NEW DELHI – INDIAN Premier Manmohan Singh said for the first time on Saturday he was willing to commit his country to ambitious global carbon emission cuts, provided others shared the burden.

Home to nearly 1.2 billion people, India is the only major greenhouse gas emitting nation yet to announce figures on reining in its carbon output, with just over a week to go until UN climate talks start in Copenhagen.

‘India is willing to sign on to an ambitious global target for emissions reductions or limiting temperature increase but this must be accompanied by an equitable burden sharing paradigm,’ Dr Singh said in a speech, the text of which was released by his office in New Delhi.

Dr Singh gave no indication of any figures India might propose, or whether it would be an absolute cut, like those Europe and Japan have on the table, or a proportional cut like that offered by China.

India’s CNN-IBN and Times Now television networks, however, reported Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh was set to offer overall cuts of between 20 to 25 per cent, but a ministry official said she was unaware of any such commitment.

Dr Singh was speaking in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, where he was attending a Commonwealth summit. — AFP

Source: Straits Times, 2009

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Four people have died of swine flu in New Delhi and 106 fresh cases were reported–the highest in the country on Friday, a health official said.

The deaths take the national toll to 566.

Of the four deaths, two each were in Safdarjung Hospital and the Lady Hardinge Medical College an Hospital. In Safdarjung Hospital – a 36-year-old woman and a 60-year-old man succumbed to the pandemic virus. With these deaths, the toll in the capital has reached 22.

“We have reported 106 fresh cases Friday, including 68 children,” a senior Delhi health ministry official told IANS.

A swine flu death was reported from Himachal Pradesh where an eight-year-old boy died in a government hospital. This was the second death in the state due to the H1N1 virus.

“A boy who was suffering from swine flu and was admitted to the Government Medical College and Hospital (Sector 32) died Thursday,” chief medical officer Ashok Tagra told IANS.

Also during the day, 243 fresh cases were reported, including 106 from Delhi. While Haryana reported 43 new cases, 23 cases were from Uttar Pradesh.

With these cases, Delhi has reported 4,406 cases of influenza A (H1N1) – highest among states so far. Maharashtra follows close behind with 3,954 cases, Tamil Nadu is at number three position with 1,846 cases.

India reacted strongly on Saturday to Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Quershi’s allegations that New Delhi was not interested in talks and was myopic in its approach.

Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor blamed Pakistan of showing lack of vigour in the prosecutions of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused.

“Pakistan doesn’t have political will to punish Hafiz Saeed (Lashkar-e-Toiba chief). Their actions don’t match their words. If they need more evidence against Saeed, there is evidence against him in Pakistan. They should investigate the case,” said Tharoor.

Accusing Pakistan of being soft of terror Tharoor said that talks between the two countries will resume only after Islamabad acts against the groups and individuals involved in terror activities.

“A peace dialogue is not possible with a gun pointed at India’s head. When Pakistan starts to deliver on terrorism, we will approach Parliament to make a case for talks,” he said.

When asked about Lashkar activist David Coleman Headley and his connections with the Pakistani Prime Minister’s Office, Tharoor said merely knowing a person cannot be a reason to implicate someone.

“I am not one who believes in guilt by association. You may be one kind of person and your cousin or brother may be another kind of person. I don’t think the mere presence of a relative is enough to implicate the Prime Minister’s Office,” he said.

Earlier, Qureshi in an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN had ruled out any dialogue with India at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Port of Spain.

Qureshi said that Indo-Pak peace process could continue only if India reciprocated and asked India not to be myopic. he also added that even though Pakistan had enough evidence to convict most of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks accused but the evidence against Lashkar-e-Toiba chief Hafiz Saeed is not adequate.

Criticising India Qureshi said that there had to be real progress in bilateral talks.

“I have always welcomed a meeting. But it has to be a meaningful meeting. It has to be a dialogue which is result oriented. We have had engagements; we met on sidelines in New York. I shared with him (SM Krishna) my vision of the future, my roadmap of engagement for the future. They (Indian government) have to respond, they have failed to respond so far. Pakistan is interested in an engagement which is meaningful, result oriented. We are no longer interested in a photo opportunity,” he had said.

A computer crash in an unspecified number of centres in six cities marred the start of the Common Admission Test (CAT) that determines admission to over 100 business and management schools, a leading coaching centre said.

The crash occurred soon after the CAT examination began in Chennai, Kolkata, Bhopal, Bangalore, Mumbai and Pune, affecting a large number of the 240,000 set to appear in the staggered test until December 7.

“We got calls from students in six cities saying they were not able to give the test because the computer system crashed. The students have been told they can take another time slot,” Director of the TIME Institute – a preparatory school for IIM aspirants – Ulhas Vairagkar, told IANS.

“The reason for the crash is unclear,” Vairagkar said.

It was the first time the CAT was conducted across India on computers — as opposed optical reading marker. The Indian Institutes of Management, which conduct the exam, said they would comment later. It was not clear how many students were affected on Saturday.

An American firm, Prometric, which has developed the computer system for CAT, said it would be able to assess what went wrong only by around 1400 hrs IST.

Around 50,000 students are to appear for the exam in Delhi over a 10-day period. The test is scheduled in 32 cities at 105 centres, all connected to a main server.

IIMs and Prometric had issued a disclaimer to all the students appearing for the exam to refrain from discussing the new format and questions till Dec 7 when the exam schedule ends.

Last year, nearly 276,000 students across India took the test. Several experts told IANS earlier that the fall in registrations this year was due to CAT going hi-tech.

CAT exam assesses quantitative, logical, verbal and data interpretation ability of students.

CAT scores determine entry to the IIMs in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Indore, Lucknow, Kozhikode and Shillong as well as the Management Development Institute in Gurgaon, Institute of Management Training in Ghaziabad, Mudra Institute of Communications in Ahmedabad and Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research in Mumbai.

“This is the first time exam a computerised test has been held on such a large scale. Candidates are new to it as well. Despite making our efforts to give a demonstration, the candidates are pressing the wrong button. We realise this and there will be rescheduling of the exam. We can accommodate them. Hopefully, the problem will not continue. We will accommodate within the 10-day period as we had contingency seats. It is the incompatibility of some of the software for the test sites that has caused the problem and affected the exact scheduling”
— Convener, CAT Committee Prof Satish Deodhar to CNN-IBN

Fu un terrorista pachistano ad effettuare, dalla cella di massima sicurezza del carcere pachistano di Hyderabad nel quale era rinchiuso, la telefonata al presidente pachistano Zardari, spacciandosi per il ministro degli esteri indiano Mukherjee, all’indomani degli attacchi di Mumbai, facendo temere per qualche ora lo scoppio della quarta guerra fra i due paesi (se si esclude quella non dichiarata del 1998). Lo riferisce oggi il quotidiano pachistano Dawn. Omar Saeed Sheikh, ritenuto uno dei piu’ importanti terroristi pachistani, in carcere tra l’altro per il rapimento e l’omicidio del giornalista del Wall Street Journal Daniel Pearl, secondo il giornale pachistano, in carcere, nonostante si trovasse in isolamento, riusciva a ricevere telefonate dalla moglie su un cellulare che aveva nascosto. La scheda Sim era una scheda inglese, cosa che avvalora quanto ha scritto nella sua biografia l’ex presidente Pervez Musharraf, secondo il quale Saeed era un servizio del MI6, il servizio segreto inglese. Sul quel telefono cellulare, il terrorista fu informato dalla moglie dei fatti di Mumbai, ricevendo continui aggiornamenti. Venerdi’ 28 novembre, a due giorni dall’inizio degli attacchi terroristici a Mumbai, nelle stesse ore in cui i gruppi speciali indiani liberavano gli ultimi ostaggi negli alberghi della citta’, nella residenza ufficiale del presidente pachistano Asif Ali Zardari squillo’ il telefono riservato: dall’altra parte Saeed, spacciandosi per il ministro degli esteri indiano, Pranab Mukherjee, accusava il Pakistan di aver aiutato i terroristi, annunciando di star spostando le truppe verso il confine pachistano e ingiungendo a Islamabad di prendere provvedimenti contro i fondamentalisti islamici. Zardari richiamo’ a Islamabad il primo ministro Yusuf Raza Gilani che era a Lahore, un aereo militare parti’ alla volta di New Delhi per riportare a casa il ministro degli esteri Shah Mahmud Qureshi che sarebbe dovuto ritornare il giorno dopo con un volo di linea. Il capo di stato maggiore dell’esercito viene avvisato di mettere in stato di massima allerta le truppe, e di cominciare a spostare battaglioni dal confine afghano a quello indiano. Furono 24 ore di intense telefonate, di contatti diplomatici tra Islamabad, New Delhi e Washington. Lo stesso pseudo ministro degli esteri indiano autore del falso telefonico con Zardari avrebbe provato a chiamare anche il segretario di stato americano Condoleezza Rice, ma i servizi americani non hanno passato la telefonata. La Rice invece parlo’ con Zardari e poi con Mukherjee, che smenti’. Saed e’ stato trasferito nel carcere di Lahore e il responsabile del carcere di Hyderabad, dopo che una perquisizione approfondita ha fatto rinvenire telefoni cellulari e schede nella cella di Saed, e’ stato trasferito.

By: RupeeNews | Moin Ansari

There is a parable in South Asia, mainly Bharat (aka India) which loosely translated goes something like this “All night long, we told you the lengthly and long-winded story of Ramayan–and in the morning you asks was ‘Sita’ one of the main characters–a man or a woman”. Obviously one who has ever read or heard the story of Sita, will never forget the fact that Sita was a woman. In Western terms it would be like reading Shakespeare and then asking whether Juliette was a woman or a man. This is exactly what happened in Washington. Even before Prime Minister arrived in Delhi, everyone know what the agenda would be—Bharati gripes against Pakistan on terror.

Mr. Manmohan didn’t realise that each time he mentioned Mumbai and terror in the same breath, it took millions of Dollars away from business in the commercial capital of Bharat. However he along with Sancho Panza in Delhi persisted in the old story of terror and why Pakistan should be sanctioned, blah blah blah.

After the long discussion, the congratulatory interview paid advertisement (interview) with Pakistanphobe Farid Zakaria and others, when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met with President Obama, he wanted to hear mr. Obama threaten, castigate, and scold Pakistan–to Bharati chagrin, the exact opposite happened.

After patiently listening to Bharati whining for the years, Washington essentially ignored Bharat, tripled aid to Pakistan, increase military supplies to Islamabad, and is working on construction a Reconstruction Opportunity Zone (ROZ), and a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Bharat’s arch-enemy.

Obviously Mr. Singh knew all this before he came to Washington. The Bharati lobby had essentially failed to derail the Biden/Kerry-Lugar bill and the amendment letter attached to it watered down or eliminated the Bharati inspired language in the bill.

This picture is very descriptive and worth a thousand words—as Mr. Singh “stood rapt withal”, his stone faced silence, drooping face and stoic demeanour was unable to hide the disappointment–when he heard President Obama snubbed the Bharati Prime Minister by loudly proclaiming that Pakistan was a very important ally of the United States and that it was doing a lot in fighting terror.

Mr. Singh will have a lot to answer for when he returns to Delhi–the opposition will tear him apart on why he was unsuccessful in his mission–maligning Pakistan

In a press conference with the Indian PM, the US president emphasised that Pakistan was progressing against extremism. —Photo by AFP

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Tuesday re-emphasised Pakistan’s key position in the American strategy for South Asia, telling a joint news conference with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that Islamabad had an enormously important role in the security of that region.

His statement, in response to a question about US military assistance to Pakistan, was a calculated departure from the tributes he had paid to India earlier.

In remarks delivered before the news conference, Mr Obama described India as ‘indispensable’ for his visions for the future of the world, ‘a leader in Asia and around the world,’ and a ‘nuclear power’ with which the United States would like to work ‘in preventing the spread of the world’s most deadly weapons, securing loose nuclear materials from terrorists, and pursuing our shared vision of a world without nuclear weapons.’

While Mr Obama continued this eulogy in the press conference as well, he paused to stress Pakistan’s importance in the South Asian region when an Indian journalist spoke about the perception that US military aid to Pakistan was misused against India.

‘Obviously, Pakistan has an enormously important role in the security of the region,’ said Mr Obama, adding that Islamabad could fulfil this role ‘by making sure that the extremist organisations that often operate out of its territories are dealt with effectively.’

I have gained confidence that there’s not an important question out there that has not been asked that we haven’t answered to the best of our abilities, the US president said. —Photo by AFP

While acknowledging that Pakistan faced the problem of terrorism, Mr Obama said he also had ‘seen some progress’ in Islamabad’s efforts to fight the militancy.

While Prime Minister Singh was bush playing victim in Washington, his Chief of Staff General Kapoor, suffering from Foot-in-mouth-disease was busy displaying his incompetence by threatening war to its nuclear armed neighbors.

Stephen Cohen a known Indophile who created the now debunked “Cold Start Strategy” has clearly said that the India and the US are strategically moving apart. This assessment comes in the wake of the reality that America’s new banker is not New York—it is Beijing. Prime Minister Manamohan Singh sheepishly mentioned this anomaly during his various conversations in Washington and elsewhere. While the chest thumping on democracy fell on deaf ears, what chagrined the prime minister and Bharati media was the fact that the US has ignored Delhi’s whining on Mumbai. Contrary to the lobbying efforts of Delhi, the US Congress tripled aid to Pakistan, and then some—it is also working on ROZ and a FTA with Pakistan. Unbeknownst to Delhi, the US Army has helped the generals in Islamabad with weapons that are under the radar or press and or media scrutiny.

‘The work that the Pakistan military is doing in the Swat Valley and in South Waziristan all indicates the degree to which they are beginning to recognise that extremism, even if initially directed to the outside, can ultimately also have an adverse impact on their security internally,’ he said.

‘So my hope is that over time what we’re going to see is further clarity and further cooperation between all the parties and all peoples of goodwill in the region to eradicate terrorist activity, to eradicate the kind of violent extremism that we’ve seen.’

Such cooperation, he said, would benefit the peoples of Pakistan and India, and the world community as well.

Mr Obama conceded that in the past the US-Pakistan relationship was ‘single-mindedly focussed just on military assistance’ and that the United States didn’t think more broadly about how to encourage and develop the kinds of civil society in Pakistan that would make a difference in the lives of people day-to-day.

His administration, Mr Obama added, had tried to change this approach by re-focussing its attention on helping the Pakistani people.

Showing more diplomatic skill than some of his senior diplomats, President Obama also nudged India and Pakistan to resume their dialogue without appearing intrusive.

‘One of the things I admire most about Prime Minister Singh is that I think at his core he is a man of peace,’ said Mr Obama before stressing the need for a peaceful resolution of India-Pakistan disputes.

‘Obviously, there are historic conflicts between India and Pakistan. It is not the place of the United States to try to, from the outside, resolve all those conflicts,’ he said.

Pakistan has important role in S. Asia: Obama

NEW DELHI: Delhi government seems to be meeting with most resistance from its own quarters on the implementation of the ban on plastic bags. After it’s Dilli Haat now where shopkeepers have not been able to give up on plastic bags. The environment department has been writing to them on the issue but enforcement still remains a problem.

Dilli Haat, that comes under the department of tourism of the Delhi government, has been the forum for the environment department from where they have been specially promoting alternative bags. Special stalls selling jute and paper bags were also set up to encourage stall owners and consumers to switch from plastic. However, even now, plastic bags have not disappeared completely.

the Dilli Haat

Zakir Ali, manager of Dilli Haat at INA, said the place would become completely free of plastic bags by the end of the year. “We have put up boards and sent warning letters to violators but there has been a problem of enforcement. While our exhibitions have been completely plastic-free, the older artisans seem to be having a problem in being able to afford bags of alternate materials. We are trying our best to help them out,” he said, adding that a large number of people had started using jute and paper bags already.

Sources added that the department had no budget to support any subsidy on the use of alternative bags and for poor artisans coming from villages, the issue of affordability was a huge concern. “The resistance to using non-plastic bags comes not just from stall owners but also from consumers. Such bags cost about Rs 10. Consumers are habituated to taking free plastic bags and so now they are reluctant to purchase bags. A mechanism will have to be figured out wherein artisans get financial help so that they can switch over to jute, cloth or paper bags,” said an official.

Department officials said meeting was to be convened shortly in which more comprehensive methods of implementing the ban would be chalked out. “We have been writing to all heads of market places and threatening them with action if violations are found. A more strict approach needs to be adopted,” said an official.

Plastic bags were banned in the city in January this year. Those caught using or distributing plastic bags of any thickness or size will be fined a maximum of Rs 1 lakh or imprisonment of up to five years under the Environment Protection Act 1986.

From TOI

PYF

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit Tuesday urged the world community to take notice of remarks passed by the Indian Army Chief, saying India is setting the stage for a limited war against Pakistan since long.

The FO spokesman said in its statement that the remarks of Indian Army Chief Gen Deepak Kapoor reflect the hazardous and aggressive nuclear theory propagated by India.

The spokesman said Deepak’s statement endorses Indian’s aggression-based ambitions regarding nuclear hegemony, adding it is incumbent upon the big world powers to keep intact the power balance in the region.

Abdul Basit said Pakistan is a responsible country and will continue working for the upkeep of peace in the South Asia on the basis of equality and mutual respect.

There was gender equality in its panel -  three women and as many men.  The BBC World Debate in New Delhi  focused on the question whether gender equality is achievable in work place ? Consensus  was,  ‘ yes, but not anytime soon’.

Panelists : Pepsico CEO Indra Nooyi ;  ICICI Bank chief  Chanda Kochhar ;  Obama’s envoy for global women’s issues  Melanne Verveer ;  and  Suhel Seth,  said to be New Delhi’s much sought after party guest,  and,  presumably,  most-invited  TV panelist ;   Renault and Nissan CEO  Carlos Ghosn ; and show host BBC’s  Nik Gowing,  who  gave equal opportunity for them to address the issue. What they said:

Ms. Nooyi:  What do we mean by gender equality ? Is it men-women employment on  50-50 basis,  or  equal recognition of their work?  Does it refer to peer respect for women in work place? Gender equality  is hard to define. She reckoned that  in many societies women are not given a choice  to work.

Ms Kochhar:  Employers need to address issues such as  maternity benefits. This assumes importance in ICICI bank,  where  80 percent of  women employees are below 30. As a woman, and working mother,  she says she considers  it  a privilege to be able to handle both roles. It is a 24 hr. job.

Mr.Ghosn :  Gender equality entailed men sharing responsiblities on the home front as well. Why not encourage male employees to take care of baby  by granting paternity leave and other benefits ?  Yes,  gender parity is achievable in the long term.

Mr Seth:  In the long-term we are all dead. To get anywhere on gender equality we need to look at the status of women beyond their work place. Viewed in this light the issue relates to gender respect.  There can be no gender equality without a mindset change in society.

Mr Vijay Malya:  Kingfisher commemorated the International  Women’s Day with flights that had  all-women crew.  He saw it as a matter of visibility of women in male-dominent fields. He refers to car racing says it would serve as role model for others, if we can identify  a woman Formula 1 driver.

Those of us who watched the debate may not have become any wiser on the status of  gender parity.  But then it is an  issue  that perhaps  needs to be hammered in,  on an ongoing basis in seminars, workshops and  TV talk shows.

At the end of it my thoughts were : 1) Can we  think of a women who can match up  to  Suhel Seth in TV appearances  as a  stock panelist ?   Kiren Bedi, maybe  ?

2) And why can’t  BBC think of holding a gender issue debate in Saudi Arabia ?

The Obama White House will host their first state dinner tonight in honor of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Set to beginning in about half an hour, it looks like it will be a blockbuster event. Details about the dinner were closely guarded until just a few hours ago, but we now know that A.R. Rahman and Jennifer Hudson are set to perform and that the star-studded guest list will enjoy a very vegetarian-friendly meal. (The Prime Minister is a vegetarian.)

Dinner guests include prominent desis such as Fareed Zakaria, Sanjay Gupta, Jhumpa Lahiri, Kalpen Modi (aka Kal Penn), Deepak Chopra, Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.

The White House website will be livestreaming the dinner starting at 8:15 Eastern. I’ll be posting links to coverage of the dinner throughout the evening on Twitter.

Post your comments of tonight’s festivities below.