north east online - north east india news: Nov 25, 2009

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

NSG to get IAF aircraft for operations

N
ew Delhi, Nov 25 (PTI) After getting the power to requisition any aircraft during emergencies, the NSG has got the approval of the Indian Air Force to use its planes to transport commandos for anti-terror duties.

The NSG, in the aftermath of the November 26 Mumbai attacks last year, had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with eight different private airlines enabling it to requisition any aircraft for immediate transport of commandos.

"It has been officially formalised that the IAF will provide us air support in case any assistance is needed. The Air Force will also assist in training," National Security Guard (NSG) Director General N P S Aulak said.

"We are thinking of having helicopters, which in a way would be a dedicated one (for NSG), but they would either be with the Air Force or with the Home ministry's air wing.

Obama to visit India next year

W
ashington, Nov 24 (ANI): President Barack Obama has accepted Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh''s invitation to visit India, and promised to come next year.

Addressing a joint press conference with Dr. Singh, President Obama said: "India today is a rising and responsible global power in Asia. Indian leadership is expanding security across the region.I am happy to accept Prime Minister Manmohan Singh''s invitation to visit India next year."

Dr. Singh and President Obama also pledged to fully implement the civil nuclear deal signed by the two countries in 2008.

Earlier in the day, welcoming Dr. Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur, Obama said: "Mr. prime minister, yours is the first official visit of my presidency and it is fitting that you and India be so recognised."

"This visit reflects the high esteem in which I and American people hold for your wise leadership. It reflects the abiding bonds, respect and friendship between our people, including our friends in the Indian American community who join us today," he said.

The Prime Minister is accompanied by External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, and Indian Ambassador to US Meera Shankar and business leaders like Ratan Tata, etc. (ANI)

TV channels, crew banned from White House state dinner

B
y Smita Prakash

Washington, Nov.25 (ANI): The air of excitement and anticipation
prevailing ahead of the White House State Dinner hosted by President
Barack Obama and US First Lady Michelle Obama for visiting Indian
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur was
dampened by a blanket ban on televison channels and crew.

Television channel anchors here were laughing in their bulletins about
the whole secrecy element surrounding the event and what could have
the reasons for keeping the media out.

Only celebrity news anchors like Katie Couric of CBS, Fareed Zakaria
of Newsweek and CNN, Brian Williams of NBC and Sanjay Gupta of CNN
made the cut for the high-powered do, but their crews were not
allowed.

Earlier, the White House released the list of expected guests for
Tuesday night''s state dinner.

According to the Washington Post, among the expected guests at the
dinner would be Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, famed
Hollywood director Steven Speilberg, Gayle King, Dr.Sanjay Gupta and
David Geffen.

Among the others that were expected to attend the White House veggie
garden spoils hosted by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle
Obama for Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister and
his wife Gursharan Kaur, were Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and
his wife Dr. Jill Biden Congressman Gary Ackerman, Indian-American
hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal, Deputy Chairman of the Indian Planning
Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, David Axelrod and his wife Susan
Axelrod, Congressman Howard Berman and his wife Jane Berman, Robert O
Blake, Jr., Assistant Secretaryof State for South and Central Asian
Affairs, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, John Brennan, Assistant to
the President for Homeland Security and Deputy National Security
Advisor for Counter-terrorism, Homeland Security Council.

William Burns, Under Secretary for Political Affairs, General James E
Cartwright, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Senator Bob
Casey, Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Senator Satveer Chaudhry, Energy
Secretary Steven Chu, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Senator
Swati Dandekar, Senator Chris Dodd, White House Chief of Staff Rahm
Emanuel, New York Times journalist Thomas Friedman, Dr. Ashok S
Ganguly, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, Michigan Governor
Jennifer Granholm, Attorney General Eric Holder, Senator Daniel Inouye
of Hawaii, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, National Security Adviser
General James Jones, Senator John Kerry, Indian External Affairs
Minister S.M. Krishna, Indian-American author Jhumpa Lahiri, US
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke etc, were also expected to attend.

Kiran Mazumda-Shaw, Congressman Jim McDermott, Indian businessman
Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral
Michael Mullen, Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano, Indian National
Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan, USIBC president and Pepisico
Chairperson Indra Nooyi, Massachussets Governor Deval Patrick, House
of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, telecommunications and IT
honcho Sam Pitroda and Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao were also
to attend.(ANI)

List of agreements signed between India and U

B
y Smita Prakash

Washington, Nov.25 (ANI): India and the United States inked several agreements/memoranda of understanding with the aim of taking the bilateral strategic partnership forward. Following is the list of agreements signed:

. Both countries signed an "MoU to Enhance Cooperation on Energy Security , Energy Efficiency , Clean Energy and Climate Change". The bilateral document was signed by External Affairs Minister S.M.Krishna and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the US State Department.

The MoU would strengthen and intensify India-US collaboration on energy security, clean energy and climate change and bring together joint ideas on energy efficiency, renewable energy and green technologies to stimulate India-US Energy dialogue and the India-US bilateral dialogue on Global Climate Change, a new framework announced
on 20 July 2009.

It would allow the two countries to share their experiences and best practices as they both try to diversify their energy mix. The MoU would help to expand current partnerships for promoting sustainable growth, innovation, application of lternative fuels and clean energy and capacity building for deployment of adaptable, affordable and climate friendly technologies in both countries.

The MoU envisages setting up an India-US Clean Energy Research and Deployment Initiative, including a Joint Research Center to foster innovation and joint efforts to accelerate deployment of clean energy
technologies.

.The two sides also initialed an MoU on Agricultural Cooperation and Food Security and an India-US Conterterrorism Cooperation Initiative today. The MoU on Agricultural Cooperation and Food Security was initialed by Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Indian Planning Commission, and US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Cooperation in the field of agriculture between India and the US is a key agenda of the India-US Strategic Dialogue announced on 20 July 2009.

The MoU would help the two countries to expand current partnership in the field of agriculture and further joint initiatives for promoting sustainable agricultural development, food security, and for increasing the application of knowledge, innovation and capacity building in the two countries and globally.

Cooperation in the field of agriculture with the United States could be leveraged to strengthen agricultural productivity, and agro based R and D in India.

. The India-US Counterterrorism Cooperation Initiative was initialed by India''s Ambassador to the USA Meera Shankar and her American counterpart to India Timothy Roemer.

India and the US have strong cooperation in the field of counter-terrorism. Post Mumbai attack, bilateral collaboration on counter-terrorism has increased substantially. India and the US recognize terrorism as one of the biggest threats to world security and have reaffirmed the determination to fight the evil in all its
forms and manifestations. (ANI)

Voting begins for first phase of Jharkhand assembly polls

R
anchi, Nov 25 (ANI): Polling for the first phase of the five-phased Jharkhand assembly elections began amidst tight security on Wednesday morning.

A total of 470 candidates, including 34 women, are in the fray with 6,532,234 voters to cast votes between 7 am to 3 pm.

The opening and closing time for the polling has been advanced in view of the Naxal threats.

Former legislators Hemlal Murmu, Suraj Mandal (JMM), Furkan Ansari (Congress), ex-Speaker Alamgir Alam (Congress), ex-minister Raghuvar Das (BJP), Saryu Roy (BJP) and ex-minister Pradeep Yadav (JVM-P) are among the prominent candidates whose electoral fate would be decided today.

During the first phase, 30 constituencies will vote, in the second phase 15 constituencies will go to poll, in third phase seven seats will vote, and 14 and 15 constituencies will vote in the fourth and the fifth phase.

Counting will be held on December 23.

As Jharkhand is one of the Naxal affected states, the Election Commission has decided to deploy Central Police Forces (CPF) and the State Armed Police (SAP) drawn from other states. (ANI)

Patil creates history, becomes first female president to fly in a fighter jet

P
une, Nov.25 (ANI): President Pratibha Devisingh Patil created history on Wednesday by becoming the first serving female head of state to fly in an Indian Air Force Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft from the Lohegaon Air Force Base here. What was even more remarkable was the fact that she achieved the feat at the ripe age of 74.

Patil landed at the air force base after 22 minutes of flying.

The Indian Air Force had earlier chalked out a special rectangular navigation route for Patil’s maiden sortie, which was originally scheduled to last for 30 minutes. The aircraft is said to have touched a maximum speed of 0.9 Mach (700 to 900 kmph).

President Patil was accompanied ny award winning Wing Commnader S.Sajan, who has 3200 hours of Sukhoi flying experience.

She thus becomes the second President to have flown in a Sukhoi after her predecessor A.P.J.Abdul Kalam.

Kalam undertook his flight on June 8, 2006. That flight was positioned as a familiarisation flight, besides being an act to inspire the youth of the country to join the armed forces.

In May 2004, former Defence Minister George Fernandes undertook a similar sortie, clocking 1.15 Mach (about 1,500 kmph). Fernandes, who was also in his early 70s, was exposed to a gravitational force of up to level 3G. (ANI)

Michelle Obama enjoys her day out at White House State banquet

B
y Smita Prakash

Washington, Nov.25 (ANI): It was U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama’s day out at various social events at the White House on Tuesday, and she did not disappoint.

You could say that she was on a roll, changing her outfits thrice to make the Obama administration’s first State welcome for a head of state or government memorable both for herself and hubby – President Barack Obama, and for the chief guests – Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur.

All of her outfits were accessorised perfectly, and was she was very genial and very polite to boot. In contrast, Mrs. Gursharan Kaur was very quiet, her style, pretty much like her husband, the Indian Prime Minister.

Mrs. Obama chose to wear a gleaming silver-sequined, flesh-coloured gown appropriately designed by Indian-born, U.S.-based designer Naeem Khan for Tuesday night’s state dinner. She tended to her hostess duties in a strapless silhouette with the beads forming an abstract floral pattern that was custom-made by Khan.

She also wore a matching wrap, a stack of bangle bracelets on her wrist and dangling earrings.

The menu prepared and supervised by Chef Marcus Samuelsson, an award-winning African-American chef from the New York restaurant Aquavit, was high on veggies and low on meat, apparently in deference to the vegetarians Indian Prime Minister and his wife and to the fact that both are light eaters.

The china used at the dinner was exquisite and included Eisenhower Porcelain service plates of 1955, Clinton era service plates that were commissioned to commemorate 200th anniversary of the building of the White House (2000)

George W Bush State China Service dinner plates (2008-09) as also desert plates from the same period.

Laura Bush had shown these to Mrs Obama when she came in. It was probably the best-preserved china as it was used only once. The others appeared to be chipped.

Previous state dinners held at the White House in honour of India include the following:

. George and Laura Bush in 2005

. William and Hillary Clinton 2000

. Ronald and Nancy Reagan 1985 and 1982

. Lyndon B. Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson in 1966

. John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy 1963

Mrs. Obama''s choice of dress seemed very appropriate for the occasion.

Earlier in the day, she wore a skirt designed by Indian-American designer Rachel Roy. It was a stunning knee-length outfit. It was beige silk with stars on the sweater, very high on bling but it worked like magic.

She had a bracelet of pearls that were very large. She also wore diamond solitaires in her ears, and small heels.

She spoke endearingly to her girls, who were sitting patiently, silently listening to her about the significance of the banquet.

White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers wore a floor-length cream colour number designed by Comme Des Garcons. The identification of the designer was done by Washington Post reporter Robin Givhan as soon as Rogers walked past the cameras set up near the entrance, the Chicago Sun Times reports.

The Huffington Post quoted Rogers as saying: "We are very excited...everything looks great."

According to the paper, Robin "show off" Givhan, asked what everyone wanted to ask: "Are you wearing Comme Des Garcons?" and Rogers replied "Of course."

Rogers'' multi-layered dress was nude in color, had pearls in between two layers of fabric...

Vice-President Joe Biden’s missus – Dr. Jill Biden – wore a beaded gown designed by Reem Acra.

Naeem Khan told CNN''s Larry King that his goals were to dress the U.S. First Lady in something "Indian, chic, simple but very glamorous."

Khan is no stranger to helping women make a grand entrance.

According to an Associated Press report, Khan has become a fixture on the Hollywood red-carpet circuit, dressing star attractions like Beyonce, Carrie Underwood, Katherine Heigl and even Queen Noor of Jordan.

Michelle Obama''s gown reportedly took three weeks to make at the designer''s family workshop in India, with 40 people working on it, Khan said.

President Barack Obama wore classic-style tuxedo, and he also drew praise for his elegant dress sense. (ANI)

Women too can fly fighter jets: President Patil

L
ohegaon (Maharashtra), Nov 25 (ANI): President Pratibha Patil on Wednesday said Indian women too can fly fighter jets if chance was given to them.

Addressing a press conference here after successfully completing a record sortie in Sukhoi 30 Mki aircraft, President Patil said: “They are some technical requirements and qualifications to be completed. And also, one has to study the situation, which need to be faced by women pilots. The government is considering the matter.”

“Let met tell you, I have full faith in our women and their capacity to perform a given assignment. They have done extremely well in all fields.
I am confident that the government will take an appropriate decision,” she added.

“Initially, there were no women in the armed forces. Now, we have. In the same way, we have women pilots for helicopters, commercial aircrafts. Now, the government is thinking on the lines of recruiting them as fighter pilots, I am sure that a proper decision will be taken,” she said.

Earlier in the day, 74-year-old, Patil created history by becoming the first serving female head of state to fly in an Indian Air Force Sukhoi-30 MKi fighter aircraft.

She also congratulated the defence force for their technical expertise, and having an advanced sophisticated way in handling defence equipments.

“The country should be proud of defence forces, their will to sacrifice for the country, and have faith in their ability to face any challenge,” Patil said.

Commenting on her flight, she said: I was confident since day one and I am confident now also. Practicing yoga also helped me and I also followed the instructions given by the air force officials carefully.”

President Patil replied the questions in English, Hindi and Marathi languages. (ANI)

Britain initially distanced itself from ‘unlawful’ Iraq invasion

L
ondon 25 (ANI): Britain was aware of the Bush administration’s intentions of toppling Saddam Hussein years before the invasion, but it distanced itself from the prospect, knowing it would be unlawful, an Iraq war inquiry panel has been told.

"We were aware of these drumbeats from Washington and internally we discussed it. Our policy was to stay away from that part of the spectrum. We dismissed it at the time because it had no basis in law," The Guardian quoted Sir William Patey, then head of the Middle East department at the British Foreign Office, as telling the panel chaired by Sir John Chilcot.

Sir Peter Ricketts, a former chairman of the joint intelligence committee (JIC), told the inquiry that in late 2001 – following the 9/11 attacks on the US – he asked officials at the ministry to draw up an Iraq "options" paper.

"We quite clearly distanced ourselves in Whitehall from talk about regime change," said Ricketts. Up to March 2002 "there was no increased appetite among UK ministers for military action in Iraq," he added.

British intelligence also dismissed claims by elements in the US administration that the Iraqi leader was linked to Osama bin Laden.

"We didn''t have any such evidence," Ricketts said.

According to leaked documents, Ricketts described the US in 2002 as "scrambling to establish a link between Iraq and al-Qaida….It sounds like a grudge match between Bush and Saddam.” (ANI)

Next four games could define Chelsea’s season: Terry

L
ondon, Nov 25(ANI): Chelsea skipper John Terry has said that the Blues’ next four games could go a long way in defining their season.

Chelsea will play against Porto on Wednesday, where a win would seal top spot in their Champions League group. In the coming days they will face Arsenal, Blackburn and Manchester City.

“If we win in Porto, we win the group with a game to go. Not many teams win in Porto, but we can do it. Then, Arsenal and Manchester City in the league - two teams with real aspirations. There''s also Blackburn. Victory and we''re through to the semi-finals,” The Sun quoted Terry, as saying.

“On the two occasions we''ve won the Carling Cup recently, we''ve gone on to win other things - the Premier League in 2005 and the FA Cup in 2007. It''s the appetiser. This can be another special year. The next few weeks can move us towards our goal,” he added.

The 28-year-old further said that though Chelsea has had some bad games recently, he is confident of doing well in the latter part of the tournaments.

“I listened to other players when we were away with England and they are talking about how well we are playing. They are fearing us again. We could go on to do great things again this year. When we were winning the Premier League we had that invincible feel and we are getting close to that again,” Terry said.

“The Premier League is throwing up all sorts of difficult situations. We went to Wigan and lost, away to Villa and lost. It''s just about regrouping, keeping everyone fit and believing in what we can do,” he added. (ANI)

Congress leader shot dead in Tripura

A youth Congress leader was shot dead late Tuesday in this Tripura capital, police said on Wednesday.

"Tripura youth Congress vice president Mantu Das was shot dead by some people at his house," West Tripura district police chief KV Sreejesh told IANS.

"Armed miscreants stormed Mantu Das' house Tuesday midnight and fired at him from point blank range. Another friend of his was also injured in the incident. The injured person has been admitted to the hospital in a critical condition," the official said.

"On the basis of an FIR (first information report) filed by Mantu Das's brother, the victim's wife has been arrested while one more person named in the complaint is absconding," he said.

Police also recovered a revolver from the spot.

Scared of math? Try animation algebra

M
athematics is sweet. But if you find mithai multiplication unpalatable, try animation algebra.

Or some khet calculations in sugarcane fields – kitchen garden, if you don’t feel like visiting a village in the vicinity.

And if this still doesn’t add up, get it straight from quirky math teachers who converged here for a three-day workshop towards making arithmetic fun and magical for children across India.

The workshop, organized by the Assam Sarba Siksha Abhijan Mission, is scheduled to conclude on Thursday.

“Conventional methods of teaching often prevent a child from thinking or calculating, and the fear he or she develops toward mathematics becomes chronic. The element of fun emphasizing how numbers are a part of everyday life goes a long way in killing that dread,” said New Delhi-based TP Sharma, a lecturer with the National Council for Education Research and Training.

Sharma claimed to have had optimum results with the mithai game. One of the games for basic multiplication entails assigning a laddoo to 2 and its multiples, a jalebi to 3 and its multiples and so on. Common multiples are assigned both mithai.

According to Sanjeev K Taneja of Government Senior Secondary School, Ludhiana, a bit of animation sweetens mathematics enough to catch the imagination of children. “I have traveled across the country with my animation package that simplifies algebra and erases confusion about natural numbers, whole numbers and integers,” he told Hindustan Times.

Moving graphics explain how adding a zero to natural numbers 1-9 make them whole numbers, or how multiplication is repetitive addition with a different notation. And a cartoon car moving back and forth on a numbered scale does additions and subtractions in a jiffy.

“The success rate in mathematics in Assam is 46 per cent,” said Assam Education Minister Gautam Bora. “The figure is worse in the rural areas, where we plan kheti calculations for children.”

Exercises such as sowing and weeding – and keeping a count in notebooks – are expected to teach them mathematics faster and surer than textbooks.

DY Patil to be new governor of Tripura

N
ewly appointed Governor of Tripura, D Y Patil will arrive in the state on thursday and take oath of office and secrecy on November 27, official sources said here today.

Patil will replace the present governor, Dr Kamala.

Dr Kamala who was appointed as Governor of Tripura on October 15, has been appointed as Governor of Gujarat and will leave the state on November 26.

Five members of a family killed in road mishap in Gangtok

F
ive members of a family were killed and three others injured when the vehicle in which they were travelling overturned near Eighth mile in West Sikkim, police said on Wednesday.

The mishap took place when the driver lost control of the ill-fated vehicle which then crashed down several hundred
meters below killing the five on the spot yesterday.

Miraculously, a three year-old boy survived unscathed, the police said.

The dead were identified as Bir Bahadur Shankar, Harka Bahadur Shankar, Tara Devi Lamichaney, Lok Nath Lamichaney and Pushpa Maya.

The injured were admitted to a nearby hospital for treatment, the police added.

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