Kathmandu: The Nepalese government has proposed formation of a four-member Eminent Persons’ Group (EPG) to review the existing bilateral agreements with India including the strategic Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1950.

The government has proposed names of four persons to form the Eminent Persons’ Group (EPG), during the cabinet meeting yesterday though no formal decision was taken to this effect, minister for Information and Communication Sherdhan Rai said.
The next cabinet meeting will take a formal decision in this regard, said Rai.
The 1950 India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship allows free movement of people and goods between the two nations and a close relationship and collaboration on matters of defense and foreign policy.
The proposal to form the EPG comes as the government prepares for Prime Minister’s visit to India scheduled for the second week of February.
Oli’s maiden visit to India comes amid great unease in bilateral relations, owing to months-long blockade of the land-locked country enforced by Indian-origin Madhesi people who are protesting Nepal’s new constitution.
The Third Joint Commission Meeting of Nepal and India that was held here in July 2014 had decided to set up the EPG with four members from each side at the request of Nepal.
The decision was also endorsed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Nepal last year. The EPG will be authorised to look into the entire gamut of Nepal-India relations.

The Nepalese Prime Minister K P Oli’s  maiden visit to India  will take place in the next month.

  Sydney: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza, along with her Swiss partner Martina Hingis on Thursday defeated Yaroslava Shevedova and Raluca Olaru to advance into the final of Sydney International winning 29th match in a row.

The World No. 1 pair defeated Yaroslava Shevedova and Raluca Olaru 4-6, 6-3, 10-8 in a rain-interrupted semi-final.

With this win, they have surpassed record of Puerto Rican Gigi Fernandez and Belarus’ Natasha Zvereva in 1994 of winning 28 matches in a row.

The star pair has now begun to chase an even bigger record. Back in 1990, the dynamic duo of Jana Novotna and Helena Sukova won a whopping 44 matches in a row.

Agency news.

  New Delhi: Cooperation in defence and counter-terrorism will be among the top priorities of external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Israel next week, Israeli Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon said on Wednesday.

He said Israeli defence manufacturing companies were interested in India’s ‘Make in India” campaign.

As for cooperation in counter-terrorism activities, he said: “We should do more and go beyond the established fields.”The other areas of bilateral cooperation, according to Carmon, are agriculture and water management, academia, cyber and innovation.

Sushma Swaraj will meet Israel’s top leadership during her visit on 17-18 January.

Agency news.

The report, “Immigrants’ Growing Presence in the U.S. Science and Engineering Workforce: Education and Employment Characteristics in 2013,” goes on to add that Indians “continue to be the single largest source of such professionals populating the American workforce” even as the number of scientists and engineers residing in the United States rose from 21.6 million to 29 million. The most common fields of study for immigrant scientist and engineers in 2013 were engineering, computer and mathematical sciences and social and related sciences and over 80 per cent of the immigrant scientists and engineers were employed in 2013, the same percentage as their U.S.-born counterparts.

The rapid rise in the number of expatriate Indian technologists comes in the decade when India—concerned about ‘brain-drain’—has launched a plethora of schemes to attract highly-qualified scientists back to India. According to a report by the U.N., Indians make up the largest diaspora in the world, with 16 million of them scattered across the world. This is partly due to its sizable population of 1.2 billion and a large proportion of youth. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been seeking to convince this massive diaspora to engage more with India as well as invest in the country.

Based on a report in THE HINDU.

  NEW DELHI : At the time when many states do not appear to be keen on allowing field trials of genetically modified (GM) crops, eminent agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan has come out with a solution, suggesting that the country’s premier research institution – Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) – should organize an “All India Coordinated Project” for the field testing of genetically engineered crops in the farms of Agriculture Universities as it will provide a uniformed method of assessment.

Making a point that the country would not be able to assess the benefits and risks (of GM crops) in a reliable manner unless field testing is permitted, he has also suggested that the government should establish a national bio-safety regulatory authority to look after the entire issue of bio-safety and encourage research in public institutions in the field of molecular biology and genetic engineering.

Referring to a question on permitting scientists to undertake field trials in GM varieties and crops, Swaminathan – father of India’s green revolution – told to a news paper that the question of permitting scientists to undertake field trials with GM varieties and crops has been a matter of controversy, although field trials are absolutely essential to assess risks and benefits.

“The Maharashtra government has now given permission to seed firms to begin field trials with GM varieties of rice, corn, chickpea and cotton. Probably other states may also take similar action. In this context, the proposal I made 10 years ago that ICAR should organize an All India Coordinated Project for the field testing of GM crop in the farms of Agriculture Universities with appropriate precautions is worthy of implementation. This will provide a uniform method of assessment in farm university-controlled land fields” he said .

He suggested that the project coordinators of this coordinated project should be a bio-safety expert, so that the field trials can be assessed from the point of view of bio-safety in addition to agricultural utility.

Washington : A US intelligence official  confirmed that online personal email accounts linked to Director of National Intelligence (DNI)James Clapper  have been hacked.

DNI spokesman  said Tuesday that Clapper’s office is aware of the hacking and has reported the incident to appropriate authorities. He declined to provide other details.

An individual who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was aware of the hacking incident before it was first reported Tuesday by Motherboard, an online magazine and video channel on science and technology. Motherboard reported that the same teen-age hacker who broke into CIA Director John Brennan’s personal email account also targeted Clapper.

Brennan said in October that he was outraged that someone hacked his personal email account and publicized sensitive data, including his contact list and his wife’s government iD number. The hacker has said he is a high school student protesting US policy.

Brennan denied any impropriety on his part and said the hacking incident underscores that everyone is vulnerable to the compromise of personal information on the Internet.

Lieutenant General JFR Jacob (retired), who negotiated the surrender of Pakistani troops in Dhaka following the 1971 war, died today.
The 93-year-old passed away around 8.30 am at the Army Hospital due to pneumonia, a hospital official said. He had been admitted on 1 January.
Jacob was the Chief of Staff of the Indian Army’s Eastern Command during the 1971 India-Pakistan war that led to Pakistan’s eastern wing seceding and becoming an independent Bangladesh. Lt Gen Jacob joined the army at the age of 19 and also fought in World War II and the Indo-Pak War of 1965 . He retired in 1978.
Post retirement, he also served as the Governor of Goa and Punjab.

”His distinguished services to the nation and the Indian Army shall always be remembered,” the President said in his condolence message.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Twitter said the country was grateful to him for his impeccable service.

  NEW DELHI: The government is set to reduce interest rates on small savings products such as public provident fund and National Savings Certificate .
The new formula will see small savings rates linked to returns on government securities of comparable maturity, with the reduction expected to be up to 50 basis points (100 basis points equal a percentage point). There are indications that senior citizens and women will be protected with some special category schemes.

Banks are expected to follow the small savings rate cut with lower fixed deposit rates.

The Reserve Bank of India and banks have been seeking a reduction in small savings rates, arguing that PPF and other products offered higher returns when compared with fixed deposits, resulting in a flight of funds to the government schemes.

The move may trigger a fall in returns on  savings. It is seen as a reform move by the government, which recently announced a plan to end subsidies to the high-income segment.

  St Stephen’s College students have  adopted the odd-even formula for the usage of cell phones saying the devices are “lethal” for health as well as intellectual life.

Following the Delhi Government’s 15-day trial for restricting the plying of vehicles in the national capital as per odd and even numbers, the students have decided to attempt the same for mobile phones.

The decision was taken at an assembly meeting at the college where over 70 per cent students voted in favour of the idea.

However, the implementation of the scheme is voluntary and no student will be penalised for not following the rule.

“I had given up using my cell phone last July. This is the best that I have done for myself in the recent years. It has reduced my distractions by 95 per cent, my vexation by 96.5 per cent and my headache by 99.66 per cent. The quality of my concentration has improved,” college Principal Valson Thampu said.

“Cell phones are as lethal a pollutant of our inner/ intellectual life as vehicles are of our roads or outdoor life,” he added.

Aiming to cut down air pollution in the city, the Arvind Kejriwal-led government has implemented a 15-day-long odd-even scheme, which came into force on January 1.

Agency news

  Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala government today made it clear that it would not interfere in the customs and traditions of Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala where entry of women in the age group of 10 to 50 are banned.
“Government has a declared stand on matters like this. It will not interfere on issues of customs and beliefs,” Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
“This is the state government stand and it will be conveyed to Supreme court,” Mr.Chandy added.
Chandy was reacting to the Supreme court observation that practice of banning entry of women and girls was not supported by the constitutional scheme. The apex court had also directed the state government to file an affidavit in the case.
Yesterday, the Travancore Devaswom Board that manages the temple had stated that the restriction was part of custom and traditions of the shrine and wanted it to continue.
On January 11,the apex court had questioned the ban on the entry of women of menstrual age group at the Lord Ayyappa temple,while hearing a PIL filed by the Young Lawyers Association, seeking entry for all women and girls in the shrine.

Agency news.