The Read International For 4/1/10: As The US Focuses On Its Census, India Is Gearing Up For A Massive One

Photo from the EPA

As the US experiences its ups and downs with its current Census 2010 campaign, India is taking the steps necessary to avoid any problems with their own historic version of public allotment for next year .

The process, that will see every resident fingerprinted and photographed, is expected to cost about $1.25bn and employ 2.5 million staff over an 11-month period.

"It is the first time in human history that we will identify, enumerate, record and eventually issue an identity card to 1.2 billion people," said Palaniappan Chidambaram, India's home minister.

Undertaken every decade since 1872, the census this year will collect biometric data on every person aged over 15 for a new national population register.

And already, the counting has begun:

The first person counted on Thursday was Pratibha Patil, the Indian president, at his official residence, in the first leg of a process called "houselisting".

Houselisting entails recording information on homes, such as the construction material used to build it and the availability of electricity and water.

You can say for sure that unlike Michele Bachmann, there will be no politician in the nation of Gandhi questioning or vilifying their census.

This stories of the US Navy battling pirates in the Africa-Indian Ocean region took another incredible level today with this story getting a lot of attention .

A US warship has seized five suspected pirates after an exchange of fire in the Indian Ocean west of the Seychelles, the US Navy says.

Its statement says the USS Nicholas sank a skiff and captured a suspected mother ship in international waters.

The incident happened at 1227 local time when suspected pirates opened fire on the warship.

Congo has come out today and rejected a Human Rights Watch report that the Lord's Resistance Army rebels killed 300 people in December .

The political conflict continues in Thailand, as their Prime Minister looks for solutions.

One of Brazil's leading activist for land reform, Pedro Alcantara de Souza has been shot dead today.

And joining in on the Iran needs sanctions talk is before Andrea Merkel and Gordon Brown.

Your international news thread for the day.