20 June 2006
Baghdad, June 20 (Xinhua) Iraqi police found 11 unidentified bodies in different Baghdad's neighborhoods Tuesday, an interior ministry source said.
The bodies were found handcuffed and shot in the head and chest with signs of torture. One of the bodies had its tongue cut, while another was charred, he added.
Violence has been unabated as security crackdown in the Iraqi capital enters its seventh day.
JAKARTA, June 20 (NNN-Bernama) Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has called on leaders of the Islamic world and the West to commit themselves, their governments and their peoples to engage in dialogue that would result in real action as a concrete way to arrest the slide in the relations between them.
Stating that dialogue would be fruitless unless followed by tangible action and that dialogue could never be the substitute for action, he said dialogue between the Christian west and the Islamic world must result not only in enhanced understanding but also in the courage to right the wrongs.
"Ultimately, this means reviewing, at the domestic level, any policy which creates inequities among the population and, at the global level, any one-sided actions that inflict injustices upon other peoples and other nations," he said in his keynote address at the International Conference of Islamic Scholars, here.
Abdullah, who is also chairman of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), said both sides must cease presenting their world view in a certain way so as to legitimise certain politics.
He pointed out that topping the list of items to be so reviewed and rectified was the politics of domination, which was sometimes disguised as the call for modernisation and democratisation.
"I wonder whether these calls are, in reality, attempts to establish benchmarks for modernity and democracy in accordance with Western standards," he said.
Abdullah said he hoped that there was no hidden message that peace and harmony in the world were attainable only when all countries and peoples accept Western values, adopt Western norms and practices, and emulate Western institutions.
"I call upon the leaders of the West to reflect deeply on what they would wish to accomplish in a dialogue with the leaders of the Islamic world," he said, adding that to ensure that the dialogue achieves its intended purposes, it was imperative for the West to acknowledge first that Islam was not merely a religion."
"Islam is a civilisation, a cultural entity, a way of life all at once," he said, reasoning that that was why in dealing with Muslims, one must take into account their religious sensitivities because Islam was their way of life.
At the same time, Muslims need to protect and promote the correct and true teachings of Islam to all believers and that displaying confidence in themselves was the only way they could secure the respect of the West and be acknowledged by them as equals.
Abdullah stressed that the dialogue would succeed if there was mutual respect, equality and reciprocity and both sides must also be honest, rational and sincere with each other.
"Both sides must cease to be in a state of denial. We must probe deeply into the intersection points between religion and politics. We must cease to confuse military occupation with the fight against terrorism. We must not use religious commandments as a smokescreen for strategic and political designs," he said.
He called on the international community to help resolve the problems of Palestine, ensure a general and complete ceasefire all round in Iraq, help develop a programme to strengthen the central government in Afghanistan and a time-table for withdrawal of foreign forces from those countries.
"There must be a peaceful resolution of the current impasse between the West and Iran," he urged, adding that the case of Iraq was a bitter lesson for everybody and that mistake must never be repeated anytime, anywhere.
The OIC chairman said Muslims must also take action to heal the rifts within the Ummah so as to demonstrate, by word and by deed, that Islam was indeed a religion of moderation which rejects bigotry, extremism and fanaticism, especially terrorism.
"We must underline the importance of combating deviant ideology, develop educational curricula that firmly establish the values of understanding, tolerance, dialogue and multilateralism in accordance with the tenets of Islam," he said.
He said it required no repeating to recall that there was a time when Muslims excelled in various fields, including politics, philosophy, the military, science, the arts and, had in fact, dominated the world trade scene.
"Our shared history is in stark contrast to the current context, where Muslims are weak, with many living in abject poverty and deplorable conditions with about 50 per cent of the population of Islamic countries living on less than USD2 a day, barely sufficient for subsistence living," he said.
Poverty for many in the Islamic world has created other problems such as illiteracy, malnutrition, disease and crime, he added, urging that the vicious circle must be broken with Islamic countries undertaking the responsibility to help each other, so that they could share the prosperity and not the poverty.
He urged the Muslims to unite, put an end to all the sectarian conflicts and at the same time reject those who deliberately kill non-combatants and the innocent, those who oppress and exploit others, those who were corrupt and greedy and those who were chauvinistic and communal.
"In a nutshell, all Muslims anywhere who sincerely endeavour to live according to the teachings of Islam, practising moderation while embracing the universal values enshrined in the Quran, are the true champions of Islam," he said.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono earlier opened the two-day conference attended by some 300 scholars from 53 countries.
New York, June 20 (IANS) Three common asthma inhalers containing the drugs salmeterol or formoterol may cause up to 80 percent of asthma-related deaths, say researchers urging that they be taken off the market.
Asthma is a disease of the human respiratory system where the airways narrow, often in response to a "trigger" such as exposure to an allergen, cold air, exercise, or emotional stress.
Researchers led by Edwin Salpeter at Cornell and Stanford University studied records of 33,826 patients and found that patients who inhaled the long-acting beta-agonists salmeterol or formoterol were 3.5 times more likely to die from asthma and 2.5 times more likely to be hospitalised (whether or not death resulted), compared with those taking a placebo, a report posted in the university website said.
Although these medications relieve asthma symptoms, they also promote bronchial inflammation and sensitivity without warning, the researchers said.
The trade names of salmeterol is Serevent and Advair and both are made by GlaxoSmithKline. The trade name of formoterol is Foradil and it is made Novartis Pharmaceuticals.
Nevertheless, asthma death is relatively rare - 15 patients in the meta-analysis who were taking the beta-agonists died, compared with three in the placebo group - over a six-month period.
"In total, there are about 5,000 deaths a year due to asthma in the US, whether or not a person is taking a long-acting beta-agonist," Salpeter said.
"We can show that overall it is statistically significant that, compared to patients taking a placebo, these long-acting beta-agonists kill a lot of people," he said.
"These asthma deaths are generally in healthy young adults," said his daughter, Shelley Salpeter, the lead author of the paper appearing online and in the June 20 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.
"We estimate that approximately 4,000 out of the 5,000 asthma deaths that occur in the US each year are actually caused by these long-acting beta-agonists, and we urge that these agents be taken off the market," she added.
New Delhi, June 20 (IANS) US-based information storage and management major EMC Corp Tuesday said it will double its investment in India to $500 million by 2010 in research and development, marketing infrastructure and sales operations.
"We see a great future for EMC in India," Joe Tucci, chairman, president and chief executive of the Massachusetts-based EMC Corp, told a press conference to unveil the company's plans for India.
"We look forward to providing the technology and solutions that can help India progress toward its goal of becoming one of the world's leading information technology-based societies," he said.
With revenues of $9.66 billion and a target of achieving $11.1 billion for 2006, the global company wants to expand its market coverage to more than 60 Indian cities by 2008, Tucci said.
"Our new plan to double investments in India is the direct result of the great success we've had in helping hundreds of organisations with their information management needs and the tremendous opportunity we see in front of us."
The company has also announced a Centre of Excellence for e-Governance in India that would focus on implementing e-governance initiatives to provide effective and better governance by the centre and state governments.
"The focus of the centre will be to make the government understand how to create an intelligent information system," said Manoj Chugh, India country manager for EMC Corp.
"Bangalore is home to EMC's largest software development effort outside North America. Today's announcement will further boost our commitment and help us better meet the information infrastructure needs of India," Chugh added.
Welcoming the group's plans, Communications and Information Technology Minister Dayanidhi Maran said his United Progressive Alliance government looks forward to working with leading technology companies from the world over.
"Our government will continue to partner with leading organisations like EMC to build an intelligent information infrastructure for all our citizens to transform India into a knowledge economy," Maran added.
EMC began its India operations in 2000 and has a wholly-owned arm with business offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Chennai, and a channel partner network with presence in more than 30 cities across India.
Its customers include the Tata Group, Bharti, Hutchinson, Mahindra and Mahindra, the Aditya Birla group, Asian Paints, Madura Garments, Microsoft, Cisco Systems, Dell, General Electric, Citibank, Wipro and KPMG.
Mumbai, June 20 (IANS) The UAE national airline Etihad Airways Tuesday announced the launch of flights connecting India with Kuwait and Khartoum with a stopover at Abu Dhabi.
The new flights will start July 1 and July 5 respectively.
Etihad Airways, twice winner of "The world's leading new airline" award, currently operates seven weekly flights from Mumbai and three weekly flights from New Delhi to UAE capital Abu Dhabi, and will add six flights a week to Kuwait.
"The airline is growing at a phenomenal pace, adding almost one new route a month. The importance of the Indian market to us can be gauged from the fact that India is the third largest country in our network," Etihad Airways area manager (Western And Southern India) Neeraja Bhatia said Tuesday.
"With the launch of these new services from India, Etihad Airways will have added 14 new destinations to its network in just five months. We will now offer passenger and cargo flights to 34 destinations across the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Africa and North America from India."
Kuwait is a popular route for both intra-regional and global business travellers. The new service will also increase the capabilities of Etihad Crystal Cargo, to carry a maximum of 20 tonnes of cargo on each flight.
Etihad Airways has recently launched flights from India to Jeddah, Casablanca and Doha via Abu Dhabi.
"Jeddah is Etihad's third destination in the Saudi Arabia after Riyadh and Dammam. We are offering more seats and more choice to over two million (Muslim) pilgrims who travel through Jeddah to for the annual Haj.
Cairo, June 20 (Xinhua) A group linked to the Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed Tuesday that it had killed two US soldiers, according to an Internet statement.
"We have executed God's verdict by slaughtering the two captured crusaders," said the statement signed by the Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella grouping several insurgent groups in Iraq including Al Qaeda.
The authenticity of the statement, which was posted on a web site frequently used by Islamic militants, cannot be verified.
On Monday, the same group declared in another statement posted on the Internet that it had kidnapped two US soldiers south of Baghdad, who went missing Friday after an attack on their checkpoint.
The two missing soldiers are Kristian Menchaca, 23, and Thomas L. Tucker, while a third soldier, David J. Babineau, 25, was killed in the attack near the Iraqi town of Yousifiyah, about 20 km south of Baghdad.
By Arun Kumar, Washington, June 20 (IANS) A "breathtaking shift" in US policy towards India - declaring it a strategic partner and offering it a bilateral deal to share nuclear knowhow - can be explained, according to Time magazine, simply by one phrase: India is the un-China.
Washington's new approach to India is so explained by the American newsmagazine in its latest issue hitting the newsstands on Monday with its cover story "INDIA INC. - Why the World's Biggest Democracy is the Next Great Economic Superpower- and What it Means for America."
Making friends with India is a good way for the U.S. to hedge its Asia bet, says author Michael Elliott as the US has learned that dealing with China is never easy as it "bristles too much with old resentments at the hands of the West." India is no pushover either but democrats are easier to talk to than communist apparatchiks, he says.
Democracy aside, there is a second way in which India is the un-China. In most measures of modernization, China is way ahead. Yet the litany of India's comparative shortcomings omits a fundamental truth: China started first. China's key economic reforms took shape in the late 1970s, India's not until the early 1990s. But India is younger and freer than China.
Many of its companies are already innovative world beaters. India is playing catch-up, for sure, but it has the skills, the people and the sort of hustle and dynamism that Americans respect, to do so. It deserves the new notice it has got in the US. "We're all about to discover: this elephant can dance," says Elliott.
Illustrating the changing face of India with the cover photo of a classical Indian dancer wearing a telephone operator headset, Time says the world will never be the same, as fuelled by high-octane growth, the world's largest democracy is becoming a global power.
The magazine cites India's "pro-growth Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh" as saying, he dreams that Mumbai will someday make people "forget Shanghai"- China's financial capital, whose modern gleam is a reminder of the gap between India and its eastern rival.
In the India issue's lead story, Time's Alex Perry says Mumbai is where Wall Street gets equities analyzed, where Kellogg, Brown & Root sources kitchen staff for the US Army in Iraq, and where your credit-card details might be stored-or stolen. It's where a phone operator who calls herself Mary (but is really Meenakshi) sells Texans on two-week vacations that include the Taj Mahal and cut-price heart surgery.
But if India's biggest city is its great hope, Mumbai also embodies many of the country's staggering problems. The obstacles hampering India's progress-poor infrastructure, weak government, searing inequality, corruption and crime-converge in Mumbai.
Although India boasts more billionaires than China, 81 percent of its population lives on two dollars a day or less, compared with 47 percent of Chinese, according to the 2005 UN Population Reference Bureau Report. That class divide is starkest in cities like Mumbai, where million-dollar apartments overlook million-population slums.
A new word has appeared during water-cooler conversations in offices across the US. The term is "Bangalored." It refers to India's high-tech hub, and it means your job has just moved to India without you. India, which viturally invented offshore outsourcing is becoming a victim of its own success.
Such companies as Infosys, Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) grew into billion-dollar behemoths by tapping armies of quick coding, English-speaking, low-wage techies to do the software programming and back-office tasks that US companies used to perform in-house.
But Indian salaries are rising - the median annual wage for a software engineer jumped 11 percent, from $6,313 in 2004 to $7,010 in 2005, according to India's National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM). Millions of expectations will have to be satisfied. But for now, the City of Dreams is living up to its name.
In another piece "Hooray for Bollywood", Indian director Mira Nair who lives in New York City, notes that today Bollywood is on as many screens in midtown Manhattan as in an Indian neighborhood in Queens. The literary world has learned to pronounce Vikram and Amitav and Jhumpa, and an Amrita Sher-Gil can fetch as much as a Warhol at auction.
A click on the Internet instantly conveys the burgeoning scope of South Asian cultural confidence, yielding details of hundreds of art galleries, concerts, readings, plays and indie films, she says suggesting the key to every seesaw is balance.
Nair's latest film is based on The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri's novel of migration and displacement, which is itself a seesaw between two great cities, New York and Calcutta. The film will premiere simultaneously in both cities in November, with a sophisticated marketing strategy and no horse carriages in sight.
For her next film, Gangsta M.D., Hollywood will, for the first time, pay good money to buy rights from Bollywood, transplanting to Harlem the beloved story of a Mumbai gangster, Munnabhai, who pretends to be a doctor when his parents visit, Nair notes.
Singapore, June 20 (DPA) India and China predictably emerged as the top two Asian destinations for bank outsourcing with Singapore in the third spot, a survey said Tuesday.
While not known for cheap labour, the city-state is becoming a favoured location by financial institutions.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the Economist Intelligence Unit polled 130 senior executives in the financial services industry.
Four in 10 picked India as the country where their firms are most likely to set up outsourcing arrangements. Thirty-two percent selected China and 11 percent Singapore.
"Financial institutions in Singapore tend to focus on activities which involve higher value-add to an institution, such as risk management, financial analysis and control and IT oversight functions," The Business Times quoted Dominic Nixon, PwC Asia's financial services leader, as saying.
Lower-cost countries tend to attract processing and operational tasks.
Mainland China was also selected as the location where most banks and other financial institutions expect their next mergers and acquisitions.
It was followed by India, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore.
New Delhi, June 20 (IANS) India and Pakistan Tuesday enhanced their cooperation in the crucial area of healthcare and discussed steps needed to jointly fight polio and avian flu.
"The two sides discussed measures for control of polio and exchanged ideas on management of avian influenza," external affairs ministry spokesperson Navtej Sarna said.
During the first meeting of the India-Pakistan Joint Commission technical-level working group on health, the Indian side was led by B. P. Sharma, joint secretary in the ministry of health and family welfare while the Pakistani delegation was led by Mohammad Reza, deputy director general (P&G)in the ministry of health.
The two sides also discussed measures to step up collaboration in the field of cost effective and good quality Indian generic drugs, pharmaceuticals and vaccines, and agreed to exchange experiences in public-private partnership, official sources told IANS.
Cooperation in the field of traditional systems of medicine like ayurveda also figured prominently in the discussions and the two sides decided to identify specific focus areas for future.
The two countries that wrapped up the third round of composite dialogue early this month will meet again in Islamabad to map out future areas of cooperation in the field of public health.
The two South Asian neighbours will hold technical-level discussions on cooperation in the arena of IT and telecom sector Wednesday.
Tokyo, June 20 (DPA) Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced Tuesday the withdrawal of ground self-defence forces from Iraq by the end of July, Japanese media reported.
The Japanese government, meanwhile, plans to expand its air mission around Iraq after the withdrawal of the ground troops, providing logistical transportation support for United Nations personnel.
Japan dispatched its Ground Self-Defence Forces (GSDF) to the southern Iraqi city of Samawah in Muthana province in January 2004 to provide humanitarian and reconstruction assistance in the war-torn nation. About 600 troops are involved in the mission.
Japan's decision to withdraw the GSDF follows the new Iraqi government's decision to start taking over the security control next month in Muthana, where the British oversee a multinational contingent that includes the Japanese troops.
The GSDF have helped with medical, reconstruction and humanitarian activities.
Mumbai/New Delhi, June 20 (IANS) India's largest acquisition in aviation industry has hit an air pocket due to a delay in regulatory clearances to Jet Airways for buying rival Air Sahara for Rs.23 billion (over $500 million), officials said Tuesday.
The buy-out pact between the two airlines - under which Jet had paid an advance of Rs.5 billion into an escrow account to keep the mega deal going - ends in 48 hours, officials of the two airlines added.
"Jet Airways wishes to clarify it is still awaiting all regulatory approvals and the fulfilment of all conditional precedent," said a Jet Airways statement. The airline has been operating Air Sahara since April with its own management team.
"We have nothing to comment at this moment. We still have two more days and both sides will look into all options available. So far as we are concerned the deal is still on," a senior Air Sahara official.
"If the situation so demands, we could go for the option of a further extension of the deadline of the escrow account," the official said. The two airlines had decided in March to extend the terms of the share purchase pact by 90 days.
Aviation industry sources said security and regulatory clearances were not the only reason for the deal hitting the air pocket - Jet management, they said, now feels the price tag of Rs.23 billion was much too high.
"If the deal does not go through it will be for commercial reasons than anything else. Besides, they have seen for themselves that Air Sahara has been piling up losses," an aviation analyst told IANS Tuesday.
Sources told IANS that the Intelligence Bureau had raised some concerns over the past history of one of the investors of Jet Airways when the agency had prepared a report on the airline three years ago.
Similar concerns were also raised when Jet tried to enter the US market.
Sources said the government has not given the green signal to Jet chief Naresh Goyal yet to join the board of Air Sahara though the latter has already secured clearances for four of its nominees on the newly reconstituted panel.
One senior official was also puzzled as to how security had become an issue for Goyal who already operates an airline. "What difference does it make if Goyal is on the board of Air Sahara or not. He can still run it, can't he?"
Jet Airways had announced in January this year it was buying Air Sahara, subject to government approvals, to create India's largest airline - even bigger than the state-owned Indian Airlines with a 90-aircraft fleet.
"We might even start operations to the US this year subject to the government nod," a jubilant Goyal, who is based in Mumbai, had said, adding that Air Sahara will be an extinct brand once the government approves the takeover.
At that time, Jet Airways was already the top private carrier in India with a 40 percent market share in domestic aviation. With the new deal, its share was set to go up to more than 50 percent, aviation industry sources said.
New Delhi, June 20 (IANS) Civil society representatives Monday sought President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's intervention in ensuring freedom of expression and maintaining the secular credentials of the country.
Kalam asked the group, which met him under the banner of National Forum for Social Justice, to prepare a five-point charter on the issue that he would further refine.
"The president listened to us carefully and asked us to submit a five-point agenda to protect the secular character of the country and the fundamental rights of the citizens," M.J. Khan of the National Forum for Social Justice told IANS.
Khan said the group had decided to meet the president in the wake of the recent attack on noted filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt.
"We protested and condemned the attack on Bhatt," Khan said adding "we are of the view that it was not attack on an individual but on the voice of secularism, democracy and justice".
An unidentified assailant had opened fire at Bhatt's office in Mumbai last week.
"We told him about how (Mahatma) Gandhi's philosophy is being compromised, how the voices of the civil society are being suppressed, how minority community members are being linked to terrorist activities and how violence is stage-managed," Khan said.
Advertising guru Alyque Padamsee, Gandhian and MP Nirmala Deshpande, eminent journalist Kuldip Nayar, All India Muslim Personnel Law Board member Kamal Farooqi and noted advocate Majid Memon were also in the group that met Kalam.
Patna, June 20 (IANS) Railway Minister Lalu Prasad will travel to Europe to interact with officials on railway modernisation after a special court here Monday granted him permission to travel abroad.
Lalu Prasad, an accused in a multi million-rupee fodder scam, was directed by the court to get permission to go abroad till the case completed.
A designated court of Central Bureau of Investigation has accepted Lalu Prasad's plea to grant him permission to visit four European countries June 23-July 8.
Earlier, the CBI court in Ranchi in Jharkhand had released the minister's passport.
The minister plans to visit Britain, France, Italy and Germany to take a close look at the railway set-up in these countries.
"Lalu Prasad will lead a high-level team of Indian Railways abroad from June 23 to study measures for its modernization," an official said here.
He will also participate in the meeting of Union of International Railways in Paris and is likely to sign an agreement in Rome with the Italian National Railways.
Last month Lalu Prasad had decided to send nearly 100 top railway officials abroad for training to sharpen their managerial skills.
Sources close to the minister said 25 general managers of different railway zones and 60 divisional railway managers would go for training abroad.
The Indian Railways boasts of being the world's second largest rail network after Russia under a single management. It operates over 15,000 trains daily, including some 9,000 passenger trains. Around 14 million people use its 63,000-km network daily.
Jakarta, June 20 (Xinhua) Torrential rains for three consecutive days have unleashed landslide and flashfloods in Indonesia's South Sulawesi province, killing at least 21 people as of Tuesday.
Flooding and landslides hit four places in the province, namely Sinjai, Bantaeng, Bulukumba and Jeneponto, reported the Detikcom news website.
Many residents were reported missing or injured in the disaster.
Chandigarh, June 20 (IANS) A legislation to address the issue of marriage frauds by a growing number of NRIs was sought in a workshop organised by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOAI) and the National Commission for Women (NCW) here Tuesday.
The two-day workshop is being held in the wake of increasing number of complaints by Indians, mainly women, against their non-resident Indian (NRI) spouses. Punjab tops the list of such complaints, as millions of immigrants from this state are settled in countries like Britain, the US, and Canada.
MOIA director Sandhya Shukla said a draft law would be prepared to tackle the issue.
Speakers at the workshop suggested that special cells be set up by embassies for marriage related problems. They also called for a check on illegal migration.
Highlighting the plight of women in NRI marriages, Shruti Pandey of the Human Rights Law Network said NRI husbands were giving false information about their marital status, immigration status, job and property.
She said once women were cheated in marriage, they had to fend for themselves in faraway countries and face several other problems due to language problem, improper legal aid and lack of monetary support.
Pandey added that the number of Indians being abandoned by their NRI spouses - even before being taken to the country of residence of their spouse - was also increasing.
Berlin, June 20 (DPA) List of teams that qualified by the end of Monday for the round of the last 16 at the World Cup and those that have been knocked out:
Teams that have qualified for the next round:
Argentina
Brazil
Ecuador
England
Germany
Netherlands
Portugal
Spain
Teams that have been knocked out of the World Cup ahead of their
final group game:
Costa Rica
Iran
Ivory Coast
Paraguay
Poland
Serbia & Montenegro
Togo
Raipur, June 20 (IANS) Maoist guerrillas in Chhattisgarh shot dead seven tribals Tuesday and took 25 others hostage when they refused to go along to attack a relief camp, police said.
The rebels surrounded the forested village of Chikalguda, near Konta, 540 km from here, between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. and told the villagers to accompany them in the attack.
"When the villagers refused to follow their diktat, the rebels shot dead seven tribesmen and injured two others, besides taking 25 villagers hostage," Bastar Range Inspector General T.J. Longkumer told IANS over the phone.
The Bastar region includes the violence-racked Dantewada district, one of the worst hit by Maoist violence where the central government has deployed thousands of paramilitary troopers.
"Forces have been rushed to the forested belt of Konta to secure the release of hostages," Longkumer said.
The rebels also burnt several houses and warned the villagers not to participate in the government's anti-Maoist movement Salwa Judum (Campaign for Peace) that was launched last year in June.
About 50,000 tribals have deserted their forested villages in Dantewada since the launch of Salwa Judum and are living in ill-protected relief camps.
Human rights groups say the government is endangering the lives of civilians by sponsoring the Salwa Judum movement and putting young men in the line of fire.
Officials say rebel violence has killed at least 170 civilians, mostly tribal villagers, since January.
Indian Maoists, who control vast swathes of rural India along its eastern flank, claim to fight for the rights of poor peasants and landless labourers. Officials admit there are about 20,000 armed Maoist fighters in the country, backed by thousands of more sympathisers.
Lucknow, June 20 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Governor T.V. Rajeshwar's green signal to the setting up of a minority university in Rampur is seen as a step toward mending of fences between the central and the state governments.
The governor's clearance to the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar University Bill came after more than a year of haggling and bargaining with repeated manifestations of bitterness between the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in New Delhi and the state government of the Samajwadi Party's Mulayam Singh Yadav.
The bill for to set up the private university was passed by the state assembly May 18, 2005, and it was sent then to the governor for his assent. The governor, however, raised certain queries and clarifications on the bill that was returned to the government at least twice.
The brainchild of the state's Urban Development Minister Azam Khan, this university's fate had been hanging in the balance for a long time during which he criticised the governor and the central government, terming them as anti-Muslim.
Initially, Khan has mooted the idea of setting up a state university, to be named after the prominent freedom fighter. The proposal, however, was turned down by the governor who objected to Khan being named as lifetime pro-chancellor of the university.
Khan eventually made a fresh move to set up the university in the private sector, and the governor Saturday gave his assent to the new proposal.
"The clearance of the university bill by the governor is very heartening and I am really glad that all the misgivings are now over," Khan told reporters here Monday.
While Khan declined to give details on how he convinced an unrelenting governor, He said: "The conditions laid down by the governor would be fulfilled before the setting up of this private university, which we will ensure would emerge as a centre of excellence."
To come up on a 297-acre campus on the outskirts of Rampur city, the university would have separate colleges for engineering, medicine, dentistry, law, home science and vocational training, besides regular degree courses.
"Our main emphasis will be on providing quality education that would match international standards," said Khan who said he had raised the seed capital out of his personal resources.
Kuala Lumpur, June 20 (IANS) The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), in collaboration with the Malaysian Associated Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MAICCI), is developing an entrepreneurship training programme for Indians in this southeast Asian country.
Media reports here said MIC's Yayasan Sosial Strategik (YSS), along with MAICCI, has formed a co-ordination committee on entrepreneurship development among Malaysian Indians to spearhead this move under the Ninth Malaysia Plan.
YSS was formed by MIC in 1997 to undertake systematic research and strategic planning on social issues related to the Malaysian Indian community and to draw up and implement services and programmes for the social uplift of the needy and marginalised members of the community.
A report earlier this month in the Malaysia Star newspaper quoted YSS executive director Denison Jayasooria as saying that in the new programme three levels of training courses would be identified through a coordination committee comprising Indian business associations and entrepreneurship training organisations.
"We would also strengthen all formal Indian business, from micro into small, small to become medium and medium to go for public listing under the third stage," Jayasooria told the newspaper.
Under a memorandum of understanding, Malaysia's National Entrepreneurial Institute has agreed to fund entrepreneurship development programmes for the Indian community, he said.
"We have set a target of enlisting 150,000 Indians for training and (to) ensure the development or strengthening of 15,000 entrepreneurs during the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP)," he was quoted as saying.
9MP is a comprehensive blueprint prepared by the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) of the Malaysian Prime Minister's Department and the Finance Ministry with approval by the cabinet to allocate the national budget from 2006 to 2010 to all economic sectors in Malaysia.
Last weekend, MIC president S. Samy Vellu, speaking at the opening of MAICCI's 55th anniversary celebrations here, said the coordination committee was working out the details of the target groups, training components, curriculum and the cost.
The MIC is the leading political party representing the Indian community in Malaysia. Ethnic Indians comprise seven percent of the country's population of over 24 million.
Islamabad, June 20 (IANS) Pakistan has removed an India-specific restriction from its film censorship rules, opening the way for Pakistani filmmakers to engage Indian actors.
Through a notification issued on June 5, the ministry of culture announced four amendments to the Censorship of Film Rules, 1980. One of them removes the India-specific restriction of Paragraph 5.
A Pakistani filmmaker is supposed to submit Form B to seek censorship clearance, which includes Clause 5.
"The 'notorious' Paragraph 5, a major obstacle for Pakistani filmmakers wanting to hire Indian actors, is no more," the Daily Times newspaper announced, quoting Saeed Rizvi, chairman of the Pakistan Film Producers Association (PFPA).
"This clause was a legislative order, which stopped filmmakers from proceeding towards Indian frontiers with possible ventures for the industry," Rizvi said.
When enforced, the amended law would make the exchange reciprocal among the film industries of the two countries that were one till India's partition in 1947.
Numerous Pakistani artistes have been working in Indian films over the years, though many of them faced prosecution and criticism back home.
The Censorship of Film Rules, 1980, were enacted during the regime of then president Zia-ul Haq after the local film industry petitioned to him for protection from Indian competition. It suited Zia's political scheme of protecting the country from India's "cultural invasion" and promoting "Nizam-e-Mustafa" (the Rule of God).
Zia did make exceptions in allowing a few Indian films to be screened, and facilitated the release of "Taj Mahal" produced by Sheikh Mukhtar, a one-time Bollywood action hero. But he extended protection to the indigenous film industry, even as piracy of films from India thrived.
Rizvi said: "Basically it stopped us from taking in Indian actors. It was introduced along with the Censorship of Film Rules 1980 and it mentioned: 'that the film has neither been wholly or partially exposed in any Pakistani or Indian language depicting Pakistani or Indian way of living."
"This was very confusing for filmmakers because it not only stopped us from hiring Indian actors; it also stopped us from including Pakistani actors for our movies. We were very perturbed by this clause. But now the government has repealed it, and we are more than happy," he said.
Islamabad, June 20 (IANS) Pakistan has expressed hope that the appointment of an Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) special envoy will help in the early resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
Pakistan welcomed the appointment of ambassador Ezzat Kamil Mufti as the OIC secretary general's special representative on Jammu and Kashmir and hoped the move would facilitate the implementation of OIC's decisions on Kashmir.
At the 33rd foreign minister's session of OIC in Baku, Azerbaijan, it harped on the need for early resolution of the Kashmir issue without which India-Pakistan relations could "deteriorate suddenly".
Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri pointed out that history was witness to the fact that his country's relations with India were "prone to sudden deterioration".
OIC has over the years witnessed numerous resolutions moved by Pakistan or some of its sympathisers, condemning India's "presence" in Jammu and Kashmir, alleging human rights violations and demanding the right to self-determination for Kashmiri people.
Many of these resolutions have been moved and passed during late night sessions when the attendance is low and there is little debate of the nuances in the resolution.
However, in view of the ongoing composite dialogue, Kasuri's address was more of a report card on the progress made at the talks with India.
He complained that despite having achieved "some progress" under the composite dialogue framework and confidence building measures, outstanding issues, including Kashmir, had not been resolved, NNI news agency said.
According to The Nation newspaper, Kasuri expressed gratitude to Islamic countries that stood by Pakistan in supporting Kashmiris' right to self-determination.
He said the OIC had also welcomed Pakistan's efforts to resolve the dispute through dialogue with India in a just and equitable manner. He added that Pakistan's case rested on international legitimacy and UN Security Council resolutions.
Kasuri argued that President Pervez Musharraf had shown "immense flexibility and courage" in the composite dialogue with India and Pakistan wanted a negotiated settlement of the Kashmir dispute acceptable to the people of Kashmir and also to Pakistan and India.
The minister said Pakistan would host the OIC ministerial conference on the problems of refugees in Muslim states in cooperation with the UNHCR Nov 27-29 in Islamabad.
Islamabad, June 20 (Xinhua) Pakistan supports the idea of electing the new secretary-general of the UN from Asia, the country's foreign office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told the state-run Pakistan Television Tuesday.
Most of the Asian and African countries were in favour of the idea, she added.
Noting that some Asian countries have nominated their candidates, the spokesperson said Pakistan was analysing the latest developments.
Islamabad, June 20 (IANS) Two-day talks between India and Pakistan on the contentious Wullar Barrage project in Jammu and Kashmir will be held here from Thursday, Online news agency reported Tuesday.
The Wullar barrage on the Jhelum river is one of the issues being discussed by the two countries under the composite dialogue process.
Water and Power Secretary Ashfaq Mahmood will lead the Pakistani delegation at the negotiations. The Indian delegation will include Water Secretary J. Hari Narayan, legal advisors and engineers. The commissioner of the Indus Water Treaty will also participate in talks.
Islamabad has opposed the project saying it would disrupt the flow of the Jhelum river into Pakistan. India, however, has argued that it is a navigation project, which is allowed under the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 between the two neighbours.
Mumbai, June 21 (IANS) Around 45 Pakistani students will attend a model UN summit to be held here in August where they will moot an alternative peace initiative with their Indian counterparts.
The Indian International Model United Nations (TIMUN), a congregation of over 200 youths from various parts of the world, will look into diverse world issues and topics.
"The purpose of TIMUN is to bring to the fore the voice of the youth in an effective manner," Samyak Chakrabarty, founder member of TIMUN, said here at a press conference.
"The Indo-Pak peace meet that is an integral part of TIMUN will see students of both these countries work on an informal peace resolution that shall be forwarded to both the governments," Chakrabarty said.
TIMUN will be held at the Mayfair Rooms in Worli in central Mumbai between Aug 11-13 and will be managed by one of the most experienced student secretaries in India.
Chairing the press conference will be veteran filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt.
"The world is a mess because the 'old' have made it into a mess. I will be delighted to watch the youth brainstorm and come out with novel ideas for a better future," Bhatt said.
"But the youth should also remember that they will find recognition and acceptance hard to come by as elders will support them only if they conform to the old.
"So do not be bothered by lack of acceptance. Just chart your own paths," Bhatt said.
New Delhi, June 20 (IANS) India's financial capital Mumbai takes the first step towards its radical transport makeover Wednesday when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh lays the foundation stone of Phase I of the Rs.195 billion ($4.2 billion) Mumbai Metro Rail Project.
The Maharashtra government had last month approved Phase I of the rail project, which is likely to be completed by 2009 and be fully functional by 2011.
The consortium, led by Reliance Energy Ltd (REL) and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), had bagged the contract for Phase I and work on the first corridor - the 11-km Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar route - is expected to start by October.
The entire Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar route will be on standard gauge elevated rails with 12 stations. It will have a carrying capacity of 60,000 passengers per hour, with commuting time on the entire stretch reduced to 21 minutes from the present duration of 70 minutes.
The proposed fare structure is Rs.6 for up to three km, Rs.8 for eight km and Rs.10 for a distance of over eight km.
Chakan da Bagh (Jammu and Kashmir), June 20 (IANS) History was made Tuesday as the second bus service between Indian and Pakistani Kashmirs, carrying 45 passengers from Poonch to Rawlakote, was flagged off by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Two buses of the Jammu and Kashmir State Road Transport Corporation, specially decorated with marigold, travelled from Poonch to Chakan da Bagh on the Line of Control (LoC), travelling a distance of 10 km.
Wild cheers and emotional scenes greeted the inaugural ceremony here, as this is the first time in the past 58 years that a bus service has come into existence between Poonch and Rawlakote.
This is the second cross LoC bus service. The first was started between Srinagar and Muzzafarabad on April 7 last year.
Gandhi described it as a historic occasion that would add to Indian efforts to build peace with Pakistan. She was accompanied by Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Also present on the occasion were Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and his predecessor Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
Gandhi also gave gifts to each passenger. There was a broad smile on her face as she wished the travellers well amid a battery of mediamen and the flashing of cameras.
In all, 45 passengers - 30 of them Indian - travelled on the two buses from Poonch to Chakan Da Bagh. From here, Rawlakote lies at a distance of 37 km.
Fifteen passengers were returning to Pakistani Kashmir, having come from different routes on foot, as five crossing points were opened at the LoC in the aftermath of the Oct 8 earthquake last year.
The bus passengers, carrying gifts for their relatives across the LoC, were immensely excited and fumbled for words to express their feelings.
"What should I say? I am very, very happy," one of the passengers said.
The travellers said they were looking forward to meeting their relatives across the LoC.
"We are so excited about seeing relatives whom we have not seen even once before," said Taj Mohammad, a passenger.
Lucknow, June 20 (IANS) The Mulayam Singh Yadav government Tuesday decided to give power sop to half a million weavers of Uttar Pradesh, a majority of whom are Muslims.
Announcing this decision, state Energy Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav here told reporters, "Weavers will now be charged a flat rate like farmers, who are entitled to un-metered power."
"Doing away with the metered power system will not only relieve poor weavers of the financial burden but also save them from undue harassments by power corporation officials, about which there were endless complaints," said Yadav, younger brother of the chief minister.
Asked what would happen to the meters already installed on each of the 300,000 power looms across the state, he said, "The meters will give us an idea of the extent of subsidy we are giving to the weavers."
"However, the monthly charge will be Rs.65 per loom in urban areas and Rs.35.50 per loom in rural areas," he added.
The sop given to weavers despite the power corporation reeling under perennial losses is seen as a move to woo the Muslim minority community. Assembly elections are scheduled for February 2007.
Lest week, the state government had launched a dole scheme promising to give Rs.500 a month as dole to 7,66,352 registered unemployed graduates and post-graduates in the state.
Kabul, June 20 (Xinhua) While the US-led anti-Taliban operation the "Mountain Thrust" is in full swing in Afghanistan's southern region, the UN office to Afghanistan Monday called on the security forces to prevent civilian casualties.
"While these operations are ongoing, it is imperative that the security forces both national and international be cautious to prevent any civilian casualties," spokesman of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) Halim Sidiq told journalists at a regular press briefing.
He made this remarks amid the increasing complaints about the careless bombardment and civilian casualties in parts of the country.
Over 50 civilians, according to locals, were killed and more than 100 others got wounded in a US-led operation in Panjwai district of southern Kandahar province last month while officials confirmed only 16 dead.
So-called friendly fire and mistake in other parts of country have also claimed the innocent lives over the past five years.
To root out militants the US-dominated troops and Afghan army have launched the operation "Mountain Thrust" very recently.
According to a US military statement, more than 80 militants have lost their lives over the past couple of days.
"We call on the security forces to do everything that they can to ensure the safety and protection of the local communities in districts where operations are taking place," Sidiq noted.
About 900 people mostly militants, according to officials, have been killed in Taliban-linked insurgency over the past six months.
By Syed Ziaur Rahman
Aligarh, 20 June (IMI) Prof. Khurshidul Islam, a well recognized critic and poet of Urdu language, has died on 17th June 2006 after prolonged illnesses. Born in 1919 at Moradabad, he had his early education in Delhi and Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh.
From AMU, he got Master’s degree in 1945 and almost immediately after post-graduation, he was appointed as lecturer in the Urdu Department. He became professor in 1973 and chairman department of Urdu on 8th October 1973. He was a good orator and during his student life he once won the Harold Cox Speaking Prize in 1942. He also worked as lecturer at Oriental School of London University for three years (1953-56).
Prof. Khurshidul Islam was a prolific writer. His works are seen cited in many research papers and articles including Encyclopaedia Iranica. He was editor of Urdu-English Dictionary, Oxford University Press (1970-73) and Fikro Nazar, Aligarh Muslim University (1974-1979).
Prof. Islam hailed from Seohara, Distt Bijnor and he belonged to the family of Moulana Hifzur Rahman and Dr. Abdul Rahman Bijnoree
He won UP Urdu Academy Award on his critical essays “Tanqeeden�. As a poet, he published two collections: Rag-e-Jan and Shakh-e Nihal-e Gham. His prose poem – Jasta Jasta is another published collection. Under a UNESCO Project, he coauthored “Ghalib – Life and Letters� with Ralph Russel, who is at present Emeritus Professor Urdu at School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. The work which was done under the Project was published by Oxford University Press in 1969 entitled Ghalib 1797-1869 - Life and Letters. (Also confer Ghalib 1797-1869; Volume I: Life and Letters. London: George Allen and Unwin). Another published work of both Ralph Russel and Khurshidul Islam is “Three Mughal Poets: Mir, Mir Sauda and Mir Hasan�, George Allen and Unwin, London, 1968. This work was also done under the UNESCO Project. Both Ralph Russel and Khurshidul Islam did many other academic works together; they also surveyed extensively the attitude and attacks on western culture and education of Saiyid Akbar Husain popularly known as Akbar Allahabadi.
He was buried in the University graveyard.
By Marc Zeilhofer, Berlin, June 20 (DPA) Spain became the eighth team to book an early place in the World Cup knock-out stages with a comeback 3-1 win over Tunisia.
Ukraine, drubbed 4-0 by Spain in their initial Group H match Monday, put four of their own past Saudi Arabia, and Switzerland beat Togo 2-0 in Group G, making the Africans the seventh side heading for an early exit.
Along with Spain, early qualifiers for the knock-out stages are Ecuador, Germany, England, Argentina, the Netherlands, Portugal and Brazil.
Already knocked out ahead of their final group matches along with Togo are: Poland, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Ivory Coast, Serbia- Montenegro and Iran.
Tunisia took an eighth-minute lead against Spain in Stuttgart through Jaouhar Mnari, and the Spanish were making heavy weather of it until coach Luis Aragones brought on captain Raul and Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas as decisive midfielder after the break.
Raul equalised in the 71st minute and five minutes later Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres put his side 2-1 up after being sent through by Fabregas.
Torres added another with a converted penalty in injury time to become the tournament's top scorer with three goals.
Raul, who changed the complexion of the game after coming on, said that it did not matter to him that he scored the equaliser. "What is important is that we won the game. That is the main thing that matters.
"We took a long time to find our feet in this match, but after scoring a goal it became much easier. A victory like that makes it much easier and we can go into our next game much more relaxed. But then the real competition starts," he said.
The result sees Spain top the Group with six points, Ukraine with three, while Saudi Arabia and Tunisia each have one point and can still qualify.
For Ukraine, Andriy Rusol and Serhiy Rebrov struck in the first half, Andriy Shevchenko headed a third 40 seconds after the interval and Maksym Kalinichenko, whose corner and free-kick had set up two goals, wrapped up the score in the 84th minute in Hamburg.
But an almost grim-faced coach Oleg Blokhin warned: "We have a very serious game ahead with Tunisia, there is no reason for jubilation and our (squad) problems are no less than before." But he added: "We'll battle our way into the tournament."
Ukraine's first-ever World Cup goal saw Rusol knock the ball off his knee and through goalkeeper Mabrouk Zaid's legs as he buried Kalinichenko's third-minute corner.
Sami Al-Jaber, coming on as a 77th minute substitute for his 162nd cap at his fourth World Cup, had appeals for a penalty turned down in the closing minutes.
Malek Al Hawsawi shot over in a rare Saudi raid but it could so easily have been six for Ukraine as Kalinichenko hit the bar and Zaid made a point-blank save from Shevchenko.
Saudi Arabia's Brazilian coach Marcos Paqueta said: "The boys gave their all throughout the match and didn't give up. We're capable of recovering from this and presenting a different image of ourselves in the next match."
Swiss boss Koebi Kuhn said he couldn't have asked more from his side in their 2-0 win over Togo - their first World Cup win in 12 years. It moved them to the top of Group G, a point away from the last 16.
Rennes striker Alexander Frei scored his 26th goal in 48 games for his country to give the Swiss the lead on 16 minutes against the run of play. Togo, who had threatened in the first period faded badly and Tranquillo Barnetta doubled the lead late in the 88th minute.
The Swiss now need a draw against South Korea to qualify. World Cup debutants Togo are out, but could still play a big part in who qualifies when they face the French in their last group game.
It was Togo's second appearance in these finals but the first time they had heard their anthem played at the start of a game. A FIFA error meant the South Korean national anthem was played twice before their first match.
The African players were suitably inspired and set about the Swiss creating three excellent early chances, with Arsenal youngster Sheyi Adebayor a thorn in the Swiss side - although he was booked for climbing all over his Arsenal team-mate Phillipe Senderos.
Togo's campaign was affected by rows over wages and a walkout by their German coach Otto Pfister who was philosophical in defeat. "We weren't up to it but the team is here to learn. They gave a good account of themselves," he said.
Dortmund, June 20, (Xinhua) Switzerland clinched their first World Cup win in Germany Monday, beating Togo 2-0, despite a lackluster performance.
The first goal came in the 16th minute when Tranquillo Barnetta, at the far post, prodded Ludovic Magnan's cross into the path of Alex Frei, who poked the ball into the net.
Barnetta made it two for the Swiss in the dying minutes, with a sweet strike in at the far post after being set up by a straight pass from substitute forward Mauro Lustrinelli.
With the victory, Switzerland moved temporarily to the top of the Group G table alongside South Korea, who also had four points after beating Togo 2-1 in their World Cup opener and drawing 1-1 with France Sunday, while Togo were sent packing with two losses from as many matches.
Hyderabad, June 20 (IANS) A Class 4 textbook carrying a sketch of Prophet Mohammed has been withdrawn from all centres by the publishers, Arkbird Publications, which has also apologised to Muslims following protests by the community.
The textbook, "Millennium Moral Values", was being used for Class 4 students in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and other states.
Though the lesson, titled "Goodness Wins", is aimed at highlighting the kindness of the Prophet Mohammed through an incident, the drawing evoked protests from the community.
According to the story, a woman used to throw garbage on the Prophet when he passed through a lane everyday. One day, when the woman did not come out to throw the garbage, the Prophet enquired about her. On being told that she was sick and bedridden, he tended to her till she recovered. The woman was ashamed of her conduct and apologised to the Prophet.
The sketch accompanying the story shows a woman lying on the bed, a man standing by the bedside and a pious man calling on the ailing lady.
Muslim leaders said while the story was carried with good intention of making children familiar with the great values of the Prophet, drawing any sketch of the Prophet was strictly prohibited.
"Some elements have been trying to hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims both at the national and international levels," said Akbaruddin Owaisi, leader of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) in state assembly.
He wondered how the publishers failed to realise the implications of publishing the sketch, when the protests over caricatures of the Prophet in Danish newspapers had rocked the entire world recently.
Arkbird Publications, which also has its offices in Chennai, Kolkata, Lucknow and Patna, apologised to Muslims and announced that it was withdrawing the book from all the centres.
M. Narender Rao and M. Ravinder Rao, the owners of the publication house, said they were sorry for hurting the religious sentiments of Muslims and clarified that it was not done intentionally.
Arkbird Publications books are included in the syllabus of many private schools in various states.
Agartala, June 20 (IANS) The Tripura government has opposed a move by New Delhi to abolish a 34-year provision to grant special passports for residents in the northeast and West Bengal to visit Bangladesh, officials Tuesday said.
The external affairs ministry recently communicated to all seven northeastern states and West Bengal the proposal to discontinue issuing passports for Bangladesh on security grounds.
Six northeastern states - Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Nagaland - agreed to the ministry's proposal.
However, the Left Front government in Tripura opposed the move.
"The Tripura government strongly opposes the move to abolish special India-Bangladesh passport because this service benefits the people of the northeast who rarely travel to any other country except Bangladesh," Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said in a letter to the ministry.
The special passport provision came into force in September 1972 with a similar arrangement for Bangladeshi nationals to visit the northeast and West Bengal.
New Delhi has requested Dhaka to discontinue the special passport scheme for their citizens travelling to the northeast and West Bengal.
The Tripura government last year issued 9,500 passports, while about 4,800 have been issued so far this year under the existing scheme.
"It is unfair to take such important decisions unilaterally. We are getting at least a hundred passport applications every day," Nepal Chandra Sinha, secretary-cum-commissioner of the Tripura government's political department, told IANS.
The external affairs ministry cited "national security" as the main reason to do away with the existing special passport provisions, saying smugglers, trans-border racketeers, militants, women and child traffickers, were misusing the scheme.
"An Indian national of Basirhat in West Bengal had visited Bangladesh several times using a passport under the scheme and he was found to have provided important information to Pakistani terrorists to hijack the IA Airbus to Kandahar in Afghanistan in 1999," a ministry official said.
Pointing out technical and security-related lacunae, ministry officials told Tripura government representatives during a meeting in New Delhi that the special passport provision does not conform to international security norms.
"If the ministry would like to suggest any improvement in the existing system in issuing the special passports, our government is ready to cooperate," the chief minister said in his letter.
The Tripura government had suggested that the ministry issue a single passport to make travel easy for locals to Bangladesh.
"Bangladesh, after long persuasion, allowed double entry visa. Bus services between Agartala and Dhaka and Kolkata and Dhaka have allowed the people of the northeast to go to Kolkata and rest of the country via Bangladesh, thereby saving both time and money," the chief minister said.
Tripura is surrounded by Bangladesh from three sides with the people from the landlocked state taking at least two to three days to reach Kolkata by road via Assam.
"It would take just 24-hours to reach Kolkata via Dhaka travelling by bus from Agartala," another official said.
Hamburg, June 20 (Xinhua) Andriy Shevchenko and Serhiy Rebrov were among the scorers as Ukraine put the pain of their own demolition by Spain behind to slaughter Saudi Arabia 4-0 in their second World Cup Group H match here Monday.
It was a major boost for Oleg Blokhin's men after they opened their first-ever World Cup tour with 4-0 drubbing to Spain. They are now in a better place hoping to emerge from the group, which also includes Tunisia.
Ukrainians were ahead inside four minutes when Mabrouk Zaid needlessly gave away a corner and Andriy Rusol bundled in Ukraine's first-ever World Cup goal off his knee.
Rebrov doubled Ukraine's scoring with an absolute cracker from 35 yards out in the 36th minute as the Saudi goalkeeper Zaid toppled over in comic fashion.
One minute into the second half, Shevchenko increased the lead with a header after receiving a cross from Maksym Kalinichenko.
Maxim Kalinichenko, awarded man of the match, got the goal that his performance deserved six minutes from time, smashing the ball into the top of the net after great work from Shevchenko to seal the victory 4-0.
Washington, June 20 (IANS) The US has invited India to join in its 'Advanced Energy Initiative Programme' to expand research and development to bring to market energy produced from alternative sources like ethanol, hydrogen, solar and wind technologies.
The programme outlined by US President George Bush will require the best scientists and the best engineers, said US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman noting that many of these individuals are to be found, not in the United States, but in India.
"It is my hope that our two countries can cooperate on these projects as well, as we are on the ITER (an international fusion energy project) and on FutureGen, to bring them to fruition that much sooner," he said at the US National Academies of Science' US-India Conference in Washington Friday.
India-US cooperation, Bodman said, will do much to enhance energy security for the two countries because it promotes the development of stable and efficient energy markets and will enhance the research and development of alternative energy sources already underway.
India, he noted, will be playing a very important role in harnessing fusion as an inexhaustible source of pollution-free energy for the world as New Delhi has joined the other six parties to the international ITER agreement, initialled in Brussels in May.
America, Bodman said, would also welcome India's collaboration on the development of the proposed International Linear Collider (ILC), which would make possible new discoveries in particle physics. The US intended ILC to be designed, funded, managed and operated as a fully international scientific project.
As part of cooperation under the India-US Agreement on Science and Technology 2005, Washington hopes to encourage India's decision to join the FutureGen international partnership to create a zero emissions coal-fired power plant that will produce hydrogen and sequester carbon dioxide below ground.
"We especially appreciate India's agreement to participate in the FutureGen steering committee, its commitment to participate in the FutureGen Industry Alliance and its pledge of 10 million dollars to the project, 2.2 million of which has already been donated," Bodman said.
The US is also working together to bring India into the Integrated Ocean Drilling Programme and to cooperate on efforts to study methane hydrates. India's effort in this regard will make use of Department of Energy-owned technology and will include many US researchers, allowing it to accelerate commercial utilization of hydrates in the United States and around the world.
The US-India Energy Dialogue has led to the creation of five working groups that are showing great progress, Bodman noted.
The Civil Nuclear Energy Working Group has already held one joint technical workshop to advance the dialogue between the two countries and a second workshop will take place in the United States later this year.
The Power and Energy Efficiency Working Group is working to establish avenues for technology cooperation on industrial and building energy efficiency. Uunder consideration is a proposed strategic partnership between India's National Thermal Power Corporation and the Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory to advance the development of clean and efficient power generation.
Under its auspices, together with the US Agency for International Development and the General Electric Company, a public-private partnership has been formed to increase access to clean and affordable energy services and provide up to four rural communities in India with access to clean energy over the next two years.
Also, last month an energy efficiency conference was held in New Delhi that included significant participation of government representatives and the business communities of both countries. Bodman hoped that this conference will spur business partnerships that will result in new technologies being applied to save energy, both in India and the United States.
The Coal Working Group has also accomplished much, including the creation of a high level work plan identifying priority projects thetwo countries will pursue over the next two years. These projects include pursuing investment opportunities and information exchange in the areas of coal mining and processing, coal mine safety and in situ coal gasification.
The Oil and Gas Working Group held a one day government-to-government workshop in New Delhi last month on developing a regulatory framework for natural gas and is exploring ways to involve the US-India business community.
It has also arranged for several memoranda of understanding between the two governments on information exchange, operational safety, inspection issues and accident investigations of offshore oil and gas operations related to both drilling and production.
The New Technology and Renewable Energy Working Group is also sponsoring meetings between the two governments to discuss potential areas of collaboration, including solar power generation, low wind speed technology research & development and renewable energy resources.