India named world’s largest arms importer

According to the report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, India accounted for 9 per cent of all international arms imports in the period from 2006 to 2010, and it is expected to keep the top spot for the foreseeable future.

Climate meet reaches 'compromise' deal to fight global warming

The UN climate conference in Cancun on
Saturday reached a "compromise" to set up a USD 100 billion 'Green Fund' to fight global warming, a decision India described as an "important step forward", but there was no agreement on extending the landmark Kyoto Protocol on emissions cuts beyond 2012.

ISRO to launch new satellite GSAT-5 on December 20

BANGALORE: Indian Space Research Organisation has decided to launch its new communication satellite GSAT-5 Prime fromthe spaceport of Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh at around 4 pm on December 20.
Sources in the Bangalore-headquartered space agency said that the mission readiness review in Sriharikota yesterday, chaired by ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan,gave the go-ahead for the mission.
"The satellite is slated to be moved to the launch-pad tomorrow", an ISRO official said.
The 2400-kg satellite, equipped with 24 normal C-band and 12 Extended C-band transponders, would be launched by home-made Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F06) powered by Russian cryogenic engine.
The exclusive C-band GSAT-5P has a designed mission life of 12 years.

Impetus to Indo-French ties, N-plant to come up in Maha

Tuesday 07 December, 2010.

Impetus to Indo-French ties, N-plant to
come up in Maha

Injecting a new impetus to their strategic ties, India and France on Monday signed seven agreements, including one for settingup of a nuclear plant in Maharashtra, the first such pact after the end of New Delhi 's isolation in the nuclear field.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and French President Nicolas Sarkozy also decided to work for doubling bilateral trade to 12 billion Euros by 2012, much of which is expected to be propelled by enhanced cooperation in the fields of civil nuclear energy and civil aviation.

Saina wins Hong Kong Open Super Series

Sunday 12 December, 2010.

Saina wins Hong Kong Open Super Series

Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal rallied to register a scintilliating three-game victory over Shixian Wang of China to clinch her third Super Series title of the year at the Hong Kong Open in Wanchai on Sunday.

Indian girl crowned Miss Earth Talent 2010

Monday 06 December, 2010.

Indian girl crowned Miss Earth Talent 2010

India's Nicole Faria has been crowned Miss Earth Talent 2010 after beating 17 other contestants at a talent competition in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam on Saturday.


Faria, a 20-year-old girl from Bangalore , won the title at the talent show with a scintillating belly dance that combines Oriental and Middle Eastern style.
"We are ecstatic and overjoyed although weexpected it," Faria's father Ian said in Bangalore .
The event raised 100 million Vietnamese Dong, which will be transferred to the local Red Cross to support flood victims in the central region of Vietnam .
Vietnam 's representative Luu Thi Diem Huong was voted among top five contestants with her performance of folk dances that are inspired by traditional dances in the northern, central and southernregion of the country.

PM returns home after Belgium, Germany visit

Sunday 12 December, 2010.

PM returns home after Belgium, Germany
visit

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Sunday returned home after a 3-day visit to Belgium and Germany during which he attended the EU-India Summit and met Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Singh was in Brussels in Belgium on Thursday and Friday to attend 11th annual summit of India and the European Union during which the two sides pressed Pakistan to "expeditiously" bring the perpetrators, authors and accomplices of Mumbai terror attacks to justice.
The two sides also agreed to give each other"real additional" market in services in the proposed FTA and retain flexibility for Indian pharmaceuticals to export off-patent drugs as provided in a WTO agreement.
In Germany , Dr. Singh met Merkel and said that both sides discussed the possibility of entering into bilateral cooperation in civil nuclear energy. If this crystalises, Germany will follow the US , France and some other countries for civil nuclear cooperation with India .
Dr. Singh said India deeply valued Germany 's consistent support in the 45-member Nuclear SuppliersGroup for the opening of international commerce for New Delhi in the field of civil nuclear energy.

534 cadets pass out of IMA, MP boy gets sword of honour

As many as 534 cadets passed out from the prestigious Indian Military Academy today following the ceremonious Passing Out Parade reviewed by Army ChiefGeneral V K Singh .

A total of 518 cadets became officers of the Indian Army, while 12 others joined paramilitary force Assam Rifles. Four cadetswho passed out today are from neighbouring country Bhutan.
The maximum number of officers passing out this time was from Uttar Pradesh at 102 followed by Uttarakhand with 58 and Haryana with 47.
Earlier, Gen Singh inspected a guard of honour by the cadets as army helicopters showered petals from the sky following which the pipping ceremony was held.
It was a proud moment for Gajender Kumawat, who received the coveted Sword of Honour for being the best all-round cadet. Kumawat, hailing from Madhya Pradesh, is the first person in his family to join the Indian Army.
Jaidev Dangi was awarded the gold medal for standing first in the order of merit in the regular course.
Starting from its first batch of 40 cadets, the IMA has so far trained a total of 50,475 officers for the Indian Army.

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.