'ULFA abductors spoke English to kidnapped FCI official'

By Syed Zarir Hussain

Guwahati, April 25 (IANS) Assam separatists who abducted a Food Corp of India (FCI) officer over a week ago spoke to him in English, says a FCI driver who too was abducted but released five days later.

The outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) seized Rabiram Basumatary along with FCI executive director Phulchand Ram from Guwahati April 17. Ram remains missing.

Basumatary, released near Barpeta Road town in western Assam Sunday, was not sure of the motive behind the kidnapping as "they were speaking in English and I didn't understand much".

"I could not check my emotions and cried when I was separated from 'Sir' by the militants when they released me," Basumatary told IANS here Wednesday.

"Our car was accosted on the way to Sir's residence. Five men came out of the car and forcibly entered our vehicle and one of them took charge of the steering.

"One of them said they were from ULFA," said Basumatary, who the police interrogated for over two days after his release.

The two kidnapped men were asked to sport black sunglasses and the car sped away with the abductors speaking to Ram in English.

"After wearing the sunglasses, I couldn't see anything. We drove for more than two hours," he said.

The two of them were later made to walk through village roads flanked by armed rebels carrying small weapons, he said.

"We were given shelter in a village house and provided food... By evening we were again made to walk," Basumatary said.

"We were then told that the two of us would be taken to different places. I cried a lot thinking what would happen to us. The captors did not misbehave with me and I was quite okay. But the ordeal was traumatic."

After changing places for the next couple of days, the abductors Sunday morning rode him on a motorbike and dropped him on a highway near Barpeta Road, 160 km west of Guwahati.

"I boarded a bus and headed towards Guwahati. Only then I realised that I was somewhere near Barpeta Road," said Basumatary.

"I went to the police station soon after to report my arrival. I am still a very sad man as my Sir is in captivity."

100 percent sanitation in Madhya Pradesh village

Bhopal, April 25 (IANS) Tarawata village in Madhya Pradesh's Guna district stands apart from other villages - it's spick and span. This has been made possible through the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) launched by the administration almost six months back.

Slogans propagating sanitary habits and cleanliness adorn its walls. The alleys passing through the nearly 200 'pucca' (concrete) houses are bereft of any litter. There are no flying plastic bags, no unwanted paper, no cow dung scattered on the streets that look immaculately clean.

The populace, which consists of mainly Kushwah and Brahmin communities, depends mainly on agriculture for sustenance. And it's not just external cleanliness that the around 1,950 villagers have imbibed.

Only two houses in the village had toilets just six months back. Today, it boasts of having a 100 percent sanitation graph. "Not a single house of the village is without a toilet," says S.K. Mishra, nodal officer of TSC.

"Earlier, the nullahs (drains) would always be choked. But after the district administration's efforts and the implementation of the project, the village has undergone a 'sanitation surgery'," says Sarpanch Hanumant Singh Kushwah.

Initially, a lot of counselling had to be done to convince the villagers to discard the age-old tradition of taking a 'lota' (small utensil) and going out for defecation.

"Motivating them to change their mindset was an extremely arduous task. But gradually each one started aping the other. They understood the importance of having a personal and exclusive toilet," says Mishra.

Even the children of this village have learnt the importance of personal hygiene. Talk to them about the subject and they start parroting lines straight out of the Class 5 environmental science book: "We should wash our hands before eating. We should brush daily. We should bathe daily and wear clean clothes...."

The children of Tarawata now have a game "Play Pump" installed in their schools by which they lift water to the rooftop. This has helped them to get enough water for drinking and cleaning in their school.

This new technique has also helped them understand that electricity is not needed for lifting water - all through the "learn by play" technique.

"What is more important, no case of dysentery has been reported from the village in the past few months. The health indices have become more hygienic," says the sarpanch.

"Efforts of the Guna district team will indeed go a long way in bringing positive results for the children of the district and the state as the scheme is being replicated in other districts," said Hamid El Bashir, the Madhya Pradesh state UNICEF representative.

12 people identified in human trafficking scam

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) Delhi Police has got information on 12 people who travelled abroad on diplomatic passports issued to MPs and their families, a senior official said Wednesday.

Casting new light on the emigration racket, a senior official said that six of the 12 had travelled with Babubhai Katara, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP whose arrest last week unravelled the scam.

This information was provided to the police after they contacted the US embassy and the high commissions of Britain and Canada here through the ministry of external affairs (MEA).

"We have been able to retrieve information about 12 people who might have travelled to the United States and Britain in the past three years," the official said.

"According to initial investigations, six of the 12 had travelled with Babubhai Katara," he added.

Katara, who represents Dahod in Gujarat, was held last Wednesday from the international airport in Delhi while trying to take a woman called Paramjit Kaur and a teenage boy Amarjeet to Toronto on his family's passports.

Police suspect that apart from Katara, the four MPs named by his associates who were arrested Saturday, could also have taken people abroad by using their diplomatic passports.

Police have sent notices to Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MPs from Uttar Pradesh - Mohammed Tahir Khan (Sultanpur), Mitrasen Yadav (Faizabad) and Ashok Rawat (Misrikh) - and BJP's Ramswaroop Koli who represents Bayana in Rajasthan.

Police have made six arrests in the matter and Crime Branch teams are conducting raids in different parts of the country.

21 rebels killed in Sri Lanka's north

Colombo, April 25 (Xinhua) Twenty-one Tamil Tigers were killed Wednesday in Sri Lanka's northern Mannar district during clashes between government troops and the rebels, defence officials said.

Officials said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) began to shell the security forces positions in the early morning hours from the areas east of Madu, forcing the troops to move ahead and sanitise the LTTE's gun and mortar positions.

The military said 28 LTTE members were also injured in the operations.

On the government side, two soldiers were killed and 23 were injured in the battle.

The clashes came a day after an attempt by the LTTE to bomb the military's main base complex in the northern Jaffna peninsula.

Government troops and LTTE rebels were currently locked in fierce battles in the island country's north and east.

More than 4,000 people have been killed since December 2005 despite a Norwegian-arranged truce in place.

The LTTE has been fighting for an independent homeland for Sri Lanka's 12.5 percent Tamil minority since the 1970s.

217 drug related cases exposed in March

Yangon, April 25 (NNN-MNA) The Tatmadaw, Myanmar Police Force and the Customs Department exposed 217 drug-related cases in March 2007.

They seized 93.93 kilos of opium in 56 cases, 1.36 kilos of heroin in 69 cases, 2.94 kilos of opium oil in 10 cases, 4.8 kilos of low-grade opium in 12 cases, 28.1 kilos of marijuana in 17 cases, 18,387 stimulant tablets in 34 cases, 3.39 kilos of opium speciosa in eight cases, nine kilos of ephedrine in one case, 195 bottles of buprenorphine injection in one case, one case on failure to register and eight other cases.

Action was taken against 322 persons � 253 men and 69 women � in all the reported cases.

30 killed in Kashmir road accident

Jammu, April 25 (IANS) At least 30 people were killed Wednesday when a passenger bus skidded off the road and rolled into the river Kalai in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.

According to the police, the bus was on its way from Poonch to Surankote when the accident occurred about 240 km north of Jammu.

Police had put the death toll to 15 earlier but later said that 30 people were killed.

It is the second road accident in the district in a little over a week. Fourteen passengers were killed and 20 wounded April 17 when a bus fell into a gorge in Saujian area of the district.

65 Ethiopians, nine Chinese massacred in ambush

Addis Ababa, April 25 (NNN-ENA) Sixty-five civilian Ethiopians and nine Chinese citizens have been killed in an ambush by the self-styled Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) in eastern Ethiopia, the Ministry of Information said in a statement here Tuesday.

The ministry said at around 5am on Monday, the terrorists ambushed the employees of a Chinese company exploring for petroleum at Abule area in Degehabur zone in eastern Ethiopia. Those killed were all civilian workers at camp that was about to wake up for the day’s work.

They have also kidnapped seven Chinese and Ethiopian civilians and members of the Ethiopian National Defence Forces who were on the lookout at the area in their few numbers have also been victimized by the terror ambush.

The statement said ONLF is a terrorist wing which is part of the front of destruction led by the Eritrean Government.

“This massacre of our innocent civilian citizens and Chinese development workers is an ambush of cowardice similar in its terrorist motive to that perpetrated earlier at an area in the northeastern part of our country. This latest terrorist attacks is much more horrendous, however, than the preceding act of terrorism,� it added.

7.9 billion USD needed for short-term SADC power projects

Harare, April 25 (NNN-NEW ZIANA) Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries will require an estimated 7.9 billion USD by 2010 to complete short-term power projects aimed at alleviating shortages, SADC acting chief director Remmy Makumbe says.

He told New Ziana on Tuesday on the sidelines of the ongoing three-day regional conference on energy here that the projects would see the generation of an additional 11,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity.

“Since 2005, a number of projects have been completed on a short-term basis to provide additional capacity within the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP),� he said, adding that a number of projects were still ongoing but would not be able to release capacity in the short-term.

He said the region, which has the capacity to generate 53,000 MW, was generating around 45,000 MW.

In order to alleviate power shortages, Makumbe said the region was working on short-term projects with two plants to be commissioned by the end of May in South Africa and one in Swaziland to address the energy shortfalls. The projects would add slightly over 200 MW to the pool, he said.

Existing power stations were being rehabilitated, including Kafue and Kariba North in Zambia, Kariba South in Zimbabwe, Capanda in Angola and Ubongo in Tanzania. These were expected to generate an additional power capacity of about 1,100 megawatts, he said.

Medium to long-term projects to be implemented after 2010 would add about 32,000 MW at an estimated cost of 32 billion USD, said Makumbe, who cited lack of funding as a major hindrance to the implementation of the projects.

In 2004, the SADC Council met in Mauritius to review the energy situation in the region where the issue of imminent power shortages in 2007 was discussed. The SADC Secretariat and SAPP were asked to come up with a roadmap on implementation of projects aimed at addressing the shortfalls.

Some of these measures include provision of inter-connectors to connect new powers stations into SAPP and to provide inter-connectors to bring Tanzania, Malawi and Angola into the power pool.

Most SADC countries are facing power deficits as a result of declining generation capacity. The region is experiencing three per cent growth in demand for electricity, which does not correspond to the growth in capacity generation of power.

ADB opens office in Muzaffarabad for quake relief work

Islamabad, April 25 (Xinhua) The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Wednesday opened a fully staffed office in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, to coordinate its assistance in rebuilding the quake-hit region.

The move comes as the Manila-based development bank gears up to approve the disbursement of $400 million in new funds for projects that will address the needs of the quake-affected area very flexibly, according to a statement issued here by ADB.

ADB said it has already disbursed $183.8 million, with 72 million being used for rebuilding schools and other education projects, 69.3 million for reconstructing roads and other transport projects, 27.5 million for the health sector and 14.9 million for the power sector.

Until now, the ADB's quake-relief work has been coordinated from its Resident Mission in Pakistani capital of Islamabad, some 110 km away from Muzaffarabad, and the establishment of the new Extended Mission office is the first of its kind for the bank in Pakistan.

An earthquake measuring 7.6 on the international Richter scale in October 2005 hit northern Pakistan, leaving over 73,000 people dead and some 3.5 million displaced in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Pakistani Kashmir.

According to the statement, Muzaffarabad was chosen as the site of the ADB office because of its close proximity and access to all five earthquake-affected districts of NWFP and the four districts of Pakistani Kashmir.

Afghan president expresses condolence to Russia over death of Yeltsin

Kabul, April 25 (Xinhua) Afghan President Hamid Karzai has offered his condolence to the Russian people over the death of former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, a statement said Wednesday.

Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin made tough decisions for the transformation of Russia during difficult times, Karzai said in the statement issued by the Afghan presidential palace.

Karzai expressed his heartfelt sympathies and condolences to the family of Yeltsin and to the Russian people in the statement.

Yeltsin, 76, died from heart failure on Monday.

After 21 days of freedom, 60 years of colonisation

By Sarwar Kashani

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) Known as the Northern Areas in Pakistan and seen as part of its Jammu and Kashmir by India, the Gilgit-Baltistan area enjoyed freedom for just 21 days in 1947 and has since been denied basic human and democratic rights, says an activist from the region.

"Gilgit Baltistan is a colony of Pakistan and we don't even have rights that equal the rights of slaves of middle ages," says advocate Mohammed Iqbal of the Karakoram National Movement (KNM).

The group started in the 1980s by students who wanted social and legal rights later evolved into a movement for the right to self-determination as people began to feel that the area was legally part of a larger Kashmir and its status could not be determined until the core issue was resolved.

"This unique region that has endured a crucial period in history is forced to live like a state in the medieval times," Iqbal told IANS in an email interview.

"The area remained an independent state for 21 days after Nov 1, 1947. What happened afterwards is known to all," Iqbal recalls the history of area.

Soon after the area was occupied by Pakistan military-backed tribals.

"It (Gilgit Baltistan) is being considered an integral part of Pakistan as the Northern Areas, but the reality is far removed from the perception developed about the region during the last 60 years," he said.

To ensure that their "unheard" voices reach the world and to press for "reunification" of the territory, the KNM is holding an international seminar in Gilgit in May.

Amongst the invitees are Jammu and Kashmir politicians, both from the mainstream and separatist wings. These include National Conference President Omar Abdullah, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front's Yasin Malik, Sajjad Lone of the Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference as well as journalists.

"Apart from political rights, there is a long list of economic and social exploitation we hope to discuss in the proposed conference," Iqbal said.

"We want to press the demand for reunification of the territory and people (under Pakistan control) with the rest of the divided lot."

According to him, the Karakoram region should be included in the process of resolution of the Kashmir issue "as it is very much part of the pre-1947 territory of Jammu and Kashmir territory".

Karakoram - generally known as Gilgit Baltistan - is a territory spreading from Shinaki Kohistan to Chitral (in Pakistan) up to Tashkurgan (under Chinese occupation) and from Ladakh to Kargil in India.

When British rule came to an end in 1947, the region was conquered by Pakistan in 1948 tribal raids. Pakistan later "gifted" a part of the territory towards the extreme north to China.

Stringent Pakistani laws make the region inaccessible to foreigners and there are few media reports from the region. It's also unlikely that leaders from this side would be allowed to attend the conference.

Detailing the conditions they live in, he said that under Pakistani rule there is "limited political liberty to exercise as the region is without any constitutional and legal protection".

"The whole region is run under a single page Legal Framework Order (LFO) by the chief executive (of the region). There is a so-called elected body known as Northern Areas Legislative Council that has no right even to elect its chief executive or pass a no confidence (motion) to remove the head imposed by the Pakistani establishment," he added.

Things are beginning to change, however. Of late, political movements to restore democratic and human rights are slowly coming up with groups "firmly standing against state sponsored exploitation".

Dozens of KNM activists are in jail and hundreds are facing charges of anti state activities.

"More than six young workers were killed by state agents in Karachi and Gilgit recently.

"One of our great comrades Ghazi Anwar committed suicide in front of UN offices in Kabul in protest against the human rights violation in Gilgit and Baltistan," Iqbal recalled.

(Sarwar Kashani can be contacted at s.kashani@ians.in)

Al-Qaida thriving despite war on terror: Top UK policeman

London, Apr 25(IRNA) Scotland Yard's head of counter-terrorism command has warned that al-Qaida has retained the ability to order devastating attacks on Britain after surviving the six-year long "war on terror" launched by the US and UK governments.

Deputy assistant commissioner Peter Clarke said that terrorists were on an "inexorable trend to more ambitious and more destructive attack planning".

"We have seen how al-Qaida has been able to survive a prolonged multinational assault on its structures, personnel and logistics. It has certainly retained its ability to deliver centrally directed attacks here in the UK," Clarke warned.

In a major speech at the right-wing Policy Exchange on Tuesday, he presented Osama bin Laden's terrorist network as a formidable organization saying, "Global in origin, reach and ambition" as well as being "large, fluid, mobile and incredibly resilient."
"In case after case, the hand of core al-Qaida can be clearly seen. Arrested leaders or key players are quickly replaced, and disrupted networks will be formed again quickly," the National Coordinator of Terrorist Investigations in Britain said.

According to extracts of his speech, Clarke also dismissed critics who claimed that terrorist threat to the UK was overblown and instead demanded greater community help, warning that "the extremists have a momentum that must be stopped."
He said few anti-terrorist operations are sparked by intelligence from Britain's Muslim communities.

"Almost all of our prosecutions have their origins in intelligence that came from overseas, the intelligence agencies or from technical means," he said.

"The communities must believe, and it must be reality, that the police stand aside from politics in the exercise of their powers," the head of counter-terrorism command argued.

His warning was that there was a dangerous distrust based on allegations that police operations were politically motivated to justify British foreign policy.

"I think it is no exaggeration to say that lack of public trust in intelligence is in danger of infecting the relationship between the police and the communities we serve," he said.

"Communities," Clarke insisted, "must believe, and it must be reality, that the police stand aside from politics in the exercise of their powers."
He also condemned unauthorized leaks about counter-terrorism investigations and suggested that they may be politically motivated to "curry favor with certain journalists, or to squeeze out some short-term presentational advantage."

Algerian Minister attends int'nal LPG forum in Barcelona

Algiers, April 25 (NNN-NEW ZIANA) Algerian Energy and Mines Minister Chakib Khelil is leading a delegation to the 15th International LNG Conference and Exhibition being held in Barcelona from April 24 to 27, the ministry said in a statement here.

This three-yearly meeting, in which Khelil will be accompanied by senior executives of the national hydrocarbons company, Sonatrach, constitutes the biggest event in the international Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) industry", the statement added.

During his stay in Barcelona, the minister will hold meetings with several ministers and personalities in the world LNG industry as well as companies managers, the statement said.

The candidacy of Algeria, a major LNG exporter, was retained for the organization of the conferences of the 16th LNG Conference (LNG 16) in 2010.

It becomes one of the few countries to hold the meeting for the second time, after having hosted in 1974 its 4th edition, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, Sonatrach announced on Sunday that it has made on its own a new gas strike in the region of In Salah. The discovered well is located in the area of Ahnet (block 340a), Sonatrach said in a press release.

According to technical information provided by Sonatrach, the drilling has reached 2750 metres in depth. Sonatrach has made a total of seven strikes of hydrocarbons since the beginning of this year, including four in collaboration with its foreign partners.

Andhra Pradesh cabinet to be expanded Thursday

Hyderabad, April 25 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy will expand his cabinet Thursday, taking its strength to 42 in a long awaited move.

As many as 17 new ministers will be sworn in by Governor Rameswar Thakur at the Raj Bhavan at 7.45 a.m.

T. Jeevan Reddy, G. Chinna Reddy, Mahesh Goud, K. Krishna Reddy, M. Hanumantha Rao and G. Aruna Kumari are among the prominent legislators of the ruling Congress likely to be included in the cabinet.

Senior legislator P. Janardhan Reddy, a bitter critic of the chief minister, was again ignored, said Congress party sources.

Earlier this month, Janardhan Reddy had demanded that a backward class leader from Telangana region should be made deputy chief minister but Rajasekhara Reddy has reportedly decided against appointing a deputy.

The chief minister has been delaying the expansion for nearly two years. Six vacancies had arisen after the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) ministers pulled out in 2005 but were not filled.

Angola, Mozambique sign MoU to follow up on implementation of accords

Maputo, April 25 (NNN-ANGOP) Angola and Mozambique have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to set up a mechanism for annual consultation and follow-up of the implementation of accords existing between the two countries.

The accord was signed here Monday by Angolan Foreign Minister João Miranda, and his Mozambican counterpart, Alcinda Abreu, within the framework of the two-day official visit the former made that African Portuguese speaking country on the Indian Ocean.

The signing of the accord was preceded by a private meeting between the two ministers, who also discussed the existing co-operation and the situation prevailing in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and in the African Portuguese Speaking Community (PALOP), of which the two countries are members.

Miranda said the MoU was aimed at boosting the follow-up mechanism set up during the 6th session of the Angola-Mozambique joint commission held in 2002, in Maputo.

The said mechanism is aimed at assessing the implementation of the accords signed in the domains of Fisheries, Youth and Sports, Justice, Public Works and Housing.

Miranda considered as good the relations between Angola and Mozambique, but admitted economic co-operation is still far from reaching the excellent level of political relations, hence the need for a closer follow-up of the implementation of the accords.

Annan urges G8 leaders to meet African aid pledge

Berlin, April 25, (IRNA) Former UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan here Tuesday called on leaders of the G8 countries to meet their African aid pledge, made at the G8 summit in Gleneagles in July 2005.

Announcing the launching of the African Progress Panel at a news conference in Berlin, Annan said G8 and African governments must honor their promises in order to meet the UN millennium development goals by 2015.

"The sole purpose of the African Progress Panel... is to work with G8 and African governments to honor their commitments. Some progress has been made, more needs to be done," added Annan who was scheduled to meet later in the day with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

He stressed that Germany as the current chairman of the G8 played a crucial role "in pushing the program forward".

Annan said that the newly created Africa Progress Panel whose members include the former managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Michel Camdessus, ex-US secretary of the Treasury, Robert E.Rubin and 2006 Nobel Peace prize winner Muhammad Yunus will "focus on performance and action".

"Our panel brings to table considerable experience and judgement," he added.

Annan warned that if G8 countries don't meet their 2010 promises, he millennium goals may not be achieved by 2015.

G8 leaders at Gleneagles promised to cancel the debts of poorer countries which has mainly been achieved.

However the Gleneagles summit also promised to reform world trade rules to give poor countries easier access to the rich world's markets.

No progress has yet been achieved and the current round of world trade talks is slated to end in July.

As head of the G8, Germany will make Africa a top priority during this summer's G8 summit in the northeastern Baltic Sea resort of Heiligendamm.

Asian spirit set to revive Zamboanga-Sandakan route

Kota Kinabalu, April 25 (NNN-Bernama) Travelling tourists and businessmen from Philippines' Zamboanga City to Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia may soon be able to cut travel cost and time as regular flights along this route are set to resume next month.

In support of enhancing traffic movement within Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and the East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), Asian Spirit, a domestic passenger airline, will start flying the Zamboanga-Sandakan route from May 7 twice weekly for the first two weeks and this will subsequently be increased to thrice a week.

According to a statement issued by the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo) Wednesday, the airline will also operate the Zamboanga-Jolo route from May 1 and between Zamboanga and Tawi-Tawi from May 2.

Asian Spirit has scheduled Monday-Wednesday-Friday flights from Zamboanga to Jolo and Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday flights from Zamboanga to Tawi-Tawi.

The Zamboanga-Sandakan flights will also follow the Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule.

John Baricuatro, head of Asian Spirit Davao, said the air links needed to be increased in support of the growing demand for air traffic in these areas, particularly Zamboanga and Sandakan.

"We are re-establishing our links between Zamboanga and Sandakan because we see growing business opportunities within these areas," Baricuatro said, adding that the more than one million population in Sabah offered bright prospects for air travel between Zamboanga to Sandakan.

In a meeting with MEDCo Tuesday, Baricuatro cited the need for strong government support as airline industry players endeavour to serve the skies of EAGA.

The Mindanao-Malaysia route was previously served by South Phoenix Airways which started operations in December 2004 until July 2005.

In 2006, a Filipino-Russian joint venture Mosphil Aero revived the link but the move was not sustained.

Asian Spirit's flight of one hour and 40 minutes from Zamboanga-Sandakan offers an alternative to the 14-hour sea travel by the SRN Fast Seacraft and Alesson Shipping Lines. It also offers a cheaper flight option to the Kota Kinabalu-Clark (Pampanga)-Manila-Zamboanga route taken by most traders.

Baricuatro said the Zamboanga-Sandakan route provides an alternative link between Sandakan and other economic centres in EAGA such as Kota Kinabalu and Kuching in Malaysia, Tawi-Tawi in the Philippines and Brunei.

To help ensure a viable operating cost for its first two years, Asian Spirit is requesting the Malaysian authorities to waive the airport tax, parking fees and landing charges at the Sandakan International Airport, he said.

This incentive, he added, will help the airline maintain reasonable operating cost for the development of the route as well as other air routes in the BIMP-EAGA.

BIMP-EAGA countries have been pushing for the expansion of air links in the sub-region in an effort to promote and enhance intra-regional trade, tourism and investment cooperation among the focus areas.

The provision of air services in the BIMP-EAGA is envisioned to bring about greater accessibility, facilitate mobility of peopleand enhance the flow of goods and commodities in addition to attracting investors to locate in the sub-region.

Astronomers find "second Earth"

BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhuanet) -- European astronomers announced they have discovered the smallest and potentially most Earth-like planet yet outside the solar system, according to media reports Wednesday.

Fives times as massive as Earth, it orbits a relatively cool star at a distance that would provide earthly temperatures as well, signaling the possibility of liquid water and, potentially, life.

"The separation between the planet and its star is just right for having liquid water at its surface," said astronomer and team spokesperson Stephane Udry of the Observatory of Geneva in Versoix, Switzerland. "That's why we are a bit excited."

But researchers do not yet know if the planet contains water, if it is truly rocky like Earth, which might make it hospitable to life as we know it, or whether it is blanketed by a thick atmosphere.

The researchers said they detected the presence of two new extrasolar planets (exoplanets) around a red dwarf star, Gliese 581, 20.5 light-years away in the constellation Libra, based on slight motions of the star. Their discovery brings the total number of planets orbiting Gliese 581 to three; two years ago they made the initial finding of a planet there.

They believed that many smallish exoplanets exist, but so far they have only found 13 "super Earths" weighing in at less than 20 Earth masses, compared with more than 200 heavier gaseous planets. Udry's group searched for smaller planets using a telescope called HARPS (High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher), which looks for stars that wobble slightly.

The smaller of the new planets, dubbed Gliese 581 c, orbits at one fourteenth the distance between Earth and the sun. But the red dwarf is 50 times cooler than the sun. The group estimates that the planet would experience temperatures in the zero-to-40-degree-Celsius (32 to 104 Fahrenheit) range.

The big question is whether there really is water on Gliese 581 c's surface, which requires that its surface be solid. Udry said planets smaller than 15 Earth masses are likely to be rocky or icy.

David Charbonneau, astronomer of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass., is more cautious. A five-Earth-mass planet "sort of looks like Earth, but it sort of looks like Neptune. So which is it?" he said. "There's just no way to know."

Astronomers find first habitable planet outside solar system

Garching (Germany), April 25 (DPA) The first habitable planet similar in size and conditions to earth has been located in a distant solar system, once again raising the possibility of life on other planets, scientists said Wednesday.

The as-yet unnamed planet is only about one-and-a-half times the size of earth and five times more massive, a team of European astronomers announced at the European Southern Observatory in Garching, Germany.

"We have estimated that the mean temperature of this super-earth lies between zero and 40 degrees Celsius, and water would thus be liquid," said Stephane Udry of the Geneva Observatory. "Models predict that the planet should be either rocky like our earth or covered with oceans."

The planet is located around a star known as the Gliese 581, about 20.5 light years from earth's solar system and one of the 100 closest stars to the sun. Though the planet is much closer to its star than earth is to the sun, conditions are similar because the Gliese 581, known as a red dwarf, is smaller and colder. One year lasts only 13 days on the planet.

"Red dwarfs are ideal targets for the search for such planets because they emit less light, and the habitable zone is thus much closer to them than it is around the sun," said Xavier Bonfils of Lisbon University.

More than 200 so-called exoplanets - planets outside of the sun's solar system - have been discovered in the past 12 years since the first one was found. Most are massive bowls of gas similar to Jupiter.

The same team of astronauts discovered another planet around the same red dwarf two years ago - a Neptune-sized planet about 15 times as massive as earth. An extensive analysis of the latest find is to be revealed in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Xavier Delfosse of Grenoble University in France said the newfound planet could inhabit life and will definitely be a target of future space missions to find extra-terrestrial beings.

"Liquid water is critical to life as we know it," he said. "On the treasure map of the Universe, one would be tempted to mark this planet with an X."

AU mission in Sudan welcomes inaguration of Dafur authority

Khartoum, April 25 (NNN-SUNA) The African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) has warmly welcomed the inauguration of the Transitional Darfur Regional Authority (TDRA), which was formally launched here Monday.

In a release it issued Tuesday, the AU Mission said that the TDRA is a central part of the power sharing arrangements of the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) and its launching marks a major milestone in its implementation".

AMIS Acting Head of Mission Monique Mukaruliza said: "Its inauguration is especially welcome, coming as it does as we approach the first anniversary of the signing of the Agreement."

The AU Mission said the DPA makes clear that the TDRA should serve as the principal instrument for its implementation and for enhancing coordination and cooperation among the three states.

It also says that it should act as a symbol of reconciliation and unity for the people of Darfur in their efforts to build a future based on peace and good neighbourliness.

It is central to the Peace Process and it is in this light that AMIS and the African Union commend all those who have participated and contributed to turning it into a reality and in particular the Government of Sudan, the SLM/A and the signatories to the Declaration of Commitment.

The AMIS pledged to continue to provide support and cooperation along with its other International Partners to assist in making the TDRA a success on the ground and in helping it become a truly inclusive institution that represents the desires and aspirations of the people of Darfur.

Australia dismiss South Africa for 149

St. Lucia (Gros Islet), April 25 (IANS) South Africa continued to 'choke' in big matches as it was evident in the second World Cup semi-final against defending champions Australia Wednesday when they were bowled out for 149 in 43.4 overs - their lowest Cup total.

Fast bowler Shaun Tait was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets while Glenn McGrath took three scalps at the Beausejour Stadium.

The downfall started early, with an utterly careless shot from South Africa captain Graeme Smith, who won the toss, and it never stopped. Only Justin Kemp (49, 91 balls, 4x4s, 1x6) and Herschelle Gibbs (39, 49 balls, 6x4s) stayed put for a while.

The winner of this match will clash with Sri Lanka in the final at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, Saturday.

Australia are seeking their third successive World Cup title.

SCOREBOARD

Second semi-final, Australia vs. South Africa, Beausejour Cricket Ground, Gros Islet, St. Lucia

South Africa:
Graeme Smith b Bracken 2
A.B. de Villiers c Gilchrist b Tait 15
Jacques Kallis b McGrath 5
Herschelle Gibbs c Gilchrist b Tait 39
Ashwell Prince c Gilchrist b McGrath 0
Mark Boucher c Hayden b McGrath 0
Jacques Kemp not out 49
Andrew Hall c Gilchrist b Tait 3
Shaun Pollock c & b Hogg 5
Andre Nel c Clarke b Tait 8
Charl Langeveldt b Watson 6
Extras: (lb 4, w 13) 17
Total: (all out in 43.5 overs) 149

Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Smith, 2.3 overs), 2-12 (Kallis, 5.3), 3-26 (de Villiers, 8.5), 4-27 (Prince, 9.4), 5-27 (Boucher, 9.5), 6-87 (Gibbs, 22.5), 7-93 (Hall, 26.1), 8-103 (Pollock, 29.4), 9-130 (Nel, 40.1)

Bowling:
Nathan Bracken 7 2 15 1
Glenn McGrath 8 1 18 3 (1w)
Shaun Tait 10 0 39 4 (5w)
Shane Watson 8.5 0 49 1
Brad Hogg 10 2 24 1 (3w)

Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and Steve Bucknor (West Indies)
TV umpire: Billy Bowden (New Zealand)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand)

‘Leave madrasas to us, remove Muslim backwardness’

New Delhi, April 25 (Indianmuslims.info) Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind general secretary Maulana Syed Mahmood Madani urged the government to leave madrasas to their management committees and instead take practical effective measures to remove the backwardness of Muslims.

The Jamiat leader was reacting to the Congress leader Suresh Pachauri’s statement that Muslims stand in need of introducing modern subjects to madrasa curriculum besides reservation in job opportunities in order to make madrasa alumni self-sufficient. They were interacting in a seminar on Life and Services of Maulana Asad Madani held at Vigyan Bhawan here Tuesday.

“If the Union Government is really sincere in uplifting the Muslim community, it should take effective measures to remove its backwardness and uplift them by providing them with reservation in job opportunities, and opening colleges and technical and professional educational institutions for them,� said Maulana Madani, adding that it is their right which they have been deprived of since independence.

“As Muslims have run the management of madrasas themselves as yet, they would not hold themselves from carrying out this Ummatic responsibility. Muslims want progress and uplift, not any interference in their madrasas,� he stressed adding that “we would bear the expenses incurred on running madrasas even when we will be left to live on half a meal a day.�

Bail pleas of Katara's wife, son dismissed

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) A Delhi court Wednesday refused to grant anticipatory bails to the wife and the son of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Babubhai Katara who is at the heart of a human trafficking scandal and in police custody.

Additional Sessions Judge V.K. Bansal rejected bail pleas of Shardaben and Bhaveshbhai, holding that the two could not be granted legal relief at this stage as the investigation into the human trafficking scam was at initial stage.

The court said that the fact that diplomatic passports of the two had been used in the racket deters this court from granting bail at this stage.

The court had earlier in the day reserved its order.

Shardaben and Bhaveshbhai made the plea as their diplomatic passports were used by Katara April 18 when he was caught at the international airport here while trying to smuggle out a woman and a teenager boy to Toronto.

The lawyer for Shardaben and Bhaveshbhai had sought bail for his clients saying that they were apprehensive they would be arrested as their passports had been misused.

However, the public prosecutor termed the bail plea as "premature" and said police had not even issued notices to seek their cooperation in the probe.

Police told the court that Katara's family had hurriedly withdrawn around Rs.700,000 from their bank accounts after the incident, which raised suspicions.

The Delhi High Court had Tuesday declined to grant anticipatory bail to Shardaben and her son as well as daughter and asked them to approach a lower court.

Ban: World trade talks must succeed or poorest nations will suffer

By Lavinia Mahlangu

United Nations, April 25 (NNN-BUANEWS) United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned that the current round of international trade talks must succeed, or the world's poorest countries will slip further behind.

Addressing the Seventh Forum on Democracy, Development and Free Trade in Doha, Qatar, on Monday, Ban said the entire multilateral trading system would be in jeopardy should the new round of talks fail.

Named after the city where they were launched in 2001, the Doha Round of trade talks stalled last year amid disputes between developed and developing countries over agricultural subsidies, but talks have resumed recently.

Ban warned that if the latest talks fail, "serious damage will be done to those who can least afford it, to the multilateral trading system, and to multilateralism itself.

"Should this round of trade talks succeed, Doha will become synonymous not only with free trade, but also indelibly linked to development."

The Secretary General urged UN member states to re-double their efforts to reach agreement regarding sensitive issues in the realm of international trade, such as agricultural subsidies which benefit farmers in developed nations and effectively price-out farmers in emerging economies.

"The global trading regime needs to create opportunities for the poorest countries, instead of leaving them at a disadvantage," said Ban, who urged countries to work towards "truly free trade," transparent governance and institutions based on the will of the people, and sustainable development and globalization that benefits everyone, and not just some of the world's peoples.

While in Qatar, the UN chief has also met with the country's Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, and its Prime Minister, Sheikh Hamad ibn Jassem bin Jabr Al-Thani, as well as Finland's President Tarja Halonen, who opened the forum.

His last stop on the trip, which began in Italy, will be Damascus, Syria, where meetings with senior government officials, including President Bashar Assad, are expected.

On Saturday in Geneva, Ban concluded the latest two-day meeting of the Chief Executives Board (CEB), which brings together top officials from across the UN system.

The CEB agreed to restructure arrangements for co-operation among UN entities to ensure a more transparent, cost-effective and coherent approach to developing common programmes.

They also agreed to support the "aid-for-trade" initiative, which is designed to help poorer nations to take a greater role in the international trading system.

Bangladesh Govt to review moves of keeping Zia, Hasina abroad

Dhaka, April 25 (NNN-PTI) The military-backed interim Government in Bangladesh is expected to review its earlier plans of keeping former Prime Ministers Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina outside the country while carrying out electoral reforms after both the leaders stood firm against the moves.

The interim cabinet with chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed was expected to join a meeting later Wednesday to revise its earlier plan as Hasina, now in London, challenged in court the temporary ban on her homecoming, while Zia reportedly took a firm stand against going into "exile" under an earlier negotiated deal with the caretaker administration, the 'Prothom Alo' daily said.

Official sources, however, said difficulties in issuance of visa delayed Zia's scheduled departure for Saudi Arabia as the kingdom reportedly was in a dilemma on the status or type of the visa to be issued for a longer stay of the high-profile woman in their land.

Saudi authorities also needed Zia to "testify to the fact that she would indeed be entering the kingdom of her own free will".

An adviser of the interim cabinet preferring anonymity told the newspaper that the government earlier planned to carry out reforms "cleaning politics" temporarily keeping the two leaders outside the country as "we did not want them to wander in court premises to face corruption and other charges".

Meanwhile, Hasina's lawyers have termed as "unconstitutional" the ban on her return home as she was denied a boarding pass by British Airways authorities three days ago following a request from the caretaker government in Dhaka.

Bangladeshi government withdraws restriction on Hasina return

Dhaka, April 25 (Xinhua) Bangladeshi caretaker government on Wednesday withdrew the restrictions on former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's return to the country, local news agency UNB reported.

A press note issued by Home Ministry Wednesday said the government issued a press note on April 18 following apprehensions aroused by recent statements and activities of Hasina, now abroad, and concerns for her "personal security".

The step was taken "in public interest and as a special cautionary measure."

"It was clearly stated in this (previous) press note, issued by the Home Ministry, that the step was temporary," says Wednesday's press note.

"In view of reports on the media and opinions of different quarters, government has decided to withdraw the previous step," it said.

Hasina, President of Awami League (AL), Bangladesh's main political party, was scheduled to return home on April 23 ending her more than a month long private visit to the United States.

The caretaker government on April 18 imposed a ban on Sheikh Hasina's return to Bangladesh in apprehension of jeopardizing law and order, stability, public security and economic life.

Bangladeshi parties seek to close ranks against government

Dhaka, April 25 (IANS) Burying traditional rivalry, Bangladesh's second rank political leaders are seeking to rally against a government that has virtually exiled one former prime minister and is trying to send the other out of the country.

While Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina has been literally stranded in London after being stopped from boarding the flight to Dhaka, efforts are on to send Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Khaleda Zia to Saudi Arabia with her family.

And a picture akin to the late 1980s is already being conjured up -- when parties closed ranks and jointly fought Gen. H.M. Ershad, eventually forcing him to step down in 1990.

As had happened then, the Left parties, whose grassroots support seldom translates into votes during elections, are helping in the process. Cementing the efforts is a statement by Hasina disapproving of the government's attempts to force Zia out of the country.

BNP leader Hannan Shah appreciated the statement and said it seemed that political parties might end up launching "a simultaneous movement like the ones in the mid-80s".

BNP joint secretary general and official spokesperson Nazrul Islam Khan added: "We thank Sheikh Hasina for her good remarks about Khaleda Zia."

The second tiers of leadership of the two major political parties seem to have started an identical process of consolidating their respective parties under the leaderships of Zia and Hasina though many of them are believed to be "under intense pressure from certain powerful quarters" to dissociate with the two top leaders, New Age newspaper said.

The newspaper did not elaborate, but the closing of ranks comes amidst rumblings in both major parties where front ranking leaders ignored by the two women have become vocal.

The government is believed to have facilitated this. It has pressed a murder charge against Hasina while removing the names of several Awami League leaders from the first information report (FIR).

Some Awami League leaders have also started contacting Hasina, now in London, for reconciliation within the party, party sources said.

Awami League presidium member Suranjit Sengupta told New Age that they "are united under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina. There would be no split within Awami League".

A BNP standing committee member added that a move was underway to remove misunderstanding created between party chairperson Khaleda Zia and secretary general Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan.

"We are in touch with senior leaders of both Awami League and BNP so that the leaderships of the parties remain united," a leader of a Left leaning party was quoted as saying.

"The political process here will be ruined if the conspiracy to split the two major parties becomes successful," he said.

Asked about the ongoing 'political crisis' over the reported move to send Zia and Hasina into exile, adviser to the law, justice and parliamentary affairs ministry, Mainul Hosein, said Tuesday: "It is too big a matter to talk. We (cabinet) will sit together to discuss the issue."

Bayrou stays neutral in French presidential race

Paris, April 25 (DPA) As expected, centrist Francois Bayrou stayed neutral in the French presidential race, saying Wednesday that, rather than support either Nicolas Sarkozy or Segolene Royal, he would establish a new social-democratic party.

At an eagerly awaited press conference in Paris, Bayrou said that both Sarkozy and Royal would only aggravate France's problems, and so he would not give instructions to his supporters but leave them free to make their own choice of whom to vote for in the May 6 runoff election.

"I will not go back on our path of liberty," Bayrou said. "I am not looking for nor will accept any submissiveness or rallying to one of the two sides."

He added that he did not know whom he would vote for on May 6. He also declared that he would not accept a ministerial position in whatever government was formed after the election.

"In this election, the French people are stuck between two risks, one about the way power is exercised and a conception of French society; and the other (is) a severe risk regarding the platform. I do not accept any of these risks," Bayrou said.

The new party will "present candidates for all the upcoming elections, and first for the legislative elections (in June), to represent those French men and women who want a new, independent (brand of) politics", Bayrou said.

The party would "propose to re-establish (France's) institutions so that the word democracy finds its meaning in France", he said, and described it as "social democracy for the 21st century".

Bayrou, who received 18.57 percent of the ballots cast, or 6.8 million votes, in Sunday's first round of the presidential election, had been the target of intense lobbying by both Sarkozy's and Royal's camps.

His rejection of their offers represents a blow to Royal's chances. Polls show that more United Democratic France (UDF) supporters would vote for Royal than for Sarkozy if the election were held now. However, without Bayrou's explicit support, it is unlikely that she will attract enough centrist voters to win on May 6.

Late Tuesday, she offered to give Bayrou's old party, the UDF, several ministries if she is elected and to alter some planks of her platform to accommodate him.

A number of UDF parliamentarians have come out in support of Sarkozy, in large part because they were elected to their posts in 2002 in alliance with the UMP.

However, since then Bayrou has taken a more independent political course, which paid off in his strong showing on Sunday.

By riding the wave of that showing and establishing himself as what he called "a third force" in France, the 55-year-old Bayrou is no doubt already looking ahead at the 2012 presidential election.

Bomb attack kills seven Afghan soldiers

Kabul, April 25 (Xinhua) A roadside bombing killed seven Afghan soldiers in Waza Khwa district of the eastern Paktika province Wednesday, provincial governor Akram Khapalwak said.

A remote-controlled bomb attacked a vehicle carrying some Afghan soldiers at around 9:00 a.m. in the district, Khapalwak said.

Seven soldiers were killed and one injured, he said, adding the vehicle was totally damaged.

No one has claimed responsibility, but Taliban militants have frequently carried out similar attacks.

A suicide car bomber targeted Mata Khan district chief in the province earlier Wednesday, but caused no casualties.

Due to rising Taliban-linked insurgency, over 900 persons, mostly Taliban rebels, have been killed in Afghanistan this year.

Book travel agents for human smuggling, murder: Ramoowalia

Chandigarh, April 25 (IANS) Former union minister and president of the Lok Bhalai Party Balwant Singh Ramoowalia Wednesday demanded that travel agents sending youths and women illegally to foreign countries should be booked for human smuggling and charged with murder in the event of death of the illegal immigrants in other countries.

Addressing reporters here, Ramoowalia said that his worst fears of a nexus between unscrupulous travel agents, police and politicians had come true with the arrest of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Babubhai Katara, who was arrested last week while trying to take a woman and a teenager to Canada on the passports of his wife and son.

"The truth has come out in the open. We were trying to expose this racket for the last few years. The travel agents tried their best to silence us but we stood our ground. Cases of cheating, kidnapping, extortion, human smuggling and even murder should be registered against them," Ramoowalia said.

He said that over 1,500 young men and married women had been killed in other countries in the last few years.

He said that some 15,000-20,000 youths from Punjab were languishing either in jails of foreign countries or were hiding in forests and deserts in countries like Morocco, Spain and Portugal.

"As many as 1,500 youth are rotting in the Kiev jail in Ukraine alone after being dumped there by travel agents. People in Punjab are paying millions to send their sons to foreign countries but are being duped by travel agents," he said.

Ramoowalia said that there were over 500 travel agents in Punjab alone who had duped people of Rs.20 billion in the last one decade, promising to send them abroad.

He cited the example of Kussa village in Punjab's Moga district where 22 residents had been cheated by travel agents who took from them Rs.400,000.

Ramoowalia Wednesday led a party delegation and submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, seeking action against travel agents and also suggesting that more job schemes be floated for the youth in Punjab.

Bored with comedy, Arshad turns assassin

By Subhash K. Jha

Mumbai, April 25 (IANS) Bollywood's most loved comic actor Arshad Warsi admits that he is fed up of doing comedy. Now he's all set to turn negative with an author-backed assassin's role in Kabeer Kaushik's film titled "Qazaa" (death).

"I'm playing a terrorist on hire. My character doesn't just shoot to kill and he plants bombs to destroy cities. 'Qazaa' is a film about global terrorism," Arshad told IANS.

Earlier, Arshad had played a serious anti-establishment cop in Kaushik's "Saher".

"That gave me a completely different role to do. If 'Saher' didn't work it wasn't because of my comic image. It just didn't have the money to be marketed well."

Apparently, Kaushik is unable to convince any actor to play the positive character in 'Qazaa' since he has already cast scene-stealer Arshad in the author-backed negative role.

"Kaushik has tremendous faith in me. I think I can pull off the villain's role in 'Qazaa'. It's not about playing the main role. I've refused so many leads - you'd be shocked if I started to count. I've two other films where I play negative roles."

Arshad, currently shooting for "Goal" in London, is in the mood to get serious.

"I try variations but I'm bored of comedy. It's like having the same food everyday. There's bound to be tedium. In fact I've stopped accepting comedy," admits the affable actor whose comic-turn in "Munnabhai", "Salaam Namaste" and "Golmaal" brought the house down.

"My last comedy after 'Lage Raho Munna Bhai' will be Indra Kumar's 'Dhamaal'. 'Anthony Kaun Hai?' was a thriller. In 'Kabul Express' I was a guy with a sense of humour who throws in his one-liners but he isn't a funny guy."

Arshad says he won't support weak actors by playing stupid roles.

"That's why I enjoy working with Sanjay Dutt. He's not at all insecure. I started my career late, stayed away for three years. I've seen it all."

About losing out working with Rituparno Ghosh in "Sunglass", he said: "I knew it'd be great fun working with him. But never mind. I know some day he'll call me again.

"Yes, it was a money issue. In signing films my logic is very simple. Either give me the money or fame. The big filmmakers don't pay you. So who the hell pays my bills? I think I'll have to find another job to support myself as an actor."

How about theatre?

"I've been a choreographer on stage before I became a film actor. Theatre gives even less money than movies."

BP profits hit by lower oil prices

London, April 24, (IRNA) BP Tuesday reported a 17 per cent drop in profits during the first quarter of 2007 following falls in both production and prices.

Replacement cost profit before interest and tax plunged to Dlrs 7 billion compared with the same period last year, while net profits, accounting for the impact of changing inventory values, also fell to Dlrs 4.36 bn.

Earnings were been affected by lower oil and gas prices on the world market and buy higher cost of finding and exploiting reserves, the British-based company said. Profit were further hit by safety costs following a fatal explosion at its Texas refinery in 2005.

Earnings were down across the divisions with those at the refining and marketing division halved to Dlrs 838 million.

On the dominant exploration and production division, profits were 11 per cent lower at some Dlrs 6 bn before tax and interest.

Compared to the first quarter of 2006, total hydrocarbon production dropped 3 per cent to 3.9 m barrels of oil equivalent a day (boe/d).

BP said that despite the result of disposals, full-year output was still expected to be in the 3.8 m-3.9 m boe/d range. Output in the UK, the rest of Europe and the US ere all down, while growth in the rest of the world was driven by Angola discoveries.

Profits from the joint venture in Russia with TNK also fell sharply on lower prices and the effect of reference prices on taxes.

With oil and gas prices falling, BP's average realizations for the first quarter dropped 7 per cent to Dlrs 41.06 per boe.

Overall refinery throughput rose by some 10 per cent but were hit by marketing sales, which slipped due to a mild winter in Europe.

Revenues overall were 3 per cent lower at some Dlrs 63 bn.

Citigroup said the results were below expectations while Oriel Securities said they were in line, according to the Financial Times.

Analyst Tony Alves at Peel Hunt called them "predictably disappointing."

Bremen look to spoil Spanish UEFA Cup fiesta

By Duncan Shaw

Madrid, April 25 (DPA) Werder Bremen of Germany are out to spoil the Spanish UEFA Cup fiesta when they visit Espanyol Barcelona in a first-leg semi-finals Thursday. Bremen is the only non-Spanish team left in the competition, with Osasuna meeting titleholders Sevilla in the day's other match.

Never before has Spain managed to have three teams in the UEFA semi-finals, and the public interest in the competition is higher than ever, particularly since the proud football nation has no team left in the Champions Cup.

Understandably, there is even more media attention being paid to the Osasuna-Sevilla semi-final than to the Espanyol-Bremen tie.

Holders Sevilla are hot favourites to reach the final again, though they rarely fare well in Osasuna's intimidating Reino de Navarra stadium.

Sevilla coach Juande Ramos should have his entire squad available, given that Andres Palop, Renato, Adriano and Frederic Kanoute are all now fit and raring to go.

Jose Maria del Nido, the ambitious president of Sevilla, pointed out Monday, that his priority is to qualify for the Champions League rather than retain the UEFA Cup or win the Spanish King's Cup.

"The Champions League is a strategic, sporting and economic objective which will permit us to increase our budget by about 30 percent," he claimed.

"The UEFA Cup and the King's Cup are important but our priority has to be getting in the Champions League."

Sevilla is currently second in "La Liga", after thrashing Athletic Bilbao 4-1 Sunday.

Osasuna's only doubt concerns Iranian international Javad Nekounam, who has been out since March 30 with a twisted knee.

Midfielders Francisco Punal and Ludovic Delporte are both fit again after lengthy layoffs.

Osasuna coach Jose Angel Ziganda rested several key players in Sunday's 1-0 away to Deportivo Coruna, most notably Enrique Corrales, Roberto Soldado and Savo Milosevic.

Osasuna defender Carlos Cuellar said Tuesday that Sevilla is "a good team" but added, "We are certainly not afraid of them".

Cuellar added, "The important thing on Thursday will be to not concede a goal".

Espanyol are taking a similar attitude ahead of the visit of high-powered Bremen.

Defender Daniel Jarque said on Monday "we have to stop them from scoring here".

Jarque added that "we really have to enjoy games like this, this is what we are footballers for".

Espanyol midfielder Moises Hurtado, for his part, said Tuesday, "Werder Bremen is the big favourite to win the UEFA Cup... They have an enormous offensive capacity and they are coming from the Champions League".

Bremen was only narrowly eliminated in a tough Champions League group with Chelsea and Barcelona.

Boasting World Cup top scorer Miroslav Klose and Portuguese playmaker Diego, Bremen have overcome an early-spring slump and are in fine form again, on the heels of Bundesliga leaders Schalke and ready to deliver in the UEFA Cup as well.

"We are highly motivated, every player dreams of these big matches. We will do out utmost to claim both titles, in the league and in the UEFA Cup," said Diego.

Klose said Bremen has "no reason to hide" as the Germans aim to take a first step towards preventing a final between two teams from one league which last came in 1998 when Inter Milan beat fellow-Italians Lazio.

Britain seeks Dhaka's commitment for early polls

Dhaka, April 25 (IANS) Former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina's continuing presence in London after the caretaker government prevented her from flying home seems to have prompted Britain to seek Dhaka's commitment to lift emergency and hold early elections.

British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury, a diplomat of Bangladeshi origin, met Chief Election Commissioner A.T.M. Huda Tuesday seeking a clear timetable for holding elections.

Huda told him that it was for the government to decide when to lift the emergency and hold the elections. He was in charge of only the "technical" side of conducting the polls, media reports said Wednesday.

While Hasina has been barred from returning home, her rival, former prime minister Khaleda Zia, is fighting the government's attempts to send her and her family to Saudi Arabia.

Not allowed to board a British Airways flight to Dhaka Sunday, Hasina has stayed on in London, making it clear that she would not go elsewhere and continue her campaign for restoration of democracy in her country. She would also not seek political asylum.

"My tour is over. From here, I will go to Dhaka," Dhaka newspapers quoted her as telling the British media.

Criticised in many quarters for not honouring the ticket it had issued to Hasina, British Airways has said it was following a written notification from the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh.

The airline came up with the clarification as Hasina wanted to know why she was denied a boarding pass on flight BA145.

James C. Forster, manager facilitation, said the notification stated that "Sheikh Hasina had been barred from entering Bangladesh".

He said the airline's right to refuse carriage is contained within General Conditions of Carriage (GCC) for passengers and baggage.

Quoting section 7, paragraph 16 of GCC rules, he said an airline may refuse to carry even a passenger with valid travel documents if the immigration authorities for the country he/she is travelling to told them (verbally or in writing) that they have decided not to allow him/her entry to that country.

Earlier reports from London and Dhaka had said that the airlines had been told that its operations in Bangladesh could be affected if it allowed Hasina on board.

Britain's Hindu Temple prays for world peace

London, April 25 (IANS) A Hindu chaplain of Britain's armed forces led religious leaders of different faiths in four-day prayers for world peace and unity at a temple in north England.

The event, organised by Acharya Krishan K. Attri - the first Hindu chaplain of the armed forces, included performing the Shri Shat Chandi Mahayagya, which was conducted by 20 priests, of who two were from India.

The event in Newcastle's Hindu Temple last week was attended by the Anglican Bishop of Newcastle, the Right Reverend Martin Wharton, leaders representing Buddhism, Baha'i, Jainism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism and Christian faiths.

The gathering signed a common statement pledging their commitment to harmony in the region. It was the first pledge of its kind organised in Britain, according to Attri.

The event also included a musical evening led by noted film composer Ravindra Jain.

Jain told The Journal, Newcastle: "It is the first time an event of this magnitude has been organised in the north and even in the whole of the country. People from all over the UK and from far away as India attended and it was a huge success.

"It has generated a new spirit in the region and everyone is united like one family. All of the leaders were there in person and there was a genuine appreciation of the event. The whole community listened and appreciated."

The Hindu Temple in Newcastle is a registered charity organisation and is in existence for over 50 years. The four-day event was attended by 200 people from various parts of Britain.

There was also an army presentation by Brigadier Richard Dennis, with an aim to encourage those from ethnic backgrounds to consider a career in the armed forces.

The common statement read out at the special all-faith prayer said: "We affirm our desire to promote respect and tolerance for the integrity of each others' beliefs, cultures and traditions. We recognise that as neighbours we have responsibilities to the community, the world and ourselves.

"We, therefore, urge all citizens both religious and non-religious, to put aside intolerance, prejudice and divisiveness to attain peaceful and fruitful co-existence in our area."

Bishop Wharton said: "During the time of the celebration, there were over 30 wars being fought out all over the world, with all the attendant destruction and misery, violence and death, despoliation and despair. These are the inevitable consequences of war - whether the conflicts be international, or more local.

"That is why people, representing the diversity of religious communities to be found in Newcastle, and more widely in the northeast, came together because the peace of the world has to be prayed for by the faiths of the world."

He added: "To pray for peace commits all those who so pray to work for peace individually, in families, neighbourhoods, cities, and the world. Prayer changes things and not least the hearts and minds and lives of all those who engage in prayer.

"At the end of the time of prayer, a signed statement was read committing all the members of faith communities to live together in peace good will and harmony."

Attri said: "The atmosphere was wonderful and everyone worked together to make this a really special occasion. Everything came from India, from the costumes to the musicians.

"We had 100 percent support from the police and the community throughout the event, which was a real joy. I feel it has been a great success and much appreciated."

British group plans townships in Punjab

Chandigarh, April 25 (IANS) The Britain-based Sun Group wants to set up infrastructure projects in Punjab. The group, which had earlier proposed projects worth Rs.10 billion ($247 million), has indicated that the investment could go up to Rs.40 billion.

The group wants to invest in ambitious projects like 'Eco-cities', thermal power plants, townships, expressways and airports.

It has already proposed a Rs.1 billion rural development institute for the state, to be housed at the historic fort at Nabha, 110 km from here. The institute will help farmers and rural people.

Group director Uday Khemka, who met Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal here Wednesday, said that his company would not want land acquired by the government and would buy it directly from farmers to set up townships.

The Sun Group is involved in several infrastructure projects in Europe, Russia and the Middle East.

British Jews welcome journalists joining Israeli boycott

London, April 25, (IRNA) A Jewish campaign group Wednesday welcomed the decision by Britain's National Union of Journalists (NUJ) to join the international boycott of Israeli goods, saying it was a "courageous" move.

"Given Israel's contempt for international law, with the complicity of the US and UK governments, pressure has to be increased by civil society if justice is to be achieved," Jews for Boycotting Israel Goods (JBIG) said.

"A boycott of Israeli goods is a legitimate form of grassroots action and is particularly appropriate as Israel is destroying the Palestinian economy. Such a boycott has been called for by Israeli peace organizations," the British-based campaign group said.

The NUJ, representing some 35,000 journalists in the UK, voted to join the international boycott of Israeli goods at its annual conference earlier this month.

In a letter to the Guardian newspaper Wednesday, JBIG said that it was as a result of its illegal occupation, Israel is able to flood the Palestinian market with its products, while preventing Palestinian farmers from growing and trading their own.

"We believe Israel's actions betray Jewish ethical traditions - the cutting down of olive and fruit trees is prohibited by Jewish law," the letter said.

It also warned that the "continuing occupation and exploitation of Palestinian land is a major obstacle to peace for Israelis and Arabs alike which has global implications for world peace." JBIG was set up by Jewish residents in Britain as an outcome of the deep frustration that Jewish peace activists were said to feel towards the inaction displayed by the Jewish community with regard to Israel's repressive occupation of Palestinian land.

British Royal Navy to restart gulf operations after Iran crisis

London, April 25 (NNN-KUNA) The British Royal Navy is to resume boarding operations in the northern Gulf that were suspended after the detention of 15 personnel by the Iranians, it was announced here.

Britain's Defence Secretary Des Browne said in a House of Commons written statement Tuesday that measures had been taken to minimise the risks of a repeat of last month's incident in which the sailors and marines were held for 13 days.

The personnel were searching a cargo boat when they were captured over a boundary dispute.

Browne said: "Pending the results of the inquiries set up to identify any lessons we can learn from this incident, we have taken measures, in line with the findings of the initial reviews of procedures, to ensure the risk to boarding operations is minimised."

"This will involve an incremental return to full boarding operations in all areas," the Defence Secretary added.

Browne also announced that the inquiry into the media handling of the incident would be led by Tony Hall, a former director of news and current affairs at the BBC.

The inquiry was ordered in the wake of the political storm over the initial decision to allow the detainees to sell their stories to the media, a decision that was subsequently revoked.

The inquiry into operational issues raised by the capture of the 15 is being led by Lieutenant General Rob Fulton, the Governor of Gibraltar and a former senior Royal Marines officer.

Buddhists gather to demand national religion status

Bangkok, April 25 (NNN-TNA) A number of Buddhist faithful, including monks, began gathering outside Parliament Wednesday to reiterate their call for the Constitution Drafting Assembly to stipulate Buddhism as Thailand's national religion in the newly rewritten Constitution.

The protesters gathered outside Parliament beginning about 9 am and their numbers kept growing.

Meanwhile another group of some 300 monks and followers, left the Buddhamonthon religious centre in Nakhon Pathom, west of Bangkok, and marched to Parliament to join the demonstrators there as part of their pressure.

Hundreds of local police and border patrol police were deployed to secure the safety of the public.

Phra Kru Sangka Pinai, Deputy Rector for Student Affairs of Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, a demonstration leader, said senior monks and people nationwide will join the gathering Wednesday.

He was confident that there would be no violence as the group had already talked with police regarding security measures.

He said the gathering would not present demands to meet particular public figures but wished to inform the public about the importance of Buddhism being declared the national religion in the Constitution.

Virote Poonsuk, a leader of the Buddhist Network of Thailand, said he expected over 20,000 people would gather at the parliament, of which half would be Buddhist monks.

Bush renews threat to veto war funding bill from Congress

WASHINGTON, April 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President George W. Bush on Tuesday renewed his threat to veto a war funding bill which calls for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq next year.

According to U.S. media reports, the legislation could reach Bush's desk by the end of the week.

The president said he is disappointed with the joint version of the bill that emerged Monday from a special panel of negotiators from the House and the Senate.

He says the bill's fate is assured.

"They know I am going to veto a bill containing these provisions, and they know my veto will be sustained. Instead of fashioning a bill I could sign, the Democratic leaders chose to further delay funding our troops, and they chose to make a political statement," Bush said.

He claimed that if the bill becomes law, it would undermine U.S. troops in the field, and threaten the safety of the American people.

On the other side, Democrats are also holding firm to their position.

"It's time, Mr. President, it's time to responsibly bring this war to an end," said Delaware Democrat Joseph Biden, chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Last week, Bush invited lawmakers of both parties to the White House to discuss the impasse on funding the Iraq war, but neither side showed signs of backing down.

Both the House and Senate have attached language to respective version of the war funding bill calling for U.S. combat troops to leave Iraq in 2008 -- the House by the end of August, the Senate by March of that year.

But Bush insists he won't accept any bill that includes a timeline for withdrawal.

If he vetoes the bill, which looks certain, the congress will need a two-third majority to overthrow the veto.

Otherwise, the Congress will have to draft a new funding bill and send to Bush again.

With neither side willing to back down, an impasse will be a certainty.

C.N.R. Rao criticises India's declining scientific research

Kolkata, April 25 (IANS) Internationally acclaimed pioneer in chemistry and one of India's most celebrated scientists, C.N.R. Rao Wednesday took a dig at India's scientific research output and its declining contribution to the world of science.

"In 2006, India's contribution to world science was 2.76 percent while this figure used to be 8 to 10 percent about 15 years ago. If this trend continues, I think India's contribution would go down to between 1 and 1.5 percent in the next few years," Rao said at the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP) here during a function to felicitate him.

Rao said that India must promote rural talent and also increase support in education and the country's research and development activities in the future.

Emphasising more on investments in scientific activities, he said India is now spending only 1 percent of the country's total GDP for science and research oriented activities.

"I think India should spend at least 2 percent of its GDP for the development of science and research and in the next five years this figure should increase to 3 percent," said Rao.

Professor Rao is the chairman of the Science Advisory Council to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He is also a member of the Atomic Energy Commission of India.

Rao has been recently conferred upon the Doctor of Science, Honouris Causa, degree by Oxford University.

Besides Rao, Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, film maestro Satyajit Ray and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh received this prestigious degree from India.

"India requires more scientists in the near future. So we need to produce competent young scientists. If we can do that we can easily secure the first position in the world producing great scientific researchers," he said, adding that India has been left far behind while its neighbouring countries have advanced a lot in science and research over the past few decades.

Canaan Partners invests $3.1 mn in Indian IT firm

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) US-based venture capital firm Canaan Partners Wednesday announced a $3.1-million investment in one of India's leading computer support companies, iYogi.

This move by Canaan Partners is part of their business strategy in India to invest in technology start-ups.

"As computers become more central to our lives, technology and services companies are in a race to provide tools and solutions that can meet the ever growing need for support," said Alok Mittal, executive director of Canaan Partners India.

"iYogi is one of the most promising companies to emerge in this sector. iYogi is Canaan Partners' first investment in a growing trend of next-generation outsourcing services from India, wherein companies establish a direct customer relationship with end-consumers," he added.

iYogi is headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, and provides computer support for home and small businesses on phone and also via remote access for everyday-use technology.

Centam Education Ministers meet in honduras

Tegucigalpa, April 25 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) Central American education ministers began a two-day meeting in Honduras Tuesday to combine policies of regional interest, said Honduran Education Minister Marlon Breve.

The meeting, being held at the Tela beach resort, 186 miles north of here, is discussing aspects of the region’s situation, and sign agreements to develop a Latin American culture, the minister told the media.

He also said that the minister would sign agreements to strengthen education, and the Central American social and political environment in depth.

The minister said the issues to be discussed would raise cultural diversity, democratic co-existence, socio-cultural and natural environment, ethnicities, and acquisition of values and development of positive attitudes.

The 25th ordinary meeting of the Central American Educational and Cultural Co-ordinator’s Office is part of the regional integration, Breve said.

Centam, EU get ready for negotiations on association of two regions

Guatemala City, April 25 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) Central America and the European Union (EU) were getting ready Tuesday for negotiations on an association between the two regions by late June in Brussels.

The decision was revealed in this capital at the end of the 15th Joint Commission meeting, presided over by Guatemalan Deputy Foreign Minister Ana Maria Dieguez and EU assistant director general for Latin America Tomas Dupla del Moral.

According to Dieguez, negotiations are due to begin after Central America inks an accord on its Customs Union, a requirement set by the European bloc before the negotiations could begin.

The EU position was expressed by Foreign Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner during a visit to Guatemala last week.

Centre's crucial meet on Maoist violence Thursday

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) During its crucial coordination committee meeting on Maoist violence Thursday, the union home ministry will try to impress upon the states hit by left wing extremism the need to achieve proper coordination among their police forces and security personnel to wipe out the four-decade-old menace.

The various states hit by Maoist violence continue to entertain reservations on the police force of a neighbouring state stepping on to their territory without prior information while chasing Naxal guerrillas crossing state boundaries.

This reservation has been hampering the establishment of proper coordination between various states' police and security personnel.

The centre's coordination committee meet to explore ways to resolve this problem would be chaired by Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta and attended by chief secretaries and director generals of police of all the Naxal-hit states, besides chiefs of paramilitary forces deployed in various states to fight Maoist violence.

Senior officials from various central ministries and departments will also be participating in the meeting to take a holistic view of the Maoist violence, which the government does not consider a mere law and order problem but a fallout of the lack of socio-economic development in various regions.

The Thursday meet comes close on the heels of two other important meetings on the issue held in Hyderabad and Patna respectively on April 13 and 16.

At the ministry's Task Force meeting in Hyderabad on Moaist violence, the agenda included evolving joint strategies to tackle the Maoists, modernising intelligence gathering and improving inter-state coordination to target Maoist leaders and cadres.

The Hyderabad meeting was followed by another crucial inter-ministerial group (IMG) meeting in Patna to examine the pace of socio-economic development in insurgency-hit regions of Naxal-hit states.

At the coordination committee meet Thursday, the various states will be making presentations about the problems faced by them in countering the Maoist bane.

Besides impressing upon the states the need to finetune the coordination between their security forces, the union home ministry would also be seeking to streamline the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

These will spell out in detail the precise steps two neighbouring states are required to take in case of an attack by Maoists in the regions along the boundary.

At the meeting, the union government is set to impress upon the Bihar and Jharkhand governments to take expeditious developmental measures in their Maoist-infested districts.

Bihar and Jharkhand have been found faltering in both speedy construction of roads and implementing job guarantee schemes in its Maoist-hit affected districts.

Centre's crucial meet on Maoist violence Thursday

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) During its crucial coordination committee meeting on Maoist violence Thursday, the union home ministry will try to impress upon the states hit by left wing extremism the need to achieve proper coordination among their police forces and security personnel to wipe out the four-decade-old menace.

The various states hit by Maoist violence continue to entertain reservations on the police force of a neighbouring state stepping on to their territory without prior information while chasing Naxal guerrillas crossing state boundaries.

This reservation has been hampering the establishment of proper coordination between various states' police and security personnel.

The centre's coordination committee meet to explore ways to resolve this problem would be chaired by Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta and attended by chief secretaries and director generals of police of all the Naxal-hit states, besides chiefs of paramilitary forces deployed in various states to fight Maoist violence.

Senior officials from various central ministries and departments will also be participating in the meeting to take a holistic view of the Maoist violence, which the government does not consider a mere law and order problem but a fallout of the lack of socio-economic development in various regions.

The Thursday meet comes close on the heels of two other important meetings on the issue held in Hyderabad and Patna respectively on April 13 and 16.

At the ministry's Task Force meeting in Hyderabad on Moaist violence, the agenda included evolving joint strategies to tackle the Maoists, modernising intelligence gathering and improving inter-state coordination to target Maoist leaders and cadres.

The Hyderabad meeting was followed by another crucial inter-ministerial group (IMG) meeting in Patna to examine the pace of socio-economic development in insurgency-hit regions of Naxal-hit states.

At the coordination committee meet Thursday, the various states will be making presentations about the problems faced by them in countering the Maoist bane.

Besides impressing upon the states the need to finetune the coordination between their security forces, the union home ministry would also be seeking to streamline the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

These will spell out in detail the precise steps two neighbouring states are required to take in case of an attack by Maoists in the regions along the boundary.

At the meeting, the union government is set to impress upon the Bihar and Jharkhand governments to take expeditious developmental measures in their Maoist-infested districts.

Bihar and Jharkhand have been found faltering in both speedy construction of roads and implementing job guarantee schemes in its Maoist-hit affected districts.

China wants to increase trade with Africa to 100 billion USD by 2010

By Judith Akolo

Nairobi, April 25 (NNN-KBC) The Chinese government has pledged to continue working with African governments in order to grow and sustain trade between individual African countries and itself.

China hopes to increase trade with Africa to over 100 billion US dollars by the year 2010, the Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Jia Qinglin, said.

He added that China was working on increasing imports from Africa in order to achieve sustainable balance of trade with the African continent.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the China-Kenya Economic and Commercial Co-operation Forum here Tuesday, Jia said China was set to zero-rate tariffs on 442 goods from Africa in order to increase trade potential.

At the ceremony officiated by Vice President Moodi Awori and Trade and Industry Minister Dr Mukhisa Kituyi, Jia said that China wants to set up bilateral preferential trade arrangements and free trade areas in order to increase imports from the continent.

Jia, who also launched a Kenya-China Economic and Trade Co-operation Website, said his country would establish a China-Africa development fund that will cater for Chinese companies wishing to invest on the continent.

He said China was exploring the possibility of venturing into banking, tourism, culture, science and technology as new areas of investment.

China's 'youngest' political prisoner turns 18

Sudeshna Sarkar

Kathmandu, April 25 (IANS) As China's "youngest" political prisoner comes of age Wednesday, Beijing has begun tightening its control over Tibet to erase the influence of Tibetans' exiled leader the Dalai Lama, says a report by the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT).

Tibetans demanding the freedom of the former Buddhist kingdom from Chinese rule and their supporters worldwide began a series of protests Wednesday to mark the 18th birthday of Gendun Cheokyi Nyima, regarded by them as the Panchen Lama, the second-most revered leader of the diaspora after their exiled leader, the Dalai Lama.

Nyima vanished from public sight 12 years ago, a year after he was named the new Panchen Lama by the Dalai Lama.

"The Panchen Lama's plight has come to symbolise the crisis facing the survival of Tibet's religious culture," said the ICT, a group asking for the protection of Tibetans' rights and end of Chinese control.

Coinciding with Nyima's 18th birthday, ICT has published a report that documents a trend of tightening control over religious practice and scholarship in Tibet today.

Using information from official documents obtained from Tibet and interviews with reincarnate lamas, monks and nuns from Tibet, the report documents a stepping up of the patriotic education campaign in religious institutions as a means of strengthening China's influence in religious institutions.

It also records a renewed determination by Chinese authorities to crack down on the influence of the Dalai Lama, especially by appropriating the authority necessary for the transmission of teachings and the identification of reincarnate lamas.

The Panchen Lama holds special importance for Tibetans since he endorses and educates the successor of the Dalai Lama as the new Dalai Lama.

China, which annexed Tibet in 1949 and since then began a series of measures to curb the influence of the Dalai Lama, took the young Panchen Lama under its control after his nomination.

The young boy, believed to be under house arrest with his parents in an undisclosed place near Beijing, has not been seen again.

In 1995, in a bid to quench the demands for the boy-leader's release, China named a young boy, Gyaltsen Norbu, as the Panchen Lama.

However, the Chinese nomination has been spurned by Tibetans and their supporters who have kept up petitioning the UN and other rights organisations for the release of Nyima.

Cobra Beer's Dynshaw Italia wins excellence award

London, April 25 (IANS) India-born corporate executive Dynshaw Italia, finance director with Cobra Beer, has won the Young Finance Director of the Year award conferred by a leading business lobby, the Confederation of British Industry.

The award was conferred during the third excellence awards function co-hosted by the Real FD trade magazine at the Dorchester hotel here to celebrate outstanding performance of Britain's finance directors across all sectors of businesses.

"To be running a fast-growth business at his age is an excellent achievement," read the citation on 36-year-old Italia. "Reorganising the business in such a way to drive its growth shows a mature and clever approach to the job."

Trained as a chartered accountant, Italia is also the chief operating officer at Cobra Beer, which was founded by the Hyderabad-born Karan Bilimoria, who sits on Britain's House of Lords.

"Innovation does not stop at sales and marketing but also applies to finance. I am fortunate to be working with a brand that continues to go from strength to strength and the sky seems to be the only limit for us," Italia said.

A product of the Doon School in Dehradun, Italia pursued a foundation course in accountancy from the Guildhall University in London with distinction, after securing a bachelor's degree in commerce from Osmania University in Hyderabad.

He became a chartered accountant in 1996 and joined Cobra Beer in November 2001 after working for KPMG and eBrokers Plc previously.

Court orders retrieval of encroached land from Apollo Hospital

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Wednesday directed authorities to retrieve the land of the national highway forcibly occupied by the Apollo Hospital in the south Delhi.

A division bench of Chief Justice M.K. Sarma and Justice Rekha Sharma directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the land management agency of the capital, and the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to retrieve the land by demolishing a boundary wall within three weeks.

The court commissioner of south submitted that the super-speciality hospital set up in collaboration with the Delhi government, had encroached on at least 25 feet of land along the national highway to Faridabad.

The hospital has also raised some illegal constructions on its premises and has been using the basement by opening canteens and shops, the report submitted by the court-appointed monitoring committee said.

The hospital has failed to provide free treatment to poor patients - who should form 20 percent of its total number of patients, whereas it has encroached upon the public land, observed the court.

When the DDA counsel said the hospital was set up in collaboration with the state government, the court commented: "Then the government had also violated its own law and encroached its own land."

The court also directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to demolish the illegal structures in several farmhouses in Najafgarh area in south Delhi.

The court commissioner submitted that constructions had been going on in the farmhouses in the area taking advantage of the Delhi Special Provisions (Demolitions) Act, 2006.

Most farmhouses had more than 3,000 square feet of constructions, in contravention to the permitted 1,500 square feet structures.

Even the MCD was levying property tax on the property by giving the completion certificate, alleged the court commissioner.

The court asked the municipal authorities to institute a probe and submit a report with in four weeks.

Counsel Vinay Sabharwal appearing for MCD submitted that the authorities were already probing the matter.

CPI-M demands CBI probe into Gujarat police killings

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Wednesday demanded the probe into the connection of three senior police officers for killing a Muslim man in a staged shootout in Gujarat be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Terming Tuesday's arrest of the Indian Police Service (IPS) officers - two from Gujarat and one from Rajasthan - as "the tip of the iceberg", the CPI-M politburo sought CBI probe into all killings in staged police shootouts in Gujarat since 2002 - the year the state witnessed one of the country's worst communal riots.

Acting on a Supreme Court directive, the Gujarat police arrested the three officers for killing Sohrabuddin Sheikh in an engineered shootout in Ahmedabad in November 2005 after claiming he was a terrorist with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) link and planned to kill Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Pointing out that the arrests were made only because of Sheikh's family's persistence and the apex court's directives, the CPI-M said: "The Gujarat government's shameful communal stance provides the cover for delinquent police officers to kill innocent people with no fear of questions being asked as long as they are termed terrorists and as long as they belong to the minority community."

Cuba, uruguay to co-operate in sports development

Havana, April 25 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) Cuba and Uruguay have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the National Institute for Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER) and the Uruguayan National Ministry of Tourism and Sport Direction.

Jose Luis Rivas, INDER vice-president, and Fernando Caceres, Uruguayan Minister for Tourism and Sport, signed the document Tuesday and highlighted the importance to carry out the agreement with mutual wishes of collaboration.

Rivas said Uruguay could count on all the Cuban human resources, not only for practicing sports massively, but also as a way to give the Uruguayan population health and welfare.

Caceres said the level reached by Cuba and the contribution to Uruguay and sport in general in the continent is highly recognized. He added that he hoped his country restores its sport traditions with the Cuban help.

Uruguay is interested in coaches to train athletes in swimming, track and field, beach and court volleyball and boxing.

Co-operation spreads to exchange of experiences in science and techniques applied to sports, drug fighting, training specialists, protection to athletes and other topics.

Cuban, Haitian Foreign Ministers hold talks

Havana, April 25 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) The Cuban ministers for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation will greet Jean Renald Clerisme, Haiti’s minister for Foreign Affairs and Religion.

The visitor will hold official talks with Cuban Minister Felipe Perez Roque with whom he is to sign an agreement.

He will later on check with the head of MINVEC, Minister Marta Lomas, the state of bilateral ties and co-operation, namely in health and education.

This first visit to Cuba by Clerisme will help strengthen relations between both countries, which share cultural ties and membership in the Non Aligned Movement (NAM).

He will also meet with other state officials and visit places of historic and cultural interest in line with the busy agenda, which began Monday with visits to Cuba by officials from Iran, Malawi and Egypt.

Dalit Muslim, Christian bodies to stage sit-in for quota

New Delhi, April 25 (Indianmuslims.info) Dalit Muslim Liberation Movement and National Council of Dalit Christians will stage a dharna near Parliament Monday, April 30 to exert pressure on the government to clear reservation for Dalit Muslims and Christians, the leaders of these organisations told the presspersons in a joint press conference here Tuesday.

This is for the first time in the history of independent India that backward Muslims and Christians are coming together to demand what they think is due to them.

National convenor of the Dalit Muslim Liberation Movement Kamal Ashraf said it is the result of 14-year long strivings that the issue of reservation for Dalit Muslims is being discussed in the Union Cabinet.

“It is for the first time in history that a commission has used the words ‘Dalit’ and ‘Muslim’ in its report, and the situation has taken such a turn ever since that no political party can do and no commission report can be considered complete without taking up this issue,� said Ashraf.

Co-ordinator National Council of Dalit Christians Franklin Caesar also said that his Council has been fighting for a long time to get Dalit Christians included in scheduled castes.

Decision on IIM admissions deferred to Thursday

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) A decision on releasing the admission list for the general category aspirants of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) was deferred till Thursday as the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) could not reach any conclusion Wednesday night.

After about one and half hours of deliberations, the CCPA members emerged from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's official residence and said they would go for wider consultations with the Left parties at a meeting scheduled Thursday.

The Left parties support the central government on the floor of parliament but do not hold any portfolio.

"Today, a number of important leaders of UPA (United Progressive Alliance) such as Ram Vilas Paswan and Anbumani Ramadoss were not present at the meet, it was not proper to take a decision in their absence," said Railway Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad.

"That's why we have deferred it till tomorrow," he added.

The admission process at the six prestigious business schools has been held up due to the March 29 Supreme Court stay on a law reserving 27 percent seats for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in all centrally funded institutions of higher learning. The apex court will hear the government's plea May 8.

However, official sources said there were still differences among the alliance partners over this vexed issue.

Many of the leaders, particularly from the Congress, were keen to release the general category admission list for the IIMs like previous years.

"This is in order to create a conducive atmosphere for the hearing of the quota case in the Supreme Court on May 8," sources said.

On the other hand, other sections, particularly from the Dravidian parties like DMK and PMK, and the RJD were of the view that government should wait at least till May 8.

Earlier in the day, Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and briefed him on the issue of the IIM admissions.

He later indicated that the six IIMs might be allowed to release the admission list for the general category aspirants first. However, he added: "The prime minister was of the view that since the decision to put the admission on hold was taken collectively, the decision to allow admission should also be a collective one."

The CCPA meet was called for such a collective decision.

Decision on IIM general category admission soon

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) will decide later Wednesday on allowing admission to the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) before May 8 - when the Supreme Court will hear its plea to revive the quota law.

After meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh indicated that the six IIMs may be allowed to release the admission list for the general category aspirants first but the final decision in this regard would be taken by the CCPA later Wednesday evening.

The admission process at the prestigious business schools has been held up due to the March 29 Supreme Court stay on the government's law reserving 27 percent seats for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in all centrally funded institutes of higher learning. The apex court will hear the government's plea May 8.

Arjun Singh briefed the prime minister on the vexed issue of admissions to IIM.

"The prime minister was of the view that since the decision to put the admission on hold was taken collectively, the decision to allow admission should also be a collective one," he told reporters.

"Since all top leaders of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) are the members of the CCPA, so it will be a collective decision of the alliance," Arjun Singh added.

The minister denied there were differences between his ministry and the law ministry over the issue of including the 'creamy layer' of OBCs in the quota. He said there was no pressure on him to hold any decision till May 8.

He, however, said: "Now in a changed scenario, the question is whether we can grant permission for admission to the unreserved category like previous years, and take up the reserved category when the issue is resolved."

Deferred poll makes Nepal lose 'energy'

By Sudeshna Sarkar

Kathmandu, April 25 (IANS) With the date for a crucial election being put off indefinitely in Nepal, the government is losing potential revenue that could be earned from oil exploration in the southern plains and change the cash-strapped Himalayan nation's economy.

Two Western companies have shelved their plans to tap Nepal's southern Terai plains for oil because of continuing unrest, even after Maoist guerrillas signed a peace pact with the government.

American company Texana and Scottish Cairn Energy Private Ltd hold licences to explore eight blocks in the Terai region, regarded as potential petroleum sites.

However, both companies have been using a clause in their contract that allows them to suspend work under "inclement circumstances".

Though Texana obtained a four-year licence in December 1998, it suspended work in 2001 due to escalating Maoist insurgency. It is yet to resume operations.

Cairn, whose stocks shot up in value after the discovery of oil in neighbouring India's Rajasthan state, reached an agreement with Nepal in August 2004.

However, soon after signing the pact, it was forced to invoke the relevant clause in the contract due to fresh violence triggered by King Gyanendra staging a coup in 2005 and seizing total power.

With the king's 15-month reign falling in April 2006 and the Maoists signing a peace pact with the new seven-party government, the Scottish major prepared to return to the field.

However, Cairn's security division is regarding the election - earlier scheduled for June 20 - as a key indicator of peace and stability, on which the resumption of their operations depend.

With Nepal's Election Commission now ruling out the June date due to the fresh unrest in Terai, Cairn officials held a review meeting with the Nepal government Sunday, when they indicated that operations would not resume for now.

"But they are optimistic that work can resume from winter," Baburaja Arryal, deputy director general and chief of Nepal's Petroleum Exploration Promotion Project, told IANS.

Arryal says there is a strong possibility that the Terai plains will yield oil since their extension in India has done so. "However, you need at least 10 years' continuous work to get results," he said.

That is a luxury denied to trouble-torn Nepal so far. Though the first oil exploration in Nepal started two decades ago, the work was left inconclusive.

Oil major Shell obtained the first licence and started prospecting in Biratnagar, home of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala.

Though it had invested about $10 million and drilled up to 3,500 m, the company abandoned the project after then Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi sealed land routes between Nepal and India, enforcing a virtual blockade of the landlocked Himalayan nation.

Though India-Nepal relations have improved and the decade-old communist insurgency in Nepal has officially ended, ethnic protests in the plains worry investors.

Arryal says that while Nepal's hydopower potential is touted as a factor that can transform the kingdom's economy, the finding of petroleum can do it faster.

"Shell's pullout sent out a negative message that there was no oil in Nepal," he said. "But that's not true. The Indian plains, which have the same composition, have yielded petroleum."

With Nepal having two more blocks open for exploration, other companies are also showing interest in obtaining a licence.

With the violence substantially reduced since the Maoist peace pact, once the new poll date is announced, the country could draw new investors.

Demonstration in Gaza for freeing BBC correspondent

Gaza, April 25 (DPA) Palestinian journalists blamed the Palestinian Authority Wednesday for failing to secure the release of BBC correspondent Alan Johnston six weeks after he was captured at gunpoint in Gaza City by unknown militants.

"We hold the PA presidency and government responsible for not securing the release of Alan Johnston until now," Shamms Auda, a member of the Palestinian Committee to Protect Journalists, told at least 40 local and foreign journalists who gathered at the Erez crossing north of Gaza City to protest the abduction.

Auda urged foreign correspondents to continue reporting from the Gaza Strip.

Johnston's kidnappers are not the "real face" of the Palestinians; he told the protesters, who held up posters of the journalist and chanted, "Free, free Alan."

Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Azzam al-Ahmad said in a statement to the BBC from his office Tuesday "according to the information we have" Johnston is "in good health."

He said the government of Premier Ismail Haniya, President Mahmoud Abbas and all Palestinian security services were making "extensive efforts" to achieve Johnston's freedom.

Abbas said in Stockholm last week that his intelligence services had told him the BBC correspondent "is alive."

A formerly unknown group calling itself the "Brigades of Jihad and Monotheism" claimed earlier this month that it had killed Johnston, 44.

Diana death inquest coroner quits

London, April 25 (Xinhua) A coroner for inquests into the mysterious deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed in 1997 has stepped down from the post.

"I must stress this does not require a fresh start for the inquests," Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss said in a statement Tuesday, citing lack of experience to deal with an inquest with a jury and overwhelming public interest.

Scott Baker will take over her role in the inquests, Sky news reported.

However, Butler-Sloss said she would continue to preside over pre-inquest hearings until Baker takes up the appointment in June.

"This will ensure (that) the inquest's momentum is maintained while he will have the opportunity to familiarise himself with the voluminous paperwork associated with the inquests," she added.

Dodi's father, Mohammed al Fayed, referred to the coroner's decision as a "shock" and noted "a colossal waste of cost, time and effort".

Butler-Sloss is the second coroner quitting the job.

Last July, the then royal coroner Michael Burgess quit the inquests, citing a "heavy and constant" workload. Butler-Sloss, Britain's former top woman judge, took over two months later.

She had been in favour of a private hearing of the preliminary sessions of the inquest, but was overturned by a high court that ruled last month that a jury should be present at the hearings.

dlrs 300 mn worth of textile, clothing exported last year

Tehran, April 24, (IRNA) Iran exported various kinds of textile products and clothing, worth dlrs 299 million, in the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19), it was reported on Tuesday.

The Customs Administration said in a statement that most of the exported goods were different clothes, worth more than dlrs 110 million.

Other exported products included carpets, yarn and moquettes.

Egypt can become oils & fats hub, says Malaysian Minister

By Nor Faridah Rashid

Dubai, April 25 (NNN-BERNAMA) -- Egypt, among the fastest growing markets for oils and fats, offers plenty of opportunities and can become the region's trading hub for this sector, says Malaysian Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Peter Chin Fah Kui.

During the past few years, consumption of oils and fats in Egypt has grown by about eight per cent per year, almost three times the world average growth rate, he said when officiating at the first Malaysia-Egypt Palm Oil Trade Fair and Seminar (POTS) in Cairo on Monday.

"Its current per capita consumption of oils and fats stands at 18.2 kg per person per year, which is about the world's average per capita consumption while imports of palm oil have reached more than 800,000 tonnes annually," Chin added.

"Despite a relatively large import of palm oil, there are still potential areas for further development. With a sizeable population, Egypt offers plenty of opportunities in the oils and fats and soap sectors," he said.

More than 200 participants from major oils and fats industries from Egypt and other neighbouring countries, including Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Syria attended the seminar.

The text of his speech was made available to the Bernama bureau here.

The seminar, themed "Exploring Opportunities, Enhancing Palm Oil Trade", is jointly organised by Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) and Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB).

Chin said there was still a big potential for palm oil product utilisation in Egypt and as such industry players from both countries could use the event not only to strengthen current market positions but also to explore new and untapped areas like animal feeds, oleochemicals, edible oils and fats, services, trading and investments in manufacturing.

He noted that in Egypt, palm oil and palm oil products were used mostly for the production of vegetable ghee, shortening, industrial margarine, industrial frying sector, food establishments and in the non-food sector, mainly soaps.

Apart from these factors, Chin said Egypt's strategical location in the Middle East and as part of Africa as well as close to Europe could possibly be a good choice as a regional hub for oils and fats trade, including palm oil.

"With Egypt's economic reform and robust economic growth, I would like to encourage the Malaysian palm oil industry to work towards developing strategic partnerships with the Egyptian counterparts not only for the Egyptian market but for neighbouring African countries, Mediterranean Europe and also Comesa (Common Market for East and Southern Africa), of which Egypt is a member," he said.

Chin urged Egyptian importers and processors who have yet to import and use palm oil to seriously consider palm oil products when deciding what oils to import.

For example, he said, the public sector could consider importing palm olein as cooking oil for the subsidised or rationed oil market because of its competitive price vis-a-vis soft oils like soyabean oil or sunflower oil.

"Palm olein, in particular, offers an attractive alternative and at the same time provide savings. This is surely one of the opportunities to be explored," he stressed.

The minister also noted that long before trans fat issue was raised by the United States Food and Drug Administration as a nutritional issue (1999), Egypt had already been producing trans fat-free vegetable ghee and other trans fat-free fat products.

Since the 1980's, the public sector in Egypt had shifted to using palm oil products for vegetable ghee and shortening instead of hydrogenated soft oils and the emergence of private sector oil/fat companies starting from the mid-80's amplified the use of palm oil.

The change from hydrogenated oil to palm oil by the public sector was very wise not only from the techno-economic aspect but also from the nutritional point of view, he said, noting that in recent years, many food manufacturers in the US, Europe and in some other regions have been resorting to using palm oil to eliminate or reduce trans fat in their product formulations.

"It is therefore useful for Egypt to keep to the current practice of having trans fat-free or low trans fat products by using palm oil," said.

Relating the success of palm oil in the oil/fat markets worldwide, Chin said it was not only because of price competitiveness but also because palm oil truly offered value for money.

"Palm oil is a versatile oil both as liquid oil and as solid fat, its functionality in food and non-food applications makes it a sought-after oil among manufacturers. In short, palm oil possesses qualities sought after by manufacturers and consumers, namely environmentally, techno-economically and nutritionally fulfilling," he said.

Among those present at the event were the chairman of the Food Export Council from Egypt's Ministry of Trade and Industry, Tarek Tawfik, Malaysian Ambassador to Egypt Zainal Abidin Abdul Kadir, MPOB chairman Sabri Ahmad, MPOB Director General Dr Mohamed Basri Wahid and MPOC chief executive officer Dr Yusof Basiron.

England's World Cup hero Ball dies at 61

Manchester, April 25 (DPA) England's World Cup-winner Alan Ball has died, it was reported Wednesday. He was 61 years old.

The former Everton, Arsenal and Southampton winger reportedly suffered a heart attack late Tuesday and died.

The youngest member of the side that won the 1966 World Cup, his non-stop running on the right was a key to manager Sir Alf Ramsey's "wingless" formation.

Ball made his international debut against Yugoslavia in 1965, and went on to win 72 international caps.

He was the second England player to be sent off in an international, being shown a red card in the away defeat to Poland in 1973 that effectively cost England their place at the 1974 World Cup.

Ball began his club career at Blackpool, but it was at Everton where he enjoyed his greatest success, winning the league in 1970.

He managed seven clubs, including Portsmouth, Southampton and Manchester City, but never recaptured the success of his playing days.

He was made an MBE in 2000.

Ball is the second member of the 1966 team that beat West Germany 4-2 in the World Cup final at Wembley to die. Captain Bobby Moore died of cancer in 1993.~

Ethiopian PM opens ILO regional meeting for Africa

Addis Ababa, April 25 (NNN-ENA) Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi says the issue of decent work is a timely and relevant agenda in terms of the major challenges which Africa is facing in the attempts to reduce poverty in line with the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG).

Speaking at the opening of the 11th African Regional Meeting of the
International Labour Organization (ILO) here Tuesday, under the theme “The Decent Work Agenda in Africa 2007-2015�, he said in many countries it is only through rapid and equitable economic growth strategies that gainful employment can be secured for millions of citizens both in the urban and rural areas.

The emphasis placed on making the vast majority of citizens active participants in the process through gainful employment is the most critical aspect of an equitable growth strategy, he said.

From the point of view of development, Meles said, today Africa finds itself at a turning point, adding, no time over the last few decades has the situation been as relatively more favorable as it is today.

ILO Director General Juan Somavia said on his part that Africa would need to crate 11 million jobs a year simply to achieve unemployment rates that match the global average of six percent.

However, most of the work in Africa is of a near subsistence nature with more than eight out of 10 workers in the informal economy with low pay, low productivity and low protection, he added.

The ILO’s latest projections indicate that on the present track, the number of people working in extreme poverty in Africa will increase by 20 percent by 2015.

Since the AU extraordinary summit in Ouagadougou in 2004, the decent work agenda has resonated with political leaders who are elected in their commitment to deliver on the agenda the Director Genera said l.

Dr. Gertrude I. Mongella, President of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) also said PAP and ILO, in their different mandates, are working for Africa’s development and are aiming to ensure that member countries promote and protect human rights, good governance, peace, security and stability for the benefit of African people.

The theme of the meeting, decent work, sums up the aspirations of people in their working lives as it involves ensuring opportunities of work that is productive and delivers a fair income in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity, she said.

Dr. Mongella further said that lack of decent work is one of the root causes of poverty in the continent, which in turn makes Africa lag behind in implementing the MDGs.

Some 300 participants including Heads of African States, Ministers, Employer and Worker representatives as well as key international stakeholders are in attendance at the meeting.

Since the AU Extraordinary Summit on Employment and Poverty Alleviation in Africa held in Ouagadougou in 2004, the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda has gained momentum and has been accepted internationally as a specific goal to achieve the MDGs.

Explosion at biggest Thai arsenal

By D. Arul Rajoo

Bangkok, April 25 (NNN-BERNAMA) An explosion erupted in the Thai army's biggest arsenal in Muang district of Lop Buri province Tuesday night.

Local media reported that a series of blasts was heard at about 8pm but the cause has not been ascertained yet.

The explosions forced the evacuation of dozens of soldiers, residents and monks from nearby temples in the province which is located about 154km north of Bangkok.

The Thai Army's special warfare unit is based in Lop Buri but it's not known yet if the explosion occurred at the camp.

The special forces were mobilised by Army Chief Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin when he ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a coup d'etat on Sept 19, last year.

Fans following Raj Kumar's footsteps, pledging eyes

By R.G. Vijayasarathy

Bangalore, April 25 (IANS) Legendary Kannada actor Raj Kumar has made a major posthumous contribution to the cause of voluntary eye donations in Karnataka.

The first death anniversary of Raj Kumar April 12 was observed on a massive scale across the state, followed by a similar statewide celebration of his 79th birth anniversary on April 24.

Eye donations were an important part of the charitable activities performed by the thespian's fans and well-wishers.

"Before the death of the star, we used to have about 50 people signing the eye donation pledge per year in the Nethralaya (eye hospital). But in the last one year, the number has increased by over 400 percent. Over 240 people have agreed to donate their eyes during this period," said Bhujanga Shetty, chief executive officer of the Narayana Nethralaya and the Rajkumar Eye Bank here.

Recalling Raj Kumar's decision to donate his eyes, Shetty said: "I personally conducted the operation to remove his eyes and the donation gave vision to two people. The operation and the outcome received wide media publicity. After that, we received a lot of enquiries about the eye donation pledge. In the past one year, over 1,000 people in Karnataka have been benefited by eye transplantations."

Shetty also added that the awareness has made the eye bank's job easier.

"Earlier, eye transplantations were done after a long time because eyes were not available at the time of request. The patients had to wait even in our super-speciality hospital. But now the situation has been changed. We are doing eye transplantations as soon as they become necessary because we have a sufficient stock of eyes, thanks to Raj Kumar's inspiring example."

Five north-eastern states get Rs.648.3 million for NREGA

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) The Indian government Wednesday released Rs.648.3 million to five north-eastern states for implementing the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), under which 100 days employment would be provided to poor families in rural areas.

The five states are: Meghalaya, Sikkim, Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur.

The United Progressive Alliance's (UPA) flagship scheme was launched in April 2006 by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in Andhra Pradesh, under which 200 districts were covered. This year, another 130 districts have been added.

According to an official release, the allocation for the north-eastern states under the scheme is as follows: Meghalaya - Rs.256.5 million, Sikkim - Rs.45.1 million, Nagaland - Rs.43 million, Mizoram - Rs.178.4 million and Manipur - Rs.125.3 million.

Fleming steps down as one-day skipper

Kingston (Jamaica), April 25 (IANS-CMC) Long-standing New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming stepped down as skipper in one-day internationals (ODI) after his team lost to Sri Lanka by 81 runs in a World Cup semi-final.

Disclosing he will be available as a batman in the shorter form of the game and his intention to continue as Test captain, Fleming said he wanted to free himself of some responsibilities.

"I want to keep playing the one-day game. I'd like to play the game as a batsman," Fleming told reporters after the match Tuesday.

"In some ways, your energy levels are sapped when you are captaining the side. I want to play with a fresh mind and finish off my career with some stats that are worth it."

Asked when he made the decision, Fleming said he made up his mind a few months ago, but did not inform New Zealand Cricket since he did not want to affect the build up of the team in the lead-up to the World Cup.

He described his tenure in the job as satisfactory.

"I'm very proud of what we've been able to achieve - 218 games as captain is a long time.

"I think I've done the job well. Whoever takes over in that role, I want to be around to assist for a period some for time."

Fleming, who was first appointed New Zealand captain in 1997, recommended vice-captain Daniel Vettori as a possible successor.

"If you look at the way we've groomed Daniel for this tournament, he could come into discussions," Fleming said.

"He's done that job very well. It's probably a little bit presumptuous to recommend Daniel but he's done a fine job up to this point.

Food adverts on TV prompt children to eat more

Budapest, April 25 (DPA) Food adverts on television prompt children to eat far more although overweight and obese children are more susceptible to suggestion, says a study.

Researchers from Liverpool University, presenting their findings at the European Congress on Obesity in Budapest, said they exposed a group of 60 British children aged between nine and 11 to a series of food and toy adverts on television, followed by a cartoon.

For children of all weights, food intake was higher after watching food adverts rather than toy adverts but overweight and obese children ate far more.

According to the study, obese children increased their food intake by 134 percent, overweight children by 101 percent and normal weight children by 84 percent.

Jason Halford, co-author of the report and director of Liverpool University's Kissileff Human Ingestive Behaviour Laboratory, said the study proved a direct link between TV food advertising and food intake among children.

"Our research confirms food TV advertising has a profound effect on all children's eating habits - doubling their consumption rate," he said.

"The study was also particularly interesting in suggesting a strong connection between weight and susceptibility to overeating when exposed to food adverts on television," he added.

The study also found that obese children were far more likely to reach for snacks with the highest fat content, such as chocolate.

However, the increase in consumption happened irrespective of which brand of product was being advertised.

In Britain, 14 percent of children are classed as obese and the average child watches 17 hours of television per week.

A ban on junk food advertising during peak viewing hours for children was introduced in January, but surveys show many children still watch TV in the evening when the ban is not in force.

The study provides more ammunition to critics who say that TV can cause serious health and development problems among children.

Aric Sigman, a psychologist specialising in health issues, Monday told British MPs that children under three should be banned from watching television and that older children should face severe rationing.

Over 2,000 obesity experts are attending the four-day congress in Budapest, and doctors there have warned that Europe may be on the verge of a major health and social crisis due to rising obesity.

FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE - The quality of Muslim human resources must improve

S.L. RAO
The author is former director-general, National Council for Applied Economic Research

India has very many poor and deprived people. There are large groups like small farmers, landless labourers, urban slum-dwellers and women (especially in low-income families), aborigines and other tribes, lower castes as scheduled in the Constitution and other backward classes among Hindus, Muslims, the indigent elderly, gypsies, and so on. Deprivation is widespread and not a prerogative of a single community or group. However, on some indicators, Muslims are worse off than Hindus, who also suffer serious deprivation. India’s experience with subsidies, dual pricing and specific handouts is that they have not significantly improved the condition of many recipients. It may only have added to their dependence. Since the Nineties, a fast-growing economy has reduced the numbers of the very poor. We must recognize that economic well-being brings in its wake social well-being as well. The deprived must become better-off and for that they need opportunities and the building of their capability.

Governments must improve opportunities for the poor and deprived. Is reservation of jobs in governments, public enterprises, academia and the private sector the best way of improving opportunities? Such jobs are few in relation to the need and in recent years, are decreasing in numbers. Few people from scheduled castes and tribes have benefited, perhaps owing to the lack of enough capable people. Tamil Nadu has offered, for the longest period, mid-day meal schemes to schoolchildren. Nutritious meals for pregnant and lactating mothers have helped the health of mothers and infants. Their beneficial effects on school attendance and on decline in fertility rates are known.

Unfortunately, social services delivery by many governments to the poor is inefficient and ineffective. Delivery of government services in health, education and subsidized supplies of essentials, is badly targeted and handled. They are not delivered at least cost and with minimum wastage, nor are they of uniformly high quality to those for whom they are meant. It is the incompetence of the government delivery system of these services that has resulted in continued deprivation of almost every section of the economically backward in India, despite large expenditures since independence. Children of the very poor get little out of the schools they attend. The quality of delivery of government services must improve. No government has given this the priority it deserves.

In 1992, the National Council of Applied Economic Research commenced the study in detail of human development indicators in each state of India. The sample had a strong rural bias and would get comparable data for Hindus (particularly scheduled castes and tribes) as well as majority-minority religions in each state � for example, Muslims in Uttar Pradesh or Christians in Kerala. The rich data out of this study has been used by many researchers. A key finding was that Muslims were, on many indicators, as badly or well off as the scheduled castes, but the scheduled tribes were the worst off on most indicators. The Sachar committee report has established certain other kinds of deprivation of Muslims that can only be attributed to discrimination.

The Sachar report uses many other data sources, particularly the National Sample Survey and the National Health and Family Planning Survey, and other specially designed studies. Muslims are deprived. So are scheduled castes and tribes in relation to OBCs, uppercaste Hindus and all other minorities. The worst-off Muslims are those in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, which together have 52 per cent of all Indian Muslims. The Sachar committee compares the status of deprivation between Muslims and Hindus (percentages below are in relation to total number of Hindus or Muslims).

In rural India, Muslims are much less represented in agriculture than Hindus and much more in non-agriculture. While 28 per cent of Hindus had no land, the number was 34 per cent for Muslims. Land holdings by Muslims are, on average, much smaller than those held by Hindus. However, rural Muslims match rural Hindus in monthly per capita expenditures. Muslims, and especially women in rural areas, trail even farther behind Hindus on higher education.

In urban India, 53 per cent of Muslims are self-employed versus 39 per cent of Hindus. Muslims have much lower representation in regular wage or salaried employment than Hindus. The proportion of illiterates is somewhat higher among Muslim males, but illiteracy is rampant among Muslim females. The differences become much sharper at higher levels of education. Secondary school education was undertaken by 17 per cent of Hindus and 8 per cent Muslims; while graduates and above were 7.9 per cent Hindus and 0.8 per cent Muslims. Less women than men among Hindus, and even less Muslim women as compared to Hindu women went for higher education. In urban India, at household monthly per capita expenditures above Rs 110, there are 64 per cent Hindus versus 46 per cent Muslims, and below Rs 110 there are 53 per cent Muslims versus 36 per cent Hindus, that is, urban Muslims have much lower expenditures. With higher percentage of all Muslims living in urban areas, Muslims are expenditure-wise worse off.

Female work participation rates among both Muslim and Hindu urban women are low. In rural areas, the work participation of both is more than three times that in urban areas. The differences between Hindu and Muslim women on this indicator are small. On some social indicators, the Muslims do much better. Thus the Muslim sex ratio is better than the Hindu one, and except for Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir, Muslims are at the same or higher levels than Hindus in every state. Muslims have more live births and higher surviving proportions than Hindus, and this is so at all levels of income. While contraceptive usage among Muslims is lower than among Hindus, the differences are not large in relation to their populations. Perhaps there may be less female foeticide and infanticide among Muslims, and better mother and child care.

Muslims are far fewer in government employment in relation to their population. In key states, Muslims had 6.3 per cent share in state government employment, 7.8 per cent in judiciary and 7.4 per cent in public enterprises, all less than half of their proportions in the population. The flow of benefits under various government schemes to Muslims is very low in almost every state. Habitations with large Muslim populations in the states with large Muslim populations (West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Assam) also suffer from government neglect in available facilities like schools, healthcare centres, post offices, bus stops and proper approach roads.

Muslims are better than their Hindu counterparts on monthly household per capita expenditures (in rural areas), female sex ratios, infant and maternal mortality, to name a few. The means that achieved these better outcomes must be identified and the community institutions that enabled them to happen must be nurtured.

Muslim deprivation appears to be owing to social mores (poor female education), possible discrimination (poor representation in higher education), and definite discrimination (poor services in predominantly Muslim habitations). Like the deprived among the Hindus, Muslims also require a better quality of school education. More and better-remunerated teachers, better teacher attendance at schools, more school facilities, outreach programmes to improve English and general knowledge, are some aspects that must improve in government schools. This improvement must happen for all communities.

Reservations will not help Muslims as they have not helped the SCs and STs. The quality of Muslim human resources must improve. Institutions that have helped achieve better results on some parameters could be used to improve on the poor parameters as well. New institutions must be developed to improve the delivery of social services from governments to Muslims. Muslim non-governmental groups must be formed to ensure that Muslims get their due share of government services and expenditures

source: telegraphindia.com

Former Zambian President Chiluba returns after treatment in SAfrica

Lusaka, April 25 (NNN-ZANIS) Zambia’s second president, Dr. Frederick Chiluba, has returned here from South Africa where he had gone for medical review at Johannesburg's Garden City Clinic.

Dr. Chiluba who left for South Africa in February, arrived at Lusaka International Airport Tuesday afternoon, accompanied by his wife, Regina, his personal physician, Dr. Justin Kangwa, spokesperson Emmanuel Mwamba and his security personnel.

Dr Chiluba was received on arrival by Patriotic Front (PF) vice-president Dr Guy Scott, some PF members of parliament and slogan-chanting PF cadres.

The former republican president who looked happy, thanked God for being the great physician. Dr Chiluba also paid tribute to PF leader Michael Sata for the welcome accorded to him at the airport.

He declined to answer questions from members of the press before being driven to his Kabulonga home but Mwamba said in Johannesburg Monday that the former president's medical review was successful. He is due for another review in July.

Four Maoists killed in Chhattisgarh

Raipur, April 25 (IANS) Four Maoist guerrillas were shot dead in two separate overnight incidents in Chhattisgarh, police said Wednesday.

Both incidents took place in the southern tip of Bastar region, in the Maoist stronghold of Dantewada district.

"Militants opened fire Tuesday night on a police team. Two militants were shot dead on the spot," R.K. Vij, the inspector general of Bastar range, told IANS over telephone.

He said two other rebels, including a commander known as Ramdas, were shot dead in the Dhanora forested region, 392 km south of Raipur.

According to a report by the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR), Maoist violence killed 749 people in India in 2006, with Chhattisgarh alone accounting for 48 percent of the casualties.

Genetically Indian: Indian Muslims are genetically closer to other Indians

By Kashif-ul-huda
IndianMuslims.info

Indian Muslims are as Indian as Brahmins or any other social group according the findings of genomic studies of northern Indian Muslims. This gives credence to the long held views of historians that Muslims in India are descendants of local populations who converted to Islam.

The study was collaboration by Florida International University, Spanish Universidad de Vigo, and Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow. Mitochondrial DNA which is passed from mother to children is a preferred way for establishing descent of a person.

The study looked at the genetic composition of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of Sunnis and Shias of UP. Blood samples from 60 Sunnis and 59 Shias volunteers were taken for this study. Their mtDNA was analyzed for specific genetic markers. Frequencies of the presence of these markers were compared to various groups in India and other countries.

While there are some differences among Sunnis and Shias in terms of their mtDNA, in general they found to be closer to the larger Indian population.

Principal component analysis (PCA), a statistical tool that separates individuals on the basis of differences in their properties was employed to place each social group on a plot. According to this plot Shias and Sunnis are much closer to Brahmins, Bhargavas, and tribals from Karnataka than people from UAE, Yemen, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, and or Central Asian countries. PCA generated a plot that showed three clear clusters- Souther Arabian Peninsula, North East African population in upper left quadrant, East Central Asian and Middle Eastern group in the lower right hand corner, and all Indian groups can be found closer to each other to the right.

The scientific paper detailing this study is going to be published by the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Dr. Razi Raziuddin who is a scientist at the prestigious National Cancer Institute in Maryland, USA and have read the paper believes that study conclusively proves that “majority of Muslims in North India are upper caste converts� which disproves the propaganda carried out by the Sangh Parivar that Indians were forced to convert to Islam. If this was the case Dr. Raziuddin argues we would not have seen Muslims genetically so close to Brahmins and other upper caste groups.

The study conclusively proves that Indian Muslims are part of the genetic landscape of India. According to the paper “our results demonstrate that the mtDNA haplogroup M is present in the Indo-Shia and the Indo-Sunni Muslims at a frequency of 50-60%, which is similar to that found in Indian caste groups examined in this study and others.� M haplogroup is one of the genetic marker used in this study.

Further proof that Sunnis and Shias are far removed from other West Asian population is the fact that they lack haplogroups H, I, J, K, and T found among the Arab groups.

This study proves conclusively that Indian Muslims are genetically part of Indian population and suggests that most of the converts are from upper castes of Hindus. This calls into question the credibility of Sangh Parivar’s allegation that Muslims forcibly converted Hindus in India.

Gordon asked to finish term as WICB boss

Kingston (Jamaica), April 25 (IANS) West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Ken Gordon has been asked to serve out the remainder of his two-year term which ends in June and not to reconsider his intention to resign.

That decision was conveyed to Gordon by the treasurer of the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) Whycliffe Dave Cameron, one of the 12 directors on the regional board, The Jamaica Observer reported Wednesday.

Government moves apex court to continue Haj subsidy

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) The Supreme Court Wednesday decided to hear May 7 a government plea to allow it to continue with its Haj subsidy for 2007.

A bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan posted the matter for hearing after Solicitor General G.E. Vahanvati apprised the bench of the government application, filed in the court's registry, and sought an early hearing of the matter.

The government's plea challenged the Allahabad High Court order, which has restrained it in 2006 from releasing funds or subsidy for Haj pilgrimage. The Allahabad High court order had followed on a petition by an Uttar Pradesh resident B.N. Shukla, who had challenged the practice of granting subsidy to Haj pilgrims.

On a special leave petition filed by the union government, the apex court had in 2006 stayed the operation of the Allahabad High Court order last year, directing it to dispose Shukla's petition before the commencement of the 2007 Haj season.

In its application, the union government Wednesday told the court that the high court could not complete the hearing as one of the judges recused himself from the case and the matter has now been posted before another bench for a fresh hearing.

The union government sought intervention of the apex court as it would not be possible for the high court to conclude the hearing in time before beginning of the Haj pilgrims this year.

It also said that for this year's Manasarovar yatra, every pilgrim was to be given Rs. 3,250 and the yatra was due to begin on June 1.

Since the high court had not disposed of the matter, the stay on release of funds had revived and unless fresh orders were passed by the apex court Haj subsidy or grant for Manasarovar yatra could not be released.

Govt urged to make Central Haj Committee autonomous

New Delhi, April 25 (Indianmuslims.info) Al Haram Khadimul Haj Committee has called upon the Union Government to make Central Haj Committee an autonomous body and give more teeth to State Haj committees.

“The rights and area of operation of Central and State Haj Committees are very limited. They have no role to play in Makkah and Madinah of Saudi Arabia so far as providing facilities for Haj pilgrims is concerned. That is why Indian officials fail in providing residence, food, health care and other facilities for Haj pilgrims and all the blame comes to the shoulders of Haj Committees,� said general secretary of the Committee Riyazuddin in a statement released here Tuesday.

He added that the Government should broaden the rights of Central and State Haj Committees so that they may not have to face any difficulty in Haj management and Indian Haj pilgrims may be provided with better facilities during their Haj pilgrimage.

Grenada PM hails Lara

St. George's (Grenada), April 25 (IANS-CMC) Grenada Prime Minister Keith Mitchell has described former West Indies captain Brian Lara as a true champion whose achievements will "always be remembered".

In a statement Tuesday, Mitchell said Lara was "a true champion of the game".

"His achievements would always be remembered as they set a new standard for the game of cricket."

Lara announced his retirement from international cricket following his team's last game in the World Cup against England Saturday.

Mitchell said the region would miss Lara terribly as he became such a unique figure in West Indies and world cricket.

"I know that people across our region queued up early to get to a game so that they could see this great batsman walk out to the wicket," he said.

"I know of persons who headed to cricket grounds as soon as Lara was due to bat. Collectively we as a Caribbean people all shared his many achievements with him including his three top score world records.

"We watched him grow into the finest batsman the game has seen in recent times and we were entertained by his unorthodox but beautiful style of batting."

The Grenadian leader said that Lara's career should be a lesson to everyone, especially young people, "to show that no matter where we came from, or who we are, we can rise to the top and achieve greatness.

"I wish Brian success in his future endeavours. I hope that his talent can be used to help rebuild our cricket and that he continues to be an ambassador for the people of our region," Mitchell said.

Gun battle leaves 9 dead including 5 militants in Afghanistan

Kabul, April 25 (Xinhua) Gun battle between Afghan police and Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan's southern Ghazni province left nine persons, including five insurgents dead, provincial police chief Ali Shah Ahmadzai said Wednesday.

The conflicts took place in the wake of Taliban attack on a local Construction Company in Qarabagh district Tuesday evening during which four local employees were killed, he added.

"In sharp retaliation police raided militants yesterday evening, killing five rebels and injuring five others," Ahmadzai told Xinhua.

Five more rebels were captured, he added.

However, he failed to identify the name of the construction company saying it was an Afghan company building roads and streets in the area.

Militancy and conflicts have claimed the lives of more than 900people since beginning this year in Afghanistan.

Heavy security for Indonesia's Ambon revel anniversary

Jakarta, April 25 (NNN-ANTARA) Thousands of police and soldiers patrolled Indonesia's eastern Ambon island Wednesday amid heavy security marking a key pro-independence rebel anniversary.

Officers fanned out across the main city of Ambon and towns on the island as an official said the region was calm, with only one separatist flag raised.

April 25 marks the 57th anniversary of the claim by the outlawed rebels to an independent South Maluku Republic, a territory covering the eastern Maluku island chain.

"We have had only one case of an RMS (separatist) flag being flown, and that was yesterday (Tuesday) in the Kudamati area," Brigadier Kahar of the Ambon island police said.

Traditionally, flags are hoisted on buildings and trees at night and quickly lowered by police.

Kudamati is a known separatist stronghold.

Indonesian Army Chief Djoko Santoso said last week that the military would be backing up Maluku police in safeguarding Ambon for the anniversary.

Six thousand police and military personnel would guard several strategic locations, particularly in Ambon city, the capital of Malaku province, he said.

Two years ago, a pro-independence parade in the city led to clashes and a week of violence that left more than 30 people dead and more than 100 injured.

The separatist movement was crushed shortly after its declaration in 1950 but the rebels regrouped following the fall of dictator Suharto in 1998.

High court directs establishment of another court for children

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) Upset over a huge backlog of over 4,000 pending cases pertaining to children and juvenile offenders, the Delhi High Court Thursday ordered the state government to constitute another court for children and juvenile offenders for speedy disposal.

A division bench of Chief Justice M.K. Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Khanna asked the Social Welfare Department of the state government to form another juvenile justice board (children's court) at the earliest.

The bench issued the direction after counsel Rajiv Awasty, appointed as amicus curiae in the particular matter, submitted that at least 4000 cases, including 1,000 cases of heinous nature, were pending for disposal before the sole Juvenile Justice Board in the capital.

Awasty said at least 400 juvenile offenders are presently languishing in various remand homes for more than seven years while the maximum punishment for the offence could be three years, he submitted.

The court directed the authorities to act upon the report submitted by the Registrar (Vigilance), which mentioned several shortcomings in the government-operated remand homes -- Seva Kutir at Kinsway Camp, Prayas at Ferozshah Kotla (both for boys) and Nirmal Chhaya (for girls).

During the last hearing, the court had directed the registrar (Vigilance) to inspect the remand homes and file a report with the court.

The court directed the authorities to make arrangements for imparting vocational training, rehabilitation package and recreational arrangements for the inmates.

Government counsel Mukta Gupta submitted that the authorities would be implementing the suggestions given by the registrar (Vigilance) within four weeks.

The Delhi Legal Aid Service had been directed to extend legal consultancy by sending its representatives every week to all the remand homes.

Awasty said many of the offenders did not know even the charges levelled against them and could not be released on bail due to lack of legal help.

History clears DNA test for Indian Muslims

New Delhi, April 24: Historians said the findings of studies on northern Indian Muslims seem to corroborate views that they are descendants of local populations who converted.

“We don’t need DNA evidence for this,� said Zoya Hasan, professor of history at Jawaharlal Nehru University. “It should be obvious � the numbers (of Indian Muslims) are so large that migrations cannot account for them,� Hasan told The Telegraph.

Scientists in India, Spain and the US have suggested in studies that Shias and Sunnis in Uttar Pradesh are mostly descendants of converts.

The Shias have some elements of paternal foreign ancestry, presumably through males who arrived in India and married women who converted, they said.

Some historians have cautioned that DNA is unlikely to serve as a peephole into the complex social and cultural history of India’s populations. “DNA will never tell you at what point of time religion changed,� said Shireen Moosvi, a historian at Aligarh Muslim University.

The historians also pointed out that Islam entered India at different times in different ways. “Conversions in India cannot be explained on the ba-sis of marriages alone,� said Arjun Dev of Delhi University.

The historians agreed that Islamic settlements in India emerged through several campaigns � an Arab military invasion in 711 AD, the Ghazni raids during the 11th century, the slave dynasty in the 13th century and the arrival of the Mughals.

Scientists have previously tried to use genetic data to unravel links between different populations within India and outside.

“This study appears to prove through DNA what is generally known,� said Lalji Singh, the director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, who had two years ago shown that the Andaman tribes are descendants of early Africans.

source:http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070423/asp/nation/story_7683397.asp

HRD ministry seeks PM's advice on IIM admissions

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Arjun Singh is seeking the advice of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on whether they should allow the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) to put out the first admission list before May 8.

The process has been held up due to a stay on the government's quota law reserving 27 percent of seats for other backward classes (OBCs) in institutes of higher learning.

"After the chief justice of India listed the centre's petition seeking vacation of stay on the quota law for a hearing May 8, all top officials of the HRD ministry went for a closed door meeting," said a source in the ministry.

"There were two major issues discussed in the meeting - what if the admission process is delayed beyond May 8 and should they allow IIMs to put out the first list," he added.

The source said that finally all the top officials, including the minister, decided to seek the advice of the prime minister.

"The minister had already met the prime minister. In all likelihood, the ministry may give a positive answer to the IIMs by this evening," he said.

The chief justice Tuesday accepted a petition by the government seeking vacation of the stay on the quota law.

After a two-judge bench rejected the government petition Monday, the HRD ministry had appealed to the chief justice to vacate the stay Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the authorities at IIM-Ahmedabad said they were hopeful of a "quick decision".

"There is a sense of confusion among the students, professors and overall in the campus. We have expressed our grievance to the authorities," said a senior professor at the institute.

"If the admission process is delayed, then there will two major problems - either the course will have to be shortened or the staff-starved IIMs would have to work harder to fulfil the loss of time. In both cases, there will be loss of quality," he added. "We hope we will have a decision at the earliest."

Human smuggling racket gets murkier - from Delhi to Andhra

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) A flourishing human trafficking racket involving India's political class is becoming murkier as the police disclosed Wednesday that at least 12 people had been smuggled out on diplomatic passports and more politicians were linked to the scandal.

The Delhi Police, which is at the heart of the investigation sparked by the April 18 arrest of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Babubhai Katara, said it had discovered that a dozen people appear to have flown out of India using passports of politicians' families to the US and Britain over the past three years.

Six of them, a police officer told IANS, had travelled with Katara. He said the US embassy and the high commissions of Britain and Canada had provided the information to the external affairs ministry.

"We have been able to retrieve information about 12 people who might have travelled to the US and Britain in the past three years," the officer said. He declined to say more.

Katara is being interrogated every day at the Crime Branch office but officials are tightlipped. The MP, elected to the Lok Sabha for a second term, sleeps at a police lock up, where he has been complaining about "mosquito bites".

Katara figured prominently at meetings called by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and of all political parties convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee but no conclusive decision was taken about his parliamentary career.

The NDA decided at a meeting convened at former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's residence that it did not want the MP expelled but wanted the case to be referred to the privileges or ethics committee of parliament. The Congress party and its allies are expected to counter this line of approach to a scandal that has brought disrepute to parliament.

Briefing reporters, BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra said there should be uniformity while dealing with MPs' wrongdoings. He said MPs involved in bribery and criminal cases should also be referred to the ethics committee.

Speaker Chatterjee said the all-party meeting would be held again Thursday to specifically discuss what action needed to be taken against Katara, who represents Dahod in Gujarat.

While four other MPs - one from BJP (Ramswaroop Koli) and three from the Bahujan Samaj Party (Mohammed Tahir Khan, Mitrasen Yadav and Ashok Rawat) - have been linked to human smuggling, revelations in Andhra Pradesh enveloped the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) in the scandal, raising fears of a split in the party.

Amid indications that TRS president K. Chandrasekhara Rao may expel his deputy A. Narendra for his alleged involvement in the racket, two more MPs and six MLAs belonging to the TRS are suspected to be involved in ferrying out people illegally out of India.

Narendra denied Wednesday that he had sent two Gujarati women on the diplomatic passport of his wife. He also denied that his personal assistant Ramna Murthy was involved in the racket. He admitted that two MPs of his party had kept their passports in his custody but declined to provide details.

Police and passport authorities have begun probing allegations that TRS legislator from Karimnagar district, K. Lingaiah, had sent a woman abroad on the passport of his wife.

The legislator has reportedly gone into hiding and all efforts by the police to trace him at Hyderabad or Karimnagar district have been futile.

The Delhi Police have summoned the other BJP and BSP MPs but they are yet to present themselves.

Six people have been arrested in the Katara case. Police say they are continuing to raid homes and offices of suspects all over the country.

Katara was arrested shortly before he was preparing to take out a woman, Paramjit Kaur, and a teenage boy Amarjeet to Toronto on the diplomatic passports of his wife and son.

Meanwhile, a Delhi court reserved its order on the anticipatory bail plea of Katara's wife and son, who fear their arrest.

Additional Sessions Judge V.K. Bansal reserved his order on the bail plea of Shardaben and Bhaveshbhai, whose diplomatic passports were used by Katara.

Police said that Katara's family had hurriedly withdrawn around Rs.700,000 from their bank accounts after the incident, raising suspicion about their conduct.

The Delhi High Court had Tuesday declined to grant anticipatory bail to Shardaben and asked her to approach a lower court.

IDB grants 5 million euros credit to Behnoush company

Tehran, April 24, (IRNA) The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) agreed to grant euros five million credit to Iranian Behnoush beverage producing company.

The loan would be paid to Behnoush company as Import Trade Financial Operation (ITFO) for import of hardware and software required for production of non-alcoholic malt beverages.

The interest rate for the loan for import from Islamic countries, would be equal to the price of 12 months LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) of euro plus 1.5 percent annual interest and for import from other states will be 12 months price for LIBOR rate plus 1.85 percent annual interest.

Iranian Mellat Bank guaranteed the reimbursement of the loan.

IIMs may release general admission list

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Arjun Singh Wednesday indicated that the government will allow the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) to put out the admission list for unreserved category aspirants before May 8.

The admission process has been held up due to a Supreme Court stay on the government's law reserving 27 percent of seats for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in all centrally funded institutes of higher learning. The Supreme Court will hear the case on May 8.

"Now in a changed scenario, the question is whether we can grant permission for admission to unreserved category like previous years, and take up the reserved category when the issue is resolved," Arjun Singh told reporters after meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

During the meeting in the afternoon, Arjun Singh briefed the prime minister on the vexed issue of admissions to IIM.

He said the prime minister was of the view that since delaying the admission was a collective decision of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), the decision to allow the admission for general category students should be a collective one too.

The decision would be announced after a meeting of the political affairs committee of the cabinet Wednesday evening.

Independent Palestine key to peace in Middle East: Italy

Rome, April 25 (Xinhua) Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi has said an independent Palestine state, something that would require sacrifices by Israel and Arabs, is a key to maintaining peace in the Middle East.

Prodi made the remarks Tuesday during a reception organised by the Israeli embassy in Rome to mark the 59th anniversary of the independence of the Jewish state.

Italy is a firm friend of Israel, Prodi said, adding, "True security in Israel will come only with the birth of an independent Palestinian state that lives alongside an Israel recognised by all its neighbours.

"To obtain true peace, Israel will have to make sacrifices along with Arab countries and guarantee the Palestinians an independent state, which has geographic continuity."

India eyes USD 30 billion FDI in 2007-2008

New Delhi, April 25 (NNN-PTI) The Government Wednesday said it is aiming at 30 billion dollars in Foreign Direct Investment this year on the back of huge interest in the country from auto and electronics manufacturers.

"We are toying with the idea of keeping a goal of 30 billion dollars of FDI in the current year, of which 26 billion dollars would be through investments in equity, while the rest will be from re-invested earnings," Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Ajay Dua said at an ICRIER seminar.

He said this FDI would constitute 3.3 per cent of the GDP, up from the 2.5 per cent last fiscal. In 2006-07, FDI inflows touched 19 billion dollars, of which 3.5 billion dollars were re-invested earnings.

The sectors, which would see increased FDI inflows in the current year are mainly manufacturing, auto, semiconductor, electronic hardware and services, Dua said.

He said the Asian countries are gradually improving their share of FDI. "Half of the investment being made in Asia is intra-regional and the major contributors to this are countries like Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Korea," he added.

Dua said large investments need to be put in to develop physical infrastructure, for which investments currently constitute less than four per cent of the GDP.

"We need to double this and have 8 per cent of the GDP for physical infrastructure. This should be maintained for the next 10 years to sustain an eight per cent economic growth," he said.

India fights New York tax claim in US high court

Washington, April 25 (DPA) A property tax dispute between New York City and two diplomatic missions to the UN - India and Mongolia - wound up in the highest US court, spotlighting a case that could have broader international implications.

New York authorities Tuesday approached the Supreme Court to claim $16.4 million in city property taxes from India and $2.1 million from Mongolia because both countries let staff members live in midtown Manhattan properties that are part of their missions.

The nine-member high court is being asked to rule whether US courts have jurisdiction in the case. The city, which sued India and Mongolia in 2003, believes they do and has won two federal court decisions in its favour.

The US state department argues that international treaties back a "longstanding exception" for taxes on foreign government property and has urged the Supreme Court to reject the case.

At issue are the Vienna Conventions on diplomatic relations and a US law known as the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA).

"Under the Vienna conventions...they are immune from tax," John Howley, a lawyer for India and Mongolia, told the court during a one-hour hearing.

He suggested the case should be settled between US and foreign governments, not by US courts, to avoid diplomatic fallout.

New York City argues that when a foreign government offers housing to less-than-top-level diplomats, it is engaging in "commercial activity" not covered by the FSIA law's diplomatic immunity.

"We believe that we have a right in the Indian and Mongolian premises," New York lawyer Michael A. Cardozo told the court.

New York bases its claims on a 1958 state law that exempts from real property taxes only diplomatic offices and the residence of its top envoy, such as an ambassador.

Two lower courts supported the city's position that there is jurisdiction for this case to be heard.

"We are very hopeful that the Supreme Court will agree," Cardozo said in a statement.

It may take several months for the court to issue a ruling.

India gets international help to protect its forests

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) India, which is fast losing its forests to over-exploitation, will get help in protecting its green cover from an Austrian research organisation which signed up the country as a member this month.

The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Austria - a non-governmental research organisation that conducts studies on environmental, social and economic issues in the context of global change - has said it can chip in with expert advice.

"Over-exploitation and over-harvesting are two of the major reasons for the depletion of the forest cover of India. The existing forest cover in the country is 20 percent, but the target should be 30 percent," Sten Nilsson, deputy director and leader forestry programme, IIASA, said in his inaugural address at a workshop here Wednesday.

"I am hopeful that this workshop will bring out positive results for the green cover of the country," Nilsson added.

The three-day workshop on "Economic, Societal and Environmental Benefits Provided By Indian Forests" is being held at the India International Centre.

It has been organised by the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) of the department of science and technology Wednesday,

Kirti Parikh, member, Planning Commission and chairman of the India-IIASA programme, said: "This membership was long overdue. With IIASA's expertise and experience, people working in this sector will benefit in protecting the forests as well as helping the tribals living in those areas sustain themselves."

The workshop will see a number of eminent speakers from various forest research institutes across the country as well as the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF).

Prodipto Ghosh, secretary, ministry of environment and forests, who was also present, said: "We will reorient our research activities and take the outcome of the workshop seriously."

Ghosh said the ministry is looking into developing the national eco-tourism industry that will enhance the livelihood of the local people so that they don't cut trees to sustain themselves.

"We have already arrested much of de-forestation," he said confidently.

However, on being asked for his comments on the removal of nearly 21,000 trees for the construction of the first phase of the High Capacity Bus Service (HCBS) Corridor in south Delhi, he simply waved it off saying: "Some trees must have been removed but these numbers are wide off the mark."

India Reserve Bank claims success in rupee management

Mumbai, April 25 (NNN-PTI) The Reserve Bank Wednesday said it has been successful in managing the rupee exchange rate, which has helped in sustaining high growth and controlling inflation.

"Our policy analysis by and large has been forward looking, policy actions reasonable and policy outcomes impressive...Others have said we have done a commendable job," RBI Governor Y V Reddy told PTI.

Reddy's observation came in the face of rupee appreciating to a new nine-year high breaching the 42 mark to a dollar after the apex bank stopped intervention in the forex market to check surging currency flows.

While emphasising that exchange rate is "market determined", Reddy said that if rupee continues to appreciate it will lead to cheaper import and increase in demand thereby pushing up inflation.

The rupee gained another 15 paise to 41.02/03 against the US currency in late morning deals Wednesday.

On the other hand, depreciating rupee would lead to higher capital inflows posing a challenge to liquidity management, which also impacts inflation.

"Going by the economic growth rate of 8.5 per cent and average inflation at 5 per cent and current account deficit less than 2 per cent, despite oil and food shock over the last four years, I would say we have done our balancing act very successfully," Reddy said.

"Many emerging economies are doing the balancing act... and you cannot say ex-ante that this is the right rate," he said.

India to make important contribution to space exploration: Kalam

By Tarun Basu

Strasbourg, April 25 (IANS) Against a giant backdrop of his presidential website, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the aero-science professor turned head of state, told an international class of space students here that India was set to make "important contributions" to the future of exploration with missions to the Moon and Mars.

Addressing a packed lecture hall at the International Space University (ISU) Tuesday evening at the edge of this northeastern French city, famous for being the seat of the European Parliament, Kalam told the students drawn from around the world that space has no borders - "When we explore space, (it) can act as a motivator for national collaboration between nations."

Space is a "platform for sharing ideas and technologies and to work towards a sustainable world with peace and prosperity", Kalam said.

Before becoming president of India in 2002, Kalama was professor of Technology and Societal Transformation at the Anna University in Chennai.

Kalam, who was introduced to the students as a "president and a teacher", said space science had enabled Indian villages to taste the fruits of connectivity and had been "touching the lives of many among the billion people of India in several ways".

"Today, India with her 14,000 scientific, technological and support staff in multiple research centres, supported by about 500 industries and academic institutions, has the capability to build any type of satellite launch vehicle to place remote sensing, communication and meteorology satellites in different orbits and space application has become part of our daily life.

"India has today a constellation of six remote sensing and 10 communication satellites serving applications like natural resource survey, communication, disaster management support, meteorology, tele-education (10,000 classrooms) and tele-medicine (200 hospitals).

"Our country is in the process of establishing 100,000 Common Service Centres across the country through public-private partnership model for providing knowledge input to rural citizens," Kalam told the students at ISU that has had a long and cooperative relationship with India.

Among the alumni of the university, over one percent are from India, which ISU president Michael Simpson said "is a pretty large proportion for a school whose graduates come from 93 countries".

The ISU has in this year's master programme one Indian student and three with Indian roots, mostly from Canada, and one Indian among the staff.

Kalam will address the European Parliament Wednesday before leaving for Athens on a four-day state visit to Greece, the first by an Indian head of state in 21 years.

Indian girls beat Kazakhstan in world junior tennis

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) Indian girls thrashed Kazakhstan 3-0 in a Group 4 match in the Asia Oceania qualifying round of the World Junior Tennis Competition here Wednesday.

In the opening singles, Rishika Sunkara trounced Yekaterina Vodopyanova 6-1, 6-1 while in the second singles, Aishwarya Agrawal sealed the fate in India's favour by defeating Kamila Kerimbayeva 7-5, 6-4 at the R.K. Khanna Tennis Stadium.

In the inconsequential doubles rubber, the Indian duo of Nova Patel and Rishika thrashed Darya Berezhnaya and Yekaterina 6-1, 6-0.

In the next match, second seeded India will face eighth seed South Korea, who scraped past New Zealand 2-1.

In the other matches of the day, top seed Indonesia registered a facile 3-0 win over Malaysia while third seed Thailand defeated Sri Lanka also by the same score line.

Uzbekistan thrashed Hong Kong 3-0 while fourth seeded Australia defeated Singapore 2-1.

Indian Petrolium Minister to take up LNG deal with Iranian President

New Delhi, Apr1l 25 (NNN-PTI) India will make another attempt to salvage the 22-billion USD deal to import LNG from Iran when Petroleum Minister Murli Deora meets the Islamic country's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran Thursday.

Deora will make a day-long unscheduled stopover at Tehran on his way back from a week-long tour to energy-rich nations of Syria, Algeria and Egypt.

He is expected to press Iran to honour the June 2005 deal to supply 5 million tons of liquefied natural gas annually for 25 years beginning end-2009, sources said.

Iran wants a higher price than the one agreed in June 2005 and has said its Supreme Economic Council will not ratify the deal at the two-year old price of 3.215 dollars per million British thermal unit (mBtu). Tehran now wants 5.1 dollars per mBtu for the LNG.

Sources said Deora had first raised the issue with Ahmadinejad in Shanghai last June and will nudge him again for honouring the contract that was executed in presence of oil ministers of the two nations. New Delhi may offer to pay higher price for additional 2.5 million tons LNG that India wants beyond the already contracted volumes.

Besides the deal to ship gas in its liquefied form, Deora is also likely to discuss the price expected by Iran for exporting gas through the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline. Iran is seeking 4.93 dollars per mBtu price for gas exports through the over 7 billion dollar pipeline.

He would also seek the Iranian President's intervention to get ONGC Videsh Ltd the much-delayed development rights for the Jufery oilfield and a 10 per cent stake in Yadavaran field that was promised as part of the June 2005 deal.

Indian shares rise marginally

Mumbai, April 25 (IANS) Indian shares Wednesday rose marginally fuelled by bank stocks with a key index going up 0.57 percent while tech stock fell as the rupee reached a new nine-year high.

The Sensitive Index or Sensex, the 30-share key index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), closed 81.05 points or 0.57 percent up at 14,217.77. It was, however, 3.4 percent lower than its Feb 9 record high of 14,723.88.

The broader 50-issue National Stock Exchange (NSE) index, Nifty, was up 25.50 points or 0.62 percent at 4,167.30.

"Riding on the central bank's unchanged interest rates in its annual credit policy Tuesday, bank shares shored higher keeping hopes that demands for loans would remain steady," said analyst Vishwas Diggikar.

"But with the rupee hitting a new nine-year at 41 per dollar, it has become a major concern for the software sector which traded low," he added.

Eighteen of the Sensex components traded in the green. Leading them was pharma major Ranbaxy Laboratories, up 5.71 percent at Rs.369.10, followed by rival Cipla, up 5.41 percent at Rs.252.25, and top two-wheeler maker Hero Honda Motors, up 3.98 percent at Rs.687.35.

Second-largest private lender HDFC Bank was up 1.76 percent at Rs.1,031.45, while its bigger rival ICICI Bank rose 1.24 percent at Rs.962.05.

Top lender, state-run State Bank of India ended 0.6 percent higher at Rs.1,139.10 riding the status quo in interest rates in the Reserve Bank of India's credit policy that brushed aside fears of fall in the banking sector's profitability.

India's largest company and index heavyweight Reliance Industries, which will announce its quarterly results Thursday, last traded 1.2 percent higher at Rs.1,599.85 after touching a record Rs.1,605.15 during intra-day trading.

Top tobacco firm ITC, cement major Grasim Industries, state-run energy major ONGC, top housing finance company HDFC, leading multi-utility vehicle maker Tata Motors, consumer goods major Hindustan Lever and top cement producer ACC were among the other major shares that traded in green.

Second-largest software service exporter Infosys Technologies led the major losers, down 1.96 percent at Rs.2,017.90, losing Rs.40.25 on its last trade, followed by its smaller rival Satyam Computers, down 1.79 percent at Rs.466.45 and top steel maker Tata Steel, down 1.43 percent at Rs.570.80.

Top software service exporter TCS was down 0.41 percent at Rs.1,220.80.

Top private sector telecom service provider Bharti Airtel, state-owned thermal energy producer NTPC, top engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro, top carmaker state-run Maruti Udyog, drug maker Dr. Reddy's Laboratories and leading two- and three-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto were the other shares that traded in the red.

Indonesia hopes extradition pact with S'pore will be retroactive

By Mohd Nasir Yusoff

Jakarta, April 25 (NNN-BERNAMA) Indonesian Attorney-General Abdurahman Saleh hopes the extradition treaty to be signed by the Indonesian and Singaporean governments soon will be retroactive so that it can be used to net those involved in corruption during the time of former President Suharto.

"I have not read the treaty’s draft but I hope it will be retroactive by five years. In short, I hope it can also be applied to corrupters from the Suharto era," he was quoted by Antara news agency as saying after attending a limited Cabinet meeting here Tuesday.

Indonesia and Singapore officials are expected to sign the extradition treaty and a defence co-operation agreement at the Tampak Siring presidential Palace in Bali on Friday, witnessed by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Abdurahman said the Indonesian government had from the beginning hoped that the agreement could be used retroactively to cover past corrupters, including those involved in the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance scandal.

The government had been hoping that with the treaty it could more easily net corrupters who had fled to Singapore, he said, adding that "we expect to be able to bring those corrupters back".

Under the accord, Abdurahman said Singapore was also obliged to extradite alleged corrupters who had fled to that country to Indonesia.

He, however, admitted that the problem was not that easy as it was not impossible that they have already left Singapore when both the governments were still discussing the agreement.

Justice and Human Rights Minister Hamid Awalloedin welcomed the signing of the agreement as it had been awaited for a long time because it would affect law enforcement in the country.

Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said the agreement would affect 42 criminal cases.

On data of the corrupters that Singapore had received, the minister said the two countries had not discussed matters relating to the treaty’s implementation.

"We are just in the stage of agreeing on the pact which is good for our purpose and the two countries` common interests. We have not talked about who and how but we are striving maximally to make the agreement appropriate for use to meet our purposes," he added.

Iranian Govt in ICT tie-up with Malaysian university

Penang, Malaysia, April 25 (NNN-BERNAMA) The government of Iran and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Tuesday entered into a co-operative arrangement in the fields of research, teaching and human resource exchange programmes on information and communication technology (ICT).

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Iranian Deputy Minister for International Affairs and Education in the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MICT), Dr Kamal Mohamedpour, and the Dean of the USM School of Computer Sciences, Associate Professor Rosni Abdullah, marked the first co-operation in ICT between the Iranian government and a local university.

Speaking at the ceremony here, Dr Kamal said both parties would focus on joint research activities and develop publications through the research linkages of individual professors.

"We hope to collaborate more on ICT software engineering and human training facilities with USM for our mutual benefit and we are willing to render our financial support for the related research," he said.

MICT and USM would also conduct an exchange of faculty staff members and graduate and undergraduate students for the research and study purposes, he said.

"We will organise the exchange of academic information and materials in the fields of interest to both parties as well as exchange scholars for lectures, talks, conferences, colloquia, symposia and sharing ideas in the various fields of knowledge," he added.

Dr Kamal said that as a country with a fast-growing ICT sector, 80 per cent of the republic has been linked with Internet networking and enjoys more than 40 per cent of land line and 20 per cent of mobile line coverage.

Italian CEOs to look at investments in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram, April 25 (IANS) A group of 33 young entrepreneurs from Italy will arrive in Kerala Friday to discuss possible investment options in various sectors.

"They are arriving Friday to meet Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and others. They will also visit Kochi and will be in Kerala till April 30," M.R. Karmachandran, a Kerala State Industrial Development Corp (KSIDC) official, told IANS.

The visit by the CEOs is the first business delegation of this size arriving to scout for investment in Kerala after a Left government took over in May last year.

"The highlight is that the team is young and from diverse sectors. They would meet the Kerala Tourism Development Corp and see the options available in the tourism sector," said Karmachandran.

The visit has been organised by the KSIDC with help from Kerala's private sector.

Jharkhand to cluck up its chicken count

Ranchi, April 25 (IANS) Jharkhand is planning to boost its production of country chicken and bring down fowl prices by introducing new breeds.

The new breeds of country chicken to be provided to poultry owners are colour broiler and vanraja.

"The two new breeds will grow fast and survive even in difficult conditions," said an animal husbandry department official.

He said: "The district offices of the department will inform poultry owners about the quality of new breeds and urge them to purchase and grow country chickens to replace broiler chickens."

Country chicken currently sells at Rs.110 a kg and broiler chicken at Rs.60. Under the plan, the new breed of country chicken will be introduced to boost production.

In the current financial year, the animal husbandry department was allocated Rs.60 million to support the plan to bring in new breeds.

It also plans to rope in private parties to grow and market the breeds.

"By the end of the current financial year, we hope the price of country chicken will go down by 20 to 30 percent. Hopefully, in the next five years, the price of country and broiler chicken will be the same," said the official.

He added: "The new breeds are also expected to help the state in becoming self-sufficient in meeting its chicken requirement."

Jharkhand is currently able to meet only 30 percent of the total demand for chicken in the state.

Jharkhand to probe DGP's rail pass 'misuse'

Ranchi, April 25 (IANS) Jharkhand has set up a panel to probe the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) charge that Director General of Police (DGP) J.B. Mahapatra misused a railway pass allotted to him.

"Mahapatra wrongly used the railway pass for a personal tour," said Saryu Rai, a BJP legislator. The officer has denied the charge.

The issue was raised in the budget session of Jharkhand assembly this month.

Mahapatra said: "When I availed of the railway pass, I was posted as the railway DGP. And a railway DGP has the railway pass facility."

Kalam suggests Indo-European missions to reinforce strategic partnership

Strasbourg, April 25 (IANS) Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Wednesday called for a three-pronged "Indo-European missions" that would contribute to global peace and prosperity and reinforce the strategic partnership between the two.

In an address titled "Dynamics of Unity of Nations" at the European Parliament (EP) here, the first time an Indian president was doing so, Kalam said there was a need for confluence of religions, cultures and civilizations, reminding that India "has had this advantage of integration of minds for thousands of years".

He said India, as a country that learnt to maintain a unique unity in diversity, and the European Union, which demonstrated to the world that it is possible to build a strong union of nations without compromising national unity, should "support a social form of economic development and encourage a model of growth with equity".

With their valuable experience of dealing with different critical issues, India and the European Union "can bring together a doctrine of global cooperation built on the foundation of regional collaborations and core competencies of nations".

The president suggested the launch of "three important Indo-European missions":

* evolution of an enlightened society that would lead to the emergence of a citizen with a value system and leading to a prosperous and peaceful world;

* goal of energy independence that would realize the vision of a clean planet Earth; and

* creation of a World Knowledge Platform for providing solutions to critical issues like water, healthcare and capacity building.

He also underlined the need of a "dialogue of religions", illustrating with a story from his childhood how a Hindu priest, a Christian pastor and a Muslim imam used to sit and discuss problems and find solutions to the problems of his hometown of Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu.

Kalam, a Muslim, also quoted from the Bhagawad Gita, the Hindu sacred text, and said the message of the Gita should be used to spread peace to nations and to the world.

Kalam received a standing ovation at the end of his address, which he ended with a poem that he said he had written on the promise of the EU and the doctrine of cooperation that it stood for.

Hans-Gert Pottering, the German president of the EP, called it an "extraordinary address" that the parliament had never heard before. He said the combination of a scientist, statesman and poet in the president was something unprecedented and hoped the visit would reinvigorate relations between the 27-member EU and India.

Kalam left later for Athens for a four-day state visit to Greece.

Kashmir roundtables: love it or hate it but you can't ignore it

By Sarwar Kashani

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) Separatist leaders of Jammu and Kashmir call it an exercise in futility but the series of roundtable conferences on Kashmir have come to offer a lot of promises to Kashmiris.

Though the Kashmir issue is too large to be resolved through such exercises, as far as the gains are concerned, roundtable conferences help in analysing the internal dynamics of the issue.

The third such conference, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was held in New Delhi Wednesday, delivering a host of promises.

"The three roundtable conferences have offered an appropriate forum to address the internal dimensions of the Kashmir issue," says Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, former chief minister of the state. "The initiative must be supplemented by concrete bilateral (India-Pakistan) diplomatic measures to simultaneously take care of the external dimensions of the problem as well."

However, the separatists yet again refused to attend the conference seeking to "find the relief for suffered lot". While each separatist leader had one reason or another to justify the boycott, their common argument was that they did not want to share the table with those who find themselves largely in agreement with New Delhi.

Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad regretted the non-participation of separatists.

"Had representatives of separatist ideology availed themselves of the historic opportunity and participated in the roundtable conferences and working groups, they could have expressed their viewpoints and contributed towards finding a concrete solution to the problem," Azad said a statement Wednesday.

"There is no logic in shying away from an event which talks about Kashmir and the Kashmir problem," said Azhar Baba, a political science lecturer in a Srinagar college.

Azhar said even if separatists had differences they could have expressed themselves on the table. "Nobody would have sought their consent on a gunpoint.

"In a matter of debate where Kashmiris are held as an aggrieved party, separatists could have exploited the situation to put forth their point of view," Azhar said.

"The (Kashmir) issue is too big to be resolved between Kashmiris and New Delhi but at least such exercises can be viewed as reconciliatory measures and should be grabbed," said Subbaya Masoodi, a lawyer at Srinagar High Court.

However, Bashir Ahmed Dabla of Kashmir University said: "The roundtable conference has turned out to be a failure. The recommendations of working groups are aimed at economic development but these won't serve much until the ground situation in the state changes for good and people feel a sigh of relief."

The third roundtable conference favoured increased movement of people and good across the Line of Control (LoC), strengthening mechanism for relief of victims of militancy and violence and sought strengthening of human rights protection among the a host of other promises.

Four of the five working groups - constituted by Manmohan Singh at the end of second roundtable held in Srinagar in May 2006 - have submitted their reports and recommended measures to resolve various internal issues, while the group on strengthening centre-state relations is yet to submit its suggestions.

Kerala Assembly to celebrate 50th anniversary

Thiruvananthapuram, April 25 (IANS) The Kerala Assembly will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its first session on April 27. The assembly began its first session on April 27, 1957.

The celebrations will commemorate the world's first democratically elected communist party government in Kerala under the leadership of E.M.S. Namboodiripad.

"We will honour all the 15 living members who took part in the first session on the 27th of this month at the members' lounge in the assembly complex," said Speaker K. Radhakrishnan to reporters here Wednesday.

Invitations for the meeting have been sent to 309 former legislators. State Governor R.L. Bhatia will inaugurate the meeting.

The gathering will be addressed by Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan, former Chief Minister K. Karunakaran, federal ministers Vayalar Ravi and E. Ahmed, Nagaland Governor and former Kerala Finance Minister K. Sankaranarayanan and Leader of Opposition Oommen Chandy, among others.

"Eight former Speakers of the assembly will also be honoured. The celebrations will be held over a period of one year. The details will be announced later," added Radhakrishnan.

King had mixed results during tenure: Gordon

Bridgetown (Barbados), April 25 (IANS-CMC) West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Ken Gordon says outgoing coach Bennett King's contributions to cricket in the region were "mixed".

"My assessment of his performance certainly over the past year, up to about September-October, was that there were mixed results because we did do well," Gordon told CMC CricketPlus prior to the announcement Monday that the 42-year-old had resigned.

"We did very well in fact in some of the games but since (then) things changed. They have gone downhill and his results have not been as good, but he certainly had a period prior to the end of last year when things went pretty well for him and for the team."

King, who took up his appointment in December 2004, will remain in office until May 31 to help set up a West Indies academy. His contract was due to expire in November.

In January 2006, the WICB set up a four-member committee to carry out an evaluation exercise on the high-priced coaching staff of King and his fellow Australians - assistant coach David Moore, physiotherapist Stephen Partridge and strength and conditioning co-ordinator Bryce Cavanagh.

The committee is headed by former Jamaica and West Indies wicket-keeper/batsman Jackie Hendriks, who is president of the Jamaica Cricket Association.

Asked if he was happy with the findings of the committee in light of constant calls in some quarters for King's removal, Gordon remarked: "I thought it was a fair comment in all the circumstances.

"But when this severe analysis and condemnation was made of Bennett King, you had to remember that in that first year of his tenure, he'd had that team for only 22 days of coaching and my statement at the time was that whatever the facts may be about Bennett King and his strength as a coach, we have to bear in mind that he had only 22 days with those players and you can't judge a man in that limited period of time.

"We had to have him over a longer period of time. He has since then been working together with the cricket committee and Clive Lloyd (the chairman) and there is ongoing evaluation," the WICB president said.

King went into the job with a successful record. He came directly from his position as head of the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy in Australia, the leading institution of its kind in the world.

He joined the Academy after guiding the Australian State team Queensland to three consecutive championships from 1999 to 2002.

King took over as West Indies head coach from former middle order batsman Gus Logie whose stint ended in success when Brian Lara's team won the Champions Trophy in England in September 2004.

King prays as Nepal calls for republic

Kathmandu, April 25 (IANS) As the people celebrated the first anniversary of his fall from power and renewed their call for the abolition of monarchy, Nepal's King Gyanendra turned to the gods for help, offering sacrifices at the altar of a Hindu goddess of power.

Tuesday marked exactly a year since the king, who had grabbed absolute power in 2005 with the help of the army, was forced to reinstate parliament and hand over the reins of power to the opposition parties after public protest brought the nation to a standstill for 19 days.

As Nepal celebrated the fall of the king's 15-month regime and restoration of democracy Tuesday with three days' festivities, the monarch and his queen Komal ignored the growing animosity towards the crown to head for a temple on the outskirts of the capital.

The Dakshinkali temple in Kathmandu, had been the first public place visited by the royal family in May last year, after the king was forced to quit as head of government.

Since then, Nepal has undergone a sea change, becoming a secular country from the only Hindu kingdom in the world. It also witnessed an end to the decade-old Maoist insurgency with communist guerrillas finally joining the new government.

The king, once regarded as an incarnation of god and above law, was stripped of his position as head of state and the army and the new government began making preparations to hold a historic election that would put the crown to vote.

However, the changes have apparently not shaken the royal family's strong faith in gods and divine intervention.

Though lavish prayers to the gods could not quell growing public resentment against his reign, King Gyanendra Tuesday chose to spend the anniversary of his exit from power by offering five animal sacrifices at the Dakshinkali temple.

Besides offering a goat, sheep, buffalo, rooster and duck, the royal couple also offered gold to the goddess, whose blessings, devotees believe, help vanquish enemies.

Keeping in mind the Maoists' growing opposition to the king and their recent confiscation of royal property, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's government stepped up security for the royal visit.

Despite crowds clamouring for a republic in a different part of the capital, the temple visit was reminiscent of the heady days of power enjoyed by the king since the royal coup.

The army, once branded for supporting the palace, offered a 21-gun salute and played the old national anthem that was scrapped last year for extolling monarchy.

The palace also mobilised villagers to line up the road taken by the royal motorcade. People chanted pro-king slogans as the king approached the temple.

According to Nepal's media, royal astrologers have predicted a bright future for monarchy. The predictions could turn true with the new government failing to hold the election even after a year in power.

It has also not been able to punish the royalists who abetted the king's reign that resulted in the death of 25 protesters and the disappearance of dozens.

Fresh cracks have appeared in the ruling coalition and new ethnic protests have erupted in the southern plains, giving the beleaguered monarch ample time to marshal his forces.

Kuwait seeks concurrent reopening of Kuwaiti, Iraqi diplomatic missions

By Jamal Yali
Kuwait, April 25 (NNN-KUNA) Kuwait's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohamed Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah has said here his country is seeking for a concurrent reopening of Kuwaiti and Iraqi diplomatic missions in the two respective countries.

Speaking to reporters prior to his departure to Morocco Tuesday, he said: "Kuwait has requested that the Iraqi side appoints an Iraqi ambassador to Kuwait and Kuwait appoints an ambassador to Iraq concurrently. There will be a joint announcement in this respect."

Kuwait is waiting for response from Iraq, he said, pointing to a problem related to a "secure" site for a Kuwaiti embassy in Baghdad.

But the Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs is bent on finding an appropriate site for a Kuwaiti embassy in Baghdad within the Green Zone or other secure areas, the Kuwaiti minister added.

Kuwait is aware of security challenges in Iraq, he said, pointing to efforts exerted by the Kuwaiti and Iraqi sides to reopen a Kuwaiti diplomatic mission in Baghdad.

Asked about the current visit by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to Kuwait, the senior Kuwaiti official said "significant" talks were held between the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah on one hand and the Iraqi prime minister and his party on the other here Tuesday morning.

The Kuwaiti political leadership listened to al-Maliki's expectations of a conference on Iraq due to be held in Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh on May 3-4.

In this context, the Kuwaiti deputy prime minister and foreign minister said his country was willing to attend a conference on Iraq to be held in Baghdad at the level of Iraq's neighbouring countries' foreign ministers, arguing that Iraq's stability is conducive to stability in the entire region.

He also reiterated Kuwait's support for the political programme and national reconciliation in Iraq.

The senior Kuwaiti official believes that what Iraq really needed for the time being were concerted efforts aiming to create security and stability in Iraq, saying stability leads to development.

However, he was adamant against foreign interference in Iraq's domestic affairs, voicing his country's willingness to play a part in Iraq if it was officially and openly asked to do so.

L&T bags Rs.2 bn contract for Dubai project

Mumbai, April 25 (IANS) India's leading engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro Wednesday bagged a Rs.2 billion contract from the Dubai-based Nakheel Group to build a luxurious residential complex.

The project, which will be executed by L&T's construction division ECC, will involve 31-luxury villas and infrastructure facilities on the upscale Jumeriah Islands and will also include a clubhouse and a play area for children and complete landscaping, L&T said in a statement here.

The project is scheduled to be completed in 548 days from the date of commencement, it said.

This is the third project the Nakheel Group, a leading project developer in the UAE, has awarded to L&T.

Lack of communication splits Indian business families: expert

By Vishnu Makhijani

Hyderabad, April 25 (IANS) Simplistic as it may sound, the lack of tradition and communication is responsible for splits in major Indian business families, says an academician who has studied the phenomena around the world.

To prevent such splits that are often very messy, family-controlled Indian businesses could learn a lot from US and European models where even in third generation conglomerates there is a clear separation of ownership and management, says K. Ramachandran, associate dean for academic programmes at the premier Indian School of Business (ISB) here.

"The role of the family in running a business is to a large extent controlled if there is a strong board of directors that presides over the company," Ramachandran told IANS.

"In India, what it comes down to is lack of communication because of which there are differences in goals and therefore, a lack of prioritising," he said, specifically stating that he was not referring in particular to any of the big-ticket separations that have occurred in Indian business families in the past few years.

The diversified Reliance conglomerate and pharmaceutical major Ranbaxy are some of the Indian family-controlled businesses that have split up in recent times.

As for lack of tradition, this is more of a north Indian phenomenon, said Ramachandran.

"In the south, family traditions are stronger because money is not the main issue. South Indian families play the role of a trustee where the main aim is to preserve the wealth and hand it over to the next generation," he maintained.

"Then, the women don't get involved in the business but concentrate on playing a social role," he added.

"It's not that women don't run businesses in the south. In fact, many of them operate some very successful family-run ventures. But in companies where the men dominate, the women generally stay away from the day-to-day affairs of the business," Ramachandran said.

Thus, in spite of deep divisions within many businesses in the south, they have still managed to stay together for their common good, the academic explained. This, however, is not generally the case in the rest of India, he added.

Pointing to the US model and its separation of ownership and management, Ramachandran said that in family-owned businesses, third generation siblings routinely get together to "elect" which one of them will serve on the company's board.

"Europe has a mix where the proprietor element is strong in industries like brewing but even then a lot of operations are delegated to professional managers," stated Ramachandran, who is a Thomas Schmidheiny Fellow of Family Business and Wealth Management at ISB.

So, as India globalises what would be the ideal model for the country?

One could be the holding company route, Ramachandran said.

"Let's say there are three brothers. All of them will have shares in the holding company. This will ensure they do not create silos but that each one of them will be running a business and bringing in profits to the venture.

"In this way, everyone moves to a higher corporate level," he added.

The other could be the venture capitalist route for the new generation entrepreneur.

"The venture capitalist puts in the money but leaves the running of the company to the entrepreneur who has the professionally acquired skills to do so. In this way, everyone is happy," Ramachandran said.

Lebanon accuses Israel of violating UN resolutions

Brussels, April 25, (IRNA) The European Union and Lebanon held a meeting of the Association Council in Luxembourg Tuesday to discuss the current situation in Lebanon, bilateral cooperation and issues of mutual interests.

Speaking at a press conference after the meeting, acting Lebanese foreign minister Tarek Mitri called on the international community to exert pressure on Israel to comply fully with UNSC resolution 1701.

"The presence of UNIFIL testifies to Lebanon's compliance with UN Resolution 1701 and I think we need support of our friends to make sure that the other party which is Israel is complying as well with 1701," he said.

He said that the Zionist regime was not providing the necessary information, including maps, of the cluster munitions that it used in its war against Lebanon last summer.

"And till this date, we do not have all the information to demine the region. It is believed that 800.000 bomblets are still there and the process of demining has not been facilitated because we lack all the information... the human cost is tremendous and our civil population in the south lives in insecurity because of this".

This is the responsibility of Lebanon and the international community to find out the countries from where the illegal transfer of arms occur, he added,
Referring to Syria, Mitri said it is often suggested that Syria is part of the problem, but it really has to become a part of the solution.

"And there is a clear message from our European friends: Syria is called to make a real contribution to peace and stability in the region."
For his part, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the question of an international tribunal to try the suspected killers of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri needs to be settled clearly.

Lok sabha may refer Katara to ethics panel

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) The Lok Sabha is likely to refer the alleged involvement of several MPs in a human trafficking racket to the ethics committee, even as Speaker Somnath Chatterjee will make a statement on the matter when the house meets Thursday, according to official sources.

At an all-party meeting convened by Chatterjee Wednesday, the leaders were inclined to refer the matter - the arrest last week of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Babulal Katara in the human smuggling scam - and the alleged involvement of four MPs in the racket to the ethics committee.

In his statement, the speaker is expected to ask the MPs involved not to attend the house till the Ethics Committee decides on them, they said.

At the same time, Chatterjee maintained that there was no question of brushing the matter under the carpet. "We are taking the matter seriously," he told reporters after the meeting.

He, however, refused to answer queries about the outcome of the meeting, saying it would be reflected in his statement.

Sources in the BJP said the leaders of other parties have been persuaded not to raise the issue on the floor of the house, but it could be discussed at all-party meetings at the speaker's chamber during the session.

"It was also decided that the speaker would make a statement on behalf of the house condemning the incident," said a senior MP who attended the meeting.

Parliament's post-recess budget session begins Thursday.

Katara was caught at the international airport here April 19 while trying to smuggle out a woman and a teenager boy to Toronto on his family's diplomatic passports.

Besides Katara, who represents Dahod in Gujarat, other MPs being questioned in the case are BJP's Ram Swaroop Koli (Rajasthan) and the Bahujan Samaj Party's Mohammad Tahir Khan, Mitrasaen Yadav and Ashok Rawat (all Uttar Pradesh).

Katara was suspended from the BJP the same day.

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) met ahead of the all-party meet chaired by the speaker.

Those who attended the meeting at the residence of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee included leader of Opposition L.K. Advani, Janata Dal-United (JD-U) president Sharad Yadav as well as leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Biju Janata Dal and Shiv Sena.

Instead of directly opposing the demand to send the matter to the privileges committee or the ethics committee of parliament, they decided to oppose stringent parliamentary action like expulsion but press for referring the case of all MPs implicated in criminal cases to the committees.

The BJP, according to the sources, is opposed to any further parliamentary action against Katara at this stage, citing the precedent of other ministers and MPs against whom investigation and trial proceedings are on.

Lucknow gets ready for Sonia, Vajpayee

Lucknow, April 25 (IANS) Top sleuths were here from Delhi and thousands of gunmen swarmed around as authorities here geared up for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, two of the country's most protected people who arrive here Wednesday evening.

Security and other details were being finalised to greet the two leaders, who will be here to campaign for their parties in round five of Uttar Pradesh's seven-phased poll Saturday.

While Gandhi would be addressing a rally to seek votes for her party nominees - all new to the game - old time Lucknow parliamentarian Vajpayee would be pushing the prospects of his handpicked contestants, faced with the formidable task of retaining four of the five city assembly seats.

The Congress rally is being organised at a strategic venue bordering the Muslim dominated walled city, clearing indicating Gandhi's target audience.

Vajpayee has chosen to address the electorate in the vicinity of the city's oldest Hanuman temple at Aliganj.

Top security sleuths have flown in from New Delhi to keep the venues completely sanitised. The arrival of about 10,000 paramilitary personnel for election duty has already given the city a visible security presence.

With only two days to go before Friday's elections, all parties are focused on the state capital that has emerged as a BJP bastion after Vajpayee's three successive wins at the Lok Sabha polls.

The ripple effect had also helped BJP to retain four of the five assembly seats falling within the urban part of the parliamentary constituency.

The Congress, on the contrary, has virtually nothing to lose - it has had virtually no electoral presence for the 15 years at least. Sonia's campaign becomes doubly important therefore.

Her son Rahul had driven through parts of the town barely 48 hours ago, but the response was lukewarm.

Maybe Sonia will be luckier.

Malaysian firms' overseas investments double in 2006

Kuala Lumpur, April 25 (NNN-BERNAMA) Malaysian companies' direct investments abroad almost doubled last year to 22.2 billion Ringgit (one USD = about 3.4 Ringgit) from 11.3 billion Ringgit in 2005.

This reflected their keener interest to diversify their operations beyond Malaysia, International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz said Tuesday.

The trend, she pointed out, is in line with the government's aim to encourage local firms to venture overseas to expand markets, access raw materials, tap new opportunities and acquire new technologies.

"Cross-border investment in the long term will enable Malaysian companies to become part of the global production network, which is one of the main thrusts of the Third Industrial Masterplan," she told the Malaysian Institute of Management's inaugural CEO Forum here.

Rafidah said the various incentives offered by the government to encourage cross-border investment by Malaysian companies include tax abatement on income earned overseas and remitted to Malaysia.

Another is tax deduction for pre-operating business expenditure in connection with proposals to undertake investment in business ventures overseas.

On a bilateral basis, the Malaysia-Singapore Third Country Business Development Fund, created in 1995, helps Malaysian and Singapore enterprises to jointly identify investment and business opportunities in third countries.

According to Rafidah, the fund covers up to 50 per cent of all eligible expenses for target-specific due diligence studies and joint missions.

She assured that the Malaysian government will always facilitate and encourage outward investments by Malaysian companies.

In line with this, the government will step up programmes to make local firms more aware of business opportunities in selected developed countries and come up with a comprehensive database on outward investments.

Mann's lawyers seek approval for him to undergo surgery

Harare, April 25 (NNN-NEW ZIANA) Lawyers representing Simon Mann, who is accused of masterminding a plot to overthrow Equatorial Guinea President Theodore Nguema Mbasongo, have written to Zimbabwean Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Patrick Chinamasa for permission to have the ailing prisoner undergo an operation.

Mann, who is serving a four-year prison term in this country for breaching Zimbabwe’s firearms and immigration laws, is reportedly suffering from hernia, the Herald newspaper reported hereTuesday.

His ailment, according to his lawyer, Jonathan Samkange, is one of the reasons Mann is opposing his extradition to Equatorial Guinea to face attempted coup charges.

The request came shortly after Samkange received a letter from Mann’s doctor, Dr Edwin Muguti, recommending that he undergo surgery.

In the letter to Chinamasa, Samkange stressed that Mann was ill and needed to be operated on.

On Monday, former Zimbabwe Attorney-General and Commissioner of the Africa Commission of Human Rights Andrew Chigovera testified in Mann’s extradition hearing, saying the Zimbabwean government was obliged to ensure fair treatment for Mann.

Maoists want to catch them young - at birth

By Sujeet Kumar

Dantewada (Chhattisgarh), April 25 (IANS) Maoists here have ordered pregnant women to deliver only at makeshift camps run by women guerrillas so that the children can dedicate themselves to extreme left ideology.

"Pregnant women have been ordered to deliver only under the guidance of health experts of the Krantikari Adivasi Mahila Sangh," Yelam, a 32-year-old Maoist leader, told IANS in the Abujhmad forest in Dantewada district.

The Sangh comprising women guerrillas is one of the frontal organisations of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist).

"The children - boys or girls - will be enrolled as new cadres and will be brought up in a culture that will help fulfil the long-awaited dream of liberating the red zone," he added. Police say the 20,000 armed Maoists who operate in India have formed the 'red zone' from southern India to Nepal's border.

"The decision is intended to keep reminding these children as they grow up that they are born to the cause of Maoist ideology and the creation of the red zone," said Yelam, who belongs to Indravati Dalam, an affiliate of the CPI-Maoist in Chhattisgarh.

The CPI-Maoist, an outfit formed in late 2005 with the merger of the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) and People's War Group (PWG), has a strong presence and terror network in 13 of India's 29 states.

"Our influence and support base is fast widening as police lack local support and their intelligence set up has entirely collapsed."

The CPI-Maoist has set up several war training camps and explosive units in a forested stretch of Chhattisgarh's southern region of Bastar where they virtually run a parallel government.

The guerrillas have killed hundreds of civilians and policemen and bombed government buildings and establishments since 1967 when they launched an armed movement from a West Bengal village.

The rebels carried out one of the deadliest attacks of their four-decade-old armed struggle March 15 on a police camp in Chhattisgarh, killing 55 policemen.

According to a report by the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR), a total of 749 people were killed in India in 2006 in Maoist violence, with Chhattisgarh accounting for 48 percent of the casualties.

The ACHR has said in its latest report that the state has reported 101 of the total 144 casualties of Maoist violence in India from January to March this year.

Maradona pursues uncertain recovery in psychiatric clinic

By Carlos Castillos

Buenos Aires, April 25 (DPA) Former global football star Diego Maradona is undergoing treatment at a psychiatric clinic in Buenos Aires, and no one knows quite how long he is set to remain there.

The Avril clinic, where the Argentine is being treated, specialises in "brief" hospitalisations with intensive treatment. Since Maradona, 46, was transferred to the psychiatric clinic Saturday, the flow of information regarding his condition has stopped.

Previously there was a daily, albeit not very detailed, supply of medical reports from the Los Arcos clinic where he was treated since April 13 for abdominal troubles linked to alcohol abuse.

Maradona is currently in complete isolation from the media, and is undergoing a treatment that is also set to involve his family. The system combines "criteria from psychiatry and from contemporary psychology", according to the institution.

"The team works to achieve a brief psychiatric hospitalisation and with a high degree of efficiency over the initial approach to the basic pathology," the institution says.

In Maradona's case, such "basic pathology" is an addiction to alcohol and other drugs, although there is also "an irreversible lesion in the frontal and pre-frontal cerebral cortex", according to a report published by Argentine daily Perfil.

The former football star's new neuro-psychiatric treatment is set to include the patient's "socio-cultural entourage", as the Avril clinic generally calls it. And in Maradona's case this environment has long been pointed at as a destabilising factor.

In 2005, the "positive family entourage" made up of the star's two daughters, his parents, his siblings and his ex-wife Claudia Villafane is considered to have provided the emotional support that allowed him to stay balanced and stable for several months and to improve his physical and psychological form.

That happened shortly after he underwent stomach-stapling surgery in Colombia, lost up to 50 kilos and led a successful TV show in Argentina, in one of the best years in the player's life after quitting professional football.

However, troubling signs started to appear again in 2006, and Maradona's personal doctor Alfredo Cahe has admitted without giving details that there is also a negative entourage around the star.

The doctor acknowledged that "being Maradona is not easy" and that neither is it a simple task to avoid the permanent insistence of all those who approach him and, at times, push him towards new excesses.

That is why Cahe stressed that the former Argentina captain needs "peace" more than anything else.

The faults that emerged in that positive family entourage - including the refusal of Maradona's ex-wife to restart their relationship - seems to have precipitated the current crisis.

"Diego was feeling pretty down because of family problems, which I'm not going to go into. He had some serious things that he couldn't deal with and that had got him depressed," Cahe said late last month to explain health problems due to alcohol abuse that led him to be hospitalised.

The former football star's current entourage is made up of his new girlfriend Veronica, her mother and the lawyer Alberto Dominguez, who according to Perfil is managing Maradona's business.

All of them are from Villa Fiorito, the poor district in the suburbs of Buenos Aires where Maradona himself lived as a child.

Dominguez is a former football player, former police officer and former hooligan fan of the Argentine club Racing. He has a small law firm and defines himself as "a mercenary".

It is not yet clear whether this new environment will be positive or negative for Maradona. Since 2000, when he had his first acute health crisis in a resort in Uruguay, every relapse raises questions as to his immediate future and the probability of a definitive recovery.

According to Cahe, Maradona "is going to spend some time alone" with no contact with acquaintances or even with his personal doctor. And his family and close friends will have to adapt to the requirements of the new professionals in charge of his health.

Merkel discusses latest Mideast escalations with Abbas on the phone

Berlin, April 25, (IRNA) German Chancellor Angela Merkel held talks via phone with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the wake of the latest escalations in the Gaza Strip, a government press release said here Tuesday.

Merkel stressed that the ongoing tensions could lead to a dangerous situation which could have a negative impact on the recently revived Middle East peace process.

As twin president of the European Union and G8, Germany played a major role in rejuvenating the so-called 'Mideast quartet' comprised of the US, Russia, EU and UN.

The German leader urged Abbas again to help secure the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Berlin is a staunch supporter of the illegal Jewish state in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Palestine's Islamic resistance Hamas declared an end to a five- month-old ceasefire on Tuesday, launching rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip after Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians over the weekend.

Hamas, which also heads the Palestinian government, held Israel responsible for the breakdown in the truce.

More statements collected in Woolmer case

Kingston (Jamaica), April 25 (NNN-PTI) Jamaican police investigating the high-profile Bob Woolmer murder case have collected more statements from Grenada and Barbados through two of its teams which visited the places.

The statements were collected by the two teams of Jamaican detectives which travelled to the Eastern Caribbean last week, according to a report on 'RadioJamaica' website.

"I sent a team to Grenada, and another to Barbados. They were received well. Local colleagues in those two countries were extremely supportive of the investigation," Deputy Commissioner of Police Mark Shields was quoted as saying by the website.

"And in fact, all those who we interviewed in order to eliminate (them) from the inquiry assisted the police with statements and all the samples that were required. So I am delighted with the outcome of that," Shields said.

In the meantime, Shields also said efforts were being made for Woolmer's body to be sent to his hometown in South Africa before the end of the week.

He said arrangements were being made for an early flight to repatriate the body.

Coroner Patrick Murphy had Tuesday ordered the release of the Woolmer's body.

Pakistan cricket team coach Woolmer was found murdered in his Jamaica's Pegasus hotel room on March 18, a day after his team was eliminated from the World Cup following their shocking loss to Ireland.

Most analysts decrease Thailand's 2007 GDP growth estimate to 4%

Bangkok, April 25 (NNN-TNA) Most stock analysts have revised downward Thailand’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth estimate for this year to 4 per cent, but raised the Stock Exchange of Thailand index target slightly to 731 points boosted by the interest downward trend, according to a poll on securities analysts’ opinions made in the second round of this year.

Sombat Naravuthichai, Secretary-General of the Securities Analysts Association, said the survey was made based on opinions of stock analysts from 22 securities companies

It found most analysts had lowered the economic growth estimate for this year to an average of 4 per cent from 4.2 per cent expected in the first round of the year on February 5.

They had also decreased their estimate for the SET index by the end of this year to 731 from 729.

Some research offices projected the SET index would peak at 770 and bottom out at 700.

Earnings per share (EPS) growth of listed companies are expected to edge up to 3.2 per cent from 2.6 per cent.

Business groups with hefty performance growth and investment attraction include property development and banking sectors.

They believed foreign investors would remain net buyers in the second half of the year.

Positive factors that are key to boosting investment include the downward interest trend, easing of political tension as the general election is due to be held late this year, and economic stimulus packages such as the implementation of mega-projects, tax incentives, and budget disbursement.

Negative factors include political uncertainties that shook consumer, investor and entrepreneur confidence, possible demonstrations of various groups of people, local economic slowdown, investment decline and global economic sluggishness, and southern unrest.

The stock analysts projected the baht would strengthen more than estimated earlier. By the end of the year, the baht is likely to stay at an average of 35.2 to the US dollar, stronger than expected previously at 35.7 to the dollar.

Mulayam's son takes out road show to match Rahul's

Lucknow, April 25 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav's son Member of Parliament Akhilesh took out a brief poll rally campaigning for the ruling Samajwadi Party in the city Wednesday, two days after Congress MP Rahul Gandhi had put up an electoral road show here.

Apparently to dramatise the road show, Akhilesh chose to move on a bicycle that also happens to be the symbol of the ruling party.

The brief rally on bicycles - barely two kilometres - was undertaken with much fanfare. Accompanied by Samajwadi Party's contestants from different Lucknow city constituencies, Akhilesh was trailed by at least 200-300 bicycles, each bearing the party's red and green flag.

To add more colour to the show, bunches of balloons were hoisted, while a live band was played as Mulayam's son led the procession through some of the city's thoroughfares.

Asked if his show was a sequel to Rahul's road show, Akhilesh shot back: "It is for you to assess."

He added: "Bicycle is our party's symbol and since we represent the common man, this was our way of telling them that here we are to seek your support so that the Samajwadi Party can insure your well being in the future too".

Muslim women allowed to wear face veils in UK courts

London, April 24, (IRNA) Muslim women should be permitted to wear the niqab, or face veil, providing it did not interfere with the administration of justice, according to new official guidelines.

The guidance by the Judicial Studies Board's Equal Treatment Advisory Committee (ETAC) follows a case at an immigration court last November, where a judge ordered an adjournment because he said he was having difficulty hearing legal executive Shabnam Mughal.

The permission is also seen at odds with guidelines issued by the Department of Education and Science last month that allowed schools to be able to ban pupils from face veils on security, safety or learning grounds.

In its guidance, the ETAC said forcing a woman to choose between participating in a court case or removing the veil could have a "significant impact on that woman's sense of dignity" and could serve to "exclude and marginalize."
Committee chairwoman Justice Cox said that at the heart of the guidance is "the principle that each situation should be considered individually in order to find the best solution in each case." "We respect the right for Muslim women to choose to wear the niqab as part of their religious beliefs, although the interests of justice remain paramount," Cox was quoted saying by the Daily Mail newspaper Tuesday.

"If a person's face is almost fully covered, a judge may have to consider if any steps are required to ensure effective participation and a fair hearing - both for the woman wearing a niqab and for other parties in the proceedings," she said.

The issue was politicized last year, when leader of the House of Commons, Jack Straw controversially called on Muslim women to remove face veils.

It came as a teaching assistant was suspended and then sacked for wearing a niqab veil during lessons at a West Yorkshire school in northern England.

NALCO achieves highest ever turnover

Bhubaneswar, April 25 (IANS) The state-run National Aluminium Company Ltd (NALCO) Wednesday said that it had achieved its highest ever turnover of Rs.65.16 billion in 2006-07, recording an increase of 22.40 percent over the previous year's Rs.53.24 billion.

NALCO, which is the largest manufacturer and exporter of alumina and aluminium and the flagship public sector undertaking of the ministry of mines, said this in a press release after taking record of its un-audited financial results at the company's board meeting here.

The company has also reported a 52.39 percent jump in net profits - Rs.23.80 billion during the financial year 2006-07, based on un-audited results, from Rs.15.62 billion in 2005-06.

NALCO achieved the highest-ever metal sale of 3,56,616 tonnes in the financial year 2006-07. This represents an increase of 3.4 percent against the target of 345,000 tonnes. The previous best sale was 353,841 tonnes in 2005-06.

The company's Aluminium Smelter too achieved 104 percent capacity utilisation during the year. The margins have increased from 57 percent to 61 percent this financial year, the release said.

Similarly, the company's 960 MW Captive Power Plant at Angul near the Smelter Plant has achieved the highest-ever power generation of 5,968 million units, the previous best being 5,679 million units in 2005-06.

The generation is also higher than the memorandum of understanding (MoU) target of 5,714 million units. Besides, this two decades old coal-fired NALCO plant achieved the highest plant load factor (PLF) of 79.3 percent, surpassing the record of 78.85 percent PLF achieved in 1993-94, said the release

NALCO has been pursuing plans of continuous expansion of production capacity to strengthen its business and increase in market share. Soon after the completion of the 1st phase expansion, the company has now launched its 2nd phase expansion involving a fresh investment of Rs.51 billion.

According to the release, the present capacity of Bauxite Mines will go up from 4.8 million tonnes to 6.3 million tonnes, Alumina Refinery from 1.57 million tonnes to 2.1 million tonnes, Aluminium Smelter from 345,000 tonnes to 460,000 tonnes per year and Captive Power Plant from 960 MW to 1,200 MW.

As part of its business development strategy, the company is actively exploring the possibilities of setting up joint venture projects abroad for making aluminium based on its surplus alumina to the tune of 1.2 million tonnes - expected to be available once the 2nd phase expansion is complete.

NATO still divided over US missile shield, Berlin says

Berlin, April 25, (IRNA) Germany's Foreign Ministry contradicted media reports which said that all NATO states have agreed on the deployment of the US missile shield in Europe, the Berliner Zeitung newspaper reported Wednesday.

"At least six NATO members, among them the Federal Republic (of Germany) have objections and posed critical questions which have yet to be answered," said German deputy foreign minister Gernor Erler, referring to last week's NATO Council meeting.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer claimed earlier that NATO states had made "no objections" during the recent NATO Council session.

Erler reiterated his criticism that the US installation of missiles in Europe could have negative consequences for global disarmament efforts.

Meanwhile NATO Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy Martin Erdmann confirmed also that "no consensus" had been reached in the NATO Council meeting on the US missile issue.

German political leaders have warned of a growing split among European countries over US plans to deploy 10 missile interceptors and a radar track system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has repeatedly stressed that NATO was the proper forum to discuss the stationing of the anti-US missile batteries. She also called for further talks with Russia on the matter.

Russia has warned of a "serious conflict of interests" over the US missile umbrella as it views the stationing of American missiles as a direct threat to its national security.

Poland and the Czech Republic regard the American missile deployment as a national matter and not a European Union issue.

NATO foreign ministers are expected to discuss US missile plans during talks in the Norwegian capital Oslo on Thursday.

NDA may agree on Katara being referred to ethics panel

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is likely to agree to refer the case of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Babulal Katara to parliament's ethics committee during the all party meeting Wednesday to discuss the involvement of parliamentarians in human trafficking.

The NDA met in the morning, before Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee called all political parties to discuss the issue, which unravelled last week when Katara was caught at the airport while trying to smuggle a woman and a teenage boy to Toronto on his family's diplomatic passports.

Besides Katara, who represents Dahod in Gujarat, other MPs being questioned in the case are BJP's Ram Swaroop Koli and Bahujan Samaj Party's Mohammad Tahir Khan, Mitrasaen Yadav and Ashok Rawat.

Those who attended the NDA meeting at the residence of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee included opposition leader L.K. Advani, Janata Dal-United (JD-U) president Sharad Yadav as well as leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Biju Janata Dal and Shiv Sena.

Instead of directly opposing the demand to send the matter to privileges or ethics committees of parliament, they decided to oppose stringent parliamentary action like expulsion but press for all MPs implicated in criminal cases being referred to the committees.

BJP's deputy parliamentary party leader V.K. Malhotra stated: "Neither the party nor NDA wants any leniency for MPs caught in gross acts of wrongdoing. We would like all cases -- not just the case of MPs involved in human trafficking -- to be examined by the ethics panel."

The BJP appears clearly reluctant to press for any further parliamentary action against the suspended Katara at this stage, citing the precedent of other ministers and MPs against whom investigation and trial proceedings are on.

The speaker's meeting is also likely to take a macro view of the situation and is expected to adopt some measures to avoid such malpractices in the future.

While Chatterjee has termed the allegations against the MPs as "serious and grave", Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi has said the entire establishment could not be blamed for the acts of a few "black sheep".

Need for dialogue among religions: Kalam

By Tarun Basu

Strasbourg, April 25 (IANS) Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Wednesday underlined the need for a "dialogue of religions", illustrating with a story from his childhood how a Hindu priest, a Christian pastor and a Muslim imam would sit and discuss problems to find solutions to the problems of his hometown Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu.

In an address titled "Dynamics of Unity of Nations" to the European Parliament here, the first time an Indian president was doing so, Kalam said whenever there was talk of a dialogue of religions, cultures and civilizations, one needed to remember that India "has had this advantage of integration of minds for thousands of years".

He said India, as a country that learnt to maintain a unique unity in diversity, and the European Union, which demonstrated to the world that it is possible to build a strong union of nations without compromising national unity, should "support a social form of economic development and encourage a model of growth with equity".

With their valuable experience of dealing with different critical issues, India and the European Union "can bring together a doctrine of global cooperation built on the foundation of regional collaborations and core competencies of nations".

The president suggested launching "three important Indo-European missions":

* Evolution of an enlightened society that would lead to the evolution of a citizen with a value system and leading to a prosperous and peaceful world;

* Goal of energy independence that would realize the vision of a clean planet earth; and

* Creation of a World Knowledge Platform for providing solutions to critical issues like water, healthcare and capacity building.

Kalam, a Muslim, quoted from the Bhagawad Gita, the Hindu sacred text, and said its message should be used to spread peace in the world.

He received a standing ovation at the end of his address that was characteristically interspersed with power point presentations that left several hundreds Members of the European Parliament (MEP) greatly impressed.

Kalam later left for Athens for a four-day state visit to Greece.

New web-based system can improve intelligence sharing

Garland (Texas), April 25 (IANS) US electronics major Raytheon Company has demonstrated new key Web-portal capabilities, much like the Internet, that will improve intelligence sharing across military services and intelligence agencies and facilitate closer collaboration.

When fully fielded, the system will be a worldwide distributed, network-centric enterprise architecture that enables sharing, discovery and collaborative intelligence operations and production, the company said in a statement.

"Its environment provides for both the physical and electronic distribution of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data, processes, and systems," it said.

The Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS) Block 10.2 grew out of a recommendation of the commission that probed the 9/11 terror attacks for military services to collaborate more closely through improved technologies.

In the demonstration, Raytheon showed how appropriate personnel could easily access and view real world operational mission data.

"The hybrid demonstration depicted how the DCGS can greatly improve intelligence sharing in the network-centric environment," said Anthony DiFurio, director for the Tactical Intelligence System business of Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems (IIS).

"The 10.2 system and its tools will enhance the user's ability to access and exploit vast amounts of intelligence data through the DCGS metadata catalogue," he added.

Based in Garland, Texas, Raytheon IIS is a leading provider of information and intelligence solutions to the US government. Raytheon IIS has annual revenues of approximately $2.6 billion and employs more than 8,000 engineering and technical professionals worldwide.

Raytheon IIS recently achieved a strategic milestone in earning CMMI Level 3 accreditation across its enterprise. CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration) accreditation is the benchmark of the quality and maturity of an organisation's processes.

Raytheon Company, with 2006 sales of $20.3 billion, is a technology leader specialising in defence, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world.

With a history of innovation spanning more than 80 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; command, control, communications and intelligence (C3I) systems, as well as a broad range of mission support services.

With headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts, Raytheon employs 73,000 people worldwide.

Nicaragua, Brazil to boost co-operation in energy, agri-business

Managua, April 25 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) The governments of Nicaragua and Brazil have agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the energy and agri-business sectors, including adopting a common stand at international forums.

In a statement issued at the end of a meeting between delegations from both countries here Tuesday, Brazilian Foreign Ministry Undersecretary for South American Affairs, Jorge Taunay said "what we have here was a perfect identification of purposes between both governments, which were represented in almost every field of feasible co-operation."

In only 36 hours of discussion, he added, “we took a giant step" forward in bilateral relations, which will be sealed by a visit by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to Nicaragua by mid-year.

Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Samuel Santos confirmed Lula's planned visit to Managua and said the agreements of intent were a generous, solidarity gesture of commitment from the Brazilian government in the context of South-South co-operation.

Nine killed in Afghanistan gun battle

Kabul, April 25 (Xinhua) Gun battle between Afghan police and Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan's southern Ghazni province left nine persons, including five insurgents dead, provincial police chief Ali Shah Ahmadzai said Wednesday.

The conflicts took place in the wake of Taliban attack on a local Construction Company in Qarabagh district Tuesday evening during which four local employees were killed, he added.

"In sharp retaliation police raided militants Tuesday evening, killing five rebels and injuring five others," Ahmadzai said.

Five more rebels were captured, he added.

Militancy and conflicts have claimed the lives of more than 900 people since beginning this year in Afghanistan.

NRI restaurateur slips past security to hug Kalam

Strasbourg, April 25 (IANS) An unidentified woman of Indian origin slipped past local security guards to enter a room in the European Parliament where she hugged a bemused President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and had a photograph taken before being discovered that she was an interloper.

The woman, who apparently ran an Indian restaurant boasting of "Punjabi cuisine", had managed to get hold of a visitors' card from embassy officials in Paris that enabled her to get into the room where Kalam was meeting local dignitaries and European Commission officials.

It was after the official photographer clicked a snap of the woman hugging and almost squeezing the president that the ADC to the president suspected her identity and informed Indian officials outside.

The woman then disappeared as quickly as she came, but left red-faced officials wondering how vulnerable presidential security could be.

The president, unlike the prime minister, is not guarded by the Special Protection Group (SPG) and does not carry the retinue of guards that moves around with and around the prime minister.

The incident happened in full view of the Indian media waiting for a briefing after Kalam finished addressing the European Parliament.

NRI's homework clicks on online tutorials

By Azera Rahman

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) Tuitions have just gone online courtesy an NRI mother's initiative to help schoolchildren in the US and Canada who can, at the click of a mouse, now learn maths or English and finish their homework.

Tutornext.com, the brainchild of Anu Bhave, an MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) graduate settled in the US, is a one-stop solution to all study woes faced by parents of schoolchildren.

When faced with the problem of not being able to find a tutor for her child, Bhave created an online tutoring portal for children in the US and Canada.

Just over 100 days old, tutornext.com has more than 200 students registered in various age groups. With the teaching outsourced mostly to India, most tutors are from Bangalore, while some are from Hyderabad and New Delhi. The programme fees vary from $25 an hour to $75-100 a month.

Sanjeev Govindan, one of the four people who run the website, said: "Right now we are offering help only to people in the US and Canada because it's most difficult to get a tutor to come home and teach your child there.

"Moreover it's a very expensive affair. But we will soon be spreading our services to other parts of the world and to India as well."

In India, which does not have a dearth of tutors, the site may not gain the popularity it has in the other two countries, he added.

More sought after for math tutoring than English, the site offers various programmes. For instance, there is a programme that gives students worksheets every week and an online session with a tutor. Both the tutor as well as the student can solve a math sum on the screen.

There is also a programme in which a student can get help to complete his homework. Besides helping him complete the assignment, the tutor - sitting miles away - also helps him understand the concepts.

"The best thing about this concept is that a person does not have to abide by strict timings. You can choose to sit for a session in the comfort of your home, after a game of baseball or after dinner. But we have to know the time in advance so that the session is fixed with the same tutor," said Govindan.

Added Bhave: "I love what I do. I'm helping students reach their potential and enjoy learning, as well as giving some time back to busy parents along the way. What could be better than that?"

(Azera Rahman can be contacted at azera.p@ians.in)

Only 21 percent of Britons want Labour to stay in power

London, Apr 25,(IRNA ) A new poll revealed Wednesday that more than half of Britain's voters want the ruling Labour Party to be toppled at the next general election.

According to an ICM poll published in the Guardian, 54 percent demanded a change of government while only 21 percent said they wanted Labour to stay in power.

The findings, which also show the current support for the government had fallen to a bedrock of just 30 percent, come just weeks ahead of Prime Minister Tony Blair's stepping down from power after being 10 years in office.

The Guardian suggested that the survey would be difficult reading for Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, who is virtually certain to replace Blair.

Part of the reason was that 71 percent of voters, including 53 percent of Labour supporters, believed that Brown could offer only continuity. Only 22 percent suggested his succession would represent a fresh start for the government.

The poll also showed that over a quarter of the people who voted in favor of Labour at the last general election in 2005 have switched to either the Conservatives or the Liberal Democrats.

In comparison with Conservative leader, David Cameron, the chancellor was found to be six points lower, 37 percent to 43 percent. He was considered as the person voters thought had the most potential as prime minister.

Brown also lagged further behind Cameron, 34 percent to 45 percent, as being the leader most likely to take Britain in the right direction.

The poll was seen as in line with other surveys that suggest unless Brown can overcome Blair's negative legacy, the Conservatives will win the next general election, which is due to be held by 2010 at the latest.

Only embroidered Qran in the world in Pakistan

By Zakaria Abdul Wahab

Lahore, April 25 (NNN-Bernama) --- Early manuscripts of the Quran, from the time of its revelation, were typically written on all kinds of materials but it got better as it was passed down from one generation to the next.

In the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad, parts of the revelations were written on bones, animal skins and palm leaves and the ink was prepared from soot.

There were also Quran written on parchment made from gazelle and camel skins dating years back, after the Prophet's death, but the better copies of the Quran were made after the printing machine was invented.

However, unknown to many, there is a Quran, believed to be the only one in the world, which has its verses embroidered in thread.

This Quran is divided into 30 sections, all of which are now placed under lock and key in glass cabinets in an exhibition hall inside Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan.

The protocol officer of the mosque, Muhammad Yousuf, said the Quran was discovered following the death of the maker, Attar Mohamed, an ordinary citizen, just three days after he completed the needlework.

Hailed from Lahore, the 40-year-old Attar took 10 years to stitch the Quran from 1966 to 1976, he said.

Muhammad said the late Attar did the needlework to seek peace of mind.

Today, many people throng the mosque to catch a rare glimpse of the beautifully embroidered Quran.

Order on IFS officer's plea reserved

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) The Central Information Commission (CIC) has reserved its order on senior Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer Veena Sikri's demand seeking information about the process of appointing Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon.

The CIC's bench of Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah and Information Commissioner O.P. Kejariwal reserved the order after hearing the pleas from the government and Sikri, who had been superseded by Menon.

Asked about the outcome of Tuesday's hearing, Kejariwal Wednesday told IANS that the commission has reserved its order on the issue. "It would take around a week to ten days for us to pronounce the order," he said.

During the hearing, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) refused to divulge the information demanded by Sikri arguing that the file notings regarding the appointment of the foreign secretary are not covered under the Right To Information (RTI) Act.

The PMO told the commission that such a disclosure would lead to "unwarranted invasion to the privacy of individual IFS officers screened for the post of foreign secretary".

Faced with this contention from the PMO, Habibullah observed that there shouldn't be any harm in revealing such information. "The entire issue is in public domain," he said.

Opposing the disclosure of information on the appointment process of the foreign secretary, the cabinet secretariat too sought exemption from disclosure of the file details on the ground that cabinet papers were immune under the RTI Act and should not be put in public domain.

Sikri, a 1971 batch IFS officer, had approached the CIC after Menon, a 1972 batch officer, was appointed to the top slot superseding 16 officers including her.

Order reserved on bail plea of Katara's wife, son

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) A Delhi court Wednesday reserved its order on the anticipatory bail plea of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Babubhai Katara's wife and son, who fear their arrest in the human trafficking racket run by the MP.

Additional Sessions Judge V.K. Bansal reserved his order on the bail plea of Shardaben and Bhaveshbhai, whose diplomatic passports were used by Katara last Wednesday when he was trying to smuggle out a woman and a teenage boy to Toronto.

Kataras' lawyer said his clients were apprehensive that they would be arrested as their passports had been misused.

However, the public prosecutor termed the bail plea "premature" and said the police had not even issued notices to seek their cooperation in the ongoing probe.

Police have said Katara's family had hurriedly withdrawn around Rs.700,000 from their bank accounts after the incident, which raised suspicion.

The Delhi High Court had Tuesday declined to grant anticipatory bail to Shardaben and asked her to approach a lower court.

Pak-Iran trade target of dlrs one billion to be achieved

Islamabad, April 23, (IRNA) Chairman of Pakistan-Iran Business Council Tariq Sayeed on Monday expressed optimism that Pakistan and Iran will achieve the target of bilateral trade of one billion dollars by the end of this year.

He was speaking in a meeting with Ahmad Fasihi, commercial attache of Iran in Karachi.

Tariq Sayeed said that the present volume of bilateral trade of dlrs 638 million between Pakistan and Iran should be further enhanced.

To achieve the set target in bilateral trade, Tariq Sayeed suggested that Pakistan and Iran should encourage border trade by establishing customs ports at borders.

He further suggested that Pakistan and Iran should also establish banks in each other countries to facilitate operating of LCs.

Tariq Sayeed said that Pakistan Single Country Exhibition in Iran is overdue and added that with the help of commercial attache' FPCCI will organize Pakistan Single Country in Tehran in the last quarter of 2007.

Sayeed appreciated the role of the commercial section and commercial attache of Iran Consulate particularly in terms of facilitating the business community of Pakistan having 350 meetings with them during five months.

He said that the opening of commercial attache office in Karachi was a positive steps in promoting bilateral trade and Pakistan should also open a separate commercial attache office in Tehran in line with the international policy being adopted by all embassies and high commissions.

While making the suggestions for the promotion of bilateral trade, Tariq Sayeed emphasized on the need of exchange of information between the business community of the two countries.

He said that Pakistan and Iran should make a joint study on their bilateral trade relations and their share in global trade.

He suggested that both the countries should identify the potential items of import and exportable between the two countries and give it wide publicity.

He further suggested that both the countries should also identify potential ares of joint ventures particularly in areas where they can complement each other.

He said that according to the agreement between the two countries Iran has reduced import duty on 339 items while Pakistan has reciprocated the same on 309 items.

Ahmad Fasihi, Iran's commercial attache welcomed the proposals made by the chairman of Pakistan-Iran Business Council.

He said that the Pakistan Single Country Exhibition in Iran will go a long way in promoting bilateral trade and economic relations.

Pakistan mirage fighter aircraft crashes

Islamabad, April 25 (Xinhua) A fighter aircraft of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) crashed in Punjab province Wednesday, officials said.

"Pakistan Air Force reports with regret that a mirage fighter aircraft, while on a routine operational training mission, crashed near Shorkot, Jhang," a PAF statement said.

The pilot ejected safely and no loss of life or property has been reported on the ground, the statement said.

The crash apparently occurred due to technical reasons, it said.

Pakistani media feels the heat of judge controversy

Islamabad, April 25 (DPA) As Pakistan weathers its seventh week of crisis over the suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, state authorities are tightening the screws on local media during their tenacious coverage of the highly politicised case.

Licences for new media projects have been suspiciously withheld, lucrative government advertising contracts pulled in the wake of critical reporting, TV channels taken off air and premises vandalised by police.

International media organisations joined in fierce condemnation of a rampage March 16 by officers with sticks and tear gas inside the Islamabad bureau of the independent Geo television station.

The raid came as the channel aired live footage of police using rubber bullets and tear gas on activists to stop them from joining protesting lawyers outside the Supreme Court.

"This is a sabotage of what we stand for," President Pervez Musharraf said of the police actions in a live interview broadcast the next day.

Condemning the "highly regretful" occurrence, the military leader named "freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of media" as the main strengths of his reforms.

At least 14 policemen were promptly suspended after the attack on Geo, since when some media toned down their coverage while others have intensified it.

The private Aaj channel recently devoted successive hours of airtime to a trip by Chaudhry to the northern city of Peshawar, presenting images of him being showered with rose petals by a euphoric crowd.

Last Sunday, Aaj, which together with Geo was also taken off air during the March 16 events, received a notice from state media regulators for alleged violation of directives about covering the judicial crisis. It was also told that it had not fulfilled procedural requirements for airing programmes. The channel denied both charges.

"We take the notice as totally unjustified," said Aaj managing director Arshad Zuberi.

Media workers across the country also demonstrated and condemned government attempts to gag the press, which can take various forms.

Pulling advertising has long been a tool of pressure by successive governments in the country, according to Sohail Iqbal, editor of Pakistan's private Online news agency.

The agency is one news provider to feel this financial pinch since Musharraf suspended Chaudhry on March 9 for abuse of office, sparking nationwide protests by lawyers and opposition parties.

"The pressure has increased in the past couple of months during the judicial crisis," the editor said. "They are trying to advise the media to underplay such stories and highlight the government point of view."

Self-censorship is widely practised as a result, Iqbal said.

The Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) cited the actions against Geo and restrictions on advertising as a taste of things likely to come as the president seeks another term in polls due this year or in early 2008.

"We fear that, in this presidential election year, the independence of the media is going to be under attack from the government," the organisation said.

But before the eruption of the Chaudhry affair, a succession of sinister and tragic events overshadowed the media scene. Pakistan last year topped the list of countries in South Asia for the number of abductions, disappearances and killings of journalists.

Four journalists died while performing their professional duties in 2006. Allegations of security service involvement surfaced in the case of Hayatullah Khan, the Pakistani photographer murdered after documenting the apparent use of a US missile to kill a senior Al Qaeda figure.

Hayatullah was found dead in June 2006 in North Waziristan where he was abducted six months earlier. Before his disappearance, the widely distributed photos contradicted an official Pakistani statement that the terrorist died from a blast caused by conventional explosives and not from an aerial attack.

In 2006, at least 10 other journalists were kidnapped by security forces, sometimes held for a few hours only but in harsh conditions, RSF said in a report. Some were tortured, the organisation claimed.

Amid the mushrooming growth of independent television channels, pulling the plug on troublesome examples is also becoming more frequent.

Last year, two local language channels were taken off air for a month for reporting on an insurgency by tribal militants in Balochistan province.

Pakistani people not ready yet for Kashmir deal: Rahman

By Manish Chand

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) Pakistani opposition leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman backs a solution of the Kashmir issue through dialogue that will be acceptable to everyone including Kashmiris, but clarifies that the people of Pakistan are yet not ready to accept the LoC as a permanent border.

"There is no indication that we are close to a solution. No report has been presented in parliament. It hasn't been discussed with us," Rahman, leader of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) alliance, told IANS in an interview.

"It's hard to say whether the talks are going on well or not. People of Pakistan are not ready to accept the Line of Control (LoC) as a permanent border," Rahman said. He was asked if he believed Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri's claims that India and Pakistan were close to an agreement on Kashmir.

In recent times, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has come around to supporting the notion of free movement across LoC - that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan - with a view to making it irrelevant as part of a package that includes demilitarization, self-governance and joint management of Kashmir.

"Kashmir is one of the crucial issues. Some call it a big issue while others call it a core issue. Both regimes are engaged in resolving this issue. We support this move," said the leader of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, a major component of MMA.

"Kashmir solution should be one that should be acceptable to all parties, including Kashmiris," he said, when asked what would be an ideal solution to the Kashmir dispute that has been the cause of two of the three major wars between India and Pakistan.

Rahman, who represents the influential conservative establishment in Pakistan, is, however, upbeat about the health of the three-year-old peace process between the two countries.

"The peace process is going on well and has become strong regardless of who is in power. All parties are in favour of resolving the issue through dialogue. Issues should be solved through dialogue," he stressed.

"The situation has improved over the last five years. The temperature has come down and the ice over old issues is thawing. The security situation is better," he said, while pressing for a reduction of Indian troops in Kashmir.

He welcomed the setting up of the joint India-Pakistan anti-terror mechanism, but evaded a direct answer when asked about his views on cross-border terror.

"Terrorism is a relative term," is all that the hardline leader, who heads a powerful network of madrassas in the country that are accused of fomenting extremism in Pakistan, would say.

Rahman came to India Sunday night on a five-day visit to take part in a seminar on eminent Muslim scholar and parliamentarian Maulana Asad Madani.

Rahman sounded vague about a reported deal between former prime minister Benazir Butto and Musharraf that would see her return to Pakistan.

"There are different kinds of reports. We don't want to isolate Benazir. If she wants to isolate herself, that's her choice. We want a grand opposition alliance," said Rahman, sporting his trademark orange turban.

Rahman also vehemently protested the move by Musharraf to have re-elect himself through the current parliament and sitting provincial assemblies.

"It is unconditional. All opposition parties should be consulted," he said.

Sounding sceptical about Musharraf's claims of restoring democracy in Pakistan, Rahman said: "Political struggle is required for real democracy in the country."

Papua-NG dismisses reports of electoral Chaos

Melbourne, April 25 (NNN-BERNAMA) Papua New Guinea's electoral commissioner has dismissed reports that more than 40 employees have resigned, throwing preparations for the June national elections into chaos.

Radio Australia said the electoral commissioner Andrew Trawen was responding to local media reports that 44 electoral officers in one of the country's biggest provinces, had resigned.

The officers were reportedly upset that no funding had reached the Morobe province while an administrator there said the elections were heading for disaster.

Trawen said funds had been sent to all provinces.

"The money is there on the ground now. I'm confident that the election commissioners will access those funds to conduct their operation for the election," he is quoted as saying.

The writs for the June election will be issued next week.

Pentagon lied about NFL player's death, alleges kin

Washington, April 25 (DPA) The Pentagon conspired to cover up American football star Pat Tillman's friendly fire death in Afghanistan to portray him as a hero in the war on terrorism, the soldier's brother alleged.

Kevin Tillman, who served in the same platoon in Afghanistan as Pat, Tuesday said the Pentagon purposefully withheld the true circumstances of his death from the family and sought to distract the public from the abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison facility in Iraq.

"These are deliberate and calculated lies," Tillman said during his frequently emotional testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

"To our family and friends, it was a devastating loss. To the nation, it was a moment of disorientation. To the military, it was a nightmare. But to others within the government, it appears to have been an opportunity," Tillman said.

Corporal Pat Tillman died on April 22, 2004 in eastern Afghanistan after his platoon was ambushed. Tillman's death made international headlines because he gave up a $3.6 million contract to play in the National Football League for the Arizona Cardinals and instead enlisted in the Army.

The Pentagon initially told the family he was shot in the head by enemy fire, but weeks later it emerged it was a case of fratricide. An internal report released by the Pentagon in March found that serious errors were committed in the several investigations of his death but that it remained an accident.

Kevin Tillman disputed those findings, saying the American soldiers knew "friendlies" were in the area receiving fire but continued shooting in a "series of careless actions by several individuals in our own platoon after a small harassing ambush".

"The content of the multiple investigations reveal a series of contradictions that strongly suggest deliberate and careful misrepresentations," Tillman said.

Another soldier who arrived on the scene before the slain soldier's brother told the committee he was instructed by his commanding officer not to reveal that it was a friendly fire incident.

"I was ordered not to tell him what happened, sir," Specialist Bryan O'Neal told the panel's chairman, Representative Henry Waxman. "And he made it known that I would get in trouble, sir, if I spoke with Kevin on it being fratricide."

Tillman's death occurred days before photos emerged showing US soldiers abusing and humiliating prisoners at the Abu Ghraib facility in a scandal that sparked domestic and international outrage and badly damaged American credibility.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform opened hearings Tuesday to examine alleged Pentagon deceptions in the war on terrorism, including the portrayal of Private First Class Jessica Lynch's capture by Iraqi forces and subsequent rescue during the early days of the March 2003 invasion.

Lynch's convoy was ambushed by Iraqi soldiers near Nasiriyah in an assault that killed 11 US troops. Lynch was taken by the Iraqis to a hospital in the city and US soldiers, acting on a tip, snuck into the facility and rescued her in a mission videotaped and distributed to the media.

The US media began publishing reports citing Pentagon officials that Lynch bravely fought off her Iraqi assailants by firing her handgun until she ran out of ammunition and was taken as a prisoner of war. Lynch said she was later overwhelmed with repeated stories of "the little girl Rambo from the hills of West Virginia who went down fighting".

"It was not true," she said.

"I'm still confused as to why they choose to lie and try to make me a legend, when the real heroes of my fellow soldiers that day were legendary," she added.

Pepsi fined Rs.100,000 in Himachal

Shimla, April 25 (IANS) A consumer court in Himachal Pradesh has slapped a fine of Rs.100,000 on soft drink giant Pepsi after worms were found in a Pepsi Mirinda bottle by a consumer five years ago.

The Himachal Pradesh Consumer Redressal Commission here Tuesday asked Pepsi to pay the amount that followed a complaint lodged in 2002 by a consumer in Dharamsala, 280 km from here.

The complainant had purchased the soft drink from the Cheap Chicken Corner store in Dharamsala town and found worms and insects in it.

The contents of the bottle were sent to a state laboratory for analysis in Kandhaghat, 35 km from here. The lab described the drink as highly dangerous to health. The consumer then went to court.

Philippines peace adviser, rebel leader to meet in Saudi's Jeddah

Davao City, April 25 (NNN-PNA) Philippines Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) Chairman Nur Misuari have started the intial preparations for the GRP-MNLF Talks in July in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Dureza said Wednesday he had met with Misuari three days ago. They discussed some items preparatory for the meeting.

However, he pointed out that Misuari's attendance to the Jeddah meeting will depend on the decision of the courts if the MNLF leader will be allowed to leave the country and join the talks.

Misuari currently faces rebellion charges and is under house arrest.

"Personally, I want him to join the talks, but there is no assurance. It's the court's decision," said Dureza, who even wished Misuari well for his decision to run for Governor in Sulu Province, where 9,000 evacuees were affected after an MNLF group headed by commander Habier Malik attacked a military outpost in Panamao, leaving two soldiers and several civilians dead.

Dureza said the Philippine National Red Cross is leading an inter-agency team in helping the evacuees.

World Food Programme has shipped 1,700 bags of rice with two more shipments coming in. The United States government has assisted with a US$ 75,000 aid and also through the Act for Peace Program.

"We had difficulty with assisting the evacuees because of the COMELEC ban, but the Department of Social Welfare and Development just received an authorization to give relief with a condition that no candidates or their relatives will be part of the distribution," Dureza said.

He said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has prioritized the assistance on the evacuees by instructing key agencies to firm up the quick operations.

The military, he said, is pursuing Malik and his group because of their criminal acts and that Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon has down-scaled the operations because of the relief operation.

"But they can't stop the operations because of the punitive action against Malik and the beheadings (incident undertaken by the Abu Sayaff Group) that happened in Sulu," Dureza said.

The peace adviser said he wants to see the hostilities in Sulu ground to a halt, for the locality to operate as an island economy.

"That's why, I can't understand why Malik did it. We have talks in July," said a visibly disappointed Dureza.

Dureza also downplayed the travel advisories against travelling to Central Mindanao, which were earlier issued by a few foreign embassies.

"That's normal. They issue messages of caution to their citizens. That's internal (to them)," Dureza said as he pointed out that U.S., Canada and European Union ambassadors have been coming in and out of Mindanao.

Police claim 'vital clues' in FCI official's kidnap

Guwahati, April 25 (IANS) Assam Police claimed to have got vital clues in the kidnapping of Food Corp of India (FCI) executive director Phulchand Ram and hope to rescue him soon, said company officials Wednesday.

"We have been assured by the government that the needful was being done to rescue Ram. They (police) have got some leads although they are not disclosing details," Alok Sinha, chairman-cum-managing director of FCI, told reporters here.

Militants of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) allegedly abducted the official, along with his driver Rabiram Basumatary, from Guwahati April 17.

The driver was released Sunday near Barpeta Road town in western Assam.

Police earlier said the ULFA was demanding Rs.20 million as ransom for the release of the FCI official, who was in-charge of the firm's operations in the northeast, Bihar and Jharkhand.

Sinha said: "We don't have any information of ransom being demanded and neither Ram's family members mentioned any such things to us."

Sinha, who has been in Guwahati for the past two days, met Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and other top officials.

"All our staff are deeply anxious and anguished at the kidnapping although normal work is going on (in FCI)," Sinha said. "I appeal to the abductors to release Ram without any delay."

The abduction has led the FCI to seek more security for its staff and depots in the northeast. "We have sought more security and have been assured by the government of appropriate measures," he added.

There are an estimated 2,500 FCI employees in Assam.

Police kill madrasa teacher, police station set afire

New Delhi, April 25 (Indianmuslims.info) In a shocking incident, the police allegedly thrashed a madrasa teacher Hafiz Kamaluddin to death at Prem Nagar in Sultanpuri area here Tuesday.

The people of the area naturally got angered and staged a violent protest against the police atrocity. The irate mob set afire the Prem Nagar police post as well as six vehicles parked outside it. They also pelted stones on the police personnel. To disperse them, the police resorted to lathicharge them and detained 13 protesters.

The police are trying to cover up the issue and play innocent but in vain. They have cooked up a story that the deceased was a mentally deranged person and his death was caused by public beating.

Police officials of West District particularly DCP Manish Agrawal said they were informed at 3.55 a.m. that two persons (Kamaluddin and a rickshaw puller Rajinder) were indulged in fierce fighting, following which locals beat Kamaluddin black and blue. Kamaluddin was later rushed to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital where he was declared brought dead.

But the public contradicts the police story. People say that Kamaluddin was a noble and respectable person, who used to teach in the madrasa running in Noorani Masjid here. They refuse to accept that he was a mentally deranged person.

The victim’s wife Mubarak Begum also said the mental condition of her husband was quite sound. “When I heard some noise outside the house, I came out of the house to see that the police were dragging Kamaluddin with a rope. I started crying and appealing to the police personnel for his life but the police turned a deaf ear. Kamaluddin was demanding water to drink and in return he was given abuses,� narrates Mubarak.

The situation continues to be tense and three battalions of CRPF have been deployed in the area to bring the situation back to normalcy.

Poll finds Muslims believe US seeking to divide Islamic world

Washington, April 25 (NNN-KUNA) A recent poll conducted in four major Islamic countries found that the majority of Muslims believe the United States is seeking to undermine Islam.

The poll, taken by WorldPublicOpinion.org, a non-profit organisation, from Dec 9, 2006 to Feb 15, 2007 and released on Tuesday, showed more than 70 per cent of Egyptians, Moroccans, Pakistanis and Indonesians are of the belief that the primary goal of the US-led "war on terrorism" is to "weaken and divide the Islamic religion and its people."

"While US leaders may frame the conflict as a war on terrorism, people in the Islamic world clearly perceive the US as being at war with Islam," Steven Kull, principal investigator of the survey project and editor of World Public Opinion, said in a statement.

The large majority across the countries wanted to see the US "remove its bases and military forces from all Islamic countries," varying from 64 per cent in Indonesia to 92 per cent in Egypt.

Most respondents disapproved of attacks against American civilians on Muslim soil or in the US, but backed attacks on US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The poll showed that more than 80 per cent of those asked in Egypt supported such attacks against American forces, while the majority polled in Pakistan had mixed feelings.

On the Sept 11 attacks, the poll found mixed feelings of whether Osama bin Laden and his Qaeda network was responsible for the attacks.
Only 35 per cent of Moroccans believed Al-Qaeda was responsible, along with 28 per cent in Egypt and 26 per cent in Indonesia, while 27 per cent of Pakistanis cited the US as responsible for the September attacks.

More than 63 per cent would not answer the question.

The polls also showed strong public opinion that groups such as Al-Qaeda, who use violence against civilians, are violating the principles of Islam, especially in Egypt where 77 per cent agreed strongly against the use of violence under the name of Islam.

However, most surveyed strongly approved of Al-Qaeda's basic goals, including "stand up to America and affirm the dignity of the Islamic people" and push the US "to stop favouring Israel in its conflict with the Palestinians."

"Strong support also rose for instituting or expanding Sharia law throughout the Islamic world.

"On average, three out of four agreed with requiring every Islamic country to impose a strict application of Sharia," the polls found.

On a separate question, two out of three surveyed indicated they would like to "unify all Islamic countries into a single Islamic state."

Although public opinion showed a majority agreed strongly to keep "western values out of the Islamic countries," most view reflected positively on globalisation and favoured democracy and freedom of religion.

President A P J Abdul Kalam says world needs dialogue among religions

Brussels, April 25(IRNA) Indian President A P J Abdul Kalam underlined Wednesday that the world needs a dialogue among religions and civilizations to find solutions to today's global problems.

Speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg in a first ever address by an Indian President to the House, he said that throughout the world, the need to have a frank dialogue among cultures, religions and civilizations is felt now more than ever.

"Religion has two components, including theology and spirituality.

Even though theology is unique to every religion, the spiritual component spreads the value to be inculcated by human beings for promoting a good human life and welfare of the society," said the Muslim president of the world's biggest democracy.

Turning to EU-India relations, he said "European Union and India radiate a message to the world that regional cooperation and inter- regional collaboration will lead to a win-win situation for all." Abdul Kalam noted that the greatest contribution of European Union is, "You have demonstrated to the world, that it is possible to build a strong union of nations without compromising national identities."
"It has become an inspirational model and an example to emulate for every region in the world," he said.

EP President Hans-Gert Poettering commenting on Abdul Kalam's speech said, "It was one of the most extraordinary speeches we have ever heard from a scientist, statesman and poet."
From the French city of Strasbourg, the Indian President is expected to go to Greece for an official visit beginning Thursday.

President Yudhoyono to witness signing of extradition pact with Singapore

Jakarta, April 25 (NNN-ANTARA) Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is to witness the signing of an extradition treaty and defense cooperation agreement with Singapore at the Tampak Siring Palace in Bali on Friday, his spokesman said.

"President Yudhoyono will go to Bali on April 27 (to witness the signing) and will meet with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong," presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said on Tuesday.

Dino said discussions on conclusion of the extradition treaty and defense cooperation with Singapore had taken a long time but were now finished.

The extradition issue would also be the main issue of Yudhoyono`s meeting with Lee in Bali, he said.

He noted that making an extradition treaty with Singapore had been on the president`s agenda since assuming office two-and-a-half years ago.

"Even when he was installed as president, his first agenda was to spur the Singaporean government to hold negotiations for the treaty," Dino said.

With the extradition treaty, Dino added, relations between Indonesia and Singapore would enter a new phase, Dino said.

Indonesia has long waited for the treaty, and its Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said he hoped the accord would enable the return of suspects wanted for corruption from the time of former dictator Suharto.

But more than aiding the fight against corruption, the accord is expected to bolster diplomatic links, analysts said.

"This would open up a new chapter in terms of bilateral relations," said Bahtiar Effendy, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

With the extradition pact sealed, "one major stumbling block standing in between Singapore-Indonesia ties is gone," he told AFP.

Some analysts believe Singapore could have been pressured by Indonesia's abrupt decision in January to ban sand exports.

Stricter checks by the Indonesian authorities on potential sand smugglers also affected granite exports to Singapore -- a move that hurt contractors who rely on the two key ingredients for the city-state's booming construction sector.

"The sand ban was almost certainly a factor," said Michael Backman, an author and political commentator on Asian affairs.

"The fact that Singapore could agree now to the treaty in the face of commercial pressure implies that it could have agreed just as easily before and so seems to bear out Indonesia's claim that Singapore was being deliberately slow."

Negotiations for the extradition treaty started in 2005.

Backman said "a consensus does seem to have emerged in the region that Singapore is high-handed and arrogant, a view that Singapore really needs to reverse."

One of Singapore's top criminal defence lawyers, Subhas Anandan, said the treaty would help Indonesia pursue suspected crooks.

But Bahtiar cautioned the treaty will not be a panacea in Indonesia's fight against corruption.

"I don't think that the fight against corruption should be placed solely on this extradition treaty," he said. "The Indonesian government must rely on their own resources to combat corruption and uphold the law."

Indonesia had accused Singapore of delaying the treaty on fears Indonesian suspects will withdraw their money and shake up the wealthy island-nation's financial system and property sector.

Singapore says it has sufficient safeguards against laundered money, and former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew said he was not worried over a possible withdrawal of Indonesian funds.

"Please remember the financial sector was not built up on Indonesian money," Lee was quoted as saying in Wednesday's The Straits Times. "Indonesian money is no more than two to three percent."

Regional economist Song Seng Wun of CIMB-GK brokerage said he does not foresee "a queue of Indonesians lining up in the local and foreign banks taking their money out."

Press freedom organisation condemns sentence of huuman rights activist in Syria

Paris, April 25 (NNN-KUNA) A press freedom watchdog has condemned here the five-year prison sentence issued Tuesday in Syria against a human rights activist for signing a joint statement calling for better relations with Lebanon.

Reporters Without Borders said in a press release that "On the same day as the start of a visit by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon ..., a compliant judicial system has passed an unacceptable sentence on Al-Bunni in order to set an example and to discourage dissident groups from pushing for democracy".

The Damascus criminal court sentenced lawyer and human rights activist Anwar Al-Bunni to five years in jail after being held for the past 11 months, where he was found guilty of "disseminating false information weakening the nation".

Al-Bunni, 48, was arrested on May 17 2006 during a wave of arrests of people who had signed the "Beirut-Damascus, Damascus-Beirut" joint statement advocating the need to "respect and consolidate the sovereignty and independence of Lebanon and of Syria as part of institutionalised and transparent relations".

Signed by more than 300 leading figures from both countries, it had been made public a week before in Beirut.

Press watchdog calls for investigation into violence against journalists in Iraq

Paris, April 25 (NNN-KUNA) A press freedom organisation has called here for "systematically" investigating the cases of violence against journalists and media assistants in light of a murder attempt against a newspaper journalist earlier this week in Fallujah, western Baghdad.

Reporters Without Borders said in a press release Tuesday that "Iraqi journalists continue to work in extremely dangerous conditions that go beyond the war they are covering."

It indicated that "No substantial measures have been taken to investigate these targeted killings," which, it noted, have been increasing lately.

Sami Al-Duleimi, of a weekly, was ambushed outside his home in Fallujah last Saturday as a car blocked his way and fire was opened against him, wounding him and killing his nephew, who was accompanying him.

The chairman of the newspaper's board, Najem Abdullah, has escaped two murder attempts in recent months, where also journalist Hussein Al-Jaburi was injured in a similar ambush outside his Baghdad home earlier this year, dying of his injuries a month later.

Punjab appoints senior official to probe immigration

Chandigarh, April 25 (IANS) The Punjab government Wednesday announced that an officer of the rank of an additional director general of police will probe all cases pertaining to illegal immigration and sham marriages of non-resident Indians (NRIs).

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said such cases would be investigated with top priority and decided within a time frame.

He said that cases of girls from Punjab being duped by NRIs for marriage and youth being conned by travel agents were increasing and would be dealt with strictly.

"Travel agents, immigration consultants and marriage bureaus taking youths and daughters of Punjab for a ride would be dealt with strictly as per law," Badal announced.

He added that advertisements issued by these agents in the media would be scrutinised so that the youth are not duped in the name of greener pastures abroad or lucrative jobs, study or settlement offers in other countries.

Badal referred at least four cases, brought to his notice by Lok Bhalai Party leader Balwant Singh Ramoowalia Wednesday, to the state police chief for investigation.

The chief minister, who has already announced that the state government would have a ministry of non-resident Indian (NRI) affairs, said that fast track courts should be set up to deal with cases of marriage frauds committed by NRIs.

Pyeongchang still hopeful of hosting 2014 Winter Games

Beijing, April 25 (DPA) The South Korean city of Pyeongchang remains hopeful that it will win the right to host the 2014 Winter Olympics despite the award of other high-profile sports events to South Korea.

"I don't understand why this (holding of other events) has been made an issue," Kim Jin Sun, the executive president of PyeongChang's bid committee, said.

Some analysts have suggested that Pyeonchang's chances may have been harmed by South Korea winning the right to host the 2011 World Athletics Championships in Daegu and the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.

But Kim said the competitions were only two of many international and regional sports events.

"It's not as if South Korea gets all the events," said Kim, who is also governor of South Korea's Gangwon province.

"Asia has had less opportunity to host Winter Olympics than other regions of the world," he said.

The Winter Games have been staged in Asia twice, on both occasions in Japan. Sapporo hosted then in 1972 and Nagano in 1998.

Pyeongchang was largely unknown around the world when it launched its bid for the 2010 Games but is now much better known, Kim said.

After narrowly losing out to Vancouver in the vote for 2010, Pyeongchang's rivals for the 2014 edition are the Austrian city of Salzburg and the Russian city of Sochi.

Kim also dismissed the idea that South Korean funding of international sports bodies and competitions had helped it win the right to host more events and may benefit its bid for the 2014 games.

"It is absurd to say that money can buy the Olympics," he said.

Kim is leading Pyeongchang's presentation at this week's SportAccord event in Beijing, where the International Olympic Committee is also holding an executive board meeting.

The Beijing meetings are the last chance to impress the IOC top officials before final presentations at the IOC Congress, which will elect the host city July 4 in Guatemala City.

The city says it is developing a "highly compact concept" with a travel time of no more than 30 minutes between all venues and facilities, Kim said.

"With our athlete-focussed and competition-centred bid concept, we intend to host a highly compact games," Kim had said earlier.

Quake jolts southern Iran

Tehran, April 25, (IRNA) An earthquake measuring 5 on the Richter scale hit outskirts of the city of Fareghan in the southern province of Hormuzgan Wednesday morning.

The seismological base of the Geophysics Institute of Tehran University registered the quake at 07:49 hours local time (0419 GMT).

The quake was epicentered in an area measuring 56.31 degrees in longitude and 28.05 degrees in latitude, the report added.

There are no reports of any casualty or damage to property caused by the quake.

Iran is often hit by quakes of varying magnitudes as it sits on some of the world's most active seismic fault lines.

Rahman meets PM, backs joint strategy to curb US influence

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) Targeting the US and its allies for trying to strengthen their hold in south Asia, Pakistan opposition leader Fazlur Rahman Wednesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and discussed with him the need for cooperation between India and Pakistan to create a strong region free of external influences.

Rahman, who is chief of the opposition alliance Muttaheda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), met Singh and discussed with him a wide array of bilateral and regional issues including the peace process between India and Pakistan.

During his talks with Singh, Rahman also suggested some sort of joint mechanism to curb the influence of the US and the Western powers in the region, reliable sources told IANS.

The two countries should come together to create a strong region free of meddling by external powers, Rahman, known for his virulently anti-US views, said.

He also expressed optimism about the course of the peace process and assessed that all the issues between India and Pakistan can be resolved through dialogue.

Rahman, who heads an influential network of madrasas in Pakistan and is known for his pro-Taliban views, has been pushing for peace with India, especially since the 9/11 attacks.

Rajasthan to set up oil arm with private sector

Jaipur, April 25 (IANS) The Rajasthan government will soon form a company to explore and prospect oil and gas in the country and float a tender to invite the private sector to acquire 50 percent stake in the new venture, officials said.

"We propose to invite letters of intent from companies with experience in the petroleum industry to be a part of the venture. The process has been initiated to register the venture under the Companies Act," a senior official said.

"Once this is done, interested companies would be invited to submit their proposals for being part of the venture," the official told IANS, adding that the new company would have a seed capital of Rs.50 million.

A general decision to set up the corporation was taken at the state's cabinet meeting April 2.

"The setting up of Rajasthan State Petroleum Corp will ensure our partnership in exploration, exploitation, transportation and distribution of petroleum in the state," Rajasthan Mines Minister L.N. Dave said.

He said the new company would go for both upstream and downstream projects in the hydrocarbons business.

Meanwhile, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has once again rekindled hopes for a refinery project in the Barmer district of Rajasthan where Britain-based Cairn has made recent oil discoveries.

Sources in the state government said that ONGC is now ready to hold fresh round of talks with the state government in this regard. The matter is being keenly pursued by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

This meeting is slated to take place next month, sources said, adding that former chairman and managing director of ONGC Subir Raha may be associated with the project as an advisor and consultant for the project.

The project had received the green signal during Raha's tenure at ONGC, but the project was later dropped since it was thought to be commercially uneconomical, officials said.

Rajiv had struck deal with RSS on Ayodhya: former MP

Nagpur, April 25 (IANS) Late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi had struck a "secret deal" with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1989 for the Hindu organisation's support to the Congress in exchange for creation of Ram temple in Ayodhya, a former Congress MP said Wednesday.

Banwarilal Purohit, former Congress MP, told reporters here that it was during the crucial meeting between the then RSS chief Balasaheb Deoras and the then union minister Bhanu Prakash Singh (an emissary of Rajiv Gandhi) that the former prime minister's proposal of 'shilanyas' (laying of foundation stone) for the temple was discussed and the deal was struck.

Purohit said he was revealing the long-guarded secret that he had kept private so far 'in the national interest' as Rajiv's son Rahul was 'twisting and turning' the historical facts and misleading the people during his ongoing election campaign in Uttar Pradesh.

The former MP was referring to Rahul's recent statement that the Babri mosque would not have fallen (in 1992 when late Narasimha Rao was prime minister) if someone from the Gandhi family had been at the helm of the Indian government.

Purohit, who was the only Congress MP to have participated in the 1992 'kar seva' at Ayodhya during which the Babri mosque was demolished, later joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and won the next parliamentary election (in 1996) on its ticket.

Claiming that Rajiv Gandhi wanted the Ram temple to be constructed at the 'birthplace' of the revered Hindu deity after facilitating its shilanyas there, Purohit regretted that the former prime minister later buckled under pressure from some Muslim leaders who warned him of alienation of Muslim voters from the Congress.

Giving a detailed account of the role he played in the process of finding a solution to the vexed Babri mosque issue at the behest of Rajiv Gandhi, Purohit said the former prime minister told him to ask Deoras whether he would assure Sangh's support to the Congress if the government allowed the temple foundation stone to be laid.

"When I told Rajivji that my meeting with Deoras at the RSS headquarters in Nagpur would not remain secret since I belonged to the city, he decided to send Bhanu Prakash Singh to Nagpur and instructed the then home minister Buta Singh to make the necessary arrangements," Purohit added.

The former MP further said he had arranged the meeting between the RSS chief and Singh at the residence of a senior RSS functionary Babasaheb Talatule.

Purohit, who claimed he was asked to ensure that the RSS chief and Singh came to an agreement on starting the temple construction work, said Deoras promised RSS help to the Congress in the elections if the Rajiv Gandhi government facilitated the laying of foundation stone of the temple.

The next round of talks, scheduled to take place between Deoras and Buta Singh in Delhi, could not materialise owing to the RSS chief's ill health, Purohit said, adding the then RSS secretary general Rajendra Singh (who subsequently succeeded Deoras as the chief) took part in the Delhi meeting with the then home minister.

Raul Castro meets Motakki

Havana, April 25 9NNN-PRENSA LATINA) Cuba’s Vice-President Raul Castro met with Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Manouchehr Mottaki, who is officially visiting the island with members of his government, it was disclosed here Tuesday.

Raul Castro and Mottaki exchanged views in Havana Monday on international issues of mutual interest and expressed their intention to strengthen the role of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in the current international situation, Granma newspaper reported.

Both parties also reviewed the development of bilateral relations and agreed deepening economic and collaboration ties. The Iranian minister also talked with Raul Castro about his country’s situation.

The encounter was attended by Cuban Executive Secretary of the Council of Ministers Carlos Lage Davila and Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, while the Iranian group included Hamidreza Ají Babaei, member of that country’s Parliament, and Ahmad Edrisian, Iranian ambassador to Cuba.

Remand for three cops, Congress demands Modi's resignation

Ahmedabad, April 25 (IANS) The three senior police officers arrested in Gujarat for killing a Muslim man after wrongly terming him a terrorist were Wednesday remanded in a seven-day police custody even as the opposition Congress demanded Chief Minister Narendra Modi's resignation.

D.G. Vanjhara and Rajkumar Pandyan of the Gujarat police and Dinesh Kumar of the Rajasthan police were produced in the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court here. While the prosecution sought a 14-day remand, the court sent the trio to police remand till May 7.

The three were arrested Tuesday by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on charges of killing Sohrabuddin Sheikh in an engineered shootout on the outskirts of this city Nov 26, 2005.

They had termed Sohrabudin as an operative of the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and said he was planning to kill Modi.

His brother, however, approached the Supreme Court last year and said police had not been able to find evidence against him.

The Gujarat government last month admitted before the apex court that Sheikh was innocent and promised to take action against the erring police officers.

At the time of the killing, Vanjhara headed the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and Pandyan was a superintendent of police (ATS), while Kumar was with the Rajasthan Special Task Force (STF), which was also involved in the operation.

Alleging that the officials were acting at the behest of Modi and Minister of State for Home Amit Shah, the Congress party demanded the resignation of the two leaders.

"We demand that Modi and Shah must resign. They should also be subjected to narco-analytic tests (to find the truth)," Leader of Opposition Arjun Modhvadia told reporters in state capital Gandhinagar.

The state has witnessed an estimated 40 extra-judicial killings since Modi was re-elected in December 2002 - most of them targeting "terrorists" plotting to kill the chief minister - even as rights organisations accuse the state police of killing innocent Muslims.

Researchers break Internet speed record -- twice

BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhuanet) -- Operators of the high-speed Internet2 network announced Tuesday that researchers led by the University of Tokyo broke Internet speed records two times in two days.

Rresearchers on Dec. 30 sent data at 7.67 gigabits per second, using standard communications protocols. The next day, using modified protocols, the team broke the record again by sending data over the same 20,000-mile path at 9.08 Gbps.

That probably will be the current network's final record because rules require a 10 percent improvement for recognition, a percentage that would bring the next record right at the Internet2's current theoretical limit of 10 Gbps.

The Internet2 consortium is planning to build a new network with a capacity of 100 Gbps -- a 10-fold increase -- that means a high-quality version of the movie "The Matrix" could be sent in a few seconds rather than half a minute over the current Internet2 and two days over a typical home broadband line.

Researchers used the newer Internet addressing system, called IPv6, to break the records. Data started in Tokyo and went to Chicago, Amsterdam and Seattle before returning to Tokyo. The previous high of 6.96 Gbps was set in November 2005.

Speed records under the older addressing system, IPv4, are in a separate category and stand at 8.8 Gbps, set in February 2006.

The Internet2 is run by a consortium of more than 200 U.S. universities. It is currently working to merge with another ultrahigh-speed, next-generation network, National LambdaRail.

The announcement of the new record was made at the Internet2 consortium's spring meeting, which ends Wednesday in Arlington, Va.

Road accident kills 15 in Kashmir

Jammu, April 25 (IANS) At least 15 people were killed and 16 injured Wednesday when a bus they were travelling in skidded off the road into a deep gorge in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.

According to police, the bus was on its way from Poonch to Surankote when it lost control and rolled down into the river Kalai, about 240 km north of Jammu.

"The toll could be higher," a police official in Poonch told IANS over telephone.

It is the second road accident in the district in a little over a week's time.

Fourteen passengers were killed and 20 wounded April 17 when a bus fell into a gorge in Saujian area of the district.

Russia's first post-Soviet era leader Yeltsin laid to rest

Moscow, April 25 (RIA Novosti) Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin was buried in a central Moscow cemetery Wednesday following a memorial ceremony attended by Russian and foreign dignitaries and earlier by thousands of ordinary Russians.

Unlike former Soviet leaders who were buried in Red Square, Yeltsin was laid to rest in the Novodevichy cemetery alongside Russian and Soviet writers, composers, scientists and politicians. The funeral was preceded by a church ceremony, the first for a former head of state since before the Bolshevik revolution.

The coffin was taken to the cemetery on a caisson in a funeral procession followed by President Vladimir Putin, two former US presidents, Bill Clinton and George Bush, Sr., former British Premier John Major, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, representing the British royal family, and other foreign guests.

Thousands of Russians lined the cortege route, which started at the grand Christ the Savior Cathedral, where the body had laid from Tuesday till Wednesday noon so people could pay their last respects.

Yeltsin's widow, Naina, two daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren bid their farewell, a church hierarch offered his prayers for the late leader and the coffin was closed. The Kremlin regiment fired a volley and the national anthem was played.

Yeltsin, praised by many for pioneering democratic reforms and criticized by others for impoverishing millions during his tenure in the 1990s, died Monday of heart failure at the age of 76.

Russian expert: US unable to launch military strike on Iran

Moscow, April 25(IRNA) A Russian expert said Wednesday that the US is incapable of launching any military strike on Iran and under present conditions there is growing possibility for negotiations and cooperation between the two countries.

"The US has failed in Iraq, facing political and military crises inside. (The US President George W.) Bush too is severely criticized by Democrats and the US people," said Director of the Institute of USA and Canada Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, on Wednesday.

Rogov pointed to the US officials' willingness for talks with Iran and said, "Bush took up the policy of unilateralism and launched campaign against the governments that fall beyond the realm of his influence. After war on Iraq and North Korean problem, he realized that not everything is so simple."
He said the US' approaches prompted North Korea to leave NPT pretentiously and launch nuclear test. The US was thus introduced worldwide as a "paper tiger."
Subsequently, he added, Washington was forced to sit on the negotiating table with North Korea and Iran too is now almost in the same status.

SADC urged to increase co-operation to overcome unfair trade

Harare, April 25 (NNN-NEW ZIANA) The Southern African Development Community (SADC) can overcome the negative effects of unfair global trade practices through increased co-operation at bilateral and regional level, Tanzanian Ambassador to Zimbabwe Adadi Rajabu said on Tuesday.

“Our salvation from the ravages of unfair trade practices is in the entrenchment of co-operation at the bilateral and regional levels,� he said, adding that the era of globalization, economic development and strength should be underpinned by robust trade and increased co-operation.

Tanzania was committed to working with other SADC states to build a more vibrant and stronger regional grouping, he said. “A stronger SADC will amply demonstrate our desire to pursue our development collectively as a united people,� he said on the occasion of his country’s 43rd independence anniversary.

He commended efforts by SADC Heads of State for convening the just ended Extra-Ordinary Summit last month in Dar-es-Salaam to intervene and review the current political, economic and security developments in the region with a view to finding solutions to the situations in Lesotho, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe and called on the international community to support such initiatives by SADC.

In line with his call for increased regional co-operation, Rajabu urged Zimbabwe and Tanzania to fully utilize the Joint Permanent Commission to be held in Harare in July in order to deepen economic co-operation.

The commission should complement efforts by the two countries to boost economic performance, he said. “Our challenge is how best to use our Joint Permanent Commission as a vehicle for deepened economic co-operation,� said Rajabu.

He added that the countries should exploit existing bilateral relations and the long history of solidarity and cooperation to strengthen their respective economies.

Rajabu said Tanzanian President, Jakaya Kikwete, was committed to advancing the friendship and co-operation between the two countries to greater heights.

The United Republic of Tanzania came into being after the unification of the two independent countries of Tanganyika and Zanzibar in 1964.

SAfrica lauds Nigeria's first civilian power transition

By Oupa Segalwe

Durban, South Africa, April 25 (NNN-BUANEWS) South African Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs has called on African countries to follow Nigeria's footsteps regarding its successful national elections at the weekend.

"As Africans, we must feel obliged to follow in their direction," Dr Zola Skweyiya told delegates at the 4th World Congress of Rural Women (WCRW) Tuesday.

"The significance of the people of Nigeria having successfully handed over power from one civilian to the other for the first time in their history further attest to the maturity of democracy in that country."

He added that democratic rule was vital for Nigeria since it is the seventh largest oil producer in the world and a "significant contributor to the African economy".

Nigeria, frica’s most populous nation with a current population of over 131 million, is currently experiencing its longest period of civilian rule since it gained independence from Britain in 1960.

The ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) emerged victorious in the election with presidential candidate Umaru Yar'Adua, who is to succeed President Olusegun Obasanjo, securing the majority of the votes. His nearest rival was former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari.

Although the Independent National Electoral Commission in that country declared the elections as free and fair, the opposition parties and the European Union observer mission among others have labeled them as "flawed."

"We would like to join the in international community in wishing them well and calling for peace and resolution in claims that the process was flawed," said Dr Skweyiya, the Social Development Minister who is filling in for Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, who is currently in London at the Africa Diaspora summit.

Satellite operator, Intelsat stops Tamil Tiger broadcasts

New York, April 25 (NNN-ANTARA) Intelsat Ltd., the world`s largest commercial satellite operator, has shut down a company satellite transponder that it said Sri Lanka`s Tamil Tigers rebel group had used without authorization to broadcast television and radio in Europe and Asia.

Phillip Spector, Intelsat`s executive vice president and general counsel, said on Tuesday the Intelsat transponder used by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was shut down last weekend.

The Tamil Tigers, branded a terrorist group by Washington since 1997, have been fighting for decades to establish independence in the North and East of Sri Lanka. Since 1983 the war on the Indian Ocean island has killed some 68,000 people.

The Sri Lankan Embassy in Washington said in a statement the Tamil Tigers had been broadcasting through the satellite since March 2005. It said Intelsat had acquired the satellite in July 2006.

The embassy said Sri Lankan telecommunication authorities told the company in March that the Tamil Tigers were using its satellite and then Colombo also raised the matter at a meeting of the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization.

In a statement released earlier this month, Intelsat described the Tamil Tigers use of its satellite as "unauthorized" and said it "does not tolerate terrorists or others operating illegally on its satellites", Reuters reported.

Sea turtles remember favourite feeding sites: study

London, April 25 (IANS) Sea turtles remember their favourite feeding sites, according to a study that explains why the endangered animals travel hundreds of miles back to the 'foraging grounds', retracing the same route.

The researchers used satellite transmitters to track 20 female loggerhead and green turtles nesting at two sites in Cyprus. In doing so, they also recorded the longest ever breath-holding dive for any vertebrate, lasting an incredible 10 hours and 12 minutes.

"The extent to which turtles showed fidelity to specific foraging sites and routes was a surprise," said Annette Broderick from the University of Exeter in Britain.

"Marine turtles migrate hundreds of miles between breeding and foraging grounds, so it is amazing that they are able to return to exactly the same sites via very similar routes," she said.

Broderick and colleagues tracked the turtles' migration to foraging sites along the coast of Libya. Five years later, the team returned to the two beaches and recaptured five of the turtles. They then tracked these turtles' migration once more, reported the online edition of New Scientist.

Sea turtles are well known to have a strong homing instinct for their nesting sites, but these new findings that appeared in the latest issue of the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society could have further implications for efforts to conserve sea turtles.

Search on for designer for African parliament

By Themba Gadebe

Johannesburg, April 25 (NNN-BUANEWS) The search for accredited African architects to design the Pan African Parliament's (PAP) permanent structure is on, after a call on Monday for entries in a continent-wide competition.

"We are excited about the competition for a design befitting what President Thabo Mbeki described as 'The African Parliament of Liberators'," said the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sue van der Merwe, who unveiled the competition.

President Mbeki described the parliament as such at the inauguration of the temporary premises of the Pan African Parliament in Gallagher Estate, near here, two and a half years ago.

"The competition was a continuation of a process to which South Africa committed when it accepted an honour to host the Parliament at the African Union Summit in Ethiopia in 2004. A commitment that will culminate in a construction of a permanent state of the art structure to house a truly African Parliament," van der Merwe said.

The design competition is to run until 31 May 2007.

Seminar on UN peacekeeping Thursday

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) A three-day international seminar that will take a close look at the United Nations' peacekeeping operations in different conflict zones in the world will begin here Thursday.

Around 40 representatives from countries including Pakistan, China, Japan, Russia, will participate in the seminar to be held at the Centre for UN Peacekeeping here.

The participants will discuss a wide range of subjects including peacekeeping challenges in the 21st century; peace building and security sector reforms; humanitarian dimensions of peacekeeping; capacity building for UN peacekeeping; and training for peacekeeping.

The seminar is one of the confidence building activities approved by the 13th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Ministerial Meeting held in Kuala Lumpur in July 2006, the external affairs ministry said in a release.

India is one of the biggest contributors to various UN peacekeeping missions in Africa, Asia and Central America.

India joined ARF since 1996. The forum seeks to enhance cooperative security through confidence building measures in the Asia-Pacific region.

SemIndia seeks to allay apprehensions over Fab City

Hyderabad, April 25 (IANS) Allaying apprehensions over Fab City, the proposed $3 billion semiconductor manufacturing hub here, its developer SemIndia Inc Wednesday said it was waiting for the transfer of land by the Andhra Pradesh government to begin the work.

With the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) raising doubts about the ability of the company to build the project, SemIndia president and CEO Vinod Agarwal rushed here from the US on the direction of the state government to clarify the doubts.

Addressing a news conference, Agarwal blamed the government for the delay in launching the project work. Stating that he was keen to set up India's first Fab manufacturing facility here, he said he was waiting for the government to issue an order, transferring land, specifying government's equity in the Fab City Special Purpose Vehicle and fixing electricity and water tariff.

Claiming that SemIndia and its partners had already spent millions of rupees in fencing the land even without a formal transfer from the government to get the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) status and to seek environmental approval, Agarwal said his company was sincere in taking up the project.

Stating that apprehensions expressed about SemIndia and the project had sent wrong signals to investors, Agarwal said other states had approached him in the wake of recent developments. "Many states wanted us to set up similar facilities but we came here. They are calling us again. We want to remain here but we may have to rethink if the project does not take off," he said.

Agwaral, who met Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy Tuesday, said the government assured that the project would be speeded up and it will come through.

He claimed that the work on the assembly and test plant was in advance stage and the design of the building was ready. The construction of the building is expected to be completed by end of next year while the production is expected to start by end of 2009.

The state government had announced allotment of 1,200 acres of land for the project last year. Out of this, 300 acres of land were allotted for the first phase of Fab City. He said SemIndia planned to build assembly and test plant on 25 acres of land at a cost of $100 million. The $3 billion Fab unit will come up on 75 acres of land in two phases. The first phase will cost $1 billion while the second phase will see an investment of $2 billion.

He said though the government of India last month announced a policy for semiconductor industry, the investors were waiting for the guidelines. He said SemIndia would apply for incentives under the policy and urged the central government to take equity in the proposed Fab unit here.

Agarwal said SemIndia had already started global acquisitions for the project and claimed to have received commitments from various investors. "Our dream is to make Hyderabad another Taiwan and generate $32 billion of chip exports out of here," he said.

Denying that he was interested in land development, Agarwal said he was only keen to provide necessary infrastructure to attract investors for semiconductor manufacturing and suppliers.

"No investor declares his net worth," he said in an obvious reference to the TDP's statement questioning his net worth. He also said since investors were private holding companies, they will not share information about equity. He, however, said SemIndia was incorporated in the US on Sep 12, 2005 and he was working in the industry for last 35 years.

Agarwal said India had tremendous potential in chip manufacturing as the consumption of electronics was expected to reach $300 billion by 2015. He said if Fab City comes through the country could manufacture $40 billion worth of chips which otherwise it would be importing.

Senegal names American coach for men's, women's basketball teams

Dakar, April 25 (NNN-APS) Senegal has named an American coach, Sam Vincent, to take charge of the Senegalese national men’s and women’s basketball teams which have qualified for the African Cup of Nations tournaments to be held this year.

Vincent, a former handler of the United States National Basketball Association (NBA) professional team, dallas Mavericks, will prepare the men’s team for the African Nations Cup in Angola in August and help the women cagers in their bid to win the continental title here in September.

He will be in Senegal for three months from July to September and will be paid 50,000 USD.

The national men’s team finished runners-up during the last Cup of Nations in Algiers in 2005 while the women lost the title the same year in Nigeria, whose team was then coached by Vincent.

Vincent knows African basketball as he won the continental title with Nigeria's women’s team in 2005 in Abuja. He has also had some spells with South Africa and has travelled around the continent over the last six years.

Seven killed in Texas Tornado, dozens injured

Washington, April 25 (DPA) At least seven people were killed when a tornado struck southwestern Texas overnight Wednesday, causing widespread damage.

Dozens of people were injured in the storm that reportedly hit hardest in the Texas town of Eagle Pass along the Mexican border, according to broadcaster CNN.

While CNN reported that six people were killed, other US media said nine people had died as a result of the poor weather.

Among those confirmed dead were four occupants of a mobile home that was swept over a distance of 150 metres into an elementary school by intense winds.

Eyewitnesses said about 40 buildings were damaged or destroyed in Eagle Pass. A local sewage plant was also to a heap of debris.

Small children fly safer in a car seat

Hamburg, April 25 (DPA) Air travel is safer for small children when they are in a car safety seat or similar device.

Stating this, Martin Sperber from the Technical Inspection Association (TUEV) Rhineland, an independent German testing and certification agency, told Hamburg-based magazine GEO Saison that simply using a seat belt or sitting on a parent's lap was insufficient.

"Turbulence or especially an emergency landing could throw a child through the cabin," he said. So before booking a flight, parents should enquire whether the airline allows car safety seats.

Renting an inflatable safety seat offered by some companies was another option, Sperber said.

Airplane seat belts were generally designed for adults and too large for children under seven years of age, he noted.

Smart City project to be inked this week: Achuthanandan

Thiruvananthapuram, April 25 (IANS) The proposed Rs.15 billion ($350 million) Smart City project at Kochi would be inked with developer Dubai Internet City (DIC) this week, Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said here Wednesday.

"We have cleared the project and have informed DIC that the agreement could be inked before April 30," Achuthanandan told reporters here after the weekly cabinet meeting.

The development is seen as a moral victory for Achuthanandan as he had earlier opposed the terms for the project worked out by the then Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government.

Giving details, the chief minister said the agreement was totally different from the one proposed by the Oommen Chandy government.

"They had agreed to the transfer of the Infopark campus, we have deleted that. Similarly, they had agreed to sell 236 acres of land at a cost of Rs.26 crores (Rs.260 million) and given them full ownership, while we have given them 246 acres of land at a cost of Rs.106 crores (Rs.1.06 billion)," he said.

This has been given on leasehold terms for 99 years.

"They said their project would create 33,000 new jobs while in our agreement it is 90,000 jobs," said Achuthanandan.

Moreover, the earlier nine percent stake for the government has been increased to 16 percent - it would become 26 percent after five years.

Achuthanandan has also scuttled the DIC's demand that the government would not set up any more IT parks in Kochi.

Talks for the project had begun in 2004 when A.K. Antony was chief minister and P.K. Kunhalikutty IT minister.

Reacting to the new developments, Kunhalikutty said: "Achuthanandan can celebrate with this project mooted by us. Three years were lost, but it is finally becoming reality with some changes".

Smith to face Aussies despite injury concern

Gros Islet (St. Lucia), April 25 (IANS-CMC) Despite concerns over a troublesome left knee injury, South African captain Graeme Smith is expected to line up against Australia in the second World Cup semi-final Wednesday.

The left-handed Smith batted in the nets and underwent light exercises Monday as he edged closer to fitness.

"It hasn't healed as quickly as I was hoping but I'm still pretty confident of getting on to the field Wednesday," Smith said.

South Africa's coach Mickey Arthur trumped up Smith's fitness Tuesday saying the 26-year old would be fully fit for the vital match at the Beausejour Stadium.

"Graeme will be fine. He had a net session. We are confident that he will be 100 percent (fit)," Arthur said.

South Africa are keen on retaining the same team that beat England in their last face off. As a result, paceman Makhaya Ntini is expected to miss out.

"It would be pretty difficult to change the team that beat England. We had a good vibe throughout the match," Arthur said.

Sonia puts up insipid show in Lucknow

Lucknow, April 25 (IANS) Congress president Sonia Gandhi's first election rally in Lucknow Wednesday proved to be rather insipid as the party's poll managers failed to draw enough crowd in the venue on the outskirts of the city.

Nearly 50 percent of the chairs at the Jyotiba Phule park on the outskirts of the Muslim-dominated walled city remained empty throughout the 45-minute programme as the audience looked almost unresponsive to the Congress president's 20-minute-long address.

With an agenda common at most of her rallies, Sonia went on attacking parties like the ruling Samajwadi Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). However, for a change, she chose not to name them.

Instead she made references to them as "parties that were thriving either in the name of caste, creed or religion."

After recalling Lucknow's close association with India's freedom movement - from 1857 to 1947 - and hailing its rich heritage, she promptly switched over to flaying successive non-Congress governments that have been ruling Uttar Pradesh for the past 18 years.

Even as she echoed her usual line of blaming these non-Congress regimes for the state's ills, Sonia also decided to touch upon certain local issues.

"I am aware of the acute crisis of drinking water and electricity that the people of this city are facing, and I believe that these have not been augmented in all these years of non-Congress rule," she remarked.

She also lamented "attempts by certain opposition parties to vitiate the social harmony" and pointedly blamed the Samajwadi Party for the state's "deplorable law and order".

While it was quite obvious that the venue, overlooking the historic Imambara and the 18th century Asafi Mosque, was chosen with an eye on votes in the Muslim dominated neighbourhood, the organisers failed to attract many from the community.

Only a group of students were brought from a madrasa located near the venue,.

"I wonder how such big politicians can conceive that a rally like this one would do their parties any good," said a student.

State Congress president Salman Khurshid was virtually not involved in organising the show and was there more as a guest along with Congress general secretary Ashok Gehlot.

It would be a major success for the party if it is able to make even a modest inroad into what is regarded as former prime minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee's political bastion.

Sonia's campaign, therefore, was extremely important to the party.

Two days ago, Sonia's son Rahul undertook a brief road show in parts of the city, drawing a rather lukewarm response.

South Africa opt to bat against Australia

St. Lucia (Gros Islet), April 25 (IANS) South Africa captain Graeme Smith won the toss and elected to bat against Australia in the second semi-final of the World Cup at the Beausejour Stadium here Wednesday.

TEAMS:

South Africa: Graeme Smith (captain), AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, Herschelle Gibbs, Ashwell Prince, Mark Boucher (wicketkeeper), Justin Kemp, Shaun Pollock, Andrew Hall, Andre Nel and Charl Langeveldt

Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist (wicketkeeper), Matthew Hayden, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Mike Hussey, Shane Watson, Brad Hogg, Nathan Bracken, Shaun Tait, and Glenn McGrath

Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and Steve Bucknor (West Indies)
TV umpire: Billy Bowden (New Zealand)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand)

Spain, Pakistan agree to strengthen anti-terror fight

Madrid, April 25 (Xinhua) Spain and Pakistan have agreed to strengthen their joint efforts to boost trade and to fight terrorism and illegal migration.

The agreement was reached during a meeting between Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and visiting Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf at the Moncloa Palace, said a statement from Spanish prime minister's office.

Zapatero vowed that Spain would continue its efforts to "boost mutual understanding and dialogue".

In a joint statement, both leaders condemned terrorism and called for international anti-terror cooperation.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos and his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Kasuri Tuesday signed an agreement to increase bilateral cultural, educational and scientific cooperation.

According to official statistics, there are about 70,000 Pakistanis in Spain, accounting for 1.75 percent of Spain's 4-million migrant population.

Spain is the second leg of Musharraf's four-nation Europe tour that has so far taken him to Poland. He will also visit Bosnia-Herzegovina and Turkey.

Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by 81 runs

Kingston, April 25 (IANS): Sri Lanka defeated New Zealand by 81 runs in the 1st Semi-Final match of the World Cup played at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica on April 24 here Tuesday.

SCOREBOARD

1st Semi-Final, New Zealand vs Sri Lanka, Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica on April 24

Sri Lanka:
W Tharanga b Vettori 73
S Jayasuriya b Franklin 1
K Sangakkara c Fleming b Franklin 18
M Jayawardene not out 115
L Silva lbw b Bond 21
T Dilshan lbw b Oram 30
R Arnold not out 14
Extras (lb 3, w 9, nb 5) 17

Total (5 wickets; 50 overs; 218 mins) 289

Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Jayasuriya, 2.3 overs), 2-67 (Sangakkara, 13.1 overs), 3-111 (Tharanga, 25.1 overs), 4-152 (Silva, 34.3 overs), 5-233 (Dilshan, 45.1 overs)

Bowling:
James Franklin 9-1-46-2 (2nb, 2w)
Shane Bond 10-1-59-1 (1nb, 3w)
Jacob Oram 10-0-60-1 (2nb, 1w)
Daniel Vettori 10-0-51-1 (1w)
Jeetan Patel 10-0-62-0
Scott Styris 1-0-8-0 (1w)

New Zealand:
P Fulton c Silva b Jayasuriya 46
S Fleming lbw b Malinga 1
R Taylor lbw b Vaas 9
S Styris c Jayawardene b Dilshan 37
J Oram c & b Muralitharan 3
B McCullum c Silva b Muralitharan 0
C McMillan b Jayasuriya 25
D Vettori lbw b Muralitharan 0
J Franklin not out 30
S Bond b Muralitharan 2
J Patel c Fernando b Dilshan 34
Extras (b 5, lb 2, w 8, nb 6) 21

Total (all out; 41.4 overs; 181 mins) 208

Fall of wickets1-2 (Fleming, 1.3 overs), 2-32 (Taylor, 10.3 overs), 3-105 (Styris, 21.5 overs), 4-114 (Oram, 23.5 overs), 5-114 (McCullum, 23.6 overs), 6-115 (Fulton, 24.3 overs), 7-116 (Vettori, 25.4 overs), 8-144 (McMillan, 30.2 overs), 9-149 (Bond, 31.4 overs), 10-208 (Patel, 41.4 overs)

Bowling:
Chaminda Vaas 8-1-25-1 (1w)
Lasith Malinga 7-2-21-1 (1nb)
Dilhara Fernando 5-0-45-0 (5nb, 1w)
Muttiah Muralitharan 8-0-31-4 (1w)
Sanath Jayasuriya 9-0-57-2 (3w)
Tillakaratne Dilshan 4.4-0-22-2 (1w)

Result: Sri Lanka won by 81 runs
Man of the Match: M Jayawardene (Sri Lanka)
Umpires: RE Koertzen (South Africa) and SJA Taufel (Australia)
TV umpire: DJ Harper (Australia)
Match referee: MJ Procter (South Africa)

Sri Lanka beat New Zealand, enter World Cup final

Kingston (Jamaica), April 25 (IANS-CMC) Sri Lanka rode into the final of the cricket World Cup on the crest of captain Mahela Jayawardene's ninth century that set up an 81-run triumph over New Zealand in the first semi-final Tuesday.

The Sri Lanka captain scored an undefeated 115 from 109 balls to propel his side to 289 for five from their allocation of 50 overs after they won the toss and chose to bat on a hard, true Sabina Park pitch.

Champion off-spin bowler Muttiah Muralithan captured four wickets for 31 runs from eight overs to scuttle New Zealand's batting and send the Black Caps crashing to 208 all out in 41.4 overs.

This will be the second time Sri Lanka will appear in the final, following their triumph in the 1996 competition that they jointly hosted with India and Pakistan.

Their opponents will be decided Wednesday when reigning World champions and world No. 1 Australia face world No. 2 South Africa in the second semi-final at the Beausejour Stadium in St. Lucia.

This is the fifth time that New Zealand have lost in the semi-finals. They have never made it to the finals.

Jayawardene, who had a painfully slow start, cut Jacob Oram to third man for the ninth of his 10 fours to reach his 100 in the penultimate over of the innings.

He headlined consistent batting down the order for Sri Lanka, as Upul Tharanga scored 73 from 74 balls, Tillakaratne Dilshan made 30 off 27 balls, and Chamara Silva got 21 from 33 balls.

James Franklin was the most successful New Zealand bowler with two wickets for 46 runs from nine overs.

The New Zealand middle-order crumbled against Muralitharan's clever bowling as they lost Scott Styris, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum, Peter Fulton, and Daniel Vettori for 11 runs in 23 balls.

This sent the Kiwis tumbling from the heights of 105 for two in the 22nd over to the depths of 116 for seven in the 26th over.

A handful of batsmen got starts for New Zealand, but none carried on. Fulton made the top score of 46 from 77 balls, Styris scored 37, Jeetan Patel made 34 in a late flurry, Franklin was not out on 30, and Craig McMillan defied a groin injury to smite 25 off 20 balls.

Fast bowler Lasith Malinga had given Sri Lanka early success when he had Stephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain, adjudged lbw for one in the second over.

Malinga and Chaminda Vaas increased tension with some superb swing bowling that made Fulton and Ross Taylor look like schoolboys.

Vaas put Taylor out of his misery for nine when he gained a palpable LBW verdict in the 11th over.

Styris came to the crease, and immediately dominated the Sri Lanka bowling, in particular Dilhara Fernando. This was the most prosperous period of the New Zealand innings.

Styris had added 73 for the third wicket with Fulton when he was caught at mid-wicket for 37 off Dilshan.

This started the slide that dashed New Zealand's dreams of a first World Cup appearance in their fifth semi-final.

Muralitharan had Oram caught and bowled for three, and McCullum caught at backward square leg for a duck top-edging a sweep off the last two balls of the 24th over.

Sanath Jayasuriya interjected to have Fulton caught at short mid-wicket in the 25th over before Muralitharan had Vettori lbw for a duck.

New Zealand reached a respectable total through a late flurry from Patel, Franklin, and McMillan, but Sri Lanka were well in control.

Earlier, they did not appear to be in so much control when they batted. They lost Jayasuriya in the third over when Franklin bowled him for one, before a partnership of 54-run stand between Tharanga and Kumar Sangakkara gave them early momentum.

Sangakkara was caught at mid-on off Franklin in the 14th over, and Sri Lankans chose discretion as the best part of valour and soaked up the pressure from the New Zealand bowlers in the middle overs.

Jayawardene was the epitome of conservatism with his batting that seemed more suited for a Test match rather than an ODI.

He lost Tharanga in the 26th over, when Vettori bowled the left-handed opener then put on 41 for the fourth wicket with Silva, who copped the first of two dubious LBW decisions in the 35th over off Shane Bond.

Dilshan arrived and jammed his foot down on the accelerator that lifted Jayawardene, and they shared 81 for the biggest partnership of the innings.

Dilshan received the second dubious lbw verdict off Oram to leave Sri Lanka 233 for five in the 46th over before Jayawardene exploded in the closing overs to beef up his side's total.

SCOREBOARD

1st semi-final, New Zealand vs Sri Lanka, World Cup,
Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica
Sri Lanka:
Upul Tharanga b Vettori 73
Sanath Jayasuriya b Franklin 1
Kumar Sangakkara c Fleming b Franklin 18
Mahela Jayawardene not out 115
Chamara Silva lbw b Bond 21
Tillakaratne Dilshan lbw b Oram 30
Russel Arnold not out 14
Extras: (lb 3, w 9, nb 5) 17
Total: (for five wickets in 50 overs) 289

Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Jayasuriya, 2.3 overs), 2-67 (Sangakkara, 13.1), 3-111 (Tharanga, 25.1), 4-152 (Silva, 34.3), 5-233 (Dilshan, 45.1)
Bowling:
James Franklin 9-1-46-2 (2nb, 2w)
Shane Bond 10-1-59-1 (1nb, 3w)
Jacob Oram 10-0-60-1 (2nb, 1w)
Daniel Vettori 10-0-51-1 (1w)
Jeetan Patel 10-0-62-0
Scott Styris 1-0-8-0 (1w)

New Zealand:
Peter Fulton c Silva b Jayasuriya 46
Stephen Fleming lbw b Malinga 1
Ross Taylor lbw b Vaas 9
Scott Styris c Jayawardene b Dilshan 37
Jacon Oram c & b Muralitharan 3
Brendon McCullum c Silva b Muralitharan 0
Craig McMillan b Jayasuriya 25
Daniel Vettori lbw b Muralitharan 0
James Franklin not out 30
Shane Bond b Muralitharan 2
Jeetan Patel c Fernando b Dilshan 34
Extras: (b 5, lb 2, w 8, nb 6) 21
Total: (all out in 41.4 overs) 208

Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Fleming, 1.3 overs), 2-32 (Taylor, 10.3), 3-105 (Styris, 21.5), 4-114 (Oram, 23.5), 5-114 (McCullum, 23.6), 6-115 (Fulton, 24.3), 7-116 (Vettori, 25.4), 8-144 (McMillan, 30.2), 9-149 (Bond, 31.4), 10-208 (Patel, 41.4)
Bowling:
Chaminda Vaas 8-1-25-1 (1w)
Lasith Malinga 7-2-21-1 (1nb)
Dilhara Fernando 5-0-45-0 (5nb, 1w)
Muttiah Muralitharan 8-0-31-4 (1w)
Sanath Jayasuriya 9-0-57-2 (3w)
Tillakaratne Dilshan 4.4-0-22-2 (1w)

Result: Sri Lanka won by 81 runs
Man of the Match: Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka) Umpires: Rudi Koertzen (South Africa) and Simon Taufel (Australia)
TV umpire: Daryl Harper (Australia)
Match referee: Mike Procter (South Africa)

Sri Lanka gearing up for the grand final

Kingston (Jamaica), April 25 (IANS-CMC) Former champions Sri Lanka are gearing up for the upcoming challenge at Saturday's World Cup final.

Winners of the 1996 tournament, Sri Lanka qualified for the final at the Kensington Oval in Barbados with a convincing 81-run victory over New Zealand in the first semi final at Sabina Park Tuesday.

The win was set up by a sparkling century by captain Mahela Jayawardene, whose unbeaten 115 off 109 balls helped Sri Lanka to score 289 for five off 50 overs.

"For us it (the final) is another cricket match. We are sticking to our basics, concentrating on what we've been doing in the last six weeks and even before that, the last 12 months," Jayawardene told reporters after the match Tuesday.

"We've built up for this final. This was a very big hurdle for us. Getting there was tough.

"We're there now. We've been preparing for that day for quite some time now. We'll be ready for that."

Sri Lanka will meet either defending champions Australia or South Africa in the final. Australia and South Africa face each other in the second semi-final Wednesday at St Lucia's Beausejour Cricket Ground.

Jayawardene entertained spectators at Sabina Park with his glorious stroke play while marching to his ninth one-day international century.

He described the innings, which included ten fours and three sixes, as his best in the abbreviated version of the game.

"I rate this at the top. This is a World Cup semi-final. For me, it's all about contributing to the team," he said.

"I don't care how it comes. As long as I can contribute and it's a win, I'm pretty happy with that."

Sri Lanka moves into cricket World Cup final

Kingston (Jamaica), April 25 (NNN-PTI) Mahela Jayawardene struck his maiden World Cup hundred as Sri Lanka outclassed New Zealand by 81 runs to reach the final of the quadrennial event in style on Tuesday.

Jayawardene's masterly 115 not out propelled Sri Lanka to a challenging 289 for five before an all-round bowling performance routed the Black Caps to 208 all out in 41.4 overs at the Sabina Park.

New Zealand, who have been in the semifinal four times before but never progressed further, came a cropper once again with their bowling and batting come apart at the crunch.

If the bowlers suffered at the closing stages from Jayawardene's brilliance, the last five overs costing 57 runs, the batsmen floundered against the genuine fast and spin bowling of the Lanka Lions.

Muttiah Muralitharan (4-31) picked up two wickets off successive deliveries and Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga were unplayable up front.

New Zealand, 105 for two at one stage, lost five wickets for 12 runs in the space of three overs as their hope for the first entry into the final was dashed.

Sri Lanka now await the winner of the other semifinal, between Australia and South Africa at St Lucia Thursday.

Sri Lanka vows to destroy rebel air capability

Colombo, April 25 (Xinhua) The Sri Lankan government Wednesday vowed to destroy the Tamil Tigers' air capability after a pre-dawn air attack by the rebels that killed at least six soldiers in the northern Jaffna peninsula.

Group Captain Ajantha Silva, spokesman for the air force, told reporters: "Our priority now is to destroy LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) aircraft."

The military officials claimed Tuesday that the air defence system in the northern air base of Palaly was successful in thwarting the attempt by the Tiger planes to bomb the base.

The LTTE said their two aircraft bombed the military's main base complex in Jaffna peninsula early Tuesday, inflicting heavy damage and casualties.

On March 26, LTTE planes attacked the main Sri Lankan airbase near Colombo.

The rebel air capability has added a new dimension to the island's long drawn out separatist armed conflict that had claimed over 67,000 lives since the mid 1980s. The LTTE is said to own at least two light aircraft.

In the island's east, officials said two paramilitary Home Guards were killed while four others were injured in a roadside mob explosion.

The blast, blamed on the Tamil Tigers, targeted a road patrolling party around 8.45 a.m. in Ampara district.

Sri Lankans seek divine help before World Cup final

Colombo, April 25 (IANS) Several multi-religious ceremonies will be organised here Friday, in the presence of many sports personalities, to wish the Sri Lankan cricket team for their World Cup final in the West Indies Saturday.

Parents and family members of the national team players as well as well wishers will also take part in the ceremonies to invoke blessings for the final, to be played at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.

The Mahela Jayawardene-led Sri Lanka reached the final beating New Zealand by 81 runs in the first semi-final at the Sabina Park, Kingston, Tuesday. In the final, they will play the winner of the Australia-South Africa second semi-final in St. Lucia Wednesday.

The only time Sri Lanka won the World Cup was in 1996, when it hosted the tournament along with India and Pakistan. Arjuna Ranatunga's team had beaten Australia in the final in Lahore.

Former Sri Lanka Test player Hashan Tillakaratne said in a statement here Wednesday that there would be four different daylong ceremonies by Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Catholic Christian religious leaders.

On Monday, they had organised another function, attended by some of the country's top athletes, to wish the cricketers luck ahead of their semi-final against New Zealand.

Student gunned down on AMU campus

Aligarh, April 25 (IANS) Unidentified assailants shot dead an engineering student of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) here late Wednesday evening, police said.

Qausar Faliq, a B. Tech final year student, was studying at the university's chemical engineering department.

Police investigations are on. The deceased's body has been taken to the local medical college.

Earlier, an undergraduate student was killed in a shootout that erupted between rival groups following a scuffle.

Sufficient evidence presented for Quattrocchi's extradition: CBI

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Thursday said it had already presented sufficient evidence in the Argentinian court, which is hearing India's plea for extradition of fugitive Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi.

"We don't have to any more evidence. Whatever has already been filed in the court is more than sufficient to substantiate our demand for Quattrocchi's extradition," said a top CBI official, on the eve of the April 26 deadline to submit more evidence, if any, to the court.

The First Court of El Dorado in the province of Misiones, about 1,500 km from the Argentine capital Buenos Aires, had asked India April 18 to file additional evidence, if any, by April 26 to further endorse its claim for Quattrocchi's extradition.

The CBI official said it was as per a preliminary process that the Argentinian court had sought to know from India if it had any more evidence in the case that it would like to bring before the court.

"But our legal experts here have opined that we have already submitted all necessary and requisite evidence and we need not supplement the same," said the CBI official.

He said after this process, the court would fix a date to begin the trial for extradition during which it would hear the both side.

The date for beginning of the trial was yet to be fixed by the court, the CBI official said.

Quattrocchi stands accused in the Rs.640 millions Bofors gun deal payoff case of the mid-1980s. He had been detained Feb 6 at the Iguazu international airport in Argentina on an Interpol lookout notice.

Summer storm leaves two dead in Orissa

Balasore, April 25 (IANS) A summer storm has wreaked havoc in Orissa's Balasore district killing at least two people and causing widespread damage to buildings, crops and the communication network, officials said Wednesday.

Strong winds accompanied by hailstorm Tuesday and Wednesday threw normal life out of gear disrupting vehicular traffic in many places of the district, Balasore District Collector A.C. Padhiary told IANS.

Some thatched houses were damaged but the actual loss was yet to be ascertained. "A team of district officials has been deputed to assess the damage," he said.

Those who died in the 24 hours to Wednesday evening were identified as Laxmi Priya Sahu, 13, of Dakhina Deula village and Naba Kumar Pal, 40, of Khedasahi. A lightening killed them and burnt their houses, a district revenue official said.

In another incident, five people sustained burn injuries in the district, three of them seriously, when a lightning struck a rest house. They were rushed to the local hospital and were stated to be out of danger.

The weather affected more than 100 villages and the worst affected blocks were Jaleswar, Bhogarai, Basta and Baliapal, the revenue official said.

"While high-speed wind accompanied with sand uprooted many trees, roofs of several thatched houses, schools and government establishments also were flown away.

"Power supply and telecommunication facilities in rural pockets were disrupted for hours," said Harinarayan Sahu, a villager.

"High-yielding paddy crops, vegetable crops and mangoes have been damaged," said Ganeswar Behera, a farmer.

Tata Motors to train Singur youth

Kolkata, April 25 (IANS) Tata Motors Wednesday signed an agreement with the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) and the state's Department of Technical Education and Training (DTET) to enhance the technical skills of the youth in Singur, the site of its small car project.

Tata Motors' senior general manager (corporate HR) and head of CSR M.B. Paralkar, DTET's secretary S.C. Tiwary and WBIDC managing director Debasis Som signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU).

As part of the agreement, Tata Motors will set up a training centre at Singur to provide both practical and theoretical training in automobiles. The training centre, which is coming up in the next six months, will be similar to the ones existing at other Tata Motors plants, said Nirupam Sen, West Bengal industry minister.

"The youth to be trained there would not only work in Tata Motors but also in the ancillary industries to be set up," Sen added.

Apart from the new institute, four institutes have been selected for training the local youth. They are: ITI Howrah, ITI Hooghly, ATI Dasnagar, and Ramakrishna Mission Shilpamandir, Belurmath.

The training course will be in two parts. The first part will provide nine months training for freshers and six months for trainees who have earlier completed four months training at Belurmath. This course will be specially customised to suit the trainees and their requirements. After completion of the course, Tata Motors will train them at their plant.

At the end of the training period, the trainees will appear for a test at their respective institutes for the State Council of Vocational Training (SCVT) certificate, said Sen.

A total of 358 local youth have been selected for training. They include 17 ITI trained youth who had earlier qualified the Tata Motors aptitude test and are undergoing training at the company's Jamshedpur plant.

Singur, about 40 km from here in Hooghly district, has been chosen by Tata Motors for its small car project over 997 acres of land. The issue triggered a violent face-off between the government and the farmers led by civil society groups and parties like the Trinamool Congress.

Three killed as storm lashes Bangladesh

Dhaka, April 25 (Xinhua) At least three people were killed, 150 injured and over 1,500 houses damaged as a strong storm lashed Bangladesh, The Daily Star reported Wednesday.

The storm hit three districts in western Bangladesh Tuesday evening and lasted for 19 minutes, killing three people and injuring over 100 in Meherpur and Kushtia districts.

Of the injured, 30 were admitted to hospital.

Standing crops were also damaged and a large number of trees uprooted.

The storm accompanied by heavy rain swept over Rangpur district, damaging at least 1,500 houses and injuring 50 people.

Standing Irri-boro crops on about 1,000 hectares of land were also damaged by the twister, which lasted for only 10 minutes.

Three policemen killed in Baghdad suicide bombing

Baghdad, April 25 (Xinhua) A suicide bomber blew himself up Wednesday inside a police station in a town in Diyala province, killing three policemen and wounding five, a local police source said.

"Three policemen were killed and five others injured including two civilians when a suicide bomber wearing an explosives belt blew himself up inside a police station in Balad Ruse town Wednesday afternoon," the source said.

Balad Ruse is located in the restive province of Diyala, which has recently witnessed an upsurge of bombings and attacks.

Violence continues infesting Iraq despite the presence of tens of thousands of US and Iraqi soldiers across the country in a major security crackdown aimed at curbing insurgency and sectarian violence in the war-torn country.

Tibetan activists detained at Everest base camp

Beijing, April 25 (DPA) Chinese authorities detained four Tibetan independence activists Wednesday after they staged a brief protest against plans to take the Olympic torch over Mount Everest in the run- up to the 2008 Games in Beijing, a group said.

The four detained are US citizens, including a Tibetan-American, who unfurled a banner reading "One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 2008" in English, and "Free Tibet" in Tibetan and Chinese, said Lhadon Tethong, director of the Students for a Free Tibet.

The detained activists said via an SMS that police had questioned them individually, but Tethong said she later lost contact with the four.

A US embassy spokeswoman said that because of US privacy laws she was unable to confirm if any US citizens were detained.

Tethong said she expected China to expel the four protesters quickly, if it followed its previous practice with such incidents.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is scheduled to announce the route of the 2008 Olympic torch relay Thursday.

The Beijing organising committee (BOCOG) said earlier this month that the torch relay would definitely go to the 8,844-metre summit of the world's highest mountain in China's disputed Tibet region.

A team of climbers is training for a rehearsal of the ascent with a specially made high-altitude torch.

But several Tibetan independence groups have accused China's ruling Communist Party of taking the torch relay through Tibet for political purposes.

"The Chinese government hopes to use the 2008 Olympic Games to conceal the brutality of its occupation of Tibet and win the international community's acceptance as a modern power on the world stage," Tethong said.

"The International Olympic Committee has no business promoting the Chinese government's political agenda by allowing the torch to be run through Tibet," she said.

The torch would pass close to an area on the border with Nepal where Chinese troops opened fire on a group of Tibetan refugees as they were trying to cross the border last September.

Wednesday's protest also coincided with the 18th birthday of the Panchen Lama, Gendhun Choekyi Nyima, who is Tibetan Buddhism's most important spiritual leader after the Dalai Lama.

China appointed a rival Panchen Lama in 1995, the same year when Nyima was chosen by supporters of the Dalai Lama.

Nyima and his family have reportedly been held under virtual house arrest since he was six years old, prompting Tibetan activists to label him as the world's youngest political prisoner.

In response to reports of the protest at the Everest Base Camp, Hein Verbruggen, chairman of the IOC's coordination commission for the 2008 Games, defended the decision to award the Games to China and said the IOC would maintain its position of not getting involved in political issues.

"We don't want to be involved in any political issues," Verbruggen told reporters in Beijing where the IOC is holding an executive board meeting.

"We certainly will have more of that (protests), we know," he said.

"The IOC is a sports organisation. We feel bringing the Games here, in general, will be beneficial for social and economic development in this country."

Tight security in Bhutan after bomb found in border town

By Syed Zarir Hussain

Thimphu, April 25 (IANS) Security has been stepped up in Bhutan after a bomb allegedly planted by detractors of the monarchy was found near Phuentsholing, a town close to the Indian border, officials Wednesday said.

A Royal Bhutan Police official said the explosive was found Monday near a bridge in Phuentsholing, about 180 km from the capital Thimphu.

"Security has been intensified and we are trying to zero in on the people responsible for planting the improvised explosive devise," a senior police official told IANS by telephone from Phuentsholing. The bomb was later defused.

The Bhutan Tiger Force (BTF) and the Bhutan Revolutionary Youth (BRY) have claimed responsibility for planting the explosive.

"There was a handwritten note kept near the bomb that mentioned the two organisations (BTF and BRY) claiming responsibility for setting up the device," the police official, who wished not to be named, said.

The BTF is the armed militant wing of the Bhutan Communist Party, a group formed by Bhutanese refugees currently residing in Nepal.

The party had earlier announced an armed rebellion to overthrow the Bhutanese regime and accuses the monarchy of being autocratic, violating human rights, and indulging in corruption.

"The BTF is out to create trouble inside Bhutan and this is the second time when such a thing has happened. Not much is known about the identity of the other group (BRY)," the official said.

Police blamed the BTF for making an unsuccessful attempt to trigger a blast last month in Phuentsholing.

The usually peaceful kingdom of 600,000 people was rocked by a blast in the same town in December in which four people, including three Indians, was injured.

Phuentsholing is close to the Indian border town of Joygaon in the eastern state of West Bengal.

There are an estimated 100,000 Bhutanese refugees residing in makeshift camps in Nepal after they fled the kingdom in 1997 following a pro-democracy uprising.

Bhutan has since outlawed political parties formed by those in exile, referring to them as anti-national terrorists and claims that many of the refugees are not genuine Bhutanese.

Bhutan last week held 'dummy elections' as a warm up to democracy.

The scheduled parliamentary elections next year are the culmination of a plan by former king Jigme Singye Wangchuck - who handed his crown to his young Oxford-educated son, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, in December - to change with the times and relinquish absolute rule.

TRS involvement in human trafficking gets deeper

Hyderabad, April 25 (IANS) The crisis in the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) deepened Wednesday with more MPs and legislators being linked to the human trafficking case.

Amid indications that TRS president K. Chandrasekhara Rao may expel his deputy A. Narendra from the party for his alleged involvement in the racket, two more MPs and six MLAs belonging to the party are suspected to be involved.

Chandrasekhara Rao, who had of late developed differences with Narendra, might expel him before party's public meeting in Warangal on April 27. This could lead to a split in the party as Narendra had merged his Telangana Sadhana Samiti with TRS five years ago to fight for separate statehood to the Telangana region.

Narendra Wednesday denied that he had sent two Gujarati women on the diplomatic passport of his wife. He also denied that his personal assistant Ramna Murthy was involved in the racket. He admitted two MPs of his party had kept their passports in his custody but declined to divulge the details.

Meanwhile, police and passport authorities have begun probing allegations that TRS legislator from Karimnagar district, K. Lingaiah, had sent a woman abroad on the passport of his wife. The legislator has reportedly gone into hiding and all efforts by the police to trace him either at Hyderabad or Karimnagar district have been futile.

A special investigation team of Hyderabad police has left for Karimnagar to probe the allegations against the legislator. A television channel has exposed the racket.

Another TRS legislator Ramalinga Reddy claimed that many legislators and MPs from the state were involved in the racket. TRS MP Vinod Kumar said that he had complained to police about the letterheads of some of his party MPs being misused for obtaining visas but no action was taken.

The scam unravelled last week when BJP MP Babubhai Katara was arrested from the international airport in New Delhi while trying to smuggle out a woman and a teenage boy on his family's passports.

Two arrested for triple murder, cops claim infidelity angle

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) Two people were arrested here Wednesday for allegedly murdering three members of a family last week in what the Delhi Police claimed an infidelity backlash.

The accused Rohit Chaudhary and Bobby Chaudhary were arrested in the afternoon at the Delhi Railway Station for allegedly murdering Chotey Lal Yadav, his wife Shanti Devi and adopted son Rohan last week at their East of Kailash residence in south Delhi. The main accused Jitender Chaudhary was absconding.

It was initially suspected that the murders were a result of some minor property disputes but during investigations it was revealed that Yadav had extra marital affairs in Delhi and Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, police said.

According to police, Yadav had illegitimate relationship with a woman in Saharanpur, who came into his contact while working together in a company in Faridabad, Haryana.

Jitender, the woman's husband, came to know about Yadav's intentions and shifted his family to Saharanpur from Delhi. Yadav even went to Saharanpur and picked up a fight with Jitender, who later hatched a conspiracy with Rahul and Bobby to eliminate Yadav.

They came to Yadav's house in Delhi and stabbed him and his wife before strangulating their son with a belt, police added.

"We received information that the duo would come to the Delhi railway station to board a train to Gujarat and accordingly a trap was laid to nab them," Deputy Commissioner of Police (south Delhi) Anil Shukla said.

Two killed in Baghdad

Baghdad, April 25 (Xinhua) Two people were killed and 14 wounded in a roadside bomb and mortar attacks in Baghdad Wednesday.

A roadside bomb went off near a gas station in Shaab area, killing two people and wounding eight, an interior ministry source said. The blast also damaged several civilian cars and buildings.

Meanwhile, mortar rounds landed on the residential area of Abu Dshier, wounding six people, said the source.

Violence persists in Baghdad despite the presence of tens of thousands of US and Iraqi soldiers across the capital in a major security crackdown aimed at curbing insurgency and sectarian violence.

Two terror groups dismantled, says Moroccan Interior Minister

Rabat, April 25 (NNN-MAP) Moroccan Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa Tuesday revealed that the two terrorist groups behind the recent Casablanca bombings have been "totally dismantled" after the arrest of the leader of the cell and the bombs manufacturer as well as 13 “potential suicide bombers".

Speaking at the House of Advisers (Senate) here, he said the authors of the March 11 and April 14 bombings in Morocco's largest city "belong to a same organized and structured cell with different tasks including recruitment, framing, financing and execution".

These suspects, he explained, shared the same ideology with those involved in the May 16, 2003 terrorist attacks in Casablanca that claimed 45 lives including those of the 12 suicide bombers.

He, however, made it clear that no link has been established between the authors of the above mentioned operation and those of the April 14 bombing which, according to the minister, was likely an isolated act.

The recent Casablanca bombings claimed seven lives -- five terrorists who blew themselves up, another one who was shot dead by the police as well as a policeman. More than 20 other people were injured.

The minister insisted that these terror acts should by no means be blamed on the social conditions or on the frustration and despair among some youth in particular those who blew themselves up. Such acts, he went on, cannot be justified.

He described as efficient the strategy used by the security services, underlining that the situation is perfectly under control. He also paid tribute to the vigilance and collaboration of the citizens in thwarting further terrorist acts.

Benmoussa, however, warned that “the terror threat persists and continues to weigh on the country, which requires everybody’s vigilance and mobilization�.

He drew attention to the Sahel region, a “zone of instability� because of all kinds of traffic such as organized crime, and which has become a “stronghold of Al Qaeda� since the adherence of the Algerian Salafist Group for Predication and Combat (GSPC) to this terrorist network and the adoption by the latter of a “terror project aiming all countries of the Maghreb.�

The minister said that 12 suspects among the 43 on the wanted list, including important members of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM) which has links with the Algerian GSPC, have been arrested. These suspects, he said, received training in the no-law zone of the Sahel.

U.S. Congressman introduces articles to impeach Cheney

WASHINGTON, April 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich has introduced certain articles to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney, basing his decision on Cheney's initial push to send the United States into war with Iraq, CNN reported on Wednesday.

"The vice president is beating the same drums of war against Iran that he beat against Iraq under false pretenses, and he's doing it all over again, against Iran," Kucinich was quoted by the report as saying.

"And I say that it's time to stand up to that. Our country couldn't afford this last war. We can't afford to go into another one. And somebody has to challenge the conduct of this vice president," he said.

Kucinich, a Democratic presidential candidate from Ohio, introduced three articles of impeachment before giving a press conference on Capitol Hill later on Wednesday.

He said Cheney fabricated the threat of weapons of mass destruction to justify going to war with Iraq, made up a connection between the Iraqi government and Al Qaida and that he is threatening war against Iran now, which he added violates the constitution.

Kucinich said he decided to go after the vice president first for practical reasons, because if Congress impeaches the president, then Cheney would automatically take his place.

He said he didn't think the country could handle two consecutive impeachments.

Currently, no other House members have signed on as co-sponsors of Kucinich's actions.

The Congressman denied that this is a political stunt and said he thinks Congress needs to stand up to the administration.

However, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, also a Democrat, opposes any move to impeach President George W. Bush or the vice presidentand is almost certain to thwart Kucinich.

UAE, UNICEF extended programme which ends employment of child camel jockeys

Abu Dhabi, April 25 (NNN-KUNA) Officials from the UAE, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Mauritania, Sudan and Unicef extended the UAE-Unicef Programme which ends the use of children as camel jockeys till May 2009.

A Unicef press release said Wednesday the government delegations acknowledged that "an international solution is the only effective way to protect former camel jockeys."

The five nations entered into a formal joint statement committing themselves to the programme that bans the abuse of children as camel jockeys and provides them with services and compensation to all children formerly involved in the sport, the statement added.

"This is a historic moment for the protection of children and underscores the commitment of the UAE to elevate and defend human rights," said Lt-Gen Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, UAE Interior Minister.

The Abu Dhabi conference, organised by Unicef and the UAE Interior Ministry, was held from April 23-25.

The event follows a 2005 conference where the UAE government and Unicef signed a "groundbreaking" agreement to return former child jockeys to their countries and "reintegrate them into their communities," according to the statement.

Under that agreement, over 1,077 children were repatriated to their countries.

During this week's conference, the governments also agreed to establish an independent claims facility to hear claims for injury by former child jockeys.

UK infrastructure under threat, says home secretary

London, April 25 (IANS) British Home Secretary John Reid believes that the country's key energy installations and infrastructure are among the likely targets of terrorists, but has said the government could not guarantee "100 percent success" in the fight against terrorism.

Speaking at the Royal United Services Institute Wednesday, Reid said that terrorists could cause devastation through an "electronic attack" on the UK's infrastructure. He said that Al Qaeda's aim was to "bleed us to bankruptcy", adding that Western energy supplies could be among targets threatened.

"It is easy to appreciate the devastation of a physical attack and what it can bring but we must not underestimate the potentially devastating consequences of an electronic attack," he told the audience.

Reid's speech comes in the wake of the arrest of six people Tuesday on charges of abetting terrorism in Britain, and reports of leaks of intelligence documents. He also announced the restructuring of the Home Office that will see the creation of the Office for Security and Counter Terrorism.

Speaking on the new office, Reid said: "It will provide that faster, brighter and more agile response to the terrorist threat through a new drive, cohesion, and by providing a greater strategic capacity to our fight against terrorism."

However, he added: "I can promise you 100 percent commitment from everyone involved, 100 percent dedication, but I have to be straight: we cannot promise 100 percent success. That would be an insult to your intelligence, to my integrity, to indicate that we can ever guarantee that in fighting terrorism.

"We are making these changes because we cannot afford one ounce of complacency in this struggle against terrorism.

"The changes that we are introducing by refocusing the Home Office on immigration, crime and counter-terrorism are intended to supplement those efforts."

UN award for Chhattisgarh

Raipur, April 25 (IANS) Chhattisgarh has bagged a UN award for "excellence in participation and capacity building", making it the first state in Asia to receive the award.

"Chhattisgarh has been chosen for the UN award under UNDP's (United Nations Development Programme) 'excellence in participation and capacity development' category for its first report based on human resource development index, released by Chief Minister Raman Singh in December 2005," a press statement said Wednesday.

The report, split into 10 chapters, was prepared by the Chhattisgarh Infotech and Biotech Promotion Society (CHiPS) - an IT wing of Chhattisgarh government.

Aman Singh, chief executive officer of CHiPS, has been invited to receive the award in June at New York, UN headquarters.

This year, UNDP received 50 nominations from 39 countries in the "participation and capacity building process" category but finally Chhattisgarh, which came into existence in November 2000, edged out all contenders.

The award came as a surprise to the state's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government that is struggling to improve the quality of living of millions of decades old marginalized people, mostly residing in the state's vast northern and southern forested areas.

UN finds living conditions for Palestinians keep deteriorating

IndianMuslims.info newsdesk

Living conditions inside the occupied Palestinian territory continued to decline through the second half of last year, with the situation especially dire in the Gaza Strip, according to the latest progress report by the main United Nations tasked with helping Palestinian refugees.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), in its emergency appeal progress report for July to December 2006, found that Israel’s impounding of custom revenues and the concurrent freeze in donor support has left the Palestinian Authority starved of resources and unable to provide basic services.

Financial resources available to the Palestinian Authority in 2006 fell – by more than 35 per cent to $1.4 billion – on the previous year, and real gross domestic product (GDP) slumped as well, leaving per capita GDP nearly 40 per cent below the levels before the latest intifada. Many more Palestinians now depend on emergency aid.

The situation is particularly acute in Gaza, where 80 per cent of households earn less than $1 a day, twice as many as in the West Bank, and 40 per cent of adults are unemployed. Many of those who did work, such as some of the employees of the Palestinian Authority, did not receive their full salaries in 2006 because of the financial crisis.

Israel stopped handing over tax and customs revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority and international donors suspended direct aid after Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel, won elections at the start of last year and formed a Government. Israel and the donors have called on Hamas to commit to non-violence, recognize its neighbour and accept previously signed agreements between Israel and the Palestinians.

The UNRWA report concluded that the crisis has been “compounded by protracted Israeli military operations in Gaza and increased restrictions on movement for Palestinians across the occupied Palestinian territory, coupled with rising levels of internal tension.�

It detailed the measures the agency has introduced to try to mitigate the problems experienced by Palestinians, including the creation of temporary job opportunities, both direct and indirect, the provision of cash subsidies and goods to the most vulnerable households, and help with health-care services.

UN habitat for humanity earmarks P40 million for slum upgrading

Iloilo City, Philippines, April 25 (NNN-PNA) The United Nations Habitat for Humanity based in Nairobi, Kenya has earmarked P40 million in assistance to the urban poor communities in Iloilo City. (p1=0.02107usd)

The fund came in the form of grant, which is an offshoot of the presentation made by Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas during the World Urban Forum in Vancouver, Canada last year.

The assistance will be used for slum upgrading of urban poor community situated in San Isidro, Lapaz.

The said grant will be released to the city government, which, in turn, will implement the project in coordination with the Homeless People's Foundation of the Philippines through its local counterpart in Iloilo City.

Earlier, the urban poor communities also received assistance from the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights a non-government organization in Thailand in the amount of US$ 30,000 also for slum upgrading.

The assistance was also facilitated by the Homeless People's Foundation of the Philippines and was implemented under the Urban Poor Network of Iloilo City.

UN plans to fund 80 pct of African malaria applications

By Seshnee Govender

United Nations, April 25 (NNN-BUANEWS) A United Nations malaria partnership plans to provide funding to 80 per cent of African countries which apply for malaria grants.

In addition to the target for African states, the UN-backed Roll Back Malaria Partnership hopes that half of worldwide malaria grant applications will receive funding.

In November 2006, less than a third of all applications qualified to receive support.

The partnership aims to halve the global malaria rate by 2010.

"This is the first phase of a massive initiative both to ensure sustained funding and improve countries' ability to achieve impact," said Awa Marie Coll Seck, the Partnership's Executive Director.

"Success breeds success. We all need to make the money work better and achieve results if we are to secure predictable funding and meet ambitious malaria control targets over the next three years."

Annually, more than 90 per cent of the one million global malaria deaths occur in African countries. In many of these countries, malaria is the leading cause of death, with one child dying from the disease every 30 seconds.

The partnership was created in 1998 by the UN World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank. It now brings together governments affected by malaria, international development agencies, academic institutions and others.

Every year, grants are awarded, mostly by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, to countries based on their needs.

Over six years, the Fund, the UN-backed international public private partnership, which is the world's largest donor in curbing malaria, has approved grants totalling 2.6 billion USD.

Anti-malarial medicines are crucial in the fight, alongside other measures such as insecticide-treated mosquito nets and indoor residual spraying.

In South Africa one of the outcomes of the national Department of Health's programme of action is to reduce malaria cases by 10 per cent per year.

UN-backed alliance tackles helping millions of children orphaned by AIDS

Tehran, April 25, (IRNA) With more than 18 million children expected to have lost one or both parents to AIDS by 2010, a UN-backed alliance has met to discuss the looming crisis of how millions of children orphaned or made vulnerable by the epidemic can build their futures and remain free from infection.

A two-day workshop last week in Johannesburg, South Africa, hosted by the United Nations and Partners' Alliance - comprising UN agencies, governments and non-governmental organization (NGOs) - brought together delegates from Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Kenya, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe to confer on policies for orphaned and vulnerable children, a press release issued by the UN Information Center (UNIC) said here Wednesday.

"There is a critical need for scaling up the response. In South Africa alone, there are more than 2 million children from the country's 18.5 million that have lost one or both parents to AIDS," said Josee Koch, emergency food security and HIV and AIDS officer for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

"Immediate and appropriate mechanisms are needed urgently to stop the spread of HIV and ensure that children are supported on their way to realize their full potential for a better future," she added.

Without the confidence and skills necessary to build their futures, young people become more vulnerable to contracting HIV, according to a press release issued by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Without options, children could potentially be pushed into activities that put them and others at high risk of becoming infected with the disease.

Participants recognized the crucial assistance to support these children furnished by the Australian government. Funding comes from the AUSAID, the government's aid agency, and is being used for programs run by the FAO and other organizations that have adopted a livelihoods based approach, including teaching pivotal life skills which will enable children to grow into economically active and productive young adults.

US forces kill Al Qaeda leader in Iraq

Baghdad, April 25 (Xinhua) The US forces have killed one of the Al Qaeda senior leader during a search operation in an area northwest of the capital, the military said Wednesday.

Muhammad Abdullah Abbas al-Issawi, also known as Abu Abd al-Sattar and Abu Akram, was killed Friday when US troops returned fire at insurgents who attacked them with small arms fire during the operation, the military said in a statement.

It also said al-Issawi was allegedly "a known Al Qaeda terrorist leader" operating in Karmah and Ameriyah areas in west of Baghdad and was the Al Qaeda in Iraq's "Security Emir" of the eastern Anbar Province.

Moreover, he was allegedly responsible in sending Iraqi teenage boys to implement suicide car bomb attacks.

"During the operation the terrorists engaged ground forces with small arms fire...killing two and detaining one," the statement said.

The operation also resulted in finding assault vests, weapons, hand grenades and suicide vests on the scene, it said.

Vajpayee appeals to voters to 'come out and vote'

Lucknow, April 25 (IANS) Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, campaigning for his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in his constituency of Lucknow, appealed to people "to come out and vote in good numbers" in the remaining rounds of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.

"I know it is getting hotter these days, but I appeal to you all to come out and vote in good numbers," Vajpayee told a rally here in the evening.

The heat wave in the state was said to be behind the low voters' turnout in the fourth round of polling this week.

He added: "I belong to Lucknow. I will also try to come and vote."

Accompanied by BJP chief Rajnath Singh and former chief minister Kalyan Singh, Vajpayee addressed a modest gathering in Aliganj locality for about a quarter of an hour before making a quick return to New Delhi.

Referring to reports in a section of the media, the octogenarian leader said he did not have any differences with Kalyan Singh, the party's candidate for the post of the chief minister.

"We are sitting here together before you. There is no infighting in the BJP," he said in a speech largely devoid of any election issues or any attack on the rival parties.

Violence kills 23, including 11 Afghan soldiers

Kabul, April 25 (DPA) At least 23 people were killed in clashes and bomb attacks around Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday.

The tally included seven Afghan army and four police forces killed in two attacks by Taliban forces, seven rebels and three Afghan construction workers killed in separate clash, and two bombers who were the only victims in their separate suicide attacks.

In one incident, an army convoy was travelling in the De-Wazekhowa district of Paktika province when one of its 10 vehicles was blown up by the roadside bomb, killing seven soldiers and wounding another, said Akram Khepilwak, provincial police chief.

General Murad Ali, the Army's eastern commander, confirmed the attack and said it occurred in the Gowashti area near the Pakistani border.

Taliban forces attacked the administrative headquarters of Qarabagh district of southern Ghazni province Tuesday noon, and in the ensuing gun battle seven Taliban were killed and 15 others wounded, the interior ministry said in a statement.

The clash lasted six hours and left three road construction workers who were near the district building killed. Five other armed militants were arrested, the statement said.

In a separate incident, four Afghan policemen were killed and three wounded in an ambush by a group of unknown gunmen in the western province of Herat while a suicide attack against a district governor left only the bomber dead, officials said.

A vehicle carrying police official from Herat's Guzara district was ambushed Tuesday night in the Rebat Sulaiman area of the district, said Noor Mohammad Nikzad, spokesman for Herat's police chief.

Meanwhile, a suicide attack against the Matakhan district governor in Paktika province Wednesday killed only the bomber and left the district chief and his bodyguards unhurt, the interior ministry said in a statement.

In northern Takhar province, two blasts, one in front of the governor's house and another near the police chief headquarters, rocked the city Wednesday, provincial governor Abubaker said.

He said that the first explosion in front of the police chief office had no casualties while the second one near his office killed a man who was suspected to have been in the act of hiding explosives inside a vegetable cart when they detonated prematurely.

Meanwhile, police arrested a would-be suicide attacker in the capital Kabul Wednesday afternoon, the interior ministry said in a separate statement.

The suspected bomber, aged 15, was shot and wounded when he tried to escape in southern part of Kabul after the police noticed him carrying a bag filled with explosives, it said.

Suicide attacks, unheard of until mid-2003 in Afghanistan, happen now on an almost daily basis. A majority of the bombs explode prematurely before reaching their targets.

West Indies cricket has to change, says board

Bridgetown (Barbados), April 25 (IANS-CMC) It cannot be business as usual, the West Indies Cricket Board says, as it takes a fresh approach to a successor to Brian Lara after he quit as captain following the World Cup debacle.

Bruce Aanensen, the board's newly appointed chief executive, told CMC Sports that the board had met the selection committee and outlined their expectations.

"We had agreed and discussed ... that West Indies cricket at this point cannot be business as usual and the incremental changes, which have not worked and do not seem as if they will work, cannot be the way forward and that some hard decisions may have to be made in terms of how we do business going forward," he said.

"We just wanted to brief the selectors in the composition of the team and in the decision to choose a captain - what we were looking for, what kind of criteria we would like them to use for the selection of the captain and when they give us recommendations for the captain we need to know exactly what drove that decision.

"We need to know what they see as the strengths of the individual, why they recommended them and if there are any areas were improvement is required, so we can sit down with the person who is eventually appointed to go through that process and agree on a formula for helping them to improve in their weak areas," he said.

Lara, one of the world's most successful cricketers who led the West Indies into the World Cup, has retired from international cricket.

Since then, vice captain Ramnaresh Sarwan has been widely tipped to take over as captain though Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga are also among the choices.

Aanensen said the selectors had made their nomination to the board members who were in the process of ratifying the recommendations.

"One of the things we are looking for is leadership skills ... we are also looking a guy who will command the respect of the other players on the team, not somebody who will have any influence on the younger players in particular," he said.

"The selectors have chosen somebody ... I'm not a liberty to divulge that name at the moment because we have to get the approval of the WICB for the nomination before any disclosure can be made.

"The selectors said there were three people they were looking at. They had their meeting, we did not attend their meeting, we allowed them the privacy to discuss matters as they see fit.

"They have come up with one of the three ... hopefully we can announce [him] within the next two days."

When lawmakers turn law breakers

By Sri Krishna

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) Cash-for-query, misuse of funds allotted for development of constituencies, and now human trafficking. It appears that a section of honourable members of the Indian parliament have not spared any effort to make a quick buck.

Be it fellow MPs, political analysts, academics, students or the man on the street, everyone is outraged that elected representatives have been indulging in these acts, bringing the very name of parliament into disrepute.

"The involvement of MPs in human trafficking is a very serious matter and needs to be thoroughly probed since it has its ramifications on national security," declared political analyst Mahesh Rangarajan.

He was referring to the sensational arrest of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Babubhai Katara when he was trying to fly out to Canada along with a woman and a teenage boy on the diplomatic passports of his wife and son.

Preliminary investigation has revealed that the MP had taken bribes to help smuggle the woman and the boy to Canada and that unscrupulous travel agents were using a few MPs for human smuggling.

Describing the episode as "very unfortunate," Zoya Hasan of the Jawaharlal Nehru University here told IANS: "It is really shocking that lawmakers have become law breakers. There is an imperative need to have electoral reforms. But even political parties should undertake reforms, specially in regard to selection of candidates."

What has been shocking, she added, is that this is the third major scandal involving Indian MPs in recent times. "It does call for reforms to prevent such persons from being elected to parliament."

Amid the widespread shock and anger, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati has come to the defence of her party MPs named in the scandal, saying she would move against them only if there was "concrete proof".

"Prima facie, it appears to be a conspiracy hatched by parties opposed to us," she said.

But BJP star and opposition leader L.K. Advani said his party had already suspended Katara from the parliamentary wing and issued him a notice to explain his conduct.

The BJP also figured prominently when almost a dozen MPs were caught on camera accepting money to raise questions in parliament. Eleven MPs were thrown out of the house - 10 from the Lok Sabha and one from the Rajya Sabha.

Then, more MPs from various political parties were caught on camera promising to allot money from their constituency funds - for monetary favours.

"It makes me sad," Advani said. "(But) our response to the situation has been prompt and in stark contrast with the stand of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who defended the tainted ministers in his government."

Kishore Chandra Deo of the Congress, who is chairman of the Privileges Committee of the Lok Sabha which expelled the MPs caught taking money to ask questions, said: "It is time for political parties to introspect on what kind of candidates they should select for parliamentary polls. This incident is a clear indication of what kind of people have got into parliament and politics."

Deo, who was among the 105 MPs who had resigned from the Lok Sabha in 1989 at the height of the Bofors bribery scandal, told IANS: "This is more serious than the cash for query scam. It affects the dignity and decorum of the house."

Reacting even more strongly, his party colleague and first time MP from Karnataka Teejaswani Sreeramesh thundered: "These MPs should be severely punished. They have brought dishonour to the house. They have betrayed people's trust in them. I am not going to keep quiet but will ensure that action is taken against them."

Almost every other MP voiced similar sentiments.

Ramji Lal Suman of the Samajwadi Party was scathing: "This has brought down the esteem of parliament considerably. People repose some faith in their MPs. If MPs are seen indulging in such activities, people will lose all faith and trust in them, undermining the institution of democracy. We propose to ask the Speaker to devise means of ensuring that strict action is taken against all such elements."

Congress MP from Andhra Pradesh G. Nizamuddin was more vociferous: "There is absolutely no reason to go soft on such elements. You are given facilities to carry your wife and children all over the world. That itself is a big boon. After that if you misuse such a facility there is no excuse to forgive such elements.

"If you are so keen to carry abroad other women with you, you might as well marry them instead of forging documents and misusing the facility. Exemplary punishment should be given so that it acts as a deterrent."

Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed was circumspect.

"Whenever any matter concerning MPs comes to us, we immediately bring it to the notice of parliament. As far as other matters are concerned, the police are looking into it. I don't want to make any comment."

People who elect MPs to parliament, however, voiced their fury.

"This is shocking. We always thought that our MPs to be role models for us," said a disgusted Ramesh, who in his school days took part in competitions where students played the role of MPs.

Added a schoolteacher who did not wish to be named: "Such incidents send out wrong messages to the young."

WHO hails aid to developing states for flu vaccine technology

Tehran, April 25, (IRNA) Six developing states are being awarded grants to establish their capacity to manufacture influenza vaccine, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) announced Tuesday.

The move is aiming to ensure that in the event of a flu pandemic, all countries will have access to sufficient doses of influenza vaccine, a press release issued by the UN Information Center (UNIC) said here Wednesday.

Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam will each benefit from up to $2.5 million from Japan and the United States to begin the process of acquiring the needed technology, the Geneva-based agency said in a news release.

"It is imperative that the global community works collectively to ensure more equitable access to a vaccine and other health measures in the event of an influenza pandemic. We all have a responsibility to protect global public health security," said Dr. David L. Heymann, WHO Assistant Director-General for Communicable Diseases.

He said the wider world will benefit."Global public health security can only be realized if developing countries are assisted in developing the capabilities to access pandemic vaccines and protect their populations."
Helping developing countries to produce flu vaccine carries a "dual life-saving benefit," said Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, Director of the WHO Initiative for Vaccine Research. "Countries will be able to protect their populations against seasonal influenza, which causes up to half a million annual deaths worldwide, as well as millions of cases of severe illness," she said. "In addition, should a pandemic emerge, production lines at these facilities can be converted to manufacture vaccine based on the pandemic strain."
It will take a minimum of three to five years for the grant recipient countries to begin producing vaccine locally. Until then, these countries will require support in the shorter term to ensure they can access vaccine to protect their populations, according to WHO, which will hold a meeting tomorrow bringing together
representatives of countries with human bird flu - or H5N1 - infections, donor countries, and vaccine manufacturers in developed and developing countries.

Working with UN, others on Iraq will lead to "positive results" - New US envoy to UN

United Nations, April 25 (NNN-KUNA) The new US envoy to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad has said the world body is already helping Iraq, through the Iraq International Compact, for instance, but is certainly able to do more in order to achieve "positive results" because what happens there is important for the future of the region.

"Already the UN is doing important things for Iraq and I believe there is room to do more, and I will be discussing that with my colleagues and with the secretary-general," Zalmay, who until recently was US envoy to Iraq, told reporters on his second day on the job Tuesday.

"A lot is at stake in Iraq. What happens in Iraq is certainly important for the Iraqis, but it is also important for the future of the region. And the future of the region of the broader Middle East, in my judgment, is the defining challenge of our time.... Unfortunately now, many of the security problems emanate from that region," he said.

He said US President George W.Bush had told him that "my mission is to work with the secretary-general and with the other representatives here to achieve particular goals. My priority will be to increase UN engagement to improve the situation in Iraq" as well as some other regional conflicts, such as in Sudan and Somalia.

He said: "I come from a lot of field experience in Afghanistan and in Iraq and I have seen first hand that working with others, with the UN, positive results can be achieved...I will speak for what we believe in...I look forward to this assignment that the president has given me".

"I certainly, for my part, will do what I can by engaging others, being respectful... others have good ideas as well, and I will be thoughtfully listening to them. I am a problem solver. I will not posture. I will work to resolve together differences that we have so we can advance the agenda which is to improve the situation for the people of the world".

In answer to a question on what the US can do to improve its image in the Muslim world today, Khalilzad, who was born in Afghanistan, said: "America stands for values of freedom, of rule of law, of economic prosperity and I believe the composition of our own country reflects respect for diversity."

On the establishment of a Special Tribunal for Hariri assassins, he said the talks are not open-ended. "This issue will be one of my priorities, and I will consult with the secretary-general and my colleagues. Certainly, we don't have a lot of time".

Khalilzad is leaving later Tuesday night with Security Council members on a mission to Kosovo.

"This is a sign that we take this Kosovo situation seriously. The Balkans is another region of the world that has been a source of a lot of insecurity... unattended can lead to bigger problems. It is important to bring this issue of Kosovo to a successful conclusion," he said.

Yahoo! offers links to Indian cities, maps

Bangalore, April 25 (IANS) Yahoo! India, the leading search engine-cum-web services provider, Wednesday launched two new links to browse 20 Indian cities and access maps.

The innovative next generation Web 2.0 mashup applications were designed and developed in India by the company's wholly owned Indian subsidiary - Yahoo! Software Development Services Ltd, here.

The first link, which can be accessed by users at http://in.ourcity.yahoo.com provides an updated perspective of a city as seen and experienced by people. Users can use the link to explore photos, videos, events, news, weather and share them with others.

"The product aggregates both editorial and user generated content. Currently, we are covering 20 cities across the country, including tier-one cities such as Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai with a differentiated offering and tier-two cities such as Bhubaneswar, Bhopal, Madurai, Chandigarh and Jaipur," Yahoo! India managing director George Zacharias told reporters here at a preview of the products.

Similarly, Yahoo! India maps beta - http://in.maps.yahoo.com - provides street level search functionality with street maps, satellite map and hybrid maps. Users can search over 170 cities, 4,785 towns and 220,000 villages across the country.

Details of street name, locality, city and district can be found with other services such as hospitals, chemists, hotels, ATMs, etc. The map data is being provided by CE Infosystems and is complaint with the Indian government regulations.

"We innovate to enhance the end-user experience. The emergence of Web 2.0 and user generated content offers our netizens a unique local offering," said Zacharias.

Yeltsin is laid to rest in a changed Russia

Moscow, April 25 (DPA) Russia bid farewell to its first president Wednesday as Boris Yelstin, who led the shift from the Soviet state to the independent nation, was laid to rest in Moscow.

The Ural mountain construction engineer who pushed the Soviet Union to collapse died from heart failure Monday at age 76 and was buried in a Moscow cemetery in the presence of his family, Russian officials and world leaders.

The first non-Soviet funeral for a Russian leader since 1894 combined military pomp and the trappings of the Russian Orthodox Church.

A choir of nuns sang hymns begging god's mercy for Russia's first president as goose-stepping soldiers accompanied Yeltsin's coffin into Novodevichy cemetery.

In an emotional ceremony televised live on Russia's major TV channels, Yeltsin's widow Naina was handed the folded flag from her husband's coffin after reaching the gravesite in the leafy cemetery.

With the Yeltsins' two grown daughters standing by, Naina, teary and dressed in black, kissed her husband for a final time and crossed herself.

Yeltsin's successor, Vladimir Putin, stood across from the coffin at Novodevichy. Directly behind him, former US presidents Bill Clinton and George HW Bush were visible.

Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev, ex-British prime minister John Major, German President Horst Koehler and the current and past leaders of many former Soviet republics also attended the funeral.

President from 1991 to 1999, Yeltsin took office when Russia was still a part of the Soviet Union and ended his tenure in an independent Russia after two wars, a communist coup attempt, a constitutional crisis and economic collapse.

Although he personally helped end the oppressive Soviet empire, the grinding poverty many Russians were plunged into under Yeltsin has made him a reviled figure by many here. His death, however, shocked a nation that called him its leader seven years ago.

Before arriving at the cemetery, the former president's body had lain in state for nearly 24 hours in Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral, where police estimate more than 25,000 bid him farewell.

"It's very sad," Lidiya Namzhilon, 73, said while standing in line outside Christ the Saviour Wednesday.

"Boris Nikolayevich was a great Russian," she said, using Yeltsin's patronymic. The democracy he gave the country made him "even better than Lenin," she added, getting approval from a man passing by.

Putin declared Wednesday a day of mourning. Flags were flown at half-mast across the massive country, and the Soviet tradition of cancelling television entertainment programmes was observed as part of a media outpouring for the historic figure.

Yeltsin "bravely took upon himself the most difficult roles in the creation of important democratic institutions. He understood the most important thing is the permanence of change, the rigidness of ... a strategic course," Putin said at a post-funeral reception in the Kremlin, Interfax reported.

But seven years after Yeltsin resigned from the presidency, leaving power to Putin on New Year's Eve 1999, Russia has changed dramatically.

With sky-high oil prices, the country has grown rich from energy exports. The president has clamped down on the country's media and consolidated political and economic control that Yeltsin tried to decentralize. And 80-per-cent approval ratings make Putin much more popular than Yeltsin ever was.

Putin reconciled their differences by saying at the reception that Yeltsin's dream was to make life better for Russians and that "we won't only remember this, we will move toward the same goal."

Under a bitter, grey spring sky and budding trees, Yeltsin was laid to rest in Novodevichy alongside writers Chekhov, Gogol and Bulgakov, composers Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Scriabin, film director Sergei Eistenstein and Raisa Gorbachev.

The only Soviet president not to die in office, the reprimanded Nikita Khrushchev, was buried in Novodevichy. He was also the only Soviet head not to be interred on Red Square.

Yeltsin's burial was accompanied by the national anthem - a Soviet leftover changed by Yeltsin but reinstated under Putin.

After the song's final note, the announcer on the Rossiya television channel noted, "The epoch of Yeltsin has ended."

Yousuf supports Malik's appointment

Karachi, April 25 (IANS) Pakistan's Mohammed Yousuf, who was in line for the national cricket team's captaincy, has supported Shoaib Malik's appointment to the post.

"It was a good decision that will prove fruitful in the future. I think it was a good decision and I am confident it will produce positive results in the future," the prolific batsman told a television channel in an interview, The News newspaper reported Wednesday.

Yousuf, the most experienced player in the side with 75 Tests and 236 One-Day Internationals (ODIs), said "he was eager to lead the side after the World Cup and was disappointed at not getting the captaincy but keeping in mind the future, the Board had taken the correct decision".

Yousuf said he had no problem with Shoaib's appointment and assured full support to his captain. "I have no problems and I can assure Malik my 100 percent support," he said.

"I also hope that other senior players would support him wholeheartedly."

Yousuf, who enjoyed a record-breaking stint last year scoring over 1,700 runs in 11 Test matches with nine hundreds, said he would "like to see Malik continue his role as a captain for a long period of time".

Youth delegates at UN meeting pledge steps to promote road safety

Tehran, April 25, (IRNA) A UN-sponsored gathering of young people from around the world has issued a global call to arms for governments, schools, universities, the media, the entertainment industry, bartenders and youths themselves to take action to improve road safety for young people - who are more likely to be killed by road accidents than any other cause.

Some 400 participants at the World Youth Assembly, a two-day event concluding Tuesday at the UN in Geneva, issued a declaration urging young people to "stand up and participate in local, national and international road safety campaigns and programs."
They pledged to set their own example for others by taking practical steps, from always wearing seat belts and motorcycle helmets to refraining from speeding or drink driving.

The youth delegates, who spanned at least 100 countries, also called on adults, "our heroes and our mentors...to create a safe environment for us when we are on the road, and to serve as road models for safe traffic behaviour."
The World Youth Assembly was staged as part of the first ever UN Global Road Safety Week, which has a theme this year focusing on the impact on young people, a press release issued by the UN
Information Center (UNIC) said here Wednesday.

A report released last week by the World Health Organization (WHO) found that road traffic crashes have become the leading cause of death for people aged between 10 and 24, with nearly 400,000 people in that age bracket killed every year and millions of others permanently disabled or injured.

The overwhelming majority of those deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, and the report concluded that, on average, the crashes cost such nations more than one per cent of their gross national product (GNP) in health care, material and other expenses.

In an address by video-link to the Geneva gathering, General Assembly President Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa said there was an "unprecedented" global momentum now on road safety.

The General Assembly has passed a series of resolutions on the issue calling on member states to implement tougher preventive action, and the UN has also recommended that countries the third Sunday in November each year as a 'World Day of Remembrance' for road traffic victims.

Sheikha Haya said she hoped the delegates will be able to use the spotlight from this week's gathering "to push for greater attention to be paid to road safety within your own countries" and the rest of the world. "I hope that through your campaign you can convince community leaders, the private sector, NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and civil society, celebrities and the media to take up the challenge and act as role models for the cause," she said.

Zambian President appoints new Deputy Lands Minister

Lusaka, April 25 (NNN-ZANIS) Zambia’s President Levy Mwanawasa has appointed Nasim Hamir as Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Lands and transferred Eastern Province Minister Boniface Nkhata to the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development where he will serve as Deputy Minister.

The President has also transferred Lameck Mangani, who was Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development to Eastern Province as Provincial Minister.

Special Assistant to the President John Musukuma confirmed the transfers in a statement released to ZANIS in Lusaka Tuesday.

In the letter of appointment to Nasim, President Mwanawasa said: “This appointment underscores the tremendous confidence that I have in your ability and leadership qualities to guide this important ministry which I have assigned you.

“You will no doubt agree that the efficiency of your Ministry is critical if the performance of our economy is to improve appreciably.�

The appointment and transfers are with immediate effect.