Egypt’s Cabinet Offers to Quit as Activists Urge Wider Protests

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">The cabinet offered its resignation to Egypt’s transitional military rulers as security forces carried out an increasingly lethal crackdown on three days of violent street protests, reviving the uncertainty about Egypt’s future that marked the earliest days of the Arab Spring.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><br /> </span></span><br /> </li> <li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; text-align: justify;">The culture minister, Emad Abu Ghazi, has already resigned in protest over the demonstrators’ brutal treatment at the hands of security forces</span></span></li> </ul></div>

Egypt’s Cabinet Offers to Quit as Activists Urge Wider Protests

The cabinet offered its resignation to Egypt’s transitional military rulers as security forces carried out an increasingly lethal crackdo...

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Iran blasts new Western sanctions

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Iran and its powerful ally Russia slammed new Western sanctions imposed on Tehran over its susect nuclear programme, saying they were illegal and futile.</span></span><br /> <br /> </li> <li style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">The unilateral measures against Iran's financial, petrochemical and energy sectors announced Monday by the United States, Britain and Canada amounted merely to "propaganda and psychological warfare.</span></span><br /> <br /> </li> <li style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Russia -- which with China had blocked any possibility of the Western steps going before the UN Security Council for approval -- took a sterner view, saying in a foreign ministry statement the sanctions were "unacceptable and against international law. </span></span><br /> <br /> </li> <li> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Iran, which has dismissed the IAEA report as "baseless" and biased, insists its nuclear programme is for exclusively peaceful, civilian purposes.</span></span><br /> <br /> </li> <li> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">The country is already subject to four sets of UN sanctions designed to force it to give up uranium enrichment, along with additional, unilateral sanctions by the United States and the European Union.</span></span><br /> <br /> </li> <li> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">London said it was "ceasing all contact" between its financial system and that of Iran.</span></span><br /> <br /> </li> <li> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Canada said it was halting "virtually all transactions" with Iran.</span></span><br /> <br /> </li> <li> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">France said it, too, was "in favour of new unprecedented sanctions.</span></span><br /> <br /> </li> <li> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Iran's economy, worth an estimated $480 billion according to the International Monetary Fund, is highly dependent on oil sales, which make up around 70 percent of government revenues. The country is the second-biggest producer in OPEC, after Saudi Arabia.</span></span><br /> </li> </ul></div>

Iran blasts new Western sanctions

Iran and its powerful ally Russia slammed new Western sanctions imposed on Tehran over its susect nuclear programme, saying they were ill...

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Syria Slams UN Draft Resolution

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Syria's envoy to the United Nations has harshly criticized a draft resolution submitted by Germany to the General Assembly's human rights committee, which condemns the eight-month-long crackdown on opposition protests.</span></span><br /> <br /> </li> <li style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari said the document, crafted by Germany, Britain and France, was introduced "in the context of declaring a political, media, and diplomatic war on Syria." </span></span><br /> <br /> </li> <li style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Germany's U.N. Ambassador Peter Wittig, who introduced the nonbinding resolution, said 60 countries are co-sponsoring the document, including Syria's fellow Arab nations of Bahrain, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.  Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country that has become increasingly critical of Damascus, is also co-sponsoring it.</span></span><br /> <br /> </li> <li style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">The General Assembly's human rights committee is scheduled to vote on the document Damascus has been facing mounting international pressure to end the unrest. The United Nations says the crackdown has resulted in more than 3,500 deaths..</span></span><br /> <br /> </li> <li style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Damascus has been facing mounting international pressure to end the unrest. The United Nations says the crackdown has resulted in more than 3,500 deaths.</span></span><br /> </li> </ul></div>

Syria Slams UN Draft Resolution

Syria's envoy to the United Nations has harshly criticized a draft resolution submitted by Germany to the General Assembly's huma...

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Jordan's king meets Abbas on rare West Bank visit

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Jordan's King Abdullah II held talks in Ramallah on Monday with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on his first visit to the West Bank in more than a decade.</span></span><br /> <br /> </li> <li style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">The rare visit came just days ahead of a key summit between the rival Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas, which are looking to cement a stalled unity deal that has drawn fierce opposition from Israel and Washington.</span></span><br /> </li> </ul></div>

Jordan's king meets Abbas on rare West Bank visit

Jordan's King Abdullah II held talks in Ramallah on Monday with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on his first visit to the West Ban...

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Seawalls can worsen erosion

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Karnataka's coastline is being threatened by the very edifice that was designed to protect it.</span></span><br /> <br /> </li> <li style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Granite seawalls, constructed unscientifically along large sections of the State's 320-km coast to ostensibly protect the shore from erosion, are threatening the livelihoods of fishing communities and destroying coastal ecosystems, says the latest State of Environment Report for Karnataka, 2010-11.</span></span><br /> </li> </ul></div>

Seawalls can worsen erosion

Karnataka's coastline is being threatened by the very edifice that was designed to protect it. Granite seawalls, constructed unsci...

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Award for C.N.R. Rao

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">C.N.R. Rao, Honorary President of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, has been awarded the Ernesto Illy Trieste Science Prize for 2011 in recognition of his contributions to materials research.  </span></span><br /> <br /> </li> <li style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">The award, instituted by the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, was presented in Trieste, Italy. </span></span><br /> <br /> </li> <li style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">It comprises a cash prize of $100,000, a medal and citation.</span></span><br /> </li> </ul></div>

Award for C.N.R. Rao

C.N.R. Rao, Honorary President of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, has been awarded the Ernesto Illy Trieste Sci...

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BioAsia-2012 to focus on vaccines, IPR, CROs and investments

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div id="4799" style="display: block;"> <ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">The ninth edition of the annual global event, ‘BioAsia-2012' to be held here in February next, is set to focus on vaccines, Intellectual Property Rights, Contract Research Organisation and Investments.</span></span><br /> <br /> </li> <li style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">More business support elements like workshops, company presentations, luncheons and BioBazaar would be part of ‘BioAsia 2012'. For the first time, Sri Lanka would participate as a ‘partner country'.</span></span><br /> <br /> </li> <li style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">In another new initiative, the organisers have decided to sponsor the visit of top regulator in the life-science field from SAARC countries like Nepal, Maldives and Bangladesh.</span></span><br /> <br /> </li> <li style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">The global event will be held in Hyderabad.</span></span><br /> <br /> </li> <li style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">The Genome Valley Excellence Awards 2012 will be given.</span></span><br /> <br /> </li> <li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; text-align: justify;">The Awards would be conferred on Dr. Seth Berkeley, CEO, GAVI Alliance, Geneva, for his extra-ordinary contributions to the vaccine sector and Merck & Co. for its ‘Patient & Health Vaccine Research' in addition to its support and backing to the initiatives focussed on cancers in women. Dr. Kevin Ali, president (emerging markets), Merck & Co., would receive the award on the company's behalf during Bio-asia 2012</span></span></li> </ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div></div></div>

BioAsia-2012 to focus on vaccines, IPR, CROs and investments

The ninth edition of the annual global event, ‘BioAsia-2012' to be held here in February ne...

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Air Vice-Marshal first to be awarded Ph.D

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Air Vice-Marshal Arjun Subramaniam, serving at the Air Headquarters here, has been awarded a Doctorate by the University of Madras for his thesis on “Aerospace Warfare in Fourth Generation Warfare.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">This was the first time, he said, that an officer who had enrolled for a Ph.D. while serving as a faculty member was given an opportunity to defend his thesis at DSSC, which has been designated by the University as a centre for research</span></span><br /> </li> </ul></div>

Air Vice-Marshal first to be awarded Ph.D

Air Vice-Marshal Arjun Subramaniam, serving at the Air Headquarters here, has been awarded a Doctorate by the University of Madras for hi...

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SEWA to provide solar lanterns and energy-efficient stoves to its members

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div id="4803" style="display: block;"> <ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is helping India’s Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) provide energy-efficient cook stoves and solar lanterns to more than 200,000 of its members in Rajasthan and Gujarat over the next three years.</span></span><br /> <br /> </li> <li style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">IFC will guarantee a loan from local banks to SEWA members by signing a memorandum of understanding with SEWA. The project is subject to regulatory approvals. It is in line with IFC’s clean-growth strategy and will also help to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. It will also serve to demonstrate a self-sustaining business model that could also be introduced in other parts of Asia and in Africa.</span></span><br /> <br /> </li> <li style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">“This is one of the world’s largest clean-energy projects aimed at the $5 trillion market of consumers, distributors, and entrepreneurs that forms the base of the economic pyramid,”</span></span><br /> </li> </ul></div></div>

SEWA to provide solar lanterns and energy-efficient stoves to its members

International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is helping India’s S...

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Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, former Philippine president, arrested

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was arrested on Friday for electoral fraud, which carries a life sentence, at aManila hospital, preventing her departure from the country to seek medical treatment. </span></span><br /> <br /> </li> <li style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">President Benigno Aquino and his government have long accused Arroyo of corruption during her two terms in office, from 2001-2010, though until Friday, authorities had not formally charged her. </span></span><br /> </li> </ul></div>

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, former Philippine president, arrested

Former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was arrested on Friday for electoral fraud, which carries a life sentence, at aManila...

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