Kelsang la, who has been serving as the Development Consultant in CTA, will take charge of the new post from 1 September.

Lobsang Nyandak resigned citing family issues. He has been serving the office since September 2008. He will leave his office at the end of August.

During the last two years Kelsang la worked closely with Sikyong, the Tibetan Prime Minister, handling key relationships in Washington DC, and mobilising resources and funding from the US for CTA.

He is the founding director of Tibet Corps, an initiative to network and promote Tibetan professionals.

He has lived in the US for the last 20 years, including four years in DC, before coming to Dharamshala in August 2011 to serve in the CTA.

Kelsang la has a master’s degree in international business relations and Chinese studies from Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, in Boston.

The Office of Tibet in New York is the official agency of the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration, based in Dharamshala, India. The Office was established in 1964 to raise the issue of Tibet at the United Nations and mobilise support for the Tibetan cause in the United States, Canada and Latin American countries. It will be moved to Washington DC in the coming months.

The representative is also responsible for looking after the welfare of around 15,000 Tibetans living in the US and Canada.

Protests against Chinese Premier’s visit to India

We have increasingly started behaving like the Nepalese authorities who, under Chinese pressure, have been tightening up members of the Tibetan community saying that it will not tolerate any ‘anti-China activities’. But why are we repeatedly going to such extremes in trying to silence the expressions of the dream of a free Tibet? Who are we trying to please? A neighbour who, in any case, never counts us as equal in aspiration and capability and who respects nothing save, as Dean Acheson, Truman’s Secretary of State once remarked “situations of strength”?

We seem to erroneously stick to the line prescribed by KM Pannikar, Indian Ambassador to Beijing during the Nehruvian era:, “Shown consideration and friendship, Communist China will turn out to be a bulwark of peace in Asia.” The situation today is just the opposite, as Gordon Chang, longtime China-watcher says, “The less the Chinese exhibited desire to engage us, the more we felt the need to engage them. It is evident from Beijing’s recent actions that the old approach toward China is not working. If we do not begin to change our policies, our indulgence may end up creating the very thing we have desperately sought to avoid: an incurably aggressive Chinese state.”

Five flashpoints between India, China

It was indeed a great faux pas of Indian diplomacy to prevent the UN Security Council from raising the Tibet issue in November 1950 and from preventing a vote on the matter. On 24 November, the UNSC voted unanimously to postpone consideration of the Tibet problem on the advice of the Indian representative BN Rau who naively indicated that his Government’s note from ‘Peiping’ pointed out that “hope still exists for peaceful settlement.” The US intended putting the issue to vote but for the intervention of Rau who in a ‘pre-meeting discussion’ with the US representative, informed him that the Chinese have displayed willingness to negotiate and that their “advance has not been beyond boundaries of China and Tibet, as CCP understands them.” The issue, argued Rau, would be most “effectively negotiated on bilateral basis outside the UN”. We thus lost one of the best opportunities to corner the fledgling PRC.

Intriguingly, it appears Girija Shankar Bajpai, then Secretary General in the MEA, was not taken into confidence on this entire move by Rau. Bajpai is said to have “expressed astonishment at the information” attributed by Rau to the Government of India. Describing Bajpai’s surprise, the then US Ambassador to India, in his telegram dated 30 November 1950, to the Secretary of State, wrote: “Presumably Rau freewheeling on [the] basis [of] his own interpretation [of the] final paragraph of the note … Bajpai openly suspicious and cynical re Peiping.” Strangely, we allowed our imagination a free flow when dealing with the Chinese.

Nepal is the new Chinese colony

Are things any different today? It is indeed shameful to witness this ingratiating kowtowing by the Indian Government. For fear of a backlash, we dare not differentiate between an ‘incident’ and an ‘incursion’ — we simply did not discuss that angle. I am not even discussing our inability to use the Tibet-Taiwan-Japan triangle to gain diplomatic leverage. We keep moaning about the use of Pakistan by the Chinese but we never display the gumption to silently draw and consolidate the alternate triangle, the image of which even now unsettles Beijing. In fact we have become so used to receiving homilies that we see that as the usual way of world diplomacy.

Interestingly, barring a few China lobbyists in Delhi and KM Pannikar and his mentor, the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister combined; most of our stalwarts spoke freely and openly about the rights of Tibet and Tibetans. They had rightly gauged the situation. It would be interesting to run through some of the positions on Tibet that our non-Nehruvian leaders took during the early days of the crisis and later.

To start with a brief re-run from Sardar Patel’s famous note of 7 November 1950 would be relevant. Unlike the fashionable Foreign Minister, Patel, as his wont, was direct in perceiving the reality and the future when he wrote: “The Chinese Government have tried to delude us by professions of peaceful intentions … The final action of the Chinese, in my judgement, is little short of perfidy. The tragedy of it is that the Tibetans put faith in us; they chose to be guided by us; and we have been unable to get them out of the meshes of Chinese diplomacy or Chinese malevolence.”

Commenting on the Chinese reaction to India’s protest “against the entry of Chinese forces in Tibet” Patel wrote that it was an act of “gross discourtesy not only in the summary way it disposes of our protest … but also in the wild insinuation that our attitude is determined by foreign influences. It looks at though it is not a friend speaking in that language but a potential enemy.”

Referring to the disappearance of the Tibetan buffer, Patel presciently observed, “Recent and bitter history tells us that Communism is no shield against imperialism and that Communists are as good or as bad Imperialists as any other. Chinese ambitions in this respect not only cover the Himalayan slopes on our side but also include important parts of Assam.” Our then widely travelled and articulate Prime Minister, of course, did not read the issue along these lines. Patel’s requested meeting to discuss the Chinese issue did not take place, as KM Munshi, then member of the cabinet notes, “to my knowledge the meeting suggested by Sardar did not take place. Comment is hardly necessary.”

Rajendra Prasad, whom Nehru perpetually considered obscurantist and not suited to the “high office of the President of India” and whom he repeatedly sidelined in national affairs, was equally forthright on the Tibetan issue. From the confines of the modest Sadakat Ashram, Prasad wrote to Sri Prakasa on 18 November 1962, a day before the Chinese declared the ceasefire, that in the matter of Tibet, “we acted not only un-chivalrously but even against our own interest in not maintaining the position of a buffer state for it and thus exposing a frontier of about 2,500 miles to the Chinese … I have very strong feelings about it. I feel that the blood of Tibet is on our head and we must do prayaschit which is already being forced on us …But the Prime Minister does not like the name of Tibet to be mentioned even now and regards any mention of its liberation as “manifest nonsense.” No one suggests that we should march our armies into Tibet. But is there anything wrong in wishing well of Tibet?”

Equally forthright and incisive was another nationalist stalwart, who by 1950 was already forty years into retirement from public life. Sri Aurobindo, with deep insight had, like Patel, made a clear analysis of the situation around the same time as the latter drafted his note to the Prime Minister. Through the medium of a political-cultural fortnightly published by one of his disciples from Bombay, Sri Aurobindo formulated and approved of a scathing editorial condemning Chinese aggression of Tibet. Some of its sections remain as relevant to the situation today as they were then. It is worth revisiting some excerpts reflective of his position.

Regarding Tibet’s desire to be free and India’s attitude, the editorial noted: “Even had Tibet once been altogether under China’s thumb, the unmistakable desire she has evidenced throughout her history to be independent should enlist India on her side as a champion of national freedom against past imperialist traditions. Unless we wish to put aside our conscience, stamp upon our ideals and become fawning lackeys of Mao Tse-tung we must confront in no uncertain terms the red invasion of Tibet. Terms like “surprise” and “regret” are not manly enough: at least they do not befit a great spiritual nation.”

Commenting on India’s China policy, the editorial was quite frank when it said: “It is an elementary fact of world politics that India persistently goes out of her way to make a fool of her herself over Red China.” Our present leaders have not stopped making a fool of themselves when it comes to China. Displaying remarkable prescience on the future designs of the Chinese, Sri Aurobindo’s editorial argued that the “basic significance of Mao’s Tibetan adventure [was] to advance China’s frontiers right down to India and stand poised there to strike at the right moment and with the right strategy … We must burn it into our minds that the primary motive of Mao’s attack on Tibet is to threaten India as soon as possible.”

With the gobbling of Tibet by the Chinese, Sri Aurobindo clearly saw the advancement of both the “military and ideological frontiers with regard to India.” With Tibet in China, “we shall have Mao touching Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Assam. Our physical frontiers with China will lengthen by hundreds of miles. Ideologically, infiltration will increase enormously. An independent Tibet was the best physical barrier for the Indian mind” and its loss would open India to hostile northern winds.

Calling for taking courage in both hands and standing by the Tibetan people, the editorial supported the Tibetan suggestion that India refer the invasion issue to the Security Council, “The suggestion is sound and we should carry it out immediately.” The sage had no illusions, unlike Rau, of Chinese protestations of friendship and moderation.

But the editorial was most categorical when calling for resisting Chinese aggression in Tibet, calling upon the Government of India to display its democratic spirit and intention: “There is hardly an Indian anywhere who doubts the right of the Tibetan people to autonomy. The logical implication of this right is the utter wrongness on the part of another country to carry on military operations against Tibet. Such operations would be a case of clear aggression and must be resolutely opposed by us not only with words but also deeds. That is the view of every thinking Indian who has not surrendered his mind to Communism. If our Government fails to reflect and express this view in toto, there is certainly something amiss with its capacity of being representative and of straightforward thought and of democratic intention.”

There continues to be something amiss even today, this Government, in its handling of the recent Chinese incursion has failed to display resoluteness and by smothering the voices of free Tibet has failed to reflect its “democratic intention.”

Our stalwarts were clear on the Tibet issue and on the way forward in handling China, but their voices have always fallen on deaf years and we continue to pay a heavy price.

The Dalai Lama remarked: “Kind words can change the world. Loving words can change the world. Only kindness and love has that power”.

After her recovery from a long illness, Raageshwari is all set to make a come back in the entertainment industry with her affirmation CD.

She is a firm believer of affirmations and feels that these affirmations bring positivity into us, enough to help us overcome any problems or illnesses.

The brutal daylight attack galvanized this city and raised fears that terrorism had returned to London.

Authorities did not identify the victim by name, but French President Francois Hollande referred to him as a “soldier” at a news conference in Paris with visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron. Cameron would not confirm that, but British media reported that the victim was wearing a shirt in support of troops and Britain’s Ministry of Defense said it was investigating whether a UK soldier was involved.

Calling it “an appalling murder,” Cameron said there were “strong indications” it was an act of terrorism, and two other officials said there were signs the attack was motivated by radical Islam.

The Cabinet’s emergency committee was immediately convened and security was stepped up at army barracks across London. Cameron cut short his Paris trip to return to London and his office said he would chair another session Thursday.

The incident unfolded Wednesday afternoon when officers responded to reports of an assault just a few blocks from the Royal Artillery Barracks in the neighbourhood of Woolwich.

Images from the scene showed a blue car that appeared to have been used in the attack, its hood crushed and rammed into a signpost on a sidewalk that was smeared with blood. A number of weapons — including butchers’ knives, a machete and a meat cleaver — were strewn on the street.

While there were moments of chaos — one local primary school went into lockdown when a teacher saw the victim’s body — the scene was striking in its normalcy. Pedestrians milled about with grocery bags and shopping carts as a body lay motionless in the street — and the attackers remained on the scene, wielding long knives.

One British broadcaster ran video taken on a cellphone of what appeared to be one of the attackers, his hands covered in blood, making political statements about “an eye for an eye” as a body lay behind him.

Footage — obtained by ITV news and The Sun newspaper — showed a man in a dark jacket and knit cap walking toward a camera, clutching a meat cleaver and a knife. Speaking in English with a British accent, he apologized that women passers-by “have had to witness this” barbarity, saying that “in our land our women have to see the same.”

He gave no indication what that land was as he urged people to tell the government to “bring our troops back.” British troops are deployed in Afghanistan and recently supported the French-led intervention in Mali.

“We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you,” the man declared. “We must fight them as they fight us.” The camera then panned away to show a body lying on the ground.

The Associated Press examined the footage to verify its authenticity, cross-referencing images from the scene, aerial shots, the location of a car behind the alleged attacker and the appearance of a body and a car in the background. There was no immediate way for the AP to verify who the cameraman was.

Other images showed the second suspect clutching a long knife as he engaged in conversation with a woman who British media said tried to intervene to prevent further bloodshed.

The Daily Telegraph identified the woman as Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, 48, and said she confronted the attackers, telling them: “It is only you versus many people. You are going to lose.”

Saying she wanted to stop the suspect from attacking anyone else, she asked him if he “did it” and what he wanted.

“He said: ‘I killed him because he killed Muslims and I am fed up with people killing Muslims in Afghanistan. They have nothing to do there,’” she told the newspaper.

Britain has been at the heart of several terror attacks or plots in recent years, the most deadly being the 2005 rush-hour suicide bombings when 52 commuters were killed. More recently, Parviz Khan was convicted in 2008 of plotting to kidnap and behead a British Muslim soldier in Birmingham.

Some extremists have lashed out at Britain’s involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq. Recently, groups have also criticised Britain’s assistance in the French-led mission to Mali to root out Islamic extremists in the north.

Britain’s prime minister said there were “strong indications” Wednesday’s attack was a terrorist incident.

“We have suffered these attacks before, we have always beaten them back,” Cameron said. “We will not be cowed, we will never buckle.”

Two UK government officials said the attack seemed to have been ideologically motivated by radical Islam, adding that the assessment was not based solely on video footage of one suspect making political statements against the British government. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak about the ongoing investigation.

Scotland Yard confirmed that counterterrorism officers were leading an investigation into the attack. Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said the two men had been arrested and urged Londoners to remain calm. Both were hospitalized, one in serious condition.

Late Wednesday, riot police fanned out in Woolwich as about 50 men waving the flag of the far-right English Defence League gathered, singing nationalistic songs and shouting obscenities about the Quran.

Muslim religious groups and charities were quick to condemn the attack and urged police to calm tensions. The Muslim Council of Britain called it a “barbaric act that has no basis in Islam,” adding that “no cause justifies this murder.”

The barracks where the attack took place house a number of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery and independent companies of the Grenadier and Coldstream Guards. They were the site of shooting events during the 2012 London Olympics.

Fred Oyat, 44, who lives in a high-rise nearby, said he heard four gun shots and went straight to the window.

“I saw one man lying there bleeding, another lying on the pavement being disarmed. A policeman was pointing a gun at him. A third man was lying further up the street. … He was bleeding profusely,” Oyat said. “There were four knives on the ground — big kitchen knives. The knives were very bloody.”

David Dixon, head master at a nearby primary school, said he saw a body lying in the road outside. After making sure all students were inside, he quickly put the school into lockdown. He then heard shots fired, he told the BBC.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is called in when officers are involved in shootings, confirmed it was investigating the attack.

Witnesses recounted seeing the suspects — armed with meat cleavers and possibly a firearm — rushing toward police when officers arrived on the scene.

“He ran towards police before they could even get out of the car,” Julia Wilders told Britain’s Press Association.

Graham Wilders said he saw one of the suspects pull out a handgun.

“He didn’t fire the gun,” Wilders told the BBC. “They went for the police with a handgun. The police were the only ones who did any shooting.”

The missile performed the high-level ‘C’ manoeuvre in the pre-determined flight path and successfully hit the target.

The missile was launched from the Russian-built warship at 1100 hours, BrahMos Aerospace chief A Sivathanu Pillai said here.

“The launch was carried out by the Navy as part of Acceptance Test Firing (ATF) of the ship,” he said.

INS Tarkash, which is an advanced Talwar Class frigate, was commissioned on 9 November, last year.

The warship, along with two other frigates of the class — INS Teg and INS Trikand, have been built as part of an over Rs 8,000 crore contract signed between India and Russia in July 2006.

INS Teg was commissioned on 27 April 2012 and the commissioning of INS Trikand is expected soon.

The weapons suite of INS Tarkash includes surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missile systems, 100 mm medium-range gun, close-in weapon system, torpedo tubes and anti-submarine rockets.

All the three ships will be equipped with 8 vertical- launched BrahMos missile systems as the prime strike weapon.

The new missile frigates are designed to accomplish a wide range of maritime missions, primarily hunting down and destroying large surface ships and submarines.

BrahMos officials said the vertical launch configuration of the supersonic missile enhances the stealth capabilities of the ship as the missiles are under the deck and not exposed.

Jointly developed by India and Russia, the BrahMos is capable of carrying a conventional warhead of 300 kg. The missile can cruise at a maximum speed of 2.8 Mach (or 2.8 times the speed of sound).

India is readying several different versions of the missile which includes land attack, anti-ship and submarine- launched versions.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry is studying a proposal to set up new comprehensive economic cooperation zones in Tibet, to link the two biggest emerging economies and to strive to meet the India-China trade target of $100 billion by 2015, Wang Rui, a researcher at a Commerce Ministry think tank, said.

The biggest obstacle to improving the negotiations is the trade imbalance between the two nations, Wang, researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation told state-run China Daily.

Her comments came as the trade imbalance dominated the just concluded India visit of Li who promised to open up Chinese markets for Indian products.

While Natulla in Sikkim was regarded as one important land route, Indian officials say Jelep-La, through Kalimpong in West Bengal close to the India-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction was also regarded as yet another route that could be explored for cross-border trade.

“There are solutions to helping the two countries maintain rapid growth in bilateral trade and investment,” Li was quoted by the media here as saying at a banquet at the China-India Commercial Summit.

China and India are discussing boosting an equal and fair environment to promote two-way trade and investment, he said in Mumbai yesterday.

China has great potential to add investment in India, Li said, and is committed to addressing the trade imbalance with India.

Beijing is encouraging Chinese companies to invest abroad and India has launched its 12th five-year plan (2012-16) in which it plans to largely develop its infrastructure.

China will open its market wider and work with India to jointly mitigate the bilateral trade imbalance, Li told business leaders in New Delhi earlier.

He pledged support for Chinese companies stepping up investment in India, and help for Indian products to access the Chinese market.

But against all odds, including bitter competition between eight established lenders in Lhasa, capital of the Tibet autonomous region, Bank of Tibet made its debut on 22 May 2012.

The new bank notched an 18 million yuan ($2.9 million) profit in 2012 and a bad-debt ratio of nil, a figure that very few banks in China can boast of.

“We have experienced hardships and challenges,” said Tian Wei, executive director of the bank.

In 2012, Tibet’s GDP was 70 billion yuan, while the bank received 6.6 billion yuan in deposits and made 4.3 billion yuan in loans.

The loans were made to major infrastructure projects in the rail, hydropower and energy sectors, as well as to smaller local businesses engaged in traditional Tibetan medicine, farming and animal husbandry, which previously had difficulties obtaining funding.

The bank said it has started preparations to begin operations in other parts of the region, including the city of Xigaze (Tib: Shigatse), with four new branches due to open this year.

By 2015, it will extend its operations to coastal provinces.

“Our achievements are to some extent a result of the favorable financial policies Tibet enjoys,” Tian said.

Though major State-owned commercial, policy or development banks boast extensive networks, products and talented staff, Tian insists Bank of Tibet has its own unparalleled competitive edge.

He said that banks operating across China allocate most investment and loans to developed, coastal regions, where “returns are guaranteed and healthy”.

Tian said Bank of Tibet would leverage its understanding of the local market to ensure it was better positioned to serve local people.

A desire to improve local people’s access to banking services is also the driving force behind Bank of Tibet’s plan to develop a loan center for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Asong, the owner of a ghee blender manufacturer in Lhasa, said he used to borrow from a State-owned bank, which took at least a month to process his loan applications, and gave him only three years to make repayments.

“The autonomous region now has its own bank, which we should surely support,” said Asong, who added that he likes the fact that the bank’s staff can converse with him in either Mandarin or Tibetan.

His application for a 5 million yuan loan was approved within a week.

According to Tian, one target group of his loan center is the more than 100,000 shops in Lhasa, which account for more than 40 percent of civilian deposits in Lhasa.

Meanwhile, Bank of Tibet is discussing with chambers of commerce from other parts of China the possibility of providing loans to member of the chambers, if the chambers act as guarantors.

In the near future, the bank also aims to provide mobile banking services such as “banks on horseback”, “motorbike banks” and “car banks” to very remote parts of the autonomous region.

Edited excerpts —

How significant is Chinese premier’s visit to India?

Having chosen India as the first country to visit after taking over as the prime minister, Li Keqiang could have initiated substantive dialogue on resolving the Tibet issue. India and China have the largest populations and we wish good relations between both the countries. But solving the Tibet issue will provide the buffer zone for peaceful borders. This will further lessen the suspicion on the Chinese government. Tibet will contribute to the peace in the region.

Do you genuinely think Tibet can contribute to peace?

Yes. If Tibetans are given autonomy. I think we missed that opportunity this time.

The joint statement between China and India does not mention India’s affirmation on a unified China. What do you make of it?

It is for the Indian government to decide. We welcome the fact that Tibet was discussed. We wish that there were substantive discussions where Tibet as the one of the core issues. India’s security is linked to the issue of Tibet.

Do you think that the government of India has made genuine efforts in the last decade on the issue of Tibet?

Compared to other countries, India has done the most for Tibetans, for which we are grateful. But politically, we wish that India did more.

What are steps that the Indian government can adopt in the Tibet issue?

India needs to make Tibet the core issue with the Chinese government and clearly explain that India’s security is linked to the situation in Tibet. There was never a border between India and China, but there was always a border between Tibet and India. And that solving the issue of Tibet will contribute to peace in the region.

With China steady growth as a superpower, can India raise this issue in such a straight manner?

Definitely. India is one of the largest economies in the region and has the moral authority. The Indian model is not only important for Asia, but also for the world. India’s rich heritage, culture, the Gandhian notion of non-violence — is respected in the international community.

What are your impressions about the new Chinese leadership?

I think it is too early to say anything. But it looks like they are continuing with the same hard-line policies in Tibet.

What makes you think so?

In the 17th party congress, at least one minority was in the politbureau. Now in the 18th party Congress, there is no representation of minorities. In the central committee, that has more than 200 members, there used to be 16 minority members. That has now reduced to 10. The representation of Tibetans is marginal with only one or at the most two. Then 117 self-immolations have taken place and they are prosecuting self-immolators.

The current crop of Chinese leadership is young. They may stay for next 20-30 years. How you think things can progress?

For how long will the ruling party stay, we don’t know. But what we seek is genuine autonomy within the PRC, that is within the framework of the Chinese constitution. Hopefully, the Chinese leadership will realise the futility of repressing the Tibet. Internationally, it raises questions on China’s rise.

There is worry in some quarters about China’s increasing investment in India’s neighbouring countries?

China has invested in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and in Nepal. The land route China has helped construct, stretches from all the way from Lhasa to Nepal. The railway line they are planning to bring from Lhasa to the Sikkim border via Shigatse and then Nepal and Bangladesh. We need to see what the Indian government will do in this regards.

Do you think India needs to assert a little more on the border?

Yes, India needs to improve infrastructure along the border to feel secure.

China was quoted saying that Tibetans based in India are provoking self-immolations?

This allegation is baseless and there is no shred of evidence, whatsoever. We invite them to send a delegation to Dharamshala and check all our records. As a matter of fact we are discouraging self-immolation in Tibet. This is against our philosophy.

Then why are Tibetans resorting to self-immolation?

This is because of the continuing occupation of Tibet — its repression and the economic marginalisation of Tibetans. The environmental degradation and forced cultural assimilation brought about by the Chinese are moving in Tibet by taking away their jobs are reasons enough to provoke.

Tell us something about your recent visit to the US?

I met 21 senators of the Congress and wrote a letter to the secretary of state John Kerry barely a month before he went to China. To take stock of the prevailing situation in Tibet, they asked him to promote dialogue China and Tibet.

They also acknowledged that the Dalai Lama has devolved his political authority and that the Tibetan administration is a democratic set-up now.

That amounts to more than 500,000 photos taken at 6.5 megapixels, which is about the size generated by current smartphone cameras.

It’s enough space to attract the interest of developers who see Flickr as a resource for storing any file, not just image files. The reason is simple: A free terabyte of storage is a pretty good deal, particularly when you consider that Flickr is charging $499 a year for 2 terabytes.

Online storage prices vary widely. Google charges $50 a month to store 1 terabyte of files using Google Drive. That’s on the high side: CrashPlan, an online backup service, offers unlimited storage for $60 a year — although CrashPlan doesn’t allow immediate, random file access like Drive does. Amazon’s Glacier costs about $10 a month to store a terabyte, with additional fees for outbound transfers. An actual 1-terabyte hard drive costs from about $75 to several hundred dollars, depending on features.

The problem with using Flickr for general storage is that it’s only designed for images. To get around that, developer Ryan LeFevre has posted Ruby code to Github called flickr-store that lets users encode data as a .PNG image file, so it can be stored using Flickr.

LeFevre, in an email, said that another developer, Ricardo Tomasi, implemented a similar project at about the same time he published flickr-store.

LeFevre said he would not advise anyone to use his code to store critical files. “The ability to store files on Flickr by encoding them as PNGs was more of an academic exercise than anything,” he said. “That said, there have been some similar successful projects in the past, such as GmailFS, so it’s possible that the project could mature into a somewhat useful tool. Encoding/decoding data from PNG files is also, unfortunately, a bit slow. There is a lot of room for improvement.”

There are other programs designed to encode data in the format of an image, such as the Windows applications Clotho, Hide In Picture and Free File Camouflage. Steganography applications do the same thing, although they often are designed to encode small text files in images, rather than large arbitrary files.

The flickr-store code requires a Flickr API account, although it remains to be seen whether the code conforms to the Flickr’s terms of service and the Flickr API. A Flickr representative didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

LeFevre said that the permissibility of his project under Flickr’s terms of service isn’t clear. “I’m sure they frown upon it, but they claim that you cannot upload anything that interferes with the services and I don’t believe this does,” he said.

Flickr’s redesign, which is part of a broader effort to restore Yahoo’s lost luster, is about more than upgraded storage capacity.

According to Flickr head of product Markus Spiering, the Home page, the Activity Feed, Photostreams and Sets all have been redesigned. Slideshows, search and social features also have been improved, and facial recognition capabilities have been added to simplify photo organization. There’s even a new Android app for Flickr in the Google Play store.

In keeping with the tradition of design changes to major Internet services, a vocal group of users hate it.

Li Keqiang spelling out his vision for India-China ties said that he wants the two nations to be the engines of global growth.

Keqiang said India and China have the “wisdom” to find mutually acceptable solution to the boundary problem and the two countries have not shied away from addressing the vexed issue.

Li also said China will support its enterprises to increase investments in India and help Indian products have access to Chinese market as he supported a favourable trade balance in a bid to decrease mounting bilateral trade deficit. The trade imbalance is currently around $ 30 billion.

A day after two rounds of talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, Li said China has the intention to “sincerely” resolving the pending issues, including that of cross-border rivers, and favoured increased bilateral relations between the “two big neighbours”.

Supporting a favourable trade balance and seeking to decrease trade deficit between India and China, he said Beijing will support Chinese enterprises to increase investments in India and help Indian products have access to Chinese market.

The Chinese premier said cooperation between the “two big neighbours” will lead to a “new paradigm” of cooperation. “India and China have not shied away from addressing boundary question, have wisdom to find a fair and mutually acceptable solution…We have been able to put all issues on the table,” he said.

He also quoted a Chinese proverb — a distant relative may not be useful as a near neighbour — to emphasise on the relations between the two neighbours.

He recounted impressions from his India visit 27 years ago and noted that the international media had taken positive note of his talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Li spoke about his vision for Indian-Chinese ties, promising to build trust and fast track border talks. And left a largely positive impression on his audience with his easy going, affable style — often breaking into wide smiles and displaying a sense of humour.

“A neighbour is more useful than a relative. We stand for multipolar world. China has enjoyed comtinuous economic growth but we remain a developing country which is a middle level country and there are gaps in wealth. We need to devote all our energies to running our affairs well. Need to pay greater attention to improving peoples’ lives,” Li said.