NSG Meeting Ever since its initiation Indo_US N-deal has always remained under threat. Despite stiff objection of the opposition, Indian government, somehow. succeeded to approach the NSG .But future of the deal has once again become uncertain because Nuclear Suppliers Group has failed to come to the consensus on the deal after a two day meeting held in Vienna. Indian delegation of Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, Prime Minister’s special envoy Shyam Saran and senior officials of Department of Atomic Energy had held a special briefing for the members of the NSG group and had told them about the Indian stand and commitment towards non-proliferation and other related fears. Conditions But Indo-US n-deal suffered a setback as India and US has expected some amendments but they were suggested more conditions by some of the countries that had earlier promised to support the draft. More than 25 amendments have been suggested by around a dozen countries. Some of amendments are so harsh that Indian can never accept them. US had to face more objections as participants had said that they understand India’s needs. One of objection was related to the testing of any kind of nuclear weapon. According to it some members have demanded the cessation of nuclear cooperation with India if it conducts another test. But Indian has already expressed its views of not accepting such kind of discriminatory term. India’s Stand 45 nuclear suppliers nations group has decided to meet again on September 4-5 in which closely negotiated waiver document will be discussed. It is being expected that it will look very different as compared to the earlier document. Meanwhile India has said that it will not accept any prescriptive condition as for as the exemption from the NSG group is concerned to operationalize the Indo-US nuclear deal. Meanwhile Secretary Shivshankar Menon has flown to Washington. It is being expected that he will work will the US official to narrow down the difference and come out with some amendments in the document that will be acceptable to the NSG nations and will also not compromise the Indian interests.
Archive for August, 2008
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Tata Threatens To Pull Out The Nano Project From Singur
August 30th, 2008 
krishna Problems Tata’s dream of making cheapest car of the world has always remained in controversies ever since its conversion into reality. First it took more than expected time to design and make the model of the car. Second it costs more than the promised rate. But real problems started for the manufacturer when it took land on lease from the West Bengal government to establish the manufacturing unit for the production of the cheapest car(Nano) of the world. Agitations State government had acquired almost 1000 acres of the land from the farmers of Singur. But since then farmers were agitating against the state government. They were demanding their land to be given back to them. State saw a lot of violence because of this issue. But situation deteriorated when some leaders politicized the issue to gain popularity in the Left ruled state. They exploited the public sentiments. All it resulted in delay of the production of Nano. Politics Situation deteriorated more when Trinamool Congress leader Mamta Benerjee stepped into the crisis. She has been spearheading the farmers’ agitations against the state government for months. It has aggravated the law and order situation in the state and delay in the project. State government’s all efforts to defuse the tension have failed. Mamta is demanding that 400 acres of land should be given back to the farmers. She has planned to lay siege of the car plant in Singur on 24 August. Tata requires the land to establish ancillary units at the same place to keep the manufacturing costs low. Ratan Tata But on the other hand Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Motors has threatened to pull out the Nano project from Singur if violent protests continued. He said “We don’t want to come where we are unwanted.” Violent protests guided by political oppositions has resulted in cost overruns and delay in the production of the car. Tata Chairman had met state Industry Minister Nirupam Sen on Thursday in Kolkata and was worried about the protest. Reasons There are various reasons that are the reason of crisis. WB is being ruled by Communist parties of Indian for more that 25 years. Opposition parties want to exploit the issue to break political monopoly of left in the state. Tata’s Nano project has worried the other car manufacturer companies in India. So involvement of the corporate world in the violence [...]
Sri Lanka Beat India By 112 Runs: A Consolation Victory
August 30th, 2008 Aman Result Sri Lanka won the fifth and the last match of the 5 one-day match series by a huge margin of 112 runs. Its bowlers did a great job and saved the side from a humiliating series loss. Though they had already lost the series to Indians by 3-1 they were playing for the pride. Some Lankan batsmen and bowlers performed well and scored a consolation victory over the Indians. Lanka Earlier, Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and elected to bat. Sri Lankan opener Sanath Jayasurya once again disappointed his captain and edged a ball from Zaheer to the third man. He scored only one run.Malinda Warnapura(30) and Mahela Udawatte(43) added 77 runs for the second wicket. When everything was going Lanka’s way comeback man Irfan Pathan struck twice and sent both the established batmen back. Kumar Sangakkara’s poor form continued even in this match as he edged a RP Singh’s wide ball to Gautam Gambhir at slips. He had made only one run. Pragyan Ojha took two Lankan wickets. He sent back Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene(12) when he was caught by Yuvraj Singh at Short cover. His second victim was hamara Kapugedera who could score only 26 runs. But partnership between lower order batsmen Thilan Thushara(54) and Jehan Mubarak(47) set the stage for Lankans .Their 94 run partnership brought the Lankan back into match as the had put a fightable score on the board. India In response to the victory target of 228 runs Indian operners too could not give a good start to their side. Gambhir edged Kulasekara’s outside going delivery and was caught by wicketkeeper. In his next over Kulasekara took wickets of Virat Kohli when he had made 31 runs. His next victim was Suresh Raina. He departed for 10 runs. Rest of the Indian batsmen could not reach even the double figure. When India was comfortably placed at 70 for 3 from 15 overs rain interrupted the match. Because of rains India was given a revised victory target of 216 from 44 overs.When play resumed Kulasekara struck once again and sent Rohit Sharma back just for 3 runs. Non of the other batsmen could stay for a long and all the Indian team got out for 103 from 26.3 overs. Mendis took three wickets while Dilhara Fernando took two. Dhoni was adjudged man of the series.
Apple’s 3G iPhone Makes Its Debut in India
August 29th, 2008 krishna Launch Apple’s 3G iPhone made its debut in India on Thursday midnight when it was launched in a function held in New Delhi. Function was jointly organized by Airtel and Vodafone Essar. U.S technology major has tied up with both of these telecom companies and have allowed them to sell the iPhone. This phone can also be bought from the Apple stores. Enthusiasm Contrary to the mass hysteria that had marked its launch in Europe and US, a very few people had gathered at the Vodafone and Airtel stores to buy the phone. But all were very enthusiastic about the phone. The price of the 3G iPhone has been declared 31,000 rupees for the 8GB model, and 36,100 rupees for the 16GB model. Thousands of people had bought the phone within a few day when it was launched in June 2007 in US. Airtel President(mobile Services) Sanjay Kapoor has said that his company had received more that 2 lakh pre-bookings for the latest version of the iPhone even before the announcement of prices. But Manufacturing company has expected to sell as many as 10.5 million iPhones this year. High Rates Even though 3G services have not yet been started in India but both the mobile operators are selling the phone at a very high rate as compared to its price rate in US. But it is being said that the difference in rates is because of various schemes. Both the Indian operators have not subscribed the handset as it has been done in US by AT&T.. Users According to the reports there are more than 150,000 iPhone(2G) that are being used in India. They have been either imported of bought in the gray market. A user can not switch his or her mobile services provider while using his iPhone because this phone comes locked to the service provider. But there are a number of softwares available in the gray market that can unlock the iPhone. iphone Features This phone promises of faster web speeds, instant messaging, video games and a lot of memory space. But we can not forward messages and copy-paste text. Except it camera lacks flash, auto-focus , optical zoom or video recording services. But some operations on pictures can be performed as pictures can be expanded , shrunk and moved around the screen etc.
Salman Khan And Lara Dutta in Dus Ka Dum Finale
August 29th, 2008 Aman Dus Ka Dum Salman Khan’s appearance on the small screen in the Dus Ka Dum has added a lot to his popularity. People came to know about his temperament and behavior from the serial. People. almost from all sections of the society participated in the serial. People took great interest in the serial as they saw their favorite star talking, exchanging and sharing views with the participants. Whether it were Bollywood participants or some ordinary Indians he was always the victim of the ironic comments . Past In the past, Salman has always remained in headlined because of his wrongdoings. He had a negative image in the eyes of the public. His fight with Aishwarya, Vivek Oberoy and hunting and killing of endangered Chinkara (deer) had made him a villain. His fight with Shahrukh Khan had further tarnished his public image. But Dus Ka Dum has changed the public opinion in his favor. People have understood that his nature and lack of maturity is the reasons behind his past follies. Though he has matured a lot but his past follies are still troubling him. Indifference His past followed him even in Dus Ka Dum when coldness in his relations with Lara Dutta was seen in the its last episode of the season. Rani Mukerji, Anu Malik, Rakhi Sawant, Shakeel, and Lara Dutta had appeared as special guests in the grand finale. He was seen more comfortable while talking to Rani and other female participants but remained indifferent towards Lara. It was evident from his indifference to Lara that there is some tension between them. Most of times his comments and jokes were aimed at the other female guests rather than Lara. Relations It is being said that the reason of the problem is Lara’s replacement by Kareena in Sohail’s home production Main Aur Mrs Khanna. Though they were good friends in the past but after it they had not interacted much with each other. She was expected to play a lead role in the film but was dropped from the project. Since then a lot had changed between Lara and Salman. Except it Lara is also playing a role in Shahrukh’s Billo Barber. His spat with Shahrukh is also being viewed as a reason of his cold behavior towards Lara.
Jammu and Kashmir Crisis Deepens
August 28th, 2008 krishna More Than Three Lakh including Children Offer Themselves for Court Arrest in Jammu region Misguidance Security situation in the state of Jammu and Kashmir is deteriorating day by day. Both of the regions have stood up against each other. In Kashmir Pro-Pakistani Hurriyat is spearheading the agitations and and had succeeded to turn the agitations in so called freedom struggle. It misguided the people of Kashmir by projecting the disruption of traffic on the national highway as economic blockade and then instigated the religious sentiments that put both of the communities against each other. Violent mobs, at many places clashed with police personals which resulted in some deaths. Failure One the other hand situation worsened when state government failed to understand the religious sentiments of the Hindu community and paid no attention to the demands of agitating Hindus who were demanding the restoration of the land to the Sri Amarnath Shrine Board. There are many other reasons that prompted the people of the Jammu region to stood up against the government. One of the such major reason is that all the successive governments have always neglected the area and had always spent more on the development of the Kashmir region. State government as well as the Center government did not bother to talk to the Sri Amarnath Sangarsh Samiti that was spearheading the agitations in the Jammu region. Tough Situation Agitations in Jammu region have entered into its 61 day and till now government has failed to bring the SASS leaders to the negotiation table. And in Kashmir region Hurriyat has suspended the agitations for three days. It has decided to declare its further course of action after the Friday prayers. People of Jammu are not agitating only for the restoration of land but also want to take strict action against the anti-India elements. SASS had called for a three day jail Bharo andolan that ended on Tuesday, August 20. On the third and last day of the andolan more than three lakh people offered themselves for the court arrest while more than it could not be arrested because police did not have enough resources to handle such a large crowd. Even Children had offered them selves to get arrested. It was an eye-opener for the center government. There are very few options in front of the Manmohan Singh led government. But thing has become clear that a [...]
Floods in Bihar:A National Calamity
August 28th, 2008 Aman Floods More than 10 people have died in the Indian state of Bihar because of floods in the Kosi river and over 20 lakh people have been reported to be marooned. Kosi is also called the sorrow of Bihar. Supaul, Saharsa, Araria and Madhepura districts are the four worst affected districts of Bihar. Breach in Kosi embank has wreck havoc as most of the parts of these districts have been flooded with the Kosi waters which has resulted in devastations of crops in Lakhs of hectares and have changed the geography of the state. Situation Breach in Kosi embankment at Kushaha, 360 km from Patna has switched it back to its 1932′s course. Length of the breach is more than three kilometers and it can not be repaired in less than five months.396 boats have been pressed into action to carryout relief and rescue operations that is not enough as for as the numbers of affected people are concerned. These boats have rescued almost 70 thousand people to the safer places that is just the half of the marooned people. At some place people have not eaten even for more than five days and at some places people have to drink impure water. Even the situation at government run relief camps is very grim as people are not getting adequate food and other relief materials. National Calamity After undertaking the aerial survey of the affected areas on Thursday Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared the Bihar floods a national calamity and has announced the immediate assistance of 1.000 crores for the state government to carry out rescue and relief operations. He also made the announcement of sanctioning of 1.25 lakh tonnes of food grains. Relief and Rescue Operations Change in he course of he river has forced lakhs of people to evacuate. It is being said that it will be the biggest human evacuation in the history of the world. Met department has predicted more rains in the catchment area that will further worsen the situation. More than 55 persons have died but toll can rise as thousands of people are marooned or are missing. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Special Auxiliary Police (SAP), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), state police and the Army personal have been pressed into action to evacuate and distribute relief material to he affected people. Though it is a natural calamity but to some [...]
Indo-Pak Peace Process in Danger
August 27th, 2008 krishna Relations Though India has evaded to comment on the exit of Pak President Parvez Musharaf but there are rumors inside Indian diplomatic circles that peace process between India and Pakistan will not last long. It is the historical fact that except Musharaf no other Pakistani ruler took such bold steps to normalize the relations with its neighboring country India. Though, everyone knows that he was responsible for Kargil war but it is also the fact that during his rule both the countries came very close to each other that had never happened in past. Accusations Musharaf had a lot of influence over ISI and Pak military. It was because of his influence that guns remained silent for almost four years on the Line of Control. Militant activities declined a lot in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. But as Musharaf’s power declined, a rise in cross border firing and infiltration was noticed. Pak military violated the cease fire agreement many times during the summer months. Suicide attack on Indian consulate in Afghanistan, serial bomb blasts in some Indian cities further aggravated the situation. Soon, situation slipped out of hand when Indian government and Afghan President openly criticized Pak’s double standards while dealing with militants. Pak Prime Minister’s meetings with his Indian counterpart and Afghan President in Sri Lanka defused the situation to some extent. Fundamentalists After the ouster of Musharaf, a change has been noticed in Pak leaders’ approach towards India. Some of the Pakistani leaders have raised voices regarding the issue of Kashmir that has infuriated the Indian leadership. It is being expected that peace process between both of the countries will not last long as the elected government of Pakistan has less influence over ISI and military as compared to Musharaf’s. It will result in an increase in cross-border firing and infiltration that will harm the relations between both of the neighbors. On the other hand influence of fundamentalists is increasing in Pakistan who are famous for their anti-India stand. India has doubts regarding Pak government’s ability to control the fundamentalists. If Pak government fails then fundamentalists will become the biggest threat to the safety of India as well as the world.
Chiranjeevi Launches His Party-’Praja Rajyam’
August 27th, 2008 Aman Rally 53 years old south Indian film super star Chiranjeevi launched his political party ‘Praja Rajyam’ in a massive rally held in the temple city named Tirupati of the state of Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday, August 26. Lakhs of his fans and supporters had gathered at the venue hours before the arrival of their reel hero before them in the real life. More than 4 lakh people had gathered at the venue by 3:30 pm while the announcement was made in the evening. By the evening almost all he roads leading to the city were full with the Chiranjeevi supporters. When the sun was setting a sun was rising in the state politics. Announcement Chiranjeevi had announced his future plans of entering into the politics on August 17. Since then a lot of political changes happened in state politics. Many Telugu Desam Party and Congress leaders had expressed their willingness to join the super star’s party. Mammoth public gathering on the meeting venue has sent red signals to the Telugu Desam Party and Congress and has also projected Chiranjeevi as a hot choice for the chief ministerial ship. After a long speech of two hours he announced the name of the party and a handicapped youth unfurled the party’s green and while flag with a red sun in the middle. Speech In his speech he expressed his commitment to socialism and empowerment of the poor and downtrodden sections of the society. In a carefully drawn speech he touched almost all the issue that are being confronted by the state. He opposed the Special Economic Zones by saying that land is meant for cultivation and the advocated that farmer should have the right to decide the price of the land. He also favored the formation of separate Telangana state but said that priority should be given to end the backwardness of the region. He also talked about the Maoist problem and its remedies. Policies He did not attack any individual or any party during his speech and used symbolism effectively to tell about the party policies and also to demolish the policies of present state government. He also favored the industrialization and strengthening of the state irrigation system. He has announced that his party will be progressive and democratic.
Rift Widening in Jammu and Kashmir
August 26th, 2008 krishna Crisis Rift between Jammu and Kashmir regions is widening day by day because of agitations that has put people of both of the regions against each other. Agitations in Kashmir region are being spearheaded by separatists Hurriyat while in Jammu radical Hindu sects are leading the agitations. Present situation in the state has arisen because of government’s failure to tackle it in time. Center as well as the state governments failed to properly handle the Amarnath land transfer issue which was exploited by Hurriyat. Coalition government of the state led by Congress had tied the hands of police and para-military forces by not allowing them to use force to handle violent mobs which resulted in the downfall in the moral of the security forces and frequent skirmishes between police and violent mobs. On the other hand Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his party Congress was busy in playing political games. He intervened only when the situation had slipped out of hands. People in Jammu region were agitating for more than one month but no one cared to talk to them. They were complaining that they have always been neglected by all of the governments and priority is always given to the Kashmir region. Reasons When in Kashmir, tri-colors were being burnt, Prime Minister just called the all-party meeting to find a solution to the problem that has arisen because of contradictory religious interests. Thousands of people in both of the regions are agitating against the government. though their motifs are totally different while the reasons are same. Some people are trying to project that the current situation has arisen because of religious reasons. But the reality is totally different. People of Jammu have risen against the anti-national people of Kashmir who are being misguided by Pak backed Hurriyat. It is because of government’s mishandling of the issue that Hurriyat has succeeded in getting the center stage in whole of the crisis. Facts It is the history that congress led governments have always mishandled the Kashmir issue. They have always applied a soft approach to the issue. But the present situation indicates that it can be handled only with a strict approach. There are some questions that congress will have to answer in future. One of the main question is its forming of an alliance with PDP that follows anti-India hidden agenda. Was it a common minimum program or just [...]
