Al-qaeda chief killed in Yemen

The militant leader of an al-qaeda cell in yemen was killed in a gun battle with the yemenese security forces last night.  
Abdullah-al-Mehdaar was killed in a raid on a house in the remote province of shabwa. There are reports that the security forces arrested for other suspects in the raid. According to the security officers, Yemeni forces had surrounded the house, in a mountainous region, and exchanged fire with some 20 militants inside. The remaining militants escaped. According to a provincial governer, the dead militant had been one of the top al-Qaeda leaders in Yemen.

Yemen has stepped up its operations against al-Qaida with increased help from the US. Both the countries fear that al-Qaeda will capitalise on Yemen's instability to spread its operations around the surrounding area.

The spotlight was turned on Yemen after the Yemen-based group Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula accepted that failed bomb attack on a US-bound airliner on 25 December was carried out by them.
Earlier this week, President Barack Obama said he had "no intention" of sending US troops to Yemen or Somalia to combat militant groups in those countries.
Analysts say al-Qaeda militants have been moving to Yemen after coming under pressure in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and following a crackdown in Saudi Arabia.
Last week, Yemeni officials said another local al-Qaeda leader and two other militants had been arrested after being injured in a raid in the province.

Anglo-Indian Nuclear Deal: Yes Or No?

India and britain are all set to sign a nuclear deal. This agreement will enable India to receive british products and skills and the two countries will be able to share nuclear technology.

A civil nuclear agreement between India and Britain seems to be on the threshold. British secretary of state for business, Lord Peter Mandelson indicated that they are all set to sign the deal. The agreement will be signed during the visit of the Indian commerce minister Anand Sharma to Britain next month.

Lord  Mandelson was said to be disappointed that such an agreement was not concluded during his visit to Delhi last month. According to a source at the Indian High Commission, India objected to a non-proliferation clause in the draft submitted by the UK.

However, even if the mentioned declaration is signed next month, this cannot become operational until New Delhi changes its policy of restricting nuclear collaboration to public sector entities. Most of the potential British suppliers of technology and nuclear energy are in the private sector.

Lord Mandelson said the agreement would cover a range of inputs and activities involved in the fuel and technology sector.

Walk-on-by

A man was stabbed to death while trying to stop two muggers who had stolen a woman's bag in London this Friday. Metropolitan Police insist that “they don’t want anyone else to do it”. Is the walk-on-by culture, otherwise prevalent in London, the right way?


Sukhwinder Singh, 31, an Indian national was killed in an incident in East London. According to SkyNews.com, “Sukhwinder Singh pursued two men who robbed a 28-year-old woman near Barking station in east London.When he caught up with the pair a fight broke out and the 31-year-old was knifed.” Locals and onlookers felt that Sukhwinder was brave enough to chase the robbers along Victoria Road into Uphall Road, where he was attacked by the two muggers with knife. According to skyNews.com, “He was taken to the Royal London hospital but later died. A post-mortem is due to take place”.

This incident has once again opened the Pandora box of debate on whether people should intervene if they witnessed the crime or just walk-on-by? The Metropolitan Police has an unusual stand, a shift from their earlier statement where they suggested “walk-on-by culture fuels violent crimes”. The Met officer this time conveyed that, “We don’t want anyone else to do this”. The Met police spokesman, Guy Dehn told BBC London that “The Met is now giving a different message” He added that “there is a shift in the message coming from Met Police and that’s very welcome.” Clearly, now the Met Police is feels that they are better off dealing crimes relating to mugging than murder.

Sukhwinder was the lone bread earner for his family in India and was trying to help an Indian student, who he did not know. Although the Met Police message leaves the common men much uninspired from confronting and challenging during a crime, it can lead to less collateral damage, is what the Met police wants to believe.

Until another incident make Londoners and the Met Police think differently, walk-on-by culture is what we follow.

Commonwealth games put delhi under high pressure

The countdown to commonwealth games has started and everyone all over india seem to be waiting for the games to commence. But for delhi, where the games are going to take place seems over burdened.
 Entire delhi looks like a massive construction site. All the roads have been dug, new flyovers, underpasses, tunnels, subways and metro(tube) lines are being constructed. The stadiums all over delhi, where the games are going to take place are going through rigorous renovation. Its a chaos all over delhi. Road blockades and traffic jams are a common and regular scene in this city. The delhi government is trying its best to prepare the city for the games in time but, they still seem to have a long way to go. Ideally, the city should have been having its finishing touches at this point of time. But, a huge amount of construction work is still underway. Hosting the commonwealth games is a matter of honour for any country but, delhi under such high pressure is taking it as an imposition. Several countries will be participating in the games and there will be an influx of a huge number of foreign tourists to witness the events of the games.

What needs to be done?

Apart from making the city beautiful and comfortable for the games, the government also needs to upgrade the security level of the city to give the audience a comfortable stay. The number of hotels in the city is also not enough for the amount of tourists expected during the games. Almost all the hotels have already been booked and the waiting list is long. Systems like the bread and breakfast scheme needs to be started. Though the delhi government seem to be working hard towards it, the transport system also requires fixing. To make transport tourist friendly, the bus, taxi and auto drivers are given training to converse in fluent English. In such a situation the government needs to work harder and faster to reach the goal. Participation and cooperation of the general public are very important for this purpose. Its never too late. What Delhi requires is just gear up and go!!!

Attacks on Indians in Australia

In the past few months, a lot of Indians have been attacked in Australia. The media and the politicians are terming it as racist attacks because people from particularly the Indian race are being attacked.
In recent attacks, Nitin Garg, a 21 year old graduate student was stabbed and killed. A 29 year old man Jaspreet Singh was set on fire by a few locals. He sustained 15 % burns. The investigation in both the cases is on and no one has been convicted yet. The Australian police does not seem to accept these attacks as racist.

Job Crisis
Every year, thousands of young Indians go to Australia for the purpose of studies and once it completes, they start working there. Majority of them also work part time while studying. The Australians see Indians as their job snatchers. They feel that the Indians are eclipsing their job prospects. The international students bring in a big chunk of export income for Australia. The series of attacks on Indian students will result in a severe decline in the tourism industry and arrival of international students in the country. According to the tourism forecasting committee of Australia, this trend will give a severe blow to the country’s economy. These attacks are increasing the tensions between india and Australia.

Indian students in Australia are living in fear. A lot of them are forced to dress up differently and put on makeup to hide their identity. Despite repeated assurances from the Australian government, the attacks don’t seem to stop. In fact, their severity has increased many folds.

Tibet: where the Tibetans belong?

The Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959 forced His Holiness the Dalai Lama and thousands of Tibetans to leave their homeland Tibet and take shelter in India, Nepal and Bhutan as refugees.


Settling down in a completely new region away from their homeland was an emotional and tough task for them. They faced a lot of trouble adjusting with the new lifestyle, language, culture and climate. After leaving Tibet their first priorities were rehabilitation, education for children and preservation of Tibetan culture and identity. During this situation the Indian government played the role of a friendly neighbor and gave the Tibetans all the assistance possible. The first Tibetan settlement in India was established in 1960 and the first school for Tibetan refugees also came into being the same year. Then onwards, the Tibetans started setting up monasteries, nunneries and several institutions to preserve Tibetan language, culture and heritage.

In April 1959, the Tibetan government in exile was established in Dharamsala. It is popularly Known as Central Tibetan Administration (CTA)The Tibetans both Inside and outside recognize the CTA as their sole and legitimate government.

Present condition

There are over 60 Tibetan settlements in south Asia i.e. India Nepal and Bhutan. The life in these settlements is very simple and easy going. Their main occupation is agriculture and they also indulge in small scale businesses like woolen cloth trade during winters.
A total of 130,000 Tibetans are living in exile worldwide out of which more than 90,000 live in India and in the west the largest concentration of Tibetans is located in USA and Canada.
Every year more than 3000 Tibetans migrate to India leaving their homeland. Today, the educated Tibetan youth is fighting with problems like identity crisis and unemployment and is struggling to safeguard their cultural identity.

The 2010 Auto Expo Success

The seven day auto-expo in New Delhi in the first week of January, proved to be a major hit by greeting over 2 million automobile enthusiasts.
Auto Expo is the Complete Automotive Show organized jointly by Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). The first Auto Expo was held in 1986, the second in 1993, and the third in 1996. Since then, Auto Expo has been institutionalized as a biennial show.

Its huge success shows that the automobile industry in india has not been much affected by the global economic slowdown. The show saw more new launches than any other previous edition with international firms taking the lead. A total of 25 new models were unveiled.

The huge success of the expo every second year is an indicator of India’s emergence as a huge global market as well as manufacturing hub.

Small Cars, Hot Wheels

It was yet another small car special. This time it unveiled five new small cars for the Indian roads. Honda unveiled its India-specific small car concept called “New Small” targetting the likes of the Maruti Suzuki Swift and Hyundai i10. The car is powered by a new 1.0-litre petrol engine using a VTEC engine while the 1.2-litre engine from Honda Jazz also comes as a possibility.

India’s third largest auto manufacturer Tata Motors also had a bunch of surprises for the guests. The Tata Indicruz, which is a 7-seater, premium MPV that is based on Tata Motors’ most popular SUV Tata Safari platform is equipped with a latest 2.2-litre diesel engine, navigation system and active safety features like ABS and airbags. Apart from this Tata’s Nano Europa and Nano, the Indigo Manza and Indica Vista, commercial vehicles and displays from partner Fiat also made their way to the Tata stall.

As the 2010 Delhi Auto Expo, India’s 10th Auto Expo, started in the first week of January, Delhi’s Pragati Maidan was crowded with the latest designs and models by some of the world’s leading manufacturers of cars, trucks, motorcycles and auto parts.