Jerusalem: Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has withdrawn from President Barack Obama’s Nuclear Security Summit in Washington next week, fearing Muslim powers will use it to promote their demand that Israel disarm.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
Saturday, April 10, 2010
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
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
Friday, April 9, 2010
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
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
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