Senior Australian batsman Ricky Ponting was honoured with Austrlia’s highest civil honour along with a host of sportspersons of international repute. The former skipper was appointed an officer (AO) in the general division of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the sport of cricket as a leading player, and to the community through the establishment of the Ponting Foundation.
In ongoing test against India, struck a fluent double century against India on the second day of the fourth Test at Adelaide, Australia (January 2012). Ponting scored two centuries in his past three Test matches against India.
In 2008, Ponting and his wife Rianna formed the Ponting Foundation to help cancer patients.
Rugby players Stirling Mortlock and George Smith, teenage sailor Jessica Watson and bowls great Steve Glasson were also appointed Officers of the Order of Australia for their services to the sport.
Saturday, 28 January 2012
India and Pakistan agreed to Transit Fee Formula for Tapi Gas Pipeline Project
In New Delhi, India and Pakistan on 25 January 2012 agreed in New Delhi to transit fee formula for Tapi(Tajikistan, Pakistan and India) gas pipeline project. On the Transit Fee, India and Pakistan agreed that the negotiations would be conducted in a transparent manner keeping in mind the overall economics of the Project, keeping in mind the landed cost of gas, and in accordance with the relevant international practices. Since there is a need to expedite the signing of the Gas Sale Purchase Agreement (GSPA), both sides agreed to settle the Transit Fee issue at the earliest. Pakistan agreed in-principle that whatever fee formula is eventually settled between India and Afghanistan would also be acceptable to Pakistan subject to approval of their competent authority. The two Ministers also discussed other issues of bilateral interest such as trade in petroleum products. Jaipal Reddy offered export of Petrol, Diesel, Aviation Turbine Fuel and Fuel Oil besides Sulphur, Polyethylene and Polypropylene since Pakistan is importing these products currently. It was pointed out that the main advantage for Pakistan will be the savings in freight cost since several refineries in India are located close to the India-Pak border.
The Indian side offered to export refined petroleum and petrochemical products by road, rail and by sea. It was also mentioned that Indian refineries would be willing to look at the feasibility of constructing product pipelines to Pakistan provided long-term guarantees for product offtake can be given by Pakistan.
Both sides noted that India-Pakistan Joint Working Group (JWG) on Petroleum & Petrochemical Products has been constituted recently to go into the specific details of facilitating trade in this sector, including infrastructure upgradation and augmentation in respect of railways, customs facilitation, setting up of banking channels, etc. Both Ministers agreed to advise their respective officials to hold the 1st meeting of the JWG at the earliest.
Apart from G2G efforts, both sides agreed on the need to activate industry and business associations in the petroleum sector for confidence building. Jaipal Reddy informed Hussain that India’s oil companies would be participating in the India Show at Lahore on 11-13 February, 2012 being organized by the Govt of India and FICCI to showcase the strength of India’s petroleum refining sector and what India’s oil companies can offer to Pakistan.
The Indian side offered to export refined petroleum and petrochemical products by road, rail and by sea. It was also mentioned that Indian refineries would be willing to look at the feasibility of constructing product pipelines to Pakistan provided long-term guarantees for product offtake can be given by Pakistan.
Both sides noted that India-Pakistan Joint Working Group (JWG) on Petroleum & Petrochemical Products has been constituted recently to go into the specific details of facilitating trade in this sector, including infrastructure upgradation and augmentation in respect of railways, customs facilitation, setting up of banking channels, etc. Both Ministers agreed to advise their respective officials to hold the 1st meeting of the JWG at the earliest.
Apart from G2G efforts, both sides agreed on the need to activate industry and business associations in the petroleum sector for confidence building. Jaipal Reddy informed Hussain that India’s oil companies would be participating in the India Show at Lahore on 11-13 February, 2012 being organized by the Govt of India and FICCI to showcase the strength of India’s petroleum refining sector and what India’s oil companies can offer to Pakistan.
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Russia hands over Nerpa nuclear submarine to India
Russia's K-152 Nerpa nuclear-powered attack submarine has been handed over to the Indian Navy, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported on Monday.
In line with the contract worth over $900 million, the Project 971 Shchuka-B (NATO: Akula II) class sub has been leased to India's Navy for ten years. It will be renamed the INS Chakra.
The ceremony took place in the Far Eastern Primorye Territory. Russian submariners trained their Indian colleagues to steer the Nerpa in the Pacific Ocean.
The event was attended by Indian Ambassador to Russia Ajai Malhotra, United Shipbuilding Corporation head Roman Trotsenko, Eastern Military District commander Admiral Konstantin Sidenko and other officials.
The submarine's displacement is 8,140/12,770 tonnes. Its maximum speed is 30 knots, maximum operating depth, 600 m; its endurance is 100 days with a crew of 73. The vessel is armed with four 533mm torpedo tubes and four 650mm torpedo tubes.
India has become the sixth operator of nuclear submarines in the world, after the US, Russia, France, Britain and China, though it previously leased another Russian submarine which was then returned.
Twenty sailors died on the Nerpa in 2008 after the vessel's fire-suppression systems were accidentally triggered during sea trials, releasing toxic gases.
In line with the contract worth over $900 million, the Project 971 Shchuka-B (NATO: Akula II) class sub has been leased to India's Navy for ten years. It will be renamed the INS Chakra.
The ceremony took place in the Far Eastern Primorye Territory. Russian submariners trained their Indian colleagues to steer the Nerpa in the Pacific Ocean.
The event was attended by Indian Ambassador to Russia Ajai Malhotra, United Shipbuilding Corporation head Roman Trotsenko, Eastern Military District commander Admiral Konstantin Sidenko and other officials.
The submarine's displacement is 8,140/12,770 tonnes. Its maximum speed is 30 knots, maximum operating depth, 600 m; its endurance is 100 days with a crew of 73. The vessel is armed with four 533mm torpedo tubes and four 650mm torpedo tubes.
India has become the sixth operator of nuclear submarines in the world, after the US, Russia, France, Britain and China, though it previously leased another Russian submarine which was then returned.
Twenty sailors died on the Nerpa in 2008 after the vessel's fire-suppression systems were accidentally triggered during sea trials, releasing toxic gases.
India becomes 6th nation to join elite nuclear submarine club
India's long hunt for a nuclear submarine is finally over. But it will take the country another 10-12 months to get an operational nuclear weapon triad - the capability to fire nukes from land, air and sea.
India on Monday became the world's sixth country after the US, Russia, France, the UK and China to operate nuclear-powered submarines when the Russian Akula-II class submarine `K-152 Nerpa' was commissioned into Indian Navy as INS Chakra on a 10-year lease under a secretive almost $1-billion contract inked in 2004.
The 8,140-tonne INS Chakra, however, is not armed with long-range nuclear missiles, like the Russian SS-N-21 cruise missiles with an over 2,500-km range due to international non-proliferation treaties like the Missile Technology Control Regime.
The Indian nuclear triad's elusive underwater leg will only come when the homegrown nuclear submarine, the over 6,000-tonne INS Arihant equipped to carry a dozen K-15 (750-km) or four K-4 (3,500-km) ballistic missiles, becomes fully operational by early-2013. India has the land and air legs in the shape of the Agni series of missiles and fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
Defence ministry sources said INS Chakra, commissioned at the Primorye region in far south-eastern Russia in a ceremony attended by top Indian and Russian officials, would soon set sail for India. It will be based at Visakhapatnam, next to where INS Arihant is slated to begin extensive sea trials in February-March after the ongoing harbour-acceptance trials.
Though it may not add to India's nuclear deterrence posture, INS Chakra will give some much-needed muscle to India's depleting underwater combat arm, which has only 14 ageing conventional submarines to brandish. India is in talks for the lease of another Akula-II class submarine from Russia, say sources.
Nuclear-powered submarines are stealthy since they can operate underwater at long ranges for months unlike diesel-electric submarines that need to surface every few days to get oxygen to recharge their batteries and have limited endurance due to fuel requirements.
INS Chakra will also be armed with the 300-km range Klub-S land-attack cruise missiles, which India deploys on its Kilo-class conventional submarines as well as other missiles and advanced torpedoes.
"It will be deadly `hunter-killer' of enemy submarines and warships, as also provide effective protection to a fleet at sea. It can also provide cover to the nuclear-armed INS Arihant if required. With a dived speed of 30-35 knots, INS Chakra will be able to outrun any current Pakistani or Chinese submarine," said a source.
The Navy will also use INS Chakra to train its sailors in the complex art of operating nuclear submarines. The `Charlie-I' class nuclear submarine India had leased from Russia from 1988 to 1991 was also named INS Chakra but the expertise gained on it was steadily lost since the Navy did not operate any other nuclear submarine thereafter.
The new 10-year lease flows from the January 2004 agreement, with India funding a major part of Nerpa's construction at Komsomolsk-on-Amur shipyard after Russia stopped it midway due to a fund crunch. It was slated for induction much earlier but technical glitches delayed the process, which included a toxic gas leak in November 2008 that killed 20 Russian sailors.
India on Monday became the world's sixth country after the US, Russia, France, the UK and China to operate nuclear-powered submarines when the Russian Akula-II class submarine `K-152 Nerpa' was commissioned into Indian Navy as INS Chakra on a 10-year lease under a secretive almost $1-billion contract inked in 2004.
The 8,140-tonne INS Chakra, however, is not armed with long-range nuclear missiles, like the Russian SS-N-21 cruise missiles with an over 2,500-km range due to international non-proliferation treaties like the Missile Technology Control Regime.
The Indian nuclear triad's elusive underwater leg will only come when the homegrown nuclear submarine, the over 6,000-tonne INS Arihant equipped to carry a dozen K-15 (750-km) or four K-4 (3,500-km) ballistic missiles, becomes fully operational by early-2013. India has the land and air legs in the shape of the Agni series of missiles and fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
Defence ministry sources said INS Chakra, commissioned at the Primorye region in far south-eastern Russia in a ceremony attended by top Indian and Russian officials, would soon set sail for India. It will be based at Visakhapatnam, next to where INS Arihant is slated to begin extensive sea trials in February-March after the ongoing harbour-acceptance trials.
Though it may not add to India's nuclear deterrence posture, INS Chakra will give some much-needed muscle to India's depleting underwater combat arm, which has only 14 ageing conventional submarines to brandish. India is in talks for the lease of another Akula-II class submarine from Russia, say sources.
Nuclear-powered submarines are stealthy since they can operate underwater at long ranges for months unlike diesel-electric submarines that need to surface every few days to get oxygen to recharge their batteries and have limited endurance due to fuel requirements.
INS Chakra will also be armed with the 300-km range Klub-S land-attack cruise missiles, which India deploys on its Kilo-class conventional submarines as well as other missiles and advanced torpedoes.
"It will be deadly `hunter-killer' of enemy submarines and warships, as also provide effective protection to a fleet at sea. It can also provide cover to the nuclear-armed INS Arihant if required. With a dived speed of 30-35 knots, INS Chakra will be able to outrun any current Pakistani or Chinese submarine," said a source.
The Navy will also use INS Chakra to train its sailors in the complex art of operating nuclear submarines. The `Charlie-I' class nuclear submarine India had leased from Russia from 1988 to 1991 was also named INS Chakra but the expertise gained on it was steadily lost since the Navy did not operate any other nuclear submarine thereafter.
The new 10-year lease flows from the January 2004 agreement, with India funding a major part of Nerpa's construction at Komsomolsk-on-Amur shipyard after Russia stopped it midway due to a fund crunch. It was slated for induction much earlier but technical glitches delayed the process, which included a toxic gas leak in November 2008 that killed 20 Russian sailors.
Padma Awards-2012
The President of India has approved the conferment of Padma Awards-2012. This year the President has approved 109 awards including one duo case (counted as one) and 14 in the category of Foreigners/ NRIs/ PIOs/ Posthumous. These comprise 5 Padma Vibhushan, 27 Padma Bhushan and 77 Padma Shri Awards. There are 19 ladies among the awardees.
Padma Awards, the country’s highest civilian awards, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The Awards are given in all disciplines/ fields of activities, viz. art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc. ‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.
The awards are conferred by the President of India at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhawan sometime around March/ April.
Padma Vibhushan
| Sl No. | Name | Discipline | State/ Domicile |
| 1. | Shri K G Subramanyan | Art-Painting & Sculpture | West Bengal |
| 2. | Late Shri Mario De Miranda | Art-Cartoonist | Goa* |
| 3. | Late (Dr.)Bhupen Hazarika | Art- Vocal Music | Assam* |
| 4. | Dr. Kantilal Hastimal Sancheti | Medicine - Orthopedics | Maharashtra |
| 5. | Shri T V Rajeswar | Civil Service | Delhi |
Padma Bhushan
| Sl No. | Name | Discipline | State/ Domicile |
| | Smt. Shabana Azmi | Art - Cinema | Maharashtra |
| | Shri Khaled Choudhury | Art - Theatre | West Bengal |
| | Shri Jatin Das | Art - Painting | Delhi |
| | Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta | Art - Instrumental Music - Sarod | West Bengal |
| | Shri Dharmendra Singh Deol alias Dharmendra | Art - Cinema | Maharashtra |
| | Dr. Trippunithwra Viswanathan Gopalkrishnan | Art - Classical vocal and instrumental music | Tamil Nadu |
| | Ms. Mira Nair | Art - Cinema | Delhi |
| | Shri M.S. Gopalakrishnan | Art - Instrumental Music-Violin | Tamil Nadu |
| | Shri Anish Kapoor | Art - Sculpture | UK* |
| | Shri Satya Narayan Goenka | Social Work | Maharashtra |
| | Dr. (Judge) Patibandla Chandrasekhar Rao | Public Affairs | Germany* |
| | Shri George Yong-Boon Yeo | Public Affairs | Singapore* |
| | Prof. Shashikumar Chitre | Science and Engineering | Maharashtra |
| | Dr. M S Raghunathan | Science and Engineering | Maharashtra |
| | Shri Subbiah Murugappa Vellayan | Trade and Industry | Tamil Nadu |
| | Shri Balasubramanian Muthuraman | Trade and Industry | Maharashtra |
| | Dr. Suresh H. Advani | Medicine - Oncology | Maharashtra |
| | Dr. Noshir H Wadia | Medicine-Neurology | Maharashtra |
| | Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty | Medicine-Cardiology | Karnataka |
| | Prof. (Dr.) Shantaram Balwant Mujumdar | Literature and Education | Maharashtra |
| | Prof. Vidya Dehejia | Literature and Education | USA* |
| | Prof. Arvind Panagariya | Literature and Education | USA* |
| | Dr. Jose Pereira | Literature and Education | USA* |
| | Dr. Homi K. Bhabha | Literature and Education | UK * |
| | Shri N Vittal | Civil Service | Kerala |
| | Shri Mata Prasad | Civil Service | Uttar Pradesh |
| | Shri Ronen Sen | Civil Service | West Bengal |
Padma Shri
| Sl No. | Name | Discipline | State/ Domicile |
| | Shri Vanraj Bhatia | Art - Music | Maharashtra |
| | Shri Zia Fariduddin Dagar | Art - Music - vocal | Maharashtra |
| | Smt. Nameirakpam Ibemni Devi | Art - Music- Khongjom Parba | Manipur |
| | Shri Ramachandra Subraya Hegde Chittani | Art - Yakshagana dance drama | Karnataka |
| | Shri Moti Lal Kemmu | Art - Playwright | Jammu and Kashmir |
| | Shri Shahid Parvez Khan | Art - Instrumental Music-Sitar | Maharashtra |
| | Shri Mohan Lal Kumhar | Art - Terracotta | Rajasthan |
| | Shri Sakar Khan Manganiar | Art - Rajasthani Folk Music | Rajasthan |
| | Smt. Joy Michael | Art - Theatre | Delhi |
| | Dr. Minati Mishra | Art - Indian Classical Dance-Odissi. | Orissa |
| | Shri Natesan Muthuswamy | Art - Theatre. | Tamil Nadu |
| | Smt. R. Nagarathnamma | Art - Theatre | Karnataka |
| | Shri Kalamandalm Sivan Nambootiri | Art - Indian Classical Dance- Kutiyattam | Kerala |
| | Smt. Yamunabai Waikar | Art - Indian Folk Music-Lavani. | Maharashtra |
| | Shri Satish Alekar | Art - Playwright | Maharashtra |
| | Pandit Gopal Prasad Dubey | Art - Chhau dance and choreography | Jharkhand |
| | Shri Ramakant Gundecha # | Art - Indian Classical Music- Vocal | Madhya Pradesh |
| Shri Umakant Gundecha # | Art - Indian Classical Music- Vocal | Madhya Pradesh | |
| | Shri Anup Jalota | Art-Indian Classical Music- Vocal | Maharashtra |
| | Shri Soman Nair Priyadarsan | Art - Cinema- Direction | Kerala |
| | Shri Sunil Janah | Art-Photography | Assam |
| | Ms. Laila Tyebji | Art-Handicrafts | Delhi |
| | Shri Vijay Sharma | Art-Painting | Himachal Pradesh |
| | Smt. Shamshad Begum | Social Work | Chattisgarh |
| | Smt. Reeta Devi | Social Work | Delhi |
| | Dr. P.K. Gopal | Social Work | Tamil Nadu |
| | Smt. Phoolbasan Bai Yadav | Social Work | Chattisgarh |
| | Dr. G. Muniratnam | Social Work | Andhra Pradesh |
| | Shri Niranjan Pranshankar Pandya | Social Work | Maharashtra |
| | Dr. Uma Tuli | Social Work | Delhi |
| | Shri Sat Paul Varma | Social Work | Jammu and Kashmir |
| | Smt.Binny Yanga | Social Work | Arunachal Pradesh |
| | Shri Yezdi Hirji Malegam | Public Affairs | Maharashtra |
| | Shri Pravin H. Parekh | Pubic Affairs | Delhi |
| | Dr. V. Adimurthy | Science and Engineering | Kerala |
| | Dr. Krishna Lal Chadha | Science and Engineering - Agriculture | Delhi |
| | Prof. Virander Singh Chauhan | Science and Engineering | Delhi |
| | Prof. Rameshwar Nath Koul Bamezai | Science and Engineering | Jammu and Kashmir |
| | Dr. Vijaypal Singh | Science and Engineering - Agricultural Research | Uttar Pradesh |
| | Dr. Lokesh Kumar Singhal | Science and Engineering | Punjab |
| | Dr. Yagnaswami Sundara Rajan | Science and Engineering | Karnataka |
| | Prof. Jagadish Shukla | Science and Engineering | USA* |
| | Ms. Priya Paul | Trade and Industry | Delhi |
| | Shri Shoji Shiba | Trade and Industry | Japan* |
| | Shri Gopinath Pillai | Trade and Industry | Singapore* |
| | Shri Arun Hastimal Firodia | Trade and Industry | Maharashtra |
| | Dr. Swati A. Piramal | Trade and Industry | Maharashtra |
| | Prof. Mahdi Hasan | Medicine-Anatomy | Uttar Pradesh |
| | Dr. Viswanathan Mohan | Medicine - Diabetology | Tamil Nadu |
| | Dr. J. Hareendran Nair | Medicine - Ayurveda | Kerala |
| | Dr. Vallalarpuram Sennimalai Natarajan | Medicine - Geriatrics | Tamil Nadu |
| | Dr. Jitendra Kumar Singh | Medicine - Oncology | Bihar |
| | Dr. Shrinivas S. Vaishya | Medicine-Healthcare | Daman and Diu |
| | Dr. Nitya Anand | Medicine - Drugs Research | Uttar Pradesh |
| | Late Dr. Jugal Kishore | Medicine - Homoeopathy | Delhi * |
| | Dr. Mukesh Batra | Medicine-Homeopathy | Maharashtra |
| | Dr. Eberhard Fischer | Literature and Education | Switzerland* |
| | Shri Kedar Gurung | Literature and Education | Sikkim |
| | Shri Surjit Singh Patar | Literature and Education - Poetry | Punjab |
| | Shri Vijay Dutt Shridhar | Literature and Education - Journalism | Madhya Pradesh |
| | Shri Irwin Allan Sealy | Literature and Education | Uttarakhand |
| | Ms. Geeta Dharmarajan | Literature and Education | Delhi |
| | Prof. Sachchidanand Sahai | Literature and Education | Haryana |
| | Smt. Pepita Seth | Literature and Education | Kerala |
| | Dr. Ralte L. Thanmawia | Literature and Education | Mizoram |
| | Shri Ajeet Bajaj | Sports - Skiing | Delhi |
| | Smt. Jhulan Goswami | Sports - Women`s Cricket | West Bengal |
| | Shri Zafar Iqbal | Sports-Hockey | Uttar Pradesh |
| | Shri Devendra Jhajrija | Sports - Athletics- Paralympics | Rajasthan |
| | Shri Limba Ram | Sports - Archery | Rajasthan |
| | Shri Syed Mohammed Arif | Sports - Badminton | Andhra Pradesh |
| | Prof. Ravi Chaturvedi | Sports- Commentary | Delhi |
| | Shri Prabhakar Vaidya | Sports-Physical Education | Maharashtra |
| | Shri T. Venkatapathi Reddiar | Others-Horticulture | Puducherry |
| | Dr. K. (Kota) Ullas Karanth | Others-Wildlife Conservation and Environment Protection | Karnataka |
| | Shri K Paddayya | Others-Archaeology | Maharashtra |
| | Shri Swapan Guha | Others-Ceramics | Rajasthan |
| | Dr. Kartikeya V. Sarabhai | Others - Environmental Education | Gujarat |
Note: * indicates awardees in the category of Foreigners / NRIs/ PIOs/ Posthumous.
# indicates duo case.
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