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India and the US recently signalled common intent and purpose, asking Pakistan to take stronger action against terror, advising Iran to desist from its nuclear weapons programme and pledging support to Afghanistan’s peace and prosperity.

Visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna were critical of Pakistan on its handling of terror groups operating from its soil and asked it to take “strong and more concerted” action against these outfits that threaten peace and security of the US, India and the world at large.

The two leaders had their bilateral meeting in New Delhi over a breakfast of idlis and vadas at the Taj Palace Hotel.

They also affirmed that they were on the same page on preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, though Tehran remains a key supplier of oil to meet New Delhi’s energy needs.

On Afghanistan, the two nations committed to assist Kabul in handling its security, development and governance on its own, without interference from outside, even after the International Security Assistance Force moves out of the embattled nation in 2014.

At a joint press conference after their meeting, Clinton said the $10-million bounty on 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed was an unmistakable sign of US “solidarity” with India on bringing the perpetrators of the audacious attack to justice.

Clinton said the US had every reason to believe Saeed was the “principal architect” of the Mumbai terror strikes that claimed 166 people, including six Americans.

“Combating violence and extremism is one we all agree on and we need to do more. And we look to the government of Pakistan to do more. It needs to make sure its territory is not used as launching terrorist attacks anywhere, including inside Pakistan,” Clinton said.

Krishna noted that the recent violent strikes by Taliban on diplomatic missions in and around Kabul had once again highlighted the need for elimination of terrorist sanctuaries in the neighbourhood and “for stronger action from Pakistan” on terrorism, including bringing to justice the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack.

Clinton noted that terrorism was obviously “incredibly important question” on the minds of both the US and India.

“We both know the tragedies and losses that come with terrorism on our soil. So we have increased our cooperation between India and the US. We are going to continue to do everything we can, not only to prevent terrorists from doing evil acts of violence, but also try to convince people not to get recruited into terrorism,” she said.

Asked about the terror groups, like the Haqqani network, operating out of Pakistan, Clinton said the US and the international community was committed “to going after those who pose a direct threat to the US, Afghanistan and to our allies”.

“We are also cooperating closely with India regarding the threats that emanate against them,” she said.

On the sanctions against Iran over its nuclear weapons programme, Clinton said the US and India “share the same goal” of preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. now “exploring a race for citywide office in 2013.”

“India is a strong partner in urging Iran to adhere to its international obligations,” Clinton said.

Krishna, noting that he discussed the importance of a peaceful settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue, said it must be based on the position that Iran has its rights as a member of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

“But it must also abide by its obligations as a non-nuclear weapon state under the NPT,” he said, asserting that “this issue, however, is not a source of discord” between India and the US.

Clinton said the best way to achieve a diplomatic solution that the international community seeks was to keep up the pressure that brought Iran to the negotiating table.

On Afghanistan, the two leaders said their respective strategic partnership agreements will pave the way for “stability and security” in the region.

Clinton said US consultations with India on Afghanistan was “very substantive and useful” and that the international community will remain engaged with Kabul on its future.

The critical issue of forwarding economic ties was discussed too.

Krishna said India was committed to providing a “level playing field” for US companies in nuclear commerce and expressed the hope that the talks between US and Indian companies will soon result in contracts.

Krishna also pointed out the difficulties faced by Indian IT companies in the US.

Clinton returned to the US after her swing through China, Bangladesh and India, where she visited Kolkata and New Delhi.

“My 15 months at the Public Advocate’s office were truly some of the best of my life,” said Saujani, currently the deputy advocate for special initiatives in the watchdog body charged with ensuring that all New Yorkers have a voice in shaping the city’s policies, in an e-mail interview.

“What we were able to accomplish with the Fund for Public Advocacy, from encouraging immigrant entrepreneurship to providing scholarships to undocumented students was powerful,” she said.

“I’m committed to being a leader in charting the future of New York City, and I want to keep creating opportunities for the people who live here.”

Explaining what made her run for the US Congress in the first place, Saujani said: “Things were not getting done in Washington, and I was frustrated by the lack of leadership and the lack of political courage we were seeing in Congress.”

“I was noticing people around me become jaded and I wanted to do something to change it,” she said.

“New ideas are so important for driving innovation in this country, and I wanted a chance to get my ideas out there, and talk to voters in New York City about theirs.”

But “the experiences I had talking with voters every day showed me what a difference could be made by showing up, by being at the senior centre or the street fair and meeting the people that are working to make a difference in our communities,” Saujani said.

“I’ve always been an organizer, and as the daughter of immigrants I have always been especially passionate about engaging people in the political process, who have been excluded from it or who felt no one was listening to them.”

New Delhi recently.

“We have a well-established material and training assistance programme with Indian Ocean region countries for their capacitybuilding and enhancement,” he noted.

Indian Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma and other top naval commanders were present at the conference.

Describing the emerging security matrix in the Indian Ocean region as “really complex”, with “some political developments” and “worrisome factors”, Antony also asked the navy top brass to maintain high levels of preparedness at all times.

“Today, the security situation in our immediate neighbourhood has become really complex. Considering the challenges in the Indian Ocean region, it is essential to maintain high levels of operational preparedness at all times,” he said.

“On the one hand, there are some political developments, and on the other hand, a number of other factors are a cause for worry and need to be factored into our preparations, both in the short-term and long-term,” he added.

Stressing the importance of security of maritime activity through the sea-lanes in the Indian Ocean for economic prosperity of India and that of the world, the defence minister said free movement of trade and energy supplies and various economic activities such as fishing and extraction of mineral resources is equally crucial for economic security.

On the navy’s modernization programme, Antony said the induction of the nuclear powered submarine, INS Chakra, in April had ushered in a new era of submarine operations for India.

Clinton lauds

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lauded the “incredible contribution” of Indian Americans in her country and said the people to people relationship was at the heart of the ties between the two countries.

Clinton, who flew to Kolkata from Dhaka on her visit to India recently said in 2011, 35 percent of all L1 work visas in the US had been issued to Indians. Addressing a gathering at the La Martiniere school in Kolkata, she said more than 100,000 Indian students were studying in the US.

“So many links between us, we want to promote even more,” Clinton said.

In her opening remarks, she also recalled Rabindranath Tagore. “I discovered him when I was in college.”

She also recalled his quote: “Age considers, youth ventures”.

Reshma Saujani, the first Indian-American woman to run for the US Congress, now as a change agent wants to create opportunities for immigrants who have made New York City their home.

Although Saujani, a lawyer, politician and entrepreneur, lost her 2010 ambitious run against Democrat Carolyn Mahoney, a nine term member of the US House of Representatives from New York, she is

“The Light of India Awards are a powerful way to celebrate the work Indian Americans are doing and to show their innovations and accomplishments,” Saujani said noting that they “are in every form of government from policy leaders to activists to change agents.”

Author Jhumpa Lahiri, television personality Padma Lakshmi and CNN contributor and surgeon Sanjay Gupta are among the nominees for the second annual Light of India awards, recognising excellence and exemplary achievements of Indians abroad.

The winners of the awards, instituted by Remit2India, a Times Group service, in the fields of business, education, science & technology, arts & entertainment and literature & journalism, will be announced on June 1 at a gala event in New York.

India positioned itself as a natural leader of the Indian Ocean region in view of its strategic location and operational capability, even as its navy was asked to be prepared to meet eventualities in view of the complex emerging security matrix in the region.

“India’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean and the professional capability of our navy bestows upon us a natural ability to play a leading role in ensuring peace and stability in the Indian Ocean region,” Defence Minister A.K. Antony told the conference of Indian Navy commanders in

“It has placed us in a select group of navies that operate such a platform. We must ensure that INS Chakra is utilised effectively to harness its real potential and also evolve operational concepts for future platforms,” he said.

Antony said the navy is on course to acquire potent platforms to add to its blue water capability.

“The induction of INS Vikramaditya in the near future, the potent MiG-29K combat planes as well as P8-I long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft would strengthen the navy further. Recently, the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) for the navy made its successful maiden flight,” he said.

Commending the navy’s commitment to indigenisation, Antony said, “This is amply borne by the fact that 44 out of 48 ships and submarines, presently on order, are being constructed in India.”

The presence of the highly endangered, elusive western tragopan can now be felt more clearly in the Great Himalayan National Park in Himachal Pradesh, with its numbers multiplying.

Park authorities say the population of this brilliantly coloured pheasant species in the park has gone up and so has its sighting.

“The density of the western tragopan in the park was 6.5 birds per sq km (in this year’s census). Last year, it was six birds per sq km, while it was just five birds in 2010,” said Park Director Ajay Srivastav recently in Kullu.

For population estimation, the western tragopan, like other pheasant species, needs specialised techniques. One of the standard census techniques is recording their call counts at a specified time and location.

Srivastav said that estimation was done at 18 locations. “This exercise is now part of regular monitoring protocol being followed in the park to ascertain the status of population dynamics of the western tragopan.”

As per the estimation figures of the last two-three years, it is clear that the population of the western tragopan is on the rise.

Srivastav attributed the increase to management strategies in terms of protection through regular patrolling of the area.

The western tragopan belongs to the family Phasianidae, which also includes peafowl and red jungle fowl. It’s the least studied bird in the world.

Being a shy bird, it is rarely sighted and is found at an altitude of 2,000 to 3,600 metres in the temperate forests of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Jennifer R.B. Miller, who studied the park in April-May 2008 during the US Fulbright Student Research Scholarship, says the populations of three pheasant specieswestern tragopan, koklas and Himalayan monal - in the Great Himalayan National Park have grown since surveyed in the late 1990s.

“Surveys conducted in the late 1990s indicated that pheasant populations in the park were declining. In 1999, the government legally notified the park and the authorities began enforcing the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act. Relative abundances of all three pheasant species were significantly higher (in 2008) than in previous surveys,” says Miller in her paper titled “Himalayan pheasants in the Great Himalayan National Park” published in the Indian Birds journal in 2010.

With magnificent glaciers, lofty mountains and gurgling streams, the Great Himalayan National Park, spread over 754 sq km in Kullu district, is one of the richest biodiversity sites in the western Himalayas.

The park is home to 203 bird species and 31 mammal species, three reptiles, nine amphibians and 127 insect species, besides 425 species of plants.

The famous mammals in the park are the leopard, the Himalayan black bear, the brown bear, the rhesus macaque and various herbivores like the goral, a small antelope, and the Himalayan tahr, a wild goat that lives on the steepest cliffs.

One of the most elusive species in the park is the snow leopard. It can be spotted in the highest portions, adjoining the Pin Valley National Park.

The best time to visit the park is AprilMay and September-November.

Rabindrasangeet was played at traffic intersections, in schools and colleges, events were held across the state and television channels competed with one another to air his songs, poems and dances as West Bengal marked the end of the yearlong 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore with great cultural fervour on May 7.

From north Kolkata’s Jorasanko, where the poet-philosopher was born, to the districts and small towns, people thronged in hundreds to pay their homage to the literary genius, whose appeal has remained largely undiminished even 71 years after his death.

People from all walks of life queued up at Jorasanko Thakurbari in north Kolkata - Tagore’s sprawling ancestral home - since dawn to see the room where he was born and watch a cultural programme, where well-known singers, elocutionists and dancers participated.

The main official function organised by the state government began in the afternoon on a makeshift stage on Cathedral Road, where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was present.

Cultural programmes, film festivals, and book fairs were arranged to kick off a fortnight long celebration. With Tagore songs, as on other days, played at traffic signals, people savoured a holiday declared by the state government.

From the morning, there was a frenzy of activities across the state, with Tagore’s compositions rendered in many localities and schools and colleges.

Born on Vaisakha 25 according to the Bengali calendar (May 7, 1861 according to English calendar), Tagore in 1913 became the first Asian Nobel laureate and the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize for literature.

He also holds the distinction of having authored the national anthems of two sovereign nations - India and Bangladesh.

The political “parivartan” in West Bengal left its imprint on Rabindranath Tagore’s 151st birthday celebration, with the Mamata Banerjee government changing the traditional venue and timing of the official function.

For decades, the state governmentorganised official function had been held at the crack of dawn on the bard’s birthday under an open space in the Rabindra Sadan premises.

All leading artists and elocutionists used to participate in the programme to play homage to the Nobel laureate poet. However, following instructions from Mamata Banerjee, the programme this time was deferred to the afternoon, with the venue shifted to Cathedral Road near Rabindra Sadan.

This took many singers by surprise, though they were unwilling to come out in the open with their criticism.

“It was a tradition to pay homage to Tagore early in the morning. I don’t know what prompted the new government to change the place and time,” said a Rabindra Sangeet exponent, on condition of anonymity.

The government has, however, claimed the decision was taken for the convenience of the Tagore-loving public, who would have had to wake up in the wee hours.

But leader of opposition and Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member Surjya Kanta Mishra was at his sarcastic best.

In an obvious reference to Banerjee, known as a late riser, he said: “There are some people who are not early risers. But there are auspicious days when one should try to wake up early.” IANS

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton catches up with Congress president Sonia Gandhi prior to their meeting in New Delhi, India, 7 May 2012. Clinton was in India for a three-day tour during which she discussed foreign direct investment in retail, the India-US civilian nuclear deal and Iran. Contact