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Artificial Intelligence Cracks 4,000-Year-Old MysteryAn ancient script that's defied generations of archaeologists has yielded some of its secrets to artificially intelligent computers. Computational analysis of symbols used 4,000 years ago by a long-lost Indus Valley civilization suggests they represent a spoken language. Some frustrated linguists thought the symbols were merely pretty pictures. ... deleted |
The government has squandered the boom years, left the country more vulnerable to malign global economic conditions and compromised prospects for a healthy recovery. But Manmohan Singh and his “dream team” have been given an easy ride: they have escaped blame, especially outside India. The conventional excuse is that their hands are tied by Sonia Gandhi and her Congress coterie, and by coalition politics.
This explanation just does not wash. Mr Singh has impeccable academic credentials and is by all accounts incorruptible. He deserves credit for his performance as finance minister in the 1990s – although credit should also go to Narasimha Rao, then prime minister, who took the tough decisions.
But Mr Singh has proved a hopeless decision-maker as prime minister. Sadly, he proves the rule that academics should generally be “on tap” but not “on top”.
* Hillary Clinton says reason for India's inaction against Pakistan after Mumbai is: "We worked very hard ... to prevent India from reacting." That admission explains why Manmohan Singh did not take the smallest of small steps against Pak, even as a symbolic expression of outrage.
* Gen. Petraeus admits Holbrooke's "portfolio very much includes India," and that Holbrooke and he are in constant touch with Indian officials.
4/25/2009
At a Congressional hearing on Friday, Secretary of State Clinton said there have already been a number of high-level discussions, including between the U.S president and the Indian PM, on the sidelines of the G-20 summit, in London, ''raising the issue of how India can do more to tamp down any reaction, on any front, like Mumbai could have provoked.''
''We worked very hard, as did the prior administration, to prevent India from reacting. But we know that the insurgents and al Qaeda and their syndicate partners are pretty smart. They are not going to cease their attacks, inside India, because they are looking for exactly the kind of reaction that we all hope to prevent,'' Clinton said.
''So we do have a lot of work to do, with the Indian government, to make sure that they continue to exercise the kind of restraint they showed after Mumbai, which was remarkable, especially given the fact that it was the political season,'' she added.
India Part of Holbrooke's Portfolio: Petraeus
4/25/2009 1:44 AM ET
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The commander of the U.S. central command has said that India is part of the "portfolio" of Richard Holbrooke, the special American representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan, reports say.
"There are people who have rightly said that ambassador Holbrooke's title should be Afghanistan, Pakistan and India," General David Petraeus told a Congressional committee, in response to a question from a lawmaker.
"Now, let me just tell you, his portfolio very much includes India and in fact, the Central Asian states and the other neighbors there," the four-star general said, adding both he and Holbrooke had met with top Indian officials and have been in constant touch with them.
Sri Lanka's war of attrition – Church ignited and fueled
English news channels had a field day taunting Tamil Nadu Chief Minister variously with 'blinking first', 'swallowing' and 'backtracking' on the issue of the LTTE. All English news channels, without exception, attributed Karunanidhi's volte face to pressure from the Congress. Of course, this fiction suits the English media because 'Congress pressure' is pseudonym for 'Sonia pressure' and diminishing Karunanidhi adds an additional two feet to Sonia Gandhi's Forbes-manufactured pogo stick.
In the face of it, the tragedy of the Tamils of Sri Lanka seems complex because of the different forces at work in that island-nation; these forces have caused the spill-over into India. South and South-East Asia are the last theaters for the ceaseless cosmic war between the two well-organized Abrahamic faiths. Across the globe, all separatist, secessionist, political insurgent movements are only Christian (Poland, erstwhile Soviet Union and other Balkan states, East Timor), Church-backed (Tamil Nadu lawyers' strike, LTTE and Maoists of Nepal and India) or Islamic movements. These movements, when allowed to succeed have always ended only in the creation of new Christian or Islamic states.
To defeat such Church-backed or Islamic secessionist movements it must first be understood that Islam and Christianity by their very nature are political entities with political objectives; they only masquerade as religions. Every non-Muslim, non-Christian country therefore must hold the adherents of Islam and Christianity as potential insurgents and foot-soldiers for their religions who pose a threat to national security in more ways than one; this entails keeping a watchful eye on all their activities and particularly for any attempt to alter the religious demography in any part of their country. India's stake in Sri Lanka is historical; not merely because the country is contiguous with Tamil Nadu but more importantly to protect the civilisational content and character of the region.
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The central government has issued a new 10 Rs coin with a with 'Christian Crusader's Cross' on one side.
Two years back, the UPA government had issued two Rs coin with ditto same Christian crusader cross on one side. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had taken up this issue to the people in his December 2007 Gujarat assembly election rallies(Watch video).After much protest this coin was withdrawn.
Now again, the central government has come with Rs 10 coin depicting ditto same 'Jerusalam cross.' It is same story again as was the case couple of years ago with 2 rupee coin.
Threaten to become a failed state, and reap a mass of aid
Pakistan deftly exploits international fears over its becoming a failed state to rake in an ever-growing mound of bilateral and multilateral aid, even as the Indian prime minister gratuitously certifies "Pakistan's nuclear weapons are in safe hands as of now"
Brahma Chellaney
Asian Age, April 22, 2009
Pakistan has long proved to be adept at diplomatically levering its weakness into strength. Now it is using the threat of its possible implosion to rake in record-level bilateral and multilateral aid.
Bountiful aid has been pouring in without any requirement that Pakistan address the root cause of its emergence as the epicentre of global terrorism — a state-instilled jihad culture and military-created terrorist outfits and militias. Even though the scourge of Pakistani terrorism emanates not so much from the Islamist mullahs as from generals who reared the forces of jihad, rewards are being showered on the procreators of terrorism.
The Pakistani-scripted Mumbai terrorist attacks, far from putting Islamabad in the international doghouse, have paradoxically helped open the floodgates of international aid, even if involuntarily. Between 1952 and 2008, Islamabad received over $73 billion as foreign aid, according to Pakistan's Economic Survey. But in the period since the Mumbai strikes, the amount of aid pledged or delivered to Pakistan has totalled a staggering $23.3 billion. This figure excludes China's unpublicized contributions but includes the International Monetary Fund's $7.6-billion bailout package, released after the Mumbai attacks.
Just last week, Islamabad secured some $5.2 billion in new aid at a donors conference — the first of its kind for Pakistan. At that conference, host Japan and America pledged $1 billion each, while the European Union promised $640 million, Saudi Arabia $700 million, and Iran and the United Arab Emirates $300 million each.
Add to this picture the largest-ever U.S. aid flow for Pakistan, unveiled by the Obama administration — $7.5 billion in civilian aid over five years ($1 billion of which was pledged in down-payment at the donors conference in Tokyo), some $3 billion in direct military assistance, plus countless millions of dollars in reimbursements to the Pakistani military for battling jihadists, including those it still nurtures and shields.
Despite the glib talk that the new aid would not be open-ended but result-oriented, the Obama administration first announced major new rewards for Pakistan upfront, and then persuaded other bilateral donors to make large contributions, without defining any specific conditions to help create a more moderate Pakistan not wedded to terrorism. The talk of "no blank cheques" and "an audit trail" has proven little more than spin. Put simply, Islamabad is being allowed to reap a terrorist windfall.
America's proposed Pakistan Enduring Assistance and Cooperation Enhancement (PEACE) Act, though, is likely to throw a few bones to those alarmed by the stepped-up assistance as déjà vu. The House version of this innocuously labelled bill seeks to set some metrics for the aid flow, but an opposing White House sees them as too stringent. The Senate version has not yet been unveiled. By the time the bill is passed by both chambers, its focus will likely be on accountability and presidential certification of the Pakistani military's assistance to help "root out Al Qaeda and other violent extremists in Pakistan's tribal regions" — the goal publicly identified by President Barack Obama.
In any event, if the benchmarks are not to the White House's liking, Obama will largely ignore them the way his predecessor dismissed the congressionally imposed metrics for progress on Iraq — metrics that ultimately even Congress disregarded in the face of increased Iraqi violence. The point is that by doling out goodies upfront, Obama has undercut any attempt to get the Pakistani military to stop underwriting terrorist groups.
History actually is repeating itself with a vengeance. It was the multibillion-dollar aid packages in the Reagan years that helped grease Pakistan's descent into a jihadist dungeon. And the renewed U.S. munificence under George W. Bush only encouraged Pakistan to dig itself deeper into the dungeon. Little surprise a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report concludes that America, despite its generous aid to Pakistan since 9/11, has "not met its national security goals to destroy terrorist threats and close the safe haven in Pakistan's FATA" [Federally Administered Tribal Areas].
At the root of the U.S.-India strategic dissonance on the "Afpak" belt is Washington's squint-eyed identification of terrorist safe havens only along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, as well as its long-standing pampering of the Pakistani military. The U.S. Congress certainly will not seek to condition the new aid flow to the dismantlement of the state-nurtured terrorist infrastructure in the Pakistani heartland — the staging ground for attacks against India. So, just as the more than $12.3 billion in U.S. assistance to Islamabad since 9/11 only engendered more Pakistani terrorism — with India bearing the brunt — Obama's plan to shower Pakistan with mammoth new aid will embolden terrorism exporters there and bring Indian security under added pressure.
Still, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been conspicuous by his silence on this and on Obama's itch to strike a political deal with the Taliban. Rather, he has gratuitously stated: "We have been assured that Pakistan's nuclear weapons are in safe hands as of now. And I have no reason to disbelieve the assurance". Who gave that assurance? The answer: Those who are clueless and guileless on Pakistan are seeking to assure India even as they heap rewards on Islamabad and write off Indian security concerns.
Singh's telling silence, and his earlier refusal to take the mildest diplomatic action against Pakistan over the Mumbai strikes, even as he held that "some Pakistani official agencies must have supported" the attacks, underscore the hidden costs of the nuclear deal he rammed through. India's Pakistan policy stands effectively outsourced.
Singh refrained from taking the smallest of small steps against Pakistan because he believed Washington would help bring the Mumbai-attack planners to justice. Instead, to his chagrin, U.S. officials now are exhorting India to overcome Mumbai and provide Pakistan a tranquil eastern border through troop redeployments, even as non-official Americans are warning that the Indian inaction is bound to bring another major Pakistani-scripted terror attack before long. Like a Rand Corporation report earlier, Stratfor says Indian inaction signals a lack of resolve to deter Pakistan from staging more attacks.
Yet Special Representative Richard Holbrooke blithely pours salt on the Indian wounds. By meretriciously claiming in New Delhi that the U.S., India and Pakistan now face a common threat from terrorism and thus need to work together, Holbrooke sought to make Pakistan's war by terror against India absolvable and unpreventable — a reality he actually would like India to stoically endure.
Pakistan is not the only failing state in the world. A dysfunctional Somalia, for example, has become the base for increasingly daring piracy along the western rim of the Indian Ocean, seriously disrupting shipping in one of the world's busiest maritime passages. But even as Somali pirates — with ties to Islamists — now hold 17 captured ships and some 260 hostages, the annual U.S. aid for Somalia is not equivalent to even one day's aid for Pakistan that the Obama team has helped put together internationally.
The reason Pakistan can harvest tens of billions of dollars by playing the failing-state card is no different from what endeared it to U.S. policy since the 1950s or made it an "all-weather ally" of China. Pakistan remains too useful a pawn for external powers involved in this region. These powers thus are unlikely to let it fail, even as they play up the threat of implosion to bolster the Pakistani state. It's no wonder Pakistan seems determined as ever to pursue its "war of a thousand cuts" to turn India — with its aging, toothless leadership — into a failed state.
| Outlook India's team of anti-Hindu writers has another member now, Neelabh Mishra. Enter, Hindu Ayatollahs |
| Agreements can be made with Moderate Taliban! LOL. Wednesday, April 22, 2009 TTP says Osama welcome in Swat: Taliban reject peace accord * Muslim Khan wants Taliban model of sharia in Pakistan, 'even in America' ... deleted
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Elections prompt prayer campaign - By Hilda Raja
A ministry working with the persecuted church is calling Christians round the world to pray for fellow believers in India as the country begins its national parliamentary elections. The author refers to church in the singular for convenience, though there are so many churches, each with its own distinct Christian God and gospel, rite, beliefs dogmas etc.
This election-prompt prayer campaign for Christians in India , made by the ministry working for the persecuted church, hiding behind a 'Church' to broadcast its propaganda of lies, false allegations and anti-national statements, is nothing but a political propaganda blitz. Where is this persecuted church? And what about the countries where the church is the persecutor?
...deleted
http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=526
FYI
Distribution to all the groups, please.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
From: Vj Poondi <vjpoondi@yahoo.com>
Subject: Temple posting 1.15- Urgent request
To: "temple temple" <NJSouthBrunswickKrishnaTemple@googlegroups.com>
Cc: "perumalkovil perumalkovil" <vjpoondi@perumalkovil.org>
Date: Tuesday, April 21, 2009, 7:33 PM
Respected group members:
We received information that with in a short period of time ( may be in 3 to 4 weeks), our application for the building permit will be placed in the Township planing board meting.
Some of the local people residing close to the land where the temple is going to be build, have retained a lawyer to represent them to oppose our temple. We expect 50 to 60 people will attend to oppose our temple.
We need close to 150 of our people to attend the planing board meeting to support our temple.
The planing board meets at 7pm and we will get the date soon.
Please e mail me at vjpoondi@perumalkovil.org or call me at 732-762-5026 .
We need your support and need your presence on that day.
narayana narayana
Vijayaraghavan Poondi
It now has over 250 essays, 2000 photographs on India and 65 Travelogues. The essays are spread over 22 sections. The photo gallery covers most Indian states and South East Asia. Pictures are arranged by State and Category. For example Forts of India takes you to pictures of all the forts of India that appear on the site.
Cheers
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www.esamskriti.com
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| The following day, an inmate in the jail, Mumtaz Sheikh, abused her in foul language and even threatened to throw her out of the prison, Sovani claimed. Mumtaz, detained under the Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities Act, repeated her behaviour following which Sadhvi Pragyna complained to the jailor. On Monday, while the inmates were proceeding for lunch, Mumtaz assaulted her with a food bowl. Sovani said his client sustained minor injuries on the face, nose and neck, compelling her to lodge an assault complaint. ******************************************************************************************************* Maybe the Sadhvi was "inadvertantly" jailed with her tormentor? |
| Dipankar De Sarkar, Indo-Asian News Service An umbrella group of Hindus says prominent British members of parliament who want legislation in Britain to protect against caste discrimination are being "misled by Christian groups". The Hindu Council UK (HCUK), which is opposed to religious conversion, said in a new report that caste discrimination does not exist in Britain - and that caste, in any case, was created by the British in India. ... deleted © Copyright 2007 Hindustan Times |
The death throes of minority Hindus http://www.dailypioneer.com/168047/The-death-throes-of-minority-Hindus.html
Ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh continues unabated,
writes Richard L Benkin
I just returned from India after a month during which time an incredible
number of significant events were occurring. My primary mission in going was
to document and raise awareness of the ethnic cleansing of Bangladeshi
Hindus. I found plenty, including evidence of ongoing attacks on them both
in Bangladesh and in West Bengal, India. The border between the two is so
porous that terrorists and contraband move freely with and without the help
of India's Border Security Force or West Bengal Police. But I also witnessed
the tragic beginning of the end for Pakistan's Hindus. Once one in five
Pakistanis, they have been reduced to one per cent of the population.
... deleted
...London School of Economics crunched data to show that British-born Pakistanis, or those who immigrated as children, are more likely to have foreign spouses than those who came to Britain as adults.
This startling fact may help to explain why Pakistanis (and Bangladeshis, who have similar marital habits) are failing to close the gap with other ethnic groups on female employment. Only a quarter of ethnic Pakistani women work, compared with 64% of Indians, for example. Mr Manning thinks something has to give: British women have greater earning power than their Pakistani husbands, which makes traditional roles in the home less plausible. In some cases, extremism may stem in part from male frustration that the old order is being subverted...
The British-Pakistani border is so extremely porous, that there might as well not be a border between the two, for all the difference it makes.
This whole Af-Pak-UK problem is getting out of hand, and may require a new approach. Bradford has declared itself independent and under Islamic rule. I'd recommend Predator strikes across the Atlantic.