Who will win? Obama or Romney? Numerologist says: Romney
Special correspondent

Special to South Asia Mail

An Indian numerologist predicts that if the contest in the US election between Obama and Romney, the latter is likely to win.

MK Damodaran, the numerologist calculates as follows:

The 2012 election is on November 6.

This is the 57th quadrennial election.

57 adds up to 3(5+7=12,1+2=3).

The date of the election is 6.

The numbers 3/6/9 have a prominent role in the coming election.

On November 26,2010 I wrote in my blog(damodarannumerology.blog.co.uk) as follows: Compared to Obama, Romney is a lack-lustre candidate. He lacks the vibrancy of Obama.

Yet, I am amazed by the influence of numbers of Romney ... Read More

India's Vice President promotes watchdog journalism
Addressing the audience after conferring the Fifth Ramnath Goenka Awards for Excellence in Journalism at the Taj Palace Hotel in the capital, Ansari said watchdog journalism �should be the rule and not the exception that it has become�.

He said the media being the fourth estate �should shape perceptions and also the national agenda�. Experience, he said, shows that the best guarantee for safeguarding public interest is to have strong and independent-minded editors � an endangered species today.

�The slow erosion of the institution of the editor in Indian media organisations is a reality. When media space and media products are treated ... Read More

Growth will be below 7.5 percent, says Pranab
New Delhi: India's economic growth will fall below 7.5 percent in the current financial year and it would be a "major challenge" to meet the fiscal deficit target of 4.6 percent of the Gross Domestic Prpduct (GDP), Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Wednesday.

"Performance during the first half on the fiscal front poses some risks in both receipts as well as expenditure estimates. Therefore, adhering to the fiscal deficit target of 4.6 percent of GDP in 2011-12 will be a major challenge," Mukherjee said.

The finance minister said there were major concerns on the central government's financial health in the current ... Read More

Defence Minister meets PM over Army Chief's age row
It was not clear as to what exactly transpired at the meeting, sources said.

The meeting came a day after Gen Singh filed a writ petition in the apex court challenging the defence ministry's rejection of his contention that his date of birth should be May 10,1951 and not May 10,1950 as fixed.

As per the government's decision, Gen Singh will retire on May 31 this year.

Defence secretary Shashikant Sharma, who was in Malaysia on a visit, was also called back in view of the development related to Army Chief's action.
... Read More

India, China seal new border mechanism to enhance trust
New Delhi: Seeking to step up bilateral ties amid hiccups, India and China Tuesday decided to set up a new mechanism to maintain peace on their border, and resolved to enhance mutual trust as they ended the 15th round of boundary negotiations.

Called a "working mechanism for consultation and coordination on India-China border affairs," it was finalised after two days of talks between India's National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon and China's State Councillor Dai Bingguo, who are special representatives on the boundary question.

The agreement was signed by India's ambassador to China S. Jaishankar and China's Assistant Foreign Minister Liu ... Read More

Priyanka tells Cong workers to steer clear of groupism
PTI

On a tour of Congress strongholds Amethi and Rae Bareli ahead of U.P. Assembly polls, Priyanka Gandhi on Monday told party workers to bury internal differences for the party�s success while making it clear that groupism will not be tolerated.

To keep a watch on groupism, flying squad teams would be constituted at the village level which would be known by a secret code, Ms. Priyanka, who began her three-day tour of Amethi and Rae Bareli, told the workers of Tiloi Assembly segment, according to party sources.

The Congress sources said she told the workers to forget internal differences ... Read More

'India needs to modernise strategic culture'
New Delhi: India needs to develop its unique vocabulary and doctrines, drawing from its long tradition of strategic culture, if it is to deal with the issues of the 21st century, National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon has said.

He also warned that as India's capabilities grow, it will also need the Western world more.

'If India has to deal with the issues of the 21st century world, it is essential that we not just elaborate our own culture and tradition of strategic thought, but also develop our vocabulary, doctrines and our own ways of looking at the world,' Menon said ... Read More

'India is 6th most innovative country'
Tags: Annual Global Innovation Barometer | Most Innovative Countries | India Most Innovative | Business News

New Delhi: India has been ranked the sixth most "innovative" country in the world in multinational conglomerate GE's Annual Global Innovation Barometer, driven by financial support from public authorities and long-term support from investors.

The report, based on a survey of 2,800 senior business executives in 22 countries, including 200 respondents in India, identifies the top enablers for innovation in the country as talent ('creative' talent and people with technical expertise), financial support from public authorities and long-term support from investors.

When asked to ... Read More

US tech lead on India, China shrinks
US Technology R&D | India Technology R&D | China Technology | Technology News

Washington: The US remains global leader in supporting science and technology (S&T) research and development (R&D) , but could soon be overtaken by rapidly rising Asian countries like India and China, a latest report by an American body said.

"This information clearly shows we must re-examine long-held assumptions about the global dominance of the American science and technology enterprise," said National Science Foundation (NSF) Director, Subra Suresh, after release of Science and Engineering Indicators 2012.

"And we must take seriously new strategies for education, workforce development and ... Read More

Seven Charged in Insider Probe: two Desis Included?
By JENNY STRASBURG, MICHAEL ROTHFELD and SUSAN PULLIAM
Federal authorities on Wednesday announced charges against seven people in an expanding insider-trading investigation that directly involves some of Wall Street's most prominent money managers.
Four people were arrested in New York, Boston and California early Wednesday and charges against three others were unsealed.
Wednesday's announcement reflects a broadening of the government's long-running investigation of employees of public companies sharing confidential information with hedge-fund analysts and traders. The government has monitored hundreds of conversations on wiretaps, and has sought cooperation from a wide range of public-company employees and money managers as the probe ... Read More

WHY DR. GROVER’S CASE SHOULD BE CONSIDERED A HATE CRIME
Please click on the following link and sign a petition that is being delivered to Prime Minister Harper : http:www.thepetitionsite.com/1/justiceforchandergrover

Dr. Chander P. Grover is a Canadian Citizen of South Asian origin who was employed as a senior internationally recognized scientist at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). In 1986 he became the target of racial discrimination by NRC management.

There did not seem to be any ends to which the NRC management was prepared to go to suppress and demean an individual or group that somehow offended their perverse sensibilities about non-white employees. An example ... Read More

People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) Jan 14, 2012
Former President Dr. Abdul Kalam has written to the Prime Minister that 1,000 MW power from the first Koodankulam plant and the unspent amount of Rs. 16,000 crore from the 11th Plan may be given to Tamil Nadu along with his previously announced 200 crore PURA incentives in order to make the people accept the Koodankulam nuclear power project.

Although the people of Tamil Nadu summarily rejected his 200 crore bribe, he is now trying to bribe even more and convince the people about the dangerous Koodankulam nuclear project.

The capacity factor in all the Indian nuclear power projects is hardly ... Read More

Air India pilots call off stir
"We have been reassured by the management that all our dues, including flying allowances, would be completely paid by March-end," an official of the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), which constitutes pilots of the erstwhile Indian Airlines, told IANS.

"Our November salaries were paid today and one tranche of flying allowances will be given by Jan 20. In this new situation, we would like to appeal to all pilots to end their stir," he added.

The development comes after parleys were held between the pilots' union and the airline management at Air India's New Delhi-based headquarters - Airline House.

Earlier Saturday, about 40 ... Read More