Indian PM Manmohan Singh Leaves On 3days Visit To Russia

India news about: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left for a three-day visit to Russia during which the two sides are expected to sign a framework agreement on civil nuclear cooperation and three pacts in the field of defence.

In a statement, Singh said he will review with President Dmitry Medvedev the status of bilateral cooperation, including in the key areas of defence, civil nuclear energy, space and hydrocarbons at the annual summit tomorrow.
“The Annual Summit is the principal mechanism for the advancement of our strategic partnership with Russia.

This is a partnership based on the solid foundation of long-standing friendship, deep mutual trust and strong convergence of interests,” Singh said.He noted that over the years, Indo-Russian multifaceted cooperation has acquired greater depth and maturity through joint efforts. “We seek to strengthen these ties further.

India’s Singh Hails ‘Most Important’ Russian Ties

MOSCOW news about: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday hailed unique relations with Russia, following informal talks with President Dmitry Medvedev at his Moscow residence.

“I assure you that relations with Russia are the most important for us and we do not have such relations with any other country,” Russian news agencies quoted Singh as saying.

Singh thanked Medvedev for meeting him “despite the weekend” during which over 100 Russians died at a fire in a restaurant in the Ural city of Perm.

“This couldn’t have been any other way, Russia and India are good friends,” Medvedev said.

Formal talks are to take place on Monday, including in the afternoon with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Singh’s two-day trip, his sixth to Russia as prime minister since 2004, is aimed at strengthening ties between the two long-time allies and finalising a deal to expand cooperation on nuclear energy.

Russia, the Vatican Establish Diplomatic Relations

ROME  news updates: Russia and the Vatican have established full diplomatic relations ending longstanding tensions, the Kremlin announced Thursday after President Dmitry Medvedev met Pope Benedict XVI. “President Medvedev told Pope Benedict XVI that he had signed a decree concerning the establishment of full diplomatic relations with the Vatican,” said presidential spokeswoman Natalia Timakova.

“He asked the foreign ministry to lead discussions to establish the relations and raise the level of representation to apostolic nuncio and embassy,” she added.

Iran’s Threats to Target Tel Aviv if Israel Attacks

TEHRAN: Representative of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini said that if Iran is attacked then it will target Israeli city Tel Aviv. Iran is to begin large-scale air defence war games aimed at protecting its nuclear facilities from possible attack.

The drill comes as a top clerical official renewed his threat to target “the heart of Tel Aviv” should Israel attack Iran.

The five-day drill will involve Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard and the regular army and will cover 230,000 square miles of central, western and southern Iran, said air force General Ahmad Mighani.

As Iran has pressed forward with its nuclear program, Israel has repeatedly threatened military action to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons. The US has also not ruled out military action should diplomacy fail to resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear activities.

The West suspects Iran aims to use a civilian nuclear program as cover to produce weapons, and Iran has effectively rejected a new UN proposal aimed at easing those concerns.

Tehran denies any intention to make nuclear weapons and says it only wants to generate power.

The defence drill will involve an attack by planes representing a hypothetical enemy.

“Reconnaissance enemy planes will violate our air space and try to disrupt electronic and radar systems, identify sensitive facilities, take photos and … attack air defense sites,” Gen Mighani said. “Our air defence system will confront the intruding planes.”

A planned key component of Iran’s air defences, an anti-aircraft missile system from Russia, has yet to be delivered.

Gen Mighani criticised Russia, saying the months-long delay in the S-300 missiles was apparently the result of Israeli pressure, not technical issues, as Moscow claims.

Current Affairs Questions 2009

latest news about, Current Affairs Questions 2009: current affairs questions, current affairs, make your, general knowledge 2009, fudbalski rezultati uzivo CURRENT AFFAIRS JANUARY 2009

1. The new federal agency approved by the Indian Government to combat terror in India which will be empowered to deal with terror related crimes across states without special permission from the state ?

National Investigation Agency.

2. Who is appointed as Director General of the newly established National Investigation Agency (NIA).?

Radha Vinod Raju, Special Director General of Police in Jammu and Kashmir

3. “Man of the series” of recently held One Day series between Australia & South Africa?

Albie Morkel

4. Who became the country’s youngest international referee, after passing the world body FIBA’s exam ?

Zanim Mohammed Hashim from Thalassery, Kerala

5. The first Indian to win the prestigious Golden Globe Award for Best Original Music Score ?

A.R.Rahman for Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire.
Rahman’s song ‘Jai Ho,’ penned by lyricist Gulzar, was nominated for Best Original Music Score.

6. Which Malayalam Writer won the “Odakkuzhal Award ” ?

K.G.Sankara Pillai

7. Who became the fastest bowler to take 50 wickets in one-day internationals ?

Ajantha Mendis , completed his 50-wicket haul in his 19th one-day international. He surpassed the record of India’s Ajit Agarkar who took 23 matches to reach the milestone.

8. Who has been appointed as the General Counsel and Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of Management and Budget in the upcoming administration of U.S.President Barack Obama?

Preeta Bansal, Leading Indian-American lawyer

9. Name the Indo-Russian supersonic cruise missile with speeds of Mach 2.5 to 2.8, which is world’s fastest cruise missile and is about three and a half times faster than the U.S.A’s subsonic Harpoon cruise missile?

Brahmos, The acronym ‘BrahMos’ is perceived as the confluence of the two nations represented by two great rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia.

10. Who is the Man of the Series in the recently held Zimbabwe –Bangladesh One Day Series held in Bangladesh?

Shakib Al Hasan

11. The first Bangladesh player to top one of the International Cricket Council’s player rankings?

Shakib Al Hasan He tops the ICC ODI Rankings for all-rounders

12. Jharkhand Chief Minister who resigned from his post following his defeat in the Tamar assembly by-poll?

Shibu Soren

13. Music Sensation A.R.Rahman won how many Oscar nominations for the film “Slumdog Millionaire” ?

Three nominations (Music, Songs (Jai Ho, O Saya))

14. Indian sound engineer from Mumbai, born in Kerala, nominated for the Oscars for Best sound mixing in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’?
Source: questionforall.blogspot.com

Pakistan Ranks 42nd in Global Corruption Index: TI

KARACHI,Pakistan: According to the latest Transparency International (TI) corruption report, Pakistan has become more corrupt as compared to 2008. The TI announced its report today in which Pakistan had moved up quite a few positions in the list of the most corrupt countries and ranked at number 42 in the list.
Releasing the annual report, the TI chief in Pakistan, Adeel Gilani, had said that anti-corruption efforts in the country had taken a 180 degree turn after Gen Pervez Musharraf issued the National Reconciliation Ordinance on October 5, 2007, 56 days after the ratification of the UN Convention against Corruption.

Somalia, Afghanistan seen most corrupt among 180 nations whereas New Zealand, Denmark have best scores in watchdog ranking

Releasing its annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) on Tuesday, the watchdog said Afghanistan had sunk for the second straight year in its ranking of 180 nations based on perceived levels of corruption in the public sector.

The CPI scores countries on a scale of zero to 10, with zero indicating high levels of corruption and 10, low levels. The ranking is based on data from country experts and business leaders at 10 independent institutions, including the World Bank, Economist Intelligence Unit and World Economic Forum.

For the third year running, the conflict-ridden east African nation of Somalia came in last, this time with a score of 1.1.

Afghanistan had the second-worst ranking at 1.3, down from 1.5 in 2008 and 1.8 in 2007. Myanmar followed with a score of 1.4, while Iraq and Sudan were both on 1.5.

New Zealand was the top-ranked country with a score of 9.4, followed by Denmark at 9.3, and Singapore and Sweden, both on 9.2.

Countries which saw their ranking drop included Iran, which fell to 1.8 from 2.3 following a presidential election in June that the opposition said was rigged.

Political turmoil also contributed to a fall in Ukraine’s score to 2.2 from 2.5. Greece saw its score slide to 3.8 from 4.7, reflecting insufficient anti-corruption enforcement, lengthy delays in the judicial process and a string of corporate scandals that TI said pointed to “systemic weaknesses”.

Nations that improved included the United States, which rose to 7.5 from 7.3. TI cited Washington’s swift response to the financial crisis, including reforms demanding greater transparency and accountability.

Poland rose to 5.0 from 4.6 after establishing an anti-corruption office. Russia edged up to 2.2 from 2.1, a rise attributed to anti-corruption legislation introduced by President Dmitry Medvedev. But TI noted that the excessive role of the Russian government in the economy remained a problem.

Leonid Meteor Shower November 2009

Leonid Meteor Shower November 2009: Like every time a meteor shower is due or projected astrophotographers spectators and everyone will roll their cameras and ready to capture a moment of this deployment phenomenal artist of nature.

The predictions are coming in from meteor experts and researchers from around the world regarding the level of activity that may occur in different parts of the world. A common consensus for this year is that the Asian continent will witness the most brilliant abundance of shooting stars this time. The astronomers David Asher of Ireland, Mikhail Maslov of Russia and France Jeremie Vaubaillon have identified Indonesia and India as places to wider audience. Even NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Bureau knowledgeable Danielle Moser and Bill Cooke, agree with the trio of astronomers.

Making visible both in the morning of day 18 or 17 November (depending on which part of the world you are), the Leonid meteor shower is expected to flood the sky with about 20 to 30 shooting stars per hour. Not exactly impressive quantity of the 1830s or early 1990s, where thousands of shooting stars was observed in 2009 are expected to do better than the previous year.

Mother Earth will be a flight path through the fragments of meteoric dust originating from the constellation Leo. Since the smaller fragments known to be pushed away by the larger, one can expect to witness a shooting star with a track more than the average that could explode in a ball of fire (called meteors).
Source: khurak.net

Groats Disease

Groats Disease: Buckwheat, the name alone send a gluten-free dining room in a panic if they are unfamiliar with food. I’ll have friends look at me astonished, “How can you eat corn?” However, buckwheat is not wheat, not technically a grain. It is actually a seed of the fruit in relation to the rhubarb, and called a pseudocereal, which also includes quinoa, amaranth and chia, and has no relation to wheat. Buckwheat is gluten free.

With so many gluten-free substitutes be made from rice, potato and corn flour to lose out on the benefits of whole grains whole wheat can not eat. Buckwheat provides the benefit of a whole grain, and is a good source of fiber, manganese and magnesium, in addition to the eight essential amino acids. Buckwheat has been linked to lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure and cardiovascular health benefits in general and the lowest rating on the glycemic index as common gluten substitute for other grains, which helps control sugar the blood, decreasing the risk of diabetes.

Buckwheat has been used outside the U.S. in traditional foods such as savory crepes, cakes called in western France, buckwheat soba noodles in Japan, buckwheat blinis in Russia, and ployees, a traditional cake eaten buckwheat in eastern Canada. Buckwheat groats are commonly seen as and is used to make porridge, called the Polish kasha and once seen as peasant food. Eastern Europe and Asia have historically been major producers of this crop, as it has been a staple in their diet, but is now more widely seen, especially as an alternative gluten-filled foods.
Source: jumpinginpools.blogspot.com

‘Murderer Martyr Veil’ is Sentenced to Life Imprisonment

DRESDEN: A Russian-born German man was sentenced to life behind bars Wednesday for the brutal murder of a pregnant headscarved Egyptian woman, a crime that sparked outrage in the Muslim world.

Alex Wiens, 28, his face covered by a hood and his eyes hidden behind dark glasses, was motionless as the court in the eastern German city of Dresden found him guilty of murdering Marwa El-Sherbini, dubbed the “veil martyr.”

On July 1, in the same courthouse, Wiens had plunged an 18-centimetre (seven-inch) kitchen knife at least 16 times into Sherbini, 31 and three-months pregnant at the time with her second child.

Her son, three-year-old Mustafa, watched her bleed to death at the scene.

Sherbini’s husband, Egyptian geneticist Elwy Okaz, rushed to her aid but was also stabbed repeatedly and then shot in the leg by a guard who apparently mistook him for the attacker.

On crutches, unsure if he will ever walk again, Okaz gave wrenching testimony during the trial, telling the court how Mustafa, who now lives with family in Egypt, misses his mother.

The trial centred around Wiens’ motives for the murder and whether he was fully in control of his faculties at the time.

Prosecutors said he was driven by “an unbridled hatred of foreigners.” In a statement read by his lawyer, Wiens admitted being hostile to foreigners but denied this was the motive for the attack.

In a dramatic last-minute twist, a document suddenly arrived from Russia showing that Wiens had been declared unfit for military service in 2001 because of an “undifferentiated schizophrenia.”

Defence lawyers said that the stabbing had not been premeditated, that Wiens always carried a knife in his backpack, and that his psychiatric condition mitigated the crime.

The courthouse, so lightly guarded when the murder took place, now resembled a maximum security prison, with some 200 police officers and snipers on hand following death threats against Wiens, who was shielded by bulletproof glass.

The first fateful meeting of Wiens and Sherbini occurred in August 2008 in a playground. Sherbini asked Wiens to vacate a swing so her son could use it but this harmless request was met with a torrent of Islamophobic abuse.

Wiens called her a “terrorist”, “Islamist” and “whore”. She pressed charges for verbal abuse and he was fined 780 euros.

He appealed the conviction, bringing them together again on July 1, 2009 — a day that ended in tragedy.

The killing, as well as a slow reaction from Germany’s politicians and media, sparked outrage in Sherbini’s home country, as well as in the wider Muslim world.

In Tehran, protestors hurled eggs at the German embassy and daubed “Angie the Nazi” on walls, referring to Angela Merkel, German chancellor.

Outside the courtroom, around 200 people, most of them Muslims, staged a demonstration calling for the government to do more to counter racism, particularly on the Internet.

“History, which we Germans should have learned better than anyone, has shown us where propaganda aimed against religious minorities can lead,” said Muhamed Ciftci, a spokesman for the organisers.

Clinton to Tackle Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan on New Trip

WASHINGTON : US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton left on Sunday for Europe and Asia largely to consult with US partners on curbing North Korea’s and Iran’s nuclear ambitions as well as on stabilizing Afghanistan.

A plane carrying Clinton and her aides took off from Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington at about 00:15 am (0515 GMT).

The chief US diplomat was to give a speech in Berlin on Sunday before joining German Chancelor Angela Merkel and other world leaders in celebrations on Monday for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

In a preview of her visit, Clinton told a Washington audience on Friday that the wall’s fall marked the end of a Cold War era in which the world was divided into clear blocs.

“So we find ourselves now in a much more complex world, and we just have to be up for it and we have to be smarter about it,” Clinton said. “And we have to demand more from ourselves and our partners.”

President Barack Obama’s adminstration, despite the adulation he enjoys in western Europe after the departure of his predecessor George W. Bush, is struggling to obtain more support from European partners in Afghanistan.

Clinton’s visit comes as the Obama administration pursues a weeks-long internal debate about a new strategy for Afghanistan, where Taliban rebels are gaining ground.

A senior State Department official told AFP on condition of anonymity that Afghanistan will be a key topic when Clinton meets Merkel, her foreign minister Guido Westerwelle and counterparts from other European nations.

It is a main issue “because again we are looking to coordinate closely with our allies to try to help figure out the best way forward, that all of can contribute to stabilizing Afghanistan,” the official said.

Germany, which has 4,200 troops in Afghanistan, has come under fire from its allies for refusing combat missions there.

Clinton, the US official said, will also pursue multilateral diplomatic efforts to curb Iran’s and North Korea’s nuclear ambitions during her stop in Berlin as well as her visit to Singapore and China afterward.

The United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany are partners in negotiations with Iran aimed at halting Tehran’s uranium enrichment program — which western countries fear masks efforts to build a bomb.

Russia and China, which have strong economic links with Iran, have been more reluctant to impose sanctions on Iran for its defiance, but Washington sees signs that Moscow is changing course.

The six powers are awaiting a response from Tehran that calls for Iran to export to Russia more than 2,640 pounds (1,200 kilos) of its 3.5 percent, low-enriched uranium (LEU) for refining up to 20 percent, to fuel a Tehran reactor that makes medical isotopes.

France would then fashion the material into fuel rods for the reactor.

During her stop in Germany, Clinton is expected to discuss Iran with Washington’s partners, except possibly China which is not expected to send its foreign minister to Berlin, the US official said.

North Korea’s weapons-grade nuclear program is also likely to be raised in Berlin as Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, a key player in the diplomacy over North Korea, is due in the German capital.

The United States, Russia, China, South Korea, North Korea, and Japan are partners in the so-called six party talks that Pyongyang bolted in April after the United Nations censured it for a long-range rocket launch.

North Korea then tested a nuclear weapon a month later, but insists it is ready to return to the talks following face-to-face meetings with the United States.

The issue will come up during Clinton’s private meetings with her Asian partners during her visit to Singapore from November 10-12 for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) ministerial meeting, the official said.

“There’s no bigger issue to Asian security right now than North Korea’s nuclear program,” the official added.

She will also travel to the Philippines but return to Singapore on November 13 to join Obama at the APEC summit, aides said.

The chief US diplomat and Obama will then travel together in China, which chairs the six-party negotiations, from November 15-18.

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