public news and things I spy ..
Thursday 24 September 2009
Chinese blocked from Woomera mining venture
Chinese blocked from Woomera mining venture: "Western Plains Resources is upset the Defence Dept has rejected Chinese investment in a Woomera magnetite project."
7 envoys present credentials to President
as posted here
Seven new envoys, including Mr Peter Varghese, the new High Commissioner of Australia, presented their credentials to President Pratiba Patil at a ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan here today.
The others who presented their credentials were Mr Javier Manuel Paulinich Velarde, the Ambassador of Peru, Ms. Nafsika Chr Krousti, the High Commissioner of Cyprus, Ms. Terhi Hakala, the Ambassador of Finland, Mr. Janez Premoze, the Ambassador of Slovenia, Mr. Adli Shaban Hassan Sadeq, the Ambassador of Palestine and Mr. Sami Mohammad S M al-Sulaiman, the Ambassador of Kuwait.
In her interaction with them, Ms Patil welcomed the new envoys to India and conveyed to them India's desire to have good relations and to intensify bilateral ties with their countries.
The President said the international community should work unitedly and collectively to combat terrorism. She stated that terrorism hampered peace and harmony in societies and adversely affected the process of creating prosperity.
Referring to the global financial crises, the President emphasized the need for reform in international financial institutions.
The ceremony was attended by the senior members of the missions and senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs and Rashtrapati Bhavan, an official press release added.
Mr Varghese, the new Australian High Commissioner, is an Indian-Australian and was the Director General of Australia's Office of National Assessments (ONA) until recently. He will be concurrently accredited to Bhutan.
as posted here
Seven new envoys, including Mr Peter Varghese, the new High Commissioner of Australia, presented their credentials to President Pratiba Patil at a ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan here today.
The others who presented their credentials were Mr Javier Manuel Paulinich Velarde, the Ambassador of Peru, Ms. Nafsika Chr Krousti, the High Commissioner of Cyprus, Ms. Terhi Hakala, the Ambassador of Finland, Mr. Janez Premoze, the Ambassador of Slovenia, Mr. Adli Shaban Hassan Sadeq, the Ambassador of Palestine and Mr. Sami Mohammad S M al-Sulaiman, the Ambassador of Kuwait.
In her interaction with them, Ms Patil welcomed the new envoys to India and conveyed to them India's desire to have good relations and to intensify bilateral ties with their countries.
The President said the international community should work unitedly and collectively to combat terrorism. She stated that terrorism hampered peace and harmony in societies and adversely affected the process of creating prosperity.
Referring to the global financial crises, the President emphasized the need for reform in international financial institutions.
The ceremony was attended by the senior members of the missions and senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs and Rashtrapati Bhavan, an official press release added.
Mr Varghese, the new Australian High Commissioner, is an Indian-Australian and was the Director General of Australia's Office of National Assessments (ONA) until recently. He will be concurrently accredited to Bhutan.
as posted here
Image dented but remedial measures afoot, says new Australian envoy
as posted here
New Delhi, Sep 24 (Inditop.com) Brand Australia’s image has been dented by the wave of violence against Indian students in recent months, the country’s new envoy to India said Thursday, adding that corrective steps are under way to ensure zero tolerance to such incidents.
“Considering the intensity of the negative publicity that we have received, yes, I share Victoria state premier John Brumby’s feeling that the attacks have damaged our brand and the Australian brand in India,” said the country’s new high commissioner Peter Varghese addressing his first press conference after presenting his credentials to President Pratibha Patil.
“I hope we can restore some of that ground. Practical and effective steps are being undertaken so that these incidents don’t happen again. I am not here for damage control, I have a positive agenda,” said Varghese, 53, a diplomat of Indian origin who migrated to Australia as a child.
Brumby is currently in the capital to give safety assurances after similar high-profile trips in the last two months by Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Immigration and Citizenship Minister Chris Evans, Treasurer Wayne Swan and education group manager Colin Walters.
Spelling out some of the areas that he would like to focus on, Varghese said he wanted Australia to be a reliable partner for India’s energy security, work towards the conclusion of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and give high priority to the security dialogue.
“We are upgrading law and enforcement, increasing police resources and taking measures to strengthen the visa programme so that genuine students are not put in trouble,” he said.
“The attacks against international students are not motivated by embedded racism. Look, for a country that followed a White Australia policy many years back, there has been a huge transformation. Almost 40 percent of Australians have a parent born overseas.”
Varghese said the Indian media’s reporting of the attacks in Australia had been robust but he did not agree with all the issues raised by the coverage.
On energy security, Varghese pointed out that the focus was on coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) and a long-term agreement with India for 20 years amounting to $20 billion had been concluded for LNG.
He said the Australian government’s position on sale of uranium was limited to those countries who were signatories of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and reiterated his country’s long-standing policy.
Refusing to name a time when the FTA would come to fruition, Varghese said a feasibility study had just been concluded and the same would go to the respective governments for consideration.
Prior to his current posting, Varghese was the director general of the Office of National Assessments (ONA) in Canberra, reporting directly to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
The ONA provides the prime minister and the National Security Committee of Cabinet with assessments of international political, strategic and economic developments affecting Australia’s national interests. It is also responsible for coordinating and evaluating Australia’s foreign intelligence activities.
as posted here
New Delhi, Sep 24 (Inditop.com) Brand Australia’s image has been dented by the wave of violence against Indian students in recent months, the country’s new envoy to India said Thursday, adding that corrective steps are under way to ensure zero tolerance to such incidents.
“Considering the intensity of the negative publicity that we have received, yes, I share Victoria state premier John Brumby’s feeling that the attacks have damaged our brand and the Australian brand in India,” said the country’s new high commissioner Peter Varghese addressing his first press conference after presenting his credentials to President Pratibha Patil.
“I hope we can restore some of that ground. Practical and effective steps are being undertaken so that these incidents don’t happen again. I am not here for damage control, I have a positive agenda,” said Varghese, 53, a diplomat of Indian origin who migrated to Australia as a child.
Brumby is currently in the capital to give safety assurances after similar high-profile trips in the last two months by Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Immigration and Citizenship Minister Chris Evans, Treasurer Wayne Swan and education group manager Colin Walters.
Spelling out some of the areas that he would like to focus on, Varghese said he wanted Australia to be a reliable partner for India’s energy security, work towards the conclusion of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and give high priority to the security dialogue.
“We are upgrading law and enforcement, increasing police resources and taking measures to strengthen the visa programme so that genuine students are not put in trouble,” he said.
“The attacks against international students are not motivated by embedded racism. Look, for a country that followed a White Australia policy many years back, there has been a huge transformation. Almost 40 percent of Australians have a parent born overseas.”
Varghese said the Indian media’s reporting of the attacks in Australia had been robust but he did not agree with all the issues raised by the coverage.
On energy security, Varghese pointed out that the focus was on coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) and a long-term agreement with India for 20 years amounting to $20 billion had been concluded for LNG.
He said the Australian government’s position on sale of uranium was limited to those countries who were signatories of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and reiterated his country’s long-standing policy.
Refusing to name a time when the FTA would come to fruition, Varghese said a feasibility study had just been concluded and the same would go to the respective governments for consideration.
Prior to his current posting, Varghese was the director general of the Office of National Assessments (ONA) in Canberra, reporting directly to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
The ONA provides the prime minister and the National Security Committee of Cabinet with assessments of international political, strategic and economic developments affecting Australia’s national interests. It is also responsible for coordinating and evaluating Australia’s foreign intelligence activities.
as posted here
New CERT early 2010: McClelland
as posted here
Karen Dearne | September 24, 2009
THE new national Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) will be operational early next year, federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland said.
It was originally planned for mid-2010. No further details of the new entity have been revealed.
"The work done by GovCERT, in my department, to assist critical infrastructure and key businesses to protect themselves will be strengthened under the new arrangements," he said.
"The new CERT will complement the work of the Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC) to be established within the Defence Signals Directorate.
"CSOC will co-ordinate responses to cyber security incidents of national importance, and maintain a 24x7 watch on activities that might threaten our national security."
The federal government will pay for 30 private and public sector personnel to attend a US Homeland Security advanced workshop on securing control systems, such as the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems used by energy and water utilities to monitor and control the delivery of essential services.
The government is also pushing for consistent security standards across departmental systems and will cut the number of internet gateways used by agencies to improve the protection of public data.
"The government has a special responsibility to protect the information it is entrusted with," Mr McClelland told the E-Security for Government 2009 conference in Melbourne.
"The decentralised approach to ICT planning and procurement of the past has produced disjointed systems across levels of government, and focused primarily on the protection of information within individual agencies instead of how information can be securely and reliably shared between agencies.
"We must strive for consistent standards to facilitate more efficient cross-government communications, including the protection of citizens' personal information when they are transacting with agencies online," Mr McClelland said.
He said the government would look at options to reduce the number of internet gateways to maximise efficiency and reliability.
As reported earlier this month, the Department of Finance and Deregulation invited companies to attend a tender briefing for a contract to undertake a review of the government's estimated 100 internet gateways.
To support critical infrastructure businesses in the communications, finance and utilities sectors, the government had established information exchanges as a means of quickly sharing specific technical information in a trusted manner, he said.
as posted here
Karen Dearne | September 24, 2009
THE new national Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) will be operational early next year, federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland said.
It was originally planned for mid-2010. No further details of the new entity have been revealed.
"The work done by GovCERT, in my department, to assist critical infrastructure and key businesses to protect themselves will be strengthened under the new arrangements," he said.
"The new CERT will complement the work of the Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC) to be established within the Defence Signals Directorate.
"CSOC will co-ordinate responses to cyber security incidents of national importance, and maintain a 24x7 watch on activities that might threaten our national security."
The federal government will pay for 30 private and public sector personnel to attend a US Homeland Security advanced workshop on securing control systems, such as the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems used by energy and water utilities to monitor and control the delivery of essential services.
The government is also pushing for consistent security standards across departmental systems and will cut the number of internet gateways used by agencies to improve the protection of public data.
"The government has a special responsibility to protect the information it is entrusted with," Mr McClelland told the E-Security for Government 2009 conference in Melbourne.
"The decentralised approach to ICT planning and procurement of the past has produced disjointed systems across levels of government, and focused primarily on the protection of information within individual agencies instead of how information can be securely and reliably shared between agencies.
"We must strive for consistent standards to facilitate more efficient cross-government communications, including the protection of citizens' personal information when they are transacting with agencies online," Mr McClelland said.
He said the government would look at options to reduce the number of internet gateways to maximise efficiency and reliability.
As reported earlier this month, the Department of Finance and Deregulation invited companies to attend a tender briefing for a contract to undertake a review of the government's estimated 100 internet gateways.
To support critical infrastructure businesses in the communications, finance and utilities sectors, the government had established information exchanges as a means of quickly sharing specific technical information in a trusted manner, he said.
as posted here
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