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India, Germany to work hard for UNSC reforms
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with German Chancellor Angela Merkel after a joint press conference in Berlin on Saturday. — PTI
Singapore diplomat calls India ‘stupid’
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Lanka scraps Tamil version of its national anthem
Obama prays for Holbrooke
6 NATO troops killed in Afghan attack
Nooyi’s sister in race for Grammy award
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India, Germany to work hard for UNSC reforms
Berlin, December 12 The broad strategies on how the two countries will move forward on the issue of the much awaited reforms of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) were outlined by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at a joint news conference after his talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel last night. Prime Minister Singh said India would work “closely” with Germany both bilaterally and within the G-4 to enhance the effectiveness of the Security Council, as well as in support of the expansion of the permanent and non-permanent categories of its membership. The two countries will serve a two-year term as non-permanent members from January one next. Merkel said the two countries would work “hard” to advance reforms in the UNSC. “Now that India and Germany have got non-permanent membership the two countries will have interest in seeing that reforms advanced.” The Chancellor noted that India was getting endorsement of several countries in its quest for a permanent membership in the UNSC. She, especially, referred to the US President Barack Obama’s support for India’s bid. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle wasted little time after his country was elected to a non-permanent seat on the UNSC. After the elections in October, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle wasted little time in calling for major changes to the UNSC. The foreign minister criticized what he said was the lack of representation for certain regions of the world. “It is not appropriate that two continents, like Africa and Latin America, do not have permanent seats on the UN Security Council. Asia, too, rightfully views itself as under-represented,” he said. “That is why any reform of the United Nations is not first and foremost about a permanent seat on the Security Council for us, but rather about a better reflection of global distribution of power,” Westerwelle emphasized. Westerwelle had also said a meeting of G-4 countries will be held in a few months to give fresh momentum to their efforts on the reforms in the UN Security Council. Besides India and Germany, the other two members are Brazil and Japan.
— PTI
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Singapore diplomat calls India ‘stupid’
The cables containing comments made during Singaporean diplomats’ meetings with senior US officials such as Deputy Secretary of Defence for East Asia David Sedney between 2008 and last year were exclusively leaked to Australia’s Fairfax Media Group. In one of the cables, Singapore’s Ambassador at large Tommy Koh called Japan “the big fat loser” in the context of improving ties between China and ASEAN. According to Australian newspapers, which carried the contents of the cables, Koh attributed the relative decline of Japan’s position in the region to its “stupidity, bad leadership and lack of vision.” Koh was “equally merciless towards India, describing his ‘stupid Indian friends’ as ‘half in, half out’ of ASEAN,” a leaked cable said. Venezuelan missile
purchases worried US
WASHINGTON: The United States tried to stop delivery of Russian anti-aircraft missiles to Venezuela in 2009 amid concerns it could pass them on to Marxist guerrillas in Colombia or Mexican drug gangs, The Washington Post said on Sunday, citing diplomatic cables from WikiLeaks. Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez heads a strongly anti-American government, received at least 1,800 of the SA-24 shoulder-fired missiles from Russia, the Post said, citing U.N. arms control data. Secret US cables said Washington was concerned about the acquisition by Caracas of Russian arms, including attack helicopters, Sukhoi fighter jets and 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles, the newspaper reported. It quoted a US State Department cable on August 10, 2009, to embassies in Europe and South America as saying Russian arms sales to Venezuela totalled "over $5 billion last year and growing." UK didn’t want Russia to track ex-KGB agent’s killers
Stockholm: Secret cables released by the whistleblower website 'Wikileaks' have revealed that Russia was tracking the suspected killers of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko before he was poisoned in London in 2006, but was warned off by Britain saying the situation was "under control". According to The Guardian, the secret memo, recording a 2006 meeting between an ex-CIA bureau chief and a former KGB officer, could re-ignite the diplomatic row surrounding Litvinenko's murder that year, which many experts had linked directly to the Kremlin. The memo, written by US embassy in Paris, records "an amicable December 7 dinner meeting with ambassador-at-large Henry Crumpton and Russian special presidential representative Anatoliy Safonov", two weeks after Litvinenko's death.
— Agencies
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Lanka scraps Tamil version of its national anthem
Colombo, December 12 The decision was taken at the last cabinet meeting headed by the President Mahinda Rajapksha, who pointed out that no country in the world uses the national anthem in other than one language, the Sunday Times reported today. "The move will mean that the current Tamil version will no longer be played at any official or state functions" The Sinhala version is widely used across the country except for the north and east where a majority speaks Tamil. A directive to use only the Sinhala version is to be sent out by the Ministry of Public Administration. All government establishments will be called upon to adhere to this decision, the paper added.
— PTI
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Obama prays for Holbrooke
Washington, December 12 In statement issued on Saturday night, President Obama said he had spoken with Holbrooke's wife and told her that he and First Lady Michelle Obama are praying for him. Obama called Holbrooke a critical member of the administration's Afghanistan and Pakistan team, and "a tireless public servant." Holbrooke's family has been with the diplomat. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton also has visited at the George Washington University Hospital, where he is admitted. Holbrooke, was said to be in critical condition on Saturday after undergoing aortic surgery at the hospital here. A medical bulletin issued by hospital staff said doctors had performed surgery on Holbrooke to repair a tear in an artery. He underwent evaluations at the hospital Friday.
— ANI
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6 NATO troops killed in Afghan attack
Kandahar, December 12 General Abdul Hameed, the commander of the Afghan army in the south, said a suicide car bomber staged the attack outside a US base in Kandahar province, the heartland of Taliban insurgents. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said six troops had been killed in an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan but declined to give any details or confirm if it was the same incident. — Reuters
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Nooyi’s sister in race for Grammy award
New York, December 12 Tandon's work 'Om Namo Narayanaya: Soul Call', which features Sanskrit chants, has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the 'Best Contemporary World Music Album' category. The annual awards, given by the US National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, recognise outstanding musical works. The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony will be held on February 13.
— PTI
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Suspended jail term for NRI loan shark ‘20 pretty Russian spies operating in Britain’ 17 killed in Iraq suicide bombing 
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Basking in the glory of getting non-permanent seats in UN Security Council, India and Germany said they would work “hard” in advancing reforms of the prestigious body and pledged to cooperate both bilaterally and within G-4.
A top Singaporean diplomat described India as “stupid”, saying the country was “half in, half out” of the ASEAN grouping, according to leaked US cables. The whistle-blower website WikiLeaks released several US State Department cables that contained controversial comments by senior Singaporean foreign affairs officials on India and other Asian allies like Malaysia, Thailand and Japan.
