2 Aurora homes raided in terror probe; man questioned

Federal investigators released an Aurora man late Wednesday night after 8 1/2 hours of questioning in connection with a multi-state anti-terrorism investigation. Najibullah Zazi, 24, left the Byron G. Rogers Federal Building after 10:30 p.m. — but is scheduled to return this afternoon for another round of questioning, according to his attorney, Art Folsom. The move came after a day that saw federal agents raid Zazi's apartment and a house where his aunt and uncle live. Agents clad in white "clean suits" and others using dogs executed search warrants on the residences, the latest move in an investigation that has centered on a plot involving peroxide- based explosives.

Folsom said Zazi went into the meeting voluntarily in an effort to "get the air cleared." He said the FBI questioned Zazi about a recent trip to New York City — one that apparently spurred authorities to conduct raids on three homes in Queens — and also took handwriting samples and fingerprints, and swabbed the inside of Zazi's mouth for a DNA sample.

Zazi returned to his residence, accompanied by an older man and two woman, Najibullah Zazi left his apartment early Wednesday morning at about 11:40 p.m.

India inks Uranium deal with Mongolia

India and Mongolia signed a crucial civil nuclear agreement for supply of Uranium to New Delhi. It was signed following summit level talks between the visiting Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in New Delhi. India also extended a 25 million US dollar stabilisation fund to mitigate the global financial crisis affecting Ulanbattar. Another agreements signed included cooperation in the fields of health, cultural exchange and statistical affairs. In a joint media interaction following the signing of agreements, Dr. Manmohan Singh said both the leaders have agreed on deeper cooperation in the field of mining and agriculture.

Dr. Singh said they have already agreed on bilateral investment protection and ways to avoid double taxation. The visiting dignitary President Elbegdorj said that Mangolia is grateful to India for providing stabilisation funds for the recovery of its staggering economy. AIR correspondent understands, Mongolia’s huge uranium reserves could boost and energize the country’s starving civil nuclear fuel cycle. Mongolia is the sixth nation with which India has signed the civil nuclear agreement after getting a waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group in September last year.

Similar agreements have already been inked with America, Russia, France, Kazakhstan and Namibia. Mongolia's decision to supply uranium to India assumes greater significance in the wake of Australia’s reluctance to do so. Under the Agreement, the two sides will trade uranium and exchange expertise in designing of atomic plants and train personnel. Mongolia recently signed an inter-governmental agreement with Russia to establish a joint venture to develop, produce and process Uranium. It has also signed uranium-linked cooperation with China.

Google Dominates Internet Landscape in India and Brazil

Google’s dominance of the Internet in the United States is hard to overstate. The company accounts for two-thirds of all Web searches, it owns YouTube, which is 10 times more popular than its nearest competitor, and it is No. 1 in areas like maps and blogging. Over all, Internet users in the United States spend 9 percent of their time online on some Google service, according to comScore. Yet there are places were Google is far more dominant. India and Brazil stand out, according to new data that comScore made available to The New York Times. In those countries, for every hour people spend online, about 18 minutes are on a Google service.

To be precise, Google accounts for nearly 30 percent of people’s online minutes in Brazil and nearly 29 percent in India. The next country in terms of Google"s dominance is Ireland, where it accounts for 16 percent of online minutes. The global average is 9.4 percent, or slightly higher than in the United States. Google’s gaping lead over rivals in Brazil and India is in part the result of an anomaly: Orkut, Google’s social network, which has been a failure pretty much everywhere else in the world, is No. 1 in those two countries. But Orkut is only part of the story.

In Brazil, Google captures nearly 90 percent of all searches, 71 percent of the time spent on maps (compared with just 42 percent here) and 43 percent of the time spent on blogs (compared with 30 percent here). In India, it represents 88 percent of searches, 64 percent of maps and 48 percent of blogs. Gmail accounts for nearly half of the Indian Web e-mail market, compared with just 6.4 percent here. Andrew Lipsman, director of industry analysis for comScore, said that Google's dominance in those countries has historical reasons. While on opposite sides of the world, when it comes to the Internet, India and Brazil developed in parallel, he said. "Part of the explanation was that Google emerged onto the scene at the time these markets were developing," Mr. Lispman said. "As Google became the default search engine, the brand extended to these other services."

There are other countries, of course, where Google has not been able to beat local brands — notably China, the Internet market with the most users, where it lags behind Baidu, and Russia, where Yandex is the leading search engine. But India is ranked seventh, and Brazil ninth, in terms Internet use globally. They are also two of the fastest-growing markets. That growth obviously bodes well for Google. It also suggests that Google still has room to increase its dominance in the United States and makes it clear just how challenging it is for a rival like Microsoft to compete against Google globally.

Obama Aide Meets With Dalai Lama in India

A high-level delegation representing U.S. President Barack Obama has met with the Dalai Lama ahead of the Tibetan spiritual leader's scheduled trip to the United States next month. The group met Monday at the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India. Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser and assistant to the president, led the U.S. delegation.

A spokesman with the U.S. National Security Council said Mr. Obama wanted to convey his respect for the Dalai Lama as a religious leader and representative of Tibetan culture. The spokesman said Jarrett heard the Dalai Lama's ideas about how Tibetan identity can be preserved, and his commitment to dialogue with China. He said the Tibetan spiritual leader repeated his position that he does not seek independence for Tibet. China considers the Dalai Lama a separatist and disapproves of him meeting with foreign governments. The Dalai Lama's office said in a statement that Jarrett reiterated President Obama's commitment to support the Tibetan people in protecting their distinct heritage and securing respect for their civil liberties.

The Dalai Lama has said he hopes to see Mr. Obama when he visits New York and Washington October 4-9. Jarrett and the senior U.S. diplomat accompanying her, State Department Undersecretary for Democracy and Global Affairs, Maria Otero, are the highest-level U.S. officials to visit the Tibetan center in India's Himalayan region since March 2008. The speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, traveled to Dharamsala last year just weeks after major protests in Tibet and a crackdown there by Chinese authorities. Jarrett and Otero met with the prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile, Samdhong Rinpoche, on Sunday, but no details of their talks were released.

Peaceful Vigil in front of Ground Zero in New York on 9/11

Facing gusty winds and heavy rains members of Human Rights Coalition Against Radical Islam (HRCARI), an apex body of 35 organizations listed below, staged a peaceful vigil in front of Ground Zero in New York on 9/11/2009.

HRCARI members – Christians, Jews, Moslems, Hindus, Sikhs and secular leaders gathered there to mourn the loss of all victims of Radical Islam – from the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, from Mumbai to Madrid, Lockerbie to London, Bali to Beslan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, from Somalia to Sudan, from Iraq to Israel, from the sailors on the USS Code to the Coptic Christians in Egypt, and from Kenya to Kashmir.

This multi-ethnic, diverse, rainbow coalition for human rights demanded American government officials, President Barak Obama and the mainstream media to connect the dots and report the truth about Radical Islam’s worldwide assault on human rights ( including mass murders and suicide bombings, hanging of gays, stoning women, honor killings, suppression of free speech, etc.) .

HRCARI also demanded the governments to take appropriate action to protect the civilized world and to slow, if not stop, the spread of Islamic Supremacism; this oppressive, bigoted, homophobic, misogynist, racist and violent doctrine which has spawned so much death and destruction.

The volunteers carried various posters saying “Since 9/11 Radical Islam has committed 11,961 attacks and killed 75,038 and injured 115,255 people”, “Stop billions of Saudi oil money funding worldwide to Radical Islam”, etc.

“The root cause of the murder and mayhem in Middle East, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Kashmir, Madrid, Mumbai, Beslan, Bali, Manila, USA, UK and other parts of the world is Radical Islam. Radical Islam is the greatest threat to human civilization. We should recognize the gravity of this threat”, warned Dr. Marvin Belsky of HRCARI.

Andrew Upton from the Human Rights Coalition Against Radical Islam spoke of the difficulty in challenging an intolerant, bigoted , hate-filled and violent political doctrine when it hides behind the veil of religion; especially in America where tolerance of religious beliefs is so important to so many of us. Yet he emphasized the importance of unveiling the terrible truth about this doctrine as he recalled standing and watching in horror from just one block away as the second plane struck the World Trade Center on 9/11/01.

Narrating the tragic story of the death and destruction wrought by Radical Islam, Rajinder Singh Khalsa, President, Sikh Recognition Trust said: “Our Ninth Guru Shri Teg Bahadur Singh ji was killed by Radical Islam and our Tenth Guru’s two sons also were bricked alive in the walls by Radical Islamists.

One of the organizer of the Vigil, Narain Kataria said: “Radical Islamic preaches an ideology that is intolerant, exclusive, oppressive, totalitarian, violates human rights of others, and is incompatible with American Constitution. Radical Islam has unleashed a war on humanity. For the survival and protection of humanity as a whole, it is absolutely essential for the civilized governments and the United Nations to nip in bud this totalitarian ideology masquerading as a religion.

Bhupinder Singh Bhurji, Chairman of Namdhari Sikh Foundation, USA said: “What happened on 9/11 in New York has been happening for the hundreds of years in our country of origin - India. A couple of months ago thousands of our Hindu and Sikh brothers were asked to pay special tax (jazia) by Talibans in Pakistan. When they refused to pay the Dhimmi tax, their houses were ransacked, burnt and their businesses destroyed. According to a report in yesterday’s Times of India, as a result of torture and brutalization by Talibans, more than 5000 Hindus and Sikhs have fled Pakistan.

What America is doing now in Afghanistan, we Sikhs had done it 200 years ago and taught a befitting lesson to terrorists from Afghanistan. We Sikhs organized our army under Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Lion of Punjab, and pushed all the Islamic invaders back to Afghanistan. Under our Commander Hari Singh Nalva we attacked Afghanistan and defeated them and broke their backbone. We built a very powerful human wall on the western front of India and insulated India from foreign attacks for ever.

Arish Sahani, one another member of HRCARI informed the audience that during the last 8 years, more than 13,000 terrorist attacks have taken place all over the world in which thousands of innocent men, women and children have been murdered. Referring to ethnic cleansing of Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Christians from Islamic nations, Mr. Sahani said that during the last 60 years, Hindu population in Pakistan has been reduced from 23 to 1%, and it has been brought down from 30% to 7-8% in Bangladesh.

Dr. Vasudev Murthy, Mohinder Singh Gulati, a businessman, Kamal Pandey, Sher Bahadur Singh of Nepalese Foundation, , Bidyut Sarkar of International Foundation of Bangladeshi Hindus, Satya Dosapati, Pabitra Choudhury and other activists also expressed their outrage and disgust against Radical Islam.

The Human Rights Coalition Against Radical Islam includes:

9/11 Families for a Secure America
ACT for America, Long Island & Manhattan
AISH Center
Alliance of Interfaith Resistance
AMCHA
American Coptic Union
American Center for Democracy
Americans for Peace & Tolerance
Arabs for Israel
Artists4Israel
Center for Security Policy
Chinese Community Relations Council(CCRC)
Clarion Fund
Damanga( Darfur Muslims)
David Project
Forcefield
Foundation of Nepalese
Global Movement Against Radical Islam
Hasbara Fellowships
Hindu Human Rights Watch
Indian-American Intellectuals Forum
Institute for Religion & Democracy
International Foundation of Bangladeshi Hindus
Jewish Action Alliance
Mothers Against Terrorism
Muslims Against Sharia
Namdhari Sikh Foundation
R.E.A.L Courage
Security & Law Society, Fordham University School of Law
Sikh Recognition Trust
Stand With Us
Sudan Freedom Walk
The Intelligence Summit
The United Nationalist Nepalese (UNN)
Women United: Code Red
Zionist Organization of America

High alert along India-China border in Uttarakhand

Indian security forces were on high alert on the vast India-China border amid reports of fresh Chinese incursions into Uttarakhand.

The reports of incursions came from border areas of Rimkhim and Barahoti in Chamoli district with a worried Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank asking Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to deploy more troops along the long, porous borders with Tibet, which had not reported any major incident since the 1962 conflict.

Pokhriyal added that the state government had urged the Centre to set up a specialised mountain force in Uttarakhand keeping in view its 370-km-long border with China. Last month also,

the chief minister had demanded a similar force from the Centre.

On the other hand, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) said its personnel were on high alert along the border, but denied reports that the Chinese army had made any incursions into the Indian border. DIG Sanjay Singhal said the ITBP personnel had not sighted any movement of Chinese troops along the border.

However, Singhal said some civilians, mostly shepherds, from China came into the Indian side during the monsoon season, which he said was not an “unusual” thing on the Uttarakhand-Tibet border, particularly in the Barahoti area in Chamoli district.

Meanwhile, the army has also been put on alert on the border particularly along the snow-clad mountains of Chamoli district.

India recently accused Chinese troops of entering into its territory in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir.

India billiards champion rules the world

 

Advani, at just 24, has won virtually every billiards title on offer

To followers of the game, Pankaj Advani winning the World Professional Billiards title this week was not exactly a surprise.
But the comprehensive win against Mike Russell, the legendary 41-year-old Englishman, now settled in Qatar, UAE, was the icing on the Indian's cake.
Advani, at just 24, has won virtually every billiards title on offer at the national, Asian and world levels.
The world professional crown was missing in his showcase despite two previous attempts. But it was only a matter of time before this prodigiously talented Bangalorean won it.
To cap it, he is the only Indian to have won the world title in both snooker (2003 IBSF Championship) and billiards. Thus, the sheer weight of his achievements puts Advani in the big league.
Frustration
Yet, he nurses frustration.
"All the awards and accolades are fine with me, but there is no recognition. I have virtually given up on playing professional snooker because of a lack of sponsorship. It is not like I have any particular bias for billiards, but I feel, I can do well in pro snooker too," Advani said.
Billiards, by its very nature, is not a spectacle and lacks global following.
There are only three coloured balls on the table and as many scoring shots that are repetitive. Though the authorities have introduced a points-up format (first to 100 or 150), the 150-year-old game has not taken off.
Advani is well aware of the reality, but having taken to the game as an 11-year-old soon after his family moved from Kuwait to Bangalore in 1990, he courted success almost immediately.
He won his first title defeating his elder brother Shree in the final within months after his 11th birthday.
Training under Arvind Savur, often referred to as the "father of Indian snooker" in Bangalore, Advani rapidly improved as the two developed a deep bonding.

Advani has proved to be a worthy inheritor of India's billiards legacy

Looking back, Savur said: "Pankaj used to practically live in my home where I have a billiards table. He is a natural and gifted player. I am not surprised he won the pro title, but defeating Russell in the final was just unbelievable."
As regards Advani's billiards career, Savur said: "I cannot say how much more he will improve because there are hardly any billiards tournaments. The more he plays, the better he will get and that's for certain," he observed.
In India, Advani has no worthwhile competition in billiards.
With his idol Geet Sethi, winner of eight World billiards titles (three in amateur category and five as a professional) on the wane and young players preferring snooker to billiards, the field is wide open, but depleted.
Internationally, billiards practitioners are mainly from India and England and the absence of a global spread that snooker enjoys has pegged its popularity.
Worthy inheritor
Though the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India boasts of a thousand-odd registered players, the fact remains that the three-ball game suffers in comparison to snooker that is played with 22 balls of seven different colours, and is a viable career option. Top professional snooker players are millionaires.
Nevertheless, Advani has proved to be a worthy inheritor of India's billiards legacy that began with the late Wilson Jones who won the World titles in 1958 and 1964.
In his wake came Michael Ferreira (1977, 1981, 1983), Geet Sethi (8 times), Manoj Kothari (1990) and Ashok Shandilya (2002).

Advani says there is no recognition for billiards in India

However, despite the clutch of world titles, billiards in India remains low-profile and fighting to shrug off the perception as a "parlour game" played by pot-bellied middle-aged men with time to burn.
While there has been a noticeable increase in the number of youngsters taking to the game in the wake of Sethi's exploits in the last two decades besides profusion of pool parlours, they are more inclined towards snooker than billiards.
Advani too had his first exposure to cue sport when he visited a pool parlour and thus began a lasting love affair with the sport.
Even as a teenager, Advani was noticeably different from others in his age-group not just because he played better.
Impeccably groomed and attired, and deferential, a trait drilled into him by his widowed mother Kajal, he consciously modelled himself on Sethi.
"I wanted to be like Sethi on and off the table," he says. Being modest and a willing learner helped Advani to develop not only as a player but also a personality.
Yet, there remains a question mark over his powers of concentration that is often related to big breaks.
Advani's best break in billiards has been 876. Only three players in modern era belong to the 1,000-break club - Peter Gilchrist from England, but settled in Singapore (1,346), Sethi (1,276) and Michael Ferreira (1,149).
Savur believes that Advani is capable of getting into the club.
"Pankaj can become the greatest billiards player in modern era. It is just a matter of time," he predicts.