A historic moment for India as NSG gives it the nod

In a historic moment that ended more than three decades of nuclear isolation for India, the 45-nation
Nuclear Suppliers Group Saturday rewrote their guidelines to resume global nuclear trade with New Delhi.
The NSG’s decision to grant India a clean waiver from its existing rules, which forbid nuclear trade with a country which has not
signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), came Saturday afternoon after three days of intense diplomacy by the US
and India in the nuclear cartel that controls the global flow of nuclear fuel and technologies.
The nuclear deal is now headed for the US Congress, which meets September 8 to discuss an approval for the 123 India-US
bilateral agreement which will bring the landmark nuclear deal to its closure over three years after it was first conceptualised.
The two countries are expected to formally sign the bilateral pact, likely when Manmohan Singh goes to Washington towards
the end of September, that will restore nuclear trade with the US after a gap of 34 years.
Economic sanctions were imposed by the US and the rest of the world when India first conducted its nuclear test in 1974.
The NSG’s waiver also frees India to sign bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreements with France and Russia, leading
advocates of the nuclear deal, who also used their clout to win over sceptics in the nuclear cartel.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is set to sign bilateral civil nuclear cooperation with France when he goes to Paris for bilateral
talks Sep 30 after attending the India-EU summit in the coastal resort town of Marseilles.
The bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Russia, which was finalized last year and iniatialled early this year, will
be signed when Russian President Dmitry Medvedev comes to New Delhi in November this year.
The NSG had extended their two-day meeting in Vienna Friday by another day after marathon negotiations that went well past
midnight failed to bring sceptics around to back the nuclear deal.
Some sceptics in the nuclear club like Austria, Ireland and New Zealand, known for their hardline non-proliferation stance,
resisted till the last minute appeals by the US to accommodate India inside the global non-proliferation tent.
Austria and New Zealand, which were also supported by Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Switzerland, had insisted
that provisions be included in the draft on the proposed waiver that will allow NSG to terminate nuclear business with India if it
conducted another test.
India’s External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s statement Thursday re-affirming New Delhi’s commitment to a ‘voluntary
moratorium’ on future testing boosted India’s case in the NSG and was praised as ‘very significant’ by NSG.
‘This is a very significant statement which was discussed by members of the NSG and praised and welcomed by those in
attendance,’ US Assistant Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Affairs John Rood told reporters at the end of
the of Friday’s morning session of the NSG.
He added: ‘On the basis of this a positive momentum has been generated in the discussion and as I said before we remain
committed to achieving the objective and remain optimistic that we can achieve that.’
‘We remain committed to a voluntary, unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing. We do not subscribe to any arms race, including
a nuclear arms race,’ Mukherjee said in his statement issued in New Delhi before the NSG met for the second day in Vienna.
The minister’s statement and the existing guideline in the NSG that provides for termination of commerce with a country that
violates the rules and conducts a test were highlighted during Friday’s discussions among the members to convince the
sceptics who are opposed to a ‘clean waiver’ for India.
However, in the end the US’ arguments about the merits of accommodating India, the world’s most populous democracy and a
rising economy, in the global non-proliferation order prevailed. Washington also managed to convince sceptics about India’s
impeccable record in non-proliferation and how making an exception for India will be a net gain for the global non-proliferation regime.

Aid agencies are warning of the threat of disease in Bihar

Aid agencies are warning of the threat of disease in India’s Bihar State, which has been hit by devastating floods.  the floods have displaced an estimated three million people and killed at least 90 people.

Villagers wade through floodwaters towards safer areas near Saharsa, about 280 kilometers (175 miles) northeast of Patna, India, 02 Sep 2008

After being evacuated from flooded villages spread across the state, nearly a quarter of a million people have been housed in makeshift relief camps in Bihar State. Thousands more are pouring into the shelters, every day, as authorities step up the rescue operation.

Aid workers say the camps are cramped and overcrowded. The United Nations has warned that the heat, combined with limited supplies of safe drinking water and poor hygiene, pose a great risk of water and airborne diseases.

The coordinator for emergency operations in Bihar for the United Nations Children’s Fund, Mukesh Puri, says facilities in relief camps must improve, to ward off the threat of epidemics.

“The doctors are there, but we do notice that there is an increase in cases of diarrhea, in particular,” he said. “Apart from providing food and other basic amenities, proper hygienic conditions have to be maintained and clean drinking water has to be provided. Particularly vulnerable groups like small children and pregnant women, their needs have to be taken care of, which is a challenge in such trying conditions.”

The floods started two weeks ago when the Kosi River breached a dam in Nepal. The river then shifted course, and flood waters spread across parts of Nepal and Bihar, including areas never threatened by floods before. Many people are still waiting to be rescued.

Bihar’s chief minister says the humanitarian crisis is likely to be extremely serious for several weeks, because the waters are not likely to recede anytime soon. Bihar is one of India’s poorest and least developed states.

UNICEF’s Puri says the aid effort will have to be sustained for a long time and among communities not used to coping with flooding.

“The challenging part is these camps will stay there for three months or up to six months. This is a different kind of flood,” he said. “Generally water goes away after 15-20 days. This time the people who have been hit, they have never had floods in the last 30 years, so they are not quite prepared in any sense for this kind of a devastation.”

Nepal is coping with the aftermath of the flooding. Aid workers there have reported outbreaks of fever, pneumonia and diarrhea among the flood victims.

Floods usually sweep across South Asia during the monsoon season, from June to September, making millions of people homeless, killing hundreds, and destroying farmland.

Apple Computer’s iPhone 3G launch in India

Apple Computer’s iPhone 3G launch in India to act as a catalyst for 3G mobile market The launch of the much-awaited iPhone 3G by Apple Computer’s has changed the face of the
Indian telecom market. Priced at US$ 700, the phone will be marketed in India by Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar.
The phone offers superior sound quality amongst a host of other impressive features: support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, push services (for email, contacts, calendar) and VPN protocols besides a fullyfunctional
GPS system.
The launch of Apple’s iPhone has also triggered a deluge of smartphones from other companies. Mobile phone makers such as Nokia, Samsung, LG, Blackberry, HTC and Motorola have launched smartphones
which will include a host of high-tech features – full web browsing capabilities over Wi-Fi or high-speed data networks – including touchscreens.
With the launch of Apple iPhone 3G, the market for 3G phones is expected to grow at a phenomenal pace. India is likely to have 270 million 3G subscribers by 2013 according to Research agency Strategy Analytics’

VP, Wireless Practice, David A Kerr. Currently, India is the world’s fastest-growing wireless market with nearly 300 million subscribers.

But actual pricing is much high .Sticker price shock has spoiled the launch party of Apple’s iPhone in India, home to the world’s fastest-growing mobile market.The 3G or third generation phone sells for more than triple its US price tag in India — a new key battleground for makers of high-end mobile handsets thanks to its increasingly affluent middle-class.

The 3G or third generation phone sells for more than triple its US price tag in India — a new key battleground for makers of high-end mobile handsets thanks to its increasingly affluent middle-class.

The eight-gigabyte model of the phone, which includes a built-in iPod and a desktop-class web browser, sells for 31,000 rupees (712 dollars), while the 16 GB version goes for 36,100.

“I like its looks, but at that price I can get something cheaper that does as much.”said vijay one of Tech person .

A spokesman for India’s leading mobile company Bharti Airtel — which is selling the iPhone along with rival Vodafone Essar, owned by Britain’s Vodaphone Group Plc — said it was “not possible to give a (sales) trend.”

But, in what appeared to be an attempt to explain away the low buzz surrounding the product, he said the “iPhone is a very aspirational project — it’s not conceived of as a mass device.”

A manager at one New Delhi phone showroom, who did not want his name used, said sales of the iPhone so far were “not very good. We’ve had a few buyers and people just in to look at it.”

The Indian price is far higher than the 199 dollars paid by US customers to the telecom giant AT&T for the phone. AT&T heavily subsidises the phone and makes money by tying the customer to an expensive annual subscription.

But vendors say they are confident the  Apple gadget will find its place in the Indian market despite the higher price and the fact that India has yet to launch 3G networks needed to support faster browsing and downloads.

Supreme Court defines who’s an idiot

Idiot’ is a grossly misused word and an oversimplified epithet, if one goes by the Supreme Court’s brand
new definition of the term. It is almost impossible for a person to qualify as an idiot, says the Court and therefore, few can expect to get a reprieve for an offence.
To be legally accepted as an ‘idiot’, one has to be so dumb as to be unable to count till 20, list the days of the week, or fail to remember the names of one’s parents, the Court said on Friday.
Under Section 84 of the Indian Penal Code, a person is not liable to be prosecuted if they are of unsound mind, or incapable of comprehending the nature of the criminal act and the fact that it is against the law.
The Supreme Court identified just four kinds of people who could be classified mentally unsound — idiots, the very ill,lunatics and drunks.
“An idiot is one who is of non-sane memory from his birth, by a perpetual infirmity, without lucid intervals: and those are said to be idiots who cannot count 20, or tell the days of the week or who do not know their fathers or mothers or the like,” said the judgement by Justices Arijit Pasayat and M K Sharma. They added that it was for the accused to prove they were idiots or otherwise of unsound mind.
The court was dealing with a case from Madhya Pradesh where Hari Singh Gond murdered his grandfather-in-law and then claimed innocence on the grounds of idiocy. The Bench affirmed the lower court orders convicting Gond for the murder.
If the investigating agency came across a history of insanity, it was duty-bound to subject the accused to a medical examination, the judges said. If a medical examination is not done “the benefit of doubt has to be given to the accused”, the judges said.
The MP trial court had refused to accept the accused was mentally unsound even though eyewitnesses reported he behaved in an unusual fashion at the time. Friday’s judgement differentiated between a defendant of unsound mind and mere absence of motive.
“Mere absence of motive for a crime cannot, in the absence of plea and proof of legal insanity, bring the case within Section 84,” it said. “Mere abnormality of mind or partial delusion, irresistible impulse or compulsive behaviour of a psychopath affords no protection under Section 84,” the SC added, affirming the earlier court orders convicting Gond for the murder.

India set to export record quantity of basmati rice

india-emerging-market

India looks set to export a record quantity of basmati rice in the current fiscal. Last month, the official agency monitoring the export of basmati rice issued 658 registration-cum-allocation certificates (RCAC) to traders, enabling them to export 165,148 tonnes of basmati rice worth $252 million (Rs.10.08 billion). In July last year, by contrast, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) had issued only 412 RCACs for exporting 84,926 tonnes of basmati rice. RCAC is a mandatory official approval traders have to acquire for exporting basmati rice. “There is an ever increasing demand for Indian basmati rice, known for superior quality,” Asit Tripathy, chairman and managing director of APEDA, told. “In terms of quality, Indian basmati is matchless. Our quality monitoring and delivery mechanism are good, giving us an edge in the world market,” he said. Some of the major importers of Indian basmati are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Britain, the US, Yemen, Canada, Iran, Germany, Oman, South Africa, France, Syria, Belgium, Australia and Germany. APEDA data shows Saudi Arabia imported 499,584 tonnes, Kuwait 109,067 tonnes and the UAE 104,998 tonnes of Indian basmati in 2006-07. Though in smaller quantities, Indian basmati has also found takers in Uganda, Angola, Congo, Botswana, Fiji, Ghana, Cameroon, Zambia, Romania, Chile and Suriname. India has around 53 per cent share in the global basmati market, and efforts such as buyer-seller meets, and increasing number of trade delegations abroad are being taken to expand the consumer base. Tripathy said between April and July this year, 3,242 RCACs for the export of 904,317 tonnes of basmati were issued, against 1,666 RCACs for 412,103 tonnes in the last corresponding period. It seems the government’s March 31 decision to increase minimum export price (MEP) for basmati to $1,200 per tonne has not impacted global demand for the commodity. “Almost 90 per cent RACs are honoured. As of now, we do not see any reason for a slowdown in the export of basmati rice,” said Navneesh Sharma, deputy general manager, APEDA. At present, basmati is exported to over 130 countries, and the government hopes to tap the huge markets of China and Mexico in a couple of years. “Efforts are on to enter the market of China and Mexico as well,” said Tripathy. As a trial, India had exported 54 tonnes of basmati to China in 2006-07. APEDA’s assessment says India’s export of basmati is increasing 20-30 percent every year. Exports jumped from 848,919 tonnes to 1.05 million tonnes in 2006-07. India had exported 597,793 tonnes in 1998-99. The government has set a production target of 129 million tonnes of basmati and non-basmati rice by 2011-12 on a growth rate of 3.7 percent along with other food grains.

Now life insurance for 40% less

MUMBAI: Life protection has become far more affordable. The cost of
life insurance has come down by up to 40%, with Insurance
Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) reducing the capital
that insurance companies need to sell term policies. For the second
time since the liberalisation of the insurance industry in 2000, there
has been a dramatic reduction in term-insurance rates, making life
protection a great deal cheaper.
Term policies are purely life covers as against endowment policies,
which have a sizeable savings component. While the premium for
endowment policies will also soften, the benefit will be more apparent
on term covers.
Among private life insurance companies, Kotak Life has announced
new rates, while newcomer Aegon Religare has announced term
rates, which, the company says, are the lowest in the industry.
Largest private life insurance company ICICI Prudential Life Insurance
is in the process of lodging new rates. The chief of Life Insurance
Corporation of India (LIC), the largest insurer in the country, said the
Corporation may review its term rates.
Kotak Life Insurance managing director Gaurang Shah said: “Two
developments have led us to reduce our rates. First, we had the
opportunity to review our own claims experience, since we introduced
preferred term for non-smokers six years ago. Also, the revised
solvency margin requirement introduced by IRDA in March has
brought down capital requirement by almost two-thirds, which has
helped bring down rates.”
Aegon Religare Life Insurance, which launched operations earlier this
month, has decided to use competitive pricing on term rates as an
edge. “We had decided to introduce a product with the lowest rate,
which is also supported by our campaign. Given our pricing, it is
possible for a 30-year old to get a Rs 10-lakh cover at only Rs 166 a
month,” said Aegon Religare Life Insurance CEO Rajiv Jamkhedkar.
When contacted, LIC chairman TS Vijayan said LIC was constantly
reviewing its term rates to retain its competitive advantage and any
improvement in mortality was always passed on in the form of lower
term rates.
In a statement issued here, Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance
said the new rates were almost 40% lower than the old rates. “The
rate reduction is partly as a result of the reduced solvency margin
requirements laid down by IRDA. A key player in both the group term
life and individual term life businesses, Kotak Life Insurance is among
the first life insurance companies to pass on this benefit to the
consumer,” the statement said.
However, agents of insurance companies said it is not always possible
to get the standard rates. It is very rare for a person to get standard
rates above the age of 40 with a few private companies, since these
companies have a very narrow range for various parameters defining
good health. These parameters include weight, blood pressure and
abdominal girth, among other things.

India 3rd on commercial spend list

Annual commercial spending in India clocked $2.3 trillion in 2007, an increase of 23% from
2006, according to data released by Visa, the world’s largest retail electronic payments network.
As per Visa’s Commercial Consumption Expenditure (CCE) index, India was third largest nation in terms of
the size of total business and government spend and the fourth fastest growing in the Asia Pacific (APAC)
region.
The other top economies given the size of their commercial expenditure in the region included Japan ($5.2
trillion), China ($4.9 trillion), South Korea ($2 trillion) and Australia ($1.2 trillion).
The CCE index captures business to business purchases to acquire goods and services used in production,
wholesale and retail purchases of final goods, business capital expenditures and government spending on
goods and services.
It makes adjustments to exclude expenditures such as construction and durable defense spending.
According to the report, which considered 21 economies in the APAC region as a part of the global study,
commercial spending in the region grew by 13% to $18.9 trillion in 2007, while global annual commercial
spending grew 12.2% to an estimated $77.3 trillion from $68.9 trillion in 2006.
India emerged as the fourth fastest growing economy in APAC in terms of total business and government
spend, with an annual increase of 23%. The top three positions were taken by Myanmar (41%), Hong Kong
(36.5 %) and Singapore (35 %).
“The markets across Asia Pacific are varied in terms of their stages of development and usage of
commercial card products,” said Visa Commercial Solutions, Director (Asia Pacific), John Hazlewood

Mobile Subscriber In India

In Praise of India

WHAT WORLD SAY ABOUT INDIA

In 1835, even Lord Macaulay, the British historian and politician had to admit before the British Parliament: “I have travelled across the length and breadth of India  and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such caliber… the very backbone of this nation, which  is her spiritual and cultural heritage…..”

1. Will Durant, American historian: “India was the motherland of our race, and Sanskrit the mother of Europe’s languages: she was the mother of our philosophy; mother, through the Arabs, of much of our mathematics; mother, through the Buddha, of the ideals embodied in Christianity; mother, through the village community, of self-government and democracy. Mother India is in many ways the mother of us all”.

2. Mark Twain, American author: “India is, the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition. our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only.”

3. Albert Einstein, scientist: “We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.”

4. Max Mueller, German scholar: If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully developed some of its choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest problems of life, and has found solutions, I should point to India.

5. Romain Rolland, French scholar : “If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India.”

6. Hu Shih, former Ambassador of China to USA: “India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border.”

7. Mark Twain: “So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked.”

8. Keith Bellows, VP – National Geographic Society : “There are some parts of the world that, once visited, get into your heart and won’t go. For me, India is such a place. When I first visited, I was stunned by the richness of the land, by its lush beauty and exotic architecture, by its ability to overload the senses with the pure, concentrated intensity of its colors, smells, tastes, and sounds… I had been seeing the world in black & white and, when brought face-to-face with India, experienced everything re-rendered in brilliant technicolor.”

9. Mark Twain: “India has two million gods, and worships them all. In religion all other countries are paupers; India is the only millionaire.”

10. A Rough Guide to India: “It is impossible not to be astonished by India. Nowhere on Earth does humanity present itself in such a dizzying, creative burst of cultures and religions, races and tongues. Enriched by successive waves of migration and marauders from distant lands, every one of them left an indelible imprint which was absorbed into the Indian way of life. Every aspect of the country presents itself on a massive, exaggerated scale, worthy in comparison only to the superlative mountains that overshadow it. It is this variety which provides a breathtaking ensemble for experiences that is uniquely Indian. Perhaps the only thing more difficult than to be indifferent to India would be to describe or understand India completely. There are perhaps very few nations in the world with the enormous variety that India has to offer. Modern day India represents the largest democracy in the world with a seamless picture of unity in diversity unparalleled anywhere else.”

11. Romain Rolland quotes (French writer, 1866-1944)If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India.”