Israeli PM ducks Obama summit - in Fear of attack

Jerusalem: Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has withdrawn from President Barack Obama’s Nuclear Security Summit in Washington next week, fearing Muslim powers will use it to promote their demand that Israel disarm.
Netanyahu, who plans to send a deputy to the 47-country conference instead, decided to cancel “after learning that some countries including Egypt and Turkey plan to say Israel must sign the NPT”, an Israeli official said on Friday.

By staying outside the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Israel has avoided having to pledge not to seek nuclear weaponry and to admit international inspectors to its Dimona reactor, widely assumed to have fuelled the region’s sole atomic arsenal. Netanyahu’s attendance at the April 12-13 summit would have been unprecedented. Israeli premiers long shunned such forums, hoping to dampen scrutiny of their secret nuclear policies.

Aides said Netanyahu originally agreed to go after being reassured by the US that the summit communique would focus on efforts to secure fissile materials and be devoid of language challenging Israel’s self-styled nuclear “ambiguity”. REUTERS

Dad to pay £50 for slapping 10-month-old

London: A Briton, who slapped his 10-month-old son after he knocked down a photo frame, has been ordered to pay the baby £50 in compensation, a media report said on Thursday.
The 24-year-old man lost his cool when his son hit the TV while jumping up and down in his baby bouncer, Daily Mail reported. The court was told that a family photo was knocked to the floor and the father hit him across the face.
The toddler’s mother found the boy had facial injuries and finger marks on his cheek and took him to a doctor who found the injuries were caused by a hand slap. The police were then called. The man was also directed to complete 60 hours of community service. IANS

Oprah to take new show to India, China

Chicago: Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey, whose eponymous 25-year old TV show is concluding next year, on Thursday announced a slew of new programmes for her upcoming channel, including a global series that will take her to India and China.
A total of 15 new series have been announced for Winfrey’s channel ‘OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network’, which will launch on January 1, 2011. One of the five new shows announced today is ‘Oprah’s Next Chapter’, in which Winfrey will have “riveting conversations with the people we all want to hear from, in some very unexpected places”.
“Oprah’s getting untethered from the chairs, opening up her world and taking you with her. From the Taj Mahal to her beloved oak tree, the Great Wall to her own teahouse, it is a whole new kind of Oprah show,” OWN chief executive officer Christina Norman said in a statement.
Winfrey, 55, would interview a range of people from celebrities to politicians to newsmakers in other countries. “My vision for OWN is to create a network that inspires our viewers and makes them want to be who they are on their best day,” Winfrey said.
The new shows would see appearances by Academy Award-winning director James Cameron, Grammy Award-winning pop culture icon Lady Gaga, Nobel laureate American author Toni Morrison and former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Over the years, Winfrey, has built an empire of about $2.5 billion as she touched the lives of millions of viewers across the world through her shows on women empowerment, education, health and lifestyle. PTI

Sarko got Dati thrown out of hotel over affair rumours?

London: French president Nicolas Sarkozy is suspecting ex-justice minister Rachida Dati of being the mastermind behind the rumours that he and his wife Carla Bruni were having extramarital affairs, a media report said.
Though a probe is still on to determine the source of the rumours, Sarkozy suspects Dati and he has stripped the 44-year-old of her ministerial perks, including bodyguards and a chauffeur-driven limosine, the Daily Mail reported. Dati was also kicked out of a five-star hotel in Geneva and downgraded to a cheaper accommodation on Thursday during a government visit, on the orders of the 55-year-old president, the report said.
“Her disloyalty towards Sarkozy after all he has done for her was the reason for this downgrading,” an unknown source was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, France’s intelligence chief has admitted that Sarkozy ordered spies to uncover the source of the rumours, despite Bruni publicly denying any probe into the speculation that the couple’s marriage was in crisis.
Last month, international media was abuzz with reports that Sarkozy was having an affair with ecology minister Chantal Jouanno, while 42-yearold Bruni was involved in a relationship with singer Benjamin Biolay. PTI

Budget to push up cost of offshore oil exploration

01/03/2010
Budget to push up cost of offshore oil exploration
New Delhi:INDIA: OMCs also worried at seeming setback to any early move to cut underrecoveries on retailed fuel.

The Budget clarification on extension of service tax to include all activities in the entire continental shelf and exclusive economic zone will increase the cost of offshore exploration for Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), the country's biggest explorer.

Reliance Industries Ltd, another major explorer, will also bear the impact of this tax, though it declined to quantify.

"We have to pay an additional service tax of Rs 1,000 crore annually," said ONGC's director (finance), D K Saraf. The Budget clarified that any service which the upstream oil companies procure while undertaking exploration activity in offshore areas will be subject to service tax. The companies were of the view that taxes would apply only after a vessel, structure or installation comes into operation.

OMCs restive at retail losses

The increase in prices of petrol and diesel by Rs 2.71 and Rs 2.55, respectively, on account of an increase in customs duty on crude oil and increase of Re 1 in excise duty for both these products will make it difficult for the government to take another increase to cut the underrecoveries of oil marketing companies (OMCs). In the current fortnight, the OMCs are estimated to lose Rs 4.72 on every litre of petrol and Rs 1.94 on every litre of diesel.

The petroleum sector had expected some clarity on the government's position on the Kirit Parikh committee's report (which asked for freeing of petrol and diesel prices from government control), said R S Sharma, chairman and managing director of ONGC.

"We were expecting some price revision because of underrecoveries on petrol and diesel," said S V Narasimhan, director (finance), Indian Oil Corporation. He noted the Budget just made a provision of Rs 12,000 crore for underrecoveries in the current financial year and none at all for those in 2010-11. In the current year, the OMCs -- IOC, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum -- are estimated to have a total underrecovery of Rs 31,000 crore on sale of kerosene and domestic LPG at government-capped prices. "It is a concern to us, since for every quarter we will have to ask the government to compensate the underrecoveries," he said.

Source: Business Standard

Cheques to have more security features: RBI

10/03/2010
Cheques to have more security features: RBI
Mumbai:INDIA: Cheques will have more security features like water marks and invisible logo with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deciding to ask banks to take additional measures to prevent forgeries and frauds.

Besides additional security features, the cheques being issued by commercial banks and rural banks will be of standard size, said an RBI circular which was communicated to the heads of all banks.

"It has ... been decided to prescribe certain benchmarks towards achieving standardisation of cheques issued by banks across the country," it added.

The new features would include use of quality paper, water mark and printing of banks' logos in invisible ink, RBI said, adding "homogeneity of security features is expected to act as a deterrent against cheque frauds".

RBI said "Cheque Truncation System-2010 Standard" will be introduced after ascertaining the readiness of the banks to adopt it.

The proposed format is based on the recommendations of the Working Group which was set up by the RBI to examine standardisation of cheques and enhancement of security features.

The set of minimum security features, which will include standard size, clutter free background, use of ultra violet images etc, would "ensure uniformity all cheque forms issued by banks in the country".

Source: Agencies

Few takers for H-1B work visa

09/04/2010
Few takers for H-1B work visa
The US has received only 13,500 petitions in the first week for H-1B visa, the most sought after work visa by Indian IT professionals, as against the mandated cap of 65,000 reflecting the poor employment market in that country.

The Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), as mandated by the US Congress started receiving H-1B petitions from April 1 for fiscal 2011 beginning October 1, 2010.

Figures of the petitions received in the first week were released by USCIS yesterday, which is almost one third of the total applications received by the agency last year.

A year ago, when thousands of people were handed pink slips, the USCIS had received 42,000 H-1B applications under the Congressional mandated quota of 65,000. In the advanced degree category where the quota was 20,000, USCIS had received about similar number of applications.
However, this year the USCIS in the first week had received approximately 5,600 petitions for individuals with advanced degree, the agency said in a media release yesterday.

"USCIS has received approximately 13,500 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap," it said, adding that it will monitor the number of petitions received for both the 65,000 general cap and the 20,000 US master's degree or higher educational exemption.

Last year the USCIS took 265 days to reach the mandated cap of 65,000 in general category and 20,000 in advanced degree category.

In 2009, both the quota was filled up on the first day itself as it received several times the number of Congressional mandated quota. In 2008, the general quota was oversubscribed on the second day while the advanced degree was filled up in 30 days.

"Should USCIS receive the necessary number of petitions to meet the cap, it will issue an update to advise the public, that the FY 2011 H-1B cap has been met as of a certain date (the 'final receipt date'). The final receipt date will be based on the date USCIS physically receives the petition, not the date that the petition has been postmarked. The date USCIS informs the public that the cap has been reached may differ from the actual final receipt date," it said.

"To ensure a fair system, USCIS may randomly select the number of petitions required to reach the numerical limit from the petitions received on the final receipt date. USCIS will reject cap subject petitions that are not selected, as well as those received after the final receipt date," USCIS said.

The agency said petitions filed by employers who are exempt from the cap or petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap within the past six years will not count toward the Congressionally mandated H-1B cap.

Indian Express

Sania Mirza to wed Shoaib Malik in Hyderabad today

09/04/2010
Sania Mirza to wed Shoaib Malik in Hyderabad today
In yet another surprising twist to the Sania Mirza-Shoaib Malik affair, the tennis star has decided to marry the Pakistani cricketer on Friday (April 9) instead of the previously decided date of April 15.

Quazi Azmatullah Jaffri of Dar-Ul-Qazzat confirmed that the nikah will be performed after evening prayers on Friday.

The couple had earlier announced that they would tie the knot on April 15 but as it turns out that date has been set for their reception ceremony to be attended by about about 500 guests at the Taj Krishna hotel.

Ever since they announced their wedding, the couple had been hounded by the media over Shoaib's first marriage. Another Hyderabad girl Ayesha Siddiqui had alleged that Shoaib married her over phone before dumping her without a divorce due to her weight problems.

Shoaib initially denied the allegations and claimed that Ayesha duped him into a phone marriage by sending photographs of a different woman. The all-rounder, however, finally agreed to divorce her after being pressurised by community leaders.

Ayesha had also filed an FIR against Shoaib alleging fraud and criminal intimidation which led to the cricketer's passport being confiscated by the police.

The FIRs have been withdrawn after Shoaib agreed to divorce Ayesha and Shoaib is likely to get back his passport before the reception if he applies to the court on Friday.

"As far as police are concerned, the case is closed. Shoaib has to apply to the court and get back his passport," Narasimha Reddy Additional Commissioner of Police said.

He said some administrative procedures have to be followed.

"We received requisition from Siddiquis. Now they can settle the matter in Lok Adalat," Reddy said.

PTI

More on news

Obama hails new nuke treaty with Russia

President Obama hailed a new nuclear deal with Russia today as "the most comprehensive arms control agreement in nearly two decades" and a major step toward his long-term goal of a world free of nuclear weapons.

"Since taking office, one of my highest national security priorities has been addressing the threat posed to the American people by nuclear weapons," Obama said at the White House.

The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty would cut the countries' arsenals of nuclear weapons by about a third, Obama said. It also would cut the number of missiles and launchers.

Less than an hour after speaking with President Dmitry Medvedev, Obama said he and his Russian counterpart would sign the START on April 8 in Prague -- the same city where Obama gave a speech last year on nuclear non-proliferation.

Both the U.S. Senate and Russian Duma must ratify the agreement.

The president spoke while flanked by key members of his national security team: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff chair Mike Mullen.

All three said the agreement protects U.S. national security, and they are prepared to make that case as the Senate takes up ratification.

Gates said he and others have spoken with senators throughout the year-long negotiations with the Russians and two major concerns have been addressed. The agreement does not constrain U.S. missile defense, nor does it affect the safety of the American nuclear stockpile, the Defense secretary said.

Obama discussed the details of the treaty this week with Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Richard Lugar, R-Ind., the chair and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In a statement, Kerry said he hopes the partisanship that infected the health care debate will not affect ratification of the number arms treaty. "We can't squander this opportunity to reset both our relations with Russia and our role as the world leader on nuclear non-proliferation," he said.

Lugar said he looks forward to hearings "to achieve ratification of the new treaty."

The agreement is another sign of a "reset" in Russian relations, Obama said. It helps build global objections to the nuclear development actions of nations such as Iran and North Korea.

Obama and Medvedev plan to sign what officials call the "New START" less than a week before the U.S. president hosts a summit on reducing and eventually eliminating nuclear weapons worldwide.

Richard Burt, a former arms control negotiator and now U.S. chair of a pro-elimination group called Global Zero, said the treaty "will set the stage for further cuts in U.S. and Russian arsenals and multilateral negotiations for reductions by all nuclear weapons countries."

A nuclear-weapons-free world "will not be reached in the near future," Obama said, but he has an agenda to "stop the spread of these weapons, to secure vulnerable nuclear materials from terrorists and to reduce nuclear arsenals."


(As Posted by David Jackson)

Czechs torn over U.S. nuclear treaty with Russia

PRAGUE — One year ago this week in front of the Gothic spires of Prague Castle, President Obama laid out his vision of a nuclear-weapons-free world and told thousands of cheering Czechs he would "put an end to Cold War thinking."
As Obama returns to Prague Castle on Thursday to sign a nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia, Czechs differ over whether his conciliatory dialogue with their former occupier is dangerously naïve or a laudable step toward global security.
Their sentiments are often linked to memories of the Soviet-inspired communist regime that crumbled in 1989.
A former anti-communist fighter and U.S. Army veteran, Milan Paumer, 78, worries that Obama will make concessions to ensure that Russia abides by the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which requires each country to reduce its deployable nuclear warheads by 30% over seven years.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has been pushing for some kind of opt-out provision in case the United States develops its missile-defense strategy in Europe, which Russian officials see as a threat to their military security.
"With Russians you have to say, 'We are doing this. If you don't like it, too bad,' " said Paumer, who defied 24,000 East German and Soviet police during a 29-day escape from Soviet-dominated Czechoslovakia to the West. He later lived for 40 years in Miami.
Czechs who lack communist-era battle scars don't necessarily take that view.
"I don't have a personal negative experience with Russia," said architect Vitezslav Petr, 27, praising Obama's "open hand" to Russia. "That is more important than prejudices based on the past."
Confrontation not always answer
Petr welcomed the election of Obama, as did many Europeans who embraced him as the antithesis of President Bush, whose war in Iraq was deeply unpopular here. Obama's approval ratings have been higher in Europe than at home.
His policy of engaging adversaries, though, sometimes gets a cooler reception in the former Eastern Bloc.
That makes sense to David Gaydecka, 37, a concert promoter who says engagement did nothing to stop Soviet tanks from invading Czechoslovakia in 1968 or Adolf Hitler's troops from marching in 30 years earlier.
"I am glad Obama made people believe the world could be a better place. On the other hand, he seems naïve," said Gaydecka, who supported a proposed radar base in the Czech Republic, part of the Bush administration's plan for a missile-defense shield in Central Europe ostensibly to shoot down Iranian rockets. "His diplomacy is not stopping the Iranians from developing nuclear weapons."
Gaydecka said, "When he was president of Russia, Vladimir Putin said he would aim missiles at European cities if Bush persisted with his missile-defense shield. Obama shouldn't cave in."
Obama canceled the radar base last September, citing its cost and poor test results. His administration is developing an alternative missile-defense plan.
Czechs who risked their political capital to gain government approval for the U.S. radar deployment, which roughly 70% of Czechs opposed, remain unhappy with the cancellation. "It was not the best possible way," said Veronika Kuchynova Smigolova, a former security policy director at the Foreign Ministry who lobbied for the radar base.
Now an ambassador to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, she is not impressed by Obama's impending treaty signing, which she says won't break any new ground.
Her reasoning infuriates Jan Hamacek, the leader of the Czech Parliament's foreign affairs committee for the left-wing Social Democrats.
"This treaty could serve as an invaluable confidence-building measure between the two countries," Hamacek said. "We have to try."
Be cautious with 'reset'
Across the political spectrum in the Czech Republic, Obama has received praise for his handling of Afghanistan, where centrists such as Sen. Jaromir Stetina say U.S. forces have been keeping violence from escalating.
Stetina hopes Obama will show the "same strength" to protect Georgia from Russia.
Former president Václav Havel expressed that concern last July in an open letter to Obama. The letter, signed by 20 other former Central and Eastern European leaders, is a reminder that the Cold War is not a distant memory. It said, "We want to ensure that too narrow an understanding of Western interests does not lead to the wrong concessions to Russia."
Petr Kolar, Czech ambassador to the United States, says the "reset" of Russian-U.S. relations is likely to come up during a dinner after the treaty signing. "Just because you push the reset button doesn't mean you lose your memory," he said. "And who better to address such concerns than Obama himself?"

sources: >By Dinah A. Spritzer,

SPEED UP YOUR OLD COMPUTER

That computer you bought a few years ago really is slower. Programs take longer to open and so do Web pages. Booting your machine takes an eternity. This doesn't necessarily mean it's time for a new computer. You just need to bring it back up to speed. .
Check for malware
Spyware, adware and viruses slow your machine. Malware shouldn't be a problem if you use up-to-date security software. Still, scan your machine for viruses and spyware and remove any problems found. If you need security software, visit my site for free programs.
Clean your hard drive
A full hard drive slows down your computer. It will take longer to access files. So, clean it up. Windows and programs you install often create temporary and setup files. Use Disk Cleanup to remove them. Access Disk Cleanup by clicking Start, then All Programs, Accessories, System Tools and Disk Cleanup.
TECH TIPS: Ask Kim
After the program scans your drive, you'll see a list of file categories. Clear Temporary files, Temporary Internet Files and the Recycle Bin. Make your selections and click OK. It may take a few minutes to delete the files.
Remove unwanted programs
You probably have plenty of programs that you no longer use. They're probably slowing you down.
Remove unwanted programs via Windows' Control Panel. Click Start, then Control Panel. In Windows Vista, double-click Programs and Features. In Windows XP, double-click Add or Remove Programs. Select a program to uninstall and click Uninstall in Vista. In XP, click Change/Remove. Follow the prompts.
Clean restore points
System Restore lets you roll back your Windows settings to an earlier time. It's a handy feature. But too many restore points can slow down certain processes. Clearing old restore points can speed up your PC.
Click Start, then All Programs, Accessories, System Tools and System Restore. In XP, click System Restore Settings. Select "Turn off System Restore." Click Apply and then Yes to confirm. Restart System Restore. When prompted, click Yes to re-enable System Restore.
In Vista, click "open System Protection." Deselect your Drive and confirm your choice. Click OK. Close and reopen System Restore. Click "open System Protection." Click OK. Close System Restore. Reboot your machine to create a new restore point.
Defragment your drive
Windows often splits files, storing parts in separate areas of the hard drive. This file fragmentation makes your computer work harder to access files. Overcome this problem by defragmenting the drive. Data is rearranged for more efficient access. Read and write times will improve.
Click Start, then All Programs, Accessories, System Tools and Disk Defragmenter. Select your C: drive and click Analyze. Then, click Defragment. Don't use your computer or leave programs running while using Disk Defragmenter. It will cause errors.
Check for errors
Errors may also be slowing your hard drive down. Error Checking finds and fixes them for you. It also checks the integrity of your files.
Open My Computer and right-click the C: drive. Select Properties. Click Check Now in the Error-checking section of the Tools tab. Select "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors." Click Start. Allow Windows to fix any bad sectors that are found.
Switch to OpenDNS
You can speed up Web browsing by using a different DNS server. A DNS server helps your browser locate pages online. Your DNS requests may be going through several, distant servers. Instead, use OpenDNS.
OpenDNS sends requests to the closest server. Once you sign up for an account, you have to make a few simple changes on your machine. The service's site walks you through the process.
Clean your hardware
The outside of your computer needs to be cleaned, too. Your keyboard may be filthy, and your monitor may be covered with dust. The fan vents are magnets for dust, pet hair and other things that don't belong inside your computer.
Start by wiping down your monitor. Turn it off and unplug it from the power socket. Use a soft, lint-free cloth that is slightly damp. Avoid paper towels and window cleaners; they can scratch and cloud the display.
If you have a standard, no-frills keyboard, run it through the dishwasher. Allow it to dry completely before using. Otherwise, unplug the keyboard and wipe it down with a damp cloth. Canned air can remove debris between keys. Likewise, use canned air to clear your computer's vents.
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