US President Barack Obama has finally touched the holy grounds of India.President Barack Obama is on a high-profile diplomatic trip to India this week, furthering Obama’s goal of deepening U.S.-India ties and addressing a number of related issues. Here’s what’s happening on the visit, why it matters, and what it could mean for the two countries and beyond.

*Why the U.S. and India Want to Be Best Friends?

The New York Times’ Jim Yardley writes, “Both countries are eager to build on their improved ties and set up a unique, special relationship, given that together they represent the world’s richest and largest democracies. Faced with a rising authoritarian China, and an economically wounded Europe, a weakened United States is casting about for global partners. India would seem a nice fit.”

* U.S. Must Choose Between Pakistan and India :-The L.A. Times’ warns”A quiet crisis is developing in what seems, on the surface, to be an increasingly promising relationship between the world’s two largest democracies. … [India worries] that the United States can hardly be a strategic partner if it continues to build up the military capabilities of a hostile Pakistan that sponsors Islamist terrorists dedicated to India’s destruction. … the full potential of U.S.-Indian cooperation, including naval cooperation in the face of an increasingly ambitious China, will not be realized until Washington stops providing Islamabad with weaponry that can be used against India and takes a realistic view of the reasons for Indian-Pakistani tensions.”

* Obama calls India creator, not poacher,of US jobs:-

Searching for help half a world away,President Barack Obama on Saturday embraced India as the next jobs-creating giant for hurting Americans, not a cheap-labor rival that outsources opportunity from the United States.Fresh off a political trouncing at home,Obama was determined to show tangible, economic results on his long Asia trip, and that was apparent from almost the moment he set foot on a steamy afternoon in the world’s largest democracy. By the end of the first of his three days in India, he was promoting $10 billion in trade deals— completed in time for his visit — that the White House says will create about 54,000 jobs at home.That’s a modest gain compared with the extent of the enduring jobless crisis in the United States. Economists say it would require on the level of 300,000 new jobs a month to put a real dent in an unemployment rate stuck near 10 percent.But,Mr.Obama said it should be a “win-win” relationship, but in a nod to U.S. sensibilities he also acknowledged concerns in the U.S. about outsourcing.

Obama backs India’s quest for UN permanent seat:-US President Barack Obama endorsed on Monday India’s long-held demand for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, a largely symbolic move that may put diplomatic pressure on rival regional power China. India says a seat on the council would reflect the growing weight of the G20 nation as its trillion dollars economy helps spur global growth and its government exerts more and more influence over issues from Doha trade to climate change talks. 
“In the years ahead, I look forward to a reformed United Nations Security Council that includes India as a permanent member,” Obama said in a speech to India’s parliament in New Delhi. ”Let me suggest that with increased power comes increased responsibility,” he added at the end of the first leg of a 10-day Asian tour that has also been seen about gathering support from countries like India to exert pressure on China on its currency.

Offcourse,here are some positives and negatives about the Barack Obama`s visit to India.Offcourse,Mr.Obama as the President of USA has brought with him lots of opportunities for the Indian economy, has promised billions of dollars of investment in India which is good for the economy and hence the country will benefit out of it.If you look it with a political angle the situation remains the same as it was before with no change. The fact that Obama was silent in his speech about cross border terrorism, involvement of terrorists from across the border in various terrorists attacks that took place in the country and his inability to do anything about this only stands that we come to the same point and stand still without any alternatives.

Mr. Obama said India has surmounted overwhelming odds to become a model to the world, and now both countries have a historic opportunity to define the century ahead and promote common prosperity.Let’s hope for the best, a warming up of relationships is very much beneficial to both.:)

 

Vedanta Resources (VED.L) plans to spend up to $9.6 billion (6.1 billion pounds) clinching control of Cairn India (CAIL.BO),giving billionaire mining magnate Anil Agarwal a slice of India’s oil reserves and exposure to surging demand.

Clearly, the chairman and founder of Vedanta has no desire to build a global oil and gas company. But he does want to run an even bigger conglomerate in his home country,rivalling the mighty industrial empire of a billionaire like Lakshmi Mittal.

A bird is flying near Vedanta Office in Mumbai

One of the most thrilling moments of my life was the day I got my first cycle,” reminisces Anil Agarwal, founder, chairman and, with his family, majority stakeholder of Vedanta Resources Plc., the London Stock Exchange-listed mining and metals conglomerate with a market cap of $10 billion (Rs39,400 crore). The cycle was a gift from his father, a fabricator of grills and gates in small-town Patna in the 1960s. It meant the youngster could ride to his municipal school in style, instead of making the daily 10km hike on foot. Much later, Agarwal graduated to a Vespa scooter,but never made it to college.

From the Patna lad who left school at 15 without knowing a word of English, to founder, Vedanta Resources, Agarwal has travelled a long way. Vedanta Resources was the only Indian group to go for a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange in 2003 and its subsidiary, Sterlite Industries, was listed on NYSE in 2007 in the largest IPO in the US by an Indian company.

According to Forbes, Anil Agarwal is on the verging of breaking into the world?s 100 richest men with a fortune of $6.4b

The person who has perhaps most influenced Agarwal’s recent thinking is an American, Steve Elbaum, chairman, Superior Cables, a $1.5 billion company. Elbaum was born to Holocaust survivor parents in a displaced persons’ camp. His idea of business as a clearing house to distribute earnings back to society probably inspired Agarwal’s 2006 $1 billion pledge to set up the Vedanta University, a world-class university, on a 3,200ha site in Orissa. Says Agarwal: “I want to spend 20% of my time on philanthropy, building lasting institutions the way American industrialists have done. That’s my passion now.” His critics say the real motivation is Vedanta’s interests in Orissa, which holds the world’s fourth largest bauxite deposits—the mining of these has been opposed by some environmentalists and tribals, resulting in Norway’s Government Pension Fund divesting its small holding in Vedanta. Agarwal has faced criticism from activists who oppose Vedanta’s plan to extract bauxite from what tribes-people say is a sacred mountain in India’s impoverished but mineral-rich state of Orissa.

Vedanta says the mine in the Niyamgiri mountain forests, beneath which lie 78 million tonnes of bauxite, will not violate the rights of local tribes. The company is also funding schools, clinics and is engaged in income-generation projects in the area.

Walking around the Nariman Point business district, Agarwal stops to talk to a sandwichwalla in a Bihari dialect, asking about his family in the village; the street vendor in turn asks him about the Sterlite stock price. In this corner of urban India, both migrants from Bihar have, in Bollywood parlance, made the long journey from zero to hero.

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)Vice-President Chirayu Amin was today appointed as the interim Chairman and Commissioner of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to oversee the conduct of the high-profile Twenty20 league hours after its chief Lalit Modi was suspended late last night,pending an inquiry into various alleged wrongdoings.Addressing mediapersons during a press conference, Manohar said he was not happy with Lalit Modi’s explanation on the entire IPL controversy. Suspension of Modi was necessary to conduct a free and fair enquiry, he said.
If Modi’s reply convinces the board, the enquiry proceedings against him will be dropped, Manohar added.
Lalit Modi was early on Monday suspended as the IPL commissioner and issued a show-cause notice capping two weeks of raging controversy over financial wrong-doings in the hugely popular cricket tournament. The interim chief of the IPL is Chirayu Amin, the head of the Baroda Cricket Association,and Vice-President of the IPL’s parent body,the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

A suspension notice and a 34-page letter stating 22 charges of impropriety were served last night, via email, to Modi, seconds after the Chennai Super-Kings won IPL3. The flamboyant Modi has been accused of, among other things, accepting a multi-million dollar kickback while assigning the telecast rights for IPL matches, and attempting to rig the bids for the two new IPL teams that were auctioned last month.After the meeting of the IPL Governing Council, BCCI president Shashank Manohar said,“The chargesheet was discussed…we also asked Ratnakar Shetty to look into the records because many documents are missing from the IPL office…everyday, the income tax department is asking for them and we don’t have them.”

Modi has 15 days to respond to the charges against him. If his reply “is convincing, the proceedings will be dropped,” said Manohar. Otherwise, the BCCI will begin a formal internal inquiry against Modi.

To those that question why the BCCI has waited so long to pin Modi down, Manohar responded, “In any public organization, the organization functions on trust. Each and every person can’t go and look into each and every document in the organization. If you are expecting all members of the Governing Council to come here from 10 am till 10 pm each day, then we don’t need the other staff.”

As an example of deals struck by Modi that seem suspicious, Manohar said the board has found significant irregularities in the ownership pattern of the Rajasthan Royals.He claimed that the most public faces of the team, Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and her businessman husband Raj Kundra, don’t even figure in the shareholding papers.

“We are asking Modi, how can he sign an agreement with A when the bid came from B. Modi made a statement that the entire world knows who the shareholders are but the fact is that not even the Governing Council members know about Rajasthan Royals. I did not find the names of Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra in the papers and they claim to be stakeholders,” he revealed.

For IPL 4, Manohar said a committee of former cricketers Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi will decide the modalities.By suspending Modi last night, the BCCI ensured that he would not be able to attend this morning’s meeting. Manohar claims that “As the tournament was on, we didn’t want tournament to be disrupted or create any disturbance for tournament.”The decision came after Modi added yet another twist to the high-drama IPL tale, stating, on twitter, that he would chair the Governing Council meeting. Modi had earlier said he would not attend the meeting.The only members of the Governing Council who were not at Monday’s meeting were Modi, politician Farooq Abdullah,who said he needs to be in Parliament.

Speaking to media immediately after his suspension last night, Modi said, “Are they so scared of me attending the meeting?Are they so scared of the truth?”Modi has 15 days to respond to the 34-page chargesheet.At the closing ceremony for IPL 3 last night,Modi channeled his quintessential bravado to assert that he is the undisputed leader of the IPL and that no financial misdeeds were committed.Referring to himself as“Captain of the team”,he said that all deals had included the approval of the Governing Council.Are they afraid of the truth?
The members of that governing council don’t quite see it that way.They stress that Modi functioned as a lone ranger, striking deals that benefited largely himself. For example, the council says it was not privy to Modi’s complicated negotiation of the telecast rights for IPL matches for which an 80 million dollar“facilitation fee” or commission was paid by Multi-Screen Media (MSM) to World Sports Group (WSG),which held the global broadcast rights. Modi, who brokered that deal, is accused by the BCCI of siphoning off a part of this money.(Both MSM and WSG have emphasized that the commission was a part of their official contract,and that no financial rules were broken. Income tax officials investigating the deal believe that at the very least, 140 crores in tax is due for that giant commission).It seems like IPL–Money & Honey,But No Cricket.So,Let’s wait and see what happens once the IPL Season4 will begin.:)

In the deadliest Maoist attacks till date, Red rebels enticed a CRPF team into a trap early on Tuesday and butchered 76 of them in two separate ambushes deep in the jungles of Chattisgarh’s Dantewada district.Two days after India’s Maoist rebels killed 76 policemen in their deadliest attack in recent times/memory,the government sought to tamp down public anger that the guerrilla forces killed so many officers without taking a single casualty.
The Maoists,also called Naxalites,who claim to fight for India’s poor,have battled the government for four decades.They have been labeled one of the top security threats in India,with a presence in 22 of 28 states.Despite a massive offensive launched against them last year across seven states,called Operation Greenhunt,they recently rejected an offer of peace negotiations.The Maoists’ dream of achieving their political and social goals through violence is bizarre. India’s democratic history is replete with examples of issues fought and goals achieved through peaceful means.Maoists have become addicted to violence. All efforts of bringing them to the mainstream have failed. It is time the government decided to deal with them with an iron fist.
“Something has gone very wrong,”India’s home minister Palaniappan Chidambaram admitted,but he cautioned against any “knee jerk” reaction to the attack.But,I believe,…..As Union Home Minister,P. Chidambaram should know this better than anyone else.He cannot escape responsibility by expressing shock and saying something must have drastically gone wrong in the CRPF-police joint operation. The common man also knows that something must have gone wrong. It is not enough to simply express shock and grief as we have been doing all along. It is time to channel the anger generated by the outrageous act and take credible action to ensure no more lives are thrown away.
*Ambush,booby traps:-According to Indian and Western media reports,a convoy of the Alpha company of the elite Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF),which is involved in Operation Greenhunt in the state of Chhattisgarh, walked into a rebel trap while heading to a base. It is a rocky area enveloped by thick forest.
At dawn,more than 500 rebels, armed with a sophisticated inventory of weapons, besieged the convoy in their signature guerrilla style.They opened fire indiscriminately, threw grenades, and set off IEDs (improvised explosive devices).Fleeing soldiers fell over the mines and booby traps that the rebels had laid beforehand on the escape routes.Two sets of police reinforcements arrived on the scene, and also came under fire.
*No reinforcements,for now:-Mr. Chidambaram ruled out for now the possibility of bringing in the Army or Air Force to fight the Maoists, but pledged there would be no letup in the offensive. “We think the state police assisted by Central paramilitary forces are sufficient to overcome the Naxalite threat. It is our present assessment of the threat,” he said. “But if necessary, we will have to revisit the mandate to make some changes.”

But,I think when Maoists show no mercy,why should the government be lenient towards them?We are now in a state of undeclared war.The government should take steps to decimate the ultras, rather than invite them for talks.Centre and the States should stand together to eliminate the Maoists entrenched in various parts of the country.Efforts should also be made to redress genuine grievances to prevent alienation among the rural poor. There is also the issue of underdevelopment and unemployment. The attacks on the state machinery,if romanticised,will force more unemployed and uneducated youth into naxalism.We should,hope for best but prepare for worst.:(

Parliament appears set to create history as the Rajya Sabha takes up the Women’s Reservation Bill tomorrow with Congress,BJP and Left parties joining hands in favour of the measure and divisions emerging among the opponents. Passage of the Bill,hanging fire for 14 years for want of consensus, in the Rajya Sabha, where it is scheduled for consideration tomorrow,is almost a certainty given the formidable strength of its backers–Congress, BJP and the Left parties and a number of other smaller parties like TDP, DMK, AIADMK, Akali Dal and National Conference.

Union law and justice minister M Veerappa Moily would be moving for consideration‘The Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill’,which is also known as Women’s Reservation Bill to coincide with the International Women’s Day tomorrow.The Bill, provides for reservation of one-third seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for 15 years from the date of commencement of the Act on rotation basis.

Parliament appears set to create history as the passage of the Bill, hanging fire for 13 years for want of consensus in the Rajya Sabha, where it is scheduled for consideration tomorrow, is almost a certainty given the formidable strength of its backers—Congress, BJP and the Left parties and a number of other smaller parties like TDP, DMK, AIADMK, Akali Dal and National Conference.When the bill was introduced for the first time, it was snatched from the hands of the then prime minister I K Gujral in 1997 and torn to pieces by members his Janata Dal heading the United Front. Subsequently, the incident was repeated when the then law minister Ram Jethamalani sought to table the bill during the NDA government’s tenure.

As it is a Constitution amendment bill, its passage requires a special majority of two-third backing of at least 155 members in a House 245 with an effective strength of 233. The government has the clear support of 138 members of Congress, BJP and Left parties besides that of a number of small parties,which takes the backing to more than 165.The unexpected developments in JD(U), which has 7 MPs in Rajya Sabha and 20 MPs in the Lok Sabha, has come as a godsend for the Congress.JD(U) leaders in private dropped broad hints that the party might support the bill, indications to which were given by Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar when he said that now time has come to provide reservation to women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies. Party president Sharad Yadav has expressed his opposition to the bill in its present form.

Lok Morcha, a group of four independents–Jaswant Singh, Digvijay Singh, Inder Singh Namdhari and Raju Shetty–has pledged their support to the legislation.With more and more parties coming out in favour of the legislation, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) remained its only two vocal opponents. Both parties are demanding quotas for backward castes and Muslims within 33 per centreservation for women. RJD’s Lalu Prasad and SP’s Mulayam Yadav, known opponents of the Bill in its present form, have warned of uproar in Parliament if government went ahead with the measure.

While the RJD chief Lalu Prasad said if BJP and Congress think they have support for the bill, they should allow their party members to vote according to their conscience on it and not issue whip, his own party has issued a whip asking its members to protest the Bill. The party has four members each in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which has 12 members in the upper house, has not opened its cards yet with regards to the bill. However, sources said the party known for playing politics of uncertainty, may not support the Bill without amendments. Mayawati’s close confidante Satish Chandra Mishra told reporters that he favoured a separate quota for the SC/ST women within the 33 per cent reservation proposed in the Bill.

While Congress managers are confident that there will be no major impediment to passing the Bill, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said that her party would ensure the end of the “14-year exile” of the women’s reservation bill in parliament.

*Migration to Mumbai has always remained a matter of serious concern to researchers,planners and policy makers.Mumbai has a long history of migration and migration has remained the major force behind the city’s very rapid population growth since its inception.It was the first Indian city to experience the economical,technological,and social changes associated with the growth of capitalism in India.The migrants moved to Mumbai due to economic reasons.The prime reason for migration to Mumbai was for employment purpose. More than two third rural migrants and less than half urban migrants moved to Mumbai to look for a job or for a better job than what they had in their native place.A lot has been said about migrants on print and electronics media in the last few months/years in the backdrop of what Raj Thackeray is doing and saying;But reality are quite well known by everyone and I do not wish to expound on them further,Same as my views about Amar Singh/Sushri Mayawati/Mulayam Singh Yadav and Laloo Yadav&company are the same and I do not wish to defend their indefensible diatribe.I only wish to talk about migrants and the phenomenon of migration in a broader sense.

I pray for the souls that lost their lives and hope that peace and love shall always reign in one of the most beautiful cities of the world."Aamchi Mumbai"

I am writing about the rootcause of why the migration is happening and what can be done to help fix it.To be frank,neither I m in favour or against our Marathi/UPites/Biharis.Let me say that I am from Bihar and I m living in Pune/Mumbai for past 10 years.I live here with pride,most of my friends are maharashtrians.I love Pune equally as I love my native place in Bihar.Offcourse every Indian has the right to live and work where they please and feel safe n comfort zone.Mumbai is within india only and every indians have right to migrate where the opportunity lies.Extending this to beyond India,Globally;people from all over the world flock to developed countries because of the opportunities that exist.As for migrants,they will always be there if the city is making great progress.You want to remove the problem of migrants,well,stop progressing.You won’t then have to drive them away.They will leave,all by themselves,in droves. Like as example,The day the US starts becoming strict and discouraging immigration actively,the day the US starts talking of discriminating,expelling the immigrants,the fate of that nation will be sealed and it will come crumbling down faster than it was created.

Migrants do more good than harm to Mumbai…But Increase in the migration to Mumbai is a concern for all.While the commercial capital of the country may be able to provide a job for all seekers at least to make both ends meet,it certainly won’t be able to provide the housing and other civic amenities.The solution does not lie in intimidating the new immigrants, but in analyzing the root cause. Maharsahtra has reasonably active governance,especially Mumbai,and it has developed excellent infrastructure to support commercial activities over the years.Other states like UP and Bihar are so badly governed in past that investment in the state is a nightmare to any entrepreneur.This jobless state of affairs makes locals to migrate to other places and;Mumbai being an attractive destination,the inflow to the city is more than other cities.

My thoughts are mainly roaming around the political angle of all these recent happenings and trying to understand the Congress is playing very very smart political game here…obviously there is nothing bad in it.Afterall,everything is fair in love and war and in politics n power.As per my knowledge,SS/MNS are not interested in development of Maharashtra,they are only interested in the communal fights between religions and languages..(That’s what is being projected).So moral of the story,at the cost of a common man’s sentiments,these political parties are playing games and dividing people..I am sorry to say but we are divided.. we are moving backwards..And yes, many people will say that,Congress is in power because it’s a good party and people have elected them but the truth is people have elected them because they did not have any options.:(

The constitution of India clearly guarantees its citizens few fundamental rights which include:*Freedom to move freely throughout the territory of India though reasonable restrictions can be imposed on this right in the interest of the general public,for example,restrictions may be imposed on movement and travelling,so as to control epidemics.

2. Freedom to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India which is also subject to reasonable restrictions by the State for the protection of the scheduled tribes.

You need to be only a secondary school pass out to know and understand these rights.This is really appalling to see these politicians play with the feelings of Marathis and enrage them against North Indians.Their acts have only discouraged investors and industrialists worldwide to invest in Mumbai and rest of maharashtra.This is high time when entire India should unite and take actions against of these parties n agenda.

People from UP& Bihar want to migrate to other states as there is a lack of opportunity in their state…which is known by everyone.But i feel that learning the local language is not necessary because our  own mother tongue is the ‘national language’!Offcourse,I respect  Marathi culture,people,history,surrounding n everything.I can understand  It’s  our duty to protect  our country or state, language,history,heritage,culture and people. That’s what other states do;They are extremely protective about the interests of their own people.But you can’t force someone to speak what you want.Take my words; Alag hai bhasha alag hai bhesh.. kehne ko kitne pradesh…. lekin phir bhi hai ek ye desh… mera desh,aapka desh,humara “Bharat”Desh!Jai Hind!

What plagues UP and Bihar is that their leaders are not educated and hence importance is not given for education.The administration is corrupt and has misplaced priorities.What else can you say when Mayawati keeps building statues all over UP,and now, is thinking of establishing a special police force for the protection of these white elephants.Offcourse,Condition of UP and Bihars is realy a Bad,but how n who is responsible for there condition,we them self people and our useless n shameless politicians.They are bad for everything;good for nothing.Offcourse,Why somebody else should take the blunder of it,Specialy cast is heavy on there mind;They are ready to work as slave in the metro city,but they will not work in there own home town/village;where they can earn less but have a better life then the life they are facing in metro city.The reason is simple,They will vote to there cast related politicians and Those politicians hardly bother about them.See Mayavati and Laloo when they speak people like me feel to slap them.As per my knowledge,Lalu yadav did nothing for our state”Bihar”. I believe he has ruled the state for more than a decade,giving Bihar -Unemployement,Robbery,kidnapping, and Murders. Please no more lalu Yadav for Bihar.Huh!I think,Mr Nitish Kumar is doing good job with slow and steady wins the race manner for our state “Bihar”.The corruption level has come down drastically in the state.And I must say people are quite happy there.Now,we should wake up and find out that who’z the better leader for Bihar.Everyone know,Opportunities are created by having a good stable government which supports education,businesses,infrastructures,crime control and Law enforcement and related jobs for better life in State/Country. So if politics drove,or good politics, I must say,drove Nitish Kumar to the issue of bijli,pani and sadak so be it for that is the least that is needed to be done before talking of other issues.If these factors or  things will be actively in order;Bihari youths are themselves capable of running small and medium industries or business themselves.And Nitish ji need not beg before big industrialist for investment…It is official now;Bihar is changing fast,and shining with a high growth rate for the first time in the post-independence era, says the latest Bihar economic survey for 2009-10. The UPA government should ensure good governance of the states and that education gets top priority which alone can check the rapid migration to Mumbai and other cities.Hope for Best!Remember,“United we stand,divided we fall!”:)

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Director V.K. Saraswat said that India’s anti-ballistic missile defence programme is way ahead of China’s programme.Addressing media,Saraswat said:”This is one area we are ahead of the Chinese.”He announced that Sunday’s test of the Agni- III missile would clear the decks for the induction of the missile into the services.The test,carried out by Strategic Forces Command sets the stage for the induction of nuclear-tipped missile.

China had only one missile in the 2500-km category,the DF-21 and was now focused only on building intercontinental range missiles (ICBMs) of the DF-31 and DF-41 in the 6000- 10,000 km range.”But our accuracies are better than the Chinese missiles,” Dr Saraswat said.

V.K.Saraswat,Chief Controller,R & D,(Missiles and Strategic Systems),Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

He,however, declined to mention the Circular Error Probability or CEP of the Agni-III.China,in January 2007, had displayed its anti-ballistic missile capabilities while knocking out a disused satellite in space.This was the world’s first declared A-SAT test.

Earlier in January, the Chinese declared that they had successfully tested a ground-based mid-range anti ballistic missile.

“China only had the building blocks for an ATBM,” Saraswat said.”We started our ATBM programme in 1999 and in terms of capabilities,we are way ahead of them,”he added.

Saraswat said India had perfected the building blocks for an A-SAT weapon but there were no plans to field any such system.

*Agni-V missile within year:-

Meanwhile,India aims to test a new nuclear-capable missile with a 5000-km (3,100-mile) range, a top military scientist said on Wednesday, a move that could complicate security in a volatile region.

The missile would effectively bring most of China within India’s range, as well as more potential targets to the west and east than its existing weaponry.”Agni-V is out of the drawing board. We are aiming for a flight trial within a year,” V.K. Saraswat,India’s chief military scientist told reporters.

India successfully tested the Agni-III missile, which has a 3000-km range, at the weekend and is ready to bring it into the military.Any addition to India’s military capability is viewed with suspicion by rival Pakistan and usually touches off tit-for-tat efforts by Islamabad.

India’s announcement comes at a time when it is trying to improve relations with Pakistan and has sought to restart a dialogue it broke off blaming the 2008 Mumbai attack on Pakistani-based militants.

Relations between India and Pakistan have a direct bearing on international efforts to stabilise Afghanistan,where the two countries have long fought a proxy battle for influence.

The United States remains wary of any spike in tensions between the South Asian rivals because that could give Islamabad an excuse to cite a threat from India on its eastern border, and divert focus from fighting the Taliban on its western border.

Last week, Indian and Pakistani officials met in New Delhi to decide the agenda for high-level bilateral talks India has proposed be held later this month.

But analysts said Agni-V may have more to do with India’s concerns about China’s rising military might. The world’s two most populous countries are seen locked in a fight to lead Asia, and a long-festering border dispute between them often threatens to snowball.

“The message is that the situation vis-a-vis China is very fragile,and India is trying to reinforce its deterrent capability,”said Brahma Chellaney,a professor of strategic affairs at New Delhi’s Centre for Policy Research.”Indirectly,India is cautioning China against any military misadventure.”

Saraswat said Agni-V had a 1.5 tonne nuclear warhead payload.”You can reduce the payload and (further) increase the range,”he said.

*Record Number Of Americans Receiving Jobless Benefits:-Week by week, the numbers that measure the economy get worse, heading toward uncharted territory.The Labor Department released figures Thursday showing that the percentage of the workforce receiving unemployment benefits reached a 25-year high in mid-January.The raw numbers were the highest since the government started keeping records in 1967,although the workforce was much smaller then.

*The U.S. economic recession has taken a particularly heavy toll on young Americans, with a record one out five black men aged 20 to 24 neither working nor in school, according to research released on Tuesday.

Teenagers have found it significantly harder to get a job since the recession began in late 2007, with black youths and young people from low-income families faring the worst,wrote Andrew Sum of Northeastern University in Boston,a employment researcher commissioned by the Chicago Urban League and the Alternative Schools Network.

“Low-income and minority youth, who depended on part-time jobs as a significant stepping stone to future employment, have been forced out of the job market and economically marginalized,” Herman Brewer of the Chicago Urban League said in a statement.

Overall, 26 percent of American teenagers aged 16 to 19 had jobs in late 2009, said the report, which was based on U.S. Census Bureau data. That figure is a record low since statistics began to be kept in 1948, the researchers said.

Employment counts the number of people with a job as a percentage of the entire work force. By contrast, the unemployment rate — which stood at 10 percent in December in the United States — does not include people who have grown discouraged and stopped looking for work.Joblessness was particularly rife among high school dropouts aged 16 to 24 who were neither in school nor holding a job, the report said. Family income also had a influence on joblessness.

Only 13 percent of low-income black teenagers in Illinois held a job in 2008 compared with 48 percent of more affluent white, non-Hispanic teens.The “disconnection rate” — Americans aged 20 to 24 who were neither in school nor working — jumped to 28 percent last year from 17 percent in 2007.

“If you included those in prison it would be a couple of points higher,”the report’s co-author Joseph McLaughlin of Northeastern.

Among the proposals the report supported were government-funded jobs programs directed at the young, additional funding to help re-enroll school dropouts,and government-funded expansions of work internships.

Adding to the grim picture were separate government reports that showed December home sales plunged to their lowest rate since recording began in 1963. And orders for big-ticket manufactured goods dropped more than expected, capping the worst year for manufacturers since 2001.But the jobless numbers were the worst  with more layoffs on the way.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that a seasonally adjusted 4.78 million Americans claimed unemployment insurance for the week ended Jan. 17. That’s an increase of 159,000 from the previous week and worse than economists’ expectations.

As a percentage of workers covered by unemployment insurance, the tally is the highest since August 1983.The figures underscored how hard it is for laid-off workers to leave the unemployment rolls by finding a new job amid the deepening recession.

And the 4.78 million figure is deceptively low.It doesn’t include about 1.7 million people receiving benefits under an extended unemployment compensation program authorized by Congress last summer,meaning the total number of recipients is actually closer to 6.5 million. That pushes the share of the work force receiving benefits to the highest level since December 1982, when the economy was recovering from a steep recession. Jobless benefits typically last 26 weeks, but Congress usually authorizes extensions during economic downturns.

More job cuts were announced Thursday.Cessna Aircraft Co., part of the Providence, R.I.-based conglomerate Textron Inc., said it plans to lay off 2,000 workers, on top of 2,600 cuts it announced earlier this month. Ford Motor Co. said its credit arm would cut 20 percent of its work force, or 1,200 jobs. Eastman Kodak Co. said it’s cutting 3,500 to 4,500 jobs, or 14 to 18 percent of its work force. Black & Decker Corp. and Bon-Ton Stores Inc. also announced layoffs.

Starbucks Corp., Time Warner Inc.’s AOL, Target Co., Boeing Co.,Pfizer Inc.,Home Depot Inc. and others have announced tens of thousands of job cuts this week alone,bringing layoffs announced in January to about 130,000, according to a tally by The Associated Press.

President Barack Obama’s $819 billion economic stimulus package, approved by the House on Wednesday and now on its way to the Senate, would provide $500 million to the states to upgrade their unemployment insurance systems.The measure also would continue the extended unemployment compensation program, which adds up to 33 weeks of benefits,until the end of the year.

#At Home:Use Less Energy:-Home energy accounts for 21 percent of America’s global warming pollution. If we make smart choices, we can cut more pollution than the entire emissions of over 100 countries!Change a bulb: Better energy-saving lights.Greener power: Re-thinking home energy.Full list of tips: How to cut pollution at home.

Q-What is Global Warming?

A:-Global Warming is defined as the increase of the average temperature on Earth.As the Earth is getting hotter,disasters like hurricanes,droughts and floods are getting more frequent.

Q-	What causes global warming?
A-	Carbon dioxide and other air pollution that is collecting in the atmosphere like a thickening blanket, trapping the sun’s heat and causing the planet to warm up. Coal-burning power plants are the largest U.S. source of carbon dioxide pollution — they produce 2.5 billion tons every year. Automobiles, the second largest source, create nearly 1.5 billion tons of CO2 annually. Here’s the good news: technologies exist today to make cars that run cleaner and burn less gas, modernize power plants and generate electricity from nonpolluting sources, and cut our electricity use through energy efficiency. The challenge is to be sure these solutions are put to use.
Q-	Is the earth really getting hotter?
A-	Yes. Although local temperatures fluctuate naturally, over the past 50 years the average global temperature has increased at the fastest rate in recorded history. And experts think the trend is accelerating: the 10 hottest years on record have all occurred since 1990. Scientists say that unless we curb global warming emissions, average U.S. temperatures could be 3 to 9 degrees higher by the end of the century.
	Q-Are warmer temperatures causing bad things to happen?
	A-Global warming is already causing damage in many parts of the United States. In 2002, Colorado, Arizona and Oregon endured their worst wildfire seasons ever. The same year, drought created severe dust storms in Montana, Colorado and Kansas, and floods caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage in Texas, Montana and North Dakota. Since the early 1950s, snow accumulation has declined 60 percent and winter seasons have shortened in some areas of the Cascade Range in Oregon and Washington. Of course, the impacts of global warming are not limited to the United States. In 2003, extreme heat waves caused more than 20,000 deaths in Europe and more than 1,500 deaths in India. And in what scientists regard as an alarming sign of events to come, the area of the Arctic’s perennial polar ice cap is declining at the rate of 9 percent per decade.
	Q-Is global warming making hurricanes worse?
	A-Global warming doesn’t create hurricanes, but it does make them stronger and more dangerous. Because the ocean is getting warmer, tropical storms can pick up more energy and become more powerful. So global warming could turn, say, a category 3 storm into a much more dangerous category 4 storm. In fact, scientists have found that the destructive potential of hurricanes has greatly increased along with ocean temperature over the past 35 years.
Q-	Is there really cause for serious concern?
A-	Yes. Global warming is a complex phenomenon, and its full-scale impacts are hard to predict far in advance. But each year scientists learn more about how global warming is affecting the planet, and many agree that certain consequences are likely to occur if current trends continue. Among these: Melting glaciers, early snowmelt and severe droughts will cause more dramatic water shortages in the American West. Rising sea levels will lead to coastal flooding on the Eastern seaboard, in Florida, and in other areas, such as the Gulf of Mexico. Warmer sea surface temperatures will fuel more intense hurricanes in the southeastern Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Forests, farms and cities will face troublesome new pests and more mosquito-borne diseases. Disruption of habitats such as coral reefs and alpine meadows could drive many plant and animal species to extinction.
	Q-What country is the largest source of global warming pollution?
	A-The United States. Though Americans make up just 4 percent of the world’s population, we produce 25 percent of the carbon dioxide pollution from fossil-fuel burning — by far the largest share of any country. In fact, the United States emits more carbon dioxide than China, India and Japan, combined. Clearly America ought to take a leadership role in solving the problem. And as the world’s top developer of new technologies, we are well positioned to do so — we already have the know-how.
Q-	How can we cut global warming pollution?
A-	It’s simple: By reducing pollution from vehicles and power plants. Right away, we should put existing technologies for building cleaner cars and more modern electricity generators into widespread use. We can increase our reliance on renewable energy sources such as wind, sun and geothermal. And we can manufacture more efficient appliances and conserve energy.
Q-	Why aren’t these technologies more commonplace now?
A-	Because, while the technologies exist, the corporate and political will to put them into widespread use does not. Many companies in the automobile and energy industries put pressure on the White House and Congress to halt or delay new laws or regulations — or even to stop enforcing existing rules — that would drive such changes. From requiring catalytic converters to improving gas mileage, car companies have fought even the smallest measure to protect public health and the environment. If progress is to be made, the American people will have to demand it.
	Q-Do we need new laws requiring industry to cut emissions of global warming pollution?
	A-Yes. Voluntary reduction programs have failed to stop the growth of emissions. Even leaders of major corporations, including companies such as DuPont, Alcoa and General Electric, agree that it’s time for the federal government to create strong laws to cut global warming pollution. Public and political support for solutions has never been stronger. Congress is now considering fresh proposals to cap emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping pollutants from America’s largest sources — power plants, industrial facilities and transportation fuels. Stricter efficiency requirements for electric appliances will also help reduce pollution. One example is the 30 percent tighter standard now in place for home central air conditioners and heat pumps, a Clinton-era achievement that will prevent the emission of 51 million metric tons of carbon — the equivalent of taking 34 million cars off the road for one year. The new rule survived a Bush administration effort to weaken it when, in January 2004, a federal court sided with an NRDC-led coalition and reversed the administration’s rollback.
Q-	Is it possible to cut power plant pollution and still have enough electricity?
A-	Yes. First, we must use more efficient appliances and equipment in our homes and offices to reduce our electricity needs. We can also phase out the decades-old, coal-burning power plants that generate most of our electricity and replace them with cleaner plants. And we can increase our use of renewable energy sources such as wind and sun. Some states are moving in this direction: California has required its largest utilities to get 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2017, and New York has pledged to compel power companies to provide 25 percent of the state’s electricity from renewable sources by 2013.
Q-	How can we cut car pollution?
A-	Cost-effective technologies to reduce global warming pollution from cars and light trucks of all sizes are available now. There is no reason to wait and hope that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will solve the problem in the future. Hybrid gas-electric engines can cut global warming pollution by one-third or more today; hybrid sedans, SUVs and trucks from several automakers are already on the market. But automakers should be doing a lot more: They’ve used a legal loophole to make SUVs far less fuel efficient than they could be; the popularity of these vehicles has generated a 20 percent increase in transportation-related carbon dioxide pollution since the early 1990s. Closing this loophole and requiring SUVs, minivans and pick-up trucks to be as efficient as cars would cut 120 million tons of carbon dioxide pollution a year by 2010. If automakers used the technology they have right now to raise fuel economy standards for new cars and light trucks to a combined 40 m.p.g., carbon dioxide pollution would eventually drop by more than 650 million tons per year as these vehicles replaced older models.
	Q-What can I do to help fight global warming?
	A-There are many simple steps you can take right now to cut global warming pollution. Make conserving energy a part of your daily routine.Each time you choose a compact fluorescent light bulb over an incandescent bulb,for example, you’ll lower your energy bill and keep nearly 700 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the air over the bulb’s lifetime.By opting for a refrigerator with the Energy Star label — indicating it uses at least 15 percent less energy than the federal requirement–over a less energy-efficient model,you can reduce carbon dioxide pollution by nearly a ton in total.

#On the Road:Be Efficient:-When it comes to global warming, how and what we drive are two of our most powerful choices. Transportation is the biggest source of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, more than factories or homes. #Save Fuel:Use less gas with your current car#Choose Green:Buy a clean, efficient car.

#Neutralize the Rest:-Even if you are already driving efficiently and using less electricity, there’s more you can do. Buying offsets, or credits, neutralizes what we can’t cut.

It was just a year back, when this dreadful and horrifying attack on the Taj,Oberoi Trident and CST station killed many innocent people including children.This incident shook not only Mumbai,the commercial capital of India,but the whole our nation.People all around the world condemned this incident as the worst terrorist attacksever.Today,on the eve of 26/11,the families and friends of those killed by the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks, including the three fishermen of the hijacked Kuber ship, still continue to battle the trauma.
President Barack Obama,after his meeting with the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the Oval office, reiterated the United States’s condemnation of the Mumbai terror attacks last year,in a joint statement issued on Tuesday.The statement said that the two leaders have decided on,”a Counter-terrorism Cooperation Initiative to expand collaboration on counter-terrorism, information sharing, and capacity building,”.The two leaders condemned terrorism and agreed to heighten their efforts to deal with it. In a message intended for Pakistan, the two leaders have urged to bring the perpetrators of the deadly incident to justice.

The walls that the rockets blew out have not been repaired, and the plaster is a dense scattershot of bullet holes. Dozens of holes, blasted by grenades, pockmark the linoleum floors.One year after the terrorist attack that left 166 people dead, the Chabad House – a once-popular site with Jewish travelers where six foreigners died – remains scarred, still and quiet.In part, that silence is a symptom of how much remains unchanged since 10 militants with assault rifles fanned out across Mumbai last Nov. 26, attacking hotels, a train station and other targets, paralyzing India’s financial capital and shocking the country.

While Mumbai’s large hotels and important business centers have paid richly to improve their own security, many worry that the city as a whole remains vulnerable to another assault from Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based group blamed for the attack, or other assailants.”Nothing has changed to alter the vulnerabilities of Mumbai,” said Ajai Sahni, executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management in New Delhi.”The only institutions that can protect against terrorism are state institutions. They are failing to do so. As a result, private institutions are being forced to spend large amounts of money on largely ineffective security.”At the time of the attack, critics complained the police were poorly trained and outgunned. Many, armed only with sticks, fled the attackers. Others, including the city’s anti-terror chief, were gunned down.

The Harbour Bar after the attack.

Today, the front of the Taj Mahal hotel, where 32 were killed, is sealed. All visitors must pass through a narrow aperture, which on a recent afternoon was watched by seven men.All bags are screened, and the entire property is ringed with barricades and guards.The Oberoi Group has spent $83,000 on new baggage scanners, metal detectors and patrolmen at its Trident hotel, where 33 people were killed.

Mumbai has been a target for terrorists since 1993,and it still continues.On this day,let’s stand up and salute all the brave soldiers who lost their lives to safeguard our safety and integrity, and also extend our condolences to the families and friends of those who lost their lives in the worst ever terror assault in the history of India.It’s high time,we need to stand united to fight against terrorism and nip it in the bud.Jai Hind!