Author Archives: Gunjan Priya

Posted on by

US doubts Chinese leadership ‘disconnected’ from military

US Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, visits Japan to discuss on Tokyo’s military role in East Asian region. The diplomat also aimed to get an assurance for US for no further threats from N Korea and China and enhance US-Japan military ties.

The stealth fighter’s test flight by China has worried the United States and US doubts whether there is any cooperation among military and politicians in China, Gates revealed  on Friday.

China had tested J-20 fighter on Tuesday, during US diplomat’s visit to Beijing. However, Chinese President Hu Jintao stated that he was not aware of any such test when asked by Robert Gates.

China had tested an anti-satellite missile in 2007 and there was a conflict between a U.S. surveillance ship  and Chinese ship in waters of the South China Sea in 2009. This was also an incident that reflected poor coordination between Chinese Government and the military as the leaders were not even informed regarding these tests and conflicts.

However, Gates clarified that he had no doubt over President Hu Jintao’s leadership quality and his administration.

The US defense secretary also did not point out whether the nuclear weapons of China were under the control of military or the civilian government.

Posted on by

Clinton says Islamic militancy biggest threat to Gulf region

DOHA: – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday urged the Middle East countries to abandon corrupt institutions and revamp sluggish political systems. She warned these countries about serious outcomes in case of failing to tighten control over the corrupt practices in the system. She also raised an apprehension toward losing the future to Islamic militancy in the region.

Hillary Clinton was on a 5-day visit to the region which has been facing political turmoil of different nature. During her address to regional leaders in Qatar, Clinton said that the countries of the Gulf region are not up to the tasks when it comes to make necessary demographic and political changes in the existing systems.

She, however, accepted that each country in the region has its diverse challenges. The audience included representatives from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and several other US allies.

Clinton said that her five-day visit to the region was a deliberate US effort toward a more stable and innovative Middle East countries in the coming future. She mentioned the green energy projects in the UAE and politically involved youths in Yemen as rays of hopes in the region. However, she stated that the developments were irregular and a lot of constructive steps needed to be taken to bring political stability in the region.

During the five-day trip, Clinton visited UAE, Oman, Qatar and Yemen. Yemen has been under global focus due to rise to resurgent regional wing of al-Qaeda. She also consulted with US allies on Iran’s nuclear program.

Posted on by

China skeptical over Geithner’s offer of ‘greater access to US market’

BEIJING: China is skeptical over  US offer to free up trade in high-tech goods. Chinese government advisers and economists said on Thursday that in the aftermath of the offer,  Chinese government should  reject to be involved into a negotiation  to speed up Yuan appreciation.

Timothy Geithner, treasury secretary, said that the United States wants to give China a greater access to US market and high-tech goods and in exchange for that expects Beijing to review its strictly controlled exchange rate system.

Meanwhile Chinese officials refused to comment on Geithner’s proposal that is made just ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to the United States next week. Many analysts are of the view that it is dubious to accept this trade-for-currency proposal.

“China will not act according to US direction; as far as Yuan appreciation is concerned, it must follow a general trend and not be impacted from the US sentiments,” said Ding Yifan, an analyst of the State Council.

One of the analysts is of the view that China should not be bothered about US demands as Beijing can have a greater access to high level of high-tech goods with ease from the Western Europe.

This week China has guided the Yuan move upward 0.4 percent against the US dollar. It has been a well-known pattern of pushing Yuan value up against the dollar before any diplomatic engagements.

Analysts are of the view that more and more Yuan appreciation will be needed over the period of time as inflation has been skyrocketing for the last two years and the trade surplus touching nearly $200 billion last year.

Posted on by

US not to desert Pakistan in aftermath of Afghan war: Biden

ISLAMABAD:–Vice President Biden said that the United States will not desert Pakistan in the aftermath of Afghan war. He rejected the notions of many who believe that the US is seeking help of Pakistan for the sake of own interests in the region and will ditch its ties once its objective is attained.

During his unexpected one-day visit to Islamabad, Biden said that both countries are successfully fighting war against terror and it is in the interest of both the United States and Pakistan that al-Qaeda and other militant groups are defeated. While addressing media persons along with Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Taza Gillani, Biden said that the Islamist extremists are defaming the country’s name and threatening its sovereignty. He further said that the main objective of the US administration is to strengthen sovereignty in the region and bring back peace and normalcy in the lives of Pakistani people.

The US vice president reached Islamabad on Wednesday and it is being said that the objective behind the visit could be pressurizing Pakistan to review its economic policy and making its government think seriously about tackling extremists. During his visit, Biden had a detailed discussion with Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani, President Asif Ali Zardari and Army Chief Ashfaq Kayani.

According to president office, President Zardari assured Biden that Pakistan will keep fighting against all odds and come out a winner in its war against terror and a handful of militants cannot enforce their inhuman agenda on the people of Pakistan.

Posted on by

Republican Sarah Palin invites fresh controversy citing ‘Blood libel”

Sarah Palin Ex-Alaska governor ignites controversy again by denying responsibility of Tucson shooting rampage on Saturday.

The mass shooting caused death of six people and left many injured  along Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a Democrat from Arizona. Palin’s message on social network Facebook has been put as to defend actions that caused Tucson shootings.  In order to defend herself, she has created another center of debate.

Palin uses a very controversial term –“blood libel” while trying to defend her provocative actions. “Blood libel” is however representative of anti-Semitic slander – that was a false accusation against Jews. This was used to provoke Christians against Jews.

Giffords, who has been severely injured in the Saturday incident called Palin’s statement as an invitation to violence.

“Palin’s defensive statement on Facebook appears with a video to reveal the entire incident and demonstrate a U-turn from her previous stand. However, religious fundamentalists may quote the Blood libel in other perspective and provoke common mass toward further violence.

Sarah Palin has been considered as most effective leader among Republicans but losing focus within the party recently due to other emerging prominent leaders. She is also rethinking on her decision to contest for 2012 presidential polls.

Posted on by

New York prepares for redemption storm

New York’s mayor claims the city is ready to combat storm.

Michael Bloomberg, New York City Mayor has assured people after failing to help people x during blizzard that the administration would be prepared to tackle with any problems from now taking a lesson from their failure in post-Christmas storms.

It has been predicted however, by the National Weather Service that New York may experience 8-14 inches of snowfall along stormy winds with a speed around 25 miles per hour. Visibility would also be reduced. Therefore, the claims of the administration are not so far from being tested once again.

The Mayor admitted that the city lacked adequate equipment to clear roads and assist emergency needs of people in time but they would ensure this does not happen again.

He declared a “weather emergency” on Tuesday and advised people not to drive. drivers were given caution for parking their vehicles at proper places and it is hoped that no traffic jam will occur due to too many vehicles parked on the roads.

Schools are yet not opened till Wednesday.

Transportation, Parks, and Environmental Protection departments are assisting in clearing off snow from streets and roads. A new 15-point plan has been launched by the city administration to give quick response to people at the time of blizzard. GPS systems and Sanitation Department have also offered their services for emergency hours.

Posted on by

Google’s Android may lose customers as Verizon sells iPhone

Google Inc’s business may be affected as Verizon Wireless begins selling Apple Inc’s iPhone, given the customers a fresh option to smart phones operating on the Android Operating System.

Verizon Wireless is all set to make an announcement regarding the inclusion of iPhone to its network in New York on Tuesday, according to a familiar source. Dan Hays, partner at management consultant firm PRTM, said that Verizon is expected to replace 2 million Android iPhone shipments order in a year.

Thousand of Verizon customers will prefer to go for iPhone over Android phones, and even its own Android users may switch over, said Gene Munster, an analyst in Minneapolis.

Apple Inc is expected to ship around 9 million iPhones in 2011 in collaboration with Verizon; apart from 11 million units through AT&T, the analyst said.

Android has emerged as a top-seller in the United States and accounts for 26 percent of the smartphone market as compared to 25 percent of the iPhone. RIM’s Blackberry is leading the race with 33 percent of the market.

In the first half of the year, several Android-based LTE-compatible phones are expected to be launched in the market. However, an iPhone with LTE network will take some time to be available, according to analysts.

Analysts view that Apple may perform better than Google as far as attracting Verizon users toward smartphones for the first time.

Posted on by

Obama, Sarkozy pledge to work toward global economic recovery

Washington:  In a meeting at the White House, US President Barack Obama signed an agreement with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy to move together toward strengthening the global economic recovery.

The meeting was given due importance considering the fact  France is a member of both the G8 group and  G20.  Later this year, both the G8 and G20 summits will be held in France.

While addressing the media on the occasion, President Obama said that the world is still in the process of recovering from the terrible recession and there is lot of things to be done to come out from the prolonged crisis.

Both Obama and Sarkozy stressed on the need to rectify the imbalances in the fiscal policies of governments across the world and held the wrong policies responsible for hindering economic development. Sarkozy further said that 2011 will notice a comprehensive solution to tackle current economic imbalances and issues. The world need to take a structural view of current problems and should act accordingly, he said.

The talks between both the presidents stretched further to the lunch session for the additional dialogs on several other issues like war in Afghanistan, Iran nuclear issue, Middle East development and the Ivory Coast political crisis.

Sarkozy expressed his deep condolence toward the victims and families of the Saturday shooting incident in which Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was seriously injured and six others killed.

Posted on by

Congresswoman Giffords’ alleged shooter appears in federal court

Phoenix:  While Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is still on a path to recovery from the gunshot injury in Tucson, her shooting suspect, Jared Loughner, has made the first appearance in the court. Jared Loughner, 22, has already been facing five criminal charges that include murders also. Loughner appeared in court with shaved head and a scar marks on his right temple. It is said that he did not have a smooth relation with his family members.

Meanwhile, doctors have said that Gabrielle Giffords’ condition is still critical and not shown any big improvement since Sunday.

US President Barack Obama and other Congress leaders express condolence toward the victims and their families. The president has a schedule to attend a condolence ceremony in Tucson in Wednesday.

The people who are known to Loughner have revealed that for past few years he has had a bitter relations with family and friends; he grew into an extremely erratic personality due to some tragic experiences in life.

Loughner’s parents have not been available for their comments since their son was arrested on Saturday.

As per US voters’ registration details, Loughner decided to move out of his parents’ residence in 2008 and got an apartment for himself in northwest Tucson, but he was forced to go back to his parents as he had no sources of income at all.

Posted on by

US fails to negotiate over enhancing military ties with China

The U.S. Defense Chief Robert Gates agrees to his Chinese counterpart to enhance military cooperation between the two nations.  However, the two delegates remained stubborn over the issues of Taiwan and Chinese ammunition.

Gates and Chinese Defense Minister General Liang Guanglie stated that they are heading toward strengthening military cooperation but the two issues of conflict remained unresolved regarding Taiwan and China’s continuous efforts for modernizing military power.

Gates is on a three-day visit to China. He has also offered Guanglie to visit Washington and discuss nuclear posture, cyber warfare and missile defense.

The US could, however only convince the Chinese diplomat for a strategic dialogue with Chinese military leaders.

Robert Gates also aimed to get some deal over military ties in this visit and expressed this while talking in a joint press conference with Chinese defense minister Gates further stated that the two nations acknowledge the need to minimize misunderstandings between the two countries and establish strong cooperation ties.

However, the Chinese authorities seemed to be interested more in smoothening bilateral relations right now prior to Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to Washington.

Liang made it obvious once again that China would never support US for providing weapons to Taiwan. US had recently sold arms worth $5.4 billion to Taiwan following which China showed its displeasure strongly and discontinued military cooperation.