US eases some high-tech export curbs on India

WASHINGTON: The US Commerce Department said on Monday it was easing restrictions of exports of high-technology goods to India in recognition of the two countries” stronger economic and national security ties.

“Today’s action marks a significant milestone in reinforcing the US-India strategic partnership and moving forward with export control reforms that will facilitate high-technology trade and cooperation,” Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said in a statement.

It follows President Barack Obama’s meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in November in New Delhi, where they announced plans to expand cooperation in civil space, defense and other high technology sectors.

It also contrasts with remarks made by US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner before Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit last week to the United States.

Geithner tied the possibility of increased US high-technology exports to China to movement by Beijing on currency and a number of trade reforms.

As a first step in implementing Obama and Singh’s commitment, the Commerce Department”s Bureau of Industry and Security said it would publish a new rule changing how India was treated under Export Administration Regulations (EAR).

A key measure removes several Indian space and defense-related organizations from the US Entity List, which imposes extra export licensing requirements on foreign groups or individuals whose activities have aroused concern about the possible diversion of US high-technology products that could be used to build weapons of mass destruction.

Those removed from the Entity List include Bharat Dynamics Limited, four subordinates of India’s Defense Research and Development Organization and four subordinates of the All Indian Space Research Organization.

The reforms also “realign” India’s standing in the US export control regime by removing it from several country groups associated with proliferation concerns. It adds India to a more favorable category consisting of members of the Missile Technology Control Regime.

“These changes reaffirm the US commitment to work with India on our mutual goal of strengthening the global nonproliferation framework,” Under Secretary of Commerce Eric Hirschhorn said in a statement.

Locke will lead 24 US businesses on a high-tech trade mission to India in February.

The group includes Boeing, Exelon Nuclear Partners, Lockheed Martin and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy.

The delegation, which also includes senior officials from the US Export-Import Bank and the Trade Development Agency, will make stops in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

An administration official, who briefed reporters on condition he not be identified, said less than 1 percent of current US-India trade was affected by export controls.

However, “the perception of onerous export controls certainly has been a hindrance to high-technology trade over the years,” the official said.

“The goal here is to make sure we are in the best possible place to ensure trade in defense, civil space and high-tech can proceed in an expeditious and ultimately prosperous fashion,” the official said.

Even with the reforms announced on Monday, there will still to be licensing requirements on many sensitive US technologies that go to India, as there on some technologies to all countries, the administration official said.

RAW’s Secret Battles

RAW’s Secret Battles, The doctrine of the Indian secret agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) is based on the principle of waging  continuous secret battles through its agents. Since its creation in 1968, RAW has assumed a significant status in formulation of Indian foreign policy.

While waging their secret battles, RAW’s agents have their presence in almost all regional countries, implementing various tactics of psychological warfare. In this context, M. K Dhar in his book, “Open Secrets, India’s Intelligence Unveiled” points out, “RAW’s operations against the regional countries are conducted with great professional skill and expertise, which include the establishment of a huge network inside the target countries. It has used propaganda, political dissent, ethnic divisions, economic backwardness and criminal elements to foment subversion and terrorism to weaken these states in conssonance with Indian regional ambitions.” However, application of these nefarios designs vary from country to country as RAW’s secret batlles in the following countries proves.

Sikkim was the easiest prey for RAW and India annexed it in mid-1970s. The King of Bhutan has been reduced to the nominal position by acting upon Indian dictates.

Under a well-orchestrated plan of RAW, on November 30 1988, 400 well-trained mercenaries infiltrated and stormed the capital of Maldives. Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi reacted promptly by sending about 1600 combat troops who flushed out the attackers from the streets. In this way, Maldives was totally brought under Indian influence.

Sri Lanka offers an unprecedented example of incursion by RAW’s agents as violence kept on going in the country for a long time. In this regard, Jain Commission revealed that since 1981, RAW established 30 training bases in India for clandestine support to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE), some of whom were already on the payroll of this agency. In the recent past, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had told Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa that rights and safety of the Tamil community in Sri Lanka should be upheld.

For many years, India has openly been meddling in Nepal’s internal affairs by contriving internal strife through RAW in order to destabilize the successive governments and prop up puppet regimes. In 2001, RAW had played a key role in the massacre of nine members of the Royal family of Nepal, when the former King tried to drift away from Indian hold.

In the recent past, Indian-backed monarchy in Nepal was abolished after a long struggle of the Maoists who won the elections in April 2008. Now Nepal’s leadership has forsaken India and has tilted towards China whom New Delhi considers its strategic rival in Asia. But despite the victory of the Maoists, Nepali Congress and the former had been unable to reach a deal on power-sharing. Availing the opportunity, RAW’s agents who were well-penetrated in Nepali Congress and various government departments have been manipulating the situation so as to create lawlessness to bring Nepal back to Indian influence.

In the recent past, RAW-supported Tibetans in Nepal have held protests against China’s rule over Tibet. In this regard, on March 10, 2008 when anti-government protests by Buddhist monks had erupted in Tibet, flaring in nearby provinces. Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet who has lived in exile in India along with his 120,000 followers has been tacitly encouraged by RAW’s secret warriors—enabling him to mobilize armed groups and international support to create instability in Tibetan regions of China.

As regards Bagladesh, surprisingly, RAW had also created insurgency force: The Shanti Bahini (Fighters for Peace). The agency has been involved in training rebels of Chakma tribes (Hindu and Buddhists tribesmen) and Shanti Bahini to carry out subversive activities in Bangladesh.

In August 17, 2005, RAW’s elusive masterminds rocked various districts of Bangladesh with 370 explosions. Indian security agencies and media advised the central government to force Khaleda Zia to clamp down on Islamic fundamentalist outfits. A study of the post-blast behaviour of New Delhi indicated that those blasts were conducted by Indian intelligence agency, RAW to destablize a pro-China Bangladesh.

So far as Pakistan is concerned, the country has become a special target of RAW’s secret battles. In this connection, fundamentalist Hindus give credit to Indira Gandhi who in the late 1970s gave RAW a new role to suit her Indira Doctrine specifically asking it to undertake covert operations in Pakistan. RAW mobilised all its resources by exploiting political turmoil in East Pakistan in 1971 which it had created through its agents. Nevertheless, its intrigues culminated in the dismembermet of Pakistan.

At present, New Delhi has established more than 200 foreign offices and training camps in Afghanistan where RAW’s intelligence officials with the help of Khad and tactical support of CIA are doing their utmost to weaken Pakistan by sending weapons to the separatist elements in Balochistan and particularly to the insurgents of FATA regions. In Wakhan, a religious Madrassa of the Indian Muslim clerics is functioning under the patronage of RAW and Mossad. Very young boys including Afghans, recruits are mostly from Central Asia, bordering Afghanistan. Thus more than 20,000 ideologically motivated terrorists are intermittently being infiltrated into troubled spots of Pakistan. Posing as volunteers, they join the Taliban militants to fight against Pakistan’s security forces. These miscreants also conducted a number of suicide attacks, bomb blasts and targeted killings in Pakistan, killing a number of innocent persons and personnel of the security forces. In Kurram Agency, RAW’s Afghan agents were also actively involved in the sectarian conflict. However, their main plot is to create chaos in our country.

Even in Afghanistan, acting upon the old policy of divide and rule, it is owing to the tactics of RAW that Muslims are killing the Muslims either they belong to Afghan forces or Taliban.

The campaign of RAW’s battles sharpens as violence takes some other dimensions in case of Kashmir. As regards the current phase of Indian state terrorism, it began on August 12, 2008 when Indian forces killed Hurriyat Conference leader Sheikh Abdul Aziz in the occupied Kashmir. At present, indefinite curfews, crackdowns and killings by the Indian security forces keep on going against the non-violent mass uprising of Kashmiris. More than 1000 innocent people have been killed by the Indian forces so far. Nevertheless, since 1989, Indian military troops backed by RAW’s clandestine moves have been using all inhuman methods of ethnic cleansing to disturb the majority population of the Kashmiris.

In the recent years, hundreds of unidentified graves with at least 2000 bodies have been discovered in the Indian-held Kashmir. These Kashmiris were tortured to death by RAW.

One of the important roles of RAW is to thwart Sino-Pak strategic relations. In this context, fast growing economic power of China coupled with her rising strategic relationship with the Third World has irked the eyes of Americans and Indians. Owing to this jealousy, support of the US to India for a permanent seat in the U.N. Security Council and US-India nuclear agreement are part of American desire to make India a major power to counterbalance China in Asia.

Nevertheless, Beijing and Islamabad cannot neglect their common defence when their adversaries are following a covert strategy. In this respect, Pakistan and China have signed a number of agreements to enhance bilateral cooperation in diverse sectors including energy, telecommunication, trade and space technology. China also agreed to supply nuclear reactors to Pakistan.

China will also be able to use the Karakoram Highway and ports of Gwadar (which links C. Asia) and Karachi for transporting its goods to the Middle East and Africa.

It is mentionable that on April 18, 2008, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had openly claimed that “some external forces were trying to weaken Pak-China strategic ties by creating misunderstandings.”

Nonetheless, in New Delhi, it does not matter who is at the helm of affairs, policy of manipulation and subversion in neighbouring states through RAW’s secret battles in order to extend Indian regional hegemony, continues unabated.

Indian satellite launch fails

Indian satellite GSAT-5P test failed on Saturday and the satellite exploded in the air shortly after its launch in Sriharikota. It was the second satellite launch failure during the year.

State-run Indian Space Research Organizations (ISRO)s previous satellite launch mission failed in April and the second satellite GSAT-5P rocket exploded in mid-air after its launch.

On Saturday a rocket carrying an Indian communication satellite exploded just after liftoff. This satellite was prepared with the Russias cooperation. Yashpal, a retired Indian scientist and independent commentator, said he was very disappointed by Saturday’s failure, but other countries too have experienced such problems. India is planning its first manned space flight in 2016.

Red onion prevents heart disease

Scientists have claimed that the humble red onion could help prevent heart disease.

They have discovered that the vegetable – commonly used in Mediterranean and Indian cuisine – helps remove bad cholesterol from the body, which can cause heart attacks and strokes.

At the same time red onions retain the body’s good cholesterol, which help protect against heart disease.

They found that after eight weeks levels of bad cholesterol, or low density lipoprotein (LDL), had dropped by an average of 20 percent.

This results support the claim that the regular consumption of onion reduces the risk of coronary heart disease, the Daily Mail quoted Zhen Yu Chen, who was in charge of the research carried out at the Chinese University of Hong Kong as saying.

India behind Balochistan insurgency: Musharraf

Former President Pervez Musharraf, in an interview with an Indian TV channel, pointed finger at India for the simmering insurgency in Balochistan including providing full logistic support to the Baloch separatists.

In the interview, Musharraf said India was aiding and abetting militancy in Balochistan. We have evidence and proof that Baramdagh Bugti who carries out attacks is sitting in Kabul. He visits Delhi and is received by RAW.

Musharraf alleged that Bugti’s grandson, Bramdagh Bugti, is currently living in Kabul and is received by agents of Indian intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing, when he goes to India.

Musharraf has vowed never to visit to India again after being denied a visa by the Indian government.

Musharraf, currently living in self-exile in Britain, repeated his claims that the involvement of India and Afghanistan in Balochistan is creating unrest in the Pakistani province.

Strong coffee is not harmful for stomach: Research

It is a good news for coffee lovers that according to health experts, strong coffee does not harm your stomach.

As coffee is the most favourite drink of winters, it was thought that acidity can be caused by extensive usage of coffee in winters. But the experts now claim that acidity has got nothing to do with coffee. The health experts clarified that acidity is caused due to other ingredients in food and not by coffee. It is also mentioned in the research that strong or black coffee can also be used in morning and it will not affect your stomach in any way.

Use of tomatoes reduces chances of prostate cancer: Research

According to American experts consumption of tomatoes can reduce the chances of prostate cancer. According to the experts of Illinois University a special element carotenoids is found in red coloured vegetables and fruit like tomatoes that helps in reducing the chances of prostate cancer.

Experts are now investigating the fact that how do carotenoids work inside the human body and for their investigations the experts would use special type of isotopes.

Anti-depressants could augment chances of heart diseases: Research

Medical experts have said that the medicines used for mitigating depression could increase the chance of heart diseases. People who are prey to depression usually use ant-depressants which ultimately increase the probability of heart diseases. The recent British research has revealed that although anti-depressants are temporarily useful but they are harmful in the long run. Experts have opined that new anti-depressants are better than old ones but their excessive use is dangerous.

Cement sale on the up again

The demand for cement has again started to rise from the month of October after a decline in the sale due to the recent massive floods in the country, Dunya News reported on Friday.
According to a report of JS Research the total sale of cement during the month of October remained 1.9 million tons which is 46% higher than the previous months statistics. The sale was also 30% higher than the last year figures for the same month. A total of 0.95 million tons of cement was exported which is 52% higher than the exports during September but 16% less than the last years statistics for the same month.
The cement price experienced an upward trend despite news of bears rule in the market. The average price of a cement bag remained 325 rupees.

Indian troops killed 34 Kashmiris in October

SRINAGAR: Indian troops, in their continued acts of state terrorism, martyred 34 innocent people in October in occupied Kashmir.

According to data compiled by the Research Section of Kashmir Media Service, one civilian was killed in police custody.

These killings rendered two women widows and ten children orphans.

During the month, 324 people were critically injured when Indian police and troops used brute force, fired bullets and teargas shells against peaceful demonstrators in the occupied territory.

The troops also disgraced 18 women and destroyed 11 residential houses. Monitoring Desk

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