India misguided, paranoid over China: Guha

Label:
MUMBAI: A good half-hour into the discussion on 'India, China and the World', historian Ramachandra Guha issued a disclaimer—all the three members on the panel had been to China only once. "We should learn their language, promote quality research, and have a panel on China driven by Chinese scholars," he said. And that was the general tenor of the debate—that the Indian attitude to China was influenced by a mix of ignorance, cautious optimism about partnerships and a whole lot of misguided paranoia. "Don't demonise the Chinese, please," Guha finally said in response to a question.

"China has existed in our imaginations," observed Sunil Khilnani, professor of politics and author of The Idea Of India. "There's been very little sustained engagement with the reality of China and very little of our own produced knowledge about China." It was after the events of 1962 ('war' in the popular imagination, 'skirmish' to the scholars participating in the discussion), explained Khilnani, that a miffed India "withdrew". It's the 50th anniversary of that exchange this year, and "what we haven't been able to do is learn from the defeat", observed Khilnani. Both could have benefited from greater engagement. "China has had a very clear focus on primary education and achieved high levels of literacy before its economic rise. It has also addressed the issue of land reform," said Khilnani. Guha added that China could learn from the "religious, cultural and linguistic pluralism" in India.

But China and India weren't always so out of sync with each other. Srinath Raghavan, a scholar of military history, got both Guha and Khilnani to talk about pre-1962 relations between the two when the picture was rosier. Tagore was interested in China and so was Gandhi. Both were very large countries with large populations and shared what Guha calls a "lack of cultural inferiority". "They were both," he continued, "also heavily dependent on peasant communities." Nehru was appreciative of China's will to modernize and industrialize and its adoption of technology to achieve those ends. In turn, Chinese politicians argued for Indian independence.

Things soured more, feel both Khilnani and Guha, after the Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959. "He was welcomed here as a spiritual leader but the intensification of the conflict dates to the Dalai Lama's flight," said Guha. Both Guha and Khilnani argued that Nehru's decision to not react aggressively to China's occupation of Tibet was, in the long run, the right one and prevented further "militarization" of the region. An audience member wondered if that didn't make India "China's puppet". Guha disagreed. "If there's a Tibetan culture alive today," he said, "it's not because of Richard Gere. Don't believe in the hypocrisy of the Western countries. Will they give them land, employment, dignified refuge? The Tibetans is one of the few cases in which our record is honorable."

But the difference in levels of development and the lopsided trade relations between the two countries have only fuelled the suspicions many Indians seem to harbour about China. People were worried, said Guha, even about cricket balls made in China. Audience questions reflected those worries. A member asked about China's "strategy to conquer the world" and its likely impact on India. Guha cautioned against stereotypes; Khilnani explained, "History is littered with the debris of states that have tried to dominate the world. What we're doing may be more long-lasting."

Read More..

Plants Grow Fine Without Gravity

Label:

When researchers sent plants to the International Space Station in 2010, the flora wasn't meant to be decorative. Instead, the seeds of these small, white flowers—called Arabidopsis thaliana—were the subject of an experiment to study how plant roots developed in a weightless environment.

Gravity is an important influence on root growth, but the scientists found that their space plants didn't need it to flourish. The research team from the University of Florida in Gainesville thinks this ability is related to a plant's inherent ability to orient itself as it grows. Seeds germinated on the International Space Station sprouted roots that behaved like they would on Earth—growing away from the seed to seek nutrients and water in exactly the same pattern observed with gravity. (Related: "Beyond Gravity.")

Since the flowers were orbiting some 220 miles (350 kilometers) above the Earth at the time, the NASA-funded experiment suggests that plants still retain an earthy instinct when they don't have gravity as a guide.

"The role of gravity in plant growth and development in terrestrial environments is well understood," said plant geneticist and study co-author Anna-Lisa Paul, with the University of Florida in Gainesville. "What is less well understood is how plants respond when you remove gravity." (See a video about plant growth.)

The new study revealed that "features of plant growth we thought were a result of gravity acting on plant cells and organs do not actually require gravity," she added.

Paul and her collaborator Robert Ferl, a plant biologist at the University of Florida in Gainesville, monitored their plants from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida using images sent from the space station every six hours.

Root Growth

Grown on a nutrient-rich gel in clear petri plates, the space flowers showed familiar root growth patterns such as "skewing," where roots slant progressively as they branch out.

"When we saw the first pictures come back from orbit and saw that we had most of the skewing phenomenon we were quite surprised," Paul said.

Researchers have always thought that skewing was the result of gravity's effects on how the root tip interacts with the surfaces it encounters as it grows, she added. But Paul and Ferl suspect that in the absence of gravity, other cues take over that enable the plant to direct its roots away from the seed and light-seeking shoot. Those cues could include moisture, nutrients, and light avoidance.

"Bottom line is that although plants 'know' that they are in a novel environment, they ultimately do just fine," Paul said.

The finding further boosts the prospect of cultivating food plants in space and, eventually, on other planets.

"There's really no impediment to growing plants in microgravity, such as on a long-term mission to Mars, or in reduced-gravity environments such as in specialized greenhouses on Mars or the moon," Paul said. (Related: "Alien Trees Would Bloom Black on Worlds With Double Stars.")

The study findings appear in the latest issue of the journal BMC Plant Biology.


Read More..

Federal Agencies Brace for Deep Cuts Post-'Cliff'

Label:

Dec 7, 2012 4:22pm







gty barack obama john boehner ll 121206 wblog Federal Agencies Brace for Deep Cuts Post Cliff

Toby Jorrin/AFP/Getty Images


With the “fiscal cliff” quickly approaching, federal agencies are stepping up preparations for deep automatic budget cuts that will kick in Jan. 2 unless the White House and Congress can reach a deal.


The Office of Management and Budget told ABC News that a memo went out to federal agencies earlier this week seeking “additional information and analysis” in order to finalize spending cuts required if we go off the cliff.


The agencies are considering which workers to furlough, projects to put on hold and offices that will have to close.


The request follows the administration’s release of a 400-page report in September that outlined the budget areas to be impacted by the $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts and what percentages they would be slashed.


READ MORE: White House Details ‘Doomsday’ Budget Cuts


Billions of dollars could be slashed from defense operations and maintenance programs. Medicare would take a two-percent hit, trimming millions in payouts to health care providers. Scientific research programs would be gutted. Aid for the poor and needy would be sharply curtailed.


The report also detailed operations that would be exempt from any cuts, including active-duty military operations, nuclear watchdogs, homeland security officials, veterans care and other critical areas.


READ: Pentagon Begins Planning for ‘Cliff’ Cuts


Asked about the agency preparations underway, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Wednesday that OMB “must take certain steps to ensure the administration is ready to issue such an order should Congress fail to act.”


“Earlier this week, OMB issued a request to federal agencies for additional information to finalize calculations on the spending reductions that would be required,” Carney said.


“This action should not be read … as a change in the administration’s commitment to reach an agreement and avoid sequestration.  OMB is simply ensuring that the administration is prepared, should it become necessary to issue such an order,” he said. “OMB will continue to consult with agencies and will provide additional guidance as needed.  This is just acting responsibly because of the potential for this happening.”


Get more pure politics at ABCNews.com/Politics and a lighter take on the news at OTUSNews.com.


More ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Coverage From Today:




SHOWS: World News







Read More..

Laos ratifies WTO membership

Label:





BANGKOK: Laos has ratified its membership of the World Trade Organisation, state media said on Friday, the latest step in the small Southeast Asian nation's 15-year effort to join the global body.

The Laotian parliament on Thursday formally gave its approval, paving the way for the country's entrance to the 157-member organisation in early 2013, according to a report in the government mouthpiece Vientiane Times.

It said most lawmakers "supported the government's decision to join the WTO, saying it was a golden opportunity for Laos to benefit from market liberalisation".

The WTO General Council gave its approval for Laotian membership in October, with the organisation's chief Pascal Lamy saying the landlocked communist country had "come a long way since it embarked on the road to membership in 1997".

Laos is one of Southeast Asia's poorest nations and the only one in the region yet to join the WTO. About 28 percent of the population still lives in poverty, according to a 2008 estimate from the World Bank.

The country has enjoyed robust economic growth of more than seven percent a year over the past decade.

Entry into the WTO club brings with it the promise of increased trade volume and new trade partners for Laos, as well as the prospect of fresh investment pouring into the country.

The move is also part of the country's stated ambition to graduate from least developed country status by 2020.

Laos Deputy Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith said the move was part of the country's efforts to attract foreign investment, but conceded that membership would increase competition and put pressure on small local firms, the Vientiane Times said.

Since negotiations got under way properly in 2004, Laos has adopted dozens of laws to bring it in line with WTO requirements in areas such as investment, food safety, animal health, import and export procedures and intellectual property rights - a flurry of activity rarely seen in the state.

- AFP/de



Read More..

Government wins FDI battle, says reforms on track

Label:
NEW DELHI: The UPA government on Friday dealt a major blow to the opposition in the Rajya Sabha by winning a vote on FDI in retail by 14 votes and declared that there was no stopping India's reform process.

In contrast to speculation that the government may lose the vote in the upper house, the victory proved pretty easy as the Samajwadi Party (SP) trooped out — like in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday — while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) voted for foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail.

As a disappointed opposition claimed "moral victory" on the strength of the speeches made in the house over two days, parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath said after the vote: "Our reforms are on track."

Commerce minister Anand Sharma, the main speaker for the government on the contentious issue, took on the opposition after it said the FDI did not have the support of most MPs even if the final vote went in favour of the treasury benches.

"We challenge them," he said. "If we are a minority government, let them bring a no-confidence motion (against us)."

The opposition-backed motion against FDI in retail got 109 votes while the government managed 123.

One member, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, was away in Kolkata playing a match against England. But officials admitted there was some confusion on the final voting figures.

Minutes before the voting process began, all nine SP members walked out, bailing out the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) - for a second time in three days.

On Thursday, day one of the debate in the Rajya Sabha, Mayawati took on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and declared triumphantly that 15 MPs of her BSP would vote with the UPA government.

Both the BSP and SP provide legislative support to the Congress-led government.

The government move to provide 51% foreign equity in multi-brand retail has long been a contentious issue, stalling almost the entire first two weeks of the winter session of parliament.

With Friday's vote, global names like Carrefour, Tesco and Wal-Mart can set up stores in India.

Earlier, addressing the house during the debate, Anand Sharma denied accusations that the FDI decision was a unilateral one and said the government had talked "to everyone, farmers, traders, consumers, states".

The government also held inter ministerial consultations and heard various recommendations, he said.

Some sparks flew during the Rajya Sabha debate, with Anand Sharma's reference to Rajya Sabha member NK Singh kicking up a row and leading to an adjournment.

Sharma spoke about NK Singh having chaired a panel on FDI during the NDA rule. Singh was then principal secretary to then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

After the parliament defeat, Communist leader D Raja accused the UPA government of "brazenly" identifying itself "with multinationals and then claims it is with aam admi". "The sense of the house is againstFDI."

The AIADMK gave a "solemn assurance" that the next central government would reverse the FDI decision.

AIADMK leader V. Maitreyan, who moved the motion for the debate in the Rajya Sabha, said the final vote on the issue would be cast by the people in the next election.

"I give a solemn assurance that after the next Lok Sabha elections, the next government will reverse the decision of the UPA.

"FDI will only be on paper and will not be implemented in states," he added.

Read More..

Space Pictures This Week: Lunar Gravity, Venusian Volcano

Label:








































































































');



































































































































































 $'+ doc.ngstore_price_t +'';
html += ' $'+ doc.ngstore_saleprice_t +'';
} else {
html += ' $'+ doc.ngstore_price_t +'';
}
html += '
';

$("#ecom_43331 ul.ecommerce_all_img").append(html);




o.totItems++;

}// end for loop
} // end if data.response.numFound != 0

if(o.totItems != o.maxItems){
if(o.defaultItems.length > 0){
o.getItemByID(o.defaultItems.shift());
} else if(o.isSearchPage && !o.searchComplete){
o.doSearchPage();
} else if(!o.searchComplete) {
o.byID = false;
o.doSearch();
}
}// end if
}// end parseResults function

o.trim = function(str) {
return str.replace(/^\s\s*/, '').replace(/\s\s*$/, '');
}

o.doSearchPage = function(){
o.byID = false;

var tempSearch = window.location.search;
var searchTerms ="default";
var temp;

if( tempSearch.substr(0,7) == "?search"){
temp = tempSearch.substr(7).split("&");
searchTerms = temp[0];
} else {
temp = tempSearch.split("&");
for(var j=0;j 0){
o.getItemByID(o.defaultItems.shift());
} else if(o.isSearchPage){
o.doSearchPage();
} else {
o.doSearch();
}

}// end init function

}// end ecommerce object

var store_43331 = new ecommerce_43331();





store_43331.init();









































































































































































Read More..

Fiscal Cliff Debate Puts Spotlight on Small Businesses

Label:











At a sprawling 25,000-square-foot factory outside Dayton, Ohio, David Curliss manufactures high-tech composite fibers, structural adhesives and special sealants known as syntactic foams. The small business he founded a decade ago has grown steadily since the recession, employing 21 workers on several production lines.


But now, with a tax hike on the horizon as part of a deficit-reduction deal as evisioned by President Obama and the Democrats, it may become more difficult to expand his business and hire, Curliss says.


"What it absolutely means is less cash for growth in my business," he told ABC News. "In the worst-case scenario, it means we let someone go or have to reduce benefits."


Curliss is among an estimated 940,000 Americans who will report more than $200,000 in business income on their individual tax returns in 2013 and pay at the top marginal rates, according to the bipartisan Joint Committee on Taxation.


They are now at the center of the political storm over the "fiscal cliff" and debate on whether to raise top income tax rates at the end of the year.


Obama wants the two upper tax brackets to rise from 33 and 35 percent to 36 and 39.6 percent, respectively. Republicans staunchly oppose any increase, largely citing the impact on companies like Curliss'.




Performance Polymer Solutions, like thousands of small businesses, is structured as a so-called "pass-through" entity with the firm's income and profits passed directly to Curliss for reporting on his 1040. The company itself does not pay taxes.


On paper, the extra cash makes Curliss look like a rich man, subjecting his income to the top rates. Yet, he never actually sees the business income in his paycheck, he says. Instead, the money is kept inside the business to help it grow.


"Raising the top rates means there will be less cash in my company to reinvest in employees and benefits and equipment," he said.


Democrats, defending the need for revenue from the top 2 percent of U.S. income earners to help close the budget gap, say cases like Curliss' are the exception not the rule.


"Ninety-seven percent of small businesses would not see any increases in their income taxes," Obama said Thursday. "And even folks who make more than $250,000 would still have a tax break for their incomes up to $250,000."


Just 3 percent of more than 30 million Americans who report business income on their personal returns next year will pay at the top marginal rates, the Joint Committee found.


Many of them, colloquially referred to as "business owners," include independent doctors, lawyers and hedge fund managers whose companies are set up as "pass-through" entities with high incomes and few employees.


Experts say the vast majority of businesses paying taxes through the individual code are very small, make very little money and don't come remotely close to having to pay higher taxes if Obama gets his way.


The average income of a business that reports on an individual tax return is about $40,000, according to the Tax Policy Center.


"Most of these are sole proprietorships and their number of employees is zero," said Howard Gleckman, an analyst with the Center, noting that self-employed taxpayers include babysitters, plumbers and investors.


"All things equal, the lower the taxes, the better off we all are," Gleckman said. "The trade-off, though, is that if you believe the budget deficit is a big economic problem, and if you believe that the ultimate consequence of ongoing high deficits is higher interest rates, well then that's a cost, too."






Read More..

MOM says Jurong crane incident workers had approached ministry for help

Label:





SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said the two workers from China involved in a crane incident at Jurong Port Road on Thursday morning had approached the ministry previously.

The two construction workers, Mr Zhu Guilei and Mr Wu Xiaolin, were at the top of the crane at a construction site at 31, Jurong Port Road, citing unhappiness with their employer Zhong Jiang (Singapore) International Pte Ltd.

In a statement, MOM said Mr Zhu had first come to the Ministry in July 2011 to enquire how he and his friend could resign and return home.

Mr Zhu was then working for a different company.

On Wednesday, Mr Zhu approached MOM's customer relations officers at the MOM Services Centre together with Mr Wu, as they had tendered their resignations and planned to return home.

They claimed they had outstanding salaries owed to them. However, they did not have the necessary documents to support their claims.

MOM officers asked them to return with the documents so that the ministry could investigate, and both Mr Zhu and Mr Wu had agreed to do so.

The MOM has stressed that it will not hesitate to take action against employers who fail to pay their workers on time.

And it urges workers not to take matters into their own hands and break the law. Those facing employment issues should approach MOM for advice and assistance. They can also call the MOM hotline at 6438 5122.

Separately in a statement, the Migrant Workers' Centre (MWC) said it is dismayed to hear of the protest by two migrant workers at Jurong Port Road on Thursday morning, especially in the light of recent developments.

Its Chairman Yeo Guat Kwang said this was a further reminder of the need to expand our outreach and engagement with migrant workers to raise their awareness of channels of help available to them.

- CNA/de



Read More..

Zee chief gets shield against arrest till Dec 14

Label:
NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Thursday granted interim protection against arrest to Zee group chairman Subhash Chandra till December 14 in a case of an alleged extortion bid of Rs 100 crore by two journalists of his TV channel.

Additional session judge Raj Rani Mitra granting the shield against arrest on the anticipatory bail pleas of Chandra and Zee group's managing director Puneet Goenka.

Both of them were told to deposit their passport with the investigating officer and join the probe.

Chandra and Goenka filed anticipatory bail pleas on Wednesday.

Police had twice served notice on Chandra last month asking him to join investigation after the arrest of Zee editors Sudhir Chaudhury and Samir Ahluwalia for their alleged bid to extort Rs 100 crore from Congress MP Naveen Jindal's company.

Chaudhary, head of Zee News, and Ahluwalia, head of Zee Business, were arrested Nov 27 on charges of allegedly attempting to extort money from Jindal's company in exchange for not filing news reports linking his firm to irregular coal blocks allocation. The company filed an extortion case.

Read More..

A 2020 Rover Return to Mars?

Label:

NASA is so delighted with Curiosity's Mars mission that the agency wants to do it all again in 2020, with the possibility of identifying and storing some rocks for a future sample return to Earth.

The formal announcement, made at the American Geophysical Union's annual fall meeting, represents a triumph for the NASA Mars program, which had fallen on hard times due to steep budget cuts. But NASA associate administrator for science John Grunsfeld said that the agency has the funds to build and operate a second Curiosity-style rover, largely because it has a lot of spare parts and an engineering and science team that knows how to develop a follow-on expedition.

"The new science rover builds off the tremendous success from Curiosity and will have new instruments," Grunsfeld said. Curiosity II is projected to cost $1.5 billion—compared with the $2.5 billion price tag for the rover now on Mars—and will require congressional approval.

While the 2020 rover will have the same one-ton chassis as Curiosity—and could use the same sky crane technology involved in the "seven minutes of terror"—it will have different instruments and, many hope, the capacity to cache a Mars rock for later pickup and delivery to researchers on Earth. Curiosity and the other Mars rovers, satellites, and probes have garnered substantial knowledge about the Red Planet in recent decades, but planetary scientists say no Mars-based investigations can be nearly as instructive as studying a sample in person here on Earth.

(Video: Mars Rover's "Seven Minutes of Terror.")

Return to Sender

That's why "sample return" has topped several comprehensive reviews of what NASA should focus on for the next decade regarding Mars.

"There is absolutely no doubt that this rover has the capability to collect and cache a suite of magnificent samples," said astronomer Steven Squyres, with Cornell University in New York, who led a "decadal survey" of what scientists want to see happen in the field of planetary science in the years ahead. "We have a proven system now for landing a substantial payload on Mars, and that's what we need to enable sample return."

The decision about whether the second rover will be able to collect and "cache" a sample will be up to a "science definition team" that will meet in the years ahead to weigh the pros and cons of focusing the rover's activity on that task.  

As currently imagined, bringing a rock sample back to Earth would require three missions: one to select, pick up, and store the sample; a second to pick it up and fly it into a Mars orbit; and a third to take it from Mars back to Earth.

"A sample return would rely on all the Mars missions before it," said Scott Hubbard, formerly NASA's "Mars Czar," who is now at Stanford University. "Finding the right rocks from the right areas, and then being able to get there, involves science and technology we've learned over the decades."

Renewed Interest

Clearly, Curiosity's success has changed the thinking about Mars exploration, said Hubbard. He was a vocal critic of the Obama Administration's decision earlier this year to cut back on the Mars program as part of agency belt-tightening but now is "delighted" by this renewed initiative.

(Explore an interactive time line of Mars exploration in National Geographic magazine.)

More than 50 million people watched NASA coverage of Curiosity's landing and cheered the rover's success, Hubbard said. If things had turned out differently with Curiosity, "we'd be having a very different conversation about the Mars program now."

(See "Curiosity Landing on Mars Greeted With Whoops and Tears of Jubilation.")

If Congress gives the green light, the 2020 rover would be the only $1 billion-plus "flagship" mission—NASA's largest and most expensive class of projects—in the agency's planetary division in the next decade. There are many other less ambitious projects to other planets, asteroids, moons, and comets in the works, but none are flagships. That has left some planetary scientists not involved with Mars unhappy with NASA's heavy Martian focus.

Future Plans

While the announcement of the 2020 rover mission set the Mars community abuzz, NASA also outlined a series of smaller missions that will precede it. The MAVEN spacecraft, set to launch next year, will study the Martian atmosphere in unprecedented detail; a lander planned for 2018 will study the Red Planet's crust and interior; and NASA will renew its promise to participate in a European life-detection mission in 2018. NASA had signed an agreement in 2009 to partner with the European Space Agency on that mission but had to back out earlier this year because of budget constraints.

NASA said that a request for proposals would go out soon, soliciting ideas about science instruments that might be on the rover. And as for a sample return system, at this stage all that's required is the ability to identify good samples, collect them, and then store them inside the rover.

"They can wait there on Mars for some time as we figure out how to pick them up," Squyres said. "After all, they're rocks."


Read More..

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)