27 June 2006
Kabul, June 27 (Xinhua) Twenty Taliban militants were killed in separate gun battles in the troubled southern provinces of Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday.
"Eleven Taliban rebels were killed Monday as they came in contact with government troops near Qalat, the provincial capital of Zabul," said General Rahmatullah Raufi, the commander of regional Corps in Kandahar.
He added that two Afghan soldiers also lost their lives in the battle, which lasted for an hour.
Another gun-battle in neighbouring Helmand province left eight Taliban militants dead, said the official.
"Attacks on government troops and counter-attacks claimed the lives of eight Taliban militants and two government soldiers in Musa Qala of Helmand province."
Further, another insurgent died in exchange of fire in Andar district of Ghazni province, said provincial governor Hajji Shir Alam Ibrahimi.
More than 200 militants have been killed since the launch of the second phase of Operation Mountain Thrust two weeks ago.
Aimed at rooting out the militants, the operation, according to Afghan and US military officials, is going on smoothly. The Taliban is yet to make any comment.
By Shibi Alex Chandy,
Paris, June 27 (IANS) The hush of quiet efficiency is almost palpable as you walk down the gleaming corridors of the Thales Research and Technology Centre on the outskirts of Paris -- and cross-border terrorism in distant Kashmir is the last thing on your mind. Yet, it is in the sanitised laboratories and professorial rooms of this sprawling, ultra-modern facility that some of the high-tech tools that Indian troops use to combat insurgents from Pakistan have been devised and developed.
For instance, it is at this centre on the campus of the Ecole Polytenchnique, about an hour's drive from Paris, that Thales, the French electronics, defence and aerospace major, developed the Sophie hand-held thermal imager that helps Indian troops detect cross-border incursions in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Indian Army already possesses some 600 such devices, deployed mostly in Kashmir, and the Border Security Force is also believed to be interested in the imager that detects infiltrators as far as two to three kilometers away, using the radiation their bodies emit.
The Sophie, which utilises a 288 x 4 CdHgTe detector array, could be handheld or tripod mounted and is the size of a handycam. And its external video and control interfaces allow it to be operated autonomously in applications demanding remote control and monitoring.
All these technical details came from Jean-Pascal Duchemin, a senior scientist at the centre. On Monday he took a team of visiting Indian journalists around the facility.
"Some of the most state-of-the art equipment in the field of optronics is being developed here," said Duchemin, whose enthusiasm completely belies his age.
It is here, in this facility with some 240 permanent staffers, that Thales also developed the night vision equipment that are now part of the army's T-90 and T-72 tanks.
And the company has also provided specialist equipment to the Indian Army to break into terrorist radio networks operating across the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir as also devices using electronic counter-counter measures (ECCM) that prevent its own networks from being jammed by militants.
Thales, which deploys a third of its total workforce in research and spends almost 15 percent of its euro 10 billion revenues on R&D, is also expected to bid for the Indian Army's communication retrofit programme that is likely to start in 2007.
New Delhi, June 27 (IANS) Afghanistan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta will pay an official visit to India June 29-July 1, it was announced here Tuesday.
Afghan foreign ministry Senior Advisor Davood Moradayan, Director Amanullah Jayhoon and Spokesperson Sultan Ahmad Bahin will accompany Spanta, an external affairs ministry statement here said.
Spanta assumed office April 20. This will be his first visit to India.
Ahmedabad, June 27 (IANS) Thousands of devotees thronged the streets Tuesday to view the annual chariot procession of Lord Jagannath as it wound its way through the city, passing through some communally sensitive areas without incident.
The Muslim-majority neighbourhood of Dariapur observed a "self-imposed curfew" to avoid any unnecessary tension, as the annual chariot procession has a history of leading to skirmishes between groups of Hindus and Muslims.
Amid tight security provided by more than 8,000 policemen and a same number of paramilitary and military forces, the procession of three chariots marched on its traditional 25-km-long route through the city, police said.
"We were extra cautious for places like Dariapur and Shahpur, where there are chances of a scuffle between the two communities," said a senior police official here.
The yatra, one of the most important festivals in this Gujarat city, began at 7.30 a.m. with Chief Minister Narendra Modi flagging off the procession.
Devotees from across the state pulled with ropes the three chariots carrying the idols of the deities - Lord Jagannath (Krishna), his brother Balram and sister Subhadra, as more than 50 trucks, numerous religious groups, wrestlers and body-builders joined the spectacular procession.
They, however, had to hurry when they entered the streets of the neighbourhoods termed communally sensitive.
However, in the Muslim-majority localities of Shahpur, Jamalpur and Kalupur, Muslim leaders welcomed the chariots in the traditional manner and accepted gifts from the chief priest of the Jagannath Temple.
A 'unity council', consisting of Muslim volunteers, guided the chariot procession in Shahpur. The volunteers, clad in white, waved white flags and marched ahead of the procession.
Police, however, did not take chances and provided a security cordon to the chariots during their passage through Shahpur. Residents of the neighbourhood, meanwhile, were allowed have a view the procession, unlike last year.
"It was not easy. We were in constant dialogue with temple authorities, politicians and police for the past month. We did a door-to-door campaign to maintain peace in the area," said Hanif Mohammed, a member of Ekta Samiti.
Patna, June 27 (IANS) Another legislator of Bihar's ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) party has been accused of misbehaviour, giving a big blow to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's stress on good governance.
State Arts, Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Janardan Singh Sigriwal of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - an ally of the JD-U - has demanded the arrest of JD-U legislator Ram Pravesh Rai charging him with assaulting him.
Sigriwal alleged that he was manhandled, abused and dragged by Rai out of his vehicle at a busy public place in Chapra town, district headquarters of Saran district on Monday.
The angry Sigriwal has given an ultimatum to Nitish Kumar to arrest Rai for his criminal act.
Rai, legislator from Chapra, reportedly manhandled Sigriwal after a heated exchange between the two in Chapra. Rai is considered a close confidant of JD-U MP Prabhunath Singh, a bahubali (muscleman) and a known critic of Nitish Kumar.
The incident comes two days after a drunken JD-U legislator Sunil Pandey reportedly threatened to kill the staff of a five-star hotel and media persons when asked to pay his bill. The JD-U issued a show cause notice to Pandey on Monday. Police registered a case against Pandey, a known bahubali, on Saturday.
Pandey, who represents the Piro constituency in Bhojpur district, was arrested Monday night and immediately released on bail.
Sigriwal, who is known for his trademark saffron 'gamcha' (towel) hanging from the neck, was so upset by Rai's misbehaviour that he staged a dharna (sit in) in the police station at Chapra till late Monday demanding his arrest. He was persuaded by the chief minister to end his dharna as it would give a bad impression of the government.
"Nitish Kumar talked to Sigriwal on his cell phone and promised that he would personally look into his demand," a senior BJP leader said. In a bid to patch up the issue, Sigriwal was invited to Patna by the chief minister Tuesday in his chamber.
Sigriwal, BJP legislator from Jalalpur in Saran district, also told Nitish Kumar that he feared the Chapra superintendent of police, S.P. Singh, had hatched a conspiracy to murder him. Sigriwal has demanded security and the removal of Singh.
Sources in the BJP here said that Nitish Kumar promised that action would be taken against Rai.
According to sources in the JD-U, the incident was the outcome of rivalry between Sigriwal and Rai to put their own man for the post of Chapra district board chairman. Early this year, both the leaders had opposed each other and indulged in fisticuffs.
Mumbai, June 27 (IANS) The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), India's apex body for export promotion of readymade garments, is undertaking aggressive measures to step up exports and smoothen the process of imports and exports.
The council feels that information plays a vital role in international trade and is conducting research on future international trends to open doors to global buyers.
The garment export promotion body has increased its participation in international trade fairs and exhibitions with an aim to promote collaborations and joint ventures between Indian and foreign companies.
In the first week of May, a high level Indian trade delegation, under the leadership of AEPC chairman Vijay Kumar Agarwal, visited IMB-World of Textile Processing Fair at Cologne, Germany, to explore the possibilities of technical tie-ups in training, tapping foreign talent pool and to identify new technologies in the apparel sector.
"Although, our apparel exports have crossed $8.2 billion during 2005-06, we feel that by technological advancement, capacity addition and productivity enhancement we can easily double this figure in less than five years," said Agarwal.
"In view of the successful participation at IMB Germany, AEPC now plans to participate in the Hong Kong Fashion Fair by creating an India Pavilion comprising of 120 stalls and booths," Agarwal told IANS here.
"Plans are also afoot to increase the Indian presence in all the major global trade fairs."
He added that AEPC had opened a hi-tech auditorium at its new headquarters, Apparel House, in Gurgaon. It was inaugurated this week by Textiles Minister Shankersingh Vaghela.
"The state-of-the-art auditorium is equipped with the latest sound system, seating capacity for 312 people, full-fledged audio-visual system with green rooms, props and stage lights," said Agarwal.
Apparel House is a "one-stop shop" for international apparel and textile buyers and is spread over an area of five acres. It includes an auditorium, exhibition area, an art gallery and 250 showrooms.
With over 6,000 members, AEPC takes up exporters' issues with the Indian government and informs exporters about various facilities provided by the government.
"The council is a one-stop shop for resolution of all issues of apparel manufacturers, exporters or merchant exporters," said Agarwal.
Over the last 25 years, the council has been involved in the task of promoting exports by organising buyer-seller meets, leading trade delegations to potential markets globally and participating in specialised international fairs.
The council organises the India International Garment Fair biannually, besides organising seminars on fashion and workshops on technical aspects of the industry.
New York, June 27 (IANS) Babies of younger mothers are likely to live longer than those born to older women, says a study.
US researchers analysed census data and information from genealogical records to reconstruct the family trees of almost 200 centenarians.
They found that babies born to women under 25 are almost twice as likely to live to 100 as those born to older mothers, reported the online edition of Daily Mail.
Previous work by the University of Chicago husband and wife team Leonid Gavrilov and Natalia Gavrilova had shown that firstborn children live longer than their younger siblings.
Now it appears the two are linked, with older children living longer because their mothers are younger when they have them. However, the father's age has little effect on longevity.
The researchers say the reasons behind it could be down to simple biology, with egg quality being best in younger women.
"Maybe the eggs are different in their quality, and the best ones, the most vigorous, go first to fertilisation," Gavrilov said.
The answer could also lie in younger women being healthier than their older counterparts, who have had more time to pick-up conditions and infections that could affect their baby's health, he said.
Islamabad, June 27 (IANS) Has there been an agreement that once the Katasraj Temples in Pakistan are restored to their pristine glory, the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya in India would also be rebuilt?
The Daily Times newspaper quoted unnamed sources in a report from Lahore as stating, "Pakistani and Indian politicians had agreed that once the Katasraj Temples were restored, the Babri Mosque in India would be rebuilt".
It indicated that the restoration of the Katasraj Temples in Punjab province was planned during the visit to Pakistan last year of India's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalwart and opposition leader L.K. Advani.
Advani laid the foundation for restoration of the temples and assured his assistance for the purpose, it said.
Advani was one of the leaders present when the Babri Masjid was demolished Dec 6, 1992, by Hindu mobs that claimed it was built on the site of the birthplace of Lord Ram. The entire dispute, having serious political and religious dimensions, is before court. A makeshift Ram temple there is guarded as per court orders.
It was during his visit that Advani lauded the secular ideals of Pakistan's founding father, Mohammed Ali Jinnah. This sparked a controversy within the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which eventually led to his having to quit the BJP president's post.
At a meeting Sep 1 last year, the restoration of the Katasraj Temples was agreed upon between Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Shiv Shankar Menon, the Indian high commissioner to Pakistan.
The paper said the first phase of restoration work will begin next month at the Katasraj shrine as per an understanding reached between India and Pakistan.
Pakistan will spend Rs.30 million ($500,000) on the first of the three-phased restoration work, sources in the Punjab Archaeology Department (PAD) told Daily Times. The Katasraj Temples were transferred to the PAD recently.
The Pakistan government would fund the total project estimated at $25 million, the paper said. Dedicated to Lord Shiva, the shrine is an important site for Hindu pilgrims in Pakistan. It stands on a site believed to be visited by the Pandavas as per Mahabharata.
Sources said a list of recommendations for restoration had been finalised as suggested by Pakistani and Indian archaeology officials.
Islamabad, June 27 (IANS) Has there been an agreement that once the Katasraj Temples in Pakistan are restored to their pristine glory, the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya in India would also be rebuilt?
The Daily Times newspaper quoted unnamed sources in a report from Lahore as stating, "Pakistani and Indian politicians had agreed that once the Katasraj Temples were restored, the Babri Mosque in India would be rebuilt".
It indicated that the restoration of the Katasraj Temples in Punjab province was planned during the visit to Pakistan last year of India's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalwart and opposition leader L.K. Advani.
Advani laid the foundation for restoration of the temples and assured his assistance for the purpose, it said.
Advani was one of the leaders present when the Babri Masjid was demolished Dec 6, 1992, by Hindu mobs that claimed it was built on the site of the birthplace of Lord Ram. The entire dispute, having serious political and religious dimensions, is before court. A makeshift Ram temple there is guarded as per court orders.
It was during his visit that Advani lauded the secular ideals of Pakistan's founding father, Mohammed Ali Jinnah. This sparked a controversy within the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which eventually led to his having to quit the BJP president's post.
At a meeting Sep 1 last year, the restoration of the Katasraj Temples was agreed upon between Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Shiv Shankar Menon, the Indian high commissioner to Pakistan.
The paper said the first phase of restoration work will begin next month at the Katasraj shrine as per an understanding reached between India and Pakistan.
Pakistan will spend Rs.30 million ($500,000) on the first of the three-phased restoration work, sources in the Punjab Archaeology Department (PAD) told Daily Times. The Katasraj Temples were transferred to the PAD recently.
The Pakistan government would fund the total project estimated at $25 million, the paper said. Dedicated to Lord Shiva, the shrine is an important site for Hindu pilgrims in Pakistan. It stands on a site believed to be visited by the Pandavas as per Mahabharata.
Sources said a list of recommendations for restoration had been finalised as suggested by Pakistani and Indian archaeology officials.
Brussels, June 27 (IANS) Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt has expressed his happiness over the Mittal-Arcelor deal that will lead to the creation of the world's largest steel manufacturing firm.
Verhofstadt was particularly content with Mittal Steel chief Lakshmi Mittal's written commitments concerning employment in Belgium, local media reported.
The European steel group Arcelor is based in Luxembourg and employs 15,000 in Belgium in its plants in Ghent (East Flanders), Genk (Limburg) and Liège (Wallonia).
Belgium had refrained from taking a position on Indian-born Mittal's bid to takeover Arcelor, even as the move had met with strong opposition from governments of other shareholding countries, France, Luxembourg and Spain amid fear of job losses.
The French-speaking Walloon region of Belgium has a 2.3 percent share in Arcelor, according to the INEP agency.
However, trade unions in Belgium are not sure how to react to Sunday's development. A spokesman for the Genk plant said that a lot of questions on the future remain, but added that there was no real reason for concern.
London, June 27 (IANS) Chest X-rays of women with high-risk genes could increase their chances of breast cancer, a study says.
Researchers led by David Goldgar at the International Agency for Research on Cancer in France analysed 1,600 women. He found that women with BRCA1 and 2 (breast cancer susceptibility genes) mutations who had undergone a chest X-ray were 54 percent more likely to develop breast cancer than women who had never undergone the procedure.
Women who were exposed to X-rays before age 20 had a 2.5-fold increased risk of developing the disease before age 40, compared with women who had never been exposed, reported the online edition of BBC News.
Goldgar said BRCA proteins played a key role in repairing damage in breast cells.
X-rays emit ionizing radiation. Excessive radiation exposure was an established risk factor for breast cancer but there was little research into the effects of lower doses, he said.
It is one of the first studies to demonstrate that women genetically predisposed to breast cancer may be more susceptible to low-dose ionizing radiation than other women, Goldgar said.
"If confirmed in prospective studies, young women who are members of families known to have BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations may wish to consider alternatives to X-ray, such as MRI," he said.
Hyderabad, June 27 (IANS) Eight Maoist guerrillas including six women were killed in a shootout with police in Andhra Pradesh Tuesday evening, officials said.
The firefight took place in the forests of Amarabad block in Mahabubnagar district of the backward Telangana region, about 170 km from here.
Mahesh and Swaroopa, a commander and deputy commander of a 'dalam', or armed squad, were among those killed, police said.
The gun battle took place when personnel of anti-Maoist force Greyhounds and the Special Operations Group of police were engaged in combing operations in the forests.
Police said Sambasiva, district committee secretary of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), managed to escape.
The guerrilla outfit has suffered a series of setbacks during last 10 days.
About a dozen Maoists have been killed in different parts of the state since June 16 when Mattam Ravikumar, a top rebel leader, was gunned down by police in Praksam district.
Ravikumar, a member of the state and central committees of the CPI-Maoist, was considered an ideologue involved in policy-making for the rebels.
Earlier in the day, CPI-Maoist activists hacked to death the chief of a cooperative society to protest the killings of their cadres in "stage managed" gun battles.
Police said a group of Maoists attacked D. Anjanya Verma, president of a primary cooperative society, with sickles in Satyanarayanpuram in Cherla block of Khammam district early Tuesday. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed to his wounds.
The CPI-Maoist had also called for a statewide shutdown to protest the killing of its cadres by police. The shutdown, however, had no impact barring a few pockets in their strongholds.
More than 300 people, most of them guerrillas, have been killed since January last year when an eight-month-old ceasefire collapsed.
The Maoist violence in Andhra Pradesh, a stronghold of the guerrilla movement, has claimed more than 6,000 lives so far.
The guerrillas claim to be fighting for the poor and farmers in villages.
New Delhi, June 27 (IndianMuslims.info)The Government of India has nominated four eminent persons as the Members of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) for a period of three years with effect from the date of their assuming office.
The four members are: Dr. Dileep Padgaonkar, former Executive Editor of Times of India; Lt. Gen (Retd.) A.M. Sethna, former member in the IIIrd & IVth Commission of NCM; Prof. Zoya Hasan, Professor in Political Science, Centre for Political Studies, JNU and Shri Michael P. Pinto, retired IAS, member of the expert group of the twelfth finance commission.
The present Vth National Commission for Minorities was reconstituted the in March of this year. Mohammad Hamid Ansari former VC of AMU was made Chairman and Harcharan Singh Josh and Lama Chosphel Zotpa were made members.
With the new members the constitution of the NCM is complete. Historically commission had less power than other similar organizations like National Human Rights Commission. Since NCM 's establishment in 1978 only 4 of its reports have been tabled in the Parliament.
There is a proposal to give it more power to investigate and summon individuals accused of acts against religious minorities.
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Islamabad, June 27 (IANS) Good relations between India and Pakistan are more in Pakistan's interest than India's, says a prominent Pakistani journalist and political commentator.
"At the end of the day, it is Pakistan that has suffered in all conflicts," Najam Sethi, well- known editor of the Friday Times, told PTV in an interview.
On how the US viewed South Asia, Sethi said: "The US is not concerned about who is getting powerful and it only watches its own interest. Now it is moving towards a strategic relationship with India over the head of Pakistan."
He lamented that despite well meant advice, President Pervez Musharraf was not doing enough to "spread consensus and legitimacy" among various forces in the country to usher stability.
A direct result of this was that the US had developed a negative opinion of Musharraf's performance and was concerned about the future of Pakistan's polity.
In particular, Sethi said, American think tanks were concerned that Musharraf had not put a system in place in Pakistan that would "ensure the continuity of his good work when he is no longer in power."
Sethi said that during his visit to the US last year, he met officials from four major think tanks and all them were supporting Musharraf and had little interest in Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, the two former prime ministers now living in exile.
But when he visited this year, the situation was different. "All the think tanks seemed very critical of General Musharraf. The State Department and Pentagon are supporting Musharraf but the think tanks have moved away from him. Now they are talking about a post-Musharraf period and think that he is history," Sethi said.
He said that the US think tanks fear that "if something happens to Musharraf, who has already been the target of several assassination attempts, or there is a crisis of legitimacy surrounding his position, then there is no political system in place to continue Musharraf's good work.
He said that the US Congress takes suggestions from think tanks through its sub-committees, and the Congress-suggested cut in US aid to Pakistan was a reflection of the mood of the think tanks.
On the security front, Sethi said that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal falling into the hands of radicals was a nightmare scenario that the West considered a possibility.
Commenting on the situation in Afghanistan, Sethi said that previously India supported the Northern Alliance and Pakistan the Taliban, but the scenario changed when the Northern Alliance, with the help of the US, dislodged the Taliban regime. "It is a dilemma for Pakistan that if it fully supports Karzai then the Northern Alliance is strengthened. If Musharraf supports the Taliban then the US gets angry and if he weakens them then India's influence in Afghanistan increases," he said.
He said that the US was not interested in understanding this problem as "the US would see only its own interests."
By Shibi Alex Chandy, Paris, June 27 (IANS) The hush of quiet efficiency is almost palpable as you walk down the gleaming corridors of the Thales Research and Technology Centre on the outskirts of Paris - and 'cross-border terrorism' in distant Kashmir is the last thing on your mind.
Yet, it is in the sanitised laboratories and professorial rooms of this sprawling, ultra-modern facility that some of the high-tech tools that Indian troops use to combat insurgents from Pakistan have been devised and developed.
For instance, it is at this centre on the campus of the Ecole Polytenchnique, about an hour's drive from Paris, that Thales, the French electronics, defence and aerospace major, developed the Sophie hand-held thermal imager that helps Indian troops detect cross-border incursions of terrorists from Pakistan into Jammu and Kashmir.
The Indian Army already possesses some 600 such devices, deployed mostly in the strategic border state, and the country's Border Security Force is also believed to be interested in the imager that detects infiltrators as far as two to three kilometers away, using the radiation their bodies emit.
The Sophie, which utilises a 288 x 4 CdHgTe detector array, could be handheld or tripod mounted and is the size of a handycam. And its external video and control interfaces allow it to be operated autonomously in applications demanding remote control and monitoring.
All these technical details came from Jean-Pascal Duchemin, a senior scientist at the centre. On Monday he took a team of visiting Indian journalists around the facility.
"Some of the most state-of-the art equipment in the field of optronics is being developed here," said Duchemin.
It is here, in this facility with some 240 permanent staffers, that Thales also developed the night vision equipment that are now part of the army's T-90 and T-72 tanks.
And the company has also provided specialist equipment to the Indian Army to break into terrorist radio networks operating across the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir as also devices using electronic counter-counter measures (ECCM) that prevent its own networks from being jammed by militants.
Thales, which deploys a third of its total workforce in research and spends almost 15 percent of its euro 10 billion revenues on R&D, is also expected to bid for the Indian Army's communication retrofit programme that is likely to start in 2007.
Ahmedabad, June 27 (IANS) The Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) will get an International Advisory Council to assist it in forging strategic academic alliances in various parts of the world and provide it a global perspective.
This will make IIM-A India's first B-School to have such an advisory body, an IIM-A statement said Tuesday said.
The institute has already tied up with a US-based firm and a Singapore university to develop courses for business executives in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
Meanwhile, the institute is also setting up a new centre for infrastructure policy and regulation.
Citing substantial work in the direction, the statement said the IIM-A anticipated the need and opportunity for research and training in the field of infrastructure development.
"The objective of the centre is to promote research, training, consulting within the IIM-A campus in the area through generation of projects and funds for research and through publication of books, journals and articles," said the release.
Ahmedabad, June 27 (IANS) Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi would have no blame at his doorstep for statewide protests targeting actor Aamir Khan - after all, his film is not officially banned here, but he has ensured that he takes the credit for them in the eyes of the pro-Narmada lobby in the state.
Following the self-immolation of Pravin Joshi - who died last Tuesday - to protest Khan's remarks, Modi and his cabinet colleagues have come forward to announce compensation to the victim's family - in their personal capacity.
Khan earned the wrath of Gujarat's political parties in April by supporting the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) that is fighting for the rights of the tribal people displaced by the Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada river in the state - seen as a "lifeline" for the drought-prone parts of Gujarat.
Activists of the youth wings of both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress forced cinema theatres to stop the screening of the Khan-starrer "Rang De Basanti" then, apart from burning his posters.
Ahead of the release of Khan's latest "Fanaa" last month, the BJP youth wing demanded an apology from the actor for his "anti-Gujarat" remarks, but Aamir declined to do so.
Theatres and multiplexes in the state refused to screen the new film, saying they would not go against the "popular sentiment".
During the protests against both the films, the state government had not taken any stance even as the BJP put the Congress behind in leading protestors.
Joshi immolated himself June 11 in the Ambar theatre of the town of Jamnagar, Saurashtra, to register his protest against the screening of "Fanaa" at the cinema house - the only one in Gujarat to do so - though it stopped showing the film after the unfortunate incident.
After Joshi succumbed to his injuries, Arjun Modhvadia, leader of the opposition, has demanded compensation from the government for the victim's family.
While there is no official response to the demand, all Gujarat ministers have contributed Rs.5,000 each in their personal capacity and handed over Rs.130,000 to Joshi's family.
Many social and community organisations have followed their example.
The Brahma Samaj, an organisation of Brahmins in Jamnagar and Rajkot, said it would give Rs.100,000 to Joshi's family, while the Kadva Patidar Samaj, another community body, committed to donate Rs.25,000.
The "Narmada Committee of Jamnagar" also said it would raise funds for Joshi's family.
Jamnagar mayor Manoharsinh Jhala of the BJP said: "We demand that the state must provide compensation. However, if the government does not, I will contribute some amount from the mayor's fund.
"After all, he lost his life for a cause," Jhala said.
Meanwhile, the Gujarat police have registered a complaint against the actor. "A complaint has been lodged against Aamir Khan for making inciting statements against the Narmada dam that led the youth to commit suicide," said H.R. Muliana, deputy superintendent of police of Porbandar.
"The producer of the movie and the theatre owner have been booked for neglecting public sentiment by screening the film," the police official added.
New Delhi, June 27 (IANS) Road experts agree that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was right when he voiced his disgust over the complete lack of road manners in India. But just no one seems to have answers to the cancerous problem.
Everyone says that a semblance of discipline is badly needed on Indian roads, that Indians who take so much pride in their civilization need to display a bit of order when they are driving or simply walking on the streets.
The Indian capital, which witnesses a fatal accident on its unruly roads every eight hours, is a good example of everything that has gone wrong in the country.
"The biggest example of mismanagement of our roads and traffic situation is in Delhi where there is virtually no place for pedestrians and bicycles," moaned S. Gangopadhyaya, chief of the traffic planning division of the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), which is run by the central government.
"Non-availability of a good public transport system adds to increasing number of private vehicles on the roads, adding to this chaos," Gangopadhyaya told IANS.
That, others say, is just one part of the whole story.
Experts and officials say - and people agree - that the predicaments of Indian traffic would have been easier to overcome if they had been confined to just one or two segments.
In reality, every segment is to blame: the bigger, bulky intimidating vehicles, the zig-zagging two-wheelers and auto-rickshaws, slow-moving bullock carts and cycle rickshaws, stray cows and dogs, poor quality roads and equally pathetic condition of vehicles, corruption in issue of licences, uncommitted traffic policemen, disregard for pedestrians and cyclists, lack of respect for traffic rules, and the lack of quick medical care when accidents occur.
Vast stretches lack pavements on which people can walk, forcing them to spill on to the roads for no fault of theirs.
A Western diplomat here remarked: "I am not appalled by the number of road accidents in Delhi. I am amazed why many more accidents don't occur despite such rampant indiscipline!"
It is no wonder that Manmohan Singh, a genteel politician, aired his frustration when he inaugurated an expressway in Bangalore over the weekend.
"I think we must ask ourselves: Why can't we be more polite to each other, more caring of each other, more respectful of each other," he asked. "Good road manners and adherence to road discipline are equally important."
"It is a very positive sign that the prime minister has raised the issue of traffic situation," said Qamar Ahmed, a joint commissioner in charge of the Delhi Police traffic wing. "We welcome it. But looking at the behaviour of our road users, the situation cannot be changed overnight."
He admits he has no holistic answers. "We are working on managing traffic at busy cross-sections more efficiently and checking traffic rule violations more effectively."
According to Delhi Police, about six million violations of traffic rules were registered in the past three years and over 9,000 accidents take place in Delhi every year. With about 4.5 million vehicles registered in Delhi and thousands from neighbouring states passing through it, the figures are not frightening.
And for every accident, two probably don't get reported.
Says Sharfuddin, director of the Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE): "The traffic police and other authorities alone cannot be blamed for the mess. Society as a whole has to share the responsibility.
"The prime minister's comments highlight the need to create awareness among road users. We have neglected this aspect in our traffic management. There is hardly any focused effort on this.
"The authorities should earmark around five percent of the total transport budget on creating awareness and imparting education to the public. We may have a great cultural heritage but when it comes to road driving we are a poor country," he said.
Some people feel that more flyovers will solve Delhi's traffic problems, No, asserts CRRI's Gangopadhyaya.
"Flyovers planned in a piecemeal manner just won't work. They add to confusion and chaos," he said.
Ashwini Kumar, who moved into New Delhi six months ago, said that the prime minister's public concern should be an eye opener.
"I see a lot of drivers jumping traffic signals at will. This is deplorable," said Kumar, who is from Chandigarh. But even that city, like much of India, is not immune to indiscipline on the roads.
Beijing/New Delhi, June 27 (IANS) India and China concluded yet another round of talks on resolving their decades-old border dispute with the two sides only saying that the dialogue would continue.
India's Special Representative M.K. Narayanan, who is also the National Security Adviser, had three days of talks June 25-27 in Xi'an and Beijing with his Chinese counterpart and Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo.
A press release issued by the Indian external affairs ministry said: "The Special Representatives continued their discussions on an agreed framework for a boundary settlement on the basis of the Agreement on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for Settlement of India-China Boundary Question. Talks were held in a friendly, cooperative and constructive atmosphere.
It further said that the next - the ninth - round of talks would be held in India at a date to be decided after mutual consultation.
During his visit Narayanan also met Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Foreign Minster Li Zhaoxing.
India and China fought a bitter border war in 1962 and then re-established diplomatic relations in 1976. A "political settlement" of the boundary dispute will cover their winding 3,550-km border, removing the most important irritant in their ties.
The re-opening of border trade at Nathu La in Sikkim - a territory that Beijing earlier refused to recognise as part of India - from next month will be another step in the rapid normalisation of ties between the neighbouring Asian giants.
In the last round of talks held in Kumarakom in Kerala, the two countries had resolved to take their relations to a new high without letting the border issue come in the way.
After the talks, Narayanan had said that he was hopeful of wrapping up the basic framework "within the next two to three rounds".
"We've made a good start. We've made progress. We would find a solution soon," Dai had said.
India and China are trying to work out an "agreed framework" for a boundary settlement on the basis of political parameters and guiding principles finalised during Wen Jiabao's visit to New Delhi last year.
The "agreed framework" would include a political settlement to resolve the disputed border from a strategic perspective that could include a mutual give or take of territories or acceptance of the status quo as a final solution.
The actual demarcation of the border can happen only after the framework is finalized, official sources said.
During the visit of Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee to China last month, the two countries imparted a new dimension to their ties by signing their first-ever memorandum of understanding on institutionalising military training.
By Arun Kumar,
Washington, June 27 (IANS) With the Bush administration pulling all stops, a lower house panel of the US Congress is expected to Tuesday clear a bipartisan bill supporting the US-India nuclear deal giving New Delhi access to nuclear energy and knowhow after 30 years.
The Senate Foreign Relations committee is expected to follow suit on Wednesday, a day after the House International Committee 'marks up' or reviews the text of its bill as the deal has won critical support from the heads of both panels.
Neither bill has been made public, but congressional sources said both lay down India-specific criteria for giving President George Bush power to exempt India from the Atomic Energy Act restrictions to permit exports of nuclear materials, equipment and technology to it.
Making a reference to India's democratic credentials and non-proliferation track record, these criteria would practically rule out Pakistan getting a similar nuclear agreement in tune with Bush's statement in Islamabad last March that Pakistan and India were "two different countries with different needs and different histories".
Drafted by the Republican chairman Henry Hyde of Illinois and Tom Lantos of California, the leading Democrat, the bill coming up for vote before the House panel on Tuesday reflects the bipartisan consensus on the bill.
Similarly in the Senate committee, Republican chairman Richard Lugar of Indiana and Democrat Joseph Biden of Delaware have worked on their version. If the two versions differ substantially in the operational part, they would have to be reconciled for the deal to get Congressional approval.
The original bill introduced in the house on March 16, 2006 by Hyde and Lantos required the president to make seven determinations before going ahead with the peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement.
These included India having a credible plan to separate its civil and military facilities, making satisfactory progress toward implementing an additional protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency for its civilian nuclear programme and working with the United States for the conclusion of a multilateral Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty.
The president will have to report to the foreign relations committees of the two houses the basis of his decision and it would become ineffective if he finds that India has detonated a nuclear explosive device after the Act is enacted.
The India-US nuclear deal is coming up for vote before the two house panels after weeks of hectic activity with the White House declaring it the President's "top priority" and Bush himself meeting several influential Congressmen to win their support.
Vice President Dick Cheney chose the forum of US-India Business Council last week to urge the leadership of the India Caucus in the two houses to usher through the "critical" agreement, while the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is reported to have personally contacted many lawmakers.
Bush administration's key negotiator on the deal, Under-Secretary of State Nicholas Burns, who has spent much time on Capitol Hill, seat of the US Congress, to counter opposition to the deal made it clear that the Bush administration is against any deal-breaker amendments that would force it to go back to the negotiating table.
Tehran, June 27 (IANS) Iranian and Pakistani Interior Ministers Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi and Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao have condemned terrorist acts committed on their border.
In a telephone conversation Monday, Pour-Mohammadi praised the Pakistani government for its efforts in fighting terrorist groups operating on the border and called for a sustained battle against these groups, the IRNA news agency reported.
He stressed on the importance of holding direct consultations between security officials of the two countries to discuss border problems.
Pour-Mohammadi said the exchange of visits between the two countries' presidents and senior officials points to the growing strategic relations between Tehran and Islamabad.
Sherpao, on his part, expressed his country's firm determination to fight terrorism wherever it is committed, saying he would continue his efforts to arrest members of terrorist groups.
He urged direct talks between the two countries' security officials to maintain security in their joint border.
Tehran, June 27 (IANS) Iranian and Pakistani Interior Ministers Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi and Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao have condemned terrorist acts committed on their border.
In a telephone conversation Monday, Pour-Mohammadi praised the Pakistani government for its efforts in fighting terrorist groups operating on the border and called for a sustained battle against these groups, the IRNA news agency reported.
He stressed on the importance of holding direct consultations between security officials of the two countries to discuss border problems.
Pour-Mohammadi said the exchange of visits between the two countries' presidents and senior officials points to the growing strategic relations between Tehran and Islamabad.
Sherpao, on his part, expressed his country's firm determination to fight terrorism wherever it is committed, saying he would continue his efforts to arrest members of terrorist groups.
He urged direct talks between the two countries' security officials to maintain security in their joint border.
New Delhi, June 27 (IANS) In what is seen here as a confession, Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger guerrillas have expressed "deep regret" over the assassination of former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and sought a "new relationship" with India so that it plays an "active role" to resolve the island's ethnic conflict.
In an interview to NDTV, Anton Balasingham, the ideologue of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), described the May 21, 1991 killing of Gandhi by a Tiger woman suicide bomber as "a monumental historical tragedy".
"As far as that event is concerned ... I would say it is a great tragedy ... a monumental historical tragedy ... for which we deeply regret, and we call upon the government of India and people of India to be magnanimous to put the past behind ... and to approach the ethnic question in a different perspective."
The Indian government reacted quickly, saying there was no question of forgiving the LTTE for Gandhi's killing and ruled out playing a direct role in Sri Lanka's now faltering peace process.
Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma told NDTV: "The people of India cannot forget the dastardly crime that was committed by the LTTE."
Sharma said Balasingham's statement was a "confession on their part of their complicity in the assassination. This has been a well-known fact for the last 15 yeas."
The LTTE had initially vehemently denied any involvement in the killing of Gandhi, who was blown up at an election rally at Sriperumbudur near Chennai by a LTTE woman strapped with explosives.
Once Indian investigating agencies proved that the LTTE was very much involved, the Tigers changed track. At the April 2002 press conference by LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran in Kilinochchi, Balasingham called the Gandhi killing a "thunbiyal" (sorrowful event).
This is the first time anyone as senior in the LTTE as Balasingham, one of the oldest confidants of Prabhakaran, has virtually admitted the Tigers' role in the killing of Gandhi. NDTV said Balasingham was interviewed just outside London.
Asked if the LTTE could promise that it would not commit such acts again, Balasingham went on: "We have made pledges to the government of India that under no circumstances we will act against the interest of the government of India."
He said India had "played a detached role" in Sri Lankan affairs since the assassination of Gandhi. "What we feel is India should actively involve in the peace process.
"India has been silent for the last 15 years and adopted a detached role. Now (that) there is possibility of war emerging, so she can't keep quiet but she has to face challenges... and to adopt ... orientate a new foreign policy towards her neighbour for which the relationship between the LTTE and India is crucial.
"I think we are prepared to build up a new understanding... a new relationship with the government of India provided she makes a positive gesture and it is up to the government of India because we have already pledged that we will never to do anything or act anything inimical to the geo-political interest of India.
"So if the past is put aside and if a new approach is made, then there is possibility of India playing a positive active role in bringing a resolution to this conflict."
But Balasingham underlined that the LTTE did not want from India any "military intervention as has happened in the past" and made it clear nor India cannot play the mediator's role as long as it keeps the LTTE outlawed.
India banned the LTTE as a terrorist organization in 1992. Prabhakaran is wanted in India for Gandhi's killing.
He said without "a relationship ... a working relationship between the government of India and the LTTE ... it would be difficult for India to have a mediator's role.
"The only role which she can play is diplomatically and politically persuading Sri Lanka and LTTE to seek a negotiated settlement rather than involving in a military confrontation. That is what she is doing now."
Balasingham referred to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's recent appeal to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse not to allow the armed forces to kill innocent civilians and to go for some form of regional autonomy.
"So this kind of intervention ... diplomatic intervention is crucial. It would help to protect our people from (being) subjected to genocidal operations by the Sri Lankan armed forces and also help both the parties to go for a negotiated settlement."
He agreed that a mass exodus of Tamils from Sri Lanka to India triggered by fresh fighting "will create far-reaching political consequences". He also referred to appeals from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi to New Delhi to intervene in Sri Lankan affairs.
"India is responding in that aspect. Therefore as you say India has genuine concerns, geopolitical and national interests in the resolution of this conflict."
The LTTE ideologue described India as "the regional superpower in South Asia" and said she just cannot ignore "this conflict" in her backyard.
"India has genuine national and geopolitical interest in that region. She has to insure that there is peace and stability in the environment."
Balasingham also went into the past, saying India once trained LTTE fighters not to split up Sri Lanka but "to protect our people from state oppression".
Asked about the 1987 India-Sri Lanka peace pact, which the LTTE dumped before taking on Indian troops deployed in the island's northeast, he said that agreement "did not satisfy the political aspirations of our people.
"If India had offered a federal solution as she has in her own country, then we would have definitely responded positively.
"But the provincial administration suggested by India was totally inadequate to meet the demands of the Tamil people. That's why we did not support the accord."
Responding to Balasingham's plea to India to show "magnanimity", Minister Sharma said: "That would tantamount to endorsing the philosophy of terror, violence and political assassination. People of India cannot forget the dastardly crime that was committed by the LTTE.
"It is easy for them to say ... India is for peace, stability and unity of Sri Lanka. We have been supportive of the peace process. We hope better sense will prevail and all issues in Sri Lanka will be resolved in a democratic manner.
"The LTTE is a banned organisation in India and it is also a banned organisation in many countries. It is for the LTTE to renounce violence and return to the negotiating table."
Islamabad, June 27 (IANS) The Pakistan government is considering barring the media from reporting meetings of the National Assembly's parliamentary standing committees.
Responding to angry lawmakers who consider media reporting as hurting "national interests", the government is mulling several proposals, including issuing a press release after a meeting and enforcing a "code of ethics".
"Irked" by the press coverage, "members of military establishment" are also involved in the confabulations, the Daily Times newspaper said.
Information Minister Tareq Azeem refused to confirm or deny the government's plans.
But opposition parties and media representatives have expressed concern, stressing that the public had "a right to know what the parliamentarians are doing".
Quoting sources, the newspaper said National Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain had recently held talks with chairpersons of standing committees open to the media to draw up a strategy to deal with the "problem".
Hussain, the sources said, had acted on directives from the top political leadership, which believed that instead of attending sessions the press should simply be given a handout of the proceedings.
Government officials had apparently repeatedly warned Hussain as well as committee chairpersons that press reporting of proceedings routinely jeopardised the "national interest".
Currently, five of the 35 National Assembly standing committees remain open to the media: the public accounts committee (PAC), standing committees on local government, population welfare, food and agriculture and interior.
The standing committee on water and power had previously been open to the press. Its new chairperson, however, has barred journalists from attending its proceedings.
Committee chairpersons are authorised to allow journalists to sit in on proceedings to ensure the system's transparency and to hold relevant officials directly accountable to the people.
Sources said the speaker specifically expressed concern over reporting of the PAC's proceedings, noting that opposition members often levelled serious allegations against the government, which were subsequently reported by the press.
The government had kept PAC proceedings secret until last year.
In Britain and India, proceedings of standing committees and other parliamentary panels are not open to the media so as to allow officials to depose freely. However, in the US, the media reports all meetings.
London, June 27 (IANS) A poll of Muslim opinion after the recent high-profile anti-terror raids in east London has revealed that most of Britain's largest minority community has lost confidence in the police.
Police officers, they believe, do not have the right to take action to pre-empt potential terrorist activities when the intelligence on which it is based could prove to be wrong, the poll by Guardian/ICM reveals.
During a raid in east London this month, a Muslim inhabitant of the house was shot. Intelligence on which the raid was based was later proved to be faulty.
Fifty-four percent of Muslims polled two weeks after the raid said Ian Blair, metropolitan police commissioner, should resign while 29 percent said he should not.
The Muslim respondents were asked: "Do you think it is right or wrong for the police to act to pre-empt potential terrorist attacks, even if the intelligence, information and warnings may turn out to be wrong?"
Thirty-one percent said it was right and 57 percent said it was wrong.
According to the Guardian, this view contrasts sharply with that held by the general public.
When the same question was asked of a representative sample of all adults, 74 percent said the police were right to act and 17 percent said they were wrong.
Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said the respondents could be "reacting against the many hundreds of Muslims who have been arrested in high-profile raids across the country since 9/11".
Bari said: "The police must, of course, have the right to act upon credible intelligence and try to pre-empt potential terrorist attacks against our country. They have a duty to maintain the public safety of all of us - Muslims and non-Muslims."
He added: "The police must as a matter of urgency review the manner in which they assess the quality of the intelligence that they receive. Serious questions are being asked about how they have reviewed and assessed the intelligence, not just in the case of the Forest Gate raid, but many other similar raids since 9/11. This is a matter of professionalism and maintaining the trust of the wider society."
More than half of all Muslims - 52 percent - said they felt people were "more suspicious" of them since the July 7 bombings. Thirty percent said they or members of their family had experienced hostility from non-Muslims since July 7 "because of their religion".
Bhubaneswar, June 27 (IANS) India's syncretic traditions came into play again Tuesday as hundreds of Muslims in Orissa joined in the nine-day Jagannath chariot festival being celebrated in several villages and towns across the state.
While the main rath yatra began at the temple city of Puri, 56 km from here, which houses the 12th century Jagannath temple, the festival is also being celebrated by Jagannath devotees elsewhere.
Reports spoke of all 800 Muslims joining the celebrations in the village of Deulasahi in Kendrapada district, for instance, like in previous years. The Muslims of the village, which has a population of 2,500, also contributed funds for the event, said Sameshar Khan, a villager.
"The village collectively forms a committee to organise the festival every year and our community are also members," he said.
This year, one of the villagers Naeem Ali donated a tree for constructing the chariots.
Some Muslim carpenters also pitched in in building the chariots.
"Hindu residents join us in our Id festivals too," said Sahid Khan, another villager, adding that the communities attended each other's marriages and other cultural ceremonies.
So, it was only fitting that all the Muslim residents of Deulasahi Tuesday gave a helping hand as the chariots rolled out -- on roads that were liberally layered with sand by all the villagers so that the wheels move smoothly despite the rain of the past few days.
The story was repeated in other villages like Narayanpur in Subarnapur district where Muslims contributed funds, helped in building and then pulling the chariots, former local body chief Ananda Satapathy told IANS.
Similarly, in Motu in Malkangiri district, all 50 Muslim families wear white clothes and help out - just like their compatriots in other parts of the state.
Agartala, June 27 (IANS) The mystery surrounding freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's death may be solved by 2020 when the British government is expected to release some classified documents, a kin of his said Tuesday.
"The British government is bound by the secrecy act not to release some important documents on Netaji for 75 years. Only by 2020 we expect the truth to come out when Britain releases the documents," Subrata Bose, a Forward Bloc MP from West Bengal and the nephew of Netaji, told journalists here.
Bose criticised New Delhi for failing to ascertain the circumstances of Netaji's death. "For 60 years, the central government misled the nation by concealing the truth about the mysterious death of Netaji," he said.
The central government earlier this year rejected the Mukherjee Commission's conclusion that Netaji did not die in an air crash in Taiwan in August 1945.
"In the coming monsoon session of parliament we are going to raise the issue and ask the government to make a clear statement on Netaji's death before the nation."
Bose said Netaji did not die in a plane crash as claimed by the central government.
"The Taiwan government had already rejected the Indian government's theory related to Netaji's death saying no plane crash took place in the country during Aug 15-18 in 1945," the Forward Bloc leader said.
Referring to the ashes that were kept preserved at the Renkoji temple in Japan, Bose said they belonged to a Japanese soldier named Ichiro Okura who died of a heart ailment Aug 19, 1945, in the Taiwan Hospital.
"The Mukherjee Commission's report has enough evidence to prove that Netaji reached Russia safely," he said.
Islamabad, June 27 (IANS) A security official was killed and another injured in two separate blasts in Pakistan Tuesday, Online news agency reported.
A security official was killed when he stepped on a landmine near the southwestern Pakistani town of Dera Bugti in Balochistan.
The landmine went off when the security man was on a routine patrol.
A police official received serious injuries when three-storey building crashed to the ground due after a blast at the weapon's depot of the police lines at Pibi in Nowshera district of Pakistani Punjab.
The blast occurred at 6.15 a.m. injuring the official, identified as Manzoor. The deafening boom triggered panic among the locals.
Soon after the blast, senior army, air force and police officials and a fire brigade team of rushed to the scene.
Police officials immediately removed ammunition, rockets launchers, explosive materials and others weapons from the depot and shifted them to a safer place.
Cologne, June 27 (DPA) Ukraine beat Switzerland 3-0 through a penalty shootout in a World Cup round of 16 match here Monday and meet Italy in the quarter finals.
--DPA
Islamabad, June 27 (IANS) President Pervez Musharraf has indicated he would "consider" seeking re-election to the presidency but sought to assure critics that he would do so "within legal and constitutional parameters".
"No infringement of the constitution will take place in this connection," he was quoted by the Daily Times as telling Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo, vice president of Pakistan Muslim League-Qaid (PML-Q), the faction that Musharraf has blessed and with whose help he hopes to get re-elected.
The opposition has denounced this move and has refused to call it "re-election", saying the "election" in 2002 itself was "invalid".
Former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, rivals-turned-allies who are now busy forging an opposition front, are livid at Musharraf's efforts to get re-elected by the provincial assemblies and the National Assembly before their tenures end. Bhutto has called it an effort to place the constitution upside down.
Musharraf's response to them is they should first usher in democracy in their respective parties. They should end what he calls the "politics of hierarchy" and give youth a chance.
The president also promised Wattoo at a meeting in Rawalpindi that the Election Commission would conduct a fair and transparent poll.
He has ridiculed the Bhutto-Sharif efforts from exile in bringing out a Charter of Democracy, but has told the PML-Q it should set its house in order to meet the new challenge.
The Charter of Democracy has been broadly approved by the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD), the grouping of opposition parties that will forge a separate limited alliance with the ultra-right Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) to avoid a rupture in the ranks of the anti-Musharraf opposition.
Charting its own course, but in the direction against Musharraf, MMA Monday announced a countrywide public mobilisation campaign to resist presidential elections by the existing assemblies.
The MMA supreme council, which met here Monday for four hours with alliance chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed in the chair, decided it would launch a public mobilisation campaign against Musharraf and would hold public meetings at Peshawar, Karachi, Lahore, Hyderabad and Rawalpindi, The News newspaper said.
By T.R. Ramakrishnan,
Basseterre (St Kitts), June 27 (IANS) Indian captain Rahul Dravid appeared quite happy with the drawn outcome of the third Test against West Indies here Monday.
It did not matter so much that India had to give up their 392-run chase for victory. What mattered more was the way they came back from 159 for five in the first innings, he said.
"Laxman's innings, his partnership with (Anil) Kumble, the last-wicket stand between Harbhajan and (Munaf) Patel and the lower order showing fight, showing courage and character, all this gives you a lot of heart," said Draid.
Asked whether he had given any instructions to M.S. Dhoni when he came in to bat in the second innings with India needing to score at about six an over for 24 overs, Dravid replied in the negative.
"I just told him to be positive - 'play your shots'," Dravid said, adding that it was not an easy wicket to play shots, not one where "you could go smashing every ball".
He felt that West Indian skipper Brian Lara setting a target of 392, and not something around 350, was a sort of back-handed compliment.
"Obviously he (Lara) felt we could chase down something like 350," Dravid said.
Dravid himself felt that 392 was a tough ask. "History tells us that 390 has never been done in the last day. It was always going to be a challenge, getting 4-1/2 runs per over on the last day," he said.
"We thought we'd have a bit of a dip in the afternoon but after Dhoni got out, that was it," he said.
When asked about Lara's remark that West Indies would go with a psychological advantage into the final Test, at Kingston, Jamaica, from June 30 - July 4, Dravid just grinned.
Lara, speaking to the press before Dravid, had said he was pleased with the performance of his team.
"The young players are proving themselves and I am proud of them," Lara said. "We are a better playing team than India at the moment. I'm happy with the progress this team has made.
The West Indies journalists and spectators will be surprised to see us last five days. We hadn't been doing that too often in recent matches," the West Indies skipper added.
Lara also gave credit to the Indian team for saving the match.
"India had been under the gun for the first two days of the match. Credit to them for getting themselves out of a tight situation and actually getting within a sniff of victory," said Lara.
Clearly, from what both captains have been saying right through this series, in which three matches have been drawn, in which neither side has been able to convert winning situations into actual wins, it appears they are hard-nosed realists.
They know the strengths of their players and, more importantly, their limitations. They are quite happy to get the best out of their boys.
If all they can manage with the best is a draw, so be it.
Geneva, June 27 (IANS) A UN body that is processing claims arising out of the 1991 Gulf War has been urged to visit India since the bulk of the damages were being sought by Indians.
Indian Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed made the appeal to the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) at the 60th session of its governing council here, an official statement said.
Of the approximately 200,000 people affected by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, over 147,000 claims were made on behalf of Indian nationals who had been residing in Kuwait. Till now $1 billion has been disbursed in compensation.
In his address to the governing council, Ahamed called for the acceptance of claims that might not be filed by the victims by the deadline owing to the lack of information or access to relevant documentation.
Urging the governing council to extend the Sep 30, 2006 deadline for filing of claims, the minister emphasised that genuine and poor claimants should not be denied justice.
It was in this context that he invited a UNCC team to visit India at the earliest.
Ahamed also had occasion to discuss these issues with UNCC officials, including its executive secretary, Rolf Goran Knutsson. He expressed his appreciation over the cooperation being extended by the UNCC to the Indian government in its endeavour to help Indian claimants.
UNCC was established in 1991 to process claims and compensation for losses arising out of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. UNCC functions as a subsidiary of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
Bangkok, June 27 (Xinhua) At least seven people were killed Tuesday when suspect insurgents carried out a series of attacks in the southern Thai provinces of Yala and Narathiwat.
The gun-and-bomb attacks were all carried out at about 8.00 a.m. local time (0100 GMT), said a military official.
In Yala's Raman district, a remote-control bomb was triggered off while a motorcade was passing a bridge, killing five local government officials and injuring a soldier.
Almost at the same time, in the southern border province of Narathiwat, two residents were shot dead by two men on a motorcycle in Ra-ngae district.
Meanwhile, two bombs were separately exploded in two Narathiwat villages. The casualties were not immediately known.
New Delhi, June 27 (IANS) Six Indian professors and research scholars have been chosen for the Australian Studies Fellowships (ASF) for 2006-07.
The Australian Embassy in New Delhi announced in a statement Tuesday the names of the six recipients of the fellowship under the Australia-India Council (AIC) programme.
The recipients are Deb Narayan Bandopadhyay from Burdwan University in West Bengal, Kamala Kanta Dash from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi, Angshuman Kar (Burdwan University), Professor Kapil Kumar from Indira Gandhi Open University, Nabeel Ajmal (JNU) and Amita Singh (JNU).
Earlier this month, the AIC had announced the winners of the 2006 Border-Gavaskar Scholarship, under which three young and promising Indian cricketers are currently training at the Commonwealth Bank Centre of Excellence (CBCE) in Brisbane.
This year's winners are Mumbai's Kshemal Vaingankar, a right-arm pace bowler, Karnataka's Gaurav Dhiman, a right-hand opener, and Vadodara wicket keeper Pinal Shah. An Indian cricket board committee, headed by Gavaskar, had picked them.
They reached Australia June 19 for a six-week stint and they will have access to all CBCE coaches and facilities.
Congratulating the studies scholarship recipients, the AIC chairman Darren Gribble said that the fellowships were aimed at consolidating the education and research relationship between the two countries.
"I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome the addition of the Australian National University the university of New South Wales and the University of South Australia (through the Hawke Institute) to the consortium of universities," he said.
A consortium of universities on behalf of the AIC manages the Australian Studies Fellowships programme. Led by Curtin University, the consortium includes the Monash University and the University of Queensland.
The fellowships cover a wide range of areas, including Australian literature, politics and history, environment and health, film, media communications and performing arts, issues relating to indigenous Australians, ethnicities and multiculturalism, and tourism and gender studies.
By M.R. Narayan Swamy, New Delhi, June 27 (IANS) Drenched, exhausted and carrying their meagre belongings in battered suitcases, Sri Lankan Tamils continue to arrive in India by boats, with activists warning that the flow is likely to go up.
On Monday, 114 Tamil civilians belonging to 41 families landed on Tamil Nadu's shore. It was the highest number for a single day in June. This included 45 men, 38 women, 17 male children and 14 female children.
On Tuesday, the total was just 18 (four men, six women and eight children) in the morning hours, possibly due to increased surveillance on the sea dividing India and Sri Lanka following the assassination in Colombo a day earlier of Sri Lankan army general Parami Kulatunga by a suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber.
Tamil Nadu officials said more could land during the day Tuesday.
The latest arrivals has taken the number of Tamil civilians fleeing to Tamil Nadu from Sri Lanka's northeast, to escape escalating violence, to 3,487 since Jan 12 when the tide began.
"Who knows, the figure may touch 3,500 today itself," S.C. Chandrahasan, who heads OFERR, a NGO working among Sri Lankan Tamil refugees, told IANS over the telephone from Tamil Nadu's capital Chennai.
Chandrahasan said the refugees, who are housed in camps set up close to Tamil Nadu's coast, were landing with bitter stories of attacks on them by Sri Lankan security forces in the northwestern district of Mannar.
"The refugee flow is only going to increase," he said, explaining what he said was "a very simple reason".
"People (Tamils) over there (in Sri Lanka) are telling officials to let them fish or give them ration (food). They are also demanding security. If this can't be given, they want to be allowed to go to India.
"Since this is not happening, they will keep arriving," he said.
He mentioned this month's attack on a historic church at Pesalai in Mannar when unruly security forces fired at Tamils who had taken shelter in the building following clashes between the military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
"After that massacre, one day no one came," Chandrahasan said. "The next two days less than 20 people came. But again the flow picked up. Yesterday (Monday) was the highest figure for June."
Tamil Nadu, which is separated from Sri Lanka's north by a narrow strip of sea, has traditionally provided sanctuary to Tamils fleeing the island.
Hundreds and thousands of them poured into the state following anti-Tamil violence in Sri Lanka in 1983. There have been ups and downs in their movement. Presently thousands live in Tamil Nadu, both in refugee camps and outside.
The latest flow began Jan 12 following violence in the eastern Sri Lankan district of Trincomalee. The flow ebbed during February and March but again rose following attacks on Tamils in Trincomalee in April.
Most Sri Lankan Tamils fleeing to India now are from Trincomalee and Mannar, which have witnessed some gory killings amid escalating tensions that threaten to take the island back to full-scale war.
By Shibi Alex Chandy, Paris, June 27 (IANS) French aerospace major Thales has put in it's technical bid for upgrading Mirage 2000 fighters of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and has also sought clarifications on the Indian government's newly-introduced offset clause in defence deals, officials said.
A Thales team will meet defence ministry officials July 14 to take forward the proposal, which was submitted earlier this month, they added.
The retrofitting of the Mirage 2000 would take place at Bangalore's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and this would upgrade the fighter to the Dash-5 category.
This would increase the life of the aircraft, inducted by the IAF in the mid-1980s, by 20-25 years, the officials said.
The IAF has 52 Mirage 2000s in three squadrons.
Under the Indian government's offsets policy introduced this year, 30 percent of all defence deals worth over Rs.3 billion ($64 million) has to be reinvested in the country.
The Thales team would discuss with their Indian counterparts the mechanics of this, the officials said.
The IAF had informally approached Thales last year for the upgrades to extend the fleet's operational capability, as well as air-to-air and air-to-ground superiority to take on multiple targets with multi-role and swing-role capabilities.
"If we are given the order today, we should be able to retrofit the first set of two aircraft in three years. Then after we can do two per month," Frederic Andre, programme manager for Mirage 2000, had told a group of visiting Indian journalists in April.
The aerospace giant has provided avionics and other high-technology systems to most planes flown by the IAF, including the Mirage 2000, SU-30 and MIG-29K for aircraft carrier Gorshkov and proposes to upgrade these systems to the latest generation.
French aircraft maker Dassault that manufactured the Mirage 2000 has now shut down its production line. Dassault is in the race for the 126 medium multi-role fighter aircraft the IAF plans to buy to replace it ageing MiG-21 fleet.
Seven countries, besides India, fly the Mirage 2000. These are Egypt, France, Greece, Peru, Qatar, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates. Of them, France, Greece and the UAE, have opted for Thales upgrades.
Kaiserslautern, June 27 (DPA) A last-gasp penalty in the final minute of injury time by substitute Francesco Totti gave Italy a 1-0 win over Australia to put them into the World Cup quarter-finals Monday.
Italy, down to 10 men for most of the second half, face a quarter-final clash in Hamburg Friday against the winner of Monday's match between Ukraine and Switzerland.
"I have it in me," a delighted Totti said of his coolly-taken penalty. "I just wanted to put it in." He flashed a thumb-in-the-mouth gesture after the strike - for his baby son.
Lucas Neill had brought down Fabio Grosso as the two sides appeared to be heading for extra time. Totti, on since the 75th minute, slammed the ball into his top left-hand corner, giving no chance to goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.
Australian midfielder Tim Cahill said: "I don't know what I'm feeling. It's disbelief. We played well the first half and then we went out to get a goal. And then this guy falls down in the box and he gets a penalty."
Socceroos coach Guus Hiddink was also unconvinced about the penalty decision. "I think the penalty was very doubtful," the Dutchman said. "It was a normal challenge."
But Schwarzer said: "The referee was very, very good and that wasn't the reason why we lost. I told the referee after the penalty decision that the player had just been very tired and dropped down as a result. I'm very disappointed, but we just didn't score any goals."
Italian coach Marco Lippi said: "We weren't afraid of going out because there was always the possibility of extra time. We didn't let them get any real shot in, and we had most of the chances.
We gave them very little room - and then we had that great chance at the end with the penalty. But the Australians played with a lot of heart, and they play really well."
Hiddink, in charge of the Socceroos for the last time, said: "I'm very proud - we acquitted ourselves very well, and I think that there'll be a lot of pride in Australia. Football will advance from being the fourth sport to the first."
The penalty capped an encounter that never really caught fire until towards the end, as the Italian defence held against the Socceroos following Marco Materazzi's 51st-minute sending-off.
The Italians had forced saves off Schwarzer several times during a first half that saw them let the Australians run at their solid defence and wait for their chance on the break.
Schwarzer tipped a 20th-minute Alberto Gilardino effort over the bar, got a desperate foot two minutes later to a shot off danger man Luca Toni after the Fiorentina striker twisted past Vince Grella, then stopped a Toni header in the 34th minute.
By then, the Australians had created their two real chances of the half, a Mark Viduka header off a free kick, and Scott Chipperfield's shot off a loose ball, blocked by Italian keeper Gianluca Buffon.
Lippi preferred Alessandro Del Piero to start over Totti as partner to Toni and Gilardino up front, and by the end of the half his side looked in control.
But the Azzurri were down to 10 men six minutes into the second half when Materazzi was sent off by Spanish referee Luis Medina Cantalejo.
The Inter Milan defender clattered into the legs of the onrushing Marco Bresciano and was harshly shown the first straight red card of the tournament's knock-out phase.
The Socceroos began making the running, and Buffon was lucky in the 59th minute to have Chipperfield shoot straight at him so he could fist the ball away.
"We had the game well under control, but we weren't able to score.
We were kept moving forward, and kept them on the defensive," said Hiddink.
Lippi brought on Totti for Del Piero in the 75th minute as neither team were able to create any further scoring chance, with the lively Toni already substituted after the red card.
Tim Cahill saw his header off a corner go over the bar in the 80th minute as the Australian pressure more than equalled that of Italy's, and Hiddink decided shortly after to bring on John Aloisi to revitalise his attack.
A long-range Bresciano left-foot strike in the 84th minute swept just over the Italian bar, Buffon reacted quickly to stop Viduka moments later, then at the other end Vincenzo Iaquinta was foiled by Schwarzer.
Match statistics:
Italy: Gianluigi Buffon - Gianluca Zambrotta, Fabio Cannavaro, Marco Materazzi, Fabio Grosso - Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Simone Perrotta - Alessandro Del Piero (75. Francesco Totti) - Alberto Gilardino (46.Vincenzo Iaquinta), Luca Toni (56. Andrea Barzagli)
Australia: Mark Schwarzer - Craig Moore, Lucas Neill, Scott Chipperfield - Luke Wilkshire, Vince Grella, Tim Cahill, Jason Culina - Mile Sterjovski, Mark Bresciano - Mark Viduka
Referee: Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain)
Attendance: 46,000
Best players: Buffon, Cannavaro / Neill, Chipperfield