SA deserves NO.1 spot in tests ????????

Smith said they deserved the Test numero uno status more than any side as they had won around the world and not in their own backyard only.

"The reason we probably can say we deserve number one ranking more than any one else is we have traveled and won around the world in a short period of time. We have not only played at home and won. We have won in England, in Australia, come here and won a Test in 2008 and now here. Number one team deserves to be number one. We want to earn that and be there for a long time," he said

NCP strikes Cong for the price rise issue

NCP says-"By fixing responsibility on individual ministers, we will be making a mockery of the principle of collective responsibility of the Cabinet system.

Responsible spokesman like Manish Tewari should not make statements that agriculture, food, PDS and consumer affairs minister Sharad Pawar is responsible for price rise of food items".

India & Pakistan to frame agenda for the talks to be resumed

India and Pakistan began framing the agenda for their renewed dialogue with some diplomatic push and shove. Indian officials sought to put terrorism on the top of the agenda. Their Pakistani counterparts insisted on a discussion on all “outstanding issues” — a reference to Kashmir and Balochistan.

Both sides sought to placate their domestic audiences. India, said Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Multan on Sunday, “has come to us and sought talks. We never kneeled before them and did not bow to their pressure.” He claimed New Delhi had come under “domestic pressure” to resume dialogue.   

Indian officials preferred to stress the caution underlying the dialogue. They note they are working on a “limited mandate” and, “as of now”, there was nothing on the calendar beyond the proposed foreign-secretary level talks. “Terrorism is the issue of most concern to us. So it’s expected to be one of the leading issues for the discussion,” a source said. Pakistan may be keen on reviving the composite dialogue, but that formula “hasn’t done much” in addressing terrorism.   

Team India shuffled for Second test @ Kolkata

After losing the first test against SA, the Indian team selectors made changes in  the squad to play for the next test at kolkata.

The seamers sudeep tyagi & mithun were dropped & the reserve keeper saha was dropped.

The selectors picked Dinesh karthik, Sreesanth & Raina to play in the next test..

Squad: MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Murali Vijay, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, S Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Dinesh Kartik, Suresh Raina.

Fonseka arrested under Army Act- Srilankan Army

Retired Gen. Sarath Fonseka, who ran against President Mahinda Rajapaksa in January, was arrested Monday at his Colombo offices by heavily-armed military officials.

Lakshman Hulugalle, director general of the Media Center for National Security, told reporters Tuesday Fonseka faces a number of charges including creating divisions in the military, divulging military secrets to opposition parties, attempting to overthrow the government and involvement in an alleged attempt to assassinate Rajapaksa.

Fonseka was arrested under the Army Act, a law which has provisions making officers who commit crimes liable up to six months after their retirement, Hulugalle said.

Indian Students are returning to India from Aus.

Australian Govt admits that some of the attacks that Indians faced were 'Racial'.

Indian students aren't waiting. Several are packing their bags and heading home for good. That's despite incurring a loss ranging from Rs 12-20 lakh per student.

The primary reasons are lack of safe living conditions and absence of job security.

The cost of returning is high. On average, undergraduate courses cost AUD $20,000 to $30,000, or Rs 8 to 12 lakh for a year. For skill-based courses such as cookery, hair dressing, plumbing etc, the fees are around AUD $10,000-$20,000 a year. That works out to Rs 4 to 8 lakh per annum.

Housing rent bonds, insurance cover and living expenditure amount to another AUD $1000 to $1500 per month --- Rs 40,000 to 60,000 a month, between Rs 5 and Rs 7 lakh per year. "If a student does not complete the course, he loses both degree and money"

Govt rejects BT Brinjal in India

Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said more studies were needed to ensure genetically modified aubergines were safe for consumers and the environment.

The GM vegetable has undergone field trials since 2008 and received approval from government scientists in 2009.

But there has been a heated public row over the cultivation of the GM crop.

upshot of a powerful nudge from Washington

 Former BJP leader L K Advani on Monday asked aloud if the government's decision to start foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan was the "upshot of a powerful nudge from Washington".

"The question people have been asking in a more straightforward manner is ... is its (India's) latest U-turn on dialogue the upshot of a powerful nudge from Washington?" the former deputy prime minister wrote in his blog.

The offer of dialogue, he pointed out, came despite the government's earlier insistence on "steadfastly refusing to resume talks with Pakistan until Islamabad brings those behind the Mumbai attacks to justice."

"New Delhi's sudden announcement last week that India was willing to hold foreign secretary level parleys with Pakistan has naturally made many political analysts in the country ask: is this the consequence of (Barack) Obama's assertion being put into action?" writes Advani.

Advani, an advocate of tough posture towards Pakistan, was alluding to an pre-election interview by Obama in which he hinted at appointing a special envoy for the Kashmir issue to resolve the India-Pakistan tensions.

During the presidential campaign in 2008, Obama had said that "working with Pakistan and India to try to resolve the Kashmir crisis in a serious way" would be among the critical tasks of his administration if he was elected.

Advani contended that India's change of stand had led to gloating in Pakistan. He referred to Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's remarks boasting "gleefully that it was international pressure that had forced India to return to the negotiating table!"

He reminded the government of the February 22, 1994 parliament resolution on Jammu and Kashmir that condemned Pakistan's support to subversive activities in the state.

"The country, the government as well as the world would do well to keep the above resolution in mind," Advani said.

Making Politics everything either its good for the country or the bad one.

No 2 authority in Maha says CM Chavan

Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Monday disapproved of Union Minister Sharad Pawar’s meeting with Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray making it clear that his government was “competent enough” to give adequate security to IPL matches. 

“I do not think there is need to take permission from any other authority in the State... There cannot be an extra-constitutional authority,” Mr. Chavan told reporters. “…The government is competent, it is the authority and there cannot be two authorities in State,” he added 

(Reports said Mr. Pawar, who is also president of the Mumbai Cricket Association, requested Mr. Thackeray to withdraw his threat against Australian cricketers’ participation in the IPL cricket tourney.) 

Mr. Chavan, however, refused to comment on why Mr. Pawar met Mr. Thackeray on the issue. 

“Don’t ask me. It will be better you ask Pawar, who is a senior leader, about his motive behind meeting Thackeray,” Mr. Chavan said adding that a “democratically elected” government will perform its duty “as expected.”

In a strong message to the Shiv Sena, the Chief Minister said all security will be provided and “any body who will try to take law in hands, try to perpetrate any violent incident, state government will take stern view and initiate legal action.”

To a question on VHP threatening to hold the release of Sharukh Khan’s latest movie My Name is Khan, Mr. Chavan said “nobody can take law in hands. We will take action if somebody is giving such threats. Law will take its course, let them say whatever they want.” 

“I will also go to see the movie along with my family members,” he added.

About his meeting with the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Mr. Chavan said he discussed the “problems of Mumbai” with him. 

“I met the Prime Minister and discussed the problems of Mumbai. To expedite desalination process, Central grant should be given to our state as it is being given to other States. I requested the Prime Minister to help my State,” he said. 

NCP justifies Pawar-Thackeray meeting

 

Meanwhile, the NCP on Monday justified its chief’s discussion with Mr. Thackeray contending that in a democracy dialogue and discussion are important. 

NCP spokesman D.P. Tripathi said Mr. Pawar had met Mr. Thackeray along with BCCI chief Shashank Manohar to convince the Sena supremo about holding of the IPL matches in Mumbai and there was no political import to the meeting.

“In democracy we persuade people through discussion and dialogue,” Mr. Tripathi said. 

At the same time he agreed with Mr. Chavan that there was no extra-constitutional authority. 

Mr. Tripathi also insisted that persuasion is far more important than coercion in a democratic state.

Rs.500 crore unearthed by Income tax dept in MP & Chattisgarh

The Income Tax Department, during its four-day-long raids, has unearthed Rs 7.7-crore cash, jewellery and related wealth documents to the tune of worth more than Rs 500-crore allegedly amassed by some persons including three IAS officers in MP and Chhattisgarh.

"The raids ended today and a total of Rs 7.7-crore (undisclosed money) was surrendered to us by different persons in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh," a top IT official said. A sum of Rs 7.2-crore was surrendered by different persons in Madhya Pradesh while the rest amount was surrendered by one person in Chhattisgarh during the raids, he said.

IT officials were scanning and examining the documents recovered during the raids which unearthed wealth to the tune of more than Rs 500-crore unlawfully amassed, among others by IAS couple Arvind Joshi, Tinu Joshi - both principal secretary ranked officers in Madhya Pradesh - and Chhattisgarh Agriculture Secretary B L Agarwal, sources said.

During the raids at the residence of Joshi couple here, cash of Rs 3.4-crore, jewellery, foreign currency and documents related to wealth, other things were recovered. Similarly illegal property, cash, jewellery and documents pertaining to huge wealth of more than Rs 300-crore was unearthed during the raids at Agrawal and his associates' residences at Raipur in Chhattisgarh, an IT source said.

Union govt decide to upgrade Rural healthcare with BHRC grads.

While the union government has decided to go with the Medical Council of India's (MCI) proposal to introduce a Bachelor of Rural Healthcare (BRHC) course, it is yet to be finalised whether BRHC graduates will be able to call themselves 'doctors'. 

After the two-day meeting held by the MCIconcluded on February 5 in Delhi, it was almost certain that the Union government will give their approval to the programme to ease the dearth of healthcare professionals in rural India. 

MCI president Dr. Ketan Desai told "Officials from the government of India were present at the meeting and they have agreed to consider the MCI proposal to start a dedicated course for rural healthcare, with some minor changes. Now MCI will prepare a final draft and send it to the government for a final decision." 

Talking about the course, Dr. Desai said: "The Bachelor of Rural Health Care will be athree-and-half-year course and students who pass their SSC and HSC (science stream) from schools in rural areas only will qualify for admission. 

Initially, the course will be started at government hospitals which have a capacity of 150 beds in a district and which do not have a medical college. The hospital will be given Rs15-20 crore for running the course. The strength of the batch would be 25-50 students."


However, according to Dr. Desai, it is not clear whether students who pass this examination will be eligible for the 'doctor' tag. Regardless of this, they will be allowed to practice in notified rural areas only.  "As the course is meant to provide better health services in rural India, students passing this course will have to serve in the government's hospitals or health centres for a minimum of three years and after that, if they wish, they can start their own practice. But they will be licensed to practice in the notified rural area only," the MCI president said. 

He further said: "As different rural areas in the same state might have different health problems at local levels, we will finalise a basic course structure with essential subjects and some teaching modules can be added or changed according to local health issues." 

"MCI will be sending the final draft to the government of India in the next few weeks and the final decision from the centre will come by the end of March.After that it will up to the states when to start this course," Dr. Desai said.  Nearly 280 representatives including health secretaries of states, vice chancellors of health universities and directors of medical educations in the states among others attended the programme.

Nuke capable AGNI-3 tests sucessful

India on Sunday successfully test-fired its indigenous nuclear-capable Agni-III missile with a range of over 3,000-km and which can hit targets deep in China, paving the way for its induction in the armed forces.

The successful test-firing of the Agni-III consolidates India's position among a select group of nations that have intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) capability.

The Sunday test was its fourth and last pre-induction trial. "Now the missile system will be inducted in the armed forces," an official said in the national capital.

The missile, which is capable of carrying warheads weighing up to 1.5 tonnes, was tested from the Inner Wheeler Island at Dhamra, a launch site in Bhadrak district, about 200 km from Orissa capital Bhubaneswar, at 10.50 a.m. Two ships located near the target tracked and witnessed the missile reaching the target accurately.

This is the fourth test of the country's most powerful missile which has the capability to hit deep inside China, bringing cities like Shanghai and Beijing within its potent reach.

The missile has a two-stage solid propellant system. During the course of flight, the missile reached a peak height of 350 km and re-entered the atmosphere successfully, tolerating surface temperatures that reached nearly 3,000 degree Celsius.

"The test was highly successful. It met all the mission objectives. All the events took place as expected," S.P. Dash, director of the Integrated Test Range (ITR), told IANS from the site after the test.

"The launch is part of the pre-induction trials. The Indian Army (the user) has carried out the total launch operations guided by the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) scientists," an official said.

The first test, from the same defence base on July 9, 2006, was unsuccessful. The second stage of the rocket had failed to separate from the missile quickly enough and the missile had fallen short of its target.

The DRDO-developed missile was tested again on April 12, 2007 and May 9, 2008, and both the tests were successful.

Agni-III, one of the Agni series missiles, has a length of 17 metres, a diameter of 2 metres and a launch weight of 50 tonnes.

While Agni-I is a 750-800 km short-range missile, Agni-II has a range of more than 1,500 km. Both have already been inducted into the armed forces.

Defence Minister A.K. Antony termed the test of Agni-III as a remarkable achievement and congratulated DRDO chief V.K. Saraswat and other scientists for making it a success.

More than a hundred defence scientists witnessed the Sunday test. They included Saraswat and Avinash Chandra, director of the Agni-III programme.

Threat calls made Emirates plane to land at Mumbai airport

An Emirates Mumbai-Dubai flight made an emergency landing at the Mumbai airport Sunday soon after take off following an anonymous call warning that there were terrorists on board. Two passengers - a man and his wife - have been detained by police for questioning.

According to an airport official, the flight EK-505 was recalled by the air traffic control following the call shortly after 9.30 a.m. Sunday.

As the flight returned under full emergency at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, it underwent full security procedures.

This included deplaning all the 200-plus passengers and crew, and a thorough screening of the aircraft, all the travellers and their baggage.

The procedure went on for over four hours.

A male passenger - identified as Shahbaz - and his wife have been detained by the Sahar Airport police for questioning.

The flight left for Dubai shortly after 2 p.m., the official said.

GOI rejects Gujarat's law against terror & crime acts

The central government withheld approval to Gujarat's controversial anti-terror law as it was not in accordance with the "present mind of the Parliament and the Constitution", Home minister P Chidambaram said on Sunday.

"With great respect to (Gujarat chief minister) Narendra Modi, I say that the government of India and the president can give assent to a bill which reflects the last expression of the mind of the Parliament," Chidambaram told reporters after a meeting with state chief ministers on internal security.

The home minister said the draconian anti-terror law POTA was repealed because "Indian parliament and the constitution don't approve of a confession made before a police officer".

Similarly, he said, "the present mind of parliament is opposed to the provisions" contained in the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime Act (GUJCOCA).

"The law has to reflect the present mind of parliament and constitution and GUJCOCA didn't reflect that," he said.

The home minister's remarks come in the backdrop of Modi critcising the central government's refusal to give its nod to the president to sign the controversial act passed by the state assembly.

Calling the decision of the central government to return the act as "injustice with Gujarat", Modi described GUJCOCA as only a Xerox copy of a similar law in Maharashtra.