India as a rising power good for the US: Obama

Washington, June 4 (ANI): In witty and often rousing remarks at a Thursday reception hosted by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her Indian counterpart S M Krishna at the State Department, US President Barack Obama reiterated how central and important India was to the US.

“It””s rising power and a responsible global power. That””s why I firmly believe that the relationship between the United States and India will be a defining partnership in the 21st century,” Obama said.

Obama described the India-United States relationship as “fundamentally unique” because of their common interests and common values,

Washington, he said valued the partnership “not because of where India is on a map, but because of what we share and where we can go together.”

“India is indispensable to the future that we seek – a future of security and prosperity for all nations,” Obama said.

The President was in a particularly jocular vein with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, subtly challenging her hold on the India portfolio and trumping her Mark Twain quote rhapsodizing about India with a Max Mueller observation he dug up about the glory of India.

“So when it comes to the sphere of our work — building a future of greater prosperity, opportunity and security for our people, there is no doubt: I have to go to India. But even more, I am proud to go to India,” Obama said.

Obama, when he makes the trip, will be the sixth American President to visit India after Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and George Bush (43). (ANI)

India, S. Korea place development as top item on G-20 agenda

Busan (S.Korea), June 4 (ANI): India and South Korea, on Friday said they will put ”development” on top of the G-20 agenda.

The commitment was made after Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee held discussions with Il Sakong, the chairman of Presidential Committee for the G-20 Finance Ministers Summit.

The two days of talks will bring together twenty of the world”s most developed and emerging economies to Busan.

After the talks, Mukherjee said:“I had a very fruitful discussion with the Chairperson of the Presidential Councils for the summit. There are many areas of common interests and convergence of the views about how the summit will be made more effective and development will play an important core agenda of the functioning of the G-20. Ourselves and Korea have the convergence of views.”

Il Sakong also reiterated India’s stand on core agenda of development and said that the meeting was very fruitful and “we agreed on almost everything as we have been very closely cooperating with India in the preparation of G-20 Summit.”

He added:“ There are a number of agenda items which related to previous agreements made by G20 leaders. But in addition, India and Korea are very much interested in `Development’ being up on the agenda and also the strengthening of financial safety net particularly for developing and emerging economies.”

Commenting on the European crisis and the likelihood of it dominating summit deliberations, the South Korean Leader said: “I don’t think it will dominate the summit, but certainly it will be substantially part of the discussion.”

Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors will be working on a host of options for their political leaders to be endorsed at a summit in Toronto at the end of this month with a view to making more specific commitments at a follow-up summit in Seoul in November this year during the two-days meeting here.

The meeting in Busan will also try to thrash out an agreement ahead of the Toronto summit on how to tackle banks. Policy makers want to make it easy and quick to wind up an ailing bank so that it does not destabilise the financial system, as investment bank Lehman Brothers did when it crashed in 2008. (ANI)

UK’s ”special relationship” with US will remain, but next PM won”t cozy up to Obama

Washington, May 7 (ANI): US President Barack Obama will have to accept that while his country’s relationship with Britain will remain special, the next Prime Minister of that country will not be subservient to Washington, as has been the case with Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.

According to the New York Daily News, Britain’s New Labor Party has never recovered from the perception that Blair was so tight with Washington that he was ridiculed as President George W. Bush”s “poodle.”

“The longstanding U.S. assumption of automatic British support for its policies is now in question,” predicted Martin Walker, a former Washington correspondent for The Guardian.

“The Lone Ranger can no longer count on Tonto,” Walker added last week.

Officially, both governments express their undying affection and say common interests – Afghanistan, global trade, financial reform and Iranian nukes – ensure the relationship will stay strong.

“There may be some tonal shifts, but not a lot,” an Anglo-American specialist said, “and no real policy shifts.” (ANI)

G-20 is the appropriate forum to resolve global meltdown: BRIC leaders

Brasilia (Brazil), Apr.16 (ANI): Reaffirming the central role of the Group of 20 (G-20) member nations in combatting and neutralising the impact of the global fiscal crisis, leaders of Brazil,Russia, India and China (BRIC) on Thursday said the grouping is the right forum for resolving the crisis.

A joint statement issued by the BRIC leader said: “We stress the central role played by the G-20 in combating the crisis through unprecedented levels of coordinated action. We welcome the fact that the G-20 was confirmed as the premier forum for international economic coordination and cooperation of all its member states.”

“Compared to previous arrangements, the G-20 is broader, more inclusive, diverse, representative and effective. We call upon all its member states to undertake further efforts to implement jointly the decisions adopted at the three G-20 Summits. We advocate the need for the G-20 to be proactive and formulate a coherent strategy for the post-crisis period. We stand ready to make a joint contribution to this effort,” the BRIC leaders added.

Expressing their strong commitment to multilateral diplomacy with the United Nations playing the central role in dealing with global challenges and threats, they said they reaffirmed “the need for a comprehensive reform of the UN, with a view to making it more effective, efficient and representative, so that it can deal with today’s global challenges more effectively.”

“We reiterate the importance we attach to the status of India and Brazil in international affairs, and understand and support their aspirations to play a greater role in the United Nations. We believe the deepened and broadened dialogue and cooperation of the BRIC countries is conducive not only to serving common interests of emerging market economies and developing countries, but also to building a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity,” the joint statement quoted the BRIC leaders, as saying.

Expressing their satisfaction over the improving world economic situation since their first meeting in June 2009, in Ekaterinburg, the BRIC leaders said: “We welcome the resumption of economic growth, in which emerging market economies are playing a very important role. However, we recognize that the foundation of world economic recovery is not yet solid, with uncertainties remaining. We call upon all states to strengthen macroeconomic cooperation, jointly secure world economic recovery and achieve a strong, sustainable and balanced growth.”

“We reiterate our determination to make positive efforts in maintaining domestic economic recovery and promoting development in our own countries and worldwide,” the BRIC leaders added.

They also underlined the importance of maintaining relative stability of major reserve currencies and sustainability of fiscal policies in order to achieve a strong, long-term balanced economic growth.

“We are convinced that emerging market economies and developing countries have the potential to play an even larger and active role as engines of economic growth and prosperity, while at the same time commit to work together with other countries towards reducing imbalances in global economic development and fostering social inclusion,” they said. By Ravinder Singh Robin (ANI)

G-20 is the appropriate forum to resolve global meltdown: BRIC leaders

Brasilia (Brazil), Apr.16 (ANI): Reaffirming the central role of the Group of 20 (G-20) member nations in combatting and neutralising the impact of the global fiscal crisis, leaders of Brazil,Russia, India and China (BRIC) on Thursday said the grouping is the right forum for resolving the crisis.

A joint statement issued by the BRIC leader said: “We stress the central role played by the G-20 in combating the crisis through unprecedented levels of coordinated action. We welcome the fact that the G-20 was confirmed as the premier forum for international economic coordination and cooperation of all its member states.”

“Compared to previous arrangements, the G-20 is broader, more inclusive, diverse, representative and effective. We call upon all its member states to undertake further efforts to implement jointly the decisions adopted at the three G-20 Summits. We advocate the need for the G-20 to be proactive and formulate a coherent strategy for the post-crisis period. We stand ready to make a joint contribution to this effort,” the BRIC leaders added.

Expressing their strong commitment to multilateral diplomacy with the United Nations playing the central role in dealing with global challenges and threats, they said they reaffirmed “the need for a comprehensive reform of the UN, with a view to making it more effective, efficient and representative, so that it can deal with today’s global challenges more effectively.”

“We reiterate the importance we attach to the status of India and Brazil in international affairs, and understand and support their aspirations to play a greater role in the United Nations. We believe the deepened and broadened dialogue and cooperation of the BRIC countries is conducive not only to serving common interests of emerging market economies and developing countries, but also to building a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity,” the joint statement quoted the BRIC leaders, as saying.

Expressing their satisfaction over the improving world economic situation since their first meeting in June 2009, in Ekaterinburg, the BRIC leaders said: “We welcome the resumption of economic growth, in which emerging market economies are playing a very important role. However, we recognize that the foundation of world economic recovery is not yet solid, with uncertainties remaining. We call upon all states to strengthen macroeconomic cooperation, jointly secure world economic recovery and achieve a strong, sustainable and balanced growth.”

“We reiterate our determination to make positive efforts in maintaining domestic economic recovery and promoting development in our own countries and worldwide,” the BRIC leaders added.

They also underlined the importance of maintaining relative stability of major reserve currencies and sustainability of fiscal policies in order to achieve a strong, long-term balanced economic growth.

“We are convinced that emerging market economies and developing countries have the potential to play an even larger and active role as engines of economic growth and prosperity, while at the same time commit to work together with other countries towards reducing imbalances in global economic development and fostering social inclusion,” they said. By Ravinder Singh Robin (ANI)

G-20 is the appropriate forum to resolve global meltdown: BRIC leaders

Brasilia (Brazil), Apr.16 (ANI): Reaffirming the central role of the Group of 20 (G-20) member nations in combatting and neutralising the impact of the global fiscal crisis, leaders of Brazil,Russia, India and China (BRIC) on Thursday said the grouping is the right forum for resolving the crisis.

A joint statement issued by the BRIC leader said: “We stress the central role played by the G-20 in combating the crisis through unprecedented levels of coordinated action. We welcome the fact that the G-20 was confirmed as the premier forum for international economic coordination and cooperation of all its member states.”

“Compared to previous arrangements, the G-20 is broader, more inclusive, diverse, representative and effective. We call upon all its member states to undertake further efforts to implement jointly the decisions adopted at the three G-20 Summits. We advocate the need for the G-20 to be proactive and formulate a coherent strategy for the post-crisis period. We stand ready to make a joint contribution to this effort,” the BRIC leaders added.

Expressing their strong commitment to multilateral diplomacy with the United Nations playing the central role in dealing with global challenges and threats, they said they reaffirmed “the need for a comprehensive reform of the UN, with a view to making it more effective, efficient and representative, so that it can deal with today’s global challenges more effectively.”

“We reiterate the importance we attach to the status of India and Brazil in international affairs, and understand and support their aspirations to play a greater role in the United Nations. We believe the deepened and broadened dialogue and cooperation of the BRIC countries is conducive not only to serving common interests of emerging market economies and developing countries, but also to building a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity,” the joint statement quoted the BRIC leaders, as saying.

Expressing their satisfaction over the improving world economic situation since their first meeting in June 2009, in Ekaterinburg, the BRIC leaders said: “We welcome the resumption of economic growth, in which emerging market economies are playing a very important role. However, we recognize that the foundation of world economic recovery is not yet solid, with uncertainties remaining. We call upon all states to strengthen macroeconomic cooperation, jointly secure world economic recovery and achieve a strong, sustainable and balanced growth.”

“We reiterate our determination to make positive efforts in maintaining domestic economic recovery and promoting development in our own countries and worldwide,” the BRIC leaders added.

They also underlined the importance of maintaining relative stability of major reserve currencies and sustainability of fiscal policies in order to achieve a strong, long-term balanced economic growth.

“We are convinced that emerging market economies and developing countries have the potential to play an even larger and active role as engines of economic growth and prosperity, while at the same time commit to work together with other countries towards reducing imbalances in global economic development and fostering social inclusion,” they said. (ANI)

Chinese vice premier calls for further expansion of Sino-Indian trade ties

New Delhi, Mar. 27 (ANI): Hailing the rapidly growing Sino-Indian trade ties, visiting Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu has urged New Delhi to further expand economic relations between the two countries.

Xinhua quoted Hui as saying that Sino-Indian bilateral trade rose from 2.9 billion U.S. dollars to 51.8 billion U.S. dollars from 2000 to 2008, making China India”s second largest trade partner and India China”s biggest trade partner in South Asia.

Addressing Indian businessmen and Chinese entrepreneurs based in New Delhi on Friday, Hui said that China has built infrastructure projects in India worth 11.1 billion dollars in the past few years and invested 260 million dollars in the fields of telecom, software and pharmaceutical industry.

India has made 300 million dollars of investment in China, he added.

Hui promised that China would provide more export and investing opportunities to Indian enterprises, so that bilateral trade can develop in a more balanced way.

“China is working on expanding domestic consumption, this will also provide a lot of business opportunities for Indian and other foreign enterprises in China… Such cooperation will benefit not only the two countries, but also the whole world,” he said.

Hui also proposed that China and India increase strategic trust to push forward cooperation of bilateral benefit.

“The economies of China and India are mutually supplementary to a great extent. The two countries can take advantage of each other ”s technological strong points in IT, manufacturing, agriculture, infrastructure, energy saving and environment protection,” he said.

He indicated that China and India can work together to safeguard common interests, such as: international financial crisis, reform of global economic management structure, pushing forward WTO Doha Round talks and coping with global warming. (ANI)

Nepal Foreign Minister meets Chidambaram, discusses security issue

New Delhi, Aug 13 (ANI): Visiting Nepal Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala met Home Minister P Chidambaram here on Wednesday.

The leaders discussed cross-border terrorism, border encroachment and other threats.

Talking to reporters here after the meeting Sujata Koirala said, “Nepal and India share lots of common interests and we had a very friendly talk. We have an open border and we spoke about security as to how it mutually benefits for both the countries and can have a proper security system on the border side.”

Asked about the threat of fake currency reportedly routed through Nepal, Koirala said she would have a separate meeting with Indian authorities on the issue.

“It is a concern of everybody. Nepal wants to control our side and India will look after their side.

We will have a mutual sit down meeting from both the sides and we will solve every problem what we have,” she added.

Since her arrival Koirala has been holding meetings with India’s top leadership seeking support in taking the peace process forward.

Nepal’s Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal is also scheduled to visit India this month.

She will attend various events in Delhi today and will leave for Kathmandu on Friday afternoon. (ANI)

Clinton to discuss ways to enhance US-India strategic partnership(Update-Clinton)

Washington, July 15 (ANI): A spokesman for the U.S. State Department has said that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will discuss ways to enhance the US-India strategic partnership during her five day visit to India from July 17 to 23.

State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said: “Secretary Clinton will meet with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and with External Affairs Minister Krishna. The Secretary and Minister Krishna will discuss the structure and elements of an enhanced U.S.-India strategic partnership that will enable us to advance solutions to the defining challenges of our time and tonhance global prosperity and stability in the 21st century.”

Kelly said Clinto would arrive in Mumbai on July 17 where, she would meet with a broad cross section of Indian society and would remember the victims of the November 26, 2008 Mumbai attacks.

He said that Clinton would travel to New Delhi where she would have a full schedule of meetings with government officials, the leader of the opposition, entrepreneurs, scientists, and youth.

The Secretary would leave New Delhi on July 21 for Thailand.

In Thailand, Clinton would meet with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Foreign Minsiter Kasit Piromyato to underscore the importance of our alliance and our bilateral relationship and to share perspectives on common interests in the region.

She would visit Bangkok July 21-22 and Phuket July 22-23. Clinton would travel to Phuket to lead the U.S. delegation to the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference and ASEAN Regional Forum.

Clinton would return to Washington on July 23, he said. (ANI)

Now, buy followers on Twitter

London, July 7 (ANI): Not happy with your follower count on Twitter? Well, then here’s your chance to boost your popularity on the micro-blogging site-a new service can now buy followers for you.

The social networking site, popular with celebrities like Ashton Kutcher and Lily Allen, allows users to post short updates about their thoughts or what they are doing.

And now, uSocial, a media marketing company, has claimed that it will find potential followers for a client by scouring the website for people with common interests.he firm will then send these users a message to tell them that there is a fellow tweeter they might want to follow.

And the potential follower will then decide on whether or not to follow that person.

Leon Hill, chief executive of uSocial, an Australian firm, has said that personal users and businesses are flocking to pay for the service.

“We’ve had everyone from churches and automotive blogs to big companies express interest and invest in our services,” the Telegraph quoted him as saying.

“With the growing popularity of Twitter, we can only see an even larger variety of people jumping on the bandwagon.

“A woman who runs yoga classes is one of our clients and so are some religious groups including one man that just wants to get the word out about God.

“But it’s up to the user we contact whether they follow them or not,” he added.

For a charge of around 42 pounds, uSocial offers 1,000 new followers, while 2,500 new followers are available at a cost of 72 pounds.

And if one wants 25,000 new friends, it will cost 427 pounds, and 100,000 followers will loosen your pocket by 1,700 pounds. (ANI)

NATO to broaden its engagement with Pak: Mullen

Washington, May 23 (ANI): The US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen has said that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is working to broaden its engagement with Pakistan.

Addressing a congressional hearing here, Admiral Mullen said NATO is working out a strategy to seek a more in-depth relationship with Pakistan to help the troubled country counter the terrorism and instability more effectively.

“Where I see NATO going is increasingly toward a broader and more in depth relationship with Pakistan, because of the common interests,” The Dawn quoted Admiral Mullen, as saying.

Broadening its engagement does not mean that NATO would offer membership to Islamabad, but experts believe that the military alliance headquartered in Brussels may offer greater training facilities.

NATO may also greater help to Pakistan by providing it with more sophisticated equipments to counter the extremism.

“There are ongoing discussions in various venues outside the military (as well) to connect more internationally through these organisations, alliances, whatever they might be,” Admiral Mullen said.

Backing the NATO’s plan, he said that strategies to strengthen the relationship with Pakistan should be implemented as soon as possible to thwart the challenges posed by the Taliban and other outlawed extremist groups.

“I see that as growing, and certainly the capacity in some of these other areas that other organisations have and represent are critical, and the more of that we can do, and the sooner we can do it, I think the better off we’ll be,” Admiral Mullen said.

Pakistan is already serving as a base camp for the NATO supplies for the security forces stationed in Afghanistan, but the latest engagement may allow the organization to play a more effective and direct role inside Pakistan. (ANI)

Obama seeks positive signals from Cuba

Washington, April 16 (EFE) President Barack Obama Thursday said Washington was hoping to see gestures from the Cuban government opening the way to better relations between the US and the communist-ruled island.

In an interview with the CNN Espanol TV before his trip to Mexico and the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad, Obama recalled that his government this week lifted restrictions on Cuban Americans’ travel and remittances to the island.

He then pointed out that the Cuban government continues to require citizens to obtain an exit visa before traveling abroad.

‘What we’re looking for is some signal that there are going to be changes in how Cuba operates that assures that political prisoners are released, that people can speak their minds freely, that they can travel, that they can write and attend church and do the things that people throughout the hemisphere can do and take for granted,’ the US president said.

‘And if there is some sense of movement on those fronts in Cuba, then I think we can see a further thawing of relations and further changes,’ he said, without mentioning whether those changes might include ending Washington’s 47-year-old economic embargo.

The president said he had no problems that the subject of Cuba came up in the talks he would have with the heads of states and governments from 33 other nations at the summit in Trinidad and Tobago.

‘We want to listen and learn as well as talk, and that approach, I think, of mutual respect and finding common interests, is one that ultimately will serve everybody,’ Obama said, stressing that while the US will retain its leadership role in the region, ‘other countries have important contributions and insights’.

Omegle chat program can help you find love anonymously

Melbourne, Apr 14 (ANI): Want to know new people while maintaining anonymity? Well, Omegle website offers you just that, as it has been designed for fleeting conversations between unidentified strangers.

Two people have already found love via Omegle, which lets users chat with one another anonymously and are identified only as “Strangers”.
And one doesn’t have to register, create a profile, or enter any personal information to get started with the website.

While the site has been launched with about 3700 people using it at any moment, most of the conversations read like a comedy act with no one willing to play the straight man.

But people like 18-year-old Mississippi student called Brittany have found a mate on the website.

Omegle’s creator, 18-year-old Leif K-Brooks, said that the news of the romance was welcome.

However, he claimed that he had made the web site in the hope that it would give people a new perspective on life.

“I created Omegle partly just out of technical curiosity, but also to address a need I saw,” News.com.au quoted him as saying.

He added: “Most of the time, people associate with each other based on common interests. That’s fine, and I completely understand why people would want to have something in common with their friends. However, if it’s the only kind of social interaction, people’s lives will become a bit stagnant; it’s hard to learn from someone who’s just like you.”

K-Brooks further said that many people had used the website to engage in absurd conversations, thinking that it was a place where insight could be gained.

He said: “People have certainly been doing a lot of that with the site, and while it’s not quite my original purpose, I’m happy as long as people are enjoying the site. I enjoyed reading the logs someone posted of asking strangers if they believed in God though. I think it’s a very interesting social experiment.” (ANI)

Pakistan rules out foreign troops in war against terror

Islamabad, April 7 (IANS) Holding that ‘mutual trust’ was essential in the war against terror, Pakistan Tuesday ruled out the deployment of foreign troops in its tribal areas along the Afghan border to take on the Taliban and Al Qaeda.

The US had accepted Pakistan’s position that it would not permit foreign troops to operate from its soil, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said at a joint press conference after talks with Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, and Richard Holbrooke, the US pointsman for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

‘The war against terrorism is not possible without mutual trust. Pakistan is a victim of terrorism and is seeking political support from Friends of Pakistan (international lobby),’ Geo TV quoted Qureshi as saying.

‘We neither get nor give blank cheques,’ the foreign minister said while referring to US President Barack Obama’s remarks last month while unveiling his new Af-Pak strategy asking Pakistan to live up to its commitments in the war against terror.

Mullen was quick to react.

‘During our meetings with Pakistan’s political leaders, we had tried to develop mutual trust. We are optimistic about the Pakistani people and leadership,’ he maintained.

Qureshi also said Pakistan, Afghanistan and the US would hold talks in Washington May 6-7 to discuss the new strategy.

According to Holbrooke, the three countries faced a common threat and had common interests.

‘The US wants to assist Pakistan in countering threats. We should look forward,’ he added.

On Monday evening, soon after their arrival here, President Asif Ali Zardari told the two US officials that Pakistan was ‘fighting for its survival’ but would not ‘succumb’ to the militants.

‘Pakistan is fighting a battle for its own survival,’ a statement issued by the presidency quoted Zardari as saying at the meeting with Mullen and Richard Holbrooke.

‘The president said the government would not succumb to any pressure by militants,’ the statement added.

The talks covered regional security issues, Obama’s Af-Pak strategy and the surge in militancy and extremism in the region, it said.

With the Pakistani Taliban threatening to carry out ‘two attacks a week in Pakistan’, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Monday called a meeting of the chief ministers and police chiefs of the four provinces to mull a fresh strategy to counter the growing number of terror strikes in the country.

At least 24 people, including four children, were killed and 35 others injured Sunday when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of a Shia mosque in Punjab province.

On Saturday, six police personnel were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a Frontier Corps (FC) checkpost near the crowded Jinnah Super Market in a high security area of Islamabad.

On March 30, heavily armed terrorists stormed into the Manawan police academy on the outskirts of Lahore and held over 400 trainees hostage for over eight hours before the security forces recaptured the complex.

Eight terrorists were killed and three were captured alive. Eight police trainees and two civilians were also killed.

On March 3, militants attacked a bus transporting the Sri Lankan cricket team to Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium for the third day’s play in the second Test against Pakistan.

Six players and the team’s assistant coach were injured in the assault that saw the Sri Lankan government immediately calling off the tour and flying the team back home. Six Pakistani policemen and two civilians lost their lives in the attack.

As terror incidents spiral, a leading US think tank has noted that Pakistan ‘is a thriving sanctuary’ for both Afghan and Al Qaeda militants operating in Afghanistan and that Washington needs to get Islamabad on board with its new Af-Pak strategy, though progress is nowhere near assured.

To give its strategy of negotiating with Afghan Taliban even a remote chance of success, ‘involvement in Pakistan is both a headache and a necessity for the United States’, global intelligence agency Stratfor said.

Women’s best way to chat-up men is a direct no-nonsense approach

Melbourne, Apr 7 (ANI): Want to chat up a man? Well, then give jumbled cues and small talks a miss, for the way to a man’s heart is direct, no-nonsense conversation.

According to The Daily Mail, sober lines like “Fancy dinner?” or “Can I give you my number?” avoid confusion and guarantee success when landing a man, a study found.

As per Bucknell University researchers, men have a tough time figuring out hints, even if they are accompanied by flirty body language.

To reach the conclusion, scientists asked a group of women for their top chat-up lines. They took the 50 most common answers and asked 70 men and women how well they thought they would work.

Men found a direct approach, such as an invitation to dinner or the cinema, the most appealing. Exchanges of phone numbers scored next best with the male volunteers, followed by indirect invitations, including “Do you have plans later?” and “What are you up to tonight?”.

The women also rated the direct approach the most highly but were also impressed with those lines which were designed to pin down common interests, the journal Personality and Individual Differences reported.

Humorous lines, such as “Your shirt matches my bedspread – you belong in my bed”, fared poorly, the study found.

“The direct indication of a possible date as well as the hint of a possible date gives the man a clear signal instead of sending mixed non-verbal signals that the man must decipher,” The Couriermail quoted psychologist Dr Joel Wade, as saying.

He added that straightforward suggestions removed any “uncertainty regarding the outcome of the interaction”. (ANI)

Be cautious over North Korea, China asks UNSC

New York, April 6 (Xinhua) China has called on the UN Security Council (UNSC) to be ‘cautious and proportionate’ in its reaction to North Korea’s rocket launch.

Ambassador Zhang Yesui, China’s permanent representative to the UN, told a press conference here Sunday that the reaction of Security Council, which held an emergency session on the missile launch by Pyongyang, should be ‘cautious and proportionate’.

‘It served the common interests of the international community to continue to promote the Six-Party Talks, achieve denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and maintain peace and stability on the Peninsula and in Northeast Asia,’ he said.

The 15-nation Council kicked off an emergency session Sunday afternoon at the request of the Japanese mission to the UN over the alleged long-range missile test by North Korea, which says it has launched a communications satellite into orbit.

US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice told reporters shortly before the beginning of the UNSC meeting that Washington calls for ‘a strong collective action’ from the Security Council.

‘We have been in consultation with our allies in the region, and other partners in the Security Council,’ Rice said before she entered the Security Council chamber.

French UN Ambassador Jean- Maurice Ripert also told reporters that the Security Council ‘should act in an unanimous way’ after the rocket launch by Pyongyang.

HIGHLIGHTS – UK’s Brown and President Obama on the G20

Following are highlights of comments made by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and U.S. President Barack Obama in London on Wednesday ahead of the G20 summit of leading and emerging economies.

OBAMA ON EXECUTION OF G20 PLAN

“How well we execute in the months to come, how well we button down these regulations, how well we each in our own respective countries help the banks to deal with the impaired assets that they have on their books…, how effective we are in managing the huge out flows of capital from emerging markets and provide a buffer for the very poor and developing countries…how well we reform our international financial institutions so that they can be a more effective player in this whole process, all those things will help determine whether this ends up being a slow rolling crisis, that takes a lot more time to cure it or whether we start seeing significant recovery.

“I don’t think there is any doubt that 2009 is going to be difficult.

OBAMA ON NUCLEAR STOCKPILES

“There are very real differences between the United States and Russia. And I have no interests in papering those over those, but there are also a broad set of common interests that we can pursue. Both countries I believe have an interest in reducing nuclear stockpiles and promoting nuclear non-profileration.”

OBAMA ON RUSSIA, NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION

“A good place to start is the issue of nuclear proliferation and one of the things that I’ve always believed strongly is that both the United States and Russia and other nuclear powers will be in a much stronger position to strengthen what has become a somewhat fragile, threadbare non-proliferation treaty if we are leading by example and if we can take serious steps to reduce the nuclear arsenal.”

BROWN ON AGREEMENT

“We are within a few hours, I think, of agreeing a global plan for economic recovery and reform and I think the significance of this is that we are looking at every aspect.”

OBAMA ON APPARENT RIFT OVER STIMULUS/REGULATION

“The truth is that’s just arguing at the margins. The core notion that government has to take some steps to deal with a contracting global market place and that we should be promoting growth — that’s not in dispute.

“On the regulatory side, this notion that somehow there are those who are pushing for regulation and those who are resisting regulation is belied by the facts.

“(U.S. Treasury Secretary) Tim Geithner who is sitting here today went before Congress and proposed as aggressive a set of regulatory measures as any that have emerged among G20 members — that was before we showed up.”

OBAMA ON CONSENSUS

“I am absolutely confident that this meeting will reflect enormous consensus about the need to work in concert to deal with these problems.”

BROWN ON RECOVERY PLAN

“We are within a few hours, I think, of agreeing a global plan for economic recovery and reform.”

OBAMA ON RISK

“…In the long-term making sure that we’ve got a set of … regulations that are up to the task and that includes a number that will be discussed at this summit.

“I think there’s a lot of convergence between all the parties involved in that, for example, to focus not on the legal form that a particular financial product takes or the institution that it emerges from but rather what is the risk involved, what is the function of this product and how do we regulate that adequately.”

OBAMA ON G20 DIPLOMACY

“I came here to put forward ideas but I also came here to listen, not to lecture. Having said that, we must not miss an opportunity to lead, to confront a crisis that knows no borders.

“We have a responsibility to co-ordinate our actions and to focus on common ground, not on our occasional differences. If we do, I believe we can make enormous progress and that’s why in preparation for these meetings I have reached out and consulted with many of the leaders who are here.”

“History shows us that when nations fail to cooperate, when they turn away from one another, when they turn inward, the price for our people only grows — that’s how the Great Depression deepened. That’s a mistake that we cannot afford to repeat.”

OBAMA ON REGULATION

“The United States certainly has some accounting to do with respect of a regulatory system that was inadequate.”

OBAMA ON PROTECTIONISM

“We have to reject protectionism and acelerate our efforts to support emerging markets and we have to put in place a structure that can sustain our cooperation in the months and years ahead.”

OBAMA ON IRAN

“We are both committed to diplomacy with Iran that offers the Islamic Republic the opportunity of a better future if it abandons its nuclear weapons ambitions.”

OBAMA ON AGREEMENT

“I know that the G20 nations are appropriately pursuing their own approaches and as Gordon (Brown) indicated, we are not going to agree on every point.”

BROWN ON TRADE FINANCE BOOST

“The fourth test is to reject protectionism and kick-start global trade, and I suggested an absolute minimum of $100 billion of trade finance that is so desperately needed.”

OBAMA ON GROWTH

“The United States is committed to working alongside the United Kingdom in doing whatever it takes to stimulate growth and demand and to ensure that a crisis like this never happens again.”

US and Russia to reopen negotiations after a decade

London, April 1 (ANI): The United States and Russia will reopen negotiations to reduce their nuclear warheads, a BBC report mentioned President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev as saying on Wednesday here, ahead of the G-20 economic summit which begins on Thursday.

The discussions will be the first such talks for more than a decade.

The announcement came on the fringes of the G20 summit of world leaders which is convening in London.

The U.S. and Russia have also agreed to discuss “mutual international co-operation”, the two presidents said.

Obama said earlier there were very real differences between Washington and Moscow, but that there was also a broad set of common interests.

After their meeting, Medvedev said that he viewed prospects for future bilateral relations “with optimism”.

Meanwhile, Medvedev invited his American counterpart to visit Moscow in July – an invitation Obama has accepted. (ANI)