• Arunachal is 'our land of rising sun': Manmohan
• Hindu festival declared national holiday in Malaysia
• NRI prof nominated to US National Council

• India to host India-Africa summit in April
• India developing Myanmanr port

Close on the heels of his visit to China, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday sent out a veiled message that Arunachal Pradesh is "our land of rising sun" for whose development he announced a number of schemes. "The sun kisses India first in Arunachal Pradesh. It is our land of rising sun," he said addressing a public meeting here on his first day of his maiden visit to this border state, parts of which China claims are its territory. Asserting that the UPA government accorded the highest priority to the development of Arunachal Pradesh, Singh expressed confidence that the north eastern state would emerge as one of the best regions of the country. He announced launching of several schemes, including two power projects at Pare and Dibang, and provision of electricity to every households in the state. Underlining that a strategy has been evolved by the Centre for all-round development of the State, Singh said the thrust areas would be to establish rail, road and air connectivity, development of infrastructure, education and health care facilities. "I sincerely hope that like the Sun, Arunachal Pradesh will rise from the East as a new star and become one of the best regions of our country," he said addressing a public meeting in Hindi. The Prime Minister also announced that Arunachal will get a new greenfield airport in Itanagar besides airports at Passi Ghat, Along, Daporijo, Ziro and Tizu. Singh noted that a direct helicopter service between Guwahati and Tawang would also begin soon. The Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared the helicopter service which the Centre would be subsidising upto 75 per cent of the operating cost. He said the Defence Ministry would also upgrade infrastructure at several areas including Pasi Ghat and Vijai Nagar.

A trans-Arunachal highway, a drinking water scheme and a new secretariat building were among other projects announced by Singh, who had visited the state in 1986 as Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission. He had then visited border area Tawang, where he will not travel this time though he ate a trout fish from there at lunch on Thursday. Observing that steps would be taken by the Centre in accordance with its broad strategy, the Prime Minister said "it is only through these measures and through all-round development of Arunachal Pradesh that we can ensure that the nation moves ahead in steps towards a glorious future." He said Arunchal Pradesh was rich in water resources and had immense potential in hydro-power. It could generate Rs 300 crore in revenue annually only through Dibang power project, which he inaugurated on Thursday. "If we build similar projects across the state, then the state can generate annual revenue of Rs 3,000-4,000 crore. This simple step alone can change the fortune of the state," the Prime Minister said. Talking about move to ensure electrification of all households in the state, Singh said Rs 550 crore would be spent on utilising solar power, micro hydro projects and grid based power to cover all border villages as well as others. "This will be done in two years," he said. He also announced a new rail link between Itanagar and Harmuti to provide more economical and speedy access to destinations outside the state. The government would build a two-lane trans-Arunachal Pradesh highway covering 1840 km connecting Tawang to Mahadevpur and passing through areas like Bomdi La, Ziro, Daparijo, Along, Pasighat and Changlang. "This will be a priority project costing Rs 5500 crore. It will be a flagship highway and one of the most important new-road projects to be taken up by my government. In three to four years, we will connect Itanagar with a four-lane highway," he said. Regarding damages caused by regular floods, he said the Centre would give Rs 400 crore for the reconstruction of areas damaged by flood. The Planning Commission would also give Rs 265 crore this year for the completion of the incomplete projects. "I believe that the progress and development of the state like Arunachal Pradesh is the measure of the progress and development of the Nation as a whole. Your progress will strengthen the Nation." The Prime Minister also visited the Ramkrishna Mission hospital after which he announced grant of Rs 10 crore from his relief fund for the hospital to strengthen the facilities. He said he would also ask the Planning Commission and DONER (Development of North East Region) to provide Rs 30-40 crore help to the hospital. "We (the government) will provide educational facilities for your children. We will improve your connectivity. We will help you preserve your unique identity and culture. This is the beauty of our Nation. Our Nation is built on the idea of unity in diversity. This is also what gives us strength as a Nation," Singh told the people of Arunachal.

Courtesy: www.hindu.com, January 31, 2008

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With an aim of bolstering its relations with Africa, India will host the Summit of African countries here to enhance the "true partnership" to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma, who is attending the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, announced that India will hold the Summit of India-Africa Forum in New Delhi in April. Sharma, who is leading a high-level delegation participating in the African Union Summit, also invited heads of African countries for the summit meeting here. "India looks for a true partnership with Africa and support its development and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals," he said on Tuesday. Sharma delivered letters of invitation from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to heads of state and foreign ministers of African countries. Among the countries invited for the summit meeting are South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Senegal, Uganda and Zambia. Sharma also called on Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Ghanian President John Kufuor, who is also the current chair of the African Union. Both the leaders have accepted the invitation and said the timing of the summit is appropriate as Africa diversifies its relationship and cooperation with India is now in the forefront of their agenda.

Courtesy: www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, January 30, 2008

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Assuaging the feelings of agitated ethnic Indians ahead of elections, the Malaysian Prime Minister on Sunday declared the Hindu festival of Thaipusam a national holiday and vowed to eradicate poverty among the community, which claims it is being marginalised. Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, whose government was rattled by unprecedented street protests by the community recently, said he decided to recognise Thaipusam as a "public holiday" after getting requests from the ethnic Indian community, which forms just 7.8 per cent of the total population in this Muslim-majority country. "Moreover, every year during Thaipusam, the roads in Kuala Lumpur are very congested," Abdullah told a cheering crowd of over 20,000 ethnic Indians at a rally here organised by the Malaysian Indian Congress, the third largest component of the ruling Barisan Party. Ethnic Indians are increasingly becoming vocal about their claims that they are being marginalised, and held a mass demonstration on November 25 last year to highlight their plight, which was forcefully suppressed by the government. The opposition had urged the prime minister to recognise Thaipusam as a reconciliatory gesture in the wake of tensions following the government's crackdown on the agitating Indians.

Courtesy: www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, January 20, 2008

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The Union Government has decided to develop the Sittwe port for Myanmar. In return for its $120 million (Rs 480 crore) expenditure on the project - which will be a gift to Myanmar - India would get rights to use the port. This is significant as access to the port will provide a gateway for the North-Eastern States to the rest of the world. Disclosing this to Business Line, the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Mr Jairam Ramesh, termed it as "the most significant initiative the Indian government has taken in South-East Asia." "India proposes to build the port, make the Kaladan river navigable up to the Mizoram border, and then provide highway connectivity within Mizoram," he said. A formal agreement to develop Sittwe will be signed when a high-level Myanmarese delegation visits India in April. This project has been on the anvil for almost six years now, but is now it is closer to fruition because the paradigm of the project has been shifted from 'build, operate, transfer' to 'build, transfer, use'. Earlier, Myanmar was not comfortable with the BOT proposal because it did not want an India-owned port within its own territory. Now, India would build the port and hand it over to Myanmar. "Then we will use it," he said. As of now, the only way goods from the North-East could reach India is through the "chicken-neck" to the North of Bangladesh. Bangladesh does not allow Indian goods to transit the country. Cut off from the rest of the country by Bangladesh, the North-East remains largely under-developed. But the Sittwe project will provide an alternative route the North-East to the rest of the world. For example, rubber from Tripura could reach southern India across the Bay of Bengal, via Sittwe.

Courtesy: www.thehindubusinessline.com, January 08, 2008

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US President George W Bush has nominated Mumbai-born Jamsheed K Choksy, a professor at Indiana University, to be a member of the prestigious National Council on the Humanities for a six-year period beginning January 27. Choksy is a professor of Central Eurasian studies as well as history, adjunct professor of religious studies and an affiliated faculty member of India Studies and of Medieval Studies at Indiana University (IU). He has also served as Chairman of Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures and as Director of Middle Eastern Studies Programme at IU. A highly accomplished scholar and researcher, Choksy was selected as the Government of India Research Fellowship lecturer in 1998. His research examines the development of sectarian communities in central Asia, the near East, and south Asia - where he has travelled extensively - through inter-disciplinary approaches involving anthropology, archeology, history, languages, linguistics, literatures, numismatics and religious studies. According to a profile posted by Indiana University, Choksy was born on January 8, 1962 in Bombay, attended elementary, middle and high school in Colombo and is now a citizen of the US. His PhD was in the history and religions of the Near East and Inner Asia, with the major field of Iranian studies and the additional fields of archeology and Islamic studies, from Harvard University in 1991. Before joining IU, he taught in Department of History and the International Relations Programme at Stanford University as a visiting assistant professor from 1991-1993. He was a member and a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow at the School of Historical Studies in the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey, from 1993-1994.

Courtesy: www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, January 03, 2008

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