China objects to ADB funds for Arunachal project

New Delhi: China had recently objected to ADB funding an irrigation project in Arunachal Pradesh which is a "clear violation" of the charter of the multilateral lending agency, the Government informed the Rajya Sabha today.

Replying to questions, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said India had made it clear to all member nations of ADB that political considerations cannot be cited for prohibiting the Bank for evaluating any project.

All member countries on the board of Executive Directors of ADB except China supported the India funding plans.

"China did not endorse the Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) 2009-12 for India in the Board of the ADB on the ground that the proposed India CPS involved technical assistance funding for the Flood and River Erosion Management Project in Arunachal Pradesh which China claims is its territory," he said.
PTI

Thursday, July 09, 2009
India finds fresh military implications in China-Pak camaraderie
New Delhi: India Thursday said the rapid enhancement in the defence capabilities of China as well as its hobnobbing with Pakistan and other countries in South Asia have "military implications" for India.

Releasing its annual defence report, India said that it was "carefully" monitoring China's defence modernisation.

"It's (China's) military assistance and cooperation with Pakistan and other countries in our neighbourhood as well as the possibilities of enhancing connectivity with Pakistan through the territory of Jammu and Kashmir, illegally occupied by China and Pakistan, and with other countries, will also have direct military implication for India," the report said.

"Consequently, China's defence modernisation needs to be monitored carefully in the foreseeable future for the implications that it can have on the security defence of India," it added.

The two neighbours fought a brief but bloody war in 1962.

"India has also taken note of double digit growth in China's defence expenditure over the previous 20 years, which has led to significant modernisation of its defence forces both in terms of quality and quantity," the report said.

"China's stated objectives in their white paper of developing strategic missiles and space based assets and of rapidly enhancing its blue water navy to conduct operations in distant water as well as the systematic upgrading of infrastructure, reconnaissance and surveillance, quick response and operational capabilities in border areas will have an affect on overall military environment in the neighbourhood of India," said the report.

In recent times there have been efforts to give a new impetus to India-China bilateral relations, including military ties. Indian Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta paid a maiden visit to China earlier this year. The Indian Navy also participated in Beijing's international fleet review.

This was preceded by the visit of the Indian Air Force chief to China and the maiden performance by the Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team (SKAT) in China.

On future relations with China, the report said: "India will engage China to seek greater transparency and openness in its defence policy and posture while taking all necessary measures to protect the national security, territory, territorial integrity and sovereignty of India."

Source: Indo-Asian News Service

 

 

Thursday, July 09, 2009
Supplier of 'killer brew' arrested in Gujarat
Ahmedabad: Police in Gujarat remain clueless regarding the original supplier of the killer brew which has so far claimed 65 lives in the state during the past 72 hours, though a notorious bootlegger from the city, Harishankar Kahar alias Hari, was nabbed by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch late Wednesday night.
"We have nabbed the key suspect in the killer brew case and he is cooperating with the investigation. However, Kahar has not yet revealed anything about the original supplier of the killer brew, which remains a mystery," a senior crime branch official said.

He said that Kahar was arrested from the Odhav locality of Ahmedabad and claimed that "raids conducted at his den last night have resulted in hundreds of litres of country liquor being seized which were stored in a number of containers. The forensic examination of the liquor would be conducted to ascertain if the killer brew was the same which has killed so many people from Odhav, Sagrapith, Amraiwadi and Majoor Gam in the city."

The Gujarat government has asked officials in the tribal areas of the state to intensify their raids, especially in south Gujarat and districts bordering Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, to avert any further tragedy by identifying and closing all country liquor dens.

The state government has already announced setting up a four-member commission headed by a former Gujarat High Court judge to probe the tragedy. It is to submit its findings by Nov 30.

"The leads being provided by Kahar could prove useful to track the network of bootleggers in Gujarat," the crime branch official said. "However, the scale of the tragedy in Ahmedabad will now make us look for dens which have been activated after the Lok Sabha polls in the interior parts of the state."

Meanwhile, government civil hospital sources in Ahmedabad said that there are still around 26 illicit liquor victims in the four major hospitals of the city. They are under observation.

 

 

Thursday, July 09, 2009
IOC, RIL among 7 Indian Fortune 500 tally

New York: Seven Indian companies, including oil major Indian Oil Corporation and Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, have made the cut in the list of world's 500 largest companies compiled by Fortune.

The league of 500 elite companies for 2009 is topped by oil giant Royal Dutch Shell, followed by another oil major Exxon Mobil and US retailer Wal-Mart Stores in that order.

Besides IOC and RIL, the other Indian companies in the list are steel maker Tata Steel, oil entities -- Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum and Oil & Natural Gas -- and public sector bank SBI.

The same seven Indian entities were part of the list in the previous year as well.

IOC has the highest rank of 105 among the featured Indian companies, followed by Tata Steel at the 258th spot, RIL (264), BPCL (289), HPCL (311), SBI (363) and ONGC (402).

Friday, July 10, 2009
Govt to roll back fuel prices if crude rates dip
New Delhi: Government will roll back the Rs 4 a litre hike in petrol prices and Rs 2 a litre increase in diesel rates if international crude oil prices stabilise between USD 50 and 60 a barrel, Oil Minister Murli Deora said.

"Yes, we will cut prices if crude prices stabilise for sometime between USD 50 and 60 per barrel," he said in New Delhi.

The Government had last week raised petrol and diesel prices citing spike in international crude oil prices to USD 70 a barrel.

International rates have eased since. The basket of crude oil India buys was at USD 61.58 a barrel yesterday but the average for July was USD 65.34 per barrel. The July average was certainly lower than USD 69.12 a barrel average price of Indian basket of crude for June.

Deora said the price rise was unavoidable as India was dependent on imported crude oil to meet 75 per cent of its domestic oil needs. Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum were projected to lose Rs 4,870 crore in revenues every month on selling petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene below the cost.

Source: Agencies

 

 

Friday, July 10, 2009
126 instances of police firing in three years in West Bengal
Kolkata: There were 126 instances of police firing in West Bengal between 2006 and 2008, while 129 political activists died in clashes during the same period, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said Thursday.

Replying to the discussion on the home department's budget in the state assembly, Bhattacharjee said 80 workers and leaders of his party Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) died in political violence during the three years, while the number of casualties of main opposition Trinamool Congress and Congress was 12 and 15, respectively.

Twenty two activists and leaders of other political outfits also died in clashes in the 2006-2008 time frame.

While there were 35 incidents of police firing in 2006, the number shot up to 50 in 2007. There were 41 cases of police firing in 2008, he said.

The chief minister said families of 13 of the 14 persons who died in police firing March 14, 2007 in Nandigram in East Midnapore district have been given compensation.

 

 

Thursday, July 09, 2009
Officials under lens for spending millions on PM's trip
Ranchi: Some officials of Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL) are in hot water for spending a huge sum for a one-hour visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in April last year, with a public interest litigation (PIL) plea being filed on the subject here Thursday.

In his petition filed in Jharkhand High Court, Surendra Sao has charged that Rs.1.92 crore (Rs.192 million) was spent on the visit. He has sought an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation and action against the officials involved in managing the event.

On April 22 last year, the prime minister had visited Bokaro to inaugurate the expansion of BSL. He was accompanied by then steel minister Ram Vilas Paswan.

Sao, a resident of Bokaro and a civil services aspirant, had earlier sought details of the expenditure for the visit under the Right to Information Act. In his petition, he said that the details provided to him "exposed the financial mismanagement by the officials".

He had found that Rs.1.41 crore was paid to a company for managing the programme. Besides this, Rs.9.27 lakh (Rs.927,000) was spent on stage preparation, Rs.1.04 lakh on purchasing caps for children who attended the programme, Rs.18.05 lakh was paid to a tent house and the remaining amount was spent on other things including buying snacks worth Rs.4.08 lakh. On Thursday, BSL authorities were tight-lipped over the issue.
IANS

 

 

Thursday, July 09, 2009
Jackson's death certificate says cause of death 'Deferred'
Los Angeles: With toxicology tests still being conducted, Michael Jackson's death certificate uses the word 'Deferred' to describe the cause of his death.

A copy of the document which was made public today does not give a reason for the sudden demise of the 'King Of Pop', reported People magazine.

The official death certificate was issued the same day as his private funeral and public memorial.

The singer had died on June 25, after a suspected cardiac arrest and a police investigation is underway to probe the role of prescription drugs in the death.

The certificate also says that Forest Lawn has "temporary disposition" of the singer's body and the final resting place for the King of Pop remains unknown.

His sister LaToya Jackson provided the information on the death certificate, which lists his occupation as "musician" and type of business as "entertainment.