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The year 2009 has arrived and when we will look behind to the year 2008, we will find these as the main events of the year 2009 for India.

First One: Nuclear Deal.

Indo-US Nuclear Deal has for the first time proved that national welfare has more value than the political selfishness. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was so keen to pass this bill that he never considered about his own government. Later he got the support of the Parliament too. Finally India got the strong friendship of United States. India got the inclusion in the N-Club along with the regular energy supply.

Second One: Mumbai Terror.

New form of world wide terror, 26/11 strikes to India in Mumbai. Despite providing lots of proof of the involvement of the Pakistani based terrorists organization’s hand behind this attack, Pakistan is not at all agreeing to the claim of the Indian Government. Year 2008 provided some big hole in the security system of the nation, Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmadabad, Delhi, Guwahati and then Mumbai taught some lesson to the security forces. People from different states came together and forced to the government to take some serious step against terrorism and to change the attitude.

Third: India on Moon.

Indian scientists got the huge success of the accomplishment of the mission moon. The cheapest and the best mission to the moon were named as Chandayaan I. This established India into the super powers of the world. India is now ready to provide the cheaper space program to other countries too, and ISRO is planning to launch the manned mission to the Moon very soon.

Fourth: Aarushi Murder Case.

One sad incident of the murder of Aarushi in her own house despite the presence of her parents in the house in Noida is still unsolved. This murder case got the biggest attention of the media; still CBI is unable to solve the case.

Fifth: Assembly Elections.

Termed as the Semi-Final of the parliamentary elections which is scheduled in the year 2009, the assembly elections in Manipur, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir proofed that Democracy is the back bone of the country. People came out to vote even despite the “Boycott” of the elections by some unwanted forces in J&K. Performance of the governments became the major criteria during these elections.

Sixth: Flood in Bihar.

The development of the Bihar Government during last four years was washed away in the flood. The problem was not so much tragic as the situation was. Attitude of the people caused more problems to the people who suffered during the flood situation. We need to change our system to tackle the situation.

Seventh: Fall of the Share Market.

The impact of the global market fall was so big that it reached to the Mumbai Stock Exchange too. Sensex falls deeply and this caused affect on the job sector too. Real Estate, Aviation, became the victim of the slow down. Finally India is thinking about how to recover from this impact.

Eight: First Individual Gold Medal in Olympics.

The biggest dream of India came true this year. Abhinav Bindra clinched first ever individual Olympic gold medal for India in the men’s 10m air rifle shooting. Other than him, Vijendra Kumar and Sushil Kumar too came up with medals and India is now taking the other sports (other than cricket) seriously. Jitender Kumar too won the heart of the fans.

Ninth: Lessons on Cricket Ground.

India virtually became the super power in the field of cricket too. India got the new captain in all the format of cricket in the form of M. S. Dhoni. India performed quite well in the three formats of cricket T20, ODI and Tests too. Some of the seniors like Saurav Ganguly and Anil Kumble retired this year.

These are the main incidents of the year 2008 which happened in India.

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The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has nodded the safeguards agreement with India on Friday making a way clear for the operation of the crucial Indo-US nuke deal. Passed by the 35-nation IAEA board unanimously, India will now proceed to the 45 member Nuclear Suppliers Group for a nod to allowing trade with a non-NPT country, followed by ratification from the US Congress, to finalize the deal.

Earlier in the day, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei had given a positive response by endorsing the India-specific safeguards agreement and asserted that it conformed to “all legal requirements” of his agency.

IAEA expects to start implementing the agreement by next year. The chief told that a total of 14 Indian nuclear reactors will come under Agency safeguards by 2014, six reactors being already under IAEA supervision.

The India-specific safeguards agreement could also be used for the conclusion of other 66-type safeguards agreements, said the chief.

Tags: Atomic Energy, IAEA, India, India USA, Indo US, NPT, Nuke Deal, US, US Congress

Pakistan has demanded N-deal with US similar to that of Indo-US deal. Ahead of the IAEA meeting on Friday, Pak PM Yousaf Raza Gilani, while his visit to US, has said that he also expects an India-like civil nuclear deal from the US.

At a gathering under the aegis of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Middle East Institute, Gilani added, “there should be no preferential, there should be no discrimination. If they want to give such nuclear status to India, we expect the same for Pakistan.”

The IAEA Board of Governors will meet in Vienna on Friday in a crucial session to consider for approval a key step for operation of the Indo-US nuclear deal.

If the 35-member Board approves the India-specific safeguards agreement by consensus leading to the signing of an unprecedented document, it would pave the way for India’s integration into the world of nuclear commerce.

According to a newspaper, the prime minister said that the government wanted to have cordial relations with all its neighbors, including India and Afghanistan, considering it a guarantee to regional peace.

“With India, we want to resolve all issues including the core issue of Kashmir,” he said when asked about the relationship with its eastern neighbors. He added that Pakistan had good trade ties with India.

Gilani also show his concern over terrorism and extremism, Pak-US relations including the economy and the scope of democracy in the country.

Tags: India, India US, Indo US, Indo USA, N-deal, Nuclear deal, Nuke Deal, Pak, Pakistan

The US president George W Bush said that the Indo-US deal is important for both the countries and heaped praise on Indian PM “for his leadership at home” while talking to the PM, Manmohan Singh on Tuesday.

Amid the unrest in Indian political parties due to the Indo-US deal, the confident Prime Minister met Bush in Hotel Windsor on Mount Poromoi on the sidelines of the G-8 summit; hours before the Left parties would be withdrawing support on the nuclear deal.

Both the leaders expressed mutual admiration for each other and spoke of the need for closer relationship between the two countries during the 50 minute meeting.

“Our relationship with the United States has never been in such good shape as it is today…. And it is the intention of my government… whether it is a question of climate change… global economy, India and US must stand tall, stand shoulder to shoulder, and that’s what is going to happen,” Said Singh while reporting to media.

“We talked about the India-US nuclear deal and how important it is for our respective countries,” Bush said before the press in a relaxed mood and displayed personal warmth.

“I respect the Prime Minister a lot. I also respect India a lot, and I think it’s very important that the United States continues to work with our friends to develop not only a new strategic relationship, but a relationship that addresses some of the world’s problems,” said the President.

Tags: Bush, G-8, India, Indo US, Manmohan Singh, MM Singh, Nuclear deal, Nuke Deal, US

A few hours after the Left parties pulled out their support to Congress led UPA government, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday announced that the UPA government will have to seek trust vote of confidence on the issue of very controversial and crucial Indo-US nuclear deal.

UPA government who announced to approach the IAEA to finalize the safeguards agreement will move for the same only after winning the trust votes.

After holding a talk with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is in Japan to attend the G8 meet, Pranab said while talking to the reporters that the government will seek vote of confidence as soon as it receives a formal communication from President Pratibha Patil.

The normal Monsoon Session of Parliament will be convened from August 11 as informed by Mukherjee.

Replying to the Left parties’ complaint that UPA is hiding full text of safeguard agreement, Mukherjee said, “Full text of the safeguards agreement could not be shared with Left partners as it is a “privileged” confidential document between the Indian government and the IAEA.”

Mukherjee told that a brief summary of the agreement was already unveiled to the Left parties and full text of the safeguards agreement could be shared with “third parties” only after going through laid down procedures of the IAEA.

He also clarified that outcome of talks with IAEA had been circulated among all members of the UPA-Left co-ordination committee as agreed in the November 16, 2007 meeting.

Mukherjee told that those who want a full text of the safeguards agreement would have had to join the government to have access to it.

Tags: Congress, External Affairs minister, India, Indo US, Left, Left Parties, Nuclear deal, Nuke Deal, Pranab, Pranab Mukherjee, UPA, USA

The Left parties on Tuesday announced their withdrawal to the UPA government and said they would meet the President tomorrow to withdraw support to the congress led UPA government implementing their threat to pull the rug over the controversial Indo-US nuclear deal.

The announcement came a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stated that “India will approach IAEA very soon” which rendered any further talks on the issue meaningless.

“As you are aware, the Left parties had decided that if the government goes to the IAEA Board of Governors, they will withdraw support. In view of the Prime Minister’s announcement, that time has come,” CPI (M) General Secretary Prakash Karat told reporters.

“The meeting of UPA-Left committee called by government on July 10 was meaningless now.” said Karat.

The four parties - CPI (M), CPI, Forward Bloc and RSP have sought an appointment with President Pratibha Patil for Wednesday morning to submit their letter of withdrawal of support.

“We will also urge the President to ask the government to prove its majority on the floor of the House,” a top Left leader said after the hour-long meeting of the four parties which decided to pull their support to Congress.

Giving a crack to their four-and-a-half year relationship with the UPA Communist Party of India (CPI) National Secretary D Raja said, “We will vote against Congress in Parliament,”

“Why is the Manmohan Singh government keeping the draft of the IAEA agreement secret from the people of India,” the Left leader asked.

In a joint statement, the four Left parties said they had been demanding the full text of the draft IAEA agreement saying it was necessary to see whether “any corrective action is possible on India’s part if the US discontinues the fuel supplies”.

Soon after the announcement of withdrawal of its support by Left to the UPA Government, the Congress has called for an emergency meeting at the residence of Sonia Gandhi, 10 Janpath.

Tags: Congress, India, India US, Indo US, Left, Left Parties, Nuclear deal, Nuke Deal, UPA, US

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday stated that India will very soon go to the IAEA for a safeguards agreement for the controversial Indo-US nuclear deal. However, he did not specify any date as to when exactly India would go to the IAEA headquarters at Vienna.

While heading toward Japan for G8 summit he spoke to journalists on board the special aircraft, “We have been assured that once we take the decision to go to the IAEA, the process will move very fast.”

“As soon as we decide to go to the IAEA, the matter will be in the court of its Board of Governors and we would certainly hope that the Board can take a quick decision. We have an agreed text which has been agreed to by the secretariat of the IAEA, so I would expect that the process would not take too long,” he added.

Singh, who will meet US President George W Bush on the sidelines of the summit on July 9, said that he would also discuss this issue of nuclear deal with other world leaders and will seek their support for the IAEA and the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG).

Very confidently and relaxed PM said, “Living with tension is part of the prime minister’s job in all countries, including India, but I am not under any unusual tension,”

Having a dig at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L K Advani’s who stated that government should seek a trust vote, Singh said: “We will cross that bridge when we come to it. We are not afraid of facing the Parliament. We will abide by all the Parliamentary norms that should apply to the great democracy that India is. Advani need not give any advice to us.”

Singh further added that the BJP leader “need not give any advice” on the issue. Exuding confidence at the strength of his government, he said “there would be no early Lok Sabha polls.”

Tags: Advani, IAEA, India, India US Nuke deal, LK Advani, Nuclear deal, Nuke Deal, US, USA

After the Left has set a July 7 deadline for the government to clarify its position on whether it was going ahead on the Indo-US nuclear deal, Congress on Friday sought to reject the deadline. Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters that Sovereign governments or political parties cannot be subjected to deadlines.

Shighvi told that it is the time to work on triple objectives- to do a nuclear deal in national interest, to carry along our allies with us for that purpose and to go to elections as per the Constitutional schedule. Rejecting suggestions of an “unholy alliance”, Singhvi said, “Samajwadi Party and the Congress have never been mutually untouchable in the same sense as the Left and the BJP or the Congress and the BJP.”

Singhvi said the Congress had not changed its stand on the nuclear deal “by even one millimeter”.  He said that the deal is totally in national interest.

“We are happy that other parties in the national interest are slowly converging to our view point,” he said.

Left is strongly opposing the deal to happen. The party has threatened to withdraw support for the government if it seeks approval for the deal from IAEA, the next international move needed to operationalise the pact.

Yesterday Left parties gave a deadline to the government saying that it must tell by July 7 about its plans towards approaching the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the safeguards agreement, if any.

“We wish to know definitely whether the government is proceeding to seek the approval of the safeguards agreement by the board of governors of the IAEA,” said Prakash Karat, CPI (M) General Secretary, reading out a letter addressed to the government.

The party said it would launch a national campaign from July 14 to explain its opposition to the nuclear deal and what it called “runaway” inflation.

Tags: BJP, Congress, India, Nuclear deal, Nuke Deal, Samajwadi Party, SP, US

The much awaited Left-United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coordination meeting over the Indo-US Civil Nuclear Agreement ended on Wednesday evening without a decision. After a 90-minute meeting of the 15-member committee, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and CPM leader Sitaram Yechury said that the committee will come to a conclusion on IAEA safeguards in its next meeting, for which they failed to mention a date.

Its ninth meeting of Left-UPA over the crucial Indo-US nuke deal which went undecidedly against the backdrop of the standoff between the two sides on the Indo-US nuclear deal. It was reported that all members except NCP leader Sharad Pawar attended the meeting where both the sides stuck to their respective positions even while maintaining that they did not favor early elections.

The two sides met at the residence of External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, government’s chief negotiator, to discuss the latest situation arising out of government’s determination to approach the IAEA for finalizing an India-specific safeguards agreement.

The committee completed its discussions on all aspects of the agreement. Sources told that the next meeting of the committee is likely to be held in mid July.

Earlier, Pranab Mukherjee met Prime Minister at his residence (second time in a day) to give details of the situation before the crucial UPA-Left coordination committee meeting at 5 pm. Before this, Mukherjee had called on PM Manmohan Singh at the PMO to discuss the issue. The meeting came after the Left parties told Mukherjee earlier in the day that they would not accept a compromise formula that would have allowed the government to finalize the safeguards agreement required for the nuke deal, with the IAEA.

Left has dismissed the formula as “meaningless” hours before a crucial meet of the UPA-Left co-ordination committee to iron out differences on the civil nuclear deal. The Left parties maintained that they ‘understood’ the safeguards agreement would be on auto pilot mode for progress on the deal immediately after the IAEA Board of Governors approved it.  Later, Karat, Mukherjee and Antony had gone to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s residence to apprise her of the Left’s stand. Mukherjee also met UPA allies at 4:00 pm ahead of the UPA-Left committee meet.

Karat, meanwhile, also met Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, with the latter reiterating that his party would take a final decision on the nuke deal after next week’s UNPA meet.

Tags: , Congress, IAEA, India, India US, Left Parties, N-deal, Nuclear deal, Nuke Deal, UPA, USA

Left party leaders, who are against the Indo-US nuclear deal, are getting “death threats” through mails. Four top Communist leaders, Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M), A B Bardhan and D Raja (CPI), received identical copies of the letter in flawed English by mail for blocking the Indo-US nuke deal and allegedly “harassing” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government.

“Death threat” mail was sent by some Vinay Kateri from Mumbai who warned them against “behaving like terrorists” and accused the Left leaders of “hijacking” national interests.

The letter read: “May god bless this country to eliminate these r—— by any means. People are fed up with you. Enough is enough.”

“People of this country are tired with the r——- behavior and for harassing the government for the last four-and-a-half years.”

“Do not hold this country for ransom. Do not behave like terrorists,” the letter said. It said the Communists were ’suffering from blood cancer, namely anti-American virus’.

The writer also accused them of suffering from “anti-American virus” and said “people of this country are tired with their … behavior and harassing the government for the last four-and-a-half years.”

A CPI-M source said Karat got the hand-written letter along with a computer printout.

Raja said on the receipt of letter, “These kinds of things keep happening in politics. We do not take it seriously.”

Tags: Communist, Death Threat, India, Left Leaders, Left Parties, Nuclear deal, Nuke Deal, Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury, US