Federal Government Charges Up Electric Car Market

The federal government is hitting the gas on incentive programs meant to prop up the Electric car market, raising questions about whether it's appropriate for Washington to continue subsidizing an industry it's already invested in heavily.

As part of that interplay, nine cities across the country are set to receive thousands of free charging stations this year as part of a special program. In Austin, one of the lucky cities, the City Council could vote as early as this week to set the rates for those stations.

If the local utility company has its way, drivers will get a deal -- a $25 flat fee for six months of unlimited charging. The idea is to serve electric car owners, while making prospective buyers comfortable with the technology, potentially inspiring them to buy an electric vehicle of their own.

But the experiment is coming at a cost to taxpayers, who whether they realize it or not are subsidizing several initiatives designed to boost the electric vehicle market -- raising concerns among free enterprisers.

If electric cars are the wave of the future, they say, the industry should be able to attract private investment. If it's not, then the government is throwing away money. And if it's a viable idea but not quite ready for prime time, they worry the government is pushing it out too early, fating the sector to live off a perpetual federal lifeline the way ethanol, sugar and other commodities have done.

"I have never seen an industry that receives subsidies for any period of time like this that didn't fail and then cost taxpayers even more," said David Littmann, senior economist at the Michigan-based Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

The auto industry, government officials and environmentalists are hopeful that electric car technology can take off. The benefits are apparent -- a nationwide electric- or hybrid-car craze would reduce pollution and help wean the United States off foreign oil.

But several barriers remain. A report released last fall from J.D. Power and Associates found that consumers are worried about the relatively short driving range of the vehicles, the amount of time it takes to charge them and the higher retail cost. The first two concerns are more applicable to all-electric cars than hybrid ones. The Nissan LEAF, for instance, takes six to eight hours to charge and has a range of about 100 miles.

"It certainly would not be a car you would be very comfortable driving through West Virginia," the Cato Institute's Patrick Michaels said of the all-battery vehicles. He said the industry is understandably jittery about the new investment.

"If they could easily make money from it without a federal subsidy, they would be there. Obviously, they don't think there's a big demand," he said.

But that's exactly why the government is getting involved -- to incentivize the industry, and consumers, on the front end with the hope of building the groundwork for a bona-fide market that would be good for America's economic and energy security.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers has described the Obama administration's support as "critical." The administration has set a goal of getting 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015. To advance that goal, the administration also reportedly has included a $7,500 rebate in its 2012 budget proposal for drivers who buy electric vehicles.

"It's a slow process for a few years, but eventually people are predicting that this will really take off," said Carlos Cordova, spokesman with Austin Energy, the local utility company that will operate charging stations in Austin.

Karl Rabago, Austin Energy's vice president for distributed energy services, said the federal aid is critical for getting the market off the ground. He said the subsidies won't be indefinite and expressed confidence that the industry can eventually survive on its own. He said the private sector is eager to step in with investment as soon as it has the confidence it will pay off.

"Customers are just not going to buy these cars until they can look around and say, 'I'm comfortable. I won't feel stranded.' This is the chicken that has to come before the egg," Rabago told FoxNews.com. "This is just government doing what government does best."

The plug-in station program is a $37 million subsidized initiative run by Coulomb Technologies. Fifteen million dollars came from the 2009 federal stimulus, another few million came from the California Energy Commission and the rest came from Coulomb and other sources. Coulomb already sells charging units on its own, outside the program. But through what's known as the ChargePoint America initiative, it plans to deliver nearly 5,000 of them to Austin, Detroit, Los Angeles, Orlando and other cities.

In Austin, the city is getting more than 100 stations -- worth about $700 apiece -- free of charge from Coulomb. Austin Energy and other private companies will front the cost, estimated at about $3,000 apiece, for installing the stations.

Rabago said that if the program were not subsidized, his company could probably afford to get on board, considering the cost of the units. But, he said, "It just makes it a lot easier."

"Utilities are, I think the word is, conservative," Rabago said.

But some worry the government is taking a risk, on behalf of taxpayers, better reserved for venture capitalists, banks and the companies themselves. Littmann said that if and when the technology is at a marketable level, "there's plenty of capital here, and worldwide, and plenty of entrepreneurs to take care of that for expanding demand."

Nick Loris, a research associate at the Heritage Foundation, said he assumes America's vehicle fleet will look a lot different 50 years from now, but that it's not the government's role to promote electric vehicles before they're "economically viable."

Michael Quinn Sullivan, president of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, said his organization takes a "dim view" of the charging station program in his state.

"Electric cars -- by definition -- shouldn't require a jump start, and neither should their market," he said in an e-mail. "If the people benefiting from the sale of the cars won't invest in the infrastructure to make core-consumers confident about the product, it is troubling taxpayers would be asked to do so. Taxpayer subsidies become a narcotic, and once begun it's hard to wean off."

Obama: Egyptians Won't Permit a Repressive Government to Fill Mubarak Void

The United States can't force out Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, but the Egyptian people will no longer allow unresponsive government without representation or free and fair elections, President Obama said in an interview Sunday with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly.

With that in mind, an orderly but meaningful transition to a new government will reduce the possibility of a radical, anti-American government, the president argued in a pre-Super Bowl XLV interview.

"What I want is a representative government in Egypt and I have confidence that if Egypt moves in an orderly transition process, they will have a government in Egypt that will work together with us" as partners, Obama said from the White House, where he was preparing to entertain about 100 guests for the Super Bowl game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers.

Mubarak has ruled Egypt with an autocratic fist for decades even as the country has been an ally to the United States. While the embattled Egyptian president has been a reliable partner in upholding the peace accords with Israel and in counterterror efforts, in the past two weeks hundreds of thousands have stormed a central square in Egypt's capital Cairo to protest Mubarak's oppressive rule.

Though the strength and breadth of the demonstrations were unexpected, the United States has quickly moved to convincing Mubarak that it's time for him to step down after the presidential elections scheduled for September, if not sooner.

But any sudden toppling of the Mubarak regime could create major headaches for the United States, particularly if the void permits a group like the radical Muslim Brotherhood, which is negotiating with the current government about leadership changes, to emerge victorious.

Obama suggested he's less concerned about that.

"The Muslim Brotherhood is one faction in Egypt. They don't have majority support in Egypt, but they are well organized and there are strains of their ideology that are against the U.S., there's no doubt about it," Obama said. "But here's the thing that we have to understand, there are a whole bunch of secular folks in Egypt, there are a whole bunch of educators and civil society in Egypt that wants to come to the fore as well. So it's important for us not to say that our own only two options are either the Muslim Brotherhood or a suppressed people."

To avoid such scenarios, Obama said that the U.S. must make sure "that we get all the groups together in Egypt for an orderly transition and the one that is a meaningful transition."

Foreign relations aren't the only matters on the president's mind. In his wide-ranging interview, the president appeared nonplussed about the possibility that the Supreme Court would rule his new health care law unconstitutional.

Repeating remarks he made in his State of the Union address last month -- that he doesn't want to re-fight the battles of the past two years -- Obama nonetheless said he thinks a Florida district judge was wrong to rule against his signature domestic achievement.

"Keep in mind, we've had 12 judges that just threw this case out, this notion that the health care law was unconstitutional," Obama said.

Obama would not speculate on what would happen to the program if the Supreme Court throws out the case, but said he is not prepared to go back to the days when Americans with preconditions couldn't get coverage.

Adding that people want cost controls and security in health care, the president also took issue with suggestions that he has moved to the center after the drubbing Democrats took in the November midterm election. And he rejected claims that the health care law is a far-reach to the wishes of the political left.

Arguing that he hears people who say that they don't want to pay for other people's health care -- which many uninsured don't get until they are in the emergency room -- Obama said, "If you get sick you have a responsibility to make sure you get coverage. There's nothing socialist about that. That's saying to Americans we're going to, each of us, be responsible for our own health care," Obama said.

"In this country there is no reason why when you get sick you should go bankrupt," he added. "The notion that that's a radical principle, I don't think the majority of people would agree with me on."

Answering an unexpected question about what he thinks Fox News could do better, the president said, "The most important thing that the news (can do), whether it's Fox News or MSNBC or whoever, is give people the facts."

"I would say that the news guys try to do a good job, though look let's face it, Fox News has a point of view. There's nothing wrong with that," the president said, arguing that America has "a strong history" of opinion journalism.

In a series of short response questions and answers, the president joked that the worst part of the job is that he has to wear a jacket on Super Bowl Sunday. In reality, however, "the biggest problem for me is being in the bubble, you can't go to the corner, everyone watching every move you make and over time you feel like you're not able to have a spontaneous conversation with folks and that's a big loss."

He added that the biggest challenge he learned being president is that it's tougher than anyone can intellectually grasp.

"You don't understand in your gut until you're in the job ... that everything that gets sent to my desk is what nobody else was able to solve," he said, adding that by the time a problem reaches him, the solution comes really from using his best judgment.

Obama said he doesn't worry whether people hate him because he learned to get a tough skin long before he got to the job.

"The folks who hate you don't know you. What they hate is whatever funhouse mirror image of you is out there," he said.

Asked if he's changed, Obama said he thinks he's the same guy as when he came in, but he didn't argue with assertions from friends and confidants that he's not as light or spontaneous as he was.

"There's no doubt that the weight of the office has an impact, but I will tell you that the longer I'm in this job the more I enjoy it, the more optimistic I am about the American people, the more optimistic I am about the country. There's something about this position that gives you a pretty good vantage point about the country as a whole, and for all the arguing we get into and all the debates between Democrats and Republicans, there's just a sense, a common sense and a decency to the American people that makes me optimistic even on the worst of days."

The president said he was also optimistic for a good Super Bowl.

"Once my (Chicago) Bears lost, I don't pick sides," he said. "I want a great game. These are two pretty evenly matched teams. I think Green Bay is probably a little faster, Steelers got a little more experience. I think the Steelers not having their starting center is something they gotta be a little worried about."

Administration Officials Discussing Various Scenarios for Mubarak Exit

U.S. officials are discussing a number of possible scenarios for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, with one of them being Mubarak stepping down very soon and an interim government being formed, headed by Vice President Omar Suleiman working with the military to steer Egypt toward elections, officials told ABC News.

"The president has said that now is the time to begin a peaceful, orderly and meaningful transition with credible, inclusive negotiations," said National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor. "We have discussed with the Egyptians a variety of different ways to move that process forward, but all of those decisions must be made by the Egyptian people.”

The comment came after the New York Times published a story reporting that the Obama administration "is discussing with Egyptian officials a proposal for President Hosni Mubarak to resign immediately, turning over power to a transitional government headed by Vice President Omar Suleiman with the support of the Egyptian military."

Mubarak rebuffed the plan, the Times reported, but "officials from both governments are continuing talks about a plan in which, Mr. Suleiman, backed by Sami Enan, chief of the Egyptian armed forces, and Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, the defense minister, would immediately begin a process of constitutional reform."

Officials told the Times that the proposal is "one of several options under discussion with high-level Egyptian officials around Mr. Mubarak, though not him directly, in an effort to convince him to step down now."

Bur in response to the Times story, a senior administration official called it "simply wrong to report that there’s a single U.S. plan that’s being negotiated with the Egyptians."

Thousands converge in Cairo to demand Mubarak

Tens of thousands of people flooded into the heart of Cairo Tuesday, filling the city's main square as a call for a million protesters was answered by the largest demonstration in a week of unceasing demands for President Hosni Mubarak to leave after nearly 30 years in power.

Rivers of protesters arrived in Tahrir, or Liberation, Square at checkpoints guarded by protesters and the army, which promised Monday night that it would not fire on protesters.

The announcement was a sign that army support for Mubarak may be unraveling as momentum builds for an extraordinary eruption of discontent and demands for democracy in the United States' most important Arab ally.

"We are not going anywhere until Mubarak leaves," said Mohammed Abdullah, a 27-year-old aviation engineer.

Mubarak, 82, would be the second Arab leader pushed from office by a popular uprising in the history of the modern Middle East.

The loosely organized and disparate movement to drive him out is fueled by deep frustration with an autocratic regime blamed for ignoring the needs of the poor and allowing corruption and official abuse to run rampant. After years of tight state control, protesters emboldened by the overthrow of Tunisia's president last month took to the streets on Jan. 25 and mounted a relentless and once unimaginable series of protests across this nation of 80 million people — the region's most populous country and the center of Arabic-language film-making, music and literature.

Soviet-era and newer U.S.-made Abrams tanks stood at the roads leading into Tahrir Square, a plaza overlooked by the headquarters of the Arab League, the campus of the American University in Cairo, the famed Egyptian Museum and the Mugammma, an enormous winged building housing dozens of departments of the country's notoriously corrupt and inefficient bureaucracy.

Working-class men in scuffed shoes and worn cloth pants stood alongside women in full-face veils who chanted, "The people want to bring down the regime!"

For days, army tanks and troops have surrounded the square, keeping the protests confined but doing nothing to stop people from joining. The guns of many of the tanks pointed out from the square.

Military spokesman Ismail Etman said the military "has not and will not use force against the public" and underlined that "the freedom of peaceful expression is guaranteed for everyone."

He added the caveats that protesters should not commit "any act that destabilizes security of the country" or damage property.

The protests appeared to be better organized on Tuesday. Volunteers wearing tags reading "Security of the People" said they were watching for government infiltrators who might try to instigate violence.

Obama Climate Adviser Browner to Step Down

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's top adviser on energy and climate matters is stepping down, two White House officials confirmed Monday. The departure of Carol Browner underscores any prospects for a major White House push on climate change, given that such efforts have little chance of succeeding on Capitol Hill.

Browner, a former Environmental Protection Agency administrator under President Bill Clinton, will be leaving the White House just as Republicans in Congress prepare to take on the Obama administration over global warming and the administration's response to the massive Gulf oil spill.

Browner successfully helped negotiate a deal with automakers boosting federal fuel economy standards and requiring the first-ever greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles. She also pushed for billions of dollars for renewable energy in the economic stimulus bill.

But the administration fell short on it key domestic priority of passing a comprehensive energy and climate bill to place a firm limit on the pollution blamed for global warming. Just after the November elections, which gave Republicans a majority of seats in the House, Obama admitted the legislation was dead.

One White House official said Monday that Browner was "confident that the mission of her office will remain critical to the president." The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Browner was "pleased" with the clean energy commitment Obama would lay out in his State of the Union address Tuesday and in his budget request.

Scott Segal, an energy lobbyist with Bracewell & Giuliani, said Browner's exit could "be a part of a legitimate effort to pay careful attention to addressing some of the real regulatory obstacles in the way of job creation."

Besides regulations to curb global warming, industry groups -- and Republicans on Capitol Hill -- are questioning a host of EPA rules targeting other air pollutants as job killers that will increase the costs of doing business.

And recently Browner's office had come under scrutiny for politicizing the response to the massive Gulf oil spill. The commission set up by Obama to investigate the disaster said Browner misconstrued on national television the findings of a federal scientific report by saying most of the oil was gone. The White House later said she misspoke.

Browner's office also has been criticized by the presidential panel for editing an Interior Department document in a manner that implied scientists supported the administration's decision to place a moratorium on deep water drilling. The commission found no evidence that the change made was intentional, and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar later apologized for the misunderstanding.

Browner's resignation comes amid a series of high-profile staff changes in Obama's White House.

The president has brought in a new chief of staff, Bill Daley, and is zeroing in on the choice of a new press secretary to replace the departing Robert Gibbs. Senior adviser David Axelrod is leaving the White House to focus on Obama's re-election, and both of Obama's deputy chiefs of staff are also leaving.

Staff members who are considering a change have been told to make their moves now or plan to stay for the remaining two years of Obama's term to ensure continuity.

Yeddyurappa's act immoral but not illegal: Gadkari

Beijing: Accusing Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj of foisting cases against B S Yeddyurappa, BJP chief Nitin Gadkari has said the chief minister has not committed any "illegal act" in allotment of plots even though denotifying land in favour of his son was "immoral" and "not proper."

Commenting on Bhardwaj's decision to sanction prosecution against Yeddyurappa, Gadkari, who is in China on a five-day visit, told the Indian media in Beijing that denotification of land is the privilege of the chief minister, which was exercised by many of Yeddyurappa's predecessors.

"Denotification of land is a privilege and the right of chief minister given by law. Nothing is wrong with it. Before Yeddyurappa, (former chief ministers H D) Kumarasamy, Dharma Singh and S M Krishna exercised it several times. The Governor has not taken action against them because they belonged to Congress Party," he said.

"Only thing is that BJP and I personally feel that denotifying land for his (chief minister's) son, though it is a legal decision, on the ground of morality, I think it is not good. It is not proper and immoral I think...," he said.

If it is illegal why the government has not taken action against the previous chief ministers? he asked.

Gadkari alleged the Governor's decision was politically motivated and that he was working under the directives of Congress.

The BJP demands his recall as he has already crossed the limits, he said.

It is total discrimination, Gadkari said, claiming that many number of cases filed against Yeddyurappa are politically motivated.

"They are misusing the institution of Governor and creating problems for democracy in the country. It is unfortunate that the institution of Governor is diluted in such a way that people have lost faith," he said.

Jagan to fast against Krishna water distribution verdict

Former Congress MP Jagan Mohan Reddy arrived in Delhi on Tuesday morning to hold a one-day protest fast to highlight the plight of Andhra Pradesh farmers and oppose the Krishna water dispute tribunal verdict.
Former Andhra chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy's son is apparently set to embarrass the Congress yet again by his latest move as he reached the national capital with 1,500 farmers in a special train from Secunderabad.

The former Kadapa MP would sit on a fast at Jantar Mantar. Over half-a-dozen Congress MLAs, who have been loyal to Jagan, would also participate in the hunger strike, while more leaders were on their way to Delhi to join the young leader.

Jagan's fast is to highlight the adverse impact of Krishna water dispute tribunal verdict on Andhra Pradesh and the farmers residing around the Krishna delta.

Jagan and Congress have been at loggerheads ever since the death of his father. He recently resigned as the Lok Sabha Member and quit Congress alleging humiliation by the party high command.

India Starts Looking Beyond Iran for Oil

SINGAPORE – India's largest buyer of Iranian crude is scouting for alternative supplies from the spot market to pre-empt a possible disruption in shipments from Iran after India's central bank closed a longstanding payment route for such transactions.

Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd., which buys more than half of its crude oil from Iran, has issued three spot tenders in as many days, the latest for loading as early as next month.

A motorcyclist filled up his vehicle with petrol in New Delhi, June 4, 2008.he flurry of tenders will likely boost sentiment for the heavier, high-sulfur grades from the Middle East, whose premiums are declining in the spot market due to weak fuel oil margins.

While both New Delhi and Tehran could be hard pressed to find an early resolution, there's greater pressure on Iran, which has been increasingly isolated from its customers due to trade restrictions and sanctions aimed at slowing down its nuclear program.

For now, crude supplies from Iran appear normal, and both countries are trying to hammer out an alternative mechanism to continue trade after the Reserve Bank of India, the country's central bank, last week said all trade-related transactions with Tehran had to be done outside the Asian Clearing Union, used by Indian refiners to pay for Iranian crude.

"But there's no guarantee (that normal supplies) will continue," a senior MRPL executive told Dow Jones Newswires. MRPL had one crude cargo scheduled for loading from Iran on Wednesday.

A senior Indian official Tuesday said Iran has proposed a temporary payment channel through a bank based in Germany and has said that it will continue usual shipments of crude oil to Indian refiners in January.

Although the United Nations sanctions don't ban countries from buying crude from Iran, difficulties in financing such transactions have limited the number of trade partners. This has forced Iran to store large quantities of unsold crude oil in tankers, about 21.7 million barrels as of the end of November, the International Energy Agency said recently.

Iran remains India's second biggest crude supplier after Saudi Arabia.

A slew of spot tenders from MRPL has taken the regional market by surprise because of the prompt nature of deliveries sought by MRPL. Its latest tender seeks 650,000 barrels of high-sulfur crude--the kind it normally buys from Iran--for loading in February, when trade for Middle East crude is moving on to March-loading cargoes.

"It's a question of how many such prompt cargoes are available," said a Singapore-based crude oil trader.

It remains to be seen if other Indian refiners will follow suit in seeking spot cargoes.

Unlike MRPL, which gets more than half its supplies from Iran, other larger Indian refiners are less susceptible to any possible supply disruptions.

"We buy six to eight cargoes from Iran a month. I can't make it up all from the spot market, but we are keeping ready in case of any disruptions," the MRPL executive said. "We can decide to buy some or all of the cargoes being sought."

Japan a factor in Asian peace, stability: PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday arrived in Tokyo to take forward India's negotiations with Japan on an Agreement for Peaceful uses of Nuclear Energy and also conclude talks over a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (Cepa) covering all aspects of trade in goods, services and investments.

While the two pacts will not be signed now, Singh's Annual Summit meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan assumes significance in the backdrop of growing friction between Japan and China. Ahead of his departure from New Delhi, Singh said India considers its partnership with Japan as "strategic" and sees it as a factor of peace, stability and prosperity in Asia.

When asked if India would counter China's aggressiveness, he told the Japanese media in an interview that all countries were trying to respond and readjust to global trends towards multi-polarity. "Inter-state relations must be based on the five principles of peaceful co-existence. It is in this context that we also approach our relations with China, with whom we have established a Strategic and Cooperative Partnership," he said.

Acknowledging that Japan is a major economic partner of India, Singh said, "We have embarked upon mega infrastructure projects with Japanese assistance which have the potential of transforming our economy. Our trade and economic relationship is set to enter a new phase. I look forward to detailed discussions with Prime Minister Kan on bilateral, regional and global issues." Japan and India have set up a Project Development Fund to identify projects in the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor for investment by the private sector. Besides, Japan has also evinced interest in the Dedicated Freight Corridor project in India.

Singh will also address business leaders at the Nippon Keidanren, the leading industry association in Japan.

The PM is accompanied by a business delegation led by Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries, who is the co-chair of the Japan-India Business Leaders' Forum.

In his second leg, he stops over at Kuala Lumpur in his first bilateral visit to Malaysia. "I will seek new areas of understanding with Prime Minister Dato Sri Najib that reinforce the rich bonds of history and culture that unite us. We share a special bond with Malaysia because it is home to one of the largest People of Indian Origin communities of over two million, and I look to forward to meeting some of them," he said. Singh will also deliver the Khazanah Global Lecture 2010 on India's development experience.

His last stop will be at the 8th India-ASEAN Summit and 5th East Asia Summit in Vietnam. "The scale and range of our interaction with the ASEAN countries has expanded significantly in the last six years. I will discuss with the ASEAN leaders a roadmap for our future cooperation which will be reflected in an India-ASEAN Plan of Action for 2010-2015," he said.

The East Asia Summit represents the desire of the Asia Pacific region to build an open and inclusive architecture of regional cooperation. In its short period of existence, the EAS process has made significant progress. This year's Summit is expected to welcome the US and Russia into the EAS process.

This Australian Test team is weak: Harbhajan

The current team looks good on paper but they lack experience. Their batting line-up revolves around Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey and Michael Clarke. But this Australian Test team is weak.

Any particular reason for not bowling the doosra in the two Test matches against Australia?

I can't bowl according to what people wish. It's up to me how to bowl. One has to bowl according to the conditions. I think I did well. Even after not using the doosra, I'm glad I got wickets.

There is a lot of positive talk about the atmosphere in the Indian dressing room.

Coach Gary Kirsten and the support staff have created a lovely environment. It is like one big family now. There is no senior-junior thing. We seniors try to make the younger players feel at home. There is a lot of confidence in each other's abilities in this Indian dressing room.

How is it that Team India generates something special when we play Australia?

Honestly, it is not just Australia... whenever we play an opponent we prepare well. We ensure we stick to our plans. We watch a lot of videos and make sure we know the strengths and weaknesses of each player in the opposition.

The Indian team doesn't hesitate to take risks...

One has to take risks. The team management is backing youngsters and the good thing is that they are performing at every stage. Young batsmen must be ready to bat at any position be it Cheteshwar Pujara, or Murali Vijay. Tomorrow if MS (Dhoni) asks me to bat at no.3, I shouldn't think twice.

Pragyan Ojha seems to be shaping up well.

Give youngsters some time and they will deliver. These youngsters just want to win everything. We still need to give these youngsters a longer rope, especially, in Test cricket. One shouldn't write them off after they fail in just a couple of matches. We need to back our players.

Can you explain Australia's failure to dominate opponents?

They had a great team when they toured India in 2001. They had a strong batting line-up with Shane Warne coming in at No.8. All their batsmen had tons of experience. The current team looks good on paper but they lack experience. Their batting line-up revolves around Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey and Michael Clarke. But this Australian Test team is weak.

Would you say that preparations are on the right track for the World Cup?

We need to take one step at a time. We have a strong bench and some good youngsters in the line-up. The one-day series against Australia will be a good platform for the youngsters with a few senior players being given rest.

Is Tendulkar becoming younger in his late 30's?

It seems so. He is batting as if he is 25 and not 37. He has shown that determination and hard work can do wonders.

China demands Japan takes steps to resolve dispute over terrritorial waters

"It is an obstacle in bilateral relations at present and we hope Japan will take concrete actions to eliminate the obstacle," foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters.

"Japan should return the captain immediately to avoid further detriment to bilateral relations."

Japan's embassy and consulates in China issued a warning to its citizens in the country to watch their words and actions so as not to provoke Chinese after nationalistic protests and reports of vandalism at a Japanese school.

The diplomatic spat broke out last week when Japanese authorities arrested the captain of a Chinese fishing boat after it collided with two Japanese patrol boats near islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries.

The 14 crew members and the trawler have returned to China. But the captain remains in Japanese custody and could face prosecution for obstructing the coast guards' public duties – triggering harsh criticism from Beijing.

Beijing has said the confrontation could damage its relations with Japan and has summoned Ambassador Uichiro Niwa five times, underlining the sensitivity of the territorial dispute. The incident has also led to protests in Taiwan, which also claims the islands, called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese, which are located 120 miles (190 kilometers) east of Taiwan.

Last week, in a sign of its anger, Beijing postponed talks with Japan on contested undersea deposits in the East China Sea. The talks would have been the second meeting over gas exploration related to the territorial dispute.

Mr Kan's predecessor had met with Chinese premier Wen Jiabao at last year's General Assembly, and leaders of the two nations usually meet at international gatherings. So while it was assumed Kan and Wen would meet, no meeting or agenda had been set.

"At the moment, nothing has been decided, as neither side is making a move to set up (a meeting)," Sengoku said. He cited "the problem involving the Senkaku," as part of the reason why both sides are not arranging talks. He also cited scheduling conflicts on both sides.

"We have not received any request from China, either," he said.

Japan urged its citizens in China to "take full caution" for the time being, especially on Saturday, a sensitive day marking the anniversary of the 1931 "Mukden Incident" that led to the Japanese occupation of China's northeast.

"Watch your words and behavior when you have contact with the Chinese people," the embassy said in a safety notice posted on its Web site. "Refrain from making a scene in a Japanese-only group or other provocative acts."

Last week, a few dozen people gathered in front of the Japanese embassy in Beijing to shout slogans and wave flags. Such protests usually occur only with the approval of local police or officials.

Vandalism was reported Sunday at a Japanese school in Tianjin, with graffiti painted on the wall. A Japanese school in Beijing said it has decided to postpone a sports event scheduled for Saturday until October.

During times of periodic tension between the two countries in the past, Japanese schools, stores, restaurants and diplomatic installations in China have been attacked.

Japan stepped up its presence over the disputed islets, with Transport Minister Seiji Maehara inspecting patrol boats on Ishigaki, a Japanese island near the disputed islets, on Thursday. He also visited coast guard personnel to praise their effort to seize the captain.

Photo of US baby goes viral in Japan

Sometime back in 2000, Allen S. Rout, a systems programmer from Gainesville, Fla., posted a few photos of his 5-month-old son, Stephen, on his personal website. They were the kind of photos that every parent takes, but one in particular stood out: Stephen wearing a pair of red overalls, smiling in a crib. "We're really blessed," Mr. Rout wrote as the caption. "Stephen is an amazingly happy baby."

The photo had faded from memory until last July, when Mr. Rout, curious about his online reputation, did a Google search of himself. Deep within the results pages, he found the picture of Stephen. Only, it wasn't exactly the same picture.

He was surrounded by cartoonish word bubbles filled with Japanese writing: "Don't call me baby!" they read. "Call me Mr. Baby!" And there were other images in which the photo was transformed further: Stephen has a pompadour in one, a head full of snakes in another. His face was pasted onto Kurt Cobain's head, carved into Mount Rushmore and tattooed onto David Beckham's torso. He was an eight-bit video game character. He became a three-dimensional sculpture.

Somehow, Stephen's smiling face had permeated a corner of Japanese visual culture. It showed up on wacky television game shows, and occasionally it blotted out images of genitalia in pornography, to comply with Japanese law. There are so many iterations that, for a time, if you did a Google Image search for "happy baby," the original photo of Stephen was the first result.

In other words, the photo of Mr. Rout's son had become an Internet meme: an idea, image, catchphrase or video that goes viral, mutating via amateur remixes into unexpected forms. Often, memes revolve around an inside joke -- say, a screen capture from an obscure video game -- but just as often they make jokes of the source material.



Memes may be image-based, involving a kind of visual pun. Think of LOLcats, the ubiquitous photos of adorable kittens with captions like, "I can has cheezburger?" Or they can be videos, like parodies of the Old Spice ads starring Isaiah Mustafa.

Memes may bear little resemblance to the original material, such as when a local news segment in Alabama about an attempted rape ("He's climbin' in your windows, he's snatchin' your people up," ranted the victim's brother, Antoine Dodson) mutated into the song, "Bed Intruder," by Auto-Tune the News, which made the Billboard charts.

So how did an innocent baby photo become a Japanese meme? That's a question for KnowYourMeme.com, a Web site that catalogs Internet memes and produces funny videos that explain how certain memes came into existence. When a reporter asked about the Stephen Rout meme in August, KnowYourMeme sprang into action, creating a page for what it dubbed "Aka-San" ("Mr. Baby" in Japanese).

With the help of its multilingual readers and Google Insights, a tool that tracks Web searches by time and location, KnowYourMeme pieced together a timeline: It started in 2004, on 2chan.net, a so-called imageboard in Japan that allows users to post images anonymously -- essentially a petri dish for meme manipulators.

Who first found Stephen's picture is not known, nor how it was found. What's known is that a 2chan user superimposed Stephen's face over an illustration from a manga comic book, and turned it into an image macro -- a simple Web form that allowed users to put words into a cartoon-like thought bubble. The meme-ification of Stephen began.

As Mr. Rout uncovered new permutations of the meme, he was anything but freaked out. An Internet dweller since the days of Usenet, he wasn't afraid for Stephen's safety. Plus, he knew that there was nothing he, or any parent, could do to prevent the use (or misuse) of an image of his child, once it was uploaded to the Web.

Furthermore, Mr. Rout, now an information technology expert at the University of Florida, understood that the meme really had nothing to do with Stephen qua Stephen -- the photo was being treated as a kind of open-source stock image, stripped of any identifier or context.

"The meaning that a piece of work has, comes as much from what the observer brings to it as it comes from what the artist put into it," Mr. Rout said. "I'm perhaps over-dignifying baby pictures when I talk about them as art, but I think the abstraction applies."

Mr. Rout's laissez-faire response was a far cry from that of other parents whose children became Internet memes. Take Ghyslain Raza, the chubby 15-year-old from Canada who earned Internet infamy in 2003 when his classmates secretly uploaded an embarrassing video of him whipping around a golf-ball retriever as if it was a light saber. The clip was remixed and mashed up: Mr. Raza doing battle with Agent Smith from "The Matrix," kayaking through whitewater rapids, and satirized on the animated series "American Dad."

THE "Star Wars Kid," as the video was nicknamed, was viewed 900 million times by 2006, according an estimate by the Viral Factory, a London-based marketing firm. The blitz of attention caused Mr. Raza so much stress he left school and was eventually treated for depression, according to court documents his parents filed in a lawsuit against the classmates' families. (The parties settled out of court.) According to recent news reports, Mr. Raza is now studying law at McGill University in Montreal.

At another end of the spectrum is David DeVore, who recorded his groggy son, also named David, in the backseat of their car after a dental appointment asking existential questions like "Is this real life?" and "Why is this happening to me?" Mr. DeVore uploaded the video, "David After Dentist," to YouTube, where it went viral, with more than 67 million views.

Within weeks, there were a rash of parodies, including one of Darth Vader asking similar life-searching questions, and a satire by the Upright Citizens Brigade called "David After the Divorce," in which a young man is dazed after signing divorce papers. It has been viewed on YouTube more than 4 million times.

The DeVore family has reportedly made $150,000 off YouTube advertising and related merchandise. David even appeared in a low-budget commercial for a toothbrush manufacturer, FireFly, disguised (sort of) as a follow-up video. As for the Routs (who are, it turns out, friends of friends of the DeVores), neither lawsuits nor money seems to be in the offing. "Everybody says, 'There's got to be money in this' But gosh, what a vile response," Mr. Rout said. "I don't want to use this as an opportunity to squeeze some money out of somebody for some purpose. It's an amusement."

Stephen, who is now 10, echoed his father's sentiment and seems to have taken his meme notoriety in stride, spending his summer instead on karate lessons and the Honor Harrington series of science-fiction novels. "Surprised and really amazed and really weirded out" is how Stephen described the experience by telephone.

But certain aspects of his overseas fame intrigued him -- the appearance of his baby face on Japanese television, his placement on Mount Rushmore and particularly the plastic bust created by a fan. "It gets weirder the more you look into it," he said.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/photo-of-us-baby-goes-viral-in-japan-52451?cp

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/photo-of-us-baby-goes-viral-in-japan-52451?cp

Eiffel Tower reopens after bomb threat

The area under Paris' Eiffel Tower has been opened up to tourists again after an anonymous caller phoned in a bomb threat and police combed through the famous monument looking for suspicious objects.

Police have not found a bomb or other suspicious package following the anonymous phone threat that spurred the evacuation of 2,000 visitors, NBC News has learned.

Around midnight in Paris, people were walking around and riding bikes under the tower. The tower itself usually closes at 11 p.m.

About 150 members of the police force, including bomb experts, responded to the call placed to the company that manages the famous landmark.

The Eiffel Tower and its immediate surroundings were evacuated following the bomb threat. The French media said two subway stations also were briefly evacuated, though transportation officials said subways are once again running.

An AP photographer on the site saw several busloads of police officers under the famous tower.

French media reported that the anonymous call was traced to a phone booth in a multicultural neighborhood in northeast Paris.

The 1,063-foot tower, built in 1889, is one of the world's most popular tourist attractions. Last year, 6.6 million people visited the landmark.

The Eiffel Tower was last evacuated on Oct. 10, 2005, due to a bomb threat. Before that, the landmark was last evacuated on July 22, 2003, due to a fire.

The subway stops affected included the Saint-Michel station near Notre Dame Cathedral. The station was the target of a terrorist attack in 1995 that killed eight and injured scores of people.

Bomb scares are frequent in Paris, and the city has experienced terrorism firsthand. Algerian Islamic insurgents bombed the Saint-Michel station on July 25, 1995, killing eight people and injuring 150.

It was the first attack in a campaign of violence that terrorized Paris subway commuters for a time. Gas cooking canisters loaded with nails, sometimes hidden in garbage cans, were used in many of the bombings.

Plane carrying 51 crashes in Venezuela; 36 survive

A plane carrying 51 people crashed Monday in a steel mill yard in eastern Venezuela, killing 15 people on board, officials said.

Workers at the state-run Sidor steel foundry pulled people from the smoking wreckage of the plane owned by Venezuelan state airline Conviasa, and officials said 36 passengers and crew survived.

Foundry worker Frank Oliveros, 44, said he saw a huge billow of smoke after the crash, then saw the wreckage through the smoke and joined dozens of fellow employees and firefighters who rushed to the scene.

"I don't remember names ... faces," Oliveros told The Associated Press by telephone. "Our only interest was getting all the people out of there alive."

The partially scorched fuselage of French-built ATR 42 rested among barrels and shipping containers.

At least 15 people were killed after the crash about six miles (10 kilometers) from the eastern city of Puerto Ordaz, Bolivar state Gov. Francisco Rangel Gomez told reporters. Forensic experts have yet to identify six of the bodies, he said.

"A miracle occurred today," said Rangel Gomez, referring to the number of survivors.

The bodies of all the victims have been located, but authorities have not yet identified them all, Rangel Gomez said.

It was unclear what caused the crash.

The plane, a twin-engine turboprop, was carrying 47 passengers and four crew members, Rangel Gomez said. Only one of the crew members survived, he said.

He said that Conviasa Flight 2350 had taken off from Margarita Island - a Caribbean island that is one of Venezuela's top tourist destinations - and crashed shortly before reaching its destination, the airport of Puerto Ordaz.

The state airline, Consorcio Venezolano de Industrias Aeronauticas y Servicios Aeros SA, began operations in 2004. It says it serves destinations in Venezuela, the Caribbean, Argentina, Iran and Syria.

Transportation Minister Francisco Garces told state television that President Hugo Chavez has been closely monitoring the situation.

Record U.S. Arms Deal With Saudis Advances

The Obama administration is set to notify Congress of plans to offer advanced aircraft to Saudi Arabia worth up to $60 billion, the largest U.S. arms deal ever, and is in talks with the kingdom about potential naval and missile-defense upgrades that could be worth tens of billions of dollars more.

The administration plans to tout the $60 billion package as a major job creator—supporting at least 75,000 jobs, according to company estimates—and sees the sale of advanced fighter jets and military helicopters to key Middle Eastern ally Riyadh as part of a broader policy aimed at shoring up Arab allies against Iran.

The talks between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have been widely known for months, but many new details are only now coming into focus. These include the number and type of aircraft, how much the Saudis intend to spend in an initial installment, and the ongoing negotiations to also upgrade the kingdom's navy and missile defenses.

The $60 billion in fighter jets and helicopters is the top-line amount requested by the Saudis, even though the kingdom is likely to commit initially to buying only about half that amount.

In a notification to Congress, expected to be submitted this week or next, the administration will authorize the Saudis to buy as many as 84 new F-15 fighters, upgrade 70 more, and purchase three types of helicopters—70 Apaches, 72 Black Hawks and 36 Little Birds, officials said.

The notification triggers a congressional review. Lawmakers could push for changes or seek to impose conditions, and potentially block the deal, though that is not expected.

On top of the $60 billion package of fighter jets and helicopters, U.S. officials are discussing a potential $30 billion package to upgrade Saudi Arabia's naval forces. An official described these as "discreet, bilateral conversations" in which no agreement has yet been reached. That deal could include littoral combat ships, surface vessels intended for operations close to shore, the official said.

National Interest Homes Ablaze After Blast Near San Francisco

A massive fire destroyed more than 50 homes as it roared through a mostly residential neighborhood in the hills south of San Francisco following a loud explosion that shot a fireball more than 1,000 feet into the air and sent frightened residents fleeing for safety Thursday.

At least one person was killed and dozens more were injured in the blast, local media reported.

Pacific Gas and Electric, the utility company that serves the San Francisco Bay area, says one of its gas lines ruptured in the area, incinerating at least 53 homes and damaging more than 120 others just after 6 p.m.

"We believe it's a high-pressure gas line that's blown," San Bruno Fire Chief Dennis Haag told KPIX-TV.

Following the initial blast, flames reached as high as 60 feet in the air as the fire fueled itself on burning homes. Planes and helicopters flew over the neighborhood dumping water in an effort to stanch the flames.

Witnesses said the blaze was preceded by a loud explosion and huge fireball. They described seeing residents fleeing for safety and rushing to get belongings out of their burning homes.

Connie Bushman returned home to find her block was on fire. She said she ran into her house looking for her 80-year-old father but could not find him. A firefighter told her he had left, but she had not been able to track him down.

"I don't know where my father is, I don't know where my husband is, I don't know where to go," Bushman said.

Victims suffering from serious burns began arriving at San Francisco Bay area hospitals shortly after the blast. An estimate of the number of injured was not immediately available. Hospitals reported receiving at least four victims in critical condition but anticipated more.

Jane Porcelli, 62, said she lives on a hill above where the fire is centered. She said she thought she heard a plane overhead with a struggling engine.

"And then you heard this bang. And everything shook except the floor, so we knew it wasn't an earthquake," Porcelli said.

"I feel helpless that I can't do anything. I just gotta sit by and watch."

Stephanie Mullen, Associated Press news editor for photos based in San Francisco, was attending children's soccer practice with her two children and husband at Crestmoor High School when she saw the blast at 6:14 p.m.

"First, it was a low deep roar and everybody looked up, and we all knew something big was happening," she said. "Then there was a huge explosion with a ball of fire that went up behind the high school several thousand feet into the sky.

"Everybody grabbed their children and ran and put their children in their cars," Mullen said. "It was very clear something awful had happened."

Several minutes later, Mullen was near the fire scene, about a half-mile away in a middle-class neighborhood of 1960s-era homes in hills overlooking San Francisco, the bay and the airport. She said she could feel the heat of the fire on her face although she was three or four blocks away from the blaze. It appeared the fireball was big enough to have engulfed at least several homes.

"I could see families in the backyards of the homes next to where the fire was, bundling their children and trying to get them out of the backyards," she recounted.

She said people in the neighborhood were yelling, "This is awful," "I live down there," and "My family is down there."

Judy and Frank Serrsseque were walking down a hill away from the flames with a makeshift wagon carrying important documents, medication and three cats.

Judy Serrsseque said she heard an explosion, saw that fire was headed toward their home and knew they had to leave. As they fled, they said they saw people burned and people struggling to get their things out of burning houses.

"We got everything together, and we just got out," Judy Serrsseque. "Mostly we're wondering if we have a house to go back to."

Obama to end tax breaks for firms creating jobs abroad

Accusing opposition Republicans of pushing bankrupt economic policies and putting politics ahead of national welfare, President Barack Obama has vowed to end Bush era tax cuts encouraging companies to "create jobs and profits in other countries".

"I think if we're going to give tax breaks to companies, they should go to companies that create jobs in America - not that create jobs overseas," he said on a mid-term campaign in the perennial swing state of Ohio Wednesday.

"That's one difference between the Republican vision and the Democratic vision. That's what this election is all about," he said vowing to stand by his plan to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire for people making over $250,000, while extending the cuts for those making less.

Obama also pushed a new $350 billion plan to lift the sagging economy, including $200 billion in tax cuts for businesses to purchase new equipment and write off 100 percent of new investments through the end of 2011.

The president also highlighted a $50 billion proposal for infrastructure investment, as well as $100 billion to permanently extend tax credits to businesses for research and development.

Republicans are trying to ride a wave of "fear and anger all the way to Election Day", Obama said. The election is about "fear versus hope (and) the past versus the future. It's still a choice between sliding backward and moving forward. That's what this election is about. That's the choice you'll face in November."

Obama spoke longingly of a proud Republican tradition of producing "serious leaders for serious times". Current Republican leaders, he said, are more interested in "playing games and scoring points".

Giving examples of different Democratic and Republican approaches, Obama said: "One of the keys to job creation is to encourage companies to invest more in the United States. But for years, our tax code has actually given billions of dollars in tax breaks that encourage companies to create jobs and profits in other countries."

"I want to change that," he said amidst applause. "We see a future where we invest in American innovation and American ingenuity."

"Because I don't want to see new solar panels or electric cars or advanced batteries manufactured in Europe or Asia. I want to see them made right here in the US of A by American workers," he said.

Shiney never raped me: Maid

After making it to the national headlines, Shiney Ahuja's maid has told told the fast track court that the actor never raped her. She admitted slapping false charges on the actor on the instructions of the woman who helped her in getting the job with Ahujas.

Meanwhile, Shiney Ahuja, who is fighting an alleged rape case hurled at him by his maid servant, has faced a big setback on his professional front.

TOI has learned that the makers of his highly anticipated projected Har Pall (who were contemplating releasing the film soon), that stars Preity Zinta in the lead, have decided to push back the release until the court passes its verdict. With the timeline of when the case will be resolved yet unavailable, it is not good news for the actor who is hoping to come back to the industry and reclaim his ground with this movie as well as Accident in which he is paired opposite Soha Ali Khan.

"With such negative publicity against Shiney still grabbing headlines, the makers of Har Pall are wary of releasing the film. They feel it will get disastrous box office results if they release it now. According to perception, many pundits feel that audiences will reject Shiney's film as he still hasn't been pronounced free of the charges of raping his domestic servant. Shiney's brand name needs to get positive light somehow to resurrect his acting career," says a top trade source on conditions of anonymity.

"For the makers it is important that Shiney gets a verdict in favour of him. They will quickly release the film by riding on the positive wave. If not, they will then plan how they can still release it as lots of money is at stake. They will have to go ahead and promote the film with or without Shiney. The film is completely ready which means the producers have kept their investment locked and that's not good," the source adds. The director of Har Pall, Jahnu Barua, confirms TOI's news and adds, "The situation is such that we have to wait and watch."

Julia Gillard to form minority government in Australia

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s Labour party on Tuesday won the support of two king-maker independents and would be forming a minority government with their support.

Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott, the two independent lawmakers, said that they will support the Labor party, ending weeks of political instability following a hung parliament, first since 1940.

“I intend with my vote, for what it’s worth, to support the Labour Party,” Mr. Windsor told reporters in Canberra.

Mr. Oakeshott said his decision depended on which party would be able to run a stable and long parliament.

Earlier, the other key independent MP Bob Katter had announced his support for opposition leader Tony Abbott.

Labour now controls 76 votes in Parliament’s 150-member lower house, with the Coalition on 74.

The three MPs arrived at Parliament House in Canberra this morning for consideration of “final documents” from both Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.

After delivering a long speech, Mr. Oakeshott finally confirmed his support for Labour.

“I did not try and make it all about... my wants and needs,” he said, adding “This is for 20 years of vision.”

“To miss the opportunity for millions of Australians, I thought was to good an opportunity to miss,” Windsor said.

Mr. Oakeshott said his support for Ms. Gillard was not an endorsement of her and Labour and said both the electorate and the independents were “thoroughly unimpressed” with both major parties.

“I want to be very clear and up-front that this is not a mandate for any government,” Mr. Oakeshott said.

“This parliament is going to be different. No one party has dominance over the executive or the parliament. This is a hard decision, there is no question about it,” Mr. Oakeshott said, adding the decision on who to support was extremely close.

“This could not get any closer,” he said. “My four and six year old are split on this.”

Mr. Oakeshott said Ms. Gillard’s first task was to bring Australia together.

He also vowed to “turbo-charge” regional Australia with a promised package for the bush.

Suicide car bomb hits Pakistan police station, kills 17

A suicide bomber on Monday rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into a police station in Pakistan’s north-western province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, killing 17 people and injuring dozens more, police said.

The bombing, in Lucky Marwat district close to the country’s militancy-plagued tribal region, demolished parts of the police station building and damaged a nearby school van.

“Seventeen people have been killed in the attack. Among them are eight civilians, including four school girls, and nine policemen,” said Khalid Khan, an official at the city’s central police control room. “Forty-six, including 20 policemen, are injured.” Television footages showed rescue workers sifting through the rubble to find survivors or dead bodies.

“It is believed that there might be still some people under the rubble. When the bombing took place more than 40 policemen were inside the building,” Khan said.

The bomber drove into the rear wall of the station, district police chief Gul Wali Khan said. Several nearby buildings were also damaged by the explosion, which left a large crater in the ground.

It was the third suicide attack in around a week in the country.

More than 100 people died and over 400 were injured in bombings in eastern city of Lahore and south-western town of Quetta.

The Taliban took the responsibility for both bombings and threatened to carry out more. The bombings ended a brief lull after recent floods devastated large areas in Pakistan, killing 1,700 and affecting more than 17 million.