Huge laser experiment to reconstruct conditions at Sun's heart

Scientists are all set to begin the U.S. National Ignition Facility (NIF), which is literally a huge laser experiment aimed at recreating conditions at the heart of our Sun. According to a report, the experiment is designed to demonstrate the feasibility of nuclear fusion, a process that could offer abundant clean energy.

The lab will kick-start the reaction by focusing 192 huge laser beams on a tiny pellet of hydrogen fuel. To work, it must show that more energy can be extracted from the process than is required to initiate it.

The California-based NIF is the largest experimental science facility in the U.S. and contains the world's most powerful laser. It has taken 12 years to build. "This is a major milestone," said Dr Ed Moses, director of the facility.

But the challenge of creating a practical fusion reactor has eluded scientists for decades. Now, however, they believe they are nearing their goal. Fusion naturally occurs at the center of stars where huge gravitational pressure allows the process to happen at temperatures of about 10 million Celsius.

"We are well on our way to achieving what we set out to do - control, sustained nuclear fusion and energy gain for the first time ever in a laboratory setting," he added. Experiments will begin in June 2009, with the first significant results expected between 2010 and 2012. Fusion is looked on as the "holy grail" of energy sources because of its potential to supply almost limitless clean energy.

At the much lower pressures on Earth, temperatures to produce fusion need to be much higher - above 100 million Celsius. If it works, NIF will release 10 to 100 times more energy than the amount pumped into the lasers to kick-start the reaction.

Obama : US does not plan to put troops in Pakistan

US will go after Al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan after consulting with Islamabad but does not aim to use combat troops on the ground there, President Barack Obama said in an interview.

"If we have a high-value target within our sights, after consulting with Pakistan, we're going after them," Obama said in an interview broadcast on CBS's "Face the Nation" program.

Asked if that meant putting US troops on the ground in Pakistan, Obama said: "No. Our plan does not change the recognition of Pakistan as a sovereign government. We need to work with them and through them to deal with Al Qaeda. But we have to hold them much more accountable."

Obama made his comments in an interview conducted on Friday, the day he announced a new war strategy for Afghanistan that called for the elimination of Al Qaeda militants he said were plotting attacks on the United States from the rough region along the Afghan-Pakistan frontier.

The plan called for another 4,000 US troops to help train the Afghan army, in addition to the 17,000 combat troops he ordered to Afghanistan ahead of elections in August. Spending on the conflict is expected to rise 60 percent from the current $2 billion per month, officials said.

"What we want to do is to refocus attention on Al-Qaeda," Obama said. "We are going to root out their networks, their bases. We are going to make sure that they cannot attack U.S. citizens, U.S. soil, U.S. interests and our allies' interests around the world," he said.

The approach seeks to make trust and improve ties with an ally that Washington has at times supported and at times ignored but now sees as critical in the fight against the militant group that carried out the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, U.S. officials said.

To plant Al Qaeda, Obama said, the United States had to ensure it could not find a base in Afghanistan or Pakistan from which to organize attacks. He said Washington also needed to convince average Pakistanis that the struggle with extremists was not just a U.S. war.

"One of the concerns that we've had building up over the last several years is a notion, I think, among the average Pakistani, that this is somehow America's war and they are not invested," Obama said.

CEO of General Motors resigns at Obama's command

Obama government has asked Rick Wagoner, the chairman and CEO of General Motors, to quit, but has refused to reveal why this decision was taken. General Motors issued a vague statement Sunday night that did not officially confirm Wagoner's departure.

"We are anticipating an announcement soon from the Administration concerning the reorganization of the U.S. auto industry. We continue to work closely with members of the Task Force and it would not be appropriate for us to speculate on the content of any announcement," Politico quoted the company, as saying.

The surprise announcement about the classically iconic American corporation is perhaps the most vivid sign yet of the tectonic change in the relationship between business and government in this era of subsidies and bailouts.

Wagoner has been CEO for eight years and at General Motors for more than 30 years. It is not yet clear who would replace him, or what role the administration would play in that process.

Business sources had said the White House intended very tough medicine in Monday's announcement, which turned out to be an understatement. The measures to be imposed by the government will have a dramatic effect on workers, unions, suppliers, bondholders, shareholders, retirees and the communities where plants are located, the sources said.

Earlier this month, President Obama agreed to loan five billion dollars to American auto parts manufacturers to help them weather the steep drop in new vehicle orders and the financial uncertainty at the Big Three.

Obama and his aides may have honed in on Wagoner for two reasons. First, his company is asking for the most in total federal aid: 26 billion dollars, a figure administration officials fear could grow even larger. Second, the General Motors chief was tied more directly to the ill-fated decisions that that brought much of the American auto industry to the brink of collapse.

Wagoner joined General Motors in 1977, has had a senior role in General Motors management since 1992, and became CEO of the company in 2000. He is considered responsible for increasing focus on trucks and SUVs-at the expense of the hybrids and fuel efficient cars that have become more popular in the last couple of years.

US not interested in Kashmir Issue

US has made it clear that it would turn clear of the Kashmir issue as it seeks to engage India and other key stakeholders in the region in its new policy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

'We don't intend to get mixed up in that issue,' President Barack Obama's National Security Adviser, Gen James Jones, told reporters Friday when asked if the US expected to address issues between India and Pakistan, particularly Kashmir, as part of its new regional come up to.

'But we do intend to help both India and Pakistan build more trust and confidence so that Pakistan can address the issues that it confronts on the western side of the nation,' he said referring to Pakistan's tribal areas which Obama and other US officials have described as terrorist safe havens.

'But no, Kashmir is a unconnected issue,' Jones said. 'But we think that the times are so serious that we need to build the trust and confidence in the region, so that nations can do what they need to do in order to defeat the threat' posed by Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorist groups.

'As America does more, we will ask others to join us in doing their part,' he said referring to Obama Administration's plans to 'forge a new contact group for Afghanistan and Pakistan that brings together all who should have a stake in the security of the region.'

The proposed group will include America's NATO allies and other partners, the Central Asian states, Gulf nations, Iran, Russia, India, and China, Jones said noting, 'All have a stake in the promise of lasting peace and security and development in the reign.

Satyam bidding : 8 short listed, IBM present.

Satyam Computer Services has short listed about eight bidders, counting IBM and private equity company Apax Partners, for buying the fraud-hit outsourcer, the Economic Times said.

Indian engineering multinational Larsen & Toubro, Tech Mahindra and Spice Group are among other selected bidders for a 51 percent stake, the newspaper said, citing unnamed sources.

U.S. based IBM has registered its interest through a law firm, it said. The short listed bidders will do their due diligence of Satyam over the next two days, it said, quoting a person familiar with the development. A spokeswoman for Satyam said the company would not make any comment on the bidding process.

Spice Group Chairman B.K. Modi told Reuters on Wednesday the company might withdraw from the race to buy Satyam due to a lack of desired transparency in the bidding process.

New York-listed Satyam has been struggling since founder and Chairman Ramalinga Raju shocked investors in January, saying profits had been overstated for years and assets falsified in India's biggest corporate scandal. Raju is being held in jail.

The Satyam board is looking for a buyer to help restore the confidence of its more than 600 clients and about 50,000-strong staff, but there are concerns about the extent of the fraud, whether it is losing clients and its legal liabilities. The company's accounts are yet to be restated.

Is IPL soft target for terror?

The Indian Premier League (IPL), which has now been shifted to South Africa, was the prime target of a large scale terrorist, targeting a host of foreign cricket players, a leading American think-tank Stratfor said today.

"Intelligence of India apparatus is thought to have warned the central government of a flood of specific pressure against both Indian and foreign cricket players," said Stratfor. Based on the intelligence information it has from various sources, Stratfor in its latest analysis said it received indications early on from Indian security sources that the IPL tournament was a prime target for another large-scale Islamist militant operation following the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.

"Warnings of specific threats against the players came from the governments of the states hosting matches, including Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.” Given that these two states respectively are home to the information technology hubs of Hyderabad and Bangalore both of which have a heavy foreign presence and are where multinational corporations doing business in India are concentrated, these states are at a particularly high risk of attack," it said.

Mrs. Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama has set the record without delay: She's not pregnant. While in an interview this month with Oprah Winfrey in "O: The Oprah Magazine", the First Lady put baby rumors to rest.

Mrs. Obama obviously has been the speculation of pregnancy buzz ever since Barack got elected, reports The Chicago Sun-Times. In an excerpt from the interview, Oprah asked her: Well, you look better than ever - despite the rumors that you've got a baby bump.

To which, Michelle replied: [Laughter] I know - I was like, "Baby bump? As hard as I work on my abs?"

Oprah continued: By the way, nobody would be happier if you were pregnant than Gayle King. Out of nowhere, she'll tell me, "Oh God. I really hope Michelle gets pregnant - and that it's a boy!"

Michelle said: [More laughter] Here's the scoop. Not pregnant. And not planning on it. Not pregnant. Not pregnant.

US military introduce BigDog robots in Afghanistan

US military is deploying the robots to Afghanistan to navigate the country's treacherous terrain. Named BigDogs, these robots are being deployed in addition to big guns.

The BigDogs - four-legged robots that can take the helm the country's treacherous terrain - and pilotless helicopters than can transport tons of supplies to very remote bases are just two of the new weapons being tested in Afghanistan. The machine's creator, Boston Dynamics, has a motto - "dedicated to the way things move" - and that's precisely what is both jarring and fascinating about its invention.

Using a gasoline engine that emits an eerie lawnmower buzz, BigDog has animal-inspired articulated legs that absorb shock and recycle kinetic energy from one step to the next. Its robot brain, a sophisticated computer, controls locomotion sensors that adapt rapidly to the environment. The entire control system regulates steers and navigates ground contact. A laser gyroscope keeps BigDog on his metal paws - even when the robot slips, stumbles or is kicked over.

Boston Dynamics says BigDog can run as fast as 4 miles per hour, walk slowly, lie down and climb slopes up to 35 degrees. BigDog's heightened sense can also survey the surrounding terrain and become alert to potential danger. All told, the BigDog bears an uncanny resemblance to a living organic animal.

Routine helicopter flights operating 24 hours a day, year round, are crucial for the American mission. The Marine Corps has recently called for unmanned cargo flights to carry essentials to isolated areas that can be reached only by air. Enter the K-MAX, a remote-controlled helicopter designed to transport heavy loads - even in Afghanistan's high altitudes.

Tipu's throne goes under the tack hammer

After a few days Mahatma Gandhi's personal possessions, some more of India's heritage is to go under the hammer - this time, a gem-set gold finial from the throne of Tipu Sultan will be auctioned in London next week.

The recently discovered gem-encrusted gold finial plundered from Tipu Sultan's huge golden throne is being put up for sale in the British capital on April 2, ten years after it was found lying in the vaults of an English bank.

The object, found by the Bonhams Islamic Department during a routine valuation, is one of three surviving tiger head finials that adorned Tipu's elaborate throne.

It had lain at Featherstone Castle, Northumberland, where it was listed in an 1843 inventory of the late Baron Wallace of Knarsdale (1768-1844), who oversaw the East India Company, and afterwards was hidden away in a bank.

In fact, the famous golden throne was broken up so quickly -- much to the disapproval of the then Governor -- General Lord Wellesley -- following the fall of Seringapatam that little is known about the fate of the remaining relics.

However, a large gold tiger head from the front of the throne platform now resides at Windsor Castle, while another surviving finial lies at Powis Castle, acquired by the second Lady Clive in India.

Auctioneers Bonhams, who have described the finial as actually "one of the most important Tipu items ever to appear for sale", valued it at 800,000 pounds, the British media has reported.

"It holds huge fascination for both India and Britain as it is part of our shared history. It is, without a doubt, of the greatest historical significance as it belongs to the most important symbolic object in Tipu's kingdom, his throne, which he refused to mount until he had defeated the British," Claire Penhallurick of Bonhams was quoted as saying.

The IPL drama

The next term of the Indian Premier League will be held outside India, the BCCI announced in Mumbai on Sunday. The BCCI's determination to shift the tournament out of the country came at an emergency meeting comprising its office-bearers and the eight franchise owners in Mumbai.

IPL commissioner Lalit Modi said the timing of the matches would remain the same, with the first game scheduled at 1600 IST and next at 2000, no matter which venue they will be played at. Basically, it would mean that the Twenty20 tournament, scheduled to be held between April 10 and May 24, would essentially become a television event.

South Africa and England are being talked about as possible venues but the BCCI is still in talks with other boards to finalize the venue. "We will let you know about the new venue in two or three days," BCCI president Shashank Manohar said. The BCCI made it clear that the last straw that made them decide to shift the venue out of India was the last-minute reversal of stand by Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh governments, which had earlier given clearance for the tournament.

"The BCCI is not in a position to either play a truncated IPL or cancel the second edition of the IPL. It is a matter of great regret that, in the prevailing atmosphere, where the government is expressing concern for providing security to the IPL matches, the BCCI is left with no other option but to conduct the Indian Premier League in another country," the BCCI said in a statement.

Obama react : Cheney tactic 'hasn't made us safer'

US President Barack Obama react at former Vice President Dick Cheney's analysis of his policies on terrorism suspects, saying Cheney's approach had brought the United States scorn instead of security.

Obama told in "60 Minutes" program that the policy on detainees at Guantanamo Bay military prison under the management of former President George W. Bush had been "unsustainable".

"How many terrorists have actually been brought to justice under the attitude that is being promoted by Vice President Cheney? It hasn't made us safer. What it has been is a great advertisement for anti-American sentiment," Obama said, according to excerpts released by CBS on Saturday. The interview was to be broadcast on Sunday,Cheney recently told CNN television that Obama's revamped policies on terrorism suspects would make the US more susceptible to attack.

Obama started rolling back some of the Bush administration's national security policies. Obama ordered the closing of Guantanamo, Cuba, within a year, and an end to the harsh interrogation of terrorism suspects.

Obama said, however, that decisions that land on his desk are often a choice "between bad and worse." His hardest decision thus far, he told CBS, was sending an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan.

Earlier this week White House spokesman Robert Gibbs poured scorn on Cheney's comments about Obama's terrorism policies. Gibbs called the former vice president part of a "Republican cabal" along with conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

Is India Pakistan's primary target?

India is ringed by turbulent states Like Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Turbulence has percolated through India's porous borders in the form of arms and narcotics to finance insurgents, militants, terrorists and religious fundamentalists.

India remains Pakistan's primary target and operating ground for Islamic fundamentalists and terrorist groups who infiltrate through Jammu & Kashmir, Nepal and Bangladesh and carry out anti-Indian activities with impunity.

Nepal is vulnerable to China's influence. Its extremists have linkages with the People's War Group in India. In its bid to expand its influence, the PWG has carved a corridor ringing the states of Andhra Pradesh-Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh-Orissa-West Bengal-Jharkhand-Bihar.

This endless internal turbulence in India is also inter-linked with external factors. To the north, India shares a 3,440-km long border with China, which can pose the entire spectrum of conventional, nuclear and missile threats. It can also influence and use as proxy India’s neighbors to weigh India down in every possible way.

In short, India's 14,058-km long land frontier is impacted by a perpetually hostile or semi-hostile environment. Indian security stands threatened by demographic assault, arms and drug smuggling, and the safe havens that the insurgents have in India.

Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan are house under arrested

Islamabad administration commands were passed for a three-day house arrest of former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other opposition leaders Sunday after he rejected President Asif Ali Zardari's olive branch and vowed to continue with the lawyers' stir.

Punjab Police also placed under house arrest Jamat-e-Islami (JI) chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed and the leader of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf Imran Khan.

According to informed sources, suddenly orders included names of other political leaders like Shahbaz Sharif, Hamza Shahbaz, Zulfiqar Khosa, Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Liaquat Baloch.

Police sources said that the concerned politicians have been apprised of the orders regarding their house arrest. Heavy police troops have also been deployed outside their houses.

Nawaz Sharif late Saturday rejected Zardari's offer on seeking a review of a Supreme Court verdict barring him and his brother from contesting elections, saying a lawyers' stir for reinstating the judges sacked in 2007 would go ahead nonetheless.

'I am declaring here that come what may, the lawyers' long march will continue to Islamabad,' he said at a rally in Lahore Saturday night, even as the government earlier in the day asked the army to remain on standby to prevent the protesters from entering the federal capital.

Zardari's reneging on the agreement had prompted Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to walk out of the coalition led by the president's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) formed after the February 2008 general elections.

I think this is murder of democracy in Pakistan………

Narendra Modi is not my competitor

BJP’s prime ministerial candidate L K Advani has said Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was not his "heir apparent" or a competitor although he may be party's most popular leader right now.

In an interview whether Modi was 'standing above the other leaders of the second generation in the BJP' and if he was 'heir apparent', Advani replied, 'No, I would not say so, especially when we have string of chief ministers who have been performing so well.'

To a question as to whether the Gujarat chief minister was the most popular leader after him, Advani replied, 'Why after me? He may be the most popular leader right now.'

The 82-year-old also sought to downplay the 'youth card' saying, 'I do not attach much importance to the so-called youth card. I do not think age is a handicap as long as one is fit. There is experience you bring with age.'

Describing the party's approach in 2004 general elections as 'complacent' due to 'overconfidence' resulting in major debacle, the former deputy prime minister said: 'Now I say it is a good thing for the party that the overconfidence has gone. The defeat in the Rajasthan and Delhi assembly elections are also something that makes us works harder.'

However, he did not give further details. He also totally ruled out any possibility of Congress-BJP tie-up, saying: 'I don't think it is in the realm of possibility in our country now.'

But Advaniji, my suggestion is: please BE CAREFULL from Narendra Modi..

America extends $8 million help to Pakistan

Democratic Senator John Kerry has said the United States must do what it can to "sustain the democracy" in Pakistan.

General David Petraeus, the US military commander for the region, and Richard Holbrooke, the special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, will brief lawmakers Thursday on Pakistan's political crisis, Kerry said, , who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Pakistan's leaders are working very, very hard to try to reach an agreement that will bring elements of the government together in unity and allow them to go forward," said Kerry.

Amidst deepening political crisis in Pakistan, the United States has conceded that it is a difficult situation in Pakistan but said that Washington supports freedom of speech and expression.

Arrest and detention of the opposition leaders supporting the march came out, the State Department asserted that it supports freedom of speech, expression and assembly in Pakistan.

State Department's Acting spokesman Robert Wood told media persons at his daily press briefing that the US stand has been that it supports freedom of speech, of expression, and of assembly in Pakistan.

"What we think is important is that the various parties try to resolve their differences within the political system of Pakistan in accordance with its constitution with respect for the rule of law," Wood said.

Ramalinga Raju in federal crime bureau custody

Ramalinga Raju and four others have been sent to the custody of India's federal crime bureau for investigation into the country's biggest corporate scandal, the bureau said.

Ramalinga Raju, his brother and former Satyam managing director Rama Raju, and chief financial officer Vadlamani Srinivas will remain in the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for seven days from Tuesday, following a court order, the CBI said.

Two former officials from Satyam's auditing firm Price Waterhouse, S. Gopalakrishnan and Srinivas Talluri, have also been sent to CBI custody by a court in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, it said in a statement on Monday.

Satyam has been battling for survival since Ramalinga Raju resigned as chairman on Jan. 7, revealing profits had been overstated for years and that $1 billion of cash and bank balances on the company's books did not exist. The five men were all arrested later that month.

The CBI took over the fraud investigation last month from the police in Andhra Pradesh state, whose capital is Hyderabad.

The bureau's statement said several documents related to the case had been collected and witnesses had been examined.

Satyam kicked off a bidding process on Monday to sell a majority stake to regain the confidence of its clients and staff, and two potential suitors quickly confirmed they would join the race for the tainted outsourcer.

Is Indo-US relationship to grow stronger?

The United States today said the Indo-US relationship is destined to grow stronger under the Obama Administration. "I don't see the US-India relation doing anything but growing and becoming stronger," Gordon Duguid, the State Department's Acting Deputy spokesman, said.

"No matter who the next US Ambassador to India is, the United States and India share many interests," Duguid said. "We began with a strategic dialogue.

We now see India as a strategic partner, as well as an economic partner," he said. "We have a growing amount of cross-trade.

We have a number of issues that we have been able to work together on over the last 10 years or so. And we will continue on that trend, I foresee," he added.

"I see US-India relations becoming stronger, and not negative policies being generated because of our growing contacts," He said when asked if the current US policies on H-1B visas and outsourcing would have an impact on bilateral relationships. It’s all right but the burning question is this “why US help to Pakistan ? ? ?”

Interceptor missile – India develop a new powerful weapon

As part of building a domestic ballistic missile Defense system, India on Friday successfully test fired its homegrown interceptor missile. The third interceptor, tested from Integrated Test Range at Wheeler Island in Orissa, destroyed an incoming decoy ballistic missile.

The two-stage Interceptor Missile fitted with advanced systems hit the target 'enemy' missile at an altitude of 75 kilometers. Many congratulations to DRDO and Indian scientists….