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MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: A week after corporate affairs minister Salman Khursheed kicked off a debate on controlling pay packets of corporate honchos, his boss — PM Manmohan Singh — on Sunday ruled out government curbs on CEO remunerations offered by private entities. "We still believe that salaries are best determined by boards of various companies and the government, as such, has no intention of imposing restrictions on CEOs’ salaries," he told reporters in Mumbai on Sunday. Replying to a question whether the government was concerned about salaries of CEOs, the PM said he had raised the issue of corporate austerity "in...

An ideal groom in this dusty farming village is a vegetarian, does not drink, has good prospects for a stable job and promises his bride-to-be an amenity in high demand: a toilet. In rural India, many young women are refusing to marry unless the suitor furnishes their future home with a bathroom, freeing them from the inconvenience and embarrassment of using community toilets or squatting in fields. About 665 million people in India -- about half the population -- lack access to latrines. But since a "No Toilet, No Bride" campaign started about two years ago, 1.4 million toilets have...

WASHINGTON: Afghanistan has boldly stepped up where even India has been discreet in treading, bluntly accusing the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI of masterminding the latest bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul which killed 17 people.

In the current conflict in Afghanistan, India does not have a single soldier operating under NATO command. India is not part of the coalition the United States and its allies have put together to aid the Afghan government’s efforts to defeat the Taliban. In fact, India has turned down proposals within India and in the U.S. that it should participate in peacekeeping efforts in Iraq or Afghanistan. And yet, suicide bombers have struck the Indian Embassy in Kabul once again. In 2008, nearly 58 people died, including three Indians. On Friday, the toll was smaller, though the device used was...

News to Note, October 10, 2009: A weekly feature examining news from the biblical viewpoint...

The Indian embassy in Kabul has been targeted for bomb attack for a second time in the past 15 months. A least 17 people were killed in Thursday's attack, when a car loaded with explosives rammed into the embassy's compound wall. The Indian chancery is not far from the presidential palace and, ironically enough, just across the road from the Afghan interior ministry. Needless to say, the Taliban, which claimed responsibility for the attack, have shown they have the capacity to hit anywhere, any time - a message that is already understood.

At least 17 police officers have been killed in a deadly ambush by hundreds of Maoist rebels in India's Maharashtra state. Earlier this week, another police officer was beheaded by rebels in a Taliban-style killing. Graphic pictures of his body were shown on Indian television. The Maoists are calling for the overthrow of the Indian government and are now active in at least 20 states across the country. The government has declared war on the rebels and says they are the biggest threat to India's internal security. Abishek Induvar, the seven-year-old son of the beheaded officer, Francis Induvar, has gone...

Indian troops on Wednesday shot dead seven rebels, four of whom were from the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Reuters reported. One of the slain militants was identified as top LeT commander Abu Hamza, according to the News Agency of Kashmir. The group was behind attacks that killed at least 166 people in the Indian financial capital in November.

Vimal Patel was studying for a master's in business administration in London when he saw an advertisement for work in the U.S. The ad offered a job in the tech industry, as well as sponsorship for the kind of work visa that allows foreign nationals to take professional-level jobs in the country. So Patel applied and paid his prospective employer, Cygate Software & Consulting, in Edison, N.J., thousands of dollars in up-front fees. But when Patel arrived, Cygate had no tech job for him. He ended up working at a gas station, and Cygate nevertheless took a chunk of his...

MADURAI, INDIA (BNO NEWS) – At least several people are reported dead after an explosion hit a train station in India’s Madurai district on Tuesday, according to local media reports. The blast hit Cholavandam Railway Station around 6.05 p.m. local time, when a passenger train was entering the station. Reports said at least two men and one woman had been killed. The cause of the explosion, which also injured at least two people, was not immediately known. CNN-IBN reported that the roof of the train station had collapsed following the explosion Read more:

In my article Why Barack Obama won't meet the Dalai Lama, I had reported as follows: "His Holiness is going ahead with his plans to visit Arunachal Pradesh in November, which could more or less coincide with Obama's visit to China. The United States officials were reportedly worried that the Chinese anger, over the Dalai Lama's [ Images ] visit to Arunachal Pradesh, might come in the way of the success of Obama's promised efforts to persuade Beijing [ Images ] to resume its dialogue with His Holiness. It is not clear whether they gave any advice to His Holiness...

India to buy more MiG-29Ks Rajat Pandit, TNN 4 October 2009, 03:06am IST NEW DELHI: Decks have now been cleared for India to order another batch of MiG-29Ks after the specially-designed maritime fighters underwent successful flight-deck trials from Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov in the Barents Sea on September 28-29. Defence ministry sources said the fresh order for 29 more MiG-29Ks from Russia for around Rs 5,380 crore (around $1.12 billion) will "soon'' be sent to the Cabinet Committee of Security for the final approval. These jets will be in addition to 16 MiG-29Ks already contracted through the initial $1.5-billion...

Itanagar, October 3 (Agencies): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said a Rs.125 billion trans-state highway in Arunachal Pradesh would be completed by 2013, a step that would boost infrastructure in the strategic northeastern state bordering China. “The Trans-Arunachal Highway, rail and air connectivity, and construction of two small hydro projects would meet the requirement of many remote areas, especially villages located on border areas, suffering from isolation,” Manmohan Singh said, addressing an election rally at Pasighat in East Siang district. “The highway would be completed by 2013 and would go a long way in boosting infrastructure in the region....

Two pilots have been grounded after they allegedly left their cockpit mid-flight to trade punches with crew members in front of stunned passengers. Severe turbulence broke out on the Air India flight after an air hostess accused the men of sexual harassment. The 120 passengers watched as the pair left the jet controls to brawl in the aisle with the crew, the Times Of India reported. As the row escalated the pilots threatened to divert the jet to Pakistan. Air India said the two

The Maharaja witnessed his first in-flight Mughal-e-Azam at 30,000 feet above sea level on Saturday, as two members of the cabin crew—one male and one female—slugged it out with the pilot and co-pilot. Endangering the lives of 106 passengers and grossly violating safety norms, the airline staffers came to blows in the cockpit and galley of the Indian Airlines Airbus A-320 as the aircraft cruised over Pakistan en route to Delhi via Lucknow from Sharjah. The cabin-vs-cockpit tiff originated on the ground in Sharjah itself and then turned into a full-blown fight once IC 884 took off soon after midnight....

Days before President Barack Obama told the United Nations that he hoped to push through a universal treaty to ban all nuclear weapons testing by the end of 2010, a top Indian scientist threw New Delhi's security establishment for an atomic loop. Kasturiranga Santhanam, the coordinator of India's 1998 nuclear tests, went public with allegations that India's much heralded Pokhran II test of a thermonuclear bomb 11 years ago was actually a fizzle. "We are totally naked vis-a-vis China, which has an inventory of 200 nuclear bombs, the vast majority of which are giant H-bombs of power equal to three...

Russia tests Indian fighter jets on board its aircraft carrier MOSCOW, September 30 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's MiG aircraft maker said on Tuesday it has successfully tested on board the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier four MiG-29 carrier-based fighter jets due to be delivered to India. Russia and India signed a contract on January 20, 2004, stipulating the supply of 12 single-seat MiG-29Ks and four two-seat MiG-29KUBs to India as part of a $1.5 billion deal to deliver the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier, currently being retrofitted in Russia for the Indian navy. "During the tests on September 28-29, the MiG-29K and...

An Indian farmer’s daughter disarmed a terrorist leader who broke into her home, attacked him with an axe and shot him dead with his own gun ...

He may not relish the comparison but it is now becoming increasingly obvious that Mr Barack Obama is the most hostile American President for India since Richard Nixon. In the eight months he has been in office, Mr Obama has snubbed India more than once. He has sent repeated signals that New Delhi is not integral to his Asian security architecture. Partly as a result of his country’s economic crisis, he has bent over backwards to accommodate China. His open advocacy of protectionism has been most visibly targeted at outsourcing of technology jobs to India. He headlined anti-trade legislation by...

Obama talks a lot, but yet to act It is difficult to overstate the absurdity in context of President Barack Obama’s performance at the Israeli-Palestinian photo opportunity at the UN. The outstanding theme is his commandist style. We will reverse man-made global warming, he has said. We will have a health care bill. This is like the style of an Arab dictator, proclaiming that his will is all and that uttering words make something so. It is not the style of someone helping two parties solve a problem or of a mediator. But let’s allow William Shakespeare to explain it:...

India: Church Damaged in Attack On Sept. 9, St. Francis De Sales Church in Bangalore, India was attacked by more than 15 Hindu extremists, according to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts. Extremists armed with weapons broke into the church, damaged window panes and statues inside the church. A house behind the church was damaged. The church has about 3,000 members who attend services performed in different languages such as Tamil, Malayalam and English. Following the attack, the church priests, Father Aloysius and Father Selvaraj filed a complaint with the police. The Voice of the Martyrs supports and assists persecuted...

In the eight months he has been in office, Mr Obama has snubbed India more than once. He has sent repeated signals that New Delhi is not integral to his Asian security architecture. Partly as a result of his country’s economic crisis, he has bent over backwards to accommodate China. His open advocacy of protectionism has been most visibly targeted at outsourcing of technology jobs to India. He headlined anti-trade legislation by saying it would punish those who created jobs in Bangalore rather than Buffalo, a special mention that was extraordinarily impolitic and did not go unnoticed in India. In...

India can now build nuclear weapons with the same destructive power as those in the arsenals of the world’s major nuclear powers, according to New Delhi’s senior atomic officials. They said India had built weapons with yields of up to 200 kilotons, which would be considered a “proper strategic deterrent” by the global community. A nuclear weapon above 50 kilotons is considered high yield. India’s enhanced capability gives it a considerable edge over Pakistan, its nuclear-armed arch-rival. India’s declaration came as Iran launched war games on Sunday, testing short-range missiles, just days after announcing it had been building a second...

This week, Ford Motors announced that India would be a global manufacturing hub for its new small car, the Figo. This underlines a remarkable new development. India has overtaken China as a car exporter this year, exporting 201,138 cars in January-July against China’s 164,800. What’s more, Indian exports in this period went up 18%, while China’s fell by 60%. ............. What accounts for India’s success? Visionary planning? Long-term strategy? No, India’s triumph was completely unplanned. No planning document ever envisioned or planned for beating China. Analysts say China has become a great auto exporter because of huge subsidies, an undervalued...

A recent survey by Mumbai’s civic authorities has found that urinating and spitting in public are the most common offences in the metropolis. Apparently, the BMC’s clean-up marshals raked in Rs 6 crore from such ‘dirty offenders’ in a single year! Now, that should not raise a stink among Mumbaikars who see and endure it everyday. But yet we need to ask: What is it in our genes that makes us unzip our pants and let loose at the sight of the nearest wall/gutter/lamp-post/dustbin---in fact everywhere but the darned loo? We are used to seeing tiny tots being urged by...

CHICAGO (AP) — A 29-year-old Illinois man who idolized American-born Taliban soldier John Walker Lindh has been arrested after attempting to detonate what he thought was a bomb inside a van outside a federal courthouse, officials said Thursday. Michael C. Finton, also known as Talib Islam, was arrested Wednesday and charged in a criminal complaint with one count of attempting to murder federal officers or employees and trying to detonate a weapon of mass destruction. Federal officials said the case has no connections with the major terrorism investigation under way in Colorado and New York. "This alleged plot drives home...

Pittsburgh: India has argued that non-proliferation obligations arise from treaties to which states are parties and that any question of non-compliance has to be addressed in accordance with those treaties or agreements and not by the Security Council over-reaching its mandate. In a letter to the U.N. Security Council president aimed at distancing India from the September 24 resolution on non-proliferation, Ambassador Hardeep Puri also insisted that India cannot accept obligations stemming from the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) or agreements it has not signed or externally prescribed norms that infringe its sovereignty, national interest and Constitution. India also emphasised that...

Many have asked to see my remarks as presented in Hong Kong. Here is an excerpt: So far, I’ve given you the view from Main Street, USA. But now I’d like to share with you how a Common Sense Conservative sees the world at large. Later this year, we will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall – an event that changed not just Europe but the entire world. In a matter of months, millions of people in formerly captive nations were freed to pursue their individual and national ambitions. The competition that defined the post...

Dreams of establishing a manned Moon base could become reality within two decades after India’s first lunar mission found evidence of large quantities of water on its surface. Data from Chandrayaan-1 also suggests that water is still being formed on the Moon. Scientists said the breakthrough — to be announced by Nasa at a press conference today — would change the face of lunar exploration. The discovery is a significant boost for India in its space race against China. Dr Mylswamy Annadurai, the mission’s project director at the Indian Space Research Organisation in Bangalore, said: “It’s very satisfying.”

The mixing of two distinct lineages led to most modern-day Indians. The population of India was founded on two ancient groups that are as genetically distinct from each other as they are from other Asians, according to the largest DNA survey of Indian heritage to date. Nowadays, however, most Indians are a genetic hotchpotch of both ancestries, despite the populous nation's highly stratified social structure. "All Indians are pretty similar," says Chris Tyler-Smith, a genome researcher at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute near Cambridge, UK, who was not involved in the study. "The population subdivision has not had a dominating...

» 09/22/2009 17:44INDIACatholic priest donates kidney to save Hindu manby Nirmala CarvalhoIn Kerala, Father Chiramel offers one of his kidneys to an unknown recipient. The priest said he was inspired by the ‘Year for Priest’. “For me donating an organ is a unique and privileged opportunity to share in Christ’s suffering.” New Delhi (AsiaNews) – Fr Davis Chiramel, a 49-year-old Catholic priest from Kerala, donated one of his kidneys to a complete stranger. The clergyman is parish priest at St Francis Xavier Church in Vadanapally (Kerala). Earlier this year he decided to help a Hindu father of two, a...

India has successfully launched seven satellites in a single mission, nearly a month after the country's inaugural Moon mission was aborted. The rocket was carrying an Indian remote-sensing satellite and six smaller ones, all of them foreign.

WASHINGTON: As the grandees of the international community gather this week in Pittsburgh, formerly the city of steel, with international economy and climate change on top of the agenda, the issue before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his 30-hour sortie there is to figure out why the United States is blowing hot and cold in its dealings with India. The mixed signals emanating from Washington is best illustrated by one paragraph, the only one relating to India, in the report by US General Stanley McChrystal about the dire situation in the Af-Pak theatre. It reads: “Indian political and economic influence...

Even as US military commanders seek a troop increase in Afghanistan to check a resurgent Taliban, US voter support is fast eroding. A CNN poll in September showed that 58% of Americans oppose the war while only 39% support it... Obama initially called the war in Afghanistan one of necessity, and proposed a big US troop increase. But with voter support slipping, Obama now says he will not rush the decision. Democratic Congressmen say in private that US withdrawal is a matter of time... ...do not be surprised if the coming year witnesses contacts between the US and Taliban to...

Navy to launch stealth destroyer tomorrow INS Kochi has advanced stealth features that make it less vulnerable to detection by enemy radar. Its weapons system include the nuclear capable supersonic BrahMos surface-to-surface missile and Long Range Surface-to-Air missiles The Indian Navy is scheduled to launch a stealth destroyer capable of carrying nuclear warheads here on Friday. The 6,500-tonne warship INS Kochi was indigenously built by Mumbai-based Mazagon Dock Ltd and designed by the Directorate of Naval Design. It will add to the existing Delhi class fleet comprising INS Delhi, INS Mysore and INS Mumbai, according to a press release. In...

GE plans to source parts from India for F-16 engine BS Reporter / Chennai/ Bangalore September 17, 2009, 0:22 IST General Electric (GE), which is in contention as the engine supplier for the medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) contract of the IAF with three of its engines, is keen on sourcing components from Indian industry. GE said, it will manufacture, assemble and test the engine, if any of its partner wins the contract, at the Hindusthan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The global engine manufacturing behemoth said it will get many of its engine components manufactured by local firms. GE’s F110-GE-132 turbofan...

The issue of violence against Indians in Australia is back on centre stage in India, where media reports say three Indian men were set upon by a 70-strong mob in Melbourne at the weekend. But Victoria Police dispute the numbers and say around 15 people were seen outside the Epping pub where the bashing occurred. The attack comes as Victoria's Premier John Brumby prepares to go on a mission to India to help repair Australia's reputation. The attack barely rated a mention in Australia, but it is headline news for some Indian media outlets. The brother-in-law of two of the...

Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser and assistant to US President Barack Obama [ Images ], accompanied by Maria Otero, the Undersecretary for Democracy and Global Affairs in the US State Department, visited Dharamshala [ Images ] on September 14, and met the Dalai Lama [ Images ] and Samdhong Rinpoche, the prime minister of the Tibetan-government-in-exile. The Dalai Lama is to visit the US next month in response to long-pending invitations from US non-governmental organisations supporting the Tibetan cause. During the course of his stay, he had also planned to visit Washington, DC and his supporters in the US were...

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says his government is losing the battle against Maoist rebels. More than 500 people have been killed in clashes between the rebels and government forces this year. Dr Singh has told a national gathering of police chiefs that Maoist rebels now pose the gravest threat to India's internal security. He says security forces have not achieved much success and need a new strategy. Dr Singh says the insurgency cannot simply be treated as a law and order problem, but instead deserves a holistic approach. The rebels are now active in 20 states across India, particularly...

NEW DELHI: Is a repeat of the 1962 Sino-India war looming large? Though played down by the Indian government for diplomatic reasons, 30,000 additional troops – with weaponry and artillery support – are being rushed to the country’s northeast region bordering China. Indian troops deployed on the disputed border with China are also being reinforced, following the second incursion in the Ladakh region in the last eight months. More worrisome for India is the Chinese claim on Arunachal Pradesh and repeated incursions into border villages and reports of a Chinese military exercise involving 50,000 troops in Tibet. A highway built...

In a nod to the Year of the Priest's goal -- well, one of 'em -- "to advance [the clergy] along the path of Christian perfection," the leadership of India's 4-million member Syro-Malybar church released a set of protocols yesterday encouraging simplicity among the ordained: "It is time for introspection," says Auxiliary Bishop Sebastian Adayanthrath of Ernakulam-Angamaly who issued the guidelines on Sept. 13 as part of the archdiocese's observation of the Year for Priests. The Syro-Malabar prelate told UCA News he prepared the code after consulting priests and lay people. "It's an attempt to remind priests what is...

Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan - It's 8 o'clock on a Sunday night in the Pakistani capital, but collection cowboy Sharoon Hermoon is living on U.S. time. Headset in place, feet on his desk, he aims his speed dialer at a debtor in Fort Worth, Texas. "Hello, ma'am, how ya doin' today?" he says in a convincing American accent. "My name is James Harold and you owe us $11,000." There's a deer-in-the-headlights moment at the other end, then a deep breath, then a torrent of excuses. "I don't know what you're talking about," she says. "It's someone else. My husband's identity...

September 14, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - India's feminists and population control-pushing government are "stumped" by the dramatic drop of female births among the wealthier classes due to sex-selective abortions, reports the Globe and Mail's Indian correspondent Stephanie Nolen.Due to a 'son preference' in Indian culture, the use of new technologies to detect and abort baby girls has become widespread. Technically it has been illegal in India to tell couples the sex of their unborn child or to abort based on sex since 1994.  This law, however, is rarely enforced.  Consequently, sex-selective abortion practices are rampant and the ratio of girls to...

The United States today said it is taking seriously revelations by former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf that aid provided by America for the war against terrorism was diverted during his tenure to strengthen defences against India. A state department official said the US takes all such allegations seriously and there is a procedure to investigate any violation, diversion of its aid by any country. But the official refused to confirm if any investigation in this regard was in place with respect to Pakistan. At the same time, he said, the allegations were not specific and as of now the US...

A Chinese military expert has accused India of "violating" Beijing's diplomatic rights and "spying" on its military ware while inspecting the cargo plane of the United Arab Emirates air force which was detained in Kolkata. "The actions by Indian authorities violated diplomatic rights as the cargo on board belong to China," Dai Xu, a renowned military expert, said. "Any inspection onboard, which may have violated China's property rights and constituted spying on its military secrets, should be approved by both the UAE and China," Dai was quoted as saying by the state-run Global Times. It also quoted an unnamed military...

US clears Hawkeye E-2D aircraft for India Gulshan Luthra, Indo-Asian News Service New Delhi, September 13, 2009 The US government has cleared yet another high technology system for India, the "futuristic" shipboard Hawkeye E-2D aircraft for Airborne Early Warning (AEW) and battle management. The clearance has been described by diplomatic sources as a fallout of the "successful" visit of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the signing of the End User Monitoring Agreement (EUMA) of military equipment being supplied or sold by the US to India. Like the Boeing P 8I Maritime Multi-mission Aircraft (MMA), of which the Indian Navy...

LAHORE: Former Pakistan president General Pervez Musharraf has blamed India for the formation of terror groups such as the JeM. Talking to a private television channel, Musharraf said it was the oppression of Muslims in India by the Hindus which forced the Pakistani youth to take up militancy and extremism and form terrorist groups such as JeM. Musharraf also defended his action of supporting the United States in its ‘war on terror’ post 9/11 attack saying Pakistan’s existence could have been endangered if he would have not done so.

Those who argue that all religions are essentially the same reveal the fact that they know little about these very different belief systems. The worldview of Christianity is, for example, radically different from the belief structure of Buddhism (some forms of which may actually claim to resist the very idea of beliefs). These differences in belief systems are apparent in Lisa Miller's recent article for Newsweek. As she explains, "A million-plus Hindus live in the United States, a fraction of the billion who live on Earth. But recent poll data show that conceptually, at least, we are slowly becoming more...

In less than one year, China and India will celebrate six decades of bilateral relations capped by festivities in their respective country. This period, however, has been marked by a border war in 1962 that precipitated a long phase of antagonism and hostility between the two sides. Yet, there were several positive trends in their bilateral relations since the late 1980s that buoy the decline in mutual trust: regular high level political interactions; increasing bilateral trade that may reach $60 billion in 2010; boundary demarcation talks since 2003; and joint military exercises, which included two ‘anti terror’ exercises in 2007...

America is not a Christian nation. We are, it is true, a nation founded by Christians, and according to a 2008 survey, 76 percent of us continue to identify as Christian (still, that's the lowest percentage in American history). Of course, we are not a Hindu—or Muslim, or Jewish, or Wiccan—nation, either. A million-plus Hindus live in the United States, a fraction of the billion who live on Earth. But recent poll data show that conceptually, at least, we are slowly becoming more like Hindus and less like traditional Christians in the ways we think about God, our selves, each...