New Delhi, Jan. 24: All four ministers expressed concern about the IPCC goof-up on the Himalayan glaciers. Chinese minister Xie Zhenhua said that, "Disputes do occur within the scientific community but we cannot forget that this is IPCC’s fourth assessment report. Three reports appeared earlier and did not create controversy." He added, "We need to know whether climate change is also being caused by a cyclical changes in nature and for this we must adopt a more open attitude. I believe for the fifth report, we must involve a broader spectrum of scientists to make it more comprehensive." Brazilian minister Carlos Minc felt that "scientists can make mistakes and that did not mean science of climate change per se be dismissed."

It was important to understand the study of the whole CDS mechanism which would help us modify agriculture accordingly, he said. He also stressed the importance of forests.

South African minister Buyelwa Sonjica was more forthright and felt all doubts relating to this controvery needed to be clarified.

Age Correspondent

New Delhi, Jan. 24: A government advertisement on Sunday turned into a source of embarrassment as it carried a photograph of a former Pakistan Air Force Chief along with Indian leaders and icons, forcing the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to apologise and order a high-level inquiry into the goof-up.

In an advertisement issued by the ministry of women and child development, which appeared in a leading English daily, the photograph of former Pakistan Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed, in uniform, appeared along with those of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The advertisement was meant to mark National Girl Child Day.

Realising the error, the PMO quickly issued a statement apologising for the "mistake". It said, "The Prime Minister’s Office has noted with regret the inclusion of a foreign national’s photograph in a Government of India advertisement. While an internal inquiry has been instituted, the PMO apologises to the public for this lapse."

Interestingly, however, the statement appeared to be in sharp contrast with what WCD minister Krishna Tirath had to offer. Saying there was nothing wrong with the advertisement, Ms Tirath insisted, "The message is more important than the image. The photograph is only symbolic. The message for the girl child is more important. She should be protected."

The minister, however, conceded that "if there was a mistake" on the part of her ministry, or the DAVP, which releases government advertisements, it would be investigated. The WCD ministry later in the day constituted an inquiry committee headed by additional secretary Sudhir Kumar to probe the faux pas.

Officials said the publicity material for "National Girl Child Day" was released by the WCD ministry through DAVP after approval and clearance from the minister, whose staff had prepared the text and images for the advertisement.

The advertisement also showed sports icons Kapil Dev and Virender Sehwag and sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan along with the former PAF Chief with the heading, "Where would you be if your mother was not allowed to be born?"

When contacted, DAVP officials said the advertisement came very late from the ministry on Saturday, and since "everything was finalised by the WCD ministry" they only released that at around 8 pm.

Livid over the "mistake", Indian Air Force sources pointed out that the former PAF Chief was at the helm of affairs at the time of the Mumbai terror attacks and the escalation of military tension with India in its aftermath. They said that the use of the former PAF officer’s picture was a "big embarrassment" to the IAF.

Age Correspondent

Mumbai, Jan. 24: Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, under severe strain over rising inflation, on Sunday put his foot in his mouth, suggesting in Pune that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was equally responsible for inflation. Mr Pawar’s party, the NCP, is a UPA ally at the Centre and partners the Congress in government in Maharashtra.

Mr Pawar said the policy with respect to prices of essential commodities was decided in a Cabinet meeting, in the presence of the PM and other ministers, and therefore he alone was not responsible for it. The Union minister received severe criticism from the Opposition, led by the BJP, and also allied parties at the Centre, for the rising prices of essential commodities like food grains, sugar, vegetable, milk and pulses. Critics had blamed him for inflation, saying his forecast that inflation would rise further and that there was no end to it in the near future, had made traders hoard essential commodities.

Umesh Mohite

New Delhi, Jan. 24: Ministers of the BASIC countries (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) met in New Delhi on Sunday and reiterated that they formed an integral part of G-77 even as they underscored the need to revitalise the entire UNFCCC process. By doing so, it becomes obvious that the BASIC countries are also throwing their weight behind the Kyoto Protocol and the Bali Action Plan. They also said they would meet the January 31 deadline to inform the UNFCCC about voluntary mitigation actions to combat global warming.

Union environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh stressed that the Copenhagen accord was not a legal document and was aimed at facilitating consensus in two-track diplomacy. "We support the Copen-hagen accord. But all of us were unanimously of the view that its value lies not as a standalone document but as an input into the two-track negotiation process under UNFCCC," Mr Ramesh said. He, however, stated that even as UNFCCC boss Yves de Boer had extended the deadline to submit emission target reports, the BASIC nations would meet the January 31 deadline.

The ministers present at this second BASIC meeting were Mr Jairam Ramesh, National Development and Reforms Commission of China vice-chairman Xie Zhenhua, Brazil environment minister Carlos Minc, and South African water and environment minister Buyelwa Patience Sonjica.

Responding to the accusation that the BASIC countries possessed undue economic clout, this group went out of its way to reassure the G-77 nations that "BASIC was not a parallel group but embedded in G-77 even as it wanted to engage in a dialogue with the developed countries".

To prove its sincerity, the current chair of G-77, from Yemen, was invited to this meeting. A question mark remains about the extent to which they were able to convince the G-77 countries about their neutrality since he failed to show up.

Mr Minc stressed that the Copenhagen accord was a political agreement. "This would by its very nature be transferred back to the UNFCCC," without really explaining the logistics of how this would happen.

Ms Sonjica said, "BASIC cannot take decisions but will make proposals which will then be communicated to the G-77. We cannot pursue issues outside the G-77," she said and called for the US to come forward and lead the whole process. "They (the US) were lagging behind at Copenhagen but they have a moral obligation to deliver in 2010," she added.

Commenting on their two meetings with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, she said, "He was extremely positive about BASIC and wants to take it forward but he stressed that we cannot overlook that we are part of G-77."

The ministers called for an early flow of the pledge of $10 billion in 2010 made by developed countries to be used by the least developed countries, small island states and the poorer African nations. "These nations need to identify the projects on which this money will be spent," said Mr Minc.

Meanwhile, BASIC is also stepping up efforts to provide mitigation and adaptation aid to the poorer nations. Mr Minc pointed out, "Brazil’s National Institute of Space Research is assisting, it is fighting desertification in Africa, and is diverting 20 per cent of the Amazon fund of $250 million to Latin American nations as also supplying free transfer of ethanol technology." BASIC was also willing to act in a unified manner in providing technical assistance.

The Chinese minister emphasised the need to set up streamlined technology transfer mechanisms and to follow the principle of common but differentiated responsibility. The ministers, however, reiterated the need to enhance the activities of their group.

The ministers agreed on the need for the UNFCCC to carry forward two-track negotiations on the ad hoc working group on the long-term cooperative action group under the convention and the ad hoc working group on further emission reduction for Annex 1 countries under the Kyoto Protocol.

The UNFCC has to ensure at least six meetings of these two negotiating groups in order to arrive at a successful conclusion in Mexico 2010. The BASIC ministers agreed to meet every quarter. The next meet would be in South Africa in April 2010.

Rashme Sehgal

London, Jan. 24: The British terror alert, which was upgraded from "substantial" to "severe" on Friday, has now been linked to an Al Qaeda hijack plot in India, women bombers and the upcoming Yemen conference in London.

British home secretary Alan Johnson had on Friday refused to ascribe any reason for upgrading the terror threat to "severe" lowering it to "substantial" in July 2009. "This means that a terrorist attack is highly likely, but I should stress that there is no intelligence to suggest that an attack is imminent," Mr Johnson said.

However, the Sunday Times has linked the heightened terror alert in Britain to a plot by Al Qaeda-linked terrorists in Pakistan to hijack an Air India flight from Mumbai or New Delhi. There was no specific link to Britain, but UK intelligence agencies fear that terrorists could hijack an Indian passenger jet and crash it into a British city, the report added.

The warning about the hijack plot was sent in a detailed "threat assessment" to MI5 by India’s Intelligence Bureau.

A group of female terrorists of "non-Arab" appearance have, according to the Sunday Telegraph, been trained to attack Western targets as suicide bombers. The report said the warning about female bombers came from the US. "They have trained women. There are others who are still out there who have been trained and who are clean skins — that means people who we do not have a record of, people who may not look like Al Qaeda terrorists, who may not be Arabs, and may not be men," the Daily Telegraph quoted Richard Clarke, a former chief White House counter-terrorism adviser, as saying.

At least two of these female bombers are believed to be connected to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which dispatched Nigerian Abdulmutallab to blow up a Delta Airlines plane.

The link to the Yemen and Afghanistan conferences, being held in London this week, was made in a report by the Independent on Sunday.

This report quoted Whitehall sources as saying that intelligence agencies had suggested that this week’s London conferences on Yemen and Afghanistan could be used by Al Qaeda as an opportunity to strike at the West. "The conferences in London on Afghanistan and Yemen provide a focus for Al Qaeda to do something against British and US interests. It could be a US airliner leaving the UK, or US interests in the UK, or US interests abroad," the report quoted an unnamed Whitehall source as saying.

British foreign secretary David Miliband told BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday that it would be "very stupid" of him to comment on the intelligence behind the change in the threat level. "The fact is these people will stop at nothing. They will try every trick in the book. They will use advanced technology. They will use all the mechanisms of an open society that we depend on for their own terrible purposes, and they will try and strike at Christians, Muslims, Jews randomly," he said.

Age Correspondent

 Colombo, Jan. 24: Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa suffered his second major setback when the matriarch of his party defected to rival Sarath Fonseka’s side with barely 48 hours to go before the poll booths open for what is considered a very fiercely contested high-stakes election. Ms Kumaratunga accused the government of high corruption and of unleashing violence.

Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga met Gen. Fonseka, the common presidential candidate, at her residence on Sunday and extended support to his campaign to oust Mr Rajapaksa. The former military chief had delivered the first shock to the President’s bid for a second term when he quit the Army after a spat with the President and his influential brother, defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, in November 2009 and later announced his intention to contest for the presidency. He split the "victory vote" by claiming that it was he who had won the war against the LTTE in the battlefield while the President led a life of luxury in the capital. "I took the decision to end four years of silence as I am deeply concerned about the violence, intimidation and corruption," Ms Kumaratunga said.

 R. Bhagwan Singh

Bhubaneswar, Jan. 24: Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is known for his heroic struggle against the British Empire to gain independence for India.

Another aspect of the enigmatic leader’s personality came to fore on Saturday, coinciding with his 113th birth anniversary: he led the Tata Labour Association for nine years from 1928 with a fierce desire to "Indianise" the company, which at that time was dominated by the English.

The revolutionary leader, in his capacity as president of Tata Labour Association, Jamshedpur, had advised the then managing director of Tata Steel, Nowroji Saklatwala, in a letter dated 12.11.1928 to initiate the process of Indianising the company. The association was subsequently renamed Tata Steel Workers Union.

A litho copy of the original letter was handed over to Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday at a function at Cuttack, the birthplace of the legendary leader. A Tata functionary said Netaji was made president of the association at the behest of Mahatma Gandhi in order to "Indianise" the company.

"I sincerely feel that the future of this industry, including peace in the labour world, depends largely on Indianisation. This is a point which foreigners — however good they otherwise may be — cannot sufficiently appreciate," said the letter, copies of which were released to the media here on Sunday.

"I have no doubt that if you go ahead with your policy of Indianisation, you will be able to ingratiate yourself with your Indian employees as well as with public leaders of all shades of opinion," Netaji said in his "confidential" letter.

Underscoring the need to Indianise industry, the three-page letter described the issue as "one of the important problems". It said, "On this question public opinion in India is very keen". "This has antagonised all sections of Indian labour," the letter added.

Rabindra Nath Choudhury

New Delhi, Jan. 24: Several Union ministers, including A.K. Antony and Ambika Soni, AICC general secretary Mohsina Kidwai, BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra and the BJP’s Arun Shourie are among 65 members whose term in the Rajya Sabha ends this year.

Union ministers Anand Sharma, M.S. Gill and Jairam Ramesh are also in the list which includes senior BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu and Congress general secretary B.K. Hariprasad and senior leader Oscar Fernandes among others.

The term of the Samajwadi Party’s Jaya Bachchan is also coming to an end this year. The other heavyweights are former Union minister and PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss, industrialist Rahul Bajaj, Sanjay Raut of the Shiv Sena, Tariq Anwar of the NCP and Pyari Mohan Mohapatra of the BJD. —PTI

New Delhi, Jan. 24: A day after the Hockey India elections were deferred a third time, former India captain and Hockey Punjab secretary Pargat Singh launched a scathing attack on Mr Suresh Kalmadi, claiming the Indian Olympic Associ-ation president’s ambition to become HI chief had resulted in repeated delays. The former full-back minced no words and even alleged that Mr Kalmadi was "running a sports mafia in the country".

The polls, scheduled for February 7, were postponed yet again on Saturday following a stay order from the Rajasthan high court over the affiliations granted to state units on January 11.

"People like Kalmadi are running a sports mafia in the country. Players want a parental touch from their federations and no one wants to revolt. But Kalmadi is playing games and pulling strings from behind the scenes and some former players are pawns in his hand," alleged Pargat Singh on Sunday, adding that HI was not keen on holding the elections after Mr Kalmadi failed to get a nomination from Maha-rashtra. Mr Kalmadi, on his part, said the allegations were rubbish and just "figments of the imagination".

"It is a personal attack and I deny it. I have no time or interest in taking over hockey. I have a national duty to perform to ensure that the Commonwealth Games are conducted successfully and I am fully occupied," Mr Kalmadi said in a release. "I’m also responsible for the smooth conduct of the coming World Cup hockey being staged by IOA and FIH of which I am the joint chairperson of the governing board," he added.

It is no secret that the IOA chief is "very keen" to hold the top post. His plans though were checked after the sports ministry earlier this month ruled that IOA officials could not stand for the Hockey India elections.

Sources confirmed that Mr Kalmadi recently put a lot of pressure on Maharashtra Hockey Association officials, asking them to name him as one of the two representatives from the state. The MHA, however, chose its secretary, Mr Ikram Khan, inviting Mr Kalmadi’s wrath.

Insiders reveal that a major tussle ensued between Mr Ikram Khan and Mr Kalmadi. When contacted, Mr Ikram Khan said from Mumbai, "I believe I am the best candidate from the MHA, and more capable than anyone since I have been in the system since the beginning. I sent my name because I think I can do much better than the others."

The development, it is believed, even led to the delay in the announcement of the electoral college list by Hockey India, which did not know how to deal with the matter. The list was finally made public by the sports ministry on Saturday.

Said Pargat, "Kalmadi and his men got scared after he failed to get a nomination from Maharashtra despite putting pressure on the MHA. They cited the Rajasthan high court order as the reasons (to defer the elections), but all they should have done was to submit an application to vacate the stay and go ahead with the election."

Referring to Hockey Punjab’s tussle with HI to get affiliation, Pargat Singh said people close to Mr Kalmadi tried to negotiate a deal with him.

"I would call them Kalmadi’s lackeys who came to me and said in clear terms that Hockey Punjab would get affiliation as soon as we agreed to support him for the president’s post. I told them we were not interested in any sort of trade-off. After that, I had to make the rounds of their office for 10 days before eventually being granted affiliation," Pargat Singh alleged.

Meanwhile, sports minister M.S. Gill blamed Hockey India for the postponement of the elections, saying some democratically-run state associations being left out of the electoral college had led to the current crisis. "There are some state units like Bombay, Madras, Bengal etc. that have been in existence for 70-80 years. I don’t believe that all of them are not run democratically. The world hockey body has a one-state one-unit rule, but that does not mean that the names of these old associations are removed and new bodies granted affiliation," Mr Gill said at the opening of the Major Dhyanchand National Stadium, the venue for the hockey World Cup, on Sunday.

Harpreet Kaur Lamba

Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark reacts after beating Shahar Peer of Israel 6-4, 6-0 to win their women’s singles third-round match at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Saturday. PHOTO: AP