25 June 2006
Islamabad, June 25 (IANS) The alleged "love note" written by a now-suspended Hindu lawmaker in the Sindh assembly to a woman colleague has acquired political and human rights colours in Pakistan.
Questions are now being asked if such an incident occurred because both men and women sit in the legislature.
Opposition legislator Shazia Atta Mohammed Mari, recipient of the note, says the note from treasury bench legislator Ishwar Lal did not inquire "aap kaisi hain" (how are you) about her health and well being. She says she "hates" him and has refused to disclose the content of the note.
The note brought upon Lal a thrashing and resulted in his suspension from legislature.
Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid (LHRLA) have described the incident, which occurred last week during proceedings in the Sindh Assembly, as one of "gender harassment" and have offered Mari legal assistance.
LHRLA's Zia Ahmed Awan told a news conference in Karachi that Lal had no business to even inquire "aap kaisi hain" to a woman legislator since he was not related to her.
Lal has stayed away from the legislature and the public after clarifying in a statement that he had merely inquired about Mari's health since she had not been keeping well.
But Mari has told the media that Lal had been "after her" for a year, sending her messages on her cell phone.
The words "love note" used by legislators and the media, have since become "objectionable chit" and merely, "chit".
Mari told The Daily Times that she "hates" Lal, but could not help noticing him when the legislature met.
Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim and treasury legislators Afshan Imran and Nuzhat Pathan have sought to defend Lal. But Mari said she was "surprised" at reading their "immoral and inhuman" statements about her.
She charged that the move was a ploy aimed at restraining her from playing an active role in the provincial assembly.
Her mother Parveen Atta Mari has supported the daughter, saying that they belonged to a well-known family. Shazia Mari is the granddaughter of Haji Ali Mohammad, a well known businessman and philanthropist, and daughter of former speaker of Sindh Assembly Atta Mohammad.
Kabul, June 25 (Xinhua) Forty-eight Taliban militants were killed by coalition and Afghan forces in southern Afghanistan.
Heavy fighting between the militants and the forces lasted for over four hours in Panjwyi district in Kandahar province, according to official sources.
As part of the ongoing Operation Mountain Thrust, the forces attacked Taliban militants hiding in an orchard in the district, killing 48, said General Rahmatullah Raofi, a regional commander of the southern Afghan forces.
He said that a helicopter gunship was called by the coalition troops and added that a weapons cache of AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades had been recovered.
No coalition or Afghan troop casualties were reported.
Over 11,000 coalition and Afghan forces launched the major phase of Mountain Thrust on June 15 in southern Kandahar, Helmand, Zabul and Uruzgan provinces to wipe out Taliban militants there.
About 180 Taliban insurgents have been killed in the massive operation since June 15, according to Afghan defence ministry's statistics.
Leipzig, June 25 (DPA) Maxi Rodriguez volleyed a spectacular 98th-minute winner to rally Argentina past Mexico 2-1 Saturday, lifting the South Americans into a quarter-final clash with hosts Germany.
Favoured Argentina struggled mightily against the disciplined Mexicans in the 2006 World Cup's first extra-time game, which saw Mexico crash out in the round of 16 for the fourth time in a row.
Argentina fell behind for the first time at this year's cup when Mexican right back Rafael Marquez struck in the sixth minute.
Hernan Crespo levelled in the 10th minute, though the Argentine star striker seemed to have pressured Mexico's Jared Borgetti into deflecting the ball into his own net on a corner.
With both sides knotted 1-1 after 90 minutes, Argentina finally pressed forward in the first extra-time period and Rodriguez slammed home a volley from the corner of the area after receiving a cross by captain Juan Sorin.
Argentina and Germany meet Friday in Berlin.
--DPA
Kuala Lumpur, June 25 (IANS) The Netherlands made their return to the 15th Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament a memorable one as they clinched the title beating defending champions Australia 6-2 in the final Sunday.
Earlier in the day, former champions India had defeated New Zealand 3-2 to win the bronze medal at the same Bukit Jalil Stadium.
The Netherlands, who struggled throughout the tournament, rediscovered their form at the right moment to lead 2-0 at half-time.
Roderick Weusthof scored three goals (6th, 47th, 66th minutes) while Takae Taekema (22nd), Teun de Nooijer (42nd) and Ronald Brouwier (52nd) one each to deny Olympic champions Australia a hat trick of titles.
For Australia, who had won Azlan Shah title in 1983, 1988, 2004 and 2005 and routed New Zealand 7-1 in the semi-finals to enter the title round this time, Matt Naylor (60th) and Robert Hammond (69th, penalty stroke) scored consolation goals.
Weushtof, who emerged as the top scorer of the competition with four strikes, was adjudged the Player of the Tournament, while veteran de Nooijer was the Man of the Match for being the most outstanding player on either side.
The final standings of the eight-nation tournament:
The Netherlands, Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Korea, Argentina and Malaysia.
Pakistan had the consolation of winning the Fair Play award.
Both the Roelant Oltmans-coached Netherlands, who last played here in 1996 when they finished at the bottom of the heap, and Australia earned three penalty corners each, but only the Netherlands, who defeated India 1-0 in the semi-finals, managed to convert one of them and Australia none.
That the Netherlands were far superior was evident from the number of penetrations they made into Australia's striking circle. They made 20 such attempts while Australia managed 15.
The Netherlands took 12 shots at the rival goal and Australia mustered six - which says a lot about the good work done by the Dutch defenders.
It was quite surprising that Australia who had an easy passage into the final - barring the semi-final against India against whom they scored as late as the 65th minute - were completely off-colour while the Dutch raised their game a few notches at the right time.
Brussels, June 25, IRNA, Mosques in the Belgian capital, Brussels, could soon benefit from regional government financial support.
The Brussels Parliament has approved the possibility to assist in renovation and maintenance costs. 350,000 euros have already been set aside in the remainder of the 2006 budget, Flandersnews website reported Saturday.
Certain conditions have been attached to any government funding offered to the capital's mosques.
The recipient must be officially recognized, a minimum of 200 people must worship there and the building must be run by a registered charitable organization that can produce clear financial accounts.
Approximately 70 mosques fall within the Brussels regional government's authority.
Belgium has a complex system of government. It is divided into three communities and three regions: Flemish-speaking community, French-speaking community, and a small German-speaking Community, and the Flemish region, the Walloon region and the Brussels-Capital.
There are about 250 mosques all over Belgium a country which has an estimated 400,000 Muslims mainly from North African states and Turkey.
By Arun Kumar,
Washington, June 25 (IANS) The Bush administration has mounted a concerted campaign to get quick Congressional approval for the India-US nuclear deal, with the White House declaring it the president's "top priority" amid a few contrary voices heard in the legislature.
"Let me put it this way, the president considers this a top priority. Period. And wants both houses of Congress to act on it and act affirmatively," White House spokesman Tony Snow declared on Friday, a day after Vice President Dick Cheney sought bipartisan support for one of Bush's "most important strategic foreign policy initiatives".
While Cheney chose the forum of US-India Business Council to urge the leadership of the India Caucus in the two houses to usher through the "critical" agreement, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is reported to have personally contacted many lawmakers to ensure their support.
Bush administration's key negotiator on the deal, Under-Secretary of State Nicholas Burns, is said to be spending much of his time on Capitol Hill, seat of the US Congress, to counter opposition to the deal.
With the foreign relations committees of the House and the Senate scheduled to meet on June 27 and 28 respectively to review supporting legislation, the administration has repeatedly claimed to have the necessary bipartisan support for the deal. The vote in the Congress itself is not expected before the middle of July.
Republican Senator John Cornyn, who leads the India Caucus in the US Senate along with Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton, Friday took the floor to answer Byron Dorgan, a critic of the deal who has vowed to do all to delay if not stop it.
The deal is in the best interests of the United States as it will make them partners with the world's largest democracy, marking an important step in their strategic relationship, he said.
For it will permit peaceful civilian use of nuclear power while avoiding the threat of proliferation and the possibility that terrorists might acquire a nuclear weapon or it might proliferate to some other irresponsible party and then endanger America or its allies.
"As we all know, India already has a nuclear weapon, so it is not a question of whether it is going to acquire one. It already has one. It has demonstrated its responsibility and its willingness to work with peace-loving partners like USA," Cornyn said.
It will be another way the United States and India can work together to make the world a safer place, he said rejecting Dorgan's suggestion that the nuclear deal with India undermined US non-proliferation policy of many years and would come in the way of its resolve to stop the spread of nuclear weapons.
Nowhere is the threat of nuclear war or nuclear terrorism, or the need to safeguard nuclear weapons more important than in South Asia, the home to Al Qaida, who seeks nuclear weapons, Dorgan said describing it as an area where relations among regional nuclear powers -China, India, Pakistan - have historically been tense.
Giving legitimacy to the nuclear arsenal that India secretly developed is not going to help US convince other countries to give up their secret nuclear programmes, said the senator from North Dakota.
Calling the India deal "one of the most significant mistakes I can conceive of", Dorgan vowed to "certainly do everything I can to slow it down. I prefer to stop it. I don't know if I can stop it. I will try to do that. If not, I will slow it down a lot..."
While the deal has won critical support from the heads of both Senate and House panels, a few other legislators and some scientists have opposed the deal with 37 Nobel laureates branding it as a "formula for destroying American non-proliferation goals".
Kuala Lumpur, June 25, IRNA, Iran's Ambassador to Thailand Mohsen Pakaeen said on Friday insecurities in southern Thailand are not related to religion but some predicaments have led to the
deterioration of situation in this Muslim-living area.
In an interview with IRNA, Pakaeen insecurities have no root in religious or ethnic problems.
Pakaeen blamed poverty, underdevelopment, cultural differences and social challenges for the insecurities in Thailand.
He said economic reforms, judicial revamp and attention to local languages as well as promoting the educational system irrespective of religion or ethics can benefit the people of southern Thailand.
"It seems Bangkok is determined to remove problems and crisis in the south," he said, adding Thai officials have launched efforts to make a deeper understanding and build confidence between government officials and local residents.
He said regarding the fact that majority of Muslims are in southern Thailand, creating jobs for Muslim graduates, rendering services based on Islamic principles, incorporating Islamic content in school books and increasing the production of Halal food can help Thai government tackle problems and build confidence.
Pakaeen noted that informing security officials on how to treat Muslims and familiarizing them with local language and culture of the area have been put on the agenda of the government.
Jammu, June 25 (IANS) At a time when militancy is on an upswing in Jammu and Kashmir, five militants of two terror outfits surrendered before security forces in Doda Sunday.
Militants laid down their arms before army officers in Doda, one of the areas worst hit by militancy. They pledged to return to a normal life, an army spokesman told reporters at the 16 Corps headquarters at Nagrota, 13 km north of here.
The official claimed the militants were anguished by their separation from their families and found the life of a militant a fruitless pursuit.
The surrendered militants were identified as Javed Ahmad, Zahid and Mohammad Rafiq of Hizb-ul-Mujahadeen, and Ismail and Mohammad Shafi of Harkat-ul-Mujahadeen.
While the two groups are quite active in the region, the surrender of the five militants is expected to cause a dent in their ranks.
"This is a good sign. The militants giving up arms would inspire others to follow the suit," the spokesman said.
By T.R. Ramakrishnan, Indo-Asian News Service
Basseterre (St Kitts), June 25 (IANS) The West Indies were all out for 581, 40 minutes after lunch on the third day of the third Test against India at the Warner Park Stadium here Saturday.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Marlon Samuels, the overnight West Indian batsmen, took the score from 420 for 5 to 536, without getting separated in 37 overs in the 150-minute opening session.
The pitch was flat, the bowling ineffective and yet, after getting set right on top of the bowling, the batsmen managed only 20 runs in the 14 overs immediately before lunch.
After the break, the action became hectic, as if to compensate for the morning's drudgery. Harbhajan's first over, the second after lunch, went for 19. By the time West Indies added another 19, they were all out.
In a match, which the West Indies seemed content to let drift into a draw, statistics will remain its only noteworthy features.
Chanderpaul was left stranded on 97, three short of his sixth Test hundred against India, and Harbhajan finished with a five-wicket haul, the 18th of his career and fourth against the West Indies.
It was difficult to understand the West Indian strategy in the morning. At 420 for 5, and with two sessions of the match already wasted due to bad weather, they had to force the pace, score quickly so that they would have the time to bowl out India twice.
It was exactly the situation West Indian skipper Brian Lara had said he wanted to be in during his pre-match talk with newsmen.
But there was no sense of urgency or purpose to the way Chanderpaul and Samuels batted. They did not seem to be part of a team, which was thinking of winning.
Perhaps Lara was keener on sending a message to his selectors: If you do not give me the bowling which I think I can get India out twice, I can only play to save the match.
Or perhaps it was his unspoken comment on the lifeless track, when all along he has been asking for pitches with pace and bounce.
In the morning, after Indian skipper Rahul Dravid's early efforts to get a wicket were easily nullified, Chanderpaul and Samuels did step up the pace a bit: 55 runs came in the middle third of the session, in just 12 overs.
The next 14 overs, saw Chanderpaul score only 11 runs, Samuels 8.
Dravid, by this time, was setting purely defensive fields, and his bowlers were concentrating on a containing line but that was no explanation for the attitude of the batsmen. It did nothing for the image of Test cricket.
There have not been too many people watching the Tests, in sharp contrast to the crowds during the one-day series. The sort of unattractive and purposeless cricket as seen Saturday morning will do little to bring the crowds back.
SCOREBOARD
Day 3, Third Test, West Indies v India, Warner Park Stadium, Basseterre (St Kitts)
West Indies (1st Innings):
Chris Gayle b Patel 83
Darren Ganga b Patel 135
Ramnaresh Sarwan lbw Sreesanth 116
Brian Lara lbw Patel 10
Shivnarine Chanderpaul not out 97
Dwayne Bravo c Dhoni b Harbhajan 21
Marlon Samuels c Harbhajan Sehwag 87
Denesh Ramdin c Jaffer b Harbhajan 3
Jerome Taylor c Yuvraj b Harbhajan 2
Pedro Collins c Dravid b Harbhajan 1
Corey Collymore b Harbhajan 0
Extras (lb 14, w 1, nb 11) 26
Total (all out in 170 overs) 581
Fall of wickets: 1-143, 2-346, 3-356, 4-371, 5-406, 6-562, 7-570, 8-576, 9-581, 10-581
Bowling:
Munaf Patel 32-4-134-3 (8nb, 1w)
S. Sreesanth 31-8-99-1 (1nb)
Anil Kumble 47-8-140-0 (2nb)
Harbhajan Singh 44-6-147-5
Virender Sehwag 16-3-47-1
New Delhi, June 25 (IANS) India's Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Sunday seized 4.5 kg of heroin worth Rs.45 million ($1 million) from two people here in what is believed to be one of the biggest drug hauls in recent times in the country, officials said.
Padamvir Singh and Sarfaroz Khan were arrested from near the Millennium Park on the ring road in east Delhi. The duo had brought the contraband from Agra in Uttar Pradesh, officials said.
The NCB, which had prior information about the consignment, had laid a trap to nab the duo.
"They were coming from Agra (Uttar Pradesh) in a car and we had information about the deal," said a senior official.
The interrogation of the two could lead to more arrests, he said.
The police in metropolises, especially in Delhi and Mumbai, have launched a crackdown on drug peddling after the high-profile drug abuse case involving Rahul Mahajan, son of late Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former central minister Pramod Mahajan.
Officials of the NCB said the arrests were part of the drive launched by it to curb the narcotic trade in the capital.
In the past month, different law enforcement agencies have recovered over 10 kg of heroin and have arrested five people, including a Nigerian.
Officials said in 2005, 171 foreigners were arrested on charges of smuggling narcotic substances.
In a similar action against the organised drug trade in the capital, Delhi Police had arrested Zohra Sheikh, wife of drug lord Sharafat Sheikh, June 13.
Officials said Zohra was running the racket of Sharafat after he was arrested earlier.
By Amulya Ganguli
After a prolonged period of hesitancy, the Manmohan Singh government seems to have decided to resume its pursuit of economic reforms. The offloading of shares in the National Aluminum Co (NALCO) and the Neyveli Lignite Corp (NLC) suggests that the dithering on the step because of objections from the Left is over.
Both these profit-making public sector companies had for long been targeted for disinvestment. But if the government couldn't summon enough courage to take the necessary measures, it was because of the uncertainty about how the communists would react. Since the government is dependent on their support in parliament for survival, it felt that it had to be careful in expressing its preference for pro-market policies, which the Left is ideologically opposed to.
Even now, the comrades haven't relented in their opposition to the latest move. They have described the disinvestment as 'creeping privatization' and against an agreement that rules out divesting profit-making enterprises. It is also clear that they will be fully behind the trade unions that have threatened to launch protests, with the NALCO employees announcing that they will go on an indefinite strike.
Notwithstanding these strident shows of disapproval, there are several reasons why the government may not be too concerned.
One is the assessment that the Left cannot afford to take its protests too far. This realization seems to have dawned on the government when the comrades confined their disquiet over the fuel price hike to mere rhetoric, thereby putting at rest fears of countrywide protests they had threatened.
Why has the Left decided to pull in its claws?
For a start, it has probably come to the conclusion that a destabilization of the government will plunge the country into an anarchic condition since there is no alternative political formation in sight. Not only is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in disarray at the national level, the desultory attempts by several non-Congress, non-BJP parties to come together under a so-called Third Front have proved to be a non-starter.
As a result, if the Left were to pull the rug from under the government's feet, it would lead to a chaotic political situation, for which the communists would be roundly condemned, especially if the BJP begins to gain ground. So, even if they disagree with the 'neo-liberal' thrust of the government's economic policies, they have no alternative but to accept them. For the present, therefore, the uneasy marriage between the Congress and the communists in New Delhi is likely to continue.
There is another reason why the Left may follow a line of verbal thunder and lightning, but no rain. As is known, one of its own chief ministers, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya of West Bengal, is pursuing economic reforms with such vigour in his state that it will be absurd for the communists in New Delhi to flaunt their ideological commitment with too much enthusiasm.
In fact, Bhattacharya's pro-market line has had such an impact that even the hardline leadership of his own Communist Party of India-Marxist in Kerala has been forced to discourage the holding of strikes in the tourism and IT sectors. Bhattacharya, of course, has long insisted that the IT units should be kept outside the purview of strikes because of the 24-hour nature of their work.
Since these positions run counter to traditional Marxist doctrines, the commissars in New Delhi, sometimes described by critics as "rootless intellectuals", are obviously in something of a quandary. The Manmohan Singh government has evidently decided to take advantage of this confusion among them to accelerate the reforms programme in the coming days.
In addition to the possibility that the Left will not take any precipitate action, the prime minister may have also been motivated by the need to dispel the growing impression that he is not fully in charge of his own government.
It was not only the Left which was supposedly exercising a veto power over economic policies; the 'socialists' in the cabinet were also said to be pursuing their own agendas without caring for the prime minister's views. An obvious example of such unilateralism was Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh's recent initiative on affirmative action for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in higher educational institutions.
There were also other instances of ministers announcing controversial policy initiatives on their own. Social Justice Minister Meira Kumar indicated her preference for reservations in the private sector while Minister for Mines Sis Ram Ola said funds from NALCO's divestment should be spent on NALCO itself.
The recourse to reforms is seemingly an indication that the prime minister thinks that enough is enough and that from now on he will determine the course the government will follow. There is little doubt that if he takes more such bold steps in tune with a deregulated economy, he will seize the high ground because the booming Indian economic scene is arousing enormous interest not only in India but all over the world.
It is also clear that such initiatives will once again enable the prime minister to regain his position as a favourite of the 300 million-strong upper and middle classes that were beginning to lose faith in him because of populist reservation projects aimed at particular 'vote banks'.
Surprisingly, however, in his quest for a liberalized economy, Manmohan Singh may get more support from the Marxist chief minister of West Bengal than from some members of his own party, who still hark back to the socialistic licence-permit-control Raj.
____________________________________________________________________
Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. He can be reached at aganguli@mail.com
New Delhi, June 25(IANS) India's economic growth will remain high at a notable eight percent for the current fiscal but will slip from last year's 8.4 percent, says the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
The manufacturing sector has shown considerable increase in its growth rate of 8.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2005-06, compared to 8.1 percent last year.
A relatively better growth has been recorded by the electricity sector at 6.1 percent.
A slowdown in the mining sector has been projected as a major concern by the industry association. The cause for this was the slow growth of IIP (index of industrial production) that fell to 8.2 percent, from last year's 8.4 percent.
The mining sector's growth rate has slipped to three percent from previous year's 3.7 percent.
The corporate sector performance has been evaluated on the basis of studies done on 3,018 firms by the CII.
The study has revealed a notable decline in the growth of net sales by about nine percent. The service sector too witnessed a decline.
The CII has urged the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) not to continue with its policy of keeping inflation below its projected target due to this year's spiralling oil prices and fast changing domestic and global macro-economic conditions.
The CII observed that growth in imports has declined sharply and become less than exports.
It also emphasized the need to put a check on the growth of trade deficit, which grew to $39.6 billion in 2005-06 from $25.9 billion in 2004-05.
Islamabad/New Delhi, June 25 (IANS) Two top diplomats of India and Pakistan, Satinder K. Lambah and Tariq Aziz, are meeting back channel in Abu Dhabi to "save" the bilateral composite dialogue process, a prominent Pakistani newspaper said.
The Nation newspaper said the two had met earlier as well, holding a series of meetings to make the composite dialogue "more purposeful".
It cited a report on a private TV channel, but did not identify the channel.
Aziz is President Pervez Musharraf's national security adviser. Lambah, one-time Indian high commissioner in Islamabad and special envoy for Pakistan, is familiar with the Pakistani political and bureaucratic leadership. The Nation speculated that both Lambah and Aziz had received "fresh briefs" from their leaders with the aim of making the composite dialogue more purposeful.
"Lambah and Aziz have already had a series of meetings last week and their fresh interaction in the UAE capital is expected to be decisive," the newspaper said.
If the fresh back channel efforts are successful, then it is expected that the Indian and Pakistani high commissions will activate their special contacts to work out the schedule of various level of talks for July and August and also the possibility of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visiting Islamabad in either October or November, it said.
While the Pakistani side says Singh would be "welcome any day", New Delhi wants to hedge the bets and wait for any concrete results on the ground before a prime ministerial visit is made.
Foreign Secretaries of the two countries, Riaz Muhammad Khan and Shyam Saran, will meet in New Delhi next month, and this will be followed by a meeting of foreign ministers.
Speculation is rife even as Musharraf mooted the idea of "joint management" by India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue in an interview to CNBC earlier this week.
But the Indian officials want to know whether Musharraf is talking of the "entire Jammu and Kashmir", and whether his government is in a position to negotiate or speak on behalf of China to whom Pakistan ceded territory in Aksai Chin through an agreement in 1963.
As for the dialogue, the official Pakistani standpoint is that composite dialogue process is practically over with substantial points taken up. "Only the real issue remains to be resolved," a top Pakistani official said.
While the Pakistani side has made its disappointment known at the failure to reach an accord on disengagement on the Siachen Glacier, India has made its reservations known that it would not like to be surprised in future, as had happened in Kargil in 1999.
India, which currently commands the heights on the Himalayan glacier, has been insisting that the actual ground position line be demarcated before it pulls its troops back. Pakistan is not agreeable to this as it feels it would legitimise India's occupation of the strategic area in 1984.
The argument from the Pakistani side is that the terrain is too difficult for anyone to conduct an ambush on the glacier. In the event of troops being pulled to lower heights, both sides can agree to helicopter reconnaissance twice a day.
New Delhi remains unsatisfied with the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir where infiltration continues. Also, the United Jihad Council (UJC) remains intact, despite Pakistani assurances that it would not encourage its activities and those of other militant groups working against India.
Sources point out that UJC's camps are all across Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, but its leadership, including Syed Salahuddin, live in Islamabad under official Pakistani tutelage.
For good measure, The Nation also speculated that Saran, who is due to retire, may get a year's extension, "but he is reported to be more keen on being an adviser to the prime minister on diplomatic affairs with cabinet rank".
Should Saran exit as foreign secretary in September this year, then India's High Commissioner to Pakistan, Shiv Shankar Menon, is in the race for the job at South Block, the newspaper speculated, adding: "Menon comes from a family of diplomats and has stints in Colombo, Beijing and Islamabad, all key posts for consideration to be the country's next foreign secretary."
New York, June 25 (IANS) Contrary to general belief that outsourcing to India was taking away jobs from America, Indian companies were in fact also generating jobs in countries like the US and the United Kingdom, according to Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath.
This way they were making industry more competitive and thereby sharing their success with the communities worldwide, he observed while launching an India Business Forum here on Friday to facilitate dialogue among companies of Indian origin operating globally and create channels for communications with New Delhi.
Suggesting the establishment of a Trade Promotion Council in USA, Nath said the new forum, structured at the initiative of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), should plan future meetings and open discussions on challenges faced by Indian companies.
Describing New Delhi as a facilitator and enabler, he said a facilitation cell had been set up in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to coordinate events that strengthen dialogue between the Indian government and Indian firms abroad.
Tata Group's chief representative- North America, David Good, who was named the American Chair of the India Business Forum, also highlighted the collective contributions of various Indian companies to the American economy, including job creation.
CII Chief Mentor Tarun Das hoped that the India Business Forum would see further expansion quickly. At present 51 organizations and corporations, which participated in the inaugural event, constitute the forum.
Corporate participants shared their concerns and thoughts on how government and industry can work together to address business challenges.
The forum would meet again in July, the Indian ambassador to US, Ronen Sen, announced suggesting regular frequent meetings of the forum as such initiatives in the area of trade and commerce helped boost bilateral relations.
Later at a reception hosted by the Indian American Council(IAC), Nath said all inclusive growth was India's biggest challenge and the government's objective. Referring to the dramatic changes in India, he emphasised the role of persons of Indian origin in development.
Institutional mechanisms like IAC impart a strategic dimension to the process of engagement between the Government of India and PIOs, he said, expressing confidence that ongoing economic reforms will continue to add momentum to economic growth.
Knowledge Commission chairman Sam Pitroda, who also heads the IAC, said its objectives included enhancing Indian investment in the US, connecting Indian Americans to India's development needs, updating US government and industry on India's economic performance and promoting an overall understanding of India in the global community.
The IAC session culminated a series of eight initiatives by the CII to highlight the increasing impact that India and India Inc is having throughout the world. Spread over nine days, these initiatives were aimed at doubling bilateral trade over the next three years.
Bhubaneswar, June 25 (IANS) An Indo-Canadian scientist from Orissa has been appointed to a coveted post in Canada's premier aerospace research institute - the first Indian origin person to bag such a job.
Prakash Patnaik, who hails from Berhampur in Ganjam district, has been appointed director Structures and Materials Performance Laboratory, at The National Research Council of Canada Institute for Aerospace Research (NRC), a premier science and technology research organisation in Canada.
NRC Aerospace, located in Ottawa and Montreal, conducts research and development in the design, manufacture, performance, use, and safety of air and space vehicles.
Patnaik, who was appointed last month, studied metallurgical engineering at the Regional Engineering College, Rourkela (Orissa). He went to Canada in the 1970s for higher studies and obtained his Masters & Ph.D. degrees in materials science and engineering from McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario.
Between 1983 and 1985, he was visiting fellow at the Institute for Aerospace Research (IAR) and at another institute. He spent the next 17 years at Orenda Aerospace Corporation, a Magellan Aerospace Company.
In January 2002, he joined IAR as group leader, materials, in the Structures, Materials and Propulsion Laboratory.
Jerzy Komorowski, director general, NRC Aerospace, said: "Dr. Patnaik brings a formidable mix of technical and business acumen to the Laboratory and the institute.
"His deep knowledge of the industry and commercial business practices combined with an extensive network of global associates will enable the Structures and Materials Performance Laboratory to continue to grow and thrive."
Prakash Patnaik also holds an official membership in the NATO R&D Organisation and TTCP Defence Collaboration Programme.
"In both these committees I have been appointed to represent the Department of National Defence Canada (particularly the air force). I am the first Indo-Canadian to hold these positions," Patnaik told IANS from Ottawa.
Patnaik lives in Ottawa with his wife, Pushpa, and three daughters. He is a prominent member of Ottawa's Indian community.
Lucknow, June 25 (IANS) In what is seen as a landmark achievement, scientists at the Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) here have developed a new drug to control and cure depression - a growing problem afflicting many across the country.
"The new drug has been found to be safer that the existing anti-depression drugs. It is also free of side effects," a senior CDRI scientist at the Clinical Division told IANS.
Elaborating on the drug, he said, "The drug named 'sent propezene' has much faster action than the existing drugs, which begin to show results only after two or three weeks of use."
It has been tried and tested on more than 250 patients, who were stated to have shown "remarkable results".
CDRI has obtained an international patent for the drug, which would hit the markets in the near future. "Clearance from the drug controller will be sought only after two more rounds of human trials," the scientist said declining to be named.
Nearly 16 percent of the world's population is affected by depression, with most in the 20-25 age group, according to a CDRI study.
Ever since the 1960s, when the first anti-depressant drug was invented, several alternatives had been developed. "Yet, each of these had their own limitations and none could be used for a permanent treatment of the disease."
He listed increased heart rate, dizziness, blurred vision as among the side-effects of some of the drugs commonly in use. There were yet other drugs relatively safer, but they often led to insomnia, restlessness and loss of appetite.
"But what is even worse is that most of these drugs are addictive, and patients invariably get dependant on them lifelong," he said.
The new drug is a major landmark achievement and is expected to go a long way in helping people overcome symptoms of depression, he added.
Jakarta, June 25 (DPA) An earthquake struck the eastern Indonesian island of Sulawesi early Sunday, but there were no reports of damage or casualties, meteorologists said.
The quake, measuring at 5.9 on the Richter scale, struck Central Sulawesi province about 3.15 a.m. (21:15 GMT Saturday), said Sutiono, an official at Jakarta's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency.
The temblor was centred about 60 km below the seabed and about 102 km northeast of Luwuk district town, he said.
"We have received reports from our local offices as well as from local police officers. There were no damage or casualties from the quake," said Sutiono.
It was the latest of a series earthquakes in recent weeks to jolt Indonesia, which sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.
A 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck the Javanese cultural city of Yogyakarta and its surrounds on May 27 on the Indonesian island of Java, killing over 5,800 people, injuring thousands and destroying hundreds of thousands homes and buildings.
--DPA
By Yashesh Chhaya
At the emotional level it is understandable that Gujarat feels a sense of proprietorship about the Asiatic lion. But at the ecological level as well as from the standpoint of the long-term survival of this majestic animal it makes no sense to prevent the transfer of some lions to another location.
The reaction has been strong among Gujarat's people to a proposed plan to shift one or two pride of lions to the Kuno wildlife park in Madhya Pradesh. The issue also runs the risk of being politicized. What lies behind the strongly negative reaction is a lack of understanding about what it takes for a substantial population of lions to not just survive but even flourish.
The Gir lions, despite their seemingly exalted status among all protected species, lead a life of confinement. The area within which they live in Gir is saturated and is diminishing as a habitat. The Gir forest is covered on all sides by large tracks of farmlands and villages and in the process it has become a fertile ground for man-animal conflict. There have been cases of Maldharis or the local herders retaliating by poisoning lions that prey on their cattle.
The pressure on the Gir forest has intensified because of Gujarat's rapid industrialization. There is a strange disconnect between the reaction to the idea of relocation and the way lions are often treated by those who live in their proximity. More often than not the man-animal conflict surrounding Gir becomes so accentuated that herders openly speak of hunting the Great Cats down. There have also been some cases of lion cubs falling into wells or getting trapped in the electrified fences and dying.
One major disadvantage of living in a confined area is that in the event of breakout of any disease, the lions would be particularly vulnerable. There have been recorded instances of domesticated dogs having spread a deadly virus among the African lions and having caused many deaths. It is unwise to keep the entire stock of the Asiatic lion confined to a relatively small habitat in case a disease were to strike. It is not altogether inconceivable that in such an event we stand to lose the entire population.
Another significant threat comes from diluting the genetic pool by letting lions interbreed. Since the Gir lion is confined, the incidence of interbreeding is considerable. In the long-term this dilution in the gene pool is counterproductive.
The Kuno national park, on the other hand, offers a highly suitable location to shift a small group of lions. The park has been created spending tens of millions of rupees. It has a sizable population of herbivorous animals such as blue bulls and spotted deer, which in turn ensure conditions to survive and flourish for the lions.
Part of the reason why the people of Gujarat have reacted unfavourably to shifting is the misinformation that they will lose the entire population of lions to Madhya Pradesh. The proposal is to shift a very small group. It makes eminent sense to shift five to ten lions to Kuno on an experimental basis.
There have been cases of significant breeding among the lions at the Sakkarbagh Zoo in Junagadh, the town nearest to the Gir forest. The zoo authorities have been forced to curb this proliferation through sterilization. Rather than controlling the breeding within the zoo it would much wiser to let it continue and release the newborns in the wild at Kuno. This practice has been followed in Africa with success.
Gujarat had just 12 lions in 1920. Protection extended by the Nawab of Junagadh eventually helped increase that population to some 300 now. It is beneficial to move some lions to another location.
The Asiatic lion is as much a symbol of Gujarat as it is of India. It would be unwise to bring parochial sentiments as well as parochial politics into this very important issue. Instead of letting politicians decide, we should involve scientists from the Wildlife Institute of Dehra Dun and follow their recommendation. After all they understand the science of preservation better than any politician.
_______________________________________________________________
Yashesh Chhaya is a Chicago-based wildlife enthusiast who has studied Gujarat's wildlife for over two decades. He can be reached at chhayava40@yahoo.com
By Prasun Sonwalkar, London, June 25 (IANS) The expected merger between Mittal Steel and Arcelor is likely to be officially announced late Sunday evening, creating a steel behemoth with a total sales of over 55 billion euros with over 320,000 employees.
The steel industry was closely following the developments as the Arcelor board of directors began its meeting Sunday morning in Luxembourg to decide on rival offers from Mittal Steel of Indian-born steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal and the Russian company Severstal.
However, Arcelor spokesman Luc Sheer discounted reports in the Indian television channels and websites of Indian newspapers that said the deal had been clinched. "Anything is speculation until the end of the board meeting and the publication of a statement."
The official statement is scheduled to be issued late Sunday evening.
Arcelor sources confirmed that all members of the board were present at the meeting.
"You will have decisions presented to you this evening," board member Fernand Wagner said as he arrived for the meeting.
Unconfirmed reports quoting Mittal's advisors said that his revised offer of 43 euros per Arcelor share had been accepted by the board which would now recommend accepting Mittal's offer to its shareholders on June 30.
Accepting Mittal's offer would leave Severstal in the cold, but would involve Arcelor paying 140 million euros to the Russian company for a breach of contract.
The reports say that the merged company will be called Mittal-Arcelor with Mittal Steel holding a 45 percent stake while Arcelor holding the remaining equity. The chairmanship of the merged company would be shared by Mittal and current chairman Joseph Kinsch. The majority of the new board's members would also be from Arcelor, the reports add.
However, there was no certainty whether Arcelor's chief executive Guy Dolle, who had publicly opposed Mittal's takeover bid, would continue in the post in the proposed new entity.
The merged company's annual production would exceed 100 million tonnes, more than three times the production of its nearest rival, Japan's Nippon Steel, and would amount to 10 percent of the global steel production.
Mittal's takeover bid, launched in January, provoked much political opposition in European capitals. It was feared that the takeover would lead to job losses, but Mittal moved quickly to publicly deny any such future plans.
Mittal has since travelled across European capitals, explaining his plans for the future of the merged company and allaying apprehensions at the political level. His efforts slowly led to lowering of political opposition to the bid and ensuring that economic considerations alone determined its fate.
Mittal's takeover bid had been supported by Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath who said his nationality or origin should not determine the fate of any such bid in a globalised world.
According to Mittal, European companies need to merge and consolidate in order to ensure their competitiveness at a time when Asian economies such as India were rising exponentially.
Amman, June 24, IRNA ,Secretary General of the World Assembly for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought Ayatollah Mohammad Ali skhiri here Saturday urged Muslim scholars to hold dialogues among religions.
On the sidelines of the 17th Islamic Jurisprudence Assembly meeting in Jordan, he told IRNA that the great civilization as well as material and spiritual potential of the world of Islam facilitate dialogue among civilizations and religions for Muslim holars.
Concerning the Islamic Jurisprudence Assembly, he said that it represents freedom of thought as well as good and free scientific and Islamic cooperation.
Ayatollah Taskhiri hoped that the meeting will contribute to unification of Islamic Ummah, proximity of Islamic sects and cooperation with other religions.
He is scheduled to deliver a speech titled, "Coordination between commitment and qualifications of Muslim citizenship".
The 17th Islamic Jurisprudence Assembly meeting opened in Jordan's capital of Amman on Saturday and will continue up to Wednesday.
It is attended by 100 Muslim scholars from 44 Islamic states.
Ayatollah Taskhiri along with a few other officials represent Iran at the ongoing event.
The meeting aims to present the true image of Islam as well as cooperation and exchange of thoughts among Muslim scholars.
Topics such as "Islam's approach to extremism and exaggeration", "Unity among religions", "Women's issues", "Terrorism and religious decree (Fatwa)" and "Conditions, customs and relations of Islamic states" will be discussed during the event.
Washington, June 23: Muslims view people from the West especially the United States and Europe as selfish, immoral and greedy. People from the U.S. and Europe view Muslims as arrogant, violent and intolerant.
In Pakistan, support for Osama Bin Laden remains relatively high, where many people regard Westerners as intolerant, cheap and dishonest, according to the results of a global poll.
The deep divide between Muslims and the West was clearly illustrated in the findings released yesterday of a new 15-country poll by the Pew Research Centre for the People & the Press.
The polling in 15 countries of samples ranging from about 900 to 2,000 adults was conducted in April and May and has a margin of error ranging from 2 to 6 percentage points. The polling included a proportionately larger sampling of Muslims in the European countries. In China, India and Pakistan, the polling was based on urban samples.
The nations in which polling was conducted were China, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Spain, Turkey and the United States.
A majority of Pakistanis also expressed concerns about the spread of Islamic militancy, and there has been a marked decline in support for suicide attacks against civilians, the poll found.
It found that 38 percent of Pakistanis ``continue to say they have at least some confidence`` in Bin Laden to do the right thing regarding world affairs, significantly fewer than in May 2005, when 51 percent backed the al-Qaeda leader.
Full report: http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=253
Bhopal, June 25 (IANS) Moral police is on the prowl in Madhya Pradesh. A fortnight after a ban on fashion shows in government-run colleges, the women's commission of the state is considering a dress code for girls in educational institutions.
"The commission has suggested a ban on the wearing of skirts in schools and colleges and a strict dress code to control incidents of crime against women," an official source said.
Some members of the Madhya Pradesh Women's Commission have gone on record favouring the proposal. "A proposal envisaging a ban on skirts is ready and it would soon be sent to the government," commission member Sushma Arya told IANS.
"Girls should not dress up in a way that could invite trouble. It (the proposal) is for their safety," she added.
The commission's chairperson, Relam Chauhan, however, said: "We don't want skirts to be banned but we are certainly against short skirts. We would be taking appropriate steps in this regards soon."
On June 8, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government had banned fashion shows in the government-run girls' colleges stating that they were an invasion of "western culture", even as many students termed the move as a violation on their freedom of choice.
"What is the justification behind imposing a ban on fashion shows when such events are held in other states routinely," asked Monica Nigam, a graduate student.
"It would hamper the chances of the state's girls at beauty pageants and contests at the national and international levels," she said.
Arya, however, disagreed with the student saying: "Beauty has nothing to do with girls' costumes. They look more beautiful in traditional clothes."
New Delhi, June 25 (IANS) Over 400 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), India's premier paramilitary force, have been found to be addicted to drugs and alcohol, according to an internal survey.
"We had conducted the survey to find out the number of men who have become drug dependent and found 426 alcohol and drug addicts," said a senior CRPF official.
He said the survey was started in February and conducted across the 250,000-strong force through questionnaires.
"These forms were distributed among the personnel for feedback," said the official. He said the survey had not yet been completed and many personnel were yet to return the forms.
"We are planning to send them reminders so that we can know the exact number of personnel who have become drug dependents," the official said.
"We suspect that many would be reluctant to reveal details about themselves," said the official. According to him, the form is designed in a manner that even if a man tries to mislead the analysts, he would not be able to do so.
He further added that the problem of alcoholism and drug abuse could be due to work pressures and the tensions of staying away from families.
Officials said that a separate programme to identify HIV/AIDS patients amongst the ranks had also been started. Help had been sought from the family members of the personnel affected with HIV/AIDS.
According to recent data, in the past 13 years, 400 CRPF personnel have died of HIV/AIDS while 300 were under treatment.
An official said the first case of HIV/AIDS death in CRPF was recorded in 1992. He added that most cases of AIDS/HIV were detected in the northeast.
New Delhi, June 25 (IANS) Over 400 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), India's premier paramilitary force, have been found to be addicted to drugs and alcohol, according to an internal survey.
"We had conducted the survey to find out the number of men who have become drug dependent and found 426 alcohol and drug addicts," said a senior CRPF official.
He said the survey was started in February and conducted across the 250,000-strong force through questionnaires.
"These forms were distributed among the personnel for feedback," said the official. He said the survey had not yet been completed and many personnel were yet to return the forms.
"We are planning to send them reminders so that we can know the exact number of personnel who have become drug dependents," the official said.
"We suspect that many would be reluctant to reveal details about themselves," said the official. According to him, the form is designed in a manner that even if a man tries to mislead the analysts, he would not be able to do so.
He further added that the problem of alcoholism and drug abuse could be due to work pressures and the tensions of staying away from families.
Officials said that a separate programme to identify HIV/AIDS patients amongst the ranks had also been started. Help had been sought from the family members of the personnel affected with HIV/AIDS.
According to recent data, in the past 13 years, 400 CRPF personnel have died of HIV/AIDS while 300 were under treatment.
An official said the first case of HIV/AIDS death in CRPF was recorded in 1992. He added that most cases of AIDS/HIV were detected in the northeast.
Islamabad, June 25 (IANS) Grooms in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) are being sentenced to jail if "lavish" meals are served at their weddings.
Peshawar Civil Judge Asghar Shah Khilji sentenced Sheraz Khan to one month in prison and a fine of Rs.500,000 Saturday for serving a "lavish" meal at his wedding. The court has so far sent five men to prison for violating the ban.
NWFP is the first province to enforce the Marriage Functions (Prohibition of Ostentatious Display and Wasteful Expenses) Ordinance, 2000, issued by President Pervez Musharraf to curb ostentation during weddings and other social occasions.
Khan was found guilty of violating the law by serving a "lavish meal" at his walima reception, the ceremony that follows the nikah (marriage) on Oct 27, 2005. He was shifted to the Peshawar central prison after the court ruling, the Daily Times newspaper reported.
Justice Khilji has been hearing cases of violations of the wedding meal ban registered by the administrations of the four towns in Peshawar.
People connected with such ostentatious weddings are also not spared. Along with the five grooms, the court has convicted the principal of a technical vocational centre for renting out the premises for a wedding. Similarly, the principal of a girls' high school was also punished for renting out the school for a marriage.
Tehran, June 25 (DPA) Iran said Sunday that its reply to the Western proposal aimed at resolving the international row over Tehran's nuclear aims would be given "earlier" than mid-August, the deadline referred to by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"We have never given an exact date but just said within the (Persian) month of Mordad," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid-Reza Assefi told reporters here.
The Persian month Mordad starts July 23. Ahmadinejad had last week said Iran would give its reply by the end of Mordad, which would be around mid-August.
"We should not sacrifice thoroughness for the sake of speed - we are not trying to win time but have no deadline, not even until the start of the G8 summit (mid-July)," said Assefi.
The spokesman said that basic agreements were in place for a renewed meeting between Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana but refrained to give an exact date and venue.
The five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany, have offered Iran a package of incentives in return for a long-term moratorium on uranium enrichment - a process that can produce fuel for nuclear power plants or material for atomic weapons.
Iran however insists on its rights to a full nuclear fuel cycle under the terms of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Moscow, June 25 (Xinhua) Russia sent a military satellite into space Sunday from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Space Troops said.
A Tsiklon-2 rocket carrying the Kosmos satellite blasted off at 08.00 a.m. Moscow time (0400 GMT) and the satellite has entered a target orbit, Space Troops spokesman Alexei Kuznetsov was quoted as saying by the Itar-Tass news agency.
"Stable telemeter communication was established and is maintained with the spacecraft. Solar panels unfolded, while onboard systems of the satellite were put into a working condition and are functioning normally," Kuznetsov said.
This is the second military satellite Russia launched this year.
Munich, June 25 (DPA) Ten-man Sweden battled against the odds after conceding two goals in the first 12 minutes and missing a penalty, but were unable to deny a powerful German side from reaching the World Cup quarter-finals.
Four days earlier Sweden had twice fought back to snatch a draw against England in their final group game but they set themselves too big a mountain to climb in the stifling heat of Munich.
Lukas Podolski scored twice in the first 12 minutes as Germany beat Sweden 2-0 and Henrik Larsson, who had set up Barcelona's goals in their 2-1 Champions League final win over Arsenal in May, missed a 53rd minute penalty.
But for some outstanding goalkeeping by Andreas Isakssson they could have lost by five or six.
Sweden coach Lars Lagerback said: "Germany got a great start with two early goals. It was difficult for us after that - and when you're down to ten players, it's virtually impossible to beat a side like Germany.
But even though we were a man down, we kept trying as long as we had the strength to do so. For that reason I'm proud of my side."
Sweden defender Teddy Lucic was harshly sent off by Brazilian referee Carlos Simon for a second yellow card when he impeded Miroslav Klose in the 34th minute.
"This feels very bitter," said Lagerback. "They were two doubtful yellow cards on Teddy. I didn't think any of the yellow cards were crystal clear.
They scored two goals far too easily. We stood still," he lamented.
Sweden captain Olof Mellberg admitted they had been caught napping by the storming German start.
"We started too poorly, we were bad in the first half hour. Same kind of start as against England. But we didn't have the energy to get back into the match," he said.
But he added: "They played really well, you have to give them credit for that.
They had a good start 2-0 and a red card, if it had been 1-0 we would still have been in the match. Pity we didn't score from the penalty."
Larsson admitted his penalty attempt was poor.
"I wanted to put it in the goalkeeper's right corner, high up but missed completely. I haven't missed many penalties in my career, but this was bad."
Defender Niclas Alexandersson added: "We lost the match in the first 20 minutes when we were caught on the wrong foot. I can't explain why. Most things went against us, a red card and a missed penalty."
Lucic said he was surprised by the red card.
"For the first yellow card I was a little late but for second one it felt like we both held on to each other. And he fell," he added.
He agreed Sweden had been slow to get into the match.
"They started at pace and we couldn't find our positions," said Lucic.
Swedes started the tournament with a goalless draw against 10-man Trinidad and Tobago and needed a last minute Freddie Ljungberg winner to beat Paraguay before raising their game to hold England.
"On the whole we had a fair tournament. Our aim was to qualify from the group stage although we had hoped to advance to the quarter-finals," Lucic said.
Aftonbladet newspaper's Internet edition called the match "a blue-yellow nightmare", adding: "The Germans settled it all in the first 12 minutes."
Expressen newspaper called the defeat "unforgivable", adding: "The Germans were simply keener. And on top of it all, a sending off and a missed penalty. It was an easy win for Germany."
Former Sweden great Ralf Edstroem admitted: "With any other goalkeeper we'd have lost 4-0. But it's incredible that we weren't able to get back into the match through a penalty. Henrik Larsson's had a miserable World Cup."
Bangalore, June 25 (IANS) Tata Coffee Ltd, a subsidiary of Tata Tea Ltd, Sunday announced acquiring the US-based Eight O' Clock Coffee Company (EOC) or $220 million (Rs.10.15 billion).
The century-old $109-million retail coffee firm is the leader in the branded whole bean market in the US.
According to Tata Coffee statement here, the acquisition, to be financed through equity and debt, will transform the Indian company from a regional player to a global player.
"The acquisition is in line with our objective to move up the value chain and become a leading integrated beverage player in the global coffee industry," the statement said.
The company, however, did not give the break-up of the debt-equity portion of the deal.
In the US food category, EOC is the third largest coffee brand by volume behind Folgers and Maxwell House. EOC has retail distribution strength with about 67 percent of all commodity volume penetration of the US retail coffee market.
The New Jersey-headquartered EOC operates its roasting and packaging facility in Landover, Maryland.
Post-acquisition, EOC will provide a sizable entry platform and an established brand to Tata Coffee in the $21-billion US coffee market.
The EOC buyout follows a string of acquisitions by the Tata group in various parts of the world, including Tetley globally, Good Earth in the US and JEMCA in the Czech Republic.
"Tata Tea is one of the fastest growing beverage firms the world over. By the end of the decade, we expect the group, including Tata Tea, Tetley, Tata Coffee and EOC, to become one of the largest and most admired beverage players in the world. The latest acquisition is in line with our group's international strategy," Tata Coffee chairman R.K. Krishna Kumar said.
Tata Coffee managing director M.H. Ashraff said the EOC acquisition was a strategic fit with the company's growth plans and would help it become an integrated global player in the coffee industry.
EOC chief executive officer Barbara Roth said the transaction would create a beverage player to tap growth opportunities in the huge coffee market in the US and globally.
"With the backing of the Tata group, we will be able to leverage our brand equity to capture new markets and new geographies," Roth said in the statement.
Tata Coffee posted a net profit of Rs.221 million on a net turnover of Rs.1.9 billion in the 2005-06 fiscal.
Tata Tea recorded consolidated sales of Rs.32.4 billion and a net profit of Rs.3.1 billion.
WASHINGTON, June 25 (NNN-Prensa Latina) -- The US Senate confirmed the suspension of US aid to the Hamas-led Palestinian National Authority.
A press release from the Senate urges the PNA to recognize Israel and appease its government, which the US considers violent, while the House draft bill makes no exception with humanitarian assistance for Gaza.
The US and European Union consider Hamas a terrorist organization, and its January victory at the general elections has led to the adoption of restrictive measures.
Restrictions comprehend visa denial to PNA officials members of Hamas and prevent the Palestinian government from opening a diplomatic representation in Washington. -- NNN-Prensa Latina
WASHINGTON, June 25 (NNN-Prensa Latina) -- Three US soldiers who were deployed in Iraq testified in a film the horror of the war of President George W. Bush against the Arab country, US dailies reported on Saturday.
The soldiers gave the own experiences in the Iraqi war, in which more than 2500 American soldiers have died in three years of foreign occupation in the Arab country, according to analysts.
The ABC television network reported that the three soldiers from New Hampshire were given their own cameras and asked to record a year Iraq.
The more than 800 hours of video they recorded resulted in a film,"The War Tapes," which took the documentary feature award at the recent New York Tribeca Film Festival.
The movie captures the terror of combat, documenting when people are injured. But it also includes scenes from daily life, as well as their hometown, hard-edged New England humor of the three soldier-filmmakers.
London, June 25 (IANS) Using mobile phones outdoors during stormy weather could be deadly and mobile manufacturers should warn consumers of the dangers, say doctors in Britain.
Mobile phones contain metal, which directs the current into the body when lightning strikes. The more the current flows through, the more internal damage it causes, reported the online edition of BBC News.
Swinda Esprit, along with other doctors at Northwick Park Hospital in London, treated a girl's hearing injuries caused while using the mobile phone. The doctors also found three other cases of people being hit by lightning while talking on a mobile phone - in China, Korea and Malaysia - all of whom died of their injuries.
Though such cases were rare, they said it was a public health issue and people needed to understand the risks. "It is obvious really, but we all carry mobile phones and we don't think about it," said Esprit, a doctor in the ear, nose and throat department.
"If you're struck by lightning on its own, it will flash over your body but if you're holding a phone, it will internalise and cause worse injuries." The doctors added that it could also be dangerous to carry a mobile in your pocket during a storm.
The doctors, in the British Medical Journal, highlighted the case of a teenager who suffered severe injuries after being struck by lightning when talking on her phone.
The 15-year-old girl was struck by lightning while talking on her phone in a large park in London during stormy weather. She has no recollection of the incident but suffered a cardiac arrest and had to be resuscitated.
A year later, she is on a wheelchair and has severe physical difficulties as well as brain damage, which has led to emotional and cognitive problems. She has a burst eardrum and persistent hearing loss.
Esprit stressed that mobile phone manufacturers should warn consumers of these dangers.
By Mahendra Ved,
New Delhi, June 25 (IANS) Former prime minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh, who completed 75 years Sunday, is a rare Indian politician who combines his passion for weaker sections with his love for the arts. But much of the middle class despises him, just because he doggedly implemented caste-based job quotas.
The storm V.P. Singh unleashed when he ruled the country for about 11 months in 1989-90 is still felt. And just no one, not even the courts, have gone against the quota system - although the upper castes simply hate it.
And 16 years after he resigned in November 1990 as prime minister after being decisively defeated on the floor of parliament, he says he remains in "rajniti" (politics) but distinguishes it from "vote niti" (politics of votes).
This writer once asked him: "How does it feel to be perceived as the country's most hated public figure?" His reply was equally blunt: "I don't care. I am never going to seek votes and power."
Unlike most politicians, the man has kept his word. Not just that. Despite failing health, he takes active interest in issues close to his heart: economic reforms, minimum nuclear deterrence, urban poor, rural indebtedness and, most important from his point of view, communalism/secularism.
Unapologetic about the turmoil his caste-based job quotas caused, Singh today speaks about caste-based reservations in education and employment with far greater conviction, even as the Manmohan Singh government struggles to implement the policy in institutions of higher learning.
Singh's National Front government had in 1990 ordered the implementation of a voluminous report authored by B.P. Mandal that prescribed reservations for India's socially and economically classes that are estimated to form 53 percent of the country's population.
Singh's radical path despite a feudal lineage, cemented with morality, has been a gradual process.
A product of the Congress school, he was supposed to be a nominee of Sanjay Gandhi, the controversial younger son of then prime minister Indira Gandhi, for the job of chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, India's politically crucial province.
He resigned after failing to end the menace of bandits, who killed his own brother. On moving to the national scene, his economic policies as finance minister, preceding the reforms of the 1990s, came to be applauded in the West. His annual budgets were termed "India's New Deal".
Singh sparked a virtual revolution in Indian politics when he took on his own prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, by alleging corruption in the purchase of artillery guns from Sweden's Bofors company.
His campaign against Rajiv Gandhi virtually killed the latter's political future. Gandhi lost the 1989 parliamentary elections, and Singh became prime minister in December that year.
His regime was short-lived. As he unleashed the reservation policy, his ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) plunged into the campaign to build a temple at the site of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya, triggering a war of words between him and the BJP that ultimately toppled him.
In the years to follow, his health slipped. Today, between his visits to the hospital for dialysis for his ailing kidney (he needs blood transfusion every week), he addresses even small crowds of 500 or 1,000 or courts arrest over issues dear to him.
Singh is a rare public figure in India who does not conceal his ailments, to the extent of providing medical reports to the media.
Though he was instrumental in eroding the political dominance of the Congress, he supported its chief Sonia Gandhi when she came under attack over her foreign origin. So much so that he campaigned for the Congress in 2004 on his own. The veteran today has built bridges with Sonia Gandhi.
In the present times, Singh has joined hands with former Samajwadi Party leader Raj Babbar to build a coalition that seeks to unseat Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh. "Politics is in my blood," he says.
The former prime minister also has a passion for poetry though he has not published his works -- unlike Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Politics and poetry combine with a third "P" - painting.
Singh is again a rare politician whose works adorn art galleries. Whether they will ever adorn the drawing rooms of India's upper class elites, the chief patrons of art, is a moot question.
By Sanu George, Malappuram (Kerala), June 25 (IANS) Islamic hardliners in Kerala's Malappuram district are upset that the World Cup fever is keeping away the youths from evening prayers. But football fans say it's much ado over nothing.
Like elsewhere in Kerala, the magic of the World Cup in Germany has enveloped this Muslim-dominated district too. Come evening and streets get deserted as people, mainly males, crowd around television sets.
There is a lot of cheering and clapping as goals are scored. On some days there are four matches to be viewed. And the games go on beyond midnight hours. In the process, many skip going to mosques for the final two prayers. And that has caused anger in Islamic circles.
Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader P.S.U.S. Thangal was among the first to raise the issue publicly.
"The youths are spending a lot of time in front of TV and spending money putting up hoardings with names of countries taking part in the World Cup," he said, while inaugurating the Quran Study Centre of the Samastha Kerala Sunni Students Federation. "They have other things also to do (like saying their prayers)."
An incensed federation organised a protest march in Tirur, contending that "capitalist forces" were trying to make inroads into Malappuram "under the guise of football".
A drive through Malappuram reveals the soccer fever is for real. The numerous sports clubs in the district have put up boards and hoardings relating to their favourite teams besides flags of participating countries like Brazil, Argentina, Holland, England, France and Germany.
The passion for the game is so high that a few cinema halls are projecting the game live on the big screen instead of regular film shows.
For now, no one is paying heed to the Islamic hardliners. And Valancherry, a village in the district, has been renamed "Tornado World Cup City" for the duration of the tournament.
"We respect those who have cautioned us on prayers. But this is a temporary phase that will die down once the World Cup ends," said 23-year-old K.P. Saseer, a Masters student and president of Valancherry's Tornado Arts and Sports Club.
According to P.K. Abdul Rabb, son of former deputy chief minister K. Avukkaderkutty Naha of IUML, Muslim organisations were upset because football fever was keeping many youths from evening prayers.
K. Noushad, 26, a former senior division district league football player, opined: "It is nothing more than passion for the game. There is nothing more to it.
"More than 100 members watch the matches live in our club. Apart from the cheering, no untoward incident has taken place. This is the same in the other clubs too," he added.
Politician K.T. Jaleel said the call of those asking youths not to skip prayers should be seen in a positive light.
Said another Muslim man: "Look at (Islamic) countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia. Look at the money they spend on soccer. What is happening in Malappuram is just that."