India decides to boycott CPU meet

New Delhi has decided to boycott the 61st conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Union (CPU) to be held in Islamabad unless Pakistan extends an invitation to the Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, or the CPU changes the venue of the meeting.

India’s decision stems from Islamabad’s refusal to invite the J&K Speaker on the grounds that it is in violation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1991(1951) of March 30, 1951 and resolution 122 (1957) of January 4, 1957. Pakistan has also said the invitation to J&K would contradict the fundamentals of Pakistan’s foreign policy.

India’s strong reaction comes amid escalating tension between New Delhi and Islamabad over ceasefire violations along the border in Jammu and Kashmir and over the involvement of Pakistani nationals in the recent terror strikes. Officials said Pakistan’s decision is in violation of CPU rules and also perplexing as the J&K branch was part of the 3rd Asia and India Regional CPU Conference held in Islamabad in March 2007.

Jindal ‘wins’ 2nd tier presidential debate

Indian-American Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal appeared to have come out as joint winner of the second tier Republican presidential debate, multiple news outlets and political analysts have said.

Fox News flash polls declared Carly Fiorina and Mr. Jindal to be the winners of the GOP’s undercard debate.

Meanwhile, Former presidential candidate Michele Bachmann said that Mr. Jindal won the yesterday night debate.

Panama Canal to bar biggest ships because of drought effects

The Panama Canal Authority said on Friday that next month it will temporarily limit the size of ships using the waterway because drought has lowered water levels in Gatun and Alhajuela lakes.

The restriction, which is the first such hold-down because of weather in nearly 20 years, takes effect Sept. 8 and had been expected by shippers. Only a minority of ships now using the canal will be kept out, the authority said.

Rainfall over the watershed feeding the lakes at the midsection of the waterway has fallen sharply as a result of the El Nino weather phenomenon, lowering the lake levels. Similar problems occurred in 1997-98.

The authority said ships will be limited to a maximum draft of 39 feet (11.89 metres) beginning Sept. 8. It added that the limit might be further reduced to 38.5 feet (11.73 metres) on Sept. 16.

Only about five or six of the 36 ships now using the canal daily will be affected, the authority said.

Colorado theatre shooter James Holmes to be sentenced to life in prison

Colorado theatre shooter James Holmes will be sentenced to life in prison without parole after a jury failed to agree on Friday on whether he should get the death penalty for his murderous attack on a packed movie premiere.

The nine women and three men said they could not reach a unanimous verdict on each of the 24 murder counts. That automatically eliminates the death penalty for Holmes, who blamed his calculated murders of 12 people on mental illness.

Prosecutors argued Holmes deserved to die because he methodically planned the 2012 assault at a midnight screening of a Batman movie, even blasting techno music through ear phones so he wouldn’t hear his victims scream.

Global satellite to be named after Abdul Kalam

A global satellite for earth observation and disaster risk reduction — GlobalSat for DRR — proposed under the UN framework is to be dedicated to A.P.J. Abdul Kalam as a tribute to the vision of the celebrated rocket scientist and former Indian president who died July 27.

This has been stated by Milind Pimprikar, Chairman of CANEUS (CANada-Europe-US-ASia) Organization on Space Technologies for Societal Applications headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

Founded in 1999, CANEUS serves to develop a common platform for space technology solutions for natural and man-made disaster management. The ‘GlobalSat for DRR’ is a UN-driven global initiative on sharing space technology for disaster risk reduction, Mr. Pimprikar told IANS.

Launch of this satellite was mooted at the third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held at Sendai in Japan this March.

The concept was initiated by CANEUS in cooperation with UN agencies including the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs, the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank.