US-India strategic dialogue to prepare ground for Obama visit

The inaugural US-India strategic dialogue here next week would prepare the ground for President Barack Obama’s visit to India in autumn, say officials.

“Let me just say that there has not been any change,” Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert O. Blake told reporters Friday asserting “the Obama Administration attaches great importance to our relations with India.”

“As President Obama himself has said, this will be one of our signature partnerships in the 21st century,” he said pointing to the fact that Obama had invited Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the first state visit of his administration last November “to reaffirm the importance that we attach to our relations with India.”

“One of the purposes of the strategic dialogue is to think through what are the big, new opportunities and where are the big areas of cooperation,” Blake said suggesting sceptics perceptions would be best addressed “just by delivering results and by showing, in a concrete way, all of the various things that we’re doing.”

External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will lead a team of ministers and officials at the June 2-3 dialogue covering a wide range of areas, including high technology trade, science & technology, civil nuclear cooperation, agriculture, human resource development, security and other strategic issues.

After the dialogue “there will be deliverables” Blake said. But “the purpose of this dialogue is really to think strategically and, again, to get the key people who work on these issues together to think ahead to the President’s visit and to think strategically about what we can do.”

Among the global and regional issues the situation in Afghanistan Pakistan region would be the key focus area. The two sides will also talk about Iran as “the United States and India both share a concern about Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and both of us are opposed to any kind of nuclear arms for Iran.”

On the bilateral front, “we have 18 separate dialogues underway between the United States and India to really try to capture the full scope of the opportunities ahead of us,” Blake said.

Tone for the discussions was set by Obama’s phone call Friday to Manmohan Singh when the “leaders agreed that the Dialogue is an important milestone in the development of the US-India strategic partnership and looked forward to its results.”

Obama and Singh “also expressed their hope that the Dialogue will initiate a regular exchange of ideas and discussion between their governments and both pledged their support toward that end,” according to a White House readout of the call.

The dialogue gets underway June 2 with the 35th annual meeting of the US-India Business Council, while Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and US Under Secretary of Political Affairs Bill Burns “will oversee a very wide-ranging foreign policy dialogue that will cover Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Middle East, probably China, and many other topics.”

The main strategic dialogue on June 3 chaired by Clinton and Krishna will be “about not so much what we’ve accomplished, but to look ahead about what we can accomplish, and particularly look ahead to the President’s visit sometime this fall to India,” Blake said.

On the Indian side, Krishna will be joined by Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia and the Minister of State for Science and Technology Prithviraj Chavan and other top officials.

On the US side, Clinton will be joined by National Security Advisor James Jones, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, FBI Director Robert Mueller and the USAID Director Rajiv Shah.

Kylie Minogue turns on the heat during Sex & The City 2 London premiere

Kylie Minogue turned on the heat during the UK premiere of ‘Sex And The City 2’, with choreographer friend Louie Spence.

The singer gave a sexy pose for snappers, while hugging her reality star friend on the red carpet, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Spence persisted on the Australian star giving further wild looks but the singer walked off chuckling, reports the Daily Mail.

He earned fame in Britain after starring in Sky One”s reality TV show Pineapple Dance Studios.

Kareena Kapoor finally nods for Milenge Milenge promotional video, Shoots on May 30

Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor finally agrees to shoot for the promotional video of the much delayed film Milenge Milenge. Bebo will shoot for the song on May 30.

The film starring Kareena and Shahid was complete with the shoot before the couple broke up but then it got delayed and the recording of the promotional song kept on postponing. The promotional video has already been shot by Shahid Shahid.

The sources reveal that all the music tracks in the film are re-composed by Himesh Reshamiya. The musicvoices like Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, KK, Shreya Ghoshal, Raj Patel and Himesh has been added now.

Boney Kapoor, the producer of film said, “This is being done primarily to give a more contemporary feel to the film.”

Mi-Fone announces its latest range of handsets- Mi-Q+, Mi-Q1 and Mi-Q5

Mi-Fone has unveiled its three new QWERTY keyboard incorporated mobile phones called Mi-Q+, Mi-Q1 and Mi-Q5 under the Mi-Q – brand. The company claims these phones with the tag of an “affordable, stylish and a quality competitive mobile to the BlackBerry”.

The Mi-Q+ is the lowest priced handset among the three that comes with the price tag of just Rs. 2500. It comes pre-loaded with GPRS Class 10, WAP 2.0, MMS, FM radio and the QWERTY keypad.

The Mi-Q1 that costs around Rs. 3,399 features GPRS/WAP/MMS and MP3/Video capabilities along with a memory capacity of up to 1GB. Not to forget this handset also comes with QWERTY keypad.

The most expensive of all is the Mi-Q5 which will cost you for Rs.3, 999 which includes all the features as the previous mentioned along with some enhancements like support for Bluetooth, Java applications, push email and social apps such as Facebook, MSN, etc. You can also watch analogue television using this phone.

All three phones share some common attributes like 2.2-inch wide screen, 65k colour screen with a resolution of 220×176 and a basic camera as well.

This range from Mi-Fone is available at Home Shop 18 Networks and Aditya Birla Stores.

Magazine on iPad app gets lavishing reviews

Wired Magazine, the widely-distributed tech publication, has now ventured into the field of mobile phones and gets praise from reviewers for its great features. The magazine now reports on iPad app as well and has designed a whole new magazine around it. The aim is to maximize the reading experience about iPad.

The Wired iPad App magazine has been priced at $5 per issue at retail stores. The current issue features many interesting articles on iPad market. Stunning graphics and interactive features are the major attraction of the magazine.

Early reports are full of praises for the magazine for its ambitious design, smooth interface and imprssive graphics, but there are complaints also. The price for the digital issue is too high and there are too many ads. The print version is also available for a one year subscription of $10.

DeWyze gets back confidence to win American Idol

Lee DeWyze, overcoming his lack of confidence in him, was crowned winner of American Idol, defeating a single mother Crystal Browsersox. He was declared winner on grand finale on Wednesday.

The votes were cast after Tuesday’s performances. His rival in the finale drew wide acclaims from the voters but the British judge had more confidence in DeWyze, who said that he fought for him and he believed in him.

During the show’s rapid-fire post-audition phase, DeWyze he was delight to note that judge Cowell was tapping on his singing. That filled the singer with confidence. After that it became clear that he may emerge the winner when his rendition of Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars compelled Cowell to push for him. This gave the winner singer more confidence.

Air India cracks whip on unions as some flights resume

Amid moves to restore normal operations after a two-day wildcat strike by 15,000 employees, national carrier Air India Thursday initiated steps to avert such stirs in future, suspending over 40 workers and sealing two union offices.

The officials suspended are mainly office bearers of the All India Aircraft Engineers’ Association (AIAEA) and Air Corporation Employees’ Union (ACEU). The offices of these two unions, too, have been sealed, officials confirmed in Mumbai.

“We are also taking due steps to de-recognise these two unions,” said a senior official speaking for the management, adding all moves initiated since Wednesday had the full backing of the aviation ministry.

The union leaders, nevertheless, remained adamant and said they will serve a proper notice for another strike.

The airline has already said that it will take another day or so to resume normal operations as the entire roster was in disarray. They said 78 scheduled operations were pressed into service Thursday and more would be added over the next few days.

“There were a few cancellations from New Delhi and Kolkata this morning, but as far as Mumbai was concerned, we have been able to operate all our flights as usual,” an Air India spokesperson told IANS in Mumbai.

“Two early morning flights to Ahmedabad could not be operated. But they had minimal load, which was transferred to other flights operating from the international terminal.”

The strike, the airline said, had led to over 100 flight cancellations and a loss of Rs.12 crore (Rs.120 million/$2.5 million) for the carrier, even as 13,000 passengers were inconvenienced.

It was evident that the government supported the action by the airline management.

“Whatever action has to be taken, we have to go the whole hog,” Air India Chairman and Managing Director Arvind Jadhav said, hours after the Delhi High Court order Wednesday staying the strike, adding that Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel had fully backed their stand.

“We will ensure that such an event is not repeated in future,” Civil Aviation Secretary M. Madhavan Nambiar added, in a clear signal to the airline to take whatever steps as may be required to ensure orderly behaviour by unions.

But the union leaders have decided to take up the matter with Chief Labour Commissioner S.K. Mukhopadhyay, who was mediating on behalf of the two sides and had assured them that there would be no victimisation.

The sudden strike had further dented the image of the flag carrier that had come under a cloud due to reports of poor safety standards in the light of the Mangalore air crash and overall deterioration in services due to accumulated losses that topped $2.5 billion.

Taliban leader Fazlullah killed in Afghanistan: report

Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah has been killed in a clash with Afghan forces near the border, a media report said Thursday, quoting the Afghan border police.

Fazlullah, who headed the Taliban in Pakistan’s Swat Valley, was reportedly killed along with six of his comrades in the Barg Matal district of Afghanistan’s Nuristan province, which lies close to the border with Pakistan, Geo News reported, quoting Mohammad Zaman Mamozai, chief of the Afghan border force for the eastern region.

“Maulvi Fazlullah was killed in direct clash with Afghan border police…last (Wednesday) night,” he added.

The Afghan Taliban have confirmed the clash but say no foreign militants were involved.

The news of Fazlullah’s death comes on the heels of several days of clashes between Afghan forces and militants in Barg Matal.

Maulana Faqir Mohammad, who heads a Pakistani Taliban faction based in the Bajuar tribal region, denied reports that Fazlullah was leading an assault in Afghanistan.

“He could be in Nuristan because the Taliban have been moving back and forth along the (Pakistan-Afghan) border,” he had said before reports of Fazlullah’s death came in.

“He may be living in Nuristan but he is not engaged in any fighting there,” Faqir maintained.

In a BBC interview in November, Fazlullah said he had escaped to Afghanistan after a Pakistani military offensive against the Taliban in his Swat Valley stronghold in April last year.

Fazlullah is the son-in-law of radical cleric Sufi Mohammad, who had brokered a controversial deal with the government in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province, now known as Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa, for imposing the Sharia law in the region in return for the Taliban laying down their arms.

Instead, the Taliban moved south from their Swat strongholds and occupied the Buner district that is just 100 km from Pakistan capital Islamabad, prompting the military to go into action against them.

The military says that some 3,000 militants were killed in the offensive that wound down in October 2009.

President Patil arrives in Beijing

Indian President Pratibha Patil arrived in Beijing Wednesday on a six-day state visit to China, during which she will meet her Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, inaugurate an Indian-style Buddhist temple and also visit the Shanghai World Expo.

Her special aircraft landed at the Beijing airport around 6 p.m. here. Patil was received at the airport by Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue.

Besides Beijing, the Indian president will visit Shanghai and Luoyang. During her visit May 26-May 31, Patil will meet Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing Thursday. The two will discuss a range of bilateral, regional and global issues to invigorate relations between the two countries after a period of strain caused by border tensions.

Passengers livid as ‘illegal’ Air India strike disrupts 140 flights

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel Wednesday said the strike by Air India staff was illegal even as thousands of travellers across the country were livid after as many as 140 flights of the state-run carrier were cancelled or diverted

The matter also came up before the Bombay High Court, which asked Air India to serve a notice on the agitating unions asking them to resume work after the carrier challenged the legality of the stir and sought restraining orders against the employees.

The vacation bench of Justice S.J. Kathawala and Justice R.G. Ketkar is expected to hear the matter again Friday.

“The strike is illegal. Some sections of employees are behaving irresponsibly. This will impact Air India’s financial health and reputation,” Patel told reporters here. “The unions and the employees should come ahead for talks.”

His remarks came minutes after the management’s talks with the unions hit an air pocket.

The minister went on to add that he had briefed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this morning on the matter and that the government had decided to fully back the Air India management for taking strict action against the agitating employees.

“The Air India management has our full support. They have to run an organisation. The ministry will not like to interfere in the process or (in the) way forward for Air India. They have a management and a chain of command and they will take further action,” he said.

“The management is free to take any steps to tackle the situation.”

Around 15,000 crew members and maintenance engineers of the airline are on a nationwide strike since Tuesday, protesting a gag order issued on the members for talking to the media after Saturday’s air crash and delay in payment of salaries.

But Patel rubbished the stand taken by some union leaders that the airline had asked them not to speak to the press, following some adverse reports based on the remarks of Air India staff after the accident Mangalore that claimed 158 lives.

“You should understand: The order dates back to July 2009 and was only reiterated on May 24,” Patel said, adding it was unfortunate such acts were resorted to at a time when the government was helping Air India tide over its crisis.

The government also allowed its employees to travel by any carrier till such time Air India is able to resume normal operations, seeking to send out a clear message of zero tolerance to the striking staff.

But harried passengers were unimpressed at the steps taken.

“I had a flight to Hong Kong at 11 p.m. on Tuesday and I reached the airport at 8 p.m., unaware of the strike. The ground staff at the airport was in no mood to support us,” said Shradha Gupta, who was travelling with her husband and daughter.

“There was no information available and we were not told about the cancellation,” Gupta told IANS in New Delhi, where an estimated 3,000 passengers have been left in the lurch, with passengers making a frantic effort to get alternative connections.

Sunanda Kumar, who was to travel to Patna from here, had a similar tale.

“I was aware of the strike but hoping my flight would take off since not all operations were cancelled. But when I reached the airport, I was told the flight is cancelled. I’m trying to book on another airline, but private carriers have hiked the fare.”

What has particularly left the passengers and the government angry is the timing of the protest, coming as it did after a major air tragedy in Mangalore involving the carrier that claimed 158 lives.

“This is just not done,” said a senior official in the aviation ministry, referring to the lack of compassion among the agitating staff. “We cannot stand blackmail. We have told Air India to act tough this time.”

In fact, it was on May 16 that Air India flew a record number of 50,308 passengers on its network, leaving the management pleased that the carrier was on the path of consolidation post the merger of erstwhile Indian Airlines with it.