The dollar index was trading lower by 0.03 per cent against its major global rivals today.
Lashing out at the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre to which his party has extended outside support, the Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Thursday charged it with trying to send him to jail with the help of the Central Bureau of Investigation.
With President George W Bush set to sign on Wednesday the bill on Indo-US nuclear deal into law, the Indian-American community feels the focus now should be on using the current framework for the future development of bilateral ties, including creating opportunities for businesses, NGOs and government entities.
Special Envoy Shyam Saran on Tuesday said "political uncertainty" over the N-deal agreement could increase if the government in Washington changes. "This government has a commitment to the agreement and every effort possible will be made to see the deal through," he added.
Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani on Saturday reportedly told United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that his party wanted best of relations with the US, but opposed the nuclear deal after the Hyde Act was passed, as it closed India's strategic options."Advani told Rice that the BJP developed strong objections to this present treaty only after the Hyde Act was passed because we believe that it impairs our nuclear programme.
The Indo-US civilian nuclear deal and the go-ahead for atomic commerce obtained by India from the NSG will help address world's shared interests in energy security and climate change, Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday.
"L K Advani has described Dr Singh as the weakest prime minister but what he has achieved through the nuclear agreement has left our neighbours far behind," Tiwari said.
Weakness in euro against the dollar weighed on the rupee.
India on Friday said it was confident of the passage of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal as it enjoyed bipartisan support among lawmakers, assuring that American firms would not be put at a disadvantage even if there is delay in getting a Congressional nod for the accord.
A senior minister said Friday's meet UPA-Left committee on the Indo-US nuclear deal was crucial to allow the government to approach the IAEA.
Highly placed sources, who are closely monitoring the US situation, admitted that passing of the 123 Agreement by the US Congress could be hampered by the financial crisis or alternatively, it could lead to the process being passed with ease. Senior officials, however, made it clear that even if the 123 agreement was passed, it would not be signed by the prime minister during his Washington meeting with President Bush.
Speaking to media persons after the hearing where senior Bush Administration officials testified on the agreement, Dodd, asked the first question by rediff.com as to the bottom line vis-a-vis the possible approval of the deal by Congress by September 26, said, "The evidence in the past has been that there is a strong desire to reach agreement, and a clear understanding of the value and importance of this."
'If they do not have this minimum self-respect, I can only feel sympathy for them. I was quoting President Bush about the Hyde Act, the Leader of the Opposition was quoting the under secretary of the US administration. What can I do?' External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on the NSG waiver, the Chinese stand and the domestic opposition to the nuclear deal.
Defence Minister A K Antony, on his maiden visit to the United States, lauded the Indian American community for their sustained activism and lobbying on behalf of the India-US civilian nuclear deal, which he said was catalytic in helping to fructify it.Antony was speaking at a reception, organised by the Indian American community of the Washington, DC metropolitan area, at the Indian embassy."You played a major role in shaping public opinion in India and the US," Antony said.
China is now the most significant strategic concern in Washington, as in most of the world's capitals, especially the democracies. Today, strategic autonomy has acquired a sharper definition: To ward off the Chinese challenge to India's territorial integrity, sovereignty and regional stature, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Amid the diplomatic and political storm generated by the disclosures on the India-United States nuclear deal, US Ambassador to India David Mulford met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Thursday and sought to clarify Washington's stand.Although officials were tight-lipped about what was discussed at the meeting, sources said Mulford told the Prime Minister that no new conditions had been introduced.A senior US embassy official sought to play down the meeting.
'The Bush administration, through a gag order on its written responses to Congressional questions, had sought to keep the Indian public in the dark on the larger implications of the nuclear deal, lest the accord run into rougher weather. But now its 26 pages of written answers have been publicly released by a senior United States Congressman.'
Affirming its commitment to work with India in securing a "clean" waiver from the NSG, the US on Monday said the two countries will "continue our vigorous joint advocacy", including at the highest levels, for it ahead of the grouping's next meeting on September 4.
With the Nuclear Suppliers Group draft set to be amended because of demands from some member countries, the government in Delhi on Sunday held a high-level meeting to analyse the new development and discuss options available to it. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee held hour-long discussions with Prime Minister's Special Envoy on Nuclear Deal Shyam Saran and senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs and Department of Atomic Energy on the issue.
Biden, as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has foreign policy experience in spades, making him an appealing candidate.
Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon left for Washington Saturday morning after the two-day Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting in Vienna ended inconclusively on Friday with another round scheduled early next month for considering India's case for an exemption to do nuclear commerce with other countries.
India is particularly interested in modifying provisions pertaining to conditional access to fuel reprocessing and caveats about future nuclear tests
Acceptance of the draft waiver in its current form could fuel a nuclear arms race in the Asian subcontinent, Edward J Markey, a critic of the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal said, as the 45-member grouping yesterday held discussions over the matter as part of a two-day meet in Vienna.
There's a strong sense inside the Democratic leadership that if you care about India, now is the time to stand up for it, says Graham Wisner, counsel at the top international lobbying firm Patton Boggs.
The United States on Friday dismissed concerns that its nuclear deal with India may open up an opportunity for Pakistan and others to seek a similar agreement.
US President George W Bush on Thursday said in a major speech on his government's Asian policy that the United States under his administration has dramatically turned around Washington-New Delhi ties, citing the landmark Indo-US nuclear deal. "For example, America has dramatically improved our ties with India, the world's largest democracy, including a historic agreement on civilian nuclear energy," he said.
It was an eventful year for the Left parties capping over four years of love-hate relationship with Congress-led United Progressive Alliance coalition with which they severed ties on the Indo-US nuclear deal.
Asking the Indian government to take a "courageous" decision on the civil nuclear deal considering the "short timelines", the Bush administration has cautioned it against attempting such an arrangement with other nations ignoring the United States..
Earlier in the day, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei had endorsed the India-specific safeguards agreement, asserting that it conformed to "all legal requirements" of his agency and that talks had begun on a system of extended inspections.
'There is an understanding between the people of two countries that violence is not going to solve the Kashmir issue. A final understanding will take time,' says former national security adviser Brajesh Mishra.
The NPT expert also said the US was speaking on both sides of its mouth on nuclear non-proliferation.
The Central Information Commission (CIC) has turned down an application seeking cost-related information on the country's unique fast-breeder reactor being developed at Kalpakkam.
A level of commitment is expected from the UPA to several policy measures promised in 2004.
US President George W Bush telephoned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday during when the two leaders expressed a desire to move forward on the nuclear deal "as expeditiously as possible".
The United Progressive Alliance government on Thursday expressed hope that India will get the support of all member countries during its negotiations on the nuclear deal but noted that it would be difficult to fix an exact timeframe for making the agreement a reality.External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency is likely to meet on August 1 to discuss the India-specific safeguards agreement.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma late Wednesday night on the sidelines of ASEAN ministerial meet in Singapore. The leaders had a 'very good' meeting during which Rice appreciated India's 'resolve to go ahead with the historic nuclear deal', highly-placed sources told PTI.
The Left, the United National Progressive Alliance and the Bahujan Samaj Party on Wednesday said that they will launch a nation-wide campaign against the United Progressive Alliance government on the Indo-United States nuclear deal, price rise and agrarian issues and described the trust vote win in Lok Sabha as 'immoral'.The campaign will be launched against price rise, inflation, agrarian crisis leading to farmers suicides, Karat said.
Those who oppose the deal cannot be trusted as much as those who are for the deal.
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee underwent a routine eye check in Hyderabad.
India will brief the IAEA board of Governors on the safeguards agreement and other aspects of Indo-US nuclear deal tomorrow in Vienna ahead of the board's scheduled meeting on August one to reach a consensus on giving a waiver to India to do civilian nuclear trade.
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