Asia Bizz » Politics

Air India senior pilots appeal PM to look in to genuine demands of pilots

Anita — Sat, 12 May 2012 09:41:09 +0000

The Air India pilots have now entered the fifth day of their agitation. The protest of the pilots has led to the cancellation of 16 flights from Delhi and Mumbai. The senior pilots have sought the intervention of the Prime Minister to end the agitation.

A spokesperson from Air India said, “16 of our flights originating from Delhi and Mumbai have been cancelled”. The senior pilots have supported the agitation and opined that the demands of the pilots are genuine and have also written a letter to the managing director of Air India, the chairman and the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Some 200 pilots have landed in the agitation since May 8, 2012 protesting the rescheduling of training on Dreamliner and the issues that are related to career progression. On the other hand Air India took a tough stand and sacked 25 pilots on Friday.

With the latest termination the total number of pilots who have been sacked has gone up to 71. A letter has also been written by Air India to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation asking to cancel the licenses of 11 office bearers of the IPG whose services have been terminated. The IPG said that they are ready for the talks and have also sought time for a meeting with the civil aviation minister Ajit Singh.

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Kapil Sibal apologises over BR Ambedkar cartoons in textbooks

Anita — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:03:38 +0000

A cartoon of B R Ambedkar in the NCERT textbooks, created an uproar in the Parliament. The HRD Minister, Kapil Sibal apologised over the objectionable content and assured that he has directed the cartoon to be removed and has also directed the distribution of the concerned books to be stopped.

Sibal also appealed to the political parties not to make it an issue for vote bank politics. The HRD minister told the reporters, “…I am willing to personally apologise for it though I was not the minister at that time in 2006. I was involved in the publication of the books”.

The minister also said that there was no question of anyone trying to malign Ambedkar or anyone trying to make fun of him. Sibal even said that he began taking action iver the issue much before it landed in the parliament.

The minister set up a committee to look in to the entire gamut of the cartoons in the textbooks as well as their content so as to ensure that the material of this nature was taken out. Kapil even said that the government further decided that the textbooks which contain the cartoons shall not be distributed. The wholesalers have been asked to stop the distribution of the textbooks.

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India test fires Agni V missile successfully

sharjil s — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 05:58:59 +0000

Asia Bizz: The Agni-V missile was today on April 19, 2012 successfully test fired by India from the Wheeler Island, off the coast of Orissa. The Agni-V missile is a long range, nuclear capable and ballistic missile of 5,000 km.

The Scientists at the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) said that the missile was launched at 8:07 am, it soared 600 km high and also reached its destination and target. The missile has been developed by DRDO.

Dr. VK Saraswat, the chief of DRDO described the launch as a ‘super hit’ and game changer and added that India is now a missile power. With the launch of the Agni V, it has proved all its technological capabilities.

The successful lift up of the Agni V has pushed the name of India in to the elite club of nations, who are now experts in launching intercontinental ballistic missiles. The prestigious elite clue also includes the names of the nations like, France, China, Russia and US. The missile travelled the distance of 5,000 kms in 20 minutes and entered in to the Earth’s atmosphere at a high speed. Dr. Avinash Chander, the Chief Controller of DRDO said that the Agni V missile is 17 metre tall, three stage, solid propellant fuelled and has a capacity to carry 1.5 tonne payload.

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Government of Japan sets safety guidelines for nuclear power plants

Freddie — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 12:11:37 +0000

Asia Bizz: The government of Japan has recently announced new guidelines on how to avoid its nuclear power plants and prevent natural disasters. The measure has been taken so as to prevent the disaster that took place last year, due to tsunami destruction at the Fukushima Power plant.

The government announced the guidelines on April 6, 2012 and aims to ease the concern of the public about restarting the idle reactors. After the major disaster in 2011, the government of Japan is reportedly anxious to restart the two reactors in Fukui in Western Japan.

The public strongly opposes nuclear energy after the meltdown at the Fukushima Dai-Chi power plant. Even local leaders are reluctant on restarting any of the reactors for the fear of a possible nuclear disaster.

According to the guidelines announced by the government, the estimatation of how reactors would cope in the event of a major earthquake and tsunami is of prime concern. In France and other countries, the ‘stress tests’ are meant to find the weakness or suspend the facility, but Japan has used them as a safety guarantee. The objectivity of the tests have also been questioned by many people and if the utility meets the new guidelines, then the authorities hope that the public will be convinced that the reactors are safe.

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US government Offers $10 million to Capture Hafiz Saeed

sharjil s — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 19:41:51 +0000

Asia Bizz: The government of US will soon be announcing a $10 million reward for the Most wanted Indian terrorist, Hafiz Saeed, the chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawa. The message was conveyed by Wendy Sherman during her talks with the National Security Advisor, Shivshankar Menon on April 2, 2012.

The recent development has been seen as an indication of Obama’s administrative receptiveness to India’s concerns. In addition to the reward for Saeed, the US government is also offering another $3 million for the capture of Abdul Rehman Makki. Makki is another senior functionary of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was found by Saeed .

During her talks with Menon, Sheman indicated a closer collaboration between India and the US to combat terrorism and catching the ones responsible for terrorist attacks across the world.

Another security expert opined that the action taken by the US might put pressure on Saeed as well as the Pakistani government, but it will not be enough to prevent Islamabad to provide him protection.

According to an Interpol notice against Saeed, he has been roaming free in Pakistan and the Lahore high court has found no evidence against him. The terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba was founded by Saeed and has reportedly been responsible for many terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir and many other parts of India.

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China not happy with Obama’s Iran oil import sanctions

Anita — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 09:01:01 +0000

Asia Bizz: After American president Barack Obama decided to move forward with the plans for sanctions on countries buying oil from Iran, the Chinese government rejected the decision saying that Washington did not have any right to punish other nations. The South Korean officials said that they will continue to work with the US to reduce the oil imports from Iran.

The official agreed to work with US as the other US allies who depended on the Iranian oil worked to find alternative energy supplies.

On March 30, 2012, Obama announced that he has gone ahead with the potential sanctions, which can affect the US allies with Europe and Asia. The announcement was a part of the deepening campaign to starve Iran of money for its disputed nuclear program. The US allies have claimed that Iran is developing a nuclear bomb, while Ian has denied the claims. China is considered as one of the biggest importers of Iranian oil and the foreign ministries reiterated its opposition to the moves of US.

The ministry, in a brief statement on March 31, 2012, said that the Chinese side always opposes one country unilaterally imposing sanctions against another according to the domestic law. Moreover, it does not even accept the unilateral imposition on the sanctions on a third country. The recent sanctions from the US also aim to isolate the Iran’s central bank, where most of the Iran’s oil purchases are processed from the global economy.

This has also cleared the way for the US to penalise the foreign financial institutions that do oil businesses with Iran by preventing them from having a US based affiliate or doing business here. The recent move has shown Obama’s intention to tighten the pressure on Iran and already the administration has exempted ten European Union countries and Japan from the threat of sanctions as they cut their oil purchases from Iran.

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ISRO to Launch New Imaging Satellite on April 20, 2012

sharjil s — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 07:58:34 +0000

Asia Bizz: The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is all set to launch its indigenously designed and developed satellite, which has the unique capability of imaging during day, night and in all weather conditions. ISRO is preparing for the launch of the satellite which is due this month. For the ultimate blast off, ISRO is looking forward to April 20, 2012 from the space port of Sriharikota in India.

The satellite has been named as the RISAT – 1 – also known as the Radar imaging Satellite – has the capability of taking pictures of the Earth during day, night and also during cloudy conditions.

The new satellite is the first of its kind by India and has already reached the spaceport after being transported from Bangalore. In the year 2009, the country launched the RISAT – 2, which was brought from Israel for $ 110 million on April 20, 2009, in addition to the Resourcesat – 2 mission tool place in 2011.

As both the ventures were successful, ISRO was keen on maintaining the same date and this was confirmed by one of the officials from ISRO, who said that April 20, 2012 is a lucky day for them. Earlier the GSLV satellite with the Russian engine and another one, which was home grown, had failed to take off. The weight of the RISAT is around 1850 kg and is slated for a launch by ISRO’s work house Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. The satellite will be launched in to a 536 km orbit.

With the capability and ability to work in any weather conditions,the satellite was released in association with the Israel Aerospace Industries.

The RISAT – 2 is primarily a spy satellite and is solely used for the Defence applications to keep an eye on the borders and the country’s neighbourhood.

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General VK Singh Opens Up on Controversial Letter Sent to Indian PM

Freddie — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 06:21:20 +0000

Asia Bizz: Indian Army Chief General VK Singh spoke about the military controversy on March 30, 2012 and said that there were some individuals who were trying to create division between the government and the Army. A statement has been issued by General Singh which says that selective leaks had culminated in the airing of a letter to the Prime Minister.

The Army Chief, in the statement, mentioned that frivolous and uninformed comments should not be made in military matters. Singh also stressed on the fact that he was duty-bound to serve the country and also to protect the integrity of the Army.

On March 29, 2012 Gen. Singh responded to the controversies surrounding him through a statement released by the Army Headquarters. Singh has been recently targeted by various political parties after a letter written by him to the Prime Minister was leaked to the media and it presented a weak picture of the force’s preparedness.

On March 29, 2012, in a statement released by the Army Headquarters, General Singh had termed his official communication with the Prime Minister as well as the Defence Minister as a privileged communication. Singh, who is due to retire on May 31, 2012 said that the leakage of the letter should be treated as high treason and added that the cynical approach to tarnish his reputation must be stopped.

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Iran and G5 + 1 to Begin Nuclear Talks on April 13

Agatha Vyland — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 20:06:28 +0000

Asia Bizz: Ali Akbar Salehi, the Iranian foreign minister on March 28, 2012 said that the next round of nuclear talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, as well as the Germany, is due on April 13, 2012. The venue for the talks is yet to be decided and will be revealed in a few days.

Salehi made the announcement while receiving the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who arrived in the Iranian capital on March 28, 2012. The Iranian foreign minister addressed the press and said that Istanbul has already announced its readiness to host the upcoming nuclear talks.

Salehi also added that Istanbul is the preferable host for the talks in his opinion, but the issue will be decided by the chief nuclear negotiator of Iran, Saeed Jalili. Salehi also added that Mrs Catherine Ashton, the European Union Foreign Policy Chief has contacted some of the Turkish friends about the venue of the upcoming talks.

Meanwhile Jalili and his colleagues are studying the issue. The nuclear talks on January 2011 between Iran and the G5 +1 failed to reach to any agreement. The talks had failed as Tehran rejected any idea of suspending enrichment in exchange of trade and technology benefits.

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India to Continue Purchase of Crude Oil from Iran

sharjil s — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 15:40:13 +0000

Asia Bizz: Without violating any international law, India will continue to import oil from Iran. India’s oil minister revealed on March 23, 2012 that the country has requested the United States and the European Union to take in to account their oil needs.

At the Asia Gas Partnership Summit, Jaipal Reddy told the reporters that they have a systematic plan for receiving oil from Iran. However Reddy did not elaborate on the issue.

On Tuesday, the United States gave its exemptions from its crippling financial sanctions to Japan as well as 10 EU nations. It has earlier said that it cut purchases of Iranian crude oil, but then left the major Asian countries India and China exposed to the risk of such steps.

Reddy added that they continue to receive representations from the US and other countries and that with respect to their sentiments, they have requested to appreciate their needs. For Iran, India is the second largest client after China and even Tehran used to supply about 12 percent of the south Asian country’s needs. This would be worth some $11 billion per year. Reddy even assured that there will not be any supply shortage.