World’s largest exercise in democracy: some key numbers

September 30th, 2009 US military carries out joint exercises in AfricaJOHANNESBURG — The U.S. military has begun an exercise in the African nation of Gabon with personnel from 25 African countries to improve command and control between forces for possible peacekeeping or anti-terrorism missions, a spokesman said Wednesday.

September 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A five-day joint exercise involving IAF and USAF transport aircraft, Cope India-09, will be held at Agra from October 19. The participating IAF aircraft include IL-76, AN-32 and Mi-17 helicopters, while USAF will participate with C-17 Globemaster, C-130J (Super Herclues) and C-130H transport aircraft.

September 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India Thursday said it will hold the third joint military exercise with China next year and clarified that no such drill was planned for this year. "It was mutually decided during the last exercise that the next joint military exercise would be held in 2010, external affairs ministry spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said.

September 18th, 2009 SINGAPORE - Singapore and Australia are conducting a joint naval exercise in the South China Sea Sep 18-25, officials said. Navies of the two countries will conduct a range of exercise such as surveillance, air defence and anti-submarine warfare, Singapore's defence ministry said.

September 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Reliance Mobile, the GSM arm of telecom operator Reliance Communication (RCom), Wednesday said it would launch a new mobile number series beginning with the digit "8" in the Delhi-National Capital Region circle. Reliance will be the first telecom operator to shift from the practice of beginning a cell phone number with the digit "9".

September 11th, 2009 White House defends Sept 11 training exerciseWASHINGTON — The White House is defending the Coast Guard's decision to hold a training exercise in the Potomac River on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Spokesman Robert Gibbs says he doesn't believe the White House was notified about the training exercise.

August 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A five-day joint exercise involving the Indian Air Force and the United States Air Force, Cope India-09, will be held at Agra from October 19, 2009. The participating IAF aircraft include IL-76, AN-32 and Mi-17 helicopters, while USAF will participate with C-17 Globemaster, C-130J (Super Herclues) and C-130H transport aircraft.

August 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Welcoming the Afghanistan general elections, India Saturday said that it was "gratifying to see the democratic process taking strong root in Afghanistan". Afghanistan conducted its second presidential elections Aug 20 amidst violence and threats from a resurgent Taliban in various parts of the war-ravaged country.

May 19th, 2009 LONDON - Britain's foreign minister Tuesday praised the outcome of the Indian elections, saying another five years of stable government will enable the two countries to jointly tackle 'urgent global and regional challenges'. Welcoming the Indian elections as a testimony to the 'health of the world's largest democracy', Stephen Miliband said: 'We look forward to continuing working closely with the new Indian government to address the many urgent global and regional challenges we face.

May 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama congratulated India on its 'historic' national elections saying he looks forward to continue working with the Indian government to enhance the 'warm partnership' between the two countries. 'President Obama looks forward to continuing to work with the Indian government to enhance the warm partnership between our two countries,' White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement Saturday.

February 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI/KOLKATA - India and Bangladesh continued their first joint military exercise in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district Thursday amid reports that the mutiny by Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) troopers, which saw the killing of at least 50 people, spread beyond Dhaka. 'The Indian Army, Air Force and Bangladesh Army have been participating in the exercise to test their battlefield tactics since Feb 22.

January 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - There's some cheerful news for elders who need not worry about their joints being in any kind of danger from exercise. A review study did not turn up any evidence to support the popular perception that exercise has potentially deleterious effect on the joints, particularly those of the lower extremities.

January 13th, 2009 BEIJING - China has taken Germany's spot as the world's third largest economy after the United States and Japan, statistics released Wednesday showed. Beijing's national statistics office released corrected figures for the year 2007, revising the gross domestic product (GDP) growth upwards from 11.9 percent to 13 percent, the largest increase since 1993.

January 5th, 2009 LONDON - Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma has congratulated Prime Minister Shekh Hasina and warmly welcomed what he called the restoration of representative democracy in Bangladesh. Sharma congratulated the people of Bangladesh for the successful conduct of last week's general elections, saying they had reaffirmed their faith in the democratic process by turning out in record numbers to elect a government.

December 23rd, 2008 SRINAGAR - Jammu and Kashmir Governor N.N. Vohra Wednesday complimented the people of Jammu and Kashmir for 'reiterating their faith in democracy despite constraints, difficulties and threats'.