Geothermal Energy Gathers Steam in India

Geothermal energy is getting popular among the Indian energy companies and government policymakers. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy had commissioned a research, development and demonstration program involving geothermal energy. The program aimed at locating the potential geothermal energy exploration sites in several states across the country.

The program covered states like Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. Many of these states have confirmed the identification of geothermal potential sites. Some of the most active geothermal sites are believed to be located in Jammu & Kashmir with significant resources potentially present in Himachal Pradesh and in central India.Geothermal energy is getting popular among the Indian energy companies and government policymakers. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy had commissioned a research, development and demonstration program involving geothermal energy. The program aimed at locating the potential geothermal energy exploration sites in several states across the country. More >>>

France signs deal with India to supply nuclear power stations

$9.2bn contract with Areva to equip site south of Mumbai 

Two years after reaching agreement with India on the supply of six European pressurised reactors (EPRs), Areva has signed a series of contracts with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) for the construction of two 1,650-MW reactors.

"India has little experience in the field of civilian nuclear power, which entails a large amount of technical preparation and lengthy negotiations," an Areva engineer said. The power stations should be in operation by 2020, at a cost of $9.2bn.

Until 2008 there was an embargo on sales of civilian nuclear technology to India, but it is now the fourth country to purchase Areva EPRs, after France, Finland and China. 

More >>>

Climate Change and ‘Balanced’ Coverage

In an article this week on the relentless rise of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, I outlined one of the canonical projections of climate science: if the amount of carbon dioxide doubles, the average surface temperature of the earth is likely to increase by 5 or 6 degrees Fahrenheit, a whopping change. I contrasted that with a prediction from skeptics of climate change who contend that the increase is likely to be less than 2 degrees.

One major voice on climate science, Richard B. Alley of the Pennsylvania State University, told me he gets annoyed by the way this contrast is often presented in news accounts. The higher estimate is often put forward as a worst case, he pointed out, while the skeptic number is presented as the best case.

In fact, as Dr. Alley reminds anyone who will listen, and as he recently told aCongressional committee, the estimate of 5 or 6 degrees is actually mildly optimistic. Computer programs used to forecast future climate show it as the most likely outcome from a doubling of carbon dioxide, but those programs also show substantial probabilities that the warming will be much greater. More >>>

Water Insecurity In Himalayas: Emerging Tensions And Lessons For ASEAN

Climate Change is triggering water insecurity in the Greater Himalayan region, raising new sources of tension that may embroil India and China in future conflict. These emerging tensions need to be  managed. There are also lessons for ASEAN.

GLOBAL WARMING is melting glaciers in the Himalayan mountains — the “Water Tower of Asia”. The region is the common source of major rivers that flow into at least four countries — China, India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Climate change is also causing drought and disruption to the flows of these rivers, leading to the displacement of people downstream and triggering migration from Bangladesh into India. Indeed, India has even built a border fence to stem the flow of the “climate refugees”. More >>>

BP Sells Pakistan Operations

LONDON— Dec 14 2010 - BP PLC's total asset sales this year rose to almost $22 billion as the company agreed to sell its oil and natural-gas assets in Pakistan to United Energy Group for $775 million in cash. BP will use the proceeds of the sales to cover the estimated $40-billion cost of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

"Today's agreement is further evidence of the rapid progress BP has made toward the divestment target we set out last summer," of $25 billion to $30 billion, BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley said in a written statement. "We are continuing to identify further assets More >>>

Melting Glaciers Cause Droughts, Floods; Norway Helps Himalayas

The valley of Chitral has always looked to the 

glaciers of Tirich Mir for water.  (Photo by Amina Tariq)

CANCUN, Mexico, December 7, 2010 (ENS) - Climate change is causing mass loss of glaciers in high mountains worldwide. Within a few decades, melting glaciers could leave arid areas such as Central Asia and parts of the Andes even drier as the ice melts into water and flows downhill, causing disastrous floods in the lowlands, finds a new report by the UN Environment Programme presented today at the UN climate talks in Cancun.
Compiled by UNEP's Polar Research Centre GRID-Arendal and experts from research centers in Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America, the report says the larger glaciers may take centuries to disappear but many low-lying, smaller glaciers, which are often crucial water sources in dry lands, are melting much faster.

Glacial melt will change the lives of millions as over half of theworld's population lives in watersheds of major rivers originating in mountains with glaciers and snow.
Glaciers in Argentina and Chile, followed by those in Alaska and its coastal mountain ranges, have been losing mass faster and for longer than glaciers in other parts of the world, finds the report, "High Mountain Glaciers and Climate Change - Challenges to Human Livelihoods and Adaptation." More >>>

Former Afghan spy chief slams Taliban talks

Thursday, December 9, 2010 WASHINGTON -- Peace talks with the Taliban will lead to disaster unless the insurgent group is disarmed first, Afghanistan's former intelligence chief said Thursday. 

Amrullah Saleh, who headed Afghanistan's spy agency from 2004 until earlier this year, said the key to peace with the Taliban is cutting off their support from Pakistan and disarming and dismantling the group before allowing them to operate as a normal political party.

"Demobilize them, disarm them, take their headquarters out of the Pakistani intelligence's basements," Saleh said. "Force the Taliban to play according to the script of democracy," he added, predicting the party would ultimately fail, "in a country where law rules, not the gun ... not the law of intimidation." More >>>

Germany backs India for NSG membership

New Delhi:  Germany on Monday backed India's bid to gain membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), applauding this country's "excellent" non-proliferation track record. 

German Ambassador Thomas Mattusek told reporters that India not being a party to the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) will not be an issue for his country's support to India's candidacy to the elite nuclear club like the 45-nation NSG, though it would like New Delhi to be a signatory to the controversial Treaty.

"We will give support for India for its NSG membership...even without India not becoming a NPT signatory," he added.

"We value India's commitment to non-proliferation. We appreciate its track record despite not being a party to NPT." he said. More >>>

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/germany-backs-india-for-nsg-membership-70943?cp

Sophisticated Explosive Device Hits Iranian Academics

"The United States, the Zionist regime (Israel) and Britain are the main elements behind this criminal move," IRNA quoted Qazipour as saying on Wednesday. 
The Iranian parliamentarian cited enemies' despair and weakness as the reason behind the terrorist attacks on two Iranian lecturers that were targeted by unknown assailants while on their way to Shahid Beheshti University in the Iranian capital of Tehran on Monday.

Yet unidentified terrorists attached explosives to the vehicles of Dr. Majid Shahriari and Professor Fereydoun Abbasi in different locations on Monday morning. Shahriari was killed immediately after a blast, but Abbasi and his wife escaped the bombing with minor injuries. More >>>

Looking at the picture above it would appear that the EOD was a small shaped charge designed to only kill the driver, not your average insurgent’s work. Editor 

The Ultimate Nuclear Test

By Sergio Duarte and Tibor Toth

NEW YORK – On 1 November, a team of over 35 experts will launch an exercise to inspect a simulated nuclear test site near the Dead Sea in Jordan—a step forward in completing the global  verification system of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).

Then on 12 November, the world’s Nobel Peace Laureates will hold a summit in Hiroshima to stress the priority of nuclear disarmament and affirm their commitment to promoting it.

Countless other international initiatives are also underway that reflect a wider revolution in thinking about nuclear weapons—a revolution that is welcome and long overdue.

After all, despite much talk of nuclear disarmament when the Cold War ended 20 years ago, more than 20,000 of these weapons still exist, with many on high alert, and each much larger than the devices that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Nine countries are known or believed to possess them, and all are improving them in various ways.

Let’s be clear, the very existence of these weapons aggravates three global nuclear threats – from existing arsenals (accidents, miscalculations, unauthorized use, or willful use), from their proliferation to additional states, and from their acquisition by terrorists.

But now a new global consensus is emerging that these weapons are militarily irrelevant in dealing with emerging threats, impossible to use without violating international humanitarian law, a source of proliferation and terrorist threats, and a waste of money and scientific talent. More >>>

IEA releases World Energy Outlook 2010, “peak oil is an inevitability”

Thursday, November 11, 2010

IEA releases World Energy Outlook 2010, “peak oil is an inevitability”

November 9th, 2010 

The International Energy Agency (IEA) today launched its eagerly awaited World Energy Outlook 2010 at the Hotel Crowne Plaza Hotel in London. At the press conference, Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the IEA, began by saying that “recent events have cast an veil of uncertainty over our energy future. 

In the wake of recession, the pace of economic recovery certainly promises to have a major impact on energy markets over the next few years.” He highlighted the importance of government actions to energy security and climate change and explained that while considerable progress has been made in the past 12 months in terms of reducing fossil fuel subsidies and the promotion of low carbon technologies (partly due to commitments made by Copenhagen), such policies are not binding. 

Mr Tanaka went on to say that the new edition of the WEO marks a departure from previous efforts, in that it makes projections not just based on current policies (the so-called business-as-usual scenario), but also on likely policy developments (the new policies scenario), as well as the 450ppm scenario in which global warming is kept below 2˚C, a result that is now “very very difficult” to obtain. In fact, the WEO 2010 indicates that thanks in part to the collective failure of Copenhagen, the cost of achieving this goal has increased by US$1tn, since the publication of the WEO2009. More >>>

Executive Summary of World Energy Outlook Click Here

Europe to Invest in Massive Solar Power Plants in India

The Asian Development Bank has roped in the European Investment Bank to invest in large-scale solar power plants in India. The ADB is committed to arrange finances for India’s ambitious National Solar  Mission projects.

The Asian Development Bank has been working closely with many Asian countries to provide them financial, technical and policy-related support for expanding solar energy infrastructure. The ADB is playing an active role in India to make solar energy more popular. In addition to the European Investment Bank, the ADB has also attracted funding from the US Import-Export Bank and Germany’s KWF.

Under the National Solar Mission, India plans to install 20,000 MW solar-based power generation capacity by 2022. The current install capacity is a dismal 14 MW. The 20,000 MW capacity also includes the off-grid rural power plants. In order to rapidly increase the installed capacity the Indian government has announced two massive solar farm projects, one each in Rajasthan and Gujarat. More >>>

Pakistan should be investing heavily in projects similar to this initiative, if it is not already doing so. See Editor

Transnational social uplift efforts vital to root out terrorism, says minister

ISLAMABAD: Transnational social uplift efforts are a must for rooting out the problem of terrorism from South Asian region, said State Minister for Foreign Affairs Nawabzada Malik Ammad Khan on Monday.

He stated this while addressing a one-day international workshop “Pakistan-Russia Collaboration and the Afghan Crises”, organised by South Asian Strategic Stability Institute (SASSI).

Welcoming the delegates from Russia and Afghanistan, the minister said Pakistan had transformed its relations with Russia and Afghanistan. He said Pakistan had suffered the most due to the contiguity issue. Pakistan welcomes any discourses from Russia and Afghanistan on sensitive issues as well, he said. More >>>

Pakistan to Push for Nuclear Deal With U.S.

 Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan's renewed push to clinch a civilian nuclear deal with Washington threatens to further strain relations that are already tense over Islamabad's refusal to attack Taliban havens on its soil.

Pakistan officials say they will again raise their demand for a deal—similar to one the U.S. concluded with India—during a meeting Oct. 22 in Washington headed by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

Islamabad views a civilian nuclear deal with the U.S. as a key compromise to show Pakistan is on a level with its rival India in the eyes of the U.S. Such a deal would assuage fears here that Washington has any intention of dismantling Pakistan's nuclear program. More >>>

Fast Breeder Reactors essential for India's future energy security: Prithviraj Chavan

Fast Breeder Reactors are essential for the future energy security of the country, for which the large thorium reserves will have to be utilised, minister of state for science and technology Prithviraj Chavan said today. 

"For the future energy security of the country, we are depending on utilising our large thorium reserves. Successful demonstration of thorium utilisation will enable us win the confidence of the public and policy makers in large scale deployment of nuclear energy in future," he said.

Chavan said it would take time for India to attain the third phase of the nuclear programme as envisioned by Homi Bhaba as it was still relying on other nations for proven technology. "Once India reaches the third stage of thorium utilisation it will be key to India's energy security."

He said there are plans to set up a 1,000 MW Fast Breeder Reactor using metallic fuel. "The metallic fuel will be developed by 2022. It will comprise Uranium, plutonium and Zirconium," said Chavan.

Asked about importing nuclear reactors from one or two vendors at a cheaper rate by assuring volumes instead of from multiple vendors, he said four companies would supply them to India in the first phase.

"In the second round of imports we will look at other commercial considerations (localisation of components) and reactor systems which are more fuel economical and safer like the ones having multiple redundancies. All imported reactors should get approval of national regulatory authority,"he said.

He also said the Rs5,600 crore prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR) built by Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Ltd (Bhavini) at Kalpakkam would be ready by 2011-2012.

Asked about delays in the Koodankulam project, he said these have been minimised now and it was just a matter of months before the unit goes on stream. "The project has to be completed as it is in interest of everybody, both suppliers as well as NPCL," he added. More >>>

Slow Progress, Setbacks Seen in Afghanistan, Pakistan | Secrecy News

October 8th, 2010 by Steven Aftergood

A White House report to Congress (pdf) last week assessed “both positive and negative trends in the implementation of our Afghanistan and Pakistan strategy.”
The report described the progress — or lack thereof — made this year towards achieving eight specified objectives. Those objectives include enhancing stability and civilian control in Pakistan, improving Pakistan’s counterinsurgency capabilities, and reversing the Taliban’s momentum in Afghanistan, among others. (The disruption of terrorist networks in Afghanistan and Pakistan was addressed in an undisclosed classified annex.)

More >>> Slow Progress, Setbacks Seen in Afghanistan, Pakistan | Secrecy News

Sep 1, 2010 - Oil and gas brought many of them vast riches, but it is to nuclear power that Middle Eastern states are turning their attention in the 21st Century. 

A growing number of countries across the region want to develop civilian nuclear programmes to meet rising power demand and cut carbon emissions. Chris Webb looks at their progress so far.

This September will see the world’s nuclear industry elite converge on the Egyptian capital of Cairo, for the ‘Nuclear Power, Middle East and North Africa 2010’ event. It is a fitting venue, given Egypt’s avowed wish to press ahead at full speed with a nuclear power agenda aimed at supporting the country’s continuing economic development. Iran, Jordan and Turkey will be among others from the region discussing their future nuclear plans at the event.

The prospect of widespread development of nuclear power in the Middle East, with its political hotspots, is not to everyone’s liking. There is a palpable air of ambivalence in some quarters, fuelled on the one hand by a desire to sell nuclear technology to cash-rich nations and on the other by fears of sinister spin-offs, notably the proliferation of fissile materials for use in developing nuclear weapons. More >>>

Pakistan chairs IAEA board

The South Asian nation took over the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-member board of governors, according to a statement by the Vienna-based agency. Pakistan will chair meetings http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/data?pid=avimage&iid=iObiA1tzNHwg where IAEA inspectors deliver reports on Iranian and Syrian nuclear activities and oversee approval of atomic- technology aid.

“All of our civil installations are under IAEA safeguards and we are an abiding member” of the organization, Pakistan’s envoy to Vienna, Ansar Parvez, said after today’s meeting. “We can try to mediate in some of the things in which the IAEA has been engaged over the last years.” More >>>

This is what climate change looks like

This is what Global Warming looks like from NRDC Broadcast Videos on Vimeo.

CIA Directs and Funds Terrorism In Pakistan CIA’s Afghan Kill Teams Expand U.S. War in Pakistan

September 21, 2010 "Wired" -- Let there be no doubt that the U.S. is at war in Pakistan. It’s not just the drone strikes. According to insider journalist Bob Woodward’s new book, the CIA  manages a large and lethal band of Afghan fighters to infiltrate into Pakistan and attack al-Qaeda’s bases. What could possibly go wrong?

Woodward’s not-yet-available Obama’s Wars, excerpted today in the Washington Post and the New York Times, unveils a CIA initiative called the Counterterrorist Pursuit Teams, a posse of anti-Taliban and al-Qaeda locals who don’t respect the porous Afghanistan-Pakistan border. The teams are practically brigade-sized: a “paramilitary army” of 3000 Afghans, said to be “elite, well-trained” and capable of quietly crossing over in the Pakistani extremist safe havens where U.S. troops aren’t allowed to operate. The CIA directs and funds the teams. More >>>

Nuclear Power, the Best Answer to the World's Need for Clean, Inexpensive Energy

You don't have to look far beyond the recent news to see the dangers and costs of the energy we depend upon.  

The last year has brought fatal oil rig explosions, massive spills and coal mining tragedies have killed miners and polluted streams. Meanwhile, searing heat and fires in Russia, catastrophic floods in Pakistan, and the long-running Australian drought are glimpses of the troubled future we might face from climate change if we keep spewing emissions from fossil fuels into the Earth's atmosphere.

Sure, it would be ideal if we could replace oil, gas and coal with renewable energy, but it's not going to happen for decades, if ever. As Germany has discovered with wind and Spain with solar, renewable sources of power are still hugely expensive with capital costs, maintenance costs and land requirements that far exceed any other method that produces equivalent amounts of power.

However, an even bigger problem is reliability, as renewables only work between 10 to 20 percent of the time (when the wind blows or the sun shines). That makes it fiendishly difficult to balance supply and demand as these sources cycle off and on randomly, thus destabilizing the electrical grid.

So what's left? The answer is obvious: Nuclear power.

A Possible Solution for Pakistan's Destroyed Bridge Infrastructure

The Bailey bridge is a portable pre-fabricated truss bridge, designed for use by military engineering units to bridge up to 60-metre gaps (200 ft). 

It requires no special tools or heavy equipment for construction, the bridge elements are small enough to be carried in trucks, and the bridge is strong enough to carry tanks. It is considered a great example of military engineering. Bailey bridges are also extensively used in civil engineering construction projects to provide temporary access across canals, rivers, railway lines, etc
More >>>

Call to Cancel Pakistan's International Debt

Dear Friends,

As Pakistan struggles to rescue families from flood waters and fend off disease and starvation before winter sets in, it is scrambling to pay out a shocking 30% of its annual budget revenues to foreign creditors on debt incurred by previous dictatorships.

If Pakistan is obliged to make these debt payments, rescue efforts for tens of millions of people whose lives have been devastated could be crippled. Earlier this year, we persuaded creditor governments to drop Haiti's debt after it was devastated by an earthquake -- and now we could do the same for Pakistan.

Right now international financial institutions and donor countries are assessing how to assist Pakistan. Let's come together and call for life-saving debt relief for the people of Pakistan. Sign the petition below to stop these stifling debt payments and let Pakistan rebuild, and it will be delivered directly to ministers and senior officials attending the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

http://www.avaaz.org/en/pakistan_cancel_the_debt97.php?cl_tta_sign=22923291adad0a709a43651304156e43

Pakistan's staggering $55 billion debt burden comes from decades of reckless spending, matched by irresponsible lending on the part of Western creditors and banks.

But 60% of Pakistanis still live below the poverty line. It is a tragic irony that these tens of millions of Pakistanis whose lives have been destroyed in these floods and who have received little or no benefit from these massive loans, are the ones now footing the bill of such unjust debt.

In the aftermath of Haiti's earthquake, Hurricane Mitch in Central America, and the Asian tsunami, the world responded by suspending and cancelling debt payments from affected countries. Pakistan's debt is too vast to cancel in one swoop, but a two year moratorium with accountability mechanisms to ensure that the released funds are spent on relief is a first step and now is the moment to push for it.

Together we have donated a stunning $1 million which is already making a difference to desperate Pakistani flood victims. But if we win this debt campaign, we can make billions available for relief and reconstruction. Let's make sure the international community does the right thing. Sign the urgent petition below and share this message with all your friends and family:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/pakistan_cancel_the_debt97.php?cl_tta_sign=22923291adad0a709a43651304156e43

With hope and solidarity,

Luis, Iain, Paula, Ricken, Alice, Pascal and the entire Avaaz team

PS - Over the last 2 weeks, thousands of us have contributed US$1 million for relief and recovery from the Pakistan floods, which has been sent to support the Sungi Development Foundation, Hirrak Development Centre (HDC), Participatory Welfare Services (PWS) and other outstanding local organisations provide life-saving food, water, shelter and medical care across the country.

Sources:

# Race against winter in Pakistan's north-west:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11128880

# Reuters, IMF talks: all options being explored to help Pakistan:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN26195747._CH_.2400

# "Fuelling Injustice: Debt and Muslim countries", Report by Jubilee Debt Campaign and Islamic Relief UK:
http://www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk/?lid=6302&bid=13

# Jubilee USA Network Calls for Immediate Debt Service Moratorium in Response to Disaster, Assistance in Grant Form:
http://www.jubileeusa.org/press/press-item/article/new-debt-for-disaster-for-pakistan.html?tx_ttnews[backPid]=170&cHash=02e62f133f

# EURODAD, "Pakistan needs debt cancellation, not new IMF loans":
http://www.eurodad.org/whatsnew/articles.aspx?id=4220

---

Avaaz.org is a 5.5-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people shape global decision-making. ("Avaaz" means "voice" or "song" in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 13 countries on 4 continents and operates in 14 languages. Learn about some of Avaaz's biggest campaigns here, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

To contact Avaaz, please do not reply to this email. Instead, write to us at www.avaaz.org/en/contact or call us at +1-888-922-8229 (US).

Iran goes nuclear

Russia turned on the switch to Iran's first nuclear power plant on Aug. 21 after repeated delays and more than 15 years of construction. 

The hard-liners in Iran celebrated it as a victory over "the Great Satan," repeating the famous phrase by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, father of the Islamic revolution. Their message: America can't do a damned thing.

The Iranians have managed to open a second front for their nuclear bomb project. The Bushehr nuclear power plant is now untouchable because any military action against its reactor containing plutonium would lead to widespread deadly contamination throughout the region. More >>>

Desperation outpaces flood aid in Pakistan - CNN

Rescuing Pakistan

Our view: U.S. has no choice but to hope that massive aid for flood victims will improve America's standing in key strategic nation 

The U.S.-Pakistan relationship is critical to American security interests and the fight against terrorism. It has also been marked in recent years by a jarring note of suspicion and distrust on both sides about the ultimate intentions of the other. U.S. officials have expressed increasing frustration with the Pakistani army's apparent unwillingness to go after Taliban insurgents based along the country's border with Afghanistan.


That's why the American response to one of Pakistan's worst-ever natural disasters is of such extraordinary importance. More >>>

Pakistan floods global aid 'pitiful' - Clegg

The international response to the devastating floods in Pakistan has been "absolutely pitiful", Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg says. 

He said the UK was "doing a lot", but donations may still be less than hoped for because the public was "struggling to understand" the scale of the crisis.

Mr Clegg spoke as the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) said the total raised by Britons was now £15m.
At least 1,600 people are known to have died in the monsoon floods.
The Pakistani government says up to 20 million people have been affected and some six million are estimated to need urgent food aid.
Aid agencies say survivors, especially children, were also at risk from diseases such as cholera. More >>

Bombing Iran

On the one hand, it's pretty hard to envision Barack Obama--whose candidacy was partly premised on reconciling America with the Muslim world--launching a military strike on Iran's  nuclear facilities. 


On the other hand you have data points like Jeffrey Goldberg's latest Atlantic opus, in which White House officials insist that "President Obama has by no means ruled out counterproliferation by force." Goldberg spends some time looking at the question of whether and how Israel might coordinate with Washington should Bibi Netanyahu decide that only force can deny Ahmadinejad and Khamenei the bomb

Read more: http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/08/13/bombing-iran/#ixzz0wWhIiVW0

Long, hot summer of fire, floods fits predictions

NEW YORK — 12 August 2010 - Floods, fires, melting ice and feverish heat: From smoke-choked Moscow to water-soaked Pakistan and the High Arctic, the planet seems to be having a midsummer breakdown. It's not just a portent of things to come, scientists say, but a sign of troubling climate change already under way.

The weather-related cataclysms of July and August fit patterns predicted by climate scientists, the Geneva-based World Meteorological Organization says — although those scientists always shy from tying individual disasters directly to global warming.

The experts now see an urgent need for better ways to forecast extreme events like Russia's heat wave and wildfires and the record deluge devastating Pakistan. They'll discuss such tools in meetings this month and next in Europe and America, under United Nations, U.S. and British government sponsorship.

"There is no time to waste," because societies must be equipped to deal with global warming, says British government climatologist Peter Stott More >>>
.

Arab States To Go Nuclear

Arab States Go Nuclear to Close Power Gap, Catch Up With Iran

Aug 5, 2010 - Historically, it has proven extremely difficult for countries in the Middle East to build  nuclear power plants. The idea of commercial reactors secretly processing weapons-grade nuclear material has always alarmed Washington, which for decades has used its clout in the region to keep the Mideast as nuclear-free as possible.

Today the U.S. is leading the way in imposing sanctions on Iran’s nuclear program. Israel also remains ready to protect its interests, as it did when its air force bombed the unfinished Osirak reactor in Iraq in 1981.
More >>>

Pakistan Is Losing War With Taliban, Zardari Says

LONDON — On the eve of an official visit to Britain,Pakistan’s president, Asif Ali Zardari, was quoted in a French newspaper on Tuesday as saying that coalition forces were losing the war in Afghanistan because they had “lost the battle for the hearts and minds” of Afghans, and that theTaliban’s success lay “in knowing how to wait” for NATOforces to withdraw. 

The interview in the Le Monde appeared as Mr. Zardari headed for a five-day visit to Britain after talks in France, including a meeting at the Élysée Palace with PresidentNicolas Sarkozy, that officials on both sides described as harmonious. More >>>

Is climate change South Asia's deadliest threat?

Tackling climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing South Asia. Regional leaders are meeting in Bhutan this week, but are they any nearer agreeing  to an action plan? The BBC's Navin Singh Khadka reports.

The issue of climate change is the main item on the agenda of the summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) summit under way in the Bhutanese capital Thimpu.

But given the poor track record of co-operation achieved by the regional grouping over other sensitive issues in the past, will the thorny issue of climate change become bogged down in rhetoric and recriminations?

Experts say the vulnerability of the region to climate change means that there is an urgent need for concrete action. More >>>

SASSI lauded for conducting moot on CSD

Monday, July 26, 2010
Islamabad

In order to congratulate South Asian Strategic Stability Institute (SASSI) for conducting three-day workshop ‘Indian Military’s Cold Start Doctrine and its Implications for Strategic Stability in South Asia’, Finance Minister, Government of Punjab, Tanvir Ashraf Kaira, hosted a dinner in honour of the organisation at the Punjab House, says a press release issued here Sunday.

The dinner was also attended by Federal Minister for Industries, Production and Special Initiatives Jehangir Khan Tareen, and State Minister for Railways Muhammad Afzal Sindhu.

The three-day workshop has nine sub-themes, theme 1-Introduction and Theoretical Reference, theme 2 -Cold Start Concept and Evaluation: Definitions (Cold Start/Proactive Ops) Conventional Doctrine - Pakistan-India, theme 3-Cold Start Assumptions, theme 4- Military Developments and Implications for Arms Race, theme 5- Strategic Stability Implications: Pakistan’s Response, theme 6- International Response, theme 7- National Response, theme 8- Pakistan Counter Measures and Nuclear Doctrine, and last theme 9 was the Concluding Session i.e. Implications for Strategic Stability.

Saudi Arabia's Nuclear Ambitions

Saudi Arabia's Nuclear Ambitions

Mark HibbsQ&A, JULY 20, 2010

There is a growing number of countries across the Middle East seeking to establish civilian nuclear energy programs. Last week, three leading nuclear industry-related firms—two from the United States and one from Japan—announced a joint initiative to build and operate nuclear power plants in Saudi Arabia. More >>>

This also speaks volumes, as far as I am concerned, about Saudi Arabia’s petroleum reserves. Editor.

SASSI warns of Indian unilateral strikes

Director-General Dr. Maria Sultan

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

ISLAMABAD: South Asian Strategic Stability Institute (SASSI) organised a three days' workshop on Monday, which was, inaugurated by Minister of State for Information Samsam Bukhari.

Talking to the inaugural session, Samsam said that India has seemingly war-gamed its strategy since 2004, which is based on the assumption that occupation of limited Pakistani territory, following a surgical military strike, could be used as a haggling chip to force Islamabad to heel. "But I am happy that there is someone  (SASSI)

who are monitoring whole the current scenario and have courage to aware Pakistanis," he said. More >>>

Military Action Against Iran: Impacts and Effects

Paul Rogers

Israeli Military Strike on Iran Will Lead to a Protracted War and Will Not Solve Nuclear Crisis 

The potential for an Israeli military strike on Iran over its nuclear programme has grown sharply, but its consequences would be devastating and would lead to a long war, warns a Paul Rogers in his report “Military Action Against Iran: Impact and Effects”.* The study follows Israeli reports that Syria is manufacturing Iranian M-600 missiles for Hezbollah, the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu calling Iran “the ultimate terrorist threat” and saying it was a mistake to think Iran’s nuclear ambitions could be contained, and a call from the United Arab Emirates Ambassador in Washington for a military strike on Iran.

The report builds on Rogers' report "Iran: Consequences of a War" (2006) and analyses recent developments, arguing that Israel is now fully capable of attacking Iran as it has deployed many new systems including US-built long-range strike aircraft and armed drones. More >>>