'Doctor' Roberts' prescription for Pathan

By T.R. Ramakrishnan,
St John's (Antigua), June 7 (IANS) The glint has gone from Andy Roberts' eye, the mean look which sent shivers down the spine of batsmen 22 yards away. His face is wrinkled, his beard grey. At 55, he's put on a bit in the middle and there's a gentleness as he shuffles across the Antigua Recreation Ground, from the players' box to the opposite side housing the press box. But he's lost nothing of his mental sharpness.

One thing he spotted as the Indians were practising before play during the Test was something wrong with Irfan Pathan's delivery stride. The result was a special net for Pathan at the end of the fourth day, with Roberts in attendance.

"Pathan has some problems with the final couple of strides in his run-up. I spotted it when I was watching him practise," said Roberts. "I could feel he was having trouble with his final four strides."

Roberts' remedy was to have Pathan run up and bowl without the ball. After half an hour of that, Pathan had found some sort of rhythm, running up and following through smoothly.

"If you can't get your run-up right, then you will have problems with the rest of the action,'' said Roberts. "He found it hard initially but by the end of the session, he was not messing it. I made a few minor adjustments, that's all."

Coach Greg Chappell has been working on him and so has sports psychologist Dr Rudi Webster. Now "Doctor" Roberts has done his bit. Maybe it's the pick-me-up Pathan needs to regain his touch.

170 world champions expected at opening ceremony

Munich, June 7 (DPA) Germany is well prepared for the World Cup finals that start Friday in Munich, organising committee (OK) president Franz Beckenbauer said.

Addressing a press conference with the president of football's controlling body FIFA, Josef Blatter, Beckenbauer said that it would not be good if things are not on track.

"It would be bad if we still have problems," he said.

Blatter added that he expected a great football festival.

One of the highlights of the 30-minute opening ceremony is the appearance of 170 past World Cup winners - among them Diego Maradona and Pele.

All 22 players of Germany's 1974 World Cup-winning squad, as well as all but Thomas Haessler of the 1990 winning side. "It will be a real parade of giants," said Blatter.

German supermodel Claudia Schiffer and Pele will carry the trophy into the stadium for the ceremony, which will be opened by German President Horst Koehler.

Well-known German TV personality Thomas Gottschalk is to be the master of ceremonies.

"The ceremony should not be compared with that of the Olympics. It is a small afternoon ceremony without much hype," said Christian Stueckl, who is responsible for the ceremony.

He will use a cast of 1,400 to present a show that combines traditional Bavarian aspects like dancers in leather pants (Lederhosen), as well as hiphop and breakdancers.

The World Cup slogan, "a time to make friends" will run through the programme, Stueckl said.

Blatter and Beckenbauer confirmed that they would not be saying anything at the opening. "I do not find it difficult not to say anything. The people in the stadium want to see the 170 world champions," Blatter said.

"If Franz Beckenbauer speaks, all would cheer, but if I am given the microphone everybody would boo, even if I say nothing," Blatter added.

The OK vice president Wolfgang Niersbach said that he was eagerly awaiting the start. "After such a long road we are glad that the first ball will finally be kicked."

The only problem remaining was ticketing, he said.

"We will not manage to solve this 100 percent, even though 99 percent of the tickets have been sold," Beckenbauer said. "It is impossible to prevent seats being empty, but we will not have empty blocks."

Annan moots UN forum to discuss migration issues

New York, June 7 (IANS) UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has proposed setting up a standing forum that could be used by governments to explore and compare policy approaches on the developmental impact of international migration.

"Such a government-led consultative forum on migration and development would not produce negotiated outcomes or recommendations," Annan stressed in a report presented to the UN General Assembly Tuesday.

"Rather, it would make new policy ideas more widely known, add value to existing regional consultations, and encourage an integrated approach to migration and development at both the national and international levels."

The UN General Assembly takes up the migration issue in September. Long seen as too hot for a global institution to handle, the issue of international migration has recently been moving up the UN agenda.

Describing his report as an early roadmap for this new era of mobility, Annan said: "The advantages that migration brings are not as well understood as they should be."

The report finds that migration has become a major feature of international life. It can benefit both sending and receiving countries at once.

Significantly, many countries once known for emigration, like Ireland, South Korea and Spain, now boast of thriving economies and host large numbers of immigrants.

People living outside their home countries numbered 191 million in 2005 - 115 million in developed countries and 75 million in the developing world.

One third of all current immigrants in the world have moved from one developing country to another, while about the same number have moved from the developing world to the developed.

In other words, South-South migration is roughly as common as South-North. But migration to countries designated as high-income, a category which includes some developing countries such as South Korea, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, has grown much faster than to the rest of the world.

"It is for governments to decide whether more or less migration is desirable," the secretary-general said in his introduction to the report. "Our focus in the international community should be on the quality and safety of the migration experience and on what can be done to maximise its development benefits."

Migrants not only take on necessary jobs, seen as less desirable by the established residents of host countries, but also stimulate demand and improve overall economic performance overall, said the report.

It further points out that migrants also help to shore up pension systems in countries with aging populations.

For their part, developing countries benefit from an estimated $167 billion a year sent home by migrant workers.

The exodus of talent from poor countries to more prosperous ones often poses a severe development loss. But in many countries this is, at least partially, compensated by migrants' later return to or investment in, their home countries, where profitable new businesses are established, the report stated.

Last year, the independent Global Commission on International Migration presented a report and recommendations to the UN Secretary-General.

In 2005, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) adopted a non-binding Multilateral Framework on Labour Migration.

Peter Sutherland, a special representative of the UN secretary-general, is now engaged in preliminary talks with governments, leading up to a "high-level dialogue" to be held by the General Assembly Sep 14-15.

Apex court orders Mulayam to give income tax details

New Delhi, June 7 (IANS) The Supreme Court Wednesday directed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav to submit details of his income tax returns within four weeks.

The court order came after a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) moved by social activist Vishwa Mohan Chaturvedi on what he called the "disproportionate assets" of Yadav.

Hearing the petition, the bench comprising Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice C.K. Thakker gave four weeks' time to the chief minister to explain his sources of income and the tax returns filed against his receipts.

Earlier, the petitioner had questioned the acquisition of wealth and assets - valued at several tens of millions of rupees - by Yadav over the past 30 years since he entered public life.

Chaturvedi has sought to point out that when Yadav first became MLA in 1977, he owned only one small house and a few bighas of land in his native village, Safai, in Etawah district, besides another house in Etawah town.

How he had acquired several plots, houses and other properties in Lucknow and other places both in his own name and in the name of his immediate family members is what the petitioner has sought to know.

Chaturvedi has also asked about his sources of income, since Yadav has ostensibly not undertaken any venture other than politics all these years.

In his PIL, Chaturvedi listed various properties together with the relevant documents of their ownership by Yadav, his second wife Sadhana, his sons and daughter-in-law. The petitioner has also drawn the court's attention to documents showing how Yadav's elder son Akhilesh acquired properties worth tens of millions when he was just a student and later a member of parliament.

The properties acquired by his younger son, who is still a student, have also been questioned.

The chief minister in his counter-affidavit has claimed that all the property acquired by him and mentioned in the petition was worth not more than Rs.100 million.

The court has now asked him to explain all his sources of income and the process of acquisition of each of the properties mentioned in the petition.

Chaturvedi told IANS: "My objective is to expose corruption in high places and through this PIL, I wanted to focus people's attention on how high offices are misused for filling the personal coffers of big time politicians, who more often than not, get away with murder."

Are Indian Muslims destined to become permanent underclass ?

By Ayub Khan

The Engineering, Agriculture, Medical Common Entrance Test (EAMCET) results for the state of Andhra Pradesh were announced last month. The performance of Muslim students has not improved dramatically over the years. Out of a total 10134 participating Muslim students 6073 (59.9%) scored the qualifying marks in the field of Engineering. In the combined Agriculture and Medical section 7172 Muslim students appeared for the exam and 4803 (66.96%) students were able to obtain the qualifying marks.

These lacklustre figures speak volumes of the educational state of Andhra Pradesh Muslims. They also indicate the misplacement of priorities of the self-proclaimed maseehas, "Sir Syeds of the age", and others of the community who never tire of praising themselves for all that they have done for the betterment of the Muslim community. As pointed out by Khan Lateef Mohammed Khan, entrepreneur and editor of the Munsif Daily, there are 36 minority engineering colleges in the state with around 12,000 seats reserved for Muslim students. As only 6073 students obtained qualifying marks, almost 6000 seats in these minority institutions will go to waste or sold to the highest bidder.

This unfortunate scenario helps no one but the management of some of these "minority" colleges who seems to have no regard for the development of the community.

Primary level education is one of the most crucial in the educational career of a student. Strong foundations laid during this stage have a direct impact on the future of the student. This obvious fact has, however, not translated into effective planning in the Muslim community. Those organizations or individuals who are working for quality primary level education are often ridiculed and made fun of for being involved in such unglamorous and thankless endeavours. To their critics building imposing medical, engineering, and professional colleges is the only worthwhile cause. They either do not realise or ignore the fact that these colleges need feeder institutions (primary and secondary schools and junior colleges) in order to fill the seats. A student with weak primary and secondary level background will never be able to meet the tough requirements of passing the competitive examinations.

According to the 2001 census a total of 18.7% of the Muslim population was under the age of 6 years. If effective measures are not taken immediately in concentrating on their education, starting from primary levels, we risk losing another generation to the cycle of poverty and illiteracy. As other classes, castes and communities continue to march forward, there is a real possibility of Indian Muslims becoming the permanent underclass. And the blame should lay squarely with the community and no body else.

There is a real need for all those concerned to wisely plan the educational future of the community. Cosmetic changes, as the one suggested by the Chairman of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions that science and mathematics be made optional subjects at the SSC level in order to boost the Muslim pass out rate offer no real solutions and hinder the competitiveness of Muslim students. Strong foundations in science and mathematics are essential in today's market and offer a multitude of career avenues for those who excel in them. For example, the aviation industry in India is facing an acute shortage of pilots. Only 10% of the 3000 candidates who appeared for the Civil Aviation examination passed. The industry has to resort to hiring foreign pilots. By focusing and preparing for such lucrative industries from an early age atleast some headway can be made in the economic empowerment of Indian Muslims.

BJP seeks Hindus' safety in Kashmir

Jammu, June 7 (IANS) Nearly 2,000 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists courted arrest Wednesday as the party kicked off a week-long campaign seeking protection of Hindus in Jammu region.

The activists, mainly from Jammu and led by former BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu, marched from Parade Ground to the Civil Secretariat and offered themselves for arrest.

They raised slogans such as "Bharat Mata ki jai" and demanded an end to the continuing killings of Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir.

The police, however, said they had made no arrests. "The BJP activists did not violate any rules except cause a traffic jam," a police officer said. But party leaders insisted that they had courted arrest.

BJP leaders alleged that both the Jammu and Kashmir and the central governments had failed to protect Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir from Muslim separatists.

"The governments are hard on nationalists and soft on terrorists. Unless these trends are reversed, our agitation will continue," Naidu said.

"The killing of Hindus in Doda, Udhampur, Rajouri and Poonch areas were the replay of the ethnic cleaning that the terrorists successfully experimented in the Kashmir Valley in early 1990s," he said.

"But we will not allow this to happen in Jammu," he added.

Among the protestors were BJP members from Kerala and Rajasthan. This, a party spokesman said, was aimed at giving out the message that the issue had generated passions across the country.

The immediate provocation for the demonstration was the massacre of 35 Hindus in Doda and Udhampur districts April 30/May 1.

Court asks Uttar Pradesh to form board to run temples

Lucknow, June 7 (IANS) The Allahabad High Court has asked the Uttar Pradesh government to constitute an official board to oversee the running of Hindu temples and monasteries in the state.

Issuing the direction, the court Tuesday ruled that the government must constitute the board to monitor and regulate the working of temples and monasteries.

The bench comprising judges S.N. Srivastava and Satya Narain also directed the state government to prescribe a minimum wage for priests and workers engaged in the maintenance of temples and such religious places.

"The government must work out a broad framework and prepare a blueprint in this regard within three months," the court said.

The order came in a writ petition moved by some workers of Manas Mandir in Varanasi. Highlighting the paltry remuneration given to them by the temple managing committee, the workers had sought payment of minimum wages as admissible to industrial workers.

The deputy labour commissioner too had issued an order in favour of the workers. However, the temple committee sought to challenge the labour commissioner's order on the plea that religious institutions were exempted from the purview of the Minimum Wage Act.

The high court felt that even though the minimum wage law was not applicable to religious institutions, workers engaged in them were entitled to a minimum remuneration for a livelihood under the provisions of Article 43 of the constitution.

Delhi court stays demolition of gurdwara near Yamuna

New Delhi, June 7 (IANS) Delhi High Court Wednesday restrained the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) from demolishing an unauthorised gurdwara on the bank of Yamuna river till June 14.

Vacation judge B.D. Ahmed directed the MCD and the DDA not to take any coercive steps in the matter till the next hearing.

The court passed the order on a petition by Sant Rajinder Pal Singh of Gurdwara Sanjha Darbar, located on the western bank of the river near Sarai Kale Khan bus terminus in South Delhi.

Counsel for the petitioner Nawal Kishore Jha submitted that the gurdwara was located at a distance of 700 metres from the river's bank, and as per the court's orders structures were not allowed within 300 metres from the riverbank.

He said the land revenue records had also accepted the existence of the gurdwara, as the DDA had spared places of worship, including the gurdwara, while acquiring the land in the area.

However, DDA's counsel said the authority had acquired the land. But when the court asked him if mandatory procedures for acquiring land were fulfilled, he failed to reply.

The MCD counsel maintained that his client had not made any move to demolish the religious structure. He said the petitioner had moved the court on mere apprehensions.

A division bench of the court on June 1 directed the two bodies to demolish all unauthorised places of worship on river's banks. The bench said Section 4 of the Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2006 - recently passed by parliament putting one-year moratorium on demolition of unauthorised constructions and sealing of commercial premises in residential areas in the capital - allowed removal of slum dwellers... in accordance with the relevant policies approved by the central government for clearance of land required for specific public purposes.

Deora rules out immediate rollback on petro prices

New Delhi, June 7 (IANS) Petroleum Minister Murli Deora Wednesday denied any immediate rollback on the hike in petrol and diesel prices even as Left parties, trade unions and even Congress party leaders stepped up pressure against the decision.

"As of now there is no discussion of any rollback on prices of petrol and diesel," Deora told reporters after a meeting with state-owned oil marketing chairmen.

On Monday, the government announced a hike of Rs.4 per litre in prices of petrol and Rs.2 for every litre of diesel in the wake of escalating global crude prices.

The oil marketing companies have been asked to undertake awareness exercise and explain to customers the reasons why the government had to go in for a hike in retail prices after seven months, the minister said.

He pointed out that on an average, 25 percent of the increase in retail prices contributes to the state exchequers due to the high sales tax being levied by them.

In some states like Maharashtra, the taxes are as high as 34 percent while in West Bengal it is 27 percent.

"If the state governments adjust the sales tax then there can be some sort of rollback," said Deora, revealing he had spoken to Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh in this regard.

The minister expressed satisfaction with the financial package of Rs.280 billion and the cut in customs duty from 10 percent to 7.5 percent to reduce the losses of the oil marketing companies, which would have to bear part of the burden of volatility of global prices.

The Left and the opposition are not in sync with the government move and are planning countrywide protests June 13. Some Congress leaders have also come out against the fuel price hike.

First Test ends in a thrilling draw

By T.R. Ramakrishnan,
St John's (Antigua ), June 7 (IANS) West Indian paceman Fidel Edwards, hampered by a hamstring injury and batting with a runner, and his last-wicket partner Corey Collymore played out 19 balls to deny India victory in the first Test at the Antigua Recreation Ground on Tuesday.

At tea, with 38 overs to go, and Chris Gayle (69, 188 balls, 3 sixes, 9 fours) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (62, 109 balls, 10 fours) batting serenely, West Indies, 158 for 3, seemed to have the match safe. But a sudden collapse, triggered by Anil Kumble, first, and then Virender Sehwag, led to a nail-biting climax which a relieved West Indian skipper Brian Lara called "a great way to end international cricket at the ARG." (Matches will henceforth be played at the Viv Richards Stadium being built for next year's World Cup.)

From an Indian point of view, a win would have been much better. But they will have to be content with the fact that they got into a winning position at all.

It was never going to be easy to bowl out a strong West Indian batting line-up on a track which didn't have any fifth-day demons and didn't offer anything to the bowlers. But they still got wickets at crucial periods, putting the West Indian batsmen under pressure and creating wicket-taking situations.

First, it was medium-pacer S Sreesanth. After Kumble got the initial breakthrough, dismissing opener Darren Ganga 20 minutes before lunch, Sreesanth removed both Ramnaresh Sarwan and Lara in eight balls, leaving West Indies at 72 for three.

After his dismal bowling in the first innings, it was good stuff from Sreesanth. Sarwan was caught at gully and Lara was trapped leg before as he shuffled across, tried to play on the onside, and missed the ball. Umpire Asad Rauf thought and thought and finally raised his finger. Sreesanth was as delighted as Lara was dejected, scoring a zero on his final appearance on the ground in which he has scores of 375 and 400.

India was a happy team going into lunch, having swung the momentum their way with the three quick wickets. But Gayle and Chanderpaul, dropped by Wasim Jaffer in third slip before he scored, counterattacked superbly for 30 minutes or so on resumption, with an avalanche of boundaries. They then slowed down, safety being their prime concern, and by tea, seemed to have done the job for their team.

But both fell to Kumble in quick succession after the break, Chanderpaul being a bit unfortunate to be caught at slip by umpire Simon Taufel. Then Sehwag sent back Dwayne Bravo and Denesh Ramdin and West Indies were in trouble. Seven down, and 20 overs to go.

Spinner Dave Mohammed decided that attack was the best form of defence at this juncture and as Dravid attacked with fielders all around the bat, hit boundaries endlessly. But for the Indians, runs didn't matter. It was wickets.

The second new ball was taken at the start of the 15 mandatory overs and Munaf Patel removed Ian Bradshaw in the fifth, a decision which was not popular with the crowd the bleachers. They greeted it by throwing plastic bottles and cups onto the field, but no damage was done as there were no Indian fielders on the boundary.

Two wickets to get, 10.4 overs left, and as Edwards, with a runner, joined Mohammed, the Indians must have sensed a win. Only, Mohammed and Edwards checked them for 45 balls, before Mohammed (52, 55 balls, 10 fours) fell, bowled by Kumble an over after Dhoni had failed to stump him.

That led to the exciting finale, with Edwards and Collymore emerging the ultimate heroes.

Indian skipper Rahul Dravid looked at the result positively. "Yes, we were a bit unlucky, we missed the edges a few times, but no regrets," he said. "It was a fantastic game of cricket - a great Test match which went down to the last ball. It was great for our team to part of such a Test."

Seeing the result over five days, it seemed a fair statement. After the first day, as Dravid said, India were written off. But they came back splendidly over the remaining days, especially days three and four, to get into a winning position.

While the team can take the positives from, fans would well be asking, "But why didn't we win." At some point in this series, that will have to be answered by the team management.

SCOREBOARD

Day 5, First Test, India vs West Indies, St John's ( Antigua), June 7

India (Ist innings): 241

West Indies (1st innings): 371

India (2nd innings): 521 for 6 decl

West Indies (2nd innings):
Chris Gayle batting lbw Kumble 69
Darren Ganga C Yuvraj b Kumble 36
Ramnaresh Sarwan c Kumble b Sreesanth 1
Brian Lara lbw Sreesanth 0
Shivnarine Chanderpaul c Dravid b Kumble 62
Dwayne Bravo c Dhoni b Sehwag 28
Denesh Ramdin c Dravid b Sehwag 8
Ian Bradshaw c Dhoni b Patel 10
Dave Mohammed b Kumble 52
Fidel Edwards not out 1
Corey Collymore not out 1
Extras (5b, 8lb, 17 nb) 1
Total (for 9 wkts in 95 overs) 298

Fall of wickets: 1-67, 2-68, 3-72, 4-171, 5-202, 6-220, 7-226, 8-277, 9-297

Bowling
Munaf Patel 20-4-55-1 (2nb)
S Sreesanth 19-10-49-2
Anil Kumble 34-8-107-4 (7nb)
VRV Singh 11-3-35-0 (7nb)
Virender Sehwag 11-2-39-2

Geelani arrested for cases registered 5 years ago

Jammu, June 7 (IANS) Separatist leader and chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani was Wednesday arrested in Jammu and Kashmir and remanded in judicial custody till June 29 in connection with cases of inciting communal tension.

Geelani was arrested immediately after his arrival in Poonch town, where he was scheduled to address a public meeting. He was on a week-long tour of twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch.

geelani was produced in the court of chief judicial magistrate A.K. Shan in connection with certain pending cases against him. The magistrate remanded Geelani in judicial custody till June 29 and ordered him to be shifted to central jail in Jammu where he could get proper medical care, as he had alleged he was unwell.

Police said that Geelani's presence in Poonch could cause communal tension, considering his past record.

Police re-opened the cases of inciting communal violence that were registered in Mendhar and Poonch police stations in the border district five years ago.

Geelani, however, denied having made any provocative speeches. "They are opening cases after five years which in itself indicates malafide intentions of the authorities. I never made any provocative speeches, nor I had the intention to," he told reporters at the time of his arrest.

Geelani is the only separatist leader still insisting on the resolution of Kashmir problem on the basis of UN resolutions on Kashmir.

Germany's winning chances uncertain: Ballack

Berlin, June 7 (Xinhua) German skipper Michael Ballack Wednesday admitted that the host's winning chances at the World Cup were not that big due to lack of stability and experience of the young squad.

"We have players that have been on the pitch only sporadically with their club teams. We don't have the choice of players we had in the 1990 World Cup or in the 1996 European Championship," Ballack said in an interview with a local newspaper.

"As a result, the team makes mistakes and is not fixed. For that reason I think there is a little uncertainty as we head into the tournament," he added.

"The results and performance in the run- up to the World Cup show that this team is not so stable."

Germany will meet tournament underdogs Costa Rica Friday in Munich in the curtain raiser.

Costa Rica had poor performance in recent warm-up matches, but the German side also got bittersweet results. They beat Colombia 3-0 in their last World Cup warm-up match but ground out a draw against Japan last week and were pounced 4-1 by Italy back in March.

Ballack, who is suffering from a calf injury that prevented him from training on Tuesday afternoon, said the team needed to be careful about moving forwards too quickly to leave the defence exposed.

"We need to be clear that we can't all have an offensive mindset," Ballack said.

Germany are drawn with Costa Rica, Poland and Ecuador in "Group A".

Growing roses, vegetables to quell displacement protests

Ranchi, June 7 (IANS) Jharkhand is trying to convince investors to get involved in agriculture promotion in order to provide employment to people displaced by the state's industrialisation drive.

The efforts of the state government seem to be producing positive results. Steel major Essar, one of the major investors, has apparently agreed to cultivate roses and vegetables and export the product outside the state.

The Jharkhand government's steps come in the wake of state-wide protests over displacement.

"Our main motive is to engage displaced people in profitable business. Jharkhand has good potential of promoting rose and vegetable cultivation," a senior government official told IANS.

"The investors will have to grow roses and vegetables with the help of displaced people and export products to make the business a profitable one," he said.

"If our plan fructifies it will change the economic condition of the displaced people and make the state a hub of vegetables and roses," he said.

On Monday, state government officials discussed the plan at length with Essar officials.

"The Essar representatives have agreed to grow roses and vegetables and export them as part of rehabilitation measures. The cultivation and export of roses and vegetables will be done by Essar Agritech," said an official present in the meeting.

Jharkhand has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) worth around Rs 1.91 trillion with 42 companies in the last two years in steel, mining, power and other sectors. The major investors are L.N. Mittal, Tata Steel, Essar Steel, Jindal Steel and others.

To translate the MoUs into reality the state government needs 60,000 acre of land. The state government is mulling different plans to facilitate land acquisition. Seeking investors' help in promoting cultivation of vegetables and roses is part of it.

Increase oil production, EU tells OPEC

Brussels, June 7 (DPA) The European Union Wednesday urged OPEC oil-exporting nations to step up crude oil production and called for increased investments in the refining sector, saying this would help stabilise global oil markets.

At talks with leading OPEC officials in Brussels, Austrian Economy Minister Martin Bartenstein acknowledged that OPEC's recent decision to increase its spare production capacity by 3 million barrels per day would ease existing "market tensions".

But he said more efforts were required for a long-term stabilisation of volatile oil markets. Austria is current president of the 25-nation EU.

In response, OPEC president and Nigeria's Oil Minister Edmund Daukoru said the oil cartel had "ample production and spare capacity for years to come."

"OPEC has been doing its very best to ease the situation and will continue to do so," he said, adding that extremely low or high oil prices were damaging for consumers and producers.

EU and OPEC representatives, meeting as part of their annual energy dialogue in Brussels, also said they would scrutinise international financial markets for "speculative transactions" because such moves were damaging global oil supply.

OPEC's crude capacity is expected to reach close to 38 million barrels per day by the end of 2010 and its spare capacity up to 8 million barrels per day over the next five years, according to OPEC documents presented at the EU-OPEC meeting in Brussels.

Both sides agreed to step up cooperation in technical matters such as developing cleaner oil and gas technologies, especially carbon capture and storage.

Exports into the EU account for some 70 percent of OPEC's production, making the 25-nation bloc "essential for financing economic and social development" in oil-exporting nations, said UAE Energy Minister Mohamed bin Dhaen Al Hamli.

OPEC members last week said that oil markets were oversupplied, but left the quota of 28 million barrels a day unchanged because of "high and volatile" crude prices.

The 11 OPEC members produce about 40 per cent of the world's crude oil. Crude oil prices currently stand at around $71 a barrel.

Indian equities crash third straight day

Mumbai, June 7 (IANS) Indian shares dipped for the third consecutive day Wednesday on panic selling by investors after rising in the initial hour of trading that took a key market index above the psychologically important level of 10,000 points.

After ending below the 10,000-point mark at 9,957.32 points Tuesday, the 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) rose to the day's high of 10,051.81 points within an hour of trading Wednesday.

But then began a steady fall till about 2.30 p.m. that saw the key index touch the day's low of 9,609.21 points. And after a bout of erratic trading, the index finally settled at 9,756.76 points.

At this level, the index was down 200.56 points, or 2.01 percent, to register losses for the third straight day.

Sensex had lost 256.16 points, or 2.5 percent, Tuesday, and 237.85 points, or 2.28 percent, the day before.

Twenty-eight shares that make up the Sensex basket ended in the red and only two managed to close in the positive territory.

In the past week, the key index has shed 641.85 points or 6.17 percent, and the loss in the past one moth is 2,602.94 points or 21.06 percent.

"In the absence of any positive trigger, the bears are having a field day. In the process, investors are scared to take any fresh positions. Even minor gains are resulting in profit-taking," an analyst with a brokerage here said.

Interestingly, the fall on the first two days of this week occurred in spite of foreign funds turning net buyers. Latest data with the markets watchdog Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) shows these funds bought equities worth $269.5 million Monday and Tuesday.

Among the Sensex shares, the two that managed to end in the positive territory were Bharti Televentures, up 2.39 percent at Rs.353.85 and Housing Development Finance Corp., up 0.11 percent at Rs.1,165.00.

Larsen and Toubro led the losers, down 6.59 percent at Rs.1,988.30, followed by Ranbaxy Laboratories, down 5.97 percent at Rs.365.25, National Thermal Power, down 5.38 percent at Rs.100.25, and Reliance Energy, down 4.99 percent at Rs.403.75.

Indian Navy awaits regional nod for patrolling Malacca Straits

By Vishnu Makhijani, Indo-Asian News Service

New Delhi, June 7 (IANS) The Indian Navy has chalked out plans to patrol the Malacca Straits against sea piracy if called upon to do so, but a decision on that would have to come from the highest political levels after the regional countries agree to this, defence officials say.

The US, given its growing comfort level with India and their growing strategic relationship, is delegating to New Delhi a role that would have been unthinkable even a few years ago.

Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has thrown his weight behind the move.

"Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore are discussing (the issue) and we are very comfortable with the fact that India has offered its assistance (in patrolling the nearly 1,000-km-long waterway)," Pace said here Monday.

A senior US Navy officer had spoken in the same vein late last month, contending that Washington saw a greater role for the Indian Navy in the Malacca Straits region.

"Let me make it very clear - the US is not interested in patrolling the region. It is for the littoral states to do so. India and Japan also have a more active role to play," Admiral Gary Roughead, commander of the US Pacific Fleet, said at a select media briefing here.

Some 50 percent of India's trade passes through the Malacca Straits, among the world's busiest sea-lanes. Although there have been no pirate attacks from January-March - as against 38 in 2004 - India quite naturally has a stake in ensuring the region remains peaceful, the officials pointed out.

The International Maritime Bureau has reported there was only one instance of sea piracy during July-December last year. However, citing the 2004 attacks, Lloyd's of London listed the waterway as a "war-risk area" and hiked insurance premiums for transiting ships.

"This is a highly sensitive issue and while the navy has done some homework on the issue, the nod would have to come from the highest levels of the political leadership as the littoral states of the region have to first agree to this," said the officials, who have studied the issue.

Offering to help secure the Malacca Straits against sea piracy, Indian Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said over the weekend that New Delhi would be willing to assist in any capacity the littoral states felt necessary.

"India has developed capabilities in various aspects of maritime security and would be most willing to share its expertise with the countries of the region," he was quoted as saying during his address at the just-concluded fifth Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

Given the lack of naval assets among the littoral states of the region, this leaves only India and Japan with capabilities to effectively patrol the Malacca Straits.

Japan, however, does not have a regular navy but only a self-defence maritime force and a Coast Guard that, as it is, has its hands full. As for India, sole patrolling is not acceptable to the littoral states, but they might be agreeable to joint policing with Japan.

A beginning was made during Operation Enduring Freedom - the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan - when Indian Navy ships escorted US HVVs (high value vessels) like oil tankers through the Malacca Straits.

What also helps is the India-Indonesia agreement for joint patrolling of their International Boundary Line (IBL).

"At the moment, it's just rudimentary patrolling that is conducted twice a year by each side. It's a small beginning that could turn into a larger arrangement (in the Malacca Straits), the officials pointed out.

Singapore's stand on the issue is also helpful. Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean, speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, said he welcomed the Indian offer but it would have to be accepted by the other littoral states.

"They must be respectful of international law as well as the sovereignty of the littoral states," Teo pointed out.

But, with Malaysia ambivalent on the issue, it could be a while before Indian Navy vessels become a permanent fixture in the Malacca Straits.

Lalu visits 'unwell' Shahabuddin in jail

Patna, June 7 (IANS) Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Wednesday visited jailed Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Mohammad Shahabuddin, who is said to be suffering from acute spinal pain.

Official sources said Lalu Prasad, chief of the RJD, had an hour-long meeting with Shahabuddin in Bihar's Siwan jail and inquired about his health.

He later told reporters that he was concerned about Shahabuddin's health and the latter needed immediate specialised treatment.

"Any delay in his treatment may cause serious trouble to his health, including paralysis," Lalu Prasad said. He demanded that a medical board comprising experts be constituted and Shahabuddin be sent to Patna or outside Bihar for treatment.

Shahabuddin reportedly is suffering from a slip disc and had earlier been treated in Australia for it.

Asked whether being a central minister he should have visited a man charged with serious offences, Lalu Prasad said Shahabuddin was a party MP suffering from health problems.

"I came here just to meet him and no political motive should be read into it," the railway minister said.

Shahabuddin was shifted to Siwan jail last week from the high security Bhagalpur prison in the wake of a Patna High Court directive to speed up the trial of cases against him.

While being transferred to Siwan jail, he was allowed to travel in a luxury car instead of a police vehicle in violation of prison rules.

After his arrest in New Delhi last year, Shahabuddin was taken to the Bhagalpur prison.

A Lok Sabha member from Siwan since 1996, he faces charges in over 40 criminal cases, including those relating to murder, abduction and possession of illegal arms and stolen vehicles.

Mobile phones banned in Ranchi mosques

Ranchi, June 7 (IANS) Mobile phones have been strictly prohibited during prayers at mosques here on the ground that they disturb devotees.

"When mobiles ring during prayers, they disturb the other faithful. There should be nothing between the faithful and Allah when prayers take place," said Maulana Muzahiri of Ranchi mosque.

"If mobiles are switched off for some time, they will not create much problem for the user and will also not disturb devotees during prayers. The decision to ban mobiles inside mosques was taken after our requests to switch them off went unheeded," he said.

More Women migrants in 2005 : UN report

A United Nations report on international migration and development showed that international migrants numbered 191 million in 2005, and nearly half of them are women.

The report, released by the UN Wednesday and submitted to the General
Assemby by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, said migration has become a major feature of international life as people living outside their home countries include 115 million in developed countries and 75 million in the developing world.

"Roughly one third live in a developing country and came from another
developing country, while another third live in a developed country and
originated in a developing country. That is, "South-to-South" migrants are about as numerous as "South-to-North" migrants," the report said.

In 2005, Europe hosted 34 per cent of all migrants, followed by northern
America with 23 per cent and Asia 28 per cent while only 9 per cent were living in Africa, 3 per cent in Latin America and the Caribbean and another 3 per cent in Oceania.

In 72 countries, the number of migrants decreased between 1990 and 2005 while 17 nations accounted for 75 per cent of the increase in the migrant stock over that period, among them the United States which gained 15 million migrants, with Germany and Spain adding more than four million each. The increase in migration was attributed to communications and transport revolution.

In his foreword note, Annan said the report was "an early road map for this new era of mobility", adding that many misunderstood the advantages migration brings and proposed a standing forum which governments could use to explore and compare policy approaches.

"We find that while countries share people through migration, they often
neglect to share knowledge about how to manage the movement of people. We need to learn more systematically from each other," Annan wrote.

The report said that nearly six out of every 10 international migrants (a
total of 112 million) reside in countries designated as "high income". These high income nations include 22 developing countries, some of those cited being Bahrain, Brunei, Kuwait, Qatar, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.

The UN report also said that money sent home by migrants worldwide increased from USD102 billion in 1995 to an estimated USD232 billion in 2005.

The share of global remittances going to developing countries has also
increased, from 57 per cent in 1995 (USD58 billion) to 72 per cent in 2005 (USD167 billion).

The top 20 recipient countries accounted for 66 per cent of world
remittances in 2004, and one third of global remittances went to only four countries, that is India, China, Mexico and France.

Some countries like the Philippines and Serbia and Montenegro showed that remittances constituted a high share of gross domestic product.

According to the report, migrants are not only engaged in menial activities like in the past as nearly half the increase in the number of international migrants aged 25 or over in OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries during the 1990s was made up of highly skilled people.

But countries of origin were not only benefiting in term of remittances sent home but also transfer of skills and technology as shown by India's software industry, which has emerged in a large part from intensive networking among expatriates, returning migrants, and Indian entrepreneurs at home and abroad.

The report found that migration was not a zero-sum game as it can benefit both sending and receiving countries at once.

"Significantly, many countries once known for migration, like Ireland, Korea and Spain among them, now boast thriving economies and host large numbers of immigrants," it said.

Mottaki says Iran prefers cooperation to confrontation Tehran

June 7, IRNA,Iran prefers cooperation to confrontation on its nuclear case, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said here Tuesday.

Mottaki was speaking to reporters after a second meeting with the visiting Kazakh Foreign Minister Kasymzhomart Tokayev, who arrived here Tuesday morning at the head of a political delegation for a two-day visit.

Referring to latest developments in Iran's nuclear case, he said Europe has made a new offer to Iran which European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana presented to Tehran on Tuesday.

Speaking of the new offer, he said: "We do not predict a difficult situation for the country."
"Shuttle diplomacy, if it is in good faith, will allow us to find grounds for understanding."
Speaking of Europe's new proposal, Mottaki said that Iran will "carefully study" it.

Pointing to remarks of US officials that the military option was still on the table, he said that the United States was not in a position to add more burdens to American taxpayers. "It has expressed its readiness to hold talks with Iran."
He said it was to be expected that other quarters in the US would seek other options, but in his view "a diplomatic solution would have more chance."
On bilateral ties with Kazakhstan, the Iranian minister said in talks held between the two sides it was agreed that the two countries' trade volume would be raised from the "current 900 million dollars to two billion dollars."
Referring to the two countries' cooperation in the field of energy, he added: "We held talks on Kazakhastan exports of gas to Iran through Iranian pipelines. The sides stressed that the project will be economical in technical terms."
Asked about the issue of a legal regime for the Caspian Sea, he said there was a strong determination to reach a consensus on the issue during an upcoming summit of the sea's littoral states.

The summit, he added, will be "a step forward because the Caspian Sea is a sea of peace and friendship which belongs to all regional states. Countries outside the region have no share in this sea." The Iranian minister also appreciated Kazakhstan continuing "support for Iran's legal stance on its peaceful nuclear program." He praised the two countries' similarity in stances on issues raised at international fora.

"There are no limits to expansion of ties with Kazakhstan," Mottaki said, and expressed optimism the two countries will witness "more progressive developments in the future."

No India link seen as Canada terror probe expands

By Arun Kumar,

Washington, June 7(IANS) As new details emerged of what a group of 17 rounded up in Canada's terror plot was allegedly planning, it became apparent that they had nothing to do with India.

While probe teams looked for clues in seven other countries, including Bangladesh, the alleged architects of a massive terror plot made their second appearance in a Toronto court Tuesday. Canadian media quoted the police to suggest that intelligence officers were looking for links between the 17 suspects and Islamic terror cells abroad.

Investigators were reported to be looking for connections between the group of 17 and Islamic militants held in the US, Britain, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Denmark and Sweden besides Canada.

Some of the Canadian suspects are alleged to have been in contact via computer with two American nationals from Georgia, one of Pakistani origin and the other from Bangladesh, who were charged earlier this year in another terrorism case.

The Georgia men, Ehsanul Islam Sadequee and Syed Haris Ahmed travelled to Washington to shoot "casing videos" of the Capitol seat of the US Congress, the World Bank and other potential targets in the American capital.

The Washington Times cited a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) affidavit to say the two had travelled to Canada to meet with at least three other targets of an ongoing FBI terrorism investigation in March 2005. They also planned to travel to Pakistan to get military training at a terrorist camp.

Among a chilling miscellany of possible terrorist attacks the group of 17 was charged with in Toronto were bombings, an armed assault on parliament and even beheading of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

An accused with an "Indian sounding name", 25-year-old restaurant worker Steven Chand, allegedly wanted to personally behead the Canadian prime minister. Chand, bearded with shoulder-length hair, blew a kiss to supporters in the courtroom as he was led away in shackles and handcuffs.

Chand, Asad Ansari (21), Fahim Ahmad (21), Zakaria Amara (20), Qayyum Abdul Jamal (43), Amin Mohamed Durrani (19), Jahmaal James (23), Saad Khalid (19), Ahmad Mustafa Ghany (21), and the five youths, none of whom can be identified, are all scheduled to return to court June 12.

No security guarantees in Iran proposal: US

Washington, June 7 (DPA) The US said that an incentives package aimed at persuading Iran to comply with international demands on its nuclear activities does not include security guarantees.

The US and its allies have refused to discuss details of the package publicly, saying that avoiding a public debate while the Iranians study the proposal was essential to the diplomatic process.

But US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack confirmed Tuesday that the proposal did not contain guarantees that the US would not use military force against Iran.

"US security guarantees are not on the table," he said.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana was in Tehran Tuesday to reveal the package to Iranian officials. The package includes sets of benefits Iran will receive if it halts uranium enrichment and comes clean with international demands aimed at ensuring its nuclear programme is not for building weapons.

The proposal also outlines punitive measures that can be enacted if Iran does not comply.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke with Solana after he returned to Brussels. Solana told Rice that discussions with the Iranians were "very useful and constructive", McCormack said in a statement.

"The Iranians told him that they would consider the proposal but would need some time to review it," he added. "Solana said that he would be in contact with the Iranians in the coming days about the proposal."

The proposal was agreed to last week by the major powers involved in the effort to ensure Iran's nuclear ambitions are purely for energy. They include the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - Britain, China, France, Russia, and the US - plus Germany.

The New York Times reported that the US was willing to ease sanctions so Iran could buy aircraft parts from Boeing and agricultural equipment. The six nations would also support Iran's development of nuclear power.

--DPA

Over 20% of Kuwaiti Population suffer from diabetes

KUWAIT CITY, June 7 (NNN-XINHUA) -- Over 20 percent Kuwaitis were either ill with diabetes or prone to the disease, Health Minister Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah warned on Tuesday.

Addressing the ceremonial inauguration of a Diabetes Research and Treatment Center, Sheikh Ahmad said that 15 percent of the adults in Kuwait were diabetic, adding that Kuwait has a high percentage of people infected with the disease.

The disease has a growing rate among children in Kuwait annually, he said, calling for adoption of health programmes to correct the unhealthy habits that helped in the spread of the disease in the society.

The minister, meanwhile, noted that 28 diabetes centers in the country have already received more than 500,000 patients.

The total population of Kuwait is 2.75 million at the end of 2004.

Pakistan zeroing in on site for Mumbai consulate

By Manish Chand and Harish C. Menon,
New Delhi/Mumbai, June 7 (IANS) After over five months of dilly-dallying, Pakistan appears closer to re-opening its consulate in Mumbai as the Maharashtra government has offered it three fresh properties to choose from.

The state government recommended to the ministry of external affairs (MEA) three separate locations for the Pakistan consulate in the city. The list has been sent to the Pakistani high commission in New Delhi.

"We are taking a close look at the pluses and minuses of each venue. We have yet to decide, but we are confident we will do so soon," a senior Pakistani diplomat told IANS.

"Security and location are two important criteria. We will analyze carefully each option before finalizing the property," he added.

"The state government has sent the details to the MEA and is waiting for the response," Maharashtra Chief Secretary D.K. Sankaran told IANS.

"The MEA had asked us to identify some locations for the consulate. There were several criteria to zero in on locations fit for the consulate," Sankaran said. "One of the requirements was that it should be located in a commercial area."

R.B. Kanade, chief protocol officer in the general administration department, said: "We sent the list of these locations to the MEA in April and are yet to receive a response."

Official sources told IANS that the current list identified for the consulate includes a bungalow on Warden Road, Aman Chambers at Prabhadevi and a plot belonging to the Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority in Bandra in western Mumbai.

India is eagerly awaiting a response from Pakistan and is hoping that this time round they would be able to find a suitable site from the three properties.

"We are very keen to open the Indian consulate in Karachi as we completed renovation of the offices in Karachi months ago and are waiting to move in," a senior Indian official told IANS.

But there is growing impatience in India over Pakistan's endless dragging of feet over re-opening its consulate. This perhaps explains why the Indian government, which had earlier named Navdeep Suri, joint secretary in the MEA as its consul-general in Karachi, has now decided to post him as consul-general in Johannesburg.

India can't re-open its consulate in Karachi as during Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's visit to New Delhi last year it was decided to re-open both the consulates- general simultaneously.

The two facilities were closed following violence in the aftermath of the demolition of the Babri mosque at Ayodhya in 1992.

The re-opening, scheduled for Jan 1 this year, was delayed as the property deal finalized by Pakistan fell through at the last minute due to a dispute with the builders association of that property.

The first choice of the Pakistan government - the Jinnah House, the erstwhile residence of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of that country - was rejected by India years ago.

The earlier location of the consulate had generated a lot of controversy a few months ago when the second location identified by Pakistan - the ground floor of Mittal Chambers, a 7,000 sq ft commercial property in the heart of the posh Nariman Point -- ran into trouble with the owners' body.

The flat owners had rejected the proposal on security grounds.

The reopening of the consulates, coupled with the starting of the Khokhrapar-Munabao train service connecting Rajasthan with Sindh province, would be a big help to the people of Sindh and save them from tortuous journey to travel to Islamabad, which is about 1,000 km away, to get their visas.

Rahul grilled, probe gets Bollywood link

New Delhi, June 7 (IANS) Rahul Mahajan was interrogated through Tuesday night and Wednesday to reconstruct the events at the drug-laced party that killed an aide of his late father and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Pramod Mahajan.

Investigators probing the death of Bibek Moitra and the brush with death of Rahul also uncovered suspected links between a Nigerian who allegedly sold the killer narcotics for the June 1 party and Bollywood personalities.

Remanded in police custody for two days Tuesday, police officers started to question the 31-year-old Rahul late in the evening. The interrogation continued intermittently Tuesday night, well up to 2 a.m. Wednesday.

After letting him sleep for some hours, he was again taken for questioning Wednesday morning, police said as they readied to take him to his father's 7 Safdarjung Road where the party took place.

"We will take him to the bungalow to find the sequence of events. There are gaps in the statements given by (Rahul) Mahajan and we are trying to close these gaps," one official said.

Rahul was Tuesday charged with drug abuse after four days of high-pitched drama during which he was admitted to the Apollo hospital, which itself has come under a cloud for initially giving him a clean chit.

Investigators say they have stumbled across information linking Nigerian drug peddler Abdullah, who allegedly sold the drugs to Sahil Zarru that eventually reached the Mahajan residence, with some film producers in Bollywood as well as designers and businessmen here who were clients.

"We have come across a lot of names and we have also sent teams to Mumbai to check the claims made by Abdullah," said a senior police official.

"If the details are found to be true, we will inform Mumbai Police and it will be their prerogative to take any action.

"We have nothing to do with these details as it does not affect our case. But police teams will verify the claims made by the drug peddler and authorities concerned will be informed if necessary."

In a related development, Harish Sharma, a personal secretary of the late Pramod Mahajan, was arrested along with an employee of the BJP leader early Wednesday on charges of destruction of evidence. They were later granted bail.

Sharma and the staffer, identified as Ganesh, had apparently cleaned up the Mahajan home after Rahul and Bibek threw up after consuming champagne and drugs. The two were also accused of hiding the champagne bottles.

A police officer said: "He (Harish) probably thought he would be able to hush up the case. Therefore both of them cleaned up the house and hid the two champagne bottles.

"The forensic report of Sahil Zarru's vomit revealed he too had consumed drugs. Rahul's blood test reports also suggest that he had consumed narcotic substances."

A Delhi Police team has gone to Mumbai to check the antecedents of Rahul Mahajan and Sahil in Mumbai. Sahil is a Kashmir man based in Mumbai.

"We want to find out about their previous involvement in any criminal activities and past medical treatment record," an officer said.

Rahul is charged under Sections 21, 25, 27 and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. If proven guilty the accused can be jailed for a maximum of 20 years and fined Rs.200,000 ($4,400).

Officials said they were also contemplating sending Sahil to Srinagar Thursday to verify the claims made by him during his interrogation.

"We suspect that Sahil had brought drugs from Srinagar on several occasions and given them to people in Delhi and Mumbai," a police source said.

Rahul came face to face with Sahil in the early hours of Wednesday.

"Since both Sahil and Rahul have stayed in Mumbai for a long time, we are trying to find out if they knew each other before meeting June 1."

Report on alleged secret detentions in Europe to be published today

Strasbourg, 06 June(IMI)Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) rapporteur Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE) will present his report on alleged secret detentions and unlawful inter-state transfers involving Council of Europe member states to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights in Paris on Wednesday 7 June.

The report is scheduled for debate during the plenary session of the 630-members-strong PACE in Strasbourg on Tuesday 27 June 2006.

Press conference

Rapporteur Dick Marty and PACE President René van der Linden will give a press conference on Wednesday 7 June at 1 pm at the Council of Europe office in Paris (55, avenue Kléber, Métro Boissière).

Sania's French Open run ends

Rolland Garros, June 7 (IMI) Sania Mirza's French Open run ended today, she lost her women's doubles match against Eleni Daniilidou of Greece and Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues.

Sania Mirza partnered with Janette Husarova of Slovakia lost the third round match 6-0, 6-4.

In her latest WTA ranking, Sania is ranked number 40, down from previous week's ranking of 38. Her doubles ranking is 37.

Sania will next play in DFS Classic in Birmingham, UK. The DFS Classic will be played at the Edgbaston Priory Club, June 12-18 2006.

Ship with 200 Asian illegals intercepted off Spanish coast

Madrid, June 7 (DPA) A ship carrying about 200 Asian immigrants was intercepted by police and towed to Cadiz in southern Spain, said news reports.

The 40-metre, Spanish-flagged vessel was spotted by a fishing boat while adrift about 18 km off the southern coast. A helicopter and several patrol boats participated in the operation Tuesday in windy weather.

The migrants were believed to come from Pakistan and other Asian countries.

Most immigrants reaching Spain by boat are Africans. Another boat transporting some 30 Africans was intercepted off Gran Canaria Tuesday.

About 5,000 Africans landed on the Canary Islands in May, more than during all of last year.

Spurious drugs flood India

By Arun Anand,
New Delhi, June 7 (IANS) While the consumption of narcotics substances is potentially lethal in itself, a more potent menace is the increasing supply of spurious drugs that is leading to a higher casualty rate among drug users in India, especially when consumed with alcohol, according to experts.

"The 'impure' drugs are more dangerous as quite often the users do not even know about the presence of impurities. Especially in the case of cocaine and heroin, paracetamol and diazepam tablets are crushed and mixed with them to increase the overall volume," a senior Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) official said.

"Even a small dose of an impure heroin or cocaine can prove fatal," the official told IANS.

"According to our information, a growing number of drug dealers are mixing cocaine and heroin with such substances these days. These 'cocktail drugs' are sold in the market as pure heroin and cocaine, fetching up to Rs.10 million (about $218,000) per kg," said the official on the condition of anonymity.

"In the recent past, investigating agencies have often seized white powdery substances passed on as pure heroin and cocaine though they contained less than one percent of these drugs," a senior Delhi Police official said.

Most dangerous of these impure drugs is "synthetic heroin". "Drug cartels operating in India manufacture it locally by mixing crushed tablets of paracetamol and diazepam, and sprinkling it with morphine," the NCB official explained.

"It gives the user the same kick as pure heroin but can cause much more harm to the body. Even a small dose of synthetic heroin could prove fatal - not only for a first-time user but even for regular users," he added.

"The white powdery substance sold in party circuits of New Delhi and Mumbai as 'Afghan heroin', considered to be the best in the international market, is in fact nothing but synthetic heroin," revealed a senior functionary of the narcotics branch of Delhi Police.

"The cost of synthetic heroin and other spurious drugs is much less than the 'pure drugs'. That has resulted in a phenomenal growth of spurious drugs. The trend is expected to gain further momentum," the NCB official said.

Tea protects Asian smokers from cardiovascular diseases

New York, June 7 (IANS) High consumption of tea protects Asians from cardiovascular diseases and cancer, usually caused by smoking, even though people tend to smoke more heavily here than in other countries, says a study.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), smoking-related diseases are killing four million people a year worldwide and this number will rise to 10 million a year in the next 25 years.

However, there is a lower incidence of cardiovascular diseases and cancer in Asia because of the high consumption of tea, particularly green tea, found researchers at the Yale School of Medicine.

Bauer Sumpio, the lead author of the study, said he and his colleagues reviewed more than 100 experimental and clinical studies about green tea and found that the average 1.2 litres of green tea consumed daily by many Asians provides them with anti-oxidant protective effects, reported science portal EurekAlert.

"EGCG is a component found in green tea, which reduces the amount of platelet-small cells in the blood that are responsible for clotting, aggregation, regulates lipids, and promotes proliferation and migration of smooth muscle cells These are all factors that reduce cardiovascular disease," he said.

According to Sumpio, other reports show that EGCG also prevents the growth of certain tumours. Tea can also improve gastrointestinal function, alcohol metabolism, kidney, liver and pancreatic functions, protect the skin and eyes and alleviate arthritis, he added.

Sumpio further said that tea has been used in managing and preventing allergies, diabetes, bacterial and viral infections, cavities, reduce or cure inflammatory diseases.

However, he said more studies are necessary to fully elucidate and better understand green tea's method of action, particularly at the cellular level.

"The evidence is strong that green tea consumption is a useful dietary habit to lower the risk for, as well as treat, a number of chronic diseases. However, smoking cessation is certainly the best way to prevent cardiovascular disease and cancer," said Sumpio.

US consumers trust India

June 6,(IMI)A new survey sponsored by global law firm White & Case, and developed by independent privacy think tank Ponemon Institute, found that the majority of American consumers are uncomfortable with US companies sharing personal information with outsourcing companies overseas.However, US adults are most comfortable with India, Canada and Ireland and have given these countries highest overall trust rankings with respect to local companies taking steps to protect or safeguard personal information.

Philippines, Mexico, Haiti and Russia received the lowest trust rankings.

The survey found that 51 per cent of US adults do not want a US organisation to send sensitive personal information such as social security or driver's licence numbers to a local company in another country.

Opposition was higher when it came to sharing even more sensitive information: 60 per cent didn't want their credit or debit card account numbers shared with an offshore company; 64 per cent opposed having their employee records shared; 73 per cent opposed having their banking or home mortgage information shared; and a whopping 83 per cent opposed having their health records shared with a local company in another country.

"That so many Americans are concerned about sensitive personal data going overseas isn't surprising given the growing threat of identity theft and general misperceptions about outsourcing itself," said White & Case partner Steve Betensky, who regularly advises companies on outsourcing issues.

He adds that the problem is further compounded by the fact that 82 per cent of survey respondents felt that new US regulations were needed to ensure that offshore companies had adequate security and privacy safeguards in place -- despite the fact that many industries such as healthcare and financial services are already strongly regulated.

Source: Hindustan Times
Full report:http://www.whitecase.com/publications/detail.aspx?publication=921

US court convicts Pakistani terrorist for targeting India

By Arun Kumar,
Washington, June 7 (IANS) A US federal jury has convicted a Pakistani national, the last of the 11 men charged as members of what has come to be known as the "Virginia jihad network", for aiding a terrorist group that is targeting India.

The jury in US District Court in Alexandria Tuesday found Ali Asad Chandia, 29, guilty of three counts of providing material support to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) or conspiring to do so, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Although jurors acquitted him of the fourth count of supporting terrorists, Chandia faces up to 45 years in prison when he is sentenced Aug 18.

Prosecutors said Chandia trained at an LeT camp in Pakistan and helped the group acquire paintballs and other equipment with potential military applications when he returned to the US. The LeT is considered a terrorist group by the US government.

The verdict brings to 11 the number of Muslim men convicted in the investigation of what prosecutors called a network dedicated to preparing for holy war against US troops.

The prosecutors said Chandia is a former personal assistant to Ali al-Timimi, the group's spiritual leader, who is serving a life prison term.

Federal officials have described the case as one of the most important domestic terrorism prosecutions since the Sep 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. They hailed Chandia's conviction and said it underscored the importance of cooperating with foreign law enforcement agencies in the battle against terrorism.

During the two-week trial, prosecutors introduced evidence showing that Chandia had travelled to an LeT office in Lahore, Pakistan, in November 2001 shortly after resigning from his job at a Costco store.

The prosecutors told the jury that Chandia then trained at the LeT camp, though they acknowledged they had no eyewitnesses placing him there. After returning to the US, Chandia was accused of working with other defendants to obtain equipment for LeT.

Chandia, his hands clasped behind him, showed no reaction as the verdict of the nine-woman, three-man jury was read. He then smiled and shook hands with supporters in the courtroom. The Pakistani citizen remains free on a personal recognizance bond.

US sticks to its guns on India-critical slavery report

By Arun Kumar,
Washington, June 7 (IANS) The United States Tuesday defended its sharp criticism of India in a report on human trafficking, saying the fact that many friends and allies ended up on its watch lists demonstrated Washington's commitment to ending what it calls "modern-day slavery".

Seeking to soft pedal India's sharp reaction to the report, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said listing of countries in various tiers was merely a mechanism to try to solve the problem and was not meant to brand any particular country.

Suggesting that there hadn't been "any particular reaction from the Indian government", he claimed that the US Trafficking in Persons Office tries to gather the best information working with host governments on the issue, and the report reflected "their best judgment based on an objective set of criteria."

"There are many countries who are our friends and allies who end up in Tier 3 or on the Tier 2 Watch List, and that I think is a real demonstration of our commitment to this. This is a hard issue and that we are going to speak out clearly and in public on it," McCormack said.

The whole idea behind listing the various countries and the governments in terms of what steps they have taken on to fight trafficking in persons is to try to solve the problem that both President George Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice took seriously, he said.

"What we want to do is work with governments to try to resolve the problem -- work with those governments so that they can take steps, they can change their laws, they can change their regulations to fight trafficking in persons."

"So the actual list itself is more of a mechanism. It's not meant to -- it's not meant to brand any particular country, although there are some countries that have sort of -- have remained on the list for quite some time," he said.

Citing Malawi, Ecuador and a few others as good examples of countries moving up from the bottom Tier 3 up to Tier 1, McCormack said, the visible improvements in those countries was a demonstration of the utility of talking about the issue in public.

The US report on trafficking in persons evoked a sharp reaction in India with New Delhi taking strong objection to the US tendency to issue reports based on "preconceptions," and rejecting the "judgemental and prescriptive approach by a foreign government".

US think-tank suggests compromise on N-deal

By Arun Kumar, Washington, June 7 (IANS) If Congress does not approve the US-India nuclear deal, "it would damage the bilateral relationship" between the world's two largest democracies, an American think-tank warned Wednesday, suggesting a two-stage compromise approach.

In a new report released Wednesday, Council On Foreign Relations, a New York-based independent, national membership organisation and a non-partisan centre for scholars, says it was suggesting the two-stage approach as an enduring strategic partnership cannot be founded upon legislative action taken grudgingly.

"Legislation passed with broad support will benefit both the US and India in the long term," say the authors, Michael A. Levi and Charles D. Ferguson, both Council fellows for science and technology, in the report, "US-India Nuclear Cooperation: A Strategy for Moving Forward".

The deal, envisaging nuclear cooperation between the US and India for the first time in more than 30 years, would help create a stronger bilateral relationship that would, in turn, improve America's position in Asia and the world, they say.

By strengthening relations with China's next-door neighbour, the US has the potential to improve its strategic position, when US policymakers of both parties have long been concerned about a rising China, the report indicates.

Meanwhile, as the US policy increasingly focuses on promoting democracy worldwide, the appeal of a deeper relationship with the world's largest democracy is undeniable, it says.

"American exclusion of India from nuclear commerce has long grated on New Delhi, proving an irritant in the bilateral relationship, and removing this point of friction would no doubt strengthen the relationship," says the report.

While it criticised the Bush administration for conceding too much in its negotiations with India, Levi and Ferguson concluded that, as long as Congress can reinforce a handful on non-proliferation bottom-lines, it would be unwise to scuttle the deal now.

The authors thus suggest that Congress should adopt a two-stage approach: formally endorsing the deal's basic framework, while delaying final approval until it is assured that critical non-proliferation needs are met.

"Patience and a few simple fixes would address major proliferation concerns while ultimately strengthening the strategic partnership," say the report.

The Bush administration has stirred deep passions and put Congress in the seemingly impossible bind of choosing between approving the deal and damaging nuclear non-proliferation, or rejecting the deal and thereby setting back an important strategic relationship. But this is a false choice, they argue.

Levi and Ferguson advise Congress to "reserve the bulk of its political capital for a handful of top-tier objectives. It should focus on preventing Indian nuclear testing and fundamental changes in Indian nuclear strategy, rather than on blocking growth in the number of Indian nuclear weapons.

"It should focus on obtaining cooperation - from India as well as other countries - in controlling the spread of sensitive nuclear technologies, instead of on measures that would shape the development of nuclear technology in India itself.

"Congress should issue a set of bottom-line requirements for the formal US-India nuclear cooperation agreement, for India's inspection agreement with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), and for new [Nuclear Suppliers Group] rules that would allow nuclear commerce with India, and enforce those requirements by refusing to pass final legislation enabling nuclear cooperation until the agreements are in place and are satisfactory," the report says.

The report urges Congress and the administration to focus on five principles as the basic framework for solidifying the deal:

* "Congress should ensure that, if India breaks its unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing, nuclear cooperation will cease.

* "To reinforce [India's] commitments [to strengthening export controls], Congress should ask the administration if it requires any money or legal authority to assist India in improving its export controls, and it should provide whatever is needed. This support would most likely fund American experts to work cooperatively with Indian authorities, rather than comprise direct transfers to India.

* "US legislation, while not mandating the future shape of the Indian nuclear complex, should provide incentives to steer India in the right direction.

* Future cooperation should be freed from the "formal annual review [that could] undermine the confidence-building purpose of the US-India deal. Instead, in exchange for giving up its annual right of review, Congress should provide less-intrusive incentives for India to label future reactors as civilian and place them under inspection."

* Congress should accept that India will not "unilaterally cap its nuclear arsenal".

World Cup jingoism puts pressure on Britain's minorities

By Prasun Sonwalkar,
London, June 7 (IANS) High-pitched patriotism during the football World Cup may force Asians and other minorities here to wave the England flag for fear of being excluded if they do not join in.

According to University of Leicester's historian George Ferzoco, minorities in particular could feel they need to be seen to be "patriotic" as jingoism grips the country across cars, pubs, houses and even people's faces that are coloured according to the England flag.

"I am worried that some may fear exclusion. Witness the recent front page of a major national newspaper. It presented a series of photos of people of many ethnicities (especially some very visible ones) draped in the Cross of Saint George," he said.

"Some members of the ethnic groups represented on that page may feel they absolutely must wave the flag. Why? For fear of being thought of as somehow anti-English, even if they don't care about football or the World Cup."

Sociologist John Williams argues that ethnic minority support for football demonstrates how far the game has gone to try to divest itself of racist associations.

"I think the signs of more ethnic minority England support suggest that at least some of the racist associations of the national team have been reasonably successfully challenged. England fans promoted the Cross of St George to get away from the rightwing associations of the Union Jack.

"I think this has been successful, especially as the England flag has become a sort of fashion accessory and object of consumption as well as a signifier for the national team."

Social scientist Martin Parker argues that still more needs to be done to dissociate flag-waving from xenophobia.

"I think the link between the flag and rightwing extremist groups is now too strong to simply be reclaimed by four weeks of football. Not everyone who flies the Union Jack is a little Englander or a member of the BNP but the connection is certainly there.

"What seems more important is to invent a form of pride in Englishness that does not involve suggesting that all foreigners aren't as good as us. Too often, the flag is flown defensively, rather than in celebration of something."

Parker added that the World Cup provided people with an opportunity to assert a sense of national identity.

"I suspect this is largely because it involves people who identify as English being encouraged to drag out some tired old stereotypes and histories.

"They then call this patriotism. In addition football is the English mass sport, and its commercialisation over the past 20 years has allowed certain flag-waving to be sold by virtually every provider of consumer goods for a few months. As if buying a particular brand of beer was patriotic?

"The question arises: What is 'Englishness'? I have never seen it defined as anything other than 'tolerance'. If this is the case, then I assume no one would be labelled as un-English for not wearing an England top."

The academics agreed that many fans were more loyal and enthusiastic about the fortunes of their own clubs than the national team.

Parker said: "I would rather see Stoke City get promoted to the premiership than have England win the World Cup. I suspect that is the case with lots of fans of their local clubs."

Williams added: "My club is Liverpool and, yes, I would much rather they win something than England. I think fans of the top clubs - especially those that play in Europe - are less tied to England."

World Cup's '33rd team' eager for action

Gravenbruch (Germany), June 7 (DPA) There is a 33rd team taking part in the 2006 World Cup. It is international, talented and well trained. And just like Brazil, France or Japan, this team is eager to get into action and prove its worth in Germany.

FIFA says its line-up of 78 match officials, including 21 referees and five reserves, is "the best it has ever had". They have come from as far away places as Australia and Benin, after overcoming a tough and lengthy selection process.

And despite years of experience spent officiating top-level football matches, their excitement is noticeable as they meet journalists visiting their headquarters in a luxury hotel in Gravenbruch, near Frankfurt.

Horacio Elizondo is a 42-year-old veteran from Argentina. But he looks like a kid who has just found a hidden jar of cookies as he talks about taking part in the opening match of the tournament, Friday's Group A clash between hosts Germany and Costa Rica.

"This is going to be the most important match of my life," says Elizondo, who otherwise works as a physical education teacher in Parada Robles.

For others, like Roberto Rosetti of Italy, being in Germany is a matter of national and professional pride.

"I am very excited about being here as a representative of all of Italy's 32,000 referees," he says.

Rosetti, whose other occupation is in hospital management, and his two Italian assistants - one of which spends his working life selling organic fruit near Lake Garda, received a last-minute call-up after match officials from Greece and Spain were forced to defect due to injury.

His appointment is particularly important for a country like Italy, which is still reeling from a major match-fixing scandal that has brought shame on many of his colleagues.

As Rosetti speaks, FIFA's original choice of referee, Massimo De Santis, is busy trying to defend himself from accusations that he furthered his career by unfairly favouring Serie A giants Juventus.

Two Italian journalists ask Rosetti whether the scandal unfolding back home could affect his performance in Germany.

"I am fully concentrated on this tournament," he cuts them short.

Of the referees present in Gravenbruch, only eight have had any World Cup experience.

One of them is Germany's Markus Merk. The Otterbach dentist, along with Graham Poll of England, is heavily tipped to officiate the July 9 final in Berlin, should their respective countries not make it that far.

Asked whether he would prefer to see Germany or himself in the final, he offers a typically Teutonic answer: "The time for dreams is over. I am just here to work hard."

Unlike four years ago, referees will be assisted by two linesmen from their own federation in all of the matches they are called to officiate.

The novelty was one of several introduced by FIFA in a bid to improve on the at times poor level of refereeing seen in Japan and South Korea.

Rosetti believes the so-called "trio system" is a good idea as it is bound to improve mutual understanding.

"We know each other well and we are getting to know each other even better. This means all we need is a quick look and a gesture to agree on a decision," Rosetti says, his assistants Alessandro Stagnoli and Cristiano Copelli nodding in agreement beside him.

Should non-verbal communication fail, technology comes to the rescue.

For the first time in the tournament's history, match officials will be able to talk to each other during the game via a microphone and headset.

Carlos Simon of Brazil, a 41-year-old journalist, believes this could prove particularly useful in preventing skirmishes between players.

"For example, one of my assistants could warn me that two players are getting at each other and that the situation is about to degenerate," Simon says.

FIFA is particularly eager to ensure dangerous tackles, diving, time wasting and any other form of unsporting behaviour do not spoil "the beautiful game".

The referees seem perfectly aware of the FIFA directive, particularly as they have been warned they will be sent home early unless they enforce the rules.

"Any player found guilty of violent play or unsporting behaviour will be severely punished," says Benito Archundia of Mexico, a lawyer and economist who will be in charge of the June 13 Group F clash between defending champions Brazil and Croatia.

England's Poll, the only professional referee in the tournament, is also warning players they will be booked if they are caught wearing jewellery on the pitch.

Polls says FIFA could even decide to cut particularly tight wedding rings that refuse to come off in order to enforce this rule.

Some fear FIFA's strict guidelines could lead to a flurry of red and yellow cards - there were a record 17 sending off and 272 bookings at the 2002 World Cup.

"Let's hope red and yellow don't become the colours of this World Cup," says Jorge Larrionda, a clerk from Uruguay.

Worldspace's World Cup bonanza for Indian listeners

New Delhi, June 7 (IANS) Digital radio services provider WorldSpace Wednesday announced a variety of programmes for Indian listeners that capture the action, news, views and profiles from the World Cup starting Friday in Germany through its sports channel.

The sports channel Play, in collaboration with BBC and Trans World International, will bring to its subscribers an exclusive mix of programmes of the world's biggest sporting event, a statement here said.

India's football captain Baichung Bhutia will join the WorldSpace team that will bring to its listeners profiles, trivia on stadiums, coaches and teams, daily previews, comments from fans besides exciting contests and interactive programmes.

Fans can call-in Bhutia Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays during the tournament and discuss the previous days goals, blunders and strategies. There will also be a weekly chat with the Indian striker every Friday afternoon.

Hosts Germany take on Costa Rica in the Cup opener at Munich Friday.

[photo :Miniature artist Jaspal Singh Kalsi displays his latest creation of a mini footbal measuring one centimeter and held in a hand fitted on a pencil, ahead of the football world cup, in Amritsar, northwest India's Punjab State, on June 3, 2006. -- NNN-Xinhua Photo]