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India, China vow to resolve border row, boost ties

India and China scripted a new chapter in their ties on May 20 as Premier Li Keqiang and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh candidly discussed their recent border row and decided to take steps for an early resolution of a dispute that triggered a war in 1962.

Li, making New Delhi his first halt in his foreign trip after assuming office in March, and Manmohan Singh also agreed that the world’s two most populous nations and biggest economies have a lot in common despite some known differences.

India’s ambassador to China S. Jaishankar, meanwhile, admitted that the Sino-Indian boundary dispute was complicated and needed a detailed examination. “The issue was discussed at length,” he said, but did not give details.

Both sides inked eight agreements, including on conducting the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra with China to provide better facilities for pilgrims, and four agreements to boost Indian shipments of buffalo meat, fisheries and pharmaceuticals to China, and help reduce the trade deficit.

A joint statement issued after their meeting stressed on maintaining peace and tranquillity along the border and on boosting trade ties.

Li arrived in New Delhi on the eve of May 19 and held two rounds of talks with Manmohan Singh - the first was over a private dinner on the same day, and then formally on May 20. It was Manmohan Singh’s first meeting with the Chinese premier. He had held talks with President Xi Jinping at the BRICS summit in Durban, South Africa, in March.

Chinese troops intruded 19 km across the Line of Actual Control - de-facto Indian border - April 15 and pitched tents, raising tensions between the two countries. The row ended May 5 after many rounds of negotiations, with both sides reverting to their previous military positions.

As expected, the episode came up at the Li-Manmohan Singh talks.

Manmohan Singh told the media along with Li that they held “wide ranging and candid discussions” on all matters of mutual concern and realised that there was “a great deal of meeting of minds”.

Li echoed him, saying India and China were “strategic partners and good friends” that could speak to each other with candour, while stressing on discussions on the border issue and river waters.

Manmohan Singh said the two countries’ special representatives would meet soon to discuss the border dispute.

“We agreed that our special representatives will meet soon to continue discussions, seeking early agreement on a framework for a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable boundary settlement”.

Manmohan Singh said both leaders “Took stock of lessons learnt from the recent incident in the western sector” of the Sino-Indian border, and that the “existing (border) mechanisms proved their worth”.

India and China fought a border war in 1962. But over the past quarter century, both countries have steadily built up their relations despite the unsettled frontier dispute.

Li said China and India had worked to “Maintain tranquillity and peace in the border areas” and added that “We need to improve border mechanisms... make them more efficient” as well as “resolve our differences”.

Manmohan Singh also raised India’s trade deficit with China and Indian concerns over Beijing’s decision to build dams over the Brahmaputra river in Tibet that flows into Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.

India asked China to provide greater market access to help lower the widening trade deficit. At the same time, India invited increased Chinese involvement in Indian infrastructure and manufacturing sectors.

India-China trade touched $66 billion in 2012, from $3 billion in 2000. But the balance of trade favours China. In 2012, the trade deficit widened to $29 billion.

On river waters, Li said China had in recent years shared “hydrological information” with India.

“We have had multiple, friendly, in depth and candid discussions. The most important outcome of these discussions is that the leaders of the two countries have reached strategic consensus and deepened strategic trust,” said Li.

“Since we are strategic partners and we are good friends that can speak to each other with candour, so we do not deny that there are some problems between the two sides,” the visiting premier said.

The two leaders discussed ways to link India’s northeast with Bangladesh, Myanmar, China and countries in Southeast Asia.

Manmohan Singh said he hoped to visit China at the earliest.

Li, who is heading a large delegation, now goes to Mumbai, India’s financial and entertainment capital, from where he will fly to Pakistan, Switzerland and Germany.

Nayar, Ram named for lifetime achievement award

Two veteran journalists - Kuldip Nayar and N. Ram - have been selected for this year’s ‘RedInk Lifetime Achievement Award’ instituted by the Mumbai Press Club, an official said in Mumbai recently.

Maharashtra Governor K. Sankaranarayanan will bestow the awards on them and 20 other journalists who have won it in different categories, at a special function on May 25.

They were selected by the club based on a survey of leading and senior journalists from all over India.

Nayar is a renowned columnist and peace activist, a former Rajya Sabha member and a former Indian High Commissioner to Britain.

Ram, who headed The Hindu Group for over two decades, has been accorded Padma Bhushan by the Indian government and Sri Lanka Ratna by the Sri Lankan government.

“It is a privilege to honour such distinguished journalists at the RedInk 2013 Awards. Their contribution to the media and professional achievements speak volumes and serve as a motivation to us all,” said Mumbai Press Club president Gurbir Singh.

This year, the RedInk Awards received over 900 entries from all over India in categories like business, politics, crime, sports, media and entertainment, health and environment, TV story, science and innovation and photo-journalism.

India, UK sign agreement on healthcare

India and Britain have signed an agreement for cooperation in the health sector with specific focus on strengthening primary health care and technological development, an official said in New Delhi recently.

A memorandum of understanding was signed between union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad and Britain’s secretary for health Jeremy Richard Hunt recently at Geneva, the official said.

Describing the agreement as a historic event and a great milestone, Azad noted with optimism that this agreement is going to usher in a new era of cooperation in the health sector between the two countries. Azad said that the agreement between India and Britain will promote wide-ranging cooperation in the health sector between the two countries and spur the exchange of information and expertise for the common good of people.

Some of the focal points of the agreement were promoting exchange on health-care policy in India and the Britain, human resources for health, regulatory issues, health technology development, primary health-care and strengthening of public infrastructure and capacity, the official said.

India has been a recipient of Britain’s bilateral assistance in the form of grants since 1975.

The priority for the partnership has been improvement of maternal and child health and reducing the burden of communicable diseases.

The health minister noted that the signing of this agreement demonstrates the commitment of both the countries to work closely with each other to further cement their strong relations.

Indian girl invents device that can charge phone in 20 seconds

An 18-year-old Indian-origin girl in the US has developed a potentially revolutionary device that can charge a mobile phone in just 20 seconds, a media report from Washington said.

The charging device has been dubbed a supercapacitor by Esha Khare of Saratoga, California, the Daily Mail reported.

Khare won $50,000 for her invention at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, held in Phoenix.

Khare has only used her supercapacitor to power a light-emitting diode (LED), but says that one day her invention will power cell phones, cars and any gadget that requires a rechargeable battery.

Asked what inspired her to work on the technology, Khare said: “My cell phone battery always dies”.

“It has a lot of different applications and advantages over batteries in that sense,” she was quoted as saying.

The supercapacitor is flexible and tiny, and is able to handle 10,000 recharge cycles, more than normal batteries by a factor of 10.

Khare is a student of nanochemistry, and is now heading to Harvard.

Google has been in contact with Khare to explore how she plans to change the makeup of cell phone battery life, the report said.

Sreesanth threw tantrums when police came to arrest him

Fast bowler S. Sreesanth began shouting and claimed he had close connections with the Kerala and Maharashtra chief ministers after he was accosted by police for alleged spot fixing.

Sources claimed that Sreesanth was with a woman companion in an SUV outside a five-star hotel on Carter Road, Mumbai, when a team of Delhi Police intercepted them.

“When a police officer showed him his identity card, initially he kept silent. But suddenly he started shouting and said that he knew the chief ministers of Maharashtra ad Kerala. How can they arrest him, he demanded,” a source said.

He also handed over his mobile phone to the police officers asking them to call the chief ministers.

Police sources said Sreesanth was drunk at the time of his arrest and he mistakenly thought he was being detained for drunkenness.

Sreesanth, 30, is in the custody of Delhi Police Special cell in connection with the spot fixing scandal busted with his arrest on May 16. His two Rajasthan Royals teammates Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila and 12 bookies have also been arrested.

Cheetah back in India? Yes, if the government has its way

Armed with “scientific evidence” that the African cheetah is “not an alien species” and can survive in India, the government is planning to petition the Supreme Court to allow the import of the animal that became extinct 60 years ago.

The environment ministry’s proposal comes after the apex court last month quashed the Rs.300 crore project to import and re-introduce the Namibian cheetah in India. The court had termed the environment ministery’s decision as “arbitrary and illegal” and a clear violation of the Wildlife Protection Act.

The first batch of cheetahs from Namibia was to reach India by mid-2012 and was to be reintroduced in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno Palpur wildlife sanctuary. But the idea was dropped after the apex court’s slammed the ministry for poor planning.

Eager to import the cheetah, the ministry has now decided to present “scientific evidence” to support its project to import the lithe and one of the fastest animal.

“We have decided to approach the Supreme Court based on scientific evidence that the African cheetah is not alien to India and can survive here,” a senior ministry official revealed, on condition of anonymity.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), which is handling the programme, has called a meeting of the Project Cheetah task force soon.

“The task force will discuss it and give clearance,” the official said. The task force will convey its decision to Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan. She will then give a go-ahead for the proposal to be convyed to the Supreme Court,” the official said.

As the Supreme Court had rejected Kuno Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary for re-introducing the cheetah on various grounds, including the fact that the Asiatic lion from Gir is also being re-located there, the ministry has now proposed two new sites as the habitat for the cheetah.

“We are proposing Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuaries (in Madhya Pradesh) and Shahgarh Landscape (in Jaisalmer in Rajasthan) after our first choice was rejected,” the official said.

The sites were selected in 2009 based on a detailed study by the wildlife experts.

The official defended the earlier proposal of re-locating the cheetah, saying the apex court was “not properly appraised” about the scientific evidence that backed the project.

“The cheetah which existed in India is only genetically different from [the] African Cheetah and not an alien species. It can survive in the sites that our wildlife experts have selected,” the official said.

Today, the cheetah is found only in the arid regions of eastern Iran in Asia and in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.

The project was the brainchild of former environment minister Jairam Ramesh, who had with great fanfare announced Project Cheetah in 2009. Soon after, a study was conducted by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) on where the cheetah could be housed.

The return of the cheetah would make India the only country in the world to host six of the world’s eight large cats, including lions, tigers, jaguars, panthers and leopards.

India was once home to many cheetahs, but the last of them was killed in 1947. It was declared extinct in 1952. It is the only large animal to have been declared extinct in India in recorded history.

The cheetah, the smallest of the big cats, can run faster than any other animal on land, at more than 100 km per hour.

Advanced breast cancer detecting machine comes to India

An advanced digital breast cancer detecting machine with the capability to see the lesions in breasts with much more clarity than ever before was unveiled in New Delhi recently.

The mammography machine ‘Amulet’ by Fuji films is claimed to be India’s first low dose resolution system.

Speaking at the launch, Bharatiya Janata

Party leader Sushma Swaraj said: “Every woman should be aware about ever growing breast cancer and need to get done mammography to detect the cancer and fight against it”.

This machine would prove to be helpful in the fight against the disease as it uses artificial intelligence algorithms to assist the radiologist in detecting abnormalities that would not normally be seen by the naked eyes.

“With the help of 50 micron resolution system, we have the capability to see the lesions in breasts with much more clarity than ever before,” said Harsh Mahajan of Mahajan Imaging.

“The Computer Aided Diagnostics (CAD) system installed with the machine helps the radiologist in detecting abnormalities that would not normally be seen by the naked eyes,” he said.

There is not much difference in the cost of mammography using Amulet and it will continue to cost around Rs.3,000 per person.

In India, around 20-30 women per 100,000 population develop breast cancer at some point in their lives.

Rashtrapati Bhavan tours to cost Rs.25

Daily public tours of Rashtrapati Bhavan, which began for the first time from Jan 1 this year at the initiative of President Pranab Mukherjee and have become very popular with tourists, will now cost Rs.25 per person.

A Rashtrapati Bhavan press release said nominal registration charges of Rs.25 will be levied upon visitors to Rashtrapati Bhavan and Mughal Gardens from Aug 1, 2013.

These charges are meant to enable Rashtrapati Bhavan maintain and improve services to public, the release said. The above registration charges will not apply during the opening of the Mughal Gardens to the public in February/March every year.

The registration charges will apply to people who book themselves for tours of Rashtrapati Bhavan and Mughal Gardens through the online booking system on the website www.presidentofindia.nic.in. It will also apply to walk-in visitors on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays when the Rashtrapati Bhavan is open to public. An online payment system will also be available for the above.

Visitors in groups of 30 and more will have discounted rates. Children below 12 will be exempted from registration charges.

Since the online booking system commenced from Jan 1, 2013, over 34,300 visitors have availed of the tours of Rashtrapati Bhavan and Mughal Gardens. On an average, around 650 people visit Rashtrapati Bhavan each day.

J&K

recorded 36% decline in violence in 2012: Abdullah

There was a 36% decline in militancy-related violence in Jammu and Kashmir during 2012 as compared to 2011 and 54 security forces’ bunkers were removed from public places here in 2012, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said recently.

Abdullah was speaking at a meeting of various departments under his charge in Srinagar.

“Under the amnesty scheme devised for youth involved in stone-pelting, orders to withdraw 196 cases involving 1,432 persons have been issued by the government. Eightysix% of 184,330 cases received during last three years for passports have been cleared till March 14. The Draft Jammu and Kashmir Police Bill 2013 was uploaded on the website of the department in January for inviting suggestions from the public,” the official brief said.

The consultative committee was told that the government has plans for harnessing an 9,000 MW of electricity during the 12th and 13th Five Year Plans. By 2016, another 450 MW will be put into the system through Stage II of the Baglihar power generation project. Thirteen projects of 712 MW have been awarded and approved for allotment in 2012-13.

“The state government provides subsidy to people on electricity in Jammu and Kashmir, which is the cheapest in the country after Sikkim,” Abdullah added. IANS

BY PETRA O’NEILL

In the early 19th century, American whaling ships would anchor at Mosman Bay following their expeditions to southern waters. When visitors went onboard, they were given chowder, a dish favoured along the US Atlantic coast, made from boiling oysters, fish, salt pork and vegetables. The bay soon became known as Chowder Bay. A great way to explore the area is to walk here from the Taronga Zoo ferry wharf and then continue onto Balmoral Beach. Just don’t plan on lingering. As I laid out my picnic lunch, I drew the attention of curious onlookers as I was set upon by five kookaburras, eager to try my sandwich.

One of Sydney’s newest parks, Headland Park straddles the ridgeline along Middle Head Peninsula, once home to Borogegal aboriginals who had lived there for thousands of years, fishing in the bays and inlets. Fortifications with cannons and barracks were built along the escarpment in 1801 shortly before the Napoleonic Wars of 1803-15, to protect the colony from possible French attack. For two more centuries, the Defence Department occupied land at Middle Head, Georges Heights and Chowder Bay. In 1916, Australia’s third-largest military hospital was established at Georges Heights to care for wounded soldiers returning from the western front of Europe and in 1940, Middle Head became the home of HMAS Penguin, a naval base. During World War II a submarine net was placed across the harbour, with guns installed at Georges Head. Japanese midget submarines made it past these