President Pratibha Patil

India’s President Pratibha Patil visited Britain on a three-day state visit in lateOctober.

She was a guest of Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor, and the two heads of state participated in ceremonies relating to the 2010 Commonwealth Games to be held in New Delhi.

The President also met with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, leading businesspersons, and members of UK’s Indian community.

She became only the third Indian President to visit Britain after S. Radhakrishnan in 1963 and R. Venktaraman in 1990, and the first since the two countries signed a landmark strategic partnership agreement in 2004 - a reason the two governments are attaching a great deal of importance to the visit.

Mrs Patil was accompanied by her husband Devisingh Ramsingh Shekhawat.

President Pratibha Patil joined Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II to launch the 2010 Commonwealth Games baton relaydescribed as the longest and most inclusive in history - at a gala Indian ceremony in Buckingham Palace.

The 51-year-old tradition - a curtainraiser to the Commonwealth Games that are held every four years - took place on the last day of Patil’s three-day state visit to Britain, with the Queen formally bidding farewell to Patil at the Palace’s Grand Entrance.

The baton, packed with high-tech cameras, sound-recorders and LED lights all made in India, contains a message to the athletes from the queen that will be opened and read out at the launch of the Games in New Delhi Oct 3.

The relay will cover more than 190,000 km and 70 countries and territories as it travels 240 days around the world - making it one of the longest relays in the history of the Commonwealth Games.

After a colourful performance of Indian music and dance on the forecourt of Buckingham Palace, the baton was passed in turn from the Queen to Patil, to Sports Minister M.S. Gill, Games Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi, and finally to the 14 athletes who began the baton relay.

Running with the baton outside the Palace in central London were shooter Abhinav Bindra, former British runner Sebastian Coe, former Indian cricket captain Kapil Dev, tennis star Sania Mirza, ‘Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh, British runner Kelly Holmes, England cricketer Monty Panesar, boxer Vijender Kumar, squash player Misha Soni, wrestler Sushil Kumar, British wheelchair table tennis player Susan Gilroy, weighlifter Karnam Malleshwari, hockey star Dilip Tirkey and decathlete Gurbachan Singh Randhawa.

They were cheered by hundreds of people who lined the gates of Buckingham Palace. The baton will enter India from the Attari border with Pakistan June 25 before starting on a 100-day journey of 28 States and seven union territories, covering a distance of over 20,000 km.

The relay will end at the opening ceremony at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium

Oct 3, where athletes will be read out the Queen’s message, engraved on a miniature 18-carat gold leaf representing the ancient Indian ‘patra’ - currently locked in a jewellery box inside the baton.

In a meeting with politicians and industrialists, President Pratibha Patil urged Britain to allow “freer movement” of Indians wishing to live and work in this country to enable India-British ties to achieve their “full potential.”

“For any relationship to achieve its full potential, the enhancements in business links have to be correspondingly matched by freer movement of peoples, professionals and business travellers,” the visiting president told the UK-India

Business Council (UKIBC) in London. Patil’s comments came after Britain’s Business Minister Peter Mandelson urged greater economic liberalisation in India in the areas of financial and legal services.

The British government has made it increasingly difficult for skilled Indians to live and work in Britain, with a new Points Based System laying down strict preconditions of income (40,000 pounds or more per year), qualification and language skills.

A large number of Indian companies, particularly in the Information Technology sector, have complained that the rules make it difficult for them to work in Britain.

The meeting was attended by top British and Indian businessmen, including Tata managing director Anwar Hassan, Vodafone CEO Vittoria Colao, Standard Chartered

Bank vice-chairman Tom Harris, UKIBC chair Patricia Hewitt and Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi.

“Our economic policies have acceptance across our political spectrum. India is, undoubtedly, among the most attractive destinations globally for doing business,” Patil said at another meet, a banquet in Guildhall, the 800-year-old home of the City of London Corporation.

Her assurance came after the Lord Mayor of the City Ian Luder told a banquet hosted in her honour that he had recently come across Indian financial practitioners and officials who were “cautious about reform”. Patil told guests that comprehensive economic reforms undertaken in 1991, along with India’s steadily increasing urbanisation and rapid growth of the electronic media have brought about “sweeping changes in the lifestyles and consumption attitudes of our people”. “The availability of cheap consumer finance has served to increase disposable incomes,” which in turn had fuelled demand for goods and services - “ranging from home appliances and electronic goods to restaurants, travel, communication and entertainment”.

“Today in India we have a very substantial middle class with growing purchasing power. All this should be of interest to businessmen all over the world,” she added. India is the second largest investor in Britain after the US in terms of the number of jobs created by Indian companies.

Trade between the two countries touched a record 12 billion pounds last year.

More than 600 Indian companies have investments in Britain - two-thirds of them in the ICT and software sector - and some 74 Indian companies are listed on the London Stock Exchange, compared to 12 in New York.

The British Queen wore a dress fit for royals at her state banquet for President Pratibha Patil - after finding the Indian fabric lying unused in a cupboard for

Elizabeth II’s stunning pale gold lame dress made its debut at the banquet after being delivered to her in the morning by her

“It’s an Indian material from an earlier visit, but the Queen couldn’t remember when,” a royal spokeswoman told IANS at Windsor Castle, the 900-year-old castle where Elizabeth II hosted the dinner attended by 150 guests, including Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

“She had it in the cupboard and had forgotten about it. We think it could be from her first visit to India,” the spokeswoman added.

The 83-year-old Queen had the fabric turned into a glamorous dress by her personal dresser Angela Kelly, said to be a close aide to her.

It turned out to be the most glamorous outfit of the evening.

The British monarch has visited India thrice - in 1961, 1983 and 1997.

Some 400 Indian origin Britons greeted Patil at a reception in central London in a recognition of the importance of a community that has grown to some two million in strength.

The guests included Nobel-winning scientist Venkataraman Ramakrishnan, industrialists Swraj Paul, Srichand Hinduja, Raj Kumar Bagri, Nat Puri, Ghulam Noon and Kiran Bilimoria, politicians Navneet Dholakia (Liberal Democrat), Sailesh Vara (Conservative Party), Paramjit Dhanda (Labour) and Lord Adam Patel, leading academics and representatives from the worlds of business, medicine, charity and the arts.

President Patil urged the Indian diaspora around the world to help overcome the challenges presented by a resurgent India and help build a “great and dynamic” nation.

“You know the challenges that a resurgent India presents,” she told prominent members of the Indian diaspora at a reception hosted in her honour.

Pointing out that the Indian diaspora across the world number some 25 million and those in Britain more than 1.5 million, she said: “We seek to interact directly and substantially with them”.

“We must work in our individual ways to contribute to the objective of building a great and dynamic India which will be one of the mainstays of emerging global order,” Patil added.

She lauded the diaspora in Britain, saying that although they formed two percent of population, they contributed 4-5 percent to Britain’s Gross Domestic Product.

“Your hard work and industrious attitude have won you appreciation both in country of adoption and country or origin,” she said.

She praised the contributions of people of Indian origin to the development of postWar Britain.

“When we hear the prime minister of Great Britain... mention the excellent treatment he personally received from an Indian-origin doctor in the National Health Service, we feel proud of all of you,” she said.

Patil said the Indian diaspora was an important bridge between the two countries, pointing out that the architects of modern India -- Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhai Patel and B.R. Ambedkar -- had all been educated in Britain. Education had now been identified as a major field of collaboration between India and Britain, she added.

Patel takes ‘no offence’ at Prince’s Patel crack

Atul Patel, the Indian-origin head of a leading British housing association, has laughed off a joke about his surname cracked by the gaffe-prone husband of the British monarch.

The chief executive of LHA-ASRA said he took “no offence” at Prince Philip’s comments, which were made at a reception hosted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace Oct 13.

Patel was among 400 Indian-origin achievers lined up to be greeted by the royal couple at the reception held in advance of President Pratibha Patil’s Oct 27-29 visit to Britain.

According to The Sun newspaper, when the prince reached Patel, he looked at his name badge and said: “There’s a lot of your family in tonight.”

The 670,000 Patels living in Britain make it the country’s 24th most common name.

However, Patel said later: “I took no offence whatsoever to the comment made by Prince Philip. I do not consider it a gaffe and took it in the light-hearted spirit in which it was intended.”

Britain and India had developed a closer relationship over the last 20 years, he said, adding: “Much of this is very clearly down to the tireless work undertaken by the Queen and Prince Philip across all the countries of the Commonwealth.”

“As a British Indian who has lived in this country for 43 years, I am proud to call it my home,” he said.

Describing Gandhi as a “spirit, not an individual,” President Pratibha Patil accepted the gift of Gandhi memorabilia on behalf of India from two leading members of the Indian diaspora in Britain.

“I feel that Gandhi was a spirit, not an individual - ‘vyakti nahin, shakti’,” Patil said departing from her prepared speech after accepting a series of letters written by Gandhi and a piece of khadi cloth signed by him.

Businessmen Nat Puri and Ghulam Noon, who jointly bought the items at a Sotheby’s sale in July for 17,500 pounds, made the gift to India at a ceremony in the Indian High Commission - completing a unique hat-trick of similar presents made to the nation.

Puri, a philanthropist who founded the Purico Group, and Noon, founder of Noon Products, have gifted Gandhi documents and letters on two previous occasions in a gesture of gratitude to India that was started off by former London Metal Exchange chairman Lord Raj Kumar Bagri.

Puri and Noon gifted three lots of items: the first comprised three autographed letters from Gandhi to Maulana Abdul Bari, an Islamic scholar and a leading figure in the Khilafat movement, written in Urdu.

The letters refer to Hindu-Muslim relations, including communal tensions in Lucknow, and their personal friendship.

One letter, written from a prison thanked Bari, who worked closely with Gandhi from 1918 onwards, for the gift of cotton for spinning.

He signs the letters ‘Mo. K Gandhi’. The second lot comprised a piece of khadi cloth - the size of a small scarf - signed by Gandhi and said to have been woven by him. The hand-woven cotton piece with a purple border is signed by Gandhi and four others, including Pyarelal and Sarojini Naidu.

The cloth was a gift from Gandhi to South African-born actress Moira Lester, a friend of the late Maharani Gayatri Devi. The third lot has two autographed postcards addressed to Hamid Ullah Afsar, a prominent Urdu-language poet, in Urdu. IANS

IN A MOVE TO project Delhi as a “safe food destination” during the 2010 Commonwealth Games, a massive refurbishment program is on to assess how hygienic the eateries in the metropolis are and how edible the food is.

The first leg of the survey showed that 125 eating joints among some of the most sought after places in popular hang-outs like South Extension, Khan Market, Gole Market, ITO and Dilli Haat failed to make the grade.

Cafes, snack bars and restaurants were found to be violating the basic norms. The toilets were dirty and kitchens dingy and smoky; the staff cared little for hygiene and served food without gloves.

The survey, conducted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), covers 883 eateries and hotels situated in close proximity to the Games’ venues.

Sarita Nagpal, CII deputy director general, told IANS that eating joints that are likely to attract tourists during the Games are under scrutiny.

“The Delhi government has short-listed the middle and three-star level hotels and eateries most likely to be frequented by visitors during the Games next year. What we at CII are doing is to survey these places for food safety and hygiene,” said Nagpal. “If the food safety and hygiene standards are found not up to the mark, then we train the people to raise the maintenance levels. The experience at the 125 hotels and restaurants fell below the required levels,” she added.

The second leg of the survey, which begins in another week, will cover some other prominent areas in the capital. In the South Extension area, the CII found the eateries and restaurants congested with nonfunctional exhaust fans, non-potable water, preparation of snacks out in the open and lack of hygiene among the catering staff.

In Khan Market and Gole Market, the hygiene levels in some of the well-known eateries like Kaleva, Bangla Sweets and Gupta Sweets were satisfactory, but in others it was not. Waste bins were found overflowing and there was water stagnation behind the restaurants with plates and cups strewn around.

The assessment was the same in Dilli Haat -- the well-known shopping complex in south Delhi with a wide range of food joints from various states.

Lepcha Dorji, a waiter at one of the eateries of northeastern states in Dilli Haat was unaware of the CII exercise.

“I don’t know of any such assessment, although our manager did mention that some officials will come to check our place so we should keep the tables and cooking area clean,” Dorji said.

Nagpal said the findings would be submitted to the government as well as the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). “The objective is to get the eateries a certification from the Quality Council of India”.

Talking about the training program for the staff, Nagpal said: “It will be an on-thejob training on basic etiquette and hygiene, like wearing a uniform, gloves and head gear and trimming nails. The training will be just for a day or two. The aim is not to close down food joints and train the staff, forcing the hotels to incur losses. We only want to impress upon them how to welcome visitors during the Games”.

Delhiites have welcomed the initiative.

Anubha Dey, a homemaker said: “The biggest fear of eating out is the hygiene factor -- clean water and fresh foodstuff. I have two school-going kids and they love eating out, but often they come down with stomach infections because of the lack of sanitation.

“I hope the move will be sustained after the Games too,” she said.

Nagpal said the CII has prepared a set of safety guidelines for street hawkers and vendors.

“We have prepared a set of guidelines for the vendors. However, it is up to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to implement them,” she said.

Delhi chief secretary Rakesh Mehta promised to provide cold carts with an official stamp of hygiene to lay out Delhi’s delectable street food -- spicy kachauris, piping hot gulab jamuns and spicy samosas - during the Games.

Delhi Mayor Kanwar Sain said that mobile squads of health officials will inspect these carts regularly to ensure safety standards.

“As of now, 1,000 carts are ready for vendors who have licences. They will have to make sure the food is tasty and the surroundings are clean,” Mehta added.

Picturing the scene a year from now, Nagpal chuckled: “So a year from now, it may be a very different Chandni Chowk that you walk into. The otherwise laid-outin-the-open halwa and sweets will be all covered and served to you with a smile by a smartly uniformed halwai wearing a pair of gloves.”

AN INDIAN OIL DEPOT in Jaipur caught fire leaving 10 people killed and 150 others injured. Three bodies were found from the depot premises.

“We recovered two charred bodies from the fire site,” Pradeep Sen, state home secretary, told IANS.

The five bodies are believed to be of the six IOC employees who were reported missing.

Meanwhile, the Rajasthan High Court on a public suit has issued notice to the state government seeking a reply on the efforts being made to extinguish the fire. A dark cloud of smoke has covered the area, making breathing difficult. The state pollution control board is monitoring the air pollution level.

Sources in the IOC said of the 11 storage tanks that caught fire, three are burning while black smoke is coming out from the remaining eight.

Union Petroleum Minister Murli Deora visited the accident site along with Indian Oil chairman Sarthak Behuri and other senior company officials.

The depot has about 50,000 kilolitres of petroleum products, worth about Rs.150200 crore.

People living in a vicinity of 5 km around the depot are complaining of difficulty in breathing and itching in the eyes.

“I have been having problems in breathing... I complained to my doctor and he told me it is because of the smoke in the air,” Adesh Kumar, a resident of a nearby colony said.

The state government has set up two committees to assess the damage to industrial units and nearby villages.

One of the committees will assess the damage caused to the different units in terms of building, plant, machinery and raw material and submit its report in seven days.

The association of Sitapura industrial area has said that of 1,100 units, 500 have suffered losses.

“Each units must have suffered a loss of Rs 500,000-700,000 due to the fire, and this figure does not include our production loss,” S.N. Kabra, president Sitapura Industrial Area, said.

INDIA AND THE UNITED States have started a dialogue to put in place a formal arrangement to promote partnerships between their institutions of higher learning before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit.

The US education secretary Arne Duncan had responded positively to India’s proposal for setting up an India-US Education Council much on the lines of India-US Business Council (USIBC), Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said.

Sibal said he had proposed a body on the lines of USIBC, which promotes commercial relations between the two countries, in the education sector when the US Undersecretary of State William Burns came to New Delhi to prepare for the prime minister’s visit.

“And I raised that issue with education secretary Duncan who said yes we should try and see if that’s possible,” he said.

“And so a dialogue has already started and hopefully the (Indian) ambassador here (Meera Shankar) will carry this dialogue further. And if that is possible maybe that’s something that can be put in place before the prime minister comes,” he said.

Asked if like the USIBC, the proposed body would be composed of top educational institutions of the two countries, Sibal said it would also in addition include representatives of the industry and entrepreneurs.

“The second reason for the visit is we wanted to see if we could actually start a dialogue with these universities so that down the road we could actually enter into some kind of a formal arrangement with these universities,” he said.

Sibal, who is accompanied by leaders of some of India’s top institutions like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), said he had brought along the representatives of our ‘navratnas’ in the education sector.

“We also wanted to show case that we have quality institutions with the leadership which has brought education specially IITs and IIMs now being recognised by the world.”

INDIAN RAILWAYS IS mulling over a plan to attract foreign tourists with exclusive luxury coaches on all its major trains. But many domestic travellers say the ability to pay, and not nationality, should determine who is taken on board.

According to a railway ministry official who wished to remain anonymous, the Public Amenities Committee (PAC) last week recommended that exclusive “specially designed coaches” be added on trains for the benefit of foreign tourists.

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Continued from page 40 “The committee’s recommendations are not final. The proposal will be examined and feasibility assessed. Then the railway board and the minister will examine the proposal and take a decision,” the official said.

Many Indians have been left wondering about the preferential treatment foreign travellers would get on Indian Railways, the largest state-run network of trains in the world.

“Nowhere else in the world does a train network have exclusive coaches for foreigners. While it may help railways earn more, it would be absolutely discriminatory.

The railways is not a private enterprise; they cater to the public!” said Venkatraman Srinivasan, 59, a Delhi-based business consultant.

Nikhilesh Tiwari, a student from Lucknow, said: “The government should base its judgement on cost, not nationality. The government is just looking for excuses.”

To attract foreign travellers, the select coaches will be designed to have more leg room, better designed seats and toilets, wider sleeping berths and aesthetic interiors. The windows too would be larger to give a better view of the landscape. Even those supportive of the idea of higher priced luxury coaches don’t believe that Indians should be left out.

“It is a nice idea to have luxury coaches. They will help in leaving a good impression on foreigners and in increasing tourism to India. But I don’t think to have them only for foreigners is fair,” said Rujuta Phadke, a student from Pune.

Phadke, however, said domestic travellers weren’t “sensitive enough to maintain the facilities provided”.

Faisal Siddique, a Delhi based-researcher, felt “it would be good idea if the government would do something for the Indian passengers” as well.

“It is really sad that the government has such little faith in the people of our country. I think we are educated enough to respect luxury coaches. Unfortunately, we do not get enough luxury in our own country, which is the main reason why Indians are now preferring international holidays.”

Tourists can currently enjoy lavish facilities only on board Palace On Wheels, Deccan Odyssey, Royal Rajasthan on Wheels, Fairy Queen and The Golden Chariot - all luxury tourist trains run by the Indian Railway Tourism and Catering Corporation (IRCTC).

The railways are keen on tapping ‘luxury’ travel by foreigners by extending better facilities through exclusive coaches. The committee’s proposal also suggests keeping attendants for tourists as well as call-bell facilities in toilets to assist elderly and sick passengers.

“All in all, the idea is to make it a more professional experience for the foreign tourist,” the railway official said.

Service exports recovery likely by year-end: FICCI INDIA’S EXPORTS OF services, which declined in the first two quarters of 2009, will return to growth by the year-end, according to a report by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

The overall services exports declined by seven percent during January-March this year and by three percent in the subsequent quarter as compared to a positive growth of 14 percent and 22 percent respectively in the first two quarters of 2008.

“All the major segments of services exports except insurance and financial services witnessed contraction since January 2009,” the chamber said in the report.

Added FICCI president Harshpati Singhania: “This has resulted in a subdued growth of 12.4 percent in India’s total services exports in 2008-09 as compared with over 22 percent increase in 2007-08.” The report said India’s exports of software services declined by 14 percent in the first half of 2009.

Earnings from travel fell by 26 percent during the January-March quarter and by nine percent in the subsequent quarter, signifying the effect of the slowdown on tourist arrivals.

Tourist arrivals were down by 9.5 percent in the second half of 2008-09 and by 1.8 percent in first quarter of the current fiscal, the FICCI report said.

Receipts from trade-related services dipped sharply by 56 percent and 27 percent respectively in the first and second quarters of 2009, it added.

Among other major segments, communication and business camp, professional services including management consultancy, architectural, engineering, technical and other business services also registered negative growth ranging from four percent to 53 percent. In recent years India has made rapid stride in services exports and improved its share in worldwide exports from 1.2 percent in 2000 to 2.7 percent in 2008.

India’s rank among leading services exporters in the world moved up from 22 to nine, with the value of commercial services exports from India rising from $17.6 billion to over $102 billion in the same period. Services exports to the gross domestic product (GDP) ratio currently stands at around nine percent.

According to FICCI, the negative growth in the last two quarters is “a temporary phenomenon and our services exports have the resilience to make a quick recovery”. Said Singhania: “India has the capability to double its share in the global services exports in the next four-five years.”

But for that, he said, the developed world should offer “effective market access” for the service providers and professionals from India and other developing countries.

Aamir Khan, Anna Hazare for Kiran Bedi as CIC BOLLYWOOD ACTOR AAMIR Khan and social activist Anna Hazare are among several people who have urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to appoint the country’s first woman police officer, Kiran Bedi, as the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC).

Besides Hazare and Aamir Khan, Zee television owner Subhash Chandra and Magsaysay awardees Arvind Kejriwal and Sandeep Pandey have made the demand in letters to the prime minister.

The post of CIC fell vacant after Central Information Commission chief Wajahat Habibullah accepted Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s request to head the state information commission. Habibullah resigned last month.

Besides the prime minister, Arvind Kejriwal, Sandeep Pandey and Anna Hazare have also written a similar letter to Congress president and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

They have also sent a similar letter to Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K Advani. A new CIC is likely to be chosen this week by a committee comprising of Manomhan Singh, Advani and Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily.

According to an official source, the strong contenders for the post included M.M. Ansari and A.N. Tiwari, who are presently commissioners in the Central Information Commission.

Advocating Kiran Bedi’s appointment, Kejriwial told IANS: “Her track record is fabulous. Wherever she has been, she has proved she can deliver. She is not scared of taking strong actions where needed unlike our present commissioners. She is known for her sensitivity as well as strictness”. “The process of appointing the CIC needs to be made transparent and the government should disclose how the people whom government is considering are better than Kiran Bedi and on what parameters,” he said.

Aamir Khan said in his letter: “We need a person who has demonstrated sensitivity, commitment and passion for public service. Bedi qualifies on all these fronts. She would bring honour to this post (CIC’s post) and provide justice. Should the government appoint someone else, we would be grateful if it (is) disclosed how that person was found more suitable than Bedi,” he said.

FORMER US PRESIDENT George Bush made a point to stay at the terror-hit Taj Mahal Tower & Palace Hotel to express his solidarity with the victims of the 26/11 attacks, and hoped that the two countries

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Continued from page 43 will enhance their fight against terrorism.

Bush headed straight for the Taj Mahal Tower & Palace Hotel when he arrived in the city from Delhi on a whistle-stop visit in a private jet. He was the second high-profile US politician to stay in the hotel in an act of solidarity with 26/11 victims.

He was received by the hotel’s general manager Karambir Kang, who lost his wife and two children in the terrorist assault on the iconic Taj hotel, one of the places targeted by Pakistani terrorists in a threeday siege of Mumbai that killed over 170 people, including six Americans.

Interacting with the hotel staff, Bush expressed his solidarity with 26/11 victims, and expressed hope that the two countries will enhance their cooperation to defeat extremists and terrorists, source said.

The India-US CEOs Forum hosted a dinner for Bush where he met top Indian business personalities and underlined the need for expanding trade and investment between the world’s largest democracies. This is his first visit to the country after he was succeeded by President Barack Obama.

Incidentally, Bush was in India at a time when the US state department had issued yet another travel advisory on India, alerting its citizens to “continuing security concern” in the country.

The advisory warned US citizens that the US government “continues to receive information that terrorist groups may be planning attacks in India.”

In New Delhi, Bush spoke at a conclave organised by the Hindustan Times where he spoke about the need for India and the US to join hands in an ideological struggle against extremism that threatens both countries.

Bush also backed a place for India in the UN Security Council and described the India-US civil nuclear accord, which he struck with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, as New Delhi’s passport to the world. Bush said he was incredibly optimistic about the course of India-US relations in the future.

A WAVE OF ANGER HAS SWEPT

THROUGH JAMmu and Kashmir with the central government deciding to ban prepaid mobile connections in the state due to security concerns. Most angry are youths.

Even as the Kashmir government has promised to take up the issue with the centre, the ‘walk and talk’ generation in the state is furious that it has been clubbed with terrorists who misused pre-paid connections. “Are we militants?” Shahid Khan, a student, asked in anger and frustration. “Are millions of pre-paid connection subscribers terrorists?”

The decision to snap this service has resulted in total chaos among subscribers.

“It is strange that I should be punished because someone somewhere could be misusing the facility. This is unfortunate and condemnable,” said Muzaffar Ahmad, 23, a college student in Srinagar.

There are around 3.8 million pre-paid connections in the state. Most of them are from Airtel (one million), and new companies have come into the state, like Tata Indicom, Idea, Air Cel, Reliance. They have made huge investments, and they too are angry.

“This is a bad move,” an official of a leading mobile service provider told IANS. Most people, especially youth who have to deal with limited pocket money and prefer pre-paid connections, are very angry. “Until

Sunita Sharma, a young working woman. What surprises them is that the move comes right after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited the state promising more opportunities.

Khurshid Ahmed, 28, a student of Kashmir University, said: “On the one hand the government says we must become information savvy and use the latest technology to keep pace with competitors from other universities and now the same government is pushing us back by at least a decade.”

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, during his visit to Kashmir, had hinted at banning pre-paid connections.

The security concerns are rooted in the fact that the security forces were finding it difficult to trace the militants, who were passing on instructions to their cadres through mobile phones and also changing their SIM cards at will. Invariably, police found a number of SIM cards of various companies with the militants killed or captured during gunbattles.

“Pre-paid mobile connections had multiplied our challenges, and we were facing tough times in tracking the terrorguiding hands because they were having the power of mobile phones in their hands, besides guns,” a senior police official said. But he refused to comment on the home ministry’s blanket ban on the prepaid SIM cards.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti has termed the move as “unfortunate” and sought the prime minister’s intervention. “Pre-paid services should be restored,” she said in a statement. The decision has also not gone down well with hundreds of Kashmiris engaged in the business of selling pre-paid cell phone connections.

“We take sufficient documents to establish the identity of the subscriber before issuing the pre-paid SIM card and now since morning I have closed down my shop for fear that frustrated subscribers might manhandle me,” said a cell phone SIM dealer in Srinagar who did not want to be named.

Asked Ramesh Chander, a businessman: “If this is happening to mobile service providers, what sort of a message is being conveyed to industrialists and prospective investors across the country? That Kashmir is a state where terrorism is as high as before the services were launched in the state in 2003?”

Inside Julia’s vanity van:

HOLLYWOOD ACTRESS Julia Roberts’ love for simplicity and appreciation of Indian craft were more than evident inside her personal vanity van as she filmed in Haryana for the movie Eat, Pray, Love last month.

Extensive filming was made at Pataudi, the ancestral home town of one of Bollywood’s most popular stars, Saif Ali Khan, with the crew staying as guests at the Pataudi palace.

The Pretty Woman’s white air-conditioned vanity van, told a story of its own.

With two rooms and a washroom, it had sparkling black flooring and her character Elizabeth Gilbert’s name pasted on the door, as witnessed by IANS correspondents.

Colourful pillows with traditional Gujarati embroidery and mirror work adorned her van, a sneak peek revealed. The white, blue and yellow pillows added an ethnic touch and were placed on a sofa- like couch.

One could also spot a baby chair for her children - four-and-a-half-year-old twins Hazel and Phinnaeus, and two-year-old son Henry - and a TV set for her entertainment inside the first room.

“Julia’s van had a bed inside the second room for her to lie down during breaks,” a source from the production team told IANS.

“But most of the time, she either rested in the room allotted to her inside the (Hari Mandir) Ashram or went back to Pataudi Palace if she had longer breaks to catch up with her children.”

In total, there were nine vanity vans for the “important members” of the cast and crew parked inside the Hari Mandir Ashram premises, said the source. There was also one separate makeup van and two mobile toilets parked for the convenience of the film unit.

A shed was especially made near the vanity vans where two huge ironing boards were placed to take care of the costumes.

The Oscar winner had been staying at Pataudi Palace, 40 km away from the Indira Gandhi International Airport, with her three kids and their nannies since Sep 17.

Pataudi Palace, which belongs to the erstwhile prince of Pataudi and former India cricket captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, was converted into a heritage hotel after being acquired by the Neemrana Group of Hotels, which is reputed for restoring and managing heritage hotels.

The 41-year-old was in India with her Hollywood colleagues Billy Crudup, Javier Bardem and Richard Jenkins under director Ryan Murphy’s direction.

Based on author Elizabeth Gilbert’s memoirs, Eat, Love, Pray features Roberts as Gilbert who travels to Italy, India and Indonesia in search of peace. The India part of the film was shot at the Ashram, the local market here and Mirzapur village, near Delhi.

The unit is currently in Indonesia for the last leg of the movie. The shooting will be wrapped up in November and the film is expected to be released in 2011.