India and World: May 2010

Montblanc agrees not to use Gandhiji image

With the Centre rejecting Montblanc's plea for permission to use the name and pictorial representation of Gandhiji in its pens, the company informed the Supreme Court that it would not use the Mahatma's picture for commercial purposes.

The petitioner alleged that the company was using the image of Gandhiji for commercial purposes, and pens were being sold at high prices.

It wanted the Centre to restrain the company from using Gandhiji's name for commercial purposes and from violating Indian laws.

Iran for Brazilian plan on fuel swap

Iran has agreed in principle to a Brazilian proposal on a nuclear fuel swap, amid stepped up efforts by the United States and its key allies to impose fresh sanctions against Tehran.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a telephone conversation with his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez said Tehran agreed with Brazil's proposal on the swap for its research reactor in Tehran.

However, Mr. Ahmadinejad's conciliatory move coincided with an announcement by senior Iranian commander that Tehran would begin an over week-long naval exercise that will cover a vast area, starting from the Strait of Hormuz to large parts of the Indian Ocean.

The Strait of Hormuz, which links the Persian Gulf with the Sea of Oman, is vital for international oil transit.

Brazil is currently a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council the forum where sanctions on Iran are being discussed.

The nuclear swap was first proposed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) following talks last year in Vienna among Iran, the U.S., Russia and France. Under the proposal, Iran was to transfer abroad the bulk of its lightly enriched uranium in return for nuclear fuel rods from France.

The fuel was required for running the Tehran Research Reactor, engaged in producing medical isotopes needed for treating cancer patients.

Call for Asia-Pacific nations to invest more in social sector

A United Nations report has called upon governments in the Asia-Pacific region to increase social spending to consolidate the region's stronger than anticipated economic rebound and to spur over the long term a fairer, more balanced, and sustained economic recovery.

The Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2010, an annual publication of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) released globally provides the governments of the region representing 62 per cent of the world's population a roadmap towards a more inclusive and sustainable development path.

The report finds the outlook for 2010 has improved significantly, with the region's developing economies forecast to grow by 7 per cent, led by China (9.5) and India (8.3).

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On rivers and glaciers, India, China walk on thin ice

India will not accept any plans by China to divert the Brahmaputra river waters, Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh said even as he urged the Government of India to expedite hydel projects along the river in Arunachal Pradesh.

China is building a 540 MW run of the river' power generation project on the Yarlung Tsangpo, as the Brahmaputra is known in Tibet.

Chinese officials, for the first time, provided information to India over its plans to build a hydel power project at Zangmu in Tibet. Officials said the dam was a run of the river' power project, and neither involved plans for storage nor diversion. A 540 MW run of the river' should not be cause for great concern, as much as a storage dam [would be], Mr. Ramesh said

The Chinese government has, however, spoken of plans to divert the river's waters as part of a $ 62- billion South-to-North Water Diversion project.

Tanker with 19 Indians hijacked

Somali pirates, armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic guns, hijacked a chemical tanker off East Africa with 22 crew members, mostly Indians, the European Union naval force said on Sunday.

The crew comprised 19 Indians, 2 Bangladeshis and 1 Ukrainian, he said.

The ship, Marida Marguerite, was heading to Belgium from India.

India favours reforming multilateral FIs

India called for wide-ranging reforms in the structure of multilateral financial institutions to step up capital flows for infrastructure investment to developing markets.

External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said during his intervention at the 14th G-15 Summit in Tehran

The Group of 15 comprising 17 developing countries from Asia, Africa, and Latin America, aims to foster cooperation and provide input for other international groups.

The occasion saw the chairmanship of the grouping pass on to Sri Lanka, with its President Mahinda Rajapaksa calling for strong unity among its members which, if complimented by the rich diversity among the members, would help the grouping achieve objectives such as universal access to health care and education.

India preparing response on Kishanganga project

India is preparing its response to the note verbale sent by Pakistan on the 330 MW Kishanganga hydroelectric project on Kishanganga river, a tributary of Jhelum in Jammu and Kashmir.

Islamabad has threatened to set up a court of arbitration to resolve the issue, even as India maintains that there is no violation of the Indus Waters Treaty and it is well within its rights to divert Kishanganga waters. So far India has said that the matter should be resolved bilaterally.

Under the project, India proposed to divert Kishanganga waters to another tributary of Jhelum, namely Bonar Madmati Nallah, which falls in Wullar Lake and joins the Jhelum thereafter.

Pakistan has objected to this saying that under the provisions of the treaty, India is under obligation to let flow all the waters of the western rivers and shall not permit any interference with these waters. It claims that India's plan to divert waters cause obstruction to the flow of Kishanganga.

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Indian soldier killed in Congo

An Indian trooper, along with a Congolese soldier and a civilian, was killed in an attack by militants in Kivu province of Congo. Hussein Lal and his platoon, deployed on the United Nations peacekeeping duty in the mineral-rich Kivu province, rushed to help the Congolese Armed Forces, which had come under attack by the rebels.

The peacekeeping force, known by its acronym MONUC.

India, Turkmenistan explore energy cooperation

India and Turkmenistan discussed energy cooperation and signed several agreements signalling the desire of both countries to strengthen bilateral ties.

In a sign of continuing interest in the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, New Delhi has offered to host a technical meeting of experts under the aegis of the Asian Development Bank.

India has shown interest in the possibility of Turkmenistan exporting some of the gas to northern Iran. It could then be swapped with gas from Iran's southern seaboard into an under-sea pipeline, obviating the need for a surface Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline.

The SAGE (South Asia Gas Enterprise Pvt. Ltd.) project envisages a Middle-East natural gas gathering system connecting gas sources to the coast of the Arabian peninsula. From there, the SAGE family of pipelines plans to follow a route surveyed 15 years back and declared unviable as techniques of deepwater pipe-laying and manufacturing had not matured.

India feels it is essential to engage separately with Turkmenistan as it is the only Central Asian country which is not part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). New Delhi enjoys observer status at the SCO and is inclined to become a full member provided the six-nation grouping amends its membership rules at its forthcoming summit next month in Tashkent.

Canada denied visas to Brigadiers

Canada has denied visas to a member of the Armed Forces Tribunal, three Brigadiers, a retired Lt. General and a former official of the Intelligence Bureau on the grounds that their organisations are engaged in violence.

India, Japan to set up working group on nuclear cooperation

India has opened talks on civil nuclear energy with Japan and both sides have decided to set up a working group to examine the possibility of cooperation during an extended interaction between Japanese Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry Masayuki Naoshima and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia recently, said highly placed sources.

Japan is the most reluctant among countries with either uranium reserves or nuclear reactors to enter into cooperation with countries reluctant to accede to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT)

Japan has expertise in advanced uranium mining techniques, which it now shares with Kazakhstan that has emerged as the world's biggest supplier of uranium and which, like Japan, is reluctant to enter into nuclear cooperation until some of the hurdles are crossed.

India's refusal to sign the NPT might not be a major obstacle to civil nuclear cooperation with Japan but Tokyo expects New Delhi to take some concrete steps such as signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).

In this respect, the sources pointed to the December visit to India by Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama when he indirectly mentioned the importance of India signing the CTBT given that China and the U.S. agreed to ratify the treaty.

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More than signing the NPT, Japan's cooperation will depend on how India plays a role in world politics on nuclear weapons and how it abides by the action and commitments made in September 2008 in a letter written to the Nuclear Suppliers Group by then Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

OECD talks to focus on economic recovery

Economy and Trade Ministers from 40 countries, representing 80 per cent of the world economy, descended in Paris for the annual ministerial meeting of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a rich man's club that brings together the world's richest 30 nations.

Indian-American appointed to key post

The Obama administration has appointed Indian-American Kshemendra Paul to a key IT position, making him head of an agency that facilitates the sharing and access of terrorism-related information within various wings of the U.S. government.

Pratibha gifts Indian-style temple to the people of China

Amidst a splash of saffron and ochre and Buddhist spiritual chanting, President Pratibha Patil dedicated an Indian-style temple in the town of Luoyang to the friendship between the people of India and the people of China. Later she said it was an Indian gift to the people of China.

Luoyang, which falls in the province of Henan, and where the famous White Horse temple is located, is widely regarded as the cradle of Chinese civilisation. The idea of an Indian-style temple in China first came up when Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, on a tour of the country in 1993, visited the White Horse temple, and marvelled at the civilisational links between the ancient lands of India and China. A decade later, the idea assumed concrete shape when Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee paid a visit to the same complex.

The White Horse temple (Baima Si in Chinese), believed to be the first Buddhist temple in China, traces its antiquity to 68 AD. Legend has it that the Eastern Han Emperor, Mingdi, had a vision of a golden figure flying over his palace with the sun and moon behind its head. The emperor's Ministers told him that the vision might have been the Buddha (then unknown to China).

The Emperor despatched a delegation to India to acquire knowledge about Buddhism. After three years, the delegation returned with two eminent Indian Buddhist monks, She Moteng and Zhu Falan (known better as Kasyapamatanga and Dharmavanya). The monks brought with them a white horse carrying a bundle of Buddhist sutras and figures.

Overwhelmed, the emperor ordered the construction of the White Horse temple, and with that Buddhism formally arrived in China, growing over the years to a point where it would leave its impact on religion as well as on Chinese morals, philosophy and ethics. According to an Indian External Affairs Ministry booklet, the temple, which was burned down during the cultural revolution in China, has seen many renovations, and was rebuilt to perfection during the 1973 visit of Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.

Indus Water talks begin

The India- Pakistan Permanent Indus Water Commission will begin its four-day meeting under the shadow of Islamabad's threat to set up a court of arbitration on the Kishanganga project on Jhelum river in Jammu and Kashmir. The Commission was set up under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty.

Having raised the pitch on water sharing issues with India in recent weeks, Pakistan is likely to raise objections to the Uri-II, the Chutak and the Nimoo Bazgo hydel projects in the Kashmir valley.

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Pakistan alleges that the projects are a violation of the water treaty between the two countries that governs their rights on six common rivers.

The 240 MW Uri-II hydel project over Jhelum is in Baramullah, the 45 MW Nimoo Bazgo and the 44 MW Chutak hydel project are proposed for Laddakh.

While the Chutak project would be located on the river Suru, a tributary of the Indus in Kargil district, the Nimoo Bazgo project is proposed to be near Alchi village on the river Indus in Leh district.

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India and World: May 2010