes to call a meeting of the collectors of the 60 districts shortly to apprise them about the scheme and also the urgency to complete projects within the stipulated time frame.
During the financial year 2011-12, the blockgrant will be raised to Rs 30 crore per district and it will be reviewed for implementation in the 12th Plan at a later stage.
"Construction of roads and schools and proper implementation of public distribution system will take place in all these Maoist-hit areas," Chidambaram said.
The IAP scheme will focus on improvement in governance and specific pre-conditions will need to be complied with by the states before availing of the second tranche of the proposed additional financial assistance in 2011-12 under the state component of the IAP.
However, these conditionalities will not apply to the district components of IAP, Chidambaram said.
The existing Koraput-Bolangir-Kalahandi (KBK) plan under the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) will continue as before with annoual allocation of Rs 130 crore for all eight districts in Orissa put together.
"The eight KBK districts have also been included under IAP and will get additional block grant of Rs 25 crore per district in the current year and suitable additional amountunder both state and district components ofIAP in the subsequent years," he said.
Naxals have destroyed a lotof infrastructure over the years with 362 telephone towers, many school buildings, roads and culverts being targeted in 2009 alone.
Government is also implementing an ambitious development scheme for 35 worst Naxal-affected districts in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
According to an estimate, about 40,000 sq km areas in Naxal-affected states are under the control of Maoists.
Naxal violence has claimed the lives of over 10,000 civilians and security personnel in the last five years.

India , China discuss boundary issue ahead of Wen's Delhi trip

Tuesday 30 November, 2010.


Ahead of Premier Wen Jiabao's New Delhi visit, India and China Monday explored ways to resolve the vexed boundary issue asthe Special Representatives of the two countries held the 14th round of border talks in Beijing .
The two designated officials -- National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon and Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo -- held a lengthy meeting to find ways to resolve differences over demarcation of the 4000-km-long border, especially at Aksai Chin in the Ladakh sector and Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing claims as part southern Tibet.
Menon, a specialist in Chinese affairs, is familiar with the top echelons of the leadership of this country as he had served as India 's ambassador in Beijing and was also Foreign Secretary in the past.
Menon and Dai, who are also friends, exchanged pleasantries; reminiscing their old association before settling down for the talks.
Welcoming the National Security Adviser, Dai, in his opening remarks, said "I know you are directly involved in establishing the Special Representatives (SR) mechanism" which was set up in 2003, referring to Menon's efforts as ambassador to Beijing at that time.
He also thanked the NSA for"recommending" his name as the Chinese Special Representative for the boundary talks. "But you would have never thought you will come as India 's SR for talks here," Dai said.
Applauding Menon's contribution for the betterment of Sino-India ties, Dai said "you are not only a senior Indian diplomat but also a famous expert on China .
You are also a very good friend of China . I am convinced that as an SR and NSA you willmake your unique contribution to further the relations and settlement of border issues between the two countries."
Responding to Dai's remarks, Menon said that "in India we believe in 'karma'."
Later, the two met again over a banquet hosted by Dai in honour of Menon. The two diplomats are scheduled to hold the final round of the two-day talks tuesday.
The 13th round of boundary talks was held in New Delhi in 2009 between the then NSA M K Narayanan and Dai, which ended without much progress.
India and China have been holding talks since 1980 to work out a formula to resolve the differences. The process got an impetus after the two countries agreed to establish the Special Representatives' mechanism.
In the process, the two countries also signed agreements in 1993 and 1996 to maintain peace and stability along the border areas, besides inking a political guiding principle on demarcation of the boundary in 2005.
In the past several years, some clarity has emerged in the Chinese stand on the border issue, with Beijing officially acknowledging Sikkim as part of India , which was reflected in the recently released official online map in Beijing .
Officials on both sides admits that it is a daunting task to find an acceptable formula to the boundary issue without the improvement of political and strategic relations between the two countries, overcoming the mistrust generated by China's close friendship with Pakistan.
Indian officials are hopeful that next month's visit of Wen to India -- taking placein the backdrop of a fruitful meetings between him and Prime Minister ManmohanSingh in Hanoi, candid talks between External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his counterpart Yang Jiechi in Wuhan followed by a strategic dialogue between Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun -- would help turn a new page in the bilateral ties.
India 's major expectation from Wen's visit is that Beijing would roll back its decision to issue stapled visas to residents of Jammuand Kashmir .
The Chinese policy culminated in denying visa to Chief of Indian Army's Northern Command, B S Jaswal, prompting New Delhi to put on hold all defence exchanges with China .
The Menon-Dai meeting is being regarded asthe last high-level meeting before Wen's India visit, which is expected to take place in the second week of next month.
However, much to the discomfiture of India , the Chinese Premier would be proceeding to Pakistan also to reinforce the close strategic ties between the two countries.

Sibal launches MNP from Haryana

Friday 26 November, 2010.



India on Thursday ushered in Mobile Number Portability that will allow cellphoneusers to switch operators without changingnumbers, with Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal launching the service in Haryana.
The rest of India would get to use MNP fromJanuary 20, next year.
The consumer friendly service was mooted over two years ago and was planned to be implemented by end of 2009.
However, implementation had to be deferred several times owing to reasons ranging from lack of preparedness of operators to delay in appointment of an agency to oversee MNP execution.

Nitish Kumar sworn in as Bihar CM for second consecutive term

Saturday 27 November, 2010.



Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader Nitish Kumarwas on Friday sworn in as the Chief ministerfor a second consecutive term,the oath of office administered by Governor Devanand Konwar in the presence of thousands of people?at the historic Gandhi Maidan in Patna.

Kumar, the trained engineer for whom the development mantra spun magic, has his task cut out to further change the face of Bihar riding on a massive mandate that has raised expectations.
As the 59-year-old chief minister, who took guard today for a second innings, savours the victory on the back of a personal commitment to good governance and socialist principles, the soft spoken politician remains unwavering in his mission to make Bihar one of the leading states.
Often called Chanakya for his political astuteness, Kumar blended his secularist ideology with pragmatic politics and combined the development plank with innovative social engineeering equations toget a rare four-fifth majority for his JD(U)-BJP alliance
Kumar with his trademark kurta pyjama and grey stubble has become RJD strongman Lalu Prasad's nemesis single handedly contributing to the electoral meltdown of RJD-led Secular Democratic Front for the second time in five years.
Beating the anti-incumbency factor, the JD-U leader, a socialist of Ram Manohar Lohia mould and a product of the JP movement in the seventies, has been the mascot of NDA's fight against the 15-year Lalu-Rabri rule in Bihar ending their reign in2005.
He also had a brief seven-day tryst with Chief Ministership in March 2000 when he was sworn in despite NDA lacking a majority.
For all the complex arithmetic of caste and creed that holds sway in election-time Bihar, Kumar was able to alter, if not altogether change, the discourse, hammering day after day on development and what he calls "naya Bihar." Improvement in law and order also came in handy for Nitish as he strode an impoverished state like a colossus.
Kumar worked on social engineering equations on the ground to woo the extremely backward castes, the mahadalits and in pockets of poorer muslims carefully fashioning an alliance of these groups though there was virtually no mention of caste in his campaign speeches.
A seasoned and a down to earth man of simple tastes, Kumar, the wily craftsman of modern day politics, did the delicate balancing act keeping votaries of both hardliners in his party JD-U and BJP together notwithstanding his strong views on job reservations for OBCs and dalit muslims.
Considered an able administrator, Kumar's innings in the corridors of power began with his appointment as Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Cooperatives in theNational Front government led by V P Singh in 1990.
Despite being instrumental in installation ofLalu Prasad as Chief Minister in 1990, Kumar's relations with the Yadav strongman came under strain in the years that followed, largely due to imperious styleof functioning of the RJD chief.
The two parted company and Kumar along with Fernandes and 12 other MPs quit Janata Dal and formed Samata Party in 1994and waged a sustained political battle against Lalu-Rabri rule.

India , Syria launches joint business council

Sunday 28 November, 2010.


India and Syria on Sunday launched a Joint Business Council to double the bilateral economic and trade volumes with visiting President Pratibha Patil saying that at current levels they were "far below potential".
A Memorandum of Understanding for setting up the India Syria Business Council was signed in the presence of the Indian head of state at a meeting of businessmen from both the countries.
From Indian side, it was signed by V R S Natrajan, who is the Co-chair of India-Syria Business Council and who is leading the business delegation from India . From the Syrian side, it was initially by Ali Khwanda, co-chair of the Council.
"We should renew our focus on bilateral economic and commercial ties, which at current levels is far below potential", the President said, recalling that the Bilateral Joint Commission that met in June this year, identified ways of strengthening ties including doubling bilateral trade levels in the next 2 to 3 years.
"We should now take it forward", she said, apparently referring to the current trade level at a mere USD 500 million. In fact, the refrain of Patil as also her Syrian counterpart Basher al-Assad during the visit was that India and Syria should take their historic ties to a new level, leveraging their growing importance in the world to each other's advantage, particularly in the economic sphere.
President Assad has already stressed that the volume of trade exchange was not commensurate either with the historical and political ties between the two countries, nor with "the capabilities of our two countries" and the position they enjoyed "in terms of geographical location or the regional blocs" to which they belonged to and allowed them "access to vast and promising markets for the flow of trade."
Speaking on the occasion, Syrian Minister for Economy and Trade Lamia Mari Assi called for "big involvement" by Indian companies in the infrastructure projects in Syria, which requires USD 115 billion of investments in the current five year plan forprojects in various fields.
The Indian investment could be in the form of direct investment, joint ventures or on Build-operate-transfer basis.
She said that Syria is taking steps to integrate in the world economy by carrying out reforms and has already entered into free trade agreements with Iran and Turkey and is in the process of finalsing them with Russia , Belarus and Kazakhstan as also Ukraine .
Natrajan said that India has become a "one stop shop" for all kinds of industrial and technological knowhow as also investment. Noting that time is essence in success in business, he regretted that the decision making process in Syria was a "bit delayed......protracted".
On Saturday, the two Presidents discussed cooperation in a range of fields from agriculture, health, oil, mineral resources, phosphates, electricity, transport, telecommunications, technology and highereducation, while examining the possibility of "building a real strategic partnership in areas like software, textiles, pharmaceuticals and food industry, using advanced Indian technology."
" India has also offered USD 100 million Lineof Credit to be used in Syria in sectors to be mutually agreed on, this is the Third Line of Credit.aEt
The President said India is likely to register 8.5 per cent growth in the current year, which should offer plenty of opportunities for the Syrian business community. She saidthat Indian companies are already involved in the development programme of Syria .
OVL is engaged in exploring for and production of oil; BHEL is putting up a power plant; and Apollo International is extending assistance in the modernisation of the Steel Rolling Mill in Hama .
"MECON is close to completing a feasibility report on utilisation of phosphatic resources of Syria . This, I am hopeful, would lead to greater Indian interest in thissector", she said. Earlier in the day, Patil visited AAMAL, a voluntary organisation run by First Lady of Syria Asma Al-Assad for helping the disabled.
At the banquet hosted in her honour by President Assad, Patil said " West Asia is of vital importance to us. We enjoy cultural and commercial links with countries in this region. We share the perception that the conflict in West Asia is essentially political in nature, and cannot be resolved by force."
She said that India supports a negotiated solution resulting in a sovereign, independent, viable and united State of Palestine, living within secure and recognised borders, side by side at peace with Israel , as endorsed in the Quartet Roadmap and UNSC Resolutions 1397 and 1515.
"We have supported the Arab Peace Plan, which calls for withdrawal of Israel to pre-1967 borders, along with the recognition of Israel , and the establishmentof the State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital."
"We remain hopeful that the talks and negotiations would lead to a comprehensive peace process for the final resolution of the Middle East conflict," the president said.
She also appreciated the consistent support expressed by Syria for India 's permanent membership of the UN Security C

Nallari Kiran?Reddy takes oath as new Andhra?CM

Thursday 25 November, 2010.



Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy, a YSR loyalist, was?on Thursday sworn-in as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, capping hectic political developments that saw the exit of K Rosaiahfrom the post.
Governor E S L Narasimhan administered theoath of office and secrecy only to 50-year-old Kiran Kumar Reddy, hitherto Speaker, who was chosen late Wednesday night as the leader of Congress Legislature Party in place of Rosaiah.
The 77-year-old Congress veteran had made a surprise exit from the post on Wednesday in the midst of rebellion by YSR's son Jaganmohan Reddy. Jagan's media outlets had launched attacks on Sonia Gandhi and the party that had raised the hackles of the high command.
The move is also being seen as Congress' political management ahead of the submission of the Srikrishna panel report on the issue of Telangana by 31st December.
Union Ministers and party observers M Veerappa Moily, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Rosaiah and a host of Congress leaders, MLAs and MLCs attended the brief swearing-in ceremony in the Darbar Hall of Raj Bhavan.
With Kiran Kumar Reddy, a four-time MLA, alone taking, the Council of Ministers is expected to be reconstituted after he holds consultations with the Congress high command, party sources said.
The new Chief Minister is expected to leave for New Delhi later in the day to call on AICC president Sonia Gandhi, who chose him for the job after being authorised by the CLP. Hewould also meet other top leaders of the AICC in New Delhi, party sources said.
Earlier in the day, former ministers, MPs, MLAs, MLCs and several Congress leaders metKiran Kumar at his Banjara Hills residence and congratulated him.
State Chief Secretary S V Prasad and DirectorGeneral of Police K Aravinda Rao led the bureaucrats in greeting the new Chief Minister.
Rosaiah, the stop-gap Chief Minister who took over in the aftermath of YSR's death in September last year, had resigned citing personal reasons.
Kiran Reddy, who hails from Rayalaseema region, was elected from Pileru constituency in Chittoor district.
Son of late Congress leader Amarnatha Reddy, who was the political guru of TDP chief Naidu, Reddy graduated from the Nizam College in Hyderabad and later studied law. Amarnatha Reddy was considered close to the late Indira Gandhi and P V Narasimha Rao.
An avid cricketer during his college days and a batchmate of former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin, Reddy has represented Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy. He went on to captain Osmania University's cricket team.
Kiran was first elected to the state assemblyfrom Vayalpadu constituency in Chittoor district in 1989 but the lost the election in 1994.
In 1999 and 2004, he was elected successively from the same constituency. Hehad to shift to Pileru constituency in 2009 because of delimitation.
Though he aspired to become a Minister in YSR's cabinet in 2009, he could not be accommodated because of political equations in Chittoor district and hence he was made Speaker of the Assembly.
After K Rosaiah became the Chief Minister inSeptember 2009, Kiran had again aspired tobecome the minister but the cabinet expansion never took place.

Joseph Abraham fetches gold in 400m men's hurdles

Thursday 25 November, 2010.



Joseph Abraham clocked a season's best of 49.96sec to clinch the gold medal for India in the men's 400m hurdles event of the Asian Games in Guangzhou on Thursday.
The 29-year-old Indian's effort was, however, still short of the national record of49.51sec as he set during the 2007 World Championships in Osaka .
The silver went to Saudi Arabia 's Bandar Yahya Sharahili, who clocked 50.29sec. Japan 's Naohiro Kawakita settled for the bronze medal with a timing of 50.37sec.
Earlier, Ashwini Chidananda bagged the gold in the women's 400m hurdles event.

Nuclear-capable Agni I missile test-fired successfully

Thursday 25 November, 2010.



India's nuclear capable Agni-I strategic ballistic missile, which has a striking range of 700 kms, was successfully test-fired by the Army during a user trial from the Integrated Test Range at Wheeler Island off Orissa coast on Thursday.
"The trial of Agni-I was smooth and the test flight was fully successful," ITR Director S P Dash told.
The indigenously developed surface-to-surface single-stage missile, powered by solid propellants, was test fired from a rail mobile launcher around 1010 hours from launch pad-4 of ITR, 100 km off Orissa coast,defence sources said, adding "all parameterswere met during the trial."
User of the missile - the Strategic Force Command (SFC) of the Indian Army - as part of their training exercise, executed the entire launch operation with the logistic support provided by the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) at the ITR, said a DRDO official.
The missile has a highly specialised navigation system which ensures it reaches the target with a high degree of accuracy, he said.
The entire trajectory of the missile was tracked by sophisticated radars and electro-optic telemetry stations located along the sea coast and two ships positioned near theimpact point in the downrange area.
Weighing 12 tonnes, the 15-metre-long Agni-1, which can carry payloads up to 1000kg, has already been inducted into the Indian Army.

Somdev enters history books with first singles gold at Asiad

Tuesday 23 November, 2010.

Somdev enters history books with first singles gold at Asiad


Somdev Devvarman on Tuesday created history by becoming the first Indian to win a gold medal in the men's singles tennis event of the Asian Games after outplaying top seed and world number 44 Denis Istomin 6-1 6-2 in the lop-sided summit clash in Guangzhou.
With this win, Somdev won his second goldfrom the tennis competition, and seventh for India , having already captured yellow metal in the men's doubles with Sanam Singh.
No Indian player had played in the gold-medal match in the men's singles before Somdev, world number 106, and the country had three bronze medals to show sofar at the Games.
Leander Paes ( Hiroshima in 1994), Mahesh Bhupathi ( Bangkok in 1998) and Prahlad Srinath ( Bangkok in 1998) had won those three bronze medals in men's singles.
In total, Somdev won three medals at this edition of the Games as he had earlier won abronze in team event as well.
India rounded off its tennis campaign with five medals, two more than what the country had got at the Doha Asian Games in 2006.
At Doha , Leander Paes had won two gold medals -- in men's doubles with Mahesh Bhupathi and in mixed doubles with Sania Mirza.
Sania had won a sliver in the women's singles.
The final match between Somdev and Istomin never rose to expected heights as the Uzbek was erratic and failed to curb his unforced errors, which helped Somdev's cause.
The Indian broke the Uzbek twice in the opening set to take a comfortable 5-0 and served it out in the seventh game, having dropped his own in the sixth.
The second set was no different as Somdev again rode on double break after initial resistance from Istomin to seal the gold medal.

Resolution introduced in US Congress backs India 's UNSC bid

Tuesday 23 November, 2010.

Resolution introduced in US Congress backs India 's UNSC bid

Lauding India's commitment to global peace and development of the South Asian region, a resolution introduced in the US House of Representatives has appealed to the United Nations to take necessary steps to make New Delhi a permanent member of the Security Council.
The resolution by Congressman Gus Bilirakisgives the sense of the House of Representatives that the UN should forthwith take the procedural actions necessary to amend Article 23 of the Charterof the United Nations to establish India as apermanent member of the UN Security Council.
The resolution, which has been sent to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs for necessary action, noted that India is the largest democratic country in the world in which all political views are freely expressedand respected.
India is the world's second most populous country, with over one billion citizens residing within its borders and is one of thelargest contributors of troops to UN-mandated peacekeeping missions, it said.
The resolution also said that India has demonstrated a strong commitment to global peace and promotion of the peaceful development of the South Asian region.
"... it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the United Nations should forthwith take the procedural actions necessary to amend Article 23 of theCharter of the United Nations to establish India as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council," it said.

IFFI kicks off in Goa ; to showcase 300 films

Tuesday 23 November, 2010.

Veteran Bollywood director Yash Chopra inaugurated the 41st edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Panaji, Goa on Monday.


Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee and actor Ajay Devgn were the chief guests at the ceremony.
The film extravaganza was kicked off with ascreening of the hit British film "West is West" and will go on to showcase 300 films from 61 countries.
The inaugural was attended by other Bollywood biggies including Subhash Ghai and Rajkumar Hirani.
The "3 Idiots" director Hirani, actor Manoj Bajpai and actress Divya Dutta were felicitated at the event.
Chief Minister Digambar Kamat said that Goa has become one of the prime entertainment destinations with films like"Golmaal 3" and "Guzaarish" being shot there.
He said his government was working towards making shooting in the state easy for filmmakers and to encourage directors to showcase the local art and culture in their films.
This year at IFFI, films from Canada , US and other European countries are vying for the top awards as opposed to earlier when the competition section was open only to films from Asia , Africa and Latin America .

KAPIL SIBAL ASSUMES CHARGE OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

KAPIL SIBAL ASSUMES CHARGE OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Shri Kapil Sibal has assumed charge of the Minister of Communications & Information Technology in addition to his current charge of the Ministry of Human Resource Development and Ministries of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences.
Shri Sibal visited Sanchar Bhawan today and met the Secretaries of Deptt. of Telecommunications, Deptt. of InformationTechnology and Deptt. of Posts and other senior officers of the Ministry and held discussions with them on various issues relating to the Ministry.

Chinese supercomputer named world'sfastest

Monday 15 November, 2010.



China has overtaken US in the global supercomputing race as it has been confirmed as the creator of the world's fastest supercomputer, according to a latestsurvey.
The Tianhe-1A, which means meaning Milky Way is capable of 2.67 quadrillions of computing operations per second, earning it the number one spot in the Top 500 list ofthe world's most powerful supercomputers released on Sunday.
Tianhe-1A was followed by the US-made Cray XT5 "Jaguar" system at the Departmentof Energy's Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility in Tennessee , which hadheld the top spot earlier.
The Jaguar performs at 1.75 quadrillions persecond, 92 per cent slower than the Tianhe-1A, running Linpack, the benchmark used toofficially determine the speed of supercomputers.
China also occupied the third place with Nebulae, which is installed in the National Supercomputing Center in Shenzhen.
Jack Dongarra, a member of the US National Academy of Engineering and supervisor of the TOP500 list, told the official Xinhua news agency, "It's more of a sign that China is serious in pursuing high performance computing to aid the growth of science, engineering and economic competitiveness."
"The long-term implication for the US is that China is seriously interested in high performance computing, and is developing and deploying computing resources," said Dongarra, who lead research at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Among the world's most powerful 100, China holds five positions, while out of the 500 list, China-made systems occupy at least 40 slots.
Tianhe-1A, is estimated to have cost 600 million yuan (USD 90.4 million) and was developed by the Changsha-based National University of Defence Technology.
It employs 14,336 Intel Xeon X5670 central processing units (CPU) and 7,168 NVidia Tesla M2050 graphic processing units (GPU),as well as more than 2,000 home-grown Feiteng CPUs.
Zhang Yunquan, a lead computing scientist at the Chinese Academy of Science, told Xinhua, "The international supercomputing competition is extremely fierce and it's verydifficult for China to hold the top position for more than one year."
(SP-15/11)

Oberoi bagged '2010 Corporate Hotelier of the World' award

Oberoi Group Chairman P R S Oberoi was awarded the '2010 Corporate Hotelier of theWorld' award by HOTELS magazine in New York on Monday.

In its 29th year, the annual 'Hotelier of the World' award winner is selected on the basis of votes cast by readers of the magazine in more than 150 countries.
The cover story of the November edition of HOTELS magazine refers to Oberoi as "the founder father of modern luxury hospitality in India " and credits him with growing the company "into one of the world's most prestigious luxury hotel groups".
Oberoi is credited with placing Oberoi hotels on international luxury travelers' map with the opening of several new luxuryhotels in the Mauritius , Indonesia and Egypt , besides important tourist destinations in India , such as Jaipur, Agra , Udaipur , Ranthambhore and Mashobra in the Himalayas .
Recently, The Oberoi Vanyavilas hotel at Ranthambhore was ranked the best hotel in the world in Travel + Leisure magazine's 2010 World's Best Awards readers' poll.

Indira Gandhi 9th most powerful woman of the century

Saturday 20 November, 2010.



Indira Gandhi, world's longest serving woman Prime Minister, has been ranked by the Time magazine as the 9th most powerful woman of the past century, a list that also includes Mother Teresa.
The list of '25 Most Powerful Women of the Past Century' is topped by Jane Addams, an outspoken advocate for women's suffrage, who was the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is ranked sixth on the list.
Besides Gandhi and Mother Teresa, who is ranked 22nd, no other woman from the sub-continent figures in the Time magazine list released on Saturday.
"She was the nation's daughter, brought up under the close watch of both her father Jawaharlal Nehru, who was India 's first Prime Minister after decades of British rule, and her country," the Time magazine said.
When Gandhi was elected Prime Minister in 1966, a TIME cover line had read, 'Troubled India in a Woman's Hands'.
"Those steady hands went on to steer India,not without controversy, for much of the next two decades through recession, famine, the detonation of the nation's first atomic bomb, a corruption scandal and a civil war in neighbouring Pakistan that, under her guidance, led to the creation of a new state, Bangladesh," the Time said.
She served three consecutive terms from 1966 to 1977 and was in the middle of her fourth term from 1980 when she was assassinated in 1984.
By the time she was assassinated, Gandhi was the world's longest-serving woman Prime Minister, a distinction she holds to this day, the magazine said.
The list of 25 also includes Marie Curie, Madonna, Golda Meir, Angela Merkel, EleanorRoosevelt, Margaret Thatcher, Oprah Winfrey and Virginia Woolf.
On Mother Teresa, the magazine said "Born Agnes Bojaxhiu to Albanian parents living under the Ottoman Empire, the petite nun made her way to India in 1929, building her start-up missionary community of 13 members in Kolkata into a global network of more than 4,000 sisters running orphanages and AIDS hospices".
"Sometimes criticised for lacking adequate medical training, not addressing poverty ona grander scale, actively opposing birth control and abortion and even cozying up todictators, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize nonetheless inspired countless volunteers to serve, and will wear her whitehabit all the way to Catholic sainthood," it said. (NZ-20/11)

Mukesh Ambani receives Global Vision Award

Thursday 18 November, 2010.



Billionaire businessman and Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani has received the Global Vision Award instituted by the Asia Society for helping to promote understanding between Asians and Americans.
Speaking at the award function in New York on Tuesday, Ambani said that India has come a long way from being a third world county in the 1980s to become the world's third most important economy.
"In the 1980s, India was viewed as a third world country and today India is the third most important economy in the world. Thathas been truly a fantastic journey," Ambani, who is one of the richest people in the world, said.
India has the foundation for growth, Ambani said, adding, "I think in the 21st century we are going to be fastest growing economy. That is the story of India , which Iam very fortunate to be part of".
General Electric's chairman and chief executive officer Jeffrey Immelt received theGlobal Leadership Award. (RBY-17/11)

India, Canada to launch negotiations for free-trade pact

Friday 12 November, 2010.



India and Canada on Friday announced that they will formally launch negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper met in Seol and decided to take their ties to a new level.
Meeting on the sidelines of the fifth G-20 Summit in Seol, Dr. Singh and Harper also discussed the entire gamut of bilateral ties, which have seen a significant development in the past couple of years.
"The free trade agreement would be of enormous benefit for both the countries, particularly for the Indo-Canadian business community," Harper said after the meeting.
Describing the decision to launch negotiations for the pact as a "key milestone" in bilateral relationship, Harper said it demonstrates the increasing cooperation between the two countries.
"It is a historic step. We look forward to working hard and coming to successful and conclusive negotiations as soon as possible," he said.
Dr. Singh said the two countries have taken "momentous decisions" to bring themselves close to each other to widen and deepen bilateral relationship especially after Harper's visit to India in 2009 and his trip to Canada in June this year.
"The landmark agreement on cooperation in civil nuclear energy is one indication of the sea change in the relationship between the two countries," Prime Minister Dr. Singh said.
Bilateral trade between the two countries totalled 4.2-billion dollars, with Canada primarily exporting vegetables, fertilisers,machinery and wood pulp.
The main imports from India are organic chemicals, knit and woven apparel, precious stones and metals, electronics and machinery.
India has free-trade agreements with ASEAN and other groupings.

China ready for consultation with India over UNSC reform

Tuesday 09 November, 2010.

China ready for consultation with India over UNSC reform

Sounding positive to US President Barack Obama's endorsement of India's bid for permanent seat in the UNSC, China on Tuesday said it understands New Delhi's"aspirations" to play a bigger role in the UN and is ready for consultations with it over reform of the world body.
"China values India's status in the international affairs and understands India's aspirations to play a greater role in the United Nations and is ready to keep contact and consultations with India and other member states on the issues of Security Council reform," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Hong Lei said during a media briefing.
"China supports reasonable and necessary reform of the UN Security Council and will maintain priority to giving more representation to developing countries at UNSC so that they can play bigger role in Security Council," Hong said.
He said China wants democratic and patientconsultations over the issue.
"We hope all parties should continue to have democratic and patient consultations so as to reach a package of consensus on reform related issues so that negations will become a process to narrow differences, safeguard unity and realise a win-win scenario," he said.
Asked about Obama's assertion that US would also support India's membership for Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG), Missile Technology Control Regime, the Australian Group and the Wassenaar Arrangement, Hong said all countries should respect their international obligation of non-proliferation.
"China believes that countries under the precondition of respecting the internationalobligation of non proliferation have the right to make peaceful use of nuclear energyand conduct international cooperation in this field. Meanwhile it should safeguard theintegrity and effectiveness of the international non proliferation regime," he said.
"We hope that cooperation between relevant countries could contribute to regional peace stability and development."
The issue of India's permanent membershipto the UNSC has always figured high in the talks between Indian and Chinese leaders.
The issue was raised during President Pratibha Patil's visit to Beijing this year as well as External Affairs Minister S M Krishna's visit earlier.
"China understands India's aspirations at the UN" was the standard phrase it came up with during the talks sounding cautious and ambivalent on the complex UNSC reform process.
China has also voted for India's candidature to the non-permanent seat at the UNSC.
Obama's endorsement of India's membership leaves only China to take a stand on the issue as the other four of the five permanent members -US, Russia, Britain and France have already conveyed their support for New Delhi's elevation to the top organ of the world body.
Meanwhile, Chinese media which closely followed Obama's three day visit to India, today reported his announcement endorsing India for the permanent membership to the UNSC prominently.
Reporting on Obama's speech to the Indian Parliament, Chinese state television, CCTV, said Obama's "opinion" on New Delhi's permanent membership to the UNSC doesn'tmean that India would join the five permanent security members "anytime soon".
The US is supporting India's bid only in the context of unspecified reforms to the Council.
"India is seeking permanent membership inrecognition to the surging economy and increase influence in world affairs," it said adding that India, Japan, Germany and Brazil initially proposed the idea of having more permanent seats to UNSC.
The television report also featured "angry reaction" from Pakistan, China's close ally opposing US support for India's permanent members of the UNSC.
More importantly, a columnist in the ruling communist party mouth piece, People's Daily online said "much to the delight of Indians and hailed by the Indian media, Obama reportedly alluded to what is called the "emphatic endorsement" for a permanent seat for India in the Security Council, even if he essentially handed the Indians "a check that cannot be easily cashed".
"Even so, it is too early to conclude Obama would satisfy the India's expectations better and more concretely than, say, the previous Bush administration".
It is absurd to say Obama's whirlwind tour to India is a proof that the US strategic focus has been shifted from Beijing to Delhi.(ST-09/11)

US joins India to set up global N-Centre in Haryana

Tuesday 09 November, 2010.

US joins India to set up global N-Centre in Haryana

The US on Monday joined hands with India to set up a Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership for research and development of secure and proliferation resistant reactor systems.
India had announced at the Nuclear Security Summit in April in Washington to set up the Centre as part of its efforts to promote non-proliferation.
A Memorandum of Understanding for coooperation in building the Centre was signed by Srikumar Banerjee, Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy and Timothy Roemer, the US Ambassador to India , on the sidelines of the talks President Barack Obama held with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi.
"The Centre will facilitate deliberation and discussions of international experts on various issues including innovation in nuclear reactors and the nuclear fuel cycle, development of proliferation-resistant reactors, security technologies and the effects of radiation exposure," Banerjee told?media in New Delhi.
He said the Centre would also host short-term training courses for international nuclear experts in the field of nuclear security.
"As countries having advanced nuclear technology, both India and the US would like to promote cooperation on initiatives aimed at strengthening global nuclear security and addressing threats of nuclear terrorism, and cooperating in programmes for capacity building of interested states," said a media note on the subject.
It will consist of four schools dealing with Advanced Nuclear Energy System Studies, Nuclear Security, Radiation Safety and application of Radioisotopes and Radiation Technology in areas of healthcare, agriculture and food.
The Centre, which is expected to come up at Bahadurgarh in Haryana, is visualised to be a state-of-the-art facility based on international participation from IAEA and other interested foreign partners.
It will conduct research and development ofdesign systems that are intrinsically safe, secure, proliferation resistant and sustainable.
The objective of the School of Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems Studies would be topursue design studies and analysis of advanced nuclear energy systems with features to achieve intrinsically enhanced safety, security, proliferation resistance and sustainability.
The programme modules will encompass reactor systems and applications, fuel cycle studies, accelerator driven systems, risk assessment studies, emergency planning and management and sustainability parameters assessment. (HS-08/11)

Chinese President Hu Jintao during a press conference. He is ranked No.1 in the Forbes 'world's most powerful people' in the world.

Gandhi, Tata in Forbes' most powerful people list

Gandhi, Tata in Forbes' most powerful people list
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata are among the five Indians named among the most powerful people in the world by Forbes in its this year's list of 68 people "who matter".
India's business tycoons Reliance IndustriesChairman Mukesh Ambani and steel giant ArcelorMittal Chairman Lakshmi Mittal also make this year's list.
China's President Hu Jintao has topped the 2010 Forbes list of the 'World's Most Powerful People'.
For the top spot, Jintao pipped US PresidentBarack Obama, who comes in at second place.
Of the 6.8 billion people on the planet, Forbes' list comprises "the 68 who matter.
The heads of state, major religious figures, entrepreneurs and outlaws on the second annual list were chosen "because, in variousways, they bend the world to their will.
Gandhi debuts on the 9th spot in this year's list of the world's most powerful people.
Incidentally, she was not featured in Forbes'recent list of the world's most powerful women.
Recently elected to record fourth term as head of India's ruling Congress Party, 63-year old Gandhi has cemented her"status as true heiress to the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty."
Forbes said despite her Italian birth, foreignreligion (Roman Catholic) and political reluctance, "Gandhi wields unequaled influence over 1.2 billion Indians.
Dr. Manmohan Singh, "universally praised asIndia's best prime minister since Nehru," is ranked 18th on the list.
He has moved up in the list from last year's 36th position.
With the World Bank forecasting India's GDP to surge 7.6 percent in 2010 and another eight per cent in 2011 - not far behind its 9 percent forecast for China - Forbes said this is clearly the case of "slow and steady will win the race."
Mukesh Ambani, who has a networth of USD29 billion, comes in on the 34th spot.
His ranking too improved from last year, when he was ranked 44th.
The 53-year old "business maharaja" is Asia's richest person, who certainly likes to live like a king, Forbes said.
His one billion dollar 27-floor high-rise in Mumbai is the world's most expensive private residence.
His petrochemicals conglomerate Reliance Industries is India's most valuable private sector company with a market cap of USD 80 billion.
It accounts for nearly 5 percent of India's GDP and 15 percent of exports.
Occupying the 44th spot is Lakshmi Mittal, chairman of the world's largest steel company ArcelorMittal.
The 60-year old steel magnate has a networth of 28. 7 billion dollars.
Mittal moved up 11 notches in this year's ranking from his 55th spot last year.
London's wealthiest resident, Mittal is sponsoring London's 2012 Olympic games, paying for most of a 400-foot twisting steel tower to be named ArcelorMittal Orbit at thecity's Olympic Park and helping groom Indian athletes through his foundation for the Olympics and other championship events.
His company has operations in 60 countries and produces 73 million tons of steel, 8 percent of world's output.
Tata dropped two notches from last year and comes in at the 61st position in the Forbes 2010 list of the world's most powerful people.
Calling the 72-year old Tata Sons head as"India's best brand ambassador," Forbes said Tata made "automotive history" last year with his 'People's Car' - the 2,200 dollars Tata Nano, the world's cheapest auto.
"In nation of a billion, environmentalists call it eco-disaster. After Nano debuted in 2008, India's passenger car sales rose most in three years in 2009; three Tata competitors now working on Nano copycats," Forbes said .

Indian-American creates history, wins S Carolina governorship .

Wednesday 03 November, 2010.

Indian-American creates history, wins S Carolina governorship .

Indian-American Nikki Haley created historyWednesday by becoming the first woman governor of South Carolina , with her Republican party trouncing the Democratic party of US President Barack Obama in the nationwide mid-term elections.
Born of Sikh parents who migrated from Punjab , Haley created history by becoming the first woman to occupy the governor's mansion of South Carolina .
She is only the second India-American to be a Governor of a US State after Bobby Jindal of Louisiana ; and also the first Indian-American woman governor.
According to the unofficial results Haley got 52 per cent as against her Democratic rival Vincent Sheehan who polled 46 per cent.
The much expected victory did not come before giving some anxious moment to Haley and her campaign.
For some portion of the counting of votes, Haley was trailing behind, and then was running neck to neck with Sheehan before she took handsome lead. However, the news so far is not good for the rest of the other major Indian-American candidates running for the US House of Representatives, as all of them were trailingbehind when reports last came in.
A record number of six Indian Americans were in the fray. Five of them are DemocratsManan Trivedi from Pennsylvania , Ami Bera from California , Raj Goyle from Kansas , RaviSangisetty from Louisiana and Surya Yalamanchili from Ohio .
Ashvin Lad from Illinois is the only Republican Indian American in fray. In Pennsylvania , Trivedi, a Iraq war veteran, was initially ahead of his Republican rival Jim Gerlach but the latter took the lead lateron.
While Trivedi had received 58,911 votes, Gerlach had received 76,197 of the total votes counted so far. If elected Trivedi would be only the third Indian American to enter the House of Representatives after Dalip Singh Saund and Bobby Piyush Jindal.
In Kansas , Indian American Raj Goyle, appeared to be defeated by his Republican rival Mike Pompe. In the 4th House District of Kansas, Pompe had received 59 per cent of the total votes counted when reports last came, while Goyle had got just 36 per cent of the total votes counted.
In Louisiana 's Third Congressional District Ravi Sangisetty had almost lost the elections, with his Republican rivals Jeffy Landry taking an inaccessible lead.
In California , Bera was trailing behind with more than half of the votes counted. Bera had received 44 per cent of the total votes polled, while his Republican rival Dan Lungren hag 49 percent of the total votes polled.
Sangisetty, a lawyer by profession, who pitched himself as a "pro-life, pro-gun conservative Democrat" had received just 36 per cent of the total votes counted. Landry had received 64 per cent of the 87 per cent of the total votes counted, when reports last came in.
Same was the case in Ohio with Surya Yalamanchill a former Apprentice contestantwas trailing behind Republican Jean Schmidt by more than 79,149 votes.
While Yalamanchill, polled 62,336 votes of the total votes counted, Schmidt has received 134,361 votes when reports last came in.
Republicans are poised to retake control of the House, riding a wave of voter discontentwith the direction of the country and the economy as well as unhappiness the White House and congressional Democrats to claim the 39 seats they needed, according to projections by the three cable networks.
Meanwhile the CNN and other news networks projected that Republicans were all set to get the majority in the US House ofRepresentatives. "Republicans rode a wave of voter dissatisfaction with the state of theeconomy to win majority control of the House of Representatives, while Democrats were poised to retain their majority in the Senate in Tuesday's midterm elections," CNN said.
CNN projected that Republicans would win at least 50 more House seats than they currently hold to wipe out the Democratic majority of the past four years
The power shift means House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, portrayed as somewhat of a political bogeyman by GOP candidates throughout the campaign, will lose her postand likely be succeeded by Minority Leader John Boehner.

Indian-American researcher wins top innovation award

Wednesday 03 November, 2010.

Indian-American researcher wins top innovation award

Indian-American researcher Amit Goyal has been named the '2010 Innovator of the Year' by leading technology publication R&DMagazine, whose awards are touted as the 'Oscars of Innovation.'
An IIT Kharagpur alumnus, Goyal is a researcher at the US Department of Energy'sOak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee .
Widely regarded as an international leader in the field of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) materials, Goyal is known for his contributions to the practical use of HTS and development and fabricationof wires that allow these superconductors to be adopted in the marketplace.
Terming the award as a "tremendous honour," Goyal said the recognition"represents an implicit responsibility of continuing to strive towards full commercialisation of the innovations I havebeen involved with."
Goyal will receive his award at the 48th Annual R&D 100 Awards on 11th November in Florida .
Goyal has also developed flexible, single-crystal-like, semiconductor substrates for electronic device applications such as solar cells, which have led to the formation of thestartup TexMat.
His technical contributions have been in thefield of large-area, low-cost, high performance flexible electronic devices, including superconductor-based and semiconductor-based devices.
In the last three years, he has received threeR&D 100 Awards related to fabrication of HTS wires.
He has published more than 300 papers, hasmore than 5,000 citations and holds 54 patents.
A recent Thompson-Reuters's Essential Science Indicators analysis of citations and papers published worldwide in the last decade in the field of high-temperature superconductivity ranks him as the most cited author worldwide.
Goyal joined ORNL as a postdoctoral fellow in 1991 after completing his doctorate at the University of Rochester .
He earned a bachelor's degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and received executive business training from Purdue University and the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Rousseff elected Brazil’s first woman president

Dilma Rousseff is an economist and once trained as a guerrilla fighter during Brazil’s military dictatorship


Ruling-party candidate Dilma Rousseff won Sunday’s presidential runoff in Brazil, becoming the country’s first-ever woman president, according to official results.

With virtually all the votes counted, Ms. Rousseff had over 56 per cent of the valid ballots, compared to 44 per cent of her rival, social democrat Jose Serra, who conceded defeat late Sunday.

Her election means a continuation of the policies of popular President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who nominated his one-time chief of staff as the candidate of his Workers’ Party (PT) and supported her until the relatively unknown politician became Brazilians’ pick for president.

“The task of succeeding him is difficult and challenging. But I’ll know how to honour his legacy. I’ll know how to consolidate his work and build upon it,” an almost tearful Ms. Rousseff said of her mentor in her first address as president-elect, before an auditorium filled with PT officials.

After final confirmation of the results, Ms. Rousseff, 62, will be inaugurated on January 1 at the helm of the world’s eighth-largest economy, with a four-year mandate and a majority in both houses of Congress.

She lacks Lula’s charisma, as was apparent when she read her first speech after the election. In her 15-minute talk, however, Ms. Rousseff highlighted her historic position as Brazil’s first female president.

“I would really like the fathers and mothers of girls to look today into their eyes and tell them, ‘Yes, women can’!” she said.

Ms. Rousseff said her most “fundamental commitment” would be the eradication of poverty and the creation of opportunities for all. She emphasized economic development, the fight against “the protectionism of rich countries,” and he need to put an end to financial speculation which increases “the volatility of capital and currencies.” Ms. Rousseff already comfortably won the first round of the presidential election on October 3 with 47 per cent of the votes, but fell short of the more-than-50-per-cent requirement to avoid a runoff.

The hugely popular Lula, 65, was barred from serving more than two consecutive terms, and he threw his weight behind Rousseff, who is an economist and once trained as a guerrilla fighter during Brazil’s military dictatorship.

Quick and smooth polling

Close to 136 million people had been registered to vote in the runoff, with a 21-per-cent abstention rate - higher than normal due to a long holiday weekend that ends with All Soul’s Day Tuesday.

Voting is compulsory for Brazilian adults.

Polling stations opened at 1000 GMT and closed nine hours later in most of the country, with some Amazonian states voting until 2100 GMT because they are in a different time zone.

Electronic voting was in place, and the count was very quick.

According to a report by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), the election was relatively calm across Brazil.

There were 390 election-related incidents and 232 arrests for illegal campaigning. In the first round of voting, there were close to 1,000 incidents, with a total of almost 400 arrests.

Confident of its candidate’s chances, the PT had set up in advance a large stage in Brasilia for a party that started soon after the first election results were made public. At least 50,000 people are expected to attend, the PT said.

Lula remains behind the scenes

The election winner reportedly planned a week’s holiday to recover from the long campaign, then would join Mr. Lula on a visit to Mozambique and to the Group of 20 summit November 11-12 in South Korea. Lula will be saying goodbye to the international community, and introduce his successor.

“I have no doubt that she will carry out a great government for this country,” Mr. Lula said of his favoured candidate after casting his ballot in his home city, the industrial Sao Bernardo do Campo, near Sao Paulo.

Mr. Lula, who carries an 80 per cent popularity rating, insisted that he would not be directly involved in Ms. Rousseff’s government.

“Dilma will need to build a government that has her face,” he stressed.

For the same reason, Mr. Lula declined to address the public Sunday, or to be at Ms. Rousseff’s party in Brasilia.

“He thinks it’s her party,” said Mr. Lula’s advisor Gilberto Carvalho.

Still, analysts widely considered the election result a great triumph for Mr. Lula, although he was not a candidate. It was the first time since the end of the military dictatorship in 1985 that Mr. Lula was not a presidential candidate.

“The joy I feel for my victory mixes with the emotion of his departure,” Ms. Rousseff said.