Iran Modifies its Top Security Agency (SNSC)

Iran has made new changes at its Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), which looks after negotiations with the West in the nuclear crisis, the Mehr news agency reported on Monday.

Javad Vaeedi has been replaced as the council's deputy head in charge of international affairs by Ali Bagheri, who was previously the foreign ministry's director general for North and Central European affairs.

Vaeedi will become an advisor to the council's head Saeed Jalili, a close ally of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the agency said. No explanation was given for the changes.

The move comes after Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday named Jalili as his personal representative on the council.

As head of the council, Jalili is the top nuclear negotiator in talks with the West aimed at ending the five-year-old crisis over the Iranian atomic programme.

Tehran is currently considering a package from world powers offering Iran technological incentives if it halts the sensitive process of uranium enrichment which the West fears could be used to make nuclear weapons.

Obama against Outsourcing

Taking a tough stand against outsourcing, the presumptive Democratic nominee Senator Barack Obama said that the choice is between giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas or give benefit to those corporations that keep jobs domestically.

''We can keep giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas, or we can give tax benefits to companies that invest right here in New Hampshire,'' Senator Obama said at a joint appearance with Senator Hillary Clinton in Unity, New Hampshire.

''We can have a tax code that rewards wealth and hands out billions of dollars more to big corporations and multimillionaires. Or we can provide a $ 1,000 tax cut to 95 per cent of families in America, start rewarding work and not just wealth, and eliminate income taxes for seniors making $ 50,000 a year or less,'' Obama said, adding that's an agenda for change that the people can believe in.

''We can allow millions of Americans to work full-time but still not make enough to support their families, or we can raise the minimum wage, index it to inflation, and ensure that hard work pays off in America,'' the Illinois Senator said.

History of Brave Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw....!!!

Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji "Sam Bahadur" Jamshedji Manekshaw MC (April 3, 1914 – June 27, 2008) was an Indian Army officer. In a long career spanning nearly four decades, Manekshaw rose to be the 8th Chief of Staff of the Indian Army in 1969 and under his command, Indian forces concluded a victorious campaign during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

Sam Manekshaw was the first of only two Indian military officers to hold the highest rank of Field Marshal of the Indian Army (The other being Field Marshal K M Cariappa). His distinguished military career spanned four decades and through five wars, including World War II.

Early life and education

Manekshaw was born in Amritsar, Punjab to Parsi parents who immigrated to the Punjab from the small town of Valsad on the Gujarat coast. After completing his schooling in Amritsar and Sherwood College (Nainital), he joined the first batch of 40 cadets at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun on 1 October 1932. He passed out of the IMA in December 1934 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Indian Army. He held several regimental assignments and was first attached to the Royal Scots and later to the 4/12 Frontier Force Regiment.

Military career

Manekshaw's military career spanned four decades, from the British era and World War II, to the three wars against China and Pakistan after India's independence in 1947.

World War II

During World War II, Manekshaw saw action in the Burma campaign on Sittang River as a Captain with the 4/12 Frontier Force Regiment ^[1] and has the rare distinction of being honoured for his bravery on the battle front itself. During World War II, he was leading a counter-offensive against the invading Japanese Army in Burma. During the course of the offensive he was hit by a burst of LMG bullets and was severely wounded in the stomach. Major General D.T. Cowan spotted Manekshaw holding on to life and was aware of his valour in face of stiff resistance from the Japanese. Fearing the worst, Major General Cowan quickly pinned his own Military Cross ribbon on to Manekshaw saying, "A dead person cannot be awarded a Military Cross."

Higher Commands and Offices

Having recovered from those near-fatal wounds in Burma, Manekshaw went for a course at Staff College, Quetta and later also served there as an instructor before being sent to join 12 Frontier Force Rifles in Burma under General (later Field Marshal) Slim's 14th Army. He was once again involved in a fierce battle with the Japanese, and was wounded for a second time. Towards the close of World War II, Manekshaw was sent as Staff Officer to General Daisy in Indo-China where, after the Japanese surrender, he helped rehabilitate over 10,000 POWs. He, then, went on a six-month lecture tour to Australia in 1946, and after his return served as a First Grade Staff Officer in the Military Operations Directorate.

Manekshaw showed acumen for planning and administration while handling the issues related to Partition in 1947, and later put to use his battle skills during the 1947-48 Jammu & Kashmir Operations. After command of an Infantry Brigade, he was posted as the Commandant of the Infantry School and also became the Colonel of 8 Gorkha Rifles (which became his new regimental home, since his original parent regiment The 12th Frontier Force Regiment went on to join the new Pakistan Army at partition ) and 61 Cavalry. He commanded a Division in Jammu & Kashmir and a Corps in the North East, with a tenure as Commandant of Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) in between. As GOC-in-C Eastern Command, he handled the tricky problem of insurgency in Nagaland and the grateful nation honoured him with a Padma Bhushan in 1968.

Army Chief: The War of 1971

Manekshaw became the 8th Chief of Army Staff when he succeeded General Kumaramangalam on 7 June 1969. His years of military experience were soon put to the test as thousands of refugees from the erstwhile East Pakistan started crossing over to India as a result of oppression from West Pakistan. The volatile situation erupted into a full-scale war in December 1971.

During this Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, Manekshaw showed uncommon ability to motivate the forces, coupling it with a mature war strategy. The war ended with Pakistan's unconditional surrender, and the formation of Bangladesh. More than 45,000 Pakistani soldiers and 45,000 civilian personnel were taken as POWs. He masterminded the rout of the Pakistan Army in one of the quickest victories in the recent military history. This led to the Shimla Agreement which opened the door to the creation of the nation of Bangladesh as separate from Pakistan.

Honour and Retirement

For his distinguished service to the country, the President of India awarded him a Padma Vibhushan in 1972 and conferred upon him the rank of Field Marshal on 1 January 1973. Manekshaw became the first of the only two Indian Army Generals to be awarded this prestigious honorary rank; the other being the late Field Marshal Kodandera Madappa Cariappa. Manekshaw retired a fortnight later (although technically Field Marshals of the Indian Army never retire because the rank is conferred for life), on 15 January 1973, after completing nearly four decades of military service.

Following his retirement from the Indian Army, Manekshaw successfully served as a director of numerous companies.

He died of complication from pneumonia at the Military Hospital in Wellington, Tamil Nadu on 0030 hours, June 27th, 2008 at the age of 94.

JAI HIND !!!!!!

India's Rank in "Corruption Countries List"

India has been ranked a lowly 74, two steps down since 2007, among 180 countries of the world on the worldwide Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), prepared by independent international agency Transparency International.

However, corruption is much higher in Pakistan, which occupies 140th place, a little below Iran, Libya and Nepal, which are ranked 133, 134 and 135 respectively.

Meanwhile, China, which was ranked a joint 72 with India in 2007, slid a step down to occupy a place above its neighbour this year.

Among other Asian countries, Russia is placed still lower on 145 while Sri Lanka occupies 96th position and Maldives is ranked 90.

The least corrupt country in the region is the nascent democracy Bhutan, which has been placed at the 41st spot by the non-government organisation tracking prevalence of corruption worldwide.

Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Singapore and Sweden corner the top five spots retaining positions as the least corrupt nations of the world, while bottom of table is occupied by Myanmar and Somalia.

The United States also retains its position and is ranked 20th, just below Germany, Ireland, Japan and France. Besides, Britain occupies the 13th spot and is just ahead of Hong Kong.

Yahoo's stock price bounced

Pic :Yahoo CEO Jerry yang :: :: Microsoft's Bill Gates

Yahoo's stock price bounced as investors flirted with rumours that Microsoft is once-again courting the floundering Internet pioneer. Neither company would comment on what, if any, talks are under way, but both firms dismissed the notion Microsoft has a renewed interest in taking over Yahoo.

Microsoft said its position has not changed since it released a June 12 statement saying it is "not interested in rebidding for all of Yahoo" but that an "alternative transaction remains available for discussion." The US software giant made the statement in response to Yahoo and Google announcing a deal to put the Internet search king's expertise to work pumping money from advertising posted next to Yahoo online search results.

Microsoft offered to buy Yahoo for $44.6 billion in stock and cash on January 31, but withdrew the offer on May 3, saying Yahoo refused to budge despite the software giant upping its bid to nearly $50 billion. While searching for a "white knight" to save it from Microsoft's clutches, Yahoo tested using Google's AdSense for Search service for two weeks in April.

The test showed that Google's methods generated more money than Yahoo's advertising platform. Microsoft was enraged by the experiment and warned that a Yahoo-Google partnership raises anti-trust concerns because it would cover some 90 per cent of online advertising.

Analysts believe an alternative deal of interest to Microsoft could involve buying Yahoo's Internet search business and merging it with its own in order to better battle Google in that arena. (AFP)

No Oil Increase till Sep : OPEC

The meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members and oil consumers in Saudi Arabia has failed to produce any solution to check rising oil prices.

Speaking at the meeting, India's Finance Minister P Chidambaram called for a fixed price band. Saudi Arabia has promised to increase production from 12 million barrels to 12.7 million barrels by the month of September.

However, OPEC remained skeptical and was divided on the issue of raising production.

The rising oil prices have fuelled protests across the world. And now rising oil prices are causing heartburn within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

The meeting of OPEC members called by Saudia Arabia wound down without arriving at any clear formula.

Chidambaram reiterated in the meeting that the consuming countries must guarantee that oil prices will not fall below an agreed level and producing countries must guarantee that oil prices will not rise above a guaranteed level.

Countries such as China and Britain stressed on the need to find new sources of energy. However, they were all unanimous on one issue that oil prices have to come down.

“In order to continue our constructive role in the market, and to further reassure those who are concerned about supply availability, the Kingdom is prepared to make additional quantities of crude oil available to the market,’ says Saudi Arabia Minister Of Petroleum, Ali Naimi.

OPEC president Chakib Khelil however chose to differ and claimed there was enough oil in the market to meet the demand. He said OPEC would consider the issue of raising production only in September, when they meet.

Meanwhile, with OPEC refusing to increase production, the world it seems will have to bear with the rising fuel prices.

Expect Tax Cuts : FM Hints

Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday said that the government is willing to take more fiscal steps including the possibility of deeper tax cuts to bring down inflation.

He also said that India should not give room for panic and the government will provide enough wheat and rice to bring down prices.

After inflation hit a 13-year high of 11.05 per cent on Friday, there is more bad news for consumers, as the government admits it will not come down significantly before next year.

The RBI may soon announce monetary measures to check price rise, Finance Secretary D. Subbarao said in New Delhi. At the same time, he predicted that inflation would remain high for the next three months.

"The first line of defence for inflation is monetary measures," Subbarao said. “As we cannot control the supply side, we require quick measures to control the demand side, which will be done by the RBI by taking monetary policy action.”

Asked about measures the RBI may possibly take, Subbarao said: “I can't speak for the RBI, but we all know what measures the central bank is likely to take,” referring to a possible hike in interest rates.

“The double-digit inflation is certainly quite disturbing and inflation management is the top priority of the government,” the finance secretary said.

He also said inflationary pressure would continue for the next three months. This was on account of the global crude oil crisis that has contributed 94 per cent to the high rate of inflation, he added.

Subbarao said: “India will continue to maintain GDP growth of 8.5 per cent and see inflation at 5 to 6 per cent in a year from now.”

Asked about administered price increase, the finance secretary said: “That is a political decision and the government will take a decision on it.”

The price of non-oil products is falling on month on month basis, the finance secretary pointed out.

(With IANS inputs)

Obama Leads......!!

Democratic presidential hopeful, Senator Barack Obama, has a double-digit lead over Republican John McCain. According to the latest Newsweek poll Obama now leads McCain by a margin of 51-36 per cent, a big jump from the figures in May when he and McCain were tied at 46 per cent.

The Newsweek survey showed that only 14 per cent of Americans were satisfied with the direction of the country. More than 51 per cent were dissatisfied and indicated their faith in Obama with his message of change.

Barrack Obama made history as he became the first African American Presidential nominee for the US.

Meanwhile, his democrat rival, Senator Hillary Clinton ended her historic campaign for the presidency on June 7, telling supporters to unite behind Obama and closing a race that was as grueling as it was groundbreaking.

The former first lady, who had earlier declared herself the strongest candidate, gave Obama an unqualified endorsement and pivoted from her role as determined foe to absolute ally.

Depositors Cheers !! Bcos of their Fixed deposits...!!

There is some good news for retired persons and those dependent on the interest income as banks have started increasing their fixed deposit rates following the decision of the RBI to hike the short term lending rate by 0.25 per cent.

Oriental Bank of Commerce yesterday revised their fixed deposit rates for various maturities and raised the rates for its special deposit scheme Asha Kiran (FDs for 400 days) to 9.75 for senior citizens.

This is probably the highest interest rate being offered by the city based public sector lender on 13-month deposit.

Though the senior citizens would get a rate of 9.75 per cent, others will receive 9.25 per cent for 400-day fixed deposit from OBC.

Even the new generation private sector lender Yes Bank increased the deposit rates by 0.5 per cent across all maturities.

After the recent revision of interest rates by Yes Bank, senior citizens would get a maximum of 10 per cent on fixed deposits with a maturity of one year to 18 months. The others would receive a return of 9.5 per cent.

Country's largest public sector lender, State Bank of India, also revised fixed deposit rates upward by up to 0.5 per cent for selected tenures effective June 1.

SBI increased fixed deposits rate for 5-10 years by 0.5 per cent to 9 per cent while 3-5 years tenure was hiked by 0.35 per cent. Senior citizens will get 0.5 per cent more.

Another Mumbai-based lender Bank of India also increased deposit rates up to 0.5 per cent for various maturities.

For deposits having a maturity of one year to less than two years, the revised rates stands at 9.15 per cent, against the earlier rate of 8.50 per cent, while for deposits ranging from two to three years, the new rate is 9.25 per cent as against earlier rate of 8.75 per cent.

Similarly, fixed deposits of Bank of India having a maturity of three to five years will earn 9.50 per cent interest, against the earlier 8.75 per cent.

"The rates have been revised with a view to mobilize funds from deposits in the beginning of the financial year. We will review our rates by June 30, after which they might be revised again," the BOI official had said.

There would be a case for further upward revision of fixed deposit rates in case the inflation, as projected by many analysts, goes up to 10 per cent.

Moreover, the banks would have to raise fixed deposit rates to retain the deposit base, says brokerage firm Edelweiss Capital in its recent analysis on impact of repo rate hike on the banking sector.

The study further pointed out that following recent hike in repo rate, bottomline of those banks which are dependent on wholesale money market for funds would come under pressure.

No Ban On MAIZE EXPORT : GOVT

Union Government has ruled out any plan to impose ban on maize export despite consistent demand to this effect from the poultry industry.
The Commerce Secretary G K pillai told newsmen on the sidelines of a function at Vigyan Bhawan here that the government will also not revoke exiting export ban on rice and wheat.

Pillai said, the government is however likely to review the ban on foodgrains by October-November this year. "This will be done once the picture is clearer," he said. About 50% of the total Indian produce is consumed as poultry feed and about 8% is consumed by the starch industry. Indian maize exports fluctuates around 5 lakh tons annually.

The poultry industry has been repeatedly demanding an export ban on maize besides withdrawing the foodgrains from future trading platform.The global prices of the corn have shot up in recent months due to corn divertion into bio-fuels production amid high crude oil prices.The price of crude oil touched an all time high of 140 US dollar per barrel in the US future trade.

India’s produces around 10-14 million tons of maize annually. This contributes to about 2% of the total world production. Maize in India is generally produced as ‘kharif’ crop, which means that it is usually produced in the summers. Most of the corn produced in India mainly comes from the southern Corn Belt states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Earlier in 50’s and 60’s, the maize production was improved through crop management techniques and increasing the area under cultivation

There is " Higher Power " May be GOD : Indian Scientists

One in four Indian scientists believe in God and many more accept existence of a "higher power", says a survey conducted across the country.

A survey of 1,100 scientists across 130 universities and research institutes across the country threw up interesting results as 29 per cent believed in the philosophy of 'karma', 26 per cent accepted the principle of life after death and seven per cent researchers gave credence to existence of ghosts.

A survey, by the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture of Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut and Hyderabad-based Centre for Inquiry, found that religion and faith had deep roots in the minds of Indian scientists.

As many as 64 per cent scientists said they would refuse to design biological weapons because of their moral and religious beliefs, while 54 per cent said they will not work on nuclear weapons for the same reasons.

As many as 93 per cent researchers defined secularism as tolerance for various religions and philosophies, while only a minority of scientists said it meant atheism.

As many as 33 per cent scientists strongly disapproved of space scientists seeking the blessings of Lord Venkateswara in Tirupati before launching a rocket in 2005. Only 14 per cent strongly approved of the action.

Most scientists (44 per cent) were willing to criticise and confront religions where they think they contradict accepted scientific theories but a sizeable minority (23 per cent) is opposed to it.

The scientists are most likely to regard their personal outlook as "secular" (59 per cent) or "somewhat secular" (16 per cent). Secularism, according to a majority of them, is tolerance for various religions and philosophies.

One fourth of the total scientists surveyed were firm believers while another fourth took an atheist or agnostic position about belief in the divine.

Twenty-six per cent scientists said they believed God exists and they had no doubts about it. As many as 30 per cent scientists did not believe in a personal God but in a higher power.

Twelve per cent scientists said they did not believe in God while another 13 per cent said they neither knew about the existence of God nor did they believed there was any way to find it out.

A majority of scientists thought of themselves as being spiritual, which according to two thirds of them is either "commitment to higher human ideals, such as peace, harmony or well being" (34 per cent), or "a higher level of human consciousness or awareness" (31 per cent).

A majority of the Indian scientists were Hindus (66 per cent) and 10 per cent identified themselves as atheists or having no religion.

Muslims and Christians formed three per cent each of the scientists surveyed; four per cent were Sikhs, Buddhists and other religions while 14 per cent did not report their religion.

Apple ready to launch 3G iPhone

Even as gizmo lovers await the official launch of Apple's new iPhone towards the end of the year, the market in India is abuzz – as in the US – that the company would debut the iPhone ver.2 or the 3G model as early as Monday.

Apple Inc is hosting the World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) starting Monday in San Francisco and it was during the same conference last year that Apple chief executive Steve Jobs announced the launch date for the original iPhone.

"I have the first iPhone and I am mighty pleased with its out-of-the-world functionality. I'll sell it as soon as I can lay my hands on the new one," said Geet Tandon, an avid techie, unable to hide his excitement.

"I can't wait to get my hands on the new iPhone, which supposedly will have additional features and better looks," he added.

The buzz over the new version being showcased in San Francisco was further fuelled by a memo to employees in May sent by AT&T, iPhones's sole provider in the US.

Smart phones

"No additional vacation will be approved between June 15 - August 12," said the company, which had issued a similar notice last year before the phone's launch.

When the original iPhone from the apple stable – a crossover between an iPod and a smart-phone – hit the market last year, lack of 3G capabilities and a built-in global positioning system (GPS) receiver were seen as few of the disadvantages.

Nevertheless, the flaws did not seem to deter the buyers, according to a recent study by the technology think-tank Gartner. Apple rose to number three position in the worldwide smart-phone category in terms of market share, selling more than 1.7 million handsets in just about nine months.

Waiting for the 3G iPhone

The serpentine lines outside Apple and AT&T stores made headlines in India, despite the fact that apple at that time had not disclosed any plans of marketing their new product in the country.

The phone was named the Time magazine's invention of the year. And despite not being officially available in the country, the phone was voted as the gadget of the year by most tech shows in India.

Gaffar market in Karol Bagh, the go-to place in the city if you want the shiny chrome plated phone, does not seem to know about by the new development. Santosh Singh, who deals specifically with the iPhone, said he had no idea if a new version of the iPhone was being launched.

"If that happens, it will be good for the business as the new phone will take sometime to seep in the Indian market and when the supply is less the profits are always high," he said.

Marketing strategies

It is not all rumours that make the whole hype surrounding the 3G iPhone believable given the secretive and surprising marketing strategies of Apple.

During a meeting in California in November 2007, AT&T chief executive Randall Stephenson (in what has been regarded as a slip-up) said that his company was working with Apple for the 3G version of iPhone.

Apple fan websites and iPhone forums all across the web are on fire. Not only can one find the "leaked pictures" but also copies of apple's patent application for the phone to the US Patent Office on these websites.

And what can one expect of the new phone? The list is endless but 3G and a GPS are more or less confirmed. Apple might also include flash player in its Safari browser and the phone would have window's media format.

Avid blogger Zibri (real name not disclosed), who has founded the popular blog ziphone.org and also creator of ziphone - an unlocking utility software for the phone - says the launch of the next iPhone version will be sooner than expected.

"We're near the event everyone is expecting. It seems Apple at last has included an embedded GPS. It features a category 8 HSDPA connection (3G) for a top speed of 7.2 MB/s. The main iPhone CPU will remain unchanged.”

Pollution : India's Biggest Worry

The Environment Poll asked citizens of six cities across India how they felt for the environment and environment-related issues. Do modern, urban Indians care and are they willing to be more environmentally responsible?

As per the conducted the survey, we assumed civic issues like water and garbage would be uppermost on people's minds.

But this is the big finding – 34 per cent think air pollution is the biggest environment problem that most people face, followed by green cover, water pollution, noise pollution and finally garbage disposal.

India's exploding traffic - leading to bigger traffic jams, parking woes, road rage and a bevy of health problems - is understandably the biggest setback today.

In fact all those polled in Delhi also voted air pollution was their number one woe.

“Pollution is getting to us and we need to find a solution,” says Center for Science and Environment, Sunita Narain.

If people were given a choice what is the one environmental issue they would want government to address, a whopping 86 per cent of the people want the government to plant trees, followed by reducing air pollution, providing clean drinking water, cleaning up rivers, collecting and segregating garbage and finally improving public transport.

“Why cant bureaucrats and politicians car-pool,” asks environment activist Leo Saldhana

But are things set to improve? The survey shows, people aren't very hopeful. Seventy-seven per cent of respondents said air pollution would increase in the next five years.

Seventy per cent said noise pollution would rise and 65 per cent feared water would get more polluted.

The silver lining is that some states are getting their act together in order to improve the state of their environment be it garbage collection in Bangalore or rain water harvesting in Chennai.