India-Russia to hold naval exercise in Baltic Sea

Vinay Shukla

Moscow, May 31 (PTI) INS Beas, India's indigenously
built Brahmaputra class missile frigate, armed with state-of-
the-art weapons will hold joint naval exercises with the
Russian navy.

ThIe naval ship will be on a five-day goodwill visit to
Russian port city of St Petersburg on the Baltic Sea from June
3 to June 7 to be followed by two days of Joint Exercises
(PASSEX) with the Russian Navy.

St Petersburg (former Leningrad) has been the
birthplace of most of the Indian naval Kilo class
diesel-electric submarines and the latest Krivak class
stealth frigates including INS Talwar and INS Trishul.

However, in Year of India in Russia, the Indian Navy
is proudly showcasing INS Beas - its indigenously designed
and built Brahmaputra class guided missile frigate
incorporating highly potent indigenous and foreign weapons
and force multipliers.

Commanded by Capt S V Bhokare INS Beas has 'long legs'
and is capable of covering over 4,500 nautical miles without
replenishment, Indian Embassy website said.

Packed with latest sensors able to engage air, sea
surface and underwater targets INS Beas has 16 Russian 'URAN'
tactical surface-to-surfaces missiles with a range in excess
of 130 km and Israeli Barak Anti Missile Defence system in its
arsenals. PTI VS
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Don't brand Australia racist, give time to act, say Indians

Natasha Chaku

Melbourne, May 31 (PTI) As Australian authorities face
flak over a series of attacks on Indian students here, leading
members of the community Sunday spoke out against branding the
country as "racist" and said the government should be given
some time to resolve the problem.

At the same time, they expressed their deep concern over
the security issues of Indian students.

Insisting that Australia was not a "racist" country and
all attacks were not racist in nature, Sydney-based
cardiologist Yadu Singh said "We believe that this is not the
correct picture of the unfortunate events."

"Most of the attacks are what we call 'opportunistic
attacks' and due to the impression by the criminal elements
about our students being the easy target for various reasons,"
Singh said.

Indian-origin CEO of leading company Primus, Ravi Bhatia,
who took part in a peace rally here, said "Australia is a very
open and tolerant society. It is a fun-loving country.

"There are many examples of highly successful members in
the Indian community. Just like any other society, there are
small minority of miscreants and malcontents," he said.

"Voice of Indian students have been heard at the highest
level of the country. I would request them to give government
time to address grievances," Bhatia said.

The students have gained enough attention and goodwill of
Australian society and now they should give time to the
institutions to come up with a solution, Bhatia said adding,
otherwise they will lose what they have gained.

In the backdrop of outrage over racist attacks here,
community members are concerned that no wrong message should
be sent while registering protests.

"The Indian community is well-settled in Australia and we
have spoken with a large number of them. Some of them have
been here for more than 25 years. We do not feel that we are
facing a racism problem in Australia," Singh said.

"No doubt, our students have several significant issues
and these issues have been raised with government and police
authorities here. We are confident that these would be acted
upon seriously. It must be accepted that Australia risks more
than 15 billion dollars in business if the students' issues
are not given due importance soon," he said.

T J Rao, former consul general for India, said "I have
never experienced any racist attacks here in last 40 years.
The most vital issue is security of our students and that is
what we are working on with Australian authorities."

Singh said there were issues that needed urgent attention
including safety and security.

"Indian students in Australia are not reporting the
incidents for various reasons. Police must increase its
visibility and start undercover patrolling. Proactive measures
need to be taken rather than the reactive ones. This is a work
in progress," he said. PTI NC
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Meira meets Sonia, set to become LS Speaker

New Delhi, May 31 (PTI) Meira Kumar, who took charge as
Water Resources Minister in UPA government's second term just
two days back, was Sunday set to become the new Lok Sabha
Speaker, the first woman to occupy the post in India's
parliamentary history.

Though a formal announcement by the Congress was yet
to be made on its choice for the post of Speakership in the
15th Lok Sabha, enough indications emerged during the day that
the 64-year-old daughter of former deputy prime minister
Jagjivan Ram was on course to occupy the high office.

Meira met party chief Sonia Gandhi at her 10, Janpath
residence early in the day and in the evening Lok Sabha
Secretary General P D T Achary called on the five-time MP, who
quit the Indian Foreign Service(IFS) to join politics.

Meira, whose name was cleared by the Congress core group
last night, will also be the first Dalit leader to become the
Speaker.

Elections for the post of Speakership, if required, will
be held on June 3, two days after the new Lok Sabha opens for
for its first session Monday.

Meira refused to talk to reporters after her meeting
with Gandhi amid reports it was an occasion to thank the
Congress chief for choosing her for the post.

Any comments by Meira, who assumed office as the new
Water Resources Minister on Friday, will be made only after
her name is officially announced for Speakership, her aides
said. She was inducted into the Union Cabinet in the first
round of government formation by United Progressive Alliance
on May 22. PTI PKU
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