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PM
says global economic downturn nearing its end
New Delhi:
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on Tuesday said,
that the global economic downturn is coming to an end, though
slowly. "We have been through a difficult year because of
the global economic downturn which is only now coming to
end with a slow return to normalcy in the months that lie
ahead," Dr. Singh said in his opening remarks chairing the
meeting of the full Planning Commission, which is assessing
the economy and status of Integrated Energy Policy (IEP).
Dr Singh also said the country has also seen a poor monsoon.
"I felt it would be useful for the Planning Commission to
present its assessment of the overall economic situation
to the Minister Members of the Commission," he said. He
also reviewed India's energy policy. "Energy is vital to
our economic growth. This is an area where we are a deficit
economy. We import over 70 percent of our petroleum energy
needs and are also moving to a deficit position in coal,"
Dr Singh said. "Rational energy policies are also critical
for rational responses to the threat of climate change.
This is a new compulsion and we need to assess whether we
are on track in critical aspects of our energy policy,"
he added. He said each energy sub-sector in India was the
domain of a different ministry, which often meant non-symmetric
policy stance. In other words, the principles being adopted
to determine policy in one sector are not the same as in
another. "The Integrated Energy Policy document that was
approved by the Cabinet in December 2008 contained a number
of recommendations covering different sub-sectors. I thought
it would be useful for the Planning Commission to present
an assessment of how these recommendations have been implemented,"
he added. The Planning Commission's meeting comes a day
after the country's top economic minds agreed that India's
economy is looking up after the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
showed a 6.1 per cent growth. India witnessed a 7.8 percent
economic expansion during the corresponding period of the
last fiscal. According to sources, mining and electricity
in industrial sector, and financing among services sector
posted higher growth of 7.9, 6.2 and 8.1 percent, respectively,
in the first quarter of this fiscal, against 4.6, 2.7 and
6.9 percent a year ago. Infrastructure development and community
services also managed to register a growth of 7.1 and 6.8
percent against 8.4 and 8.2 percent, in the last fiscal.
However, agriculture and manufacturing industry expanded
at a slower rate of 2.4 and 3.4 percent respectively.
Cross-LoC
firing kills army soldier in Jammu and Kashmir Top
Srinagar:
A soldier was killed in firing from across the border at
a forward post along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu
and Kashmir's Poonch District in the wee hours on Tuesday,
Army officials said. According to reports, the soldier has
been identified as Lance Naik Dag Bahadur Gurung. A senior
Army official said that it was an unprovoked firing, and
the Indian Army didn't retaliate. It is believed to be the
fourth case of ceasefire violation by Pakistan in this sector
this year. Defence Minister A.K. Antony had last year stated
that Pakistan had violated the ceasefire over 30 times since
it was agreed between India and Pakistan in November 2003.
Anand
Jon sentenced to 59 years: Sister threatens hunger-strike
Top
New Delhi:
Sanjana Jon, sister of celebrity fashion designer Anand
Jon has appealed to the Government of India to intervene
in the case of her brother, failing which she would go on
hunger-strike. On Monday, Los Angeles Superior Court sentenced
Anand Jon to 59 years in prison for sexually assaulting
aspiring models as young as 14 years in age. Sanajana said
that she would observe a hunger strike, if her pleas for
help at the inter-governmental level were not paid heed
to. "My appeal is for intervention and I have said if I
don't get any help, my only resort, last resort would be
to sit on a hunger strike till my voice is heard," said
Sanjana Jon. In Bangalore, Anand Jon's fashion designer
friend and stage artiste, Prasad Bidappa expressed sorrow
at the American court's judgement. "Anand Jon case, I find
particularly sad because I feel he was truly a very good
talent; somebody who, I think, was taking India's torch
forward in terms of fashion. I feel very sad that it had
to come to an end like this," said Prasad Bidappa.
Last November, thirty
five-year-old Jon was found guilty of 16 counts, including
rape, sexual battery and performing lewd acts on a child.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Wesley sentenced
Jon to 59 years to life after denying his motions for a
new trial. Prosecutors said the crimes started in 2001 when
Jon set up a fashion design business through which he lured
would-be models to Los Angeles. Later, the police got involved
in March 2007 after a woman said she was sexually assaulted
at his Beverly Hills apartment. Jon, whose full name is
Anand Jon Alexander, denied the charges. His lawyers said
the girls and young women were revenge seekers who had made
up their stories or who had 'invited what happened', and
that in the case, there had been least physical evidence.
The India-born designer was profiled on the TV show 'America's
Next Top Model' in 2003 and selected by Newsweek magazine
as one of the world's most successful South Asians in 2004.
The designer's
mother Shashi Jon said, "He is not capable of doing anything
like this.This was beyond my belief that Anand has been
taken in and arrested on charges of molestation". Their
family's lawyer Majid Memon said, "It is very sad that this
young boy, a celebrity from India, has to be left like this
and being now convicted and sentenced to suffer for the
whole of his life." Times Now quoted Memon as saying that
all the girls alleging rape or molestation don't have a
"scratch on their body to suggest that there was any resistance
or any violence by the accused. Moreover, the complaints
have been lodged weeks and even months after the incidents.
So definitely this is a very dubious kind of a charge and
unfortunately Anand was left alone and there was hardly
any help. Jon's mother and sister will now move for an appeal,"
Memon said. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Wesley
today announced that Jon must serve 14 years in state prison
-- before he begins to serve a 45-year-to-life sentence.
The designer has been featured on the television show "America's
Next Top Model" and worked with such celebrities as Paris
Hilton and Mary J Blige.
London: India-born
Anand Jon Alexander has been jailed for a minimum of 59
years for sexually assaulting aspiring models. The 35-year
old lured models to his flat with promises of work. He was
found guilty to 16 sex crimes at a trial in November. His
victims, some of whom gave evidence in court, ranged in
age from 14 to 21, reports Sky News. Alexander preyed on
a string of girls and women over a six-year period from
2002 to 2007, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said Alexander
often found women online, baited them with promises of glamorous
photoshoots and other modelling work, only to assault or
rape them at his Beverly Hills apartment. The designer was
featured on the US television show America's Next Top Model.
September 1, 2009
Pak
says it is ready to probe US charge of Harpoon missile fraud
Top
Islamabad:
Pakistan on Tuesday said that it is ready to conduct any
investigation on a charge made by the United States with
regard to the alleged modification of Harpoon missiles.
Earlier, a New York Times report had said that the Obama
administration had lodged a diplomatic protest with Pakistan
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani over the alleged alterations
to the anti-ship missiles Islamabad bought in the 1980s
thus making them capable of hitting land based targets and
posing a threat to India. US Assistant Secretary of State
for Public Affairs PJ Crowley said that the Obama Administration
has taken up the matter with Pakistan. "This is something
that we take very seriously. We have raised the issue with
the Pakistani government. The (Pakistan) government has
responded with an agreement in principle for mutually agreed
inspections," Crowley revealed. "In this particular case,
we have some concerns. We shared them with the government
of Pakistan. The Government of Pakistan has been responsive,"
he said, adding "We would wait and see if those inspections
can address the concerns that we have raised." The Indian
Government too had raised concerns about this development
during Admiral Nirmal Verma's takeover as the new chief
of naval staff on Monday. His predecessor Admiral Sureesh
Mehta had also raised similar concerns. Pakistan till now
has rejected Washington's claims and said the accusations
were part of a campaign to "malign it" and its armed forces.
A statement from Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said that it
"categorically rejected" the article in The New York Times
and that there were no modifications made to the missiles
under reference. The US has sold a total of 165 Harpoon
missiles to Pakistan. The missiles were provided to Pakistan
by the US administration as a defensive weapon in the Cold
War era.
US
report reveals Pak enhancing nuke weapon capability to target
India Top
Washington:
Top US nuclear scientists have shockingly revealed in a
report that Pakistan is enhancing its nuclear weapons and
production capabilities. According to the report, which
is yet to enter the public domain, Pakistan is readying
a new nuclear capable ballistic missile for deployment and
two nuclear capable cruise missiles. It also says that Pakistan
is building two new plutonium production reactors and a
second chemical separation facility at Chasma, Khushab and
Dera Ghazi Khan in southern Punjab. Pakistan is also renewing
work on a partially built separation plant at Chasma. It
is believed that this secretive and substantial arsenal
build-up is targeted at India. Based on official estimates
of Pakistan's current uranium and plutonium technology,
scientists had so far thought the country far short of having
a 100 nuclear warheads in its kitty. The new report, however,
suggests that Pakistan has exceeded earlier estimates, and
from being able to build 30-40 nuclear weapons it actually
could possess as many as 70-90 - a disturbing figure from
India's point of view and that of the US, currently debating
financial and military aid to its friend in keeping with
the AFPAK agreement. Moreover, if this report is true Pakistan
is clearly going beyond the moratorium existing as an unwritten
code of conduct in South Asia to halt the arms race.
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