Copenhagen Stumbles in Haripur Nuclear Project and Replayed SINGUR Game! Say no to nuclear plant, Mahasweta tells tribals!

Copenhagen Stumbles in Haripur Nuclear Project and Replayed SINGUR Game!
Say no to nuclear plant, Mahasweta tells tribals!

Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams, Chapter 430

Palash Biswas

http://indianholocaustmyfatherslifeandtime.blogspot.com/

Weather exacts too high a price
India among top 10 losers
Bangladesh, India and China are in the league of top 10 countries where extreme weather events claim the largest number of lives, the first analysis of the impact of climate change over the past 18 years has shown. ... | Read..

Saran to be back to brief PM
India’s lead negotiator Shyam Saran is returning to New Delhi to update Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the deliberations in Copenhagen. ... | Read..
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091209/jsp/frontpage/story_11841047.jsp

08/12/2009
Drought threatens the world's mightiest river - the Amazon

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The river is surprisingly sensitive to drought, according to new research conducted throughout the world's largest tropical forest.

Drought threatens the world's mightiest river - the Amazon

On a daily basis the drought kills tonnes of Amazon fish and other animals that are dependent on the world's widest river system; as the seasonal drought worsens to one of the worst in recent years.

http://news.in.msn.com/gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=3477389

Say no to nuclear plant, Mahasweta tells tribals
Kolkata, Nov 25 (IANS) Railing against a proposed nuclear power plant in West Bengal’s Haripur, celebrated writer Mahasweta Devi has urged tribals to send five post cards each to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying no to the plant.
“The proposed nuclear power plants in the country are the brainchild of the prime minister. So you have to take the protests to his doorstep,” Mahasweta Devi said while addressing a convention of tribal people here Tuesday.

The Magsaysay award winner called upon tribals to carry out an intense but peaceful and democratic agitation against the proposed Haripur power plant in East Midnapur district.

“Each of you should send five postcards to the prime minister. On each postcard it should be written ‘Say no to Haripur nuclear power plant in West Bengal’,” she said, giving the audience the addresses of the prime minister’s residence and office in the national capital.

The locals have been up in arms against the Haripur project fearing damage to the environment and loss of livelihood. The bulk of the population there depends on fishing and agriculture.

The union government’s site selection panel for nuclear plants recently declared Haripur suitable for a nuclear park with an initial provision for six 1,000 MW units.

Read more: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/business/say-no-to-nuclear-plant-mahasweta-tells-tribals_100279649.html#ixzz0ZCovOBUi


'Maoists can enter Hyderabad tomorrow'

Hyderabad, Dec 9 : The Telangana movement has ceased to be solely a students' movement and Maoists can enter the city by mingling with the agitators, the police said on Wednesday.

'Maoists can enter Hyderabad tomorrow (Thursday),' a high ranking police official told CNN-IBN.

The police are trying to keep a tab on everyone entering the city, said local media.

Over 15,000 security personnel have been deployed in the city to check untoward incidents. Protestors clashed with police in front of the Assembly on Wednesday. Many people have been taken into preventive detention.

The state government wants all universities in the area to be shut Thursday for security reasons. However, the high court has turned down that appeal.

City Police Commissioner D Prasada Rao said Tuesday that prohibitory orders under Section 144 are set to be imposed in most parts of Hyderabad from 6 pm Wednesday in a bid to stall the agitations.

Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president K Chandrashekhar Rao began the Telangana movement in 2000. TRS managed to get just two seats in the last Lok Sabha elections.

This hunger strike by Rao is being seen by many as a political gimmick to come into the limelight.

--IBNS

End fast, begin talks: Cong to KCR

New Delhi, Dec 9 : The Congress on Wednesday appealed to Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) to end his fast and resume dialogue.


'We have discussed the situation in Andhra Pradesh,' Union law minister Veerappa Moily told reporters.

'We have asked K Chandrashekhar Rao to end his fast,' he added.

According to reports, Rao, who is in the eleventh day of his hunger strike demanding a separate Telangana state, agreed to take intravenous drips on Wednesday afternoon.

His health has shown a 'marginal improvement' after the drips were administered, reports added.

--IBNS

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A report from Haripur, site of the proposed nuclear power plant

Source : Naba Dutta, General Secretary - Nagarik Mancha

The news spread like wild-fire. The foremost reaction was that of disbelief. It was unbelievable that they would be dispossessed of their land, their ancestral homestead and their livelihood related to agriculture, sea fishing and sea fish processing. It was not just their property and livelihood but their way of life that they were going to lose. Most of the rooted, jeered at the very concept of, or discussion about compensation. Cutting across party lines there was a growing sense about the need to resist.

Click here to download the report [PDF] »
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Coming soon: Artificial wives?

Washington, Dec 9 (ANI): Move over artificial limbs, eyes and skin, for artificial wives will soon be soon the horizon, at least that's what a scientist claims.

According to David Levy, winner of the 2009 Loebner Prize for artificial intelligence, humans will be marrying robots within 50 years, reports The Washington Times.

"People will have fewer problems with robots," declares Levy, who cites advances in intelligence simulation that will enable people to carry on long-term relationships with artificial human companions.

He adds: "Robots will be programmed to be sensitive sex therapists and help them to get over their sexual problems."

Frederic Kaplan, the robotics researcher who co-programmed the brain of Sony's robot dog Aibo, however, is not convinced by Levy's claims.

He agrees that highly sophisticated sex robots will be available soon but says he doesn't think they will ever successfully pass as humans.

"It is not impossible that some of these robots will actually be 'sexy' in one way or another, but they will not be clones of human beings," Kaplan says.

The expert added: "Human-machine interactions will be interesting in their own right, but not as a simulation of human relationships." (ANI)
ANI

Singur game in full flow
OUR BUREAU

Calcutta, Dec. 8: Singur has become a political football.

The Bengal government today sought to turn the tables on Mamata Banerjee by agreeing to hand over the Tata-held land to the railways for a coach factory.

Chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti yesterday wrote to S.S. Khurana, the Railway Board chairman, stating that the government would initiate the process of taking back the land from the Tatas “as soon as a firm decision is taken by the railways”.

But the Trinamul Congress lobbed the ball back into the government’s court, saying that “400 acres taken from unwilling farmers” would have to be returned first.

The state government sent the letter after learning from the media that railway minister Mamata was interested in setting up a “joint-venture” coach factory.

“The state government is willing to give around 1,000 acres. Once the railways send a project report, we can decide if it’s going to be a joint venture,” Chakrabarti said today.

The letter mentioned that 645.67 acres were leased to Tata Motors and around 255 acres allotted to auto component makers. The rest is with the government.

“The proposal will be discussed with the minister tomorrow,” a Railway Board official said. An official said it was feasible to set up a factory on 600 acres.

But Trinamul leader Partha Chatterjee said: “We welcome the proposal but first the state government has to return the 400 acres.”

Tata Motors holds the lease for 90 years starting from 2008. The lease renewal is due in April 2010. Ratan Tata had said in September the company was ready to return the land if compensated.

Sources said sorting out compensation — no amount has been mentioned yet in public — could take time. Eight petitions by Singur land-losers are also pending before the Supreme Court.

CPM sources said that by offering the land to the railways, the government was hoping to shed a millstone around its neck as well as retain its pro-industry image.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091209/jsp/frontpage/story_11841046.jsp

Trinamool Minister opposes Haripur nuclear power plant!Union Minister of State for Rural Development Sisir Adhikari Tuesday said his party would oppose the proposal for setting up a nuclear power plant in West Bengal's Haripur as it is a thickly populated and agriculturally fertile region.


Nuclear Mindset and Self Expansion of Capital drives the Third world in Copenhagen as India has to deal with Climate Question rather quite ABSOLUTE Power, Military Option and Zero Intolerance. As Haripur JUNAPUT is on Boil once again. Capital works as HOSTILE Power against Nature and the People associated with nature and natural resources while US promoted Free market Democracy is the best weapon for MONOPOLISTIC Corporate Aggression Worldwide! Ruling Hegemonies across Political Borders do Acomplish the Galaxy Agenda of Mass Destruction as the Alienation from nature is COMPLETE!Singur Game Replayed and Haripur boiling, it is quite interesting how India Incs solves the Puzzle of so called Development as YET another HOT POT is ready in Andhra Pradesh beside Maoist Menace. Telengana Crisis is related to Nationality and Identity problems which have never been addressed. Environmental questions NEVER be answered without dealing with HUMAN SCAPE with the landscape!

As Shining Sensex India represents Hindutva as well Zionism, American BASTARDISED Culture of FUN, Deculturisation and Intolerant Ruling Class killing even Freedom of Expression, Total Blackout of Information, FUCKED Up Institutions and heritage- so Resurgence of the WELL TO DO Free market Brokers has killed the RURAL World and we die to have the CITIES of Future inhibited by Robotic Humanity. Thus, any First Person Version of the VICTIMS invite Further Hate campaign most Fiercest! Thus, Insurrections against UNETHICAL ACCUMULATION of Wealth and the Killer Money Machine in defence of language, identity, nationality, sovereignty, land, life, water, forests, mountains, oceans- the Nature, INVITE the Cruelest ETHNIC Cleansing.Hence, IDEOLOGIES are Predestined to fall out as Treason Pandemic which has INFLICTED this bloody Indian Subcontinent where every body would commit himself, herself to this or that IDEOLOGY, would talk of Values, dismiss others as Novice, Corrupt, but would turn as a TOOL of FREE MARKET. Practical Politics and so called parliamentary, policy making , Legislation have turned to be BLATANT Negation of Humanity and Human Power and resources.

Climate summit veers towards emerging economies!The Copenhagen climate summit was thrown into disarray last night after developing countries said the current plans for a deal on global warming condemned millions of people to "absolute devastation". Meanwhile,Peace prize awaits `war president' Obama in Oslo!US President Barack Obama will have to put on his best balancing act when he arrives Thursday in Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, a week after ordering a major escalation of the fight in Afghanistan.Receiving one of the world's most coveted and celebrated honours places Obama in the uneasy position of accepting the prize while defending his decision to deploy an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, making the inherited war there his own policy.

Union Minister of State for Rural Development Sisir Adhikari said the state's Left Front government had provided wrong information to the centre on the issue of setting up a 6,000MW nuclear power park project at Haripur in East Midnapore district.

"A delegation of Trinamool Congress will soon meet the Prime Minister and will tell him about the actual situation at Haripur.

"It (Haripur) is a vastly populated village and a very fertile region in terms of agricultural production. Most of the areas are full of multi-crop lands. We can't allow any nuclear power plant there," Adhikari said.

The Trinamool Congress is the second largest component after the Congress in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) central government.

"The state government has misled the centre on the issue," he said.

The nuclear power plant site at Haripur has been selected for setting up six units of 1,000MW each.

The Haripur project faced resistance from a section of local people who protested against the project claiming that the nuclear power plant would affect their livelihood - mainly fishing and agriculture.

According to plans, the first two units of the project might be developed with imported Russian technology.

Work is expected to begin by 2012-13 with the plant likely to be commissioned by 2017-18.

Mounting pressure against new uranium mining and nuclear power plants

Read more: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/feature/mounting-pressure-against-new-uranium-mining-and-nuclear-power-plants_100262516.html#ixzz0ZCp5vymK

By Bobby Ramakant, CNS

There is a growing civil society movement against the new uranium mining and nuclear power plants in India. The National Alliance of Anti-nuclear Movements (NAAM) is mobilizing citizens to protest against the reported decision of the government of India to take a quantum leap in installed capacity for nuclear power generation, from the current level of 4,120 MW to 63,000 MW by 2032. “This decision is but an invitation to disaster” says activists.

“Nuclear power, contrary to orchestrated hypes, is actually costlier than power from conventional sources like coal, gas and hydro. And once all the hidden costs are factored in, it would be costlier than even from renewable sources, like wind, in particular” says the NAAM petition that is swelling with citizens signing and endorsing the petition addressed to Ms Pratibha Patil, President of India; Dr Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India and Mr Jairam Ramesh, Minister of Environment and Forests, Government of India.

“More importantly, it is also intrinsically hazardous, as large amount of radiation is routinely released at every stage of the nuclear fuel cycle. An even more intractable problem is that of safe storage of nuclear waste and safe disposal of outlived power plants, given the fact that the half-lives of some of the radioactive substances involved are over even millions of years” further reads the petition.

“Even more disconcerting is, considering the complexity of the technology of a nuclear reactor; there is no way to ensure that a major accident at a nuclear power plant will never take place. And a major accident, given the nature of things, will just turn catastrophic affecting a very large number of people, over a large territory, over a very long period. The disastrous accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in the Ukraine province of the then USSR, on April 26 1986 is a chilling illustration.”

“The promise of nil greenhouse gas (GHG) emission is also nothing more than a myth if the entire fuel cycle - including mining, milling, transportation and construction of the power plant - is considered. Moreover, nuclear energy with its highly centralized power production model would only further aggravate the problem by accentuating the current development paradigm reliant on mega-industries and actively blocking any possibility towards ecologically benign decentralized development. The strong linkage between nuclear power and weapons - in terms of large overlaps intechnology, in turn triggering strong political push - of which India itself is a graphic illustration can also be overlooked only at our own peril given the genocidal, and suicidal, character of the nuclear weapon” reads the signature petition of NAAM.

The NAAM petition further adds:
As nuclear power is economically unattractive and socially unacceptable, on account of radiation hazards and risks of catastrophic accidents, no order for new nuclear reactors was placed in the USA and most of West Europe during the last 30 years, since the Three Mile Island accident in the US in 1979.

The US and European companies in nuclear power plant equipment and nuclear fuel business are thus looking to Asia for markets - India, China and Japan spearheading the current expansion programme.

It is unfortunate that the Indian government is becoming their willing collaborator in this in pursuit of its megalomaniac hunt for nuclear power and weapon. It has thus, over a period of just one year, rushed to enter into agreements with as many as seven countries, viz. the US, France, Russia, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Mongolia and Argentina.

So far, nuclear power production capacity in India is very small, only about 3 percent of the total electricity generation capacity; and the veil of secrecy surrounding the existing nuclear power plants in the country, and absence of any truly independent monitoring agency, has seriously hindered dissemination of information on accidents - large and small - at these plants and their public scrutiny. That explains the current low level of popular awareness as regards the grave threats posed by the nuclear industry.

Taking advantage of this, the government of India is now set to steamroll its massive expansion program.

The contention that nuclear power is indispensable to meet future energy needs is false; for energy demand, and “need”, is obviously a function of the development paradigm chosen and pursued. And “energy security” is not an autonomous entity or objective, but must be in alignment with other chosen objectives which must include equitable growth and concerns for ecology.

Viewed thus, “energy security” may be achieved by: (I) Increasing efficiency of electricity generation, transmission and distribution. (II) Doing away with extravagant and wasteful use of energy. (III) Pursuing a path of low-energy intensity and decentralised development. (IV) Making optimum use of alternative energy options. (IV) Radically raising investment in development of sustainable and renewable energy sources and technologies, especially wind and solar energy.

As a part of its expansion program, the government of India has announced plans to expand the nuclear power plant coming up at Koodankulam (Tamil Nadu). Additional four reactors from Russia of 1,200 MWe each, in the immediate or near future, are to come up over and above the two of 950 MWe each, presently under construction. The process for setting up a nuclear plant at Jaitapur (Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra) has also reached an advanced stage. The French company Areva is set to supply two new generation reactors of 1650 MWe each, to be followed by another two. Land acquisition notices have been served on the local people to acquire 981 hectare of land.

The government has reportedly already approved 15 new plants at eight sites.

These sites are Kumharia in Haryana - meant for indigenous reactors; Kakrapar (indigenous reactors) and Chhayamithi Virdi (reactor from US) in Gujarat; Kovvada (reactor from US) in Andhra Pradesh; Haripur (reactor from Russia) in West Bengal; Koodankulam (reactor from Russia) in Tamil Nadu; and Jaitapur (reactor from France) in Maharashtra.

Similarly, the mad rush for more and more power plants is matched by an accelerated drive for uranium mining in newer areas: Andhra and Meghalaya, in particular. And this, despite the horrible experience of uranium mines in different parts of the world, as also in our own Jadugoda - where appalling conditions continue despite strong popular protests, spanning decades.

The signatories of this NAAM petition demand that the government of India put a complete stop to the construction of all new uranium mines and nuclear power plants, and radically jack up investments in renewable and environmentally sustainable sources of energy. [To sign the petition, click here or go to: http://www.petitiononline.com/Nonukes/petition.html ]

Bobby Ramakant, CNS

(The author is a World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General’s WNTD Awardee (2008) and writes extensively on health and development. He is a Fellow of Citizen News Service (CNS) Writers’ Bureau. Website: www.citizen-news.org

Read more: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/feature/mounting-pressure-against-new-uranium-mining-and-nuclear-power-plants_100262516.html#ixzz0ZCpH9XMW

* Britain's nuclear strategy may cause destruction of Kalahari Desert - Nov 09, 2009
* India's Nuclear Power Corp targets 63,000 MW by 2032 - Oct 08, 2009
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* Simulator for nuclear power reactor to train technical hands - Aug 18, 2009
* New nuclear plants approved for Gujarat, Rajasthan - Jul 30, 2009
* Let Humanity And Nature Coexist - Apr 30, 2009
* India hopes to expand civil nuclear cooperation during PM's Russia trip (Lead) - Dec 05, 2009
* No FDI in N-power sector: Dr. Kakodkar - Aug 19, 2009
* Land take-over begins for 9,600 MW Maharashtra nuke plant - Oct 14, 2009
* India, Russia to sign landmark nuclear pact - Dec 07, 2009


Read more: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/feature/mounting-pressure-against-new-uranium-mining-and-nuclear-power-plants_100262516.html#ixzz0ZCq1MQF5


The Telegraph, Kolkata report is quite AMUSING while the Ruling UPA Technique of Mind control is just EXPOSED very aesthetically. The Telegraph reports:

Trinamul threat to PM plan
- Union minister cites land hurdle to nuke plant
OUR CORRESPONDENT
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the Kremlin. (PTI)

Tamluk, Dec. 8: Trinamul Congress minister Sisir Adhikari said his party would not allow land acquisition for the nuclear power plant in East Midnapore’s Haripur, a day after Prime Minister Manmo- han Singh spoke of the project following what was hailed as a path-breaking civilian nuclear deal with Moscow.

Adhikari, the Union min-ister of state for rural development, said the land was multi-crop and alleged that the state government had misled the Centre about its nature while conveying its eagerness for the project.

Asked about Singh’s reference to a site in Bengal, he said: “The Left Front government has furnished wrong data to the Prime Minister. Haripur is a place that has three- and four-crop land. Moreover, a few thousand fishermen live there. So, the question of building a nuclear reactor in Haripur does not arise.”

Although the Prime Minister did not mention any specific place, the name Haripur had been doing the rounds ever since the project was mooted in 2006. A central team had visited Haripur, drawing protests from a section of the villagers.

A Trinamul delegation will meet the Prime Minister on Thursday or Friday to submit “a proper set of facts”. “We will request the Prime Minister to shift the location (of the proposed plant),” added Adhikari, who represents the region in the Lok Sabha.

His son Subhendu, who had spearheaded Trinamul’s Nandigram agitation and is now the MP from a neighbouring constituency, will lead the team that will call on Singh.

In November 2006, central officials who had gone to Haripur for a reconnaissance had to return to Calcutta because of the resistance to the proposed project.

As a policy, the Congress is opposed to the acquisition of multi-crop land. The dilemma in the state Congress on whether or not to oppose the Haripur project was apparent today. State party working president Pradip Bhattacharya said: “At our chintan baithak in Krishnagar, we decided that industry should come up on single-crop or infertile land. We are yet to verify whether Haripur has three-crop land.”

“It is the state governme- nt’s responsibility to earmark less fertile land for the project,” he added.

Sources said that when the Centre informed the state government in June 2006 of the plan to set up a nuclear reactor in Bengal, Writers’ Buildings picked Haripur because of its proximity to the sea.

“We informed Delhi that land for such a project was available in East Midnapore but did not, and nor were we asked to, specify the nature of it,” an official said.

“In June 2006, land had not become an issue. Only in September that year, when the government acquired land for Tata Motors in Singur, did it take on an emotive appeal.”

According to junior Union rural development minister Adhikari, the state government had never sought the opinion of the Trinamul-run East Midnapore zilla parishad on whether to proceed with the project.

“Haripur has a high population density. The CPM is playing politics by forcibly trying to get the site cleared for the project. They are trying to drive a wedge between us and the Congress by supporting the project as they know we are against it,” he added.

A Trinamul-backed resis- tance group, formed in Hari- pur, met today and decided not to allow the project “under any circumstances’’.

“Any visit by a government delegation for an assessment of the site will be resisted. If necessary, roads will be dug up as in Nandigram to prevent their entry,” said a leader of the Bhite Mati Jibon Jibika Banchao (Save Farmland and Livelihood) Committee.

Haripur falls under the Majila gram panchayat, which is controlled by the Socialist Party, a Left Front partner.

“But we got more votes than the Left here in this year’s parliamentary elections and the bypolls that followed,” said a Trinamul district leader.

People from some 50 villages have apparently joined the protest, apprehending a threat to farming and fishing.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091209/jsp/bengal/story_11840959.jsp


An alternative Danish proposal on the new protocol to replace Kyoto after 2012, when it expires, floated by China and supported by India, Brazil and South Africa has failed to get support of the other developing countries on the ground that it does not specify deep emission cut targets and fails to seek a comprehensive amount of finance for the developing nations from the rich countries.

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today criticised TrinamoolMamata Banerjee for her claims that Maoists were not present in the state and cautioned the party against "joining hands" with the ultras.

The US has said it is in communication with both India and Pakistan on the case of LeT operatives David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who were arrested by FBI in October on charges of plotting terror attacks against Indian facilities.US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen has suggested that pressure from India on Pakistan's western border with Afghanistan would eventually help America to destroy and dismantle the terror safe haven present in the lawless tribal region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

India on Tuesday expressed fears regarding safety of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said both Russia and India feared Pakistan's arsenal might fall into the hands of militants, in a grave threat to the region.

Rao added that both Russia and India believed that the situation in Afghanistan had to be seen in conjunction with the situation in Pakistan.

After a day of turmoil and a night of fence-building, the majority of 192 countries attending the Dec 7-18 climate summit Wednesday started to discuss an agreement drafted by India and other emerging economies to save the world from the worst effects of climate change.

The so-called BASIC draft - because it was drafted by Brazil, South Africa, India and China - became the main topic of conversation among the 3,500-odd negotiators and over 12,000 NGOs after a draft penned by host country Denmark was pilloried by developing countries.

The Group of 77 and China, which negotiate as a bloc at climate conferences, was scathing about the Danish draft because they said it did not oblige developed countries to cut their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by an appreciable degree, while it put fresh obligations on emerging economies.

The Danes had already backtracked on Monday. Danish Environment Minister Connie Hedegaard had said theirs was not a draft declaration at all but 'a discussion paper that has been withdrawn'.

The White House says Obama will not dodge the issue during his brief stay in the Norwegian capital, acknowledging the awkward timing of the award first announced in October.

'We'll address directly the notion that many have wondered, which is the juxtaposition of the timing for the peace prize and his commitment to add more troops into Afghanistan,' spokesman Robert Gibbs said a few days before trip.

Asked if Obama was accepting the Nobel as a 'war president', Gibbs replied: 'Exactly.'

The Nobel Committee announced Oct 9 that Obama won the award.

Even though Obama's resume since taking office Jan 20 is thin on foreign policy accomplishments, the committee credited Obama for setting a new tone for international multi-lateralism and for his vision of a world free of nuclear weapons, outlined in an April speech in Prague.

The Nobel Committee's decision left many puzzled over how it could be given to president less than a year in office with few accomplishments. Americans themselves have questioned whether their leader deserved it.

A Quinnipiac Univeristy poll of 2,313 voting Americans released Tuesday found that 66 percent believed Obama was undeserving, while only 26 felt he was good choice.

Paul Kawika Martin, political director for Peace Action, one of the largest groups of its kind in the US, said Obama's Nobel Prize is 'a little bit premature'.

'Alfred Nobel said it was for people who were reducing standing armies, and here we have a president who is increasing standing armies,' Martin said.

Martin, however, praised Obama's Prague speech on ridding the world of atomic weapons.

'He has said some amazing things about nuclear weapons. If he succeeds with his vision, he will certainly deserve the peace prize,' Martin said.

Until then, Obama doesn't belong in the same category as past recipients Martin Luther King Jr and Aung San Suu Kyi, the peace activist said.

Obama offered a glimpse of how he might handle the situation after he learned of the award that left him 'both surprised and deeply humbled'.

'I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative

He did not brush aside the fact the US is fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but provided a dose of realism while acknowledging the prize's lofty ideals.

'Even as we strive to seek a world in which conflicts are resolved peacefully and prosperity is widely shared,' Obama said, 'we have to confront the world as we know it today.'

So on Wednesday morning the focus shifted to the BASIC draft penned by India and approved by China, Brazil and South Africa at a meeting in Beijing weekend Nov 27. The draft was being studied by the G77 and China grouping from the morning, and leader of the Indian delegation Shyam Saran expected that it would be formally tabled to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat after approval by the group.

If all countries agree, this draft will be fleshed out and become the Copenhagen declaration. It will take in the main elements of the main negotiating process under the UN's Long Term Cooperative Action (LCA) to combat climate change, as well as developments in the Kyoto Protocol, negotiators from developed and developing countries said in the corridors of Bella Centre, the conference venue.

Negotiators admitted that the draft needed fleshing out. 'It was done in a hurry, in response to the Danish draft,' an India representative revealed. 'It does not have many of the essential figures.'

But Saran pointed out that BASIC draft set out the 'basic differences in responsibility between developed and developing countries' in the fight against climate change.

'It is clear on the need for commitments from industrialised countries. And on the issue of financing, while it acknowledged that priority must be given to least developed countries and small island states, it says the money must be sufficient for all developing countries for their mitigation and adaptation efforts.'

The BASIC draft, a copy of which is with the IANS, says: 'To establish a long-term global goal for emission reductions, it is essential for developed country parties to undertake ambitious mid-term quantified emission reduction targets and to provide adequate and effective finance, technology transfer and capacity building support to developing counties. Such a goal shall allow developing countries equitable development space and ensure their right to development, taking into full account scientific basis and economic and technological feasibility.'

It goes into great detail on how industrialised countries should finance developing countries to help them cope with climate change - since almost all the GHG in the atmosphere now has been put there by the rich countries.

The money must be apart from foreign aid, it says, and it must be administered in a way acceptable to the poor countries.

The draft talks about an issue raised by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the recent Commonwealth summit -- the need to guard against trade protectionism in the name of saving the environment.

The nine-page draft shows a way by which the US - the only developed country that has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol, the global treaty to combat climate change - can be part of the global effort to reduce GHG emissions. Its emission reduction targets should be comparable to that of other developed countries under the protocol, it says.

The BASIC draft also says what the emerging economies will do to check their emissions will be reported to the UNFCCC and any action supported by industrialised countries in the form of money and green technology will be subject to international scrutiny - a key demand of developed countries.

The document includes what had been glossed over by Danes - the importance of adaptation, technology development and transfer to help developing countries cope with the effects of climate change that is already reducing farm output, making droughts, floods and storms more frequent and more severe and raising the sea level. Congress Chief figures who've been honoured by this prize, men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace,' he said.

THE DEFENSIVE MINDSET
- What hinders India’s recognition as the sixth nuclear power?
Diplomacy
K.P. NAYAR

The biggest obstacle to India’s rise in the 21st century is an Indian mindset. In January 2004, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government began a diplomatic process with an Indo-US Next Steps in Strategic Partnership to expand bilateral cooperation in the areas of civilian nuclear activities, civilian space programmes and high-technology trade. A follow-up to this was the nuclear deal between the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, and the United State of America’s Republican president, George W. Bush. Logically, the culmination of this process ought to be India’s eventual recognition as a nuclear weapons state.

This objective is still quite some way down the road of diplomacy and the process will, by no means, be easy, but the United Progressive Alliance government has recently taken very tentative steps in this direction. Alas, even before such an initiative can be expanded, Indians themselves are doing everything to stymie this effort, which will change the country’s destiny.

For those familiar with the workings of Indian diplomacy, such negativism should not come as a surprise. At one stage during the tortuous negotiations on the Indo-US nuclear deal, an Indian negotiator told the then foreign secretary that New Delhi should not at all expect enrichment and reprocessing rights from the Americans to be included in the agreements for operationalizing the nuclear deal.

“Sir, the Americans have never given enrichment and reprocessing rights to any country which is a non-nuclear weapons state under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. So, we should not expect to get these rights in the 123 Agreement [then being negotiated for implementation of the nuclear deal].” But the foreign secretary told this negotiator, addressing him by his first name, “You are not in these negotiations to tell me what the Americans will not do for us. You are there to convey to the Americans what we want and to tell me how they will do it for us. Your job is to get us what we are seeking.”

Shortly after the foreign secretary’s firm rebuke, another negotiator was publicly asked at a forum in Washington when India and the US would resolve their differences and conclude the 123 Agreement. Without batting an eyelid, in an instant, this negotiator told the questioner that the 123 negotiations would be completed when the Americans agree to what India was seeking. The reply then produced shockwaves within the US state department and sent a clear message that India was unwilling to be pushed around.

Although the current, nascent efforts to seek an amendment to the NPT — to include India as the world’s sixth nuclear power — are confined to a very small circle of the prime minister’s trusted aides, word has got around, as it always does in New Delhi’s culture of leaks, about Singh’s recent discussions on this issue with two of the five nuclear weapons states recognized by the NPT. And almost as quickly, unsolicited advice has begun reaching the Prime Minister’s Office that this is not a propitious time to launch any such ambitious diplomatic initiative.

There is a sense of déjà vu about this. In 2006, when the UPA government was considering putting up Shashi Tharoor as India’s candidate for the post of UN secretary-general, naysayers in the country’s strategic community nearly scuttled the nomination. But after Tharoor was nominated, a coalition between these naysayers and sections within the ministry of external affairs ensured that Tharoor’s campaign did not realize its full potential. As a result, India’s candidate to head the UN defeated himself.

The same was true of India’s effort, along with Brazil, Germany and Japan in 2004, to change the composition of the UN security council to include India as a permanent member of the UN’s top table. It was pathetic to watch some of those who handled the matter in New Delhi proverbially cutting off their nose to spite their face. Such negativism was prompted largely by their dislike of India’s then maverick permanent representative to the UN in New York: these people wanted to see that if by some chance the security council was, indeed, expanded, the credit for it should not go to the envoy in New York who was in charge of carrying out the initiative.

A few decades earlier, India was actually offered membership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations when the Asean was still in its formative period, but New Delhi decided against accepting the offer. Some of Indira Gandhi’s aides at that time, anticipating what the then prime minister with a radical view of the world would have thought of the offer, persuaded her that it was not worth India’s while to join the Asean, the members of which soon became the “Tiger” economies of Asia while India was left behind.

The worst irony of this episode was that some 25 years later, South Block had to virtually go begging to the Asean to be accepted not as a member but as the Southeast Asian bloc’s “dialogue partner”. Even that partnership would not have come about had it not been for prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao’s persistent effort to gain a toehold for India within the Asean, and for Singapore’s solid lobbying on behalf of New Delhi within the group in the face of determined opposition to the idea from some countries like Malaysia and Indonesia.

All this is not to say that the international community, which has abided by the NPT more than any other arms control agreement in the history of mankind, will bend over backwards to accept India as a nuclear weapons state through an amendment to the treaty if and when it is formally proposed.

To start with, one-third of the signatories to the treaty have to sign on to any change in the NPT in order for a special amendment conference to be called. Obviously, India’s new-found friends in the developed world or in the Group of Twenty will not be enough to make up that mandatory one-third of NPT membership even if they were to go along with the idea of amending the treaty. The only course open to India to mobilize support on that scale is to turn to the non-aligned movement or the Group of Seventy Seven. That ought to be a reminder to Western lobbyists within the Indian establishment that India still needs groups such as the Non-Aligned Movement and the G-77 to secure its rightful place in the international order.

Passing an amendment making India the world’s sixth recognized nuclear weapons state, however, requires only a simple majority at a special conference. India’s candidature for a non-permanent seat on the UN security council in next year’s election will give New Delhi a reasonable idea of the country’s ability to influence the community of nations with its newly emergent image as a rising power. The external affairs minister, S.M. Krishna, is already pitching for a resounding victory in this election that will take place during next year’s UN general assembly. If India is able to mobilize the 120 votes that Krishna is aiming for out of the UN’s total membership of 192, the country would have avenged its miserable defeat at the hands of Japan when New Delhi made its last bid to get into the security council. At the same time, 120 votes in the general assembly will give New Delhi a sense of how quickly it can make its bid to amend the NPT.

There are other catches, however. All sitting members of the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency at the time of an amendment conference to the NPT will have to unanimously favour an amendment for it to be passed, according to the provisions of the treaty. And, of course, all the five recognized nuclear weapons states have to agree to let anyone else into their exclusive club. It is pointless, at this stage, to speculate which of the big five countries will agree to an amendment favouring India or otherwise. What the country’s leadership and those entrusted with this historic initiative to draw the final curtain on India’s long nuclear winter need most of all is confidence in themselves and their cause.

In the past, India has lost out on the global stage when those in charge of its foreign and security policies have underestimated their country’s strengths and acted in a defensive or reactive manner. For a change, the country’s top political leadership appears to know what it wants in this instance and it is for those whose job is to implement policies to find a way to move forward, just as the one-time foreign secretary told his reluctant and defensive nuclear negotiator.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091209/jsp/opinion/story_11836983.jsp

Congress paid price for letting Babri fall: Chidambaram

In a direct admission of its failure to protect the Babri Masjid, Home Minister P Chidambaram said on Tuesday that "both the Congress and then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao paid the price" for it. Amidst continuous slogan shouting by BJP members, the Home Minister summed up a highly-charged two day discussion on the Liberhan Commission report in the Lok Sabha by conceding that the "Congress erred in its judgment by relying on then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh's assurances about preventing damage to the disputed structure" At the same time, Chidambaram maintained that the then Central government was not directly responsible for the demolition. "Nobody can accuse the Congress government of not providing adequate support (for protecting the mosque)". "The union government sent adequate number of central forces, but Kalyan Singh deployed only four companies at Ayodhya", he said. The Home Minister's speech remained mostly inaudible, as BJP members crowded together in the well of the House, while continuing to raise slogans of "Atalji Jai Jai". Protesting against a derogatory term used in reference to former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee by Congress member Beni Prasad Verma, the BJP members remained insistent on an apology from the member even after the Home Minister intervened to apologize for the member's remarks - if these had hurt the sentiments of the BJP members. Playing around with words used by the Justice Liberhan in his report, Verma referred to Vajpayee and other BJP leaders as "neech aadmi" (lowly people). The remark sparked off huge protests from the Opposition benches, with the House witnessing two adjournments on the issue. Tempers remained frayed even after Speaker Meira Kumar stated that the objectionable remark had been expunged from the records. PC takes the floor, slams 'divisive' BJP

"BJP leaders Lal Krishna Advani and Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi had a breakfast meeting at Ayodhya on the day the mosque was demolished in 1992.
Hindustan Times

Combined forces to vacate Largarh schools: West Bengal
The West Bengal government will vacate most of the schools, which were occupied by the security forces for conducting anti-Maoist operations in Lalgarh of West Midnapore district, the state Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen on Wednesday.

'Except for four schools, all other schools will be vacated by Dec 30 in accordance with a high court order,' Sen said at the secretariat-Writers' Buildings-here.

He said Rs 15 lakh will be spent to repair all the 22 schools that were occupied by the forces since June 27.

'Special coaching will be given to students who have suffered because of the closure of the schools,' Sen added.

Operation Lalgarh was launched in June to flush out Maoists from the area. Since then, over 40 companies of paramilitary forces had occupied 22 school buildings. Later, security forces were removed from 10 schools.

At the moment 12 schools are occupied by the combined forces.

The Calcutta High Court issued the order based on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the school authorities.

--IBNS

CPI-M furious over management awards against 'Stalinists'
A private management
institute's decision to give awards to Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and some intellectuals for their efforts to free West Bengal from 'Stalinists' has raised the hackles of the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).

The CPI-M's ire followed full-page newspaper advertisements by the New Delhi-based Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM) announcing the Manavata Vikas Awards, each carrying a cash incentive of Rs.5 lakh.

Apart from Railway Minister Banerjee, others named for the awards include painter Subhaprasanna Bhattacharya, writers Sunanda Sanyal and Mahasweta Devi besides social activist Medha Patkar -- all known for their run-ins with the Left Front government.

Banerjee was hailed "for Applied Political Management in restoring democracy from the clutches of the Stalinists" while Bhattacharya was praised "for organising the Bengali intelligentsia to restore democracy in West Bengal displacing the long rule of Stalinist parties".

Sanyal was feted "for life-long dedication to the well-beign of students and for his active contribution to restore democracy in West Bengal", the advertisement said.

The octogenarian Mahasweta Devi was selected for "dedicating her life towards the upliftment of the tribals" while Patkar was recognized "for taking up the causes of displaced poorest - victims of big projects - across every part of the nation including West Bengal".

Bhattacharya, Sanyal and Mahasweta are active members of an intellectual forum 'Swajan' that played an active role in Banerjee's movements against the state government's bid to acquire land to set up industries in Singur and Nandigram.

The advertisement said: "An academic institution cannot exist in vacuum and is rooted deeply into the political and socio-economic environment. Restoration of democracy in West Bengal helps proper growth of education and personality of students".

The IIPM said Britain's Buckingham University and the International Management Institute of Belgium were its partners in instituting the award and selecting the awardees.

Mahasweta Devi told IANS that she was in the dark about the award. "I don't know who is giving this award. I have never heard about this institute. Nobody has contacted me."

The CPI-M's mouthpiece "Ganashakti" said that the "only reason for giving the awards is to extend financial support to anti-Left Front personalities in their conspiracy against the CPI-M".

--IANS
Buddhadeb slams UPA on price rise, privatisation
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Wednesday slammed the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for failing to control rising prices of essentials and its pro-privatisation policies.


"The central government claims to be a government of aam aadmi. But it has failed to bring down the prices of essentials which is effecting the common man most," he told a rally of state government employees.

Blaming the UPA decision to start speculative futures trading of essentials for the price spiral, he said: "Big shopping malls were indulging in futures trading and as a consequence the prices are shooting through the roof."

The chief minister attacked the Congress-led UPA for following a policy of massive disinvestment and alleged it was increasing the gulf between the rich and the poor.

"Their policies are creating an economically polarised country," he said.

He urged the Left dominated state government employees' organisation to build up mass protests against price rise and pro-privatisation policies pursued by the UPA regime.

Bhattacharjee also criticised the central government for not agreeing to the state governments' demand for giving back 50 percent of the revenues collected by the states.

--IANS
Club Babri cases, move apex court, says CPI-M

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) demanded Wednesday that all cases related to the Babri mosque razing must be clubbed before the Supreme Court and it should be urged to give an early verdict.


Participating in the debate on the Liberhan Commission report in the Rajya Sabha, CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury said the demolition of the mosque in Ayodhya in 1992 was "a criminal act and the worst expression of vote-bank politics".

"The report legally confirms what had been internalized that it was a pre-planned action executed to perfection," Yechury said.

He said the BJP's then Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh had spoken approvingly of the destruction by saying that "kar sevaks" did in hours what contractors would have taken much more time to accomplish.

"The government's ATR (Action Taken Report) in the Liberhan report does not inspire confidence. If the government is sincere, it should intervene through its judicial officers to get the demolition cases clubbed together and move the Supreme Court for an early verdict," he said.

Hindu mobs pulled down the 16th century Babri mosque in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, triggering widespread communal violence that left hundreds dead.

--IANS

PM apologises for MP's remarks against Vajpayee

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday apologised for Congress MP Beni Prasad Verma's derogatory remarks against former prime minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Manmohan Singh, who returned from his Russia visit Tuesday night, said Wednesday that Verma's comment 'was not appropriate'.

'I on behalf of my government apologise to the house for the comment by one of my colleagues,' he said in the Lok Sabha.

The BJP demanded an apology from the government when the house started Wednesday morning.

Telangana on the boil as KCR fast continues, Section 144 imposed

As Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao's condition deteriorated on the 11th day of his fast-unto-death Wednesday, tension spiralled in Andhra Pradesh's Telangana region with prohibitory orders being imposed and police taking control of universities to quell protests for a separate state.

Prohibitory orders banning the assembly of five or more people were imposed in Hyderabad and nine other districts of Telangana were imposed under Section 144.

For the second consecutive day, TRS stalled the proceedings of the state assembly Wednesday demanding that it pass a resolution for a separate state of Telangana.

Speaker Kiran Kumar Reddy adjourned the house for 15 minutes as TRS legislators, supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Communist Party of India (CPI), gathering near his podium.

Chief Minister K. Rosaiah told the house that the central government was considering the issue of a separate Telangana and that it should be given time.

'It is a sensitive issue. The government has to act responsibly. We can't just table a resolution like that,' he said.

In Delhi, senior Congress leaders continued hectic talks to find a solution. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P. Chidambaram elicited opinions of various leaders from Andhra Pradesh and conveyed the same to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Congress sources here said a decision was likely Wednesday. The party may give an assurance to the TRS chief and convince him to call off his fast.

Hundreds of policemen encircled Osmania University, the nerve centre of the movement for a separate state here, to foil student plans to conduct a rally Thursday.

Tension prevailed on the campus as armed policemen have been posted at all the buildings. Students who are staying on despite orders to vacate hostels are likely to be arrested.

The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of students had planned to march to the state assembly to demand the passing of a resolution on a separate state. After the police denied them permission, they decided to conduct a peace rally up to Indira Park.

Three JAC leaders were also taken into custody last night as a precautionary measure.

'A holiday has been declared in all the colleges in the region till Dec 18 and there is no reason why any student should stay on campus,' Inspector General of Police A. R. Anuradha said.

Since, TRS also plans to mobilise its workers from neighbouring districts for the proposed rally, the government has mobilised additional police and paramilitary forces from other states.

Police have erected check posts at all the entry points to Hyderabad and asked people of other places to avoid travelling to the city Thursday.

Tension also prevailed at Kaktiya University in Warangal as policemen were deployed in large numbers to prevent any protest. A group of students who are on a hunger strike on the campus are likely to be arrested.

The authorities have already ordered closure of hostels and the mess on campus.

Poor visibility landing: Rahul Gandhi's pilot grounded

The pilot who flew Rahul Gandhi to Sitapur district in Uttar Pradesh was grounded on Tuesday for landing the helicopter in poor visibility. The pilot has been summoned to New Delhi for investigation.

The controversy started after Uttar Pradesh Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi told reporters in Sitapur that Gandhi had forced the pilot to land in 'zero visibility' on Monday night.

'The pilot was just not ready to land the helicopter, but Rahulji forced him to do so and the chopper landed in zero visibility,' Joshi told reporters on Monday night.

'It displays Rahulji's commitment...Actually he had promised to meet backward class people in Sitapur. So, even after the delay, while he was going to Hardoi, he insisted that the pilot land the chopper at night in Sitapur,' said Joshi.

But Gandhi, who is on a two-day trip to the state, denied that he had ever done so.

'I did not force my pilot to land in poor visibility. I am a pilot myself and I know the rules. Our UP president is not a pilot neither is she a weather expert to talk about this,' he said at a press conference.

He said the media was creating a story out of nothing and destroying the pilot's career.

Zardari has assets of $1.5 bn (Rs.7,000 cr)

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has assets of $1.5 billion spread around the world, according to the country's main anti-corruption body, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

The National Accountability Bureau said Zardari's riches, including properties in America, Britain and Spain, were 'beyond his means'.

His British portfolio is alleged to include the luxurious Rockwood House, a mansion set on a 355-acre estate in Surrey, southeast England.

The Times quoted investigators as saying most of Zardari's fortune was made in kickbacks and commission when his late wife Benazir Bhutto was twice prime minister in the 1990s.

The investigators' report has been given to the Supreme Court as it deliberates a proposed amnesty for the country's political leaders that was brokered by former President Pervez Musharraf and has now lapsed.

Six cases of kickbacks and misuse of power against Zardari were dropped under the amnesty agreement.

However, a spokesman for the President said: 'Reports of $1.5 billion dollars of national and foreign assets allegedly belonging to President Zardari are no more than regurgitation of a decade-old unproven politically motivated allegations.'

26/11 report may be tabled before legislators' panel

The Ram Pradhan Committee report on Mumbai terror attacks may be tabled before a committee of legislators, comprising of ruling and Opposition members, that is likely to be formed by the Maharashtra Government.

A core group meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, was held here today to discuss the "leakage" of the report after both Houses were adjourned six times over the issue.

Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, Home Minister R R Patil, Energy Minister Ajit Pawar, Leader of Opposition Eknath Khadse and Shiv Sena group leader Subhash Desai were among the members who attended the meeting.

The ruling parties proposed to set up a committee of Legislature members from both the sides who would discuss the Pradhan committee report. "The committee would study the report and express its opinion on it," a legislator, who attended the meeting, said.

The Opposition parties have not accepted the proposal yet, as they would discuss it at the party level. About 15 members from each side would be in the committee, he said.

Some members of Opposition parties are not ready to accept the proposal, as they want the Government to table the report in the House, the legislator said.

However, the Government is also very keen to keep some parts of the report secret, as it may affect the security of the state and the 26/11 trial, which is going on in Mumbai, he said.


IT industry, N-plants high on terrorists' list: Home Secy

India's globally acclaimed software industry is high on the terrorists' target list and sensitive installations like atomic plants and refineries located on the coastline are vulnerable to terror attacks, Union Home Secretary G K Pillai said on Wednesday.

"We are world leaders in software. But software industry is high on the threat list," Pillai said addressing a conference on 'Challenge of Terrorism to India's Infrastructure and Economy' in New Delhi.

The Home Secretary said all software companies in India were now realising this fact and they were taking their own measures to protect themselves.

"And the government is also in partnership with many of the companies making effort to provide adequate security (to foil any attempt by the terrorists to target them)," he said.

Indian software exports have risen from Rs 28,350 crore in 2000-01 to an estimated Rs 216,300 crore in 2008-09.

The industry is expected to grow 16 per cent this fiscal and log revenues of USD 60 billion despite the global slowdown.

Pillai said India's western coastline hosting several petroleum and nuclear installations are vulnerable to terror strikes from the sea route.

"Petroleum and nuclear installations located on the western coast are highly vulnerable," he said.

9/11 mastermind's Manhattan trial will make him 'larger than Osama', warns Cheney

Former US Vice President Dick Cheney has warned that 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's trial in New York City will give make him an extremist hero like Osama bin Laden.

Fox News quoted Cheney, as saying that holding the trial in a lower Manhattan courtroom near ground zero will make Mohammed "a hero in certain circles, especially in the radical regions of Islam around the world."

"He'll be able to go in whenever he's up on the stand and proselytize, if you will, millions of people out there around the world including some of his radical Muslim friends and generate a whole new generation of terrorists," Cheney said.

Cheney termed Attorney General Eric Holder's decision in November to try Mohammed and four other 9/11 suspects in a civilian federal court near ground zero "a huge mistake."

The trial will put Mohammed "on the map," he contended.

During the interview, Cheney also criticized President Barack Obama's troop withdrawal strategy from Afghanistan.

"Everybody is watching. The Taliban are watching, the Al Qaeda are watching, the Afghans who are on our side are watching, and when they see hesitation, uncertainty, lack of clarity from an American president, they begin to think the Americans aren't going to be here very long," Cheney said.

INTERVIEW - China urges U.S. to increase Copenhagen offer
Reuter
China urged President Barack Obama to increase a U.S. offer to cut carbon emissions but its top climate envoy indicated willingness on Wednesday to compromise at a U.N. conference in Copenhagen.

Xie Zhenhua said that China wanted to play a constructive role at the Dec. 7-18 climate talks, where a successful outcome largely depends on agreement between the United States and China which together emit 40 percent of global greenhouse gases.

"I do hope that President Obama can bring a concrete contribution to Copenhagen," Xie told Reuters.

When asked whether that meant something additional to what Obama has already proposed, a 3 percent cut on 1990 levels by 2020, Xie said: "Yes."

Xie also said that China could accept a target to halve global emissions by 2050 if developed nations stepped up their emissions cutting targets by 2020 and agreed to financial help for the developing world to fight climate change.

"We do not deny the importance of a long-term target but I think a mid-term target is more important. We need to solve the immediate problem."

"If the demands of developing countries can be satisfied I think we can discuss an emissions target," to halve global emissions by 2050.

The deputy chairman of the powerful economic planning superministry, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), told Reuters he wanted rich countries to cut their emissions by 25-40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.

"It is our hope that the emissions cuts of developed countries can fall into the range of 25-40 percent (below 1990 levels." Earlier this year, at some previous rounds of U.N. talks, China had insisted on a cut of "at least 40 percent".

Xie said that he preferred a final, legally binding agreement at the meeting in Copenhagen, but if that were not possible a deadline to wrap up a full treaty by June "would be very good". He rejected a U.N. proposal for fast-track funding of $10 billion a year from 2010-2012 as "not enough".

(Writing by Gerard Wynn; Editing by Dominic Evans)

For Reuters latest environment blogs, click on: http://blogs.reuters.com/environment/

Nigeria police illegally kill hundreds a yr - Amnesty

Hundreds of Nigerians are unlawfully killed by corrupt and ill-trained police officers each year and authorities are ignoring the problem, Amnesty International said on Wednesday.

In a two-year investigation, Amnesty found rampant human rights violations including torture and executions of suspects committed by Nigerian police officers.

"The Nigerian police are responsible for hundreds of unlawful killings every year," said Erwin van der Borght, director of Amnesty's Africa programme.

"The majority of the cases go un-investigated and the police officers responsible go unpunished."

Armed robbery and kidnappings are common in Africa's biggest energy producer, especially in the oil-producing Niger Delta, with the security forces often overpowered by criminal gangs.

With low pay, minimal training and old equipment, police officers have often been accused of shooting first and asking questions later. More than 100 officers are killed in gunbattles with criminals each year, Amnesty said.

"Many unlawful killings happen during police operations. In other cases, the police shoot and kill drivers who fail to pay them bribes at checkpoints," the report said.

Official government figures estimate the police killed 3,014 suspected criminals between 2003 and 2008, but Amnesty believed the numbers were much higher.

Nigeria's police, with a staff of around 370,000, acknowledged that there were problems within the agency and said they were taking steps to address them.

"We have some challenges in our law enforcement duties. We are training our officers on the use of firearms in respect of human rights," said police spokesman Emmanuel Ojukwu.

Amnesty called on the police force to prohibit officers from using lethal force unless it was unavoidable to protect life.

Current Nigerian law allows security forces to shoot suspects and detainees who attempt to escape or avoid arrest.

The rights group also urged reforms in the criminal justice system and more government funding for police training and equipment.

(Editing by Nick Tattersall and Noah Barkin)
Randy Fabi

Posted under: News
Protest against Haripur nuclear plant in West Bengal

To reach Hairpur, a remote fishing village along the West Bengal coast, one has to get off the main road and walk 2.5 km over a broad mud dyke. Access to this path is blocked by a log barrier. Outsiders are not welcome.

Haripur villagers have been protesting since last September against a 10,000-mw nuclear power plant on their land. In November, they and people from neighbouring villages turned up in thousands on two consecutive days to block a 12-member site-selection panel from the department of atomic energy.

If the project comes through it will displace at least 25,000 farmers, fishermen and their families. The villagers aren't giving in. "If the project materialises we will have nowhere to live, nothing to eat, and the fish in the sea will die,' says Sandhya Dalal, who lives in a one-room shack by the sea with her fisherman husband and two little sons."Surely when such decisions are made, the government should first ask us if we want such a project near our homes.'
Little logic Coastal east Midnapur earns about Rs 360 crore in revenue from fish exports: that's 60 per cent of the state's export earnings from fishing. It also boasts a rich agricultural economy. The fertile, multicropped land yields paddy, pulses, vegetables, paan (betel) leaves, chillies and several fruits. Income from this land is high. Even, small farmers like the Manna brothers—Biren, Bidhan and Bikas—earn around Rs 2.5 lakh a year growing tomatoes and brinjals on their half-acre (0.2 hectare) plot of land.

A nuclear plant, requiring millions of tonnes of fresh water to cool its reactors, will deplete the water table and destroy this agrarian economy, say anti-nuclear activists. And hot water from the reactors released into the sea will affect marine life in the Bay of Bengal.

Also, the location of Haripur—along a cyclone-prone coast—makes setting up a nuclear plant here dangerous, activists say. If tidal waters enter a reactor, which nearly happened in Kalpakam during the 2004 tsunami, it could poison large tracts of land. Given the Indian nuclear establishment's penchant for secrecy, however, not much is known about the proposed project. It will reportedly have six nuclear reactors each of 1,650-mw capacity, three times the size of the country's largest reactor as of now, 540 mw. It will be one of the five new nuclear power projects that the centre intends to set up in coastal areas (see box: Unsafe and unclean).

Considering all these factors, why Haripur? asks Suvendu Adhikari, local Trinamul mla. "When I asked (chief minister) Buddhababu, why Haripur, he told me ‘not too many people live there'.' According to census figures, the population density in a 5.6 km ring around Haripur is 890 per sq km.
No cakewalk That's a lot of people and they are mobilising. With the help of local farmers' and fishermen's bodies, people have launched the Haripur Vidyut Prakalpa Pratirodh Andolan. The mood is both defiant and dejected. "People are willing to put up an all-out resistance, but seeing what's happened in Singur, they wonder how far they can stand up against state power,' says Harekrishna Debnath of the National Fishworkers Forum, part of an anti-nuclear alliance.

At the other end, the state government has roped in Jadavpur University to conduct seminars on the benefits of nuclear power; and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd, which will run the plant, will take 30 Haripur residents on a tour to a nuclear plant site.
Author(s): Maureen Nandini MitraDate: 14/04/2007Source: Down to Earth
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8 most polluted cities in India

With the climate talks on in Copenhagen, we take a look at some of the most polluted cities in India. Do take note that India has made clear it will not accept any legaly binding emission agreement. The 25 percent reduction in emission intensity that New Delhi announced ahead of the Copehnagen summit was purely voluntary.

Sukinda, Orissa

Sukinda, Orissa

Number of people affected: 2,600,000
Type of pollutant: Hexavalent chromium and other metals
Source of pollution: Chromite mines and processing

If you watched Erin Brockovich, then you know what hexavalent chromium is: a nasty heavy metal used for stainless steel production and leather tanning that is carcinogenic if inhaled or ingested.

In Sukinda, which contains one of the largest open cast chromite ore mines in the world, 60% of the drinking water contains hexavalent chromium at levels more than double international standards. An Indian health group estimated that 84.75% of deaths in the mining areas -- where regulations are nonexistent -- are due to chromite-related diseases. There has been virtually no attempt to clean up the contamination.

Sukinda has been listed in the Top 10 most polluted places in the world by the US-based Blacksmith Institute.

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