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Gujarat cricket will be professionalised, says Modi

September 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Gandhinagar (Gujarat), Sep.15 (ANI): Ending the Congress party’s domination of the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) by taking over the presidency of the outfit, state Chief Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that it would be his endeavour to professionalise the activities of the GCA.

Speaking to reporters after being elected unanimously to the post, Modi said that there was so much taking place outside and beyond the world of cricket, that he would use every opportunity and technical know-how to make cricket in Gujarat more market savvy and a better sporting entity.

Thanking all those who had elected him unopposed, he said that in the coming months and years he would do his best to improve the state of cricket in the state.

Modi replaced Narhari Amin as GCA president.

The GCA, affiliated to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), governs the game of cricket in Gujarat.

It is involved in the conduct of the game from the grass root level to the International level. (ANI)

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Biocon limited, Amylin pharmaceuticals enter global development agreement

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Bangalore/ California Sep 11(ANI/Business Wire India): Biocon, Limited (NSE: BIOCON) and Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMLN) announced today that they have entered into an exclusive agreement to jointly develop, commercialize and manufacture a novel peptide therapeutic for the potential treatment of diabetes.

Amylin and Biocon will collaborate to develop the therapeutic potential of the compound and share development costs. Research will center on Amylin’s “phybrid” technology. A phybrid is a peptide hybrid molecule that combines the pharmacological effects of two peptide hormones into a single molecular entity.

Under the terms of the Development and Commercialization Agreement, Amylin will provide expertise in peptide hormone development, particularly in the area of phybrid technology, as well as metabolic disease therapeutics. Biocon will utilize its expertise in recombinant microbial expression to manufacture the compound and also leverage its experience in pre-clinical and clinical development of diabetes products.

“This agreement fully leverages the synergistic capabilities of the two companies,” said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director, Biocon, Ltd. “Amylin’s knowledge of peptide therapeutics and their leadership in the diabetes market, paired with Biocon’s capabilities in process development, manufacturing and clinical development, provides this global program with the potential to effectively bring a novel therapy to patients living with diabetes.”

“This program could unleash the potential of cutting-edge peptide science to transform the lives of patients with diabetes,” said Daniel M. Bradbury, President and Chief Executive Officer, Amylin Pharmaceuticals. “We are pleased to work with Biocon, a biologics innovator and world-class manufacturing expert, and look forward to collaborating with them on this exciting program.”

Amylin Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company committed to improving lives through the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative medicines. (ANI)

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KNP to hold Black Day on Oct.22

September 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sep.8 (ANI): The Supreme Council of the KNP held an important meeting in Luton on September 6, which was presided by the party Chairman Abbas Butt. The meeting discussed and analysed the current situation of the Kashmiri struggle and made important decisions.

The Supreme Council strongly condemned the government of Pakistan’s latest attempts to grab territory which is legal part of State of Jammu and Kashmir. The SC said Pakistani governments have never been sincere with the cause of Kashmir and always have formulated policies to snatch Kashmir; and have deliberately deprived people of their fundamental human rights.

The SC said people of Gilgit Baltistan deserve to have their basic human rights which have been denied since 1947; but no one should be allowed to implement their imperialist designs in name of giving rights to people of the region. The KNP leaders said, if Pakistani authorities were sincere they could have discussed the issue with the people of the region and given these rights without making the region a ‘province’ of Pakistan.

PPP government claims to advance rights of people and democracy, but their policies are designed to deprive people of basic rights and advance undemocratic and unconstitutional practises. They tried to make Pakistani Administered Kashmir a province after the Shimla Pact and they plan to make Gilgit Baltistan a province and pave way for division of Jammu and Kashmir.

KNP leaders said some people of Jammu and Kashmir hold Black Day on 27th October, as that is the day when Indian army landed in Kashmir. KNP leaders said in our opinion their wisdom is misdirected. We have to look at the root cause. Indian army came after the tribal invasion and subsequent ‘Provisional Accession’.

KNP Supreme Council said, ‘It was the Pakistani tribesmen supported by the Pakistani government of the time which violated the Standstill Agreement and invaded parts of the State territory. It was these tribesmen which contravened the State sovereignty and killed thousands of innocent Kashmiri men and women. It was because of this unprovoked and unjustified attack on our sovereignty which seriously threatened life, honour and property of people that the Maharaja was compelled to seek help from India.

KNP leaders said we have serious issues with India on their Kashmir policy, as we believe Kashmir is not their internal part; but as for the Black Day is concerned we should have Black Day on 22 October because this is the day when our troubles and miseries started.

KNP SC has decided to take a lead on this matter and hold a BLACK DAY on 22 October; and in this regard various responsibilities have been given to Dr Shabir Choudhry and Nawaz Majid who will liaise with other like minded people and parties. The meeting was addressed by ZubairAnsari, Nazam Bhatti, Nawaz Majid, Asim Mirza, Abbas Butt and Dr Shabir Choudhry.

Earlier KNP held an Iftar Party in which more than eighty people were present; among them were leaders and political activists of various Kashmiri parties who spoke against the new package for Gilgit and Baltistan and condemned designs of Pakistani government. In the meeting pro Pakistan and nationalist leaders were present, and they all strongly spoke against this new package and demanded that it must be taken back.

A unanimous resolution was passed which strongly criticised the new package and demanded from government of Pakistan to withdraw it as it will seriously damage our struggle for right of self determination. The resolution fully supported fundamental rights of people of Gilgit Baltistan; but added that the State of Jammu and Kashmir is one political entity and it must not be divided. (ANI)

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Iran’s ‘wanted’ defence minister warns Israel not to attack its N-facilities

September 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Jerusalem, Sep. 4 (ANI): Iran’s controversial new Defence Minister Ahmad Vahid has warned Israel not to attack the country’s nuclear facilities.

“Every move from the Zionist entity against Iran will be met with a harsh and powerful response from Iran,” The Jerusalem Post quoted him, Vahidi saying.

Vahidi also said that the overwhelming support he had garnered in the parliamentary vote on his appointment “attested to the anti-Zionist spirit of the Iranian parliament and people.”

Vahidi is a wanted by Interpol for masterminding the Buenos Aires Jewish centre bomb blast in 1994 that claimed 85 lives.

Buenos Aires has called General Vahidi’s inclusion in Ahmadinejad’s new Cabinet “an affront to Argentine justice and to the victims of the brutal terrorist attack”.

US President Barack Obama has termed Vahidi’s inclusion in the Cabinet as “disturbing”.

Vahidi gained support earlier this week when lawmakers said they would not bow to foreign pressures to reject him.

The chairman of the Iranian foreign policy committee, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, said the allegations “will not have any negative impact on the assessment” of General Vahidi’s suitability for the job.

“Rather, it may increase his vote,” he noted.

Ahmadinejad has faced questions about the experience and expertise of some of the choices for his 21-seat cabinet. But on Thursday, he managed to win approval for many key posts that included the foreign, interior, intelligence ministries and Ahmad Vahidi as defense minister.

The parliament also backed Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi as health minister, making her the Islamic republic’s first female minister since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. (ANI)

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US should conduct ‘offshore’ strikes on Afghanistan

September 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep.2 (ANI): A leading conservative columnist, George Will, has called on the Obama administration to pull American troops out of Afghanistan, and instead focus on fighting from “offshore” by means of “intelligence, drones, cruise missiles, air strikes and small, potent Special Forces units.”

According to the Washington Post, there seems to be some merit in waging an “offshore” war, given the success that has been achieved in neighbouring Pakistan against the Taliban with the help of Predator drone strikes, minimum troop deployment and contractors. The acknowledged U.S. toll: zero dead. That’s in stark contrast to the 813 Americans killed so far in Afghanistan.

Obama faces a key decision in coming weeks on Afghanistan. He has already sent 21,000 additional troops there this year, boosting the U.S. total there to 68,000, along with some 40,000 NATO allies.

US commander in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal is likely to ask him for more – most likely 10,000 to 20,000 – just as the President wrestles with health-care reform and a still-feeble economy.

Stephen Biddle of the Council on Foreign Relations, who has been advising General McChrystal, says that drones don’t work everywhere. They can be easily shot down by even a “third-rate air force,” he says.

He also says using drones to eliminate enemy personnel needs good intelligence from sources on the ground, something that would melt away should the Taliban reclaim power.

Biddle isn’t overly concerned about Afghanistan falling, again, into the hands of the Taliban. But he is concerned about its nuclear-armed neighbor.

“At some level, the loss of Afghanistan could be tolerated,” he says. “There’s nothing especially unique about Afghanistan as a haven for striking the U.S. Yemen, Djibouti or Somalia could play that role – there are lots of ill-governed spaces around the world that could. But Afghanistan is unique in its proximity to Pakistan, and its potential role in destabilizing Pakistan if Kabul falls under a Taliban government,” he says.

Andrew Bacevich, a retired Army colonel, says the drone strikes are paying off in Pakistan because of that nation’s “quasi-legitimate government and reasonably effective army” – neither of which Afghanistan has.

But he does call the war “misguided and unnecessary,” and argues the U.S. should work with the country’s tribal chiefs to ensure stability in their respective valleys.

And offshore spy-and-strike capabilities could, at a minimum, keep al-Qaeda off-balance in the region “and optimally destroy whatever entity is engaged in a plot,” Bacevich says. (ANI)

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COPC launches seven new certifications

May 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, May 8 (ANI/Business Wire India): COPC, the world’s leading Business Excellence certification in the contact center industry worldwide, has recently launched secen new certifications in association with QAI, their exclusive implementation partner in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Starting April 2009 companies have the flexibility of going for certification for specific processes like hiring, training and skills verification, transaction monitoring, forecasting, staffing, scheduling and metrics Management.

COPC, the de-facto standard for BPOs and Customer Contact Centers worldwide has gained immense popularity in India.

Nine out of top 10 Indian BPO companies (as per Data Quest’s rankings) have implemented COPC in India. Over 35 organizations, with over 45 entities have been certified and many more are in the process of the same.

COPC has now introduced certifications that will address the huge request of the industry.

CSPs need not go for a comprehensive COPC certification. And yet, this allows them to get certified by specific process level certifications. This also helps channel efforts to a few, high impact processes and has a faster ROI.

Navyug Mohnot, CEO, QAI said, “Indian outsourcing Industry is growing despite the recession, specially the domestic market. The smaller companies are growing stronger. Since the deployment of the new certifications is likely to be quicker, its great for expanding from a single entity to widespread use of the standard.

It suits the CSPs who want to try out COPC standard or CSPs who want to find a specific problem or who want to split certification into multiple projects or large multi-location CSP who want to drive consistent processes throughout their organizations.” (ANI)

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Hamas: Durban II boycott is the result of Israeli, US “extortion”

April 22, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Gaza City – The radical Palestinian Islamic Hamas movement ruling the Gaza Strip charged Monday that countries’ boycotting the UN conference on racism in Geneva were caving in to US and Israeli pressure.

“Those countries were quick to respond to the Zionist (reference to Israel) and American pressure and extortion against their leaders,” Fawzi Barhoum, Hamas’ spokesman, told reporters in Gaza City.

“They shun the conference because it will expose the use by the US-backed Zionist entity of all means of killings and destruction against the Palestinian people,” Barhoum added.

The withdrawal of the United States in particular “conflicts with (US) President (Barack) Obama’s calls for peace, security and the respect of human rights” in the Middle East, he charged. (dpa)

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Jordan Islamists called for Pope Benedict to postpone Mideast trip

April 21, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Amman – Jordan’s influential Muslim Brotherhood movement on Sunday urged Pope Benedict XVI to postpone his planned Middle East visit next month and to apologize for statements that the group considers “injurious” to Islam.

“We hope that the Vatican will take a decision to postpone the visit until certain issues are cleared,” Muslim Brotherhood official spokesman Jamil Abu Bakr said in a statement.

“The pope’s visit to the region should reflect collaboration of Muslims and Christians throughout history, but sticking to provocative attitudes will not serve this message.”

The head of the Roman Catholic Church is due to arrive May 8 in Jordan for a four-day visit to be followed by stops in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Abu Bakr urged the pontiff to “apologize to Muslims for his remarks against Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.”

“Ignoring Muslims’ sentiments by Pope Benedict XVI will only block the healing of wounds his statements caused,” he said without specifying the statements made previously by the Pope against Muslims.

During a 2006 lecture at the University of Regensburg in Germany, where he once taught theology, Benedict quoted a 14th-century Byzantine emperor, one of the last Christian rulers before the fall of Constantinople to the Muslim Ottoman Empire: “Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”

The quote sparked an uproar in the Muslim world, and Benedict later apologized for giving any offense in a historical lecture that he said was meant to encourage mutually respectful dialogue with Muslims. He emphasized that the offensive words were not his own.

Abu Bakr expressed Islamists’ objection to the pope’s scheduled visit to the Holocaust memorial in Israel, saying the visit “will take place only a short time after the Zionist entity killed hundreds of Palestinian children, women and old men in the Gaza Strip. We ask if the Pope of the Vatican will visit Gaza to explore how humanity is being violated, or this does not deserve his visit?”

An estimated 1,300 Palestinians died during a 22-day conflict in December and January between Israel and the Palestinian militant movement Hamas, which rule Gaza.

During his trip to Jordan, Benedict is scheduled to visit a mosque in Amman and meet with a number of prominent Muslim scholars. (dpa)

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UN torture monitor says US obliged to go after CIA torturers

April 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Vienna – The US would be in breach of international law if it does not prosecute CIA officials for torturing alleged terrorists, the United Nations’ monitor on torture Manfred Nowak said in a newspaper interview published Saturday in Austria.

The UN Special Rapporteur on torture was reacting to the announcement by US President Barack Obama that CIA operatives who used harsh interrogation tactics authorized by the Bush administration should not be held responsible.

“Like all other contracting states to the UN convention against torture, the US has committed to conduct criminal investigations of torture and to bring all persons to court against whom there is sound evidence,” the Austrian human rights expert was quoted as saying by the daily Der Standard.

Nowak said he did not think the president would not go so far as to issue an amnesty law for CIA operatives. Therefore US courts could still try torture suspects.

Obama said that CIA operatives were following the legal advice of the Bush-era Justice Department, and that “nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past.”

Before bringing alleged torturers to court and compensating their victims, it was important that an independent entity investigate the matter, Nowak said.

The CIA has previously acknowledged submitting three terrorism suspects to a simulated drowning technique called waterboarding, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. (dpa)

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Roche’s Humer said to have had Genentech buy doubts

April 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Roche Chairman Franz Humer, the driving force behind the company’s acquisition of the 44 percent of Genentech it did not already own, apparently did not always think that was good idea.

David Mott, who was chief executive of MedImmune when it was acquired by AstraZeneca (AZN.L), said on Tuesday that he had sought Humer’s advice in 2007 as Mott pondered his future with AstraZeneca shortly after that $15.6 billion deal was announced.

“Our model is a lot like your model with Genentech. We’re going to have an independent operating entity and run it that way,” Mott recalled telling Humer of his integration plan.

“He laughed at me and he said, ‘it will never work because if we owned all of Genentech we would kill it’,” Mott said Humer told him at the time.

“‘We wouldn’t be able to resist tinkering and playing with it and AZ owns all of you, so they say it’s going to be independent but we’d never be able to have that discipline,’” Mott said, quoting Humer.

Mott, who left AstraZeneca a year later, was speaking on a panel at the Windhover Pharmaceutical Strategic Outlook conference at a New York hotel when he related his anecdote about the then CEO of Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX). Mott is currently general partner of venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates.

Roche now believes it can resist the kind of tinkering that might kill the golden goose.

Current Roche management, including Humer and new CEO Severin Schwan, have insisted they will preserve the informal California science-based culture at Genentech that has produced a remarkable number of innovative and lucrative medicines.

The nearly $47 billion deal made sense for Roche as it not only gives it full U.S. revenue from Genentech’s multibillion-dollar cancer drugs, such as Avastin and Herceptin, but fills out what had been a rather sparse developmental pipeline for the Swiss drugmaker.

Following the panel discussion on the ability of biotech companies to survive within big pharmaceutical companies, Mott was asked what he thought Humer might tell him today about Roche owning all of Genentech.

“That it’s going to work,” Mott said with a chuckle. “It’s pretty interesting with hindsight, isn’t it?”

(Reporting by Bill Berkrot; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

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Pro-LTTE demonstration in Canada

April 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Ottawa, Apr. 12 (ANI): Thousands of Tamils living in Canada gathered in front of Parliament Hill to protest against Sri Lankan Government’s military offensive against banned terrorist organization, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Holding LTTE flags and shouting “Tamil Tigers, freedom fighters,” the protesters urged the Canadian Government to reverse its 2006 decision to list the LTTE as a terrorist entity under the Anti-Terrorism Act. They also called for an immediate ceasefire.

The demonstrations are part of a worldwide Tamil protests against deadly military offensive by the Sri Lankan military.

“We don’t even know if [our family] are living or not. They just want to destroy the Tamil people, that’s what they want,” the Globe and Mail quoted Sri Lanka born Kalyany Nagarajah, as saying.

Lankan Government and the LTTE are accusing each other of horrific war crimes; however, no independent journalists are now there to document the fighting.

On Saturday, Human Rights Watch warned of skyrocketing civilian casualties due to the Sri Lankan military firing artillery into a ‘no fire’ zone.

“War crimes by the Tamil Tigers don’t give Sri Lankan commanders free rein to ignore civilian casualties,” Brad Adams, the group’s Asia director, said in a statement.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in his phone call to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, denied military firing into the “no fire” zone.

In Ottawa, the Sri Lankan embassy has criticized the fact that protesters are openly waving the Tamil Tiger flags. (ANI)

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RPT-UPDATE 1-S and P cuts ratings on Chrysler debt

April 11, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

(Repeats story transmitted earlier on Friday)

* S and P cuts ratings on debt due in 2013, 2014

* Says Chrysler would likely dissolve in event of bankruptcy

NEW YORK, April 10 (Reuters) – Standard and Poor’s Rating Services on Friday lowered its debt ratings on Chrysler CBS.UL loans due in 2013 and 2014, citing a lower potential recovery by debtors in the event of payment defaults by the carmaker.

Standard and Poor’s said it lowered by two notches its issue-level ratings on Chrysler’s senior secured first-lien term loan due 2013 to ‘CC’ from ‘CCC’. S and P said its downgrade indicates lenders can expect an average 30 to 50 percent recovery in the event of a payment default.

The ratings agency said its corporate credit rating was left unchanged, at ‘CC’, reflecting no change in its view of the likelihood of default by Chrysler from either a bankruptcy or a distressed debt exchange.

Standard and Poor’s lowered its issue rating on the carmaker’s senior secured second-lien term loan due 2014 by one notch to ‘C’ from ‘CC’, suggesting lenders can expect a negligible to a 10 percent recovery if a default occurs.

“The lowering of our issue ratings reflects lower recovery estimates, given our current view that Chrysler would be unlikely to emerge from bankruptcy as one reorganized entity,” Standard and Poor’s recovery analyst Greg Maddock said in a release.

“If Chrysler goes into bankruptcy, I would expect it to go into liquidation — that its assets would be sold in whole or in part,” Maddock said in an interview.

“Instead of being reorganized, there would be no carmaker after bankruptcy,” he said. (Reporting by Ransdell Pierson; Editing by John Picinich)

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India Welcomes FDI from Bangladesh

April 9, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Apr.9 (ANI): The recent liberalisation of RBI removing the ban on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from Bangladesh may lead towards a stable and secure trade relation between India and Bangladesh. India’s decision to welcome investment from Bangladesh also, raises an expectation that foreign trade policies of both the countries will get further liberalized.

The India-Bangladesh border stretches 4,096 kilometer. The two countries are geographically as also culturally linked to each other. It is interesting to note that roughly 161 million people of Bangladesh depend on number of articles of day to day use produced in India. With the recent announcement by RBI the residents of Bangladesh will now have an opportunity to play a participative role in strengthening the economic activity in India as also in improving the supply side of the goods required by them.

Recent Steps taken by India in FDI with Bangladesh

The permission to make foreign direct investments in India by individuals and companies resident in Bangladesh, in the shares of Indian companies is a welcome development and is likely to be beneficial for both the countries.

As per the current FDI framework, a person who is a citizen of Bangladesh or an entity incorporated in Bangladesh may, with the prior approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) of the Government of India (GOI), purchase shares and convertible debentures of an Indian company under Foreign Direct Investment Scheme, subject to the terms and conditions specified in the FEMA, which is subject to amendment from time to time.

Recent Deal after the removal of ban on Bangladesh FDI India Welcomes FDI from Bangladesh

The recent liberalisation of RBI removing the ban on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from Bangladesh may lead towards a stable and secure trade relation between India and Bangladesh. India’s decision to welcome investment from Bangladesh also, raises an expectation that foreign trade policies of both the countries will get further liberalized.

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IBM India Software Lab showcases real-world technologies

April 9, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

One of the largest product development centers for IBM globally, the IBM India Software Lab (ISL) on Tuesday showcased real world technologies at the ‘Made in IBM Labs Day’ in Hyderabad. The showcased real-world technologies included Medical Analytics Platform (Map), Drug Pedigree and Traceability Solutions, Threat and Fraud Detection Using Entity Analytics, Trusted Identity Solution, and Going Green With Dynamic Infrastructure.

In its press release, the IBM India Software Lab stated that the real-world technologies have been created from scratch to address common challenges that touch human lives. Dr Ponani Gopalakrishnan, vice-president of ISL, said, “These technologies were created from scratch at ISL centres in Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai and Bangalore to address common challenges that touch human lives.”

According to the IBM India Software Lab, “Medical Analytics Platform helps in real-time application of informatics tools to medical diagnostic tests and results. – Drug Pedigree and Traceability Solutions helps enhancing safety of customer through reductions in drug counterfeiting and faster medical product recalls. – Trusted identity solution allows users to simplify and unify identity system management while ameliorating the trust and confidence in human identity systems. – Threat and fraud detection using entity analytics helps warding off crime by providing advanced identity recognition and resolution technology so organizations can recognize the true identity of someone or something and determine the potential value or danger of any inter-connected relationships. – Going Green with dynamic infrastructure allows businesses to optimize energy consumption for higher efficiency of resources, lower operating cost, and reduced carbon emissions”.

These real-world technologies are part of the IBM’s strategic initiative for a ‘Smarter Planet’. Dr Ponani Gopalakrishnan, said, “Interconnected technologies are changing the way the world works these days. It can be an idea, a simple change in strategy or an improvement in the present operational style which brings about changes and newer perspectives in businesses that touch human lives. Being only connected is not sufficient. We have to infuse intelligence into our systems and ways of working. There is a pressing mandate for change today. We have to work towards building a smarter planet. IBM has taken the first steps towards this by working on technologies such as these which make a difference to the common man.”

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US unhappy with UK decision to reach out to Hizbullah

March 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Jerusalem, Mar 14 (ANI): A senior US official has expressed strong disagreement with the British decision to begin contacts with Lebanese terror group Hizbullah.

The British Government hold an opposing view of the terror group, and this is their basis for dealing with the political organization.

President Barack Obama’s Administration does not view Hizbullah as an entity with separate military, political and social wings, according to a top US official.

Hizbullah, which is now part of the Lebanese Government, is officially listed in the US as a terror organization.

“We don’t see the differences between the integrated leadership that they see,” the Los Angeles Times quoted the official, as saying.

Gordon Duguid, a State Department spokesman, said last week that the US was not ready to follow the British example, but did not criticize the British decision.

The Obama Administration’s readiness to reach out to adversary regimes, such as Syria and Iran, has been a hallmark of its new foreign policy, but this has so far not extended to groups on its official terrorist registry, such as Hizbullah and Hamas.

A State Department official explained that the difference is that governments such as Syria and Iran, though they may support terrorism, can be productively engaged because as governments they can be swayed on the basis of their national interest.

Unlike terrorist groups, “they have the interests of states and may respond to interaction,” the official said.

The US official said he was appalled that Hizbullah has been hanging posters in Lebanon celebrating Imad Mughniyeh, an accused terrorist mastermind that the group has long insisted was not connected to their organization.

Mughniyeh, assassinated in Damascus in February 2008, was held responsible for a long list of terrorist attacks and also had a US bounty on his head, The Jerusalem Post reported. (ANI)

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Israeli Air Force kills senior Islamic jihad commander

March 5, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Jerusalem, Mar 5 (ANI): Senior Islamic jihad commander Khaled Shalan was killed on Wednesday night in an Israeli Air Force missile strike on his car in Gaza. nother member of the terror group was critically hurt in the attack on the vehicle that was traveling from Jabalya to Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza.

According to the IDF, Shalan was responsible for the recent rocket fire on Ashkelon, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Hamas officials said the two jumped out of the vehicle when they heard the approaching aircraft, but were hit by the incoming missile. Five others were reportedly wounded in the strike.

Shortly after the attack, the Islamic Jihad vowed that it would retaliate.

“The (attempted) assassination points to the fact that the Zionist entity is not interested in calm,” the group said in a statement.

“Therefore, (Israel should) expect our reaction, and more rockets. This crime will not pass without a response,” the group warned.

Since the end of Operation Cast Lead in January, Palestinians have continued to fire rockets and mortar shells into Israeli territory, often provoking a military response.

On Tuesday, two waves of air strikes targeted smuggling tunnels along the Gaza-Egypt border, wounding seven people. (ANI)

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Galactic ‘tug of war’ may create giant ‘island universe’ in deep space

March 5, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Berlin, March 4 (ANI): A new Hubble image shows three galaxies locked in a gravitational tug- of-war that may result in the eventual demise of one of them, and merger into a giant ‘island universe’.

About 100 million light-years away, in the constellation of Piscis Austrinus (the Southern Fish), three galaxies are playing a game of gravitational give-and-take that might ultimately lead to their merger into one enormous entity.

A new image from the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope allows astronomers to view the movement of gases from galaxy to galaxy, revealing the intricate interplay among them.

The three pictured galaxies – NGC 7173, NCG 7174 and NGC 7176 – are part of the Hickson Compact Group 90, named after astronomer Paul Hickson, who first catalogued these small clusters of galaxies in the 1980s.

NGC 7173 and NGC 7176 appear to be smooth, normal elliptical galaxies without much gas and dust.

In stark contrast, NGC 7174 is a mangled spiral galaxy, barely clinging to independent existence as it is ripped apart by its close neighbors.

The strong tidal interaction surging through the galaxies has dragged a significant number of stars away from their home galaxies.

These stars are now spread out, forming a tenuous luminous component in the galaxy group.

Ultimately, astronomers believe that the stars in NGC 7174 will be redistributed into a giant ‘island universe’, tens to hundreds of times as massive as our own Milky Way. (ANI)

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Gullies on Mars show water ran on Red Planet as early as 1.25 mln yrs ago

March 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, March 3 (ANI): Planetary geologists at Brown University, US, have found a gully fan system on Mars that formed about 1.25 million years ago, which shows tantalizing signs of recent water activity on the Red Planet.

The fan offers compelling evidence that it was formed by melt water that originated in nearby snow and ice deposits and may stand as the most recent period when water flowed on the planet.

Gullies are known to be young surface features on Mars. But, scientists studying the planet have struggled with locating gullies they can conclusively date.

In a research paper that appears on the cover of the March issue of Geology, the Brown geologists were able to date the gully system and hypothesize what water was doing there.

The gully system is located on the inside of a crater in Promethei Terra, an area of cratered highlands in the southern mid-latitudes.

The eastern and western channels of the gully each run less than a kilometer from their alcove sources to the fan deposit.

Viewed from afar, the fan appears as one entity several hundred meters wide. But, by zooming in with the HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Schon was able to distinguish four individual lobes in the fan, and determine that each lobe was deposited separately.

“The gully system shows four intervals where water-borne sediments were carried down the steep slopes of nearby alcoves and deposited in alluvial fans,” said Samuel Schon, a Brown graduate student and the paper’s lead author.

However, the finding of a gully system, even an isolated one, that supported running water as recently as 1.25 million years ago greatly extends the time that water may have been active on Mars.

It also adds to evidence of a recent ice age on the planet when polar ice is believed to have been transported towards the equator and settled in mid-latitude deposits, according to James Head III, professor of geological sciences at Brown University, who first approximated the span of the Martian ice age in a Nature paper in 2003.

“We think there was recent water on Mars,” said Head, who with Brown postdoctoral researcher Caleb Fassett is a contributing author on the paper. “This is a big step in the direction to proving that,” he added.

The team determined that ice and snow deposits formed in the alcoves at a time when Mars had a high obliquity (its most recent ice age) and ice was accumulating in the mid-latitude regions. (ANI)

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DoCoMo gets nod to acquire Tata Teleservices’ stake

February 25, 2009 By Dinesh Leave a Comment

New Delhi, (IANS) India’s cabinet was in an overdrive Monday clearing 60 agenda items in three hours, including Japan’s NTT DoCoMo Inc’s proposal to acquire 20.25 percent stake in Tata Teleservices.

It took Home Minister P. Chidambaram a little under an hour to brief reporters on the decisions taken.

The cabinet’s decision would pave the way for the Japanese firm to buy 384,241,919 equity shares in Tata Teleservices for Rs.9.45 billion (Rs.949 crore).

The cabinet has also showed green light to a proposal by National Aviation Co. of India Ltd (NACIL) to set up a joint venture with Singapore Air Terminal Services (SATS) for undertaking ground handling and cargo handling activities.

NACIL and SATS would hold 50:50 equity ratio in the new entity.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee presided over cabinet meeting in the absence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is recuperating from a heart bypass surgery.

This is the first time in recent history that the cabinet has cleared so many items at a single sitting.
Indo Asian News Service

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SitaGita.com partners with Accentium Web, Compare Infobase

February 24, 2009 By admin 2 Comments

New Delhi, Feb 24 (ANI/Business Wire India): SitaGita Ltd, owner of one of India’s oldest women’s portals (SitaGita.com), has partnered with two companies Accentium Web Pvt Ltd, and Compare Infobase Ltd, to help take the site to the next level.

Both Accentium Web and Compare Infobase have jointly taken a stake in SitaGita Ltd. – SitaGita.com was originally founded and run by Nirmal Mirza, an accomplished businesswoman based in Chennai.

SitaGita.com currently gets over 5000 visitors daily, and the two companies will help this number grow to 30 to 40,000 visitors daily over the next two years.

“We are pleased to partner with Nirmal Mirza and Compare Infobase and to help take the site up to the next level. There is great interest in women oriented inventory online in India and this interest is likely to increase over the next years. The plan of action would be to increase traffic on the site, make it more dynamic and interactive, to add more content, to cater to a younger audience and to make it over time into the leading site for Women related content online in India. Along with our partners, Compare Infobase and Nirmal Mirza, we will help to grow the traffic on the site, and to create a fresh new look for SitaGita.com,” said Vivek Pahwa, CEO, Accentium Web Pvt Ltd.

“Following our enshrined business mantra of “Together we grow strength by strength” we are excited about our association with Nirmal Ji and Vivek.

Nirmal Ji brings to the table the first movers insight to an India centric women’s portal and we look forward to catching beautiful pearls of wisdom from her as we move along. Vivek and his team bring forward the business acumen to get every single person out there – jump off their seats and join the movement of – Home, Work, Lounge – Relax it is your place on the net.

Compare Infobase, on its part has started working towards laying down rugged but extremely agile framework for an unparalleled effort to become part of the most happening entity in the world – The Indian Wormen,” said Simarprit Singh, CEO, Compare Infobase Ltd.

“This partnership has been a Godsend for Sitagita – to partner with Simar Singh of Compare Infobase Limited, whose track record for Websites only spells success and with Vivek Pahwa of Accentium Web Pvt. Ltd who has had creative interactive success with his previous two websites, is a dream come true for me.” said Nirmal Mirza, Founder, SitaGita Ltd. (ANI)

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