China accomplishes its first space docking

G-20 AGENDA-2011

02.11.2011-The Hindu

“History is being written at Cannes” boasts a G20 hoarding at this resort city, home to the world's most prestigious film festival which is hosting the 2011 Summit of the 19 largest global economies and the European Union.

The slogan couldn't have been truer. Financial and economic history, if not the world's then that of the European Union is certainly being written here and the carefully planned agenda dealing with agriculture, price volatility, development and global governance has been turned on its head by the latest developments in the Greek debt crisis. The Greek crisis, which many believed was sorted out last week, has literally hijacked the G20 summit.

Greek Prime Minister Georges Papendreou's decision to seek his electorate's approval for the eurozone's bailout plan has caused consternation and anger in Europe with markets nose diving at this renewed uncertainty. Mr. Papendreou has been summoned to Cannes for an emergency meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and IMF chief Christine Lagarde before major pre-summit bilateral talks between various world leaders get under way.

Mr. Papandreou goes to the meeting strengthened by the fact that his Cabinet gave its wholesale support to his proposal to hold a referendum. Ms. Merkel in a communique indicated that Germany still expected the October 27 agreement to go into effect, while Mr. Sarkozy, who reportedly was furious at the Greek decision, said dryly, “I am telling the Greeks that this is the only way out of the Greek debt crisis.”

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who arrived here on Wednesday in a pre-departure statement released to the media said that “The twin Summits of the European Union and eurozone a few days ago have helped to restore a measure of confidence in the markets, but much more needs to be done.” The Prime Minister's statement appeared to overlook the latest developments in Greece, which now threaten to overtake the planned Summit talks.

“Developing economies such as India need a conducive-global economic environment to address the vast challenges they face. In an increasingly interdependent world, we have to be wary of contagion effects and the import of inflationary pressures in our economy. We need to ensure that developing countries have access to requisite funds through multilateral development banks and to investible surpluses to meet their infrastructure and other priority needs.

“The issue of global governance will also come up for discussion. This is an issue of importance to India, and we will work with others to develop effective and representative global governance mechanisms and carry forward the process of reform of the international monetary and financial system,” says the statement.

Besides Mr. Sarkozy, with whom a meeting is scheduled for Thursday morning, Dr. Singh is to hold talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron, Australia's Julia Gillard, and European leaders Herman Van Rompuy and Mr. Jose Manuel Barroso. A meeting with U.S. President Barak Obama has not been confirmed.

However, the scheduled talks on six themes identified by the teams of economists who did the pre-summit preparations may now be scuttled by the Greek issue. The shadow of China also looms large over the summit. The decision by eurozone leaders to seek outside funding for the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), essentially from China, is causing serious political ripples here. Opposition Socialists, several prominent right wingers as well as the extreme right in France and political heavyweights in Germany have denounced the move to seek Chinese help. One socialist leader described the attempt to ask China to back the Euro-zone's bail out fund as “a financial Munich” – appeasement of an ever voracious China.

The Europeans began wooing the Chinese almost as soon as the agreement in Brussels to boost the leverage of the EFSF from the present 440 billion Euros to about 1.4 trillion Euros (in case Italy and Spain find themselves similarly imperilled) was signed, with the EFSF head Klaus Regling flying to Beijing to gauge interest.

G 20 -Conf.2011-France 

This Summit takes place with leaders almost certain that the Greeks will reject the present bailout plan when they vote in the referendum in January or February. And the three-month hiatus before that vote will be troubled, to say the least. Host country France is worried that its turn might come sooner rather than later. France has an 86 per cent debt to GDP ratio and its AAA rating has already been placed under scrutiny. With elections barely six months away, Mr. Sarkozy, who remains deeply unpopular, is reluctant to take austerity measures which could damage his presidential hopes. Mr. Sarkozy was counting on the success of the G20 Summit to boost his image as a leader able to shape policy and influence world events. But the seemingly unmanageable ground reality may just give the lie to those hopes.

President Sarkozy's office tried to be reassuring despite the turmoil in the markets. “We must show investors that the major economies are capable of providing a long term vision for international governance— through financial regulation and the transformation of international monetary systems. We will do this with determination and with unfaltering solidarity,” a communique from the Elysee Presidential Palace said.

“The G20 must show that each country — for its individual growth — has an interest in seeing that its nei

HISTORIC PEACE DEAL STRUCK IN NEPAL

02.11.2011- The Hindu

Breaking a political deadlock that has lasted more than three years, Nepal's political parties arrived at a historic agreement on the peace process, Constitution writing and power-sharing late on Tuesday evening.

The Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), the Nepali Congress (NC), the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), and the Madhesi parties settled the future of 19,602 Maoist combatants, agreeing to integrate a maximum of 6,500 fighters into the Nepal Army (NA) and provide rehabilitation and cash packages to the rest.

According to the deal, the former combatants would be integrated in a newly-created special directorate under the Nepal Army, which will also include NA soldiers and personnel from other security forces. The directorate will be responsible for development works, industrial security, forest security, and disaster relief. Combatants will be integrated on an individual basis, and will have to meet the norms of the security force. But there will be flexibility on age, marital status, and educational qualification. To determine ranks, the norms of the security organs will be taken into account. There will be bridging and educational courses for the combatants.

Those combatants who opt for voluntary retirement will get between $6,300 and $10,000 approximately, depending on their rank. There will be packages between $7,600 and $11,400 for those who prefer rehabilitation. Maoist weapons will come under the government.

The Maoists have also committed to return property confiscated during the insurgency.

A Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Disappearances Commission, a high-level political mechanism to oversee the peace and Constitution process, and an experts' team to address state restructuring issues would also be constituted. The parties have also agreed to complete the process of regrouping of combatants by November 23, and prepare the first draft of the Constitution by November 30.

While not in the agreement, sources said a power-sharing arrangement had also been worked out, whereby the NC will lead the government which will hold elections after Constitution promulgation.

Leaders expressed optimism that the agreement would enable the successful conclusion of political transition in Nepal. A faction of the Maoists, led by vice-chairman Mohan Vaidya ‘Kiran', however opposed the deal terming it “anti-people”.

DHONI,BINDRA CONFERRED Lt.Col.RANK

02.11.2011-The Hindu

Sports personalities M.S. Dhoni and Abhinav Bindra were commissioned as Honorary Lieutenant Colonel and Deepak Rao as Honorary Major in the Territorial Army on Tuesday.

At a brief function here, Chief of the Army Staff General V.K. Singh pipped the three, completing the formal induction into the force.

Dhoni and Bindra were bestowed the honour for their outstanding contribution to sports and their commitment to the Army on various occasions.

Deepak Rao is the first Indian to specialise in modern Close Quarter Battle Training. He has imparted his expertise for 17 years to soldiers from various forces of the country. He has also been an Instructor in Reflex Shooting and Deep Sea Diving. Despite his outstanding achievements he remains committed, selfless and has dedicated his life to the Army as an organisation.

“For his yeomen service to the nation and specifically providing assistance to training of the Armed Forces in Close Quarter Battle, Advanced Commando Combat System and Combating Terrorism, Dr. Rao has been bestowed with the honour”, a release said.

The three honorary officers have now become brand ambassadors of the Army. They join Col. (Hon) Anil Habbu, Lt. Col. (Hon) Kapil Dev and Lt. Col. (Hon) Mohanlal.

02.11.2011-The Hindu

China on Thursday took a great leap forward in fulfilling its ambition to establish a manned space station by 2020 when it completed its first successful docking above the Earth.

The Shenzhou-8 spacecraft silently coupled the Tiangong-1 module more than 343 km above Earth, in a manoeuvre carried live on state television.

The success of the docking procedure makes China the third country in the world, after the United States and Russia, to master the technique, moving the country one step closer to establishing its own space station.

China is now equipped with the basic technology and capacity required for the construction of a space station, Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China’s manned space programme said.

“This will make it possible for China to carry out space exploration on a larger scale,” he was quoted by the state run Xinhua news agency as saying.

President Hu Jintao, who is in France for the G-20 summit, sent a congratulatory message on the success of the country’s first-ever space docking.

“Breakthroughs in and acquisition of space docking technologies are vital to the three-phase development strategy of our manned space program,” Hu said.

Other state leaders, including Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang, who are Standing Committee members of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, watched the mission at the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Centre.

PRESS COUNCIL OF INDIA CHAIRMAN JUSTICE MARKANDEY

02.11.2011-The Hindu

He is demanding “draconian powers” for Press Council

The Editors Guild of India has come out with a scathing condemnation of Press Council of India chairman Justice Markandey Katju's “ill-considered, sweeping and uninformed comments on the media,” alleging that they “touched a new low.”

Justice Katju made the remarks in an interview to Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN over the weekend.

In a statement, the Guild “strongly” opposed Justice Katju's demand for what it called “draconian powers” for the Press Council. These included the power to impose fines, withdraw advertisements and suspend publication licences.

It also objected to his suggestion that the Council be allowed to regulate television channels as well as newspapers. “The issues and drivers of the electronic media are such that they call for separate regulation. Therefore, the Guild firmly believes that the Press Council should have its brief limited to the print media, as it is at present.”

In less than a month at the helm of the Press Council, Justice Katju has irked senior journalists with his negative comments. At his first informal get-together with editors, his blunt lecture on the defects of the media and the stern warning that “if the media proves incorrigible, harsh measures may be required” had led to sharp disagreements with several veteran journalists.

In his CNN-IBN interview, Justice Katju said he had a poor opinion of most media people, who had a very “poor intellectual level” without much knowledge of economic theory, political science, literature or philosophy. He felt that the media divided people on religious lines and played an anti-people role. He said he had written to the Prime Minister, asking for a media council with more powers to penalise media organisations if they behaved in a “very obnoxious manner.”