India: PM caught in WikiLeaks uproar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NEW DELHI - Fresh revelations of WikiLeaks' expose on US Embassy's leaked India cables indicating that the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh was "isolated" within his own government over his "great belief" in pursuing talks with Pakistan, or that there was an "undeniable" pro-US tilt in the Union Cabinet's January 2006 reshuffle today generated political heat within and outside Parliament, with Opposition parties, including the Left and the BJP, demanding the government's explanation.

There was uproar in the Rajya Sabha as the Left MPs, supported by the BJP members, demanded that the government clarify its position on disclosures of cables of US Embassy in India to Washington, exposed, as part of its global expose, by the international whistleblower website, the Julian Assange-headed WikiLeaks.

Raising the matter this morning, the CPI-M member, Mr P Rajeeve, referred to media reports on WikiLeaks expose in which the then US Ambassador to India, Mr David Mulford, had described the January 2006 Cabinet reshuffle as having "undeniable pro-American tilt", especially highlighting the replacement of the petroleum and natural gas minister Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, seen by the US as "contentious and outspoken Iran (Iran-Pakistan-India) pipeline advocate," by "pro-US" Mr Murli Deora.

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Pranab Mukherjee to release Rs 150 coin before Budget speech

NEW DELHI: For the first time in the country's minting history, government will issue coins of Rs 150, marking the number of years of taxation in India. 

The special coins, to be released by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee before his Budget speech, will also be brought out in Rs 5 denomination on the occasion of completion of 150 years, from 1860 to 2010, of the Income Tax department. 

This is the first time that coins of Rs 150 denomination are being minted by the government. The Department of Economic Affairs under the Finance Ministry recently notified the order. 

The Rs 150 coin , made of an alloy of Silver, Copper, Nickel and Zinc, will have an international design with 'Satyameva Jayate' and 'India' on the front side while a portrait of 'Chanakya and lotus with honeybee' on the reverse side. 

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About India

India (ⁱ /ˈɪndiə/), officially the Republic of India (Hindi: भारत गणराज्य Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also official names of India), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world.^[16] Mainland India is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal on the east; and it is bordered by Pakistan to the west;^{[note 1]} Bhutan, the People's Republic of China andNepal to the north; and Bangladesh and Burma to the east. In the Indian Ocean, mainland India and the Lakshadweep Islands are in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives, while India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share maritime border with Thailand and the Indonesianisland of Sumatra in the Andaman Sea.^[17] India has a coastline of 7,517 kilometres (4,700 mi).^[18]

Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history.^[19] Four of the world's major religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainismand Sikhism—originated here, while Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam arrived in the first millennium CE and shaped the region's diverse culture.

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