November 2006
01 November 2006
Beirut, Nov. 1 (IndianMuslims.info) The international community needs to keep its goals in Lebanon modest lest it renew the conflagration that Security Council Resolution 1701 has put a temporary lid on.
In its latest report labeled "Israel/Hizbollah/Lebanon: Avoiding Renewed Conflict", the International Crisis Group, examines the fragile stability, but not sustainable peace. Resolution 1701 has held but temptation to overreach could trigger new fighting or a domestic showdown in Lebanon. The greatest threats would be attempts by Israel or UN forces (UNIFIL) to use 1701 as a blunt means to disarm Hizbollah or by Hizbollah to test UNIFIL resolve. 1701 is a transitory tool to stabilise the border until bolder action is taken to reform Lebanon’s political system and build a strong state and to address regional issues like re-launching the Syrian track and engaging Iran.
“The international community must be modest in implementing 1701 for as long as it is not prepared to be ambitious in its regional diplomatic efforts�, says Joost Hiltermann, Crisis Group’s Middle East Project Director.
The aftermath of the war triggered by Hizbollah’s capture of two Israeli soldiers in July produced surprising consensus: an enhanced UN role, an expanded UNIFIL mandate, the Lebanese army’s (LAF) deployment in southern Lebanon and the need to strengthen the state. But it would be wrong to expect too much from 1701. Collective exhaustion produced an ambiguous outcome that nobody whole-heartedly endorsed but all reluctantly accepted.
“1701 cannot resolve underlying Israeli-Lebanese problems�, says Robert Malley, Crisis Group’s Middle East Program Director. “It elevates Hizbollah’s armed status to a core international concern but entrusts its resolution to a process incapable of dealing with it and defers the key political step – progress toward an Arab-Israeli peace – that is a precondition for settling it�.
For the sake of stability, achievable, short-term objectives should be pursued:
* containing Hizbollah and Israel’s military moves, the former through UNIFIL and LAF forces, the latter through pressure to halt violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty;
* bolstering the Lebanese state’s sovereignty and in particular strengthening the army;
* addressing some of Hizbollah’s core justifications for maintaining its arsenal, in particular the status of Shebaa farms.
Hizbollah’s status will have to wait until the international community is prepared to engage in serious Arab-Israeli peacemaking and Lebanon to tackle its internal political order.
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New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) There can never be a fundamental rapprochement between India and Pakistan as long as there is military government ruling the latter, said Farooq Hassan, Pakistan's top legal expert and an adviser to four former prime ministers.
"It's difficult for a military government in Pakistan to have a rapprochement with India," said Hassan, a critic of the Pervez Musharraf regime and an ardent proponent of building democracy in Pakistan, here Wednesday.
"Pakistan has the fifth largest army in the world. Pakistan military consumes 83 per cent of the budget. It's simply not needed," said Hassan in his characteristic non-nonsense style. He was speaking to a handful of experts and journalists at a round table discussion organised by The SAPRA Foundation, a think tank.
Hassan, a multi-faceted man who was an adviser to former Pakistan prime ministers, including Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, is an outspoken critic of what he calls the "military-mullah" alliance in Pakistan and has written countless books and articles analysing various facets of Pakistan's political culture.
Hassan has his reservations about the course of the peace process between India and Pakistan at the government-to-government level. But he is convinced that there is tremendous goodwill on the part of the people of Pakistan to carry forward the peace process with India.
"India-Pakistan relations are not on a good footing. All this hype about goodwill is overblown. But there is crescendo of goodwill among the people of Pakistan for lasting peace with India," said Hassan, the author of "A Juridicial Critique of Successful Treason," - an influential book on coups in Pakistan.
By K J M Varma
Islamabad, Nov 1 (PTI) Pakistan would continue to maintain its minimum defensive deterrence with focus on security till the resolution of all "outstanding disputes" with India, "including" Kashmir, President Pervez Musharraf today said.
"In Pakistan's regional context, traditional security remains paramount and Pakistan would maintain the quantifying force level both in conventional and unconventional fields," Musharraf said.
He was speaking at a two-day international seminar on 'Security in South Asia in the Non-traditional Spheres and Human Security' organised by the Institute of Regional Studies here.
Asserting that Pakistan will continue to maintain its strategy of minimum defensive deterrence in the conventional and unconventional fields, Musharraf said conventional defence is being reinforced with improvement in the accuracy and lethality of weapon systems.
Enumerating the national security strategy, Musharraf said it contains a strong defence, a successful foreign policy and rapprochement with India.
It also contains a strategy of enlightened moderation, an economic turnaround and transmitting the ecomnomic gains to people at the grass roots level.
He said the country's political strategy focuses on weaning away people in tribal areas from militant Talibans.
New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) Led by shehnai players and fire dancers, the annual three-day festival of flower sellers, better known as the "Phoolwalon Ki Sair", will begin in Mehrauli in south Delhi Thursday.
This is a festival in which both Hindus and Muslims participate. The flower sellers visit the ancient Yogmaya temple in Mehrauli Bazaar and place floral curtains at the tomb of Sufi Saint Qutubuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki.
"Almost all residents of Mehrauli, irrespective of their religion, take part in the procession that goes from the dargah to the temple. Led by fire dancers and shehnai players the flower sellers pay floral tributes at both the holy places," said Dilfakra Ali, a resident of Mehrauli.
Another highlight of the festival is its cultural shows held in the evenings. The festival becomes a melting pot of different cultures with qawwalis and kathak dances being performed on the same stage.
The cultural programme is held at Jahaz Mahal, a ship palace built by the Lodhis on the banks of Shamsi Talab, once a large pool at the end of the Mehrauli Bazar.
The festival was first celebrated during the Mughal period to mark the return of a Mughal prince to the capital. Though the festival has lost its grandeur down the ages, it is still celebrated every year.
Arshi Khan, a professor at Aligarh Muslim University, told IANS: "Such festivals send a message of universal brotherhood preached by Sufi saints and the rishis. These festivals bind people from different communities."
Chennai, Nov 1 (IANS) Eighteen people, including a newly married couple, were killed when an electric train collided with a mini-van in Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu Tuesday.
The van, operated as a share taxi, was carrying a newly married couple and their relatives to Pudupakkam village for a funeral.
The victims were from Orikkai village, 50 km south of Chennai, and had hired the vehicle to attend the funeral of a 75-year-old woman.
The train was on its way to Chennai beach station from Tirumalpur near Kancheepuram when the accident occurred.
The mini-van was hit by the train at an unmanned level crossing, at about 10.30 a.m.
The dead include 14 women. Five of the dead were from the same family. Tamil Nadu government has announced compensation of Rs.50,000 each to the kin of the dead.
Eyewitnesses said the van driver was confident that he would be able to cross the line, before the train arrived. The wheels got stuck on the tracks and before the passengers could get off, a suburban EMU struck the van at full speed.
The impact of the collision was such that the van was dragged to a distance of 1,000 meters, crushing the passengers and the driver on the spot.
New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) The Asia-Pacific Partnership (APP) on Clean Development and Climate, which has rolled out around 100 collaborative projects in Ohio, is expected to help India implement cleaner and cost effective energy technologies.
It is also expected to help enhance India's negotiating strength for commitments post 2012 under the Kyoto Protocol, said Environment and Forests Secretary Prodipto Ghosh here Wednesday.
Briefing the media on the implementation phase of the APP on Clean Development and Climate, a public-private initiative involving Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and the US, Ghosh said, "The collaboration in clean energy development will not impede India's negotiating strength but in fact enhance it."
The six APP nations together account for about half of the world's economy, population, energy use and carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels.
US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environment Danier A. Reifsynder defined the action plan endorsed by the six-member nations as "practical partnership to do specific things to solve the problems related to clean development" to reduce greenhouse gas emission.
He disclosed that the US Energy Department was planning a $450 million fund for the development of carbon sequestration (capture and storage) technologies over 10 years. Similarly, Australia was also contemplating a $100 million fund for clean technologies development over five years.
Individual projects identified for collaboration pertain to various energy-intensive sectors like power generation, steel, cement, aluminium, mining and buildings and appliances.
The officials clarified that the government role in the projects would mostly be restricted to being a facilitator with no direct funding support.
"These individual projects would be taken up in private collaboration on a commercial basis and the role of the governments would be to facilitate technology transfer. The partnerships do not envisage any grant funding or facilitating technology transfer through amendment of patent regime," said Ghosh.
Under the APP collaboration, 15 engineers of power major NTPC Ltd, the Central Electricity Authority and some state power utilities are already in the US to study ways to boost energy efficiency of power plants in the country.
Surya R. Sethi, principal advisor energy in the planning commission, said APP collaboration was expected to resolve some of the barriers in technology transfer.
He felt it could help India achieve the target of reducing energy consumption by 20 percent over the next 25 years without impacting the high economic growth rate of the country.
Chandigarh, Nov 1 (IANS) Former Indian captain Mohammed Azharuddin, banned for life by the Indian cricket board from playing, is officially invited to see the first semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy at Mohali Wednesday.
"We have sent out invitations to all past Indian captains and BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) presidents. We have no problem in Azharuddin coming here. I don't think that the ICC should have any problem in this matter," Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) president I.S. Bindra said.
PCA officials and Taj Hotel sources here confirmed that Azharuddin was reaching here Wednesday and would be at the PCA stadium for the semi-final tie.
The ICC has already expressed its reservation on the issue of Azharuddin being officially recognised after being served a life ban from cricket for match-fixing.
But the ICC objections are being brushed aside by the PCA and BCCI who say that the global body has no authority to interfere in internal matters of Indian cricket.
The BCCI is also honouring Azharuddin at Mumbai this week.
"It is our internal matter. I think we were very harsh with our cricketers like Azhar and others. We must do something to revoke the life ban imposed on him. Players from other countries facing match-fixing charges have got away lightly and are still playing," Bindra said.
BCCI joint secretary M.P. Pandove said that the board would review the ban on Azharuddin only after the matter is formally brought before it.
PCA sources said that the process was already on to get Azharuddin's life ban revoked.
Dhaka, Nov 1 (PTI) Meeting the opposition alliance's demand to dismiss officials on contract, Bangladesh President Iajuddin Ahmed has sacked nine top bureaucrats and transferred 18 other officials of the erstwhile Khaleda Zia government.
The move comes after the 14-party alliance led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed yesterday agreed to lift the countrywide agitation and presented some demands to the caretaker chief.
A government notification said last night that President cancelled contractual appointments of nine top bureaucrats and transferred 18 high-ranking officials.
An order was also issued to replace the photographs of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia from all government offices with that of the caretaker chief.
Dismissal of government officials on contract appointment is one of the 11 demands the Awami League led alliance place yesterday with the President.
By F. Ahmed,
Srinagar, Nov 1 (IANS) As Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad completes one year in office, a string of problems confront him - the continuing separatist campaign is just one of them.
Frustrating power shutdowns still plague the state, militant and terror attacks have not stopped, militant suspects keep dying in custody of security forces and of course there are frictions with his ally People's Democratic Party (PDP).
Most important, Azad's lofty promise of eradicating corruption from public life remains an elusive dream. Corruption is still widespread although checked in some places,
Azad, who assumed the reins of power on Nov 2 last year, spearheaded a pro-active drive against graft, warning the corrupt and unscrupulous in the administration of dire consequences.
"Innovative and novel laws have been enacted to curb corruption, downsize the ministry and prevent defection by political representatives. When I took power, Jammu and Kashmir was ranked the second most corrupt Indian state," Azad said, highlighting his achievements.
"I enacted a pioneering law wherein ill-begotten property of corrupt officials could be confiscated. Eight such properties have been acquired while 45 are under investigation."
He went on: "Historic measures at the political, developmental and administrative levels have been taken. Eight new districts, three sub-divisions and 13 tehsils (village blocks) have been created."
Azad has removed the blanket ban on recruitment in government services to address the colossal unemployment among Kashmiri youth. His officials have identified 23,000 new vacancies.
According to Azad, when he became chief minister he found that in the last decade developmental work worth Rs.18 billion had started without administrative approval. "I have done away with this system."
Said advocate Riyaz Ahmed: "Jammu and Kashmir is the only state to have such sweeping anti-corruption laws. The government can attach and auction property of corrupt civil servants. So there is enough teeth to nip graft but the chief minister's initiative is defeated due to lack of will in his administration."
Azad defended himself against complaints of custodial killings by security forces that keep pouring in from different parts of the state.
"The last one year saw the least number of custodial killings and disappearances since militancy began in 1990," he said.
But separatist leaders dispute the claim. "How can anyone speak about accountability when security forces remain unaccountable for their actions?" asked Syed Ali Geelani, chairman of the more vocal Hurriyat Conference.
Azad's problems are manifold.
Besides fighting deep-rooted corruption, he must create employment, contain excesses by security forces, bring militancy under control, provide electric power to energy-starved Kashmir, and woo tourists to a state where guerrillas continue grenade attacks.
Sadly for the chief minister, the common man on the street is not impressed by whatever good Azad has done during the last 12 months.
"We are told to be ready for 10-hour cuts in electric supply though the winter season is yet to start. Government officials still treat us like slaves, and we have to pay bribe for everything, from a ration ticket to subject certificate. Ministers abuse power for their relatives and friends. Where is the change?" asked a disgruntled Ali Mohammad, 48, who lives in the outskirts of the city.
Azad says he is doing everything possible. "I am doing my best. I don't have a magic wand to change everything overnight."
New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett comes here Wednesday on a weeklong visit whose primary focus is expected to be enhancing economic diplomacy and attracting more Indian investment to Britain.
Beckett will hold talks with new External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee - who she will be meeting for the first time - Thursday evening on a wide range of bilateral and global issues, including intensification of bilateral trade and investment, terrorism, climate change and the UN reforms.
This will be followed by delegation-level talks between the two sides, external affairs ministry spokesperson Navtej Sarna told reporters here Tuesday.
India has emerged as the third largest foreign investor in Britain, after the US and Japan. Britain attracts about 60 percent of Indian investments to Europe.
India's foreign direct investment (FDI) in Britain is more than that of Britain's in India and has exceeded $1 billion. Becket is also scheduled to visit Mumbai and Hyderabad.
Her visit to India coincides with that of Prince Andrew, the Duke of York and Britain's special representative for trade and investment.
Andrew will present the first-ever UK Trade and Investment Business awards in Mumbai Wednesday. These awards recognise the business partnership between the two countries.
New York, Nov 1 (DPA) Former US President Bill Clinton met with donors and Asian nations that suffered the 2004 tsunami to discuss plans to save mangroves devastated by the tidal wave after the massive undersea earthquakes.
The meeting in New York at the headquarters of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) on Tuesday was called also to review progress made in the last two years to assist countries hit by the tsunami, which killed more than 200,000 people and caused tens of millions of dollars in damage.
Clinton, who is the UN special envoy for tsunami recovery, has been overseeing efforts to rebuild devastated areas. Part of the recovery programme is to restore the coastal areas.
The "Mangrove for the Future" project calls for $62 million to be spent over six years, half of it from donors and the rest from nations in the affected areas.
Financial support for the plan was expected from Norway, Sweden, Australia, Germany and UNDP.
The project was developed by the Geneva-based World Conservation Union.
Envoys from India, Indonesia, Maldives, Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Thailand attended the meeting on mangroves.
"While the central focus of the initiative is environmental preservation, the (mangrove) project also places emphasis on environmental management as a means to promote employment and livelihoods, as well as disaster risk reduction," Clinton's office on tsunami recovery said in a statement.
US-based non-governmental organisations like the American Red Cross, CARE-US, International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps and Save the Children USA attended the discussion on the tsunami recovery.
Bhopal, Nov 1 (IANS) The Congress Tuesday came out in support of former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharti, who was allegedly attacked Monday, and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of crushing the opposition with might.
Congress General Secretary and former chief minister Digvijay Singh, an archrival of Uma Bharti before she severed her ties with the BJP, condemned the attack on her convoy in Shahrora village in Chhatarpur district.
Talking to reporters in the assembly complex on the opening day of the assembly session, Singh criticised the government for not providing her sufficient security despite her expressing apprehensions about threat to her life and said "protecting the life of Uma Bharti is the government's responsibility".
"Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan must take necessary steps in this regard," he said.
Leader of Opposition Jamuna Devi also criticised the government for allegedly using muscle power to crush its opponent. She also threatened to take up the issue during the 11-day assembly session.
Chandigarh, Nov 1 (IANS) The International Cricket Committee (ICC) Wednesday hoped the controversy over international umpire Darrell Hair would be resolved soon.
ICC CEO Malcolm Speed told reporters here the Hair controversy would be discussed at length at its executive board meeting to be held at Mumbai Friday.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has already written a letter to the ICC seeking an investigation into Hair's conduct at the Oval Test during Pakistan's recent tour of England.
Hair had accused Pakistani bowlers of ball tampering and penalised the side with five runs. The Pakistan team delayed their entry in the post-tea session as a protest and Hair and umpire Billy Doctrove awarded the match to England even though Pakistan were comfortably placed to win it.
"I hope the issue is resolved. Hair is among the best umpires at the international level," Speed said, adding the ICC's three-member dispute resolution committee would look into the matter.
On the issue of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) inviting former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin to official events and indicating a review on his life ban could be in the offing, Speed said a proper process was in place at the ICC to do so and the Indian board knew about it.
He said the ICC did not want to interfere in the internal matter of the BCCI.
"There is no mystery, there is no intrigue in this," Speed said.
Regarding the recent controversy where BCCI vice president Lalit Modi referred to ICC as the East India Company, Speed said Modi had too less an experience as a state unit president and BCCI office bearer to know how the ICC function.
"He has not even attended any ICC meeting," Speed claimed.
He said cricket boards should not be judged by the money they have but by the ranking of their team at the international level.
"The New Zealand cricket board may not have much money given the population of that country but their team enjoys a good ICC ranking. The Indian team has not been doing that well," he said.
On the members participation agreement (MPA), Speed hoped India's objections would be sorted out at the meeting of ICC and BCCI officials.
Speed said the ICC had been in touch with World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to make doping tests part of international cricket.
New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) The country's first 3D geographical surveillance system was tested Tuesday.
The demonstration of the system, inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal, can help authorities check illegal constructions.
"This technology will help in better administration of the country," Sibal said.
The technology allows agencies to keep a vigil on the activities of a particular area by using high-resolution Internet Protocol (IP) cameras that are placed at vital locations.
These cameras have a range of 4-5 km depending on the area they are placed in.
The cameras are placed at high altitudinal points, such as rooftops, so that they can monitor narrow lanes of congested areas.
A software tracks changes in the landscape, such as a construction of a new building, or an additional floor in a building.
The system can also detect gathering of crowds, monitor vehicular traffic, calculate the exact size of a building to assess property tax, enable disaster management due to fires etc and general surveillance.
The new technology has won the appreciation of Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and senior Municipal Corporation of Delhi officials.
The government will first introduce this technology in Zone 1 of Delhi's Chandni Chowk area encompassing Daryaganj and other parts of the walled city within a radius of 20 sq km.
The entire capital will be placed under this new surveillance system by 2008 at a projected cost of Rs.750 million. The cost of the pilot project is around Rs.30-40 million and will become operational within the next one month.
Guwahati, Nov 1 (IANS) Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi Wednesday said the deadlocked peace process with the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) could be restarted if the outfit was ready for talks.
"The doors for peace talks are still wide open and New Delhi is ready to hold direct negotiations if ULFA responds positively," the chief minister told IANS.
The Indian Army is engaged in a military operation against ULFA after New Delhi in September called off a six-week truce blaming the outfit for stepping up attacks and extortions.
The talks were deadlocked with ULFA demanding the release of five of its jailed leaders as a precondition for direct talks with the government.
Indian negotiators wanted a commitment in writing that the ULFA leadership would come for talks if their jailed comrades were released.
The rebel group refused to give a written commitment. "I still believe the peace process is not completely derailed and hope ULFA respects the wishes of the people of Assam to come for talks and solve the problem," Gogoi said.
Peace talks between ULFA representatives and the Indian government formally broke last month after the People's Consultative Group (PCG), a civil society team appointed by the rebels to mediate for talks, pulled out of the peace process criticising New Delhi for calling off the truce.
There were three rounds of talks between the ULFA-chosen PCG and the Indian government negotiators.
"I think the time has come for civil society to take a more pro-active role. I am planning a peace conclave involving all sections of society and want to know what they want," the chief minister said.
Jaipur, Nov 1 (IANS) Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) has become the first cricket association in the country to sell e-tickets using the radio frequency identification (RFID) technology on a pilot basis.
Cricket fans can buy e-tickets for the semi-final match between West Indies and South Africa slated for Nov 2.
Anant Vyas, RCA media chief, told reporters Tuesday: "We are proud to announce a world class and effortless ticketing experience which sets a benchmark in secure electronic ticketing experience."
RCA plans to introduce e-ticketing for future events as well.
Cairo, Nov. 1 (IndianMuslims.info) In a new round of arbitrary arrests, the Egyptian government has expanded its crackdown against members of the Muslim Brotherhood. The government should immediately release all members of the nonviolent organization imprisoned in the government’s months-long campaign, Human Rights Watch said today.
Most recently, State Security forces on October 17 detained eight additional members of the organization from the Manufiyya governorate, north of Cairo. The arrests are the latest in a crackdown the government began in March against the Muslim Brotherhood, which – although officially banned – constitutes the country’s largest opposition group, with 88 out of 454 seats in Parliament.
Human Rights Watch has collected the names of 792 members of the organization who have been detained between March and mid-October. According to the Muslim Brotherhood, 62 remain in custody, 33 of them without charge under provisions of Egypt’s Emergency Law, which allows the government to indefinitely detain people without charge, trial or legal recourse. The other 29 are in prison on charges of “belonging to an illegal organization.�
“Once again, the Egyptian authorities are relying on illegitimate laws to imprison members of the political opposition,� said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.
Human Rights Watch welcomed the release on October 18 of Mahmud `Izzat, secretary-general of the Muslim Brotherhood and a member of the group’s Guidance Council.
“`Izzat’s release is good news,� said Whitson. “But the government had no business arresting him in the first place. Dozens of other Muslim Brotherhood members remain jailed without any justification whatsoever.�
Article 86(bis) of Egypt’s Penal Code criminalizes membership in an organization that “impairs the national unity or social peace.� Such broad definitions invite abuse. As a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Egypt has undertaken to uphold the right to freedom of association. Article 22 of the covenant specifies that the only permissible exceptions to this right are those “which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order, the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights of others.� These exceptions are narrowly framed, and the burden of demonstrating their needs in specific cases rests with the state. The internationally recognized right to freedom of association requires that the state justify the banning of an organization by showing that this extreme measure is necessary to achieve a specific and legitimate purpose within one of the enumerated exceptions.
The Egyptian government has never convincingly justified its continued categorization of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has renounced violence since the 1970s, as an illegal organization. But the authorities still use its illegality as the pretext for arresting its members.
“The Muslim Brotherhood’s members, and members of any other peaceful political organization in Egypt, have the right to associate freely,� Whitson said. “The Muslim Brotherhood should not be banned, and its members should be freed.�
The government also relies on its broad powers of detention under the Emergency Law to imprison people without charge, in some cases for years, in violation of its international treaty commitments. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights holds that: “No one shall be subject to arbitrary arrest or detention,� that “anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of his arrest, of the reasons for his arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against him,� and guarantees the right to a trial.
Moreover, Egypt is a party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, whose provisions may not be suspended even in a state of emergency. The African Charter guarantees that, “no one may be arbitrarily arrested or detained.�
“A state of emergency that has been in effect for 25 years is no longer an emergency,� Whitson said. “The government uses its emergency law as a flimsy justification to suspend rights permanently.�
Brussels, Nov 1 (IRNA) The European Commission decided Tuesday to grant 2.5 million euro in emergency humanitarian aid for victims affected by severe drought in Afghanistan.
Access to food and clean water supplies, as well as food security will be improved for the most vulnerable populations, with a particular focus on disabled persons and female headed households, said the Commission in a statement.
Significantly less snowfall in the last winter and the failure of rains in much of Afghanistan during the critical spring season have caused severe drought throughout the country.
There has been a considerable reduction in the yield of wheat this year and many households have experienced food and water shortages. An estimated 2.5 million people are facing difficult living conditions.
Projects will be implemented by the EU's operational partners, such as Non-Governmental Organisations already working in the field.
Since 2004, the European Commission has allocated a total of 77 million euro in humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.
Suva (Fiji), Nov 1 (IANS) Fiji's Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase stated Wednesday that he would not resign in the face of the Fijian military's demand for his ouster.
"I declare emphatically that there is absolutely no question of me resigning in response to the current situation, or of my government stepping down," he said.
Qarase's statement came even as New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clarke called for the resignation of Fiji army chief Frank Bainimarama.
Bainimarama had Oct 17 given Qarase's Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL)-led coalition government three weeks' time to resign.
Bainimarama is opposing two proposed pieces of legislation that the ruling coalition, which includes the Indo-Fijian-dominated Fiji Labour Party (FLP), is planning to implement.
The first is a proposed legislation that aims to give amnesty to the plotters of the George Speight-led 2000 coup in this Pacific island nation, which saw the ouster of Indo-Fijian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry's government after a year in power.
Bainimarama had then led a counter-coup to neutralise Speight's putsch and later served as head of the interim military government before handing over power to the then newly appointed President Ratu Josefa Iloilo.
Bainimarama was also responsible for the rise to power of Qarase's government but the two have not seen eye to eye ever since this new proposed legislation showing leniency to the 2000 coup plotters came into the news.
The second legislation is the proposed Qoliqoli Bill, which the SDL-led is planning to bring into effect. The term Qoliqoli refers to the traditional fishing rights.
The bill proposes to return the control of the traditional fishing grounds from the government to the native owners. But many believe that the new bill will further affect Fiji's already beleaguered tourism industry.
On Wednesday, Qarase said that he was willing to have further dialogue with Fiji's military rulers while reiterating that his government, which had come to power in May this year, had the constitutional authority and the people's mandate to rule for the next five years.
According to a report in fijilive.com, Qarase also said there would be dire consequences for Fiji if an elected Government was overthrown.
He said the tourism industry, which is the country's biggest direct employer and earner of foreign exchange, would be severely damaged.
In a statement from Wellington, New Zealand Prime Minister Clarke said that Bainimarama has set himself up as a self-styled defender of the constitution, but is undercutting his own stance by failing to follow the very law he is standing for
Meanwhile, Bainirama, who is on a tour of Iraq, has again reiterated his demand for Qarase's ouster.
He said that his outburst against the government was not only due to the contentious Bills but also because of corruption.
"They have to be removed," he told fijilive.com.
Fiji has been witness to three coups and a mutiny since 1987. Ethnic Indians comprise 38 percent of the country's population of over 900,000.
Wellington, Nov 1 (DPA) Amid rumours that the government in Fiji was planning to resign in a standoff with the military, reports from the capital Suva Wednesday said Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase was poised to address the nation after failing in a bid to oust the head of the military, Commodore Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama.
The military chief has long been at odds with Qarase's government over proposed legislation that would free indigenous Fijian nationalists convicted of overthrowing the administration headed by ethnic Indian Mahendra Chaudhry in May 2000.
It was the third coup in the racially divided island nation of about 800,000 people since 1987 and the military chief has accused the Qarase government of risking further conflict by favouring indigenous Fijians over the ethnic Indian minority.
Qarase was reported on the Fijilive website to have threatened to resign if President Josef Iloilo did not sack Bainimarama, who is visiting his troops in the Middle East and is not expected to return to Fiji until Nov 8.
Bainimarama kept his job Tuesday when the army officer the government nominated to replace him declined, saying he could not command the support of the whole military, according to reports from Suva.
Bainimarama was reported on Fijilive as saying, "Now that they have failed to remove me all that needs to be done is for the government to resign gracefully."
"If it does not happen, the military does not want any violence," he said.
The United States joined New Zealand and Australia in calling on Bainimarama and his troops to respect Fiji's democratically elected multi-party government and not plunge the island state into its fourth coup in the last 20 years.
Neighbouring countries including New Zealand and Australia have made preparations to evacuate their citizens from the Pacific island state.
New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) Films are a mirror to society, but Hindi cinema has deliberately refused to portray partition, which led to communal violence, bloodshed and widespread destruction in India and Pakistan, said noted film scholar Ira Bhaskar.
There are only a few exceptions like "Garam Hawa", "Veer Zaara" or "Dharmaputra", Bhaskar said at a lecture on 'The Persistence of Memory: Historical Trauma and Imagining the Community in Indian Cinema' Tuesday night.
"The work on partition really began after 1984. Before that, there were novel, short stories but there wasn't any sustained discussion on these issues in films," said the associate professor of arts and aesthetics at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) University.
She divides work on partition in Indian cinema into three parts. The first from 1947 to 1962 - 15 years after the partition; the second in the 1970s; and third in the 1990s - after the demolition of the Babri Masjid.
Referring to the first period, she said: "If you look at this period, there are few films that mentioned partition. The narratives common at that time were the narratives of migration, especially about abducted women and their recovery."
Bhaskar said the first film on partition was "Dharamputra" in 1961.
"Yash Chopra's 'Dharamputra' addressed the communal crisis. The film looks at the other side of the picture - the role of Hindu fundamentalists in partition. It was a solid critique of Hindu fundamentalism and that's why it was very radical for its time."
"The second period of the representation of the partition is the period when new wave cinema came in, that is in the 1970s - it dealt with repressed issues in society - partition and communal conflict was among them."
According to Bhaskar, the second phase was motivated by the growing concern of communalism seen in M.S. Sathyu's "Garam Hawa" and Govind Nihalani's television serial "Tamas".
"'Garam Hawa' is about the pressure on the Muslim community to leave India - it portrayed the struggle for employment and equal opportunity for those Muslims who decided to stay back.
"'Tamas' is interesting because it has double history - history of the 1971 Bhiwandi riots and the partition. The film also shows Bhisham Sahni's own connection with the two and Govind Nihalani's association with the next round of Bhiwandi riots in 1984. Bhisham Sahni wrote 'Tamas' after visiting Bhiwandi during the riots because it brought back memories of partition."
The third phase is after the demolition of Babri Masjid, said Bhaskar, who talked about Shyam Benegal's "Mammo" and J.P. Dutta's "Refugee".
"'Mammo' is a film that redefines the notion of home. For Mammo, her home is where her sister is but she is not allowed to stay. The film also questions the notion of nationality."
Bhaskar also mentioned Chopra's "Veer-Zaara" and said: "It is an interesting example of returning to those concerns. The film has deep emotional investment in reconciliation in bringing two conflicting nations together."
She said that some of these narratives were melodramatic because it enables in expressing a certain kind of repressed experience.
"Melodrama is a mould of intense subjective emotion. It gives voice to the inner silence. Melodrama is also sensation-oriented and enables the depiction of violence."
Bhaskar said the melodramatic form has tried to push audiences to the extreme limit of horror and revulsion, especially post 1992.
Commenting on Pakistani films, she said there was only one film "Kartar Singh" which talked about partition.
"It is so because in Pakistan, partition is not looked upon as a curse," she said.
Bhaskar added: "These films are not a solution to the growing problems of fundamentalism but express a desire to solve them. I think these desires need to be taken seriously. Popular cinema is one way these desires are given space and are recognised."
New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) A Norwegian minister accompanying Crown Prince Hakoon said Wednesday that the Geneva peace talks between Colombo and the Tamil Tigers was successful despite their inconclusive ending.
"The talks in Geneva (Oct 28-29) were quite successful. Now it is up to the parties to show restraint," Vice Foreign Minister Raymond Johansen told a press conference, referring to the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
"We are prepared to continue with our efforts. The Geneva meet was a success. Now we have to see the developments on the ground."
The Crown Prince is visiting India to promote economic and cultural ties between India and Norway.
Chandigarh, Nov 1 (IANS) Hotmail founder Sabeer Bhatia Wednesday signed an agreement with the Haryana government to jointly set up Nano City, a knowledge hub modelled on the Silicon Valley of the US, at a cost of Rs.18.5 billion ($412 million).
Bhatia's Nano Works Developers and the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corp (HSIIDC) will set up the project that will be spread over 11,000 acres in Panchkula district, about 45 km from state capital Chandigarh.
Bhatia said he wanted to set up Nano City on the lines of the Silicon Valley in the US - where he worked in the 1990s and founded the first free e-mail service - Hotmail.
He said India had provided people for the world's software industry and it was now time for the country to develop products and technologies for the world market itself.
The knowledge city will deal in future technologies like nano-technology, biosciences, software product development, next generation Internet products, materials research and energy.
"We foresee research establishments such as US universities, research and development centres of companies, which have been the centres of innovation, to carry out multi-disciplinary research and collective research with Indian centres of excellence in this Nano City," Bhatia said.
The new knowledge park will have fully developed infrastructure, including connectivity to airports, railway stations and highways. It will be implemented in two phases with the first phase comprising 5,000 acres.
New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) A number of militant hideouts were busted and arms and ammunition recovered in a series of anti-insurgency operations conducted in Jammu and Kashmir and Manipur, it was announced here Wednesday.
A Rashtriya Rifles battalion located a cache of arms and ammunitions at Arangi in Jammu region of Kashmir Tuesday. In the joint operation conducted with the Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police and the Special Task Force, one AK-47, four pistols, one revolver, three radio sets and 10 kg of explosives was recovered, a defence ministry statement said.
Another Rashtriya Rifles battalion also recovered a cache of arms and ammunition at Handwagan near Banihal that included one universal machine gun, three under barrel grenade launchers and a large quantity of ammunition and explosives.
In Manipur, an Assam Rifles battalion at Tangpichang in Churachandpur district recovered one universal machine gun, a pistol and 10 kg of explosives, the statement said.
New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) Wednesday achieved a milestone as it exported its 300,000th Santro car to the overseas market.
Santro is called "Atos Prime" in the markets of Europe, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.
"Today Hyundai has become synonymous with quality craftsmanship and Hyundai brands have become very popular both in India and the overseas markets. The export of 300,000 cars is an ample proof of that," said H.S Lheem, managing director, HMIL.
HMIL is the second largest and the fastest growing car manufacturer in India.
"Hyundai is currently India's largest exporter in the automobile industry, and we are extremely keen to maintain our competitiveness in this sphere. Our recent investment plans are in line with this and the need to make India the global hub for Hyundai's small car," Lheem added.
Recently, with the launch of its sedan Verna, the company announced plans to set up a second plant in Chennai, which will produce 300,000 units per annum, raising HMIL's total production capacity to 600,000 per annum by 2007.
HMIL will also increase its dealer network from 162 to 200 this year, an indication of the growth of the company in India where car sales registered a 7.55 percent growth in the past year.
London, Nov 1 (IANS) India is an "important partner" for Britain, Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said Wednesday ahead of her visit to New Delhi, adding that she looked forward to discussing cooperation on global issues with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"I am absolutely delighted to be visiting India. India is an important partner for the UK as we both work together to address the global challenges that face the world today," Beckett said. She is visiting India for the first time since becoming foreign secretary this year.
"Issues such as counter-terrorism and climate change can only be addressed successfully if all the key international players work together. Our bilateral relationship is underpinned by solid economic and people-to-people links.
"In Delhi I look forward to discussing our cooperation on dealing with global challenges with the Indian prime minister, the new foreign minister (Pranab Mukherjee) and other senior members of the government. I will give a public address on how we can work together to tackle the impact of climate change," Beckett said.
Her week-long visit is also expected to further boost economic ties between the two countries.
"Cumulatively the UK is the third largest investor in India and India leapt last year from being the eighth to the third largest investor in the UK. Over one million people travel between the two countries every year, and our large British Indian community is one of the most successful in the UK. As our two prime ministers agreed, the relationship has never been better," the foreign secretary said.
"I look forward to travelling to Hyderabad and Mumbai to look at development work and the growing business links between the two countries," she added.
Britain is the third biggest inward investor in India (cumulatively since 1991). Top sectors for British investment in India include power, oil and gas, telecom and service industries. Two-way trade of goods and services between India and Britain has doubled since 1993.
Britain is India's fourth largest trading partner.
Officials said that Britain's exports to India were $7 billion in 2005, 50 percent greater than in 2000. India is one of Britain's largest export markets in the developing world and accounts for 80.4 percent (2,813 million pound) of the total exports to the South Asia region
In 2005-06, Indian investments in Britain rose by 110 percent, with India rising from No.8 to No.3 in Britain's investor chart. As many as 76 Indian companies set up units or expanded in Britain, creating 1,449 jobs and securing or saving a further 2,523 jobs.
Over 500 Indian firms are based in London, accounting for an estimated 30 percent of all foreign investment in the capital. Twenty Indian companies are listed on the London Stock Exchange with a combined market capitalisation of 1.98 billion pound.
The over 1 million British Indians in Britain are one of the most successful communities in this country. They constitute two percent of the population and produce between 4-5% of GDP.
Over 20,000 Indian students are currently studying here this year - the highest ever figure.
India is the biggest single country recipient of the Department for International Development (DFID) assistance: 250 million pound this year, rising to 300 million by 2008/09.
New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) India Tuesday dismissed Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri's remarks that the two countries were close to an agreement on the demilitarisation of Siachen.
"The terms on which an agreement can be reached (on Siachen), are well known to Pakistan," external affairs ministry spokesperson Navtej Sarna replied in response to a question.
Kasuri had said recently that India and Pakistan were close to an agreement on Siachen, known as the world's highest battlefield.
A day after Kasuri's remarks, Indian armed forces had said that the government had assured it that national security concerns will be safeguarded in any settlement.
Kasuri had said that back-channel talks had brought the two countries close to a breakthrough which may result in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visiting Pakistan as early as December.
When asked about the agenda of the foreign secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan, to be held here Nov 13-15, the spokesperson said it would provide an occasion for an overall view of the situation.
In response to a question, Sarna also clarified that India will share with Pakistan the evidence of the involvement of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) in the July 11 Mumbai bombings that killed at least 187 and injured hundreds.
Soon after assuming charge of the external affairs ministry, Pranab Mukherjee had said that Indian law enforcement agencies had evidence of the complicity of Pakistan in the Mumbai blasts and it will be shared with Islamabad.
New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) India's last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II may have lamented about not getting two yards of land for his burial, but the launch of a book on Zafar resurrected the poet-king and his brilliant court in all its glory.
Nearly 150 years after his death in exile in Rangoon (now called Yangon), Zafar, the emperor who preferred writing sad mystical poems to the rigours of statecraft, was toasted with ghazals, sufi singing and spirited drinking at the launch of William Dalrymple's "The Last Mughal" (published by Penguin/Viking) Tuesday evening.
Ironically, the venue chosen to celebrate the ageing emperor who surprisingly became the leader of the failed 1857 "revolt" against British rule, called the first war of independence by many Indian historians, was the British Council.
Much like Zafar's court peopled by the intellectual and artistic elite of the time, the musical evening saw an eclectic collection of the glitterati, literati and 15-second celebrities listening in hush as Dalrymple read out the extracts from his book evoking many moods of the emperor who became literally a prisoner in the Red Fort.
Dalrymple's reading, which exuded a rare empathy and affection for a vanished age, was punctuated with soulful recitation of Zafar's hauntingly melancholic verses by Mahmood Farooqui, writer and theatre enthusiast who helped Dalrymple translate into English "The Mutiny Papers" - the archival material written mostly in Urdu and Persian on which the author based his book.
And, yes, there was melodious singing by Radhika Chopra and spiritually exalting sufiana music by the famous Nizami Bandhu, who perform at the dargah of Nizamuddin Auliya, the 17th century sufi saint, every Thursday night.
This heady cocktail of music, poetry and history had the audience intoxicated, with some of them found dancing and singing in unison with the performers on the stage.
A celebrant of Sufism and the syncretic way of life, Dalrymple's book tells the story of the last days of the Mughal empire through the eyes of a diverse cast of characters including poets, courtesans, eunuchs and shopkeepers.
Dalrymple's masterly narrative manages to arouse sympathy for the aesthete king who collected some of the most brilliant scholars, musicians and artists in his court, but died a broken man in exile in Rangoon. In a curious posthumous reversal of fortunes, Zafar is now revered as a saint in Myanmar.
The real hero of The Last Mughal is, however, Delhi, the city that has hosted a hundred cultures and mutinies over the centuries. Dalyrymple's deep love for all things Indian and Delhi - "a profoundly self-confident place, quite at ease with its own brilliance and the superiority of its tahzib" - comes through in this imaginative history of the sunset of the once-glorious empire.
New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) Maintaining that his ongoing India visit has been "very rewarding", Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon Wednesday hoped the cooperation between the two countries would increase in the economic and cultural spheres.
"There is very good cooperation between our countries and there is scope for increasing this further. I would like to see this happening in the years to come," Hakoon said at a press conference at the Norwegian Embassy, with his wife Mette-Marit by his side. The interaction, a stand-up affair, took place on the lush green lawns of the mission.
The royal couple arrived here Wednesday after spending two days in Mumbai.
"It has been very rewarding," the crown prince noted of his meetings in India's commercial capital, specifically mentioning areas like energy, oil and gas exploration, shipping, cinema and tourism where there was scope for further expanding ties.
In this context, he noted that Indian shipyards were building vessels for Norwegian companies and vice versa and that a large number of Indians were serving on Norwegian merchant navy vessels.
On the cultural front he hoped for great synergy between the film industries of the two countries. "There is great scope for cooperation between our movie industries both in the areas of pre and post-production," he said.
The royal couple is visiting India at the invitation of Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. The programme for their visit includes several cultural and business-related seminars, as well as visits to important landmarks and institutions.
Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry Dag Terje Anderson, Minister of Petroleum and Energy Odd Roger Enoksen and Vice Foreign Minister Raymond Johansen, as well as a group of 125 business delegates and 20 media representatives are accompanying the royal couple.
Haakon and his wife will be visiting a HIV/AIDS treatment clinic here and a primary health centre in Rajasthan before returning home Nov 4.
India-Norway bilateral trade touched $413 million ($18 billion) in 2005, an increase of 30 percent over the previous year.
King Harald and Queen Sonja had visited India in 1986 as crown prince and crown princess.
By Arun Anand,
Helsinki, Nov 1 (IANS) Alisha Hasan, 18, is quite unlike other teenagers in Finland, not because she was born in India and is a member of the small Indian community here. She will be one of the youngest candidates contesting Finland's parliamentary polls next year.
"I will be contesting polls from Helsinki. I am hopeful of being backed by one of the prominent political parties. I think I can win if I can get a good campaign manager," Hasan told a visiting IANS correspondent.
"I am trying to raise funds needed to contest the polls, and the response so far has been quite encouraging. I have already started my campaign," she added.
Incidentally, politics is not the only passion this teenager has. "I am already a film director. Last year I directed a Finnish film. I am working on another project," Alisha said.
Alisha's father, Najmal Hasan, who teaches business management in the University of Tampere here, is quite supportive of her daughter.
"If she wants to join politics, it is her choice. I think this is another way of contributing towards the welfare of society," Najmal told IANS.
"Our community is so small; there are not many people here who speak for us. It will help if people of Indian origin can raise our concerns at appropriate forums," added Najmal, who migrated from India to England and then to Finland a couple of decades ago.
Alisha, however, lets out that her father was initially reluctant to allow her to join politics. "But I was quite sure what I wanted to do."
Interestingly, while pursuing her political career, she wants to continue her studies also. "If I get time, I would like to study further about filmmaking," Alisha said.
Paul Naresh, a family friend and a prominent hotelier of Helsinki, feels Alisha's bid for the Finnish parliament should be seen in a larger perspective.
Naresh, who originally belonged to Punjab, says: "Young people like Alisha can help build new bridges between India and Finland. Unlike many other countries, very few Indians are here. There are about 500 Indian families in Finland."
"There is a lot of focus on Asia, and especially India, in this part of the world. But there is not much information about the country available here. There is a need to fill this gap. I am trying to educate myself more about India so that I can help fill this gap," Alisha says.
Alisha's political agenda is, however, clear.
"The tax rates here are quite high. They need to be rationalised. I would take up this issue strongly during my campaign - and in parliament if I get elected."
By Vishnu Makhijani,
Bumla (Arunachal Pradesh), Nov 1 (IANS) Away from the media glare, Indian and Chinese army officers have been holding biannual meetings inside each other's territory since 1999 to maintain peace and tranquillity on their disputed frontier, even as the two nations move to improve their strategic, political, economic and cultural ties.
India and China had fought a bitter border war 44 years ago and there have been stray incidents after that - the last being in 1986. The border has been quiet for more than two decades now and the intention of the Border Personnel Meetings (BPMs) - as these meetings are known in official jargon - is to ensure it stays that way.
"This is a big step in the CBMs (confidence building measures) between the two countries. Maybe in the future, this methodology could be adopted to resolve all disputes between India and China," Brigadier Sanjay Kulkarni, who Monday led the six-member Indian Army delegation to the BPM - 50 metres inside Chinese territory - at this mountain pass on the Line of Actual Control (LAC), told reporters after the event.
Kulkarni commands the Indian Army's 190 Mountain Brigade that is responsible for guarding an approximately 60-km stretch of the LAC in the Bumla sector. The pass is located at a height of 15,600 feet and temperatures can plunge to -30 degrees Celsius at the height of winter.
The BPMs began in 1999 as a follow-up to the Border Peace and Tranquillity Agreement India and China signed in 1993 and the CBMs agreed to in 1997. The meetings are held May 30 and Oct 30, with the first one 50 metres inside Indian territory from the LAC and the other in Chinese territory.
In addition, BPMs are held on India's Independence Day Aug 15 and Chinese National Day Oct 1. These, however, are more cultural in nature unlike the two others, where agenda items on maintaining border tranquillity are discussed.
The choice of Bumla for the BPMs could not be more appropriate. The pass was one of the principal invasion routes of the Chinese in 1962 as wave upon wave of People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops surged past the weak Indian defences and penetrated over 250 km into Assam state. They stopped just 60 km short of Tezpur, headquarters of the army's 4 Corps that was tasked with guarding the entire border with China.
Monday's BPM acquired additional importance as it came ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao's India visit beginning Nov 20. The year is also being celebrated as the India-China Friendship Year.
Just how important Monday's meeting was can be gauged from the fact that the Chinese delegation leader, Colonel Li Ming An, immediately agreed to locate and repatriate an Indian shepherd who had inadvertently strayed across the border.
"The Chinese side promised to do their utmost to locate the grazier and subsequently repatriate him," Kulkarni pointed out.
Earlier this year, the Chinese had returned an official of the Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau (SIB) who had mistakenly crossed the border.
There was much bonhomie at the BPM, with Indian and Chinese soldiers freely intermingling, getting photographed and trying to exchange currency or sell cigarettes. The Indian officers, however, maintained a discreet distance.
Inside a tent the Chinese had erected for the occasion, the two delegation leaders "commented upon the good relations and the growing friendship between the two great nations in the year gone by," Kulkarni said.
This was followed by a lunch at which the Indian delegation was treated to a wide array of Chinese dishes and a mild cedar-based wine.
After lunch, the two delegations assembled for the closing address "wherein commitment to maintain peace and tranquillity along the borders was reiterated," Kulkarni stated.
The event concluded with the exchange of gifts and a photo opportunity at which the two delegations interlinked their hands and raised them in the air, smiling broadly all the time.
"I am very happy to say that things have gone extremely well. Both sides want to maintain peace and tranquillity on the border," Kulkarni maintained.
This does not mean the Indian Army has dropped its guard - but there are visible differences.
"We make sure the arms we carry are not visible to the Chinese troops. At the same time, we maintain a constant vigil from our observation posts and in this, we are at an advantage since we occupy the heights," explained Colonel Shailendra Singh, who was also a member of the Indian delegation at Monday's BPM.
Singh commands the 12th battalion of the Rajputana Rifles, which guards a 15-km section of the LAC in the Bumla sector.
"We also send out regular patrols come wind, rain, snow or shine," Singh added. Then, "we avoid confrontation", explained Colonel R.K. Chhabra of 4 Corps.
What this means is that if patrols of the two sides come face-to-face, both immediately turn away.
And, as part of the 1997 agreement, no military exercise involving more than one division (10,000 troops) is to be conducted in close proximity of the LAC. "If such exercises are to be conducted, the strategic direction of the main force shall not be toward the other side," says Article 4 (a) of the agreement.
In addition, no combat aircraft of either side can fly within 10 km of the LAC, but unarmed transport aircraft, survey aircraft and helicopters can fly up to the frontier.
All this has contributed to the peace and tranquillity that now prevails.
New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) By encouraging women to go to hospitals for deliveries, India has managed to reduce maternal mortality from 398 per 100,000 births in 1997-98 to 301 in 2002-03, according to a new report released Tuesday.
"The maternal mortality rate (MMR) has come down to 301 in 2002-03 as against 398 in 1997-98 and 327 in 1999-01," Health Secretary P.K. Hota, who released the findings of a survey conducted by the Registrar General of India, said.
The Report on 'Maternal Mortality in India: 1997-2003 - Trends, Causes and Risk Factors' is based on direct estimates. The data was collected from the largest nationally representative demographic sample survey - Sample Registration System - popularly known as SRS.
A total of 4,484 maternal deaths from among 1.3 million births to 14.4 million females aged between 15 and 49 years were investigated during 1997-2003, an official statement said.
Based on about 26 million births in 2004, nearly 78,000 maternal deaths are estimated in India in that year.
"In a country of the size of India, levels of maternal mortality vary greatly across regions due to variations in underlying access to emergency obstetrical care, prenatal care, anaemia rates among women, education levels of women and other factors," states the report.
The leading causes of maternal death have been haemorrhage (38 percent) sepsis (11 percent) and abortion (8 percent).
While the national average of MMR has come down, seven states, including Karnataka, are performing very poorly. Uttar Pradesh leads in avoidable deaths during childbirth.
Uttar Pradesh (517), Assam (490), Rajasthan (445), Madhya Pradesh (379), Bihar (371) and Orissa (368) with MMR ranging between 517 and 358 still remain a cause of concern, said Hota.
Surprisingly, Karnataka with 228 MMR is also performing poorly, said Hota, who retires Tuesday.
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Haryana and Gujarat are among better performing states in care expectant mothers.
As in the case of childbirths, India has managed to reduce rate of infant mortality from 80 per 100,000 live births in 1990-91 to 58 per 100,000 live births in 2004.
To further improve care of expectant mothers and prevent infant mortality, Hota said additional incentives. "Expectant mothers opting for institutional delivery will be given Rs.2,000 at the time of child birth," Hota said.
In the villages, where the government is training young women known as ASHAS to provide help to people and act as the link between health care centres and patients, the incentive is being provided through them. This includes funds for transportation to the hospital.
The health secretary revealed that incentives given to men and women opting for sterilisation is also being enhanced to Rs.800 to encourage people to have spaced out children and small families.
Shahr-e Kord, Chaharmahal Bakhtiari Prov, Nov 1 (IRNA) Under a scheme to encourage more tourists to visit the country, a tourism official in this western province on Tuesday announced that visas may now be issued through the Internet starting Tuesday (today).
Iran Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO) Deputy Mohammad-Sharif Malekzadeh told IRNA on the sidelines of a local gathering here that tourists from any country of the world may now apply for and receive visas to enter Iran via the Internet.
He said that the process of visa issuance will be carry out through an Internet site recently opened.
Malekzadeh said the scheme has been made possible through a clear order of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who last month invited foreigners to come and see Iran's nuclear sites.
Nuclear tours are now part of the country's tourist attraction program and foreign scientists, elites and intellectuals can visit these sites anywhere in the country anytime, said the official.
He added that various foreign groups, including a group of British tourists, have so far announced their desire to joint tours to Iran's nuclear facilities.
Malekzadeh said that the number of tourists visiting the country had remarkably increased in the first two quarters of the current Iranian year (started March 20, 2006) compared with the figure in the same period last year.
He further informed that the ICHHTO has decided to provide financial rewards to domestic travel agencies which attract the most number of foreign tourists, saying his organization would pay 10 US dollars for each Asian tourist and 20 US dollars for each tourist from Europe or the US brought into the country.
He moreover said that the organization has also decided to operate joint tourist companies with countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey to promote regional tourism.
Tehran, Nov 1 (IRNA) The US anti-Iran allegations on arms shipment to Lebanon in contravention of the arms sanctions is baseless, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said on Tuesday.
He said that the allegations aim to deviate public opinion from violation of the UN resolution 1701 by Israel and the current violations of Lebanon's air space.
"Washington has no way to remove the negative effects it has suffered from the public opinion for its support for Israeli 33-day aggressions on Lebanon's territory."
The US envoy in the UN should address American warmongers, because world history witnesses their criminal background in Lebanon and Palestine, he noted.
The spokesman added that the world public opinion overwhelmingly calls for termination of the US unconditional supports for the Zionist regime to end its six-decade crimes, massacre, injustice and instability in the region.
By Dharam Shourie
United Nations, Nov 1 (PTI) The International Atomic Energy Agency has expressed "serious concern" over Iran's failure to satisfy the watchdog that its atomic programme is meant for peaceful purposes and asked it to show transparency.
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly yesterday, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohamed Elbaradei said the agency has not been able to make progress on resolving the outstanding issues which require "certain transparency" measures on the part of Iran.
But he expressed hope that dialogue between Iran and its European and other partners would help achieve a "comprehensive settlement" which would supplement the agency's verification efforts to address questions about the nature of the programme and also help address Iran's security and other concerns.
Iran has rejected a Security Council demand to suspend its uranium enrichment programme and IAEA's inspectors are no longer welcomed in the country.
Tehran insists that its programme is for peaceful purposes but Western powers suspect the country is gearing towards weapons development programme.
The Council members are now weighing the option of imposing sanctions on Iran for defying the Council but there are still sharp differences on the extent to which they should go.
Buenos Aires, Nov 1 (DPA) Argentine football is currently suffering a worrying wave of violence. Numerous clashes have been reported in recent months and games are suspended on a weekly basis before or after their scheduled start.
At least 16 people were arrested Sunday after followers of Newell's Old Boys clashed with police during and after the local derby in Rosario, the third-largest city in Argentine. Rosario Central won the game 4-1.
A week earlier the match between Racing and Boca Juniors was cancelled for security reasons, after a judge decided that known hooligans "Barrabravas" cannot legally be denied access to the stadium.
A short summary of recent violence indicates that the list is much longer. On Sept 16 a game between Colon and Velez Sarsfield was suspended after 42 minutes after an assistant referee was hit by an object that was thrown from the stands.
The Argentine daily La Nacion estimated that there are acts of vandalism every 2.65 days, and the most feared Barrabravas are those of Boca Juniors, River Plate, Newell's Old Boys and Rosario Central.
Unlike England, twice world champion Argentina has not succeeded in putting an end to violence.
Sociologist Pablo Alabarces said in an article in the daily Clarin that this is due not so much to an inability to act than to unwillingness by the relevant authorities - including the national federation AFA.
"Nothing has happened and nothing will happen," Alabarces predicted.
Participants at a recent televised debate came to a similarly pessimistic conclusion. They accused both the justice system and the clubs themselves of complicity with hooligans, and claimed that the work of judges who want to curb violence is hindered.
The actions of the police in the fight against violence in and outside stadiums are also questioned.
Alabarces went as far as to claim that they are "real experts in inducing and not preventing incidents".
Indeed, many fans claim that the police uses indiscriminate force against normal spectators while those who pull the strings of violence generally get out unscathed.
Alabarces claimed that there are dubious traditional ties - of a business nature, among other aspects - between Barrabravas and certain sectors of Argentine politics, although no one wants to admit it officially.
At the limit, powerful politicians allegedly pay for "security services" either with funds or with protection, even in drug-trafficking deals.
By Sauvik Chakraverti
The Islamophobia that is gripping the world today does not seek to understand the liberalism inherent in the Muslim way of life: Prophet Muhammad, who was once a trader, said, "He who makes money pleases Allah".
Islam is perfectly compatible with a free market economy because the body of rules that a Muslim must live by includes a specific recognition of private and individual rights to property, as also rules about 'unjust profit' (riba).
Today, there are a number of Islamic scholars who, having tasted socialism and secularism, as in Turkey and Egypt, have painstakingly unearthed the tenets of Islam that enjoin upon Muslims to seek survival in a free-trading civilisation.
They see religion and the moral virtues that arise from it as an essential component of civil society, and they believe that if the liberal aspects of Islam are emphasised, Islamic nations will do far better than they are doing now.
Some of them, like Atilla Yayla and Imad Ahmad, have harked back to the writings of Ibn Khaldun, a mediaeval Islamic scholar, in order to attest Islam's liberal credentials in economic matters. We have only to look at the life of the Prophet to know that these modern liberal interpretations of Islam are right.
The Prophet and his wife Khadija were both traders. Mecca and Medina were cities of traders and merchants, both with long histories of open trade. The Prophet's first followers were traders, and the religion was spread mainly by traders as along the western coast of India, from Gujarat to Kerala.
The idea that Islam was spread by the sword is false. For a long while, when Europe was in its Dark Ages, it was the Islamic world that was at the leading edge of civilisation. Ibn Batutah writes of Islam having spread from across North Africa to India and even China. The leading lights of astronomy, alchemy, medicine and surgery then were all Muslims.
It should be fairly obvious that the success of such a large and diverse group of people could only have come about because the rules that guided their behaviour were in harmony with the natural world.
Just as England's leap from feudalism to modern capitalism has been attributed to common law, which protected private property and enforced contracts, so too must the mediaeval success of Islam be attributed to its 'rules of just conduct' that enabled diverse peoples to freely trade with each other and prosper.
Of course, England escaped from the Church's prohibition of usury, which allowed banking to develop; many Islamic nations are yet to do so, although all Muslim traders must be buying or selling on credit. In some areas new rules must emerge to deal with previously unknown economic conditions.
If we look at the core values that guided early Muslims, we find 'justice' (adl) to be supreme. The English people too were guided by exactly the same value throughout the long history of common law. Thus, a Muslim ruler is under all the same laws that govern his Muslim subjects.
This notion of a ruler being 'bound by laws that he did not legislate' is quite similar to the doctrine of 'sovereignty of law' that guided mediaeval, feudal Christendom. It is only when the ruler is thus limited that civil society can emerge.
Islam does not believe in totalitarianism and is completely at home with a large, happy and prosperous civil society surviving through a free market economy.
The Islamic conception of knowledge does not endorse any single authority, but sees progress and adjustment coming out of the debates between scholars, the ilm. The Prophet, an unlettered man, appreciated knowledge full well: He enjoined upon all Muslims to seek know-ledge even if it meant going to China.
The idea that knowledge is 'fragmented' is a very Islamic one. Thus, as with common law, Islamic law is also expected to progress through piecemeal change wrought by competing scholars, judges and lawyers. Central economic planning and centralised legislation are both un-Islamic.
The Prophet said that "the only way to determine the just price is by hard bargaining" indicating that the price mechanism, upon which a free economy is based, should be free from government interference. All these are evidence of the fact that Muslims can easily remain Muslim and participate meaningfully as well as peacefully in the globalising world economy that is slowly emerging.
The writer is an economist.
Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-261927,curpg-3.cms
New York, Nov 1 (IANS) The Indian American Kerala Cultural and Civic Center, a non-profit body, will honour six Indian American Malayalis and an American for outstanding achievement in their respective fields.
The awards cover areas ranging from community service and education to medicine and media. The winners are: K.P. Ananthpadmanabhan, George Abraham, T.S. Dharmarajan, Samual Easo, Ajay Menon and Prathibha Varkey, and John B. Pessala, the sole American.
Ananthpadmanabhan, an IIT graduate with Unilever in Connecticut, was recognised for his contribution to surfactant-polymer physical chemistry and physiology of skin cleansing. He gets the award under the applied sciences category.
Abraham, posted in the US by the Kerala government's non-resident Keralites affairs department, gets the award for community service. In 2003, he took to Kerala 23 medical professionals to assist the needy in the state.
In medicine, Dharmarajan, chairman of the department of medicine of Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center, New York, was picked for his contribution in developing a 70-bed geriatric medicine programme with strong clinical, academic and research components.
Samual Easo (Sunil), Asianet TV's director of production and marketing in North America, gets the award for launching and popularizing Asianet TV in the US.
Ajay Menon, dean of the College of Business at Colorado State University, was recgonised for his work in education. He forged partnerships with several influential Colorado companies.
Pessala, an American citizen, has been selected for his contribution in the area of public service.
Varkey, assistant professor of preventive medicine and internal medicine at Mayo Clinic, gets a special recognition for her contribution to curricular reform in undergraduate and graduate education.
The awards will be presented at Kerala Center's annual banquet Nov 11 in Fairfax, New York.
Vijay Nambiar, special advisor to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and former permanent representative of India to the UN, will be the chief guest at the function, according to a press release.
The Indian American Kerala Cultural and Civic Center was formed in 1990. Since then the center has become a focal point to coordinate activities and services to the Indian American Kerala community.
The center provides facilities for religious activities and includes people of all faiths.
By Fakir Balaji,
Bangalore, Nov 1 (IANS) The tiny island nation of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea has invited Indian technology firms to set up near-shore facilities to serve European and North African markets.
As a member of the European Union (EU), Malta has given priority to the development of the information and communication technology (ICT) sector, with a host of incentives and investor-friendly policies to attract foreign investments.
"Being geographically located closer to European and North African countries, Malta can be an ideal destination for Indian IT and ITES firms to set up near-shore facilities for serving their customers in the region," Sullivan Mediterranean Group (SMG) managing director George E. Sullivan told IANS here.
A delegation from the business advisory services division of SMG, which provides consultancy to the Maltese government for promoting the ICT sector, has come calling in India's silicon hub to participate in the Bangalore IT.in event and interact with technology firms here.
To attract overseas investments in the knowledge sector, Malta is offering a package of incentives such as reduced rates of income tax (five percent) on company profits, tax credits up to 65 percent on capital expenditure, low-interest loans and up to 80 percent financial assistance for training employees.
"We are showcasing our offerings to the Indian IT/ITES firms, especially in the SME sector having presence in Europe or planning to explore the North African region. We have met officials of Wipro and other IT firms in Bangalore to hardsell Malta as their next investment destination," Sullivan said.
Ranked 19th among the 102 developing countries by the World Economic Forum, Malta is considered one of Europe's profitable investment locations. Economic and commercial linkages between northern and southern countries of the Mediterranean make Malta an ideal base for the growth of the ICT sector.
"With English as the language of the business community, Malatese employees are known for their adaptability, flexibility and integrity. Wages and social costs average around a third of Britain," Sullivan pointed out.
Incidentally, Tecom Investments of Dubai, which has built the Dubai Internet City, is constructing a Smart City in Malta's capital Valetta to house global firms in the knowledge sector. To become operational by 2008, the Smart City will create jobs for about 5,600 people under one roof.
Global IT majors Microsoft, IBM and HP have already set shop in Malta, working with the government on various projects in the ICT arena. The projects include e-learning facility, training for high school and college students and e-payment gateway.
"We recognise a sound IT and telecom infrastructure will drive the economic development of our island nation. With a compact population (400,000) and sound educational system, we generate a skilled workforce for the ICT industry," Sullivan added.
Besides quality power, modern transport, wide roads and air connectivity, Malta boasts of digital networks and large bandwidth through satellite technology and high capacity fibre-optics, linking several European countries with wireless Internet and VoIP services.
Currently, about 200 IT firms employ about 6,000 techies in Malta and in its sister island Gozo. Some of them provide second and third level support to many British firms. With a shared western culture and political democracy, Malta has legal institutions, accounting standards and trade practices similar to India and Britain.
Malta, which has a consulate with an honorary counsellor in Mumbai, is setting up an embassy in New Delhi by the end of the year following the scaling up of ties between the two countries.
By Syed Zarir Hussain,
Guwahati, Nov 1 (IANS) Security heads in India's northeast as well as West Bengal and Sikkim Wednesday called for a coordinated strategy to combat the twin threats of separatist insurgencies and Islamist terror in the region.
"There is need for an effective counter-insurgency operation having full synergy between all security forces to deal with the many insurgencies in the region, besides the serious threat from fundamentalist pan-Islamic groups," Assam police chief Dipak Narayan Dutt said.
Dutt was addressing a two-day conference of police chiefs of the seven northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh.
The meeting, which opened Wednesday in Assam's main city Guwahati, also saw participation of the police chiefs of West Bengal and Sikkim, besides top army, paramilitary, intelligence and home ministry officials.
"Smuggling of arms and explosives, narcotics and counterfeit currency notes is another area of serious concern," the Assam police chief said.
India's northeast, wedged between Bangladesh, Bhutan, China and Myanmar, is home to more than 30 odd rebel groups with demands ranging from secession to greater autonomy. More than 50,000 people have died in violence since 1947.
"The need of the hour is to have a joint approach among regional states to fight insurgency, besides sharing intelligence and other vital inputs," Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said inaugurating the meet.
Most rebel groups network among themselves in the northeast and take shelter in adjoining states to escape security offensives in their area of operation.
"If we are to make a dent in the insurgency front, it should have to be a joint fight rather than individual states trying to combat the problem," Assam's chief secretary S.K. Kabilan said.
At present different state governments in the region are dealing with insurgency without much coordination.
"The idea of this conference is to work out a comprehensive strategy to fight insurgency and other issues," Amod Kant, police chief of Arunachal Pradesh, told IANS.
The two-day meeting is expected to come up with a strategy where security forces in the states share intelligence inputs and jointly carry out offensives as and when required.
"Of late we have noticed that northeastern militant groups are using Sikkim and West Bengal as transit or to cool their heels. So we need better coordination with security forces in these two states," a home ministry official said.
By Aisha Khan
Self-help is the best help, goes an old saying. Poor Muslim women in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh are doing pretty much the same to bring happiness and prosperity in their lives. These women are supplementing their family income through the much hyped self-help group scheme and concept of micro-finance.
While the concept of self-help group has brought a revolution in rural West Godavari, Muslim women have gone a step further and set an example to other women of the district by earning record profit in buying and selling corn.
The poor illiterate women who do not know even elementary mathematical skills are now counting money in thousands, thanks to their efforts. Their group earned a net profit of 80,000 in just two months. Divided among its 20 members, each woman got around Rs. 4,000 as her share.
We are talking about the Muslim women’s self-help group in Chintalapudi gram panchayat in west Godavari district. This group purchased 14,850 quintal of corn from 232 farmers and sold it to the marketing federation for a commission.
“We are planning to buy more food grains especially paddy, from farmers and sell the same to the local market yard. The results have been encouraging this time. We hope to repeat the profits the coming season too,� said Naseema Begum, the president of the Muslim women’s self-help group.
Naseema’s self-help group deposited their savings with the state bank of India. The bank provided matching loan money. In the beginning they just started off with selling pesticides, manure, fertilizers and seeds to farmers. Later they decided to expand business and purchased corn. Now they want to sell other food grains.
“We are very happy with the profits.� quipped Naseema Begum when asked to comment on the achievement.
The other self-help groups in Chintalapudi mandal of west Godavari district are now turning to the Muslim women’s self-help group for guidance.
The self-help group scheme is being implemented through the district rural development agency (DRDA) of West Godavari as a pilot scheme in all the mandals (blocks) of the district. Taking a cue from the success achieved by the self-help groups, the district administration is planning to open food grain purchase centers in all the 46 mandals across the district. Women’s self-help groups will manage the centers.
“It is proving to be a double benefit programme. Farmers are getting better prices for the food grains and poor women are able to generate profits for their groups,� says DRDA project director Cherukuri Sridhar.
However not all self-help groups have success stories. Muslim women from the agriculturally prosperous Coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh are hardworking and enterprising. But at the same time the high rates of interest charged by micro-finance companies left many self-help groups high and dry. Deaths were reported in April 2006 when owing to pressure, women of self-help groups, especially from Krishna and West Godavari districts committed suicide.
“Whatever little is earned as profit is either shared by the members, or sometimes we have to deposit the same in the bank to secure extra loan. The income is generally used to meet our private family needs like children’s education, medical bills etc. We need to definitely take a lesson from Naseema’s group� says Kareemunnisa of the Bharatiya women’s self-help group from Mylavaram mandal in Krishna district.
London, Nov 1 (IRNA) Nearly 400 people have been charged with terrorist offences during the past five years, the home secretary, John Reid revealed Tuesday.
Speaking at a conference for business leaders in London, Reid said that that since the 9/11 attacks in the US, 387 suspected terrorists or sympathisers had been charged under the Terrorism Act and other criminal legislation.
Of those, 214 had since been convicted and another 98 were awaiting trial. This, he said, was an "indication of the scale of the threat that we face."
"In response to it, the struggle has to be on every level and with every person. It is easy to forget just how deep and ongoing the struggle is."
The home secretary argued that at the core of the struggle was a battle of ideas and he called for the public, private and voluntary sectors to work with the government to "advance our values of guarded openness and liberty in defiance of the terrorist menace".
With regard to business involvement, he proposed setting up a new "innovation forum" to boost cooperative work between the different sectors.
"It is vital that our enterprises sustain the delivery of innovation at a pace that outstrips our adversaries," Reid told the conference organised by a technology company, Smiths Group.
He told business leaders that they played a vital role in creating the security and resilience required to defeat terrorism.
Los Angeles, Nov 1 (Xinhua) A new strain of the killer H5N1 avian flu virus that had emerged in early 2006 in China and southeast Asia appeared to be resistant to the vaccination programme and might even be aided by it.
It might have begun the third wave of transmission of H5N1 avian flu and could potentially spread throughout Eurasia, the scientists warned in the latest edition of the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences.
The new strain had infected poultry in Hong Kong, Laos, Malaysia and Thailand, and affected people in China and Thailand, scientists from the Hong Kong University and the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in the United States said.
Fortunately, the virus strain did not appear to have the ability to spread among humans as yet, the researchers added.
"There's no evidence in this paper of additional human-to-human transmission, which is the real bottom line we're all worried about, " said Robert Webster, a study co-author at the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis.
"But so long as the virus is out there in such numbers, it is going to be a continuing pandemic threat."
The researchers also said that current poultry vaccination was ineffective against the new strain.
The report, based on China's ongoing flu surveillance programme, found that H5N1 was more prevalent from July 2005 to June 2006 compared with the previous 12 months.
The researchers tested 53,220 birds in poultry markets and 2.4 percent of them tested positive for H5N1 strain, up from 0.9 percent a year earlier.
It was found that ducks and geese were the most common carriers, and they were susceptible to bird flu year-round.
Lhasa, Nov 1 (DPA) Tibet's new rail line makes the top of the world much more accessible, traversing hundreds of kilometres of frozen earth on its way across the Himalayan peaks.
Since the rail line opened on July 1, tourism in China's autonomous region has increased more than 50 percent. The influx has brought changes to a region that remains steadfastly Tibetan - in culture and religion - even after more than 50 years under Chinese rule.
The "go west" movement in China differs from that which spurred a migration of American pioneers to venture across the US toward California in the mid-19th century.
The underdeveloped Tibetan region has little to offer apart from its untouched mountain landscape and an unspoiled environment. But these have been enough to make tourism a cornerstone of the economy.
The rail line to Lhasa covers more than 500-km of permafrost and crosses the snow-covered peaks of the mountain range that is home to all 14 of the world's highest mountains.
Chinese engineers worked for more than 10 years laying the tracks on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, located 5,000 metres above sea level, where snow falls as early as July.
According to official figures, Tibet expects 2.6 million visitors this year compared to 1.8 million tourists in 2005.
They come not only by train, which arrives daily, but also by bus. Tickets for the train are hard to come by, and the buses, which depart from Sichuan province, are fully booked.
Pilgrims arriving here fan out in front of the Potala Palace and visit the Jokhong temple. Others head to the Barhor Street with their prayer wheels turning constantly. Tourism has not yet changed the religious rituals.
Not all Tibetans are aware of the economic developments beginning to take place as a result of the rail line. But the yak herders in Dangxiong, about 200 km north of Lhasa, have recognised the changes.
Cidan Duoji, for example, lives in the village of Tang Kaka. He owns 98 yaks and about 40 sheep, which his father takes to a field about 40-km away every summer.
His household of eight people earns about euro 5,650 ($7,070) annually, which is well above average in Tibet. The yaks and sheep provide food for the family and are not raised for sale.
"The train will greatly ease the transport of goods from other Chinese provinces to Tibet," said Cidan Duoji, as he served his guests hot yak buttermilk and dry yak meat. "That will make many things less expensive for us and spur on the economic development of the region."
Tibetan groups that populate the high lakes area see things differently. They have criticised construction of the rail line, saying the train will bring more Chinese settlers to the region, forcing the indigenous people into the margins.
They also believe the rail line will increase pressure on Tibet's ecosystem, support the military presence of China and obliterate Tibetan identity and culture.
The Chinese government has denied the accusations. Its position is tourism and an increase in business will improve living conditions in the underdeveloped region.
"We have created a win-win scenario in which tourism and the protection of our environment work hand in hand," said Ja Nuo, general director of tourism for Tibet.
But the region will have to cope with its success and the expanding gap between the numbers of tourists it attracts versus the number attracted by other provinces.
By Vishnu Makhijani,
Bumla (On the Chinese side), Nov 1 (IANS) I am one of the very few Indians who have set foot in China, specifically Tibet, without a passport or a visa - not by stealth but in broad daylight. It was a 100-metre walk of a lifetime, one that is not likely to be repeated in a hurry but the memories of which will linger for a long, long time.
"Is this for real?" I wondered as I sat on a rock 50 metres inside Chinese territory at this border crossing in Arunachal Pradesh as senior officers of the Indian and Chinese armies conferred inside a specially erected tent at their biennial conference on maintaining peace and tranquillity on the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
I was part of a group of 20 journalists who had undertaken a seven-and-a-half hour journey from New Delhi to Bumla by aircraft and helicopter and finally by road to report on the Border Personnel Meeting (BPM), an event that was opened to the media for the first time since it began in 1999.
These meetings are held twice a year - on May 30 and Oct 30 - the first 50 metres inside Indian territory from the LAC and the other at an equivalent distance on the Chinese side.
Thus, at 10.30 a.m. on Monday, the Indian Army's Brigadier Sanjay Kulkarni and the rest of his six-member delegation formed up and marched briskly to the LAC as the media group followed.
The Chinese delegation was waiting at the frontier. The two groups saluted and Kulkarni and Colonel Li Ming An of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) each placed a rock on the "Heap of Stones" peace memorial on the LAC before the delegations marched into Chinese territory and into the conference.
"How peaceful it is," I thought to myself as I surveyed the snow covered pass and the clear blue sky of a hue that one rarely sees in a city. It was biting cold - not because of the three degrees Celsius temperature but because of the stiff wind that was blowing.
Cotton puff clouds flitted overhead and the sun set off the snow on the forbidding peaks that surround the pass, making it look more like icing on a cake.
It seemed hard to imagine that it was through this pass 44 years ago that wave upon wave of PLA soldiers had swept through, overcoming the weak Indian defences and penetrating some 250 km into Assam state before declaring a truce and withdrawing.
As my group soaked in the surroundings and took photographs, PLA soldiers suddenly came forward offering to exchange currency and sell cigarettes. They found us tough nuts to crack.
A colleague asked a PLA soldier how much he wanted for his fancy digital camera. The soldier pointed to the colleague's mobile phone.
"Okay," I thought to myself, "let's give it back to them." Pulling out my credit card, I told the soldier in slow, clear English: "You keep this card and give me your camera."
He seemed puzzled, thinking I was offering him a gold biscuit. Then another soldier whispered in his ear and he looked sheepishly at me before bursting out in a loud laugh.
By then the first part of the BPM was over and the delegations moved into the mess tent for lunch as we followed. We were slightly hesitant about the food but more than made up for this by imbibing vast quantities of a cider-based Chinese red wine as our hosts insisted that our glasses could never be empty.
The delegations returned for the final session and then emerged for a photo opportunity, linking their hands and raising them high in the air as the photographers clicked away madly.
Back at the "Heap of Stones", Kulkarni and Li hugged warmly, salutes and handshakes were exchanged with a promise to meet again on May 30 next year.
We walked back and sat down for a press conference where Kulkarni declared the meeting a tremendous success. Then he noticed me smiling and raised his eyebrows.
"It feels good to be home," I replied.
Even so, it was an experience I wouldn't have missed for anything in the world.
New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) Maintaining that promotion and safeguarding of the unity and integrity was a national cause, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday said India's democracy was built on its civilisational commitment to pluralism.
Presenting the 21st Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration to noted Hindi film lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar, the prime minister emphasised that religious intolerance was alien to both the country's culture and its constitutional values.
"As I have said so often, ours is an ancient civilisation but we are a young nation. The promotion and safeguarding of the unity and integrity of our young republic is, therefore, a national cause. This prize recognises the service of those who have contributed to this national endeavour," the prime minister said.
He hoped that Akhtar would continue to make good use of the very powerful medium of cinema to spread the message of freedom, secularism and equality of all.
"I am proud that this award is being given to a writer, a poet and an activist who is deeply committed to the ideas and ideals that define our nationhood. Indiraji lived and died for these values and ideals. She symbolised them in all their glory and remained steadfast in her commitment to them to her dying hour."
Referring to the comments made by Akhtar on the communal carnage in Gujarat in 2002 that it was not a Hindu-Muslim problem but a clash of secularism and democracy versus fascism and intolerance, Manmohan Singh said: "There is truth in this. I do sincerely believe that our civilisation has made it possible for diversity to thrive and flourish.
"Every great religion of the world has found a home in this great and blessed land of ours. We Indians are intrinsically a tolerant people. Intolerance is an aberration. Our democracy is built on our civilisational commitment to pluralism," he said.
Congress President and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Akhtar also addressed the gathering.
India commemorated the 22nd death anniversary of Indira Gandhi Tuesday. She was shot dead by her two bodyguards on Oct 31, 1984 at her official residence in New Delhi.
Beijing, Nov 1 (DPA) North Korea has agreed to return to talks aimed at negotiating an end to its nuclear weapons programme, US and Chinese officials said Tuesday.
"At the suggestion of the Chinese side, the heads of the Chinese, North Korean and US delegations to the six-party talks held an informal meeting in Beijing," the Chinese foreign ministry said in a brief statement posted on its website.
"The three sides had a frank and in-depth exchange of views on continuing efforts to advance the process of the six-party talks," it said.
"The three sides agreed to hold the six-party talks soon at a convenient time for the six parties."
A US embassy spokeswoman confirmed that US chief negotiator Christopher Hill held talks with North Korean and Chinese officials in Beijing.
"After those meetings, the North Koreans have agreed to come back to the talks," the spokeswoman said.
China has hosted several rounds of six-party talks aimed at negotiating an end to North Korea's weapons programme.
It convened the talks largely as a way to get the US and North Korea to sit down together after Washington refused to hold direct bilateral talks with Pyongyang.
China condemned North Korea's nuclear test on Oct 9 but said it had continued trying to persuade all sides to reconvene the six-party talks.
After the nuclear test, the UN Security Council agreed a catalogue of sanctions including a sea and land blockade to monitor for nuclear materials and technologies.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told Chinese special envoy Tang Jiaxuan on Oct 19 that Pyongyang had no plans for a second test in the immediate future.
But North Korea had appeared unwilling to resume talks unless the US gives ground first on financial sanctions imposed by Washington late last year.
The US Treasury Department froze the assets of and banned transactions with Macao-based Banco Delta Asia. It accused the bank of distributing counterfeit US dollars and money-laundering for North Korea.
Washington also imposed financial sanctions against 11 North Korean organisations designated as proliferators of technology used for weapons of mass destruction.
Pyongyang, Nov 1 (Xinhua) North Korea said Wednesday that it had decided to return to the six-party talks, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
"The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) decided to return to the six-party talks on the premise that the issue of lifting financial sanctions will be discussed and settled between the DPRK and the US within the framework of the six-party talks," said a spokesman of the North Korean Foreign Ministry.
North Korea had refused to return to the talks since last October due to the US-imposed financial sanctions against it, and claimed that it would not return to talks unless the US lifts financial sanctions imposed on a Macao-based bank and North Korean companies, for alleged counterfeiting and other illegal activities.
The spokesman also said that the nuclear test conducted last month is "a self-defensive counter-measure against the increasing nuclear threat and financial sanctions from the US against it".
China announced Tuesday that Pyongyang had agreed to resume the talks after a meeting in Beijing of top officials from North Korea and the US.
By Anil K Joseph
Beijing, Nov 1 (PTI) In a major diplomatic breakthrough, North Korea today agreed to return to the stalled six-party talks mechanism on ending its nuclear programme after holding a meeting here with the United States and China, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
The three countries agreed to resume the six-way talks at a time convenient for all six parties in the near future, the ministry said in a statement.
As proposed by China, the heads of delegation to the six-party talks from China, North Korea and the United States had an informal meeting in Beijing today.
"The three parties agreed that the six-party talks be held soon at a time convenient to the six parties," official Xinhua news agency quoted a diplomatic source as saying.
The source said the three parties had a "candid" and "in-depth" exchange of views on continuing efforts to advance the process of the six-party talks.
The nations attending the talks are the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan.
The talks had been stalled for nearly a year over differences between Washington and Pyongyang over financial sanctions imposed by the Bush administration for the Stalinist state's alleged money laundering activities.
New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) Over 2,600 private health clinics including nursing homes in the national capital went on a daylong strike Wednesday to protest against the proposed sealing of their establishments.
"We are in a dilemma and our future is uncertain. Once the sealing operations resumes, we will face the axe. The government is not only pushing doctors against the wall but also forcing the public to suffer," said K.K. Kapoor, president of the Delhi Medical Association.
"Over 2,600 such health care centres including 640 registered ones are on a daylong strike. Nearly 30,000 doctors are participating in the protest today," Kapoor told IANS.
As per the Supreme Court directive, all commercial establishments including those of doctors running in residential areas will be sealed starting Nov 1.
He, however, said to help the public, they have not closed the emergency services in their hospitals.
"We know the condition of patients and hence decided against a complete closure of institutions. Out patient departments (OPDs) are closed for a day across the capital," he said urging the government not to force them for a 'maha bandh' (mass strike).
Kapoor said the capital has 2.1 beds per 1,000 people as against the desired mark of five beds.
"If all our hospitals are closed then the ratio will certainly fall below one bed per thousand people."
Wednesday was the last day of the three-day traders' strike in the capital to protest against the sealing drive.
New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) In a major step towards making healthcare more affordable, over 880 medicines including common painkillers, cough syrups, drugs for diabetics, hypertension as well as antibiotics would become cheaper.
The new pricing system covering 886 generic medicines will be enforced from Thursday with the government fixing the wholesale and retail margins.
Addressing a press conference, Minister of Chemicals and Fertiliser Ram Vilas Paswan said Tuesday that as against the 200 percent and more margin earlier charged by the wholesalers and retailers for various drugs, now the wholesalers would get 15 percent margin while retailers would get 35 percent over the manufacturing cost of non-branded and generic medicines.
The new pricing system - with the label bearing the maximum retail price inclusive of local taxes - had come into effect from Oct 2 but the government allowed one month's grace for replacing the stocks that retailers had with them.
"Medicines manufactured on or after Oct 2 may take four to six weeks to reach the retail counters," Paswan said.
He disclosed that the government was working out a formula for fixing the prices of branded medicines to make them more affordable while protecting the interests of companies pursuing research and drug development activities.
A new legislation - Drugs (Prices Regulation and Control) Act - has been proposed. It would have more effective control on prices, production, distribution and supply of medicines, he said.
The attempt to control prices of generic medicines and make them more affordable is the first in a series of attempts to bring healthcare within easy reach of poor people, Paswan said.
Islamabad, Nov 1 (DPA) Islamists in Pakistan Tuesday protested peacefully against the overnight army air strike on an Islamic school which killed 80 alleged Taliban in the Bajaur tribal territory bordering northeastern Afghanistan.
Several thousand angry tribesmen gathered in remote Chenagai village, where the targeted school was situated, to listen to their elders denounce President Pervez Musharraf and his American allies for killing "innocent people" in their war on terror.
But the local leader of the radical Tehrike Nifaz-e-Shariat Muhammadi (Movement for Implementing the Order brought by Prophet Muhammad), Maulana Faqir Mohammad, wanted for his pro-Taliban policies, declared that his movement would continue to pursue peace in the region, media reports said.
He was referring to a peace deal that was supposed to be signed Monday by Bajaur tribes with the government on denying support to Taliban active across the border in Afghanistan in return for their traditional freedoms.
The countrywide protest called by the Islamic alliance for Tuesday remained largely confined to the tribal areas in Balochistan and the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) that it rules, though protest rallies were held in some major cities in the rest of the country also.
Musharraf, who was the main target of criticism at the rallies, however, defended the army action against the madrassa, which a top leader of the Islamic alliance denounced as "an unpardonable act".
Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the leader of opposition in the National Assembly and a leader of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) Islamic alliance, made the remark as he led protestors to the scene of the attack in Chenagai.
Musharraf told an international gathering in Islamabad that anyone saying those killed in the air strike on the madrassa were innocent "is telling lies".
"They were all militants. They were doing military training there. We were working on them for the last six, seven days and we know who they are and what they were doing," the president said at the opening of a seminar on security in South Asia.
Extra security measures were taken at the conference in view of the tense situation created by Monday's bloody incident.
Britain's Crown Prince Charles, currently in Pakistan with his wife Camilla, cancelled his scheduled Tuesday visit to Peshawar, capital of NWFP, on the advice of the Pakistani government, British High Commission spokesperson Aidan Liddle said.
Most bazaars remained closed in NWFP and the tribal belt that runs along the 2,600-km border with turbulent Afghanistan Tuesday and traffic in urban centres was reported to be thin. Long convoys of protestors were heading towards Bajaur only to be blocked by the security forces deployed at entry points, media reports said.
Maulana Liaquat, who ran the madrassa, was killed along with his three sons in the attack. He belonged to the banned pro-Taliban Tehrike Nifaz-e-Shariat Muhammadi, which sent 3,000 tribal volunteers to fight the US forces that invaded Taliban-ruled Afghanistan in October 2001 in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks.
Monday's operation also threatened a peace deal that Maulana Liaquat and the surviving chief of the banned Islamic movement, Maulana Faqir Mohammad, had agreed to sign with the pro-US government the same day.
The NWFP Assembly set aside routine work on Tuesday to debate the attack. Some speakers alleged that the US carried out the attack to sabotage the peace deal with the Bajaur tribes.
They rejected Musharraf's claim that the school was being used for terrorist training.
Srinagar, NOv 1 (PTI) The Congress in Jammu and Kashmir today criticised coalition partner Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for advocating "self-rule" as a solution to the Kashmir issue alleging the party itself was confused about what the formula envisioned.
"The people who are advocating self-rule formula as the only solution to Kashmir issue were themselves not fully conversant with the contours of the proposal," state Congress chief and Education Minister Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed said.
"The proposal is ridiculous. On one hand the party (PDP) is calling for demilitarization, while on the other it asks for more security cover for its leaders and workers," he said.
The Congress, Sayeed added, had a consistent stand on the issue and its approach to the resolution of the problem remained the same since 1953.
The Minister was addressing party workers at a function here to pay homage to former prime minister Indira Gandhi on the 22nd anniversary of her death.
"Congress had all along worked for betterment of the people and believed that dialogue is the only way to solve problems," he said.
The "self-rule" proposal of the PDP seeks abrogation of Article 356 giving powers to the Centre to dismiss the state government, appointing a state's resident as Governor, besides having own adminstrative and police services.
The Congress leader called upon various parties to come to the table to work jointly for solving the people's problems.
New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday released a postal stamp in honour of late freedom fighter and MP Bishwanath Roy saying that the move would contribute to efforts to rediscover the ethos of India's freedom struggle.
Congratulating the postal department for bringing out the postage stamp in memory of Roy, a former central minister, Manmohan Singh said: "I hope it will contribute to our efforts to rediscover the ethos of our freedom struggle and understand it in a new perspective."
The prime minister said Roy, a parliamentarian during 1952-1977, would be long remembered for his deep commitment to cause of agriculture.
Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 1 (IANS) Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel Wednesday asked the management and employees of the national air carriers to wake up and put their act together soon.
Patel accompanied Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the foundation stone laying for a new international terminal here. A hangar unit of Air India is also being set up near the Thiruvananthapuram airport.
Patel had switched airlines from Air India to Jet Airways last week for flying from London's Heathrow airport to Mumbai as the national carrier's flight was delayed because the crew turned up an hour late.
"If the employees and the management do not wake up in all respects, then things could be bad. They should be effective and what has happened in the last few weeks does not augur well. This should not have happened," said Patel prior to the ceremony.
Patel also thanked the efforts of the prime minister for going ahead with the purchase of 18 new aircraft for the national carriers.
"The last time this happened was when Rajiv Gandhi was prime minister. I am also happy to say that the Thiruvananthapuram airport would now act as the base airport for (Boeing) 737 aircraft," said Patel.
He added that efforts were under way to build a new airport at Kannur in north Kerala.
Mumbai, Nov 1 (IANS) India's central bank Tuesday announced a series of measures paving the way for capital account convertibility, including the doubling of the limit on remittance of resident individuals to $50,000 for any current or capital transactions.
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