India on GLONASS GPS
(January 31 , 2007)
After failing to secure
a berth in the US and
European Global
Positioning Systems
(GPS) because it failed
to get guarantees of
uninterrupted service
contract, India gained
access to the Russian
Global Navigation
Satellite System (GLONASS).<More>
Russia Uranium Pilfered?
(January 31 , 2007)
Georgia revealed that
its agents posing as
Islamic rebels arrested
a Russian businessmen
trying to sell
weapons-grade uranium
hidden in his jacket a
independent reports
quoted US authorities
confirming that the
uranium was 90% enriched.<More>
MiG-35 on IAF Radar
(January 31 , 2007)
The impending 126 IAF
fighter aircraft
contract is seeing
spirited competition
from Russia’s MiG-35,
the enlarged and more
advanced version of the
MiG-29/MiG-33 family and
seen as a potential
replacement for the
MiG-29 and Su-27.<More>
Jintao Travels to Africa
Again
(January 31 , 2007)
Chinese President Hu
Jintao is traveling to
Africa again that the
African Development Bank
(ADB) says is focused on
trade and to strengthen
bonds with ignored
nations and population
and making “Africa one
of the major areas of
attention.”<More>
SLG Criticized for
Military Emphasis
(January 31 , 2007)
As donor nations pledged
large sums of money to
help civil-war torn Sri
Lanka, donor nations
also criticized the
government’s
overemphasis on military
option and widespread
skepticism over the
recent splitting of the
Opposition for political
gain.<More>
IPI Agreement Closer to
Reality
(January 31 , 2007)
As US-Iran relations
nosedived over
accusations of meddling
over Iraq and Tehran’s
nuclear program, India,
Pakistan, and Iran
seemed to have agreed on
a price to transport
natural gas to India
over the
Iran-Pakistan-India
pipeline project.<More>
US-China IPR Spat
(January 31 , 2007)
As trade gap between the
United States and China
widened, the countries
appeared to be on
collision course over
intellectual property
rights (IPR) with
Washington accusing
Beijing of
counterfeiting American
goods.<More>
SC Allows TV Evidence
(January 30 , 2007)
In a significant move,
the Supreme Court (SC)
has ruled that it will
allow television
interviews by accused
“shall be considered at
the appropriate state in
the trial” and thereby
affecting ongoing trials.<More>
Political Color to
Religion through Sachar
Report
(January 30 , 2007)
With elections coming up
in Uttar Pradesh, the
United Progressive
Alliance (UPA)
government is reportedly
reading democratic
statistics to execute
minority welfare schemes
even as Muslims accuse
the Sachar Report of
ignoring their women.<More>
Aerospace Command to
Protect Space Assets
(January 30 , 2007)
Responding to the
Chinese satellite killer
weapon, Chief of Air
Staff Air Chief Marshal
S.P. Tyagi said that
India is in the process
of setting up a separate
“aerospace command” to
exploit outer space and
also to protect “space
assets.”<More>
Hurriyat Wants to Stop
Violence
(January 30 , 2007)
In sharp variance with
its past of supporting
armed insurgency as a
means to achieve a
“solution” to the
Kashmir question, the
Hurriyat Conference, an
umbrella group of
separatist organizations
has called for a
cessation of violence as
means to achieve their
objectives.<More>
US Anti-Proliferation US
Law
(January 30 , 2007)
The Democrat controlled
US Congress passed a new
law that will require
the US President to take
“punitive action”
against nations with
dubious proliferation
records or those that
cooperate with those
that proliferate.<More>
Heart Disease Incidence
Rising
(January 30 , 2007)
An international study
on heart disease
covering 52 countries
and 30,000 patients
found that changing
lifestyles and diet
along with “harmful
factors such as
cholesterol and history
of diabetes” cause heart
attack 5-10 years
earlier in India than
elsewhere.<More>
Large Budget Allocation
for AIDS Control
(January 30 , 2007)
The National AIDS
Control Organisation (NACO)
proposes to spend 67.2
per cent of the total
budget on prevention of
HIV/AIDS under phase III
of the National AIDS
Control Programme on
targeted interventions
and anti-retroviral
treatment.<More>
Indo-Australia Trade
Prospects
(January 30 , 2007)
In an interview with
Deccan Herald,
Australian Trade
Commissioner for South
Asia Michael Moignard
advocated increased
trade and value addition
from Australia to boost
bilateral trade levels
from USD 8.6 billion.<More>
First India-Russia-China
Structured Meeting
(January 30 , 2007)
India, Russia, and China will
hold their first structured
foreign ministerial meeting in
New Delhi seen as an effort to
coordinate response and
efforts in international
affairs, although the foreign
ministers have met thrice over
the last 2 years .<More>
Indian Economy to Surpass US
by 2050
(January 29, 2007)
A recent Goldman Sachs study
projected that India, along
with China, will surpass the
US economy by 2050 as India
has moved onto a much faster
trajectory fueled by strong
and steady manufacturing
productivity gains.<More>
Space Arming Realities, Abe
Wants Cons Change
(January 29, 2007)
With new nuclear weapons state
in the neighborhood and
testing of anti-satellite
missile by China leading to
possible arming of space, is
compelling Japan to reconsider
changing its pacifist
Constitution to protect its
interests.<More>
Foreign Defense Contracts
(January 29, 2007)
As part of its new defense
procurement policy, India is
all set to sign offset
agreements with two foreign
companies requiring foreign
vendors to source one-third of
the value of the contract from
within India.<More>
Lebanon Aid Pledge Mired in
Internal Strife
(January 29, 2007)
Saudi Arabia and United States
got 30 other nations to pledge
USD 7.6 billion to shore up a
shaky Lebanese government led
by Prime Minister Fouad
Siniora under siege by
Hezbollah-led Shiite
population.<More>
US Plans Large Afghan Package
(January 29, 2007)
The US President George Bush
is reportedly seeking
Congressional approval for
another USD 7-8 billion for
security, reconstruction, and
counter-offensive operations
including training and
policing operations against a
resurgent Taliban.<More>
UN Lauds Role of Women in
Governance
(January 29, 2007)
A UN report noted the
increasing participation of
women in politics and
governance in India and lauded
government policies for
reserving up to a third of
seats for women in local-level
administration to promote
gender equality and
empowerment.<More>
EU Help to Clean Ganga
(January 29, 2007)
To provide safe drinking
water, the European Union is
collaborating with many
renowned Indian institutes to
introduce natural and proven
techniques of water filtration
techniques and begun a
EU-India River Bank Filtration
Network.<More>
Russia Wants Energy, Military
Pie
(January 25, 2007)
Russian President Vladimir
Putin arrived in India to
rejuvenate ties hoping to win
a strong share of India’s
large energy and military
budget and also be the Guest
of Honor of the Republic Day
Parade that showcases Indian
military and cultural might.<More>
Karuna Group Destabilizing,
SLG Colludes
(January 25, 2007)
Annoyed by selective leaks of
an internal document by the
Sri Lankan Government (SLG),
donor nations outed the report
blaming the SLG-supported
Karuna faction as a major
destabilizing factor and the
Human Rights Watch (HRW) also
blamed the government for
“willful blindness.”<More>
NK Nuclear Help to Iran,
Indian Help Sought
(January 25, 2007)
The Daily Telegraph carried an
expose that accused North
Korea (NK) of helping Iran
with nuclear testing similar
to the one it carried out last
October by providing Iranian
scientists relevant data and
know-how.<More>
Wipro in Saudi JV
(January 25, 2007)
Wipro Infotech and Dar Al
Riyadh Group formed a joint
venture called the Wipro
Arabia Ltd specifically to
cater to the IT market in
Saudi Arabia with Wipro owning
2/3rd and the Saudi partner
the rest.<More>
“Red Tapism” Slowing Indo-UK
Trade
(January 25, 2007)
Chairman of the Indo-British
Partnership Network (IBPN)
Lord Karan Bilimoria said in
an interview with the Times of
India that although “reduced
to a great extent,” the
biggest bottleneck to further
bilateral trade is “Red tapism.”<More>
Pak Hurdles on SAFTA
(January 25, 2007)
Hailing Afghanistan’s entry
into the South Asian
Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC), an Indian
official complained about
Pakistan’s refusal to
implement South Asian Free
Trade Agreement (SAFTA) which
impeded regional trade.<More>
Satellite recovered from sea
(January 24, 2007)
The Indian Space Research
Organization (ISRO) Space
Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-I)
was a “grand success” as the
capsule “gently” splashed down
into the Bay of Bengal and
recovered by the Coast Guard.<More>
Russian Engines and Chinese
Planes
(January 24, 2007)
Russia has assured India that
it will not allow China to use
its RD-93 engines in the JF-17
Thunder multi-role fighter
aircraft in planes it plans to
sell to Pakistan and is
apparently covered in the
end0user certificate contracts
barring export of technology
to Pakistan.<More>
Pak Forces Attacked by NATO
(January 24, 2007)
NATO troops using helicopter
gun-ships returned fire on a
Pakistani check post on the
Afghanistan border in an
obvious retaliation for
Pakistani Army giving covering
fire for infiltration of
terrorists in North Waziristan.<More>
M&A Worth $8B in FDI
(January 24, 2007)
Global economists have
predicted that the “high
performance of the Indian
economy” infused by “the
improving policy environment”
is expected to accelerate
“direct investment” to USD 8
billion from USD 6.5 billion
the previous year.<More>
IT Revenues Projected at USD
47B
(January 24, 2007)
An industry review of
Information Technology and
Information Technology
Enhanced Services (IT/ITES)
projected a 28% growth revenue
from these sectors to net USD
47.8 billion and its portion
of gross domestic product
(GDP) at 5.4% in 2006-07.<More>
Iran Bars IAEA Inspectors, US
Warns
(January 24, 2007)
In an apparent retaliation
against UN sanctions imposed
last month on its
controversial nuclear program,
Iran barred 38 UN nuclear
inspectors from entering the
country and the US upped the
ante saying that rapprochement
with Iran was “not possible.”<More>
Nepal King Public Appearance
(January 24, 2007)
Since being sidelined by the
Seven Party Alliance (SPA),
Nepali King Gyanendra made his
first appearance in connection
with a Hindu festival Vasanta
Panchami but government
officials and politicians who
traditionally the attend the
festivities remained aloof.<More>
India Bullish on Growth
(January 23, 2007)
A recent survey of 200
business houses found that
business confidence index for
October 2006-March 2007 was
higher by 2.5 points at 71.8
from the previous 6 months and
85% of the respondents
revealed plans for increased
investments.<More>
Stalemate on SEZ
(January 23, 2007)
The Empowered Group of
Ministers (EGoM) for Special
Economic Zones (SEZs) ended
its review meeting
“inconclusively” but said that
it is considering ways of
infusing “export obligations”
in order to differentiate
between proposals.<More>
Personality-Neutral Relations
with Iran
(January 23, 2007)
In an act of militant defiance
in response to the second US
aircraft carrier USS John C.
Stennis into the Persian Gulf,
Iran tested short range Zalzal
and Fajr-5 missiles ostensibly
to evaluate “defensive and
fighting capabilities of the
missiles.” <More>
Chavez Armed With Decree
Powers
(January 23, 2007)
Empowering President Hugo
Chavez with sweeping powers to
enforce economic, social, and
political change via,
Venezuelan lawmakers called
such measures a “historic
necessity” to initiate an
“unstoppable” process.<More>
China Satellite Killer Missile
(January 23, 2007)
After many wishy-washy
statements, China for the
first time confirmed the
successful testing of a
satellite killer missile but
insisted that it was “peaceful
development of outer space”
and “opposes the arming of
space and military competition
in space.” <More>
Islamic Leader Surrenders in
Kenya
(January 23, 2007)
An Islamic leader of Somalia’s
ousted Islamic movement
surrendered to Kenyan
authorities raising hopes that
the moderate Sheik Sharif
Sheik Ahmed can facilitate
moderation of widespread
Jihadist insurgency in
Africa..<More>
SC Stays Sidhu Conviction
(January 23, 2007)
In a surprising verdict, the
Supreme Court (SC) stayed a
High Court verdict convicting
Navjot Singh Sidhu of
third-degree murder of an old
man in a fit of road rage and
allowing him to contest in the
by-election for the Amritsar
constituency.<More>
Halted Support for US Iraq
Strategy
(January 22, 2007)
Even as US allies in West Asia
expressed support for the US’s
new Iraq strategy, Riyadh
haltingly expressed support
but also doubted the
even-handedness of the
government in Baghdad to deal
with the Sunni population or
its capacity to stop sectarian
violence.<More>
Mexican War on Drugs
(January 22, 2007)
Mexico said that it has
deployed 7,600 soldiers in the
Pacific coast state of
Guerrero to neutralize drug
gangs who have committed
atrocities such as beheadings
and perpetrated violence in
resort haven Acapulco.<More>
SLG, LTTE Criticized for Child
Soldiers
(January 22, 2007)
As the Sri Lankan Army (SLA),
helped by Israeli and
Pakistani mercenaries, claimed
success to take a key town in
the East, a UN report has
criticized the insurgent
groups, the government, and
their sponsored militia of
abducted conscription of
children.<More>
Bangla CEC Quits, Elections
Cancelled
(January 22, 2007)
Bangladesh’s controversial
Chief Election Commission M.A.
Aziz resigned citing a
“rapidly changed” political
landscape and visibly resigned
President Iajuddin Ahmed
accepted the resignation and
called off the elections.<More>
FDI Grows 120%
(January 22, 2007)
Commerce & Industry Minister
Kamal Nath said that Foreign
Direct Investment (FDI) inflow
surpassed all previous
projections and is expected to
grow at 120% to USD 15 billion
this fiscal year.<
