10 June 2006
Washington, June 10 (IANS) The United States is grooming India into a junior partner in a bid to make New Delhi break out of its shell and exert enough influence in the Indian Ocean region to at least annoy China and a recalcitrant Pakistan, a US think tank has suggested.
Such a strategic partnership would not only protect US interests in the region, but could also powerfully demonstrate to Islamabad that it would not stop a resurgent India from attacking Pakistan, intelligence think tank Stratfor said.
Though the self-styled "shadow CIA" itself considers such a scenario unlikely, it suggested that development of a strategic partnership between Washington and New Delhi would also help take India out of Iran's orbit.
Analysing the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Peter Pace's recent visit to New Delhi, it suggested that as part of this developing strategic partnership he had given India the green signal to test its Agni III missile in August with the assurance that it would not affect the US-India nuclear deal.
Indian officials have dismissed the Stratfor suggestion that the US had given its nod for test firing the nuclear-capable Agni-III intercontinental ballistic missile, maintaining this was only the interpretation of the US think tank.
"India has made it amply clear that we have imposed a voluntary ban on testing and that is where the matter stands," a defence ministry official said in New Delhi on Friday.
Apart from its suggestion about Agni, Stratfor considered the evolving relationship between India and US as a potentially deep one.
"The United States will provide India with nuclear technology, development capital, and military hardware and training; in return, India will help safeguard US interests in the Indian Ocean region.
"The partnership could also powerfully demonstrate to Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf that the United States would not act to block a resurgent India from attacking Pakistan (not that such a scenario is likely) and also help take New Delhi out of Iran's orbit," it said.
"A formal alliance it is not; India does not want to be seen as being anti-Moscow or anti-Beijing, even as it develops stronger ties with the United States.
"Geopolitically, China and India have been off of each other's radar screens, as they are geographically sealed from each other by the natural wall of the Himalayas and jungle," Stratfor said.
India wants to continue to buy arms from Russia, such as parts for the MiG-29Ks that will be flying off the deck of the INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier, which is to be handed over after a Russian refit in 2008.
New Delhi wants the US to continue to train the pilots of those MiGs for carrier operations. The US has also agreed in principle to sell India an Austin-class Landing Platform Dock, the USS Trenton, significantly enhancing New Delhi's maritime power-projection capabilities.
In return, Washington would like India to do exactly what it wants to anyway: shoulder responsibility and become a powerhouse in the Indian Ocean, second only to the US Navy, Stratfor said.
The United States hopes that an India more involved in the Malacca Strait and with an improved navy will make China nervous.
As Malacca is a chokepoint for Chinese trade and energy supplies, the naval frontier is essentially the only potential conflict point between New Delhi and Beijing, which otherwise are for all intents and purposes a continent away from one another.
Pace's visit merely formalised what has already been occurring: a coming together of Indian and American interests in a confederation of convenience, the US think tank said.
Washington would like New Delhi to break out of its shell and exert enough influence in the region to at least annoy China and a recalcitrant Pakistan, and "India would like to get whatever it can from its latest patron, the United States, in order to help alleviate its massive infrastructure problems, which are preventing India from becoming a major world power," Stratfor concluded.
Thiruvananthapuram, June 10 (IANS) The number of farmers who took away their lives in Wayanad district in Kerala since May 2001 is 321.
The latest figure was announced after a central team conducted a field study in Wayanad in the past two days.
"The central team has announced officially that the total number of farmers who took their lives in Wayanad on account of falling agricultural prices was not 161 as declared by the previous Congress-led United Democratic Front but 321," state Finance Minister Thomas Isaac told reporters after a meeting with the central team.
"Then there is confusion on 58 more cases," the minister said.
He added that the central team deputed by the Planning Commission has asked the state government to prepare a memorandum for the district.
"In three days' time we would prepare a detailed memorandum highlighting the various schemes which could be implemented in Wayanad," said Isaac.
"This would be the first time that the Kerala government would prepare such a detailed itemised list and it would be for centrally assisted schemes in agriculture, cooperation, social welfare, employment and also for women," he said.
Isaac said that after the memorandum is submitted, he would concentrate on a similar plan for other districts. As per the government's information, 1,543 farmers had committed suicide in the state, he added.
New Delhi, June 10 (IANS) Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Sahib Singh Varma and Vinay Katiyar Saturday defended their announcement of reward for killing terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, saying it was not against the law.
They told reporters here that they wanted to support the state government's efforts in fighting terrorism and had no intention of politicising the issue.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police Friday booked BJP General Secretary Katiyar and Vice-President Varma for making "provocative" statements that could incite communal passions.
The two leaders had announced at a rally in Jammu Thursday a reward of Rs.100,000 to any civilian who killed a militant in the state and Rs.200,000 for the family of the civilian who lost his or her life while fighting terrorists.
"We intend to reward only those whose efforts would be recognised by the state government and this is not against the constitution," Katiyar said at a press conference at the BJP headquarters.
"People have the right to kill terrorists in self-defence. If the state government recognises efforts of such brave people, the state unit of the BJP will reward them. What is wrong in this?" the BJP vice-president asked.
"Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad is deliberately trying to make an issue of it," Singh said.
Patna, June 10 (IANS) A legislator belonging to Bihar's ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) has been accused of threatening to kill a senior government official after he refused him a personal favour.
"Legislator Rampravesh Rai issued the death threat over phone after I refused to favour his brother, who is contesting panchayat elections," additional district magistrate (ADM) of Chapra district Gorakhnath told IANS Saturday.
The district official has lodged a police complaint and urged the district magistrate and the superintendent of police to provide him security. He also complained to Bihar police chief A.R. Sinha and Home Secretary Afzal Amanullah.
An inquiry into the allegation is underway.
Rai denied the allegation, saying, "The charges are baseless." However, he admitted that he called the official.
Official sources said Rai asked Gorakhnath not to order re-polling at three booths, but the official refused to oblige.
After Chief Minister Nitish Kumar gave reedom to officials to establish rule of law in the state, several legislators of the JD-U as well as its ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have allegedly harassed public servants.
In May, another JD-U legislator had threatened a district official.
In April, senior BJP legislator Griraj Singh had publicly slapped and abused a senior officer of the commercial tax department for allegedly refusing to give donation for the party's Bharat Suraksha Yatra.
London, June 9, IRNA,Prime Minister Tony Blair should step down from power next year to allow his designated successor Chancellor of the Exchequer time to revive the Labor Party chances of winning the next election, according to former Culture Secretary Chris Smith.
"What is undoubtedly needed is an orderly transition in the course of the next year," said Smith, who is now a Labor peer in the House of Lords.
"In order for Gordon Brown, who I very much hope will become the next leader of the party and prime minister, to have enough time, having become prime minister, to establish his own style, his own agenda, his own priorities," he said.
Blair has yet to announce a timetable to organize a transition of power, but on Thursday House of Commons leader Jack Straw said that he would step down from power "well before" the next general election, which is due by 2010 at the latest.
In an interview with ePolitix.com, published Friday, the prime minister's former cabinet colleague suggested that he should quit in time to allow Brown the chance to fight the "very real threat" posed by the opposition Conservatives under its new leader David Cameron.
"I think it is important he has that window of time to do it. What I don't want to see happen is the handover occurring at the very last possible moment," Smith said.
"What I just hope is that people around the present prime minister, people around the future prime minister, people around the various candidates to be the next deputy prime minister will see that there are broader interests," he said.
Other Labor MPs have suggested that an opportune time may come after May next year when Blair would have been in power for 10 years rather than trying to cling on for a further 18 months after that to overtake Prime Minister Lady Thatcher's record of over 11 years.
Apart from what to keep his legacy of right-wing reforms, some have indicated that he also is looking for a turn-around in Iraq and a breakthrough in the Northern Ireland peace process before stepping down.
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Hyderabad, June 10 (IANS) The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Saturday said the central government should reduce its own taxes on petroleum products instead of asking the states to revise their sales tax component after the fuel price hike.
The party, which concluded the three-day meeting of its central committee here, felt the centre was passing the burden on to the states by asking them to slash sales tax.
"It is a diversionary move. They (United Progressive Alliance government) are asking the states to do what they should be doing," said CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat, responding to the centre's advice to states to forego sales tax on the increased component of the prices.
The centre this week hiked the price of petrol by Rs.4 per litre and of diesel by Rs.2 per litre.
"It is the central government which increased the price for the fifth time. Why can't it forego the additional revenue on petroleum products?" he asked.
On the Congress party asking the government to modify the price structure, Karat said the Left parties wanted a total rollback of the price hike.
He termed as 'tokenism' the measures announced by Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh to forego sales tax on increased prices.
Karat pointed out that the central government collects customs and excise duty on petroleum products. "This is ad valorem tax, the proportion of which increases with the increase in prices in the international market," he said.
According to Karat, the centre earned an additional revenue of Rs.200 billion during the last three years. He said the total duty and tax component of retail prices of petrol is 57 percent and that of diesel 36 percent. "This is burdensome and this should be revised," he demanded.
The Left along with some other parties would observe June 13 as an all-India protest day against the fuel price increase.
Gelsenkirchen (Germany), June 10 (DPA) Goals in the 24th and 80th minutes by Carlos Tenorio and Augustin Delgado gave outsiders Ecuador a shock 2-0 win over Poland in their Group A World Cup opener.
It left the Poles with a daunting task, having to face Germany Wednesday in what could be an encounter bringing an early exit. "It's a match we'll just have to put behind us," said midfielder Jacek Krzynowek Friday.
For Ecuador, a win against Costa Rica next Thursday could already see them advance. They proved over long stretches that they are far more than just a side difficult to beat in their high-altitude Quito home, combining well and defending strongly.
"We made a huge step forward," Delgado said. "There's a long way to go - but we can also really celebrate. We stood compactly, combined well and the result was our reward."
Krzynowek admitted the Poles played poorly, saying they now had to focus on the Germany match. Ecuador, he added, "had three chances and scored twice. That's football."
Tenorio struck in the 24th minute against the flow of play in what had been an unpromising start from both sides, the Poles attacking well over the left but finishing weakly.
The 27-year-old striker from the Qatari side al-Sadd headed home after Delgado headed on a long throw-in from the right by Ulises de la Cruz.
If that quietened the "Polska Polska" chants from the huge Polish contingent in the 48,000 Auf Schalke Arena crowd, it brought the South Americans to life.
Their strike force several times had the Poles in trouble, with goalkeeper Artur Boruc left helpless five minutes later as Delgado got a clever ball off Tenorio - only to blast it over the bar.
Polish coach Pawel Janas looked grimmer and grimmer as the match went on, all too aware of the criticism at home of his shock decision to discard goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek and striker Tomasz Frankowski.
The Poles attacked well early in the second half through Miroslav Szymkowiak and Celtic striker Maciej Zurawski, combining well on the left and forcing several desperate defensive moves including a crucial 57th minute block by captain Ivan Hurtado.
But the Ecuador defence proved impenetrable in front of keeper Cristian Mora, defiantly showing the national colours daubed on the sides of his face.
As the full time approached, it looked increasingly like one of Ecuador's counter-attacks would succeed. It happened in the 80th minute when substituted striker Ivan Jaime Kaviedes cleverly split the Polish defence to find unmarked Augustin Delgado, who tapped home.
Ireneusz Jelen hit the bar and Pawel Brozec the post in the closing stages as the Poles staged a desperate fight back.
Frankfurt, June 10 (Xinhua) England's World Cup campaign got off to a stuttering start Saturday when they somehow managed a 1-0 win over Paraguay in their first World Cup group B tie.
Paraguay pushed self-destruction button in the fourth minute when David Beckham swung in a free kick and Paraguay defender Carlos Gamarra headed the ball past his goalkeeper Justo Villar into the net.
Paraguay suffered another loss in the fifth minute when Villar was injured after rushing out and hacking away a through ball.
Substitute goalkeeper Aldo Bobadilla took his place.
But England, seeming short of ideas in the midfield, pushed hard on Paraguay's defence but got no clear chances.
Paraguay striker Nelson Valdez scared England's goalkeeper Paul Robinson in the 45th minute with a fierce drive which just flew wide of the post.
Paraguay threatened again after the break and a cautious England were put under pressure.
--Xinhua
Guwahati, June 9 (IANS) Five people were killed in a blast here, even as a gas pipeline was blown up in a powerful explosion in eastern Assam late Friday night, police said.
The pipeline blast took place at Naharkatia, 500 km east of here and close to the oil headquarters of Duliajan, a police spokesman said.
"We can see the fire from a distance of 14 kilometres," police official Anil Baruah told IANS on phone from Duliajan.
The blast took place near a tea garden the pipeline was running along. The Assam Gas Company pipeline transported gas to a fertilizer plant.
Police suspect it to be a handiwork of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).
Earlier Friday, five people were killed and six injured in a powerful explosion at a crowded vegetable market in the heart of Assam's main city Guwahati. The incident came in the wake of four separate blasts Thursday night in which 34 people were wounded.
"The ULFA is behind all these explosions and we have intelligence inputs about their plan to strike terror for three days beginning Thursday," Assam police chief Dipak Narayan Dutt said earlier Friday.
Jammu, June 10 (IANS) Hardline Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani was freed on bail Saturday after being arrested on charges of inciting communal violence but a press meet called by him was disrupted by the Shiv Sena soon after.
Geelani, released from the Central Jail here, was to address a press conference at Premier Hotel in the heart of the walled city of Jammu at 2 p.m.
But minutes before he could do so, a group of Shiv Sena activists trooped in raising slogans "Bharat Mata ki jai" and "Yadi Bharat mein rehna hoga, Vande Matram kehna hoga" ("If you have to live in India, then you will have to say Vande Mataram").
They were protesting against Geelani's anti-India and pro-Pakistan utterances. "We will not allow Pakistanis to chant anti-India themes in Jammu," Sena activists shouted.
"Unless, you say 'Hindustan Zindabad', you will not be able to hold any press conference in Jammu," they told Geelani in front of reporters.
But Geelani retorted: "Press conference or no press conference, I will not say what I don't believe."
Police intervention saved the situation from turning uglier. Policemen separated the two sides by confining Geelani to a room in the hotel and pulling out the Shiv Sena activists from there.
The Kashmiri leader had been arrested Wednesday. The chief judicial magistrate in Poonch granted him bail Friday but the bail orders reached the jail authorities here only Saturday morning.
He had applied for bail on health grounds. He is a heart patient and also suffers from severe kidney problems.
On his release, Geelani told reporters his arrest was politically motivated. "I have never incited communal passions."
Geelani was on a weeklong tour of the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch when he was arrested. The cases for which the arrest was made were registered in 2001.
"Why did police take five years to arrest me? It is just to deny me the chance to tell my side of the story on the Kashmir dispute," he said.
Munich, June 9 (Xinhua) Hosts Germany won the World Cup football opener in style defeating Costa Rica 4-2 in the Munich World Cup Stadium here Friday, where German players Philip Lahm and Torsten Frings took away the limelight firing a stunning goal each.
The hosts went ahead only four minutes into the game. Left back Philipp Lahm unleashed a right footer from the edge of the box that arrowed into the top corner of the net for the World Cup's first goal.
Costa Rica striker Paulo Wanchope made it 1-1 only six minutes later, beating an offside trap and German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann.
Germany retook the lead in the 17th minute.
Bastian Schweinsteiger bursted on to a Bernd Schneider's pull back from the byline on the right and the unmarked Miroslav Klose turned his cross into a goal.
The first German goalscorer combined with the second for the third goal for the hosts. Lahm crossed from the left and, after seeing his initial header parried by Jose Porras, Klose blasted home the rebound.
But Costa Rica refused to sit back and wait for a defeat.
Walter Centano opened up the German defence and sent a beautiful chip into the area, where Wanchope, the most active player throughout the match, poked the ball past Lehmann.
Torsten Frings killed off the game for Germany three minutes from time as he blast a fierce shot from around 30 m into the top corner of the net to make it 4-2.
Germany will play their second Group A match against Poland on June 15 in Dortmund. Poland will open their campaign against Ecuador later Friday.
--Xinhua
Paris, June 10 (DPA) Defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-4 Saturday to win her third title at the French Open.
The Belgian claimed her fifth career Grand Slam title from seven finals.
Kuznetsova, the 2004 US Open winner, got off to a slow start, recovered, but was unable to crack the game of the fifth seed as she fell in just over 90 minutes.
Henin-Hardenne, whose first Paris title came in 2002, joins seven other women who have won Roland Garros three times.
She is the first woman to defend a title in Paris since Steffi Graf won in 1995 and 1996.
Kolkata, June 9: The results of the High Madrasah Examinations in West Bengal, announced on May 29, once again contradict the popular perception that madrasas are meant only for Muslim students. The results showed that more than 28 per cent of the candidates who appeared for High Madrasah Examinations in 2006 were non-Muslims.
In the post-9/11 world, the image of madrasas had become associated with extremism. But the stereotype image does not at all fit the madrasas of West Bengal. These madrasas are not exactly religious seminaries, they are regular schools, and more than 12 per cent of the students studying in various madrasas in the state belong to other religious groups.
The president of the West Bengal Board of Madrasah Education, Dr Shamsul Alam, said thousands of children of economically backward Hindu families were benefiting from the madrasas in the districts. “Out of 23,768 candidates who appeared for the High Madrasah Examination this year, 6,634 candidates were from the SC, ST and OBC sections. There were many children even from upper caste Hindu families, and a few Christian students as well,� he added.
In many remote villages in the districts there are no schools, but there are madrasas. These madrasas attract a large number of non-Muslim students. Besides the non-availability of schools, the low cost of education prompts Hindu parents to send their children to madrasas. If these madrasas were not there, many children of poor non-Muslim parents would have remained illiterate.
Again, contrary to popular perception, madrasas in the state impart lessons in all subjects, just as any other school under the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, the only exception being a compulsory and an optional subject � Arabic and Islamic Studies or Advanced Arabic.
Source:http://www.deccan.com
New Delhi, June 9 (NNN-PTI) --India continues to be favoured destiantion for foreign institutional investors, despite volatility in domestic and global stock markets.
"India still continues to be a favoured destination for foreign institutional investors," Minister of state for Finance P K Bansal told reporters.
Stock markets in India have been witnessing extreme volatility with the benchmark Sensex closing up 514.65 points today after the loss of 1,555 points in the last four trading sessions.
Bansal said the Indian economy is expected to grow at more than eight per cent this fiscal. He said farm output is also expected to be higher if monsoons were normal.
On Thursday, the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council said if farm output grows at four per cent, which is desirable, the economy would grow at more than eight per cent this fiscal.
Even if the farm output grows at two per cent, which is not desirable, but other sectors of the economy maintain their robust growth, the economy would still grow at eight per cent this fiscal. – NNN-PTI
New Delhi, June 10 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday said the young Indian diaspora is the country's "knowledge bank" and everyone should be proud of the achievements of People of Indian Origin (PIOs) across the world.
Interacting with participants of the Fifth Internship Programme for Diaspora Youth, IPDY, who called on him here, Manmohan Singh emphasised the need for more interface between the government and the Indian diaspora.
He said as the links of the diaspora with the mother country grow, nourish and strengthen, it would be a "win-win situation for India".
The delegation comprised 25 interns from nine nations. The programme, conducted by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, seeks to provide a forum for students and young professionals of Indian origin to share views and experiences and also interact with their contemporaries in India.
Brussels, June 10 (IANS) Nearly half of India's exports to the 25-nation European Union (EU) entered at either zero duty or at reduced rates of duty during the last year, says an official report.
Indian exports, valued at 10 billion euro, were entitled to such preferential access to the EU market under the EU's generalised system of preferences (GSP).
Exports worth eight billion euro benefited from the GSP scheme, out of total exports to the EU of just over 17 billion euro in 2005.
According to the report on GSP utilisation between 2003 and 2005 issued by the EU's Trade Commissioner, Peter Mandelson, India was not alone in taking advantage of the GSP scheme, which provides preferential access to the EU market for the exports of nearly 180 developing countries.
India once again was one of the main beneficiaries of the GSP scheme, first introduced by the EU in 1971. Some 40 percent of its textile and clothing exports, worth just over 3 billion euro, out of total exports of 4.8 billion euro, benefited from the GSP scheme.
Exports of footwear did even better. Nine-tenths of India's footwear exports, valued at 600 million euro, out of total exports of 675 million euro, profited from the GSP scheme. However, only two-thirds of chemical exports, valued at 750 million euro, out of total exports of over one billion euro, entered the EU under its GSP scheme.
Other Indian exports that benefited largely from the GSP scheme, with utilisation rates of over 80 percent, included animal products (88 percent), gems and jewellery (85 percent), transport equipment and common metals (each 83 percent).
The Mandelson report notes that the biggest gains from the abolition of textile and garment quotas from Jan 1, 2005, went to China and India. Their exports rose by 42 percent and 18 percent respectively last year.
Most other developing country suppliers lost out, although the re-imposition by the EU of quotas on Chinese exports in mid-2005 had a positive effect on their exports in the second half of the year, according to INEP agency.
The report also notes that many exporters of clothing made from woven fabric experienced difficulties in using the GSP scheme. This was particularly true of countries like Bangladesh, which use imported fabrics for garment manufacture. Countries with their own weaving industries, notably India and Pakistan, made extensive use of GSP facilities.
The EU's rules of origin are mainly responsible for the fact that only 25 percent of Bangladesh's exports of garments from woven fabrics entered the EU duty-free in 2004, as against 81 percent in the case of knitted garments. These rules are currently under review, and may well be simplified.
The GSP scheme is not the only instrument under which a developing country's exports can enter the EU at preferential rates of duty. Regional and bilateral free trade agreements also provide for preferential access to the EU market.
A successful outcome to the current round of international trade negotiations, the Doha Development round, will reduce the value of the GSP scheme to developing countries by further reducing the margin of preference they enjoy at present.
The EU has offered to enter into a free trade agreement with India, along the lines of its agreement with Chile, which provides for duty-free entry for the exports of both the EU and Chile on a reciprocal basis.
Tehran, June 10 (Xinhua) Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Saturday that Iran was studying a proposal of incentives and penalties agreed to by six world powers and may come out with its own package to resolve the nuclear issue.
"We have started studying the proposal and afterwards we will make an official reply to the Europeans," Mottaki was quoted, as saying after talks with visiting Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar.
Iran's response could be an evolvement of the six-nation offer, but also may be a totally new package, said Mottaki.
"We hope that subtle diplomacy will help lead to a package of proposals by the Islamic republic, which may be in the form of amendments or counter-proposals and can be studied carefully by the Europeans," he said.
However, Mottaki did not disclose either the contents of the package or what changes Tehran wanted in the six-nation proposal.
"We want to find out a comprehensive understanding which can satisfy Iran's right and also eliminate the concerns of the other side simultaneously," stressed Mottaki.
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana Tuesday presented to Iran the proposal over the country's nuclear issue, which had been agreed by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany in a meeting in Vienna.
The proposal includes both incentives aimed at persuading Iran to suspend uranium enrichment and possible sanctions if Iran chooses not to comply.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani has expressed cautious optimism over the new package after his meeting with Solana, saying "there were positive steps but also ambiguities".
Larijani has promised to give a formal response after "a careful study" of the proposal.
But Iranian senior cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, who is also head of the powerful Guardian Council, vowed that the Islamic republic would not compromise on its nuclear right.
"The package offered (by the West) is only good for them, not for us," said Jannati, adding Iran had to maintain uranium enrichment to the level of 3.5 to five percent to make fuel for nuclear power plants and that the West would have no choice but to accept it.
The US has accused Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons under a civilian front, a charge categorically denied by Tehran.
--Xinhua
Vienna, June 9, IRNA, Iran's ambassador and envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency Ali-Asghar Soltanieh said on Thursday that the Agency's Iran report is the shortest report of its kind, containing measures taken over recent months.
Soltanieh told IRNA the report bears no new point, saying that the IAEA will continue with its investigations about uranium enrichment and sources of pollution.
He criticized the IAEA report which claimed full implementation of the NPT additional protocol by Iran is a requisite for the IAEA investigation. He stressed, "Iran voluntarily implemented the additional protocol for three years."
He said Iran's envoy will at the IAEA Board meeting in Vienna on Monday recite the NAM statement, which was issued in Malaysia recently in support for Tehran's peaceful nuclear program.
CAIRO, June 9 (NNN-MENA) -- The Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population has despatched a consignment of aid to the Palestinian people including 15.5 tonnes of medicines and medical supplies.
A statement by the ministry indicated that the relief assistance was supposed to cross to the Palestinian territories via Karem Abu-Salem checkpoint in line with an agreement with the Israeli authorities beforehand.
Upon arrival at the crossing, the Israeli authorities denied it permission to pass and announced the place closed until Sunday.
Srinagar, June 10 (IANS) One person was killed and 20 others, including 10 policemen, were wounded when security forces opened fire to quell violence in a north Kashmir village Saturday.
A senior police officer said security forces had to open fire after an unruly mob, protesting against the alleged desecration of a mosque by troops at Zirhama, 110 km from here in Kupwara district, indulged in heavy stone pelting Saturday afternoon.
"The mobs heavily stoned the police resulting in injuries to 10 cops. The police used teargas and batons initially to disperse the protesting villagers who were joined by students. However, the protesters later tried to attack the nearby security force camp in the village," said a senior police officer here.
"The security forces opened fire resulting in on the death of one civilian on the spot while 10 others received injuries. The injured were taken to various hospitals," he said.
Thousands of villagers took to streets in Zirhama after the news about alleged desecration of the village mosque by troops spread like a wild fire Saturday morning.
The protesters, shouting anti-government slogans, blocked traffic and this led to tension in adjoining villages. Shopkeepers pulled down their shutters in Zirhama and adjoining villages.
Authorities have ordered an inquiry in to the incident.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: SHARAD PAWAR'S PSEUDO-SECULARISM EXPOSED
In a pique to score points against its Maharashtra coalition government partner, Congress, Sharad Pawar, the President of National Congress Party, has exposed the true colors of his pseudo-secularism by teaming up with Shiv Sena and BJP in electing anti-reservationist industrialist Rahul Bajaj as their joint candidate to go to Rajya Sabha and thus defeating Congress candidate. Sharad Pawar's secularism and socialism has always remained suspect. Sharad Pawar is known to be running with the hares and hunting with the hunters. However, throughout his long political career, his Machiavellian politics has kept him on the right side of secularism and communal divide.
Unfortunately, with this monumental act of opportunistic politics, he has completely wiped out all pretences to his pseudo-secularism and taken a big risk with his Muslim voters in Maharashtra, who will not take this act of political treachery lying down. He will be hounded in coming elections for playing Saffron card and will see his clever manipulation of Muslim voters, by selecting tame Muslim leaders to do his bidding in Maharashtra without any directly or indirectly helping in Muslim upliftment in the state, failing miserably once Maharashtra's Muslim voter get the wind of his deep entanglement with Hindutva forces. No doubt this will directly boost the prospects for Congress enjoying comparatively better estimation by Maharashtra's Muslim voters.
On the other hand, Congress in Maharashtra too is not in the clear after it had resorted to wholesale co-opting of Shiv Sena's staunch anti-Muslim rabble-rouser, Narayan Rane and his team of Shiv Sena hooligans, who broke the back of Shiv Sena with their betrayal of their supreme leader Bal Thackeray and now aspires to be a Congress Chief Minister. If Congress and NCP, in trying to secure their coalition monopoly of power in Maharashtra, both have joined hands to fracture and decimate Shiv Sena in Maharashtra as a credible opposition, they cannot easily control Shiv Sena street culture of anti-Muslim bashing in their ranks, where ever the ex-Sena Congressmen show their proclivity for terror and extortions, as was their Sena upbringing, specially at the grass-roots level. Consequently chances of communal conflagrations, with a view to polarize Hindu votes for Congress and NCP will greatly increase as both these supposedly secular parties will have tainted infused blood from Saffron carcasses.
Even at the national level, his acceptability with secular parties as a possible coalition or a third force partner will be seriously affected.
It would appear that in their own compulsions of one-upmanship, the Brahmin and Maratha ruling classes in Maharashtra are moving away from rest of the lesser caste communities and minorities and will be opening new opportunities for them to form regional fronts who are finding more and more relevance to their claim to take lead a la AUDF of Assam. In that case, Muslims can and possibly will play a more decisive role to lead such fronts in coalition with other smaller political groupings to eat into these two leading pseudo-secular upper-caste behemoths. Already Muslims in Maharashtra are busy organizing brain storming sessions in their quest to lead all the under-privileged and marginalized in the state.
GHULAM MUHAMMED, MUMBAI
Mumbai, June 10 (IANS) Despite some handsome gains Friday, Indian equities ended in the negative territory during the past trading week, as bears tightened their grip and investors resorted to panic sales in the absence of positive triggers.
The negative mood prevailed despite foreign buyers investing $320 million in the equity markets during the week under review, as per the data released by markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
Even though Friday saw the sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) register impressive gains of 514.65 points or 5.54 percent, the benchmark index ended the week with a net loss of 640.87 points, or 6.13 percent.
At close Thursday, the key index had wiped out all gains made this calendar year at 9,295.81 points - registering a loss of 460.95 points, or 4.72 percent, over the previous day's close.
It was the fourth consecutive day of losses for the index, which had ended lower by 237.85 points, or 2.28 percent Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday saw the Sensex lose 256.16 points (2.5 percent) and 200.56 points (2.01 percent) respectively.
"The overall scenario in the global capital markets, concerns over inflation and interest rates, and the cascading effects of the fuel price hike weighed heavily on the market mood through the week," an analyst with a brokerage here said.
"To some extent, the week also saw some correction in the markets, which had heated up and fuelled the Sensex to rise to an all time high of above 12,600 points on May 11 from a little under 6,800 points in June last year," the analyst said.
"Looking forward, the markets are expected to remain choppy, as the impact of the rate hikes will unfold over the next few days. But some individual stocks have emerged attractive after the bear hammering and will keep the mood afloat."
Among the 30 Sensex stocks, Ranbaxy was a major loser, down some 14.6 percent at Rs.356, while Hindustan Lever shed 14 percent at Rs.208. Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC) was the sole gainer - up 1.5 percent at Rs.1,208.
June 10,New Delhi, The anti-quota protests dominated news headline for weeks, but were they the representative of the real mood of the nation? A CNN-IBN and The Indian Express survey conducted by A C Neilsen on the issue has come up with some startling facts.
The findings of the survey show that majority of Indians support reservations and feel that quotas in higher education will lead to equal opportunities.
According to the survey, 57 per cent Indians favour the Government's decision on 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in higher education. Only 37 per cent feel otherwise.
Majority of the respondents feel that reservations in higher education are a key to social justice. As many as 63 per cent of the respondents said that reservations in higher education will lead to equal opportunity as against 34 per cent who felt that it will lead to loss of quality.
The survey was done among 776 people in five metros in both rural and urban areas.
The sample for the survey was unique. It had 40 per cent OBCs, 25 per cent SC and ST; 10 per cent Muslims and 25 per cent from general category, a representation of the Indian population.
But there are many surprises as well. While supporting the reservations, the respondents were dismissive of the present system of quota. As many as 57 per cent of the respondents want a changed and improved reservation system for the SC/STs, while 26 per cent want no change.
But, 15 per cent of the respondents want reservations to be scrapped. But the real surprise�53 per cent OBCs want improved reservation policy while for SC/ST the number stands at 61 per cent.
Majority of the respondents want economics to be the main criterion for reservation. 67 per cent of the respondents support the view that poor of all castes should get reservation benefits, while 25 per cent supported reservations for backward castes only.
For all those politicians trying electoral politics in supporting or opposing the reservations, the survey has bad news.
The Government’s decision will not shift the voting pattern. 84 per cent respondents said no to any change in their voting, while only 12 per cent felt otherwise. But, among those who will be shifting, the UPA will be the major gainer with 52 per cent, with NDA second with 31 per cent.
With greater awareness this time, reservations have truly become a national issue with 79 per cent respondents aware of the controversy. And 61 per cent of the respondents were aware of the Government's decision in this regard.
In response to the question "Will it lead to equal oppertunities", 46% of Upper Cast Hindu, 77% SC/ST, 68% Hindu OBC and 64% of Minorities responded in Yes.
But the shocker of the survey�A significant number of people who took part in the survey had never heard of the Mandal Commission.
Source: IBN Live
London, June 10 (IANS) Two brothers arrested after a high-profile police raid in a house in East London have been released without charge. No incriminating material was discovered during the raid.
The two brothers, Mohammed Abdul Kahar, 23, and Abul Koyair, 20, were questioned by Scotland Yard but both denied the allegations of involvement in terrorist activities. Police, however, said their search for chemical materials would continue elsewhere.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "We appreciate the police operation has caused inconvenience and disruption to the occupants of the house. We will be contacting the owners to make appropriate arrangements for the property to be handed back to them.
"We will also be undertaking appropriate restoration work in consultation with the owners."
The statement added that intelligence received by police "continues to be developed" and the Met Police "will continue to exhaust all lines of inquiry".
In a statement issued after the brothers were freed, Home Secretary John Reid said police acted in the "best interests of the whole community".
"They therefore deserve the support of the community in doing what is often a very hazardous and dangerous job that often involves difficult decisions."
Meanwhile, nearly 100 people staged a protest here Friday against the police raid, and alleged that the incident was yet another example of how the Muslim community in Britain was being targeted.
Humeya Kalam, sister of the two brothers, criticised the police for "barbaric and horrific actions". Protesters chanted: "British police go to hell" and "Tony Blair murderer" and waved plaques condemning the police and the government.
Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Ian Blair, however, defended the raid. In an interview with BBC News, he said police had taken action on behalf of all communities in the fight against terror.
He said: "This is not a police force on behalf of one community against another. We're all in danger of terrorism together."
Inayat Bunglawala, from the Muslim Council of Britain, said the raid appeared to have been a "terrible mistake".
"Today's decision to release the two brothers without charge confirms their innocence," he told the BBC.
He said the raid had created quite a bit of unease in the Muslim community - particularly amongst the younger generation.
"We do hope that the appropriate lessons will be learned by all involved in this tragic incident...the release of these two brothers may go some way to undoing the damage caused," he said.
New Delhi, June 10 (IANS) Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has made it clear that the government has no intention to review its decision to extend 27 percent reservation to other backward classes (OBC) in higher educational institutions.
"There is no ground to review whether there should be reservations or not," Chidambaram said in an interview with Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN's programme "Devil's Advocate", to be aired on Sunday and Monday.
"If a review means questioning the justification of reservations, I say no," said Chidambaram, who is a member of the ministerial group set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue of reservation.
Last month, Minister without Portfolio Oscar Fernandes had given a written commitment to the protesting students and doctors that the government would review and examine their demands.
But the finance minister said he was not aware of any such commitment. "I don't know. You must ask Mr. Fernandes. I've not seen that document," he said.
"The government's position is the position that will be taken in the cabinet. A group of ministers is advisory. If Fernandes has said it will be examined, I'm sure he means every word. It will be examined ... (then) it will come to the cabinet for a decision. I cannot now say what the decision will be."
The finance minister revealed that the government was yet to establish the basis for 27 percent reservation for the OBCs even though the Supreme Court has asked it to come clear on this issue.
"The ministry has to put together all the material available to it to reach the conclusion of 27 percent ... The material will be put together. Wait for the material," Chidambaram said.
The government will compile its answers on the basis of reports from states on the population of the OBCs, the Mandal Commission report and National Sample Survey Organisation data, the finance minister said.
Asked about his personal position on the issue, Chidambaram said he supported the new reservation policy. "I know from experience that reservations have helped many, many, many members of the OBCs to rise in the southern states. I am totally convinced about that."
Bhopal, June 10 (IANS) Nearly 50 supporters of Bharatiya Janshakti Party, the new party floated by Uma Bharati, were injured Saturday in a baton charge by the police in Gwalior while demanding the release of one of their leaders.
The party workers were holding a demonstration outside the police station for the release of the party's district convenor Preetam Lodhi, who was picked up Friday.
The police also lobbed tear gas shells and fired at least six rounds in the air injuring at least two workers, reports reaching here said.
"Gwalior Police had picked up Preetam while he was sleeping in his house without any warrant or complaint. When party workers came to know about the incident in the morning, they started gathering at the police station and later sat on a demonstration outside to demand his release," party sources here said.
"Naresh, a party worker, received a bullet injury and is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Gwalior," party secretary Lakhanlal told IANS here.
The police first denied having fired at the agitating party workers but later Gwalior Police Superintendent Sanjeev Sharma said six rounds were fired in the air.
"The police had to fire in the air to disperse the stone-throwing demonstrators but nobody has been injured," Sharma said over phone from Gwalior.
Meanwhile, Uma Bharati who is in Nagpur said: "Preetam was picked up on the directives of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders sitting in Delhi and Bhopal as they were afraid of the growing influence of the party in the state. He was not involved in any case anywhere".
"With this, the Shivraj Singh Chauhan government has taken a suicidal step and it will have to face the consequences soon. I was to reach Gwalior to attend a party rally on June 20 but now I may cancel all my programmes and rush to Gwalior if the atrocities on party workers are not stopped immediately," she said over phone from Nagpur.
Jeddah/Hyderabad, June 9: Saudi Arabia earlier this week imposed new restrictions on young Umrah pilgrims from nine counties, including India and Pakistan. The kingdom now requires persons under the age of 40 coming for the minor pilgrimage to do so in groups rather than alone.
Haj is considered major pilgrimage. The move, according to Adil Balkhair, Saudi Arabia’s assistant deputy minister for Umrah affairs, is aimed at curbing the rising problem of illegal immigration from nine Asian and African countries by migrants who come to Saudi Arabia on Umrah but stay back for work.
Saudi Arabia is trying to hold back the tide of undocumented migrants, especially from the Indian subcontinent, flooding into the affluent kingdom in search of better economic prospects.
In Hyderabad, Muslim scholars reacted sharply against the imposition of restrictions. Maulana Syed Ali Akbar Nizamuddin, rector of Jamia Nizamia, said that the fresh set of restrictions were “hurtful to the Muslims.� He said that task of the administration in Saudi Arabia is to facilitate the pilgrimage, not to block the entry of pilgrims by imposing one condition or the other.
Syed Shah Mazhar Hussaini Saberi, Musheer-e-Aala Alami Jamiatul Mashaeq, described the restrictions as “interference in the Muslim Personal Law.� They (the Saudis) have no business to control the entry of Muslims into the kingdom who come with the purpose of performing Umra or the Hajj.
Syed Shah Badruddin Qadri Al-Jeelani, President All India Sunni Ulema Board, said that there is scope in Shariat (Muslim law) to stop a person from performing his religious duties such as Umra or the Hajj. There is also no such precedence in Islamic history.
“If the Saudis are facing the problem of Umra or Haj pilgrims staying back illegally they should improve their own administrative system rather than stop people from entering the Kingdom for Umra,� he said. About 12,000 Muslims from Andhra Pradesh go to Saudi Arabia every year, especially in Ramzan, to perform Umra.
The number of Haj pilgrims from the State stand at around 15,000, about 6,000 of them through the official Haj Committee. According to a report in Arab News, Saudis and expatriates appeared divided on the new restrictions. Unfair, cried expatriates. Muhammad Saeed Al-Baghdadi, a Jeddah-based Saudi businessman, welcomed the move.
“It is a sensible and appropriate step. Umrah is not obligatory and using it as the pretext for illegal stay is certainly something that warrants serious action. Many people from South Asian and African countries, abetted by unscrupulous agents back home, come here for jobs. They stay and work illegally. This is bad for our economy,� he said.
“It affects our plans to provide more jobs for Saudis. Denying potential illegal workers the opportunity to sneak into the country and work illegally is a very reasonable and good decision,� Al-Baghdadi added.
Souce:http://www.deccan.com
MADRID, JUNE 10 (NNN-Xinhua) -- Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos will tell the European Parliament that his government did not know about the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency(CIA) secret flights of terror suspects via Spanish airspace, a senior official said Friday.
To make this clarification, Moratinos will make an extraordinary appearance before the European Parliament, Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega told reporters.
Fernandez said the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, was wrong in saying that the CIA flew over Spanish cities Palma de Mallorca and Tenerife while transferring terrorist prisoners.
The Spanish government "has not tolerated and will not tolerate any violation of human rights wherever they should take place," Fernandez said.
The European Commission issued a report on the CIA flights on Wednesday listing Spain as one of 14 European nations that allegedly had actively or passively cooperated with the CIA to transport terrorist suspects on secret flights. – NNN-Xinhua
London, June 10 (IANS) A section of bank major HSBC's employees in Sheffield are up in arms for being asked to train staff from India who would then take over their jobs, lending a new twist to outsourcing from Britain to India.
The request to train the Indian staff has angered workers in the HSBC Accounting Centre in the town who were told this week that their department would be closed and moved to Hyderabad.
Local reports say that up to 40 Sheffield staff will be hit by the closure, but all have been told by the bank that they will be provided new roles in the company, if they wanted them.
An HSBC spokesman confirmed that the Accounting Centre, which pays the bank's bills as well as processing the expenses of its staff, would be closing.
"This is a measure that will bring efficiency and common sense into our accounting procedures," he said, adding that it was not unusual to ask existing staff to prepare new workers who take over their roles.
A spokesman for trade union Amicus said the Accounting Centre had been located in Sheffield since the days of the Midland Bank.
"Some of the staff have more than 25 years service. It is not the fault of the people from India, but there is bound to be resentment from people who will have to teach others who are taking their jobs," she said.
"Staff have been told there will be no redundancies and they will be redeployed but we will have to wait and see if workers are offered roles which suit their skills and personal circumstances."
We are starting a weekly report on Urdu press of India from this month. Please give us your valuable feedback as to what you would like to see in these reports.
Think of Indian Muslims and the riot is there. So it is Aligarh once again. After a gap of hardly two months this educational hub of Indian Muslims witnessed communal riots on May 28 after the murder of a local BJP leader O.P. Gupta, one of the accused in the April 5 violence. Rashtriya Sahara and Hindustan Express gave it a front-page treatment on May 29. This coincided with the submission of report of April riots by the Enquiry Commission led by Special Secretary for Agriculture Arun Kumar Mishra, recommending the reinstating of former D.M. and S.S.P. who along with four other officials were suspended.
Akhbar-e-Mashriq instead reported cases of stone-pelting and arson in the communally charged atmosphere of Ahmedabad. But Awam was not alive to the issue till May 30 when it, besides other Urdu papers, reported three casualties and indefinite curfew in 5 police stations of Aligarh. Other Urdu papers reported the deployment of P.A.C. and R.A.F. jawans in the riot-hit areas of the city.
But the issue that made headlines all through the week is reservation in educational institutions. Doctors fighting for career and patients for life, the government’s announcement to appoint fresh doctors instead of accepting the demands of striking docs, the protestors’ bid to immolate themselves, Supreme Court notice to call off strike unconditionally and finally the doctors’ calling off the strike on May 31 – all these follow-ups were minutely covered by Urdu newspapers.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board held a special meeting on May 28 to discuss the recent judgment of Supreme Court, which makes Nikah registration mandatory. Though the Board has not yet come to any conclusion, it differed with the judgment, saying that in the eyes of Islam the presence of two male witnesses or one male and two female witnesses is necessary for Nikah to take place – a condition which will be rendered ineffective in case of mandatory registration of Nikah, the Express reported on May 29.
On May 30 Awam covered the possibility of extending the ban on Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). While the Center has issued a show cause notice to SIMI why it should not be banned, the Mulayam Singh government of Uttar Pradesh has made it clear not to support this move as the group is not involved in any activity and no complain has been lodged against it.
The Dawat Sehroza (May 28) presented an analytical study of Uttar Pradesh Governor T.V. Rajeshwar Rao’s sending back to the Assembly once again a Bill on the establishment of Jauhar University, named after renowned freedom fighter Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar, in his native town Rampur.
The Mashriq (June 1) reported the sorry plight of Mazharul Haq Arabic and Persian University in Patna. Citing its Vice-Chancellor Dr. Prof. Sharf Alam, the report said this is the world’s only university that has been running without any college and any student for the last 14 years. In 1992 the State government of Bihar issued a notification for establishment of six universities; all but the Arabic and Persian University soon took their practical shape thanks to the state government’s apathy.
Sheikhul Hadith Darul Uloom (Waqf) Deoband Maulana Anzar Shah Kashmiri, in a front-page report based on his interview with the Express (June 1), said an exclusive Muslim political party would be tantamount to suicide of the community. Citing the example of BJP, which to him feels lonely despite 70 crore Hindus in the country, he said an exclusive Hindu party or an exclusive Muslim party is incomplete without each other.
Herzogenaurach, June 10 (DPA) The battle has lasted for over 60 years and there is still no outright winner.
Sportswear giants Adidas and Puma, founded by two brothers from the German region of Herzogenaurach, will face each other again Saturday when Argentina face Ivory Coast.
The 23,000 inhabitants of Herzogenaurach will follow the game closely, where the two companies are still based. The Argentineans will line-up in the famous three stripes and Ivory Coast in Puma.
The old dispute, which dates back to the 1940s between Adi Dassler and his brother Rudolf, has stood the test of time, with both brands fighting toe-to-toe in the ever more lucrative sports market.
The numbers tell the story. Adidas recorded profits of 768 million euros in 2005, with 25,000 employees throughout the world while Puma recorded gains of 286 million euros with 7,000 workers.
Over the years Herzogenaurach has been divided by sports brands. The employees of Puma do not marry workers from Adidas, school children from the two separate firms form their own gangs and do not mix and there are even "Puma" pubs and "Adidas" pubs.
According to city legend the old dispute dates back to an argument between the two brothers during a British air raid.
Adi is supposed to have shouted: "I wish the bastards would go home" just as his brother entered the shelter with his family and none was able to convince Rudolf that his brother was referring to the British and not to him.
The two companies will fight it out during the World Cup.
The official match ball will be Adidas and the Argentines are based in the Adidas headquarters. But Puma will be better represented in terms of teams with 12 sides sporting their kits - twice as many as Adidas.
Germany, France, Argentina, Spain, Japan and Trinidad & Tobago will wear Adidas but Puma have the African market covered with Ghana, Tunisia, Togo, Angola and Ivory Coast joined by Saudi Arabia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Italy, Paraguay, Iran and Switzerland.
Adidas spokesperson Kristin Koopmann goes on the attack saying: "We may only have six teams but they are six of the teams most likely to win the World Cup."
Puma further fan the flames by arguing that it was them who invented the screw-in stud that Adidas gave to the Germany team that won the World Cup in 1954 in Switzerland.
Puma argue that it was its founder Rudolf who created the new boots in 1948 although it was Adidas that launched them one year later.
To further muddy the waters a third claimant has appeared. Albert Buenn claims he first registered screw-in studs but never got around to marketing them and he has the patent certificate to prove it.
--DPA