Business and Economy

• The Indian Iron & Steel Company (IISCO), a 100% subsidiary of the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) merged back with its parent. With this merger, the largest steel maker will have 5 integrated steel plants. The Government has planned a Rs. 80 billion investment to take its hot metal production capacity to 2.5 million tons by 2011-12 from the present 850,000 tons. IISCO owned a high quality iron ore mine in Chiria, Jharkhand that will now see full exploitation by SAIL.

Environment, Health and Education

• The Maharashtra Government said that the death of 1000 chicken on its border with Gujarat is due the Ranikhet or Newcastle disease and not due to the dreaded H5N1 avian flu virus. To ensure that it is not due to avian flu, they have sent samples to a Bhopal laboratory for testing. India has two major testing facilities at the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and National Institute of Contagious Disease (NICD). However, these two labs will be used for human testing mechanism. Not much is known of monitoring mechanisms although the Ministry of Health claims to be in close contact and discussions with its peers in other SAARC and ASEAN nations. India also has poor reporting and control mechanisms and it is not known how the Government plans to proactively stop, control, and manage the epidemic. Most people in India are not even aware of the disease.

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Terrorism, Defense and Security

• The US Defense establishment, the Pentagon has requested a short passage exercise between its new super aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and the Indian aircraft carrier INS Viraat. US carrier, "Gipper" as it is affectionately called, is on its first voyage out of its home base in San Diego. It will come through the Straits of Malacca and rendezvous with the Viraat in the Indian Ocean. India and the US have been upgrading bilateral relations substantially and this exercise will strengthen their plan to protect important sea-lanes, especially those where energy fuel is being transported. Seen in this context, the exercise can better prepare both countries operationally and test their readiness. The two aircraft carriers will establish radio communication and engage in fundamental maneuvers. The "Gipper" is the largest aircraft carrier in the world with a displacement of 100,000 tons and carriers a large unspecified fleet of F/A-18 Super Hornets. The two ships will not engage in aircraft exercises as the Viraat did with the USS Nimitz during the Malabar exercises. This is the first ever exercise that "Gipper" is undertaking and it happens to be with the Viraat.

Neighbors

• In response to a call from the United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF), the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) announced that it release 28 child soldiers. In 2002, UNICEF complained that more than 5,000 children were recruited and being used by the LTTE. Ahead of scheduled talks with the Sri Lankan Government under Norwegian facilitation, the UN repeated its call and the LTTE responded. The 28 released children will either be returned to their parents or sent to a rehabilitation vocational school that the LTTE runs. The organization claims that it has released thousands of children since 2002 but declined to reveal any specific numbers or details.

• The French Foreign Minister Philippe Doutse-Blazy characterized the Iranian nuclear project as a "clandestine military" project. Rejecting Iranian assertions that their project was peaceful and intended to generate power, he said not just European allies but also Russia and China shared the views. US President George Bush said the same thing pointing out that apart from the United Nations Security Council veto-power members, countries like India voted against the Iranian nuclear weapons program.

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• Editorial: Iran's Nuclear Program

World

• Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said that his country will severe all relations with Palestinian territories if they elect a Hamas leader to be their Prime Minister of Speaker. The Hamas is under enormous international pressure to abandon their path of violence and accept Israel's right to exist. Western nations have suspended aid and the PT, which depends on aid to survive, is nearly bankrupt. A recalcitrant Hamas has so far refused to yield to this pressure. Israel has been assiduously working for the isolation of Hamas and the Western nations seem to be rallying behind it. However, the Russian invitation to the Hamas for parleys has won support from some of the Western nations, including the United States.  Israel will be going to the polls next month and the results will greatly influence the outcome of the West Asian peace process. The comatose former Israeli Prime Minster Ariel Sharon's new centrist Kadima party is expected to win.

• The Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Yuxi said that his country "fully understood" India's energy needs as a "rising country in the developing world." With this context, he said every Government has the right to develop strategies to bridge the energy gap and the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal will help India. He went further saying "we would like India develop better relations with the US, just as we are working for better relations with America." The change of heart and his sentiments would vastly challenge the communist parties' strategy to disrupt US President George Bush's state visit to India in a couple of weeks and also oppose the nuclear deal. The communist "allies" of the Government threatened to boycott a Parliamentary address causing that to be taken off the agenda. They were strongly opposing an Indian vote against Iran's nuclear weapons program when the Chinese and Russian decision to vote with the West saw a sudden volte-face in their posturing. The US Ambassador David Mulford's comments linking the Iran vote with the nuclear deal provided another opportunity for grand standing. It would be very interesting to see how they would react to the Chinese change of policy.