Indo-French connection goes nuclear

NEW DELHI: Is nuclear the way to India's heart? For both France and India, it's fast becoming a natural tie, if you heard French president Nicolas Sarkozy in Bangalore on Saturday. With India getting the all-clear for global nuclear commerce, Sarkozy wants to leverage France's civilian nuclear expertise to marry economic and strategic relations with India. "Nuclear energy will now be the focus of our cooperation. We all know how critical it is for India to ensure its energy security," Sarkozy said in Bangalore.

France became the second country after the US to support India's membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). In Vienna, the US has already approached the NSG committees to push India's membership. Although this will be formally taken up during the NSG plenary in 2011, getting more hands for India will make the process easier. India itself should be doing advocacy for itself in the NSG outreach group in preparation for the plenary. But the Indian government has twice postponed meetings with NSG officials, which means this will now be addressed in 2011.

For this new engagement to get teeth, France and India will need to come to some sort of understanding on India's liability law which, despite a lot of polite talk from the French side, is emerging to be an obstacle.

In an interview recently, the chief of Areva, Anne Lauvergeon, said France would only decide how much of a problem the law would be after the implementation rules are drafted. The government is expected to put out the rules by the end of the year — 90 days after the bill became law. Given Sarkozy's emphasis, this issue is bound to dominate discussions with the PM on Monday, but equally, Manmohan Singh's current difficulties might make any forward looking decision difficult.

At Isro, Bangalore, on Saturday, Sarkozy spent 25 minutes to set out the new terms of engagement — science, space, nuclear, technology. "France, the US, Russia and the UK have already signed agreements with India. Others will join them soon," Sarkozy said.

"That's why it makes sense for India to now participate fully in the work of the multilateral bodies responsible for drafting and ensuring compliance with the non-proliferation regime, starting with the Nuclear Suppliers Group. France supports India's candidacy to join these groups," he added. It will be India's membership to groups like the Wassenaar and Australia Group that will make it easier for this new economic relationship to bear fruit because it will enable trade in dual-use technologies that India keenly desires.

View the original article here

CBI registers case in connection with hacking of its website - The Hindu

The Hindu : News / National : CBI registers case in connection with hacking of its website ArchivesSubscriptionsRSS FeedsSite MapePaperMobileSocialSEARCHHomeNewsOpinionSportBusinessArtsLife & StyleS & TEducationHealthClassifiedsToday's PaperTopicsInternationalNationalStatesCities: BangaloreChennaiCoimbatoreDelhiHyderabadKochiMaduraiMangaloreThiruvananthapuramTiruchirapalliVijayawadaVisakhapatnam News» NationalNew Delhi,December 4, 2010CBI registers case in connection with hacking of its website PTIShare  ·  print  ·   The CBI on Saturday registered a case against unknown persons for hacking and defacement of its official website by people who identified themselves as “Pakistani Cyber Army.”

The CBI registered the case under various sections of the Information Technology Act and said efforts were underway to restore the website for public interface at the earliest, an official spokesperson said here.

In a brief statement, the spokesperson said, “It has come to the notice of the CBI that its official website was illegally accessed and defaced in the intervening night of December 3 and 4.

“A case has been registered in this connection in the cyber crime cell of the CBI and efforts are underway to restore the website with the help of National Informatics Centre and the CBI cyber security experts,” the spokesperson said.

The home page of the CBI website was hacked and it had a message from the ‘Pakistani Cyber Army’ warning the ‘Indian Cyber Army’ that their websites should not be attacked.

The message from the hackers also spoke about the filtering controls provided by the NIC, a body which mans computer servers across the country.

Intelligence agencies have been warning the government that proper cyber security was not being ensured in offices and that no security audit was being carried out.

The ‘Pakistani Cyber Army’ also threatened to carry out “mass defacement” of other websites.

Keywords: CBI, hacking

RelatedNEWSCBI website hacked by ‘Pakistani Cyber Army’ TOPICScrimecyber crime
Email the Editor Most PopularMost CommentedCBI website hacked by ‘Pakistani Cyber Army’An opportunity that Pakistan missedSarkozy backs India's civil nuclear programmeCongress Core Group meets Arrest without reason violation of fundamental right: SC15-member Congress panel for TV debatesCentre seeks Rs. 5,786 crore for Bhopal gas victimsKerala IAS officers come out in defence of CVC"Tenor of Raja's reply to PM's letters amounts to disrespect" Kasab says he was not at CST, police falsely implicated him Post-Radia, a fierce debate on media ethicsTata petition raises question of two conflicting rights
Today's Paper ePaperThis Day That AgeCrosswordArchivesObituaryGroup SitesThe HinduBusiness Line SportstarImagesFrontlineAbout UsContactsArchivesSubscriptionsRSS FeedsSite MapHomeNewsOpinionSportBusinessArtsLife & StyleS & TEducationHealthClassifiedsToday's PaperTopicsGroup Sites
The HinduBusiness LineSportstarFrontlinePublicationseBooksImagesDisclaimer: The Hindu is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen areexpressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu.
Comments to : web.thehindu@thehindu.co.in  Copyright © 2010, The Hindu

View the original article here