Dishonour to Sikhs is a matter of national insult: S M Krishna

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Dishonour-to-Sikhs-is-a-matter-of-national-insult-S-M-Krishna/articleshow/7770067.cms

India on Wednesday said dishonour to the Sikhs is a national insult and the government takes serious note of the incident in which golfer Jeev Milkha Singh's coach Amritinder Singh was forced to remove his turban at Milan airport last week.
Assuring the Rajya Sabha that the issue would be taken up with Italy, external affairs minister S M Krishna said, "Whenever there is an insult to Sikhs, we take it as national insult. We take it up in that spirit."

He was responding to senior BJP leader S S Ahluwalia who said during Zero Hour that the Indian government was not able to convince Italy that turban for Sikhs was a symbol of religious respect.

Ahluwalia said the turban is "Guru's blessings" and "we cannot tolerate insult" to it in a country where the Prime Minister is a Sikh.

He said the Italian ambassador expressed regrets over the first incident at the Milan airport, when Jeev's coach was asked to remove the turban and put it in the tray where shoes were screened. Jeev and his coach were travelling on March 15 to participate in the Sicillian Open.
The coach was meted out the same treatment on his return by the same security officer, Ahluwalia said asking, "What is the use of the Italian envoy's regret...what is the use of lip service?"

He said, "Italy is very dear to our country and India is very dear to Italy" but these incidents occur.
The BJP leader said the Italian envoy should be summoned to the external affairs ministry and asked what his regret meant if such incidents recur.

Krishna said the turban of Sikhs shows the majesty and diversity that India stands for. It is not a piece of cloth but a symbol of national pride, he said.
Sharing the concerns of members over attacks on Indian nationals abroad, he said welfare of Indians going for jobs and studies abroad was of utmost importance to the government.
"Whenever incidents of this kind have been reported to us, we have immediately taken it up with all seriousness that it deserved so that they do not recur. But in some countries, they keep recurring unfortunately," he said.

Referring to the recent incident of rape and murder of an Indian in Australia, Krishna said, "I will take it up with the Australian ambassador. We will call the ambassador. He has been repeatedly called and we have given our views."

Warren Buffett bowled over by Indian hospitality

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/warren-buffett-bowled-over-by-indian-hospitality/146833-3.html

Bangalore: The world's biggest philanthropy capitalists are in the country, wanting to invest and guide India Inc. It's day two of Investment Guru Warren Buffet's maiden visit to India.
Buffet who is the world's third richest man is visiting the TaeguTac office in Bangalore on Wednesday. He's also met Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa. The two leaders shook hands. Buffet also known as Sage of Omaha will be meeting the Prime Minister and industrialists on Friday in Delhi. He's also meeting CEOs to seek their support in pledging wealth for philanthropic activities.

World's third richest man, Warren Buffett, said he was treated much better here than back in the US.
"I am just overwhelmed by the welcome I have received from the moment we got here. They treat me much better in India than they do in the United States," said the Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at a brief meeting with Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa early on Wednesday morning.
"I want to transport all this... I believe in free trade," he said in a lighter vein.
"We had a great dinner last night... I met some very interesting people, had a great conversation. I couldn't feel more welcome and more delighted to be here," said Buffet, who is staying at Taj West End during his visit to the country.
"This is my first trip to India and the first foot I placed on Indian soil was in Bangalore... and it won't be the last," said the 80-year-old billionaire.
"When I come back, I will be 100 in 2030," he joked, but quickly added that he planned to come back much before that and was hopeful of seeing business expand here by then.
"We want to be where the action is and the action is here," Buffett, who on Tuesday admitted to having made a late entry into India, said.
Buffett, who viewed a short presentation on investment opportunities in Karnataka and the Global Investors meet held in 2010, said he was impressed by the speed of implementation of the MoUs signed during the Investors Meet.
"... It is very impressive," he said, lauding the efforts of the Karnataka government in facilitating the establishment of a Nestle food processing plant in a short timeframe of barely 10 months.
Yeddyurappa extended an invitation to Buffett to be the chief guest at the Global Investors Meet in 2012 during the nearly half-hour-long meeting.
The Chief Minister, attired in a formal suit, briefed Buffett about the investment opportunities in Karnataka, the progressive policies of the state government, the close to 400 MoUs signed at the Global Investors Meet and the speedy implementation of several of the projects.
"I invite you to invest in Karnataka in different sectors and assure you all the support and coordination from our government," Yeddyurappa told the legendary investor.
To a question as to what Karnataka needs to be doing to woo more investors, Buffett said, "You are doing the right thing."
Asked what his own assessment was on the impact of the Japanese crisis on the re-insurance sector, he said, "It is very early to assess that."
"Much of the loss is uninsured... It is a wild guess at this point, but I would say that it will be probably be between half a billion and a billion dollars. To put that in perspective, Katrina (hurricane) cost us USD 3 billion and we are much larger. It is a significant amount of money, but it is not what I call a super catastrophe from the financial standpoint," he said, but added that it was a great tragedy from the human loss point of view.

Most ethical companies: HDFC is, Google isn't

New Delhi: Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC) is the only Indian company to appear in the list of world's most ethical companies' list this year, while search engine giant Google failed to make the cut.
The list prepared by the US-based think tank Ethisphere Institute features the India-based banking and finance company among the 110 global firms including American Express and Standard Chartered Bank.
Ethisphere Institute also named Microsoft to its list of 110 most ethical companies in the world, but neither Apple nor Facebook is in the list.

More than 3,000 companies applied to be on the list. Ethisphere ranks them based on factors like history of regulatory infractions, sustainable business practices, and peer nominations.
Of the total 110 companies, 36 companies have featured for the first time, while 26 of the companies that appeared last year have been dropped.
Among the other companies that found a place in the list include online marketplace company eBay, auto maker Ford Motor, Accenture, Adobe Systems and food and beverage firm PepsiCo.
The companies in the list have been picked from across the sectors like banking, consumer goods, automobiles, apparel, retail and healthcare.
As per the report, ethical company designation is awarded to those companies that have leading ethics and compliance programmes, particularly as compared to their industry peers.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/most-ethical-companies-hdfc-is-google-isnt/146283-7.html

World looks at India more positively

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/World-looks-at-India-more-positively/articleshow/7667312.cms

WASHINGTON: Mark Twain and Max Mueller were captivated by India. Winston Churchill and Richard Nixon disdained her. In a far more complex 21st century environment, India continues to evoke mixed reactions across the world, although it is gradually increasing positive views from the international community even as it jostles for influence with key players such as United States and China.

A BBC World Service Country Rating Poll of 27 countries conducted with the University of Maryland shows India rated a 42% "mainly positive" view of its influence in 2010-2011, a 6% improvement over the previous year, with 29% "mainly negative". China rated 44-38 and the United States 49-31 in a poll that was topped by Germany 62-15, UK and Canada 57-12. The poll results released this week involved 28,619 citizens in major urban areas of 27 countries.

The broadly positive numbers for India masks a complex picture of country-by-country views that has ebbed and flowed with geo-political and economic developments. Of 27 countries polled, 17 lean positive towards India, four lean negative, and six are divided. Countries where there was a mainly negative view of India's influence include (not unexpectedly) Pakistan, and unexpectedly, Philippines, France and Spain. China and Australia were among the countries which are divided about India.

Although Americans and British still lean largely positive (56% and 50%, respectively), the poll showed their views of India's influence in world affairs have deteriorated over the past year, with negative ratings increasing sharply in both countries (29%, up 11 points in the US, 35%, up 19 points in the UK). The same trend is observed in Australia, where negative views are up 18 points compared to 2010, and Australian opinion shifted from being positive in 2010 to divided in 2011 (44% vs 45%).

Italy is the most favourable country towards India in Europe. More than six in ten (61%) lean positive, a 19-point rise since 2010. India also increased its positive views significantly in Turkey, South Korea and Nigeria. Even in China, the positive views of India went up from 29% in 2010 to 40% this year.

While most countries, including the United States and China, improved their positive view across the world, the three most negatively viewed countries saw their average ratings go from bad to worse, including Iran (59% negative, up 3 points since 2010), North Korea (55%, up 6 points), and Pakistan (56%, up 5 points).

Pakistan is having a particularly dismal time. Of the 27 countries polled in 2011, 23 lean negative towards Pakistan, three lean positive, and one is divided. Even China, Pakistan's much-vaunted ally, moved from being divided about Pakistan to leaning negative. While there was an increase in favorable ratings of seven points (37%), negative ratings grew by 13 points (47%).

A number of countries with clearly unfavorable leanings towards Pakistan have become even more negative, including the US (75%, up from 58%) and Australia (74%, up from 54%). Negative views of Pakistan in the United Kingdom jumped 24 points to 68%, and in Canada they increased by 18 points (67%). Turkey is the only country which has a positive view of Pakistan.

Views of the US continued their overall improvement in 2011, confirming the trend seen in 2010. Of the 27 countries surveyed, 18 hold positive views, seven hold negative views, and two are divided. In Asia, a majority of Chinese is now holding negative views (53%, up 9 points), and although views improved a bit in Pakistan, they are still largely negative overall (16% vs 46%).

Indian scientist helps NASA predict solar flare

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/indian-scientist-helps-nasa-predict-solar-flare/145282-11.html

Kolkata: There was a huge solar flare in 1859. It was so large that it could be seen with the naked eye. In 1989, a solar storm wiped out Canada's northern electric grid. Canada was out of power for almost three days.

Violent magnetic emissions from the sun could one day destroy all electronic equipment on earth.

An Indian scientist from Indian Institute of Science Education and Research has helped NASA predict when such explosions are likely to happen.

"The activity of the sun affects satellites, air traffic on polar routes, telecommunications. So there is a huge industry in trying to develop forecasting capabilities," said Dibyendu Nandi of Indian Institute of Science Education and Research.

For the past 10 years, the sun is worryingly quiet. And even that can severely disrupt earth's climate. Scientists couldn't predict the sun's violent and silent phases. But Doctor Dibyendu Nandi has found a way.

Super hot currents of plasma ripple on the sun's surface and inside it, driven by chemical reactions and magnetic fields. Dibyendu's theories and computer simulations warn when those forces build up unbearably, to trigger an explosion.

Dibyendu is now gearing up for Aditya, India's satellite to study the sun, which will be launched in 2014.

"Aditya will help study the sun," said Dibyendu.

NASA making headlines on exotic phenomena like solar flares isn't unusual, but an Indian scientist spearheading that breakthrough, certainly is. After the Chandrayaan moon mission, it's another happy example of Indian science rising to an entirely new level.