Mumbai, June 30, 2011 (AFP) - Pakistan have been pencilled in to tour India for a full series of Test and one-day cricket matches next year, in what would be a breakthrough in relations that were hit by the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks.
The International Cricket Council governing body's latest Future Tours Programme shows that the two South Asian rivals could play three Tests and five one-day internationals in March and April 2012.
India is designated as the host of the series, but an ICC spokesman told AFP on Thursday that the list was provisional and indicated that the matches were likely to be played at a neutral venue.
Any series would be organised entirely by both countries' governing bodies, he added.
No one was immediately available for comment at the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
India severed cricketing links with its neighbour after the Mumbai attacks, which killed 166 people and which New Delhi blamed on outlawed Islamist militants based across the border in Pakistan.
No major international cricket side has toured Pakistan since gunmen attacked the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore in March 2009, killing eight people and injuring seven others.
Pakistan now plays "home" games in the United Arab Emirates, England and New Zealand.
India last played Pakistan in this year's World Cup semi-final at Mohali, beating them in a keenly-watched encounter attended by the two countries' prime ministers Manmohan Singh and Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Afterwards there were calls by players and politicians for the resumption of cricketing links, as millions of fans were missing out due to the nuclear-armed neighbours' strained political ties.
India's foreign secretary, Nirupama Rao, even said that the country was ready to send its team to Pakistan, if provided full security.
The Pakistan Cricket Board welcomed Rao's statement and said it was exploring options for playing a series at a neutral venue.
The last time Pakistan played a Test match in India was in the southern city of Bangalore in December 2007. India won the series 1-0.
Apart from the World Cup semi-final, their the last one-day international on Indian soil was in November 2007 in Jaipur. Pakistan won the match but lost that series 3-2.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Cannot afford to match India militarily: Pak Defence Minister
Islamabad: Pakistan cannot afford to match the induction of modern weaponry by India, which possibly has a greater capacity to sustain a war, Pakistani Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar has said.
“If we only try to match them (India) militarily and buy the sort of armament which they have, we will probably not be able to afford it,” Mr. Mukhtar said.
Explaining his contention, he noted that India’s economy is “six to seven times bigger than” Pakistan’s and its trade volumes were “five to six times greater.”
“The capacity of India and Pakistan to fight was for 20 to 22 days. Now India has inducted a lot of armaments, may be they can last for 45 days, we will not be able to do so,” Mr. Mukhtar said in an interview to BBC Urdu.
He was responding to a question on whether the projection of India as Pakistan’s greatest enemy was the root of the country’s problems.
Mr. Mukhtar noted that the two countries were taking steps to improve relations in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
“Slowly the process of meetings has started. People are going across the border. Nobody had ever thought they could walk suitcase in hand to Amritsar via Wagah but that is the reality now and it is happening,” he said.
This was happening, he said, “in spite of the fact that wars were fought, there were problems on the border and the Mumbai incident”.
Asked why an incident like the Mumbai attacks occurred whenever relations improved between the two countries, Mr. Mukhtar said: “It is very unfortunate that such incidents happen and they should not happen. But there are players who are behind these incidents.”
He did not give details about such elements but said some of them had been arrested and put on trial.
Matters would improve when “we decide that religion and politics should not be mixed together”, he said. “Let them go side by side. There should be no restrictions on religion which is between me and my God.”
Sunday, June 26, 2011
US hopes India would continue with its economic reform
From Lalit K Jha Washington, Jun 23 (PTI) Reiterating its strategic partnership with India which would be a defining relationship of the 21st century, a top Obama aid today hoped that New Delhi would continue with its economic reforms, which it argued is essential for India to realize its goal of a world power.
"We believe that if India wants to continue to grow as rapidly as it has to continue reform that encourage not hindering investment and trade in areas that are key to India''s growth such as agriculture development, financial services and infrastructure," Tom Daley, the Chief of Staff of the US President Barack Obama said.
Daley, as the Chief of Staff, made a rare public appearance today to address the annual convention of the US India Business Council.
Daley who served as the Commerce Secretary under the Clinton Administration said that no one should be surprised by the growing relationship between India and the US.
"For almost two decades, India has had whole liberalising reforms, opening itself to foreign investment and trade and has ripened the benefits of unprecedented economic growth.
As a strategic partner we hope that India continues to move in that direction," Daley said.
Referring to the civilian nuclear deal between the two countries and its implementation by India, Daley said the Obama Administration hopes that the emerging legal and regulatory framework for nuclear commerce in India will permit US companies share some of the safest and most advanced technologies available.
"We will take these steps because in the 21st century it is no secret that success could only come through increased integration of global trade," Daley said.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Anand Sharma, said that there is immense potential for the growth of India and US relationship, the full potential of which is yet to be realized.
Source
"We believe that if India wants to continue to grow as rapidly as it has to continue reform that encourage not hindering investment and trade in areas that are key to India''s growth such as agriculture development, financial services and infrastructure," Tom Daley, the Chief of Staff of the US President Barack Obama said.
Daley, as the Chief of Staff, made a rare public appearance today to address the annual convention of the US India Business Council.
Daley who served as the Commerce Secretary under the Clinton Administration said that no one should be surprised by the growing relationship between India and the US.
"For almost two decades, India has had whole liberalising reforms, opening itself to foreign investment and trade and has ripened the benefits of unprecedented economic growth.
As a strategic partner we hope that India continues to move in that direction," Daley said.
Referring to the civilian nuclear deal between the two countries and its implementation by India, Daley said the Obama Administration hopes that the emerging legal and regulatory framework for nuclear commerce in India will permit US companies share some of the safest and most advanced technologies available.
"We will take these steps because in the 21st century it is no secret that success could only come through increased integration of global trade," Daley said.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Anand Sharma, said that there is immense potential for the growth of India and US relationship, the full potential of which is yet to be realized.
Source
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Sakshat Tablet rs. 1500 to be Launch in June 2011
Remember the Rs. 1500 Indian laptop? The one that got the world making fun of India in general and me never having faith in Kapil Sibal again?
Youtube.com Link
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGEDizaWX0k
The one that actually turned out to be an expensive storage device, and then somehow metamorphosed into a tablet?
It's being announced that the "Sakshat" (which sounds conspicuously dirty in Americanese), the $35 tablet codenamed 'Sakshat' is expected to launch by the end of this month.
While the Indian media is huffing up the desi-pride angle with talks of "Indian-iPad". there's very little for a complete tablet experience. And there's nothing desi about it; the tablet is made by Canadian firm Datawind Ltd.
The7-inch touchscreen tablet features a inbuilt keyboard, video conferencing facility, multimedia content, Wi-Fi, USB port, 32GB hard drive and a 2GB RAM. There's support for Open Office, SciLab and Internet browsing.
However, this means nothing for the aam-aadmi it was intended for, but there is a desi crop of real tablets worth checking out.
10,000 Sakshat tablets will be shipped to IIT Rajasthan by June-end, following by the launch of over 90,000 tablet units in the next 4 months.
Sakshat: Other Specifications
QWERTY keyboard, mouse and a minimum display of 7” colour LCD/TFT (touchscreen optional)
2 USB 2.0 ports and USB hosts
three hours
batteryless device
SD card slot (8GB expandable memory)
Support to connect LCD projector
Support for external hard disk drive (Minimum 32 GB)
Ethernet port
WLAN
80% shock resistant
While the tablets will be priced at Rs 2,200, there are reports of plans for later subsidies of 50%. The 1500 Rupee tablet might go for Rs. 1100, and has been developed as a part of the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology to bring together 25,000 colleges and 400 universities in the Asian subcontinent in an e-learning initiative. (MensXP.com)
Youtube.com Link
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGEDizaWX0k
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