IAEA and India

There is some uncertainty about what precisely the government intends to do in working out an ‘India-specific’ safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency as a first step towards operationalising the India-United States nuclear deal. Does it plan to go to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) with the ‘frozen text’ of a safeguards agreement? Or will it go to the IAEA’s Board of Governors with the safeguards agreement in the first instance?

At the recent fourth meeting of the United Progressive Alliance-Left Committee on the India-United States nuclear agreement, Pranab Mukherjee and other Congress Ministers indicated that the government was going for the second option. They asked the Left leaders to allow it to go ahead and negotiate a safeguards agreement with the IAEA. While the government had held no formal talks for India-specific safeguards, it wanted to take an agreement on this to the IAEA’s Board of Governors and ‘five weeks’ of notice had to be given for the matter to come on the agenda. The government promised to show the Left parties the text of the safeguards agreement negotiated before taking it to the IAEA’s Board of Governors.

However, this indicated course is at variance with what informed sources say is the “current thinking” within the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). While stressing that “there is no clearance from the government [to the DAE] to hold formal talks” with the IAEA on an India-specific safeguards agreement, they point out that the “current thinking” is to go for the following four-step sequence once the government gives the clearance to the DAE:

The first step is for the DAE to negotiate and finalise an India-specific safeguards agreement with the IAEA secretariat. The second step is to negotiate with the Nuclear Suppliers Group to receive exemptions from the NSG Guidelines that would allow India to import nuclear reactors and fuel; and to examine whether these exemptions are acceptable to India.

The third step is to wait for the U.S. Congress to approve the 123 agreement with India.

In the fourth and final step, India will go to the Board of Governors of the IAEA and present for its approval the ‘frozen text’ of the India-specific safeguards agreement worked out with the IAEA secretariat.

“This is the present sequence” and “this is the current thinking” of the government and the DAE, the informed sources told The Hindu after the fourth meeting of the UPA-Left committee.

The Rules and Procedures of the Board of Governors of the IAEA state that a minimum of 72 hours’ notice is required for calling a Board meeting that has not been decided on in an earlier Board meeting or is not being called under “exceptional circumstances.” However, the rules and procedures do require a lead time of “not less than forty-five days” for the circulation of “documents of particular importance” before they can be taken up by the Board in a meeting.

Asked whether India would accept the terms of the safeguards agreement if the IAEA were to insist on its placing the reactors to be imported under safeguards in perpetuity even in the event of fuel supply being cut off, the official sources drew attention to Article 5.6 (c) of the 123 agreement, which enabled India to take “corrective measures” if the fuel supply were to be cut off for the reactors. Article 5.6 (c) says: “An India-specific safeguards agreement will be negotiated between India and the IAEA for safeguards to guard against the withdrawal of safeguarded nuclear material from civilian use at any time as well as providing for corrective measures that India may take to ensure uninterrupted operation of its civilian nuclear reactors in the event of disruption of foreign fuel supplies. Taking this into account, India will place its civilian nuclear facilities under India-specific safeguards in perpetuity and negotiate an appropriate safeguards agreement to this end with the IAEA.”

Asked what kind of “corrective measures” India could insist upon, the informed sources said: “So far we have not defined what these corrective steps will be. It will be our sovereign decision. We will examine the situation and take corrective action.” They added that these “corrective measures” would be discussed and settled by the DAE with the IAEA in the negotiations for an India-specific safeguards agreement.
Source : The Hindu

Chachaji

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India was born at Allahabad on 14 November 1889. He was the only son of Motilal Nehru and Swarup Rani. From the age of 15 to 23 Jawaharlal studied in England at Harrow, Cambridge and the Inner Temple returning to India in 1912.

Jawaharlal Nehru remained the Prime Minister of India for 17 long years and can rightly be called the architect of modern India. He set India on the path of democracy and nurtured its institution - Parliament, multi-party system, independent judiciary and free press. He encouraged Panjayati Raj institutions.

With the foresight of a statesman he created institutions like Planning Commission, National Science Laboratories and laid the foundation of a vast public sector for developing infrastructure for industrial growth. Besides, developing the public sector, Nehru also wanted to encourage the private sector to establish a social order based on social justice he emphasised the need of planned development. Nehru gave a clear direction to India’s role in the comity of nations with the policy of non alignment and the principle of Panchsheel, the five principles of peaceful coexistence at a time when the rivalries of cold-war were driving the humanity to its doom. His vision was that of extensive application of science and technology and industrialisation for better living and liberation from the clutches of poverty, superstition and ignorance. Education to him was very important for internal freedom and fearlessness. It was Nehru who insisted if the world was to exist at all; it must exist as one. He was generous and gracious. Emotional sensitivity and intellectual passion infused his writings, giving them unusual appeal and topicality even today. He was awarded Bharat Ratna in 1955. He never forgot India's great cultural heritage and liked to combine tradition with modernity.

Jawaharlal was a prolific writer in English and wrote a number of books like ‘The Discovery of India’, ‘Glimpses of World History’, his autobiography, ‘towards Freedom' (1936) ran nine editions in the first year alone. Emotional sensitivity and intellectual passion infused his writings, giving them unusual appeal & topicality even today. He was awarded Bharat Ratna in 1955.

Pandit Nehru loved children and they call him affectionately as Chacha Nehru. Hie birthday is observed as Children's Day. He believed that children are the future of the nation. Nehru passed away in 1964.

Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar has been the most wholesome batsman of his time, and arguably the biggest cricket icon as well. His batting is based on the purest principles: perfect balance, economy of movement, precision in stroke-making, and that intangible quality given only to geniuses, anticipation. If he doesn't have a signature stroke - the upright, back-foot punch comes close - it is because he is equally proficient in each of the full range of orthodox shots (and plenty of improvised ones as well) and can pull them out at will.

Though he has adopted a noticeably conservative approach in the last quarter of his career, there are no apparent weaknesses in Tendulkar's game. He can score all around the wicket, off both front foot and back, and has made runs in all parts of the world in all conditions.

Some of his finest performances have come against Australia, the overwhelmingly dominant team of his era. His century as a 19-year old on a lightning fast pitch at the WACA is considered one of the best innings ever to have been played in Australia. A few years later he received the ultimate compliment from the ultimate batsman when Don Bradman confided to his wife that Tendulkar reminded him of himself.

Blessed with the keenest of cricket minds, and armed with a loathing for losing, Tendulkar set about doing what it took to become one of the best batsmen in the world. This was after he was turned away from a fast-bowling camp in Chennai by Dennis Lillee.

Tendulkar's greatness was established early: he was only 16 when he made his Test debut. He was hit on the mouth by Waqar Younis but continued to bat, in a blood-soaked shirt. His first Test hundred, a match-saving one at Old Trafford, came when he was 17, and he had 16 Test hundreds before he turned 25. In 2000 he became the first batsman to have scored 50 international hundreds, and he currently holds the record for most hundreds in both Tests and ODIs - remarkable, considering he didn't score his first ODI hundred till his 79th match.

Tendulkar's considerable achievements seem greater still when looked at in the light of the burden of expectations he has had to bear from his adoring but somewhat unreasonable followers, who have been prone to regard anything less than a hundred as a failure. The aura may have dimmed, if only slightly, as the years on the international circuit have taken their toll on the body, but Tendulkar remains, by a distance, the most worshipped cricketer in the world.

Source: Cricinfo

Pawan Kalyan

Pawan Kalyan (born September 2, 1971) is a popular Indian (Telugu) film star. He is fondly called 'Power Star' by his fans. His birth name is Konidala Kalyan. He is the younger brother of popular Telugu actor, Chiranjeevi and producer Naga Babu.
Pawan Kalyan entered the Telugu movie industry with Akkada Abbai Ikkada Ammayi as Kalyan Babu. This film did not do well at the box office. However, he was noticed for his Martial Arts.
After his first movie, his second movie Gokulamlo Sita was an average flick but his next movies like Suswagatham, Tholi Prema, Thammudu, Badri, and Kushi went on to become hits which earned him a great reputation in Tollywood. Kushi was a trend setter and a commercial and critical blockbuster. He even directed a few song and fight sequences in the film. He directed his next movie, Johnny, that came 2 years later but was a disappointment. His subsequent flicks have been average and did not evoke the same response as his earlier films.
Pawan has started an organisation called Common Man Protection Force in October 2007. He has contributed 1 crore INR towards the corpus fund, CMPF aims to solve the social problems, help the neglected sections of the society. Its area of operations is in India. He intends to do it through organised militia, and seems to have got carried away with the ideals of Gudumba Shankar. CMPF targets child prostitution, Flourosis afflicted areas initially. News is spread that CMPF is changed to Common Protection force.

Tom and Jerry

Tom and Jerry is a successful and long-running series of theatrical short subjects created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that centered on a never-ending rivalry between a housecat (Tom) and a brown mouse (Jerry) whose chases and battles often involved comic violence. Hanna and Barbera ultimately wrote and directed one hundred and fourteen Tom and Jerry cartoons at the MGM cartoon studio in Hollywood, California between 1940 and 1957, when the animation unit was closed down. The original series is notable for having won the Academy Awards for Best Short Subject (Cartoons) seven times, tying it with Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies as the most-awarded theatrical animated series.

In 1960, in addition to the originals MGM had new shorts produced by Rembrandt Films, led by Gene Deitch in Eastern Europe. Production of Tom and Jerry shorts returned to Hollywood under Chuck Jones' Sib-Tower 12 Productions in 1963; this series lasted until 1967. The cat and mouse stars later resurfaced in television cartoons produced by Hanna-Barbera and Filmation Studios during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, and a feature film, Tom and Jerry: The Movie, in 1993. Today, Warner Bros. owns the rights to Tom and Jerry, and produces the series Tom and Jerry Tales for The CW's Saturday morning "Kids WB" lineup, as well as a string of Tom and Jerry direct-to-video films.

Pete Sampras - All Time Great

One of the all-time great tennis players, Pete Sampras spent 286 consecutive weeks in the 1990s as the no. 1 ranked player in the world. Nicknamed "Pistol Pete" because of his fast and true serve, Sampras joined professional tennis in 1988. In 1990, when he was 19 years old, he beat Andre Agassi to become the youngest man ever to win the U.S. Open, and from 1993-1998 he ended each year -- six consecutive -- as the top-ranked player in the world. During his career he won a total of 64 singles titles, with 14 Grand Slam titles. Sampras won Wimbledon seven times, the U.S. Open five times and the Australian Open twice; he never won the French Open. Sampras dominated men's tennis in the last half of the 1990s, and had a long rivalry with Agassi (who he beat in 2002 for his final U.S. Open title), but his low-key demeanor and sportsmanlike behavior kept him from becoming a major celebrity beyond the court. He retired in 2003.

Spiderman - Hero on a Mission

After enjoying the great Hero- Superman, the audience wanted something new and the new Hero was Spiderman. Bitten by a spider, the story is about how Peter, an innocent boy, who attained the powers of a spider. It was an immediate hit as it was exciting to see a man producing threads from his wrist and swinging from building to building. The movies were also an instant hits at box office earning the producers millionsof dollars. The costume of Spiderman itself created the publicity and the children were attracted to this action cartoon.

Gorgeous Shriya!!!

Mogambo...Khush Hua!!!

The moment u hear this dialogue, you recollect the Immense personality of an actor whom Bollywood misses even today.Yes - Amrish Puri. A gifted character artist and a dynamic villain, Amrish Puri have no replacement. His roles in Mr.India, DDLJ,Pardes etc can be done again only by him. If a movie requires a character role or a family villain, then the only choice for directors is Amrish Puri. The loss of Such great actor is really a disadvantage for Bollywood.

There is no replacement for her...

When Soundarya started her career, nobody thought that she rules Tollywood. After her death nobody could find a replacement for her. Soundarya's action was her only asset which made her No.1 . She made her first movies under the direction of S.V. Krishna Reddy who gave her many hits. Later she acted with many great heroes of South India. She also acted with Amitabh Bachchan. She was the only choice for homely roles and religious roles. The heroines acting at present should take a leaf out of her book. Its sad the out movie industry lost an actress like her.

Popeye...The Sailor Man