Manmohan Singh congratulates new Pak PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday hailed appointment of Raja Pervez Ashraf as new Prime Minister of Pakistan.

In his congratulatory message to Pervez, Singh said, “I would like to extend to you my heartiest congratulations on your appointment as Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. On behalf of the people and Government of India and also on my own behalf, I convey to you our best wishes for success in your new assignment as well as for the peace, prosperity and well-being of the people of Pakistan under your leadership.”

Singh also expressed confidence that during his (Pervez’s) terms as PM, both countries would continue to make progress through bilateral dialogues on all issues and improve relation by strengthening cooperation in all areas that benefit both countries.

Singh expressed keen desire to work with Pervez Ashraf to further relations with Pakistan.

Unbelievably Cute

US exempts India from Iran sanctions

Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton Monday notified that Indiaalong with six other nations will get exemption from Iran sanctions. Six nations besides India to be exempted  are Malaysia, Republic of Korea,South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Turkey in return for significant reduction of crude oil purchase from Iran.

Clinton said in a statement, “I will report to the Congress that sanctions pursuant to Section 1245(d)(1) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 will not apply to their financial institutions for a potentially renewable period of 180 days.”

She acknowledged the sanctions were imposed to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and to encourage Iran to comply with its international obligations. She added, “By reducing Iran’s oil sales, we are sending a decisive message to Iran’s leaders: until they take concrete actions to satisfy the concerns of the international community, they will continue to face increasing isolation and pressure.”

Clinton held that the United States remains committed to a dual-track policy that offers Iran the chance to engage seriously with the international community to resolve concerns over its (Iran’s) nuclear program through negotiations with the P5+1. Hillary commended Iran for its ability to address these concerns and urged its leaders to take concrete steps during the next round of talks in Moscow.

Under a law approved last year, the US starting on June 28 will penalize foreign financial institutions over transactions withIran's central ban.

In March, the US granted exceptions to Japan and 10 EU countries for significantly cutting purchases.

Acknowledging the US notification exempting Indian financial institutions from the application of the provisions of U.S. domestic law, Ministry of External affairs Spokesperson, Syed Akbaruddin said, "India and the United States have a growing strategic partnership. The India-US Strategic Dialogue on June 13 will once again demonstrate the strength of our relationship and the extraordinary breadth of our bilateral cooperation, based on our shared values and convergent interests."

External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna will have a restricted meeting with Secretary Clinton on June 13 before they chair the Plenary Session, which will have discussions on five themes:

• Strategic, Defence, Homeland Security, Counter-terrorism and Intelligence
• Economic, Energy, Climate
• S&T, Innovation and Health
• Higher Education and Empowerment
• Regional Strategies and linkages.

Nepal Prime Minister comes under fire

Fresh trouble mounted for Nepal Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai a day after he was reduced to a caretaker. A case is filed against him in the Supreme Court terming his move of assembly dissolution and announcement of assembly elections in Nov as unconstitutional. 

 He appears to have lost ground after Constituent Assembly dissolution. Thousands of students and youth have come out on streets in Kathmandu burning effigies of Bhattarai, demanding his removal towards formation of national consensus government.

 Nepal President Rama Baran Yadav Tuesday directed Bhattarai to serve as caretaker Prime Minister till the new government is formed

The President Statement, recommending all the political parties to move ahead through consensus in view of political crisis in the country, was issued after series of consultations he held with senior lawyer and members of Nepal Bar Association.

 Nepal's four major political parties met Sunday in an effort to build consensus on the constitution drafting before midnight deadline and ward off dissolution of the Constituent Assembly. Failing to promulgate the Constitution, the Constituent Assembly was dissolved, pushing the country into a fresh political crisis.


The Constituent Assembly was elected to a two-year term in 2008 to draft a new constitution but has not been able to finish the task within stipulated time. Its tenure has been extended four times. The Supreme Court two weeks back rejected a three-month extension proposed by the cabinet and asked political parties to complete it by May 27 deadline.

The four main parties’ attempt to resolve differences over whether the states proposed in the constitution should be determined on the basis of ethnicity proved to be a failure.

 Baburam Bhattarai Sunday morning called on President Ram Baran Yadav and briefed him about the latest political development. The President asked Bhattarai to finalize the constitution in order to avert the dissolution.

 Observing the political crisis in Nepal, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Syed Akbaruddin said, "We are closely monitoring developments in Nepal. We note the new Constitution could not be promulgated within the extended term of the Constitution Assembly.”

 While responding to a media query on recent developments in Nepal, he said,"We have confidence in the democratic commitment and wisdom of the people of Nepal, which has led to considerable progress of the constitution making process."

 "We hope that the political parties of Nepal would continue to be guided by the spirit of consensus and peaceful dialogue in their efforts to transform Nepal into a stable, democratic and prosperous nation," he said, adding that India stands ready to assist, according to the wishes of the people of Nepal.

Manmohan invites Suu Kyi to India

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today invited Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to India.

Discussion between the two lasted for 45 minutes on the last day of his visit to Myanmar.

 ”I sincerely hope that she will find it possible to visit India soon. In this context I have handed over to her the invitation letter to deliver the next Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Lecture which is a very prestigious lecture. Mrs. Sonia Gandhi has written an invitation letter to Madam (Suu Kyi) to do us the honour to deliver this lecture in India. ” said Singh.

 Admiring her struggle and determination in inspiring millions of people, Singh held that he believed Suu Kyi would play a defining role in National Reconciliation launched by Myanmar President Thein Sein.

 "We in India are very proud of the very long-standing association with her (Suu Kyi) and the members of her family," Singh said.

 Myanmar democracy icon Suu Kyi in principle accepted the invitation and said,” I am very gratified by the invitation to deliver the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Lecture, and I hope that I will be able to take up this invitation before too long. ”

 Nobel laureate Suu Kyi recalled close association she and her family had with Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and other Indian leaders. “My parents were great admirers of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and other Indian leaders, but we were particularly close to Panditji as I was taught to call him from a very young age. “ said Suu Kyi.

 "India and Burma have been friends not only because of geographical proximity but also because of shared values, heritage and fight for independence," she said. Suu Kyi emphasized on the need of exchanges between the two peoples as this would form the basis of true friendship between countries.

Tomfoolery is indeed fun

Why do we watch sitcoms? For information? No. For education? Nope. For awareness? Certainly not. We become couch potatoes only for three reasons, testified by Vidya Balan, ENTERTAINMENT, ENTERTAINMENT AND ENTERTAINMENT. But of late certain TV shows are produced not for the purpose of entertaining the viewer but to defraud him. One such show is "Bollywood Dhamaal" aired everyday on E24 at 10 pm. Viewers are shown a picture of an actor from the Indian film industry and are asked to guess the name of the personality. This picture has some part of the face hidden or is a combination of two half faces. Zoom also has a similar show for the 11 pm daily slot. The picture is clear to the extent that even a seven-year-old kid can guess the name of the celebrity. Yesterday, while surfing through the entertainment channels, I decided to sit through this show for once. This time, they showed picture of Akshay Kumar with only his eyes hidden.



         The show went on and on but no one in India could guess it to be Akshay. As many as 20 people from all over the country called and came up names such as Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Irfan Khan, Raghuvir Yadav etc. After the presenter gave a clue that the name of the actor begins with 'A', the answers that came were hilarious, starting with Aditya Pancholi, Aamir Khan, Ajay Devgan, Arjun Rampal, Aditya Chopra, Asif Sheikh etc.

Apparently, the calls were made from the studios of the show by the people of their own production team. If you call the number flashing on the screen, you are charged Rs. 12 per minute. You will not be connected immediately to the anchor but will be put on a long hold. While on hold, you would be asked questions such as whether you like a particular song or a movie or would like to listen to Bollywood gossip. While you are negotiating there, the producers are making the moolah at the rate of Rs 12 per minute.
But indeed the role of the anchor is commendable. She has no script in hand and no teleprompter. Dressed in flashy outfits, she goes on weaving meaningless sentences around the one-liner "Come on, pick up the phone and guess the celebrity." But she manages to say the same sentence in a thousand different ways.
At times, she goes silent and starts moving fingers through her hair or her itsy bitsy dress. It is also a delight to see her scratching her arms or rubbing her hands together or tapping her forehead in between bouts of silence. But mind you, not everyone can do this.
The prize money is Rs. 50,000 at the time the show starts but suddenly in the middle of the show, the amount is raised to Rs. one lac and towards the end of the show, it is further increased as per the whims and fancies of the producers. Most interestingly, just two to five minutes before this circum wraps up, the prize money is reduced to a ridiculous Rs. 4000. Just when half a minute is left, a caller (perhaps the producer himself) invariably manages to "supply" the right name and gets the prize of Rs 4000.
If you see someone making a guess of Sridevi over the picture of Anil Kapoor, wouldnt that be entertainment. For sure, it would be. Tomfoolery is indeed fun!

Living Nature

Dog: Man's best friend

Parties oppose petrol price hike

Indian state-run oil firms Wednesday announced the sharpest ever hike in petrol prices to offset growing losses caused by subsidized rates, rises in the international oil price and a sinking rupee. Petrol prices are hiked by Rs. 7.54. The increase is put at 6.28 rupees excluding local sales tax or VAT which will mean a 7.54-rupee hike for consumers in cities such as New Delhi from Thursday including taxes.

	Yesterday's price (Rs)	Today's price (Rs)
Delhi	65.64	73.18
Mumbai	70.65	78.57
Chennai	69.55	77.53
Kolkata	70.03	77.87

Country's largest refiner, Indian Oil Corp, in a statement, said it was compelled to hike the price after sustaining losses of 10.5 billion rupees since the start of the current financial year.

"Given the losses being incurred, the company is compelled to increase the price of petrol by Rs.6.28 per litre (excluding VAT/Sales Tax) with effect from midnight," it said.

"This excludes losses already suffered till date during current financial year 2012-13, which would require an additional increase of around Rs.1.50 per litre in selling price of motor spirit (MS) for balance part of the year," Indian Oil Corp said. 

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee upheld that the decision was taken by oil companies as petrol is a deregulated commodity

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government deregulated petrol prices in 2010 in a reform aimed at reducing the massive subsidies it pays to state-run fuel refiners which rely on imported energy.

NDA to protest

Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) opposed the steep hike and called for a nation wide bandh on May 31.

NDA convenor and Janata Dal (United) President Sharad Yadav said that all the partners of the opposition alliance have been consulted in this regard and the alliance will urge other parties also to join in and support the bandh.
He enquired why the hike in petrol prices was not announced when Parliament was in session and why oil companies did so the very next day after the session got over.
"Government has washed his hands off the decision on price hike but in reality it happens only when the Government wants. The Government will also be increasing prices of diesel and LPG after the Presidential elections get over," Yadav said.
He accused the Government of its failure in checking prices of essential commodities.
"Common people are suffering due to wrong policies of the UPA Government. Prices of commodities are rising uncontrollably making it difficult for an average Indian to make both ends meet," he said.
This Government is pro-rich and not bothered about the poor, he charged.

 BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar described the hike in petrol price as “atrocious and unbelievable” and demanded immediate roll back.

He termed hike in fuel prices as the gift of UPA II government to common man on its 3rd anniversary.

"If the Rupee is depreciated, it is not the fault of the people. It is due to wrong economic policies followed by UPA government. It is the punishment to the people for wrongdoings of UPA," he said. 

Mamata against, but not to withdraw support 

West Bengal Chief Minister   Mamata  Banerjee  criticized the hike, calling it unjust and unilateral but simultaneously making it clear that her party would not withdraw support from UPA Government.

 "It is unjust and unilateral. We think it is an easy option to burden the people. We cannot accept the price hike burden on the people," Mamata told reporters. 

She outrageously questioned why the price was hiked just a day after Parliament session ended.

She clarified her party was not consulted. "We have not been consulted on the price hike nor on the prevailing economic situation in the country. Why was there no consultation?" she said.

 Jayalalitha slams Government 

AIADMK Supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha slammed the Congress-led UPA government for hiking petrol price.

In her statement, she said, “It imposes an unbearable burden on the people, particularly the common people and the middle class is already reeling under the impact of high inflation. Is this the gift which UPA government wanted to give the people after completing three years in power?”

Karunanidhi demands roll back

 DMK president M Karunanidhi said his party was not consulted before decision was taken as it is not possible to discuss all the decision with alliance political leader and said he would urge the Centre for immediate roll back of this hike in petrol price. 

Have you ever seen this!