Raghuveer Nayak

Raghuveer Nayak has links to JJ

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hVNAcA-xtCA6PKQ8h5s7dBlD_BKwD9517NBG0

Calls to impeach embattled Illinois governor grow

By DEANNA BELLANDI and CHRISTOPHER WILLS – 1 hour ago

CHICAGO (AP) — As calls for his impeachment intensified, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich opened his front door to let three clergymen into his home on Friday, waving to the media before returning inside.

The governor has been alternately holed up in his home or his downtown office since his arrest Tuesday on federal corruption charges, accused of scheming to sell President-elect Barack Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder.

The lieutenant governor has joined a bevy of lawmakers in demanding that Blagojevich be impeached, saying he has become an embarrassment to the state and can no longer lead. His approval rating plummeted to a shockingly low 8 percent.

"When you have no confidence from the people, in a democracy there's nowhere else to go but to resign," Lt. Pat Quinn said Thursday.

The impeachment push was part of a riveting political drama that extended from Illinois to Washington.

The Chicago Tribune reported on Friday that businessmen with ties to both Blagojevich and U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson discussed raising $1 million for the governor to help persuade him to appoint Jackson to Obama's Senate seat.

Citing unidentified sources, the Tribune reported that businessman Raghuveer Nayak and Blagojevich aide Rajinder Bedi told attendees at an Oct. 31 meeting that they needed to raise the money for the governor to ensure Jackson's appointment.

"Raghu said he needed to raise a million for Rod to make sure Jesse got the seat," an unidentified source who attended the meeting told the Tribune. Blagojevich also attended the meeting, which was sponsored by Nayak, an Oak Brook businessman.

A message left at a listing for Raghuveer Nayak in Oak Brook was not immediately returned early Friday. No published listing for Bedi could be found.

According to the FBI complaint, the Oct. 31 meeting took place the same day federal prosecutors intercepted a conversation in which Blagojevich claims he'd been approached by a representative for an unnamed "Senate Candidate 5" who offered cash in exchange for the Senate seat.

On Wednesday, it was revealed that Jackson was the candidate.

Jackson spokesman Rick Bryant told the Tribune that while Jackson discussed the Senate seat with Nayak, he never asked him to do anything.

The scandal also drew Obama into the fold. He made his first public comments about it Thursday, calling charges that Blagojevich put Obama's U.S. Senate seat up for sale appalling and saying neither he nor his aides had any involvement in the governor's alleged scheming.

Blagojevich seems to be in no hurry to leave office. The besieged Democratic governor spent a second day ignoring demands that he quit, showing up to work and dealing with legislative business.

Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero described the governor's mood as "upbeat" and "positive" and said "there's a sense of trying to return to normalcy." He said he knew of no decision about Blagojevich's political future or what the governor might do with Obama's seat.

His refusal to step down has struck some as odd given that wiretaps portrayed him as bored with his job, saying he was "struggling financially" and did "not want to be governor for the next two years."

But staying in office provides a financial benefit amid the turmoil: He continues to draw a $177,000-a-year salary. Some observers also wondered whether he might be seeking a deal with prosecutors to use the governor's office as a bargaining chip, possibly agreeing to step down in exchange for leniency.

There was also worry that the governor might still pick a senator, although it doesn't appear that anyone would accept his nomination.

The decision to launch impeachment proceedings largely rests with House Speaker Michael Madigan, who faces a strong desire among his members for quick action. They said voters are demanding it, and lawmakers are transmitting that message to Madigan.

Four House Democrats sent a letter to their colleagues Thursday seeking support for a motion to impeach Blagojevich. The letter asks members to indicate whether they oppose the idea or support it, or even whether they want to co-sponsor the motion.

Madigan, a Chicago Democrat who has often clashed with Blagojevich, said he will meet Monday with House Republican Leader Tom Cross to discuss impeachment. Cross said when they talk, he will urge Madigan to act immediately.

"I think you start next week. Why wait?" Cross said. The governor's "ability to lead is gone and its irreparable."

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, the daughter of the House speaker, threatened again to file a lawsuit asking the state Supreme Court to have Blagojevich declared unfit to hold office if he doesn't resign soon or get impeached.

"Obviously right now, in the best of all possible worlds, the governor would do what's right for the people of the state of Illinois. He would resign," said Madigan, a longtime Blagojevich foe considering a run for governor in 2010.

But "at this point he appears to be staying put," and Madigan wants a signal from lawmakers about whether they will move quickly on impeachment proceedings.

Quinn said the impeachment process should begin when the Legislature convenes. If lawmakers don't take action, he would support Madigan going to the Supreme Court.

Legislative leaders planned a special session Monday to strip Blagojevich of his power to pick a new U.S. senator, putting the decision in the hands of Illinois voters instead.

Christopher Wills reported from Springfield, Ill

McCain does not like Palin anymore

Has McCain fallen out with Palin? 13 Oct 2008, 0037 hrs IST, Sarah Baxter,Sunday Times, London  Print   Email   Discuss  Share  Save  Comment    Single page view Text: LONDON: With his electoral prospects fading by the day, Senator John McCain has fallen out with his vice-presidential running mate about the direc tion of his White House campaign.  McCain has become alarmed about the fury unleashed by Sarah Palin, the moose-hunting "pitbull in lipstick", against Senator Barack Obama. Cries of "terrorist" and "kill him" have accompanied the tirades by the governor of Alaska against the Democratic nominee at Republican rallies.  Mark Salter, McCain's long-serving chief of staff, is understood to have told campaign insiders that he would prefer his boss, a former Vietnam prisoner of war, to suffer an "honourable defeat" rather than conduct a campaign that would be out of character — and likely to lose him the election.  Palin, 44, has led the character attacks on Obama in the belief that McCain may be throwing away the election and her chance of becoming vice-president. Her supporters think that if the Republican ticket loses on November 4, she should run for president in 2012. A leading Republican consultant said: "A lot of conservatives are grumbling about what a poor job McCain is doing. They are rolling their eyes and saying, "Yes, a miracle could happen, but at this rate it is all over."  "Sarah Palin is no fool. She sees the same thing and wants to salvage what she can. She is positioning herself for the future. Her best days could be in front of her. She wants to look as though she was the fighter, the person with the spunk who was out there taking it to the Democrats."  McCain, 72, has encouraged voters to contrast his character with Obama's.  The campaign launched a tough television commercial last week questioning, "Who is Barack Obama?"Frank Keating,  McCain's campaign co-chairman, last week called the Democrat a "guy off the street" and said he should admit that he had "used cocaine".  McCain believes the attacks have spun out of control. At a rally in Lakeville, Minnesota, the Arizona senator became visibly angry when he was booed for calling Obama "a decent person". He took the microphone from an elderly woman who said she disliked Obama because he was "Arab", saying, "No ma'am, no ma'am." When another questioner demanded that he tell the truth about Obama, he said: "I want everybody to be respectful and let's be sure we are."  However, his campaign has stepped up its negative advertising against Obama, accusing him of lying about his relationship with William Ayers, the leader of the Weather Underground group responsible for bombing the Capitol and the Pentagon in the early 1970s, who is now a Chicago professor.  Palin has continued to lead the charge against Obama's alleged lack of candour. At a rally in Wilmington, Ohio, she mocked him for attending a supporters' meeting in Ayers's home when he was seeking to become an Illinois state senator in 1995.  "He didn't know he launched his career in the living room of a domestic terrorist until he did know," Palin said. "Some will say, jeez Sarah, it's getting negative. No it's not negativity. It's truthfulness." The crowd bellowed its appreciation with chants of "Nobama" and "Go Sarah Go!"  John Weaver, a former senior McCain adviser who left the campaign when it almost imploded in the summer of last year, questioned the purpose of the attacks.  "People need to understand, for moral reasons and the protection of our civil society, that the differences with Senator Obama are ideological, based on clear differences on policy and a lack of experience compared with Senator McCain," he said. "And from a purely practical political vantage point, please find me a swing voter, an undecided independent, or a torn female voter that finds an angry mob mentality attractive."  A McCain official confirmed that there was dissension in the campaign. "There is always going to be a debate about the costs and benefits of any strategy," he said. "After November 4, the feelings of individuals will come to light. It is only natural and will be expected." Palin's frustration with McCain has led to clashes over strategy. When she learnt he was pulling resources from Michigan, an industrial swing state leaning heavily in Obama's favour, she fired off an e-mail sayi ng, "Oh come on, do we have to?" and offered to travel there with her husband Todd, four-times winner of the 2,000-mile Iron Dog snowmobile race.  She also told Bill Kristol, the conservative New York Times columnist, that she wished the campaign would make more of Obama's 20-year association with the Rev Jeremiah Wright, his controversial former pastor, who said, "God damn America".  "To me, that does say something about character," Palin said. "But you know, I guess that would be a John McCain call on whether he wants to bring it up."  McCain's allies responded by suggesting that she had her own pastor problems, such as the African minister who prayed to Jesus to protect her from witchcraft when she was running for governor.

Sonia is mum about Amarinder's explusion

Punjab's ex-CM Amarinder expelled from Assembly for 3-5 yrs

CHANDIGARH: Beleaguered formerPunjab CM Amarinder Singh has been expelled from the Assembly for the next three to five years over corruption charges. ( Watch ) 

He will be asked to vacate his MLA seat. 

Vigilance Department has been asked to probe the corruption charges against him. 

Amarinder Singh, who is facing graft charges, on Wednesday, said he feared arrest but will not seek anticipatory bail even as his party rival Rajinder Bhattal asked him to come clean on the allegations. 

The Congress leader was indicted by a special committee of the Punjab Assembly for alleged irregularities in exempting 32.10 acres of land for private development in Amritsar during his tenure as chief minister. 

"I am carrying anticipatory bail plea in my pocket... but I will not use it," Singh had said. ( Watch ) 

He had alleged that the Akali Dal-BJP combine government could take any decision against him but he would not leave unchallenged any move to disqualify him from the House. 

Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Bhattal, Singh's bete noire, had said the party stands by Singh but he should explain the allegations against him and let the truth come to fore. 

Jaya Bachchan must unconditionally apologize in Marathi

Even a non Marathi would be outraged by Jaya's comments given there was enough history. She and Big B have made enough films to know whether a malice comment was indeed so harmless.

If Jaya Bacchan loves Marathi, she can some in a Marathi channel and apologize, call up Raj. Thats the need of the hour rather than posturing and giving enough meat to opoosition. Remember Raj is only the means, if not Raj, any other politician who is Marthi oriented who have taken up against Jaya's statement. The fact Jaya conviniently ignores that a hurt Marthi pride will remain the history of the Bacchans for ever and Raj would be forgotten. 

So it makes sense for the most respectable family of Bollywood to play its cards properly.

PALIN’S DAILY ALLOWANCE CHARGES UNUSUAL AMONG FEMALE GOVERNORS

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s reported practices of collecting a “per diem” allowance for days spent at her private home and charging the state for her family’s travel expenses do not appear to be shared by other female governors with children.

But the 49th State’s reimbursement practices may be different from other states.

Palin, John McCain’s running mate, billed the state of Alaska for 312 nights spent at home during her first 19 months as governor, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. The article said she received close to $17,000 in charges for daily expenses.

The Post also reported that Palin’s daughters and husband charged Alaska $43,490 in travel expenses.

Palin’s situation is unique in that Alaska seems to have a more relaxed policy governing such reimbursements. The governor lives much of the year at her home in Wasilla, contributing to expenses stemming from travel between her home and the state capital of Juneau nearly 600 miles away. Palin also has five children, all of whom are under 20 years old.

But Barack Obama’s spokesman said about the per-diem expenses: “It sounds to me like it amounts to taxpayers paying money for her to spend the night at her own house.

“For all the talk about her not being from Washington, boy she would sure fit in there,” Bill Burton told FOX News.

Although Palin’s spokeswoman told the Post that her state expenses are not unusual, other states with moms in the governor’s mansion do not show similar practices.

In Washington state, Gov. Chris Gregoire, a Democrat, never bills the state for her children’s travel and does not usually take a per diem allowance, spokeswoman Karina Shagren said.

She said Washington does not permit governors to collect such an allowance at home, and that “it is very rare” for Gregoire to file for any reimbursement while on state business.

Shagren said the governor’s two daughters, who are now in their 20s, do not typically travel with her, but that when Gregoire was attorney general, “If her children traveled with her, she would pay for their tickets.”

She said Gregoire’s husband Mike is allowed to collect reimbursements while traveling on official business.

Likewise, Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell, a Republican, is not permitted to charge the state a per diem while at her private home.

In an e-mail to FOXNews.com, Rell’s office said the governor covers her own travel expenses “in many instances” and that “Governor Rell has never asked for expenses for her husband or other family members.”

Rell is married with two children.

Patti Higgins, chairwoman of the Alaska Democratic Party, told FOXNews.com that the report in the Post was surprising.

“I think it’s the first time a state official has charged a per diem for living at home,” she said. “It’s sort of contrary to her normal message, where she fired the chef at the [governor's mansion] … in order to save the state money.”

Palin and the McCain campaign have touted the first-term Alaska governor’s record of fighting against wasteful spending.

As Higgins noted, Palin fired the governor’s chef when she was elected and even sold the governor’s jet, opting to drive herself around Alaska instead.

In doing so, Palin saves the state money on airfare.

According to the article in the Post, Palin’s predecessor, Frank Murkowski, spent far more on travel expenses than she has.

The article said Murkowski, with his private jet, spent $463,000 on airfare in 2006, compared with the $93,000 spent by Palin in 2007.

ustralia refuses to sell Uranium to Indian N-programme

New Delhi: Even as India continues to celebrate the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) waiver to India in connection with the Indo-US nuclear deal, Australia has made it clear that its ban on sale of uranium to India will continue.

Speaking of the Labour government's policy, Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean said, "Labor is committed to supplying uranium to only those countries party to the NPT. Australia will therefore not be supplying uranium to India while it is not a member of the NPT."

This is despite the fact that Australia had welcomed the NSG's decision to end the 34-year long embargo on nuclear trade with India, official said.

Labour party welcomed the decision by NSG as strengthening the global security of nuclear facilities, Crean said.

However, all is not lost on the Indo-Australian energy co-operation front. The federal Opposition claims Labour's policy was hypocritical and said that the Australian Foreign Minister should use his next visit to India to announce a new uranium policy.

+91

"Foreign Minister Stephen Smith should use next week's visit to India to announce a new uranium export policy for New Delhi," Opposition Foreign Affairs spokesman Andrew Robb said yesterday. He also said that Canberra needed to support India in efforts to produce greenhouse gas-free electricity.

Robb's stand on India was despite the fact that several Australian critics had panned the Vienna announcement, saying the decision would undermine the non-proliferation efforts.

Australia has 40 percent of the world's known uranium reserves, but has consistently rejected India's pleas to be allowed to buy the nuclear fuel from Australia for its growing energy needs.

Australia exports uranium to 36 countries, but only for peaceful purposes, and only sells to countries that have negotiated bilateral nuclear safeguards agreements.

NSG had approved a U.S. proposal on Saturday, September 6, to lift a global ban on nuclear trade with India in a breakthrough towards sealing a controversial U.S.-Indian atomic energy deal.

The NSG, a 45-nation cartel controls trade in 'dual-use' nuclear fuel, materials and technology to ensure they are applied only to civilian nuclear energy programmes and are not diverted into clandestine nuclear weapons work.

The NSG was formed immediately after India tested a nuclear device at Pokharan in Rajasthan, in 1974. India had used reactor technology provided by Canada in the 1950s.

India had clarified that the test was for peaceful energy development.

The NSG members are Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Britain, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United States.

The cartel normally has one annual plenary meeting and decisions are made by consensus only. Members can also hold consultative sessions. The NSG has no permanent office and details of its deliberations are kept confidential.

The 2008-09 NSG chairman is Germany.

(With inputs from PTI and Reuters)

Obama blasts Sarah Palin and her old dog Cain

Obama blasts White House rivals' 'change' pitch

2 hours ago

FLINT, Michigan (AFP) — Democrat Barack Obama savaged his White House opponents John McCain and Sarah Palin Monday as hypocrites who were trying to hoodwink US voters with a late conversion to the mantra of change.

With polls suggesting the White House race is now deadlocked or turning to McCain's favor, Obama hurled some of his sharpest language yet in attacking both the Arizona senator and the Republican's new running mate from Alaska.

At a meeting with workers here in the heartland of Michigan's distressed auto industry, the Illinois senator said he himself had been running as the change candidate for 19 months.

"And I guess it must be working, because all of a sudden John McCain's saying 'I'm for change too'," Obama said as Palin's entry to the Republican ticket shakes up the hard-fought race for the November 4 election.

"And when John McCain with a straight face says 'I'm going to change things,' at the same time as he says he's agreed with (President) George Bush 90 percent of the time, you know it's pretty hard to believe."

Obama mocked the McCain-Palin platform in summary: "Except for economic policy, tax policy, healthcare policy, education policy, foreign policy and Karl Rove politics, we're really going to shake things up in Washington."

The Democrat noted that the Republicans were airing a new ad that bills themselves as "original mavericks" who had fought vested interests and, in Governor Palin's case, an infamous "bridge to nowhere" project in Alaska.

But Obama observed the former mayor had supported the bridge before it sparked an outcry as an example of wasteful "pork-barrel" spending, and then had hired a Washington lobbyist to extract federal money for her small town.

"You can't just make stuff up, you can't just reinvent yourself," he said.

"The American people aren't stupid. What they're looking for is someone who's been consistently calling for change" on Iraq, tax cuts, making college costs affordable, on healthcare and ethics reform.

"That's change you can believe in, that's why I'm running for president," Obama said to loud applause.

China denies it blocked India at NSG meet

China denies it blocked India at NSG meet

Sandeep Dikshit

Chinese Foreign Minister says he was surprised by reports

— Photo: PTI/ Kamal Singh 
 
For consensus: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi hold talks in New Delhi on Monday.

NEW DELHI: China has denied attempting to block an exemption for India at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) meeting in Vienna.

After days of protracted negotiations, the NSG lifted the sanctions on India, freeing it to buy nuclear material and technology from its 45 members.

“I am surprised by these reports. Facts speak louder than words. China has always worked responsibly towards consensus both in the International Atomic Energy Agency and the NSG,” visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said through a Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson.

Some media reports from Vienna spoke of Chinese opposition to an exemption to India from the NSG guidelines.

Mr. Yang arrived here on Monday afternoon from Kolkata. He was closeted in talks with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee after which he attended a dinner in his honour.

Mr. Yang also called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Separately, Mr. Mukherjee said India would wait for the ratification of the 123 Agreement by the United States Congress before entering into bilateral agreements with other supplier countries.

His observation follows Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s appeal to India not to “disadvantage” American companies if Congress is unable to approve the 123 Agreement.

“The approval by the Board of Governors of the IAEA for the India-specific safeguards agreement and the NSG waiver are the passports to enter into international nuclear trade. As far as the procedure is concerned, we shall have to wait for the ratification of the 123 Agreement,” Mr. Mukherjee said.

Jaya Bachchan arrogance costs city a lot

Ignoring Police Commissioner Hasan Gafoor's warning against taking law in their hands, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) activists on Monday evening went on a rampage in parts of the city, tearing off posters of films and advertisements featuring superstar Amitabh Bachchan and his family members.

Gafoor told the media that if MNS activists created any disruptions in the city, they would be firmly dealt with under the law. He also assured security to all cinema halls exhibiting movies starring the Bachchan family, including Amitabh, Abhishek and Aishwarya.

However, the MNS activists tore off movie posters of the Bachchans outside multiplexes in suburban Kandivli, Goregaon and Dadar. Aggressive MNS boys even tore off a huge hoarding showing Abhishek in an advertisement.

There were reports of similar acts of hooliganism from different parts of Maharashtra, the police said.

In Akola district, activists tore off posters featuring the Bachchans and made a bonfire of it on a main road.

In Nanded and Yavatmal districts, MNS workers tore off posters and burnt effigies of Amitabh Bachchan's wife Jaya Bachchan, Samajwadi Party MP and herself an actor, as well as others in her family.

In a significant development, other political parties like Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have expressed their displeasure over Jaya Bachchan's alleged remarks here Sunday that north Indians in Maharashtra should only speak Hindi.

Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh told media persons in his home district Latur that if a person could not speak Marathi, there was no harm if he or she speaks in Hindi.

MNS chief Raj Thackeray Monday demanded an unconditional apology from Jaya Bachchan for her alleged anti-Marathi utterances, failing which the party would prevent screening in Mumbai of all films starring any of the Bachchans.

He also pointed out that Jaya Bachchan had "insulted" the state and its people under the guise of promoting national language. "Nobody has right to insult our mother tongue in the name of the national language," he thundered.

The MNS chief said if she had so much love for Hindi, then she and her family members could work in "advertisements and films in Uttar Pradesh".

He also said that unless she apologized, Marathi-speaking people would boycott all products endorsed by the members of the Bachchan family.

At a function in Mumbai on Saturday night when called to speak, Jaya Bachchan said: "People of Maharashtra, please excuse me. I am from Uttar Pradesh so I will speak in English."

However, the Samajwadi Party youth wing of Mumbai has rushed to the rescue the Bachchans. Its president Farooq Ghosi has announced that his supporters would ensure that MNS activists do not disrupt screening of the Bachchan family members' films anywhere in the city.

20 unsaid words Sarah Palin had to say as per prepared text

But Don’t Worry, She Mentioned “Hockey”

by Bruce Handy

September 4, 2008, 10:06 am

Twenty words not found in Sarah Palin’s convention speech (based on the prepared text):

Bush
Cheney
Republican
Wages
Mortgage
Housing
Poverty
Afghanistan
Bin Laden
Torture
Guantanamo
Veteran
Environment
Global
Warming
Health
Care
Abortion
Abstinence
Moose

Singur agreemeet press release text

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Kolkata, Sep 7 (IANS) The following is the text of the agreement reached by the West Bengal government and the Trinamool Congress-backed farmer agitators after the talks at Raj Bhavan Sunday on Tata Motors' Nano project at Singur: "The government has taken the decision to respond to the demand of those farmers who have not received compensation, by means of land to be provided to the maximum within the project area and the rest in adjacent areas as early as possible. Towards this, a committee will be constituted to ascertain the scope and settle the modalities within a period of one week. During this time, the government will urge the vendors not to make any construction. (Trinamool chief) Mamata Banerjee is making an announcement regarding the suspension of the agitation from Singur. The government and those who have been agitating on behalf of the farmers will cooperate with each other for the benefit of the industry, agriculture and ancillaries."

Singur deadlock ends, Mamata calls off agitation

rinamool Congress Mamata Banerjee has called off dharna outside Nano factory at Singur. A committee will be set up to decide the modalities within a week.

The government has agreed to provide land to farmers who have not received compensation and will try its best to give land inside the project area.

No work at vendor park will start for a week while committee resolves land row.

West Bengal government and Mamata Banerjee have signed an agreement to end Singur deadlock.

Mamata Banerjee is on her way to Singur to formally suspend the agitation.

Earlier, Mamata had raised a new demand. She wanted the work at the Tata vendor park to be put on hold till a joint committee decided on the land issue.

After Mamata's new demand, the Governor held another round of talks with the West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and his industries minister.

Sources told NDTV that Mamata Banerjee and Buddhadeb Bhattacharya had reached an agreement, according to which Mamata had agreed to call off her agitation outside the Tata's Nano plant and a joint committee formed to look into the issue of returning land to farmers.

On Sunday, the Governor held marathon talks with the chief minister and Mamata separately and then with both of them together.

Responsibility that comes with NSG waiver and nuclear commerce

However momentous the win may seem, India's NSG win has to be looked with enhanced impeccable additional responsibilities.

• This means if any nuclear scientits engages in proliferation, India must be ready to punish him or even repatriate him to foreign countries to be tried in international laws.
  
• India cannot ever deviate from its stated positions on non proliferaton
• India cannot use fuel banks to threaten other countries
• India's morotorium must be infinite
• India's Safe agreement with IAEA must be srictly adhered
• India faces fuel supply issue for its military reactors
• India cannot misuse advanced technology earmarked for civilian purposes for military purposes
• India security apparatus around nuclear fuel and technology must be strengthened
• Quality checks and public safety must be paramount while creating nuclear reactors.

Experts said it was difficult for the US to mention nuclear testing in the trade exemption, as Indian officials have said the term was a red line that could not be crossed.

Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland are the most vocal of the NSG members in calling for amendments to the US draft. 

These countries will also account and hold India if it ever deviates from its stated positions.

Lets see what Pranab Mukerjee said http://meaindia.nic.in/pressbriefing/2008/09/05pb01.htm

Statement by External Affairs Minister of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee on the Civil Nuclear Initiative

05/09/2008

To reiterate India’s stand on disarmament and nonproliferation, EAM has made the following statement: A Plenary meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group to consider an exception for India from its guidelines to allow for full civil nuclear cooperation with India is being held in Vienna from September 4 – 5, 2008. India has a long-standing and steadfast commitment to universal, non-discriminatory and total elimination of nuclear weapons. The vision of a world free of nuclear weapons which Shri Rajiv Gandhi put before the UN in 1988 still has universal resonance. We approach our dialogue with the Nuclear Suppliers Group and all its members in a spirit of cooperation that allows for an ongoing frank exchange of views on subjects of mutual interest and concern. Such a dialogue will strengthen our relationship in the years to come.  Our civil nuclear initiative will strengthen the international non-proliferation regime. India believes that the opening of full civil nuclear cooperation will be good for India and for the world. It will have a profound positive impact on global energy security and international efforts to combat climate change. India has recently submitted a Working Paper on Nuclear Disarmament to the UN General Assembly, containing initiatives on nuclear disarmament. These include the reaffirmation of the unequivocal commitment of all nuclear weapon States to the goal of complete elimination of nuclear weapons; negotiation of a Convention on the complete prohibition of the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons; and negotiation of a Nuclear Weapons Convention prohibiting the development, production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons and on their destruction, leading to the global, non-discriminatory and verifiable elimination of nuclear weapons within a specified timeframe. We remain committed to a voluntary, unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing. We do not subscribe to any arms race, including a nuclear arms race. We have always tempered the exercise of our strategic autonomy with a sense of global responsibility. We affirm our policy of no-first-use of nuclear weapons.  We are committed to work with others towards the conclusion of a multilateral Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty in the Conference on Disarmament that is universal, non-discriminatory and verifiable.  India has an impeccable non-proliferation record. We have in place an effective and comprehensive system of national export controls, which has been constantly updated to meet the highest international standards. This is manifested in the enactment of the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems Act in 2005. India has taken the necessary steps to secure nuclear materials and technology through comprehensive export control legislation and through harmonization and committing to adhere to Missile Technology Control Regime and Nuclear Suppliers Group guidelines. India will not be the source of proliferation of sensitive technologies, including enrichment and reprocessing transfers. We stand for the strengthening of the non-proliferation regime. We support international efforts to limit the spread of ENR equipment or technologies to states that do not have them. We will work together with the international community to advance our common objective of non-proliferation. In this regard, India is interested in participating as a supplier nation, particularly for Thorium-based fuel and in establishment of international fuel banks, which also benefit India. India places great value on the role played by the IAEA’s nuclear safeguards system. We look forward to working with the IAEA in implementing the India-specific Safeguards Agreement concluded with the IAEA. In keeping with our commitment to sign and adhere to an Additional Protocol with respect to India’s civil nuclear facilities, we are working closely with the IAEA to ensure early conclusion of an Additional Protocol to the Safeguards Agreement.  New Delhi 5th September 2008

Killa from Wasilla : Sarah Palin to an environmentalist

Environmentalists can't corral Palin
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h3EH5jd_uyWAFtvLAUaky_bDGBhgD93011S81
By DINA CAPPIELLO – 1 hour ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — At the National Governors Association conference where she first met John McCain, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin had other business: making her case to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne against classifying the polar bear as a threatened species.
Months later she sued Kempthorne, arguing that the Bush administration didn't use the best science in concluding that without further protection, the polar bear faces eventual extinction because of disappearing sea ice as the result of global warming.
Palin, McCain's vice presidential running mate, has had frequent run-ins with environmentalists.
In her 20 months as governor, Palin has questioned the conclusions of federal marine scientists who say the Cook Inlet beluga whale needs protection under the federal Endangered Species Act.
She has defended Alaska's right to shoot down wolves from the air to boost caribou and moose herds for hunters, and — contrary to a view held by McCain — is not convinced that global warming is the result of human activity.
Environmentalists have nicknamed Palin the "killa from Wasilla," a reference to the small town where she formerly was mayor.
"Her philosophy from our perspective is cut, kill, dig and drill," said John Toppenberg, director of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance, maintaining she is "in the Stone Age of wildlife management and is very opposed to utilizing accepted science."
While acknowledging the climate is changing, Palin expresses doubt as to whether emissions from human activities are causing it. McCain, on the other hand, supports legislation to reduce heat-trapping pollutants, primarily from the burning of oil and coal.
"John McCain was all about global warming and the integrity of the science. The selection of Sarah Palin is a complete reversal from that position," said Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., who traveled to the South Pole with McCain in 2006 to visit with scientists studying climate change. "She is disturbingly part of the pattern of the Bush administration in their approach to science generally and the science of the environment in particular."
The McCain campaign Wednesday characterized Palin as a leader on climate change, noting she set up a sub-cabinet office to map out state response strategies and sought $1.1 million in federal funds to help communities threatened by coastal erosion and other effects.
Palin's administration relied in part on research from scientists funded by the oil industry to fight against the polar bear's listing, arguing that the impact of global warming on the bear 20 years from now can't be predicted. But e-mails obtained by a University of Alaska professor show that the state's marine mammal experts supported the federal government's conclusions on the bear.
On Thursday, the federal government announced that there was enough scientific evidence to consider listing three ice seal species that inhabit the waters of Alaska as threatened and endangered species because of melting sea ice. The seals use the ice to give birth and raise their pups.
Doug Vincent-Lang, Alaska's endangered species coordinator, said the state had not yet taken a position on the ice seals' status.
But he stressed that while there were differences in opinion about the science, the state has supported the protection of other endangered species and its position on the polar bear "was not a decision to protect resource development in the state."
Supporters say Palin, a self-described hockey mom who knows how to handle a gun and dress a moose and once worked as a commercial fisherman, is simply a reflection of her home state, where the extraction of oil, natural gas, gold, zinc, fish and other natural resources is the primary source of state income and jobs.
The polar bear isn't the only wildlife issue where Palin's administration is at odds with environmentalists and at times with the Bush administration and members of Congress.
For example:
_Her administration disputes conclusions by the federal National Marine Fisheries Service and its science advisers that the beluga whale population is in critical danger. The state argues that 2007 data shows the whale rebounding.
_Palin opposed a state ballot initiative to increase protection of salmon streams from mining operations. It was defeated.
_She also opposed a ballot initiative barring the shooting of wolves and bears from aircraft except in biological emergencies. It was also defeated.
Under Palin, the state Board of Game authorized for the first time in 20 years the shooting of wolves by state wildlife officials from helicopters. The order resulted in the controversial shooting this summer of 14 one-month-old wolf pups taken from dens on a remote peninsula 800 miles southwest of Anchorage — an act that environmentalists claim was illegal.
State officials characterized the killings as humanitarian, saying the pups would have suffered and eventually died without the care of their parents. Environmentalists argued they were killed to boost caribou populations to the benefit of hunters.
Like many other Alaska officials, Palin argues her critics don't understand the North Country.
Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., who has complained Alaska is killing more wolves than necessary and has pushed a bill that would put additional restrictions on the aerial killing of predators, has been among Palin's targets.
Miller "doesn't understand rural Alaska, doesn't comprehend wildlife management in the North, and doesn't appreciate the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that gives states the right to manage their own affairs," Palin said in a press release a year ago.

Sarah Palin: Republicans lied about the teleprompter problem

Palin's teleprompter broke: speech was from memory
Halfway through Sarah Palin's speech tonight at the RNC, people following the speech noticed she was deviating from the prepared text.According to sources close to the McCain campaign, the teleprompter continued scrolling during applause breaks. As a result, half way through the speech, the speech had scrolled significantly from where Governor Palin was in the speech. The malfunction also occurred during Rudy Giuliani's speech, explaining his significant deviations from his speech.Unfazed, Governor Palin continued, from memory, to deliver her speech without the teleprompter cued to the appropriate point in her speech.Contrast this to Barack Obama who, when last his teleprompter malfunctioned, was left stuttering before a crowd unable to advance his speech until the problem was resolved.Palin's teleprompter broke: speech was from memory: According to sources close to the McCain campaign, the teleprompter continued scrolling during applause breaks. As a result, half way through the speech, the speech had scrolled significantly from where Governor Palin was in the speech. The malfunction also occurred during Rudy Giuliani's speech, explaining his significant deviations from his speech.Unfazed, Governor Palin continued, from memory, to deliver her speech without the teleprompter cued to the appropriate point in her speech.Contrast this to Barack Obama who, when last his teleprompter malfunctioned, was left stuttering before a crowd unable to advance his speech until the problem was resolved."________________________________________________________________________________________________________Pasadena Jewish Temple: Come hear Roz Rothstein, founder and Executive Director of Stand With Us speak at Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center on September 10, 2008 at 7:30 pm, 1434 North Altadena Drive, Pasadena CA, 91107 on The New Anti-Semitism on Campus, on the Internet, and in Churches. Question & Answer session after talk. Refreshments to follow. The opinions expressed in From the Exile are not the opinions of Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center or PJTC

NSG waiver? Countries oppose India's entry into Nuclear club

Vienna (PTI): A number of countries on Thursday raised questions over grant of waiver to India at the Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting here as the US pushed New Delhi's case hoping for an early consensus on the issue. The NSG, which opened its two-day meetingon Thursday to consider whether or not to allow India to have civil nuclear trade with international community, saw countries having reservations over the waiver raise "important questions that need to be addressed". "The US believes firmly that the steps we are considering for India will strengthen non-proliferation and help to welcome one of the world's largest economies and biggest democracies more fully into the global fold," US Under Secretary of State William Burns told reporters. "I believe they are making steady progress in this process and we will continue to make progress," he said. Burns, who is leading the US delegation at the crucial meeting, said a number of countries raised "important questions that need to be addressed". Sceptic countries including New Zealand, Austria, Ireland and Switzerland are not satisfied even with the revised text that has a provision for regular information by the NSG head about New Delhi's adherence to its guidelines on global atomic trade, a move aimed at mollifying the critics. These countries want certain "elements" added in it saying it would be beneficial for the international non-proliferation architecture. The US official, who presented a revised draft waiver at the meeting, said the discussions have been "constructive and clearly aimed at reaching an early consensus." Underlining that there was a "historic opportunity" to end India's three decades of isolation in the nuclear field, Burns said "that opportunity warrants extraordinary efforts we are making." He said the US is determined to continue to do "all we can by working with NSG partners and India to realise that opportunity." Ahead of the meeting of the 45-nation grouping, an official of one of the sceptic countries told PTI "it is clear that the package which is before us (NSG) still needs some work to achieve the outcome which can be the net gain to the quality of international security architecture." India is keeping its "fingers crossed" and hoping that the US would be able to convince the nuclear cartel for clearing the way for nuclear commerce. Signalling difficulties for the draft proposal, the sceptic countries on Wednesday held a strategy session here to discuss how to approach the meeting. These countries "exchanged ideas" over the matter, an official said. "We recognise the energy needs of India. We recognise importance India attaches to the (Indo-US) agreement. Everybody respects that. But we need to achieve results that would mean net gain for the international non-proliferation structure," he said. "We are going to approach the meeting with a constructive and positive spirit because we are interested in reaching the agreement, but one which strengthens the international nuclear structure," he said. "NPT is one of the pillars of this architecture and nothing should undermine this. Reaching an agreement which will benefit everybody concerned will require imagination and creativity." The US prepared the revised draft after at least 15 countries sought amendments in the text during the last meeting of the grouping on August 21-22.

Sarah Palin and India

Sarah Palin is defined by feminists as role model despite her daughter having a teen pregnancy. The methodology of role models in India is different. Such mothers like Sarah Palin are looked as bad parent, woman parent or male parent. 

If this were accepted in India, it would tantamount to accepting child marriage on pregnancy effect. 

Another things it tells people around the world, that good person for world politics is not 100% successful family person,

Sarah Palin has five children and she was once a beauty queen. Her aspiration to go for VP supersedes her traditional womanly role to help her daughter. It is useless to blame the media to create focus when mothers like Sarah are greedy and selfish to the outside core of human realms.

The Republicans have shown that they win at any cost , even the cost of th grandchild of their VP. Shame on the VP and not to forget , she needs additional attention on the child with down Syndrome.

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Editorial/McCains_Choice/articleshow/3438066.cms

Sarah Palin is probably the most talked about woman in America now, thanks to presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain choosing her — over more experienced and well-known candidates — to share his ticket. Until now, she was a little-known governor of Alaska, a state not known to significantly influence US national politics. And now, here she is, on the biggest political stage possible, a step away from the White House should McCain win in November. 

Understandably, this prospect is making many Americans — including some from the Republican Party — jittery. 
Palin has two years as governor of Alaska and two terms as mayor of Wasilla, a suburb with a population of a little over 5,000 people according to the 2000 census, to show for political experience. The vice-president in America, unlike in India, has a substantial stake in governance. Consider, for instance, the enormous influence wielded by Dick Cheney in the George W Bush administration. Palin, critics point out, is not equipped to play the part. Her grasp over national security and foreign affairs — two issues that are at the heart of America’s current concerns — is unproven and that’s fuelling fears among voters who do not know what to expect should she have to step into McCain’s shoes at some point. 

Her nomination is also calling into question, once more, McCain’s judgment and ability to take crucial decisions. He has been criticised on both counts by his detractors in the past and throughout this campaign. Known to be somewhat of a maverick and at times intemperate, he’s not particularly popular with the evangelical crowd — a vital Republican constituency — and has been trying to bridge the divide. This could explain, in part, his choice of Palin. She’s militantly pro-life, proven by her decision to have a child even when she knew it was going to be born with Down’s syndrome, and is supporting her 17-year-old pregnant daughter’s decision to keep the baby. 

In many ways, Palin is the conservative right’s poster girl. She is committed to oil drilling, backs teaching of intelligent design in schools, supports the rights of citizens to own guns and is an accomplished hunter herself. Some observers believe McCain might have chosen her to woo women voters who were disappointed that Hillary Clinton lost out to Barack Obama. That might not work because Palin and Clinton represent very different values and it’s cynical to assume that identity politics, and not issues, determines how women vote.