India, Pakistan accept to resolve Sir Creek dispute

India and Pakistan have agreed to resolve the Sir Creek dispute , keeping in view the interests of both countries. The first round of talks on Sir Creek concluded at the Defence Ministry in Rawalpindi, The News reports.

The Surveyor General of India, S Subba Rao, led the eight-member Indian delegation, while Additional Defence Secretary Rear Admiral Shah Sohail Masood headed the Pakistani delegation.

Both sides exchanged maps and survey reports with reference to the Sir Creek area during the first round of the talks. During the final round of talks on Saturday (today), the focus will be on developing a consensus on concluding a joint survey of Sir Creek, as was decided during the Musharraf regime. A joint declaration is likely to be announced at the conclusion of talks.

Duncan Fletcher

In keeping with the no-frills coach they desire, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) today announced Duncan Fletcher as the man who would take over from Gary Kirsten, without much ado. The former Zimbabwe captain and ex-England coach was given a contract for two years.

Fletcher’s name was approved at the BCCI Working Committee meeting here. Only current president Shashank Manohar and president-elect and secretary N Srinivasan seemed to have known about the choice.

Sources say while the BCCI was keen on hiring current England coach Andy Flower, he was reluctant. Another contender, former New Zealand captain and current Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming, couldn’t make the grade as he lacked enough international experience.

Fletcher comes with great credentials to fill Kirsten’s big boots, having shepherded England to their Ashes win against Australia in 2005, the first time England won the tournament since 1986-87.

Bipasha Basu to land Taj with Josh Hartnett

If there was any more proof required for ardent fans of Bollywood’s hot jodi John Abraham-Bipasha Basu to believe that it’s ‘over’ between the two, then this might just be it.

Apparently the Bong beauty has been planning to whisk away her Singularity co-star Hollywood heartthrob Josh Hartnett —with whom she is currently shooting in Occhra in Madhya Pradesh for the Roland Joffe flick — on a romantic rendezvous to the Taj Mahal in Agra soon after they wrap up the shoot on the 23rd of this month.

According to insiders, what’s adding to the hot temperature there is the sizzling chemistry that the actress shares with her firang friend. An insider reveals, “The two get along like a house on fire and spend hours talking even after the shoot.” When asked about the planned trip, Bipasha confirms it too. “Yes, Josh was very keen to visit the Taj Mahal and I haven’t been there myself since I was three, so we’re planning to take a trip there if time permits.” Both Bips and Josh are incidentally on very tight schedules.

Soon after the film wraps up, Basu will be heading to Russia for her next schedule of Players, while Hartnett will be heading to London to finish another schedule of Singularity. “Yes, it’s going to be rather hectic, but we’re trying our best,” she adds. As for the romantic inkling between the two, Basu laughs it off. “Oh come one. I would have visited Agra with any of my friends. What’s the big deal? As for Josh, yes, he’s a great co-star and we do share a comfortable rapport,” she smiles.

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Gilani acknowledges to play ball with PM

 

The stalemate in India-Pakistan ties after the public falling out during foreign minister S M Krishna's visit to Islamabad in mid-July last year is likely to end with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani accepting his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh's invitation. Gilani will see the high-profile clash between India and Pakistan at the World Cup semifinal in Mohali on Wednesday along with Singh with the occasion expected to push the stalled New Delhi-Islamabad dialogue. The "off field" optics could see some gains in official exchanges that have become largely formal acts.

Official sources said the Pakistani PM was not likely to visit New Delhi and would, in all probability, return after seeing the match with Singh. A formal meeting beyond a welcome -- and informal exchanges -- is as yet not scheduled. The cricket is seen to provide the stage to ease "limiting positions" on both sides. It would serve to break the ice. The view that Singh's move is essentially an "environment enabler" seems to be shared across the border. "The biggest achievement of Manmohan Singh`s gesture is that it has broken the stalemate. At the most, PM Gilani`s visit to India and meeting with his counterpart will help improve the environment for facilitation of talks in future," leading Pakistani analyst Amir Mateen said.

Pakistani officials did not speak of any formal talks. Indian sources made it clear they will not take their eye off major hurdles like lack of progress in bringing the 26/11 guilty to book, a point likely to be emphasized at the home secretaries' meeting due in New Delhi on Monday and Tuesday. However, the latest Indian initiative may smoothen the atmospherics. Singh's move is consistent with his view that there is no alternative to engaging Pakistan despite hiccups in ties. He has been careful of the domestic fallout after the much criticized Sharm-el Sheikh initiative where he agreed to an inclusion of a reference to an implied Indian role in Baluchistan, but remains wedded to moving on with Pakistan.

The Indian PM is not likely to lose sight of terrorism as a core area. Even though there is a tendency for ties to suddenly go into a tailspin as it happened in Islamabad last year despite a "positive" meeting between Gilani and Singh at Thimphu in April 2010, the PM is looking to get things started by reengaging the top leadership of the civilian government in Pakistan. In Islamabad, President Asif Zardari's spokesperson said, "We have welcomed the invitation of the Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and it has now been decided that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will visit India to watch the World Cup cricket semifinal match in Mohali on March 30." He did not say whether the leaders would hold talks on any of the issues that strained relations between the two countries.

The decision that Gilani will watch the India-Pakistan match was taken late on Saturday when the PM met Zardari. It was made public when Pakistan`s home secretary Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, leading a three-member delegation, reached India. Talking to media on the Wagah border, Chaudhry said the hugely popular game of cricket would help promote harmony between the two countries. "Cricket is vastly popular in both our countries, and anything that has a commonality and is so equally graded on both sides should definitely lead towards further commonality and harmony," he told reporters. The two countries` top officials are due to hold talks on counter-terrorism and a number of other troublesome issues.

The Indian high commission in Islamabad also lauded Gilani`s visit, saying his presence will have a positive impact on India-Pak talks. Sharat Sabharwal, the Indian high commissioner, said Indian embassy was working hard to deal with visa applications. He said that there was no problem in issuing visas but tickets for the match remained an issue. The visa office was still receiving a large number of applications, he added.

Release of latest tiger census in India

 

On Monday, India will know how many tigers it really has when the latest tiger census is released. The new estimates are expected to be better than the 1,411 reported in 2008, say experts. The census will be released at the March 28-30 international tiger conference at Vigyan Bhawan here. Some 200 delegates, including officials from 13 tiger range countries and experts from international organisations, will participate.

The meet will be hosted by Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh. The conference is a follow up to the St. Petersburg meet held last year in Russia, and will discuss challenges, plans and priorities for implementing the Global Tiger Recovery Programme (GTRP), which aims to double the wild tiger population by 2022. It is being organised in collaboration with the Global Tiger Forum (GTF), an inter-governmental body that also has membership of national and international NGOs and the World Bank's Global Tiger Initiative (GTI).

Besides the census report, a film on India's 30 years since the launch of Project Tiger will be released at the conference. The National Tiger Action Plan of 13 tiger range countries and a book by celebrated tiger conservationists Ullas Karanth, 'Science of Tiger', will also be launched. The chief ministers of at least five tiger range states and field directors of all tiger reserves are expected to attend the meet.

'The good news is that we can save the tiger,' said Azzedine Downes, executive vice president of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) that was designated an official NGO partner to facilitate the implementation of the tiger recovery programme. 'To do so, the world community must find new ways of working together and the political will to translate talk into action. The global action plan's goal to double the wild tiger population by 2022 is a positive step in that direction,' Downes said in a statement.

According to the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), poaching, illegal trade of body parts of tigers and habitat degradation have sharply reduced the number of world's tigers, which is now about 3,000, a 97 percent drop since the 1900s. The man-animal conflict has emerged as one of the key challenges to tiger conservation, particularly in India, home to half the world's tiger population, the organisation said.

US denied to help India on IC 814

 

More WikiLeaks revelations have emerged from the over five thousand US diplomatic cables on India that have been accessed by the Hindu newspaper.

The Hindu reported that the FBI did not respond to India's requests for assistance in the IC 814 hijacking investigation as it did not want to cooperate in what it internally dubbed as a "fishing expeditions".

India had sought access to Taliban records which were in the US' possession. US cables dated 2005 also reveal how Washington prior to 26/11 was wary of sharing information with India, especially when it concerned Pakistan.

Another explosive cable which will vindicate New Delhi but leave Islamabad red-faced.

Former Pakistan Minister Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif allegedly told two US senators that he had no doubt that the men who attacked Mumbai in November 2008 were Pakistani. These details were sent by a US Consulate officer in a cable dated December 2009.

The cable describes how Sharif told a visiting delegation of US senators including John McCain that he had listened to the phone call made by one of the attackers to an Indian TV channel, and had heard a Pakistani accent.