Ladakh incursions:China set on a destructive course

Border misadventure  in Ladakh , even in terms of China's own ambitions  of acquiring a world power status ,may turn out to be a very costly affair.  Already bitten by deception in 1962 and China thereafter occupying  significant chunks of Indian territory, it is after the same game again.An already awakened India has been further jolted to think seriously to understand  China’s real intentions.

What is BJP's agenda for 2014 elections? Ram temple or governance

As UPA is busy finalizing agendas, strategies ,alliances and campaign styles for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections  BJP  is back  with the agenda of Ram temple in Ayodhya .

Narendra Modi to be named as BJP's PM candidate in July end

Speculations are rife that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will formally be anointed as BJP's prime ministerial candidate in July end .

US facilitating the return of Taliban in Afghanistan!

The obama administration by agreeing  to  hold peace talks with Talibans,as a Taliban Emirate entity ,has unwittingly undone the accomplishments of the 12 year long war in Afghanistan. US is strangely holding talks with Taliban in Doha,with a taliban flag,that amounted to sidelining the constitutionally elected government of Afghanistan.

Tough road ahead for Nawaz Sharif

Proactive judiciary accompanied by sustained societal movements and churning have  ensured  democracy taking roots in Pakistan that made  possible smooth  transition of power through democratic process .It may still ensure greater stability  of elected governments  in that country.

China’s new twist to the border issue

Indian Foreign minister Salman Khurshid ‘s visit to Beijing has revealed a new twist given by China to the entire China-India border demarcation issue.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi has in fact shown his  country’s insistence on a new border settlement that would seek a fair and reasonable  solution to safeguard their  strategic geopolitical  interests  in the area  and till  then to jointly maintain peace and tranquility along the border.

It is noteworthy  that China  has just  undergone

Boston Bombings:US-Russia cooperation essential to combat Islamist terrorism

The involvement of two Chechen nationals in the ‘Boston Bombings’ has brought to the fore the urgency

Who's behind the Boston bombings:Lone -wolf , or organized terrorism

The bomb blast in Boston Marathon has focused attention again on the danger posed by "lone-wolf" terrorists.

The FBI investigators  have found that the devices used in the Boston Marathon attack  are similar to the "lone wolf" terrorists.    Investigators combing through the grim aftermath of the deadly Boston Marathon terrorist attack have found evidence that timing devices were used on Monday to detonate the bombs that ripped through race spectators, an offi

North Korea nuclear stand-off:Dire urgency of dousing the sparks in Korean Peninsula

The nuclear stand off between US and North Korea has risen to an utterly tense situation.At the centre of the worsening situation is the ultimatum served by North Korea to the South Korea to evacuate the foreigners by April 10,2013, with a simultaneous warning that a failure to do so may lead to a "thermo nuclear" war.

Iran nuclear talks may prove a turning point

World powers at Almaty offered a new package to Iran to break the nuclear deadlock.Both sides agreed to meet again in march for further negotiations and the success of the talks depends upon Iran’s response to the proposal.



The P5+1 nations that have been holding talks with Iran stepped back from a key demand that the country export its entire stockpile of  20% enriched Uranium  -an enrichment level close to weapons grade.Instead, these countries now offered to let Iran keep enough 20% enriched uranium in the country to fuel a research reactor, US said.

Negotiators also asked Iran to stop enrichment  activity at Fordo nuclear facility near Qom instead of shutting down the nuclear facility.

In exchange for a aforesaid demands negotiators offered some easing of the tough sanctions that have cut Iran off from the global financial system.

The negotiations between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany ended on Wednesday with optimism from both sides.

"The just concluded P5 plus 1 (representing five permanent members of the UN Security Council US, Britain, Russia, China and France plus Germany) talks with Iran were useful," State Department spokesperson Patrick Ventrell said .


"But, now it is up to Tehran to respond to the concrete confidence building measures proposed by them," the spokesperson added.

There was agreement at the end of the meeting on the Iranian part to meet next at the experts level on March 18 in Istanbul and to have a follow-on political directors meeting with Iran back in Almaty (Kazakhstan) from April 5th to 6th,he said.
  
"We have a proposal, a serious updated proposal, on the table. But it would require them to also take some of their reciprocal steps to build confidence that they are taking, in a systematic way, the steps that are necessary to come in line with their international obligations," he said.
  
On the issue of Iran's nuclear programme, Ventrell said "I'm not going to list them out one by one. But they know what they need to do to come in compliance with Security Council Resolutions, with their IAEA obligations, and to come clean about their nuclear program."



Incase Iran accepts the new package  it would get some lifting of non-oil and non-financial sanctions.ie lifting of restrictions on trade in gold , precious metals and on petrochemical sector.

Iranian parliament speaker Ali larijani  who visited India said “There is no secret dimension to Iran’s  nuclear programme and it can be resolve through dialogue ie procedural negotiations based on principles of NPT,but world powers were leaving  the negotiating table and using the tactic of more  sanctions and even went ahead by using  the threat of  military strike at the nuclear sites.”


Adding further that “Earlier Iran had practically no defence against military strike during  Iran-Iraq war but now it has developed missiles and has good capacity to resist military attack. “

However, US secretary of State  John Kerry  in his recent statement  has showed Washington’s willingness to have direct diplomatic talks with Iran supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on this issue, who has the final say on all state matters in Iran.



Once the nuclear issue get reconciled  there can be scope for normalization and even  betterment of US-Iran relations.

Barack Obama who in his second term of US presidency has an opportunity to deal with the volatile situation in mid east countries  would be amply asserted by breaking the ice in Iran-US relations.

Larijani said “In politics there is nothing like stalemate or impasse and we should find the ways  this is the point we should pay attention to”.


Larijani also urged India to play a greater role in ending Tehran impasse  with the West on it s Nuclear programme.


On the issue of payment of Iranian crude following sanctions ,Larijani said,” there are people in my delegation  who have been talking to their Indian friends to find mechanism and we have yielded ‘good results’.”

LoC Tension : Part of Taliban’s bigger game plan

The escalating cross border firing along the LoC in Kashmir and rapidly soaring tensions between the two countries are in fact reflections of the chaotic conditions

Yearender 2012:World remained overcast with economic gloom,conflicts,political chaos

The happenings and problems  of the year 2011 persisted  alarmingly in the year 2012. As Global economy faces slowdown ,US president Barack Obama is struggling to deal with fiscal cliff and the Eurozone countries  are finding it tough to come out of the debt crisis

North Korea announces new rocket launch in December

Again a provocative act by North Korea  as it announced on Saturday that it would  launch another long-range rocket this month between

Lessons of Israel-Hamas conflict

When Israel provoked Hamas on 14^th November this year by killing Ahmed Jabari,the hamas military chief of staff,it did little service to its own cause of

Israel-Gaza conflict : Implications and effects

Israel and Hamas are once again on the brink of war in Gaza and Israel has called up  75,000  reservists in preparation for a possible ground invasion that could happen any moment coupled with air offensive..Let's have a look What will be the impact of this war.

World leaders have condemned the attacks, and the Arab League said that it will hold an urgent meeting  Saturday to discuss the Israeli strike on Gaza.

Iraq recommended  that Arab states  must use oil as a weapon to exert pressure on Israel and countries that back it, particularly the United States, over the Gaza crisis.

"Playing the economic card is our most powerful weapon at the moment in supporting the Palestinian people, for no military power can currently stand up to Israel," Iraq's permanent Arab League representative Qais al-Azzawi said.

   

"What happened in 1973, when the Arabs stopped oil exports to Western states, is proof that this weapon can succeed in the battle between the Arabs and Israel," Azzawi said .

Israeli air strikes  on Saturday have targeted the cabinet  headquarters of Gaza's Hamas government ,  reporting extensive damage to the building.


On the other side ,Palestinian militants continued  targeting densely populated Tel Aviv in Israel's heartland with rockets .

 Meanwhile, further escalating the conflict between Israel and Hamas , Israel's Cabinet on Friday approved the activation of up to 75,000 reservists, prime minister's spokesman Mark Regev said. Also, the Israel Defense Forces reported earlier in the day that it is "mobilizing forces" in preparation for a "possible ground invasion of the Gaza Strip."



At least 30 Palestinians and three Israelis have died since Israel killed Hamas's military chief on Wednesday.
On Saturday an additional strike on the house of a Hamas official in the northern Gaza Jabalia refugee camp left at least 35 people injured.

Senior cabinet minister Moshe Yaalon warned that Israel was poised for aground offensive."We are preparing all the military options, including the possibility that forces will be ready to enter Gaza in the event that the firing doesn't stop," he said.
   
 As  ground troops massed, there was no let-up in theIsraeli air offensive. Egypt's Islamist President Mohamed Morsi hammered home the message of support soon after his prime minister ended the lightning visit. "Egypt will not leave Gaza on its own... What is happening is a blatant aggression against humanity."

Hamas boasted its Arsenal

'Israel believes Hamas has significantly boosted its arsenal since the last Gaza war four years ago, including with weapons from Iran and from Libyan stockpiles plundered after the 2011 fall of the regime there.

"After four years, we became stronger, we have a strategy and we became united with all the military wings in Gaza," said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum, referring to Hamas' setbacks during Israel's last major offensive in late 2008.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu aim  is "to take out the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza while doing everything possible not to harm civilians."

WAr on TWITTER

The Israel and Hamas conflict has started  battle for public opinion on social media


An intense battle is taking place online, On Twitter , the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) warned Hamas’ military wing to lay low: “We recommend that no Hamas operatives, whether low level or senior leaders, show their faces above ground in the days ahead,” the IDF tweeted.

To which the other side  tweeted  @Alqassam Brigade—a reference to the military wing of Hamas—replied: “@IDF Spokesperson Our blessed hands will reach your leaders and soldiers wherever they are (You Opened Hell Gates on Yourselves).”
   
IMpact of Gaza Attack

Hamas, first elected to govern the Gaza Strip in 2006, is a direct offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.

-Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi said Friday that "Gaza will not remain alone as it was," adding that the "aggressors know they will pay a heavy price is they continue their aggression."

"I'm warning the aggressors on Gaza, they can't have any power over the strip," he  said in a statement after the Friday prayer.

"Cairo won't leave Gaza alone, and I'm speaking on behalf of all Egyptian people that Egypt now is different than before," he added.


As Israel turned down the Egyptian request to seize the assault on Gaza , Egypt withdrew its ambassador from Israel and called for a Security Council meeting.

The  ongoing conflict will effect the  three major groups  ie pro-American gulf countries  led by Saudi-Arabia, second group consists of of Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah, and the countries witnessing Arab Spring

Actually ,Israel’s assassination of Hamas military chief Ahmed Jaabari have  reverberated far beyond the impoverished, violence-torn Gaza Strip.The exchange of attacks between Israel and Hamas has threatened an increasingly fragile Middle east peace process .

Hamas,who  refuses to recognize the state of Israel is one reason why it's been excluded from peace talks. In 1993, it opposed the Oslo Accords, a peace pact between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

In an effort to de-escalate tension in the region,US President Barack Obama has called the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Egyptian counterpart Mohamed Morsi Isa El-Ayyat.


 Obama tries to de-escalate tension

Obama reiterated American support for Israel's right to defend itself, and expressed regret over the loss of Israeli and Palestinian civilian lives. "The two leaders discussed options for de-escalating the situation.

"The President and Prime Minister agreed that the continued spiral of violence jeopardizes prospects for a durable, lasting peace in the region.  The President underscored his commitment to advancing the goal of Middle East peace.

"In all cases, her message has been the same, that we are urging a de-escalation of this conflict. We are urging those countries with influence on Hamas and other groups in Gaza to use that influence to get a de-escalation," the State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told 

Obama says the Best is yet to come

While addressing supporters in Chicago after winning a second term in the White House, US President Barack Obama said he returns to the White House "more determined and more inspired than ever".

 

Jubilation grew through the night in Chicago as Obama  addresses Americans ,"Tonight in this election, you, the American people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up," Obama said in a victory speech in his hometown of Chicago.

"We have fought our way back and we know in our hearts for the United States of America, the best is yet to come.""We are an American family, we rise and fall together as one nation, as one people,"

Obama, 51, the first African American president of the US and a powerful orator, said that he looked forward to taking to Romney in the weeks ahead to take the country forward.

Obama thanked his ... Impassioned voters and said "We are not divided as the politics suggest,we are more than the sum of the total as its the determination  of the person to carry forward  for the achievement."

"I spoke to Romney and congratulated him on a hard-fought campaign  I look forward to working with Governor Romney to see the country move  forward."

“I want to thank every American who participated in this election,” Obama told the crowd.

“Whether you voted for the very first time or waited in line for a very, very long time – by the way we have to fix that – whether you pounded the pavement… or whether you held an Obama sign or a Romney sign you made a difference,” he said.

The nation, he told the gathering, “moves forward because of you… because you reaffirmed the spirit that has triumphed over war, over depression”.
 

Obama was welcomed by thunderous applause as he arrived on stage in his hometown, joined by first lady Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia.

Obama acknowledges first lady Michelle

Acknowledging the contribution by first lady Michelle Obama, barack obama said "The  journey, he said, would not have been possible without the woman who married him 20 years ago.

“Michelle, I never loved you more,” he said.

 

Amidst loud cheers from massive crowds , Obama said the best is yet to come ".Obama  said "Thank you for believing in me all the way ".

Obama   said " We are here to open to the dreams  of immigrants who studies in campuses here ".Further adding that "You have voted for more work and I will work harder.

Decade of war is over

A decade of war  is over and economy will recover  and America will work towards achieveing great results. "

Obama said "To meet the challenges reducing our deficits, fixing our immigration system , working for taxes but that dosent mean your work is done ,  America  is about working together ."

Obama said " Hope is something that we strive hard to achieve something ,For Americans it dosen't matter whosoever you are security will be given to everybody.'

Obama said " We will fulfill  the ambitions of all the individuals  as we are the citizens of the United States of America and  we live in the greatest nation on earth

"Today is the clearest proof yet that, against the odds, ordinary Americans can overcome powerful interests," he said, adding: "There's a lot more work to do."
 

 "Four more years," Barack Obama tweeted after winning a second term in the White House.

"Four more years," he said minutes after he defeated his Republican rival Mitt Romney in a closely contested poll.

"We're all in this together. That's how we campaigned, and that's who we are. Thank you," said another tweet.

The current electoral college tally is:

Obama:  303   (Vermont 3, Illinois 20, Connecticut 7, Delaware 3, Massachusetts 11, Rhode Island 4, Maine 4, Maryland 10, District of Columbia 3, New York 29, Michigan 16, New Jersey 14, Pennsylvania 20, New Hampshire 4, California 55, Hawaii 4, Washington 12, Wisconsin 10, New Mexico 5, Ohio 18, Iowa 6, Minnesota 10, Oregon 7, Colorado 9, Nevada 6, Virginia 13)

Romney: 203  (Kentucky 8, West Virginia 5, South Carolina 9, Oklahoma 7, Tennessee 11, Georgia 16, Alabama 9, Wyoming 3, Kansas 6, Louisiana 8, South Dakota 3, North Dakota 3, Mississippi 6, Nebraska 5, Arkansas 6, Texas 38, Indiana 11, Utah 6, Arizona 11, Idaho 4, North Carolina 15, Missouri 10 ,  Montana 3)