Having blunt conversation with India, China on Iranian oil: US

WASHINGTON.Febrauary29.2012: The United States is having "very intense and very blunt" conversations with India, China and Turkey on reducing their dependence on Iranian oil, secretary of state Hillary Clinton has told lawmakers. Clinton, testifying before a congressional committee on Tuesday, said the US is asking these countries to take specific measures that would reduce their dependence on Iranian oil adding. But, without naming one, she did acknowledge that this would be a bit tough for some countries. "With respect to China and Turkey and India, we've had very intense and very blunt conversations with each of those countries. I think that there are a number of steps that we are pointing out to them that we believe they can and should make," Clinton said while responding to questions from Senator Robert Menendez. "In a number of cases, both on their government side and on their business side, they are taking actions that go further and deeper than perhaps their public statements might lead you to believe," Clinton said. "We are going to continue to keep an absolute foot on the pedal in terms of our accelerated, aggressive outreach to them. And they are looking for ways to make up the lost revenues, the lost crude oil," she said. Claiming that oil deficit is a difficulty for several other countries, Clinton said US has come up with lots of suggestions that would help these countries in resolving the crisis. "Our expectation and the direction we are giving to countries is that we do expect to see significant reductions. I am pleased to report, Senator, that we've been aggressively reaching out to and working with countries to assist them in being able to make such significant reductions," Clinton said.Earlier in the day, testifying before the state, foreign operations and related programs subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Clinton told Senators the US is aggressively pursuing sanctions against Iran."We are implementing the new Iran sanctions aggressively. The (US) president issued an executive order on February 6th that blocks assets under US jurisdiction of all Iranian banks; also makes it clear that both the departments of treasury and state are expected to enforce the sanctions absolutely," she said.We have been travelling the world, high-level teams from treasury, energy and state, to explain what the sanctions are to counterparts around the world. We're very frank in these discussions about the requirements of US law," the US leader said.

Meanwhile, a broad range of countries are making decisions to reduce their dependence on Iranian crude, unwind their dealings with the central bank of Iran, she said. "We are also pushing very hard to make it clear that we'll help countries that have a significant dependence on Iranian crude to try to find alternatives. It is something that they have to look for. They can't just stop cold turkey and not have anything fuelling their economies," Clinton said. While referring to the steps being taken by the European Union and Japan, the secretary of state said that some of the major oil producers have set forth their willingness to try to make up the difference. "We've seen increasing difficulty by Iran in importing and exporting products. They cannot purchase third-party liability coverage for their vessels. So we've stopped them from being insured, which means they can't travel," she said. Clinton added that the Japan, which lost much of their electricity production because of the earthquake and the Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown, had reduced their imports from Iran in the range of 15 to 20 per cent since last year and is looking for new suppliers.

Norway standoff ends, uncle to get NRI kids’ custody

NEW DELHI,Febrauary29,2012: Norway's Child Welfare Service (CWS) on Tuesday announced that it had decided to award the care of two Indian children to their uncle, allowing him to take them back home. The move marked a victory for the aggrieved parents of Aishwarya (1) and old Abhigyan (3) as well as those who rallied behind them in their fight against the `insensitive' ways of Norwegian authorities. The announcement came after what was described as satisfactory talks between India's special envoy Madhusudhan Ganapathi and Norwegian authorities. Ganapathi, secretary (West) in the MEA was sent to Norway to clinch a resolution of the dispute over the heartrending manner in which Aishwarya and Abhigyan were taken away from their parents - Sagarika and Anurup Bhattacharya -because they had `neglected' the children. CWS' stance was seen as a "breakthrough" for the Bhattacharyas and their sympathizers. In a statement, CWS said that this arrangement would be subject to their ensuring necessary legal framework and follow-up procedures ``in order to safeguard the children's best interests and enable the uncle to deal with the situation in the best possible way''. CWS said that the proposed solution will be presented to Stavanger District Court that will take the final decision in the case. ``The provisional date for the hearing has been set for 23 March,'' it said. Foreign minister S M Krishna had on Tuesday morning met the grandparents of the children and assured them that the government would do all it can to get the children repatriated. Justifying its decision to extend residence permits for the children, the CWS said that this was a ``practical technicality" as it is seeking to keep the children in Norway ``for longer than is necessary to arrive at a satisfactory solution to the case''. The Norwegian authorities, it said, will ask India to ensure the necessary follow-up for the children in the event of their return to India. ``In order to process the case concerning the two Indian children, who were taken into the care of Stavanger municipality and placed in a Norwegian foster home, the Child Welfare Service has had to apply for an extension to the children's residence permits,'' it said. Accusing the NRI couple of negligence, Norwegian child welfare officials had in last May placed Aishwarya and Abhigyan in foster care. Norwegian authorities claimed that the children were living with an Indian family.

India biggest consumer of heroin in South Asia, reveals UN drug report

NEW DELHI,Febrauary29,2012: Contrary to the impression that India is being used as a transit point by international traffickers to smuggle Afghan heroin to both Europe and the US, the United Nations drug report, 2011, has said that India is the biggest consumer of heroin. Of the 40 tonnes produced in south Asia, nearly 17 tonnes are consumed in India, the biggest consumer in the region with the trade valued at $1.4 billion. Besides its own consumption, India is the source for all supplies of heroin to Bangladesh and Nepal, at least half of what is consumed in Sri Lanka, and the rest is smuggled to the Island nation via Pakistan. While speaking at the release of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) annual drug report for 2011, Narcotics Control Bureau director general O P S Malik said the rising student population in some cities in south and western India has been the biggest consumer of drugs. Besides heroin and designer drugs use, the upwardly mobile population in metros have also been reason for India's rising demand for cocaine. More than 23 kg of cocaine was seized in Mumbai last year, a small percentage of the total consumption. INCB, a UN agency, reports that only 15 out of 40 tonnnes of heroin produced in the region was trafficked towards south-east Asia, Africa, North America, China and Europe. The rest all was consumed in the region, and majority of them is in India. The report estimates nearly three million opiate users in India, half of them being synthetic opiates. And of the 17 tonnes of pure heroin used, eight tonnes are of Afghan origin and nine tonnes are indigenously manufactured. The report expresses concern for the rising illicit cultivation of opium across India. "In India, the total area under illicit opium cultivation is estimated to be at least 7,500 hectares," it said. In 2010, a total of 1,022 hectares of illicitly cultivated opium poppy were eradicated by anti-narcotics agencies. The UN Office of Drugs and Crime has said that there has been some diversion from the licit opium cultivation too. It also points out rising trend of prescription drug abuse. India has been blamed for smuggling of these drugs to both its neighbours and western nations. In India, Buprenorphine, pentazocine and sedatives such as diazepam, promethazine and pheniramine are widely abused.

Japan keen on Indian students

BANGALORE, Febrauary29,2012: All of 100,000 Chinese students in Japan, but less than 600 Indian students there. Against the 1,000-odd Chinese students at the University of Tokyo, just 35 are from India. But around 1 lakh Indian students are in the US every year. Clearly, the number of Indian students to Japan is nothing when compared to China. This explains why the University of Tokyo has decided to set shop in India and open doors, via the varsity, to the whole of Japan. On Monday, the university's India office was launched on MG Road. The office was inaugurated by Prof Akihiko Tanaka, university vice-president, in the presence of Infosys chairman emeritus NR Narayana Murthy who has been made member of the president's council of the university. Also present was Japan minister for education, culture, sports & science and technology.
"The university hopes to create awareness on opportunities available at Tokyo University, as well as 13 other Japanese universities. We would like to see an increase in the number of applications from India. Bangalore office will also act as the liaison office for the 13 other universities and the 'G30 Study in Japan' initiative by the Japan government," said Tanaka. "Under the G30 initiative, core universities have been identified which offer programs in English, both at undergraduate and graduate levels. We are focused on attracting Indian students to look at Japan as an education destination," said Tanaka.

Baby in a baby: A miracle is born in Bangalore hospital

BANGALORE,Febrauary29,2012: In a medical miracle, an infant was born with a foetus inside his abdomen in a Kengeri hospital. In normal circumstances, the foetus would have been his twin - in medical parlance, it is called 'foetus in fetu or baby within a baby'. A team of doctors at Rajarajeshwari Nagar Medical College and Hospital recently operated upon the two-month-old infant and removed the foetus from his abdomen. "The foetus could have been a twin which did not develop during the pregnancy in the mother's womb and descended into the child's abdomen," said Dr Keshav Murthy, assistant professor of paediatric surgery, Rajarajeshwari Medical College. It is a rare occurrence, maybe one in 5 lakh pregnancies, Dr Murthy said. "This is a rare disorder of surgico-pathological curiosity, where an aborted foetus is found within its partner. An antenatal scan showed a mass in the lower abdomen; postnatal, it looked like a swelling. The child was born on Dec 30, 2011," he said. Radiological investigations revealed a large, well-defined cystic mass. A team comprising Dr Murthy, Dr Adarsh and two other doctors removed the foetus last month. "Cross-examination showed two limb-like structures at the upper end of the mass, and well-developed bone, cartilage, friable pale areas and cystic structures," the doctor said. Sahana SP, 20, the mother, said doctors at a private hospital in Kamakshipalya had first detected a fibroid-like substance on the tip of her kidneys. "I was told there was no threat to my child and the fibroid would be removed after delivery. I was admitted to Rajarajeshwari Hospital, where my son was born through Caesarean section."

Ind vs SL: Flamboyant Virat Kohli helps India earn bonus point against Sri Lanka

HOBART,Febrauary29,2012: Virat Kohli blasted an unbeaten 133 as India snatched an incredible victory against Sri Lanka by chasing down a mammoth 321 in only 36.4 overs to rekindle their hopes of making it to the final of the tri-series, at Hobart on Tuesday. Needing to win the crucial game in 40 overs in order to get a bonus point and stay afloat, the beleaguered Indians pulled off a sensational victory when it mattered the most riding on Kohli's breathtaking assault and useful contributions from all the other top-order batsmen. Put into bat, Sri Lanka posted a mammoth 320 built around Tillekaratne Dilshan's career-best 160 not out and Kumar Sangakkara's 105 but Indians left the islanders stunned by achieving the target with 80 balls to spare and more importantly inside the required 40 overs. They maintained an unbelievable run-rate of 8.75 runs per over throughout the chase. Kohli smashed 16 boundaries and two sixes during his whirlwind 86-ball knock. He completed his ninth ODI ton and his second against Sri Lanka in 76 balls. India will now have to await the result of the last league match between Australia and Sri Lanka to know their fate. They will qualify to the finals only if Australia beat Sri Lanka in the last league game. Australia, who are already through to the finals are leading the table with 19 points while Sri Lanka and India are tied on 15 points with the latter having completed their league engagements. Much as Kohli deserves to be applauded, no less critical roles were played by openers Virender Sehwag (30, 16 balls, 5x4, 1x6) and Sachin Tendulkar (39, 30 balls, 5x4) as well as the two subsequent batsmen, Gautam Gambhir (63, 64 balls, 4x4) and Suresh Raina (40, 24 balls, 3x4, 1x6). Kohli shared two century stands - 115 runs off 109 balls with Gambhir and then of 120 from only 55 balls with Raina. India always kept themselves in tune with the required run-rate of eight per over, reaching 160/2 in 20 overs; being 230/3 in the 30th over and the final 91 runs came off only 40 balls. Sehwag and Tendulkar began belligerently and 50 runs came in the first six overs itself. The floodgates opened in the second over from Kulasekara when Sehwag lofted him over mid-off. Sehwag then square drove the medium-pacer and didn't spare Lasith Malinga either. Twice bludgeoning him past midwicket and once lofting him over square leg for a six. Tendulkar wasn't a slouch either. He twice square drove Kulasekara to fence and once smashing Malinga through covers. The introduction of Ferveez Maharoof cost India their first wicket. Sehwag once pulled him over mid-on for four but in trying to do an encore, he was caught by Dilshan for 30 runs. Sehwag faced only 16 balls and faced five fours and a six. Tendulkar, at the other end, still looked to attack, lofting Maharoof and Malinga for a four each. But in order to glide a stump-delivery from Malinga past fine leg, he was adjudged leg before wicket by umpire Simon Taufel. With a licence to go for their shots, Gautam Gambhir too lost little time in attacking the bowlers. He slashed Kulasekara past point and then walked out to lift him between mid-on and midwicket. He once edged Malinga between slips for four as the 100 of the innings was up in the 11th over. The next few overs were one of consolidation. Gambhir and Kohli rotated the strikes at will and there were a few boundary hits to go with it. Sri Lanka delayed the bowling Powerplay but India's run-rate was unaffected. The 150 of the innings came in the 19th over with a massive six over mid-off by Kohli against Angelo Mathews. India were 160 for 2 after 20 overs, requiring exactly the same equation in the final 20 overs. Gambhir soon completed his half century off 47 balls with five fours. Kohli completed his own in the next over, made off 44 balls with three fours and a six. The century stand between the two came in the 25th over. India now needed 131 runs from 15 overs, to claim the bonus point. The batting Powerplay was claimed in the 28th over, India being 199 for 2 at this stage. India lost Gambhir at this stage, run out for 63 off 64 balls with four fours. India's scoring had dropped between 25th and 29th over when only 24 runs came from four overs. The 30th over, bowled by Lasith Malinga, again brought a spurt in scoring. Fifteen runs came off this over and India now needed 91 runs from the final 10 overs with seven wickets in hand. Next over from Kulasekara yielded 18 runs, including four fours, and India were now sprinting towards victory with bonus point. The bowling Powerplay yielded 58 runs. Now aware that the momentum was with them, India opted for batting Powerplay in the 33rd over, as soon as the bowling Powerplay ended. The match was as good as over when Malinga conceded 24 runs in the 35th over, bringing down the equation to only 18 runs from next 30 balls. Earlier, Dilshan equalled his career-best score with an unbeaten 160, his 11th century in his 230th ODI and first in a year, while Sangakkara made a quickfire 105 to register the 13th century of his career. Sent into bat, Dilshan anchored Sri Lanka's innings and hit 11 fours and three huge sixes during his 165-ball unbeaten stay. Sangakkara, on the other hand, was at his destructive best, piling up his 105 runs off just 87 balls with eight boundaries and two huge hits over the fence. Dilshan and Sangakkara got together after the 12th over and maneuvered the score till the 44th over, putting together exactly 200 runs for the second wicket, the biggest stand of the series so far. In with an outside chance to book a place in the best of three final of the series, Mahendra Singh Dhoni had no hestitation in bowling first after winning the toss today, as India needed to chase down Sri Lanka's target inside 40 overs to avail a bonus point and stay afloat in the competition.
The Lankans got off to a decent start with captain Mahela Jayawardene and Dilshan putting together 49 runs for the first wicket before the former was holed out by Virender Sehwag in the slip off Ravindra Jadeja. The dismissal forced Dilshan and new man Sangakkara to slow down as they raised their scores mostly in ones and twos with occasional hits in between to raise up the team's 100 in the 22nd over.

Friend testifies against Indian-American student in webcam spying case

NEW YORK, Febrauary29,2012: A friend of Indian-American student Dharun Ravi, charged with spying on his gay roommate, has testified she received text messages from Ravi while she was questioned by police about the alleged act. "I think that he thought we were going to get in trouble, so he wanted to make it seem like it was more of an accident," Rutgers New Jersey State University student Molly Wei testified in a New Jersey court on Monday. Wei took the witness stand to testify against Ravi, 19, who is accused of activating a webcam to spy on his roommate, Tyler Clementi, 18, just days before Clementi killed himself by jumping off the George Washington Bridge. Both Wei and Ravi viewed the images on Wei's computer. Wei, who was originally charged with two counts of invasion of privacy, entered a pre-trial intervention programme that required her to perform 300 hours of community service in exchange for the charges being dropped. Wei said they watched for "about two seconds" before turning the image off. Ravi texted her multiple times when she was being interviewed by police about the alleged spying, asking her what exactly she was confessing to investigators, she said. "Did you tell them we did it on purpose? What did you tell them when they asked why we turned it on? I said we were just messing around with the camera," Ravi said in messages. Ravi is charged with witness tampering for the messages he sent to Wei, in addition to invasion of privacy, bias intimidation, and hindering arrest. Wei responded to Ravi's messages, saying that she had told investigators "everything" that had happened on September 19, 2010, when Ravi came to her dorm room after Clementi asked to have the room to himself for the night. On cross-examination, Wei said Ravi wanted to peek into the room because Clementi's date was an older man and did not appear to be a Rutgers student. She told the court that Ravi feared that the man would steal his iPad.

Indians in US complain of rude consular staff: Survey

WASHINGTON,Febrauary29,2012: Majority of Indian-Americans visiting the five Indian diplomatic missions in the US come back with a bitter experience, and report un-professional, rude behavior from its staff, a survey has claimed. According to the survey, conducted by the Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP), as many as 76 per cent of the respondents said that they experienced either un-professional and rude behavior from employees of the consulate, while 56 per cent of them rated their overall experience as "very bad". Some 2,000 Indian-Americans participated in the survey conducted by OFBJP before the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in January and was submitted to the Indian Government. OFBJP released the contents of the survey in the US last week. The Indian Embassy in Washington did not respond to the contents of the survey.
Tampa-based industrialist, Chandrakant Patel, who is president-elect of OFBJP, asked the Indian Ambassador to ensure that the employees of the Consulates and Embassy who deal with the visitors are properly trained. "Such a rude behaviour and bitter experience send a very wrong impression about our country, which is not the case," Patel said. "These consulates do not match with the status of an emerging, vibrant and proud India. The behaviour of the staff members is rude, and un-courteous," Patel said.

Indians convicted of sexually abusing daughter-in-law

Newyork,Febrauary29,2012: : A US court has convicted three members of an Indian family here on charges of sexually abusing their daughter-in-law who came to America after an arranged marriage and was threatened to work as a slave. Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said Vishal Jagota, 34, his mother Parveen Jagota, 57 and sister Rajani Jagota, 31 were found guilty after a bench trial of labour trafficking and assault charges for using intimidation, threats and physical violence to force the young woman into a life of "servitude and sexual abuse". Parveen Jagota and Rajani Jagota face up to seven years in state prison when sentenced on May 22, 2012 before Judge William Nelson, while Vishal Jagota faces up to one year in the Rockland County jail. Assistant District Attorney Arthur Ferraro said the case marked the first indictments, trial and convictions under New York State's new Labour Trafficking Law. "These convictions underscore our serious commitment to prosecuting those defendants who would prey on vulnerable - and in many cases young - victims," Zugibe said. "Human trafficking is a violent and degrading crime that will not be tolerated." The victim, now 25-years-old, is an Indian citizen who was brought to the US five years ago after an arranged marriage with Vishal Jagota. The family used intimidation, physical and sexual abuse and manipulation to force the victim to work as a "round-the-clock servant, performing a variety of household chores, cooking, child care and other tasks under threats of violence," according to court documents. When the victim, whose name was not revealed, threatened to contact authorities, the Jagotas vowed to concoct "wild stories", accusing her of committing various types of crime. On one occasion, the woman's mother-in-law and sister-in-law burned her hand with a hot iron in order to "teach her a lesson" for not washing the clothes properly. The victim was not allowed to receive medical treatment for the serious burns and was told to treat the open wound with "toothpaste". Vishal Jagota is also accused of biting the victim, causing permanent scarring on her cheek. The woman was forced to face her captors for nearly three years, from her arrival in the US in 2008 until September 2010, Zugibe added. The woman's father-in-law was accused of touching her sexually but was later acquitted. The Jagotas had also hidden the woman's green card, passport and other documents that restricted her movement and forced her to comply with her in-laws' demands, the documents said.

80% Indian-Americans to vote for Obama: Poll

WASHINGTON,Febrauary29,2012: Indian-Americans would overwhelmingly vote for US President Barack Obama in the November presidential elections, while Mitt Romney has been named as favourite among the Republican presidential candidates, according to a latest opinion poll. "Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney leads his nearest rivals Ron Paul by 24.1 percentage points and former Senator Rick Santorum by 33.4 percentage points," said the latest national opinion poll among Indian-Americans. "But if the presidential elections were held today, an overwhelming 80 per cent of Asian Indians would vote for President Barack Obama," said the first of its kind survey among Indian-Americans conducted by Boston-based INE Media Inc., the publisher of IndUS Business Journal and INDIA New England newspaper. The online survey was conducted on February 22-26 with respondents coming from across the country. "This is the first survey of Asian Indians during this presidential election season," said Upendra Mishra, publisher of IndUS Business Journal and INDIA New England. "Indians have been primarily known in the United States for their entrepreneurial skills with excellence in the academic, scientific and technology fields, but now they're making their mark on both the local and national political scenes," Mishra said. In the survey, Romney got the maximum support among the Republican candidates from the participants with 51.9 per cent. However, Obama got the commanding lead with 80 per cent when pitted against the Republican candidates with Romney securing 14.7 per cent support from the participants.

Indian Army chief's visit to Israel cancelled

New Delhi,Febrauary29,2012: Army Chief General V K Singh's visit to Israel next month has been cancelled because of "instability" in West Asian region, particularly Syria, Government said today. Singh's three-day official visit to Israel was scheduled to start from March 16. "Syria is restless and other things are happening in the region...," Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju told reporters here today while replying to a question on the reasons for cancellation of the visit by the Defence Ministry. "Primarily because of what is happening in Syria which is experiencing little turbulence. So I guess it is better. I am sure they must be better informed about the situation." When asked why the decision was taken so late, he said, "These things can happen anytime. We cannot predict. So it is better to be cautious." During his visit, the Army Chief was expected to discuss with his Israeli counterpart the future joint development of defence programmes. Defence cooperation between India and Israel has been burgeoning since diplomatic relations between New Delhi and Tel Aviv were established in 1992. The ties have become stronger in the recent times with India emerging as the largest purchaser of Israeli defence hardware since the beginning of the 21st Century.

Couples shun leap of faith on February 29, few ceremonies planned for today

MUMBAI,Febrauary29,2012: Despite its singular status in the Gregorian calendar, February 29 stands solemnly alone as far as auspicious rituals go. Old superstitions revolving around marriage and childbirth on leap day have ensured that few ceremonies or Caesarean sections will take place on Wednesday.
 Unlike 10.10.10 and 11.11.11 when wedding halls and labour rooms were booked weeks in advance, this unique date brings no sound and fury. Of the 100-odd marriage halls that TOI called, only two-Arya Samaj in Vashi and Sopariwala Hall in Grant Road-had weddings scheduled for February 29. Gynaecologists are only expecting to handle natural births this day, for all planned deliveries have been either advanced or deferred.
 Several communities believe it is best not to get married in a leap year. While all of 2012 is taboo for some, most see the actual date of February 29 as completely avoidable. Two choir members of St Anne's Church in Mazgaon chose to tie the knot in the last week of December 2011 to avoid the "unlucky" year while a senior editorial staffer of The Examiner told TOI that his friend's daughter also had her wedding delayed by both her and her boyfriend's family for this reason. The journalist, interestingly, was married in a leap year himself. "I went ahead with my wedding because I did not see any reason to wait a whole year," he says.  Fr Errol Fernandes SJ, parish priest of St Peter's Church, Bandra, admits that this superstition is prevalent among most Indian communities, including Roman Catholics. "It is true that there are fewer weddings in a leap year," he says. "However, please write in bold letters that there is nothing in the Bible to suggest that a leap year is inauspicious."  This year, the Hindu almanac too does not actively support February 29 weddings. The last of the wedding mahurats for the month ended on February 26.  "The period of Holashtak or eight days before Holi is a time when no auspicious tasks, particularly weddings, are performed," says Acharya Mithilesh of Arya Samaj Goregaon. "Holi falls on March 8 this year so Feb 29 is too close for comfort."  Rationalists, who laugh away the bad luck superstition, joke that all those born on this day actually advance in age only once in four years. However, would-be-mothers in Mumbai say they would rather their children did not have that privilege. Gowalia Tank resident Neha Pandit was well past her delivery date of February 22 so her gynaecologist, Kekin Gala, called her for a consultation on Monday. "I didn't remember that it was leap day when I suggested that she undergo a C-section on February 29," Dr Gala says. "However, the couple did, and they requested me to advance the surgery to February 28 or delay it to March 1. Anything but leap day, they said."  Dr Gala did as they asked, and around 2.15pm on Tuesday, Neha delivered her first child, a baby boy. Speaking from her hospital bed, the new mother said, "My husband, Nikhil, and I decided to avoid February 29 for a practical reason-that our child would get to celebrate his birthday only once every four years. I have seen how excited my nephews and nieces are each time their birthday comes around, and I would not want my son to miss that. It would be worse when he started going to school and couldn't give his friends a treat on his special day."  Gynaecologists and obstetricians around the city report similar experiences. Dr Rishma Pai rescheduled two planned deliveries-one was performed on February 28 and the other deferred to March 1. Dr Anita Soni, another gynaec, laughed when she recounted the case of one of her patients who went into labour on Tuesday and was hoping desperately that she gave birth before leap day arrived.  All companies that maintain birthday registers find that February 29 makes the most anaemic list. Rakesh Goswami, chief of bureau of a popular news channel in Jaipur, figures on the leap year roll call. "I cannot help marvel at the coincidence of being born on February 29. I do celebrate each year, of course, either on February 28 or March 1. Incidentally, March 1 happens to be my wedding anniversary so it becomes a double bonus. This year we will have both," he laughs.  And while on the subject of weddings, one last popular belief: in such years, it's the woman who has the privilege of proposing marriage. It's a pleasant superstition that those who dread a leap year might do well to remember.

China's next president may skip India before his election

BEIJING,Febrauary29.2012: Chinese vice president Xi Jinping, who has visited almost every major country in recent months, is now expected to skip India before the Communist Party of China begins the process of electing him as the general secretary and the country's president in an election scheduled later this year. The move will have major policy implications for India. This is evident from CPC's decision to dispatch foreign minister Yang Jeichi, who arrives in New Delhi on Wednesday. This will be followed by the visit of Chinese president Hu Jintao, who will come to the Indian capital to attend the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) Summit next month. The Yang visit will definitely push back a possible trip by Xi in his position as Chinese vice president if not entirely curtails it, sources said. "Yang Jeichi's visit will be followed by another visit by the Chinese president next month. There will be little time left for Xi to visit India because he will get busy with the organizing of the 18th party congress later this year," Srikant Kondapalli, professor at the Center for East Asia Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru Univrsity told. If Xi skips New Delhi before the next CPC elections, it will result in the next Chinese government assuming power without direct knowledge of India by its new president. He has not visited India since he last came to New Delhi in his position as governor of Fujian province in the early 1990s. This is significant because Xi is the topmost policy maker for Tibet and issues concerning the Dalai Lama.
Salman Haider, former foreign secretary cautioned against speculating over Xi's reasons to ignore an India visit. "We should not rush to draw conclusions from this visit without carefully analyzing the sequence of high level visits," he told this correspondent. Yang's visit comes soon after the recent China tour by Indian external affairs minister SM Krishna. The Chinese president will be visiting India after a gap of seven years. India's President Pratibha Patil visit Beijing in 2010. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited China in 2009 and 2011 while premier Wen Jiabao visited India in 2005 and 2010.

AR Rahman performs at Oscars 2012

Music maestro AR Rahman, who had performed at the Academy awards last year, returned to the prestigious ceremony as a part of the Oscars band. "Oscar sangamam - If you are watching the Oscars live, catch our Oscar superband headed by Hans Zimmer perform tonight," Rahman posted on Facebook, alongwith a photo of his co-performers. The 46-year-old composer, who won two Oscars in 2009 for " Slumdog Millionaire", pleased the audience throughout Sunday night's ceremony with his instrumentals and vocals. He had performed his tracks from the film '127 Hours' at the Oscars last year. At the 84th Academy Awards, "The Dark Knight Rises" composer Hans Zimmer was the show's musical consultant with Pharell Williams. The performances at the ceremony included Esperanza Spalding's rendition of Louis Armstrong's 'What a Wonderful World' as a tribute to the dozens of entertainment industry professionals who died in the last 12 months, including Jane Russell, Whitney Houston, Elizabeth Taylor and Etta James. There was also an interlude from Cirque du Soleil. The circus gymnasts took on an old-school cinema theme, performing backflips in bell-boy outfits, cocktail dresses and tuxedos.

Rabindranath Tagore's 150th birth anniversary celebrated in New Zealand

At first blush, it may seem odd that New Zealand should have a thriving Indian theatre presence. One of the last settled places on earth, its colonial past has meant that many of British conquerors of India are honoured in New Zealand by having cities named after them - Auckland, Hastings and Napier among them. Auckland even has its own Khyber Pass and the city's exit southward is marked with a hamlet called Bombay.Happily, most of New Zealand's 4.2 million people have little idea of who their cities are named after and have welcomed Indian migrants since the 1890s. Among them is a group of Indians who decided to give to New Zealand a taste of the theatre culture they had back home. Prayas Cultural Group, headed by Amit Ohdedar, aims to stage productions based on the works of noted Indian playwrights with available and established English translations.In its most recent production, Prayas marked the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941). At the time, New Zealand was also hosting the Rugby World Cup, keenly waiting what turned out to be victory to the national side, the war dancing All Blacks. Ohdedar had no doubt, talking to New Zealand media, that Tagore was still relevant. "No matter how much you want to stir me up, my belief in Tagore will be steadfast like the nation's belief in the All Blacks," he said. He selected Tagore's 'Tasher Desh' or The Kingdom of Cards, to perform. Its cast was again a mix of cultures and people - and the audience the same. Ohdedar was passionate about it. "My entire existence, my cultural identity, rests on Tagore - almost. To a Bengali, Tagore is still as holy as goddess Kali and as important as a fish curry cooked in mustard oil."
While Tasher Desh is a satire on the class system, using cards to show a kingdom's people trapped in countless inane rituals, it had no trouble translating itself to a New Zealand audience. Ohdedar believed that reflected the power of Tagore. "What is amazing is that each of them cast and crew could almost immediately relate and get excited about the play - some see the humour and cleverness of the dialogues, some love the songs, others see the political subtlety of the text," Ohdedar said. "His philosophy of freedom of humanity based on enlightenment through education and emancipation of poverty and injustice through an equitable social order are equally relevant and applicable in the present day world."
Prayas' first play was Habib Tanvir's 'Charandas Chor', in English, performed in 2005. It was a sell out, winning great reviews and drawing notice in a city where live theatre has at times struggled. Various state and local arts bodies welcomed Prayas and helped fund the productions.
Another play that won a lot of media attention, and big audiences, was 'Khoj' - The Search, using squat toilets as a metaphor in dealing with Indian migration to New Zealand. Ohdedar, with Sananda Chatterjee, wrote and directed the light-hearted account of adaptation, inspired by a Rohinton Mistry short story. Prayas held workshops with Indians to collect stories of their experiences in New Zealand.

Norway NRI custody row: India rushes special envoy to Oslo

NEW DELHI,Febrauary28,2012: Special envoy Madhusudhan Ganapathi has been rushed to Norway to convey India's concerns in connection with the NRI children's custody row and will meet the Norwegian foreign Mminister today. Ganapathi, secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs, has been tasked to once again take up the matter and convey the government's views on the issue to the Norwegian authorities, official sources said. Ganapathi is scheduled to meet Norwegian foreign minister Jonas Gahr Store to convey India's concerns over the matter involving one-year-old Aishwarya and three-year-old Abhigyan who were taken away by the child welfare officials in Norway in May last year and placed in foster care. The kids' parents, NRI couple Sagarika and Anurup Bhattacharya, were accused of negligence by the Norwegian child welfare officials. India has been exerting pressure on Norway to find an amicable solution to the problem. India had said that it would make "all out" efforts to ensure early return of the two Indian children from Norway following attempts by authorities of that country to keep them in foster care after expiry of their visa next month. "We will make all out efforts to achieve the goal of getting back the children to India where they belong," external affairs minister S M Krishna had said recently.

Grocer of Indian origin shot dead in US

WASHINGTON,Febrauary28,2012: An Indian was gunned down in Atlanta city in the US when he was closing his store at the end of the day, a media report said on Friday. Suhrid Das, 48, was fatally shot in an Atlanta neighbourhood after 10pm on Wednesday at Banna Grocer, reported The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Atlanta police spokeswoman Kim Jones said they found the store owner suffering from a gunshot wound to the abdomen. The victim Suhrid Das was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he later died. "Witnesses stated that the victim was closing up the store when he was confronted by an unknown assailant and shot one time," Jones was quoted as saying. Das was shot during an apparent robbery, said investigators.

Indian-American lawyer Anu Peshawaria honoured by California government

WASHINGTON,Febrauary28,2012: Eminent Indian-American lawyer Anu Peshawaria has been felicitated by the US state of California with the " Award of Excellence" for upholding immigration rights, in particular those of women, and spreading social awareness. Peshawaria, who is the younger sister of Kiran Bedi, was felicitated yesterday at an awards ceremony, where Anna M Caballero, California's Secretary of State and Consumer Affairs, said the state was "honoured" to have her live and work in it. "Our diverse state welcomes immigrants from countries all over the world who bring with them their customs and traditions," said Caballero. Peshawaria, as a legal adviser has studied, talked to and represented women from India who have immigrated to the United States with their husbands, Caballero said. "Through her work she has documented their isolation, dependence and mental and physical abuse so far from home, family and support systems," the California Secretary of State said, referring to the book authored by Peshawaria 'Lives on the Brink: Bridging the Chasm between two great nations, India and United States'. The book, she said, is a revelation and a call to action. "One we must heed if we truly want to be the land of equal opportunity for all," Caballero said. The book was released by N Parthasarathi, Consul General of India, San Francisco Consulate. "She (Peshawaria) is a legal expert in Immigration and Women's issues and after seeing the plight of those affected by physical and emotional abuse decided to stay back in United States to dedicate her life to their service," the Consul General said. In her remarks, Peshawaria, Attorney at law in California, said that domestic violence in South Asian community is seriously under reported. "We Indian women are inculcated to keep such matters to ourselves. It is extremely difficult to overcome this tendency, especially when you find yourself in a strange land with unfamiliar people. It is extremely crucial for both India and US to look into 'International Laws' on this subject and wake up to this call before it's too late," Peshawaria said. According to a recent survey in the Boston area, 40.8 per cent of South Asian women reported having been physically or sexually abused by a male partner in their lifetime. A rate of over two out of five South Asian women report being victims of domestic violence, Peshawaria said. The book offers preventative measures a bride-to-be should take and what immigrant women should expect when they come to the US. "Difficulties encountered by immigrant women who marry US citizens -- foreign or US born, without knowledge of their spouse's criminal or fraudulent behaviour can be overwhelming," she said.

Climate change alters bird migration patterns

WASHINGTON,Febrauary28,2012: Rising temperatures, triggered by climate change, are forcing birds to alter their migration patterns. The finding is based on data from eBird, a database containing 10 years' worth of observations from amateur birdwatchers. Since 2002, eBird has collected more than 48 million bird observations from roughly 35,000 contributors. Allen Hurlbert, assistant professor of biology at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and his team analyzed when 18 different bird species arrived at various points across their migration journeys, the journal Public Library of Science reports. "Timing of bird migration is something critical for the overall health of bird species," he said. "They have to time it right so they can balance arriving on breeding grounds after there's no longer a risk of severe winter conditions. "If they get it wrong, they may die or may not produce as many young. A change in migration could begin to contribute to population decline, putting many species at risk for extinction," a North Carolina statement quoted Hurlbert as saying. Although eBird only contains a decade of amateur-submitted data, versus several decades of data compiled by select bird observatories, the information it contains provides greater geographic coverage.

IAS couple in MP amassed Rs240cr assets

BHOPAL(India),Febrauary28,2012: According to the Income Tax department's final assessment report, the total wealth amassed by the tainted IAS couple Arvind Joshi and Tinu Joshi is pegged at Rs 240.38 crore. The report took over a year after the initial appraisal that assessed the amount at around Rs 360 crore in December 2010, ten months after IT sleuths raided the official residence of the Joshis here, officials said. The final assessment report running into more than 2,400 pages says the duo owned 18 flats worth Rs 18 crore in Assam, besides 387.49 acres of land worth Rs 193 crore in tribal-dominated Mandla, Umaria, Sagar and others parts of MP. They also possessed plots in MP worth Rs 3.28 crore, flats worth 3.43 crore, a Rs 2 crore flat in Delhi, shares worth Rs 1.1 crore and Rs 4 crore stashed in ICICI bank. The babu couple also had investments of around Rs 15 crore in businesses, officials said. The Special Police Establishment (SPE) of the Lokayukta had also carried out a raid at the couple's home on December 10, 2010. The final assessment report of the IT department is expected to give a boost to SPE which is yet to file a chargesheet against the tainted couple. The SPE has been waiting for this report to hasten its proceedings in the case. The Joshi couple, who belong to the 1970 MP IAS cadre, had also served at the centre. Arvind was joint secretary in the defence ministry during the 1999 Kargil war and his wife had worked as deputy secretary in the PMO between July 1, 1988 and January 1, 1990.

Republicans look over horizon to Super Tuesday

WASHINGTON, February28 2012(AP): Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, battling furiously for the most conservative perch before the critical Michigan primary vote on Tuesday, also are looking just over the horizon a bonanza of delegates in the 10-state nominating contests that fall on one day just a week later.Romney and Santorum are virtually tied heading into the critical Michigan vote where the outcome could further boost Romney’s tenuous front-runner position or upend the race for the party’s nomination to challenge President Barack Obama in November. Michiganders vote on the same day as Arizona Republicans. Polls show Romney with a clear lead in the conservative far-Western state. The Michigan showdown will be a warmup to the one looming March 6 in neighboring Ohio, one of the 10 states that hold nominating contests on what is know as Super Tuesday. Romney currently leads in the race to amass the most delegates with 123. Santorum has 72, while former Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul have 32 and 19, respectively. The totals include endorsements from Republican National Committee members who will automatically attend the party’s national convention and can support any candidate they choose. A candidate needs 1,144 delegates to secure the nomination. Both Arizona and Michigan each lost half their delegates for defying the national Republican party by holding their votes before March 6. The winner in Arizona, where Romney is favored, will take all 29 of the state’s delegates. But Michigan will divide its 30 delegates by giving 2 to the winner of each of the 14 congressional districts in the state. The final 2 delegates are awarded in proportion to the statewide vote, probably to the top two candidates, if both get more than 25 percent of the vote. Before Super Tuesday, Washington state holds caucuses on Saturday. Forty delegates are at stake. In the March 6 Super Tuesday vote 419 delegates are up for grabs. The vote in Michigan on Tuesday will test former Pennsylvania senator Santorum’s far-right message on social issues and determine how badly Romney has damaged his chances in his native state by continuing to insist that Obama was wrong to bailout the U.S. auto industry, the heart of the state’s ailing industrial base. The auto giants General Motors and Chrysler Corp. have come roaring back from near-collapse after a huge infusion of federal money, managed bankruptcy and wrenching reorganization. Romney’s opposition to that Obama program has hurt him in Michigan, where even the Republican governor and GM chief, also a Republican, flatly disagree with Romney. Polls show Obama with a double-digit lead over both Romney and Santorum in the Midwestern state. Romney continued railing against the auto bailout in an appearance on Fox News on Sunday, accusing Obama of having opened the federal checkbook as a means of paying off the United Auto Workers (UAW) union for its support in his 2008 election victory. Obama insists that the auto bailout saved at least a million U.S. jobs at a time when the economy was crashing and in danger of moving into a depression. Romney, however, kept up his criticism, saying Obama “was paying off the people that supported him and that, by the way, are trying to get him re-elected.” Santorum also opposed the cash infusion for the car companies but has manage to duck the issue. Romney, given that his father was Michigan governor and ran a now-defunct carmaker there, has been more vocal in the past in opposing the Obama administration bailout and has been challenged on that repeatedly this year. In Tennessee on Sunday, Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, rebuked Romney for backing the Wall Street bailout. He acknowledged that he and Romney opposed the auto industry bailout, and said Romney was inconsistent. The Wall Street bailout is much-despised by the tea party wing of the Republican party. It was initiated in the final weeks of the George W. Bush presidency as the U.S. financial system was nearing collapse at the end of 2008. In Arizona, Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, picked up the endorsement of the state’s deeply conservative Gov. Jan Brewer on Sunday. Romney’s tough stance on illegal immigration is closely aligned with Republican sentiment in the state that borders Mexico and has moved aggressively against immigrants who are in the country illegally. Portions of a new state law were challenged by the Obama Justice Department and will be decided this spring by the U.S. Supreme Court. As the Republicans battle for the nomination, all of them, including Gingrich and Paul, now trail Obama in national polls. The president has seen his approval ratings improve in tandem with signs that the struggling U.S. economy is finally on the way toward a robust, albeit still shaky, recovery from the Great Recession of 2007-2009.

Sandstorm blankets UAE

The paved sidewalk along the sea port area in Abu Dhabi lies covered in sand.

People trying to avoid the dust as they walk along Jumeirah Road near Dubai port on Sunday morning.

 ABU DHABI/DUBAI, February 28 2012: Residents scurried for cover and traffic crawled as strong winds caused sandstorm across the UAE on Sunday. The inclement weather is expected to continue for two days, according to the National Centre for Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS).More unstable weather is forecast for Monday, but wind speeds will gradually fall over the next couple of days, and motorists have been warned of fog early in the morning. Wind speeds clocked 25-35km/hr, the NCMS said. “Sea is rough in general in the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman,’’ according to the forecast. Waves can rise to 3-4 feet in height.Abdul Aziz Omer Al Shamsi, Director of the Dubai Police Operations Room, said 239 accidents were reported in the emirate, but none were major. He said the accidents were caused by poor visibility. Some people were injured and were treated at the scene of the accidents. Gusts brought down trees and sign-boards and obstructed traffic flow. Seventy-three reports of fallen trees and road-signs came in from across Dubai, police said. Al Shamsi called on drivers to avoid speeding and to be more vigilant on the roads. Motorists, particularly those driving on Sharjah’s external 
roads and highways have also been warned of the dusty conditions in store which could affect visibility. Abu Dhabi police have urged motorists to exercise extra caution on the Abu Dhabi Island-Dubai road, Al Ain and Sila highway.
Colonel Khamis Ishaq Mohammed, Deputy Director, Directorate of Traffic and Patrol, asked drivers to avoid tailgating and leave sufficient distance between vehicles. ‘‘In strong winds, speeding vehicles are more unstable and harder to control.’’ he said. He advised them to switch on their head-lights and avoid turning on their hazard lights, which could mislead others while changing lanes.
Some Dubai schools closed
Some schools in Dubai closed early on Sunday, and Mohammed Darwish, Chief of Regulations and Compliance Commission (RCC) of KHDA confirmed educational institutions are allowed close in case of bad weather. He said: “Schools have the flexibility to shut early in response to the weather conditions and other operational issues prevailing on a particular day. KHDA trusts schools to make up for lost time and lessons in the subsequent days or weeks. Every school in Dubai must complete 175 school days in an academic year. “As long as this is fulfilled, schools have the flexibility to do the needful whenever required,” Darwish said. Waseem Kashimji, who travels from Dubai to Al Ain, said: “The visibility was very poor in the morning. It took an extra half hour to reach my workplace because of the wind and dust.”
Rida Faisal, a university student, said: “It was difficult to walk around the university campus because of the strong winds and the dust. Wearing contact lenses is also frustrating as I have to cover my eyes with sunglasses to avoid the dust.” Operations at the Jebel Ali port were halted briefly on Sunday morning because of the deteriorating weather conditions. A spokesperson later confirmed the port had resumed operations.

WikiLeaks publishes leaked Stratfor emails

 LONDON,February28 2012(AP):  WikiLeaks said Monday it was publishing a massive trove of leaked emails from the U.S. intelligence analysis firm Stratfor, shedding light on the inner workings of the Texas-based think tank.The online anti-secrecy group said it had more than 5 million Stratfor emails and it was putting them out in collaboration with two dozen international media organizations. So far, however, only a small selection of the Stratfor emails appear to have been published to WikiLeaks’ website. “What we have discovered is a company that is a private intelligence Enron,” WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told journalists at London’s Frontline Club, a reference to the Texas energy giant whose spectacular bankruptcy turned it into a byword for corporate malfeasance. Assange accused Stratfor of running a network of paid informants, monitoring activist groups on behalf of major multinationals and making investments based on its secret intelligence. Stratfor rejected claims that there was anything improper in the way it handled its informants. “Stratfor has worked to build good sources in many countries around the world, as any publisher of global geopolitical analysis would do,” the company said. “We have done so in a straightforward manner and we are committed to meeting the highest standards of professional conduct.” The Stratfor statement suggested the company wouldn’t be commenting on Assange’s other allegations. “Having had our property stolen, we will not be victimized twice by submitting to questioning about them,” the statement said. The Austin, Texas-based Stratfor is a subscription-based publisher providing political, economic and military analysis to help customers reduce risk. How WikiLeaks got its hands on the company’s emails remains unclear, but Stratfor’s statement said the messages appeared to be the same ones stolen by hackers over the Christmas holidays. The breach, claimed by the Internet activist group Anonymous, ravaged the company’s servers and led to the disclosure of thousands of credit card numbers, among other information. Stratfor condemned the latest disclosure as “a deplorable, unfortunate — and illegal — breach of privacy.” The company also said its CEO, George Friedman, remained at the head of the company. An apparently bogus email circulating online had claimed that he had resigned.

4 students shot at US school; suspect in custody

CHARDON(Ohio), February28 2012(AP): A gunman opened fire inside a U.S. high school’s cafeteria at the start of the school day Monday, wounding four students, officials said. A suspect was in custody.FBI agent Scott Wilson said there was one suspected shooter. He wouldn’t discuss the extent of the students’ injuries. The shooting was reported Monday morning at the 1,100-student Chardon High School about 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of Cleveland, said Civil Deputy Erin Knife. Television news footage showed anxious parents escorting children away from a school building, and ambulances could be seen outside. “We don’t have any status updates on the students,” Chardon schools spokeswoman Ellen Ondrey told The Associated Press. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to them. We are very concerned.” A spokeswoman for Cleveland’s MetroHealth System said a medical helicopter was dispatched to the high school. Angela Kiska, of the Cleveland Clinic, told WJW-TV in Cleveland that two of the victims were transported to Hillcrest Hospital. Bob Herp, a Chardon trauma nurse, was at a command scene at a local Wal-Mart store where he told WEWS-TV helicopters were on the ground. Ondrey said all classes in the district were cancelled. Students at the high school and middle school had already started their day when the shooting happened, but bus runs for elementary school children were stopped, Ondrey said. Parents of high school students were told to go to Maple Elementary School to pick up their children. “We want to make clear that the students are safe,” she said, advising parents not to rush to pick up students because the area is “extremely congested. The lines are very long.” Chardon is a city of about 5,100 residents. Associated Press reporters Andrew Welsh-Huggins in Columbus and Dan Sewell in Cincinnati contributed to this report.

Pakistan celebrates its first Oscar

 KARACHI, February28 2012: Karachi-born freelance journalist and filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy won first-ever Oscar for Pakistan at a glittering award ceremony on Sunday in Los Angeles for her film Saving Face under the category ‘Best Documentary, Short Subject’.Sharmeen’s documentary, co-directed by US-based Daniel Junge, is based on acid attack survivors in Pakistan. In her acceptance speech Sharmeen said she hoped her film will resonate for others in Pakistan. “It is a story of hope with a powerful message for the Pakistani audience. I felt this would be a great way to show how Pakistanis can help their countrymen overcome their problems,” she said. Dedicating the award to main subjects Rukhsana and Zakia, she said that their “resilience and bravery in the face of such adversary was admirable”. “Daniel and I want to dedicate this award to all the heroes working on the ground in Pakistan including Dr Mohammad Jawad who’s here with us today,” said Sharmeen, referring to her co-director Daniel Junge. Jawad was the plastic surgeon “working on rehabilitating all these women” including Rukhsana and Zakia, “our main subjects of the film, whose resilience and bravery in the face of such adversity is admirable,” she added. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in appreciation for Sharmeen’s achievemen, announced on Monday a civilian award for her. President Asif Ali Zardari also felicitated Sharmeen for winning the Oscar that he described an honour for Pakistan which highlights the sufferings of women in the country. Sharmeen’s mother was elated along with her other family members. “We did talk to her … she wanted to know how it was. We said we can’t believe it. Nobody in the family had slept all night,” Saba Obaid told newsmen here. She said Sharmeen will speak at Asia Society in New York and then at a TED Talk in Los Angeles and will return to Pakistan in eight to 10 days. Saba said that she had always encouraged her daughters to become what they want. “Sharmeen went into filmmaking … an unusual line. She went into this and got respect,” she said. She called on parents to support their daughters in a country where women can be treated as second-class citizens. “She is very happy. I am proud of my daughter. She has brought happiness for the family and the entire country. It is a great honour,” she said. “We all supported Sharmeen in her endeavours and she has made Pakistan proud … I have a message for all fellow Pakistanis to support their daughters because our daughters have immense talent to the country.” In a message read out by her mother, Sharmeen said she hoped to screen Saving Face at schools, colleges and in communities across the country “to spread awareness and promote dialogue in Pakistan”. Her 12-year-old brother, Hamza, said he had been up all night watching the Oscars ceremony with the rest of her relatives in Karachi, telling reporters simply that he was “extremely thrilled”. The documentary Saving Face chronicles the work of British Doctor of Pakistan origin, Dr Jawad, who performed reconstructive surgery on survivors of acid attacks in Pakistan. The documentary, which is filmed across Islamabad, Rawalpindi and some small towns of the Punjab, was released in the US in November. It is due to be released in the UK in March, after which it will be released in Pakistan. “The women who decided to be a part of the documentary did so because they wanted to make their voices heard and wanted to bring attention to this form of assault,” Sharmeen said in an interview conducted before she won the Oscar.
Sharmeen’s films have won international acclaim. Her 2010 documentary Pakistan’s Taleban Generation won her an International Emmy Award. Fellow Pakistani documentary filmmaker and multi-media expert, Musadiq Sanwal, said the prize was recognition of the fact that Pakistan was gaining a voice of its own in international culture. “Sharmeen’s documentary and its winning an Oscar shows Pakistan is creating its own narrative and gaining its own voice internationally,” Sanwal said. “Earlier, Pakistan had no voice at all to describe its strength and weaknesses, but now such efforts give it emancipation and power.” Marvi Memon, a former parliamentarian, who campaigned for tougher penalties for the perpetrators of acid attacks and played a role in the documentary, congratulated the Pakistani director. “I congratulate her. So proud of her,” she said simply. Across the country, people were happy, in particular women. “It is great to see we are full of talent. Every Pakistani should be proud,” said Shumaila Azmat, 29, an executive in a private Karachi firm. “What is even more heartening is to see that a Pakistani woman has won an Oscar.”
Sharmeen was born in Karachi in 1978 and attended the prestigious Karachi Grammar School for her early education. She graduated from Smith College with a Bachelor of Arts in economics and then went to complete two Master’s degree from Stanford University in International Policy Studies and Communication. She is currently a faculty member at media sciences department in SZABIST (Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and technology), Karachi. Known for documentaries dealing with life in the Muslim world, Sharmeen became the first non-American to win the Livingston Award and her films have been aired on networks like Channel 4, CNN, PBS, and Al Jazeera. She began her career with New York Times Television in 2002 where she produced Terror’s Children, a film about Afghan refugee children, which won her the Overseas Press Club Award, the American Women and Radio and Television Award, and the South Asian Journalists Association Award.

Kerala HC directs Italian ship not to leave Cochin

 TRIVANDRUM(India), February28 2012: The Kerala high court on Monday directed the Cochin port authorities to ensure that the Italian vessel, involved in the killing of two Indian fishermen, did not leave the port until 5pm on Tuesday.A division bench of the court headed by Justice V Ramkumar gave the direction while hearing an appeal filed by the wife of a deceased fisherman against a single bench order allowing the vessel, Enrica Lexie, to leave the city after furnishing a bank guarantee of Rs2.5 million. In her petition, Doramma, wife of Jelestine, one of the two fishermen shot dead by two Italian marines off the Aleppey coast on February 15, sought a compensation of Rs10 million. The victim’s widow urged the court not to allow the vessel to leave the Indian waters till her claim is settled. Observing that the bank guarantee of Rs2.5 million ordered by the single bench of the court was inadequate, the division bench directed the ship owners to deposit additional Rs1 million as bank guarantee. The judges asked the counsel of the vessel owners why they were miserly in providing compensation to the families of the victims. The court enquired whether the ship was insured. The judges said that the compensation sought by the victims’ families was not big for the ship owners. Meanwhile, owner of the fishing boat whose workers were killed has moved the high court seeking a compensation of Rs7.5 million. The petition said that the boat was lying idle since the incident, causing losses to him and his workers. The two Italian naval officers, Latore Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone, arrested in connection with the incident, are in police custody now. The Kerala police have registered a case of murder against them at the Neendakara Coastal police station.

Govt-NRI group helps return of 4 Keralites from Saudi jail

 TRIVANDRUM(India), February28 2012: Four Keralites stranded in a Saudi Arabian jail returned home on Monday to an emotional reunion with their 
families.The four, Rajeev Kurup, Ramanandan Sajeev, Rafi Mohammed and Ravindran Vipin, who were languishing in a jail at Dammam even after completing their term for want of sponsors, were received by their family members and friends when they arrived at the international airport here early this morning. The dream of the four, who had gone to the Gulf in search of greener pastures, was shattered when they were arrested by the Saudi police for staying in the country illegally. Their sponsors had reported them missing when the police caught up with them. Their return was made possible by ‘Swapna Saphalyam’, a humanitarian partnership between the Kerala government and Non-Resident Indians. The scheme evolved from an appeal Chief Minister Oommen Chandy made to the NRIs at the Global NRK meet held here in December last year to help secure the release and return of Keralities languishing in various jails in the Gulf countries. The unique scheme took off when businessman-philanthropist Siddeek Ahmed and several community organisations in Saudi Arabia came forward to help the prisoners to come out and fund their return journey. The four, who returned on Monday, form the second batch of beneficiaries of the scheme. The first to return under the scheme was Kalacheri Mathew, a construction worker, who spent six months in a Saudi jail. He returned on February 10 with the help of ticket arranged by Siddeek. The five are among hundreds of Keralites languishing in jails for no fault of theirs or due to minor procedural lapses. Official estimates state over 1,400 Indians are languishing in Saudi jails alone. Of this, nearly 800 are Keralites. Siddeek, who heads the ITL-Eram conglomerate which has a presence in the entire Gulf region and in India, has promised to fund the return journey of all the prisoners from Kerala in Saudi Arabia provided the government ensured their release from the prison. The chief minister has promised to send an official to the Gulf countries to liaise with the Indian mission, Gulf government authorities and NRK community groups to secure the release of those in the jails. Siddeek said a large number of those in the jails were ignorant victims of the visa rackets. “Most of them have ended up in jail for none of their fault and are forced to remain there even after serving their term”, he added. He said several community groups had come forward to identify the victims and lend them necessary support to come out of the jails. The businessman has also appointed his representatives in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam to identify persons in distress. Siddeek, who has been engaged in deportation activities with the help of various community groups for the past five years, expressed gratitude to the government for coming forward to provide a common umbrella. This, he said, will go a long way in giving a fresh lease of life to many. The businessman also serves on the boards of the state-run Inkel Limited, Inkel-Kinfra Infrastructure Projects Limited and Al Barakah Financial Services, the Shariah-compliant financial institution floated for infrastructure funding.

Ship sinks, boats break free as Danube thaws

BUCHAREST(Romania), February28 2012(AP): Authorities say a ship carrying 700 tons of corn has sunk and dozens of small boats are floating free in Romania’s stretch of the Danube after an ice floe melted due to rising temperatures. No injuries have been reported.Large segments of the 1,777 mile-long (2,860-kilometer-long) international waterway were recently blocked by thick ice as the region faced a deep freeze that claimed more than 600 lives. A spokeswoman for the Giurgiu port, who was not authorized to speak to reporters on the record, identified the sunken vessel as a motorized Romanian ship and said it sank overnight in southeast Romania. She says the crew escaped. Giurgiu port director Florin Oprea said Monday that some 50 small boats previously trapped in the ice are now free floating in the river.

231 nominations for 2012 Nobel Peace Prize

 OSLO(Norway), February 28 2012(AP): The Nobel Peace Prize jury has received 231 nominations for this year’s award, a spokesman said, with publicly disclosed candidates including a former Ukrainian prime minister and the U.S. soldier accused of leaking classified material to WikiLeaks.The secretive committee doesn’t reveal who has been nominated, but those with nomination rights sometimes announce their picks. Names put forward this year include Bradley Manning, the U.S. Army private charged with the biggest leak of classified information in U.S. history, Russian human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina and former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Others believed to have been nominated include former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Being nominated doesn’t say anything about a candidate’s chances. A wide range of submissions come in every year from lawmakers, university professors and others with nomination rights, but the decision rests solely with a five-member panel appointed by Norway’s parliament. This year’s list of candidates is a mix of repeat nominations and new names, the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s nonvoting secretary Geir Lundestad told The Associated Press. “They are from all over the world, very many well-known names and some that are not so well-known to the public,” he added. The deadline for outside nominations was Feb. 1, but the five-member committee added its own suggestions at a meeting Friday, Lundestad said. Last year’s prize was shared by Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian women’s rights campaigner Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman of Yemen. Some critics say the committee has departed from award founder Alfred Nobel’s intentions by broadening the scope of the peace prize to include efforts to promote the environment and human rights. Earlier this month a Swedish authority that oversees foundations in Stockholm — including the Nobel Foundation — said it would investigate whether the peace committee is complying with Nobel’s will. Kristian Berg Harpviken, the director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, and a prominent voice in the Nobel guessing game, said his favorite for the 2012 award was Gene Sharp, an American scholar and advocate of nonviolence cited as an inspiration for the Arab Spring and other protests. Giving the prize to Sharp would also be a way for the committee to address the criticism that the committee has strayed to causes not directly linked to peace.
Harpviken’s other top picks were Gannushkina and the Memorial human rights group, and Nigerian religious leaders John Onaiyekan and Mohamed Sa’ad Abubakar, who he said have “spoken out against the misuse of religion in legitimating conflict.” None of Harpviken’s favorites have won the price since he started guessing in 2009. The Nobel Prizes also include awards in medicine, physics, chemistry and literature. A sixth award, the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, was created by the Swedish central bank in 1968 in memory of prize founder Alfred Nobel. Each prize comes with a purse of 10 million Swedish kronor ($1.5 million). The winners are usually announced in October.

SC directs Centre to implement interlinking of rivers project

NEW DELHI,Febrauary27,2012: The Supreme Court today directed the Centre to implement the ambitious interlinking of rivers project in a time-bound manner and appointed a high-powered committee for its planning and implementation. Observing that the project has already been delayed resulting in an increase in its cost, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia said the Centre and the concerned state governments should participate for its "effective" implementation "in a time bound manner". The bench, also comprising justices Swatanter Kumar and A K Patnaik, appointed a high-powered committee comprising of representatives of various government departments, ministries, experts and social activists to chart out and execute the project. The committee will be comprising of Union Minister of Water Resources, its secretary, Secretary of Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) and four expert members appointed by Water Resources Ministry, Finance Ministry, Planning Commission and MoEF. Representatives from state governments, two social activists and senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, who has been assisting the court in the case, will also be members of the committee. "We direct the Union of India to forthwith constitute a committee for interlinking of rivers," the bench said, adding "we direct the committee to implement the project". "The committee shall plan for implementation of the project," the bench said, adding the delay has already resulted in an increase in the cost of the project. The river interlinking project was the brainchild of the NDA government and in October, 2002, the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had formed a task force to get the project going against the backdrop of the acute drought that year

India, China in new border war of words

NEW DELHI,February 27 2012(AFP): India’s defence minister said Monday that China’s comments on his visit to a territory disputed by the neighbours were ‘highly objectionable,’ sparking a new war of words over the contested border.Beijing on Saturday reportedly called for India ‘to work with China to maintain peace and stability in border areas’ and called for restraint to prevent complications in the dispute over Arunachal Pradesh, a northeastern Indian state which China claims in full.Defence Minister A.K. Antony visited the far-flung and highly militarised territory earlier this month to mark its 25th year as an Indian state. He promised better infrastructure and improved accessibility.‘I was surprised to read the Chinese reaction. It is very sad and highly objectionable. Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India,’ he told reporters on Monday, according to the CNN-IBN television channel.The 2,000-kilometre (1,200-mile) border between India and China has been the subject of talks since the 1980s after the two nations fought a brief but brutal war in 1962.The 15th round of talks aimed at resolving the dispute took place in New Delhi in January but wrapped up without any major progress.Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna said Sunday that ‘India will not tolerate external interference of China into the Indian territorial affairs’.

Pakistan demolishes bin Laden hideout

Pakistani security forces were on Sunday demolishing the compound in the garrison town of Abbottabad where Osama bin Laden was killed
ABBOTTABAD(Pakistan),February 27 2012(AFP):  Pakistani security forces were on Sunday demolishing the compound in the garrison town of Abbottabad where Osama bin Laden was killed in a covert US raid in May. The demolition, which began late Saturday, continued overnight and bulldozers were busy as dawn broke in Abbottabad’s suburban Bilal Town neighbourhood. Witnesses said troops blocked access to the compound, brought in heavy machinery and barred journalists from taking pictures or coming close to the site.

Nonetheless an AFP reporter saw empty rooms and cupboards and a chair inside the house. The reporter said more than half of the compound’s buildings had been demolished and four bulldozers were smashing the brick and concrete structures. Around 500 police were deployed, some of them manning an outer cordon while soldiers were positioned at the inner perimeter around the compound. “The demolition work by security forces, including troops, continued overnight,” a police official on the spot told AFP, and officials said the work would continue during Sunday. The compound has been under the security forces’ control since bin Laden was killed by US Navy SEALs in a covert helicopter operation without Islamabad’s knowledge. The Al-Qaeda leader lived in the compound for several years with his three wives, nine children and grandchildren. The Americans buried him at sea, determined no grave should become a memorial to the mastermind of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, but his home became an object of fascination. The compound attracted hundreds of visitors daily soon after bin Laden’s death and at the time officials feared his final hiding place could become a shrine or a tourist spot unless the military destroyed it. But there has been no official comment on why the demolition is being carried out. Residents said they heard the noise of machines and thuds of debris throughout the night, and some perched on surrounding rooftops to watch the process. “We spent the entire night standing in the cold,” a policeman told AFP as his colleagues lit a fire to warm themselves. Residents said a school should be built on the site as there were none in the neighbourhood, while a security official said it would be a “good idea to grow vegetables here”. “It will take some time before the government takes any decision about the future use of the land on which the compound stood,” the official said on condition of anonymity. “The provincial government had requested us to raze this compound as it might create problems for them in the future,” the official said. Pakistani troops fighting Taliban and Al-Qaeda affiliates in the tribal belt routinely destroy the homes of militants. But the bin Laden raid exposed Pakistan’s powerful military to charges of complicity or incompetence after it emerged that the world’s most wanted man had lived on the doorstep of its premier academy for years. The compound is less than two kilometres (a mile) from the Pakistan Military Academy — the country’s equivalent of West Point and Sandhurst — making it a symbol of the armed forces’ humiliation and even less likely that they would want to keep it intact. Pakistani-US ties drastically deteriorated over the raid and relations later fell to their lowest ebb over a November NATO air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at a post near the Afghan border. Islamabad has set up a judicial commission to investigate how bin Laden lived in Pakistan undetected for years.