Bangalore Archive

Russia, India, China trilateral meet starts in Bangalore

Published: October 27, 2009Posted in: Business, NationalTags:

Bangalore, Oct 27 – The ninth trilateral meeting between Russia, India and China (RIC) begins here Tuesday to explore business opportunities in key sectors, including infrastructure and energy.

India’s IT capital, Bangalore, is holding such a major international meeting 23 years after it played host to the second South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (Saarc) summit in November 1986 under then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. One of the reasons for the shift is because India’s External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna hails from Bangalore.

‘The foreign ministers of RIC countries will discuss trade and business opportunities in infrastructure, energy, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and nanotechnology for mutual benefit,’ external affairs ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash told reporters Monday evening.

Krishna, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi will exchange views on regional and international issues as well.

‘Some of the global issues on the agenda are climate change, world trade and the global financial crisis from which the world is gradually emerging,’ Prakash noted.

The three foreign ministers will sign a joint declaration after the two-hour long meeting, which will also focus on collaborating to consolidate the structure for a greater role in world affairs.

The three countries account for 20 percent of the global landmass and 39 percent of the global population.

The interaction is being held against the backdrop of bilateral meetings Krishna and Lavrov had during the 15th session of the Indo-Russian inter-governmental commission in Moscow Oct 21 and between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at Han Hin in Thailand Oct 24 on the margins of the Indo-ASEAN summit.

‘The RIC process also encourages academic exchanges. India enjoys most important and time-tested relations with Russia based upon mutual trust, continuity and understanding,’ Prakash said.

India-China ties to dominate foreign ministers’ meet

Published: October 26, 2009Posted in: NationalTags:

Bangalore, Oct 26 – India’s up and down ties with China are likely to dominate the ninth trilateral meeting of the two Asian giants and Russia in this technology hub Tuesday.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had stated at Hua Hin (Thailand) Sunday that differences between India and China would be taken up by their respective foreign ministers when they meet here. The stage is now set for serious talks between the two countries.

Though the day-long meeting of Russia, India and China (RIC) is ostensibly meant to discuss ways to expand cooperation in regional and international issues such as the global financial crisis, terrorism and UN reforms, the bilateral talks between External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi on the sidelines would be keenly watched.

‘Yang and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are arriving in Bangalore late Monday with a team of officials for the three-nation dialogue Tuesday. Krishna will also hold a separate meeting with Yang on the sidelines,’ an external affairs ministry spokesman told IANS here.

A joint declaration will be made after the trilateral meeting on the initiatives to be taken for furthering cooperation among the three countries. Trade and commerce are also high on the agenda to counter the impact of the global recession.

‘The meeting will focus on developing contacts between businesses among the three nations, measures to deal with the menace of terrorism, especially in the south Asian region and inclusive growth,’ the official said.

In light of Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao agreeing on the sidelines of the Indo-ASEAN summit in the Thai resort to resolve India-China differences amicably, observers hope the talks between Krishna and Yang will ease the tensions between the two neighbours.

The unresolved border dispute, the allegations of Chinese intrusions into Indian territories, China’s objection to Manmohan Singh’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh early this month and the upcoming visit of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to the border state Nov 8 are expected to figure prominently in the bilateral talks between Krishna and Yang.

Former foreign secretary A.P. Venkateshwaran, however, feels nothing substantial would come out of the talks, especially on the border issue, which has been hanging fire for the past four decades.

‘We can only hope there will be no aggression from China again. At the same time we must be prepared for the worst. The fact of the matter is China had no border with India until it took over Tibet by force in the fifties. Though its leadership signed an agreement with the Dalai Lama, they backed out,’ Venkateshwaran recalled.

India’s IT capital Bangalore is holding such a major international meeting 23 years after it played host to the second South Asian Association of Regional Countries (SAARC) summit in November 1986 under then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Krishna, a former chief minister of Karnataka, took the initiative to hold the meet in this garden city to outline the common goals and objectives of the countries in the region.

Earlier, Krishna told reporters Sunday at Mangalore, about 350 km from Bangalore, that he looked forward to a new era of good relationships with China and Russia as the ‘cold war has ended long ago’.

‘We would like to keep our relations with Russia and China very transparent, forthright and friendly. Our relations with Russia have been very cordial and with China it is improving on a day-to-day basis. The two countries have been coming closer on many issues,’ Krishna said at a press conference after flagging off the first batch of Haj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia from Mangalore airport.

Krishna reiterated that Arunachal Pradesh was an integral part of India and said China had no dispute over it.

‘The recent elections in the border state have sustained this further,’ he added.

Karnataka flood relief turns into political battle (Letter from Bangalore)

Published: October 26, 2009Posted in: National, PoliticsTags:

Bangalore, Oct 26 – As over a million flood-devastated people in north Karnataka struggle to put their lives back on track, the state’s main political parties are locked in a bitter war of words over relief efforts.

There is increasing acrimony not only on the manner and pace of relief and rehabilitation work but also over the quantum of financial aid to be sought from the central government and how the millions of rupees donated by the public are being spent.

While battling the opposition, Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, who heads the state’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, is also busy scotching speculation that a few influential leaders in the party and some ministers in his cabinet are upset with his idea of a levy on the rich and the affluent to raise funds for the massive rehabilitation work.

The Sep 30-Oct 2 rains and flash floods claimed 226 lives, destroyed about 500,000 houses, drowned 7,800 head of cattle, inundated 4,290 villages, damaged around 1.13 million hectares of crop lands, brought down school and college buildings, washed away hundreds of kilometres of roads and several bridges and breached irrigation canals and tanks.

The state government has estimated the loss at around Rs.18,500 crore and has sought immediate central assistance of Rs.6,000 crore.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has announced Rs.1,000 crore as interim relief after making an aerial survey of the havoc and promised more after a central team assesses the damage.

A nine-member central team concluded its tour of the affected areas Friday and said the calamity was of ‘severe nature’. The team will submit its report to the central government in two weeks.

Yeddyurappa’s effort to stitch a united front of all political parties to mount pressure on the central government for massive financial aid failed as the opposition Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) refused to go along.

The Congress and the JD-S, which supports the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the centre, accused the chief minister of trying to get political mileage for himself and his party, the main opposition BJP at the national level.

‘Where was the need to rush to the central government with a delegation when the prime minister and the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Home Minister P. Chidambaram have made an aerial survey and assured money would not be a constraint to help the affected people?’ has been the refrain of state Congress leaders, starting from their president R.V. Deshpande.

The JD-S, headed by former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda, took a similar stand saying the Yeddyurappa government must first spend the amount it already has and the millions of rupees donated by the public.

The two parties were cut up with Yeddyurappa’s three-day padyatra (walk) in Bangalore in the first week of October to raise funds. They thought it was a gimmick by the chief minister.

‘Instead of wasting time in such shows the chief minister and his ministers must camp in the affected areas and supervise relief operations,’ thundered Deve Gowda’s son and former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.

‘How are the millions of rupees donated generously by the people being spent,’ asked Congress spokesperson V.S. Ugrappa.

Yeddyurappa, in turn, has been on the offensive against these two parties. ‘Instead of making wild allegations to mislead the public, leaders of these two parties should meet me with suggestions on proper and speedy implementation of relief and rehabilitation work,’ the chief minister has retorted.

Yeddyurappa did generate public sympathy and appreciation for himself, besides large donations, when he went on his padyatra. He, however, almost lost the sympathy he had garnered by announcing he was mulling a levy on the rich and the affluent to raise more funds.

Facing opposition from various trade bodies and industry and commerce chambers as well as sections of his own party Yeddyurappa quietly buried the proposal saying he was only ‘thinking aloud’.

His government also landed in another controversy over the alleged coercion by officials to extract donations from several major firms, including IT companies, by calling up senior management people of these companies to know how much they were donating.

As the controversy was building up, an official spokesperson rushed to clarify: ‘The calls were made only to confirm whether the general circular appealing for donations had reached the senior management people. There is no coercion at all.’

The latest in this series of twists, turns and blame game over flood rehabilitation is the Congress plan to take a party delegation to central leaders for large aid.

‘I am willing to be part of their delegation,’ Yeddyurappa sarcastically reacted, not letting go of a chance to hit back at the Congress for refusing to be part of the team he led to New Delhi.

(V.S. Karnic can be contacted at vs.karnic@ians.in)

Successful firing of cryogenic engine a challenge for new ISRO chief

Published: October 25, 2009Posted in: National, Sci-TechTags:

Bangalore, Oct 25 – Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman-designate K. Radhakrishnan, who takes over Oct 31, has said his first priority would be to see that the indigenously built cryogenic engine is made ready for the GSLV launch by the year-end.

He made the statement soon after he learnt about his appointment to the top post.

The successful firing of a cryogenic engine will take India into the exclusive space club, which has the US, Russia, China, France and Japan with such a capability.

‘The next test flight of the geo-synchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV-D3) will be an acid test for the new chairman, as the indigenously built cryogenic engine will be used for the first time in the rocket’s upper stage,’ an official said, declining to be named.

The GSLV-D3 is slated to be launched in December from ISRO’s spaceport Sriharikota, about 80 km north-east of Chennai, to carry the GSAT-4 communication satellite into a geo-stationary orbit, about 36,000 km above the earth.

Radhakrishnan, director of the space agency’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) at Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, had played a key role in the country’s maiden lunar mission Chandrayaan-1.

‘Radhakrishnan played a key role in the realisation of India’s maiden lunar mission Chandrayaan-1. The rocket (PSLV-C11) that was used to launch Chandrayaan on Oct 22 last year, was designed and developed by him,’ the official told IANS.

Radhakrishnan will take over as chairman of ISRO and secretary, Department of Space, Oct 31 following his appointment to the top post Saturday by the government.

The present incumbent G. Madhavan Nair retires Oct 30 after six years at the helm.

ISRO had taken up the development of cryogenic stage in 1996 to achieve self-reliance in cryogenic propulsion technology.

‘Till now, we have used Russian-made cryogenic engines for the launch of GSLVs in the experimental flights,’ the official pointed out.

The indigenous cryogenic engine develops a thrust of 73 kilo Newtons (kN) in vacuum with a specific impulse of 454 seconds and provides a payload capability of 2,200 kg to geo-synchronous transfer orbit for the launch vehicle.

Radhakrishnan, while speaking to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram late Saturday, said: ‘A huge responsibility has been placed on me. At this moment I would like to thank all my gurus (teachers) and among them are (Madhavan) Nair and former ISRO chairmen K. Kasturirangan and U.R. Rao.’

Radhakrishnan is not new to Bangalore, as he was director of budget and economic analysis at ISRO headquarters for over a decade in the nineties.

Starting his career with ISRO as an avionics engineer in 1971, Radhakrishnan held key positions, including director of regional remote sensing service centres under the umbrella of the national resources management system (1989-97).

After graduating in engineering from Kerala University in 1970, Radhakrishnan did MBA from the prestigious Indian Institute of Management (IIM-B) in Bangalore and doctorate from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Kharagpur, West Bengal.

For five years (2000-2005), Radhakrishnan was on deputation to the department of ocean development (now ministry of earth sciences) as founder-director of the Indian national centre for ocean information services and project director of the early warning system for tsunami and storm surges.

‘Radhakrishnan returned to ISRO and had a stint at the national remote sensing centre in Hyderabad before joining VSSC as director,’ the official recalled.

The rocket scientist was also vice-chairman of the inter-governmental oceanographic commission (IOC) of Unesco 2001-05.

Radhakrishnan was a member of the Indian delegation to the UN committee on peaceful use of outer space since June 2006.

We fought well in time of adversity: Kashmir cricketer

Published: October 24, 2009Posted in: National, SportsTags:

Bangalore, Oct 24 – Jammu and Kashmir’s under-22 cricketers, who lost their C.K. Nayudu Trophy match to Karnataka, say they fought well in the backdrop of the bitter incident of their teammate Pervez Rasool being questioned by police on suspicion of carrying explosives.

‘We fought well in time of adversity. We tried our best to win and gave a good fight to Karnataka,’ Rasool, 21, who was briefly detained by Bangalore police for questioning, told IANS Saturday.

Rasool scored 68 and 35 in the first and second innings of the match that Karnataka won by eight wickets with more than a day to spare.

Echoing Rasool’s sentiments, team coach Abdul Qayoom said that ‘emotionally it was one of our toughest matches’.

‘I am proud of my cricketers. They put up a brave face and played well. I am especially happy for Pervez, who gave his best in the match,’ added Qayoom.

Bangalore police had briefly detained Rasool Oct 17 for questioning after a metal detector indicated presence of an explosive substance in his bag. The bag has been sent to a forensic laboratory.

Karnataka prepares for possible second wave of swine flu

Published: October 24, 2009Posted in: Health, NationalTags:

Bangalore, Oct 24 – With winter approaching and experts fearing a second wave of swine flu attacks, Karnataka health authorities say they are well prepared to prevent the spread of the disease that has killed 111 people in the state so far.

‘There is nothing to fear. We are well prepared to tackle the second wave of Influenza A(H1N1),’ state Health Commissioner P.N. Srinivasachari told IANS Saturday.

Karnataka registered the second largest number of H1N1 deaths in the country, after neighbouring Maharashtra.

Of the 111 deaths, 82 were in Bangalore.

‘We have arranged awareness programmes on swine flu at district level to make people take preventive measures to stop the spread of the virus. The programmes will start in a week’s time,’ Srinivasachari said.

The Song and Drama Division of the government ‘will help us to conduct street plays on swine flu in rural areas’, he added.

Srinivasachari said there was a possibility of fresh H1N1 influenza attack in the state in the coming months. Britain is already witnessing the second wave of flu spread, he pointed out.

The state’s first private laboratory to test swab samples for H1N1 virus has started functioning at Narayana Nethralaya, a leading eye-care hospital, about 15 km from the city centre.

The state-run National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) was the only swab testing laboratory so far.

Health authorities have also launched a campaign through state-run electronic media and posters urging people to maintain personal hygiene.

‘Personal hygiene is a must, with the fear that coming of winter season might further increase the spread of H1N1 virus. Basic steps like washing hands with an anti-germ solution or soap, before and after eating food is a simple way to protect from swine flu disease,’ Principal Secretary (Health) I.R. Perumal told IANS.

On the large number of H1N1 deaths in the state, Perumal said ‘we’ve found that delay in treatment of the disease and administration of Tamiflu are the primary reasons for the death toll’.

Flood calamity in Karnataka very severe, says central team

Published: October 23, 2009Posted in: Business, NationalTags:

Bangalore, Oct 23 – A nine-member central team, which surveyed 10 districts of flood-ravaged north Karnataka, Friday declared that the recent calamity in the region was of a ‘severe nature’.

‘The flood calamity that struck northern districts of the state is of severe nature. A report on the magnitude of devastation, including loss of life and property, will be submitted to the inter-ministerial committee in a fortnight,’ team leader O. Ravi, joint secretary in the union home ministry, told reporters here.

The inter-ministerial committee is comprised of union ministers of finance, home and agriculture and the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission.

To assess the damage, the team surveyed for three days since Wednesday 10 districts in the region that was battered by heavy rains and flash floods from Sep 29-Oct 2. The calamity claimed 226 lives, destroyed about 501,400 houses, drowned 7,800 head of cattle, inundated 4,290 villages, and destroyed around 1.13 million hectares of crop lands.

‘We have sought clarifications from the state government on immediate infrastructure requirements and their estimated cost. The quantum of relief will be based on the norms of the National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF) as spelt out by the 12th Finance Commission in 2007,’ Ravi said.

Returning from the survey of the worst-affected districts, the team members held meetings with Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and top officials, including Chief Secretary S.V. Ranganath, at the state secretariat here.

‘We will also look into the state demand for relaxing the norms to enhance the relief limit and submit our recommendations to the 13th Finance Commission in the next five-six months,’ Ravi noted.

The present Finance Commission, headed by Vijay Kelkar, deals with the devolution of funds by the centre to all states across the country.

The state government submitted a memorandum to the central team detailing the extent of damage to agricultural and horticultural crops, infrastructure and soil erosion.

‘The state government’s assessment of the damage appears to be appropriate. Though we have not received serious complaints from the affected people, farmers have sought crop loans,’ Ravi added.

BSNL unveils prepaid broadband service in Bangalore

Published: October 23, 2009Posted in: Business, NationalTags:

Bangalore, Oct 23 – State-run telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) Friday launched prepaid broadband service for the first time in the country from this tech hub to enable customers access Internet in any city except Delhi and Mumbai.

‘There are no fixed monthly charges for prepaid broadband service. Postpaid customers can also subscribe to the service,’ BSNL chairman and managing director Kuldeep Goyal told reporters at the launch.

Initially, prepaid broadband customers will be given an account with user name and password and 50mb free download with a 15-day validity period.

The service offers unlimited download through four slabs (vouchers) of access at speeds ranging from 256kbps to 2mbps in the validity period. Limited download is also available through nine slabs at 2mbps speed.

‘The other advantages of prepaid service are subscribers will have control onusage and will not have to exceed download limit. A group of prepaid customers like students or professionals can share a single digital subscriber line (DSL) connection,’ Goal said.

Corporates and enterprises can control expenditure on broadband usage of employees by subscribing to the service.

‘As in case of mobile connectivity, where 80 percent of subscribers are prepaid, we are confident of increasing the broadband subscriber base with this new service in view its advantages such as affordability and mobility,’ Goyal said.

In this context, he admitted that private and state-run operators had missed the target of achieving 10 million subscribers’ base broadband connections by 2007.

‘Through innovative schemes such as prepaid and increase use of optic fibre, we are racing against time to achieve the government’s target of 20 million (connections) by 2010 and 40 million by 2012,’ Goyal noted.

BSNL, which rolled out the postpaid broadband service in Bangalore Jan 14, 2005, has 4.3 million customers nationwide, accounting for about 40 percent market share.

‘We have an installed capacity of 8.5 million lines, including 1.5 million ports in rural areas. We are investing more to increase the pace of connections from all the 32,000 exchanges in the country, including rural exchanges,’ Goyal said.

If Internet has revolutionised communications and e-commerce, broadband has accelerated the speed of access for high-end services such as voluminous data, video content and television (IPTV).

The prepaid broadband service will be extended to other circles in phases by the end of this fiscal.

Globetrotting exhibition on Darwin reaches Bangalore

Published: October 23, 2009Posted in: National, Sci-TechTags:

Bangalore, Oct 23 – Bangalore schoolchildren are exploring the works of noted 19th century English naturalist and ‘The Origin of Species’ author Charles Darwin at an exhibition here honouring his vast contribution to human knowledge.

The event titled ‘Darwin Now’ has been curated by British Council to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his famous book.

The 15-day long exhibition got under way Thursday at the Forum mall on Hosur Road. It will move to Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium from Oct 27 to Nov 5.

‘The purpose behind bringing the globally travelling exhibition to Bangalore is to re-introduce the works of the noted scientist among the youths of Bangalore and thereby inculcate the scientific spirit among the young minds,’ Charu Sapra of the British Council told IANS.

‘The exhibition in detail brings to light the works and theories of Darwin, including his book. By exhibiting his works, we want to emphasise the importance and relevance of his works, including the theory of evolution in today’s world,’ Sapra added.

Experts believes that although controversial, Darwin’s works impacted biology, medicine, economy and society at large.

Not only youths, but many adults with a scientific bent of mind are also visiting the exhibition. It greets people with colourful posters talking in detail about Charles Darwin the man, the scientist and his works.

‘It’s a well-done exhibition and I have learnt so many new things about Darwin whose theory of evolution completely revolutionised society and is still making an impact on modern biology,’ said Deepa Rao, who visited the exhibition with her seven-year-old son Friday.

‘I am thoroughly enjoying the exhibition and am learning a lot about Darwin’s work,’ said Shikha, a college-goer.

A science quiz and other programmes for schoolchildren are also part of the exhibition.

After Bangalore, the exhibition will be hosted at Chennai, Ahmedabad and Pune. Earlier Darwin’s works were exhibited in Delhi and Chandigarh.

Karnataka, Andhra seek more flood aid

Published: October 23, 2009Posted in: NationalTags:

Bangalore, Oct 23 – Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, two states recently hit by massive floods, may jointly bring pressure on the central government for larger financial assistance for rehabilitation the affected people, Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa said Friday.

‘Andhra (Pradesh) chief minister agreed that if the two states join hands it would help in getting larger central financial help for rehabilitation of the flood hit in the two states,’ Yeddyurappa told reporters after meeting his counterpart K. Rosaiah.

Karnataka has estimated a loss of Rs.18,500 crore from the Sep 30-Oct 2 floods in the state’s north and sought over Rs.6,600 crore from the central government as immediate relief.

Andhra Pradesh has sought Rs.6,000 crore, estimating losses at over Rs.12,200 crore.

Rosaiah also addressed the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry on Solution to Natural Calamities.

He suggested that all states should have disaster management committee on the lines of the central disaster management panel.

This was Rosaiah’s first visit to Karnataka after becoming Andhra chief minister on Sep 3 following the death of Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter accident.

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