India plans to export gas to Pakistan

NEW DELHI: India’s plans of exporting gas to Pakistan via a pipeline from Jalandhar in Punjab to the Wagah-Attari border will soon become a reality.
In his maiden budget presented in the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley exempted Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) imports from customs duty if it is meant for onward sale to the neighbouring nation. “Exemption from basic customs duty (of 5pc) is being granted on re-gassified LNG for supply to Pakistan,” the budget said.

This will set the stage for the state-run Gail India Ltd, which plans to build a 500-crore pipeline to export five million units per day of re-gassified-LNG to Pakistan, to start work on the ground. “It’s an important project that will help improve bilateral diplomatic and economic ties between the two neighbours,” Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of state for Petroleum, told Hindustan Times.

“Broad parameters have been agreed to and a contract will also be signed shortly between the two sides after which it will take one year to build it,” Gail CMD BC Tripathi told the newspaper.

Interestingly, citing security concerns, New Delhi has put on hold a plan to be part of a 10,000-crore pipeline originating in Iran, passing through Pakistan and terminating in India to carry gas from Iran’s South Pars Gas Fields. Security experts felt that being dependent on gas coming via Pakistan could compromise India’s energy security.

But the Gail pipeline will be built entirely on Indian territory and terminate at the border, thus, making it relatively safer.

Gail will import LNG in ships at ports on the Indian west coast and then pipe the gas to Jalandhar. The proposed 110-km pipeline will then carry the fuel to the Wagah-Attari border, from where Pakistan will supply it to Lahore.

The source added that Gail, which imports LNG at $13-14 per unit, would sell the gas to Pakistan at around $21. The cut in customs duty will bring down the cost.

Fabien Cousteau plans 31-day underwater mission

ISLAMORADA: Like viewers worldwide, Fabien Cousteau was entranced by his famous grandfather's films about marine life and human exploration underwater. Now he's adding to his family's sea stories with a 31-day underwater expedition in the Florida Keys.

Cousteau dove Sunday to Aquarius Reef Base, a school bus-sized laboratory 60 feet below the ocean's surface, a few miles off Key Largo. He plans to spend more than a month living underwater with a five-person crew, making a documentary and leading science experiments on the nearby coral reef.

Before their boat left an Islamorada dock Sunday morning, Cousteau and his crew said they would miss seeing the sun for more than month, but they weren't nervous about being isolated in the undersea lab.

"I imagine we'll want to stay down once we get comfy down there," Cousteau said. "We won't want to come back up to the surface because it's such a magical place."

The idea for "Mission 31" came to Cousteau two years ago when he visited Aquarius during a fundraising push to save the lab, which federal budget cuts had threatened to permanently close.

"It reminded me that I've always wanted to live underwater," Cousteau said Saturday at his training base in Islamorada.

"Mission 31" builds on the legacy of Conshelf II, the 30-day underwater living experiment in the Red Sea that Jacques Cousteau filmed in 1963 for his Oscar-winning documentary "World Without Sun."

The younger Cousteau can do something his grandfather could not: broadcast the entire adventure live online and communicate with the public through social media and video chats with classrooms on land.

"For the first time I'm able to invite the world on a Cousteau expedition in real time," said Cousteau, who has filmed documentaries on sharks and other marine life.

Jacques Cousteau was revered worldwide for exploring the ocean in a multitude of documentaries and books, as well as for pioneering the advanced scuba diving techniques used at Aquarius. While he developed underwater living experiments out of the belief that an overpopulated world might drive humans to live in the oceans, interest in the habitats waned through the decades until Aquarius was the last underwater research lab.

His grandson believes interest in the oceans is reviving as climate change threatens to disrupt life on land.

"Whether you care about economics, in your personal life or your business life, whether you care about your health or your child's health, whether you care about saving creatures, it all pertains to making sure that our oceans are healthy. And our oceans are not," Cousteau said.

Throughout the expedition, Florida International University and Northeastern University researchers will study the effects of climate change and pollution on the coral reef. The crew will experiment with new technology that uses sonar to create three-dimensional video images, allowing them to gather data and footage without lights that would disrupt the fish.

Diving with a Cousteau helps bring more attention to the scientific work being performed at Aquarius, said Andy Shantz, an FIU researcher who will spend half the month living and working at the base.

"These are really important issues and to be able to bring that out and get a bit of a spotlight on the research and the science behind it is awesome," Shantz said.

The 400-square-foot pressurized Aquarius lab has six bunk beds and allows scientists to live and work underwater and scuba dive for extended periods of time, without needing to return to the surface or decompress. It's owned by the U.S. government and operated by FIU.

Astronauts train at Aquarius to simulate living and working in outer space. The lab's technological edge doesn't extend to its kitchen area. "Unfortunately for me as a French person, the food also will be simulated. Freeze-dried, astronaut type of food, canned foods, things like that," Cousteau said, grimacing.

Cousteau plans to resurface July 2, at the end of the longest mission ever held at Aquarius since it began operations in 1993.

Disney eyes bigger plans with Shanghai

WASHINGTON: American entertainment giant Disney is set to pour an additional USD 800 million into its Disney Shanghai, its first theme park on the Chinese mainland, officials said today.

CEO Bob Iger said the deal, with Shanghai Shendi Group, will total an investment of USD 5.5 billion, and the additional funds will be to boost the park's capacity and attractions.

"Since we first broke ground in Shanghai we've been very impressed with the growth of China's economy, especially the rapid expansion of the middle class and the significant increase in travel and tourism," Iger said in a statement.

"Our accelerated expansion, including additional attractions and entertainment, will allow us to welcome more guests for a spectacular Disney experience on opening day."

Disney says it is decidedly upbeat about 330 million people being within a three-hour range of the park in Shanghai, the economic capital of the world's second largest economy.

Under terms of their deal, Shanghai Shendi Group will continue to hold a 57-per cent stake and Disney the other 43.

Started in 2011, Disneyland Shanghai will be the company's fourth theme park outside the United States after Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

US plans to allow spouse of H-1B visa holder to work

Spouses of H-1B visa holders with technical skills may be allowed to work in the United States under a new initiative by the Obama administration to attract the best and brightest from across the world.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will soon publish several proposed rules that will make the U.S. more attractive for talented foreign entrepreneurs and other high-skill immigrants who will contribute substantially to the U.S. economy, create jobs, and enhance American innovative competitiveness, the White House said in a statement.

“These proposed regulations include rules authorising employment for spouses of certain high-skill workers on H-1B visas, as well as enhancing opportunities for outstanding professors and researchers,” it said on Monday.

“These measures build on continuing DHS efforts to streamline, eliminate inefficiency, and increase the transparency of the existing immigration system, such as by the launch of Entrepreneur Pathways, an online resource centre that gives immigrant entrepreneurs an intuitive way to navigate opportunities to start and grow a business,” it said.

From the statement, it appears that spouses of H-1B visas are unlikely to get a blanket approval to work in the U.S. Only certain categories of spouses of such visa holders, mainly from the science and tech category, are likely to get the nod.

Govt. plans literacy movement: PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Saturday unveiled his government’s plan to launch a countrywide literacy movement to ensure enrollment of every child in the school, by introducing a package of incentives.

He said “Our effort is to achieve the targets, set by Education for All (EFA) and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) within the coming three years.” “A key target, set by UNESCO, is to increase resources for the education sector to reach 4 per cent of GDP by the year 2018,” said the prime minister, inaugurating international conference on ‘Unfinished Agenda in Education: the Way Forward’ arranged by the Ministry of Education, Training and Standards in Higher Education.

The conference was also attended by Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General on Education Gordon Brown, CEO of Global Partnership for Education Alice Albright, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Governor Punjab Chaudhry Sarwar, Governor KPK Engineer Shaukatullah, Minister of State for Education Baligh-ur-Rehman, Cabinet members, UN officials and parliamentarians.

The prime minister said the government’s objective was to develop an educational system that was compatible with the requirements of a knowledge-based economy. He stressed to focus on science and technology and modern skills in education system, besides calling for prioritization of female education in education policy, effective participation of women in the decision-making process and to protect their respect and dignity.

He said, “For Pakistan, education was not merely a matter of priority, but, it is the future of Pakistan, which lies in its educated youth.”

“It has, in fact, become a national emergency. More than half of the country’s population is below 25 years of age. With proper education and training, this huge reservoir of human capital can offer us an edge in the race for growth and prosperity in the age of globalization. Without education, this resource can turn into a burden,” Nawaz Sharif said.

He said the primary concerns in education were low budgetary allocations for education, a very high number of out of school children, high drop-out rates, gender disparity, low literacy rate and realizing the MDGs and EFA targets.

He said despite education, being a provincial subject, there was a national consensus on the need for reform and modernization of the country’s educational system to bring it at par with the national priorities and international standards.

He said the federal education ministry had recently launched a National Plan of Action in collaboration with the provincial governments providing a framework for accelerated progress towards achieving the MDGs.

“I believe that Education was not an expense but an investment into the future. Rather, it is the best investment an individual, parent or nation can make,” he added.

The prime minister said he had directed the Planning Commission to give education top priority in the prospective plan known as Vision 2025. He said the private sector too, was playing an increasingly important role in the field of education.

“Out of the 14.4 million primary stage enrolments, 4.8 million i.e. 34% are enrolled in private sector schools. Private sector share is much higher at the lower middle and secondary levels,” he added.

Lauding the role of UN agencies, NGOs, civil society, religious institutions, delivery agents, and donors’ community, he invited all to join the government in its mission to educate and train Pakistan’s youth.

“I have no doubt that they can turn around all our challenges into opportunities. They also have the potential to contribute immensely and positively to world peace and prosperity,” he added.

Thanking Gordon Brown for helping Pakistan, devise and implement its short and long-term strategies, in the field of education, the prime minister said the conference would provide a unique opportunity to develop effective coordination mechanisms to generate powerful synergies for accelerated progress in achieving the targets, including the MDGs.

Sharing his views on successful democratic transition in Pakistan, the prime minister dreamed a Pakistan where every citizen gets educated in the real sense and thereby contributes to the development of the country.

 

Tanishaa plans a surprise trip for Armaan to Dubai

 

            On March 3, Mirror brought you the news that Tanishaa Mukerji and Armaan Kohli had visited Vaishno Devi temple to seek blessings, along with Tanishaa's mother Tanuja and Armaan's father Rajkumar Kohli. Now the couple has been spotted in Dubai, painting the town red.

Early on Saturday, Tanishaa landed up at Armaan's place and told him to pack for Dubai. Initially he thought it was a joke but she had come armed with two tickets to the most expensive city in the Middle East. She had planned the trip to coincide with Armaan's birthday.

When the lovestruck duo landed in Dubai on Saturday, a limousine took them to Faysal Ali Zarooni's palatial mansion. Faysal, who is a family friend of Tanishaa's, owns many luxury properties in Dubai.

During the drive, Tanishaa refused to disclose the final destination to Armaan and he was dumbfounded when the car finally pulled into Faysal's bungalow.

When Mirror contacted Armaan yesterday afternoon, he gushed, "I am not over the surprise that Tanishaa planned for me. I'm floored. This holiday is like a dream. We are in Dubai and will be back in a couple of days."