Pranab in US buys time for N-deal
External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee met US president George Bush at the White House to discuss the nuclear deal which is weighed down by domestic political opposition.Bush, who sees the nuclear deal as his “major” foreign policy centrepiece on the lines of Nixon’s overture to China, may get cold comfort from Mukherjee’s dull visit. When secretary of state Condoleezza Rice briefed the media with Mukherjee, at the state department’s Benjamin Franklin room, it was evident that the Americans had tempered their expectations from the visit.
Rice spiked a wordy, two-page statement that her aides had reportedly prepared for her to merely state the fact; “The Indians are now in a process of working with the International Atomic Energy Agency and we will follow that progress.”
She sidestepped a question on whether the Bush administration would give up on the Indian nuclear deal if it was not sent to Congress by July. Mukherjee did try and buy time by pointing out that the Indian government was doing its best, but was stuck at the “second stage.”
“We are interested in implementing the landmark agreement…. But we have some political problems in our country. Currently, we are engaged in resolving those problems,” Mukherjee told the conference.
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Source: DNA
Mr Modi, there’s a Supreme Court
The post-Godhra communal riots in Gujarat are back to haunt Narendra Modi Government with the Supreme Court on Tuesday deciding to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the major cases.
A bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat, P Sathasivam and Aftab Alam said that the 5-member SIT will comprise former CBI director RK Raghavan, former UP DGP CB Satpathy and three senior police officers from Gujarat — Geeta Johri, Shivanand Jha and Ashish Bhatia.
The formal order for constitution of SIT will be passed on Wednesday, court said after hearing the pleas of senior counsel Harish Salve who is assisting the court as amicus curiae in the matter and Gujarat government counsel Mukul Rohatgi.
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Source: ET
Shivani Bhatnagar case: Top cop gets life term
From a custodian of the law to a convicted law breaker, life has come full circle for suspended senior IPS officer R K Sharma.
Nine years after Indian Express reporter, Shivani Bhatnagar was brutally murdered, a Delhi court found former Haryana top-cop, R K Sharma and three others guilty of murder, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence.
On Monday, all four accused including RK Sharma were awarded life imprisonment. He is the first IPS officer in the country to be convicted of murder.
Talking about the verdict retired IPS officer Maxwell Pereira said, “Judge has issued the right sentence of life imprisonment. I am disappointed only in the verdict of Pradeep Sharma as it could have been considered rarest of rare cases. Delhi police investigated well. It’s a tribute to the young ACP Hemant Chopra who died after investigation. He spent three months working on it.”
The court has also slapped a fine of Rs 20,000 on RK Sharma, while the other three have been fined Rs 10,000 each.
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Source: IBN Live
Tough start to Formula One for Force India team
The first Indian-owned team to start a Formula One race were given a tough lesson in the realities of the sport when both their cars failed to finish Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix.Force India, which is co-owned by Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya, never expected to challenge the likes of McLaren and Ferrari for victory but were hoping to at least make it to the finish.
Former Australian Grand Prix winner, Italian Giancarlo Fisichella, crashed out on the first corner, while Germany’s Adrian Sutil retired after eight laps because of a hydraulic pressure problem.
“It was a very disappointing first race for Force India,” the team’s chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne told reporters.
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Source: Reuters
Charlesworth turns down curtailed role
Ric Charlesworth on Monday refused to accept the curtailed role offered to him by the ministry of sports and the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF).
The Australian hockey legend, who arrived in the capital on Monday morning at the behest of the ministry, was not willing to restrict his role to the junior men’s and the women’s squads.
“That was not part of the deal,” he told The Telegraph and made it clear that he was only interested in coaching the senior national team.
“Things don’t work that way. I have not come to India to do that (coaching the juniors),” an irate Charlesworth said.
When asked whether he would like to coach the junior men’s and senior women’s squads only, Charlesworth categorically said: “No.”
The Australian’s rebuff came after the IHF once again had its way and managed to convince the ministry to keep Charlesworth at bay from the senior national team.
After a four-hour meeting on Monday with top IHF officials — that included supremo K.P.S. Gill — the ministry decided to finalise Charlesworth’s appointment as the technical advisor but said the Australian would only look after the junior programmes of the federation.
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Source: Telegraph
Sania Mirza sends Peer packing
Sania Mirza continued her domination of Shahar Peer, defeating the ninth-seeded Israeli in three sets, to reach the fourth round of the Pacific Life Open here on Sunday. Sania triumphed 6-7(7), 7-5, 6-3 for her third straight win over Peer in four meetings.“We always play tough matches, but it’s about finding a way to win,” Sania said.
Sania, ranked 32nd in the world, said she was pleased that she was able to regain her focus after dropping a tight first set.Sania earned a fourth round meeting with Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova, the defending champion in the tier one tournament that runs alongside the ATP Masters Series event here. Hantuchova, the fifth seed, beat China’s Zheng Jie 6-4, 6-2.
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Source: Hindu
Stressed Taslima to leave
Taslima Nasreen has decided to leave India, at least temporarily, to the relief of the home ministry and security agencies.
The Bangladeshi author has told the government she wants to go away for a few months because she is under too much stress and needs a break. It’s not clear when she will leave, but sources said it might not be easy for her to return soon.
“I have to leave this impossible situation. I cannot interact with people. I cannot any more take this stress which has led to hypertension. I want to lead a de-stressed life and I want to live life to the full,” PTI quoted Taslima as telling the agency from an undisclosed location in Delhi.
She did not say which country she would go to, but officials told The Telegraph she might travel to Sweden or London.
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Source: Telegraph
India Not to Ban Blackberry Phones
The blackberry users in India can leave a sigh of relief at least for the moment. The Indian government, which contemplated banning the blackberry devices in India for security concerns has now said that it will not be doing so. At least for the moment. The blackberry in question was that of RIM’s recently introduced phones in India.
The controversy over the security aspect of the blackberry rose when Tata Teleservices was denied permission by the home affairs ministry to launch services owing to security concerns even while other operators were offering the service. DoT, however, said out it had already informed all operators to stop Blackberry services by the end of December because of objections by home ministry. However, responding to requests, operators were given a three-month extension, which ends in March.
The major concern for security agencies in India seems to be the fact that emails made from Blackberry can neither be traced nor be recorded. But the telecom ministry has assured that there is simply no question of banning the blackberries. In fact, the telecom ministry even said that it is keen to see the blackberries continue their services in India.
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Source: TMC Net
Sarabjit’s village unites to save him
Sarabjit Singh’s native village has united to show its solidarity with the son of this soil. Relatives and friends, supported by religious and social organizations of the nondescript village close to Indo-Pak border have joined hands to save Sarabjit, who will reportedly be sent to the gallows on April 1 in Pakistan.
On Monday, the locals made an announcement from Bhikhiwind Chowk, urging the traders to close their establishments to express solidarity for the man whose only offence was reportedly that he had crossed the border while he was under the influence of liquor some 17 years ago.
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Source: India Times
Spectrum War Round II: GSM, CDMA providers fight over eGSM band
A new round of spectrum battle has broken out between existing GSM operators and CDMA players who are launching GSM services after the government recently approved mobile services on dual technology. This time around, they are battling for the rights to use the ‘eGSM band’.
The ‘eGSM band’ involves radio frequencies of 880-890 MHz paired with 925-935 MHz. The GSM operators’ body, Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI), has said that globally this band is used by service providers to offer GSM-based mobile services and all the GSM equipment manufactured worldwide is attuned to operating in this band. In India, however, this band was earmarked for CDMA-based mobile services though it was never allotted to CDMA operators.
Source: Economic Times