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Manmohan meets Medvedev to ink nuclear deal, defence pacts
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Manmohan meets Medvedev to ink nuclear deal, defence pacts |
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India and Russia have reached a broad agreement to break the logjam over the protracted price renegotiation over the aircraft carrier 'Admiral Gorshkov'.
The two sides are also expected to sign a landmark civil nuclear pact during summit talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday.
Seeking to resolve the Gorshkov price issue, the two countries have worked out a general agreement, sources said. A pact in this regard, however, is unlikely to be signed during Singh’s visit here.
The prime minister arrived here on a three-day visit that will also see the inking of three agreements in the field of defence, including one for ending ad-hocism in servicing Russian military equipment.
As a special gesture, the Russian president will host a private dinner for Singh and his wife at his countryside residence in Barvikha outside Moscow.
The path-breaking civil nuclear pact is significant as it will ensure uninterrupted uranium fuel supplies from Russia in the event of termination of bilateral ties in this field for any reason, the sources said. The agreement is considered by India as a “major improvement” over the 123 pact with the US which provides for not just termination of ongoing cooperation but also for the return to the country of already supplied components and fuel in the event of the accord being scrapped.
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India, China & Russia agree to jointly fight terrorism
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India, China & Russia agree to jointly fight terrorism |
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India, Russia and China on Tuesday agreed to closely cooperate in the fight against terrorism emanating from Pakistan and Afghanistan to provide stability to the region
The three countries also decided to give impetus to their trilateral relations in various areas including health, agriculture and disaster mitigation besides deciding to cooperate closely on climate change and reducing the impact of global recession. External Affairs minister S M Krishna, Russian Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jei Chi held two-hours of meeting to review the progress made in eight rounds of the trilateral dialogue.
Meeting under the format, RIC--Russia-India-China, the three leaders also discussed the situation in the region particularly in the context of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan and Pakistan. After the meeting, the leaders told reporters that their discussions have been "productive" and they had identified new areas of cooperation.
"We shared views on various developments and have found that we have common approaches," Krishna said at the joint press meet during which no questions were taken. He said the three leaders were of the view that cooperation between the three countries in fight against terrorism and trans-national crimes will provide stability to the region.
The Foreign Ministers condemned the terrorist attack at Indian Embassy in Kabul on October 8 and pressed for bringing the perpetrators of all such assaults to justice. They also stressed the need for strict observance of sanction regime against persons and entities listed at the UN Security Council under resolution 1267, an apparent reference to outfits like Pakistan-based Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) which has been proscribed by the world body for its involvement in Mumbai attacks. The meeting strongly condemned terrorism in all forms and manifestations, saying there is no justification for any act of terrorism anywhere, said a joint comminique issued after the meeting.
Expressing concern at the deterioration of security situation in Afghanistan, the ministers agreed that terrorism must be combated firmly by the international community. Lavrov said India, Russia and China need to be united in confronting terrorism and drug trafficking. He noted that all the three countries are taking interest in making joint efforts for bringing about peace and stability in Afghanistan. The Chinese Minister noted that the three countries would make joint efforts for security and stability of the region. He said China attaches great importance to the trilateral format which holds much promise.
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India woos Russia for UNSC seat
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India woos Russia for UNSC seat |
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President Pratibha Patil during a 45-minute meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at the ‘white house’ here on Friday brought up the subject of ‘lop-sided’ representation in the Security Council and the need to revamp the membership of the highest UN body.
Though such ‘political issues’ are normally left to the political leaders and the visit by a Head of State is more in the nature of exchange of goodwill, Ms Patil’s reference to security Council found positive response from Putin. The Russian leader reportedly agreed that there was a clear case for expansion of the Security Council and India finding a place in it that merits its size and importance, “but we need to find the options that are available.”
India has obviously renewed its effort to find a seat at the UN high table on the eve of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) meeting at New York later this month and a trilateral meeting among the foreign ministers of the three countries minus Brazil scheduled to be held in Bangalore in October.
Obstacles
Among the permanent members of SC, India already enjoys the support of France, Britain and Russia and it is only the US and China which have laid the obstacles. The meeting between Ms Patil and Putin also concentrated a great deal on taking the economic relations to a new level by encouraging wide-range of investments in each other’s countries.
While India has already finalised an investment of about $5 billion dollars in Russia in the hydrocarbon sector and looking for more opportunities in gas and petroleum projects, Russian companies are active in off shore oil explorations and communications in India.
Sources said both the sides are encouraging government-to-government as well as business-to-business dealings and the recent establishment of a CEOs forum would give a boost to the trade between the two countries. In its quest for energy security, India is already pumping oil from Sakhalin-1 in Russia and tied up with other companies for import of LNG. The Russian companies are participating in the next round of bidding for off-shore oil exploration in India being held in Europe next week.
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PM invites Indians worldwide to return home
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The president’s reaffirmation of this position, acknowledged by his predecessor George W Bush in July 2005, is considered to be a significant accomplishment for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
New Delhi was beginning to perceive that the Obama administration was prodding India to accept its non-proliferation agenda as non-nuclear power state as defined in the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT). India has stayed away from the NPT.
A joint statement issued by the two sides at the end of the Singh-Obama summit talks, however, committed India to work with the US for the Obama administration’s nuclear non-proliferation agenda.
India has agreed to work with the US to seek an early start of a multilateral, non-discriminatory fissile material cut-off treaty. India also reaffirmed its commitment to adhere to its voluntary moratorium on nuclear tests.
The prime minister, however, made no commitment on signing the controversial Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which the US itself has not ratified for the last 13 years. President Obama is keen to push through the treaty in Congress and has made a case for India to sign in.
Besides the nuclear issue, the joint statement touched upon terrorism, Pakistani sponsorship of terrorism in the sub-continent, Afghan situation and obliquely also the Chinese assertiveness in the region that has upset India.
India’s expectations
But, the joint statement’s formulations on most of the issues fell far short of India’s pre-summit expectations. India would have liked the statement to name Pakistan as a sponsor of terrorism against India. But, the agreed statement merely mentioned that the two leaders “expressed their grave concern about the threat posed by terrorism and violent extremists emanating from India’s neighbourhood.”
Again, without naming Pakistan, the statement said it was absolutely “imperative to bring to justice the perpetrators” of last year’s Mumbai terror attacks. But the two leaders vowed to step up efforts jointly to deal with terrorism effectively and expand cooperation on counterterrorism, information sharing and capacity-building.
Regarding Afghanistan, Obama reassured that India would not be left out of his Af-Pak initiative and committed the US to work towards stabilising Afghanistan, promoting its development and independence. Both the leaders reiterated that the defeat of terrorist safe heavens in Pakistan and Afghanistan would be a priority. Obama appreciated India’s role in the reconstruction and rebuilding of war-torn Afghanistan.
Through the joint statement, Obama assured India that it was not left out of his administration’s security framework for Asia. The US-India global partnership would not only benefit them, but also promote “peace, stability and prosperity in Asia,” it said. However, the statement went into the details to elaborate the ways to mutually deepen Indo-US cooperation in the fields of defence, health, education, agriculture, food security, science and technology, energy.
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Australia firm on uranium exports to India: FM
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Australia firm on uranium exports to India: FM
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SYDNEY — Australia has asked India to take part in joint military exercises but is standing firm against exporting uranium for the Asian country's nuclear energy programme, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said.
Speaking in New Delhi on Tuesday, Smith said Australia wanted to strengthen security cooperation with India and was ready to place it in the "front rank of our bilateral relationships".
But he repeated his government's position that it would not sell uranium to the Asian giant, which is energy-starved but nuclear-armed, unless it signs a key non-proliferation pact.
Smith said he and Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna had talked about uranium but that Australia had no plans to revive a landmark deal negotiated by the former government to sell the ore to India.
"We have had a long-standing principal position which is not aimed at India, it is the long-standing position that we do not export uranium to a country that is not a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," he said.
Smith said Australia had supported New Delhi in its successful bid to have a 34-year-old embargo on the export and sale of nuclear technology to India lifted and that this was "probably more important to India".
The minister said that as India's global influence increased, it became more important to strengthen regional ties.
"I invited India, through the External Affairs Minister Krishna, to take part in some of the multilateral military exercises that Australia has," he told Indian media, according to a transcript released by the foreign ministry.
"This is not only a sensible regional thing to do but it is also a confidence-building measure."
Australia boasts the world's largest reserves of uranium, which is used as nuclear fuel, but has no nuclear power industry and only operates three mines producing partially-refined uranium ore known as yellowcake.
Smith, who has faced suggestions that China has pressed Australia not to supply its regional rival India with uranium, said the government disliked the idea that Canberra favoured one country over the other.
He said Canberra's relationships with China and India were both important but "necessarily different".
"We have a long-standing economic relationship with China," he said.
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Tibet is part of China, but resume talks
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Tibet is part of China, but resume talks |
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Describing Tibet as part of China, US President Barack Obama on Tuesday supported the early resumption of talks. "The United States supports the early resumption of dialogue between the Dalai Lama's representatives and Beijing," Obama said after his meeting with Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao here.
China, which has governed Tibet since its troops occupied the territory in the 1950s, has repeatedly accused the Dalai Lama of leading a campaign to split the Himalayan region from the rest of the country. The 74-year-old Dalai Lama, who fled to India amid a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, has denied the allegations.
The last formal talks between the Dalai Lama's envoys and Chinese officials, the seventh since 2002, ended in an impasse in July 2008, with China demanding that he prove that he did not support Tibetan independence.
Obama, who is here on his maiden state visit to the Communist nation, also said that he and Hu want climate change talks in Copenhagen next month to result in a global deal that has "immediate operational effect".
"Our aim there is not a partial accord or a political declaration, but rather an accord that covers all the issues in the negotiations and one that has immediate operational effect," he said.
On North Korea's nuclear weapons programme, Obama said the six-party talks process should resume "as soon as possible". On his part, Hu said that both sides were "committed to dialogue and consultation in resolving the Korean peninsula nuclear issue."
Hu said that the two countries "will continue to have consultations on an equal footing to properly resolve economic and trade frictions."
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Obama sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan
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If I did not think that the security of the United States and the safety of the American people were at stake in Afghanistan, I would gladly order every single one of our troops home tomorrow," Obama said Tuesday.
After more than two months of intense consultations with his war council, Obama outlined his new strategy for Afghanistan in a speech to grey-uniformed cadets at the US Military Academy at West Point in New York.
The plan is intended to reverse gains by the Taliban in recent years and the sharply deteriorating security environment.
The build-up is expected to be completed by the summer, when the US force will reach 98,000 troops. Obama said his July 2011 target to begin withdrawals will depend on "conditions on the ground" and is meant to pressure the Afghan government to act swiftly toward taking responsibility for the country.
The 30,000 additional troops that I am announcing tonight will deploy in the first part of 2010 - the fastest pace possible - so that they can target the insurgency and secure key population centres," he said.
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Obama sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan |
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Sport News |
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Team India on top of the world
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Team India on top of the world In ICC Cricket Rank
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Penelope Cruz feared singing for Nine
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Not since the glory days of the hockey team has an Indian side scaled the summit in a high-profile team sport. On an historic Sunday at the Brabourne stadium, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men set that record straight by powering to the number one position in the ICC Test ratings.
Irrespective of whatever happens over the next four weeks, India will finish 2009 as the top-ranked Test team in the world, a status bestowed upon them courtesy their 2-0 drubbing of Sri Lanka. It’s a monumental accomplishment by a team of entertainers that dared to dream, and had the skills and the temperament to translate that dream into reality.
In becoming the first team outside of Australia and South Africa to reach the pinnacle, India have made a natural progression from being a very good team to a truly great one. To get to the top hasn’t come easy. The path to glory is always strewn with massive obstacles and numerous thorns; it’s in the circumventing of these hurdles that India have shown their true character and mettle.
The ascension hasn’t come about overnight. The top-dog status is the culmination of years of hard labour, of great sacrifice, of meticulous planning and of exceptional execution. Involved in that process have been a succession of coaches, both homegrown and from abroad, and four inspirational, imaginative captains who, in their own different ways, have managed to keep the flock together even under trying circumstances.
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Opening ceremony of 2011 World Cup on Feb 17 in Bangladesh
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Kambli and Tendulkar come face-to-face
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The opening ceremony of the 2011 Cricket World Cup will be held on February 17 in Bangladesh and the first match would take place on February 19 in the same country, the ICC announced on Wednesday.
The ICC had earlier said both the opening ceremony and the opening game would be held on February 19 in Bangladesh.
But the full match schedule with venues would be announced on November 9, it was decided by the Central Organising Committee (COC) of the mega event that met here today to continue preparations for the tournament.
The venues where the matches would be held in the three host nations ? India, Bangladesh and Sri Laka - would be inspected in October/November, the COC decided.
Tournament director Ratnakar Shetty said the meeting was a productive one and the organisers were operating at a brisk pace to make it a great success.
"This was another productive meeting and we have continued to make real progress. We are operating at full steam ahead for what should be a great event in 2011 and there is a great spirit of cooperation among the hosts and the ICC," he said.
The COC also approved the operational plan and event budget.
All these matters would have to be vetted by the Finance Committee and the Board of the ICC.
The meeting, held under the chairmanship of ICC Vice-President Sharad Pawar, was attended by ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat and representatives of the three host countries.
Pakistan, previously the tournament's fourth host nation, was not present and will not attend any future meetings of the COC following the settlement made with the ICC last week whereby it was agreed the Pakistan Cricket Board would be relieved of its obligations as a co-hosts, the ICC said.
The meeting was a routine gathering to discuss details relating to the staging of the event, it said, adding the next meeting would be held in Mumbai on November 9.
Those attending the Central Organising Committee meeting in Mumbai were: Chairman and ICC Vice-President Sharad Pawar, ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat, ICC Principal Advisor IS Bindra, ICC General Manager (Commercial) Campbell Jamieson and Tournament Director Ratnakar Shetty.
Besides, BCCI President Shashank Manohar, secretary N Srinivasan and treasurer MP Pandove were also among those attended the meeting.
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NAGPUR: Barely five days after his remarks against Sachin Tendulkar created a controversy, former Indian player Vinod Kambli on Saturday came
face-to-face with his celebrated childhood friend at a public function here.
Tendulkar and Kambli made their first joint appearance at a felicitation programme where their coach Ramakant Achrekar was also honoured.
At the event, titled "Gaurav Guru Shishyancha" (in honour of the coach and his pupil), the two childhood friends were seated on either side of Achrekar and were seen talking to each other.
Both seemed to be in a relaxed mood and were also seen sharing some jokes.
Kambli, who started off his career with a flourish but fizzled out after innumerous comebacks, had recently stirred a controversy by accusing Tendulkar of not helping him enough in a TV reality show.
Kambli initially denied having made such a comment against Tendulkar but a brief video footage of the programme showed that the former cricketer had indeed made such a remark.
Tendulkar, however, appeared to play down the incident when reporters sought his comment on Kambli's remarks after the function.
"I have said whatever I wanted, I am not going to say anything now", he said.
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Chidambaram condemns attack on Hurriyat leader
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Terming as ''cowardly'' the attack on Hurriyat leader Fazal Haq Qureshi, Home Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday said the Centre was committed to finding a solution to the Kashmir issue through quiet talks with every shade of political opinion in the state.
Chidambaram said he was deeply distressed by the attack on Qureshi, who is now battling for his life in a hospital in Srinagar. The Hurriyat leader was seriously injured in an attack by militants yesterday.
Lambasting those behind the attack, he said in a statement here that, "These are the elements which, in the past, have pushed Jammu and Kashmir to the brink of a crisis. It is also clear that these elements act at the behest of forces that are inimical to India".
He said the attack was a cowardly attempt by those who do not wish that the problems of Jammu and Kashmir are resolved through talks.
The Home Minister said the correct response at this hour was not to be cowed down by these violent acts or allow fear to interrupt the process of quiet talks and diplomacy.
"I assure the people of Jammu and Kashmir that we remain committed to finding a solution through quiet talks with every shade of political opinion in Jammu and Kashmir," he said.
"My prayers as well as those of all peace loving people are with him (Qureshi) and his family, and we sincerely hope that he will recover," the Home Minister said.
Chidambaram said he was happy to read the statements of Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and others who have vowed to continue their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Kashmir issue through talks with the Centre.
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India seeks genuine reform in UN Security Council
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India seeks genuine reform in UN Security Council
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We remain convinced that this is the optimum expansion that meets both the tests of representativeness and manageability," the Indian Ambassador to the UN, Hardeep Singh Puri, said in his address to the informal meeting of the UN General Assembly on start of the third round of inter-governmental negotiations on Security Council reforms.
G-4 comprising of India, Brazil, Japan and Germany had made such a proposal in 2005. "New permanent members would have the same rights and responsibilities as existing permanent members, including that of the veto. Nevertheless, recognising the complexity of the issue, the G-4 proposal offered to defer its utilisation until a review is undertaken," he said.
"Looking back at the first two rounds, two messages emerged loud and clear: first, that an overwhelming majority of member states believe that the status quo is untenable, in response to which genuine reform of the UN Security Council is essential," Puri added.
"Second, substantive reform requires an expansion in both permanent and non-permanent categories of membership, and significant improvement of the Security Council’s working methods," Puri said.
Making a strong case for the expansion of the Security Council, Puri said only an expansion of the membership of the UNSC in permanent and non-permanent categories will be credible, effective and genuine. "Only such measures will meet the aspirations of the membership at large," he argued.
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Gaddafi opposes induction of big powers into UNSC
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Gaddafi opposes induction of big powers into UNSC |
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Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi has opposed the induction of ‘big powers’ into the UN Security Council, saying such a move would further tilt the balance of power.
In his first speech to the General Assembly, he said opening the doors of the UNSC for ‘big powers’ would “add more poverty, more injustice, more tension at the world level“.
“There would be high competition between Italy, Germany, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Philippines, Japan, Argentina, Brazil...,” Mr. Gaddafi said during his more than one-and-a-half-hour long address.
Stressing that there must be equality among member states, he noted that since India and Pakistan were both nuclear powers, if India had a seat then Pakistan would want one as well.
“We reject having more seats,” said the Libyan leader since it would give “rise to more superpowers, crush the small people.”
Mr. Gaddafi, who is also the President of the African Union, was described as “King of Kings” as he took the podium.
Donned in long brown robes and a black hat, he read from hand-written notes and regularly referred to an assortment of papers.
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Take on folks in Beijing and Bangalore, Obama tells students
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Girls at Geneva Motor Show:- The Geneva Motor Show wouldn't be complete without all its beauteous girls. They're all over.... Check them out... but while doing so, check out the cars too. They're not too bad.
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Take on folks in Beijing and Bangalore, Obama tells students |
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President Barack Obama has hit the road to push a new $4.35 billion grant programme to encourage American schools to develop internationally competitive standards to let its students take on ''folks in Beijing and Bangalore.''
The "Race to the Top" fund is one of the largest federal investments in school reform in US history, Obama said on a trip to Wisconsin on Wednesday. It is being financed with money made available through the economic stimulus plan enacted in February.
"We're putting over $4 billion on the table ... but we're not just handing it out to states because they want it," Obama told an audience at a Wisconsin public charter school making it clear that the grants will go to only those "committed to real change in the way you educate your kids."
"So, a race to the top has begun in our schools, but the real competition will begin when states apply for the actual Race to the Top grants," he said outlining four key reform measures that will be used to help determine a state's eligibility for grant money.
"The first measure is whether a state is committed to setting higher standards and better assessments that prepare our children to succeed in the 21st century," Obama said noting that 48 US states are now working to develop internationally competitive standards.
"...Internationally competitive standards because these young people are going to be growing up in an international environment where they're competing not just against kids in Chicago or Los Angeles for jobs, but they're competing against folks in Beijing and Bangalore," he said.
Second, the state will need to demonstrate a commitment to policies designed to encourage the recruitment and retention of effective teachers and principals. Conversely, teachers that fail to adequately perform need to be removed, he said.
Third, it will need to design systems to measure student success. Finally, federal officials will examine whether a state is taking steps to overhaul its lowest-performing schools.
"We'll look at whether they're willing to remake a school from top to bottom, with new leaders and a new way of teaching," Obama said. The process of doing so may include replacing a school's staff or even closing a school and sending its students to a better one nearby, he noted.
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Sri lanka fled the United States over alleged war crimes
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The most wanted supermodel
Brazilian beauty Gisele Bundchen is the highest earning models according to the Forbes' list. Gisele has beaten Heidi Klum and Kate Moss to retain the top spot for the third consecutive year
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sri lanka fled the United States over alleged war crimes |
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Sri Lanka Army chief, Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka fled the United States cutting short his planned stay in the US to avoid being questioned by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over warcrimes under his command, according to an AFP report. "Mr Fonseka's future chances of retiring to the US are now in jeopardy, and consequent developments in other countries of the world, except the rights violator nations, may make him a fugitive," legal sources in Washington said. Meanwhile, incriminating, anonymous, hearsay evidence has surfaced on the activities of his son-in-law, Danuna Tillakaratne, on making weapons deals from Oklahoma. Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), a US-based pressure group, said yesterday that TAG will be preparing a detailed document after further research on this matter for possible use by the US law enforcement authorities.
Sri Lanka's military commander left the United States ahead of possible questioning over alleged war crimes committed during the defeat of the island's Tamil rebels, a legislator said Wednesday.
TAG interview with Radio NL on Fonseka
General Sarath Fonseka headed back to Sri Lanka without facing questioning by the Department of Homeland Security later in the day, Samantha Vidyaratne told parliament. "In the same way this brave soldier rid the country of terrorism, he is now on his way home without betraying the nation," Vidyaratne said.
Fonseka holds US permanent residency and travelled to the US last week to visit his daughters in Oklahoma. Sri Lanka said on Monday that it feared US authorities were trying to force Fonseka to provide evidence against Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse over the allegations of human rights violations.
The defence secretary, who holds US citizenship, is the younger brother of President Mahinda Rajapakse.
Sri Lankan troops in May killed the leaders of the Tamil Tigers, ending one of Asia's longest-running and bloodiest insurgencies that aimed to create a separate homeland for the island's Tamil minority.
A US State Department report presented to Congress last month charged that both the government and Tamil Tigers committed serious human rights violations in the final months of the conflict.
The UN reported that more than 7,000 civilians may have perished in the fighting during this year. The Sri Lankan government contends that no civilians were killed by its troops.
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Paper: 20,000 killed in Sri Lanka conflict
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Verdi's opera Aida in Bregenz, AustriaThe stage is prepared for a production of Verdi's opera Aida in Bregenz, Austria. It features replica fragments of the Statue of Liberty, including her feet.
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Refugees gather behind barbed wire at one of Sri Lankas camps for those displaced by recent fighting. |
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More than 20,000 civilians were killed in the final months of Sri Lanka's civil war -- nearly three times previous estimates, The Times newspaper in Britain reported Friday.
The Times said it had acquired confidential U.N. documents that record nearly 7,000 civilian deaths in the no-fire zone up to the end of April. The toll then surged, the paper quoted unidentified U.N. sources as saying, with an average of 1,000 civilians killed each day until May 19, when the government declared victory over the Tamil Tiger rebels.
That means the final death toll is more than 20,000, The Times said. "Higher," a U.N. source told the paper. "Keep going."
The United Nations has previously said 7,000 civilians were killed in fighting between January and May. A top Sri Lankan official called the 20,000 figure unfounded.
Gordon Weiss, a U.N. spokesman in Sri Lanka, told CNN that a large number of civilians were killed -- though he did not confirm the 20,000 figure.
"Up until a certain point, we had very good evidence to show that there were about 7,000 people that were killed," he said. "Then the intense battle kicked in and there were many more deaths, but we didn't know exactly how many.
"Things went really bad" after the battle began, Weiss said.
"After this, our sources were not able to go out and check those figures. It was based on an extrapolation from what we had seen in the past and also judging from the number of dead bodies that were brought into the hospital."
The declaration of victory by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa brought an end to a 26-year civil war. The rebels began their fight for independence for the minority Tamils in July 1983, and since then, at least 70,000 people have died.
The fighting intensified at the start of the year. Government troops managed to pin the rebels to a small strip of land in the country's north, a conflict zone that trapped thousands of civilians.
Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona called the 20,000 figure "absolutely unfounded, with no basis of fact." He accused the newspaper of bias.
"The Times have been carrying on a campaign and has been using us," Kohona told CNN's Don Riddell. "Sri Lanka succeeded in eliminating a deadly terrorist group and we also rescued 260,000 hostages, and now The Times wants to turn the clock back and make the allegations, which are unfounded."
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Buiness news |
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Boeing rolls out P-8A Poseidon; India to be the first buyer
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Boeing rolls out P-8A Poseidon; India to be the first buyer
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WASHINGTON: American aviation giant Boeing on Friday rolled out its first 'P-8A Poseidon', claiming it to be the world's most advanced
multi-mission maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft, with the Company saying that India would be its first buyer country.
India has ordered eight P-8Is, a derivative of the American version, the first of which Boeing will deliver within 48 months of the contract being signed. The rest seven aircraft would be delivered by 2015, filling a wide gap in India's maritime reconnaissance capability, hit by crashes of its Russian built aircraft.
The Indian RFP (request for proposal) which is awaiting a formal nod from the Cabinet Committee on Security calls for delivery of eight aircraft over a four-year period.
Though the Indian version is a variant of the just rolled out P-8A Poseidon, Boeing officials said the mission system of the Indian aircraft have been made to address the unique requirements tailored by the Indian Navy.
"In fact, the Indian variant of the world's newest aircraft leverages a great deal of the work done on the American aircraft," the officials said.
Boeing officials also said though the two Navy's requirements differ and so do the mission systems, but the Indian variant efforts have been made to capture as much cost-savings as possible for the Indian Navy.
P-8A, which was rolled out from Renton, Washington facility of Boeing, is a derivative of the Next-Generation 737-800, and is a long-range anti-submarine warfare, anti- surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft capable of broad-area, maritime and littoral operations.
The US Navy is making a multi-billion investment to design and demonstrate the mission systems it requires to conduct the worldwide missions of the P-8A.
"The P-8A Poseidon will equip the US Navy with the most advanced multi-mission maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft in the world," said Jim Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing Integrated Defence Systems.
"The Poseidon is also the latest in a decades-long Boeing tradition of working closely with the Navy and other customers to deliver a wide range of platforms that meet their most critical mission requirements," he said.
The first production contracted is expected in 2010. Boeing says that the Navy plans to buy 117 P-8As to replace its fleet of P-3C aircraft.
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Equity funds beat sensex, nifty
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COIMBATORE: Even as the average assets under management crossed the Rs 6 lakh crore mark, diversified equity mutual funds
(MFs), which remained
laggards in the initial stages of the rally, have finally beaten sensex and nifty.
Equity MFs gained an average 33% in May — the best performance recorded in the last 17 years. Almost six of every 10 such funds also outperformed sensex. Equity MFs gave a return of 32.9% (up to June 1) while sensex and Nifty grew 30.1 and 30.4% respectively.
In all, about 125 out of the 270-odd diversified equity MFs outperformed the benchmark indices. "Reduced cash levels, right sectoral picks and a good choice of mid-cap stocks have helped funds to outperform the indices," says Lakshmi Iyer, head, products, Kotak Mahindra MF.
"We have seen some good inflows. We did not take too many cash calls and remained invested in certain themes even when the market was down," says Nimesh Shah, managing director, ICICI Prudential asset management company. With MFs starting to deploy funds, the average cash levels, which were around 15-20%, has come down, say officials. Companies that were starved of funding, which nearly dried up after the global financial crisis, are also now able to raise money, they say.
"Access to capital has now become much easier for corporates. QIPs (qualified institutional placements) by realty companies have picked up," says Lakshmi. Projects, which were not getting much valuation, are now getting rated and sectors such as real estate deemed bankrupt only a few months ago are now able to raise money, say officials.
Though the earnings outlook has not changed considerably, all these developments have acted as a positive trigger, they say. "This definitely warrants a re-rating," avers Lakshmi. Real estate, banking and capital goods are among the sectors that have rallied at a faster clip during the current rally.
"While the rally in the equity markets initially favoured large caps, over the last few weeks the increased risk appetite has helped mid and small cap stocks relatively outperform large caps," says Sukumar Rajah, CIO, equity, Franklin Templeton Investments India.
The Bombay Stock Exchange realty index has more than trebled after hitting a 52-week low on March 9 closing at 3954.9 points on June 2. The BSE Bankex has gained 40% in May, capital goods 46.1%, mid-cap 41.8% and small-cap by a whopping 50.4%. The decisive mandate has turned the tables and improved investor confidence a great deal, say industry officials.
"Growth comes with stability. Investors both within and outside the country feel a great sense of stability now," says Nimesh.
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Unemployment: green shoots and pink slips
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The government is engaged in a far-reaching - and expensive - effort to rescue the economy. |
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Despite talk of economic "green shoots," more people around the world received pink slips last month
The jobless rate climbed to 9.2 percent in the 16 Eurozone nations of the EU, the highest rate in a decade. In the U.S. unemployment has hit a 25-year high of 8.9 percent and Hong Kong unemployment hit a three-year high of 5.3 percent in April.
Meeting in Geneva this week, the International Labor Organization predicts global unemployment could eclipse 7 percent for the first time since it began keeping data in 1991. The ILO predicts unemployment will rise into 2011 and potentially trigger social unrest, according to the report "Tackling the Global Jobs Crisis" released this week.
Meanwhile, global equity markets have rebounded in the past five months. Since March, the S&P 500 Index has regained its losses for 2009. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index is up 49 percent since March 9, when it hit a five-year low.
On June 1, the Hang Seng Index in Hong finished the day at 18,888 -- "8" being an auspicious number in China, a mood matched by the fact the market rose 17 percent in the month of May.
Markets appear buoyed by the decreasing speed of gloomy economic data in the tumult following the collapse of Lehman Brothers last September. With the exception of the General Motors bankruptcy protection announcement this week, the number of "mass layoffs" by companies seems to be tapering off.
"We are seeing in every major sector across the board that job losses are beginning to wane," Lakshman Achuthan, managing director of Economic Cycle Research Institute, recently told CNN. "The slash and burn that we were seeing a few months ago is starting to ease off and that is the first sign, a key first sign that the recession is drawing to a close."
Unemployment lags behind other statistics that signal a contracting or rebounding economy such as stock market returns. However, there is a chicken-and-egg question among analysts whether any recovery without job growth can truly be called a "recovery."
The growth of the global economy was primed by the spending might of U.S. consumers. And Americans have quickly turned down the spending spigot: personal savings rates in the U.S. increased to 5.7 percent in April -- a 14-year high, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
"You can't credibly talk about green shoots in an economy that's driven 70 percent by consumer spending," Daley said. The market rebound "is more because of cheerleading by the Obama administration, banks and CEOs ... there is nothing to sustain it," he added.
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Google Q3 profits jump 27 pc to USD 1.64 bn
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Internet search engine giant Google has reported a 27 per cent growth in net income at USD 1.64 billion for the third quarter on the back of higher advertising revenues.
The company had a net income of USD 1.29 billion in July-September last year, Google said in a statement.
Google registered revenues of USD 5.94 billion for the quarter under review, an increase of 7 per cent over that in the third quarter of 2008.
"Google had a strong quarter -- we saw seven per cent year-over-year revenue growth despite the tough economic conditions. While there is a lot of uncertainty about the pace of economic recovery, we believe the worst of the recession is behind us and now feel confident about investing heavily in our future," Google CEO Eric Schmidt said.
Google-owned sites contributed 67 per cent to the total revenues, generating USD 3.96 billion in the third quarter against USD 3.67 billion in the same period last fiscal.
The company's partner sites generated revenues, through AdSense programmes, of USD 1.80 billion in the third quarter, a 7 per cent increase same period last year.
Google reports its revenues, consistent with GAAP, on a gross basis without deducting traffic acquisition costs (TAC). In the third quarter of 2009, TAC totalled USD 1.56 billion, or 27 per cent of advertising revenues.
Traffic acquisition costs, the portion of revenues shared with Google's partners, increased to USD 1.56 billion in the third quarter of 2009, compared to TAC of USD 1.5 billion in the year-ago period.
Search engine giant's revenues from markets outside the US totalled USD 3.14 billion, representing 53 of total revenues in the third quarter of 2009.
The company's revenue from pad clicks which include clicks related to ads served on Google sites and the sites of our AdSense partners, increased about 14 per cent over the third quarter of 2008.
As of September 30, 2009, cash, cash equivalents, and short-term marketable securities were USD 22 billion.
During the quarter, Google has reduced its workforce by 121 people across the world to 19,665 employees as of September 30, 2009.
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