Hyderabad: China is ready to invest about $160 billion in different sectors in Andhra Pradesh and improve bilateral ties with India, according to economic advisor to the President of China.
Shoosan Maa, the economic advisor to Xi Jinping and also the Member of Parliament, met Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy in Hyderabad and discussed plans to invest in sectors like food processing, small-scale industries, infrastructure and education, among others, a CMO release said.
While quoting Shoosan on China's intention of pumping in $160 billion in the state, the release did not state any timeframe or phases in which such a huge investment could materialise.
"The Chief Minister invited proposals and asked Shoosan to spell out the areas in which they were interested in investing. Shoosan said he would make efforts for promoting investments and improving relations between the two countries," the release said.
Shoosan said his country would send 10,000 students to Hyderabad for education in various streams, according to the release.
PTI
Bhubaneswar: A tribal student from Odisha left his folks proud after participating in the Malala Day United Nations Youth Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Laxman Hembram represented India at the prestigious international event held on July 12 where altogether 120 youth leaders from as many countries participated in the event, said a release from Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS).
He spoke on the topic of 'Education for All' at the Malala Day United Nations Youth Assembly, outlining quality education system and youth union.
Laxman discussed how to eradicate
poverty through education. The release said the visit gave him an opportunity to learn about education systems of other countries.
Talking about his four-day visit, Laxman said he got a chance to talk with Pakistani teen activist Malala Yousafzai and representatives of various other countries.
Laxman's participation in the meet is a matter of great pride for KISS, tribal community and Odisha, said founder of KISS and KIIT Achyut Samanta.
Puducherry: In order to check fraudulent practices by some touts and intermediaries cheating those seeking French citizenship, a Police Commissioner of France is camping here to train officials to detect and prevent such activities.
Fabrice Grossir, a Commissioner of Police in France, who is the Homeland Security Attache in the French Embassy in New Delhi, has been deputed by the French government to hold discussions with the Puducherry government and also local police on the matter.
A release from office of the French Consul General here said today the Consulate had drawn the attention of the French and Indian authorities to the "dubious practices" adopted by some intermediaries to procure French citizenship for Indian families residing in Puducherry.
The release said the French police official had been deputed by the French Ambassador to camp here for three days from today to train the officials (concerned with processing of applications for French citizenship) on the procedures and legal provisions available for detection of fraudulent practices and to prevent activities of intermediaries.
French authorities here said the Consulate would be ready to help those legitimately claiming for the citizenship in accordance with the relevant regulations.
Forgery and use of forged documents for official purposes is punishable under both Indian and French laws.
Ahmedabad: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Thursday greeted the Muslims at the beginning of the holy month of Ramzan, a move that invited criticism from the Congress, which said," they will do anything to get votes".
"Happy Ramzan. May this holy month bring joy, peace and prosperity in our lives," Modi wrote on his twitter account, extending warm greetings to the Muslims.
Modi, who has been fighting hard to erase the taint of the 2002 communal riots, was recently elevated as chief of the BJP's Election Campaign Committee and his greetings to the Muslims is being seen as part of his image makeover ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Reacting to Modi's tweet, Gujarat Congress president Arjun Modhw
adia, without naming any party or individual, said, "They will do anything to get votes. They will rake up the Ram temple issue and then drop it. They will say that Mohammed Ali Jinnah was secular.
They will burn Sachar committee report and they will extend greetings on Ramzan."
"Yeh janata hai, yeh sab jaanti hai (the public knows everything)," he added.
Modhwadia also took to Twitter to extended Ramzan greetings, saying "Ramzan Mubarak to everyone. May this holy month bring peace and prosperity to all."
When Mughal emperor Shah Jahan lost his beloved wife Mumtaz in 1631, he built the Taj Mahal, the white marble mausoleum regarded by many as the world's greatest monument to love.
So when 77-year-old retired postmaster Faizul Hasan Kadari's wife died in December 2011, he knew exactly what he had to do: build his own Taj Mahal for the wife he loved no less than the great Mughal loved his.
Now, 16 months later, his "mini-Taj" is taking shape on a 5000 sqare feet plot in Bulandshahr, near Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, and the grieving farmer is on his way to becoming a local celebrity.
Faizul Hasan Kadari with a photo of his wife Begum Tajmulli
While the Taj Mahal stands at 561 feet and is flanked by four 130 feet minarets, Faizul Hasan Kadari's mausoleum and memorial to his love, Begum Tajmulli, is a rough replica the height of a large unfinished house, waiting for its white marble cladding and Koranic calligraphy inscriptions.
So far he has spent around £25,000 on the Bulandshahr Taj, but plans to spend more yet. "There would be everything which the Taj Mahal has. When completed, it will cover about two acres of land, which may also have a garden similar to the garden of Taj Mahal. I have spent about Rs 20 lakhs [£25,000] so far," he explained.
He had once regarded Shah Jahan's monument to his wife's memory was wasteful and extravagant until his own wife died. "I used to think that Shah Jahan insulted the common man by building a magnificent monument to love. But after the death of my wife in December 2011, I realised that it had more about the intensity of love than the money," he told the Mail Today.
"Since we were issueless and I had no other liabilities, I started construction of my own Taj Mahal on a piece of land which was not useful for agricultural purposes," he added.
Now his wife is buried inside and he hopes they will be reunited when he finally passes away. "I have written in my will that my graveyard should be besides her," he said.
Wrinkled and skinny at first, the translucent, jellyfish-shaped balloons that Google released this week from a frozen field in the heart of New Zealand's South Island hardened into shiny pumpkins as they rose into the blue winter skies above Lake Tekapo, passing the first big test of a lofty goal to get the entire planet online.
It was the culmination of 18 months' work on what Google calls Project Loon, in recognition of how whacky the idea may sound. Developed in the secretive X lab that came up with a driverless car and web-surfing eyeglasses, the flimsy helium-filled inflatables beam the Internet down to earth as they sail past on the wind.
Still in their experimental stage, the balloons were the first of thousands that Google's leaders eventually hope to launch 20 kilometers (12 miles) into the stratosphere in order to bridge the gaping digital divide between the world's 4.8 billion unwired people and their 2.2 billion plugged-in counterparts.
If successful, the technology might allow countries to leapfrog the expense of laying fiber cable, dramatically increasing Internet usage in places such as Africa and Southeast Asia.
"It's a huge moonshot. A really big goal to go after," said project leader Mike Cassidy. "The power of the Internet is probably one of the most transformative technologies of our time."
The first person to get Google Balloon Internet access this week was Charles Nimmo, a farmer and entrepreneur in the small town of Leeston. He found the experience a little bemusing after he was one of 50 locals who signed up to be a tester for a project that was so secret, no one would explain to them what was happening. Technicians came to the volunteers' homes and attached to the outside walls bright red receivers the size of basketballs and resembling giant Google map pins.
Nimmo got the Internet for about 15 minutes before the balloon transmitting it sailed on past. His first stop on the Web was to check out the weather because he wanted to find out if it was an optimal time for "crutching" his sheep, a term he explained to the technicians refers to removing the wool around sheep's rear ends.
Nimmo is among the many rural folk, even in developed countries, that can't get broadband access. After ditching his dial-up four years ago in favor of satellite Internet service, he's found himself stuck with bills that sometimes exceed $1,000 in a single month.
"It's been weird," Nimmo said of the Google Balloon Internet experience. "But it's been exciting to be part of something new."
While the concept is new, people have used balloons for communication, transportation and entertainment for centuries. In recent years, the military and aeronautical researchers have used tethered balloons to beam Internet signals back to bases on earth.
Google's balloons fly free and out of eyesight, scavenging power from card table-sized solar panels that dangle below and gather enough charge in four hours to power them for a day as the balloons sail around the globe on the prevailing winds. Far below, ground stations with Internet capabilities about 100 kilometers (60 miles) apart bounce signals up to the balloons.
The signals would hop forward, from one balloon to the next, along a backbone of up to five balloons.
Each balloon would provide Internet service for an area twice the size of New York City, about 1,250 square kilometers (780 square miles), and terrain is not a challenge. They could stream Internet into Afghanistan's steep and winding Khyber Pass or Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, a country where the World Bank estimates four out of every 100 people are online.
There are plenty of catches, including a requirement that anyone using Google Balloon Internet would need a receiver plugged into their computer in order to receive the signal. Google is not talking costs at this point, although they're striving to make both the balloons and receivers as inexpensive as possible, dramatically less than laying cables.
The signals travel in the unlicensed spectrum, which means Google doesn't have to go through the onerous regulatory processes required for Internet providers using wireless communications networks or satellites. In New Zealand, the company worked with the Civil Aviation Authority on the trial. Google chose the country in part because of its remoteness. Cassidy said in the next phase of the trial they hope to get up to 300 balloons forming a ring on the 40th parallel south from New Zealand through Australia, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina.
Christchurch was a symbolic launch site because some residents were cut off from online information for weeks following a 2011 earthquake that killed 185 people. Google believes balloon access could help places suffering natural disasters get quickly back online. Tania Gilchrist, a resident who signed up for the Google trial, feels lucky she lost her power for only about 10 hours on the day of the quake.
"After the initial upheaval, the Internet really came into play," she said. "It was how people coordinated relief efforts and let people know how to get in touch with agencies. It was really, really effective and it wasn't necessarily driven by the authorities."
At Google's mission control in Christchurch this week, a team of jet lagged engineers working at eight large laptops used wind data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to maneuver the balloons over snowy peaks, identifying the wind layer with the desired speed and direction and then adjusting balloons' altitudes so they floated in that layer.
"It's a very fundamentally democratic thing that what links everyone together is the sky and the winds," said Richard DeVaul, an MIT-trained scientist who founded Project Loon and helped develop Google Glass, hidden camera-equipped eyeglasses with a tiny computer display that responds to voice commands.
DeVaul initially thought their biggest challenge would be establishing the radio links from earth to sky, but in the end, one of the most complex parts was hand building strong, light, durable balloons that could handle temperature and pressure swings in the stratosphere.
Google engineers studied balloon science from NASA, the Defense Department and the Jet Propulsion Lab to design their own airships made of plastic films similar to grocery bags. Hundreds have been built so far.
He said they wouldn't interfere with aircraft because they fly well below satellites and twice as high as airplanes, and they downplayed concerns about surveillance, emphasizing that they would not carry cameras or any other extraneous equipment.
The balloons would be guided to collection points and replaced periodically. In cases when they failed, a parachute would deploy.
While there had been rumors, until now Google had refused to confirm the project. But there have been hints: In April, Google's executive chairman tweeted "For every person online, there are two who are not. By the end of the decade, everyone on Earth will be connected," prompting a flurry of speculative reports.
And international aid groups have been pushing for more connectivity for more than a decade.
In pilot projects, African farmers solved disease outbreaks after searching the Web, while in Bangladesh "online schools" bring teachers from Dhaka to children in remote classrooms through large screens and video conferencing.
Many experts said the project has the potential to fast-forward developing nations into the digital age, possibly impacting far more people than the Google X lab's first two projects: The glasses and a fleet of self-driving cars that have already logged hundreds of thousands of accident-free miles.
"Whole segments of the population would reap enormous benefits, from social inclusion to educational and economic opportunities," said DePauw University media studies professor Kevin Howley.
Temple University communications professor Patrick Murphy warned of mixed consequences, pointing to China and Brazil where Internet service increased democratic principles, prompting social movements and uprisings, but also a surge in consumerism that has resulted in environmental and health problems.
"The nutritional and medical information, farming techniques, democratic principles those are the wonderful parts of it," he said. "But you also have everyone wanting to drive a car, eat a steak, drink a Coke."
As the world's largest advertising network, Google itself stands to expand its own empire by bringing Internet to the masses: More users means more potential Google searchers, which in turn give the company more chances to display their lucrative ads.
Richard Bennett, a fellow with the nonprofit Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, was skeptical, noting that cell phones are being used far more in developing countries.
"I'm really glad that Google is doing this kind of speculative research," he said. "But it remains to be seen how practical any of these things are."
Ken Murdoch, a chief information officer for the nonprofit Save the Children, said the service would be "a tremendous key enabler" during natural disasters and humanitarian crises, when infrastructure can be nonexistent or paralyzed.
"The potential of a system that can restore connectivity within hours of a crisis hitting is tremendously exciting," agreed Imogen Wall at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, although she warned that the service must be robust. "If the service fails in a crisis, then lives are lost."
In Christchurch this week, the balloons were invisible in the sky except for an occasional glint, but people could see them if they happened to be in the remote countryside where they were launched or through binoculars, if they knew where to look.
Before heading to New Zealand, Google spent a few months secretly launching between two and five flights a week in California's central valley, prompting what Google's scientists said were a handful of unusual reports on local media.
"We were chasing balloons around from trucks on the ground," said DeVaul, "and people were calling in reports about UFOs."
Patna: The prisoners have been known to participate in menial activities during stay in jails, but the authorities in Bihar prisons have set out on a novel programme to draw inmates' interest in music with a long-term plan to set up music bands of the prisoners.
Various music instruments have been purchased in some jails a
nd orders placed for other jails to provide training to the inmates in musical instruments so that they could set up music bands of their own and take part in inter-jail competitions, Inspector General (IG) Prison, Anand Kishore said.
It has been proposed to organise music classes for the interested inmates in all 21 jails in Bihar, he said, adding that such programmes have already started in a few jails, including the Beur central jail on the outskirts of the state capital.
Reputed musicians like Acharya Gajendra Mishra, Sanjay Kumar and Virendra Kumar have been hired to provide music training in various instruments to about 45 inmates at the Beur central Jail, IG said.
The chosen inmates at the Beur jail have been learning musical instruments like Spanish Guitar, Harmonium, Tabla, Drum Congo, Electronic Tanpura, Scale Changer, Synthesiser Keyboard, Naal and Jhaal, he said.
The trained inmates will not only take part in musical programmes in their own jails for entertainment of fellow prisoners, but may also take part in the inter-jail competitions in future, IG added.
Gadchiroli: Two surrendered Maoists got married to each other on Tuesday at the police headquarters here in the presence of 27 other surrendered Maoists as well as senior police officials.
Jeevan and Janaki, who had worked in different Maoist platoons until they surrendered before the police, tied the knot in the presence of Special Inspector General of Police Anup Kumar Singh and CRPF Deputy Commandant Kartar Singh.
The bride Renuka alias Janki Fakri Timma (21), a resident of Godri village in Bhamragad taluka used to work as member of the Chetana Natya Manch since March 2009 while the groom Surendra alias Jeevan Ramsay Narote (30), a resident of Made village in Korchi taluka used to be a Maoist platoon commander in 2003.
Both of them had surrendered a few months ago and decided to marry.
The wedding ritual was performed in the traditional Vedic way by a priest especially brought by the police for the occasion.
Dignitaries blessed the couple and extended them their best wishes for their married life.
South Korea today accepted an invitation of dialogue from the North, suggesting that the recent war of words between the two countries may come to an end.
North Korea made the invitation earlier today which was immediately accepted, the South’s Ministry of Unification said in a statement, paving the way for the first official dialogue in five years.
“Our position has been consistent for promoting reconciliation and solidarity of the nation and achieving reunification and peaceful prosperity," said a statement from the North’s Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland. “The South’s authorities should not miss this opportunity if they really want to build trust and improve North-South relations.”
North Korea proposed discussions on reopening the suspended Kaesong Industrial Zone just north of the Demilitarized Zone, a joint project which has become a symbol of North-South cooperation in recent years.
The North unilaterally closed the facility in April amid threats of nuclear strikes against the South and the US after the two allies ratcheted up sanctions against the regime.
“We hope the government-to-government talks will become an opportunity to build trust between the South and North,” the South’s Unification Ministry said in a statement.
The two Koreas have not held official talks since 2008 when a tourist from the South was shot by a soldier in the North, prompting Seoul to retaliate by suspending tours to a mountain resort there.
North Korea yesterday proposed resuming cross-border tours suspended since that time, as well as restarting Red Cross programs in which aging Korean families trapped on both sides of the DMZ hold reunions.
The South’s Reunification Ministry called the proposals a “positive” sign.
Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korea Studies in Seoul, said that Pyongyang had apparently steered away from military action for the time being by making the gesture.
“The North’s offer for official talks can be seen as its desire to solve the problems of the two Koreas’ through dialogue,” he said.
New Delhi: Pakistan is taking oral vaccination tips from India, which has been polio-free for over two years, and wants to replicate its success story, the head of the neighbouring country's polio programme says.
"But what hinders Pakistan in containing the dreaded virus is insurgency, violence and illiteracy," Pakistan National Polio Plus Committee Chairman Aziz Memon told IANS in an interview during a visit here.
Earlier this week, Pakistan's polio campaign suffered a major setback when a volunteer in the vaccination campaign was killed and her colleague wounded in a militant attack near Peshawar. The attack came soon after nation wide polio campaign started May 28.
Memon said Pakistan is taking lessons from India for the way it reached out to its population.
"We are taking lessons from India. Our teams visited Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to see the way they vaccinated children," Memon said.
Both Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were the hotbed of the paralytic disease in India. Some members of the Muslim community in the two states resisted polio drops being given to their children as they feared that it could make them children impotent.
After 741 polio cases surfaced in 2009, India started using bivalent vaccines (targetting Polio 1 and Polio 3 viruses) in its national vaccination programme from 2010 January. This showed dramatic effects and India moved out of WHO's list of endemic countries in 2011.
"We picked many tips (from our visit). We learned how to involve hundreds of volunteers (involved in the campaign), how to handle the resource center and how to immunize children at the transit check posts," he said.
As India remains free from polio for the past two years, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria are the only three countries in the world now where the highly infectious, crippling disease still remains endemic.
Menon said that in some areas in Pakistan they have been able to vaccinate children, but some areas still remain out of bounds due to various reasons, including violence.
"The situation of our polio programme is good. One of the main reserves of polio is the Gadap Town slum area in Karachi. Now, it is very much in control there," Memon said.
Gadap Town is the largest slum of Karachi, which has concentration of migrant Pashtun speaking population of Khyber Pakhhtunkhwa province and the tribal areas, which have high incidents of polio, increasing the risk of the virus being imported.
However, Memon said that the issue of insurgency and violence in certain areas was a "major setback" to the programme.
"The area around Peshawar is another focus... Insurgency and law and order is the problem there," Memon said.
After the May 28 attack, the Pakistani authorities suspended the four-day polio vaccination programme.
Memon said that the tribal region of the northwest was another dark area, with the Taliban's rejection of the oral vaccination programme.
While the Taliban in Afghanistan recently announced its support for polio vaccination, the Pakistani Taliban continues to oppose this.
"The Afghan Taliban has announced support for polio vaccination, but the Taliban in Pakistan is different. The Afghan Taliban's support had no effect on the Pakistani Taliban," Memon said.
"In Pakistan, Taliban leaders change every 30 miles. They are against polio vaccination," he added.
The Pakistani Taliban has banned polio vaccination, saying that it is a cover for espionage.
"Working in that area (the northwest) is not so easy. There are many issues. Children are trapped there, though we have vaccinated some children with the army's help," Memon said.
Media reports, two children have been detected with polio in the last 36 months in the North Waziristan area of the Federally Administered Tribal Agencies (FATA).
FATA is a semi-autonomous tribal region in the northwest, lying between Afghanistan to the west and north, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the east and Balochistan to the south.
As per WHO data, during the last polio vaccination campaign in Pakistan, some 1.83 million children missed polio drops across the country owing to various reasons, including security threats.
About 763,714 children were missed in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa alone, 621,724 in other areas of FATA, including 260,000 from North and South Waziristan, and 396, 925 in Balochistan.
In 2013, eight cases have so far been reported in Pakistan.
Srinagar: German Ambassador to India Michael Steiner on Friday called on Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah here and discussed various matters of mutual interest.
The rich tourist potential of Jammu and Kashmir particularly the scenic splendour of Valley was also discussed in the meeting, an official spokesman said.
He said the measures put in place by the state government and Centre for peace and development in the state were also talked about in the meeting.
"The German envoy showed keen interest in the new initiatives taken by Omar led government for good governance, transparency and public empowerment in the state," the spokesman added.
Kohima: The Nagaland unit of BJP has reaffirmed its commitment to expedite the peace process for a permanent and lasting solution to the Naga problem.
The affirmation was made during the first executive meeting of the BJP Nagaland Unit at Dimapur yesterday, A press release issued by its General Secretary Jame Vizo said here today.
"We envision political settlement of all borders disputes with our neighbouring state/country outside the jurisdiction of the court of law through mutual and bi-lateral relationship and people to people contact," Vizo said.
The party demanded review of the Total Liquor Prohibition Act considering various aspects of its positive and negative impacts on the society, construction of a foothills state highway from Mon to Peren, a thermal power station and more government colleges for poor students.
The party condemned demolition of churches in Manipur and demanded that the Manipur government provide alternative sites to the aggrieved community.
Agartala: Bangladesh has agreed to allow India to use its Ashuganj port for transporting food grains to the Northeast.
Bangladesh government last week allowed India to transport 10,000 tonnes of rice for Tripura which would come from Haldia port to Ashuganj port in Brahmanbaria district in Bangladesh, about 40 km from here, and then the grains would reach Agartala by trucks, Tripura Food and Civil Supplies Minister Bhanulal Saha said.
The order was passed by the Bangladesh government earlier last week following hectic diplomatic parley and the state government has taken steps to carry the food grains, Saha said.
Earlier, Dhaka had allowed to transport heavy and over- sized machineries for the Palatana gas-based thermal power project throu
gh its territory.
Palatana thermal power project in Gomati district would start generation commercially next month. Prime Minister Manmmohan Singh had laid the foundation stone for the 726 MW thermal project in 2005.
Boston, May 26 (PTI) About 2,000 people, including Boston blasts victims, have symbolically finished the marathon at an emotional event here meant to show that the city has taken back ownership of the popular race that was targeted in a terror attack last month.
Nearly seven weeks after two bombs went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, about 2,000 people yesterday ran the last 1.6 kilometres of the 42-kilometre race, crossing the finish line.
Gaya: A sapling of the historic Bodhi tree under which Lord Buddha had attained enlightenment has been sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who will take it as a "gift" to Thailand next week.
On request from the Prime Minister Office to the Chief Minister Office in Patna, a sapling of the Bodhi tree has been sent to Delhi, Arvind Kumar Singh, member of Bodhgaya Temple Management Committee said.
The sapling of the Bodhi tree, considered a mark of peace, would be taken by the PM as a "gift" to Thailand during his tour next week.
A security personal and a gardener have also been sent to the national capital through train to hand it over to the PMO, Singh said.
King Ashoka's sister Sanghmitra had taken a sapling of the tree to Sri Lanka.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has also brought a sapling of the Bodhi tree and planted it at One Anne Marg, his residence in Patna.
Moore, Oklahoma: The people of the Oklahoma town where a deadly tornado struck could use just about everything - cleaning supplies, food, water, shelter.
Thirteen-year-old Halle Carr thought residents of her hometown could also use a hug after the twister Monday that killed 24 people in Moore.
Halle has been standing on a corner with a white sign that reads: "Need a hug? I am here!" And people are taking her up on the offer.
On Friday, people in work trucks, cars and vans loaded with belongings rolled down their windows and reached out their arms to the girl. Some shouted words of encouragement.
Halle said it makes her feel good to spread a little cheer. She said she'll come out every day, as long as she thinks she's needed.
BEIRUT: The Syrian government has agreed "in principle" to attend a conference proposed by Russia and the United States on ending the Arab country's conflict, Russia's foreign ministry said Friday.
It was the first confirmation that President Bashar Assad's government would be willing to take part in the talks with the opposition.
But despite the announcement from Moscow, one of Assad's staunchest allies, Damascus has not offered any definitive statement on the proposed talks.
Russia and the US joined efforts earlier this month to convene an international conference to bring representatives of Assad's regime and the opposition to the negotiating table. The aim of the talks would be to establish the outlines of a transitional government as a way out of the crisis.
More than 70,000 people have been killed and several million displaced since the uprising against Assad erupted in March 2011 and escalated into a civil war.
The US-Russian plan, similar to the one set out last year in Geneva, calls for talks on a transitional government and an open-ended cease-fire.
The Moscow announcement came after days of talks there between Syria's deputy foreign minister Faysal Mekdad and Russian officials.
Russia's foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in televised remarks Friday that the Syrian government has "agreed in principle" to participate in the conference in Geneva, which is expected within two weeks.
"We note with satisfaction that we have received an agreement in principle from the Syrian government in Damascus to participate in the international conference, in the interest of Syrians themselves, to find a political solution," Lukashevich said.
He added, however, that it is impossible to set the date for the conference at this point because there is "no clarity about who will speak on behalf of the opposition and what powers they will have."
Lukashevich also said Moscow "was not encouraged" by the results of recent meetings of members of the Syrian National Coalition, the country's main opposition group that has called on Assad to step down.
In Turkey, where the Syrian National Coalition is holding a three-day conference, an opposition figure expressed doubts over Moscow's announcement, questioning why Damascus has said nothing on the subject.
"We are very supportive of the (US-Russian) initiative. Our fear is that the regime is not going to negotiate in good faith. We would like to hear enough (from Damascus) to know that they are serious about these negotiations," said Louay Safi, a member of the opposition coalition.
The US, along with key European and Arab supporters of Syria's opposition, said on Wednesday that Assad must relinquish power at the start of a transition period. Russia, however, has not committed to Assad's departure and the Syrian leader has said he will not step down before his term ends next year.
US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday acknowledged the difficulties of launching peace talks. "Nobody has any illusions about how difficult, complicated, what a steep climb that is," he said during a visit to Israel.
Fighting continued across Syria on Friday, and state media reported that rebels fired mortar shells at the central prison in the embattled northern city of Aleppo, killing and wounding several inmates.
The pro-opposition Aleppo Media Center said clashes were underway between rebels and government troops at the prison and that a large fire had broken out at the facility.
The fighting came a week after Assad's forces repelled a rebel raid on the prison that sought to free hundreds of political prisoners.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said intense fighting was also continuing in the western Syrian town of Qusair, near the border with Lebanon.
Government forces have been trying to recapture the town since Sunday. State-run news agency SANA said troops killed a "large number" of rebels in the latest clashes.
Mumbai: Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) global development centre in suburban Goregaon east in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Tata Group Chairman Cyrus P. Mistry hosted Mr Keqiang and his delegation at the centre.
Mr Keqiang was given an overview of the Tata Group's operations in China with special focus on the Jaguar Land Rover SUV and TCS's growing investments and operations across the country.
Mr Keqiang interacted with TCS and Tata Group employees in China at the Shanghai Global Development Centre through live video-conferencing.
The Tata Group was the only private Indian enterprise the Chinese premier chose to visit during his ongoing three-day trip to the country. TCS is the first Indian software company to set up shop and is growing significantly in China.
"China is a very important geography for the future growth of the Tata Group and we continue to increase our investments and scale of operations in that country. We have made substantial investments in many sectors across China. We believe that there can be tremendous cross-learning between India and China in the field of technology," Mistry said on the occasion.
Late last year, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) formed a joint venture with China's Chery Automobile with an investment of RMB 10.9 billion.
This included a manufacturing plant in Changshu which will be JLR's first all-new manufacturing facility outside the UK.
The year 2012 also saw China becoming JLR's largest global market and the country remains at the centre of the company's global strategy.
Besides providing attractive new products, JLR has invested in sales and after-saltes infrastructure with 163 dealers across China.
In 2002, TCS started operations in China and three years later, it was invited to form a joint venture supported by the National Development & Reforms Commission to create a large-scale global off-shoring base in that country.
Currently, TCS operates out of six locations in China - Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Dalian - and provides services in nine different languages -- English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Indonesian, Bahasa and Vietnamese.
Commanding a lead position in banking application software in the Chinese market, TCS BaNCS core banking system is being used by 14 banks in China, including the Special Administrative Region Hong Kong
Beijing: Underlining that China's "surrounding environment" will suffer if India becomes another Japan or Philippines in confronting it, Chinese media on Monday called for understanding and respect for "Indian sense of national pride".
As Chinese Premier Li Keqiang kicks off second day of his India tour, the Chinese official media is full of reports and analysis of Sino-India ties with one tabloid daily, the Global Times, came out with editorial, saying that 'Sino-India ties transcend media hype'.
"There are many weaknesses in the bilateral relationship which can be exploited by outsiders. Without mutual respect, small frictions can be exaggerated," it said, apparently referring to a recent military stand-off at the Daulat Beig Old in Ladakh area after Chinese troops intruded 19 kms inside Indian territory.
"The Indian sense of national pride is very strong but Chinese society doesn't want to adapt. Chinese people lack understanding and respect toward India. They tend to judge it according to ill-conceived preconceptions," it said.
"However, China's surrounding environment will suffer if India, a country which has the prospect of running neck-and-neck with China, becomes another Japan or Philippines in terms of its policies toward China," it said, noting that the situation at the Sino-Indian border is much better than the disputed islands with Japan or South China Sea, where Beijing is locked up in maritime disputes.
However, the relationship is at its "best period in decades despite mutual suspicion".
"Both China and India should bear the primary responsibility for cultivating the bilateral relationship. They should create more 'good news' to counter media hype. Not only determination, but also wisdom is needed to develop Sino-Indian strategic ties," it said.
"Grumbling about media coverage doesn't help. Governments should also play a role in guiding public opinion," it said.
Referring to Li's choice to make India the first stop of his maiden foreign tour, it said, "his selection of India for his first overseas trip has widely been interpreted as a sign that China is attaching greater importance and respect to this large neighbour".
Srinagar: There was a 36 percent decline in militancy-related violence in Jammu and Kashmir during 2012 as compared to 2011 and 54 security forces' bunkers were removed from public places here in 2012, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Wednesday.
Abdullah was speaking at a meeting of various departments under his charge.
"Under the amnesty scheme devised for youth involved in stone-pelting, orders to withdraw 196 cases involving 1,432 persons have been issued by the government. Eighty-six percent of 184,330 cases received during last three years for passports have been cleared till March 14. The Draft Jammu and Kashmir Police Bill 2013 was uploaded on the website of the department in January for inviting suggestions from the public," the official brief said.
The consultative committee was told that the government has plans for harnessing an 9,000 MW of electricity during the 12th and 13th Five Year Plans. By 2016, another 450 MW will be put into the system through Stage II of the Baglihar power generation project. Thirteen projects of 712 MW have been awarded and approved for allotment in 2012-13.
"The state government provides subsidy to people on electricity in Jammu and Kashmir, which is the cheapest in the country after Sikkim," Abdullah added.
