'Pakistani federal officers unwilling to serve in Balochistan'

Islamabad, Sep 1 (IANS) Shortage of federal government officials willing to serve in Balochistan may become more acute in the aftermath of the killing of Baloch leader Akbar Khan Bugti and the volatile situation it has created in the province.

The new developments in the aftermath of the killing of Akbar Bugti will further discourage federal police and the District Management Group (DMG) officers agreeing to serve in the province, The News International reported.

Forced transfers of officials have not worked. Eighteen police officials posted to the province last month managed to stay on at their old postings using their "influence".

The newspaper had some weeks ago carried an expose on the working of the federal government wherein officials posted to Balochistan had sought to pull strings to get the postings cancelled by using political channels.

After a minister made support to the government conditional on the cancellation of the posting order of a kin, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz discussed the matter at the cabinet meeting and issued clear instructions that such pressures and requests would not be entertained.

The federal government has enhanced allowances and perks of officers in the last one year, but continues to face serious shortage as officials either stay on in their earlier postings, report sick or go on leave.

A government source told the newspaper that the authorities now even apprehend that some federal officers already posted there might now try to get themselves transferred outside the province.

Balochistan government sources, when contacted, also foresaw some management problems that might crop up due to the post-Bugti violence targeting non-Baloch, non-Pakhtoon settlers, particularly Punjabis, in different parts of the province.

Even though the provincial authorities denied that houses of settlers in Quetta were attacked by rioters, it accepted that few businesses and shops were damaged by them. The situation, however, is said to be normal since Thursday.

In view of possible threats to officers from outside the province, particularly those from Punjab, the authorities say this situation could be tackled by posting them to safer districts of Balochistan and in the provincial headquarters.

The Establishment Division (ED), which was "already helpless" while implementing its past transfer orders, is unsure about the future unless the top leadership personally intervenes and ensure that the writ of the government is followed by its officers.

So far, transfer orders of police and DMG officers to the troubled Balochistan province has resulted in non-compliance by the government officers. Barring few exceptions, the officers either get their transfer orders cancelled or remain defiant unwilling to take up new postings for months.

12 Indian states do not have human rights commissions

New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS) Thirteen years after a law providing for states to set up their own human rights commissions, 12 Indian states do not have one.

Of the 16 that do, five states including Punjab, Karnataka and Maharashtra, do not have chairpersons.

"This is very discouraging to find that in a democracy like India 12 Indian states are yet to have their human right commissions," said Justice A.S. Anand, chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), here Friday.

The Human Rights Act, 1993, provides for states to have their own human rights commissions. Gujarat and Haryana do not have their human rights commissions.

"Lack of a state human rights commission is certainly a hurdle towards ensuring peoples' rights. The concerned state governments should act fast on this direction," Anand told IANS.

The NHRC faces no infrastructural and financial problems, but the state commissions are lagging behind, he said speaking on the sideline of a NHRC and state human rights commission meeting here.

"They do not have financial stability, adequate manpower or even proper buildings. Five states including Punjab, Karnataka and Maharashtra have no full time chairpersons in state commissions," he revealed.

Currently, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Kerala, Manipur, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar have their respective human rights commissions.

Anand, also a former Supreme Court chief justice, said that he had written to the concerned state governments on setting up their own commissions and to the ones that do have, to upgrade the infrastructure.

"I have, as a last ditch attempt, written to all the state governments to provide the necessary arrangements to their existing human rights commissions, and for setting up commissions," said Anand, who is to retire in November.

He expressed satisfaction on the response of the central government to NHRC. "NHRC is neither a judicial or quasi-judicial body, but the government is accepting 90 percent of our recommendations."

The NHRC and state rights commissions met Friday to discuss on how to improve the functioning of the commissions and for better protection of human rights.

178 complexes sealed, reprieve for essential service providers

New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS) In their quest to seal 45,000 commercial establishments in residential areas, Delhi's civic authorities Friday sealed 178 complexes in 12 zones even as traders stepped up protest.

According to Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) a maximum of 57 complexes were sealed in the Shahdara (North) zone, followed by 31 properties in Sadar Paharganj zone.

Resuming the sealing drive after a gap of three months, authorities Friday targeted mainly hazardous and polluting units, amid protests from traders.

The process to re-seal the illegal commercial establishments began following an Aug 10 directive from the Supreme Court, which stayed the May 20 notification of the central government allowing one-year moratorium on all such activities.

"Acting upon the court directive, the drive will continue," said a MCD official adding that top civic officials including commissioner A.K. Nigam Friday met K.J. Rao, member of the apex court's monitoring committee.

Though the upmarket neighbourhoods in the national capital were spared today, all the areas will be targeted Saturday. However there were some protests from the traders in Sant Nagar and Zamrudpur in south zone.

The likely areas to be targeted Saturday include Greater Kailash I and II, Chittaranjan Park, Lajpat Nagar, Kalkaji, Defence Colony and Vasant Vihar.

The MCD has from Friday set up 24 special cells to receive complaints by residents giving information about such commercial premises in their areas. Mobile inspection teams will verify such complaints and initiate action against offenders.

However, the monitoring committee has given a reprieve to nearly 15 varieties of essential service providers like salons, kirana shops, and cyber cafes operating from residential areas. In addition professionals like lawyers, doctors and even astrologers, entire houses can now be used for these services.

The central government had on May 20 passed the Delhi Laws (Special Provision) Act that put a moratorium on the court-mandated demolition of illegal structures and sealing of commercial complexes in residential areas in the capital for a year.

However, on Aug 10 the Supreme Court, hearing a public interest litigation against the order, reprimanded the government for its legislation.

On Wednesday, the MCD submitted an action plan report to Delhi High Court informing about the setting up of a taskforce for each of the 12 zones to ensure that there is no delay in carrying out the demolitions and sealing. The civic body is to recruit junior engineers on contract basis to get over its staff shortage, an official said.

80 killed as Iranian plane catches fire

Tehran, Sep 1 (Xinhua) At least 80 passengers were killed as an Iranian airliner caught fire Friday while landing in the northeastern city of Mashhad, state television reported.

There were 147 passengers on board the plane on a flight from the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, the TV said.

A tyre of the Russian-made Tupolev burst and caught fire when the plane was landing, according to the report.

90 feared dead in Iranian plane crash

Tehran, Sep 1 (DPA) At least 90 people were killed Friday when an Iranian passenger jet crashed and broke into flames while landing in the northeastern city of Mashhad.

The Fars news agency said about 90 burnt corpses were recovered from the plane, while there were a further 40 badly injured survivors.

The Iranian news agency ISNA said the Tupolev-154 plane operated by the Iran Air Tours company was setting down for a landing when a tyre burst, and the plane caught fire.

Television images from the scene showed the plane's main fuselage broken at several places, with a gaping fire-blackened hole in one section as fire fighters and rescuers carried out their recovery operations.

Mashhad, in northeastern Iran, is about 750 km east of capital Tehran.

Academic vows to bring Bali, India closer

By M.R. Narayan Swamy,

New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS) An Indian professor living in Bali is spearheading efforts to bring the overwhelmingly Hindu Indonesian island and India closer with a string of events covering everything from religion to Bollywood.

Somvir, 35, has brought together a team of eminent Indonesians and Indians to form the Bali-India Foundation, which will promote academic and student exchanges besides spiritual tourism, teach yoga, Hindi, Sanskrit and Balinese languages, and help the people of Bali to know India better.

It also plans to satisfy the growing appetite in Bali for Bollywood's pulsating dance numbers. In the process, the Foundation hopes to supplement the work of the Indian Cultural Centre in Bali.

"What the centre does is to essentially promote Bali-India ties at government-to-government level," Somvir told IANS here during a brief visit.

"What we wish to do is to promote people-to-people ties. It is necessary to promote and sustain the indigenous culture and art in Bali and India."

"Our mission is to introduce the richness of the two ancient cultures and bring the people of Bali and India closer," he said.

Somvir, who is originally from Haryana, teaches at the departments of cultural studies and tourism at Bali's Udayana University. He has lived in Bali since 1993. Three years ago, he helped the family of then Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to explore Bali.

Somvir, who was earlier associated with the Indian Cultural Centre, said the Bali-India Foundation came up two months ago with Hindu religious rituals as is customary in Bali. It would see a formal inaugural soon.

The Foundation has plans to go for 15-day exchange programmes for Balinese and Indian students involving field study, a similar but self-financed exchange programme of one month to two months duration, encourage Balinese to visit India as religious tourists, and publish a dictionary of Indian companies in Indonesia and vice-versa that would also pack handy information about Bali.

It will teach Hindi and Sanskrit to Balinese who think knowledge of the two languages will help in a better understanding of India as well as Hinduism, the religion of over 90 percent of Bali's 3.5 million people.

Bali, which has had deep and historic ties with India, is one of 27 provinces of Indonesia. At the ancient core of Balinese Hinduism is animism, bound with threads of tantrik Buddhism and ancestor veneration.

Temples are a way of life in Bali, a picturesque region whose reputation as a major tourist hub has not been shaken by recent horrific terror attacks. People of Bali have tremendous yearning for India.

But Somvir thinks that much more needs to be and can be done.

"Many Balinese priests recite Sanskrit prayers without knowing the language," he explained. "We need to rectify the gap by teaching Sanskrit. I taught Sanskrit on Bali TV for two months free, and the response was terrific.

"The demand for yoga is rising all over Bali, and virtually every second (Western) tourist to Bali wants to learn yoga. It is taught in almost all hotels but the teachers have no formal training. We will offer yoga courses.

"Spiritual tourism is a major attraction, and Bali is the place to promote India. Balinese think of the river Ganga with reverence. We can promote tourism to India with the sacred river in mind.

"As for Bollywood, it is the latest fashion statement in Bali. Bollywood is one reason why so many people are interested in Hindi. We will teach a mixture of Bollywood and ancient Indian dancing. There is a lot we can do, and we hope to do a lot!"

Somvir, who did his BA and MA in Sanskrit from New Delhi before making his way to Indonesia, called India and Bali "separated families". "We were one once upon a time. We want to help restore our old ties."

Akbar Bugti laid to rest in Dera Bugti

Islamabad, Sep 1(IANS) Baloch leader Akbar Khan Bugti was laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard at Dera Bugti in Balochistan, a local private TV channel reported.

Confirming it, Major General Shaukat Sultan, chief military spokesperson, told the media that the body was "in advanced stage of decay".

The news became public even as the government braced to meet nationwide protests spearheaded by major opposition parties and alliances which alleged that the killing was deliberate.

The body of the slain leader, who was 79, killed in a military operation last Saturday, was retrieved Thursday evening from the rubbles of the cave where he was supposed to be hiding in Balochistan's hilly interior.

On being retrieved, the body had been immediately examined by doctors, Sultan said. The body was flown in a sealed coffin to the area.

According to the report, newsmen were not allowed to see the slain Baloch leader's body or face. Available reports indicated that it was a private ceremony under strict government control, although family members had demanded that they be given custody of the body.

His sons had raised doubts whether the body belonged to Bugti.

However, the cleric who led the funeral prayers claimed that he had seen the body. None of the relatives of the slain tribal leader were present at the funeral, the TV channel added.

Australia terror suspects to stand trial

Melbourne, Sept 1 (ZEENEWS.COM) Eleven Muslim men accused of belonging to a terror cell that was plotting a major attack in Australia were ordered Friday to stand trial under the country's tough security laws.

The decision came during a court hearing in the southern city of Melbourne. Magistrate Paul Smith said he was satisfied prosecutors had enough evidence to warrant a trial.

The 11 suspects pleaded innocent to charges that they were members of a terrorist organization. Some face additional charges of funding a terror outfit, and they denied those charges as well.

Smith ordered the men to remain in custody.

The men were among 18 suspects arrested in November in Melbourne and Sydney. Police said the arrests headed off a catastrophic terror attack in Australia, possibly targeting a nuclear reactor in southern Sydney.

Authorities have released few details of the alleged plot but have said some of the suspects trained in Afghanistan and Pakistan and met al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

Prosecutor Mark Dean told the court during the hearing that the group was inspired and influenced strongly by al-Qaida and the teachings of bin Laden.

The men sat calmly behind glass barriers in the dock as the decision to send them to trial was announced, Australian Associated Press reported.

Seven of the 11 refused to stand when directed to do so by Smith.

Algerian-born Abdul Nacer Benbrika, 46, the alleged spiritual leader of the group, was among those committed on Friday to stand trial. The others were Fadal Sayadi, 26, Majed Raad, 22, Amer Haddara, 26, Ahmed Raad, 23, Abdullah Merhi, 21, Hany Taha, 31, Shoue Hammoud, 26, Izzydeen Atik, 26, Bassam Raad, 24, and Ezzit Raad, 24.

Smith put off a decision on two other suspects, Shane Kent, 29, and Aimen Joud, 21, until Sept. 18.

"I am satisfied in relation to all defendants except Mr. Joud and Mr. Kent that there is sufficient evidence upon which a jury could convict," Smith said.

Ban speculative trading in essential commodities: CPI-M

Shimla, September 1 (IANS) The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Thursday urged the central government to ban speculative trading in essential commodities, saying their futures trading was fuelling a rise in their prices.

"We demand that the essential commodities be kept out of the futures commodities act as it was leading to the price rise and hoarding," Brinda Karat, senior CPM leader and politburo member, told reporters here in this Himachal Pradesh capital Thursday.

The CPI-M leads the Left Front that supports the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government from outside.

"One example is wheat as its prices have shot up by Rs.200 a tonne this year," she said.

"The government has only procured 900,000 tonnes of wheat this year instead of the target of 1.6 million tonnes. Clearly the government is shirking its responsibility and has led to an agrarian crisis," Karat said.

"Isn't it strange that at one time India exported wheat to the Australia wheat board but is now importing it from the same company," she said.

Bangladeshi court endorses death sentences on militants

Dhaka, Sep 1 (DPA) A high court in Bangladesh has confirmed the death sentences passed by a trial court on top leaders of the banned Islamist militant group Jamiatul Mujahideen (JM), officials said.

A two-member high court bench scrutinising the lower court verdict upheld the death sentences overnight, clearing a legal hurdle to early executions.

Shaekh Abdur Rahman, the founder of the Islamic outfit, and his deputy Bangla Bhai were among the seven militants who were given death sentences for their role in carrying out a suicide bomb attack against two district judges in Bangladesh on Nov 14, 2005.

Two junior judges, Sohail Ahmad and Jagannath Pandey, were fatally wounded in the blast, which occurred as they were traveling to office in a car in Jhalokathi town.

Both Mujahideen leaders admitted to masterminding the assassinations, which inflamed public opinion in favour of tough actions against the militants.

"The prosecution proved the case without reasonable doubt," said Mohammad Ali Asgar Khan, one of the high court justices sitting on the bench on Thursday.

The five other Mujahideen militants sent to the gallows by the lower court after their arrest three months ago were Ataur Rahman Sunny, Abdul Awal, Khalid Saifullah, Asadul Islam Arif and Iftekhar Hassan Mamun, court officers said.

Only Mamun filed an appeal against the trial court judgment, which was also dismissed by the high court. The other convicted man said only Islamic courts set up under the holy Koran were competent to try them.

Bangladeshi laws, however, do not permit the implementation of death sentences handed down by lower courts without a review of the judgment by the High Court.

The Jamiatul Mujahideen group emerged as part of a terror network which orchestrated bomb attacks by militants at over 400 locations across the country on Aug 17 this year leaving six people dead and scores injured.

The Mujahideens have vowed to establish an Islamist state in Bangladesh, which has a population of 130 million with an overwhelming majority of Muslims.

BCCI launches official cricket ratings

Mumbai, September 1 (IANS) The Indian cricket board Thursday launched its own players' ratings for Test matches, one-day internationals (ODIs), women's cricket as well as juniors.

The ratings will be capped by an annual awards ceremony that will be held at the end of every domestic season, Lalit Modi, marketing sub-committee chief and vice president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), announced here.

The ratings, launched in partnership with Percept Holdings, will honour top performances by batsmen, bowlers, fielders and all-rounders.

Awrads will be presented in the following categories: Best Test and ODI batsman, bowler, fielder and all-rounder; best Test and ODI opening batsman, most consistent/reliable ODI and Test player; Best Test and ODI innings of the year.

Prizes will also be presented to the Test and ODI Player of the Year; My Favourite Player, Most Stylish Player and Master Blaster of the Year, said Modi.

Cricket fans will also get a chance to vote for their favourite stars. These categories will include Player of the Week and My Favourite Player.

Modi, however, did not disclose the procedure for picking winners and the prize money.

Bharrat Jagdeo becomes Guyana president 3rd time

Georgetown, Sep 1 (IANS) Bharrat Jagdeo, of Indian descent, has won a third consecutive term as president of Guyana following the Caribbean nation's general elections held last Monday.

Announcing this late Thursday, Guyana's chief election officer Gocool Boodoo said Jagdeo garnered 64.6 percent of the vote, while his party, the People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), won 36 seats in the 65-member National Assembly, up by two seats from the previous term.

"This is an endorsement of our track record," reports quoted Jagdeo as saying.

Born in 1964, Jagdeo earned his master's in economics in Moscow in 1990. He the returned to Guyana and worked as an economist in the State Planning Secretariat When the PPP/C came to power here in 1992, he worked as an advisor to the Minister of Finance.

Jagdeo had become the president of Guyana for the first time in 1999 when Janet Jagan, wife of Cheddi Jagan, resigned from that post. He was then re-elected in the elections that were held in 2001.

Meanwhile, Robert Corbin, leader of the main opposition People's National Congress Reform - One Guyana (PNCR-1G), was quoted as saying that the elections have shown that "ethnic voting patterns remain deep-seated".

PNCR-1G lost six seats and has been left with only 21 seats in the parliament.

According to a report in the Stabroek News, he made the call for a national unity government, stating that the party leaders could not "bury their heads in the sand to the fact that there is a hardened perception among a substantial section of the Afro-Guyanese community and that they could not survive five more years of the PPP/C rule".

Indo-Guyanese, most of whom are descendants of Indians who had come to work as indentured labour in the country's sugarcane plantations in the 18th and late 19th centuries, today comprise 50 percent of the Guyana's population of over 750,000.

This year's elections in Guyana have come in for special praise for the relatively peaceful atmosphere in which these were held.

Representatives pf the country's Private Sector Commission (PSC), the Electoral Assistance Bureau (EAB) and the Guyana Bar Association (GBA) acted as observers in the elections.

Britain's High Commissioner to Guyana, Fraser Wheeler, read a statement on behalf of his country, the United States, Canada, and the European Union congratulating all Guyanese in general and the country's election commission in particular for the peaceful elections.

Bhutia back in Indian team

New Delhi, September 1 (IANS) Bhaichung Bhutia, who recently expressed his desire to quit big time football, was Thursday named captain of a 20-member Indian squad for a qualifying round match of the Asian Cup 2007.

An All India Football Federation (AIFF) statement said the match would be played against Saudi Arabia in Riyadh Sep 6.

Bhutia, who has lately been busy with television commentary, said in July he wanted to quit top class football. But AIFF president Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi apparently persuaded him to rethink about his decision.

Bhutia, 29, played for India with distinction, and also represented East Bengal, Mohun Bagan, Bury FC in England.

Lately, the Sikkim player has been appearing regularly on television as an expert commentator. His decision to quit the game could have been influenced by his increasing television work.

Dasmunshi wants Bhutia to play on till the Asian Games in Doha this December.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Sandip Nandy (Mahindra United), Subrata Paul (Mohun Bagan) and Subhasis Roy Chaudhary (Mahindra United)

Defenders: Surukumar Singh (Mahindra United), N.S. Manju (Mahindra United), Deepak Mondal (Mohun Bagan), Samir Naik (Dempo Sports Club), Anupam Sarkar (East Bengal), Narinder Singh (Jagatjit Cotton Textile Mills), N.P. Pradeep (Mahindra United) and Sanjiv Maria (Mohun Bagan)

Midfielders: Steven Dias (Mahindra United), Mehrajuddin Wadoo (Mohun Bagan), Manjit Singh (Bengal), P. Renedy Singh (JCT) and Micky Fernandes (Salgaocar SC)

Forwards: S. Rahim Nabi (East Bengal), Fredy Mascarnhas (East Bengal), Sunil Chhetri (JCT) and Bhaichung Bhutia (captain, Mohun Bagan)

Support staff: Bob Houghton (chief coach), Alfonso Maricio Milagres (assistant coach), Antonio Marcos Pacheco (goal-keepers' coach), Manbendra Bhattacharya (team doctor), Tapan Bhattacharya (physiotherapist) and Pradeep Choudhury (manager)

BJP flip-flop on Vande Mataram continues

New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS) The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continued to change its tune on the issue of making the singing of "Vande Mataram" compulsory in schools, even as its senior leader L.K. Advani Friday said there should not be any compromise on the national song.

Speaking at a book release function at the party headquarters here, the former BJP chief said: "There should be no compromising attitude on the national song and showing respect to national symbols cannot be made optional."

In the light of the separatist tendencies existing in the country, one could not afford to compromise on the issue of singing of the national song, Advani said.

"Vande Mataram" has become a major political issue after a section of Muslims objected to its singing on Sep 7 in schools to mark the centenary of the song's recitation at the Indian National Congress' Calcutta Session, where it was adapted as the national song.

The BJP at first called for making the singing at educational institutions compulsory but soon changed its stance.

Advani's comments are in contrast to what BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad had said two days ago.

"The question is not of making the singing mandatory but that of showing respect to Vande Mataram as a vibrant national symbol," Prasad had said.

A senior party leader said: "This (Prasad's statement) had indicated softening of the party's stand on this issue. The strategy was not to let the issue snowball into a controversy which had arisen out of party chief Rajnath Singh's strong stance," a senior BJP leader said.

Prasad had refused to make any commitment whether the governments in the BJP-ruled states would make singing of the national song compulsory.

The party has cancelled the programme announced earlier in which its minority cell members were to sing "Vande Mataram".

Bush assassination drama criticised

London, Sep 1 (IANS) A British drama about the fictional assassination of US President George Bush has been criticised as being "irresponsible".

According to contactmusic.com, the drama, "Death Of a President", shows Bush shot in Chicago in 2007. The movie then follows an investigation into the murder, which is carried out by a Syrian gunman.

A spokesperson for the White House said: "We won't dignify this with a response."

A spokesperson for the Republican Party said: "I can't support a video that dramatises the assassination of our president whether real or imagined."

But Gabriel Range, the director of the movie, said: "People haven't seen the film yet. It's not gratuitous or sensationalist. The film uses the horrific scenario of the president's assassination to provoke a legitimate debate."

Chhattisgarh aims to enter Limca book with jatropha

Raipur, Sep 1 (IANS) It is planned as a novel two-pronged strategy. On Sep 4 thousands of volunteers, including children, in Chhattisgarh would plant more than two million jatropha saplings in just 11 hours to find a place in the Limca Book of Records - a move that would also motivate people towards the plant, a rich source of bio-fuel.

"We have arranged a grand show on Sep 4 in Kawardha district when thousands of volunteers including from the Red Cross, school children, village heads, women self-help groups and teachers will plant 2-3 million saplings of jatropha in the presence of the media and chief minister," district collector Sonmoni Bora told IANS Friday.

Kawardha is the home district of Chief Minister Raman Singh.

The whole exercise is aimed to create a revolution in jatropha plantations in Chhattisgarh and also to find a place in the Limca Book of Records for the highest-ever jatropha plantations in a single day.

The state government has announced plans to plant 1.6 million jatropha and karanj saplings in the 2006-07 fiscal in all its 16 districts. The plantations are aimed to make India an energy secure country by 2015.

Raman Singh in May last year became the first state chief in the country to use jatropha fuel in his official vehicle. He said recently that his government planned to replace imported diesel with jatropha fuel by year 2007 for all state-owned vehicles running on diesel and petrol.

Chhattisgarh is pushing the central government for an early unveiling of a national bio-fuel policy. It claims the bio-fuel rich plants have the potential to help India get over its annual requirement of 124 million metric tonnes of petroleum products, of which around 72 percent is met through imports at a cost of over Rs.1.5 trillion.

China to host central Asian economic cooperation meet

Beijing, Sep 1 (Xinhua) Finance ministers from China and seven other countries in Central Asia are expected to agree on a framework for medium-term strategic cooperation at a meeting in northwest China next month.

Ju Kuilin, deputy-director of the international department of the Chinese finance ministry, said ministers from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Tajikistan were expected to pass a comprehensive action plan on regional economic cooperation.

The meet is also expected to launch cooperation in research and capacity building for AIDS and avian flu prevention.

Ju told reporters that the cooperation plan, the first of its kind in Central Asia, would serve as a guideline for cooperation.

The meeting is scheduled Oct 18-20 in Urumqi, which borders Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian countries.

The Asian Development Bank initiated a regional cooperation mechanism for central Asian region, which was launched in 2002 focusing on communications, energy, trade facilitation and trade.

Regional highway corridor projects linking China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan were under construction, and plans for other highway and railway projects linking some of the central Asian countries had been proposed.

Clouds of uncertainty over Congress-PDP alliance

By F. Ahmed,

Srinagar, Sep 1 (IANS) Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad's political acumen is being tested as clouds of uncertainty loom large over his Congress party's alliance with the People's Democratic Party (PDP).

The tension between the alliance partners came to the fore this week when the chief minister expanded and reshuffled the cabinet.

The PDP urged Azad to divest Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig, known to be closer to the chief minister then the party leadership, of his high-profile portfolios of finance, planning and development, but the request was ignored.

The regional party was then left with little option but to recall Baig from the cabinet.

"In the normal course of events, the chief minister should have gone by our advice. Instead, he decided to ignore us totally by keeping Baig's previous portfolios intact," said a senior PDP legislator here.

"In order to maintain the party discipline, we asked Baig to resign from the council of ministers which he refused to do. We were left with no option, but to recall Baig Sahib," the PDP leader said.

Some PDP leaders, who do not want to be named, go the extent of accusing Azad of deliberately rocking the alliance boat so that the PDP is forced to withdraw from of the present arrangement.

In the last state elections in 2002, the National Conference (NC) won only 27 seats in the 87-member assembly, as the Congress (20) and the PDP (16) joined hands to form government. Under their arrangement, PDP patron Mufti Mohammed Sayeed was chief minister till November 2005 after which Azad took over.

"Let us not ignore the fact that Azad Sahib has very close relations with the NC patron Dr. Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah. At times, he has been treating the PDP as the opposition and the NC as his true ally," said another senior PDP leader.

Congress leaders in the state were tight-lipped while Azad, on a daylong visit of Ladakh region, was yet to react on the PDP legislature party's resolution of Thursday evening, demanding that Baig be replaced by Agriculture Minister Abdul Aziz Zargar.

NC president Omar Abdullah, however, refused to divulge his party's strategy.

"We are at the moment watching the situation very closely. I cannot make any comment at present as to what course my party would adopt if the present ruling alliance were to collapse," he said.

However, political observers here say that if the Congress-DPD alliance reaches a point of no return, the NC would be more than willing to support Azad's government from outside.

"It is clear that Azad can comfortably continue as chief minister with the outside support from the NC. But, can the Congress afford to change horses midway? What signal would they be sending out by aligning with the PDP today and with the NC tomorrow? I don't think it is going to be that simple," said a political analyst here.

The chief minister would have to make up his mind quickly on whether supporting Baig's continuance in the ministry is worth risking the future of the present political arrangement.

"After all, Azad was sent here to strengthen the mainstream forces and not to poach on the flock of his allies," said another PDP leader here.

Cluster bomb experts face tough task in Lebanon

Beirut, Sep 1 (DPA) The number of people killed by cluster bombs in Lebanon dropped by Israel has climbed to 13 and nearly 50 have been seriously injured, putting added pressure on bomb clearance teams.

Chris Clark, head of the UN Mine Action Service in southern Lebanon, said the explosives had gone off since the end of hostilities Aug 14.

So far the UN team have located 390 separate Israeli strike sites where the munitions were used, he said.

About 2,000 of the potentially deadly bomblets, which litter the areas, have been destroyed, he added.

The UN has asked Israel to provide a list of sites targeted during its month-long offensive in Lebanon as crucial for the clean up.

Cluster bombs contain sub-munitions, or smaller bombs, that are often no bigger than a torch battery, many of which fail to detonate immediately on impact.

Israel and other countries, which have used the weapons, notably the US in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo, often face criticism because the weapons can kill indiscriminately.

"The situation is much more severe than what the UN encountered in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo," said Dyala Farran, media officer in Tyre for the Mine Action Coordination Centre, a partnership between the UN and Lebanon's National Demining Office.

The Israeli military is believed to have fired around 2,000-3,000 rounds of heavy ammunition - not only cluster bombs but also artillery shells and more conventional bombs - each day in the early days of its offensive against the Hezbollah. That figure rose to 5,000-6,000 rounds in the final days of the fighting.

Farran said an estimated 10 percent of all munitions failed to explode.

Franck Masche, 38, a former German soldier and his team from the British charity MAG have been destroying cluster munitions. The Aug 14 ceasefire halted a 33-day war between Israel and Hezbollah fighters.

Doctors treating cluster bomb victims in a hospital in Tyre said most victims of such bombs usually loses their limbs because "the shrapnel, when you step on one of them or touch it with your hands, explodes, creating dozen of small (pieces of) shrapnel.

"Most of our victims are children who touch the bomblets or villagers who stepped on them by mistake," Hussein Alam said.

In addition to the problem posed by cluster bombs, southern Lebanon has also had to deal with around 400,000 landmines, many of which were left by the Israeli military when it occupied the region from 1985 to 2000.

Dalai Lama to attend women's meet in California

Dharamsala, Sep 1 (IANS) Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, will attend a women's' meet in California, US, in September, said the Tibetan government in exile here.

"His holiness (the Dalai Lama) will fly to California at the invitation of Maria Shriver, wife of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger," said Tenzing Takla, personal secretary of the Dalai Lama.

Schwarzenegger will also attend the meet at the Long Beach Convention Centre Sep 26 that will boast of 60 renowned speakers and panellists including Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York Maureen Dowd, Tim Russert, Tyra Banks and Anna Quindlen among others.

Shriver, who is also a well-known television personality, had visited Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh, the seat of the Dalai Lama, to invite him for the conference.

The Dalai Lama has a huge following in Hollywood and the western world.

The Tibetan spiritual leader fled Tibet in 1959 along with thousands of his followers after a failed coup against the communist regime.

Delhi court appreciates anti-encroachment stand

New Delhi, September 1 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Thursday appreciated the stand taken by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on action against encroachers on public land and unauthorised buildings here in the capital.

After going through the affidavit filed by MCD Commissioner A.K. Nigam giving details of the plan the civic body had chalked out to deal with the culprits, a division bench comprising judges Vijender Jain and Rekha Sharma concluded the hearing of the matter for the day with the hope that the local body would take effective action against unauthorised constructions.

"We appreciate the stand taken by MCD on action against unauthorised constructions in Delhi and hope that the local body would take effective action against unauthorised constructions so that a message goes to the public that nobody is above law," the Bench observed.

This was one hearing on the matter when the local body received no rebuke from the court.

Barring some minor complaints, the court also appreciated the action taken by MCD and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) against unauthorised builders and encroachers.

Epic AIDS film may be shown on Doordarshan

By Arun Kumar,

Washington, Sep 1 (IANS) Academy Award nominee Robert Bilheimer's film about the global AIDS epidemic, "A Closer Walk", may be screened on India's Doordarshan and China's CCTV on World AIDS Day Dec 1.

Filmed on four continents over a period of three years, "A Closer Walk" depicts the realities of global AIDS and explores the relationship between health, dignity and human rights.

"This is a story about the way the world is," says narrator Glenn Close as the film looks at the world through the prism of AIDS, taking the viewer to locations in the US, Ukraine, Uganda, South Africa, India, and Haiti, and offers personal stories of children, women and men around the world who are affected by the disease.

Those caring or advocating for people living with AIDS are featured prominently in the film as well. They include Paul Farmer of Partners In Health, India's Suniti Solomon and Jeffrey Sachs of the Earth Institute at Columbia University.

Narrated by Close and Will Smith, "A Closer Walk" features cinematography by Richard D. Young, interviews with the Dalai Lama, Bono, and Kofi Annan, and musical contributions by Annie Lennox, the Neville Brothers, Eric Clapton and Sade.

The United Nations and other agencies have sponsored premieres and distribution programmes in Ukraine, India, South Africa, Cambodia, and Thailand of the 80-minute documentary that made its US television debut Thursday.

Describing his approach to the film, director Robert Bilheimer said: "When I interviewed [UNAIDS Executive Director] Peter Piot early on, I was struck by his insight that 'AIDS is part of the human condition', and that 'AIDS exists because we exist'.

"When Peter said that, I knew that 'A Closer Walk' should indeed be a film about the way the world is, and that my colleagues and I would need to be in and of the world for a period of time to truly understand what AIDS is doing to us all."

Conceived in 1996 with the late Jonathan Mann - widely regarded as the architect of the international response to global AIDS - "A Closer Walk" took three years to develop, three years to make, and in 2007 will enter its fourth year of a steadily expanding distribution campaign.

"The whole point", says Bilheimer, "was to level the playing field in terms of what we all - as a human family - understand about AIDS. Making a film that would somehow engage people around the world on this issue was obviously a challenge on the creative side. But the equal challenge, on the distribution side, was to put the movie in front of, literally, hundreds of millions of people. We are going to achieve that this year."

The film has been shown at hundreds of school and college campuses around the world, and been used as a primary education and awareness tool by advocacy groups, corporations, the United Nations, the US State Department and prominent AIDS organisations.

"A Closer Walk" has received international critical acclaim. Writing for the Gannett News Service, Chief Film Critic Jack Garner gave the film his highest rating, calling it a "beautifully told story of suffering that inspires hope and action".

Reviewing the film prior to its national airing on South African television, Claire Keaton of the Sunday Times described the film as "unforgettable".

Ex-AMU girl student begins hunger strike

Aligarh, September 1 (ZEENEWS.COM) A former girl student of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) began an indefinite hunger strike here on Thursday to protest the "indifferent" response of authorities to her allegation that a senior teacher had sexually harassed her.

Asma Javed, who failed to get admission to the PhD course this year, filed a complaint at the Civil Lines police station yesterday against Mohammad Shareef, a teacher in the Sanskrit department whom she has accused of harassing her. Shareef has already been suspended.

Javed, who began her protest in front of the Vice- Chancellor`s residence, is being supported by several student leaders.

Members of AMU`s women`s grievance cell, however, denied Javed`s accusation that the panel was trying to "whitewash" the matter and give a clean chit to Shareef.

Accusing Javed of falling prey to misguided elements "who are more interested in trying to exploit the situation and defame the institute", Amna Kishore, a member of the women`s cell, said, "we are determined to mete out justice in this matter but our task is now being complicated by the deliberate whipping up of public sentiments."

The women`s cell is currently probing Asma`s charges of alleged sexual harassment against Shareef as well as a foreign student`s complaint that a senior teacher of the law department had made "indecent sexual advances" against her.

Members of the cell have said they are not under "any sort of pressure" from AMU`s administration in conducting the probe. They said the cell was scheduled to hold "the final session" of its inquiry.

Addressing a press conference, three members of the women`s cell -- chairperson Shamim Jahan, Amna Kishore and Zakia Siddiquie -- expressed their displeasure at the aspersions cast on their inquiry into Javed`s allegations.

In a separate press conference, the AMU teachers association said an impartial inquiry is being conducted into the charges made by Javed and that the concerned teacher had been suspended.

"To pre-judge the matter before the inquiry is completed is absolutely unfair," said AMU Teachers Association Rizwan Ahmed.

Javed`s allegations have embroiled AMU in a fresh controversy barely six months after a 21-year-old student, Farah Khanum, alleged that she was threatened on the campus for wearing T-shirts and jeans.

Elections to the AMU Students Union are round the corner and several student leaders have pledged support for Javed`s protest.

Flood fury: army help in Uttar Pradesh, Orissa affected

Lucknow/Bhubaneswar, September 1 (IANS) As floods continue to ravage many parts of India, troops were Thursday called out for relief work in parts of Uttar Pradesh where 42 people died even as the Mahanadi inundated large areas in Orissa affecting more than 300,000 people.

In Uttar Pradesh, rivers were flowing well above the danger mark, enveloping over 100,000 people in at least seven districts.

"The Rapti, Ghaghra and Saryu rivers, which originate in Nepal, have swollen on account of release of water from dams in Nepal and there is little we can do about it," said a home department official.

In the worst affected Balrampur district, along the India-Nepal border, around 45 villages have been marooned, affecting at least 48,000 people.

Other districts hit are Bahraich, Lakhimpur-Kheri, Shravasti, Lakhimpur Kheri (all adjoining the Nepal border), Gonda and Barabanki.

"Army help was sought in Barabanki and Bahraich districts to evacuate people from 15 completely marooned villages," Uttar Pradesh relief commissioner Renuka Kumar told IANS.

Soldiers were also assisting the civil authorities in repairing breaches along the embankments of some rivers.

In other places, the Provincial Armed Constabulary was pressed into service.

"The Ghagra, which has been in spate for several days, has breached the embankments at some places and overflowed into villages, causing loss of human lives, cattle and property," said Kumar.

"Relief measures are in full swing and sufficient funds are being forwarded to the affected districts to ensure timely relief to people."

The Nepal authorities are continuing to release water on account of heavy rains in the upper reaches. The rising rivers downstream in Uttar Pradesh threaten to engulf more villages.

Orissa, hit by torrential rains earlier, was now facing the flood fury.

The heavy rains since Sunday in the upper catchments of the Mahanadi caused breaches Thursday at two places along the banks at Bhagipur in Cuttack district, some 60 km from state capital Bhubaneswar, inundating large swathes of farmland and villages.

The water level at Dalai Ghai along the banks of the Devi river, a tributary of the Mahanadi, in Jagatsinghpur district has crossed the danger mark.

The situation was likely to aggravate in the coming days with the Mahanadi, the state's biggest river, and its tributaries continuing to swell, Orissa special relief commissioner Jagadananda Panda told IANS.

"We have evacuated more than 10,000 people from various districts," he said.

The fresh floods come even as the state is yet to recover from earlier flooding which claimed over 85 lives and caused massive devastation.

"As per our estimate, the number of people likely to be affected by the latest floods may be near three million in next two days," Panda said.

On Wednesday night, the government alerted the administrations of Jagatsinghpur, Angul, Boudh, Cuttack, Khurda, Nayagada, Jajpur, Kendrapara and Puri districts.

Stocks of food, medicines and other relief material have been kept ready at all village blocks and district headquarters, officials said.

At least 100 Indian soldiers are camping at Ranchi in neighbouring Jharkhand on standby to move in for flood relief in any emergency.

Floodwaters begin to recede in Orissa

Bhubaneswar, Sep 1 (IANS) Floods triggered by heavy rains continued to ravage Orissa Friday though the waters in the state's rivers had started receding.

The floods in the Mahanadi, the state's biggest river, and its tributaries had hit more than 700,000 people and marooned at least 170 villages in 10 of the state's 30 districts, Orissa's Special Relief Commissioner Jagadananda Panda told IANS.

The fresh floods come even as Orissa is yet to recover from the four rounds of floods that ravaged most parts of the state over past two months killing over 85 people.

The situation was likely to improve in next 24 hours as the floodwaters had started receding, the official said.

At the Munduli point of the Mahanai in Cuttack district, 1.24 million cusecs water was flowing at 9.00 a.m. Friday against 1.28 million cusec Thursday midnight, he said.

"We hope the water in tributaries will also recede," Panda said.

The state government had earlier alerted the administration of the districts of Jagatsinghpur, Angul, Boudh, Cuttack, Khurda, Nayagada, Jajpur, Kendrapara and Puri, he said.

Goa to host vegetarian congress

New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS) India will host the 37th edition of the International Vegetarian Congress in Goa from Sep 10.

The six-day congress, organised by International Vegetarian Union, will discuss the challenges vegetarians face across the globe.

Jashu C. Shah, president of the Asian Vegetarian Union, said in a statement that the congress would help participants understand India as a country where vegetarianism is a way of life.

The conference would also discuss issues like ecology, genetic engineering, environment, spiritualism and alternate therapies, Shah said.

HAL, EADS ink pact for joint marketing strategies

Bangalore, Sept 1 (IANS) Indian aviation major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and European aerospace leader EADS (European Aeronautics Defence and Space) Friday inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for long-term co-operation and joint marketing strategies.

The MoU, signed by HAL chairman Ashok K. Baweja and EADS CEO Tom Enders here, envisages expanding co-operation in new market segments and joint analysis of the aerospace business in the sub-continent.

"In the coming months, we will conduct a joint analysis of mid-term and long-term strategies in the key segments of aerospace business to determine how both the partners can team up and benefit from each other's expertise," Baweja said on the occasion.

Enders said as long-term partners, HAL and EADS have been involved in manufacturing helicopters and passenger jets. The design skills and technological capabilities of HAL make it a valuable partner for global co-operation in aerospace and defence.

HAL managing director (Bangalore complex) A.K. Saxena said the MoU would define the products to be jointly developed for domestic and export markets.

"HAL will benefit from teaming up with a global player like EADS to develop technologies and products for global players through joint marketing strategies," Saxena said.

In the helicopter space, Eurocopter, owned by EADS, has recently sub-contracted the production of airframes for its Ecureuil type versions to HAL. The first airframe is scheduled for delivery by this year-end.

Incidentally, India is the first country with which Eurocopter had signed a licence for technology transfer. The Indian defence ministry has shortlisted Fennec, the military version of the Ecureuil series, to replace the Cheetah/Chetak fleet of the army in the near future.

"Since Eurocopter collaborated with HAL in the development of its flagship product - the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) - christened Dhruv, it has expressed willingness to develop 10T helicopter HAL plans to co-develop with a foreign partner for the Indian armed forces and market it for global customers," Saxena pointed out.

In the civil aviation segment, HAL has been making doors for A320 of Airbus Industries, in which EADS has 80 percent equity stake, over the last 15 years. Of the total contract to supply 600 sets of doors, HAL has delivered 300 so far.

"Airbus has placed an order recently with HAL for a new batch of A320 doors. HAL has also produced parts for the A320 nose undercarriage. The production of A340 emergency doors is due to start soon," Saxena added.

As a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services, EADS generated euro 34.2 billion in 2005. With a workforce of 113,000, the European firm is a major partner in the Eurofighter consortium and is a prime contractor for the Ariane space launcher.

Haryana to introduce super luxury buses

Chandigarh, September 1 (IANS) The Haryana government Thursday announced it would soon launch a super luxury bus service to cater to the needs of high-end customers.

Buoyed by the success of the Volvo luxury buses introduced a few months ago, Chief Secretary Prem Prashant said here the new buses would be more comfortable and hi-tech than the Volvo buses.

The seats would be bigger and have spacious surroundings. Each passenger would have a small personal TV screen, Internet connection and other facilities.

There would also be built-in toilets, telephone facilities and fax machines, the chief secretary said.

The trial service would be introduced within a month and the fare on the Chandigarh-Delhi-Chandigarh route will be up to Rs.850 on each side.

Heroin worth Rs.13 million seized in Delhi

New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS) Delhi Police Friday seized 1.3 kg of heroin worth Rs.13 million in south Delhi and arrested one person as part of the continuing crackdown on organised drug trafficking in the capital.

Abu Tahir was arrested from Greater Kailash-II, a posh colony in south Delhi. Police said he is a resident of Jharkhand and had come to the capital to meet his contact to sell the consignment.

Officials said that though Tahir had confessed of being from Jharkhand, they suspect that he is from Bangladesh.

"He is part of an organised drug trade that is working in the capital. We suspect that he is a Bangladeshi national," said a senior official. Police said a few more arrests could be possible on the basis of the information provided by Tahir.

"We had received prior information about the deal and we had laid a trap to nab Tahir," said the official.

Officials added that the 1.3 kg of heroin was kept in small packets.

Recently, police had recovered mandrax worth Rs.1 billion in the capital and the consignment was being smuggled to South Africa. In another recent haul in Delhi, police had seized ephedrine worth Rs.2 billion.

Hingis, Sania top seeded for Kolkata Open tennis

Kolkata, September 1 (IANS) Former world No. 1 Martina Hingis and current No. 54 Sania Mirza will be the star attraction at the $175,000 Sunfeast Open tennis tournament starting here Sep 18, it was announced here Thursday.

A Tier III tournament, Sunfeast Open will have as many as nine of the top 100 ranked players of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), the organisers said here.

Besides Switzerland's Hingis, who has been top seeded for the tournament, Croatian Karolina Sprem, runner-up in the first edition of the event in 2005, Yuliana Fedak from Ukraine and Hungarian Melinda Czink are the other well-known names that will compete at the Netaji Indoor Stadium Sep 18-24.

Some of the other better known players taking part are Galina Voskoboeva of Russia, Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, Frenchwoman Aravane Rezai and Yulia Beygelzimer of Ukraine.

"In its second edition itself the Sunfeast Open has grown in stature and this year too we have an array of top players who will provide some scintillating action on the courts," said Mahesh Bhupathi, whose company Globosport India is organising the tournament.

Bhupathi, who is Golobosport's managing director, said each of the promising youngster is capable of winning their first WTA title, adding excitement to the challenge.

"The leading players have beaten the best in the field and this fact holds promise for some dazzling display for tennis lovers of our country. I am pleased to say that the Sunfeast Open has lived up to its objective of attracting the finest talent and providing Indian fans a chance to watch great tennis."

Apart from three wild cards that will be announced soon, four players will make it from the qualifying round to be held Sep 16 and 17.

Seedings: 1 Martina Hingis (Switzerland), 2. Sania Mirza (India), 3. Karolina Sprem (Croatia), 4. Yuliana Fedak (Ukraine), 5. Melinda Czink (Hungary), 6. Galina Voskoboeva (Russia), 7. Kaia Kanepi (Estonia), 8. Aravane Rezai (France), 9. Yulia Beygelzimer (Ukraine), 10. Hana Sromova (Czechoslovakia), 11. Anastassia Rodionova (Russia), 12. Nicole Pratt (Australia), 13. Olga Poutchkova (Russia), 14. Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand), 15. Angelique Widjaja (Indonesia), 16. Antonella Serra Zanetti (Italy), 17. Sandra Kloesel (Germany), 18. Lioudmila Skavronskaia (Russia), 19. Tatiana Poutchek (Belarus), 20. Yung-jan Chan (Taipei), 21. Anda Perianu (Romania), 22. Tzipora Obziler (Israel), 23. Arantxa Parra Santonja (Spain) and 24. Anne Keothavong (Britain)

Huawei expands India operations

Bangalore, Sep 1 (IANS) Huawei Technologies India, the largest overseas software R&D subsidiary of the $8.2 billion Chinese telecom major, has expanded its operations here to develop optical network products and wireless LAN (local area network) solutions for its global customers.

The new R&D facility will focus on new generation Optix series of intelligent optical network products, based on cutting-edge technologies. Huawei's optical solutions are deployed by leading operators telecos providing IPTV (internet protocol television) services, triple play (high-speed Internet, television and voice) services, mobile services and leased line services to their customers, worldwide.

"The optical network products will be initially designed and developed here for our leading customers such as Fibernet and Viatel in the UK, NEUF in France, DFN in Germany and Telemar in Brazil," a company official told IANS.

About 200 lateral techies will be working on optical networks and wireless LAN solutions. Going forward, the subsidiary plans to deploy an additional 300 engineers to broaden its portfolio in new domains such as wireless switch and wireless access points products.

According to Ovum-RHK, a global telecom consulting and marketing research firm, Huawei's optical network has been ranked second in the global optical network market in 2005, and number one in the Asia-Pacific optical network market over the last five years.

As the first and the only major Chinese software development facility in India, Huawei has been engaged in developing next generation network, data communication, telecom middleware, intelligent network, mobile handset, server and security network over the last six years.

"Since we have entered India in 1999, we have made a cumulative investment of $100 million in setting up three operational facilities in Bangalore for software development and R&D activities, besides a marketing division for selling our products to leading Indian telecos in mobile as well as landline space," said Huawei India COO George Huang.

In 2005, the Indian subsidiary generated $127 million from its marketing operations.

On the hiring front, with a high retention level, the company has ramped its headcount to 1,200 people this year and plans to hire another 300 techies by December. Interestingly, about 40-50 Chinese engineers from its four R&D centres in China are on deputation to India for training and project development.

"We provide our engineers an opportunity to work on cutting edge technologies and engage in the development of products/components in wireless LAN domain and optical domain," George pointed out.

Huawei India vice president and head of embedded solutions Virendra Gupta said the R&D and SDC (software development centre) activities cover end-to-end ownership of products ranging from front-end process line and system conceptualisation to software development, testing and delivery.

The subsidiary is in the process of setting up a dedicated campus in a 20-acre land at Whitefield on the outskirts of Bangalore by 2008.

"Our parent company has applied to the Indian government for FIPB (foreign investment promotion board) clearance to set up a production facility in India's silicon hub at an estimated cost of $100 million for manufacturing products and equipment for telecom infrastructure of service providers in the subcontinent, spanning broadband, 3G, CDMA and backbone networks," George hinted.

With presence in 100 countries across North and South Americas, Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia-Pacific, Huawei manufactures products and solutions for about 300 telecos, including 28 of the top 50 operators, serving over one billion users worldwide.

About 60 percent of Huawei's revenues are generated from outside China. Besides four R&D centres in China and one in India, the company has two R&D facilities in the US and one each in Sweden and Russia. About 50 percent of its total employees (44,000) are involved in software development, chip design, embedded software and R&D projects.

India gets New Zealand X-rays

Wellington, Sep 1 (DPA) New Zealand health authorities are sending X-rays of patients over the Internet to India and other countries including war-hit Beirut for diagnosis due to shortages of radiologists, it was reported Friday.

The Hawke's Bay District Health Board said the X-rays and scans were sent overnight to northern hemisphere countries, including Lebanon, Pakistan, India and the US where they were read by dayshift doctors.

Board acting chief executive Win Bennett told Radio New Zealand the credentials of the radiologists were thoroughly investigated and their work was double-checked the next day by local staff.

But New Zealand Medical Association chairman Ross Boswell said the practice was very risky for New Zealand patients.

"The radiologists involved are not registered to work in New Zealand, are unfamiliar with New Zealand conditions and are not covered by New Zealand's disciplinary system," he said.

"If a mistake is made, does the radiologist have any accountability in New Zealand? We think this is very unlikely."

India shoots down double bid by Nepal to get arms

By Sudeshna Sarkar,

Kathmandu, Sept 1 (IANS) In a covert manoeuvre that is bound to affect the ongoing peace talks with the Maoist guerrillas, Nepal's new government tried to get arms and ammunition from Europe but both bids were shot down by the Indian government.

A huge shipment of 12.7 mm machineguns, ammunition, missiles and probably other weapons bought from Emco Ltd in Sofia, Bulgaria, was scheduled to reach Kathmandu last month.

Along with a cargo of aircraft equipment from Sue Orsha Aircraft of Belarus, that could include pods to carry and shoot rockets, the arms cache was shipped to the Master General of Ordnance of the Nepal Army through Russian transporter Kosmos Air Company.

Kosmos had shipped the cargo in two AN-12 aircraft. However, neither the senders nor the intended recipients had taken into account that the aircraft would have to pass through Indian air space.

The first one, while trying to reach Kathmandu via western Indian Gujarat state three days ago, was blocked by the Indian authorities and forced to land at the Ahmedabad Airport.

While it is not confirmed, local reports here said the crew had tried to dupe the Indian authorities into thinking the cargo did not include arms but the latter became suspicious, given the flight route of the aircraft, and forced it to land at the Ahmedabad Airport.

Shortly after the debacle, a second aircraft sought permission to land at Mumbai airport for refuelling before heading for Kathmandu but was denied permission.

The double whammy leaves the Girija Prasad Koirala government of Nepal red-faced since it had been feigning ignorance when the media broke the news of one aircraft being apprehended by the Indian authorities.

"We do not know anything about that consignment," Koirala's adviser on foreign affairs, Suresh Chalise, told a local daily. "An inquiry is on to find out who had struck the deal."

The deal is believed to have been struck during King Gyanendra's absolute rule last year when his foreign minister Ramesh Nath Pandey visited Russia between October 23-26. What is surprising is the new democratic government's covert move to keep the agreement quiet and take possession of the arms at a time it is holding peace negotiations with the Maoists.

The double disclosure would fuel deep resentment among the guerrillas, who have already condemned the first bid to transport arms.

"We have taken serious note of the incident,' senior Maoist leader and member of the rebels' dialogues team, Dinanath Sharma, said referring to the failed attempt by the Nepal Army to obtain missiles from Bulgaria and Belarus.

"It is a matter of serious concern that the government is trying to procure arms at a time it is holding peace talks with us. It is a gross violation of the code of conduct they signed with us to observe during the ongoing ceasefire."

"If the government is really in the dark about the incident, then it smacks of a conspiracy by the palace and foreign powers to stage another coup," Sharma said.

India to host UN meet on aquaculture

New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS) India, the second largest aquaculture producer, will host a major UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) meet on fish farming here from Monday attended by representatives from 50 nations.

The third meeting of the FAO Sub-Committee on Aquaculture will discuss a wide range of issues, including aquaculture's contribution to fighting hunger and poverty, ways to minimise environmental impact of fish farming and options for expanding production in the developing world.

India's Agriculture and Food Minister Sharad Pawar and Director of FAO's Fishery Resources Division, Serge Garcia, will inaugurate the five-day meet, where the results of a major new FAO report 'The State of World Aquaculture 2006' would be released.

Currently, world aquaculture production is valued at $63 billion a year. Statistics from the UN food agency show that China is the world's largest aquaculture producer followed by India.

FAO established the Sub-Committee on Aquaculture in 2001 to promote international discussions on the future development of aquaculture.

It brings countries together every two years to share information, discuss policy issues related to aquaculture and make recommendations to FAO regarding the agency's work on fish farming.

International trade in fish products (both captured and farmed) is worth over $71 billion annually, with some 77 percent of fish consumed worldwide being supplied by developing countries.

Indeed, the annual net income of developing countries from this trade runs in more than $20 billion, more than their earnings from any other food commodity, including coffee and tea, states FAO.

India to import tea to meet domestic demand

By Syed Zarir Hussain,

Guwahati, Sep 1 (IANS) India will be importing an estimated 25 million kg of tea by the year-end to meet growing domestic demand and production shortfall due to scanty rains.

"The domestic consumption of tea is increasing at a compounded rate of 3.3 percent, while crop production has been hit due to inadequate rainfall leading to a gap in demand and supply of the beverage by about 25 million kg," Dhiraj Kakati, secretary of the Assam chapter of the Indian Tea Association (ITA), told IANS.

In 2005, Indian imported 16 million kg of tea with the country's domestic consumption pegged at 805 million kg.

India produced a record high of 928 million kg of tea last year compared to 820 million kg in 2004. India is the world's largest tea producer followed by China.

In 2005, India exported 192 million kg of tea. "Adverse weather conditions have hit production with estimates showing deficit of about 10 million kg so far this year compared to 2005," the official said.

The northeastern state of Assam that accounts for about 55 percent of India's total annual tea production is reeling under a severe heat wave forcing the local government here to declare the state as witnessing a "drought-like" situation. There has been a shortfall of monsoon rains by about 33 percent this year.

"Our export target is about 195 million kg this year although we might not be able to meet the demand due to falling supplies," Kakati said.

India had earlier estimated that tea production by the end of 2006 would touch a record high of 930 million kg.

"Bush mortality is more this year and we might be forced to close down operations for the season a little early due to scattered rains," the ITA official said.

India's $1.5 billion tea industry was facing a crisis with prices dropping in the weekly auctions since 1998 and exports plummeting as well. But, of late, prices are beginning to firm up.

A kilogram of good quality Assam tea sold at Rs.74 in the auctions last week. Last year, the average price in the auctions was Rs.62 a kg. Prior to 1998, good quality Assam tea sold at about Rs.90 a kg.

The slump in prices was largely attributed to cheap and inferior quality teas produced by many new tea-growing countries, thereby pushing premium quality Indian teas to face stiffer competition in the global market.

The Indian government recently announced a Rs.47 billion package to revive its tea industry blighted by plummeting prices and a downturn in exports. At least 60 percent of the package has been earmarked for Assam, considered the heart of India's tea industry.

India trade pact with Mercosur, SACU on cards

New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS) An agreement aimed at boosting trade between India, Brazil and South Africa is expected to be inked during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Brazil this month.

"The agreement will figure on the agenda during the prime minister's visit to Brazil this month," according to Jayant Dasgupta, joint secretary in the commerce ministry.

He was speaking at a meet on the economic cooperation between India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and think tank Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) here Friday evening.

The IBSA, formed after the Cancun talks of the World Trade Organisation in 2003, aims to foster closer political, economic and cultural ties among the three countries.

A free trade agreement among the three may not be possible because Brazil is a signatory to Latin American free trade agreement (FTA) Mercosur and South Africa to the SACU.

The customs union known as Mercosur includes Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela, apart from Brazil. SACU, the oldest customs union in the world, also includes Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland.

Yet efforts are on to help realise the trade potential among the three developing countries, Dasgupta said.

An action plan by the three countries on standardisation that takes into account their own imperatives is required to reduce non-tariff barriers.

India can negotiate a preferential trade agreement with South Africa, as it already has one with Brazil in place. Another agreement between Mercosur and SACU was being worked out, Dasgupta said.

"Much work has to be done in order to realise the potential of IBSA. The customs authorities of the three countries have to align their procedures in order to reduce barriers to trade and business," the official said.

With the common economic goals of liberalising trade in agriculture without trade-distorting subsidies, "IBSA has worked to change the minds of those want status quo in multilateral negotiations," said R. Vishwanathan, joint secretary in the ministry of external affairs.

RIS Director-General Nagesh Kumar said IBSA was a trade facilitation framework aimed at liberalising trade in services, investments and technology transfers. It would foster sectoral cooperation as well as coordination at multilateral forums.

Brazil's Ambassador to India Jose Vicente De Sa Pimental said ties among Brazil, India and South Africa were relatively new and still tenuous.

"Brazil has identified the challenges in improving the ties and will work on them," the ambassador said.

"The three countries need more inter-personal exchange and more people-to-people
contact. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit will go a long way to foster such ties," he added.

Manmohan Singh is scheduled to visit Brazil Sep 13-14, followed by a visit to Cuba to attend the 14th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit.

Iran in defiance of UN ban on enrichment: IAEA

New York/Vienna, September 1 (DPA) Iran has not halted its uranium enrichment activities and was in defiance of the deadline set by the UN Security Council, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told the council Thursday.

"Iran has not suspended its enrichment-related activities, nor has Iran acted in accordance with the provisions of the Additional Protocol," the Vienna-based IAEA said in a copy of the report obtained by DPA.

"Iran has not addressed the long-outstanding verification issues, or provided necessary transparency to remove uncertainties associated with some of its activities."

The report was being circulated to the UN Security Council members in New York and the IAEA's own member states.

Under the deadline laid down in the July 31 UN Security Council Resolution 1696, a finding that Tehran has failed to halt uranium enrichment operations could pave the way for international sanctions against Iran.

The US State Department said Wednesday that it would move quickly to push for Security Council sanctions on Iran if it does not comply with the resolution. The five permanent members of the Security Council and Germany are tentatively scheduled to meet next week in Berlin.

The so-called additional protocol to the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) gave the IAEA greater powers to conduct snap inspections of nuclear facilities they suspect are being used to produce materials for nuclear weapons.

"The Agency remains unable to make further progress in its efforts to verify the correctness and completeness of Iran's declarations with a view to confirming the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme," the report said.

Earlier Thursday, as the UN deadline neared, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated that Iran would not bow to pressure over its nuclear rights.

"The world should know that Iran will not bow to any pressure from any side and not retreat from its internationally acknowledged nuclear rights," Ahmadinejad said in a speech in the northwestern city of Oroumieh, carried on state television.

In the US on Thursday, President George W. Bush accused Iran of "defiance and delay" as the deadline expired.

"It is time for Iran to make a choice," Bush said in an address in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Bush called a set of incentives offered by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - Britain, China, France, Russia and the US - plus Germany aimed at persuading Iran to come clean on its nuclear activities a "reasonable proposal".

"We must not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons," Bush said, adding that Iran was in "open defiance of its international obligations".

Bush also accused Iran of supporting Hezbollah, a group considered by the US to be a terrorist organisation that provoked a month-long conflict with Israel that began July 12 and devastated many parts of Lebanon.

The US believes that Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons while Iran insists its nuclear programme is purely for producing energy.

Kashmir portfolios announced amid coalition crisis

Srinagar, Sep 1 (IANS) Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad announced the portfolios of his council of ministers following its expansion earlier this week.

However, the distribution of portfolios late Thursday has led to a serious crisis in the four-year-old coalition government.

While the major coalition partner Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) wanted former deputy chief minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig to be stripped of the key portfolios of finance, planning and development, law and parliamentary affairs, the chief minister allowed Baig to retain the key departments he was holding.

As the portfolios were announced, the PDP called an emergency meeting of its legislature party. It decided to recall Baig from the cabinet and elevate Abdul Aziz Zargar in his place.

In the portfolio distribution, Baig retains finance, planning and development, law and parliamentary affairs.

Senior congress leader Mangat Ram Sharma gets health and medical education while Peerzada Muhammad Sayeed gets education, Haj and Auqaf.

The newly inducted Muhammad Dilawar Mir of PDP gets public health engineering, irrigation, flood control and horticulture.

Qazi Muhammad Afzal, who held these departments, has been allotted the forest portfolio.

Taj Mohi-ud-Din has been given public distribution, animal and sheep husbandry and the chief minister has retained home and general administration.

Kerala parties urge PM to review decision on port project

New Delhi, September 1 (IANS) An all-party delegation from Kerala led by Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan Thursday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to review the government's decision to deny security clearance to the Vizhinjam container terminal.

The parties, including constituents of both Left Democratic Front and United Democratic Front and the Bharatiya Janata Party, also sought the prime minister's intervention to solve an inter-state dispute over heightening of Mullaperiyar dam with the neighbouring Tamil Nadu government.

The delegation, which met Manmohan Singh here, asked him to intercede in the matter and issue necessary directions to reconsider the central government's decision to deny security clearance to the development of Rs.43.40 billion deepwater international container transhipment terminal in Vizhinjam, Thiruvananthapuram.

Although tenders were called and companies - Kaidi Electric Power Company Ltd, Wuhan, China, Zoom Developers (Pvt) Ltd Mumbai and China Harbour Engineering Company group, Wuhan, China - were selected, the central government had earlier this month informed the state that the project could not be given security clearance.

"The proposed project aims to fulfil the need of international transhipment in a port in
India itself. Once completed, the port can cater to container carrier vessel sizes of 8,000 TEU in phase 1 and 10,000 and 12,000 TEUs subsequently," Achuthanandan said.

"We understand the security concerns of the government. But we want the prime minister to discuss it with the concerned members and find a way to take the project ahead," the chief minister told reporters here.

The Kerala leaders pointed out that the prime minister himself had agreed to lay the foundation stone for the coveted project. "The project and its huge investment in the state would trigger substantial infrastructure and socio-economic developments," the leaders pointed out in a memorandum to the prime minister.

An all-party meeting held in state earlier this month had adopted a resolution pointing out that the "denial of security clearance to the Chinese company-led consortium is discriminative as per international trade laws/agreements and it is a great setback to the long-standing efforts of Kerala state to develop Viszhinjam as transhipment hub port".

The state leaders also told Manmohan Singh that Tamil Nadu's move to go ahead with its decision to raise the height of Mullaperiyar dam at the border would put five districts in Kerala in danger.

"The condition on a recurrent earth tremor (in the dam area) will be hazardous, which will have serious repercussions on the safety of life and property of the people in five districts of Kerala - Idukki, Kottayam, Ernakulam,Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta."

"If Tamil Nadu is concerned about the water scarcity, we are worried about the lives of three million people. It is more a matter of security to the life and property than a legal issue," Achuthanandan said.

The Supreme Court had allowed Tamil Nadu to raise the height of the dam from 136 to 142 feet, based on a report submitted by a central-appointed committee, which Kerala had disputed. "It was a dam meant for 60 years and now it has already covered 130 years," Kerala opposition leader Oommen Chandy, who was a part of delegation, said.

Kerala wears a festive look for Onam

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 1 (IANS) Festivities are already in full swing in Kerala as people across the state, irrespective of caste and religion, are preparing to celebrate the state's harvest festival.

The Onam season began Aug 17 with the start of Chingam - the first month of the Malayalam calendar and the three key festive days start Sep 4.

Students are the first to partake in Onam joy as all educational institutions are set to close for almost a week from Saturday.

The festival, known for it sumptuous 27-course sadhya (feast), is no longer limited to reunions at one's ancestral homes owing to the growing number of nuclear families.

"Everything in the state has changed and Onam too. In my younger days, it was more of a family reunion at the ancestral house and grandparents used to put up swings in the courtyard," said 75-year-old Savithiri Devi, a retired college professor.

She said grandparents now rarely get a chance to be in their ancestral home and instead move between the houses of their children who live in cities.

Onam has also become more commercial now with companies offering festival schemes and rebates. Huge advertisement hoardings add colour to the already festive atmosphere.

The state government has elaborate plans for the season and has sanctioned Rs.3.6 million to be spent for Onam celebrations.

"Nearly 10,000 artistes are to take part in various cultural events being held across the state during the coming week," said legislator V. Sivan Kutty, organiser of the Onam celebrations.

The Kerala State Beverages Corporation, the wholesalers of liquor, has stacked their godowns with 30 percent more stocks than their regular monthly quota to meet the demand of tipplers during the season.

"We expect to sell Rs.700 million worth liquor during the next week and it would be an all time high," said a KSBC official.

Many hotels have come up with the innovative idea of selling Onam sadhya in carry-home packets - a welcome news for many housewives who want to avoid toiling in the kitchen.

"For Rs.300, hotels are giving an Onam sadhya for a family of five. I have already booked one packet. This is going to be really good because cooking all the items for a sadhya is going to be a tough deal," said S. Jacob, a bank manager.

The film industry too has targeted the holiday period for releasing their films. Movies of leading cine-stars like Mammootty, Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi, Jayaram, Dileep and Prithviraj have either released or are ready for release.

"'Mahasamudram' released last week and is on its way to become an all time hit. This is the first time that Mohanlal has played the role of a fisherman and I have got reports from across the state that it is being received well by audiences," said Suresh Kumar, producer of the film.

Further, Onam has become the launch pad for the Kerala tourism season as well.

Said Koshy John, a tourist guide: "Till recently, the Kerala tourist season began from November but now it is the Onam week that heralds the beginning of the new season. I am fully booked for the Onam week and this time I feel the season will be better than the previous years."

Another visible trend in the state is that a large number of patients are eager to be discharged from hospitals to be with their families during the festival.

"Many patients who are convalescing in the hospital want to be discharged to celebrate Onam at their homes," said a doctor at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College.

Despite several changes in the way Onam is celebrated, a tradition still followed is the preparation of the Onam pookalam (floral designs) in the courtyard of most homes.

However, one can now see pookalams in front of government and private offices as well.

Khushwant Singh unhappy with today's writers

New Delhi, September 1 (IANS) Khushwant Singh, one of the pioneers of the Indian writing in English, feels writers today lack simplicity and the common man is turning his back to them.

"Today I feel sad to see that writers and authors fail to establish a relationship with the masses. Writings have become ambiguous with which common man fails to relate," said the grand old man of Indian letters.

He was addressing the gathering after being conferred the Punjab Rattan award by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh here Thursday evening.

"I have never written in Punjabi and still I got this honour. I feel privileged," said Khushwant Singh, 91, at the glittering ceremony attended by who's who of the literary fraternity from India as well as from Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Minister of Panchayati Raj, Youth Affairs and Sports Mani Shankar Aiyar said: "I was a kid when I first read Khushwant Singh's 'Train to Pakistan', so I did not understand the depth of the book. I am re-reading it in order to understand the essence of each and every word.

"He truly understands the relationship between India and Pakistan. He is a master of secularism," Aiyar told IANS, referring to the masterpiece published 50 years ago.

L&T bags Rs.11.5 bn power plant contract from IOC

Mumbai, Sep 1 (IANS) India's top engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) won a Rs.11.5 billion contract from Indian Oil Corp. for setting up a captive cogeneration power plant in Panipat, Haryana.

The company will manage the project and also build engineering and other facilities of the naphtha cracker plant being built by the state-owned refinery at Panipat, 100 km north of New Delhi.

With the contract IOC's share in the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) rose nearly 1 percent to Rs.2,424 Thursday.

"The power plant comprising five gas turbines, five heat recovery steam generators, three steam turbines, two utility boilers and sophisticated control systems to ensure uninterrupted supply of power and steam to the naphtha cracker complex will be built by the end of 2009," the company said in a statement Thursday.

"It will process 2-2.3 million tonnes of naphtha to produce ethylene, propylene, benzene and pyrolysis gasoline."

This is the second major contract won by L&T for IOC's Panipat naphtha cracker project. L&T and the Toyo consortium had earlier bagged the turnkey contract for naphtha cracker and associated units.

IOC on Thursday also awarded a Rs.3.49 billion ($75.3 million) contract to Punj Lloyd Ltd, sending the engineering and construction firm's shares 2.5 percent higher. Its share climbed to Rs.757.75.

Punj Lloyd will build storage tanks and other facilities at the refinery's naphtha cracker plant at Panipat.

"The group is now the second largest engineering and construction major in the country in terms of the order book. Over 60 percent of Punj Lloyd's order backlog is now represented by projects based outside India," the company said.

Lady muftis breach male bastion: The Telegraph

Hyderabad, September 1 (ZEENEWS.COM) Sania Mirza’s short skirts may have hogged global headlines, but city teenager Amina Batool perhaps better represents the rise of woman power in India’s Muslim society.

The 17-year-old is one of several young women practising as “muftias� � women muftis � in the city, delivering the Friday sermon in all-women mosques, resolving family and marital disputes, confirming divorces and issuing fatwas on current issues such as terrorism.

Amina and nine other women graduated last week from the city’s Jamiat-ul-Mominath, a deemed university of Islamic theology that has been training women as muftias skilled in interpreting the Shariat for men and women in their personal matters.

It was the Jamiat-ul-Mominath, Lucknow, that first began training muftias, but few of its graduates are practising clerics. The Hyderabad Jamiat, too, came out with its first batch in 2003.

The real change came when many of the 100-odd women’s mosques in Hyderabad opened their doors to muftias about a year ago.

Jamiat director Mufti Mohammed Mastan Ali insists that the muftias � the face of a changing Muslim society � are not rebels. “They don’t revolt against established religious practices and beliefs. We just felt that sermons from women muftis would attract more women, and a fatwa from a muftia on a women’s issue would find greater compliance.�

The 10 new graduates gave their first sermon last Friday, with a packed all-woman mosque at Asifnagar listening to Amina in rapt attention.

“Our muftias have been practising for almost a year. They have rendered critical and useful fatwas for youngsters,� Mastan Ali said.

The muftias have come out with edicts against terrorists after the Mumbai train blasts; they have ruled that Sania’s short dresses are unbecoming of a Muslim woman.

As they go on practising, the muftias are expected to continue with their theological studies for another 12 years. “They must live like ascetics in mosques and also travel around, preaching. They need at least five years to understand and recite the Quran. They must also learn Arabic literature,� Mastan Ali said. After completing the course, the muftias can marry.

By the age of 30, the women would be in a position to teach at national institutes and head all-women mosques, the mufti said.

Muftias, however, cannot practise at male congregations. Other than women’s mosques, they can preach at all-women congregations, held at specified times in general mosques.

Not a single verse in the Quran, nor a single Hadith (sayings of the Prophet) forbids women from becoming muftis. Aisha, the Prophet’s favourite wife, became a religious authority after his death and served the community.

Lockheed wins contract for new US spacecraft

Washington, Sep 1 (DPA) Lockheed Martin won the first major contract for a new era of US space exploration, kicking off an ambitious effort to return humans to the moon and one day launch them to Mars.

NASA, the US space agency, chose the US aerospace giant over a rival team of Boeing and Northrop Grumman Corp to build the crew capsule for the next generation of spaceships, which will replace the space shuttle fleet slated to be retired in 2010.

The contract is worth up to $8.1 billion over the next 13 years -- a small fraction of the $230 billion NASA is seeking for new initiatives.

"Today we begin a new journey of discovery," Scott Horowitz, a senior NASA space exploration official, told reporters here.

The design of the Orion capsule is the first step in a vision outlined in January 2004 by US President George Bush to send four astronauts to the moon by 2020 - five decades after the first moon walk on July 20, 1969.

Orion's first flight is due by 2014, but NASA chief Michael Griffin has said he would like to launch the new spacecraft several years earlier.

With Russia, China and Japan now competing in the space race, NASA wants to avoid a lengthy gap in launch capability between the shuttle's retirement and Orion's debut.

In Bush's effort to revive the Cold War era fascination with human space exploration, the moon would eventually be a launching pad for Mars missions.

But much of Bush's high-flying plan depends on whether the US Congress will approve the huge sums required to make it work, estimated at $230 billion dollars over 20 years.

Mercedes upgrades R-Class

Stuttgart (Germany), Sep 1 (DPA) Mercedes-Benz has upgraded its R-Class SUVs with the introduction of the new R 280 CDI 4MATIC and R 63 AMG 4MATIC models.

The range has been expanded to five engine variants with an output from 140 kw/190 hp to 375 kw/510 hp.

Additional driver-support systems include a radar-based proximity control system and a rear-view camera for safe and easy parking.

Starting late this year, the diesel engine range available for the R-Class will be extended by a further six-cylinder engine, also equipped with third-generation common-rail direct injection.

Besides the R 320 CDI 4MATIC (165 kw/224 hp), Mercedes-Benz will also be offering the new R 280 CDI 4MATIC, which has an output of 140 kw/190 hp. As a result, the R-Class can achieve a top speed of 210 km/h and accelerate from zero to 100 km/h in 9.8 seconds due to its powerful torque of 440 Nm (from 1,400 to 2,800 rpm).

Combined fuel consumption is 9.3 litres per 100 km, so that the new R 280 CDI 4MATIC has a range of 850 km, according to the car maker.

Standard equipment in the R 280 CDI 4MATIC includes two oxidation-type catalytic converters and a maintenance-free particulate filter.

The six-cylinder unit is teamed up with the 7G-TRONIC seven-speed automatic transmission, which the driver operates electronically by means of the DIRECT SELECT lever on the steering column. The R 280 CDI 4MATIC is available exclusively with a 2,980 mm wheelbase.

At the upper end of the R-Class engine range will be the new R 63 AMG 4MATIC, a 6.3-litre eight-cylinder engine with an output of 375 kW/510 hp. Standard equipment for the R 63 AMG 4MATIC includes high-grade extras such as electronically adjustable AMG sports seats in front with multi-contour function, nappa leather and seat heating at the front plus light-alloy wheels with size 265/45 R 20 wide tyres, an AMG sports chassis and blue-tinted glass.

Optional features of the touring SUV are the actively ventilated luxury seats for the driver and front passenger. These seats are equipped with five fans which take in cool air from the floor level and distribute it evenly over the seat cushion and the backrest.

Mizoram to get central aid to boost exports

Aizawl, Sep 1 (IANS) The commerce ministry Friday said it would extend all possible assistance to boost exports from Mizoram.

Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh gave this assurance while meeting Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga here, on the first day of his two-day visit to the state.

On the economic significance of the Sittwe/Kaladan port to be launched by India in Myanmar, Ramesh said $103 million would be invested in the project that would enable the opening of another route for trade between the northeast and the rest of India with southern Mizoram as the hub.

The project, to be executed by RITES, is expected to be commissioned by 2009.

Ramesh said the commerce ministry would extend all financial and technical support through its Export Development Fund for the northeastern states.

He said his ministry had already sanctioned over Rs.40 million to fully develop the land customs station at Zokhawtar in Mizoram to facilitate border trade with Myanmar.

Ramesh also called on Governor Lt. Gen (retd) M.M. Lakhera.

Modi spares madrassas from singing of Vande Mataram

Ahmedabad, Sep 1 (IANS) Shying away from controversy, the Gujarat government here Friday decided not to make the singing of the national song, Vande Mataram, compulsory for madrassas.

An official directive issued here Friday said all students of the government-run and government-aided educational institutions and government departments should "collectively and without fail" participate in singing the national song Sep 7.

The directive, however, does not make a mention of self-aided institutions, including madrassas.

The order of the Narendra Modi government comes in response to the Union Human Resource Development Ministry's order last month making the recitation of Vande Mataram mandatory on Sep 7 to mark the centenary of its adoption as national song.

The central ministry, however, had later made the singing voluntary following opposition from a section of Muslims.

Mukherjee to visit France, Germany

New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS) Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee leaves Saturday for a five-day visit of France and Germany during which he is likely to sign a pact with Berlin to improve military cooperation and boost defence ties with Paris.

Senior officials of the ministries of defence and external affairs, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the armed forces will accompany the minister, it was announced here Friday.

The delegation includes S. Banerjee, director general (acquisition) in the defence ministry, Lt. Gen. H.S. Lidder, chief of Integrated Defence Staff, Air Marshal F.H. Major, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Air Command, Prahlada (one name), DRDO's chief controller (R&D), Sujata Singh, joint secretary in the external affairs ministry, and Gautam Chatterjee, joint secretary in the defence ministry.

"Mukherjee is visiting Germany with the aim of enhancing defence cooperation between the two countries which at present is not so wide," a defence ministry spokesman said Friday.

While India wants to enhance military cooperation with Germany in technology and training, both countries are keen to stage joint naval exercises and increase interaction between their armed forces, the spokesman added.

During his stay in Grmany Sep 5-7, Mukherjee will hold talks with his counterpart Franz Josef Jung and Minister for Economics and Technology Michael Gloss. He will also meet captains of the German defence industry.

The minister will pay homage at the Zehrensdorf Indian Cemetery where lie the graves of 206 Indian soldiers who died as prisoners during the First World War. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has rebuilt the cemetery.

Mukherjee's visit to France is "highly significant as India is likely to achieve better results in the field of defence cooperation", the spokesman said.

"The defence relationship between India and France has been fairly robust in supply and production. The India-France Defence MOU (memorandum of understanding) of 1982 and the Indo-French High Committee of 1998 are the landmarks in (their) cooperation, which has also increased in the field of joint exercises, security dialogue and training," the spokesman added.

During his visit to France Sep 3-5, Mukherjee will meet his counterpart Michele Aliotte-Marie and visit the Centre for Planning and Operations Management (CPCO) and the Command of Air Defence and Air Operations (CDAOA) at Taverny.

CPCO is the joint staff operations centre of the French defence forces. It deals with international operations, plans and execution at the Joint Staff level. The delegation will be given an overview of all types of operations being undertaken by the French defence forces worldwide.

Mukherjee will take part in an interactive roundtable with CEOs of French defence industries.

After his arrival in Paris Sunday, Mukherjee will go to Neuve Chapelle to pay homage at the Indian Soldiers' Memorial. This was built to honour the Indian Army that fought in France and Belgium during the First and Second World Wars and in remembrance of those servicemen who have no known graves.

Muslim youth deported from Britain granted bail

Hyderabad, September 1 (IANS) A Hyderabad Muslim youth deported from Britain on suspected terror links and held here on grounds of "reasonable suspicion" was granted bail Thursday.

The executive magistrate of a city court granted bail to Mohammed Shafiq Ahmed, 23, who was arrested soon after he arrived here from London via Mumbai.

Shafiq, a resident of Akbar Bagh neighbourhood in the city, has denied any terror links and said that his arrest was a case of racial profiling.

Earlier, he was arrested by the authorities at London's Heathrow airport as he was about to board a flight to New York. He was interrogated for three days in London and was also grilled by Indian intelligence agencies at the Mumbai airport Tuesday.

Shafiq, who was working in a trading company in Dubai and staying with his brother, had flown from Dubai to London and was to go to New York for higher studies.

Police here interrogated him about his reasons to go to the US. Though Shafiq said he was going to pursue an MBA programme at the Johnson and Wales University at Rhodes Island, police doubt his academic certificates. However, both his passport and visa were found in order.

According to officials, a case had been booked against Shafiq in 2004 at Malakpet police station for allegedly threatening local legislator Malreddy Ranga Reddy. He had been charged with criminal intimidation.

He had threatened the legislator after a youth was killed in firing by a visiting Gujarat police team while he was trying to free one Moulana Naseeruddin, who had been arrested in connection with the murder of former Gujarat home minister Haren Pandya.

Shafiq told newsmen while in police custody that his arrest was a case of racial profiling. "They are looking at every Asian and every Muslim with suspicion," he said.

He claimed he was mentally tortured by the British police when they asked him about the 9/11 terror attack and the recent conspiracy to blow up trans-Atlantic flights.

"I told them that I knew nothing about this as it is all international politics," he said.

Fed up with the grilling, the youth had even threatened to commit suicide.

He said just as he thought that his ordeal would end, he was held on arrival in Hyderabad.

Shafiq, son of a retired government employee, said he had gone to Dubai a year ago and had a valid Indian passport. He obtained a student visa for the US and had all valid travel documents to reach New York via London.

Muslims demand reservation in education

By Pervez Bari

V.P. Singh, the former Prime Minister of India, has said that the backward classes are being discriminated in education as well as employment in the name of merit by those people who have least concern for merit.

Singh was inaugurating the National Convention on Reservation in Education jointly organized by the All India Milli Council, (AIMC), and South India Council, (SIC), at FICCI Auditorium in New Delhi recently. Dr. Mohammad Manzoor Alam, general secretary AIMC, presided over the function.

Singh stressed that in order to remove the imbalance in development and ensure adequate representation, the remaining recommendations of the Mandal Commission has to be implemented. The move to pass a bill providing reservation in higher education is a welcome step which is long overdue, he added.

He demanded that Muslims, who have become backward due to historical reason, must be given the right for reservation. It is high time that reservation should be concentrated on Muslims, he opined.

Ex-MP Syed Shahabuddin, president Muslim Majilis-e-Mushawarat, speaking on the occasion at length demanded that the Article 341 of the Constitution of India must be amended for the third time to include Muslims also under its provision. In the past this Article had been amended twice to include Sikhs and Buddhists religious minorities, he pointed out.

Shahabuddin lamented that by a Presidential order in 1950 the word Hindu was introduced in Article 341 saying only those Scheduled Castes who were Hindus can take benefits of reservations under it. This order was anti-secular, he opined.

He recalled that in 1948 when draft of the Constitution was passed minorities were included in it but later on in 1950 they were excluded by the Order of the President of India. It is a story of deceit and betrayal, he moaned.

He demanded Muslims should be given 11 per cent reservation as per their population percentage. "We want equality. We want power sharing and power in governance", he asserted.

Oscar Fernandez, Federal Minister in his key-note address reiterated the commitment of UPA Government to see that reservation for OBC is in higher education centers gets implemented. He urged upon the Muslims to concentrate on education which is a key to success and decent life.

Dr. Manzoor Alam in his presidential address said education is important for success. Education gives a sense to understand what is going around and how to plan ourselves to become strong within the parameters of the Indian Constitution.

He lamented the negative role of media on the reservation issue confronting the country nowadays. He pointed out that media is a powerful instrument which if used honestly can make India shine. If it is not used properly then the clashes of communities and different groups cannot be ruled out, he added.

He cautioned the Muslims saying: “if we understand the signals of time then we can change the situation to our advantage�.

Dr.Udit Raj, chairman All India SC/ST Confederation, while exhorting Muslims to fight for their rights chided them saying: "Do you think Bharartiya Janata Party, (BJP), and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, (RSS), will take up your cause and agitate for your rightful claims".

"Whenever times come for Muslims to fight out for their rights they are entangled emotionally on non-issues and hood-winked from the main-issues affecting their lives. Until and unless they assert themselves electorally in a matured manner they would remain a deprived lot", Dr. Raj opined. "Political parties have very well realized that Muslims vote on emotional issues so the problems afflicting the community is always side-tracked", he said.

Dr. Raj appealing to the Muslims said:"Dalit-Muslim Andolan chala dijye sab milega", (Start a Dalit-Muslim movement, every thing due will be attained).

He questioned "Muslim party kyon nahin hona chahiye", (Why can't be there a Muslim party). This is the ripe time. Take a decision not on many programmes but focus on your priorities. The harm Mulayam Singh government in Uttar Pradesh has done to Muslims in its regime was not done even during the BJP rule in the state, he remarked.

Prof. Mohammed Sulaiman, president, Indian National League, asked Muslims to assert their franchise in a way to become a political threat to the political parties. "Equality and justice can only be achieved by yourselves", he told the audience.

Meanwhile, about thousand delegates drawn from different parts of India attended the convention. The convention passed a resolution which demanded enactment of the bill providing reservation in all educational institutions without any exclusion and that too in a single stretch. It also urged the authorities and political parties to have a positive approach in giving reservation to Muslims who are more backward than any other sections of the Indian society. E.M. Abdurahman, general secretary SIC, presented the resolution,

Earlier, E. Abubacker, Chairman SIC, made introductory speech. Abdul Hannan Chandna welcomed the gathering and O.M.A. Abdul Salam, secretary SIC, proposed vote of thanks.

The highlight of the convention was that the four-and-half hour long single session went on without any break with delegates remaining glued to their seats listening to various speakers in pin drop silence with rapt attention.

Dr Senthil, MP, Gurdeep Singh, general secretary Akali Dal, Dr. Kumar Rajeev, Dr. S. Q. R. Ilyas, Editor, Afkar-e-Milli, Dr. Ejaz Ali, president, All India United Muslim Morcha, Iqbal Ansari, president All India Muslim OBC Organization, A. Saeed, chairman, National Development Front Keralam, K. M. Shareef, president, Karnataka Forum for Dignity, Dr. Shakeel Samadani, Faculty of Law, AMU Aligarh, Dr. Arshi Khan, Centre for Federal Studies, Jamia Hamdard, Abdul Hafiz Gandhi, president AMU Students Union, Novaid Hamid, general secretary MOEMIN, M. A. Salam, member Kerala Backward Classes Commission, Prof. Hayat Ghori (Bhopal), Dalit M. A. Salim, Hyderabad, Tauheed-ul-Islam (Murshidabad), Mohd. Shafeeq (Kota), Moji Khan, Treasurer AIMC, A.M. Shafi (Bangalore), PA Inamdar, president Maharashtra Cosmopolitan Education Society, Jameel-ur-Rahman (Punjab) spoke on the occasion.

Muslims in Jharkhand protest singing of 'Vande Mataram'

Ranchi, Sep 1 (IANS) A section of Muslims in Jharkhand has opposed the state government's directive to make singing of the national song "Vande Mataram" mandatory in all schools on Sep 7.

The Jharkhand Monin Adhikar Manch, a Muslim organisation, has threatened to observe Sep 7, the day marking completion of centenary celebrations of "Vande Mataram", as black day.

"Such songs have no place in Islam. If we are forced to sing the song then we will observe Sep 7 as black day," said Md Nausad Khan, president of the Manch.

Some other Muslim organisations have also threatened to follow suit if the state government does not take back the order.

The Jharkhand government decided to make singing of "Vande Mataram" - penned by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1876 - mandatory in government schools in reversal of its earlier plan to make it optional.

"Singing the national song has been made mandatory in all the government schools on Sep 7. Singing the national song is not a crime or shame in the country. Politics should not come on the way of its singing," Chief Minister Arjun Munda said.

Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh had said a few days ago that BJP-ruled states would be directed to make singing of "Vande Mataram" mandatory on that day. BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Gujarat have already made the song mandatory in their respective state schools on Sep 7.

"Vande Mataram" was adopted as the national song at the Varanasi session of the All India Congress Committee on Sep 7, 1905. A section of Muslims consider the song un-Islamic.

Nepal government caught 'lying' about arms cargo

By Sudeshna Sarkar,

Kathmandu, Sep 1 (IANS) As news of Nepal trying to ferry anti-aircraft missiles over Indian air space hit the media and the multi-party government began denying having any knowledge of it, records showed both the government and the army were very much aware of what was going on.

Last month, a Moscow-based airline operator, Kosmos Air Company, had sought India's permission to land at the Mumbai airport for refuelling before heading for Kathmandu Thursday.

However, the Indian authorities denied permission when they learnt the AN-12 Russian aircraft was carrying missiles, including rockets.

When the news that India had refused permission to the aircraft to land in Mumbai broke out, Nepal's government immediately began denying having any knowledge about the deal.

The Himalayan Times quoted a high-ranking government official Friday as saying the government had no knowledge about the cargo.

"We do not know anything about that consignment," Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's adviser on foreign affairs Suresh Chalise told the Himalayan Times. "An inquiry is on to find out who had struck the deal."

However, the Civil Aviation Authority in Nepal knew about the aircraft and its cargo since they too had been asked for permission for landing in Kathmandu on Aug 31.

Kosmos' transporting plane was scheduled to fly from Minsk in Belarus through Burgas in Bulgaria, Baku in Azerbaijan, India and then land at Kathmandu from where it was scheduled to depart for Rastovna-donn in the former USSR.

The air traffic authorities at the Tribhuvan International Airport had received the same message from Kosmos, mentioning the nature of its cargo.

The consignment was intended for the Master General of Ordnance of the Nepal Army, signifying the army too was well aware of the situation.

However, the army too feigned ignorance with the spokesperson of Nepal Army, Brigadier General Nepal Bhushan Chand, telling the media he was "unaware of any such consignment meant for the army".

Former foreign minister Ramesh Nath Pandey had visited Russia during King Gyanendra's direct rule in October 2005. Interestingly, the manufacturers of the consignment are a Belarus company, Sue Orsha, and a Bulgarian firm, Emco Ltd.

Apparently, Nepal's government decided to refurbish its arsenal despite holding peace talks with the Maoists and finance minister Ram Sharan Mahat's assertion that the government would slash military expenses.

Nepal observes 'Black Day' over Iraq killings

By Sudeshna Sarkar,

Kathmandu, Sep 1 (IANS) Nepal's overseas job industry, the mainstay of the economy, came to a standstill Friday, as it observed a 'Black Day' in memory of the brutal killing of 12 workers by Islamist militants in Iraq two years ago.

Nepal Foreign Employment Entrepreneurs' Association, a private umbrella organisation of recruitment agencies, called the protest to pressure the government into paying compensation to the agencies, whose offices were ransacked by angry mobs in Nepal on this day two years ago.

Scores of recruitment agencies nationwide affiliated to the association stopped work as part of the protests. Foreign employment entrepreneurs waving black flags and placards marched towards the Birendra International Convention Centre in the capital for a protest meeting.

The protests were a sequel to the abduction and subsequent beheading of 12 Nepali workers in Iraq by a little known terrorist group calling itself the Ansar-al-Sunna.

When the news of the killings reached Nepal, followed by the posting of a video of the executions on the Internet, Nepal went berserk, attacking recruitment agencies, whom they blamed for duping the hapless men into going to Iraq, a destination banned by the government.

Nearly 300 employment agencies in Kathmandu alone had their offices vandalised with militant crowds setting furniture and documents on fire and smashing windowpanes. Besides the agencies, the mob also attacked the offices of Middle East airlines as well as mosques and two people were killed.

The recruitment agencies say they suffered a loss of about NRS 750 million. Two years later, the victims are yet to be compensated by the government.

Every year, thousands of Nepalis go abroad seeking jobs in the Gulf countries, Malaysia and neighbouring India and the money they send home has been keeping Nepal's economy afloat during the decade-old Maoist insurgency and political instability.

According to Nepal's central bank, Nepal Rastra Bank, the remittances amount to over $1 billion. However, that's just the tip of the iceberg since a substantial chunk of money is routed through private operators with no official records.

The government has also not been able to keep account of the exact number of citizens working overseas since many of them go illegally via India to countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, which are banned by the government. There could be over 4.5 million Nepalis working abroad.

According to the World Bank, Nepal recently recorded a 10 percentage point drop in poverty despite the ruinous effects of King Gyanendra's coup last year and the decline is attributed to remittances.

Nine arrested in Gujarat for 2002 violence

Ahmedabad, Sep 1 (IANS) Nine people were arrested Friday from a north Gujarat village on charges of loot and arson during the communal violence of 2002, police said here.

The nine from Kishangarh village of Bhiloda block in Sabarkantha district, 120 km from here, were arrested following the reopening of the case this year.

The police had closed 2,020 cases related to the sectarian strife including that of Kishangarh after preliminary investigations.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) challenged the move in the Supreme Court, which in 2004 ordered the state government to set up a cell to review the cases and decide which cases needed to be reopened.

The review committee, headed by then director general of police A.K. Bhargava, reviewed 1,965 cases between Sep 1, 2004 and Jan 1, 2006 and found 1,594 cases needed to be investigated again.

At least 1,000 people died in the communal violence in the state.

No petrol, diesel price hike for now

New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS) With the Indian basket of crude oil imported in August averaging $70.84 per barrel, petroleum ministry officials Friday ruled out any plans for raising the prices of petrol and diesel as was expected.

In a decision taken in June, the government had indicated that if the monthly average of the Indian basket of crude breached $70 per barrel the state-run oil marketing companies would be free to raise the prices.

The review of the situation was expected Friday.

"But currently there does not seem to be such a pressure as the price of the Indian crude basket has come down from the level of $75.30 per barrel on Aug 8 to $66.61 per barrel on Aug 31," a ministry official said.

Petroleum Minister Murli Deora has been maintaining that despite the under-recoveries and losses of the oil marketing firms there is no immediate plan to hike the retail prices of petroleum products.

Nooyi is world's fourth most powerful woman, Gandhi is 13th

New York, Sep 1 (IANS) India's ruling Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has been listed as the 13th most powerful woman in the world in the annual Forbes listing, headed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, which also has PepsiCo designated chief India-born Indra Nooyi in the fourth position.

Three other Indians also find place in the list of 100 - Joint Managing Directors of the Mumbai-based ICICI Bank Lalita Gupte and Kalpana Morparia in the 93rd position and Vidya Chhabria, the 58-year-old India-born Dubai-based chairperson of the $2 billion Jumbo Group, who gets the 95th ranking.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and China's Vice Premier Wu Yi follow Merkel in the second and third position.

Monarchs Queen Elizabeth II and Jordanian Queen Rania have found 46th and 81st rank respectively. US Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is listed in the 18th position, US First Lady Laura Bush 43rd and Bangladeshi premier Khaleda Zia is 33rd, states the Forbes' website.

Nobel peace laureate and jailed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi is the 47th most powerful woman in the world, while Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission chairperson Sima Samar is listed 28th.

CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour finds herself in the 79th position.

The enigmatic Gandhi had earlier figured in the list in 2004 in the third position, immediately after she refused the post of prime minister of India and appointed Manmohan Singh.

In its profile on Sonia Gandhi, chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), the magazine said: "Though critics used the move to call into question her power, Gandhi is still widely revered, especially among the country's poor millions."

"Gandhi heads the left-leaning party of Jawaharlal Nehru, where she acts as opposition leader to Singh, the pro-business prime minister. Gandhi frequently expresses concern that India's astounding economic growth is leaving the poor behind, and that her country is not doing enough to help its farmers."

Gandhi, who could not find herself in the magazine's 2005 listing, is now placed immediately after Melinda Gates of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Nooyi, a US citizen who was born in the south Indian town of Chennai and graduated from the Madras Christian College and the Indian Institute of Management-Kolkata, is the first businesswoman in the list.

Praising Nooyi's management skills, the magazine said: "Few people could handle either the presidential or the chief financial officer job at a company worth $100 billion."

Nooyi, who has held both offices since 2001, will take over as Pepsi's new chief executive from Oct 1.

The Forbes' listing is based on a "power ranking that is the composite of visibility (measured by press citations) and economic impact," says the website.

Out of singles, Sania enters doubles round 2

New York, Sep 1 (IANS) Though India's Sania Mirza crashed out of the women's singles of the US Open after giving Italian 14th seed Francesca Schiavone a tough battle, she made it to the second round of the doubles event.

A gritty and determined Sania, 19, lost 7-5, 1-6, 2-6 in the singles second round Thursday as the more experienced Italian mounted pressure unleashing half a dozen aces to a solitary one from her at Flushing Meadows on a cool and breezy day four of the tournament.

Later partnering Liezel Huber of South Africa, Sania easily overcame the all American team of Angela Haynes and Neha Uberoi 6- 4, 6-0 to enter the second round of the doubles event.

In the singles, it took Schiavone two hours and 18 minutes to overcome Sania's challenge after surviving an error-laden second round match. She meets Israel's Shahar Peer in the third round.

In terms of speed and accuracy too, Sania could not match the Italian who clocked 113 mph on her fastest serve as against the Hyderabadi girl's 107 mph. Her first serve at an average of 95 mph was also slower than Schiavone's 99.

Only on her second serve was Sania a notch faster with an average speed of 82 mph to the Italian's 81 mph.

In all Schiavone won a total of 105 points committing 33 unforced errors compared to Sania's 89 with 45 such errors.

Both players struggled to hold serve and there were 11 breaks in the match. Sania sent in only 48 percent of the first serves while Schiavone was only marginally better at 51 percent.

Sania started with a blaze of blistering ground strokes as Schiavone tried to adjust to the Indian's power. The Italian barely held on to her first service game as Sania raced off to a 4-1 lead, breaking twice.

But Schiavone gradually clawed her way back, winning four games in a row before Sania gathered her game again to win the first set 7-5 in 58 minutes. Sania, however, was unable to hold a single service game in the second set and folded under pressure from her opponent to go down 1-6 in 33 minutes.

After losing her opening service game of the third set, Sania let her opponent off the hook. Though the Italian was stretched in each of the service games, she did not let Sania regain the advantage. Like the second, Schiavone then cruised through the third set to win 6-2 in 47 minutes.

Meanwhile, eighth-seeded Martina Hingis was knocked out of the tournament Thursday night, falling to Virginie Razzano in straight sets under the lights at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. She lost 2-6, 4-6.

Former champions and former world No. 1s Justine Henin-Hardenne, Lindsay Davenport and Serena Williams were a trio of second-round winners Thursday. Another former top-ranked star, Maria Sharapova, and another past title holder here, Svetlana Kuznetsova, also reached the third round on Day 4.

The second-seeded Henin-Hardenne drilled American Vania King 6-1, 6-2, as the Belgian star is seeking her fourth trip to a Grand Slam final this year. The third-seeded Sharapova, the 2004 Wimbledon champ, destroyed France's Emilie Loit 6-0, 6-1.

The 10th-seeded Davenport double-bageled helpless Croat Jelena Kostanic 6-0, 6-0 in a mere 40 minutes.

An unseeded Williams came back to oust 17th-seeded Daniela Hantuchova 7-5, 6-3. Serena is a seven-time Grand Slam champion, including US Open titles in 1999 and 2002. She lost to her big sister Venus in the 2001 final here.

Pakistan, US to stage joint naval exercises

Islamabad, Sep 1 (Xinhua) The Pakistani and US navies would stage joint exercise spread over three days next week to "advance maritime interdiction operations and counter terrorism".

The exercises, code-named "Inspired Union 06", to be held Sep 4-6 in the northern Arabian Sea, a statement issued by Pakistan Navy said Friday.

"The purpose of the exercise is to advance maritime interdiction operations, counter terrorism and other wide rang of professional exercises," it said, adding the exercises would be conducted in three phases.

However, the statement did not mention the exact number of the troops from both sides which will participate in the drill.

Pakistani minister involves India in Bugti affair

Islamabad, Sep 1 (IANS) In an attempt to blame India for its internal political crisis, Pakistan's Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afgan Niazi charged in the National Assembly that the "huge quantity of ammunitions and currency recovered from the cave" was provided by "our neighbouring country to Akbar Bugti via Kabul".

Pakistan has for long been accusing India of fomenting trouble in Balochistan via the embassy in Kabul and consulates in Afghan cities close to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

This and a number of observations that the minister said were "personal", incensed the opposition, which boycotted the proceedings after nine separate adjournment motions it had submitted were disallowed Thursday by Speaker Chaudhry Ameer Hussain.

Niazi's justification of Bugti's killing angered the opposition in the National Assembly. "It is a right action if Bugti was killed in an encounter," The Nation quoted Niazi as saying.

The media noted that the chair had followed an "unprecedented" procedure in allowing the minister to speak and air personal views, although he had not given any notice. The News International said that even when the treasury bench members protested, Niazi said his remarks were "personal" and did not reflect the government's view.

Before boycotting the proceedings in the House, the opposition members charged that the Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti had been killed in a military operation wherein the security forces had used chemical weapons. Niazi denied the charge.

"What was most disturbing for the opposition members was the language that he used to justify an unjustifiable violent act by the state against Nawab Bugti. The opposition flew off the handle, protested and then decided to boycott the session for two days, The Nation said.

Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, a former prime minister and a Baloch leader, supported the opposition viewpoint and urged the chair to bring back the opposition to the House.

The opposition had submitted nine different adjournment motions, but the chair did not allow them, the paper said.

Pakistani terrorist makes confessional statement in Bengal court

Kolkata, September 1 (IANS) One of the two Pakistani terrorists arrested from near the Bangladesh border this month made his confessional statements Thursday in a district court amid tight security arrangements.

The duo, identified as Mohammed Zubair and Mohammed Sohail of the terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad, were remanded to a day's jail custody Wednesday after their production before the sub-divisional judicial magistrate (SDJM), Basirhat court, Pallab Roychowdhury.

Zubair's statement was recorded in the chamber of Judge Rajesh Guha Roy in the Basirhat sub-divisional court in North 24 Parganas district Thursday, while Sohail would depose on Friday.

The two were arrested from Hingalgunge in the district adjoining Kolkata on Aug 14, on the eve of the Independence Day celebrations.

The SDJM Wednesday ordered one-day judicial remand for the two, produced in court after a 14-day police custody, so that they could think for a day before making their confessional statements.

A team of the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Mumbai Police is in Kolkata to interrogate the two to find if they were linked to July 11 serial blasts in Mumbai.

Mumbai Police needs court permission for their transit remand and production warrant but the court would give the nod on the warrant's execution after the confessions are over.

PDP recalls Baig, wants Zagar as deputy chief minister

Srinagar, September 1 (IANS) Jammu and Kashmir's ruling alliance partner People's Democratic Party (PDP) Thursday decided to recall its senior leader and Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig from the state cabinet and elevate Abdul Aziz Zargar in his place.

At a hastily convened meeting of the PDP legislature party held at the uptown Gupkar residence of party patron and former chief minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, it was decided to withdraw Baig from the state cabinet as the PDP nominee.

The PDP legislature party elected senior leader and Agriculture Minister Zargar as its leader.

It was also decided at the meeting to revoke the suspension of former minister and senior party leader Ghulam Hassan Mir.

Mir had been suspended from the PDP for "anti-party activities" during the by-polls to the legislative assembly early this year.

The PDP has written a letter to Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to elevate Zargar to the deputy chief minister's post.

These whirlwind developments came in the wake of Azad's announcement of portfolios for his reshuffled council of ministers this week.

The cabinet was reshuffled Tuesday, but the issue of allocation of portfolios to the new ministers was hanging fire following the PDP's request that Baig be divested of the high-profile portfolios of finance, planning and development, law and parliamentary affairs.

The PDP leadership, including Sayeed and his daughter and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, was unhappy with Baig for his reported proximity to the chief minister.

Azad instead used his prerogative as the head of the council of ministers and ignored the PDP appeal.

In the allocation of departments to his council of ministers announced here Thursday, Azad had announced that Baig would continue to hold all the portfolios he held before the reshuffle.

Following the PDP decision to withdraw Baig from the council of ministers, Azad is left with no option but to drop him and promote Zargar as deputy chief minister - unless he chooses to upset the fragile alliance between his Congress party and the PDP.

"Anything short of this would endanger the continuation of our alliance with the Congress," a senior PDP leader told IANS here.

Peace process in mutual interest: Pakistan

Islamabad, Sep 1 (IANS) Pakistan says the India-Pakistan peace process is in mutual interest and "not a concession from one country to another."

Urging India "to reciprocate the sincere efforts of Pakistan so that the peace process could move towards to its final destination", Pakistan said the peace process is in the interest of both the countries, The Nation reported.

It quoted Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam as saying Islamabad had nothing to do with terrorism as it was in the frontline role against war on terror.

Reacting to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarks about New Delhi's wish to restart the stalled peace process if Pakistan took adequate measures to curb cross- border terrorism, she said the entire international community had acknowledged her country's role in the anti-terrorism war and "the Indian leadership should also realise" this fact.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan media has reported without much comment the announcement in New Delhi that its High Commissioner to Pakistan Shiv Shankar Menon would be the country's new foreign secretary.

The News International merely quoted Indian media reports to underline that Menon, who has served in the crucial Pakistan Division of the External Affairs Ministry for several years, was appointed as envoy in Islamabad at a critical time when relations between the two countries were "at a low".

He is credited with playing a stellar role in rejuvenating the relations and lending impetus to the peace process, the paper noted, quoting an APP news agency report.

"Menon has been a popular diplomat in Pakistan. He was heard with great interest whenever he spoke in different cities of Pakistan," the paper noted.

The Nation stated that during Menon's present stint, India-Pakistan ties had witnessed a sea change with tremendous people to people bonhomie and exchange of delegations in different sectors between the two sides.

The resumption of India-Pakistan dialogue process will be a major challenge for the new foreign secretary amid the chill in the bilateral ties since the July 11 Mumbai terror blasts, the Nation said.

Public suit cannot challenge administrative appointments: Supreme Court

New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS) The state government's power to make appointments to higher posts cannot be questioned through a public interest litigation (PIL), the Supreme Court has held.

Giving this ruling on Aug 28 a bench of judges A.R. Lakshmanan and Tarun Chatterjee said the high courts should not entertain quo warranto writ petitions challenging the appointments from those who had no locus standi to file such petitions.

The bench said that the government had to make the best possible choice keeping in view the larger interests of the administration. The court could not sit in judgement over the wisdom of the government in the choice of the person to be appointed so long as the person chosen possessed the prescribed qualification and was otherwise eligible for appointment.

Writing the judgement for the bench Justice Lakshmanan said: "So long as the appointment is made on account of the exigencies of administration, it would be valid and not open to attack under Articles 14 and 16 of the constitution (equality before law and equality of opportunity in matters of public appointment)."

The bench made it clear that evaluation of the comparative merits of the candidates could not be gone into in a PIL and a third party would have no locus standi to canvass the legality or the correctness of the action.

The court was hearing appeals by the Karnataka government and B. Srinivasa Reddy against a Karnataka High court judgement.

The high court, acting on a PIL from the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board Employees' Association, had quashed Reddy's appointment as the board's managing director.

Allowing the appeals, the bench pulled up the workers' union for suppressing the fact that it was not a registered union as its registration had been cancelled. The bench said: "Courts cannot grant any relief to a person who comes to a court with unclean hands and malafide intention/motive."

Rumblings in Sangh Parivar over ABVP arrests

By Arun Anand,

New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS) The arrest of two ABVP leaders for the murder of a college professor in Madhya Pradesh threaten to spark fresh tensions between the state's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other constituents of the Hindu rightwing brotherhood, Sangh Parivar.

Two activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) were charged Thursday with the murder of Ujjain's Madhav College professor H.S. Sabharwal, who was allegedly beaten to death.

The ABVP is a frontal organisation of the Sangh Parivar and has considerable clout in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

"Many top BJP leaders and senior functionaries of RSS have been associated with ABVP at one time or the other. Many of them continue to maintain close links with it," a senior RSS functionary said.

Sources said the ABVP leadership is furious over the way Madhya Pradesh's BJP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan handled the issue and allowed the media to tarnish the image of the organisation.

"The ABVP leadership is now keen that the RSS should intervene to salvage the situation," said a senior ABVP functionary.

"We are not at all satisfied with the knee-jerk reaction of the BJP chief minister in this case. The chief minister should have pulled up the local police and administration as they let the situation get out of control and dragged our organisation's name in this controversy," he added.

A section of ABVP even wants that Chouhan be removed from the chief minister's post and has said so to the RSS.

"We have a CD and photographs that clearly show that no ABVP activist was involved in the beating of Sabharwal. In fact, this CD shows that the Congress-backed National Students Union of India activists were involved," Sunil Bansal, general secretary in-charge of ABVP's Delhi and Rajasthan units, told IANS.

"The cases against our activists have been registered under pressure by the local police. Our activists had a heated discussion with Sabharwal but he was pushed and beaten up while going back home much later," he maintained.

The BJP, however, is fully backing the chief minister on the issue that has shocked the nation.

"The BJP wants the guilty to be punished regardless of their political affiliation," party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

"In this case the chief minister has been given a free hand to deal with the situation. It is a question of the image of the government and the party," added another BJP leader closely associated with party affairs in Madhya Pradesh.

Sabharwal was attacked Saturday, allegedly by student leaders angry with him over the cancellation of the student union elections. He later died in hospital.

The Ujjain police Thursday charged ABVP activists Shashi Ranjan Akela and Vimal Tomar under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code in connection with his death.

Sabeer Bhatia to help set up Nanocity in Haryana

Chandigarh, September 1 (IANS) Sabir Bhatia, who revolutionised e-mailing, will help the Haryana government set up a Rs.50 billion ($1.07 billion) Nanocity - an infotech part that he expects to be better than the Silicon Valley of the US.

The state's Investment Promotion Board Thursday granted its approval for the joint venture project. Bhatia's company Nano Works Private Limited will execute the project with the Haryana government.

"The nanocity project will be better than the famed silicon valley in US," Bhatia, the Hotmail founder, said here.

Though details of the joint venture are yet to be worked out completely, Haryana officials said the first phase of the project would be spread over 5,000 acres of land and will be set up in the vicinity of Delhi. An additional 6,000 acres will be developed later.

The state government will acquire half of the total land for this project. Companies with cutting edge technologies in agriculture, food and beverages, environment, health, medicine and research areas will be invited to be part of the Nanocity.

Bhatia has committed to the state government that he will mobilise investments of Rs.25 billion initially and up to Rs.50 billion eventually.

He said the proposed Nanocity will offer state-of-the-art facilities and will be eco-friendly and self-sustainable.

Sania crashes out of US Open

New York, September 1 (IANS) India's Sania Mirza crashed out of the $5,690,000 US Open after giving Italian 14th seed Francesca Schiavone a tough three-set fight in the second round here Thursday.

The 19-year-old Sania lost 7-5, 1-6, 2-6 to the more experienced Italian on the fourth day of the tournament at Flushing Meadows.

Sania had beaten Croat Karolina Sprem 6-4, 6-2 in the first round Monday.

Apart from singles, Sania has entered the women's doubles event with Liezel Huber of South Africa and the mixed doubles event with Pavel Vizner of the Czech Republic.

Sania became the first Indian woman to reach the women's singles fourth round at her first US Open in 2005. She then lost to Maria Sharapova of Russia in the pre-quarterfinals in the singles, but could not go beyond the first round in the doubles.

Sealing of illegal business units in Delhi begins amid security

New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS) Delhi's civic authority Friday began its drive to re-seal around 45,000 commercial establishments operating illegally out of residential neighbourhoods amid heavy police deployment.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) took the precaution of arranging for police security in anticipation of strong resentment from those affected.

The process to re-seal the illegal commercial establishments was begun following an Aug 10 directive from the Supreme Court, which stayed the May 20 notification of the government allowing de-sealing of such property.

"We will start sealing illegal premises in all the 12 zones of Delhi. We have demanded police protection so that our officials are not attacked by residents and we do not face difficulty in carrying out the court orders," said a senior MCD official.

The 45,000 buildings had been identified by the MCD, but the number could well increase during the sealing campaign, he said.

MCD officials would survey the upmarket neighbourhoods in the national capital to locate other business establishments operating illegally.

Among the likely areas to be targeted in Friday's drive would be Greater Kailash I and II, Chittaranjan Park, Lajpat Nagar, Kalkaji, Defence Colony and Vasant Vihar. These areas fall in the A, B and C categories of residential colonies to be visited by the civic authorities.

The MCD has from Friday also set up 24 special cells to receive complaints by residents giving information about such commercial premises in their areas. Mobile inspection teams will verify any complaint received and initiate action against the offenders.

The central government had on May 20 passed the Delhi Laws (Special Provision) Act that put a moratorium on the court-mandated demolition of illegal structures and sealing of commercial complexes in residential areas in the capital for a year.

However, on Aug 10 the Supreme Court, hearing a public interest litigation against the order, reprimanded the government for its legislation.

On Wednesday, the MCD submitted an action plan report to Delhi High Court informing about the setting up of a taskforce for each of the 12 zones to ensure that there is no delay in carrying out the demolitions and sealing. The civic body is to recruit junior engineers on contract basis to get over its staff shortage, an official said.

Senior BJP leaders to skip women's meet

Raipur, Sep 1 (IANS) In a reflection on the importance given in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to its women cadre, senior party leaders, including president Rajnath Singh, have expressed their inability to attend the national conclave beginning here Saturday.

According to informed sources, senior leaders who had earlier consented to attend the women's meet have opted out of it due to "busy schedules and health reasons".

The sudden withdrawal by senior leaders has come as a shock for Chhattisgarh's ruling BJP, which is hosting the national women's wing working committee meet for the first time. The party had decked up the city with saffron flags and huge cutouts of the party's national figures.

"We have spent a huge a mount for arranging a grand welcome for the national leaders. Now I have been told that Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, party's Rajya Sabha MP Hema Malini and National General Secretary Sanjay Joshi will skip the meet. Now all the expenditure is looking meaningless," a senior party functionary said ruefully.

Karuna Shukla, the party's women's wing national president, told IANS: "Yes, the key leaders are not available for the women's wing national meet but the conclave will go as per schedule."

However, Shukla has managed to convince the party's former president Venkaiah Naidu to attend the inaugural session Sep 2. Indore legislator Sumitra Mahajan will be present for the valedictory session Sep 3.

Said Shukla: "The meet will focus on reviving the old demand of 33 percent reservation quota in parliament for women candidates, women's empowerment and the rising graph of female foeticide."

Shiv Shankar Menon is India's new foreign secretary

New Delhi, September 1 (IANS) The Indian government Thursday named Shiv Shankar Menon, the country's present envoy to Islamabad, as its new foreign secretary, ending weeks of speculation over who would get the top bureaucratic job in the foreign office.

Menon will succeed Shyam Saran, who will become the prime minister's special envoy for dealing with the United States on the intensely negotiated and discussed civilian nuclear deal that awaits legislative endorsement by US Congress.

Menon will take charge of his new office on Oct 1 this year. He is the third Indian high commissioner (ambassador) to Pakistan to become foreign secretary, the previous two being S.K. Singh and J.N. Dixit.

Menon has served as envoy to important countries like China, Japan, Sri Lanka, Israel and Austria.

An Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1972 batch, Menon's impressive diplomatic career also includes a stint as an advisor to the Atomic Energy Commission.

A student of history - he did his masters in history from Delhi University - Menon speaks several foreign languages, including Chinese and German, and is known for his love of classical music and mountaineering.

Menon's three-year tenure as high commissioner to Pakistan saw a dramatic turnaround in India-Pakistan relations, starting from the resumption of the stalled peace process Jan 6, 2004 to a straining of bilateral ties on the issue of Pakistan's continuing patronage of cross-border terrorism.

He took over as New Delhi's envoy in Islamabad in July 2003 at a time when bilateral relations were at a low with air and rail links suspended between the two countries following the Dec 13, 2001 attack on the Indian parliament.

For the next two years, the Indian high commission in Islamabad issued a record number of visas leading to an unprecedented surge in people-to-people contacts between the subcontinental neighbours.

The terror attacks in Mumbai last month, in which India suspected the hand of Pakistan-based militants, however, not only soured relations but also led to the postponement of foreign secretary-level talks, raising questions about the future of the peace process.

As India's ambassador to China, Menon's tenure saw the first serious effort made for the resolution of the decades-old border dispute between India and China during then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit in 2003.

Menon's appointment is likely to be followed by the appointment of a full-fledged foreign minister by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. India has had no foreign minister since Natwar Singh was made to resign last December following his naming in the UN Volcker report regarding corruption in Iraq's oil-for-food programme.

The external affairs ministry is currently headed by two junior ministers, or ministers of state - Anand Sharma and E. Ahamed.

Space shuttle Atlantis launch reset for Wednesday

Washington, Sep 1 (DPA) NASA rescheduled its next space shuttle launch for Wednesday after a delay to wait out a tropical storm, the second time the mission was postponed.

Atlantis and its crew of six were slated to lift off at 1629 GMT Wednesday on a construction mission to the orbiting International Space Station (ISS), the US space agency said Thursday on its website.

Mission managers began moving the shuttle Tuesday toward its protective hangar, then reversed direction after weather forecasters said that tropical storm Ernesto had weakened and was unlikely to regain hurricane-strength winds over Florida.

NASA put off an initially scheduled Sunday liftoff to inspect the launch site after a severe lightning strike. The rescheduled launch on Tuesday was too close to Ernesto's expected arrival at Cape Canaveral, site of the Kennedy Space Centre

Special committee formed to curb polio cases

By Prashant K. Nanda,

New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS) The Indian government has set up a special committee to check cases of polio that have more than doubled since 2005.

Till the first week of August the country reported 155 cases, as against 66 last year. Most cases are from Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous state.

"The committee comprising doctors, health workers and health ministry officials will work in collaboration with state governments and NGOs," Health Minister Ambumani Ramadoss told IANS on the sidelines of a function on health tourism.

The committee will focus on Uttar Pradesh that has reported over 100 cases this year.

While 56 cases have been detected in Moradabad district, Muzaffarnagar and Baduan districts have reported 21 and 20 cases respectively. Aligarh, Mainpuri, Bulandshahr and Bareilly districts have also reported new cases.

"We have already spoken to the Uttar Pradesh government. We will try and explain the magnitude of the problem to the villagers and how they can administer polio drops to their kids," the minister said.

Experts say about 40 million children under five years need to be vaccinated in each round of the polio immunisation campaign.

Ramadoss said a special immunisation drive had been launched in Uttar Pradesh and some parts of Bihar. "I will inspect these areas within a month," he added.

David Heymann, WHO's special representative for polio eradication, said here last month that that India was responsible for most cases of the virus that were hitting the world.

Heymann said the Indian virus has hit five countries: Nepal, Bangladesh, Angola, Namibia and Congo.

Supreme Court rejects plea against Lalu Prasad

New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS) The Supreme Court Friday dismissed as withdrawn a petition seeking a probe into the expenditure incurred by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad for his daughter's marriage at a five-star hotel here this year.

The petition filed by the Ashoka Hotel Majdoor Union alleged that about Rs.2.1 million (Rs 21 lakhs) were paid in cash to the Ashoka Hotel for the wedding ceremony there on April 30.

A bench of judges K.G. Balakrishnan and D.K. Jain told the counsel for the petitioner, D.K. Garg that "this is not a police station. If you have any grievance, lodge a complaint with the police."

The counsel then sought permission to withdraw the petition and the bench dismissed it as withdrawn.

Suresh Mehta to be next naval chief

New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS) Vice Admiral Suresh Mehta, flag officer commanding-in-chief of the Eastern Naval Command (ENC), will be the next chief of the Indian Navy as he takes over from Admiral Arun Prakash Nov 1.

Mehta, who assumed the command of the premier ENC Sep 30, 2005 has held various positions of the Indian Navy such as assistant controller of carrier projects, assistant chief of personnel (human resource development) and director general, Coast Guard.

He is also credited for the commencement of aircraft acquisition programmes, construction of air defence ships and the establishment of a strong, vibrant and visible Indian Coast Guard.

Prior to taking over the ENC, Mehta was the deputy chief of Naval Staff, where he was instrumental in marshalling the resources of the navy to provide immediate relief in tsunami-struck areas in the country and its immediate neighbourhood.

It was during this period that the war room leak case erupted where naval officers allegedly passed on sensitive information to civilians.

The present incumbent Admiral Prakash assumed charge of the Indian Navy, as the 20th Chief of Naval Staff, on 31 July 2004.

Tourism schemes merged, project funds enhanced

New Delhi, September 1 (IANS) Aiming to provide a "better experience" to tourists, the government Thursday approved plans to merge two existing schemes for developing tourism circuits and destinations while raising the allocation for selected projects several fold.

"The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the merger of the two existing schemes for assisting tourism infrastructure development," Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi told media here.

The 'Integrated Development of Tourist Circuits' and 'Product/Infrastructure and Destination Development' will be merged and will be called the 'Product/Infrastructure Development for Destinations and Circuits'.

"The ceiling on the project cost for tourism infrastructure development concerning the identified destinations and circuits would be raised with the government of India's contribution to be capped at Rs.250 million for destination development and Rs.500 million for circuit development instead of existing Rs.50 million and Rs.80 million for selected projects," the minister said.

The selection of the identified circuits and destinations would be based on the tourist traffic.

The government estimates that the approved revision will lead to the development of world-class tourism infrastructure in at least 15 identified major tourist destinations/circuits in the country.

In addition, one major circuit and two major destinations per state will also be taken up, as prioritised in consultation with the concerned states and union territories.

"The implementation of this scheme will result in a better experience for the tourists visiting these places," said Dasmunsi.

This increase in the tourist traffic is expected to result in more employment and improved socio-economic conditions for the region.

India currently receives around 3.5 million visitors annually from overseas while the domestic traffic is estimated to be well over 10 million.

Traditional wisdom adding uniqueness to our legal system: PM

New Delhi, September 1 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday said a combination of traditional wisdom mixed with European rationalism and liberalism gives the Indian legal system a unique character.

Releasing a book "India's Legal System: Can it be Saved?", written by leading jurist Fali S. Nariman, at his 7, Race Course residence, the prime minister said this uniqueness is handsomely celebrated by the writer whom he knew well.

Manmohan Singh said he has been greatly admired by the writer's wit, wisdom, humanism, sense of humour and profound understanding of the constitution besides his legal acumen.

The book raises questions on the country's judiciary, legal system, social and national institutions, and processes.

Nariman, widely considered as one of India's finest constitutional lawyers, raises some very pertinent questions about the division of powers between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary.

"This is an area where we need political and societal consensus so that each of the pillars of our democracy and our republic can be revitalised," the prime minister said.

In the book, Nariman writes: "The law is not merely about cases, nor about legal rights. It is also about hard work and integrity. The judiciary of the 21st century, along with the legal profession, needs to set an example in exemplary self-discipline; discipline in approach, discipline in lifestyle; discipline in thought, word and deed... As the Bhagavad Gita says, whatsoever important men and women say and do, other men follow."

ULFA to talk 48 hours after leaders' release

Guwahati, Sep 1 (IANS) The outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) Friday said it was ready to hold talks in Assam's capital Dispur within 48 hours if New Delhi released its five jailed leaders.

"It seems the government of India has deliberately forgotten our earlier stated stand that we are ready to hold talks within 48 hours if our demands are met," ULFA said in its mouthpiece Swadhinata.

Holding of direct peace talks between the ULFA and government negotiators was deadlocked with New Delhi last week seeking a formal letter from the group saying it was ready for direct talks, name its negotiating team, and specify a timeframe for the dialogue.

"There is no need for writing a fresh letter to the government as the ULFA has already expressed its desire to solve the problem politically through talks," the statement said.

New Delhi Aug 13 announced a 10-day suspension of army operations against the ULFA. This was later extended by another 15 days.

The term of halting military operations expires Sep 7. The ULFA too reciprocated the government's "goodwill gesture" by announcing cessation of hostilities for an indefinite period.

"It is not important as to who represents ULFA in the talks. Will the government clarify in clear terms if it was going to discuss the issue of sovereignty (independence)," the ULFA said.

"The most important issue is whether the government would withdraw the occupational forces (army and paramilitary) from Assam."

The main issue now blocking the start of formal face-to-face talks between the ULFA and Indian government negotiators is the rebel demand for the release of five of its jailed leaders. ULFA says it cannot take a decision without their five central committee leaders in jail.

The Indian government fears that ULFA could back out of the talks once the five jailed leaders are released.

The People's Consultative Group (PCG), an 11-member team of civil society leaders nominated by the ULFA to begin exploratory talks with the government, too is pressing New Delhi to release the jailed rebel leaders.

UN Economic Report warns about dangers of global trade imbalances

New York, Sep 1 (IndianMuslims.info): Although a major global economic crisis is unlikely, significant trade imbalances are posing a threat to long-term world economic health, a new United Nations report warns.

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in its annual report released today, characterizes the global economy as one of “relatively fast growth in developing countries, driven by strong global demand originating mainly in the United States and amplified by the rapid expansion of the large Chinese economy.�

The report finds little evidence of a looming major financial crisis, comparable to the Asian or Latin American crises of 10 years ago.

It notes that many developing countries are now less vulnerable to big shocks because they have stabilized their exchange rates at low levels and are running sizeable current-account surpluses and accumulating large amounts of dollar reserves.

That approach poses a problem, however, because it “can only function as long as there is at least one country in the global economy that accepts running the corresponding trade deficit,� the report says.

That country, the US, has become overburdened in its role as “global engine for growth.� UNCTAD economists fear that, at some point, American demand will no longer be able to act as a bulwark against worldwide deflation and recession.

They add that other key industrial countries have not only failed to play their part, but have actually added to the US’ burden by running up huge surpluses of their own.

They say countries like Japan and Germany must increase their domestic demand to prevent a sharp devaluation of the American dollar that could send shocks reverberating throughout the developing world.

The report notes that China’s surging domestic demand and imports have played a positive and vital role in spreading and sustaining global growth. To prevent that process from being derailed, its currency, the renminbi, should not be revalued too quickly.

UNCTAD economists say that redressing global imbalances requires a responsible multilateral effort rather than pressure on the developing world.

“A well-coordinated international macroeconomic approach would considerably enhance the chances of poorer countries being able to preserve and continue recent improvements in their growth performances,� the report notes.

UN report warns Asia to prepare for financial downturn

By Arun Kumar,

United Nations, Sep 1 (IANS) A new UN report warns Asian governments to reduce exposure to the impact of a sudden or unexpected market downturn, urging a mood of protection and preparation rather than the celebratory atmosphere of current prosperity.

Asian countries have to stay alert despite the lull in financial markets recently, says the report, "The Calm Before the Storm? Managing the Risks of an Asia-Pacific Financial Downturn", released by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) Thursday.

"There are a number of new emerging risks which may lead to more stormy weather ahead," the report warns, citing possible interest rates hikes in developed countries, oil price shocks, housing market overheating, and investor overreaction and contagion.

The region evokes bitter memories of the Asian financial crisis in 1997 but notes that countries of the region "are now in a stronger position to handle turbulence". Governments have improved economic policies, depend less on portfolio flows, and have bigger foreign reserves and better banking sectors.

The report cautions that "as Asian economies are becoming more integrated into the global economy, they also face a higher risk from the constantly shifting global environment". It calls for governments to focus on controlling inflation and debt, improving banking regulations, and monitoring complex financial products.

"Countries in the Asia-Pacific region must improve regional cooperation to lessen the impact of financial market volatility," the report says, recommending strengthening existing regional cooperation schemes by making more funds available against disruptive capital movements, ramping up regional surveillance of country policies and extending these schemes to more countries.

US arms firms see huge opportunity in India

Washington, Sep 1(IANS) As India's economic and strategic ties to the United States expand, defence contractors are eyeing its growing military budget and ageing arsenal as a multibillion dollar opportunity.

According to the Washington Post, at stake are contracts worth billions that could help offset a projected slowdown in Pentagon weapons spending and extend production lines for such items as the F-16 fighter.

While not the largest foreign defence market, the daily said industry officials and analysts consider it one of the fastest growing as it replaces fleets of Soviet-era planes and goes shopping for new radar and missile systems.

The largest near-term opportunity is India's plan to buy 126 fighter aircraft, which would replace their older Russian MiGs. Lockheed and Boeing are marketing their F-16 and F-18 aircraft respectively, squaring off against Britain's Eurofighter and Israel's Rafael.

"That will be the bellwether. How serious is India in looking at us as a supplier, how serious is the US in releasing technology?" Joel L. Johnson, an analyst at Teal Group Corp., a Fairfax research firm, told the Post.

"It's an untapped market that nobody has the inside track on yet," Johnson said citing Teal Group's estimate that India's defence budget is expected to reach more than $23 billion this year, compared with about $13 billion in 2000.

"The Indians have money, their economy is growing and, so, US companies are guessing that when our own defence budget finally gets crunched" the Indian market will be profitable, he was quoted as saying.

For both Lockheed and Boeing the orders could help extend their production lines. Lockheed has supported the F-16 line for years with international orders, but recently began laying off hundreds of workers as it prepared for demand to dwindle.

"If they pick us to re-capitalise their Air Force, you're talking about 25 years of relationship," the daily quoted Ron Covais, Lockheed's vice president for corporate international business development as saying.

Several of the Pentagon's largest contractors, including Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co., have either opened new offices or beefed up existing ones in India and are part of an industry-wide wooing of military officials and business leaders there.

Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., maker of the Black Hawk helicopter, opened an office in India in April and is competing for a contract for 200 helicopters potentially worth more than $3 billion. General Dynamics Corp., based in Falls Church, bought an Indian company in 2004 and is using it to sell communications equipment.

The Aerospace Industries Association, a lobbying group, is planning a trip there in December with executives from up to 20 companies.

"The biggest hurdle is going to be patience," Torkel Patterson, president of Raytheon International Inc., said of joining the market. "We're getting to know each other."

The company is hoping to sell Patriot missiles to India and to help it upgrade its missile defence system.

Overseas sales have become an increasingly important part of revenue for US defence contractors. Lockheed, headquartered in Bethesda, aims to increase its foreign business to 20 percent of revenue by the end of the decade, up from about 14 percent now.

Lockheed got a "toe" into the Indian market this year when it was hired to supply parts for submarines. "It's modest, but part of confidence building," said Lockheed's Covais.

Developing a significant presence in India will not be easy. The country has traditionally bought its weapons from Europe or Russia and has a complicated and lengthy procurement process, according to industry insiders cited by the Post.

"The cost of marketing could equal 5 to 10 percent of contract. You're looking at a lot of upfront costs," said Richard Aboulafia, an aviation analyst for Teal Group.

Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman, the maker of the Global Hawk, has tapped the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development for help, as it prepares to open an office in New Delhi next year.

The agency has arranged meetings for the firm and introduced them to Indian military officials, company officials said. "They have been educating us on how the Indian aerospace business has been developing," said Scott Porter, a Northrop vice president.

Critical to any contract, industry officials acknowledge, will be partnerships with Indian businesses, the Post said. The Indian government is expected to require contractors to do about 30 percent of the work in the country, aiding local businesses and ensuring that they will have access to critical technologies.

US Open: Henin-Hardenne sails into third round

New York, Sep 1 (DPA) Second seed Justine Henin-Hardenne continued her march at the US Open as she destroyed American teenager Vania King 6-1, 6-2 to sail into the third round Thursday.

Former champions Svetlana Kuznetsova and Lindsay Davenport were barely tested as they also advanced into the third round.

Tenth seed Davenport, the 1998 winner, blanked out Croatian Jelena Kostanic 6-0, 6-0 while 2004 champion Kuznetsova of Russia was equally merciless in a 6-1, 6-1 win against teenaged American Lauren Albanese.

Henin-Hardenne, winner of five titles this season on the WTA, followed suit for seeds on a day of blowouts. She has lost only three games in both of her matches so far at Flushing Meadows.

The Belgian, who is playing only her second hardcourt event of the summer, came to New York with a title from New Haven at the weekend, won her 24th match in eight appearances at the event.

Henin-Hardenne needed just over an hour to advance, profiting from 21 unforced errors of the racket of her inexperienced opponent.

Davenport, the highest-ranked American at 11th in the world and soon to retire at age 30, was revelling in her 40-minute outing.

"On some days, everything seems to be working very well. I knew I had a match to play Friday, so I tried to gout off as soon as possible. I'm happy I was able to play that way and hopefully I can keep it going."

Davenport struck her 24 winners almost at will as she broke the neophyte six times while never facing a break point.

Kuznetsova was hardly troubled by the 16-year-old from Florida playing in her first Grand Slam event.

Uttar Pradesh bureaucrats 'political agents': Mayawati

Lucknow, Sep 1 (IANS) Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati Friday flayed the Uttar Pradesh bureaucracy accusing them of turning into "political agents" of the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP).

Addressing a press conference here, the former chief minister raised strong objections to the participation of some top bureaucrats at a political function organised by the SP to mark the completion of three years of the Mulayam Singh Yadav government here on Monday.

"What bigger proof do you need about blatant politicisation of the bureaucracy by Mulayam, when the state chief secretary not only shares the dais with party leaders but also addresses a political function," said Mayawati.

"If chief secretary Naveen Chandra Bajpai was so keen to shower praises on the chief minister he should have done so after resigning from service."

Seeking to focus attention on what she termed the emergence of extra-constitutional parallel centres of power in Uttar Pradesh, the BSP president said: "It was highly objectionable that the chief minister's son Akhilesh Singh Yadav was giving away cheques to beneficiaries under various government welfare schemes."

"If the chief minister cannot find time to personally give away these cheques, then some minister should be doing it, and if none of the ministers have the time, then the task should be entrusted to some government official. Not to the son of the chief minister who is just a party MP."

State Congress president Salman Khurshid too has shot off separate letters to Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami and Minister of State for Personnel and Public Grievances Suresh Pachauri drawing their attention to what he termed as conversion of top state bureaucrats into a "team of ruling party workers".

Khurshid has accused Yadav of trying to use the administrative machinery to meet his political ends for the assembly elections scheduled early next year. He has sought the election commission's intervention for removal of both the chief secretary and director general of police before the polls.

While the chief minister was not available for comment, state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Azam Khan came out in strong defence of the erring bureaucrats. "It is the chief minister's prerogative to summon or invite bureaucrats whenever or wherever he considers necessary. So there was nothing wrong in their attending the function since the chief minister had invited them," he emphasized.

He, however, declined to comment on chief secretary Bajpai addressing a political gathering.

Vande Mataram stand softened

It not just evokes strong patriotic sentiments, but the national song now in its 100th year, has also stirred up a huge controversy. After strongly opposing BJP's directive making Vande Matarm compulsory in all schools in states where its in power, Muslim's in Lucknow are crying peace.

The Muslim Personal Law Board has said that it will not oppose the move to make Vande Mataram compulsory in all schools as long as a translation of the song is made in Arabic and discussed with them.

“The solution to the controversy can be reached only if a proper translation of the original song is made. Then Islamic intellectuals can judge it, since our Ulemas are not master's in Sanskrit. This work should be done by joint efforts,� opined Shia leader Kalbe Javwad.

While at least one leader of the AIMPLB has stepped forward to diffuse the crisis, it appears he's not being backed by the rest of the organisation.

“India is a democratic, secular country. You cannot force anyone to do or not do anything. No Indian – of any community – needs to prove to another Indian his/her love for the country,� said Khalid Rashid, vice-president, All India Muslim Personal Law Board .

While political parties continue to use the issue to score political mileage, a coordinated effort by both communities could help resolve the crisis.

Source: http://www.timesnow.tv/articleshow/1944894.cms

World Cup win will fetch Indian hockey team Rs.10 mn reward

New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS) The Indian hockey team stands the chance of bagging Rs.10 million if they win the World Cup starting in Germany Wednesday.

Announcing the incentive, in conjunction with ESPN-STAR Sports and Leisure Sports Management (LSM), the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) said here Friday that even if the team wins the silver or the bronze medal it would still be rewarded.

The 18-member team would receive Rs.5 million if it wins silver and Rs.2.5 million if it bags bronze.

"It's indeed a big day for Indian hockey. The rewards announced by the Premier Hockey League (PHL) will inspire the Indian team to give their best shot at the World Cup," IHF president K.P.S. Gill told reporters.

PHL is the innovative national league conceived by IHF, LSM and ESPN-STAR Sports. The incentive is expected to give a fillip to the Indian team trying to win the country's second World Cup ever.

The only time India, eight-time Olympics gold medallist, won the World Cup was in 1975 in Kuala Lumpur where Ajit Pal Singh was the captain.

Besides the cash awards, the PHL announced it would also bear the medical expenses of injured drag-flicker Sandeep Singh and sponsor a video analyst for the team for one year. The analyst has already joined the team in Germany.

Sandeep was shot when a railway police officer's revolver accidentally went off while he was travelling to New Delhi on the Chandigarh-Delhi Shatabdi Express Aug 22.

He was going to New Delhi to join the World Cup-bound Indian team that left for Germany that day. He was later operated upon, and was ruled out of the tournament.

R.C. Venkateish, managing director ESPN Software India Pvt. Ltd., said the incentive would help attract youngsters to the game.

"Supporting the Indian team is a critical part of our strategy. Success at international level will attract more and more youngsters to take up hockey as a lucrative career option," he said.

The sponsoring a video analyst was also lauded by national coach Vasudevan Baskaran, who is currently with the team in Germany.

"The video analyst is as much as a training tool as it is a strategy tool. We are confident that the team performance will improve with the addition of a video analyst," Baskaran said in a statement from Germany.

11 Muslims face trial in Australia

Melbourne, September 2 (NDTV.COM) Eleven Muslim men accused of being part of a terror module plotting massive strikes in Australia were ordered by a court in Melbourne to stand trial.

The men were among 13 people arrested for allegedly planning terror attacks in the country, including a possible strike on a nuclear reactor in Sydney.

Ten of them were arrested in pre-dawn raids in November last year, while other three were held later in March.

Not guilty

The men have pleaded not guilty to all charges against them.

Magistrate Paul Smith committed the eleven Muslims to stand trial and said he will hear the submissions of two others - Shane Kent and Aimen Joud - on September 18.

Smith did not comment when asked about evidence presented during the committal hearing that lasted six weeks, but said there was enough evidence for a possible conviction.

The eleven accused are: the group's alleged spiritual leader Algerian-born Abdul Nacer Benbrika (46), Fadal Sayadi(26), Majed Raad (22), Amer Haddara (26), Ahmed Raad (23), Abdullah Merhi (21), Hany Taha (31), Shoue Hammoud (26), Izzydeen Atik (26), Bassam Raad (24) and Ezzit Raad (24).

The men will remain in custody and the lawyers of most of them indicated bail applications might be filed in the coming weeks.

The prosecutor told the court during the hearing that the group was inspired and influenced by the terrorist outfit Al-Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden. (PTI)

12 LTTE boats destroyed: Sri Lanka

Colombo, Sep 2 (Xinhua) The Sri Lankan Navy has destroyed 12 boats of the Tamil Tigers in a fierce battle in the northern seas, the government said Saturday.

A government statement said that over 80 Sea Tigers were believed to have perished in the attack. The dead included five boatloads of the rebel suicide wing members.

The troops spotted the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) boats off Jaffna peninsula's Point Pedro area around 8.00 p.m. Friday.

The Sri Lankan Navy's Dvora fast attack craft opened fire at the boats which were believed to be proceedings to launch an attack on the Kankesanturai harbor, which provides the supply port facilities for some 45,000 government troops stationed in Jaffna peninsula.

"The battle continued till early Saturday when we successfully chased away the Tigers," an official spokesman said. There was no immediate response from the rebels to the navy claims of casualties.

The clashes in Jaffna peninsula began Aug 11 when the LTTE began attacking troops in the forward defense lines at Muhamalai in the southern sector of the peninsula.

Three weeks of fighting have left over 100 dead and was the worst since the government and the rebels signed a truce agreement in February 2002.

The international community has been appealing to the government and the rebels to revive the stalled peace process by eschewing violence.

14 held in anti-terror raids in London

London, Sep 2 (IANS) Anti-terrorism officials of Scotland Yard have arrested 14 men during overnight raids, with 12 of the suspects taken into custody from a 'Halal Chinese' restaurant in London.

The arrests came hours after Peter Clarke, head of the Metropolitan police's anti-terrorism branch, stating that the police and MI5 were thousands of British Muslims for suspected involvement in possible terrorist involvement.

Clarke said this in an interview to a BBC2 documentary, 'Al Qaeda: Time to Talk', which investigates British Muslim connections with the terror network.

The 14 arrests in London were made during raids that were described as "planned, intelligence-led operation". But the police said they were not connected to the alleged transatlantic jet bomb plot or the July 7 attacks in London.

The police said the men were arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.

Raids were also conducted in other parts of London.

The 'Halal Chinese' restaurant owner Madi Blyani told BBC: "It was surprising actually, because plenty of them suddenly came in all together. There were more than 50 or 60 of them.

"They suddenly came inside because they were suspicious of some of the customers, and they talked to them. They talked to them (for) more than one hour, two hours. And they arrested some of them. So it was obviously surprising for me, my staff, for everyone anyway."

Clarke said: "What we've learnt since 9/11 is that the threat is not something that's simply coming from overseas into Britain. What we've learnt, and what we've seen all too graphically and all too murderously, is that we have a threat which is being generated here within Britain."

Asked roughly how many Muslims were being looked at, Clarke said: "I don't want to go down the numbers game, I don't think it's helpful ... all I can say is that our knowledge is increasing and certainly in terms of broad description, the numbers of people who we have to be interested in, are into the thousands."

He added: "That includes a whole range of people, not just terrorists, not just attackers, but the people who might be tempted to support or encourage or to assist."

25 suspected insurgents convicted in Iraq

Baghdad, September 2 (NDTV.COM) An Iraqi court has convicted 25 people of charges stemming from suspected insurgent activity and sentenced them to terms ranging from one year to life imprisonment.

Most were convicted on charges of possession of unlicensed weapons, while five were found guilty of illegally entering the country, the coalition said in a statement.

Two of the defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment for "joining armed groups to unsettle the stability and security of Iraq," it said.

The Central Criminal Court of Iraq has held 1,414 trials of people who were alleged to have been involved in insurgent activity.

Of those, 1,214 people have been convicted, and sentences have ranged up to the death penalty.

500 surveillance centres to monitor gold purity

New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) plans to set up 500 surveillance centres in all major cities of the country to monitor the quality of gold and silver jewellery.

Inaugurating the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry's (ASSOCHAM) second international gold summit here, Minister of Company Affairs P.C. Gupta Saturday said it had come to the government's notice that jewellers were selling sub-standard jewellery to millions of consumers.

"The Department of Company Affairs has asked the BIS to set up 500 surveillance centres all over the country so that no cheating takes place. These centres would shortly become operational," he added.

He said the BIS had already found sub-standard products from various shops in Hyderabad, Kolkata and Jaipur.

"The nationwide BIS operations showed that 88 percent of shops, whose jewellery was tested by the inspectors, failed to follow purity levels. This kind of distortion is not going to be tolerated and, therefore, the government will set up centres to protect the millions of people in India who invest in gold and silver," Gupta said.

He also said his ministry would impose penalties against firms violating corporate governance rules to cheat small investors. The minimum penalty will be Rs.100,000.

Bakul R. Mehta, chairman of the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, said that out of 4,036 tonnes of gold, 2,712 tonnes were used for jewellery fabrication in 2005.

Jignesh Shah, managing director of MCX, a commodity trading body, said that gold trading, on an average, had reached about Rs.65 billion a day as against Rs.35 billion two months back.

Airbus to invest 1 bn pounds in new India centre

London, Sep 2 (IANS) The parent group of passenger jet maker Airbus is to invest more than 1 billion pounds in India in a bid to secure more orders for military equipment and passenger jets, reports here say.

European Aeronautic, Defense and Space (EADS) Company, the majority owner of Airbus, will invest the money on an engineering centre in India as part of its bid to compete with US rival Boeing for orders in the Indian sub-continent.

According to the company, the India Airbus Engineering Centre may create up to 2,000 jobs in engineering and computer-related services.

The money will be invested over the next 15 years as Indian state-owned military contractors grant more orders to private companies for military equipment, according to the Daily Post, Liverpool.

The newspaper reported that EADS is also seeking to gain more orders in India's rapidly expanding civil aviation industry, which it believes will require 960 aircraft by 2025.

Akbar Bugti laid to rest in Dera Bugti

Dera Bugti, Sep 2 (IANS) Baloch leader Akbar Khan Bugti was Friday laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard at Dera Bugti in Balochistan amid heavy security arrangements though none of his family members were present on the occasion, Online news agency reported.

Maulana Mohammad Malook Bugti from the tribe led the funeral prayer after the sealed coffin of Nawab Akbar Bugti was brought to Dera Bugti in a helicopter from the site of Kohlu.

The body of the slain leader, who was 79, killed in a military operation last Saturday, was retrieved Thursday evening from the rubbles of the cave where he was supposed to be hiding in Balochistan's hilly interior.

After the funeral prayers Bugti was laid to rest in his native graveyard along side his brother Ahmed Nawaz Bugti and son Saleem Bugti.

No one from the Bugti family attended the funeral prayers and less than two dozens people attended his funeral.

Stern security arrangements were made for this occasion.

Dera Bugti DCO Abdul Samad Lasi was quoted by Online as saying that the heirs and relations of the deceased were contacted for attending the funeral and waited for them for over 20 minutes but they did not show up.

The official told reporters that the condition of the body was deteriorating, as it was lying in the cave for several days, which had made its immediate burial imperative. He also said there was no need to show the face of late Bugti as Maulana Malok had already identified him.

He said a ring, glasses, watch and cane had been found from near the body due to which the body was identified as that of Nawab Bugti's.

Lasi told that Bugti's face and legs were intact while the middle part of his body was badly damaged as it had come under a boulder.

The government would cooperate in holding a DNA test if anybody had any suspicion of the identity of the body, the official said.

Meanwhile, Agha Shahid Bugti, the general secretary of the late leader's Jamhori Watan Party (JWP) termed the burial as regrettable act. He said burying the body in the absence of the family members was not Islamic.

He said journalists attending the funeral were not allowed to see the face of the late Nawab.

The news of the leader's burial became public even as the government braced to meet nationwide protests spearheaded by major opposition parties and alliances that alleged that the killing was deliberate.

Veteran Baloch leader Sardar Khair Baksh Marri termed the death of Bugti as "a targeted killing" and feared that his own son, Balach Marri, could be the next target.

Balach Marri, who was away in Dubai, was detained on returning home by the authorities last month. The government had the "mistaken notion" that Marri was the epicentre of all anti-state and terrorist activities, and Balach Marri was an "icon of resistance", the senior Marri said in an interview in the Dawn newspaper.

Fearing that Nawab Bugti's grandsons could also be "targeted", he said he prayed for their safety and was determined to assist them.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to blame India for its internal political crisis, Pakistan's Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afgan Niazi charged in the National Assembly that the "huge quantity of ammunition and currency recovered from the cave" was provided by "our neighbouring country to Akbar Bugti via Kabul".

Pakistan has for long been accusing India of fomenting trouble in Balochistan via the embassy in Kabul and consulates in Afghan cities close to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

This and a number of observations that the minister said were "personal", incensed the opposition, which boycotted the proceedings after nine separate adjournment motions it had submitted were disallowed Thursday by Speaker Chaudhry Ameer Hussain.

Niazi's justification of Bugti's killing angered the opposition in the National Assembly. "It is a right action if Bugti was killed in an encounter," The Nation quoted Niazi as saying.

The media noted that the chair had followed an "unprecedented" procedure in allowing the minister to speak and air personal views, although he had not given any notice. The News International said that even when the treasury bench members protested, Niazi said his remarks were "personal" and did not reflect the government's view.

Before boycotting the proceedings in the House, the opposition members charged that the Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti had been killed in a military operation wherein the security forces had used chemical weapons. Niazi denied the charge.

Alternative admission mode in place: nursery schools

New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) Four schools Saturday told the Delhi High Court they were ready with an alternative mechanism of "interacting with parents and observing children's behaviour" for nursery and pre-nursery admission interviews.

The high court had directed the Action Committee of Recognised Unaided Schools here on Aug 23 to put in place within a week an alternative mechanism to interviews for admissions to nursery and pre-nursery classes.

The private minority schools - St. Columba's, Carmel Convent, Mater Dei and St. Xavier's Senior Secondary School - said in a joint reply to the court direction that they would interact with "the parents of children seeking admissions to the two classes and observe the behaviour of the toddlers".

The children would be required to be present along with their parents in the interaction sessions but the former would not be interviewed. They would simply be allowed to be "on their own or with other children and would be observed", the reply said.

However, the reply clarified that admissions would not be granted on the basis of knowledge or performance of the children.

The schools will have the right to determine whether a child was of normal health or ill or mentally or physically challenged requiring special attention, the reply added.

The court has already protested against the practice of subjecting children and their parents to interviews for admissions to these classes in private unaided schools.

The bench had last year warned the action committee, an association of private unaided schools of the capital, that upon failure to agree on an alternative mechanism, it would pass appropriate orders.

The bench has been hearing appeals by parents of three nursery children against a single-judge order of the court whereby Justice S.K. Kaul had in January 2003 rejected their petitions seeking a direction to debar schools in the capital from subjecting parents as well as their wards to interviews for admissions to these classes.

Ashok Aggarwal, counsel for the three appellants, has already suggested a draw-of-lots method for admissions.

AMU teacher booked for attempt to murder

New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) A case of attempt to murder was registered Saturday by a student of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) against a teacher who had earlier been suspended for "mentally and sexually harassing" the same student.

Asma Javed, lodged the complaint against Mohammed Shareef, a reader in the department of Sanskrit, alleging there was pressure on her to withdraw the charges. She also alleged she was being denied admission to a PhD course.

"I am being punished for daring to complain against a professor. I have been threatened time and again. They want me to withdraw my complaint," Asma, who has been on hunger strike outside the vice chancellor's house since Thursday, told IANS over phone from Aligarh.

Asma, who was even shot at on the campus but survived, said: "The professor used to invite me over to his place and offer money."

Disgusted, she complained to AMU's women's grievance cell and the police. Goaded into action, the university suspended Shareef.

"This isn't the first complaint against Shareef. I am now being victimised for speaking up," said Asma, who wants Shareef axed.

In the past six months, three complaints have been lodged with the women's cell. Students say nine of them went to lodge complaints but only three were accepted.

Ancient coins tell interesting tales

By Anil Sharma,

Jaipur, Sep 2 (IANS) Ajay Dev, a 12th century ruler of the Chauhan dynasty whose kingdom was in Ajmer, loved his wife so much that he had coins issues engraved with her name. Some of his coins are among the over 500 on display at an exhibition of old coins at Jawahar Kala Kendra here.

The exhibition, which ends Sep 5, is attracting many visitors. Some of the coins date back to 2,600 years and include the 'panch mark' coins (with five marks), which officials say date from 600 BC to 200 BC.

There are other ancient coins too - from the Indo-Greek period (around 200 BC-1 AD) and Kushan period from roughly the same age, Gupta period (320-600 AD) and Mughal period (1527-1707 when Aurangzeb died and the empire started declining).

There are special coins of princely states, including Jaipur, Kota, Bikaner and Marwar. The exhibition has been organised by the archaeological and museum department of Rajasthan in collaboration with Jawahar Kala Kendra.

"It's a modest attempt by the archaeological department to display such coins. These are said to be the oldest coins in our country. They provide the source material to know about our glorious past and to educate people about the ancient cultural, political and socio-economic life," said Zafarulla Khan, a known numismatic and circle superintendent with the archaeological and museum department.

The Panch Mark coins are crowd pullers. They are the oldest in the exhibition and said to be the first known coins to be circulated in Indian history. Most of these silver coins have five marks on them and each weighs 3.2 grams.

Several coins have engravings that look like three human figures and a horse while some show a bent human figure with an object on his shoulders. Others depict a figure carrying two pots on the shoulder slung on the ends of a rod.

On certain coins the images are so blurred and invisible that it is difficult to decipher the impression. These coins were found from different parts of Rajasthan, particularly Virath Nagar, Tonk, Sikar, Chitorgarh and Sambhar areas.

According to Zafarulla Khan, it was noted numismatic John Ellen who first deciphered the marks on the coins in accordance with Western terms. But several Indian experts have challenged the interpretation of the coin engravings.

Indian numismatics including Zafarulla Khan think the engravings on the coins are purely figures of Indian gods and goddesses. They think a correct interpretation of the engravings could reveal important information about the culture of that era.

Anger speeds up lungs deterioration: Study

London, Sept 2 (ZEENEWS.COM) Lung power normally declines as a person ages but being angry and hostile can speed up the process, researchers said on Thursday.

In a study of 670 men ranging in age from 45 to 86, they found that males who had higher levels of long-standing anger at the start of the eight-year project had significantly poorer lung function at the end of it.

"This study is one of the first to show prospectively that hostility is associated with poorer pulmonary function and more rapid rates of decline among older men," said Dr Rosalind Wright, of Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, in a report online in the journal Thorax.

The scientists used a scoring system to measures the levels of anger of each of the men and they tested their lung power three times during the study.

Even after taking account of other factors such as smoking that can also have an impact on lung power, hostility and anger had a negative effect.

Anger, hostility and stress have also been associated with heart disease, asthma and other ailments.

Wright and her team suggested that the negative emotions could change biological process and may disturb the immune system and cause chronic inflammation.

"Stress-related factors are known to depress the immune function and increase susceptibility to or exacerbate a host of diseases and disorders," said Dr Paul Lehrer, of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, in an editorial in the journal.

He added that it is unknown how chronic anger contributes to physical deterioration but said the researchers established a link between chronic anger and age-related deterioration in lung function.

"The next step is to determine the exact pathway by which this happens," said Lehrer.

Annan in Iran to discuss nuclear dispute

Tehran, Sep 2 (DPA) UN Secretary General Kofi Annan arrived here for a two-day visit Saturday to persuade Iran to suspend uranium enrichment and avoid possible sanction due to its nuclear dispute with the UN Security Council.

Annan is to meet Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki and Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani. On Sunday, he will meet President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and discuss the nuclear row.

Army backs Musharraf's handling of Balochistan

Islamabad, Sep 2 (IANS) Pakistani Army commanders have reposed "full confidence" in the way President Pervez Musharraf is handling the volatile situation in Balochistan, a newspaper reported Saturday.

The Dawn said Musharraf, who chaired the meeting of commanders here Friday, stressed that it was the government's duty to ensure peace and tranquility in the country.

Musharraf also made it clear that nobody was above the law and that the writ of the government would have to be established throughout the country at all costs.

The remarks are widely seen as his justification of the killing of Baloch leader Akbar Khan Bugti in a military operation in Balochistan.

The killing sparked violence across Balochistan and parts of Sindh and Punjab.

The Dawn said Musharraf also took the corps commanders into confidence on the situation along the country's Afghan and Indian borders.

The meeting was attended by vice chief of army staff, all corps commanders and principal staff officers.

Australia must maintain close ties with India: Howard

Sydney, Sept 2 (ZEENEWS.COM) Australia has greatly benefited from India`s emergence as an economic power despite the pressure New Delhi`s demand for energy is placing on rising domestic fuel prices, Prime Minister John Howard said on Thursday.

After having only cricket and membership of the Commonwealth in common, the two countries had come closer economically over the past six years. India with its expanding middle class is an increasingly important trading partner, Howard said, while delivering the Accor-Quantas Australia India address.

But one of the ironies of the stronger economic ties was the pressure India`s economy was putting on fuel prices in Australia, he said.

"High petrol prices caused by high crude oil prices are there...More than anything else because of the rise economically of China and also increasingly of India," he said in a speech in which he outlined his government`s strategies and visions for its relations with India.

"Yet ironically Australia is a greater beneficiary of the rise economically of those two countries than most other developed countries."

India and China, with their affluent middle class, are "remarkably important to Australia" despite the pressure exerted by them on energy resources and the "very high prices we now groan under", he pointed out.

Noting that India was the world`s fourth largest economy and its national income would double every 30 years, Howard said, "the rise of India, of course, is one of the great phenomenons of the early part of the 21st century.

"I am personally very committed to the relationship and I know the Prime Minister of India is," Howard said.

The main areas where Australia`s relations with India would grow are IT, education, economic exchanges and the growing number of Indian migrants settling in the country, he told the event organised by the Australia India Business Council.

"About 11 to 12 per cent of Australia`s migration programme is now made up of citizens from India. It is the third largest source of migration to Australia and the second largest source of overseas students," he said.

"There is a real sense of excitement and a sense of anticipation about the relationships that our two countries have," said Howard who visited India in March with a trade delegation.

India had become the "nation that everybody is watching very attentively" because of the economic reforms it had initiated in the early 1990s, he said.

Howard also lavished praise on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who launched the reforms during his tenure as Finance Minister, for converting India from an "over-regulated, inward looking, heavily subsidised and heavily protected" economy into a major power.

Bangladesh's gains through cheap labour 'transitory'

Dhaka, Sep 2 (IANS) Dependence on cheap labour and long working hours in Bangladesh may mean high productivity and help in maintaining global competitiveness of its products, but gains are "transitory", says an ILO study.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has ranked Bangladesh among the top six economies in the world in terms of annual working hours.

Citing the example of the Asian "miracle economies," the study notes that the comparative advantage based on the intensive use of cheap and relatively unskilled labour was "transitory in nature," news agency BD News reported.

Focusing on the low labour costs, the ILO study said countries that try to exploit their comparative advantages of low labour costs by restricting wages may end up in a vicious cycle of low productivity, deficient training and a lack of skilled jobs. "And thus unable to compete effectively in the markets for skill-intensive products," it added.

The ILO study showed that between 20 to 35 percent of the employed workforce put in more than 50 hours on the job per week, Bangladesh Observer said.

Bangladesh is among the economies where long working hours are the norm. However, long working hours and bad conditions have led to agitations, large-scale violence and destruction, especially in the readymade garments and apparels factories - Bangladesh economy's mainstay in exports.

The government and the international labour agencies have often had to intervene to ease the volatile situation.

In the report by its director general made at the 14th Asian regional meeting in Busan, South Korea, the ILO called for new initiatives aimed at eliminating "decent work deficit".

BCCI congratulates women's team on Test series win

New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) Indian cricket board president Sharad Pawar Saturday congratulated the national women's team for its historic 1-0 Test series win in England.

"This was the first tour undertaken by the women's team after the merger with the BCCI and we hope the team does better in future," Pawar said in a congratulatory message to captain Mithali Ran and her teammates.

Pacer Jhulan Goswami took a 10-wicket match haul to propel India to a five-wicket win over England in the second and the final Test in Taunton Friday.

Goswami bagged both the Woman of the Match and Woman of the Series awards for her fine performances.

Anjum Chopra and Ran were the other players who made crucial contributions to the win.

Chopra, however, fell two runs short of a century in the first innings, while Ran made 65.

The first Test had ended in a draw.

Earlier, England won the five-match one-day international series 4-0, while one match was washed out.

It was the team's first series after the Women's Cricket Association of India merged with the Board of Control for Cricket in India as per instructions of the International Cricket Council.

BCCI launches partial website

Mumbai, Sep 2 (IANS) The Indian cricket board has finally launched its much-awaited website - the last amongst the 10 Test-playing nations - but only partially.

www.bcci.tv, the official website of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has been launched only to offer online tickets for the Champions Trophy to be played in India Oct 7 to Nov 5, the board said in a statement.

"For the convenience of our fans and cricket enthusiasts, we have provided this service of pre-booking your tickets and having the exclusive privilege of blocking the best seats at the various venues, subject to availability, of course," it said.

In all, 21 matches will be played at four venues in the Champions Trophy. The venues are Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Mohali and Jaipur.

The final will be played at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai Nov 5.

Beigh to resign from Kashmir ministry

Srinagar, Sep 2 (IANS) High-profile Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Beigh Saturday said he will quit the coalition ministry, ending a crisis threatening the state following the recent cabinet expansion.

"I will submit my resignation to the chief minister when he returns from New Delhi," the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader told newspersons here Saturday afternoon.

Beigh's announcement ends the two-day crisis gripping the coalition government after Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad refused to accept a PDP proposal over allocation of portfolios to PDP ministers including pruning of ministries held by Beigh.

"I will request Azad saab to relieve me of my responsibilities as deputy chief minister and as a minister of the PDP-Congress government," Beigh said.

The resignation of Beigh will pave the way for the appointment of a new PDP- nominated deputy chief minister.

Beigh denied he was party to the decision by Azad to retain him as deputy chief minister despite the PDP's decision to the contrary.

He said the PDP patron and former chief minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed had "pointed to four lapses on my part on four issues, which included the creation of eight new districts and the transfer of a senior superintendent of police from the PDP stronghold of Anantnag.

"However, I didn't want friction in the coalition ministry on these issues and that is why I went by the cabinet decisions. I told this to Mufti," Beigh said.

Border trade with Southeast Asia to be encouraged

Aizawl, Sep 2 (IANS) The centre would provide all help to boost border trade between the country's northeastern region and Southeast Asia, said union Commerce Minister of State Jairam Ramesh Saturday here.

"The centre has promised all possible assistance to the northeastern states by improving infrastructure, including roads along the borders to boost trade between the region and the neighbouring countries," the minister told reporters here.

In June, the commerce ministry offered airfreight assistance for perishable products meant for exports from the northeast with 90 percent subsidy up to Bagdogra and Kolkata and 50 percent concessions up to Delhi and Mumbai.

The government had earlier announced a Rs.40 million grant to develop the land customs station at Zokhawtar in Mizoram to facilitate border trade with Myanmar. The Border Roads Organisation is executing the project.

"Another Rs.20.5 million has been sanctioned for developing infrastructure facilities at Demagiri to promote border trade with Bangladesh," the minister said.

BSF, BDR meet on contentious issues

By Kishalay Bharttacharjee

Shillong, September 2 (NDTV.COM) Tensions along the Indo-Bangaldesh border escalated in June this year when the BDR had a run in with the BSF.

Several activists have been suspected of operating out of Bangladesh and the porous border between the two countries has been a further cause of concern.

There were reports of exchange of fire on the Indo-Bangladesh border in south Assam when Bangladeshi civilians tried to enter Indian territory despite a BSF warning.

At the same time in Shillong another BSF-BDR meet was on, in which the BSF resubmitted its list of wanted activists believed to be operating out of Bangladesh.

The response was predictable.

"I am always asked specifically about Anup Chetia, we have shared a list containing 103 names in which this name is also there.

"Their reply whenever we share a list is that nobody in the list is staying there and if they are we will come back to you," said S K Dutta, IG, BSF.

Escalating tension

There's been tension along the Bangla border since June 28 when the BDR fired at the BSF.

This 20-km stretch in South Assam is where thousands of villagers still live in refugee camps.

"We discussed the firing incident in Cachar district. We said that you started firing, heavy weapons were used by you. We told them this would not be allowed," said Dutta.

Post Mumbai blasts there's been concern about jehadis crossing the border.

"There are reports that ISI is active in Bangladesh along with the DGFI and we have reports also that in Assam certain youths are being taken to Bangladesh to train on jehadi activities and sent back to Assam," said Sinha, IG BSF.

"But what was specifically asked was that we are feeling concerned about large amount of arms coming in and we asked them where are these weapons coming from, where have they been sourced from?" said Dutta.

"On the ground I have multiple constraints. This is at times irritating but it's part of the job. We have to pursue our agenda," he added.

Clearly, on the ground, Bangladesh is a difficult neighbour.

Bugti killing: Pak army braces for protests

By Munizae Jehangir

Quetta, September 2 (NDTV.COM) Pakistani forces have braced themselves for demonstrations following the burial of Nawab Bugti who was killed in a military raid in Balchistan.

Earlier in the day, the Nawab's body was brought in a sealed coffin, and immediately after the funeral prayers the body was buried his native Dera Bugti town.

Maulana Malook who performed funeral prayers and Bugti's estranged nephew Haider Bugti were present at the scene.

Journalists, relatives and fellow tribesmen were not allowed near the body.

The Nawab's son Jamil Bugti said the family demanded that authorities handover his body but no one from the government informed that his remains have been found.

The Opposition has called for a nationwide strike on Friday over the incident and has warned that the repercussions could endanger the federation as well as the existence of the country.

The incident has not just shocked civil society and the media but also prominent members of the ruling PML party, who have publicly expressed grief over the Nawab's death.

Despite widespread condemnation the Pakistan President has vowed that the military operation in Balochistan will continue till all "miscreants" are eliminated.

However, others think that this will only lead a spiral of violence.

"This will have more reactions. Those who talked of democracy will be pushed to the back and people will take to the gun," said Hasil Bizenjo, Secretary General, National Party, Balochistan.

Discontent among youth

The creation of Nawab Bugti as a martyr has inspired the younger generation of Balochs, who took to the streets in violent protests, but it has weakened democratic forces within Balochistan, who are still advocating for a political solution to the crisis.

"We have been observing for the past two-three days that the young generation is taking matters into its hands and the political parties are quite helpless," said Zahoor Ahmad Shawani, Vice Chairperson, Balochistan Chapter, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

In the last few days, the Baloch Student Organization has been in the forefront of political agitation against the killing of Nawab Bugti.

They have been involved in the violent riots that followed, and hundreds of their members have been arrested.

Till last week, they were affiliated with Baloch nationalist parties but now they have broken away and taken to the path of violence.

"At the moment BSO does not have any affiliation with anyone. They say that we should go to the Parliament of Pakistan and we say no because we cannot achieve our goals through parliamentary politics. We do not trust in this Parliament."

"We do not believe in violence and neither have we taken to the path of violence so far. We are being pressurized now and all doors are being closed upon us," said Fahim Baloch, Member, Baloch Student Organization.

With the death of one of the last political stalwarts of Balochistan the youth is feeling disenchanted, and with Islamabad looking the other way, the sense of alienation has never been more.

CCS to discuss fighting internal terrorism

New Delhi, September 2 (NDTV.COM) The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) will meet on Saturday to finalise its new look policy on fighting internal terrorism.

After the Mumbai blasts, the Home Ministry had renewed its focus on improving intelligence gathering and sensitising states.

Five key issues - Jammu and Kashmir, North East, Naxalism, hinterland security and communal violence - will be discussed.

This meeting is a precursor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's meeting with chief ministers on September 5 to deal with internal security.

Central team to tour Rajasthan's flood-affected areas

Jaipur, Sep 2 (IANS) A central government team will tour Rajasthan's flood-affected areas on Sunday.

"The nine-member team will be headed by D.K. Sikri, the registrar general of India. It will tour almost all the flood-affected areas in the state," Rajasthan's relief secretary R.K. Meena said here Saturday.

Twelve districts of the state were affected by a flood-like situation in recent months. These include Udaipur, Banswara, Chittorgarh, Dungarpur, Rajsamand, Jhalawar, Kota, Barmer, Jalore, Pali, Sirohi and Jaisalmer.

Over 139 people have died in different incidents and heavy damage was caused to roads, electricity, water supply and dams.

The desert district of Barmer was the worst affected due to flash floods. Over 800,000 people out of a population of 2 million were affected.

There are also reports of large-scale damage to houses and property in Barmer. Unconfirmed reports say 5,200 houses were damaged and agriculture crop worth Rs.300 million was wiped out.

The state government has sought a special package of Rs.32 billion from the union government for the losses suffered.

"The team would tour these districts from Sep 3 and come to Jaipur on Sep 6 when they would hold a meeting with the chief secretary here," Meena said.

He said that relief operations have been stepped up in the Barmer district where life was returning to normal. Efforts were also on to drain water in Malva and Kawas villages of the district, he added.

Kawas and Malva are still submerged in over eight feet of water. The state government is planning to relocate these villages.

Church must also woo Hindu SCs, OBCs to its cause: Experts

By Pervez Bari

New Delhi, Sept. 2 (IndianMuslims.info): A powerful call by a Dalit Bishop for unity amongst Dalit Christian groups, and a pioneering bureaucrats advice to the Church to win support amongst non-Christian Dalits for its cause by voluntarily opening up its education institutions to Scheduled Castes, (SCs), and Other Backward Classes, (OBCs), have marked the current phase of advocacy before the Justice Mishra Commission which ended on Wednesday at a Workshop in Delhi university.

The Workshop organized for the Justice Ranganath Mishra National Commission for Minorities by the Delhi School of Economics was the last in a series of similar seminars seeking expert opinion on the demand for Scheduled Caste status, and its inherent protection under law, made by Christian converts from former untouchable castes. Workshops have been held earlier in Delhi and Mumbai (by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences). The Commission also held hearings in several other towns.

The Ranganath Mishra Commission is to submit its report by October 31, 2006 to the Government, which has promised to pass on its findings to the Supreme Court of India which is hearing a series of Public Interest Litigation, (PIL), petitions on the issue. The Hindutva Parivar, by proxy, is also in the Supreme Court challenging the Christians who want the court to undo the Presidential order of 1950 which restricts affirmative action only to Hindu Dalits (later extended to Buddhists and Sikhs too).

Eminent Dalit activists including priests and lay leaders, as also internationally well-known scholars, had been going from center to center appearing at the workshops and before the Commission giving evidence on the Dalit cause. They include famed sociologist and former Jawaharlal Nehru University Professor T K Oomen, former Catholic Bishops conference executive secretaries Fr. Louduswamy and Fr. Philomen Raj, Jesuits Fr. John Bosco and Fr. Prakash Luis, CSI Bishop Sahayam, Catholic Union National Secretary Advocate Edward Arokiadoss and National Integration Council member Dr. John Dayal (also of the Catholic union and All India Christian Council.)

The Christian community is represented on the NCRLM by Dr Anil Wilson, Principal of St Stephen's college and former Vice chancellor of Himachal University, Shimla. Its first Member is Prof Tahir Mahmood, former Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities, and the Sikhs are represented by Dr Mohinder Singh. Retired IAS officer Asha das is member secretary.

It was at the final Delhi university workshop that retired IAS officer PS Krishnan, who worked in the Union Welfare Ministry and allied department for almost three decades till 1991, and supervised the grant of SC status to Sikhs and Buddhists, told the Christian hierarchy that it would help the cause of Dalit Christians if it won over the trust of the non-Christian Dalits and OBCs by voluntarily opening up its educational institutions to the deprived communities. The church should not shy away from this as it was not just a Christian duty to a poor and deprived section, but also good strategic canvassing, he added.

He pointed out that Hindutva elements and other opposed to give Dalit rights to Christians of Scheduled Caste origin, for fear of mass conversions or other bigotry, would fire their guns using the shoulders of the Dalit community. The Dalits may not play into the hands of the Hindutva forces, but they were also seeking a gesture from the Church leadership which had so far focused its attention on educating the elite of the Hindu upper castes in its institutions.

"Voluntarily, give them entry. First fill up your seats with Christians Dalits, then give to non-Christian Dalits and OBCs. This will help your own cause,' Krishnan said. Krishnan was among the few who came out strongly in support of the Christian community at the Workshop, together with some Leftist professors.

Even in Delhi, hardcore Hindutva elements had been deliberately invited to the workshops to oppose the Christian demand. They even managed to locate so-called Ambedkarite institutions in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra which had been heavily penetrated by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, (RSS), and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. Kishnan also said the government had made a mistake by not consulting he National Scheduled Castes Commission as also the Anthropological Experts' Cell in the office of the Census Commission, which it was legally obliged to do. He feared this lapse could hurt the Christian cause at a later date.

Significantly, Krishnan's suggestion comes when the Catholic Bishops Conference is firming up its new education policy. The Data submitted at the Workshops will also be of use in fine-tuning the education policy as it has been shown that tribal and Dalit Christians themselves largely remain untouched and uncared for by the much in demand elite Christian schools and colleges.

The call for unity was as powerful. It came from Church of North India's Bishop Karam Masih, a pioneering activist of the cause, who expressed his sadness at the poor attendance of a rally, held in Delhi on August 24 at Parliament street. The rally was supposed to bring over 40,000 Dalit Christians and their supporters from all over the country, but not more than 200 came, and of them, only 100 were present at the public meeting held in the air-conditioned hall of Delhi's old St. Thomas Girls School which was given free by the bishop.

The rally, organized by a newly set up group out of Chennai and Trivandrum, was earlier addressed by Catholic Bishops Conference secretary general Archbishop Stanislaus Fernandes of Ahmadabad, Delhi Archbishop Vincent Concessao and representatives of the churches of North and South India, the Mar Thomas Church, the Orthodox Church, the Salvation Army, and other leaders.

Over 50 persons had come from Andhra and about the same number from Tamil Nadu. There were also representatives from Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Several prominent Catholic leaders from Andhra Pradesh had also come, among them Hyderabad Catholic Association president Martin and Sleeva Galilee Bishop Karam Masih was anguished at the poor attendance from north India and the absence of any group from New Delhi. He called upon the Dalit Christian leaders to sink all differences and be united if victory was to be achieved. He reminded them of the rally he and others had helped organize in 1991 which for the first time brought over 100,000 of Dalit Christians to the national capital and marked the high water mark of their campaign for human rights.The Bishops of the Catholic Church, the CNI and the CSI assured the movement all support in the future.

Cong distances itself from PDP move against Beigh

New Delhi, Sept 2 (ZEENEWS.COM) Congress today sought to wash its hands off the controversy arising out of the demand for the sacking of Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Beigh by PDP and made it clear that the coalition's nomination of a new deputy CM would be accepted.

The Congress said the development would not affect the stability of the Kashmir government led by Ghulam Nabi Azad.

"It is an internal matter of the PDP. We do not interfere in it. It does not affect the stability of the coalition government," Union Minister Ambika Soni told reporters from Pune.

Soni, who is also in-charge of party affairs in Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, said PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti has written a letter to the Chief Minister, informing him that Beigh was no longer the leader of the PDP legislature party.

Azad had spoken to Soni and apprised her of the developments. An alternative party leader chosen by PDP would take over and till that time, the post would remain with the Chief Minister, she said.

Asked whether the PDP's action would affect the cohesiveness of the coalition, she said, "It is a matter for the PDP to respond. The Congress will not say in this matter."

On a day of surprise political developments yesterday, the PDP first sought the shifting of Beigh from the key portfolios of finance and law. The Chief Minister refused to do so.

An upset PDP led by Azad's predecessor Mufti Mohammed Sayeed summoned a legislature party meeting, which adopted a resolution removing Beigh from the leadership of the legislature party. The PDP also demanded Beigh's ouster from the cabinet.

Congress in Karnataka upbeat about Sonia visit

By Fakir Balaji,

Bangalore, Sep 2 (IANS) The Karnataka unit of the Congress is pulling out all stops to make the visit here Sunday of party president Sonia Gandhi a show of strength in the face of the squabbling in the coalition government of the Janata Dal-Secular and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Although Sonia's visit is meant to induct JD-S rebel leader Siddaramaiah into the party at a massive rally at the Royal Bangalore Palace grounds, Congress leaders are competing with each other to prove their own rallying power.

"This is the first time Sonia will be coming to Bangalore after the 2004 elections. We consider it a great opportunity to rejuvenate the party," said Mallikarjun Kharge, the Karnataka Congress unit president.

The Congress had lost the state elections in 2004 but managed to form a government. In January it was dethroned from its coalition government after JD-S leader H.D. Kumaraswamy staged a coup and teamed up with BJP to wrest power and become chief minister.

While the firebrand Siddaramaiah, a former deputy chief minister, has his own axe to grind against JD-S chief and former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda, for suspending him and eight of his supporters from the party, the Congress feels the developments could lead to an early election it might be able to win.

According to party sources, the Congress rally Sunday is expected to see a turnout of 200,000-300,000 people.

The entry of Siddaramaiah will help the party to fortify its position across the state because Kurubas (community of shepherds to which Siddaramaiah belongs) constitute six percent of the electorate, Congress sources say.

In the run-up to the coming by-election in Chamundeshwari following Siddaramaiah's resignation from the assembly in July, the Congress has chalked out various programmes and campaigns to prevent the JD-S or even the BJP from wresting the constituency in the old Mysore region.

Though a fractured verdict in the May 2004 state elections had forced the Congress and the JD-S to form the government under then chief minister N. Dharam Singh to keep the "communal" BJP out of power, Gowda and sons had no hesitation in parting ways as there was no love lost between the two "secular" parties.

When Gowda agreed to form the coalition government with the Congress, he had maintained he would have no truck with the latter at the party level or in contesting elections. So when Siddaramaiah joined hands with second-rung Congress leaders to hold rallies in June-July last year, a peeved Gowda decided to boot him out.

After breaking away from the JD-S and forming the AIPJD, Siddaramaiah emerged as a force to reckon with even for the Congress by contesting the local bodies elections in December 2005 and winning a number of seats in the zilla and the taluk panchayats.

"I am joining the Congress without any rider. The Congress has not lured me. I will go to my people and explain why I left the JD-S. The party perished on the day Gowda allowed his son (Kumaraswamy) to join hands with the BJP to form the government here," Siddaramaiah told IANS.

Delhi clears development projects worth Rs.1.13 bn

New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) The Delhi government has cleared five healthcare and development projects worth Rs.1.13 billion.

Delhi Planning and Finance Minister A.K. Walia said the projects - two each in health and public works and one pertaining to environment - have been given a go-ahead by the expenditure finance committee (EFC).

The government has sanctioned Rs.928 million for procuring equipment for the Institute of Liver and Biliary Science (ILBS). This would be bought in a phased manner and it would be ensured that no equipment remains idle after the institute is commissioned, the minister said in a statement.

The EFC has also allowed purchase of typhoid vaccines and related items worth Rs.12.8 million that will help curb mortality among children in the age group of 2 to 5, the minister said.

For the environment project, the government would purchase 40 acres near Ghummanhera village for setting up a treatment, storage and disposal facility at an estimated cost of Rs.112.2 million.

The Supreme Court had directed the government to develop a site for treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous waste.

Delhi to launch school football league Wednesday

New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) Vision India's 'Project Delhi', a brainchild of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), will launch an under-13 league for local schools starting Wednesday.

"The league is the first major step taken by the Project Delhi and 48 schools will be participating," said All Indian Football Federation (AIFF) secretary Alberto Colaco here Saturday.

The participating schools have been divided into six zones. In each zone, 28 matches of 50 minutes duration will take place. Each team will comprise of seven players. The last round of the league will be played Oct 18.

As an incentive for the students, the teams would be provided free kit by Boxer Sports Goods.

A four-member spotter committee has been formed, with the responsibility to spot talent at these matches.

"We have created the committee that will be spotting the talented. The talented would then be given training during school vacations," said Shaji Prabhakaran, director of Vision India.

From next year, the league will be played on home-and-away basis and there is a plan to include government schools also. This year, only private schools, the Army School and Central Reserve Police Force Public School are taking part in the league.

Prabhakaran also announced a similar school league would start in Manipur from Sep 9.

"Manipur project has been working fine. We don't have a sponsor there but the state government is helping us in all possible ways to make the project a hit," he said.

The AFC in association with the AIFF has also conducted an assessment of some other states recently, for the expansion of the project.

"Recently AFC officials visited Punjab, Chandigarh, Sikkim and Karnataka and reviewed the facilities there. Hopefully, we would see pilot projects in these states soon," said Prabhakaran.

Umesh Sood was appointed the working chairman of the Delhi Project and Syed Nasir Ali the coordinator.

"It is an honour for me and it is going to be a challenging task as well. I have always accepted challenges and with the support of all the members I shall get over it," said Sood.

Project Delhi is a part of Vision India, which was launched by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in September 2002 with the goal of developing infrastructure and raising the standard of the game in country.

The Vision Asia team submitted a report on India in 2004 and the pilot projects were launched in Delhi and Manipur.

For Delhi, the AIFF has got the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) to sponsor the school league and hence the project will be called the SAIL Vision India Project Delhi.

The implementation process of Project Delhi started with the formulation of the task force as per guidelines of AFC in July 2005.

Detained Pak national may undergo narco, other tests

Vadodara, Sept 2 (ZEENEWS.COM) Pakistani national Aamir Sohail, detained at railway station here on August 26, may be put through narco-analysis, brain mapping and other tests for ascertaining the motive behind his visit to India, police said here today.

Even after more than 130 hours of investigations by various agencies, including raw and other state agencies, Sohail has not revealed the purpose of his visit to this country, an investigating official said.

During police interrogation, Sohail, a resident of Raja Jung of Kasur district of Pakistan, said he had heard a lot about Mumbai and wanted to visit it. So, he sneaked through dense forest area along the Indo-Pak border after alighting from the Samjhauta Express, which runs between Pakistan and Attari in Punjab, the official said.

Sohail was detained at Vadodara Railway Station after he alighted from Amritsar-Mumbai Golden Temple Express and was found to be moving in a suspicious manner by two Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel.

Police had recovered from him a Pakistani passport issued in the name of a woman, who has been granted visa to visit Godhra town in Gujarat. Police had also recovered a mobile phone from him. He, however, was carrying no baggage.

J Bibi, a Pakistani woman, had reached Godhra on August 24 last and lodged a complaint with local police that her passport had been missing from the waiting room of Delhi Railway Station.

During interrogation, Sohail said he had found the passport lying near the toilet of a coach of the train. The woman said she did not know Sohail.

Don't give Vande Mataram a political colour: Muslim body

Ranchi, Sept 2 (ZEENEWS.COM) A Muslim religious body in Jharkhand today urged the BJP-led NDA government in the state not to give the 'Vande Mataram' issue a political colour.

General secretary of Edara-E-Sharia Moulana Quttubiddin Rizvi told reporters here there were better issues like poverty, illiteracy and unemployment to deal with and "giving it a political colour will only spoil young minds who are the future of our nation."

Rendition of 'Vande Mataram' during its centenary celebration on September 7 should not be a yardstick to judge one's patriotism, he said.

"Rendition of the national song should not be equated with patriotism of Muslims who have always been honest in their duty towards the nation," Rizvi said.

Reacting to the BJP's assertion to make the national song mandatory in all educational institutions on September 7, Rizvi said the forum would wait till September 5 before issuing any diktat to their community whether to be present in the educational institutions on that day or not.

"We will meet Governor Syed Sibtey Razi to give a memorandum requesting him not to impose it. If necessary, we will also meet Chief Minsiter Arjun Munda," he said.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda yesterday said rendition of 'Vande Mataram' should be mandatory in all educational institutions in the state as it is a national song.

Meanwhile, a national member of Bjp's minority cell Mohammad Rizwan Khan said about 500 members from the minority community would congregate at the busy Elbert Ekka Chowk on September 7 to render Vande Mataram.

EU favours diplomacy on Iran row

Lappeenranta (Finland), Sep 2 (DPA) European Union foreign ministers vowed to continue diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis over Iran's nuclear programme rather than rushing to impose UN sanctions on Tehran.

"We ... have no interest in an escalation with Iran in the UN Security Council," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said here Saturday.

An International Atomic Energy Agency deadline expired Aug 31 for Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment programme, which is widely seen as being aimed at producing nuclear weapons. Iran denies the charges.

Steinmeier, speaking at a meeting of the 25 European Union foreign ministers in Lappeenranta, put the onus on Iran to show it was serious about continuing talks.

"We will not slam the door but we need a signal from the other side," he said.

Echoing this view, Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot termed Tehran's response "disappointing". But he said cutting off contacts would be the "worst thing" the EU could do.

"Just because (Iran) behaves in an irresponsible manner does not mean that we have to be irresponsible," said Bot.

The ministers Friday backed plans by EU chief diplomat Javier Solana to hold talks early next week with senior Iranian officials.

Asked about a timetable, Bot said he was unsure how long a dialogue with Iran could go on.

The ministers are also seeking to deepen relations with Russia, and bring down barriers to trade and investment, said Finland, which holds the rotating EU presidency.

Families of slain Indian pilgrims shocked

Hyderabad, Sep 2 (IANS) A pall of gloom descended on the homes of the three men from Andhra Pradesh shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Iraq.

The relatives of the slain pilgrims received the shocking news from their wives and other family members who were accompanying them.

The three were part of a 15-member group of pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh. While all 12 women, including group leader Syeda Zianab, were spared, the Indian men along with eight Pakistanis were separated and later gunned down.

According to Zianab. the three Indians are Jaffer Mashadi and Mohammed Ahmed Ali of Hyderabad and Mohuiddin Baig of West Godavari district.

Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed had earlier said that Mashadi was from Vishakhapatnam and the other two were from Hyderabad.

Mashadi and Ahmed Ali were accompanied by their wives while Baig's mother-in-law was travelling with him.

"He spoke to me over phone only three days ago and said all was well," said Mariam Begum, mother of Ahmed Ali. Dozens of family members and other mourners descended on his house in Chanchalguda in old city.

Ahmed Ali, 42, also a social worker, had been visiting the holy shrines of Iraq almost every year. Despite the war in Iraq, he had been a regular visitor to that country.

"He visited Iraq 13 times and I don't know why it happened this time. I just shudder to think how they shot him dead," said Mohammed Ali's mother.

The scene was no different at the house of Mashadi alias Aga, 60. Men and women could be seen wailing outside his house at Ghatkesar on the city's outskirts.

As the land of Karbala is considered holy, all the three were buried there in the presence of other members of the group.

The group had left India Aug 23 and entered Iraq after visiting pilgrim centres in Syria and Jordan.

Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed said in New Delhi that the three were kidnapped from Rutba on their way to Karbala, about 100 km southwest of Baghdad, on Aug 31 night.

The bodies were recovered from Rutba, a small town in Iraq 's western province of Al Anbar.

The slain Indians and Pakistanis were part of a 40-strong group that included several women. The gunmen picked out only the men, who turned out to be Indians and Pakistanis.

With about 200,000 Shia Muslims, Hyderabad has the second largest population of the sect in India after Lucknow.

Every year dozens of pilgrims in groups visit shrines in Iraq, Iran and Syria. Shia leaders said three other groups currently in Iraq have informed their relatives that they are safe.

Community leaders said this is the first time pilgrims from the city have fallen victims to insurgents in Iraq.

Farmer relief package: Pawar to visit Kerala

New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar will visit Kerala Sep 10-12 to study the state government's demand for more relief for farmers in some "suicide prone" districts.

"I have asked the state government to arrange visits to a few districts where farmers are facing problems," Pawar told the media on the sidelines of a meet to mark the World Coconut Day here Saturday.

The minister said he would be interacting with the farmers to find out their problems, "which are different from those of farmers in Maharashtra and Karnataka".

Refusing to comment on whether the central government would be enhancing the relief package for the farmers, the minister said a decision would be taken on the basis of input received by his ministry.

Kerala has been seeking a better relief package and inclusion of Idukki district alongside Wayanad, Palakkad and Kasaragod districts for which the central government promised help last month.

While New Delhi proposed Rs.6.98 billion three-year relief package for the 31 "suicide prone" districts in the country, including three in Kerala, the state government has sought a Rs.20 billion package for farmers of the four districts on the lines of the Vidharbha deal announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Farmers to hold rally to protest power project

Lucknow, Sep 2 (IANS) Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh has decided to oppose the mega power project of Anil Ambani group on the Uttar Pradesh-Delhi border.

The party, whose influence is limited to the western parts of the state, will stage a rally Sep 5 to protest the acquisition of 3,000 acres.

"We are demanding higher compensation for farmers whose land has been acquired by the government for Reliance Energy," Singh told media persons Saturday.

"Farmers have been given a raw deal. It is clear that the government is sacrificing the interest of the farmers to extend undue favour to the industrial house.

"But the protest is not going to affect our alliance. We have a democratic right to oppose a wrong move of the government."

FBI accuses Tamils in Australia of helping LTTE

Sydney, Sep 2 (IANS) Australian police have launched investigations into several Tamil organisations in this country after the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) accused the Tamil community here of supporting rebels in Sri Lanka.

The FBI has said Tamils in Australia have been funding the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to carry out terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka, according to a report in The Australian.

The FBI accusation comes on the heels of the arrest of 13 men in the US last week who were allegedly plotting to buy Russian-made shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles and assault rifles for the Tamil Tigers.

Though it is not known whether those arrested had any links with anyone in Australia, Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers have been investigating the activities of several Tamil organisations in Sydney and Melbourne.

According to The Australian, FBI documents tendered in a New York court said Australia played a key role in the global fundraising efforts for the rebels.

"The LTTE relies heavily upon supporters in Europe, US, Canada and Australia to raise and launder money, acquire intelligence and purchase technology and military arms and equipment," the report quoted the FBI as saying.

In December last year, AFP officers had launched a series of raids after reports that Tamils in Australia were helping the LTTE. However, no arrests were made.

Prior to those raids, Sri Lanka had warned the Australian government that charity donations given by Australians after the 2004 tsunami in South Asia might have been used to fund the Tamil rebels.

Australians had given over $1 million Australian dollars to Sri Lankan victims of the tsunami, largely through two Tamil organisations, the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) and the Tamil Co-ordinating Committee (TCC).

Both the organisations have strongly refuted the charge.

But, according to The Australian, the FBI has said that the North American offices of these two organisations were "fronts" for the clandestine channelling of financial and military aid to the rebels.

"The LTTE relies on front charitable organisations, including the TRO and World Tamil Co-ordinating Committee among others to give their fundraising activities the appearance of legitimacy" the FBI was quoted as saying in the report.

"These organisations are also used to smuggle goods to the LTTE in Sri Lanka."

A TCC spokesman, Perambalam Senthooran, told the weekend edition of The Australian Friday that the organisation had received legal advice that its fundraising activities did not breach Australian law.

TRO's head in Australia, a Melbourne-based gynaecologist named Rajan Rasiah, has, however, said that the TRO had no choice but to cooperate with the Tamil Tigers in directing charitable contributions because they controlled northeastern parts of Sri Lanka.

"You have to work with the permission, with the approval and with the support of the LTTE if you want to work in the northeast," Rasiah told the newspaper.

He has, however, denied the charge that the TRO is funding the Tamil Tigers.

There are over 50,000 Tamils in Australia, both of Indian and Sri Lankan origin.

First 2 stanzas of Vande Mataram to be sung by 5000 Madrasas

Bhopal, Sept 2 (ZEENEWS.COM) At least first two stanzas of `Vande Mataram' would be sung at over 5000 Madarasas in Madhya Pradesh to mark the beginning of centenary year celebrations of institution of the national song on September 7, state Madarasa Board said on Thursday.

Following state government circulars, instruction was being issued to Madarasas across the state for recitation of Vande Mataram at functions organised to mark the day on September 7, Board Registrar Sayyed Irshad Ali said.

Claiming that the order will be followed in `totality', he Said, "our motherland is like a paradise. Why should one have objections in saluting it?"

He claimed that the circulars from general administration department seeks recitation of "at least first two stanzas" of the song at all educational institutions.

District education officials have been asked to extend help to the board in ensuring that the recitation takes place at Madarasas in their respective areas, Ali said.

First Muslim promoted to UK Navy's top ranks

London, Sept 2 (IRNA) Britain's Royal Navy has become the first of the country's three Armed Services to promote a Muslim to one of its top ranks.

Commodore Amjad Hussain was appointed Thursday to be a Rear- Admiral, the equivalent rank in the Army is major-general and in the Air Force an air vice-marshal, but no Muslim has yet reached such a level yet.

Hussain, who was born in Pakistan and emigrated with his family to Britain when he was five years old, said he was "really astonished" at the number of people who have expressed shock that we have a rear-admiral in the Royal Navy from a background like mine.

"Some of my friends in other European countries have said it wouldn't happen here. So I think that's a mark of how far Britain has progressed," he told a press conference in London.

The 48-year-old admiral has been in the Royal Navy for 30 years.

In his new post, he is due to run the tri-service Defence Logistics Organization in Bath, south west England from next Monday.

Previously he was a commander of the naval base at Portsmouth on the southern coast of England. He has served in the fishery protection squadron and was a weapons engineer on the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible, which was deployed in the Persian Gulf.

The Ministry of Defence has described the admiral's promotion as showing that "hard work and professionalism, rather than your background, are the key to a successful career in the Armed Forces." Hussein, who was sponsored by the Navy to read engineering, science and business administration at university, also underlined the policy of Equality and Diversity used by the Armed Forces to reach out to Britain's 10 per cent ethnic minority population.

"For those kids who have limited their ambitions because they think parts of society or walks of life are closed to them, for kids with backgrounds not dissimilar to mine, there are lots of opportunities in the UK," he said.

On a practical level for Muslims, he said that the navy had moved a long way by providing prayers facilities for everyone and making halal food available.

But despite recruitment drives, the latest official figures show that there were only around 305 Muslims, 203 Hindus, 220 Buddhists, 90 Sikhs and 65 Jews in the armed forces last year, compared with some 183,000 Christians.

On the controversial issue of Britain's involvement in the Iraq war, the admiral said that he appreciated it was a policy that was not unanimously popular with all sections of UK society.

"Large parts of the community of the UK are not completely content with our involvement," he said, but added that for himself personally as a military officer, he was in the "implementation business and I get on with it."

Flood alert in Kashmir as heavy rains lash valley

Srinagar, Sep 2 (IANS) The Jammu and Kashmir administration has sounded a flood alert in the entire valley following incessant rains over the past three days with the state's main river Jhelum flowing over the danger mark Saturday.

The flood waters have already over flown the river embankments and submerged several low lying areas in south Kashmir's Anantnag district and in the summer capital Srinagar.

The Srinagar-Jammu national highway has been closed for traffic after floodwaters submerged a portion of it.

Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had to cut short his Leh visit and returned to Srinagar Saturday. Immediately after his arrival here, Azad visited Anantnag along with senior officials.

He asked officials to shift people from the submerged areas in to government schools and offices.

Azad asked the officials and staff of the flood control department, health and police to be available round the clock to monitor the situation and report to him directly.

"A close watch is being kept on the situation and we are ready to meet any eventuality," Kashmir divisional commissioner Basharat Dhar told IANS.

He said thousands of sand bags have been rushed to the flood prone areas. "We have also dispatched boats to evacuate people from the affected areas."

Focus on disease-resistant coconut varieties: Pawar

New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) Scientists should focus more on improving coconut varieties that are not only high-yielding, early fruit bearing and easy to harvest, but also resistant to pests and disease that affect production, said Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar Saturday.

"We are well aware of the great damage that has been caused to coconut cultivation and coconut farmers by the mite infestation, which has spread to almost all coconut growing states," Pawar said addressing a meet organised by the Coconut Development Board to mark World Coconut Day.

"Our research needs to focus on identifying such varieties that are resistant to mites. Similarly, a new approach has to be taken to address the problem of root wilt which has adversely affected the production and productivity of the crop, particularly in important coconut-growing states like Kerala," Pawar said.

He urged research institutes, industries and entrepreneurs to focus on developing innovative products from the coconut.

Coconut water is much in demand as a health drink, its kernel for making chips and other produce and its husk for making ropes and mats. It is also used widely for religious purposes.

India is the third largest producer of coconut after the Philippines and Indonesia, both of which export half their produce or coconut-based products.
Globally, coconut is grown in 93 countries on nearly 12 million hectares of land.

In India, it is grown in 18 states. Around 10 million people - farmers as well as processors - are engaged in activities related to coconut. Coconut oil, which is more expensive than other edible oils like palm, soybean, sunflower and rapeseed, has witnessed a dip in global trade over the years.

"The real threat to coconut is the diseases that destroy small farmers - and not cheap palm oil," said Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi. He urged scientists of the Indian Council of Agricultural Affairs (ICAR) to find out ways to check the spread of the diseases that were leading to falling yield.

Minnie Mathew, chairman of the Coconut Development Board, said not only was coconut yield being affected by disease but also the size and quality of the kernel and the fibre yield per nut, which was affecting the coir industry, especially in Kerala.

As over 100,000 coir workers depend on coconut husk to make coir fibre and other products, it is important for Kerala's economy to have more raw material (husk) available, said Ravi. Though Tamil Nadu is able to supply some of the raw material it is not sufficient to meet Kerala's demand, he said.

To tide over this problem, Kerala is now utilising the services of women self help groups (SHGs) to collect coconut husk from homes, said Mathew.

"Currently only 32 percent of the husk of the coconut crop grown in the state makes it to the coir production centres. With the help of SHGs we hope to overcome the problem of coir fibre shortage," he told IANS.

Good rains to improve crop prospects: Pawar

New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) India is looking forward to a good winter crop with plentiful summer monsoon rains across the country having improved the soil moisture content, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said here Saturday.

"Rain this year has been very good barring in a few regions. Overall the situation is good. There are high expectations for good Rabi (crop harvested in winter) yield with the improved soil moisture content," Pawar told reporters on the sidelines of a meet on coconut.

"Efforts this year would be to bring more area under Rabi cultivation, particularly wheat, and improve productivity," he said.

India has emerged the largest wheat importer this year with plans to import 5.5 million tonnes of the grain to meet emergency needs and also requirements of various government run schemes that require an estimate 3 million tonnes of wheat and rice.

Declining to estimate the level of crop losses due to floods in parts of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Orissa and scanty rains in Assam, the minister said his ministry is still to get reports from the state governments.

"We will be sending teams to the states to study the impact of floods and scanty rains," he said.

Good rains to improve crop prospects: Pawar

New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) India is looking forward to a good winter crop with plentiful summer monsoon rains across the country having improved the soil moisture content, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said here Saturday.

"Rain this year has been very good barring in a few regions. Overall the situation is good. There are high expectations for good Rabi (crop harvested in winter) yield with the improved soil moisture content," Pawar told reporters on the sidelines of a meet on coconut.

"Efforts this year would be to bring more area under Rabi cultivation, particularly wheat, and improve productivity," he said.

India has emerged the largest wheat importer this year with plans to import 5.5 million tonnes of the grain to meet emergency needs and also requirements of various government run schemes that require an estimate 3 million tonnes of wheat and rice.

Declining to estimate the level of crop losses due to floods in parts of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Orissa and scanty rains in Assam, the minister said his ministry is still to get reports from the state governments.

"We will be sending teams to the states to study the impact of floods and scanty rains," he said.

Governor wants impartial inquiry in Ujjain murder case

Bhopal, Sep 2 (IANS) Madhya Pradesh Governor Balram Jakhar has asked Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to take prompt action against the guilty in the Ujjain professor murder case, officials said Saturday.

Professor H.S. Sabharwal, who taught at the Madhav College in the temple town of Ujjain, 190 km from here, died after reportedly being attacked by a group of student leaders who were angry at the cancellation of students' union polls.

The tragedy had provoked widespread protests across the state with Ujjain city seeing a complete shutdown for a day.

Expressing grief on the death of the professor, Jakhar asked the chief minister to ensure that the administration fulfilled its responsibility in an impartial way.

Chouhan had earlier drawn flak from the opposition parties for describing the incident as an "accident".

Another professor M.L. Nath was also attacked and his face blackened by the agitating students.

After intense pressure, the government had instituted a CID inquiry but refused to hand over the case to the CBI as demanded by the victim's son Himanshu, the teachers community and the opposition.

The government suspended City Superintendent of Police Manoj Kumar Singh and two town inspectors, Y.P. Singh and Yashwant, posted at the college, for failing to maintain law and order.

The opposition Congress, which staged a sit-in at the Governor House, has called for a statewide shutdown on Teachers Day (Sep 5) to protest the death of Sabharwal.

ABVP's state president Shashi Ranjan Singh Akela and its organising secretary Vimal Tomar were among the 34 people held. Akela and Tomar had initially surrendered to the police Aug 30 in connection with the arson and violence and alleged manhandling of Nath.

Later they were formally arrested by the CID and booked for the murder of Sabharwal.

HIV carriers find journalists 'insensitive'

By Syed Zarir Hussain,

Shillong, Sep 2 (IANS) HIV carriers have criticised journalists for being insensitive and ignorant about the disease that has assumed epidemic proportions in India's northeast.

"I have come across journalists who refuse to shake hands, sit a few meters away and avoid eye contact with HIV carriers. I always thought journalists would help fight the stigma associated with AIDS," Vanlalmuana, president of Positive Network of Mizoram, told IANS.

Vanlalmuana, a HIV carrier for six-years, was not the only one who felt journalists were insensitive and ignorant about HIV/AIDS.

Heartrending tales of insensitive journalism were shared by a group of HIV-positive people who had come to attend a workshop on creating awareness and advocacy through print, radio and television.

"At times we have been described by journalists as AIDS patients. Probably they do not know the difference between HIV and AIDS," said Ratan Singh, an HIV-positive person from Manipur and the all-India chairman of Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV/AIDS.

"If journalists are insensitive to the problem, how do we expect to remove prejudices from society?" asked a young girl from Nagaland. "At times we are asked very personal questions which is unfair."

Citing an example another HIV-positive person referred to the case of a four-year-old boy in Assam who was dismissed from school for being a HIV carrier.

The kid was admitted to a private school in eastern Assam and was at his bubbliest best when a newspaper and a local television channel 'scooped' the story that the boy's parents were also HIV carriers.

Following the reports, the family was forced to shift to Guwahati.

"We are ashamed that the media is so insensitive and irresponsible. It was not only unethical but libellous to directly or indirectly identify the family," a woman from Manipur told IANS.

Government agencies working in the area claim the level of awareness has increased. But facts belie reality.

"Even today I am described as an AIDS patient by many leading regional and national newspapers," said Jahnabi Goswami, a 30-year-old HIV-positive woman in Assam.

Goswami, the first person in India's northeast to have publicly declared her HIV-positive status in 2001, said landlords have evicted her at least a dozen times when they learnt she was a HIV carrier.

The northeast has been declared a high-risk zone with authorities fearing the epidemic may further spread because of the region's acute drug problem.

"Media can play an important role in fighting the stigma attached to the disease," said Sawmtea, president of the Mizoram People Living with HIV/AIDS Society.

Hurricane John pounds Mexican resort area

Mexico City, Sep 2 (DPA) Tourists and local residents in a Mexican resort area fled or sought refuge as Hurricane John lashed the Baja California peninsula with towering waves and powerful winds.

The storm appeared to wobble toward the northeast, diverting its full force from the popular holiday spot of San Jose del Cabo at the peninsula's tip late Friday.

But forecasts showed John crossing the peninsula further to the north later in its path. Officials feared flash floods and mudslides in the desert region, which has hills and dry riverbeds that are likely to fill with water from John's heavy rains.

John packed winds of at least 175 km an hour, the US National Hurricane Centre said. At least 21,000 people on the southern Baja peninsula were evacuated to safer locations and 10,000 tourists fled the region.

"This is a very, very dangerous hurricane," said Ignacio Arrenguin of Mexico's National Water Commission. "This hurricane is much more serious than any hurricane we had in the last 10 years."

At 2.00 p.m. (2100 GMT), the centre of the storm was located 95 km east of the southern tip of the peninsula, and was moving north-northwest at about 13 km per hour, the US National Hurricane Centre reported.

John, which had been classified as a category three storm earlier, lost a little strength and was downgraded to a strong category two storm by Friday afternoon.

On the US East Coast, tropical depression Ernesto lashed the Mid-Atlantic states with heavy rain, causing flooding in parts of North Carolina and Virginia and leaving up to 400,000 people without electricity in three states, CNN reported.

Four deaths were blamed on the storm, media reports said.

IB on lookout for GIA terrorists in India

By Shailendra Mohan

Mumbai, September 2 (NDTV.COM) Intelligence Bureau officials are on the lookout for six members of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), who they say have entered the country to carry out terror strikes in New Delhi and Mumbai.

The documents regarding them that were leaked from the Intelligence Bureau could present the new face of terrorism in India.

The GIA is a militant outfit that started out fighting to replace the Algerian government, but now has moved to a jihadi agenda and is said to have al-Qaeda links.

The intelligence agency has provided some details regarding some of the men.

The first is Abdullah Wabah, a Pakistani national, who was trained in Algeria. IB sources claim he's been schooled to assemble bombs in a matter of minutes.

The second man is Yasman Kadeera who is also a Pakistani national and has been trained as a special commando in Pakistan. He is a veteran who has fought many battles in Algeria and Yemen, and he is a trained sniper and an expert getaway driver.

The third name that was released was Kaleele Machyar, who is also a Pakistani national.

He, sources say, entered the country with other GIA members, but has now shifted allegiance to the al-Qaeda. Intelligence Bureau sources say that he could target Delhi Airport.

The last name is of a Hasan, who is a South African national. He, according to sources, is fluent in English and is said to be travelling with the men helping them with their jobs.

Route to India

IB investigators have still to figure out who the other two men are, but what they do know is how these men travelled to India.

According to intelligence sources, from Algeria, these men travelled to Niger and then to Burkina Faso and Mali, finally making their way into India.

They entered the country using false names and passports, and the first alert for the six men was issued on August 10th, warning of attacks in Mumbai and Delhi between August 11th and 15th.

But IB sources say that tight security ensured the men could not carry their mission.

The alert was re-issued on August 24th, which the IB says will stay in place till the men are found and captured.

IMF asks India to make financial system more efficient

By Arun Kumar,

Washington, Sep 2 (IANS) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says India needs to make its financial system more efficient and carry forward structural reform to make it more capable of benefiting from the world economy.

India continues to grow strongly averaging an above-trend of 8 percent in the last three years but some inflationary pressures are also building, IMF managing director Rodrigo de Rato said at a press briefing.

"So, in that respect, monetary authorities and their efficiency is very important and it has been shown already, as it is the need to make the financial system more efficient and with bigger competition," he said.

IMF also saw the need for structural reform that will make India more capable of benefiting from the world economy. Certainly structural impediments, not only in terms of flexibility in the markets but also in terms of infrastructure, are a key question in the Indian agenda for the future.

India is one of the countries that has been changing in "a very positive direction... (and) we see the government's reform agenda as a very important one as, for instance, the VAT reform of last year shows", de Rato said.

"But of course the question here is not so much what has been done in the past, although what is happening today has roots in the past, but how we can face the future."

Asked to comment on India's reported reservations on the IMF executive board's decision Thursday to immediately increase the voting power of China, South Korea, Turkey and Mexico, de Rato said it was for individual countries to explain their position and he had "respect for any position".

"The initial ad hoc increase will only correct about one-third of the very heavy under representation of four countries that by every measure you use are underrepresented. Many other countries are underrepresented too, but these four cases were accepted by the board as ones that were much more out of line than others," he said.

The IMF board resolution, which still has to be approved at the fund's annual meeting in Singapore Sep 19, also sets forth a plan for determining voting shares by 2008.

"At present, I think that all members recognized that relative quotas and voting shares do not adequately respond to the reality of the world economy of the year 2000. Asia is a good example but it's not the only example. I want to say that very clearly," de Rato said.

There are underrepresented countries in Asia as there are underrepresented countries in other areas of the world. But for an institution that wants to be legitimate in the world, having economic weight as the centre of how countries express their views and have their voting power, it needs to rebalance that situation regularly.

The annual meetings of the World Bank and IMF in Singapore will provide an opportunity to discuss the world economy and the surveillance role of IMF in helping economies individually, and the role of the economy as a whole to continue in a growing path in the future, de Rato said.

Turning to the outlook for the global economy and for Asia, de Rato said China and India continue to grow strongly. Many others countries, including sub-Saharan Africa, are enjoying a continuation of the strong growth that was seen in 2005 and have bright prospects for 2007.

For Asia, growth remains strong. Some modest rebalancing of growth is likely as exports moderate with slowing global growth because of certain markets in the US.

China is becoming an increasingly prominent driver of growth in Asia, and Japan's continued expansion has also contributed to buoyant activity.

"We see that inflation should remain subdued, and the region's current account surplus is expected to remain broadly unchanged, although the surplus that remains in Asia, if we exclude China, is declining," he said.

"While that outlook is good, there is in Asia also some near-term risks that I think policymakers have to take into consideration apart from the ones of the whole global economy. It is clear that Asia faces risks similar to those for the world economy, and Asia is particularly sensitive to growth prospects in the US and to oil prices," de Rato said.

In addition, while the region has shown resilience to the financial market volatility in May and June, a part of the volatility in global financial markets could affect capital flows, growth prospects and inflation.

India not likely to become import-reliant for foodgrains

New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) As India plans to import 5.5 million tonne wheat this year after a gap of seven years, the food ministry maintains it is a "temporary setback" and not an indication of the country becoming import-dependent.

"The need to import wheat is a temporary setback. The imbalance in wheat procurement by the government does not mean that India will become a net importer of foodgrains," L. Mansingh, secretary, consumer affairs, in the food ministry told media here Friday.

Briefing on the government decision to import wheat and pulses and allow private sector to do so at concessional customs duty to check spiralling domestic prices, the official said that while on the one hand India is importing wheat, on the other hand there has been 4.5 million tonnes of non-basmati rice exports so far this year.

The export figure is much higher than in the past: India normally exports around 0.5-1.0 million tonnes of basmati rice but this is the first time that there has been such good overseas demand for Indian non-basmati or non-parboiled rice.

India has downscaled the 2005-06 wheat production estimates from 74 million tonnes to 69 million tonnes while in the case of rice the last agriculture year saw a bumper harvest of 92 million tonnes.

Contrary to indications, India's wheat production is sufficient for domestic consumption, said S. Kaul, joint secretary of policy and Food Corporation of India (FCI), the government-nominated foodgrain handling agency.

The government has estimated that the domestic requirement of wheat is currently 70 million tonnes.

Commenting on the shortage, the food ministry officials said as per their estimate, beside the big industries like ITC, Cargil Foods, Reliance and Adani Exports it is the farmers themselves who are holding on to stocks of wheat on behalf of traders for a better price realisation during the lean period ahead of the next harvest in April.

Apart from the 5.5 million tonnes of wheat being imported by the government, which will be opening the last tender for 1.67 million tonnes of wheat on Sep 5, it is estimated that the private companies will be importing a total of 500,000 tonnes of wheat.

So far the private companies have already imported 120,000 tonnes of wheat, according to the government estimate.

The food ministry is ensuring that the buffer stocks before the next harvest would comply with the buffer stock norms of four million tonnes double of what FCI had on April 1 this year.

"We have decided to stick to the buffer stock norms of four million tonnes as we realise it is a norm that should not be breached if we are to have some control over market prices," said Kaul.

For the next year, the government is mulling how best to ensure that private companies do not step in to buy stocks from farmers before FCI has ensured enough buffer stocks.

Besides market intervention in times of emergency, around 3 million tonnes are required annually for government-subsidised schemes including the sale through public distribution system (PDS).

India seeks to play moderating role at NAM

By Tarun Basu,

New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh travels to Cuba mid-September to attend the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), with India looking to play a moderating role in the 116-nation body whose agenda could be hijacked by mavericks like Venezuela, Iran, Syria and the hosts themselves.

The 14th NAM Summit is being held in Havana for a second time - the first was in 1979 - under the leadership of Cuban President Fidel Castro, convalescing after a major surgery. Whether Castro is able to chair the summit Sep 15-16 or lets his brother and acting president Raul Castro preside over it remains to be seen.

This will be Manmohan Singh's first meeting with Castro (he goes to Havana after a two-day trip to Brazil Sep 12-13), a global titan who came to New Delhi to attend the NAM Summit in March 1983 and is remembered in freeze-frame images for his bear-hug of a visibly embarrassed prime minister Indira Gandhi, as he handed over the chairman's gavel to her for India to assume leadership of the movement.

Despite carping voices about the irrelevance of NAM in a unipolar world, the movement that began with the coming together of 25 countries at Belgrade in 1961, the present summit will have 116 countries, reflecting a steadily growing membership and accounting for nearly two-thirds of the 192-nation UN.

"A grouping as large as that, and the largest outside the UN, cannot be ignored," said a senior Indian official who is accompanying the prime minister to Havana.

And India's role, say officials, will be to provide the voice of moderation in a movement of which it is one of its founding fathers and which was seen by the West to chart an often Left-leaning course despite their intent of not getting 'aligned' in the East-West ideological confrontation of the Cold War.

Since the end of the Cold War and the breakup of the Soviet Union, many felt the movement had lost its raison d'etre. But the movement has shown no signs of dissipating and instead has added newer members - and more and more nations are seeking its leadership role. Egypt has already begun lobbying to host the next NAM Summit three years from now.

For India, the summit comes at a piquant phase in its foreign policy, when it is seen as having moved too close to the US. The summit will take place just days before the US Senate is expected to pass the landmark nuclear deal that will put a seal on the unfolding "strategic partnership" between the two countries.

India's effort would be to get NAM to focus more on economic rather than political issues so that developing and underdeveloped countries are able to speak independently and in one voice against protectionism, disparity in world trade, UN reforms and globalization as well as issues like environment and HIV/AIDS.

"We are certainly moving beyond NAM. To the extent, NAM was time-specific, it responded to the situation of the Cold War. Now with the collapse of communism, the focus has shifted. The focus is very much on economic development. What various peoples of Asia and Africa need to do is to benefit from globalization," visiting Ghana Foreign Minister Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo told IANS here recently, endorsing India's stand.

Many countries are looking to India to provide the movement the direction and the leadership it badly needs. "We look to stronger countries like India to provide the leadership to NAM. It is not in the interest of non-alignment to see India float away from it. Nor is it in India's interest," says South Africa's high commissioner to India, Francis Moloi.

What India would be wary of are targeting of countries or groups of countries and the movement being made a forum or a lobby for certain countries to pursue their own radical agenda.

With Presidents Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and Basher Assad of Syria forging strategic ties, diplomatic observers would closely watch their moves at forming an anti-US, anti-West front, and India, particularly, will seek to resist any moves seeking to "hijack" the charted agenda of the NAM.

These countries and, in some ways, Malaysia, which sees itself as a leader of Islamic countries, are seen by some as "loose cannons" that may manipulate the agenda of such a large body to subserve their own diplomatic and strategic goals.

India sending 125 female police officers for peacekeeping

New York, Sept 2 (UN News) India’s landmark decision to send 125 female police officers, one complete specialized unit, to assist United Nations peacekeeping operations in Liberia in October is an “unprecedented� move that sends a message not only to other post-conflict countries about the importance of having women officers, but also to police contributing nations, senior UN officials said today.

“This is an unprecedented move by India to deploy these female officers in policing and we applaud it and think that it is extremely timely and extremely relevant to the policing needs in the years ahead,� Police Adviser Mark Kroeker told the UN News Service.

“We think it’s a breakthrough that India has expressed its willingness and it’s also good for our Liberia mission because it brings to that police operation these officers who are trained, who are capable, who are women and who can bring the best of what the UN police is to the component there.�

The 125 officers, who are currently undergoing the final stages of their training in India, will make up a specialized unit, known as a Formed Police Unit (FPU). The UN has had increasing success with such units over the past few years as a means of bridging the gap between regular and lightly-armed police and fully-armed blue helmets.

Details of what exact role the all-female FPU will play as part of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) are currently being worked out, said Noor Gabow, Acting Mission Management Coordinator at the UN Police Division. However he added these specialized units have traditionally been employed as a rapid reaction force, trained in crowd control and better armed than regular police, as well as playing a strong training role for local officers.

“This Indian women’s contingent are made up solely of volunteers who have decided that they’d like to be a part of peace operations and that they can play an effective, credible role which we know they can,� said Mr. Gabow.

India currently contributes almost 400 police officers to UN missions worldwide, one of the top 10 police-contributing countries, but only 15 of these personnel are female officers, something which the introduction of the 125 women officers in October will dramatically change and which UN officials say will also send a powerful message for change to other contributing countries.

“This decision is extremely timely because as we look at our deployment of women in UN police components around the world, we still retain an unacceptably small number of three or four per cent, compared to up to 25 per cent of women officers in an acceptable police organization,� said Mr. Kroeker, himself a former Los Angeles police officer for over 30 years.

“It enhances our access to vulnerable populations by having women in UN missions and also sends a message to the post-conflict societies where we work that women officers can have any position and play any role in a police organization, including that of commissioner, or deputy-commissioner or chief of regions or whatever.�

The all-female Indian unit will join other FPUs currently serving in Liberia, where the concept was first tried out although its success there and in other operations has led to calls for increasing deployment.

UN officials also highlight that FPUs are cheaper to deploy than regular military units, noting that it costs around $5 million to set up a specialized police formation while a military battalion can cost up $30 million. In addition, the deployment of FPUs sends a message to the populations of post-conflict countries that the UN is demilitarizing, while maintaining a credible force that at the same time is helping build local police capacity.

India, Germany to sign defence agreement

New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) More than four months after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Berlin that brought an upswing in bilateral ties, specially in the area of high technology cooperation, India and Germany would sign their first-ever joint defence cooperation agreement next week.

This crucial agreement, to be signed during the visit of Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee to Germany and France beginning Sunday, would provide India access to German hi-tech weapons technology and facilitate intensive interaction between the armed forces of the two countries.

"The agreement will open doors of German technology transfer to India and provide the framework for holding joint naval exercises and more interaction between the armed forces of the two countries," a defence ministry spokesman said here.

Besides meeting Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung and Minister for Technology and Economics Michael Gloss, Mukherjee would also address the top brass of German defence industries.

The minister would also pay homage at Zehrensdorf Indian cemetery where graves of 206 Indian soldiers, who died as prisoners during the First World War, lie.

The minister would hold talks with his French counterpart Michele Aliottee and is likely to use this meeting to allay anxieties in the armament industry about the growing India-US defence ties.

They might discuss the possibility of India buying French nuclear equipment and technology after the India-US nuclear deal is cleared by the US Congress and approved unanimously by the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Mukherjee would also meet top CEOs of defence firms, including the European consortium EADS, Thales and Aviation giant Dassault, at a round table.

The Indian delegation accompanying Mukherjee also comprises S. Banerjee, Director General Acquisition, Chief of the Integrated Defence Staff Lt. Gen. H.S. Lidder, eminent missile scientist Prahlada, Sujata Singh, joint secretary in the external affairs ministry and Gautam Chatterji, joint secretary in the defence ministry.

India, Russia to jointly develop GPS satellite

Moscow, Sept 2 (ZEENEWS.COM) India and Russia will jointly develop a new generation global positioning satellite for wider navigational application with commercial spin-off.

"Under the space co-operation agreements signed during President Vladimir Putin's India visit, both countries will jointly develop new generation Glonass-K satellite for the Glonass Global Positioning System, which will function parallelly with the American GPS," Indian ambassador Kanwal Sibal said.

Addressing an Internet press conference last evening, he said Russia intends to operationalise Glonass by 2010 by completing the cluster of 24 satellites. Under the Indo-Russian agreements some of the current Russian Glonass-M satellites would be launched from the Indian soil with the help of Indian launch vehicles.

"The Glonass will provide commercial services to surface transport, shipping and airlines," he said addressing the Russian netizens.

Responding to a question about Indo-Russian scientific, space and nuclear cooperation Sibal said that next year the two countries will mark the 20th anniversary of their Integrated Long-Term Programme (ILTP) covering the whole gamut of scientific and technological interaction in the advanced areas.

"The focus of bilateral cooperation now will be in nano-technology, bio-technology and information technology, specially where they intertwine," Sibal said addressing the conference organised by the leading Russian business agency "Rosbiznesconsulting" (RBC).

According to RBC 29800 netizens were hooked online to listen live audio of Sibal's press conference.

Sibal also said that Indo-US nuclear deal will open doors for Russia cooperation with India in civilian nuclear energy, which is already building two units at the Kudankulam nuclear power station in Tamil Nadu.

Indian UN official accused of procurement fraud

By Arun Kumar,

Washington, Sep 2 (IANS) A UN official from India allegedly steered millions of dollars in contract to a company owned by the Indian government in exchange for favours that included low-rent apartments in New York.

American media reports citing a confidential report on a internal UN investigation alleged that Sanjaya Bahel used his relationship with an Indian businessman and his son to steer deals to the Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd (TCIL) with which they were associated.

TCIL is purported to have received more than $100 million in UN contracts between 1999 and 2004, during the time (1998-2003) when Bahel was the chief of commodity procurement at the UN.

Both Bahel and TCIL have strongly refuted the charges. Bahel has gone on record saying that he has "good reasoning and valid reasoning" to counter them.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric Friday declined to confirm that Bahel was the staff member who had been charged with serious misconduct.

"I know the name of the gentleman has been published in the media," Dujarric said. "Due to our efforts to respect due process and the internal justice system, I cannot confirm that name and would refer you to my statement."

According to the statement the Procurement Task Force, created under the aegis of the Office for Internal Oversight Services, has completed five fact-finding investigations into allegations of procurement irregularities.

UN placed eight staff on special leave with full pay as of Jan 16, 2006. Of the five cases now completed, two staff have been exonerated of any alleged irregularities and are back at work. Another two are also back at work but have been asked to respond to allegations of mismanagement.

The fifth staff member has been charged with misconduct and has been suspended from duty without pay due to the serious nature of the charges. He is now being given an opportunity to respond, an essential element in the UN's system of internal justice.

Evidence in this case has also been shared with the prosecutorial authorities of the host country.

Three other staff members remain on special leave with pay pending completion of the ongoing investigations and decisions on appropriate action, Dujarric stated.

US media reports said Bahel had a long-time relationship with the businessman and his son. Bahel rented two side-by-side apartments in New York from them at rates well below the market price and that he later bought the apartments at a favourable price.

Bahel also ignored evidence that TCIL wrongly withheld money from employees sent to UN peacekeeping missions in places such as Liberia, Congo and Kosovo to do communications work.

While the workers claimed they were only getting a pittance - sometimes as little as $5 for daily expenses - the money enriched another company associated with the Indian businessman and his son.

Details of the investigation were first reported in the Friday editions of the Italian business daily Il Sole 24 Ore.

They are the latest in a string of claims of fraud in the procurement department, which is responsible for awarding millions of dollars in contracts to do business with the UN worldwide.

It would also raise questions about a programme known as "secondment," under which someone like Bahel, while still formally a government official takes a job at the UN. One of the staff rules that the report accuses Bahel of violating "prohibits staff members from accepting any instructions from any government".

Indonesian president accuses western media of double standards

Jakarta, Sep 2 (DPA) Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Saturday accused western media of applying double standard in reporting about Muslims.

"If a non-Muslim dies in a battle, then western media would blow it up. This is not happening for Muslims who die in Palestine, Iraq, and now Lebanon," the Antara news agency quoted Yudhoyono as saying.

Yudhoyono, speaking at a two-day forum of international journalists in Bali, said Muslims did not demand special treatment. "They just want to be respected as other religions are," Yudhoyono said.

He referred to cartoons of Islam's prophet Mohammed in a Danish newspaper that were reprinted in other countries, causing global protests by Muslims last year.

"The cartoon incident has shocked us all, some Western media journalists didn't even know it's forbidden to publish a drawing of prophet Mohammed," Yudhoyono said.

Yudhoyono urged Western media to learn from the cartoon controversy, which claimed 139 lives around the globe.

IOC announces 450 scholarships for 2006-07

New Delhi, Sept 2 (ZEENEWS.COM) State-run Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has announced 450 scholarships for meritorious students all over India, under the Indian Oil scholarships scheme for the academic year 2006-07.

As part of IOC's social responsibility programme, the scheme provides for attractive scholarships to students selected on 'merit-cum-means' basis.

For the academic year 2006-07, 450 scholarships covering the first year students of 10+/iti, engineering, MBBS and MBA, will be formally announced through newspaper advertisements inviting applications under the scholarship scheme.

Out of the total 450 scholarships, 250 scholarships for 10+/ ITI students will be on zonal basis at the rate of Rs 1,000 per month for two years.

Engineering (100) and MBBS (40) students will be awarded scholarships of Rs 2,000 per month for four years, while MBA (60) students shall be entitled to a scholarship amount of Rs 2,000 per month for a duration of two years.

Special encouragement is being given to girl students, physically challenged students and students from Jammu and Kashmir as well as the Northeast states.

Last date for submitting the application form is September 30.

IT raid on Modi's residence, RCA denies claim

Jaipur/Mumbai, Sep 2 (IANS) The Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) Saturday said it would file a legal suit against a TV channel and a Hindi daily for reporting the "raids" on RCA offices in Jaipur.

"RCA president Lalit Kumar Modi has taken strong exception to the malicious, fabricated distorted reporting by a section of print and electronic media, while reporting the TDS related routine survey by Income Tax authorities in RCA office premises in Jaipur Sep 1," said a RCA statement.

"It was not a raid - merely a routine survey by the IT department with prior formal intimation to the RCA," it said.

Contradicting reports that the house and office of Modi were raided, the RCA said: "This is not true. Mr. Modi neither owns an office nor a house in Jaipur."

Mehmood Abdi, RCA's legal counsel, said the RCA and Modi has decided to take "every possible" legal action under the law against the two media organisations.

"The RCA and Mr. Modi has decided to take every possible legal action permissible under the law against all such publishers and broadcasters, particularly, India TV of Mr. Rajat Sharma and Hindi daily Punjab Kesari for deliberately twisting the facts of an interactive session which took place between the RCA officials and the Income Tax authorities relating to the issue of TDS alone," he said.

"A legal notice has been issued to India TV and Punjab Kesari."

Earlier, a senior IT official said in Mumbai that sleuths of the department Saturday raided the residential premises of Modi, also a vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, for alleged tax evasion.

The raid by the Jaipur unit of the IT Department was conducted at Modi's south Mumbai residence even though Modi himself was not present there, he said.

JKLF leader seeks Canada's help over human rights violations in J&K

New Delhi, Sept 2 (IRNA) Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Mohammad Yaseen Malik sought Canadian intervention in putting an end to alleged human rights violations in the border state.

Malik raised the issue during his interaction with Delhi-based Canadian diplomats including first secretary political and economic affairs Ayesha Rekhi and senior political and economic analyst of the High Commission Madhusri Das, said a statement issued Thursday by JKLF in Srinagar.

Malik strongly condemned state terrorism and said the graph of human rights violations had gone up after the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured zero tolerance to these violations.

The separatist leader also briefed the delegation, currently on a visit to Kashmir valley, about the genesis of Kashmir issue and the prevailing situation, the statement added.

Karunakaran's party may merge with NCP

New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) Former Kerala chief minister K. Karunakaran is trying desperately to merge his fumbling Democratic Indira Congress (DIC-K) with Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), but the latter seems to be in no tearing hurry to welcome him, political sources say.

Although a merger is not being ruled out, the NCP appears to be apprehensive in view of the objections raised by NCP's Kerala leaders who would prefer to keep Karunakaran at a safe distance, party sources told IANS.

DIC-K president K. Muraleedharan, who is Karunakaran's son, met Pawar here Friday evening. More meetings are expected to take place over the weekend.

Pawar had reportedly spoken to both Karunakaran and Murleedharan about the merger. Sources close to Pawar added that he would hold further discussions with the father-son duo when he visits Kerala later this month.

The DIC-K, which used to have considerable influence in northern Kerala especially Kozhikode, Wayanadu and Malappuram districts, is optimistic about improving its electoral prospects if it gets the support of a party like NCP, said an NCP leader.

If it gets merged with NCP, the DIC-K would be a part of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), with which it desperately wanted to join hands with in the run up to assembly elections this year.

The NCP is a constituent of the LDF, which the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leads.

NCP leaders are not so amused by Karunakaran's overtures.

"When we wanted their support and cooperation before the polls, the DIC-K refused to join hands with us. Now we have to think about it seriously," an NCP leader from Kerala said. NCP has one legislator in the 140-seat assembly.

The state leaders of NCP argue that the DIC-K leaders' overtures are aimed at saving themselves from a crisis the party faces - the DIC-K is in disintegration after the debacle in the state polls.

NCP's Kerala leaders also point to Karunakaran's reputation as a wrecker. "If Pawar admits Karunakaran, Karunakaran will end up asking within months for the agriculture portfolio that Pawar now holds."

NCP sources said the party leadership did not want to make any commitment to Murleedharan.

The DIC-K, which made up with the Congress after the CPI-M refused an alliance for the April-May assembly polls, performed poorly losing all but one of the 18 seats it contested. The only candidate who won was Thomas Chandy, an NRI.

But NCP sources here indicated that Pawar was interested in expanding his party base in Kerala, for which he thinks the merger would be good.

"But he considers the state unit views seriously and wants the state leaders to be fully convinced about the move," said the source.

The NCP-DIC-K merger would amount to the coming together of two Congress split-away groups, both led by former veteran party leaders.

Pawar broke away from the Congress in 1998 objecting to Sonia Gandhi's Italian origin. Karunakaran formed his party in 2005 following intense internal problems in the Kerala unit of the Congress.

Lebanese troops man Israel border

Majidiyah, Sept 2 (ZEENEWS.COM) Lebanese troops, accompanied by U.N. peacekeepers, took up positions on the border with Israel on Thursday (August 31) for the first time in decades.

A reporter saw soldiers in two armoured troop carriers and four trucks deploy in the frontier village of Majidiyeh in the eastern sector of south Lebanon, near the Lebanese side of the divided town of Ghajar. The troops were accompanied by U.N. peacekeepers.

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said in a statement that Lebanese army units started deploying in the area a day after Israeli forces pulled out.

It was the first time the Lebanese army had taken up positions in that sector of south Lebanon since it made way for Palestinian guerrillas to deploy there in the late1960s.

The Israeli army said earlier on Thursday that it had handed over more than two thirds of the territory it captured in south Lebanon to U.N. troops and Lebanese forces since a truce with Hizbollah took effect.

Israeli forces occupied pockets of territory in the south during 34 days of fighting that was halted by a U.N. truce on Aug. 14.

But Israel has refused to withdraw completely from south Lebanon before the deployment of a beefed-up UNIFIL force to ensure Hizbollah cannot get close to its border again.

Lynching of 'criminals' on rise in Bihar

By Imran Khan,

Patna, Sep 2 (IANS) In Bihar people seem to be running out on patience and have started delivering "instant justice" by lynching suspected criminals. At least 25 people have been lynched in the past three weeks in the state, which even otherwise has a high crime rate.

A senior police officer admitted that over 20 criminals were lynched in August. "Police are aware of the rising incidents of lynching both in urban and rural areas," he told IANS.

In some cases the "criminals" were lynched even as the police looked on and their family members and relatives protested. At least in some cases, the victims clearly appeared to be innocent.

Jagender Prasad, a businessman, told IANS: "People are fed up with growing lawlessness and rising crimes. As the police do little to curb the crimes, they (people) have started punishing the criminals."

Madan Singh, another businessman, agreed that people have no option but to lynch criminals so as to send a warning to others.

Doman Kahar and Raju Kahar were lynched by an angry mob in Patna last week as they were reportedly trying to snatch a mobile telephone and other valuables from a doctor and Rs.9,000 from a businessman. The residents caught them. But instead of handing them over to the police, they beat them to death.

Sushil Singh, another suspected criminal, was lynched in Rajokhar village in Araria district. He was caught as he was trying to break into a Rashtriya Janata Dal leader's house. His accomplice, who survived, is in critical condition.

In some cases the "criminals" seemed to be innocent.

The innocent included four Dalit youths from the Nut caste who were beaten to death in Balbatra village in Bhojpur district. They were accused of stealing a buffalo.

Following a complaint, the National Human Rights Commission has directed the Bihar government to submit a report on their killing.

Similarly, an agitated mob killed Lallu Lal and Chirkut after they were trying to sell two stolen buffalos in a village in Rohtas district.

Three more Dalits were lynched in Siwan district as they were trying to rob a house in Siktiya village.

More than a dozen such incidents have been reported from West Champaran, Saran, Munger, Shekhpura, Jehanabad and Supaul districts in the past three weeks.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar admitted in the state assembly early August that 1,618 murders and 97 kidnapping cases had been reported in just six months. Last year 1,688 murders and 117 cases of kidnapping had been reported.

Man dies in custody, six policemen suspended

New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) Six police officials of Noida, a satellite town of Delhi, were suspended Saturday after a man allegedly committed suicide in police lock-up.

According to Noida Police, the man committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling at around 3 a.m. Saturday.

"Taking note of the case, we have suspended six policemen, including SHO (station house officer) Deepak Chaturvedi for negligence of duty," said senior police official Soumetra Yadav.

He said investigations were on.

Apart from Chaturvedi, three assistant sub-inspectors - Mahesh Misra, H.S. Chouhan, P. Sharma and two constables - Ram Kumar and Vijendra Sharma, were also suspended.

Maoists ask Nepal government to speed up talks

By Sudeshna Sarkar,

Kathmandu, Sep 2 (IANS) Accusing the government of succumbing to pressure from foreign powers and the palace to scuttle peace talks, Nepal's Maoist guerrillas have asked for a quick political resolution, failing which they have threatened to begin a peaceful but powerful campaign.

Alarmed at peace negotiations remaining stalled since June, the rebels have formed a 10-member team, headed by their chief Prachanda, to pressure the Girija Prasad Koirala government into holding the fourth round of parleys as soon as possible.

"We want the talks to be held within a week to 10 days," Maoist spokesman and former MP Krishna Bahadur Mahara told IANS. "The longer the talks are delayed, the greater is the danger of negotiations being scuttled."

The rebels have been growing increasingly wary after the disclosure that the government tried to obtain weapons from abroad despite engaging them in talks and agreeing not to expand the army or its arsenal as long as the ceasefire held.

While the Indian government last month blocked two bids by the Koirala government to fly in machine guns and missiles from Bulgaria via western India, Mahara says the army has been still able to get three arms shipments.

The Maoists also claim to have taken under their control an army commando who they alleged had been assigned to assassinate their leaders.

The Maoists have been accusing the US of trying to pressure Kathmandu into scuttling the talks as well as elections scheduled next year that would decide if King Gyanendra would retain his crown or become a commoner following the abolition of monarchy.

The next round of talks is expected to give the final shape to a new constitution and decide the fate of parliament.

According to the Maoist formula for peace, a new constitution should be installed and parliament dissolved to make way for an interim government in which they too would be included. The new government will then begin preparing for the key election.

However, some parties in the coalition government, including Koirala, are opposing the dissolution of parliament, saying it would be foolhardy to do so as long as the Maoists refused to lay down arms.

"If the Maoists keep their arms, we need to keep parliament, which is our weapon," Koirala has said.

It has led to an impasse with the Maoists saying they would not surrender weapons till the election is held. However, they have offered to keep their arms and soldiers under the supervision of the UN.

Mideast crisis: Annan meets Syrian President

Damascus, September 2 (NDTV.COM) UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said that Syria would step up border patrols and work with the Lebanese army to stop the flow of weapons to Hezbollah.

Syria will increase its own patrols along the Lebanon-Syria border, and establish joint patrols with the Lebanese army "when possible," said Annan after meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus.

Assad made no public comments after their meeting, but Annan spoke with reporters at the Damascus airport before he departed midday for Qatar.

Annan said Assad informed him that Syria would "take all necessary measures" to implement paragraph 15 of UN Resolution 1701, which calls on countries to prevent the sale or supply of weapons to entities in Lebanon without the consent of the Lebanese government or UN Peacekeepers.

The UN Chief also asked Syria to "use its influence" to win the release of three Israeli soldiers, two captured by Hezbollah in a July 12 cross-border raid that started the war, and one captured by Hamas-linked militants in Gaza the previous month. (AP)

Military option against Iran open: US

Washington, Sept 2 (ZEENEWS.COM) Raising the pitch of its rhetoric against Iran, the Bush administration has said while the military option against Tehran stayed open, the United States could also pursue economic sanctions beyond what the UN Security Council may determine.

"We're exercising a lot of diplomatic activity here to try and resolve this peacefully.

That's our objective but no President charged with defending the American people takes the military option off the table," the American Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said in an interview with CNN.

Accusing Tehran of breaking its obligations under the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and providing weapons and financial support to Hezbollah and Hamas, Bolton said: "...The consequences of an Iran with nuclear weapons are not only the capability they're seeking to deliver them through ballistic missiles, but also the possibility they could transfer a nuclear weapon to a terrorist group."

The Security Council had set Thursday's deadline for Iran to stop its nuclear activities threatening sanctions if it failed to comply.

The UN nuclear watchdog IAEA, in a report on Thursday had confirmed that Tehran had not stopped uranium enrichment despite the warning.

Bolton said both China and Russia at the time of passing the UN resolution had assured they would discuss sanctions if Iran did not meet the deadline.

But the top American envoy to the UN stressed that Washington may go on its own, even over and beyond what Europe and Japan could come up with.

"There is no doubt that there is a wide range of sanctions we could seek to impose on Iran that do not require Security Council authorisation.

I think the utility of the Council acting under Chapter 7 is to make the sanctions mandatory for UN members.

"But if for whatever reason we don't achieve the level of sanctions we want, and even if we do, there are other things we're going to pursue that countries like the European Union, Japan and others can impose by their own national decisions," Bolton said.

He was reminded that the United States has just about slapped every sanction available against Iran and hence may have to be dependent on others as in Europe.

"We've imposed just about all the sanctions we can with a couple of small exceptions. Small in the big picture.

For instance, in the area of financial transactions, investment transactions and large flows of capital, there are a number of things that governments could do already under existing authorities concerning anti-terrorism legislation and Iran is the central banker of terrorism..." Bolton said.

"There are a lot of steps that countries could take and I think major financial institutions, major businesses, ought to think long and hard about doing business with a country like Iran".

Ministries misusing PSUs: CVC

New Delhi, September 2 (NDTV.COM) In an exclusive interview to NDTV, Chief Vigilance Commissioner P Shankar on his last day of office admitted that public sector undertakings are being misused by ministries.

In fact, he also added that if there is no political interference, it will help reduce corruption by 50 per cent.

Muslim-based political party opposing the directive in Assam

Guwahati, Sep 2 (IANS) The Assam government's decision to make singing of India's national song "Vande Mataram" compulsory in schools has sparked a row, with an influential Muslim-based political party opposing the directive.

The education department has made it mandatory for all students to sing at least two stanzas of "Vande Mataram" Sep 7 to mark the beginning of the centenary year celebrations of the national song.

"The government cannot make it mandatory for everyone to sing 'Vande Mataram'. This is against the ideals of Islam and nothing political in it," Badruddin Ajmal, president of the Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF) and a member of the state assembly, told journalists.

An official said the government notification follows a letter from central Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh asking the state to make singing of "Vande Mataram" compulsory in all educational institutions Sep 7.

New hope for malaria vaccine

London, Sep 2 (IANS) New findings on the activities of the malaria parasite could enable the development of vaccines and therapies to combat severe forms of the disease, say scientists.

The most severe form of malaria hits pregnant women and children the hardest. A joint study between Karolinska Institutet (KI) in Sweden and Makerere University in Uganda has produced important findings on how the parasite conceals itself in the placenta of pregnant women, reported science portal News Medical.

Plasmodium falciparium is the most virulent of the four malaria parasites that infect human beings. It is particularly dangerous as it infects the placenta of pregnant women, with fatal consequences for both the mother and child.

This, combined with the often feeble medical resources of malaria-stricken countries, can lead to such serous complications that the mother dies during delivery.

Earlier studies have suggested that each protein from the parasite attaches to only one specific protein, a receptor, in the placenta.

Researchers, however, suspected that the natural mechanisms are more complex than laboratory studies have shown. They therefore collected and analysed placentas on site in Uganda.

"Most of the parasites we studied could bind to three different receptors in the placenta," said Niloofar Rasti, one of the researchers and a KI graduate student.

"This would mean that a future vaccine cannot be based on the principle of one protein-one receptor, as was previously believed," she added.

Now that scientists know several placental receptors are involved in the binding mechanism, attention will be shifted to the parasite itself, and whether it produces many different surface proteins or if one and the same protein is able to bind to many host receptors.

NHRC unhappy with amendment bill for Human Rights Act

New Delhi, Sep 2 (ZEENEWS.COM) The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) today expressed dissatisfaction with the bill passed recently by Parliament for amendment to the Human Rights Act, saying the changes proposed by the rights panel have not been incorporated in it.

"In the amendment bill, as passed by both the Houses of Parliament, unfortunately all the amendments which had been proposed by the Commission, based on the report of Justice Ahmadi Committee, have found no place," NHRC chairperson Justice A S Anand said here.

Anand was giving his inaugural address at the annual meeting between NHRC and the state human rights commissions.

He said the Commission had been emphasising on the need to amend the act in terms of the suggestions made by the Justice Ahmadi Committee.

"One of the amendments in the bill would have a direct impact on the operational workload on the working of the state human rights commissions after the amendment act is notified. It relates to transfer of any complaint filed or pending before the NHRC to the SHRCS of the state from which the complaint arises, for disposal," he said.

In view of the amendment, Anand asked the states to act with promptness and decisiveness in improving the infrastructure and staff complement of the SHRCs.

Later, replying to questions, Anand said "ninety per cent of the recommendations made by the Commission have been accepted by the Centre and the state governments. We have power."

Pakistani engineer to be deported

Kochi (Kerala), Sep 2 (IANS) Finally after months in a Kerala prison, Pakistani Gul Mohammed Khan is to be deported to his country.

Khan, an engineer by profession, was jailed after he was arrested April 10 for overstaying.

"His visa period got over April 9. The chief judicial magistrate Friday issued orders for his deportation after he pleaded guilty. He was also fined Rs.15,000," Kochi Commissioner of Police S. Vijayan told IANS.

The engineer reached Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu March 9. Later he shifted to Kochi and began working for a private company.

"Since there is no other criminal case against him, the court ordered his release and his deportation," said a police official.

Penal action possible if duplicate PAN cards not surrendered: Govt

New Delhi, Sep 2 (ZEENEWS.COM) As part of the drive to weed out 13 lakh duplicate PAN cards by December, the government today said people should surrender them in the next few weeks, failing which penal action could be initiated.

"Keeping duplicate pan cards would be of no use to holders as computers blink if another number has the same five parameters as the original," Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) spokesman A K Sinha told reporters. He said that taxmen have the powers to impose a fine of Rs 10,000 on duplicate PAN card holder under section 272 (b) of the Income Tax Act.

There are 4.7 crore PAN holders in the country, Sinha said exuding confidence that Finance Minister P Chidambaram's assurance that duplicate pan cards would be wiped out by December 31.

Sinha said assesses themselves may surrender their duplicate cards or assessing officers would be issuing letters to them.

The duplicate cards were issued in 1990s when there was no centralised system of computers to cross cheque the issuance of cards.

Sinha, however, ruled out any fraud or design in issuing duplicate cards.

He said the department is assessing the possibilities of issuing biometric PAN cards, which would detect physical identities of a card holder.

PM to open Thiruvanthapuram airport expansion

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 2 (IANS) Even though the state's proposed Vizhinjam port hangs fire, the Kerala capital's international airport will get a facelift when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh lays the foundation stone for its expansion.

"An all party delegation was in Delhi early this week and we discussed Vizhinjam. But the prime minister said he would have a re-look into the denial of security clearance for it. He would however be here either this month or the next to lay the foundation stone for the airport expansion," state Law Minister M. Vijaykumar told reporters Saturday.

The expansion of the international airport got delayed for several years and successive state governments tried in vain to acquire the required land initially.

After land acquisition, funds were a problem but it was got over after the recent all-party meeting with the prime minister, he said.

Originally meant for about 300,000 passengers annually, the facilities at the 1985-built airport terminal are appalling. Nearly two million passengers use the airport now.

In the international sector including Air India and Indian, national carriers of six countries operate close to 80 flights every week from here.

According to an airport official, the new expansion plans would cost Rs.2.45 billion, of which Rs.1 billion would be for a new cargo terminal.

Rajasthan Muslims oppose Vande Mataram

By Harsha Kumari Singh

September (Jaipur) The only BJP state that's still insisting that all schools and educational institutions make arrangements for the singing of the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram is Rajasthan.

Muslim organisations in the state are now on a collision course with the government.

Nine-year-old Nikhat comes for evening classes to study the Quran at the Madrassa Dar Al Qayoom.

In the morning she attends regular school, but Nikhat says despite the government order she will not sing Vande Mataram in her school with children from other communities.

"I like Sare Jahaan Se Achha much more. I will not sing Vande Mataram. My mother has forbidden it," said Nikhat.

Muslims upset

In madrassas across Rajasthan the Muslim clergy is upset over the government's insistence on singing Vande Mataram, they say they will publicly inform Muslims in the state, to boycott the song.

"We will not send our children to school on that day. If they insist further, we will boycott government schools. We cannot sing this song. In Islam we cannot bow before anybody but God. As far as patriotism is concerned, we are ready to die for our country," said Abdul Latif Qureshi, priest.

Muslim parents, who also send their children to regular schools, now find themselves in a dilemma. They blame political parties for trying to divide communities.

"Politicians want to polarise communities. India is one country where people from all religions live peacefully. Politicians thrive by creating differences," said Mohammad Zahoor, a parent.

But Rajasthan is the only BJP-ruled state insisting on all educational institutions making arrangements for the singing of Vande Mataram on September 7.

The government and Muslim community here now appears headed for a confrontation.

Rio de Janeiro to bid for 2016 Olympics

Rio de Janeiro, Sep 2 (DPA) Rio de Janeiro would bid for the 2016 Olympics, Brazil's National Olympic Committee said Friday.

Rio bid unsuccessfully to hold the 2004 and 2012 games, but hopes its third candidacy will be boosted by the 2007 Pan American Games to be hosted by the city from July 13 to 29.

The announcement comes two days after the Japanese capital Tokyo entered the ring for the 2016 games.

Other potential bidders include Madrid, Rome and a US city to be chosen from Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The 2016 host city will be elected 2009 by the International Olympic Committee.

The 2008 Games are in Beijing, the 2012 edition in London.

Russia - Islam conference condemns US domination

Kazan(Russia), Sept 2 (ZEENEWS.COM) Officials and religious figures from Russia and more than a dozen Islamic countries kicked off a conference here that organizers said was aimed at deepening their dialogue and defending a "multipolar" world in the face of US power.

"Values cannot be imposed by force," Mintimer Shaimiyev, President of Russia`s mainly Muslim republic of Tatarstan where the three-day conference was being held, said in an opening address to delegates.

"The example of Iraq has shown that democracy can only be the result of internal development. Liberal values can`t be exported like cars. A multipolar world without a system of equilibrium leads to tensions and civil war," Shaimiyev said.

Representatives of more than a dozen Islamic countries, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, converged on Kazan for discussions led by former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, a veteran diplomat and respected Middle East expert.

In addition to historically close ties with numerous Islamic countries, Russia has 20 million Muslims among a total population of 142 million.

The country also gained observer status in the organization of the Islamic conference in 2005, and "should feel that it is part of the Muslim family," Ravil Gainutdin, President of the Russian Council of Muftis, told news persons.

"As a member of the UN Security Council, Russia will be able to actively defend the rights of Muslims and prevent rules being dictated that they oppose," Gainutdin said.

"The Islamic world wants Russia to return to the role the Soviet Union played in the Muslim world," Gainutdin said.

Russia to remain privileged partner in defence: India

Moscow, Sept 2 (ZEENEWS.COM) Noting that military-technical contracts worth USD 10 billion are on different stages of execution with Russia, India has said Moscow will remain its "privileged" partner in defence.

"I am happy that we have such cooperation with Russia and hope that Russia will remain India`s privileged partner," India`s Ambassador to Russia Kanwar Sibal said last evening in the course of an Internet conference.

Addressing 29800 netizens, the ambassador said India, which has 70 per cent Russian-origin arms in its armed forces, placed massive orders of military hardware including T-90 tanks, Sukhoi SU-30MKI fighters and frigates to keep the Russian defence industry afloat after the Soviet collapse in 1991.

In an obvious reference to the recent sale of SU-30 fighters to Malaysia, Thailand and Venezuela by Russia, Sibal noted that "arms acquisition by India gives credibility to the Russian defence hardware as it is a well known fact that India buys the best."

In the course of the 90-minute Internet conference Sibal responded to 12 questions ranging from Indo-Russian cooperation in various fields to Indian economy and Indian films.

He said Bollywood films like Awara and Raj Kapoor played a significant role in cementing bilateral relations between India and Russia and this "precious link" should be preserved.

"I meet Duma members and various officials of a certain age and they remember Awara and Raj Kapoor. Recently I had a meeting with Luzhkov (influential Moscow Mayor) who greeted me while humming `Awara Hoon,` a song from Raj Kapoor`s popular film in Russia," Sibal said.

He noted that some Russian TV channels are regularly showing Indian films.

Next year an Indian Film Festival will be organized in Russia to preserve the "precious" link between the two people, he added.

Russia to deliver Sukhoi warplanes ahead of schedule

In a move to save costs and speed up delivery of Sukhoi fighter aircraft to Indian Air Force from Russia three-years ahead of schedule, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has scrapped initial plans for full indigenisation of the warplane at its facilities in India, media reports said today.

An agreement signed recently between Russian arms firm Rosoboronexport and Indian Defence Ministry has changed the timeframe of the completion of USD 3.5 billion contract for the licensed production of 140Su-30MKI fighters by HAL, `Kommersant` daily said.

The original Sukhoi license production deal signed in December 2000 ,the largest single Indo-Russian defence contract in 40 years, had provision for full indigenisation of the multi-role fighter planes at HAL facilities in India and last of the 140 Su-30MKI was to be delivered in 2017.

The amendments in the initial deal provide for the completion of delivery of 140 fighters in 2014 three years ahead of schedule with India declining to shift the whole production cycle to HAL facilities as the cost of the indigenously-produced fighter would have doubled, it said.

Russia, which has so far supplied 26 kits to HAL for the assembly of Su-30MKI, would earn an additional USD 350 million through the supply of components by its companies, which otherwise would have been produced by HAL.

Sources in Russian supplier of Su-30MKI fighters Irkut Corporation have said that the deal could be closed even by 2012.

Singing of Vande Mataram made compulsory on Sept 7 in Karnataka

Bangalore, Sept 2 (ZEENEWS.COM) The JDS-BJP government in Karnataka has made singing of "Vande Mataram" compulsory on September seven in all educational institutions to mark the centenary celebrations of the national song.

Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Basavaraj Horatti told reporters today that a circular has been issued for mandatory singing of the song in all schools and colleges.

Horatti said "Vande Mataram" is a national song and no caste or communal colour should be given to it.

The Commissioner of Public Instructions has issued a circular making the mandatory singing of the first two stanzas of the national song at 11 am on September seven.

South Asian filmmaker wins award at comedy festival

Washington, Sep 2 (IANS) Rehana Mirza, an American filmmaker of Pakistani-Filipina heritage, has won the Audience Award at the NBC Universal Comedy Short Cuts Film Festival for her short film "Modern Day Arranged Marriage".

Starring Debargo Sanyal, Poorna Jagannathan and Tyler Pierce, the short film relates the comedic story of a man and a woman who discuss their matrimonial suitability for an arrangement with a twist.

Competing against 11 other semi-finalists, the New York-based filmmaker and her sister producer Rohi Mirza Pandya took home the award that includes an Avid Composer Package sponsored by Avid Technology.

Comedy Short Cuts is a unique showcase of independent short comedy films and videos with a culturally diverse production team, cast or theme. The 12 semi-finalists were selected from over 850 submissions and a grand winner will be chosen by a jury of industry professionals.

The winning filmmaker will be given the chance to pitch to NBC's comedy development team in Los Angeles and meet top executives at Rogue Pictures and Focus Features. NBC Universal is producing this festival to uncover diverse talent in front of and behind the camera for future development.

All semi-finalist films will be screened at the 2006 New York Television Festival Sep 16 at the Directors Guild of America Theatre in Manhattan.

Mirza has also just completed her feature directorial debut "Hiding Divya." The generational story of three women stars Madhur Jaffrey, Pooja Kumar, Madelaine Massey and Deep Katdare and will begin playing at international film festivals later this year.

Three Indian pilgrims, eight Pakistanis killed in Iraq

New Delhi/Hyderabad, Sep 2 (IANS) Iraq's escalating anarchy has claimed the lives of three Indian pilgrims and eight Pakistanis who were ambushed and shot dead while on their way from Syria to the Iraqi Shia holy city of Karabala.

All the three Indians killed were from Andhra Pradesh and were Shias, according to the relatives of the slain in Hyderabad. The identity of the killers or their religious affiliation is not known yet, but sources say the pilgrims got caught in the ongoing Shia-Sunni conflict in Iraq.

Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed told IANS that the Indian men were seized from Rutba town and later killed along with the Pakistanis Thursday while they were on their way to the Karbala, 80 km from Baghdad, for a pilgrimage.

The three - Jaffer Mashaddi and Mohammed Ahamed Ali from Hyderabad and Mohuiddin Beig from Godavari district - were part of a 15-member group of pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh. While all 12 women, including group leader Syeda Zianab, were spared, the Indian men along with eight Pakistanis were separated and later gunned down.

Mashadi and Ahmed Ali were accompanied by their wives while Baig's mother-in-law was travelling with him.

As the land of Karbala is considered holy, all the three were buried there in the presence of other members of the group, their family members were informed.

The group had left India Aug 23 and entered Iraq after visiting pilgrim centres in Syria and Jordan.

Expressing "shock" at the killing of three Indians, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy Saturday offered to provide all assistance to their families.

"We are coordinating with the external affairs ministry. We will provide whatever assistance is required," Reddy told reporters in New Delhi before leaving for Hyderabad after a two-day visit to the national capital.

Ahamed ruled out any political dimension to the killings and said it appeared to be a case of robbery in a volatile region.

"It looks like robbery as all their belongings, including passports, were taken away by the kidnappers," Ahamed said.

The minister said it was regrettable that the dead men had violated travel advisory issued by the Indian government asking Indians not to visit or travel in Iraq. The Indian advisory was issued in 2004 after the kidnapping of three Indian drivers there. Those three were, however, released.

Describing the killings as "unfortunate", Ahamed again urged Indians not to go to strife-torn Iraq. "If people flout advisory, what can we do? They should strictly follow the advisory."

Iraqi diplomats here also expressed sorrow.

"It's unfortunate they have been killed," Muayad Hussain, charge d' affaires in the Iraqi embassy here, told IANS.

The three men were kidnapped while proceeding to Baghdad from Damascus, the Syrian capital, Ahamed said. The bodies were recovered from Rutba, a small town in Iraq's western province of Al Anbar.

The slain Indians and Pakistanis were part of a 40-strong group that also included several women. The gunmen picked out only the men, who turned out to be Indians and Pakistanis.

Ahamed said the wives of two of the Indians and the mother-in-law of the third were with the slain men when they were seized.

"The family members have got permission to take the bodies to Karbala for burial," he said, adding he had instructed the Indian diplomats in Iraq to render all help to the relatives of the murdered Indians.

In Hyderabad, the homes of the three men from Andhra Pradesh sunk in gloom. The relatives of the slain pilgrims received the shocking news from their wives and other family members who were accompanying them.

"He spoke to me over phone only three days ago and said all was well," said Mariam Begum, mother of Ahmed Ali. Dozens of family members and other mourners descended on his house in Chanchalguda in old city.

Ahmed Ali, 42, also a social worker, had been visiting the holy shrines of Iraq almost every year. Despite the war in Iraq, he had been a regular visitor to that country.

"He visited Iraq 13 times and I don't know why it happened this time. I just shudder to think how they shot him dead," said Mohammed Ali's mother.

The scene was no different at the house of Mashadi alias Aga, 60. Men and women could be seen wailing outside his house at Ghatkesar on the city's outskirts.

With about 200,000 Shia Muslims, Hyderabad has the second largest population of the sect in India after Lucknow.

Every year dozens of pilgrims in groups visit shrines in Iraq, Iran and Syria. Shia leaders said three other groups currently in Iraq have informed their relatives that they are safe.

Community leaders said this is the first time pilgrims from the city have fallen victims to insurgents in Iraq.

Three Indians shot dead in Iraq

New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) Three Indian men, all from Andhra Pradesh, and eight Pakistani men have been shot dead by unidentified men in Iraq, Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed said Saturday.

Ahamed told IANS that the three Indians, according to information provided to him by Indian diplomats, were Jaffer Mashaddi from Visakhapatanam and Mohuiddin Beig and Mohammed Ahamed Ali, both from Hyderabad.

The three were kidnapped on their way to Karbala, about 100 km southwest of Baghdad, on the night of Aug 31 when they were on their way to Baghdad from Damascus, the Syrian capital, the minister said.

They were part of a 40-strong group that included several women. The gunmen picked out only the men, who turned out to be the Indians and Pakistanis. They were then found shot dead.

"Their bodies have been found. The Indians were kidnapped along with eight Pakistanis," Ahamed said.

The minister said the wives of two of the Indians and the mother-in-law of the third Indian were with the slain men when they were seized.

Two AMU teachers suspended for harassment

By Lamat R. Hasan,

New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) Two teachers have been suspended for sexual harassment. A woman student quit because she could take it no more. Another had her clothes pulled for her "un-Islamic" dress. Now an angry student is on hunger strike. The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in Uttar Pradesh is in ferment.

Worse, many of AMU's women students - they number a staggering 5,000 of the 28,000 student population - are being told that they are bringing a bad name to the university by protesting.

But girl students told IANS they cannot take it any more. The authorities, they say, do not even allow them to step out of the campus. They need to take permission if they go out even for coaching classes. There are no such curbs on male students.

Asma Javed, who has been on hunger strike since Thursday outside the vice chancellor's house, told IANS on phone from Aligarh: "I have been punished for daring to complain against a professor. I have been threatened time and again. They want me to withdraw my complaint."

Asma, who was even shot at on the campus but survived, said: "The professor used to invite me over to his place and offer money."

Disgusted, she complained to AMU's women's grievance cell and the police. Goaded into action, the university suspended Mohammed Shareef, a reader in Sanskrit.

"This isn't the first complaint against Shareef. I am now being victimised for speaking up," said Asma, who wants Shareef axed. She alleges she is being denied admission to a PhD course.

In the last six months, three complaints have been lodged with the women's cell. Students say nine of them went to lodge complaints but only three were accepted.

Amina Kishore, principal of AMU's Women's College, told IANS: "Asma suspects she was not given admission because she lodged a complaint. That is not true."

Asked when Asma's case will be heard, Amina said: "A date has not been fixed."

Students say this isn't the only complaint the women's cell is sitting on.

Earlier, a 21-year-old student, Farah Khanum, a journalism student, was threatened for wearing T-shirts and jeans.

She complained to the vice-chancellor after two youths snatched her shawl and sped away on their bike.

Many girl students have always worn jeans on the AMU campus. But it is only now that some male students have begun picking on women wearing Western dresses.

When Farah approached the student union leaders, she was curtly told: "If you want to become Bhanwari Devi, go on with your campaign." Bhanwari Devi was gang raped in Rajasthan in 1992 for daring to report a child marriage.

A professor in the law faculty has also been suspended after an American Fulbright scholar accused him of making indecent sexual advances.

"At least six other incidents have been reported by women," says National Students Union of India president Jasim Ahmed.

Students say the university is not serious about complaints.

Two years ago, a law student got into trouble after writing about the problems at the university, one of India's oldest. The student, now at Harvard Law School, was disowned and forced to quit.

Two months ago about 1,500 women hostellers, who are not allowed to step of their campus, marched to the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospital after a first year BA (Hindi) student, Yusra Ahmed, died due to the alleged negligence of university authorities.

The students demanded the resignation of the provost and wardens who insinuated that the dead girl was a "bad character" and had committed suicide.

AMU, which came up in 1876 to promote modern education among Muslims, follows very strict rules governing boys and girls. They are barred from mixing in their undergraduate years. No violation is tolerated.

The main student union in AMU is male dominated and technically represents the whole university. But the women have a separate union whose jurisdiction is confined to that part of the sprawling complex where women study and live.

Students admit that the protesting girls do not enjoy the backing of all women in AMU. "Some are too afraid to come out in our support," said one of them.

UN hails Indian decision to send female police officers

United Nations, Sep 2 (IANS) India's decision to send 125 female police officers - one complete specialised unit - to assist UN peacekeeping operations in Liberia in October has been hailed by the United Nations.

It is an "unprecedented" move that sends a message not only to other post-conflict countries about the importance of having women officers, but also to police contributing nations, senior UN officials said Friday.

"This is an unprecedented move by India to deploy these female officers in policing and we applaud it and think that it is extremely timely and extremely relevant to the policing needs in the years ahead," Police Adviser Mark Kroeker said.

"We think it's a breakthrough that India has expressed its willingness and it's also good for our Liberia mission because it brings to that police operation these officers who are trained, who are capable, who are women and who can bring the best of what the UN police is to the component there."

The 125 officers, currently undergoing the final stages of their training in India, will make up a specialised unit, known as a Formed Police Unit (FPU). The UN has had increasing success with such units over the past few years as a means of bridging the gap between regular and lightly armed police and fully armed blue helmets.

Details of what exact role the all-female FPU will play as part of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) are being worked out, said Noor Gabow, acting mission management coordinator at the UN Police Division.

However, he added that these special units have traditionally been employed as a rapid reaction force, trained in crowd control and better armed than regular police, as well as playing a strong training role for local officers.

"This Indian women's contingent is made up solely of volunteers who have decided that they'd like to be a part of peace operations and that they can play an effective, credible role which we know they can," said Gabow.

India currently contributes almost 400 police officers to UN missions worldwide, one of the top 10 police-contributing countries, but only 15 of these personnel are female officers.

The introduction of the 125 women officers in October will dramatically change this and will also send a powerful message to other contributing countries, UN officials say.

"This decision is extremely timely because as we look at our deployment of women in UN police components around the world, we still retain an unacceptably small number of three or four percent, compared to up to 25 percent of women officers in an acceptable police organization," said Kroeker, a former Los Angeles police officer for over 30 years.

"It enhances our access to vulnerable populations by having women in UN missions and also sends a message to the post-conflict societies where we work that women officers can have any position and play any role in a police organization, including that of commissioner, or deputy commissioner or chief of regions or whatever."

The all-female Indian unit will join other FPUs currently serving in Liberia, where the concept was first tried out although its success there and in other operations has led to calls for increasing deployment.

UN officials also highlight that FPUs are cheaper to deploy than regular military units, noting that it costs around $5 million to set up a specialized police formation while a military battalion can cost up $30 million.

In addition, the deployment of FPUs sends a message to the populations of post-conflict countries that the UN is demilitarizing, while maintaining a credible force that at the same time is helping build local police capacity.

UN HRC names experts to probe Israeli civilian killings in Lebanon

New York, Sept 2 (UN News) The United Nations Human Rights Council today named three members of the High-Level Commission of Inquiry probing what the Geneva-based body termed “systematic targeting and killings of civilians by Israel� in Lebanon.

The three experts are: Clemente Baena Soares of Brazil, a former Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Mohamed Chande Othman, a judge on the Supreme Court of Tanzania, and Stelios Perrakis of Greece, who is the Director of the European Centre for Research and Training on Human Rights and Humanitarian Action.

The High-Level Commission of Inquiry was established in August by a resolution of the Council which mandated it to investigate the systematic targeting and killings of civilians by Israel, examine the types of weapons used by Israel and their conformity with international law, and assess the extent and deadly impact of Israeli attacks on human life, property, critical infrastructure and environment.

The resolution, which was adopted by a vote of 27 in favour to 11 against with 8 abstentions, strongly condemned the “grave Israeli violations of human rights and breaches of international humanitarian law in Lebanon� and called on Israel “to observe the principle of proportionality and refrain from launching any attack that may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life.�

UN team to probe Israeli bombing

Geneva, Sep 2 (DPA) The UN named a three-man team to investigate allegations that Israel systematically killed civilians and used cluster bombs against them during its month-long assault on Lebanon.

The probe was ordered last month by the newly formed UN Human Rights Council, the world body's top human rights panel. Israel and the US are not members.

Named as investigators Friday by the Geneva-based council were a former Brazilian diplomat, a Tanzanian judge and a Greek human rights expert. No date was announced for their trip to the region.

Israel began its offensive against the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militia after the July 12 abduction of two Israeli soldiers. A ceasefire took effect Aug 14.

Uttar Pradesh ministers defy court orders to vacate

By Sharat Pradhan,

Lucknow, Sep 2 (IANS) Thirty Uttar Pradesh ministers have not bothered to heed a Supreme Court order to vacate the government houses they are occupying beyond the permitted deadlines.

The ministers are among 89 politicians ordered to vacate their government accommodation by the apex court, which earlier this week listed 893 officials as "unauthorised occupants".

According to one official, the ministers were included in the list of unauthorised occupants because "they were holding on to the bungalow allotted to them as minister while retaining accommodation given to them as legislators".

The apex court has ruled that ministers were not permitted to retain the accommodation given to them earlier as legislators. The court has also ordered their eviction from such accommodation.

The Aug 30 court order came on a writ petition pending since 2004. The petition, by an employee of the Kerala State Road Transport Corp, was against the failure of the Kerala government to get a house allotted to him in the state capital as the earlier occupant refused to vacate it.

The writ was suo moto converted into a public interest litigation whereby the apex court sought details of all such government accommodation under unauthorised occupation of members of legislatures, executive, judiciary and also journalists.

The Uttar Pradesh government has about 14,000 houses in the state capital.

"Policemen top the list of unauthorised squatters. There are as many as 544 police personnel - right from constables to officials of the rank of director general - holding on to government houses," according to an official of the government estates department.

Following them are politicians, government officials, judicial officers, social workers and journalists, with whom successive governments have been quite liberal and generous in allotments. About 350 journalists are beneficiaries of government accommodation in Lucknow.

There are nearly three dozen IAS officers still holding on to government bungalows and flats here despite being transferred out of Lucknow months and even years ago.

Some were posted as district magistrates but refused to vacate the houses allotted to them here, said the official.

Judicial and senior administrative officers are the only ones trying to hurriedly carry out the directives of the apex court.

"While some judicial officers have vacated their premises, others have offered to follow suit by next week," Prabhat Mittal, estates department director, told IANS.

Vande Mataram was not new to controversy

By Amulya Ganguli

India's 'national song' Vande Mataram - or Hail to the Motherland - is not new to controversy.

Written in 1875 by the celebrated Bengali novelist Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, and incorporated in his stirring work of fiction, Anandmath, in 1882, the song gained nationwide prominence when it was chanted by freedom fighters opposing Viceroy Lord Curzon's 1905 vivisection of Bengal.

From then onwards, Vande Mataram was on the lips of virtually every opponent of British rule, whether he was an anarchist bent on killing representatives of the colonial regime or a follower of Mahatma Gandhi's non-violent path to independence.

Not surprisingly, therefore, it was regarded as the national anthem by the Congress before 1947. But ironically, although Vande Mataram became the leitmotif of resistance to colonial rule, the novel, which gave pride of place to it, hailed the advent of the British to the Indian subcontinent.

In Anandmath, whose setting was the devastating Bengal famine of 1770 during which a third of the state's population perished, the context of the song was popular distress and anger with the then prevailing Muslim rule and preference for the British as saviours from Islamic tyranny.

"The English are masters of physical knowledge and apt teachers", says a prophet who goes by the name of the Physician in the novel. "Let us make them kings."

The Encyclopaedia Britannica noted that "the general moral of the Anandmath is that British rule and British education are to be accepted as the only alternative to Mussulman oppression, a moral which Bankim Chandra developed also in his Dharmatattva, an elaborate religious treatise".

It has been suggested that Bankim Chandra's praise for the British was motivated by the fact that he was a government official, rising to the posts of deputy magistrate and deputy collector before retirement.

But it is also possible that he was reflecting the generally favourable perception of the British (noticeable also in Nirad Chaudhuri's writings in the 20th century) among the educated Bengalis of the time who were dismissive of the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, or the First War of Independence as it is now called.

This was also the attitude of the Sikhs, the Gurkhas and large sections of the people of south India, it may be added.

To return to Vande Mataram, the anti-Muslim and pro-British slant associated with Anandmath was gradually forgotten or deliberately ignored as the freedom movement gathered momentum. As Aurobindo Ghosh, the celebrated freedom fighter, wrote: "The Mantra had been given and in a single day a whole people had been converted to the religion of patriotism."

However, it isn't the song's original context which is primarily responsible for Muslim objections to it in the past as well as now. These are based on the song's distinctly Hindu bias after the first two stanzas when the goddesses Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati are invoked.

It is for this reason that Jawaharlal Nehru advocated, on the advice of Rabindranath Tagore, the choice of only the first two stanzas for singing, and this has been the Congress's position till now.

The party leadership has also been against forcing anyone to sing the song or to brand any conscientious objector as unpatriotic. For instance, in 1937, Rajendra Prasad, who was to become the first president of India, wrote to Vallabhbhai Patel, who became the first Indian home minister, that opposition to the hoisting of the tricolour and singing of Vande Mataram were gaining strength because of the "thoughtlessness and inopportune action of our workers and sympathizers".

In reply, Patel said the raising of the flag on houses against the wishes of the proprietors had no meaning. "In fact, I regard it as an unseemly demonstration of our intolerance."

Half a century later, the Supreme Court made the same point about tolerance when giving a verdict on the refusal of two children belonging to the sect of the Jehovah's Witness, who refused to sing the national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, in a Kerala school because their religion did not permit saluting a national flag or to sing a national anthem as it did not believe in the nation state.

In its verdict, the court said that as long as the children stood respectfully when the anthem was being played, it was all right. "Our tradition teaches tolerance," the verdict said, "our philosophy teaches tolerance, our constitution teaches tolerance."

It is obvious, therefore, that the decision of the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to make an issue of the Muslim objections to Vande Mataram - reiterated by the Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid recently - is an attempt to play the patriotic card.

But that even sections within the BJP are unhappy about this blatant attempt to foment anti-Muslim sentiments is evident from the refusal of the state governments under the party in Gujarat and Rajasthan to make it compulsory for students, especially in the madrassas, to sing the song Sep 7, when, according to the human resource development ministry, the Congress chose it as the national song 100 years ago.

Of course, the BJP is not the only party to make political use of the song. Way back in 1937, when Mohammed Ali Jinnah was trying to revive the Muslim League under his leadership, he too objected to the song being given an exalted status.

It is a safe bet that both narrow-minded Hindu and Muslim communalists would continue their mischievous political campaign over the song in the foreseeable future, as they have done for so many decades in the past.

(Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. He can be reached at aganguli@mail.com)

Vande Matram: horse or a cow?

By Syed Ali Mujtaba

Is Vande Matram horse or a cow? Well how can a song become an animal? It can! That’s the reason its an Indian patriotic song and not of any other country in the world.

What’s the logic in calling it a horse! Its simple the day Binkam Chander Chaterjee wrote this song in 1906 in protest of the Partition of Bengal in 1905, the Hindu right has been riding over it in the quest for power.

This song has served as the best mount for them in the entire tenure of the struggle for India’s freedom. It very well trapped the Muslims to spell out their loyalty, either to the nation or to the religion. Being a monotheist, the clean-hearted Muslims owe their allegiance to one and only Allah and to choose between the motherland and the Lord it was of sort religious crisis.

Those mounting the high horse of Vande Matram watched the fun, as Muslims fretted and fumed and refused to sing the song as it not only equated to their God but its few stanzas were derogatory to their religion.

And there you go! The horse did the trick that no tricksters wearing political hat could do. It separated the sheep from the goat!

Even though the horse had only regional and linguistic reach it was flogged to cover the imagination of the entire country. It acted as a double-edged sword. One blade clipped the wings of the colonial masters and made them run from the country; the other dwarfed the Muslims and pushed them on the path of separatism.

Did the horse died after galloping so relentlessly making a marathon run for the country’s freedom? No the horse did not die it only slipped into coma and of and on its pumped to be made alive, so that it could be made mount worthy again. That’s what the Sangh Privar is doing right now, flogging the fainted horse, hoping it will become their best mount again, and win them the throne of Hindustan.

Got it right! Now tell me how it is called cow. Why it is not a bull? The song all along has acted as a bully to the British and the Muslims, so why can’t it be called a bull. What’s the fixation for equating it to a cow!

Conceding the argument that the job of the bull is to bully, it would still be better to call it a cow. The primary attribute of a cow in the Indian context is to give. Indians utilize every single thing that’s part of the cow. And that’s not true of a bull. So Vande Matram is a cow and not to a bull!

Since the day this patriotic song has been penned a hundred years ago it has only been milked by all and sundry in this country. Politicians have milked it to grind their political axe, playwright and dramatist have milked it to hone their imaginative skills, singers, dancers, choreographers, you name it, and they all have it. In the name of patriotism, even scoundrels have milked this holy cow. Stupid can you milk a bull! That’s the reason it’s called a cow and not a bull.

So why the song Vande Matram is being made controversial as its centenary celebrations Why the Sangh Privar wants the entire nation to sing the song at 11 am on September 7 and any one defying their diktat would be made called a traitor.

The answer is simple; the political forces at the right to the center are now is in dire straits. “Ram Lalla,� its most lethal agenda in the post-independent India has become a spent force. With election in 2007 in India’s most populous state Uttar Pardesh that sends more than 40 Member of Parliament it desperately needs another agenda to steady their shaking ship.

Vande Matram fits into this scheme of thought. It’s a potent weapon of nationalism that can excite a large section of the people. First of all, it will physic the gullible Muslims who will raise the same old protest, and its reaction will unite a large section of Hindus, that will vote the vortices of Sangh Privar to power. That’s the reason Vande Matram is being played to the gallery, hoping that the dwindling fortunes of the Hindu right may get a new lease of life.

The ageing leadership of the Hindu right however doesn’t realize the trump card of 1906 can’t even be a joker in 2006. In the age of globalization, the market forces are determining the new equation. In order to harvest the economy of scale, shackles of nationalism are being broken and regionalism, globalization and partnership are become the key words in modern parlance. So Vande Matram doesn’t carry the same punch as before.

Then what does Vande Matram really means to the Indians? Well it is nothing more than music to the ears. Its befittingly was tuned by the musician A R Rahman who composed and sung it at the 50th year of India’s independence. Those who witnessed to the event could sense the mood of the audience; the majority had gone into trance the Sangh Privar were fuming in their hearts as secularist highjacked their agenda.

Now attempts are being made again to open up the stitched wounds ten years after that event, hoping that it will give them the safe returns. The truth is creating no more than a ripple effect. People know the matter has been settled. It’s not India’s national anthem but just a national song.

Muslims sensitivity has been taken care off after Vade Matram has been trimmed of its objectionable portion and made an optional song. So no Muslim has any objection to this song. It has all the freedom to sing or not to sing depending on his mood.

The Sangh Privar by forcing its agenda of making Vande Matram a mandatory song on all the citizens of it ruled state are making things more complicated. Can they make any law that would enforce Vande Matram singing? Can they keep vigil at who has sung the song and who not? So then what is the fuss all about.

Well currently Vande Matram is an innocuous prank of dumb witted people. If you are an Indian and if you have not sung Vade Matram at 11 AM on September 7, the horses, the bulls and the cows all will come to haunt you in your dreams! You can always get up and say ‘Jai Hind’ next day!

_____________________________________________________________________________
Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist, based in Chennai, India. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com

We have no Pakistani pilots, Sri Lanka tells India

By M.R. Narayan Swamy,

New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) Sri Lanka has categorically told India that no Pakistani pilots are involved in Colombo's military campaign against the Tamil Tigers.

A top adviser to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse also informed Indian policy makers that Colombo was determined to capture a strategic area that overlooks the eastern port town of Trincomalee from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Basil Rajapakse, brother of President Rajapakse, stated this in free and frank discussions here with National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan as well as other officials.

Informed sources in New Delhi and Colombo told IANS that the Sri Lankan president wanted to clear the air on certain issues, which he felt were causing misunderstandings between the two countries.

Ever since Pakistan's then envoy to Sri Lanka, Bashir Wali Mohammed, survived an assassination attempt in Colombo Aug 14, Islamabad's military ties with Colombo have come under scrutiny, and some reports have suggested that Pakistani pilots were flying Sri Lankan Air Force jets targeting LTTE bases in the island's north and east. Rajapakse said this was not true.

Rajapakse also asserted that the Sri Lankan military was intent on seizing Sampoor on the east coast because LTTE's control of the coastal region had made things difficult for the major Sri Lankan naval base at Trincomalee.

Spreading out military maps, Rajapakse explained that the control of Sampoor was very vital for Colombo. Once the mission was accomplished, Sri Lanka would be ready to talk to LTTE if the latter desired, he said.

"Rajapakse explained the strategic importance of Sampoor," one official said.

Rajapakse's sudden visit to New Delhi comes amid fierce fighting in Sampoor region that has left scores dead on both sides and displaced thousands, mainly Tamil civilians.

The LTTE had built a major military base in Sampoor since the Norway-brokered 2002 ceasefire agreement. Military experts the Tigers can use Sampoor to cripple or at least seriously disrupt Trincomalee.

Rajapakse pointed out that the LTTE had killed 169 Sri Lankan soldiers from December 2005 until the outbreak of major hostilities in July 2006. Since then, he claimed, just over 100 soldiers had died in combat against the Tigers.

His argument was that the LTTE's earlier method of picking out soldiers in two's, three's and four's was far most costly to the Sri Lankan state than open war.

In an obvious reference to India and other countries, he complained that Colombo was being told to halt stop its military offensive, but similar advice was never given to the LTTE when it began killing Sri Lankan soldiers.

Indian officials got the impression that Basil Rajapakse, who along with his other brother Gotabaya forms the inner core of the Sri Lankan government led by Mahinda Rajapakse, was clear about the risks flowing from the present fighting that threatens to snowball into all out war.

In other words, President Rajapakse appears to have considered the possibility that the LTTE could hit back if and when it lost control of Sampoor, which many feel could happen in light of the ferocity of the Sri Lankan military advance.

On their part, Indian officials listened patiently to Basil Rajapakse but told him politely that war could never bring about a lasting solution to the conflict in Sri Lanka, which badly needed a political rapprochement.

Much of the international community also fears that Sampoor's capture would only escalate Sri Lanka's present fighting.

The LTTE has described the rationale given by Colombo for its offensive as "spurious" and "deceptive".

The LTTE says it first fired on the Trincomalee base from Sampoor only when resisting the Sri Lankan Army's initial offensive in July. It says it avoided hitting the Trincomalee base despite relentless Sri Lankan aerial bombings.

Why Should Anyone Sing 'Vande Mataram?'

By Manas Shaikh

There is no doubt that one should love his countrymen. But why should love stop at the border?

What is India? It is but a set of people who happen to fall under the same goverment. India did not exist as today's map even 60 years back. May not look like this in future.

Our countrymen are most imprtant to us because they are the ones who share the same goverment and same land. Because they are within our easiest reach to help and reach for help. Given that, there is no reason for sensitizing it any further.

Let us look at the issues at practical terms. Pretence is not good in any matter of life. Nor is emotion in place of reason. Blind loyalty to anything in this world is not good. Simply because nothing in this world is perfect. It is said that the country provides us food, drink and shelter. Which is, basically, a pretence. The country is nothing but a piece of land. A lifeless object. The boundaries are man-made. It is God who is providing us (Indians or non-Indians) food, drink and shelter. By claiming that the country provides us, we are being blasphemous. We are being ungrateful. Taking One's credit and giving it to something else.

Blind loyalty to countrymen (was,) is (and will be) eqated to blind loyalty to the goverment. The rulers want to be sure that we shall follow whatever they say. Nationalism is a very good tool to ensure that. None but we shall be vulnerable and exploited. We shall die at frontiers fighting for the rich and powerful, without ever realizing it. In ancient Egypt king was held to be god. Simply because he did not want to be questioned. Same thing was seen at Rome, at a later time.

Remember Hitler's Germany. Love for country and pride of Aryan blood was a integral part of Hitler's doctrine. The Jews were viewed as anti national. Propaganda inside the then Germany planted immense pride of being an Aryan into the hearts and minds of common German. This resulted in two things-

1. The non-Aryans were feeling insecure.
2. The other one was even more bad and dangerous. Non Germans were being viewed as lesser beings.

This form of nationalism teaches us to regard citizen of other countries as lesser human beings. At the end, it is this pride that will end our nation.

The politicians remember nationalism only when it helps them (nothing surprizing!). They forget it when they have to pay their share of responsiblity. By naming nationalism, bringing in some 'bharat mata' they want to cow us down. Stop us from questioning them.

Interested readers may read an article on nationalism by Bertrand Russell in his 'Facts and Fiction'

World's 'biggest' solar electric plant opens in Germany

Arnstein (Germany), Sep 2 (DPA) A solar electric power plant, billed by its operators as the world's biggest, went into service in the southern German state of Bavaria Friday.

More than 1,400 movable solar modules will collect the sun's rays and harness them into energy for around 3,500 households, according to operators Solon AG.

The company has invested 70 million euros ($90 million) in the project, which took 15 months to complete and will have an output of 12 megawatts when fully operational.

Located on a 77-hectare field near the town of Arnstein, the plant consists of rows of movable modules which automatically tilt and rotate during the day to face the sun at all times.

This technology gets the maximum benefit from the sun's rays and enables the plant to generate up to 35 per cent more electricity than a fixed solar array, according to Solon AG spokeswoman Therese Raatz.

The area around the modules is not fenced off, allowing sheep to graze on the land and save it from erosion, Raatz said.

The plant is located in the same state as a solar park in Pocking which held the previous record as the world's biggest, providing 10 megawatts of electricity to 3,300 homes.

Germans last year invested 3.7 billion euros in solar energy, one of the fastest growing sources of renewable energy along with wind power and biomass.

Solar energy accounts for less than 1 per cent of the country's energy needs, but the figure is expected to grow to more than five percent by 2020, according to the German Solar Energy Association BSW.

Yechuri calls for debate on environmental policy

New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechuri Saturday asked the government to consult state governments and local bodies before finalising an environment impact assessment (EIA) notification.

In a letter to Environment and Forests Minister A. Rajaj, Yechuri alleged that the government was planning to finalise the EIA notification - that specifies parameters for environmental clearance for new projects - without addressing concerns raised by mass organisations and public interest groups.

"The notification will have a big impact on the life of local people living in resource-rich areas and it is, therefore, essential that their concerns are adequately addressed and their voices heard," the CPI-M politburo member said in the letter.

The Rajya Sabha MP, whose CPI-M and three other Left parties prop up Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government, also said the notification should be discussed in parliament.

Yechuri claimed that the government had discussed the policy only with business bodies like Confederation of Indian Industry and Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, apart from some central ministries and departments.

"This cannot be interpreted as extensive public consultations under any circumstances," he said, alleging that there have been apprehensions that the "EIA procedures have been severely diluted under the draft notification in order to facilitate the interests of the private industries".

According to the new notification, a non-objection certificate from state pollution control boards will not be necessary for environmental clearance of a project, he said.

"I request the government to withhold the finalisation of the EIA notification till such extensive discussions and parliamentary debates take place on this issue," Yechuri's letter said.

'Al Qaeda leader in Iraq arrested'

Baghdad, Sep 3 (DPA) A man described as second-in-command of the Al Qaeda terrorist network in Iraq has been detained, Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffaq Al-Rubaie said Sunday.

The announcement came as another series of attacks in Baquba and Baghdad left 14 killed, while a dispute between the government and Kurds in the country's north flared over flags.

Al-Rubaie announced at a news conference that Al Qaeda number two in the country - Hamad Jama Al-Saedi - was detained a few days ago in a residential building.

Al-Saedi was suspected of being behind the bombing of the Al-Askari shrine in Samarra last February, prompting a wave of sectarian violence.

In the attacks in Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, a driver and four of his children were killed when their car exploded in a market in the Baquba district.

Three more people were killed when unidentified militants opened fire on them in central Baquba, while a fourth was shot in the Al-Miqdadiya district. Two policemen were shot dead when militants opened fire on a police patrol in New Baquba.

Another government official was assassinated on his way to work in Yarmouk district in western Baquba, while in Zaghnia, northeast of Baquba, a Shia mosque was blown up overnight.

In Baghdad, two US soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb struck the vehicle as they drove in the eastern part of the capital, while a bomb targeting a police patrol injured two policemen and a civilian in the eastern Baladiyat district.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki issued a statement, declaring that the present Iraqi flag should be the only flag raised in the entire country.

This comes in reaction to the Kurdish authorities' decision to ban the Iraqi flag from being hoisted on government buildings in Kurdistan.

In a statement aired by the Al-Iraqiya television, Al-Maliki defended the national flag, saying it would not be changed until the parliament takes a decision about it.

Iraqi Kurdistan President Massoud al-Barazani reacted in turn by threatening to declare the region's independence.

In a speech before the Kurdish parliament in Erbil, Barazani said: "The will of the Kurdish people was derived from the parliament, and any time the parliament saw it proper to declare independence, we will declare it and we will have no fear."

Barazani defended in his speech his decision to ban the Iraqi flag from governmental buildings in Kurdistan.

Kurds associate the Iraqi national flag with Saddam Hussein's hated Baath party, which is accused of committing grave crimes against the Kurdish minority in 1988.

'Israel could withdraw from Lebanon within two weeks'

Tel Aviv, Sep 3 (DPA) Israel could withdraw its troops from Lebanon within two weeks if the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) continues to deploy at the present rate, the Ha'aretz daily reported, citing "security sources".

Israel has said it will leave the areas it occupies in southern Lebanon only after a 15,000-strong beefed-up UNIFIL contingent deploys in the area.

Italian troops arrived in Lebanon Saturday in the first major step towards bolstering the UN mission aimed at safeguarding the fragile truce between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah.

Military sources quoted by Ha'aretz Sunday said they were satisfied with the rate of deployment of the international force and the "serious" attitude of its commanders.

The reinforced UNIFIL presence in southern Lebanon is the result of the UN Security Council resolution, which brought about a truce in the month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah fighters. The ceasefire went into effect on Aug 14.

According to the Israeli daily, the Israel army is "apparently racing to destroy" Hezbollah weapons caches in areas under its control, ahead of the impending withdrawal.

10,000 Gujaratis flex cultural and economic muscle in US

Edison, New Jersey, Sep 3 (IANS) Industrialists and preachers rubbed shoulders with singers and poets as 10,000 Gujaratis came together here to flex their cultural and economic muscles during a three-day extravaganza described as one of the biggest of its kind.

Despite the blustery weather with heavy rains brought on by the dying hurricane Ernesto, the community came out in full force at the city's Raritan Convention Center to cheer their own in what several speakers described as a "history- making event."

It was a measure of the success of the event that the city's fire marshals had to close down the main gates of the center to prevent any more paid guests because of safety concerns. Close to 3,000 people had to be turned away on day 2 of the event today even as over 7,000 sat inside patiently for hours on metal chairs and applauded a series of performances and speeches.

Drawing on the strong presence of the Gujarati expatriate population in New Jersey state, especially in Edison and surrounding towns, the Association of Indian Americans of North America (AIANA) unveiled what it hoped would become a diasporic platform for the community worldwide.

The highlight of the second day today was touted to be an "inspirational" speech by Sam Pitroda, a technology guru and chairman of India's National Knowledge Commission, who is also Gujarati. However so intense was the pressure on the speaking time during the main session that Pitroda had to cut short his address to just three minutes.

Pitroda, while applauding Gujarat's many successes over the decades, said, "I am worried that Gujarat may have missed the IT bus" unlike other states such as Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. However, he said Gujarat with its entrepreneurial people could be the leader of the impending knowledge economy.

His comments set the stage for a "surprise" address via video from Gandhinagar by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi who was apparently prompted by Pitroda's remarks to defend his state's IT record. He said although the state was somewhat late in joining the IT boom, it had more than made up through its follow work in terms of technology parks and initiatives in e-governance.

Modi, who would have been far happier to have addressed such a large and responsive gathering personally, could not make it because of the continuing denial of the US visa by the Bush administration for his failure in handling the 2002 Hindu-Muslim riots in his state. Many noted the irony of Modi, once a critic of Pitroda's IT and telecom initiatives in the 1980s, using the telecom technology to bypass the US visa ban against him.

Unlike many community events in the US, the AIANA leadership under Dr. Navin C, Mehta and Sunil Nayak took care to keep the event strictly non-partisan and focused on just being Gujaratis.

Himanshu Vyas, an influential Congress party leader from Gujarat who coordinated the visits by well known names from the state, told IANS: "We all wanted to make it sure that we did not get embroiled in partisan bickering. This is about being Gujarati and what Gujaratis bring to the rest of the world. Doing an even of this scale in the US proves how consequential the community has become."

Interestingly, even Modi, otherwise known to be unabashedly partisan, kept up the amiable tone saying the success of Gujarat was a result of work done by many people and many parties.

The guest list included many illustrious Gujarati names from diverse fields such as popular preacher and raconteur Morari Bapu, Nirma founder Karsan Patel, ghazal singer Pankaj Udhas, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad director Bakul Dholakia apart from Pitroda who was described by Dr, Mehta as a "jewel of Gujarat."

The extraordinarily patient and indulgent 10,000 plus audience was treated to folk performances, humorous skits, Gujarati songs and a series of seminars on business, medicine and technology.

Naik said AIANA planned to make the event an annual affair "so that the Gujaratis worldwide can express themselves in many different ways." "This is the first step in what we hope will become a powerful bridge between the diaspora and Gujarat," Naik told IANS.

Dr. Mehta said the community had signalled that it was capable of rising over differences and work as one in the interest of Gujarat. "We believe we accomplished something significant with this conference-a feeling of being Gujarati beyond any political partisanship."

14 British military die in Afghan plane crash

London/Kabul, Sep 3 (DPA) Fourteen British military personnel were killed Saturday after their aircraft crashed in Afghanistan, the defence ministry in London said.

Among the 14 were 12 members of the Royal Air Force as well as one Royal Marine and a British Army soldier.

The aircraft, which according to media reports was a military helicopter, crashed 12 km west of the southern city of Kandahar. It had been supporting the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force ISAF mission in southern Afghanistan.

An earlier ISAF statement said the aircraft crashed having declared a technical problem. An official statement said that "enemy action" had been discounted.

An MoD spokesman described the fatalities as "dreadful and shocking," adding an operation to secure the scene of the crash was ongoing.

The crash represents the greatest single-day loss of British military personnel since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in November 2001. Until Saturday a total of 22 British soldiers had lost their lives in the country, seven of them since the launch of a major offensive against Taliban militants in August of this year.

89 Taliban militants killed in Afghanistan

Kabul, Sep 3 (Xinhua) Eighty-nine Taliban militants were killed in the past 24 hours in the southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan, a defence ministry spokesman said Sunday.

The militants were killed in Panjwai and Jalai districts in Operation MEDUSA, which was launched on Saturday by around 2,000 troops of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan forces, said Zahir Azimi.

Earlier, ISAF spokesman Luke Knittig told a press conference that around 20 Taliban insurgents had been killed in the operation.

An ISAF statement said the operation, which is the largest since it took command in southern Afghanistan on July 31, aims to drive Taliban fighters out of Panjwai district to set conditions for reconstruction and development.

A considerable amount of ground has been gained by ISAF and Afghan forces in the district, the statement indicated, adding that "a significant number of suspected insurgents were detained" by the Afghan police.

A British reconnaissance plane of ISAF crashed near Panjwai on Saturday, killing all 14 soldiers on board.

ISAF has denied a claim by the Taliban that its militants shot down the plane, saying "a technical problem" caused the accident.

An ISAF spokesman said all soldiers' remains had been retrieved and would be transported to the Kandahar airfield before being sent back to Britain, according to reports.

Panjwai, about 40 km west of Kandahar city, capital of Kandahar province, has been a hotbed of Taliban militants, who attack ISAF and Afghan troops frequently.

Afghanistan is suffering from a rise of Taliban-linked violence this year, with more than 2,000 people, mostly Taliban rebels, killed. Among the fatalities are over 100 foreign troops.

Afghan opium cultivation jumps by 59 percent

Kabul, Sep 3 (DPA) Opium cultivation in Afghanistan has soared by 59 percent this year, largely due to a dramatic increase in the insurgency-hit southern provinces of the country, said the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

"These are very alarming numbers. Afghanistan is increasingly hooked on its own drug," UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa said here Saturday after presenting the results of the UNODC Annual Opium Survey for Afghanistan to President Hamid Karzai.

The survey showed the area under opium cultivation reached a record 165,000 hectares in 2006 compared with 104,000 in 2005.

In the restive southern province of Helmand, where Taliban insurgents have stepped up their attacks on Afghan government and foreign forces, cultivation has increased 162 percent to 69,324 hectares.

"This year's harvest will be around 6,100 tons of opium - a staggering 92 percent of total world supply. It exceeds global consumption by 30 percent," Costa said.

Costa said the southern region was displaying the ominous hallmarks of incipient collapse, with large-scale drug cultivation and trafficking, insurgency, terrorism, crime and corruption.

In other provinces, especially Badakhshan in the northeast, opium crop increases were the result of weak governance, poverty and the influence of powerful warlords.

Only six of the country's 34 provinces are now opium-free, including the capital.

"Public opinion is increasingly frustrated by the fact that opium cultivation in Afghanistan is out of control. The political, military and economic investments by coalition countries are not having much visible impact on drug cultivation," Costa said.

"As a result, Afghan opium is fuelling insurgency in western Asia, feeding international mafias and causing 100,000 deaths from overdoses every year," he added.

Costa called on the Afghan government to take tougher action against drug traffickers and opium-farming landlords, and on Western governments to do more to curb drug abuse in their own countries.

Ahmadinejad to attend UN assembly in New York

Tehran, Sep 3 (DPA) Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit New York this month to attend the United Nations General Assembly, state television IRIB reported.

In an interview with the channel Saturday, Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki confirmed that Ahmadinejad will visit the UN General Assembly and deliver a speech in front of the assembly.

This would be the second visit by Ahmadinejad to the US since taking office in August 2005. In September 2005, he was at the UN headquarters in New York to speak to the General Assembly.

AIMWPLB flays BJP for communalising Vande Mataram issue

By IE
Sunday September 3, 02:14 AM

The Chairman of the All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board (AIMWPLB), Shaista Ambar, has criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party for giving communal flavour to the Vande Mataram controversy and said the Board will oppose any move of the BJP ruled states to force the children in Madarsas to sing it.

''Although the Board has all the respect for the national song, but opposes any move to force it on those who do not want to sing it. In fact, we welcome these songs and they are already sung without any controversy in the assemblies and Parliament. But, specifically forcing the students in Madarsas to sing it would be unwise," she told newspersons on Saturday.

On PDF and UP-UDF, she said, ''They are mostly opportunists, who want to use the unaware and illiterate Muslim community.'' ENS, Lucknow

Source:

http://in.news.yahoo.com/060902/48/677sa.html

Al Qaeda urges Americans to convert to Islam

Washington, Sep 3 (DPA) The latest recorded message from the terrorist network Al Qaeda features deputy chief Ayman al-Zawahiri and an American member of the group urging Americans to convert to Islam.

In excerpts aired by the US-based CNN, the tape titled 'Invitation to Islam' shows separate clips of Zawahiri and an English-speaker introduced as Azzam the American.

CNN identified him as Adam Gadahn, a native Californian wanted by US authorities. He has appeared in previous Al Qaeda videos.

"We invite all Americans and believers to Islam, whatever their role and status in Bush and Blair's world order," Gadahn said in the tape. "Decide today, because today could be your last day," it added.

American jeans, now made in Bangladesh!

Dhaka, Sep 3 (IANS) Jean may have originated in America, but Bangladeshi brands are now invading Western markets as Dhaka hopes to corner 10 percent of America's multi-billion jean market.

'Envoy' and 'Sasha' are among the Bangladeshi brands that have made their presence felt in the US and in the European Union nations, the New Age daily reported Sunday.

Cheap labour and competitive prices have made Bangladesh a world leader in a market that is estimated at $70 billion, it said quoting a major exporter of the clothing item, market analysts and the chief of a major western retailing chain.

Trousers, mostly jeans, topped Dhaka's export basket in the last fiscal, fetching $2.07 billion, which was 42 percent higher than the previous year's earning.

"Global market reports reveal that Bangladeshi trouser makers are beating fast their competitors in the US and EU markets and grabbing significant market shares," says the report.

While India, another major exporter does not figure in the newspaper's reckoning, New Age says that Bangladesh has beaten Mexico and China, thanks to some interim restrictions placed by authorities in those countries.

According to the US commerce department, Bangladeshi exporters doubled their share to 2.33 percent in the US market in 2005 and commanded over 5 percent share in the first quarter of 2006.

During this period, the share of Mexico - the number one supplier - shrank to 37 percent from 43 percent in 2005, while the supply from China - the second biggest exporter - dipped to 1.93 percent from 6.45 percent.

If the trend continues, Bangladesh would have at least 10 percent share in the US denim trousers market by the yearend, analysts said.

In the first quarter of 2006, Bangladeshi exporters sold at $78 per dozen of trousers in the USA, against $99 of China and $102 of Mexico.

Export performance in the European market is also impressive. The latest report from the European Commission shows Bangladesh had consolidated its leading position in EU's jeans market during the first half of 2006.

"We see a brighter future for Bangladeshi trousers and denims as those are very competitive," said Pearl Kerlsson, chief executive of Bangladesh operation of H&M, a top global retailer especially in EU market.

"We are undoubtedly the most competitive denims suppliers and this is why more buyers are diverting from other countries," said Abdus Salam Murshey, the immediate past vice-president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

Salam said his Envoy Denim is booked with advance orders. Bright prospects inspired him in venturing into fabric production.

Envoy's Taka 1 billion-($14.5 million)-plus modern denim unit will go into production soon. At least one dozen other firms have invested more than Taka 10 billion during the last one year in the sector, Salam said.

Angry flood victims attack Patnaik's convoy

Bhubaneswar, Sep 3 (IANS) Angry over inadequate flood relief materials in Orissa, hundreds of victims Sunday attacked the convoy of Chief Minister Naveen Pantaik while he was visiting the worst-hit Kendrapada district, police said.

The incident occurred when he went to see a breach developed by floodwaters at Chagharia Chhack on the national highway 5(A) located on the outskirts of the Kendrapada town.

At least 500 people mobbed him and shouted slogans demanding immediate relief and polythene for temporary shelter.

The chief minister could not reach the site and returned to visit another breach in a nearby area. Some of the irate villagers pelted stones at the vehicle and did not allow Patnaik to get off the car.

Patnaik returned to Kendrapada town and reviewed the flood situation.

Earlier, Jyoti Prakash Das, district collector of Kendrapada, was replaced by the state's additional transport commissioner Kashinath Sahu. Das was transferred after Revenue Minister Manmohan Samal had to face the wrath of the flood victims when he visited the district Saturday.

The fifth round of floods triggered by low pressure in the Bay of Bengal has affected over 1.5 million people in the state's 12 districts. Kendrapada still remains cut off from the coastal towns of Cuttack and Balasore.

The district is flanked by Paika Luna and Chitropla River, tributaries of the Mahanadi river system. Three breaches developed in the embankments of these rivers causing extensive damage to several villages.

Hundreds of villagers surrounded and heckled Samal when he arrived in the district, a senior relief official said.

The villagers alleged that over 30 villages have not yet received relief and that the district collector had not visited the flood-hit areas. They also said that sufficient boats had not been arranged to tackle the calamity.

"That is why he was handed the transfer order," the official added.

The state has also ordered a probe into the negligence on the part of the district administration in handling the floods, he said.

Floods in the last two months have affected over 3 million people.

Australia stresses closer ties with India

Sydney, Sep 3 (IANS) India seems to be the flavour of the month in Australia with both Prime Minister John Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer stressing the importance of closer trade ties with India, a major export destination.

Speaking at the Australia-India Business Council here recently, John Howard said India was high on his government's priority list, the Indian Post reported.

Howard stressed that his government wants closer trade relations with India, which has become the sixth largest export destination for Australian products.

He added that the two countries had become much closer economically in the past six years.

Meanwhile, Alexander Downer told a meeting of the Australia-India Business Council in Adelaide that the countries should work together in the Asia Pacific region to counter the growing influence of China.

"We need a region that is well balanced" without one power that could "dominate the region", said Downer.

BJP flays RBI directions to banks on minority schemes

New Delhi, Sept 3 (ZEENEWS.COM) The BJP today opposed as "another Act of Minority appeasement by the ruling UPA" the RBI's directions to all scheduled commercial banks to ensure that benefits of government-sponsored schemes reach the under-privileged, including disadvantaged sections of minority communities.

The RBI has asked banks to issue necessary instructions to their controlling offices and branch offices to ensure that within the overall target for priority sector lending and the sub-target of 10 per cent for the weaker sections, "sufficient care is taken to ensure that minority communities also receive an equitable portion of credit."

"These directions are another act of minority appeasement. They show how the government's attempts to impose its pseudo-secularist agenda on financial institutions," BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar told reporters here.

Blair: To quit or not to quit is the question

By Prasun Sonwalkar,

London, Sep 3 (IANS) There is much speculation about what British Prime Minister Tony Blair will do amid growing calls for him to announce a schedule for handing over the Labour Party's leadership to a successor. Will Blair quit 10 Downing Street gracefully or will he be led out unceremoniously a la Margaret Thatcher?

That is the question uppermost in the minds of many inside and outside Whitehall and Westminster, as the prime minister continues to resist demands from colleagues and others to announce a schedule for handing over Labour leadership to a successor.

Even MPs and ministers close to Blair want the uncertainty to end. Now in his third consecutive term as prime minister, Blair is up against growing anti-incumbency sentiment, an unpopular policy on Iraq, a perception that Blair is more of spin than substance -- and sheer familiarity breeding contempt.

Blair has announced he will complete his record third term in office. But party colleagues believe that Labour can never win another election under Blair. They want his successor - widely expected to be Chancellor Gordon Brown - to be in place much before the next general election.

The immediate clamour for Blair announcing a schedule for handing over the party's leadership is prompted by three major elections due in May 2007: English local and mayoral, Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly of Wales.

He may announce a departure date just before the elections in April, but worried MPs say that would be too late and the current situation of drift would damage the party immensely.

Labour MPs are convinced that the party's poor recent showing in local elections will be replicated in the three forthcoming elections if Blair remained at the helm, or if he did not announce his schedule for handing over the party's leadership to his successor. They want him to clearly spell out his future plans at the Labour party's annual conference Sep 24.

Some of the options Labour MPs are considering are forcing a leadership election after enlisting the support of 72 MPs, or a letter to a newspaper demanding a detailed time table for his departure.

It remains to be seen if the increasingly harried-looking Blair too validates Enoch Powell's famous dictum that all political careers end in failure. If Labour MPs are to be believed, his record as prime minister is likely to be sullied if he does not retire gracefully.

Blair made it clear this week that he has no intention of obliging his critics and promised to 'get on with the job' rather than announce a date for his departure.

Uncharitable Labour supporters now allege that Blair is following Margaret Thatcher who once vowed to 'go on and on and on' but had to leave 10 Downing Street unceremoniously after her cabinet refused to back her in a second round of leadership elections in 1990.

Blair told The Times: "I have done what no other prime minister has done before me. I have said that I am not going to go on and on and on and will leave ample time for my successor. Now at some point I think people have to accept that as a reasonable proposition and let me get on with the job."

But this has not satisfied party MPs who are increasingly worried at the bad press Labour is getting every day and the growing ratings of Conservative leader David Cameron.

They fear that any further delay in setting the party house in order would cost it dearly in the next local and general elections.

A union leader, Tony Woodley of the Transport and General Workers Union, has warned Blair not to repeat Thatcher's mistake by staying on too long. He wanted an end to the uncertainty about Blair's plans.

On Friday, several Labour MPs publicly reiterated calls to Blair to announce a date for his retirement, in what is seen as a sign of growing backbench discontent within the party ahead of the conference season.

Former cabinet minister Andrew Smith said the leadership issue needed to be sorted out.

"I think there will be widespread concern among the public as well as among Labour Party members," he told the BBC Today programme.

"I would have thought it is clear to everyone that the debilitating uncertainty over the leadership cannot go on. It is bad for the country, bad for the government, bad for Labour, and ultimately bad for Tony Blair himself."

Caerphilly MP Wayne David, who said Blair should step down before local elections in Scotland and Wales, echoed him saying: "There is a need for renewal of the party and the government now."

The latest Guardian/ICM poll found the Conservatives running nine points ahead of Labour, with the party showing its lowest level of support since the 1987 election.

Brit-Pak Muslims bash Bollywood: The Times of India

Frankfurt, Sept 3 (ZEENEWS.COM) Bollywood may wear its multi-religious pluralism as a badge of honour, but for the angry young British Muslims of Pakistani denomination, it’s all a sham and therefore a matter of extreme discomfort.

As India`s oversized filmdom stampedes across the world winning accolades, a group of British Muslim youth is trashing the Bollywood genre, warning that the "cheesy second-rate imitation of Hollywood...is overrunning Pakistan and brainwashing musalmaans".

In a rap-video posted on youtube.com that is being widely circulated in Pakistani circles, the group reserves much of its venom for Bollywood’s reigning stars, many of who happen to be Muslims.

"What do you want to give your kids?/Is it Salman Khan or Islam?/Is it Shah Rukh Khan or Allah’s book?/ Is it Bobby Deol or save their souls?/ Is it Amir Khan or imaan?" intones a singer, preferring a hip-hop style to convey the message.

Hiphop is an African-American influenced musical and cultural movement that has itself attracted criticism for its language. YouTube is a social networking website that allows users to upload, view and share videoclips and it too has attracted criticism for encouraging violence and copyright infringement.

But for the extremist Brit-Pak brigade, Bollywood bashing comes first. "Everywhere you look/It’s that kufr Bollywood/Video stores selling whores/Semi-gay actors with Muslim sounding names/With Hindu propaganda designed to create chains," goes one rant.

British government buildings to be car-bomb proofed

London, Sept 3 (ZEENEWS.COM) British government buildings are to be provided with defences to stop them being rammed by cars or trucks packed with explosives.

Britain's biggest-selling daily said the buildings were to be surrounded with security devices designed to look like street furniture, at a cost of 25 million pounds, the Sun newspaper said today.

The new home office building in Central London will be used as a guide, the sun said. The interior ministry has state-of-the-art black concrete bollards one metre apart encircling it with raised grass verges in large concrete "pools" outside the main entrance.

"The architects want the measures to look good like those at the home office," an unnamed government source told the tabloid.

"They will look like normal street furniture but they will provide the biggest defence against car bombs.

"They will not be as unsightly as those that are already positioned around the houses of Parliament."

The London landmark, a tourist hotspot, is surrounded by concrete barricades.

Call centre girl arrested for US credit card fraud

Kolkata, Sep 3 (IANS) A call centre employee who allegedly splurged on online shopping with credit card numbers of the company's US clients was arrested here.

Sulagna Roy, 23, an employee of a call centre in the city's IT hub at Sector 5 of Salt Lake, was arrested Friday from her James Long Sarani residence in south Kolkata on charges of cheating foreign nationals by using their credit card numbers and shopping for goods worth Rs.200,000.

Roy allegedly duped 42 US clients of the call centre and purchased everything from chocolate to air conditioner.

She was remanded to police custody for a fortnight after being produced in the Bankshall Court here.

"Sulagna is well aware of the new age cyber crimes, going by her modus operandi. She targeted US citizens so that she can escape law as they would be unable to lodge complaints from there," said Gyanwant Singh, deputy commissioner of police (detective department).

He said when the US clients would contact the call centre for online purchases and disclose their credit card numbers, she would note them down.

When clients in US complained about the discrepancies in California, police there swung into action and zeroed in on the website of the company which in turn contacted their Indian network.

The call centre's Indian officials lodged a complaint with Kolkata police's cyber wing and finally the probe led to Roy's arrest.

Canada ready to deploy troops in Pakistan: report

Islamabad/Ottawa, Sep 3 (IANS) Canada has offered to station troops in Pakistan along the border with Afghanistan in a possible development of far-reaching diplomatic and military significance for the region and the fight against terrorism.

The Canadian offer could be part of the US-NATO effort to secure the volatile Pakistan-Afghan border. While foreign troops are stationed in Afghanistan, officially, there are none in Pakistan.

There has been no word in Islamabad, but Canadian Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor, who is on a visit to Pakistan, was quoted in the Canadian media Saturday as saying that Canadian soldiers could be deployed along the Pakistani side of the border with Afghanistan "to help protect the forces from attacks".

O'Connor, speaking on Friday in Islamabad after a trip to Afghanistan, urged his Pakistani interlocutors to redouble efforts to prevent attacks on Canadians in southern Afghanistan, The Globe and Mail newspaper reported.

"Among other things, I suggested that some Pakistani officers be stationed with our troops in Kandahar and (that) Canadian troops be stationed on the Pakistan side," O'Connor said in an interview with a Pakistani news agency, cited by The Globe and Mail and Radio Canada.

The News International newspaper carried reports from the two newspapers without offering any comment.

"This will assist in information gathering and intelligence sharing on both sides of the border," he added.

Reports in Western media have indicated that the US has stationed 30,000 troops of its "special units" in Pakistan, ostensibly to guard the military base facilities that it has been availing since 2001.

Canada has some 2,300 troops in Afghanistan, most of them based in Kandahar. Twenty-seven Canadian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since 2002.

The US has 20,000 troops in Afghanistan and NATO contingent, of which Canada is a part, forms the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan has been pleading for an expanded role for the ISAF, which has been stalled by reluctance of some of the NATO nations to commit more troops for fear of protests at home. The Tony Blair government in Britain has been facing criticism for the increasing casualties among British troops in Afghanistan.

Canadian PM appoints Pakistani as advisor on South Asia

Islamabad, Sep 3 (IANS) The elevation of Wajid Khan, a Canadian of Pakistani origin, as the new special adviser for South Asia to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has excited Pakistanis who think they have scored a diplomatic point vis a vis India.

Before migrating to Canada, Khan was with the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) for eight years during which he was taken a Prisoner of War (POW) during the 1971 India-Pakistan war, The News International newspaper said on Sunday.

"India appears non-pulsed at the announcement of Khan," the newspaper said, adding that the Indian Ministry of External Affairs is "provoked" by Khan's public statement that he wanted to broker peace between India and Pakistan.

A large number Indian émigrés have held key positions in the governments in the West. People of Indians origin have been elected as members of parliament in Canada, while former Pakistani citizens have also been members of British Parliament.

The News International further said: "The question in the minds of the people in the Indian High Commission, Ottawa, was: what kind of advice would a man such as Khan tender to the prime minister on issues pertaining to South Asia? There was a shock waiting for them".

The mandate given by Harper was that Khan would travel to the two hotspots of South Asia and the Middle East in the coming weeks and report on medium and long-term opportunities to further Canadian engagement there. The report was to be completed in October.

But there is no doubt that whatever his origins, Wajid Khan has the support of his boss who said, "Canada has an increasing number of interests in both South Asia and the Middle East".

"I am delighted that Wajid Khan will be sharing his insights on future developments with the Government of Canada." He added that Khan "has long been a prominent voice in the Toronto Pakistani and Muslim communities".

Carter to lead volunteers to build houses for poor

New York, Sep 3 (IANS) Former US president Jimmy Carter will lead around 2,000 volunteers from across the world Oct 29-Nov 3 in building around 100 houses for low-income families in Maharashtra.

The project, called Jimmy Carter Work Project (JCWP), will be implemented in partnership with Habitat for Humanity India Trust (HFH India Trust) and Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) at Patan village, Lonavla, near Mumbai.

The houses will be primarily for families headed by women. HFHI had late last month formally teamed up with SAMPARC (Social Action for Manpower Creation), based in Maval sub-division near Mumbai, to officially pave the way for the project.

A formal memorandum of agreement was signed at a special ceremony at the SAMPARC Balgram village in Maval, near the hill resort town of Lonavala. Among those attending the ceremony were representatives of the families who will benefit from the project.

The 100-home JCWP project involves members of various self-help groups run by Abhinav Cooperative Credit Society (ACS), an arm of SAMPARC, according to an HFHI statement. The beneficiaries have been selected from 12 of the villages where ACS is active. The families were recommended by ACS and selected by a committee representing both Habitat and ACS.

The families have been selected on the basis of need, ability to repay, willingness to partner with Habitat and contribute "sweat equity".

Families have already started volunteering their time - their "sweat equity" - attending the work site in groups each day, participating in sticking and laying blocks, working on a test house and other jobs. By the end of the JCWP week, each family will have put in 300 hours of work at the site, the statement said.

The estimated cost to build a semi-detached unit, or twin one-storey home is Rs. 200,000 ($4,495). Of the total cost of the unit, each homeowner will pay Rs.75,000 ($1,700) through a monthly payment, not including interest, over seven years.

The remaining cost will be supplemented by HFHI grants, which will include corporate, individual and foundation sponsorships. Once the mortgage is paid, the homeowners will receive a deed of trust. A total of $2,286,537 is needed to complete the construction portion of this project.

"...The Jimmy Carter Work Project 2006 is just the beginning," Vaishali Kushan, grants development officer at HFHI, told News India Times, an ethnic Indian newspaper.

"This major public event will launch an even more ambitious project, 'IndiaBuilds', which will ensure the long-term viability of Habitat for Humanity India Trust and provide decent homes for 250,000 low-income individuals by 2010," she added.

The programme hopes to mobilise one million volunteers and raise $100 million dollars for a revolving housing fund.

According to an HFHI statement, this year's JCWP will be the 23rd such project. It has been held in Asia twice before, in Philippines in 1999 and in South Korea in 2001. The 2005 JCWP was held in Michigan in the US.

Congress to demand Madhya Pradesh government dismissal

Bhopal, Sep 3 (IANS) The Congress party Sunday demanded dismissal of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Madhya Pradesh over the death of an Ujjain professor in student violence.

"We will soon ask state Governor Balram Jakhar to recommend to the centre dismissal of the government and imposition of president's rule," said Congress spokesman Manak Agarwal here.

"Sabharwal's death in an attack by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad workers in Ujjain's Madhav college on Aug 26 and the government's attempt at a cover up, clearly indicate law and order situation is deteriorating fast," he added.

"While attempts were being made to shelter the accused, police were exerting pressure on college peon Komal Singh Sengar, who had lodged the complaint of Sabharwal's murder to change his stand," Agarwal said.

He said a panel of advocates should be formed and his statements recorded by a magistrate and demanded the transfer of Ujjain district collector as well as superintendent of police to ensure an impartial inquiry.

Agarwal claimed Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also had an "original video CD" showing students beating up the professor but was trying to suppress it. "We will soon produce evidence before the media," he told IANS.

On the criminal investigation department (CID) inquiry being instituted by the government, Agrawal said: "Chouhan had sent a troubleshooter in the form of Inspector General of Police (CID) M.P. Dwivedi to give a clean chit to those accused of killing Sabharwal."

The Congressman also accused ruling BJP of registering fake cases of arson and violence against national students union of India (NSUI) members and arresting 23 of them. He threatened to intensify the agitation if the cases against them were not withdrawn.

Earlier Friday, Congress leaders including the leader of opposition Jamuna Devi lodged a complaint with the police seeking registration of a criminal case against the chief minister for "misleading and interfering" the probe by describing the incident as an accident.

"On the one hand the chief minister had ordered magisterial and CID inquiries into the incident and on the other, he was trying to hush up things by calling the murder an accident," she alleged.

The media had clearly showed the culprits who had manhandled and misbehaved with Sabharwal, Jamuna Devi said.

Moreover, the post mortem report also specifically mentioned there was serious wound in the rib of the deceased. This proves he was manhandled following which he died. It is a clear case of murder, she added.

Jamuna Devi also stated the chief minister's residence in Delhi was being used by the ABVP for campaign management at Delhi University which proved Chouhan was hand in glove with the ABVP.

Court orders probe into Hussain's paintings

New Delhi, Sept 3 (ZEENEWS.COM) A city court today directed Delhi police to investigate a complaint filed against noted painter M F Hussain for allegedly hurting religious sentiments by painting "obscene pictures of Hindu Gods and Goddesses".

Acting on the status report of the case, metropolitan magistrate Vikas Dhull directed police to investigate the allegations levelled against the 91-year-old painter before taking any step to apprehend him.

"Investigate the matter as per law and based on evidence collected by investigating the matter, apprehend the accused (Hussain)," the magistrate said after perusing the status report filed by police stating that documents had been seized and authenticity of eight photographs was being verified.

A doctor of Apollo Hospital Ram Pratap Singh had filed a complaint accusing Hussain with hurting religious feelings by allegedly painting "nude or scantily clad pictures of Sita, Draupadi and Bharat Mata".

The doctor, in his complaint, said he was shocked to see an advertisement in a weekly magazine on February six this year depicting Bharat Mata in a "scantily-clad posture" and again an article in a national daily depicting Goddess Sita and Draupadi in "highly obscene" way.

The complaint has been filed under sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different communities based on religion, race, place of birth and language etc), 292 (sale of obscene books), 294 (obscene acts), 298 (uttering words to wound religious feelings) and 295-a (deliberate and malicious act to outrage religious feelings of any class) under Indian Penal Code.

CPI-M calls for CBI probe into professor's death

Bhopal, Sep 3 (IANS) The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Sunday demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into a professor's death during campus violence in Ujjain last week.

H.S. Sabharwal, a teacher at Ujjains' Madhav College, suffered a fatal rib injury Aug 26 - allegedly after being attacked by a group of student leaders who were protesting the postponement of students' union elections following charges of irregularities.

CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat said here that Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan should not have described the professor's death as an accident before the inquiry ended.

Addressing a public meeting, Karat said the state government had taken an "inappropriate stand" on the incident.

"A CBI probe should be conducted into the matter," he added.

Madhya Pradesh Industries and Commerce Minister Babulal Gaur, however, dismissed suggestions that Chouhan's statements describing the death as an "accident" would affect the probe by the state's Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

"A probe would not have been launched if Chouhan wanted to influence it. Statements don't affect probes and law takes its own course," he said.

Describing the violence that led to the professor's death as a result of "mismanagement", Gaur said it could have been avoided had the administration, police and college authorities acted with diligence.

Delhi trader dies after MCD seals shop

New Delhi, Sep 3 (IANS) A day after civic officials sealed his shop in southwest Delhi, a trader died of heart attack Saturday even as the demolition drive continued for the second day, his family members said.

"Jaspal suffered a massive heart attack Friday after his shop was sealed. He succumbed this evening," said a relative.

Meanwhile, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Saturday sealed nearly 200 commercial establishments operating in residential areas of 12 zones.

"We have sealed 200 shops operating in residential areas, taking the tally to 378 units in the past two days," said Deep Mathur, chief spokesman of MCD.

After a three-month gap, the sealing drive resumed Friday following an Aug 10 directive of the Supreme Court, which stayed the May 20 notification of the central government allowing one-year moratorium on all such activities.

Though the upmarket neighbourhoods in the national capital were spared, areas like Sant Nagar and Zamrudpur, Patel Nagar and Nazafgarh saw MCD squads amid fierce protest from traders.

"The female members of traders' families held a protest march in Chandni Chowk today and our children are going to protest in Karol Bagh Sunday. Our protest will continue till the urban development ministry comes to our rescue," said Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general of Confederation of All India Traders.

DMK stays plans for satellite town

Chennai, Sep 3 (IANS) Under pressure from ally PMK and opposed by the AIADMK, the minority DMK government in Tamil Nadu Saturday backed out of a plan to set up a satellite town in south Chennai that involved displacement of the existing population.

On Aug 3, during the first days of the budget session of the assembly, the Karunanidhi government had announced plans to set up a satellite town on the Old Mahabalipuram Road, known as Chennai's IT corridor, about 50 km from the city.

Within a month, the DMK government under coalition compulsions, withdrew the plan Saturday, the last day of the budget session.

Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi admitted, "Though the decision to form a satellite town was formed after consulting the alliance parties", the PMK had appealed to him not to go ahead with the project now.

ED notice to Natwar, four others

New Delhi, Sep 3 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Sunday issued show cause notice to five people, including former external affairs minister K. Natwar Singh, in connection with the Iraqi oil-for-food scam.

This is the second time the enforcement directorate has issued a notice to Natwar Singh. Earlier in February, ED sleuths questioned the former minister for two consecutive days.

Among the others issued notice are Andaleeb Sehgal, a close relative of Natwar Singh, Aditya Khanna, Zameer Zaidi, a former member of Rajasthan Youth Congress, and Vikas Dhar, Sehgal's associate.

The government had forwarded the Justice R.S. Inquiry Authority report to three central investigative agencies of economic offences - ED, Central Board of Direct Taxes and Central Board of Excise and Customs - Aug 7.

The E.D. said it was in touch with the officials who assisted the probe panel in its investigations on the Indian beneficiaries in the Iraqi scam.

"We are in touch with the members for details of the investigations," said a special director of ED.

In the 110-page report tabled in parliament Aug 7, the Pathak committee had given a clean chit to the Congress party, finding no evidence of its involvement in any transactions linked to the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein.

The panel, however, mentioned names of Sehgal, Sehgal Consultants, Khanna and Hamdaan Exports to have benefited from the oil-for-food deal and said Sehgal had received $68,293, while his business partner Khanna got $32,558.

In the action taken report, the government had asked the three investigating agencies to treat the Pathak report as information to take action that may be warranted under the law.

European satellite crashes into moon

Paris/Berlin, Sep 3 (DPA) The nearly three-year mission of the European lunar satellite SMART 1 was brought to an end Sunday with the probe executing a spectacular crash into the moon, the flight control centre in Darmstadt, Germany announced.

The 366-kilogramme satellite struck a lunar plain known as the Lake of Excellence, prompting scenes of joy among those present at the European Space Agency in Darmstadt, from which the probe's demise was directed.

Powerful telescopes onboard the refrigerator-sized satellite recorded the crash, which created a crater on the moon's surface.

Financial package for farmers soon: Sonia

Bangalore, Sep 3 (IANS) The central government would soon announce a special financial package for farmers to ease their debt burden that has forced many of them to commit suicide, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said here Sunday.

Addressing a massive Congress rally here in which former deputy chief minister Siddaramaiah was inducted into the Congress, Gandhi said the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was fully aware of the problems faced by farmers of Karnataka due to floods and drought in several parts of the state.

"Neither the Congress nor the UPA government discriminates states on any basis. I am confident the UPA government will soon come out with a special financial package to bail out the farmers from the problems arising out of recurring floods and droughts.

"I am sure Karnataka farmers will be included in the package," she said in her 20-minute speech in Hindi.

The party's state unit leaders from Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra have recently met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to apprise him about the problems faced by farmers and sought funds to provide relief to them.

A large number of farmers, especially in Maharashtra, continue to commit suicide.

"The central government has already announced last week a Rs.2.5-billion flood-cum-drought relief package for Karnataka. A central team has recently visited the state for assessing the damage caused by floods in northern Karnataka and drought in other districts.

"I assure you on behalf of the UPA government that additional funds will be disbursed to the state to take up relief and rehabilitation projects to mitigate the hardships of farmers and affected people," Gandhi said.

Exhorting the state Congress leaders and thousands of party workers to popularise the pro-poor and pro-farmer schemes like the national rural employment guarantee and Bharat Nav Nirman schemes of the UPA government, she said the party would be voted back to power in Karnataka provided its rank and file tackled the people's problems and highlighted the benefits of the central schemes launched for farmers and the poor.

"Even as some states ruled by the Congress are progressing and doing better, it is unfortunate that Karnataka is slipping behind on development due to poor governance by a coalition government formed out of an unholy alliance between the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party)," the Congress chief lamented.

Lashing out at the JD-S for pulling down the Congress-led coalition government in the state early this year and joining hands with a "communal" party like the BJP for the sake of power, she said though a section of the JD-S benefited from such an alliance, the people of Karnataka had been the losers, as the present coalition government was ridden with corruption, infighting and inefficient administration.

"Though the Congress lost power in the state after the 2004 elections, we agreed to join hands with the JD-S as it also wanted to keep the communal forces out of power. In spite of differences and conflict of interests, we persisted with that party (JD-S) only to protect the secular forces.

"But after 20-months of coalition rule, the JD-S suddenly decided to join hands with the very party (BJP) it wanted to keep out of power all along for the sake of power by breaking the coalition dharma and throwing its secular principles to the winds," Gandhi charged.

Welcoming Siddaramaiah and his followers, who had quit the JD-S to form the All India Progressive Janata Dal (AIPJD), into the Congress, she said the party would be stronger in Karnataka with the support of the former and improve its prospects in the next election.

Besides Siddaramaiah, former chief minister N. Dharam Singh and the party's state unit president Mallikarjun Kharge spoke on the occasion at the royal Bangalore Palace grounds under tight security.

An estimated 200,000 people gathered for the Congress rally, causing massive traffic jams and road blockades in the vicinity of the venue.

Four NATO soldiers, over 200 Taliban killed in Afghanistan

Kabul, Sep 3 (DPA) Four NATO soldiers and over 200 suspected Taliban militants were killed during a major operation by NATO forces in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, officials said Sunday.

The operation, codenamed "Medusa" and centred on the Panjwayi district of the province, is the bloodiest anti-militant offensive in Afghanistan since the hard-line Taliban regime was toppled by a US-led military campaign in late 2001.

"Reports indicate that more than 200 Taliban fighters have been killed since Operation Medusa began early Saturday morning," the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement.

"This figure was arrived at by reviewing information from ISAF surveillance and reconnaissance assets operating in Panjwayi and Zhari districts, as well as information reported by various Afghan officials and citizens living nearby," the statement said.

Four ISAF soldiers were killed during Sunday's operations and seven others were wounded, the statement said, without identifying the nationality of the soldiers.

An Afghan defence ministry spokesman had earlier said that three Canadian soldiers were killed and six wounded in the operation.

More than 80 suspected Taliban fighters were captured by the Afghan National Police and a further 180 insurgents were seen fleeing the district, the ISAF statement said.

"There are no reports of civilian casualties, despite the heavy weight of fire being used," it said.

An ISAF spokesman in the region, Major Quentin Innis, had earlier said that NATO-led forces used artillery and air support and had pounded Taliban positions in Panjwayi district.

Innis said that the operation, the biggest anti-Taliban drive since the ISAF took over command of Afghanistan's troubled southern provinces from US-led coalition forces at the end of July, was still ongoing.

The joint Afghan-NATO forces operation is aimed at driving Taliban fighters out of Panjwayi and allowing displaced residents to return to their homes.

Thousands of Panjwayi villagers have been forced to flee their homes since Taliban fighters in May began to flood into the area, prompting clashes with Afghan and foreign troops.

Until Saturday, a total of 22 British soldiers had lost their lives in the country, seven of them since the launch of a major offensive against Taliban militants last month.

From Singapore, another Indian success story

Singapore, Sep 3 (IANS) While his peers may be still searching for jobs, a young Indian entrepreneur is already running a multi-million-dollar company here and is seen as a business icon.

Niraj Agarwal, a graduate of the Temasek Polytechnic, runs, at the age of 23, five stores selling and servicing computer hardware and software and with a annual turnover of Singapore $8.2 million, according to The Straits Times.

Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in his recent National Day Rally speech, mentioned Niraj's success story. He explained the importance of attracting foreign talent and urged Singaporeans to welcome them.

It all started in 2000, when Niraj first came to Singapore under a scholarship from the Singapore's ministry of education. While studying in Singapore, in order to make some extra money, he hired Hindi language teachers to set mock examination papers and sold them to students online.

"I sold them for $60 per package and there was quite a good response because nobody was doing that at the time," Niraj was quoted as saying.

Through that, he earned at least $12,000, which paid for his daily expenses.

Soon after his graduation Niraj became a permanent resident and was eager to set up his own venture rather than joining a firm.

In 2004, with $5,000 he started his own computer servicing business. Niraj roped in his elder brother who had come on a similar scholarship in Singapore two years before him.

The brothers ran a two-man show, working on as many as 20 computers a day. They worked seven days a week and took only four days off a year during Chinese New Year.

After a year, the business expanded and they ventured into hardware and software retailing.

"It was difficult at first because suppliers didn't have confidence in a young foreigner who was new to the business," said Niraj.

Last year, the enterprising Indian brought the rest of his family - one sister and his parents - over to Singapore.

"Singapore has been good to me. I've spent an important part of my life here," he said.

"And I think both foreign and local talent can share different experiences and qualities to make their businesses more successful."

He now has plans to work with a local partner to expand into the Hong Kong market.

Government approves Rs.3.5 bn flood aid for Rajasthan

New Delhi/Jaipur, Sep 3 (IANS) The central government Saturday approved a Rs.3.5-billion relief package for flood-hit districts of Rajasthan.

The approval came during a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi.

A central team will tour the flood-affected areas of the state Sunday.

"The nine-member team will be headed by D.K. Sikri, the registrar general of India. It will tour almost all the flood-affected areas in the state," Rajasthan's relief secretary R.K. Meena said in Jaipur.

Twelve districts of the state were affected by a flood-like situation in recent months. These include Udaipur, Banswara, Chittorgarh, Dungarpur, Rajsamand, Jhalawar, Kota, Barmer, Jalore, Pali, Sirohi and Jaisalmer.

Over 139 people have died in different incidents and heavy damage was caused to roads, electricity, water supply and dams.

The desert district of Barmer was the worst affected due to flash floods. Over 800,000 people out of a population of 2 million were affected.

There are also reports of large-scale damage to houses and property in Barmer. Unconfirmed reports say 5,200 houses were damaged and agriculture crop worth Rs.300 million was wiped out.

The state government had sought a special package of Rs.32 billion from the union government for the losses suffered.

Kawas and Malva are still submerged in over eight feet of water. The state government is planning to relocate these villages.

Government reviews internal security

New Delhi, Sep 3 (IANS) The government Saturday reviewed the country's internal security as well as intelligence-gathering mechanism and measures.

The review comes ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's meeting with chief ministers of all states Tuesday.

"The CCS (cabinet committee on security) made a comprehensive review of the internal security situation," Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters after the two-hour meeting.

The government also reviewed the law and order situation in Jammu and Kashmir, the northeast states and the Maoist-affected states.

Growth rate in India may dip due to oil prices, inflation

New Delhi, Sep 3 (IANS) India's scorching economic growth rate, the second fastest in the world after China for the last three years, is expected to slow down this fiscal due to high international oil prices and fear of high inflation.

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is sticking to its June projection of India clocking around eight percent growth in 2006-07, less than the economic growth of 8.4 percent last fiscal.

The estimate of lower growth, the leading industry lobby states in its latest State of the Economy (SOE) report, is based on expectations of higher inflationary pressures and rising interest rates.

"Oil price hike and fear of high inflation coupled with increasing interest rates are expected to affect the performance of manufacturing and services sectors adversely and this is expected to bring down the growth rate slightly for the current fiscal," says the report released Sunday.

In its June issue of SOE, the CII had observed that the economy in the current fiscal might clock a growth of less than 8.4 percent reached in the last fiscal.

"As there are no significant developments in economic conditions since then, CII stays with the projection made earlier," the report states.

The estimates are that during the current fiscal agriculture would clock 3 percent growth while industry will register 8.5 percent and services 9.6 percent, "with overall GDP growth forecast at 8 percent".

The report points out that the agriculture, industry and services contributed to the total economic growth last year by 9.0 percent, 27 percent and 64 percent respectively.

For the April-June quarter of 2006-07, the CII expects the GDP growth at around the 8 percent mark.

In comparison, China scored 11.3 percent growth in GDP in the first quarter boosted by the growth in imports and exports, which created favourable conditions for further economic and trade cooperation.

In a comparative study, the report points out the most major industrial countries have witnessed inflation on an upswing mainly on account of global oil price increases.

In the first quarter, the inflation index in China showed a rising trend and stood at 1.5 percent in June. In India, inflation measured by wholesale price index rose from 4.1 percent in March-end to 4.7 percent at the beginning of July.

With the global oil prices continuing to maintain volatile trend, the CII expects continued risk to the growth and inflationary performance.

Harvard academic studies Indian fashion industry

By Vishnu Makhijani,

New Delhi, Sep 3 (IANS) An Indian American academic at Harvard is conducting a seminal study of India's burgeoning fashion industry in a bid to understand what makes it tick.

Mukti Khaire, assistant professor of entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School, is conducting a study of the estimated Rs.80 billion ($1.7 billion) worth Indian fashion industry.

"I'm going to apply theories of economic sociology to try and understand how the industry has evolved, how entrepreneurs have dealt with the uncertainty of being entrepreneurs. Added to that is the uncertainty of being in a new industry, where there are no templates, where a code of conduct is still evolving, and where the rules of the game are not clear," Khaire told IANS on the sidelines of the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW).

"I essentially study the founding of firms and how they grow. More specifically, my research interests lies in entrepreneurship in the creative field. My Ph.D. thesis was on ad agencies (in the US) but I'm equally interested in entrepreneurship in areas like fashion design and interior design.

"What I am very interested in are firms that are largely dependant on the founder. In fashion design firms here for instance, the product is essentially that of the founder. These firms find it much harder than other entrepreneurial ventures to grow, to scale up, to do anything which requires delegation of work to others," Khaire pointed out.

Noting that one way Indian designers could to get past this hurdle was to adopt the templates of large fashion houses of the West, she said: "What I'm studying in the Indian fashion industry is what templates are being adopted because here, designers don't have role models as such, though there are a few cases where the newer designers can look up to the older ones to gauge the templates they are adopting."

In this context, she pointed to a just concluded deal between eclectic designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee and linen major Bombay Dyeing for an 'Art in the Bedroom' range of bedsheets/pillowcases and towels.

"Till very recently, this would have been unheard of by a senior designer. There's some sort of an evolution taking place; that is essentially my interest," Khaire maintained.

Khaire's project began in May and she was in India in July on a three-week visit to meet with designers across the spectrum. That effort is continuing during the ongoing fashion week.

"One of the interesting things about the industry is that it is new enough in that it is still not completely formed and institutionalised, and yet it is old enough that you can see a pattern of evolution," she maintained.

"It's evolving very fast. The trajectory is much faster than in the West and one reason is that they (Indian designers) can observe successive models in the West. The question is how much do you adopt directly from existing models and how much do you adapt?" she observed.

According to Khaire, Indian designers were very open to her project.

"In fact, I've found them extremely open. My advantage is that I have no design background as such, and am purely approaching (the issue) from the business model end. I am looking at the issue only in as much as the design-end will affect the business-end," she added.

At the same time, Khaire said she was trying to understand the "ecosystem" of the industry.

"There's NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology), NID (National Institute of Design) and FDCI (Fashion Design Council of India) which give institutional support, there's the designers themselves, and there's the buyers for the domestic and international markets. I'm going to study the dynamics of their working," she said.

"The fashion week itself is a big institutional movement that can take the industry forward," she added.

Born in Mumbai, Khaire "studied all over" India as her father was in the government. Graduating from a Pune college, she obtained a masters in environmental science from Bombay University and a masters in management from the Indian Institute of Technology. After obtaining her doctorate from Columbia University, Khaire joined Harvard a little over a year ago.

She teaches a required course that is compulsory for all first year MBA students.

"It's called the entrepreneurial manager and essentially takes you through the process of founding a firm, trying to develop a business model, growing it, finding funding and marketing your product," she explained.

India's Muslims: a community in ferment

By M.R. Narayan Swamy,

New Delhi, Sep 3 (IANS) India's Muslim community, the world's second largest Islamic population, is in ferment. There is widespread disappointment, a sense of helplessness and some anger. But there is also the zeal to surge ahead, the dream of being equal partners in the nation's destiny.

Sixty years after they cast their lot with Hindu-majority India, rejecting the newly born Pakistan, the millions of Indian Muslims - and the lives they lead - are under scrutiny like never before due to growing Islamist militancy globally and a perceived radicalization at home of some of the younger ones.

India's 140 million Muslims, the largest religious minority, have scored many and remarkable successes since independence in 1947. Some of the most popular icons in various fields, from national life to cinema to arts and sports, are Muslim - led by president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and the richest man Azim Premji, the head of software giant Wipro.

But the wealth and knowledge disparity is perhaps much more pronounced among Muslims than among other minority communities in secular and pluralist India.

The community occupies the lowest rung in development index. Its literacy rate is poor. It has low presence in private and public sector jobs and minimal in the highest echelons of bureaucracy. All these add to a feeling that they are discriminated against.

To cap it all, Muslims - mainly the poor - are at the receiving end in most outbreaks of communal violence. And every community leader and others who spoke to IANS say the two events that have caused maximum disappointment bordering on frenzy are the 1992 razing of the Babri mosque and the 2002 Gujarat violence.

This, coupled with militancy in parts of the Islamic world, has cast a shadow on Indian Muslims. Gujarat in particular has led to - even according to Indian security agencies - the frustrated young, albeit still only in small numbers, to avenge the "humiliation" of their community.

In the process, officials admit, that Islamic extremist outfits supported by Pakistan are drawing recruits from among Indian Muslims, a development that is dangerous. Only days ago, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged Islamic clerics here to play a pro-active role to douse the flames of anger in the community.

"Many socio-economic problems Indian Muslims face are the same as faced by others. But there are other issues that affect only them," says Intizar Naeem of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, a Muslim body set up in 1941.

Among others, he lists the step-motherly treatment to Urdu, the mother tongue of most Muslims in northern India, attempts to undo the autonomous character of educational institutions founded by Muslims, attacks on the Muslim Personal Law, harassment of Muslims after terror acts, caricaturing of Muslims as terrorists, and insinuations that mosques and 'madrassas' are up to no good.

But the Mumbai-educated Naeem, 62, gives the larger view: "Hindus and Muslims enjoy excellent relations, and at all levels. From villages to towns, there are cordial relations. And south Indian Muslims are better off. However, problems are cropping up even there."

Other Muslims, young and old, more or less agree. And they underline that India is truly a secular country, whatever the shortcomings.

"Not 100 percent but 110 percent India is secular," asserts Zarir Ansari, a resident of Guhawati. "I blame half-baked mullahs who give sermons in mosques and distort Islam."

Adds Nawaz Deobandi, 50, a Hindustani poet who runs educational institutions in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh: "India is the best place for Muslims. Yes, there are roadblocks but they can be overcome."

Anger against "uneducated Imams" - as many put it - is common among younger educated Muslims. Said one college student in New Delhi: "The problem is people think we follow what the Imams say. Of course we don't!"

Ansari's 84-year-old father makes a widely shared point: "If I find those involved in the Mumbai (train) blasts, I will kill them. I don't care if they are Muslims. Those who did this are terrorists. But to view all Muslims as terrorists and look at those with beards and skullcaps as 'enemies' is not on."

He asks: "When there was terror in Gujarat, did we look at Hindus in general with a different pair of eyes? We did not club the entire Hindu community as our enemy. We knew that only a fringe was involved."

Mazhar Hussain, a social activist in Hyderabad, says the radicalization of Indian Muslim is essentially an urban phenomenon, limited in spread, and linked to the Middle East conflict and the targeting of Islam by the West.

"As far as our country is concerned, Kashmir has not made the Indian Muslim radical. But the Babri Masjid demolition and the Gujarat violence contributed a lot to Muslim hotheads to exhort the youth towards extremism," he said.

"Still, only a minuscule group is attracted to this thinking. To the poor, making two ends meet is the biggest challenge. The middle class is getting more and more career-oriented."

Added Rizwanul Haq, a final year degree student: "There is a major difference in the thinking and attitude of Muslims in south and north India. In the south, Muslims have been better educated and well off. This reflects their thinking on social and religious issues."

Qari Mohammed Usman, the Naib Mohtamin (assistant administrator), of Darul Uloom, India's oldest and largest madrassa, defends the rapid spread of Islamic seminaries, arguing that more of them were needed. He doesn't agree with critics who argue that the seminaries create insular Muslims.

Almost all Muslims regret that despite centuries of interaction, there is a communication gap between Hindus and Muslims. Many Muslims are unaware of the finer points of Hindu religion and its ethos and vice-versa. An average Hindu has no idea of Ulemas and Imams, and who can give a 'fatwa' and who cannot.

Said Azam Khan, a successful businessman: "This is reflected in the way (most Hindu journalists) deal with sensitive Muslim issues. This reinforces stereotypes and widens the gap between the two communities."

Tales of discrimination against Muslims abound. A Muslim journalist complains how difficult it is now to get a house on rent, particularly if one is new to a city.

Adil Siddiqui, a retired central government employee who now lives in Deoband, says one of his sons, Mohammed Arif, now 32, passed the written test to get into the Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) after securing a mechanical engineering degree with high marks.

"Believe it or not, just before his interview, he heard an officer remark:

'Things have changed since 1992, and these people (Muslims) keep coming for jobs here'." Arif didn't get the job.

But across India, despite the many problems, Muslim leaders say the community is forging ahead. Large numbers are doing exceedingly well. The 1992 Babri mosque razing led to major churnings. The dominant consensus was it was important to concentrate on education. That process continues.

More and more Muslim women, even in smaller towns, are going to schools and colleges. Although a Muslim political party has come up in Assam and two have been formed in Uttar Pradesh, most Muslims swear by secular national parties.

Observes Nawaz Deobandi, whose dream is to open a women's university one day: "This is why there should be no riots. If one Muslim is killed, if his house is burnt, if his shop is destroyed, the loser is India, not just that Muslim."

[photo: Steve Evans]

India's women troopers to maintain peace in Liberia

By Murali Krishnan,

New Delhi, Sep 3 (IANS) They have proved themselves in anti-insurgency and crowd control operations in troubled areas of India, and now a section of women personnel of the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) will show their skills in Liberia to assist in UN operations - a move that has already won praise from the world body.

The designated 'mahila' (women) CRPF team of 125 personnel, led by Commandant Seema Dundiya, is currently undergoing specialised training at the CRPF's industrial training centre in Wazirabad, north Delhi, before they travel to the west African country most probably in October.

"This is the first time that a specialised unit of women police is being sent for such a mission. They will assist in maintaining law and order, play a training role for local officers and help in crowd control," a senior home ministry official told IANS.

"Liberia also enters a new phase of democratic experience. For the first time you have a woman elected as president (Ellen Johnson-Sir-leaf) in the country. And considering that we traditionally have good ties with Africa, sending a women's police unit fits in perfectly," said an external affairs ministry official.

The move to send the specialised CRPF unit to Liberia's capital Monrovia as a formed police unit (FPU) has already won praise from the UN with police adviser Mark Kroeker describing it as "unprecedented".

"This is an unprecedented move by India to deploy these women officers in policing and we applaud it and think it is extremely timely and relevant to the policing needs in the years ahead," Kroeker said.

"We think it is a breakthrough that India has expressed its willingness to send these police officers. And it is also good for our Liberia mission because it brings to that police operation these officers who are trained, capable and women who can bring the best of what the UN police is to the component there," he added.

The UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) took over peacekeeping duties from the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) in October 2003 and all peacekeepers are now under UN command.

CRPF director-general J.K. Sinha said a team went on a recce last month to Monrovia to work out the logistics and accommodation details.

"They (UN) initially wanted the team to be in place by Sep 15 but that will be delayed as weapons and equipment will have to transported by ship. My guess is that the unit will be there by October," Sinha told IANS.

The all-women Indian unit will join other FPUs currently serving in Liberia, where the concept was first tried out and its success there and in other operations led to calls for increasing deployment.

UN officials also highlight that FPUs are cheaper to deploy than regular military units, noting that it costs around $5 million to set up a specialised police formation while a military battalion can cost up to $30 million.

According to the terms of a memorandum of understanding, the CRPF women's unit will be in Liberia for a year. The team will also get a chance to meet with the chief of staff of the UNMIL, Brig. Gen. John Forkuo.

UNMIL currently has over 15,000 military personnel and over 1,000 civilian police officers.

Its mandate includes monitoring implementation of ceasefires between government and rebel forces and investigating violations of the ceasefire. Its also ensures the delivery of humanitarian aid, provides security at key government installations, including major sea and air ports, and protecting UN staff, facilities and civilians.

The CRPF is the only paramilitary force in the country with two women battalions.

After it was raised in March 1987, the 88th battalion won laurels for its work during the Meerut riots and later with the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka.

Women personnel of the second mahila battalion - the 135th - carried out elections duty during the 1996 Lok Sabha elections and state polls.

Currently, women personnel are deployed in Jammu and Kashmir, Ayodhya, Manipur, and Assam. In addition, each Rapid Action Force (RAF) battalion also has a women's component consisting of 96 personnel.

Indian mutton shortage hits expats in UAE

Dubai, Sep 3 (IANS) A severe shortage of Indian mutton has hit hard consumers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The shortage is the result of a ban on exports of mutton imposed by India last month,.

"The ban came into affect Aug 21 and was issued following advice from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), which indicated that Indian meat should not be exported as a precaution apparently against foot-and-mouth disease," the Gulf News quoted sources in the Indian embassy in UAE as saying.

The UAE imports around 20 tonnes or $80,000 worth of Indian meat daily.

According to the newspaper, butchers in this Gulf nation are being flooded with calls from Indian expatriates asking for Indian mutton.

Indian expatriates prefer Indian mutton and do not go for Australian or European mutton because of the smell -- and hence the crisis.

They feel that Australian sheep are very fatty and the meat is not as tender.

"We have to compromise," a manager at a butcher's shop in Sharjah told the newspaper, adding that he was now selling mutton from local sheep instead.

If not Indian, expatriates also buy Ethiopian or Somali mutton. But that too is now in shortage.

"This is the last plate of Somali mutton chops," an employee at a butcher's shop in the Safa locality in Dubai said.

While Indian mutton sold at 19.50 dirhams (Dh) per kg before the shortage, Australian mutton sells for Dh 35 a kg and Somali mutton Dh 23 per kg.

A Pakistani butcher said Pakistani expatriates also prefer Indian mutton. "Pakistan mutton is very expensive to import," he told the newspaper.

The ban is slowly affecting Indian and Pakistani restaurants too.

"Normally we purchase 200 Indian sheep carcasses for our restaurants every single day," Ayaz Farook, managing director of the Karachi Darbar in Dubai, was quoted as saying.

"We are all right for the next couple of months, as our restaurants have stock. However, if the ban (continues), it will be a problem."

Apart from mutton, the ban on exports also includes Indian buffalo meat, both fresh and chilled.

According to Gulf News, a meeting to resolve the issue is being convened by the Indian Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority Sep 5.

Indira Goswami's books to be released at German fair

By Zafri Mudasser Nofil,

New Delhi, Sep 3 (IANS) Noted Assamese writer Indira Goswami will see three of her books released at the Frankfurt Book Fair next month, including a collection of poems by a rebel leader she has edited.

Goswami, appointed by the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) to represent it in talks with the central government, edited the poems by Mithinga Daimary - ULFA's jailed central publicity secretary - compiled into a book, "Melodies and the Guns".

"There is a poet hiding inside Daimary. There are several elements in his poems - militancy, love, hate and humanity," Goswami, a Jnanpith award winner, told IANS.

"After I met Daimary and came to know about his poetry, I was very keen to get his poems published in a book format," she said.

Daimary wrote "Melodies and the Guns", translated into English by Pradeep Acharya and Manjit Baruah, under the pseudonym of Megon Kachari.

Tragedy had struck Daimary in the 1990s when secret murderers killed his entire family in Assam.

The other books of Goswami to be released at Frankfurt are "The Man from Chinnamasta" and "The Pain and the Flesh", both written by her.

India is the 'guest of honour' at this year's Frankfurt Book Fair.

"I have been a great lover of animals since I was a child. I wrote 'The Man from Chinnamasta' to protest against the practice of buffalo sacrifices at the Kamakhya temple in Assam," she said.

The Kamakhya temple is considered to be the greatest shrine of mystic Shaktism, one of the main religions of Assam during the medieval period.

"I believe in a divine power and not rituals, which I think are diseases troubling our society," added Goswami, a professor of Assamese in the department of modern Indian languages and literary studies at Delhi University.

"The Pain and the Flesh" is a collection of Goswami's own poems and she has dedicated it to Nobel laureate V.S. Naipaul.

"Although I wrote quite a few poems, I prefer the prose form. My poems are footnotes of my prose," she said.

Born in an orthodox family in Assam, Goswami rose to fame with her stories and novels, most of which showcased human pathos.

Infosys mentor Murthy to help Bangalore retain top IT slot

Bangalore, Sep 3 (IANS) Burying the hatchet with the Karnataka government over the development of Bangalore, Infosys Technologies chief mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy has agreed to head a vision group to help the city retain its pre-eminent IT slot.

Murthy, who stepped down as chairman of the country's second largest IT bellwether in July, has accepted the offer of Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy to head the IT vision group and shape the state's IT vision.

According to the chief minister's office, Murthy agreed to accept the offer in a letter to Kumaraswamy last week. "I am grateful to you for inviting me to chair the state IT vision group. It will be a privilege and pleasure to do so," Murthy stated in his acceptance letter.

It may be recalled Kumaraswamy had invited the IT czar to head the vision group during his address at the silver jubilee celebrations of Infosys in Mysore July 31. "The state government would like to benefit from Murthy's vision, his enormous experience and desire to work for Karnataka after his retirement," Kumaraswamy said on that occasion.

Murthy had resigned from the post of non-executive chairman of the Bangalore International Airport Limited in November last following a spat with Kumaraswamy's father and former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda.

He relented to head the IT vision group after he found the "young and dynamic" chief minister committed to the development of knowledge-based industries in the state and retaining Bangalore's edge in the IT sector.

"Murthy had consented to chair the vision group at a meeting with the chief secretary (B.K. Das) and IT department officials at a meeting Aug 25, where issues related to the growth of IT and knowledge-based industries were discussed," said IT secretary Anup Poojary.

In the run-up to the Bangalore IT.in event next month-end, the vision group will be meeting soon to chalk out a time-bound programme to promote knowledge-based industries and showcase the state's eco-system to prospective investors.

"The government is keen to replicate the success of Bangalore in the knowledge sector in secondary cities across the state by creating an enabling environment, including infrastructure, connectivity and logistics," Poojary told IANS here Sunday.

While the vision group on biotechnology (BT), headed by Biocon chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, will continue to function separately, the IT vision group will focus on implementing the state's millennium IT policy announced in 2000 under the then IT-savvy chief minister S.M. Krishna.

Accounting for 37 percent of the country's total IT exports of Rs.1,008 billion ($22.4 billion) in the last fiscal (2005-06), Karnataka retained its top slot by exporting software services and hardware goods to the tune of Rs.401 billion ($8.9 billion).

As India's silicon hub, Bangalore alone contributed for Rs.366 billion ($8.14 billion), registering a year-on-year growth of 36 percent over the previous fiscal (2005).

With the booming IT sector sustaining the growth rate in the current fiscal (2006-07), the state-owned software technology parks of India (STPI) has projected IT exports from Karnataka at Rs.490-500 billion ($10.9-11.1 billion) by March 31, 2007.

About 1,200 tech firms, including about 500 multinationals employ about 375,000 people, including 170,000 in the IT-enabled services such as call centres and business process outsourcing services (BPO).

In terms of investments, the state has attracted 201 IT firms during the last fiscal (FY 2006), including 124 foreign equity companies, with a combined investment of Rs 27.61 billion ($614 million).

"At the rate of four new companies every week, the STPI units have been growing at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 13 percent. About 10 foreign equity firms were approved every month in the last fiscal," STPI director B.V. Naidu recalled.

In order to ensure Bangalore remains the preferred IT destination, the government is setting up 1,400-acre hardware technology park near the upcoming international airport at Devanahalli and has earmarked 500 acres each at Bidadi and Dobbaspet on the outskirts of the city for setting up new software companies.

As per the McKinsey-Nasscom report, Karnataka is projected to achieve $20 billion IT exports by 2010, with about 500,000 employed in the industry, including IT enabled services/BPO segments.

Iran exports military equipment to 57 countries: minister

Sardasht, West Azerbaijan, Sept 3 (IRNA) Defense Minister General Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar said Iran is currently exporting military equipment to 57 countries in the world.

He said the equipment and weapons were of advanced quality adding that the high quality of the Iranian made equipment have attracted good customers around the world.

He noted that self-sufficiency in production of military and defense industries came from imposing sanction against Iran adding that the sanctions did not have negative effects, but rather they brought growth and development to military industry.

The minister reiterated on Iran's interaction with other countries and said, "Iran does not intend to invade any country, but naturally has the right to defend itself against any king of aggression or invasion."
Defense minister is accompanying President Ahmadinejad in his 19th provincial trip to the west Azerbaijan.

Iran warns of oil price hike if sanctions imposed

Tehran, Sept 3 (ZEENEWS.COM) Iran warned major oil-consuming nations on Saturday that the imposition of UN sanctions over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment would lead to a rise in oil prices, Iranian news agencies reported.

"Sanctions on Iran and a sudden rise in global oil prices would hurt the economies of the large oil consuming nations," Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Reza Sheikh-Attar was quoted as saying.

"With the rise of every dollar in the oil price, the economy of the large oil-consuming nations will be affected," he added, without elaborating.

"We have devised different scenarios for the sanctions, and based on the opposite party's action we will implement our plans," he added.

Iran ignored a UN Security Council deadline on Thursday to suspend uranium enrichment -- a process used to power a nuclear reactor but which can also be used to provide the fissile core of an atomic bomb.

The United States, leading the drive to impose sanctions on Iran, accuses it of seeking nuclear weapons, a charge it vehemently denies.

Iraq pilgrims' tragedy: survivors to be brought to India soon

New Delhi, Sep 3 (IANS) After Iraq's escalating anarchy claimed the lives of three Indian pilgrims and eight Pakistanis who were on their way from Syria to the Shia holy city of Karabala, the Indian survivors, all women, were preparing to return home soon.

"The remaining Indians would be taken to Tehran in two-three days and they would be brought to India," E. Ahamed, minister of state for external affairs, told IANS Sunday.

"We are in touch with the Indian embassies in Baghdad and Tehran so that their travel documents could be arranged and these people would be brought back as soon as the formalities are finished," he said.

All the three Indians killed Thursday were from Andhra Pradesh and were Shias, according to the relatives of the slain in Hyderabad. The identity of the killers or their religious affiliation is not known yet, but sources say the pilgrims got caught in the ongoing Shia-Sunni conflict in Iraq.

The Indian men were seized from Rutba town and later killed along with the Pakistanis while they were on their way to Karbala, 80 km from Baghdad, for a pilgrimage, Ahamed said.

The three - Jaffer Mashaddi and Mohammed Ahamed Ali from Hyderabad and Mohuiddin Beig from Godavari district - were part of a 15-member group of pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh. The attackers spared all 12 women of the Indian group, including its leader Syeda Zianab.

"The Indian pilgrims are currently in Karbala. The Iraqi government and the people here are helping them," Mohsin Badani, a resident of that city aiding the visitors, told IANS over phone.

"Once their papers are processed they would proceed on their journey back to India," Badani said.

The group had left India Aug 23 and entered Iraq after visiting pilgrim centres in Syria and Jordan. As the land of Karbala is considered holy, all three slain pilgrims were buried there in the presence of other members of the group, their family members were informed.

Ahamed said the ministry was also in touch with the Faiz-e-Hussaini trust, based in Surat, Gujarat, which had made accommodation arrangements for the survivors.

Indian embassy officials would soon to go to Baghdad to make arrangements for the travel documents of the Indian survivors, the minister said.

"We are in constant touch with them and trying to bring them back as soon as possible," added Ahamed.

Iraq pullout would be like handing it over to terrorists: Bush

Washington, Sept 3 (ZEENEWS.COM) Warning that pulling out US troops from Iraq would amount to handing it over to terrorists, President George W Bush has rejected reports of a possible civil war there and pledged not to leave the war-torn country "until victory is achieved."

"Some politicians say our best option is to pull out of Iraq, regardless of the situation on the ground. Many of these people are sincere and patriotic but they could not be more wrong," he said in his weekly radio address aired today.

"If America were to pull out before Iraq can defend itself, the consequences would be disastrous. We would be handing Iraq over to the terrorists, giving them a base of operations and huge oil riches to fund their ambitions."

"And we know exactly where those ambitions lead. If we give up the fight in the streets of Baghdad, we will face the terrorists in the streets of our own cities. The security of the civilized world depends on victory in the war on terror, and that depends on victory in Iraq, so America will not leave until victory is achieved," he said.

Despite reports, including one by Pentagon yesterday, that the country was at risk of civil war, Bush said, "our commanders and diplomats on the ground believe that Iraq has not descended into a civil war."

"They report that only a small number of Iraqis are engaged in sectarian violence, while the overwhelming majority want peace and a normal life in a unified country," he added.

In its report, Pentagon had said "conditions that could lead to civil war exist in Iraq, specifically in and around Baghdad and concern about civil war within the Iraqi civilian population has increased in recent months."

Italian troops arrive in Lebanon

Tyre, Sept 3 (ZEENEWS.COM) Italian soldiers on Saturday began pouring into Lebanon, part of the first large contingent of international troops dispatched to boost the UN force keeping the peace between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.

Around 150 Italian marines wearing blue berets arrived aboard a wave of gray un helicopters in the Mediterranean port city of Tyre to secure two beaches where the remainder of an 880-strong battalion of soldiers will land over the weekend.

High waves delayed deployment, though and some vehicles and equipment were diverted further south to Naqoura. Another 200 Italian troops are expected tomorrow in capital Beirut.

The commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon known as UNIFIL, French Gen Alain Pellegrini, said the expanded peacekeeping mission marked a break from the past.

"We have to forget the previous UNIFIL. The previous UNIFIL is dead and the new one is very different," Pellegrini told reporters. "It is strengthened with stronger rules of engagement. We will have more people, more equipment. We have the possibility to use force to implement our mission."

International troops have been slow to arrive in Lebanon since an August 14 cease-fire brought an end to 34 days of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, in part because it took time to hammer out details over the troops' mandate.

Besides the Italian contingent, just 250 extra French soldiers have made it to the country, though France has said it will send a total of 2,000 troops. The Italians' arrival will bring the number of UN forces to around 3,250.

Indonesia's Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda yesterday announced his country will send up to 1,000 soldiers to Southern Lebanon by the month's end.

Italy held by Lithuania, wins for England, France

Hamburg (Germany), Sep 3(DPA) World champions Italy were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Lithuania in a major surprise in the Euro 2008 qualifiers.

The Italians, with seven world cuppers in their side, went behind to a goal in the 21st minute by Tomas Danilevicius. Filippo Inzaghi equalised nine minutes later but the Italians were unable to add more to their tally Saturday.

Italy now travel to Paris where they meet Group B opponents France Wednesday, in a repeat of the World Cup final.

France began their campaign with a solid 3-0 win over Georgia in Tbilisi.

In the first match since the retirement of Zinedine Zidane, Frank Ribery took control in midfield, setting up goals for Florent Malouda and Louis Saha in the 7th and 15th minutes, before an own goal by Malkhaz Asatiani a minute after the break put France well in charge.

The defeat was a blow for Georgia's new German coach Klaus Toppmoeller after his team had started the qualifying campaign with a 6-0 thrashing of the Faroe Islands.

The Faroe Islands were again the whipping boys Saturday when Scotland dished out another 6-0 hammering. Kris Boyd scored twice while Darren Fletcher, James McFadden, Kenny Miller and substitute Garry O'Connor were also on target.

Tottenham striker Jermaine Defoe and Liverpool centre-forward Peter Crouch both bagged two goals while Crouch's club team mate Steven Gerrard was also on target as England downed Andorra 5-0 in a Group E game at Old Trafford, Manchester.

Germany defeated Ireland 1-0 in Stuttgart in Group D in the first competitive match for coach Joachim Loew since succeeding Juergen Klinsmann after the World Cup.

Lukas Podolski's shot from a free kick was deflected by Ireland captain Robbie Keane into the net in the 57th minute to give Germany a deserved victory.

In the same group, the Czech Republic overcame Wales thanks to two goals by substitute David Lafata, while Slovakia thrashed Cyprus 6-1.

In Group F, Northern Ireland slid to a 3-0 defeat to Iceland at Windsor Park, Belfast. All three goals came in the first half through Gunnar Heidar Thorvaldsson, Hermann Hreidarsson and Eidur Gudjohnsen.

In a Group G match, Holland struggled to beat Luxembourg 1-0, Hamburg defender Joris Mathijsen hitting an 18th-minute winner.

In Group C, European champions Greece came away from Moldova with a 1-0 victory courtesy a Nikos Liberopolous goal, while in the same group Norway enjoyed a 4-1 win in Hungary and Bosnia-Herzegovina were 5-2 winners in Malta.

Group A saw Finland gain a surprise 3-1 win in Poland, while Serbia edged Azerbaijan 1-0.

Jammu rivers in spate, army help sought

Jammu, Sep 3 (IANS) The Jammu and Kashmir government Saturday sought army and air force help to rescue hundreds of people marooned at various places of Jammu region where all major rivers were flowing over the danger mark.

Six people died in a house collapse in Bani area in Kathua district, about 120 km southeast of Jammu Saturday night.

Rains during the past three days have raised the level of Chenab, Tawi and Munnawar Tawi rivers. The situation was particularly grim in areas near the Chenab and Tawi riverbanks where people remained on rooftops to escape the flood fury.

"Efforts are on to rescue the marooned people," Jammu Divisional Commissioner Parmod Jain told reporters.

The government convened an emergency meeting to discuss the situation and decided to take help from the army in rescue operations.

Air force choppers have been pressed into service for rescue work.

As rains stopped Sunday afternoon, road clearance operations began on the 294-km-long Jammu-Srinagar highway that was blocked at various places.

Heavy showers had also triggered landslides at Nandini, 30 km from Banihal, forcing pilgrims to Vaishno Devi shrine to take a detour - three times longer than the normal 45 km Jammu-Katra route.

Kashmir to get additional free power

Jammu, Sep 3 (IANS) Jammu and Kashmir will get an additional 237 million units of free power - alleviating its power crisis to some extent - once the Dul Hasti hydroelectric project is commissioned.

It is mandatory for all projects commissioned by the National Hydro Electric Projects Corp (NHPC) to give 12 percent of the power generated as royalty to Jammu and Kashmir. With the commissioning of the Dul-Hasti project, work on which began in April 1983, the state would get 237 million units of free power costing over Rs.700 million annually.

The project on Chenab river in Kishtwar area of Doda district is expected to generate 1,976 million units of power.

"The project will be commissioned in a couple of months," Power Minister Rigzin Zora told IANS.

Jatinder Singh, general manager of the Dulhasti project, said Saturday that in addition to the Dulhasti project, two more power projects of NHPC - Salal and Uri - were generating around 6,206 million units of power annually and 12 percent free power worth over Rs.600 million was being supplied to the state.

The state reels under a power crisis despite a huge potential for generating electricity. Though it has been over 100 years since electricity was introduced in Jammu and Kashmir, it has still not reached a large number of villages, and cities continue to suffer from long power cuts.

Singh said that besides the construction of 390 MW Dulhasti Project, NHPC has also completed a survey for the 1,000 MW Dul Hydro Electric Project. In addition, surveys are underway for several projects, including the 1,020 MW Bursar, 320 MW Kawar and 430 MW Khu projects.

These could go a long way in easing the power crisis in the state. Jammu and Kashmir presently gets 950 MW of power a day against the required 1,800 MW.

Kerala keen to end dam row with Tamil Nadu: Minister

By Liz Mathew,

New Delhi, Sep 3 (IANS) Kerala wants a permanent negotiated settlement to its lingering dispute with Tamil Nadu over the height of the Mullaperiyar dam but it may take recourse to legal options too, says state Water Resources Minister N.K. Premachandran.

"We are trying to settle the issue and get a permanent solution through negotiations and mutual agreement with Tamil Nadu," Premachandran told IANS in an interview here.

The Mullaperiyar dam, situated in Kerala's Idukki district bordering Tamil Nadu, was given on lease to the latter for 999 years in 1886. The then Travancore Maharaja and the government of Madras signed the lease deed. The dam, built by Tamil Nadu in 1895, has been a bone of contention between the two southern neighbours for years.

Tamil Nadu, which faces acute water shortage, wants to raise the height of the dam from 136 to 142 feet. Kerala has objected saying the dam, built with rough masonry and limestone, is unsafe and is located on a seismic zone.

Kerala says any damage to the dam would put in danger at least three million people in five Kerala districts - Idukki, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta.

Premachandran, who was here as part of a Kerala all-party delegation, met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week and sought his intervention. The delegation asked the prime minister to facilitate discussions or mediate with Tamil Nadu to settle the dispute.

"The Kerala government cannot make any compromise with the safety of the life and property of our citizens," he asserted.

According to the minister, Manmohan Singh has asked Law Minister H.R. Bharadwaj and Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz to look into the issue.

"Manmohan Singh will also speak to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister (M. Karunanidhi). The discussions will begin in two weeks.

"We are hopeful things could be settled amicably with two chief ministers (V.S. Achuthanandan and K. Karunanidhi) at the helm of affairs," the minister said.

In 1979, the two states had, under the directions of the Central Water Commission, agreed to construct a new dam. "This proposal needs to be brought forward through dialogue," he said.

The water level was reduced to 136 ft by mutual consent after the condition of the dam deteriorated. But Tamil Nadu got a Supreme Court verdict in its favour in February to go ahead with raising the height.

However, three mild intensity quakes in the area - December 2000, January 2001 and August 2006 - forced the Kerala government to take up the issue more seriously.

Premachandran said Kerala had its legal options open.

"A dam safety authority, which was constituted through a state legislation in 2003, has been empowered to look into the safety of all the dams in the state. But Tamil Nadu has filed a suit against the state's move in the Supreme Court. It is still pending," Premachandran said.

"When the tremor occurred last month, our chief engineers went to check the seepage of water at the dam but Tamil Nadu refused to allow them. It was a violation of the lease deed.

"Under the rules the lessor (Kerala) has the permission to enter the premises and examine the safety of the dam. We can go to the court to revoke the lease deed," he explained.

The Kerala minister said the February verdict of the apex court was on the basis of a "biased report" by an expert committee.

"The constitution of that expert committee itself was wrong and controversial. We managed to get one of our representatives in the team after much difficulty. But the committee refused to record his note of dissent.

"The situation at the dam is very dangerous. Various technical teams and our legislative committees have found that the dam is not safe. Its location on a seismic zone can put the dam in danger even during a low intensity tremor."

Khatami calls for 'dialogue' among civilisations

Washington, Sep 3 (DPA) Iran's former president Mohammed Khatami called for understanding between the West and the Muslim world but avoided the issue of Tehran's defiance of international pressure to stop uranium enrichment in a rare appearance on US soil.

Khatami was given permission last week by the US State Department to enter the US, and he spoke Saturday at a mosque outside Chicago. His private visit is also scheduled to including appearances in coming days in Washington and New York.

"There is a great opportunity of dialogue and cooperation by peoples of faith," he said through a translator, the Chicago Tribune newspaper reported on its website.

He called for a "dialogue of civilizations," in front of an audience of invited guests at Bait ul Ilm Islamic Centre, a mosque in Streamwood, Illinois, outside Chicago.

A reformist cleric, who served two terms as president from 1997-2005, Khatami was often thwarted by hardliners who control many of the levers of power in Iran.

The US State Department has security agents accompanying Khatami, and members of the US Secret Service, the federal agency that protects the US president and other top officials, were among a strong police contingent outside the mosque, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The newspaper said there were no demonstrators.

Khatami was to speak later in nearby Rosemont, Illinois, at the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America.

Lebanese MPs start sit-in against Israeli blockade

Beirut, Sept 3 (ZEENEWS.COM) Lebanese MPs on Saturday started a day and night sit-in to protest at Israel's continued blockade of Lebanon, almost three weeks after a UN-brokered ceasefire in its deadly onslaught against Hezbollah.

Some 100 deputies of the 128-member house were taking part in the protest at the parliament building in central Beirut that opened with a minute's silence in memory of the 1,200 Lebanese, almost all civilians, killed in the Israeli offensive.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in a speech urged fellow Arab countries to defy the air and sea blockade by sending boats to Lebanon without seeking authorisation from Israelis.

The international community, Berri said, should "take all necessary measures to lift the Israeli blockade which constitutes an extension of Israel's terrorist war".

The blockade, in force since the war erupted after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers on July 12, was "not only being imposed on Lebanon but also the United Nations and (Security Council) Resolution 1701", he said.

The resolution brought a halt to 34 days of deadly clashes between Israel and the Shiite movement Hezbollah and called for the blockade to be lifted.

Berri, who called the sit-in during a visit on Thursday to South Lebanon which bore the brunt of the fighting, told the mass-circulation daily an-Nahar that it would continue "night and day until the lifting of the blockade".

Before the closure is lifted, Israel insists on a significant deployment of foreign forces, as also called for by resolution 1701, to curb arms deliveries to Hezbollah which has defied Security Council calls for its disarmament.

More safeguards planned for unskilled workers overseas

By Lola Nayar,

New Delhi, Sep 3 (IANS) The government is planning to put in place safeguards to help and prevent exploitation of unskilled workers, including housemaids, working overseas, says Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi.

"We are planning to put in place more strict regulations and restrictions on overseas employment of unskilled labour. This is to prevent their exploitation. Our ladies particularly must be protected," Ravi told IANS.

Indian embassies and consulates abroad have often received complaints from unskilled workers, especially domestic helps, about physical and mental harassment by their sponsors.

Recently an Indian housemaid was allegedly beaten up by her Bahraini sponsor and had to be hospitalised after she started vomiting blood. The woman from Kerala said her employer abused her repeatedly since she arrived in the kingdom two months ago.

"We have set up a committee of secretaries to formulate a new set of regulations that would require the unskilled workers taking up jobs overseas to get themselves registered with the Indian consulate or embassy in the country," the minister said.

"Unless such steps are taken it would be difficult for the government to provide timely help."

Hopeful of the committee coming up with its set of recommendations and regulations soon, the minister said the idea is to have the workers overseas maintain contact with the Indian embassy or consulate on a regular basis.

The minister, who has been visiting countries with sizeable population of Indian origin to establish better contacts, favours a monthly reporting programme, but a final decision would be taken after receiving the committee's final recommendations.

The main problem faced by unskilled workers is not only due to untenable work conditions both for housemaids and labourers but also the money power of touts who often leave the workers high and dry without proper documents or a job.

Of the estimated one million unskilled workers who took up jobs overseas last year, the ministry has records of only 500,000 people who had obtained "Emigration Clearance" from the office of Protector of Emigrants (POE), the minister said.

The ministry records show that there are around four million Indian workers in Gulf countries with the UAE accounting for 1.8 million and Saudi Arabia 1.4 million.

The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs is in talks with eight countries, including Malaysia, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Yemen and Jordan for putting in place labour safeguards like adequate salary and good work conditions through memorandum of understanding (MoU), the minister said.

The first of the MoUs on labour is expected to be signed with Malaysia. In the case of the other countries, the draft agreements are still to be finalised

The regulation for emigration clearances have meanwhile been relaxed permitting students who have passed class 10, in place of the earlier requirement of twelfth pass, to take up jobs overseas without requirement of registering with POE and emigration clearance.

"Only those who don't have tenth class pass qualification are now required to get the emigration clearance," the minister said.

Mubarak confirms talks ongoing to free Israeli soldier

Cairo, Sept 3 (ZEENEWS.COM) Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has disclosed that negotiations are ongoing to secure the release of the Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants, according to an interview published on Saturday by a semiofficial daily.

Israel is waiting for a Palestinian "initiative" that spells out Palestinian conditions for a prisoner exchange, Mubarak told al-Ahram newspaper. Their demands could include the freeing of Palestinian prisoners who are women or minors, he said.

The Egyptian President did not provide information on official involvement in the talks, but said that non-governmental groups from each side were participating. He did not name them.

Hamas-linked militants captured Cpl. Gilad Shalit near a crossing on the Israel-Gaza border on June 25.

The move sparked an ongoing Israeli offensive against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.

The militants holding Shalit originally demanded all Palestinian women and minors be released from Israeli jails, then increased their demands to include another 1,000 Arab prisoners.

Okaz Saudi newspaper yesterday quoted unidentified Arab source as saying that Egypt was mediating in a proposal to swap 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in three stages starting three days after freeing Shalit.

Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisin denied Okaz`s report that an Israeli security delegation was currently in Cairo for talks on the issue. Israel has publicly refused calls for a prisoner swap.

Mumbai bombings: suspected LeT man produced in court

Mumbai, Sep 3 (IANS) Akmal Hashmi, a suspected Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) operative was produced in a court here Sunday for his alleged involvement in the July 11 Mumbai terror attacks.

Hashmi, who was arrested by the Indian Army in south Kashmir Aug 23, was sent to police custody till Sep 13.

He has been charged with conspiracy and declared as the 10th accused to be arrested in connection with the seven simultaneous serial bomb attacks on Mumbai's local trains on July 11, in which about 200 evening rush-hour commuters were killed and around 700 injured.

Akmal Hashmi, alias Abu Ahmed, is a divisional commander of the little known militant group Al-Badr. He was brought to Mumbai late Saturday.

"Hashmi is one of the key suspects in the July 11 blasts. He is the first accused to be arrested in connection with the Mahim blasts and the 10th accused to be arrested in connection with the July 11 blasts," said Mumbai police Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Krish Pal Raghuvanshi.

"Hashmi was arrested by the Army in Jammu and Kashmir and was interrogated there during which he reportedly revealed that he had knowledge about the LeT plan of carrying out serial blasts in suburban trains in Mumbai on July 11."

The Al-Badr militant, however, denied any direct role in the Mumbai blasts. "I had no hand in the Mumbai serial blasts. I have no intentions of lying. I got to know that there were 16 men, some from Kashmir and some from Pakistan," Hashmi told reporters in Mumbai Sunday.

The ATS believes that one of the blast victims, whose body is still lying unclaimed at a Mumbai hospital morgue, could possibly be a suicide bomber.

"Though Hashmi claimed that the LeT had dispatched 17 operatives to Mumbai to execute the plan and 16 returned to the Kashmir valley after carrying out the seven simultaneous bomb attacks, sources in Kashmir police said that his testimony was highly unreliable," a senior ATS official connected with the blasts probe told IANS.

"After initial interrogations, they found nothing linking him to the July 11 attacks. He also claims that though he had the knowledge of the blast plans, he himself had no hand in the serial blasts," the ATS official pointed out.

"A decision on whether Hashmi would be booked in the case or any other legal action initiated against him would be taken after his interrogation," Raghuvanshi said.

"Hashmi will be interrogated by an Anti-Terrorism Squad to ascertain whether he is involved in July 11 blasts," the ATS chief added.

Meanwhile, two of the nine other Mumbai serial blasts accused - Kamal Ahmed Sheikh and Tanvir Ansari - were taken to Bangalore Sunday for conducting a series of scientific tests on them, ATS sources said.

Lie detector, brain mapping and narco tests would be conducted on the duo at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Bangalore Monday.

ATS believe that the two men have information on the blasts that took place at Matunga, Jogeshwari and Khar in north-west suburban Mumbai.

Ansari is a doctor of unani medicine and Ahmed, believed to be a key suspect, was held in Bihar.

Musharraf weighs 'political options' in Balochistan

Islamabad, Sep 3 (IANS) Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has begun weighing political options in troubled Balochistan even as the government braced to face opposition protests, confined more to the province after the burial of slain tribal chief Nawab Akbar Bugti.

A day after Musharraf gained the "confidence" of the top military brass, he held discussions on Saturday with the civil administrators and political supporters in the government of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Qaid).

Responding to simmering doubts expressed whether the person buried at Dera Bugti, in what The News International newspaper called was "a low-key affair", was actually Nawab Bugti, Balochistan Governor Owais Ghani told media in Quetta that Bugti's family members would be allowed to exhume the body for final rites and also to remove their doubts.

Owais blamed family members of Akbar Bugti and Baloch tribal leaders for boycotting the funeral.

As protests continue in Balochistan, significantly, opposition parties and leaders leading the agitation include Mengal, Marri and Bizenjo - among the tribes who had been at loggerheads with the slain Bugti chieftain.

At a joint press conference in Quetta, leaders, including Sardar Sanaullah Zehri, Sardar Akhtar Mengal, Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo and Nawabzada Lashkari Raisani, charged that the government had violated Islamic, legal and Baloch/Pakhtoon traditions by not handing the body of Nawab Bugti over to his heirs, which was condemnable.

Meanwhile, The News International editorially demanded a high-level inquiry into Bugti's killing on Aug 26 in a military operation, if the government really wanted to conduct a damage control exercise.

Bugti's killing had reinforced the impression that in Pakistan, dissenting leaders of provinces - from Z.A. Bhutto to Bugti - could be eliminated either through violence or through court verdicts, the newspaper said.

The government had been "unsure and uneasy in its response" to the doubts expressed whether the person buried in a padlocked coffin was Bugti himself, the editorial said.

"Ominous parallels were drawn between this event and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's dead-of-night burial in Larkana in 1979. Then too, the military was accused of assassinating a leader from a smaller province for standing up to the military.

"Whatever the actual truth, the way the burial was handled has served to strengthen the hand of those who view Bugti as a martyr to a cause and view the authorities as having something to hide. Could the authorities not foresee the reaction to their actions given the volatile mood of the country?" the editorial asked.

Muslim children should feel proud to sing 'Vande Mataram'

By Tanveer Jafri

When master artist Bismillah Khan fell ill, all over India many Hindus performed 'havan' and 'yagna' for his speedy recovery. Similarly, a seven-year-old Muslim girl from Agra, Praveen, was on fast for seven days to appease Hindu god Indra - so as to get rains.

We often hear about Muslims taking care of Hindu temples and Hindus managing tombs of Muslim saints. At many places, Muslims make effigies of Ravana and also help organize Ganesh festivals.

Our President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam pays obeisance in temples and gurudwaras. The hymns sung in praise of Hindu gods and goddesses by the legendary Mohammad Rafi have left remarkable impressions in our minds.

All this is due to the common culture and civilization of India, a country of Kabir and Rahim. It is not astonishing if a Muslims sings Hindu religious songs and a Hindu pays homage to Muslim saint. But if we view all this through narrow prism, then we may be violating so-called Islamic law or even Hindu culture.

"Vande Mataram" is a song that in status equals the national anthem. It is a prayer to Mother India, in Sanskrit. Some so-called custodians of Islam in India are claiming that the song violates Islamic law.

Perhaps, these custodians are not aware of the Ganga-Yamuna culture, the culture that unites. These few custodians put out meaningless statements that isolate Indian Muslims. Hundreds of thousands of Muslim children get education in English medium schools run by Christian missionaries where the prayer taught is inspired by Christianity. How many Muslim children refuse to learn it?

"Jana Gana Mana..." and "Vande Mataram" pay homage to our motherland. These are not songs of any religion or community but are inspirational songs that give us pride. Every Indian is proud of them and will remain so.

It is the fundamentalists and religionists who pollute the pleasant atmosphere by their controversial, useless and baseless statements. These few people have no right to stop Muslim children from learning or singing "Vande Mataram". By doing so they affront Indian Muslims and give more fuel to Muslim bashers.

It is said that some parts of "Vande Mataram" are against Islamic law. But Islamic law needs to be seen in the context of Indian civilization and culture. Our Indian culture has a peculiar place in the world. India is the only country where Hindu caretakers can be seen at tombs of Muslim saints and Muslims sing in praise of Hindu gods. It would be a great misfortune for Muslims and India if our laws do not take such circumstances into consideration.

The so-called custodians of Islamic law must learn a lesson from Indian Hindus, who worship Muslim saints just like their own gods and goddesses. Islamic law in India cannot work as it has been adopted in Arab countries. It may be that those who obey Islamic law in Arab countries prefer Islam to patriotism. But that can never be said of India. Hindus don't place the religion above their country.

If we agree with these so-called custodians of religious law, then emperor Akbar was against these laws. President Kalam's going to temples and gurudwaras is also against Islamic law. Dilip Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan are also against these laws. So are the music of Naushad and the poems of Shakeel Badayuni and Janisar Akhtar. The art of Meena Kumari and Waheeda Rehman will be pitted against Islamic law. If the fundamentalists are to be obeyed, A.R. Rahman committed a great sin by giving a new and attractive tune to "Vande Mataram"!

Indian Muslims have separate recognition in the world and are proud of Indian civilization and culture. They were proud of it and will remain proud of it. It was in India that the All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board gave full support to the singing of "Vande Mataram". It will be better if the opponents of "Vande Mataram", instead of advising Muslim children not to sing it, inspire their own kids to read and render the national songs.

Such children, when they grow up, will not need certificates of patriotism from any Hindu group. Nobody will dare to see such children through suspicious eyes. People of all religions and communities in India must learn "Vande Mataram". Vande Mataram!

(Tanveer Jafri is a popular columnist and member of the Haryana Sahitya Akademi and Haryana Urdu Academy. He lives in Ambala. He can be contacted at tanveerjafri58@yahoo.co.in)

Nepal's problem is monarchy: Maoists

Kathmandu, Sep 3 (IANS) Nepal's Maoist rebels defended their stand not to disarm in spite of mounting pressure at home and abroad, saying it was monarchy that was the cause of Nepal's woes, not their decade-old insurgency.

"People who want us to surrender arms are looking at Nepal from a wrong perspective," Maoist spokesman and former member of parliament Krishna Bahadur Mahara said.

"The main problem of Nepal is monarchy and the army, not the Maoists. Nepal's problems will not be resolved till the first is abolished and the latter reconstituted."

Though Nepal's seven-party government is now urging the rebels to surrender arms, Mahara said it owed its very existence to rebel weapons.

"This government would not have come to power if we had not resumed arms," he said. "Its ministers would still be languishing in cold prison cells while King Gyanendra's ministers ruled the roost, legitimising their tenure by holding a mock election.'

The rebels are aggrieved by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's insistence on preserving monarchy, not dissolving parliament and keeping the Maoists outside the government till they lay down their arms.

"When we began the movement against King Gyanendra's absolute rule, the parties agreed to go with us," Mahara said. "But after the movement put them in power, we are concerned to see they are now going with the palace and foreign regressive powers who do not want peace and progress in Nepal.

"We smell a conspiracy in the attempt to linger over the talks. It is an attempt to sabotage the ultimate goal (to hold an election which would put monarchy to vote). We also smell a conspiracy in the way the government is creating a storm over our arms instead of addressing the entire gamut of issues."

Alarmed at the way peace talks with the government were foundering, Maoist leaders held an intensive meeting in Kavre district in central Nepal late last month to decide on their future strategy.

Accordingly, the guerrillas expanded their three-member talks team, which will now be headed by their chief Prachanda and will put counter-pressure on the seven-party government to resume parleys and come up with a comprehensive package in one sitting.

The Maoists want the next - and probably final - round of talks to be held within 10 days. If the government drags its feet, they have decided to begin a peaceful agitation like the protest in April that brought King Gyanendra's government down.

The rebels have also begun campaigning to form a democratic forum comprising political parties, intellectuals and members of civil society that would lead the protests if the talks fail.

The public ultimatum has already produced some effect with a minister saying the stalled talks would be held within a week.

Minister for culture, tourism and civil aviation, Pradip Gyawali, who is also a member of the government team interacting with the rebels, said the talks would focus on the status of the king till the election is held, how to hold the poll and how to manage the arms of both sides.

Nuclear cooperation could change if sanctions imposed: Iran

Tehran, Sept 3 (ZEENEWS.COM) Iran will "revise" its policy of cooperating with the UN nuclear agency if sanctions are imposed over its nuclear programme, its representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said today.

"If other erroneous measures are committed and the UN Security Council decides on sanctions or punitive measures, there is no doubt that the Islamic Republic of Iran will revise its policy of cooperation and its engagements laid out in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty (NPT)," Ali Asghar Soltanieh told state television.

"We will continue our policy of cooperation only if there are no measures against Iran and our rights are not violated," he added.

Iran calls for nuclear negotiations after Annan talks

Iran called today for negotiations to solve the international standoff over its nuclear programme after talks with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, but ruled out having to accept any preconditions

"During these talks both parties agreed that the best solution is to solve the questions through negotiations," Iran's top national security official, Ali Larijani, said after talks with Annan in Tehran, according to the Mehr agency.

He expressed hope that the "capacities of Kofi Annan could help solve the nuclear question", the semi-official news agency said.

"Kofi Annan's position for solving the Iran nuclear issue is positive and we support this position," he said.

"Confidence building is a two-way road. We welcome serious comprehensive negotiation but we will not accept any preconditions," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said after his talks with Annan, according to the agency.

Pakistan manages 'truce' with Waziristan militants

Islamabad, Sep 3 (IANS) Even as struggling to meet tribal opposition in Balochistan in the aftermath of the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti, the Pakistan government has managed a truce with tribal leaders in the volatile Northern Waziristan, media reports said.

No local tribesman would be allowed to enter Afghanistan to attack US-led coalition forces stationed in Afghanistan under the agreement signed on Saturday by pro-Taliban militants with the Pakistan government to ensure "permanent peace" in the volatile northwestern tribal region near the Afghan border, The News International reported from Miramshah in Waziristan, quoting intelligence officials.

Under the agreement, which is likely to be unveiled by the government next week, militant will halt all attacks on government officials and security forces, and the army "will not carry out operations against them," said an area intelligence official on condition of anonymity, the newspaper reported.

"This is a good development because the Taliban have promised to stay away from militancy," said the official. "The Taliban have also agreed to distance themselves from foreign militants" hiding in the area, he added.

Another intelligence official, who also did not want to be named, said the accord was signed at a seminary near Miramshah, in North Waziristan, where the military has carried out several operations against the Islamist militants.

Residents have welcomed the ceasefire and urged the government to take steps for lasting peace, the newspaper said.

The Taliban fighters have also asked the government to abolish military checkpoints in North Waziristan so as to reduce the presence of the military in the area.

Waziristan has been home to an unspecified numbers of foreign mercenaries of various Arab nationalities, besides Chechens, Uzbeks and the Chinese Uighours.

Though the government officials and Loya Jirga (grand tribal council) members were tightlipped about the terms of the proposed agreement, it was learnt that foreign militants hiding in North Waziristan would be given the option to stay there under protection of the tribes after furnishing "guarantees of good conduct".

According to various media reports in the West, Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and Taliban head Mullah Omar have lived in this area at some time or the other. The sympathetic Pushtun tribals have sheltered the Taliban insurgents in Waziristan.

Pakistan has deployed more than 80,000 troops in the country's tribal regions bordering Afghanistan that has witnessed virtually unchecked movement of Taliban for the last four years.

Pakistan, China exploring market for Thunder jets

Islamabad, Sep 3 (IANS) Pakistan and China are looking for buyers in third countries for their joint venture combat aircraft JF-17 Thunder, officially called FC-1.

The two are also jointly producing the Chinese designed F-22 frigate and the Al Khalid tank. New projects are likely to be discussed by a high-level Chinese delegation that arrived in Pakistan on Sunday.

The two sides would review the progress of ongoing joint ventures in the defence production sector, the official APP news agency reported quoting unnamed defence sources in Beijing.

The delegation is led by Jin Zhuang, Vice Minister, Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (COSTIND). The six-day visit is aimed at further strengthening bilateral cooperation in the defence sector, The News International newspaper said.

Defence sources told APP here the delegation would study the possibility of undertaking new projects in the light of the success in the ongoing-projects like JF-17 Thunder and F-22 P frigate.

These projects are highly significant in their bilateral ties to strengthening defence capability. The project JF-17 Thunder, formally known as FC-1, is also designed to increase Pakistan's self-reliance and create the potential for an export market, the officials said.

The project, initiated in February 1992, is a joint venture between Pakistan Air Force and China Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation along with Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation (CAC).

Research and Development cost of this project is estimated between $450 to $500 million. Pakistan will be financing 50-59 per cent of the multi-million dollar project.

Estimated cost per aircraft will be around $15-20 million, which makes it an excellent option for export market, a defence official said. China and Pakistan are also expected to start production of F-22 P frigates by the end of this year.

Expressing complete satisfaction over Pakistan's frigate deal with China, defence sources were quoted as saying the deal has been finalised and the keel for construction of the F-22 P frigates will be laid at the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai later this year.

Palestinians to announce Unity Govt in 10 days: Abbas

Gaza City, Sept 3 (ZEENEWS.COM) A Palestinian National Unity government will be announced within 10 days, a spokesman for President Mahmud Abbas said on Saturday following weeks of wrangling between his Fatah Party and the ruling Hamas movement.

"Meetings between President Mahmud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, including some which took place today, have been productive and positive," Nabil Abu Rudeina said.

"We expect to announce a National Unity government in the coming 10 days."

Abbas has been meeting with Hamas leaders in Gaza since Wednesday in the latest round of talks aimed at forging a unity government.

Hamas heads the current cabinet since its landslide election win in January but has seen crippling aid cuts to the already cash-strapped Palestinian Authority over its refusal to recognize Israel or renounce violence.

Government spokesman Ghazi Hamad said, "we will announce the creation of national union government as soon as possible," adding that talks with Abbas have been "serious."

The leader of the Hamas faction in Parliament, Khalil al-Haya, nevertheless denied that a union government could be announced within 10 day, saying the negotiations "were still at an early stage."

Abu Rudeina's announcement came a day after the European Union encouraged Hamas to form a government of National Unity, as part of a bolstered EU diplomatic drive toward peace in the Middle East.

Peres says talks with Palestinians may restart next year

London, Sept 3 (ZEENEWS.COM) Israeli Vice-Prime Minister Shimon Peres has said his country is likely to resume peace talks with the Palestinian Authority next year.

"We will start negotiations with the Palestinians in the very near future," Peres told the Financial Times newspaper, hinting the process could be set in motion by early next year.

The Vice-Prime Minister however doubted that the UN or the Arab League could play a significant role in mediating peace in the region.

Peres is in favour of creation of an independent Palestinian state and at one point referred to Palestine as a "country", the business daily stated.

The Israeli leader was in Italy last week and made this comments on the sidelines of the Ambrosetti workshop. Peres also met Italian Premier Romano Prodi to thank him for agreeing to provide 2,500 troops for the un forces in Lebanon.

Prophet's cartoons sparked German train bomb plot: Police

Berlin, Sept 3 (ZEENEWS.COM) The publication of caricatures depicting the Prophet Mohammed was the trigger for a failed attempt to bomb passenger trains in Germany, police said on Saturday.

One of the main suspects, Youssef Mohammed el Hajdib, who was arrested in Germany on August 16, "interpreted (the cartoons) as an insult to Islam by the western world," Joerg Ziercke, the Director of Germany's Federal Police, told Focus Magazine in an interview to be published on Monday.

He and the other main suspect in the failed plot, Jihad Hamad, who was arrested in Lebanon on August 24, were also influenced by the killing of the al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, in June, the police chief said.

"The two main suspects believed international terrorism had lost one of its chief leaders," said Ziercke.

The two men had "a certain base ideology" when they came to live in Germany, but gained more radical views "through al-Qaeda internet propaganda", the police chief added.

El Hajdib and Hamad are suspected of having hidden bombs in suitcases on two regional trains in Germany. In all five men have been arrested as part of the investigation, three in Lebanon and two in Germany.

The bombs did not explode because of faulty timed detonators. But the two men were serious about their plot, Ziercke claimed, and had studied the German rail timetables for weeks, possibly even since the start of the row over the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed last year.

Rabri Devi demands CBI probe into plane purchase

Patna, Sep 3 (IANS) Bihar opposition leader Rabri Devi Sunday demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into alleged financial and procedural irregularities in the purchase of an aircraft during the President's Rule in the state last year.

Rabri Devi's demand comes a day after the office of the principal accountant general (PAG) here detected irregularities in the purchase of a Kingair C-90B airplane.

"It is a serious matter and a CBI probe is the only way out to exposed those behind the irregularities," Rabri said.

The PAG in its report pointed that the plane was purchased for $2.7 million without inviting tenders, and the agent who provided the aircraft made a commission of Rs.3 million.

"For a little more money ($2.9 million), the state could have bought the newer Kingair C90-GT model," it said.

The PAG also said Governor Buta Singh had been kept in the dark and his approval was obtained without bringing to his notice the tender procedures.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said he was not aware of the purchase details since the deal took place before he came to power.

"The government will investigate the matter and if the charges are found to be true, appropriate action will be taken against the erring officials," he said.

However, Chief Secretary G.S. Kang denied any irregularity in the deal.

Russia remembers bloody end to Beslan hostage crisis

Moscow, Sep 3 (DPA) Russians Sunday commemorated the bloody end to the Beslan hostage tragedy two years ago in which 333 people died - a "painful wound," in the words of President Vladimir Putin.

"The murder of innocent women and children shook Russia and the entire world," he said during a Moscow meeting with Russian Orthodox Church head Patriarch Alexei II.

The suffering of the parents would linger and the whole tragic event was "our common pain," Putin said.

Hundreds of people poured into the ruins of the school in the small northern Caucasus town, where Chechen terrorists held more than 1,100 adults and children captive for two days.

Two siege ended in a dramatic firefight between the terrorists and security forces, in which 333 hostages and police died. All but one of the group of over 30 hostage-takers were killed in the fighting.

A minute of silence was held in North Ossetia, where Beslan is situated, at 1.05 p.m. (0905 GMT), the time of the first explosion at the school. Then 333 white balloons were released from the town of Beslan to represent the number of lives lost in the attack, including 186 children.

"The callous attack on children shows that terrorism is not holy and that it has neither religion nor homeland," the president of the Russian Parliament, Boris Gryslow, said in Moscow.

The memorial in the north Caucasus was marked by a strong police presence.

Religious ceremonies and commemorative events took place throughout the Russian capital as well. Thirteen people were detained at a banned rally of human rights activists attempting to bring attention to mistakes made by officials in the attacks.

Shortly before the anniversary, Russian media quoted a member of the investigating state commission as saying the commando assault and ensuing shootout was triggered by the use by security forces of heavy weapons, including flame-throwers and rockets.

School raided in Sussex

By Prasun Sonwalkar,

London, Sep 3 (IANS) Scotland Yard officers raided what is described as Britain's "first home-grown jihad training school" in east Sussex even as reports in the US spoke of Britain emerging as a greater security threat to the US than Iraq or Iran.

After a lengthy surveillance operation by security forces, anti-terrorism officers raided the Jameah Islameah School near Crowborough in East Sussex. Scotland Yard said the raid was linked to the arrest of 14 men in London on Friday night, including 12 at a Chinese Halal restaurant.

Reports from the US say that in an article headlined "Kashmir on the Thames", the New Republic magazine painted Britain's Muslim communities as a breeding ground for violent extremism.

Citing recent opinion poll evidence suggesting that one in four British Muslims believed that last year's London Tube bombings were justified, the magazine said: "In the wake of this month's high-profile arrests, it can now be argued that the biggest threat to US security emanates not from Iran or Iraq or Afghanistan, but rather from Britain, our closest ally."

The search of the Sussex school was continuing early Sunday. Reports said that the investigation was linked to concerns that young, radicalised Muslim men were being trained to launch suicide attacks in "crowded areas" of London and possibly Manchester.

The 12 men arrested at the restaurant in London were reported to be visitors to the school.

A Home Office source was quoted in the media as saying that the school was being used to host training weekends for militant Muslim youths.

"The training was extreme and macho. It involved endurance in bad weather and bonding. In that sense it was like combat training. They were being groomed for terror," the source told News of the World, a leading tabloid.

However, the police said that the school had been "very co-operative" and that no arrests had been made following the search. The school was founded in 2003; it had only nine pupils, aged between 12 and 15, when it was inspected last December by official school inspectors.

Abu Hamza, a former Imam at Finsbury Park mosque in London, who is serving seven years for inciting murder and racial hatred, had reportedly organised training at the school.

According to the BBC, the arrests in London were linked to allegations of "training camps" within Britain for people who want to engage in terrorist acts. Last month it was revealed that some training camps had been held in the picturesque Lake District.

Meanwhile, two men have also been arrested in other anti-terror raids in Manchester but a spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said these arrests were not linked to the London raids.

Seven of family get life term for murder

Shimla, Sep 3 (IANS) Seven members of a family have been sentenced to life imprisonment by a local court in Himachal Pradesh for killing a man.

The court in Chamba district, some 350 km from here, Saturday found the seven people of Riyana village, including three women, guilty of brutally killing a certain Prem Singh over a land dispute.

The seven accused reportedly ganged up and attacked Singh with sticks, sickles and a shovel in March 2004.

The family has also to pay a penalty of Rs.10,000 each, failing which the sentence would increase by two years for each individual.

Several areas inundated as heavy rains lash Kashmir

Srinagar, Sep 3 (IANS) The floods in Jammu and Kashmir worsened Sunday as fierce rains lashed the valley for the fourth consecutive day. The army and the air force have been alerted.

Scores of villages and several residential areas in the summer capital were submerged as the water level in Jhelum river continued to rise dangerously.

Kashmir Police pressed into service boats Saturday evening to evacuate patients from the flooded Jhelum Valley Medical College Hospital in Srinagar.

Central Kashmir range police chief Farooq Ahmed supervised the evacuation of the patients, who were later admitted to various hospitals.

Farooq told IANS: "Policemen have been deployed in strength in the capital city to help evacuate the flood-hit."

Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad reviewed the flood situation at a high-level meeting Sunday. He was informed about the steps taken by the administration to tackle the situation.

The administration ordered the closure of all educational institutions in the valley for two days.

Authorities are busy evacuating locals from Lasjan and Gundbal areas after the fast flowing Jhelum waters breached the embankment Sunday morning.

"The situation is grim. The heavy downpour has made things difficult but we are ready to deal with the situation," Kashmir divisional commissioner Basharat Dhar, who is supervising the rescue and relief operations, told IANS.

Six children killed in US fire

Washington, Sep 3 (Xinhua) Six children aged between three and 16 years were killed early Sunday in a fire in Chicago, Illinois, news reports said.

The fire that was started by candles and swept through a third-floor apartment also injured the mother of some of the victims and her other children.

The family had no power supply in their three-bedroom flat for at least a month, and had used candles for lighting, according to the reports.

Sourav, Kumble ignored for Champions Trophy

Mumbai, Sep 3 (IANS) Former captain Sourav Ganguly and leg spinner Anil Kumble were left out of the Indian squad announced here Sunday for the Champions Trophy to be held in India in October-November as well as for a tri-nation tournament in Malaysia this month.

Niranjan Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said the selection committee headed by Kiran More decided to retain the 15-member squad that toured Sri Lanka for the triangular series against Australia and the West Indies Sep 12-24.

"We are not sure whether Kumble would be fully fit by the Champions Trophy. So we have decided to leave him. Kumble is a very senior guy and can get back into the team any time. He is our best bowler and we have to take a long term view," said More.

Kumble was expected to return to the one-day scheme of things until he developed a tendonitis of the shoulder during his county stint for Surrey.

Medium pacer S. Sreesanth, who was in the squad for the Sri Lankan tour, was also not included in the 14-man team for the Champions Trophy.

"Sreesanth is definitely in our future plans but we thought that Rudra Pratap Singh should get a chance. Rudra Pratap has done pretty well in the past and has also played well in India A tour to Australia," More commented.

On Sourav being left out, Shah said: "The selectors wanted to retain the same Sri Lanka-bound squad for the Malaysia series and only one had to be left out for the Champions Trophy."

Board secretary also went on to add that Kumble is still in their plans and the decision to ignore the ace spinner was taken keeping in mind the tour to South Africa in November-December.

"We do not want to aggravate his injury. He is a senior bowler and we want him to be in the side for an important series against South Africa," he said.

The 10-nation Champions Trophy will be played Oct 7-Nov 5 at four venues - Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Mohali and Jaipur.

Teams:

Champions Trophy: Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Mohammed Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Dinesh Mongia, Harbhajan Singh, Ramesh Powar, Irfan Pathan, Rudra Pratap Singh, Munaf Patel and Ajit Agarkar

Triangular series: Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Kaif, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Mongia, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Irfan Pathan, S. Sreesanth, Ajit Agarkar, Rudra Pratap Singh, Munaf Patel, Harbhajan Singh and Ramesh Powar

Tehran unyielding over N-dispute as Annan visits

Tehran, Sept 3 (ZEENEWS.COM) UN Secretary General Kofi Annan began a visit to Iran on Saturday as the country's hardline President vowed to pursue its controversial nuclear program, which the west fears is aimed at developing atomic weapons.

The visit comes two days after Iran failed to meet a UN deadline for suspending its enrichment of uranium, paving the way to possible sanctions against the Islamic republic.

Annan flew into Tehran around midday local time today, said Abkar Ghasemi, a Foreign Ministry spokesman.

The nuclear dispute was to top the agenda for the UN chief's two-day meetings, but Annan is also expected to press Tehran to assist in implementation of the UN-sponsored ceasefire in Lebanon, whose Hezbollah guerrillas are believed to receive major financing and weapons from Iran.

The official IRNA news agency said Iran's nuclear programme and the Lebanon situation will dominate Annan's talks.

Annan, who is on a tour of the crisis-wracked middle east, is expected to seek Tehran's support for the UN resolution that halted Israeli-Hezbollah fighting on August 14 and that also called for a beefed-up UN force of 15,000 troops to deploy in the south to enforce the peace.

In Tehran, Annan will meet top officials including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. The exact timing of the meetings was not known but state radio said that the UN chief would hold talks with the Iranian President tomorrow morning.

The Lessons of Vande Mataram

COUNTERPOINT | Vir Sanghvi

The most obvious consequence of the Vande Mataram controversy is that a whole new generation now realises that there is more to the song than a version by AR Rahman and a video by Bharat Bala.

Each day, the papers are full of new developments in the Vande Mataram saga. Is it really the centenary of the song? Does Arjun Singh believe that children should be forced to sing it? Has Rajnath Singh made a mistake in urging BJP states to ensure that the maulanas and the madrasas treat the singing of Vande Mataram as a patriotic duty?

So why, when you’ve read so much about Vande Mataram already � lots of it in the pages of this paper � am I inflicting yet another column about the controversy on you?

Well, it’s because I think the manner in which this controversy has been manufactured and manipulated offers us some lessons for the future.

But first, a little bit about the song. Like most people, I believed that the controversy was a recent invention. In fact, it has a long and complicated history. Even Rabindranath Tagore, who sang Vande Mataram in 1896 at the Calcutta Congress session, was later to write: “The core of Vande Mataram is a hymn to the Goddess Durga; this is so plain that there can be no debate about it… no Muslim can be expected patriotically to worship the ten-handed deity as Swadesh.�

Taking note of Muslim objections to the song, the Congress decided in 1937 that only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram � which are short on references to Hindu goddesses � would be sung in public. Despite this decision, some Muslims have always objected to Vande Mataram. In 1977-78, Muslim corporators in Bombay objected to singing the song and the Congress government in Maharashtra went so far as to rule that forcing anyone to sing all verses of Vande Mataram would be treated as a constitutional violation, punishable under the IPC. Predictably, this led to a massive Hindu backlash and the Shiv Sena won the next election to the corporation.

So, the controversy is not new. But this outbreak is pointless and needlessly divisive.

Which leads us to the first lesson of this saga. Contrary to what the Congress is now claiming, it was not the BJP’s hunger for Hindu votes that led to this episode. It was the foolishness of this government. Responding to a letter forwarded by the culture ministry asking for celebrations to mark the centenary of Vande Mataram, the HRD ministry ordered that it should be sung in all schools on 7 September.

Problem: this is not the centenary of Vande Mataram. The song was probably written in the early 1870s. Another problem: whoever ordered that this bogus centenary should be celebrated not only had no sense of history but also had no political instincts. Any sensible politician could see that, given the background, an order forcing students to sing Vande Mataram would provoke some controversy. But the HRD ministry went ahead anyway. When the issue exploded in its face, Arjun Singh quickly backtracked and said that nobody was being forced to sing the song: we could all warble it voluntarily. Which is nice, but frankly, we don’t need Arjun Singh’s permission to sing songs. The whole point of the ministry’s order was that schools were supposed to organise institutional sing-alongs.

So, the first lesson: put a politician in charge of culture and he will find some way of screwing it up.

The second lesson has to do with religious politics in India. I get told off by my politically-correct friends every time I say this, but one of the problems faced by the Muslim community in India is that its leaders ignore its genuine economic and social grievances and focus, again and again, on religious issues that are guaranteed to make all Muslims sound like unreasonable fanatics. So, they will be less voluble about unemployment and discrimination and much more vocal about the right to refuse to pay maintenance to wives, to protest cartoons in faraway Denmark and to kill Salman Rushdie.

The Vande Mataram controversy is yet another instance of this crowd-pleasing foolishness. Yes, all right, we all know that there is a historical background. But is the biggest problem faced by Indian Muslims the terrible plight of Muslim children in government schools who might have to sing the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram on 7 September?

Clearly not. But listening to Muslim leaders going on and on about the un-Islamic nature of the song, you begin to fear for the political future of India’s Muslims. Each time their grievances are expressed in purely religious terms, not only do the more serious issues get swept under the carpet but confirms the RSS caricature that Muslims are fanatical fundamentalists.

Equally, national political parties do not come off well in this saga. It was AB Vajpayee who opposed plans to make the singing of Vande Mataram compulsory. But under Rajnath Singh, the BJP has seized on Muslim objections to the song to make the singing of Vande Mataram a simplistic test of Indian patriotism: if they don’t sing it, then they must be traitors. It is like one of those communal riots, where they stop cars and force their occupants to demonstrate which religion they belong to. No doubt, the next time there is a riot, they will pull Muslims out of cars and force them to sing Vande Mataram to prove their loyalty to the Indian state.

And what of the Congress, whose foolishness led to this instalment in the controversy? Now that it’s become a Hindu-Muslim issue, the party is contorting itself trying to reassure Muslims while still retaining the support of the Hindus: all this to win votes at the next election.

That’s the second lesson: there is no religious issue that an Indian politician will not stoop to exploit for his own advancement.

The third lesson has more to do with us than it does with politicians. We are now so consumed by political correctness that we have lost sight of the meanings of secularism and patriotism.

The Muslim objection to the first two stanzas is that they refer to bowing before the mother, whereas Muslims only bow before Allah. As MP chief minister, Shivraj S Chauhan, pointed out in an article in the HT, Indian Muslims have forgotten that the national anthems of many Islamic states do not conform to this criterion. For instance, the national anthem of Jordan venerates the King in a manner that far exceeds Vande Mataram’s bowing before a symbolic mother. And the national anthem of Bangladesh uses the word mother four times.

But even if we regard the Muslim objections as being substantial, this leads to a situation where we treat secularism as a sort of pasteurisation process where all religious symbolism is destroyed before we package culture for national consumption. This is silly. Culture reflects all aspects of society including religion. If we are to sterilise all culture to deny the historical importance of religion then we might as well destroy culture itself.

It is nobody’s case that Muslims should be forced to recite the Gayatri Mantra. But equally, we cannot comb through all culture deleting every religious reference on the grounds that this might offend one minority or the other. To define secularism in this rigid and narrow manner is to rob the term of all meaning.

And what of patriotism and liberalism? Anthems and inspirational songs have a place in all societies. But only authoritarian or totalitarian states use the law to enforce their singing. It was okay for the Nazis to goose-step to Deutschland Uber Alles but today’s Germans are much less keen on singing it at torch-lit rallies. Few Americans know the words to the Stars and Stripes Forever and in the UK God save the Queen is seen as a quaint reminder of a bygone era. (And as for France, can anyone hear the opening bars of The Marseilles without thinking of All You Need Is Love?)

The whole point of a liberal society is that you don’t force people to sing anything, whether it is Vande Mataram or Jana Gana Mana. Speaking for myself, I’m the sort of chap who enjoys singing along to Jana Gana Mana and who feels the hairs rising on my arm when I hear the first notes of our national anthem. But does that mean that you could put me in jail if I felt differently? Surely not. The point of living in free India is that patriotism must come from within and not be imposed by law. I am angered by people who talk when the national anthem is being played. But I would be much angrier if they were arrested for talking during the song.

I find it bizarre that the unspoken assumption in this debate is that if Muslims can be persuaded that Vande Mataram is not anti-Islamic, then it is entirely okay to force them to sing it. My position is: the moment you force people to be patriotic, you devalue patriotism.

And that is the third and final lesson from this saga: we have become so imprisoned in our petty politics and our pointless little debates that we have lost sight of the big picture. Secularism does not mean sterilisation. And patriotism is not a section of the Indian Penal Code.

Source:

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1784691,00300001.htm

Tibetans celebrate 'Democracy Day'

Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh), Sep 3 (IANS) Speeches, book releases and cultural shows marked a function to celebrate 'Tibetan Democracy Day' in this north Indian town attended by hundreds of Tibetans amid pouring rain.

At the function Saturday, three Tibetan students who had topped in this year's Senior Secondary School examinations were given a cash award of Rs.5,000 and a certificate of merit.

Samdhong Rinpoche, Tibetan 'prime minister' (Kalon Tripa), said: "Even after years of democratic administration, inadequacies continue to blight the process of democratic maturity in exile."

"If the Tibetan populace and their elected representatives, lawfully and competently, avail themselves of the existing legal and institutional mechanisms, well entrenched in their polity, it could yield an incomparable democratic society," Rinpoche said.

"The Tibetan people, especially the educated young, must come to the fore in making up for this shortage of democratic values, like tolerance of plurality and difference, rationality and respecting the majority's choice," he added.

Dharamsala is the seat of the Tibetan 'government in exile' and the Dalai Lama has made the town his home along with thousands of his followers after he fled Tibet following a failed uprising in 1959.

TIMES OF INDIA, MUMBAI STILL HUNG UP ON HITLER

Even though the Jewish uproar over naming of a restaurant in a far off part of Mumbai's suburb, has now subsided, after the owner has very magnanimously decided to change the name from 'Hitler's Cross' to "Cross Café; The Times of India, is not willing to call it a day.

It is not clear what the hidden motives or motivations are for Times of India, to put out two stories, one on front page and second on the third page, giving background to 'Hitler' as pet name acquired or given to two Muslims in the city. Both from very common miliue, are surprised why media should be so interested to know, why they are called Hitler, though their official names are properly of all of Islamic origin.

According to TOI story, it may be the 'enemy of my enemy' factor, that had marked the persona of Hitler as the enemy of British, who themselves were enemies of Indians, having enslaved them for over a century.

The popularity of Hitler, as a symbol of resistance to British Raj, in Muslim milieu does show up some deep rooted commitment of Indian Muslims to freedom struggle, that is now coming out into the open and that has been deliberately downplayed by Hindutva elements, who had all the time been collaborators of the British. But that could hardly be the real objective of Times of India, bent on demonising Indian Muslims on one count or other.

On the other hand, TOI may be on to forestalling a wave of exposure of Hindutva's founding fathers' own fascination with Hitler and fascism, which are all a matter of record. That ruse will not hold for long.

A sustained effort in the US, by Human Rights NGOs' in the US, had earlier resulted in refusal of US visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi over Gujarat genocide and had been dogging the steps of other RSS luminaries who wish to travel to hobnob with State Department Officials, possibly to offer a second line of hope, in case Manmohan Singh led government falls on its proximity to the US government and its compromises with India's security by signing on the dotted lines, impacting the nation's sovereignty to be free to use its right to defend itself through nuclear capabilities.

Those who are aware of RSS collaborations with the British in the past, can hardly be surprised on such moves to surrender to US demands, while appearing to confront UPA government in public.

Top companies invest in Chhattisgarh

Raipur, Sep 3 (IANS) Mineral rich Chhattisgarh has received the highest foreign investment in India in the first seven months of this year.

The largely tribal state, which is aggressively wooing investors, got more than 14 percent of the Rs.2.68 trillion ($57.5 billion) investment coming to India between January to July, according to the Industrial Entrepreneurs Memorandum (IEM) report.

"Jharkhand came second with Rs.317.13 billion investment and Gujarat third with Rs.313.25 billion," stated the report, released by the industry ministry.

Chhattisgarh, which occupied the third slot last year, has received Rs.200 billion for pursuing three projects in the tribal interiors.

The Rs.377.15 billion investments have been mainly in the steel and power sectors.

Tata Steel - India's largest steel maker - has invested Rs.100 billion for setting up a 5 million tonne plant in Bastar. Another steel major, Essar Steel, has invested Rs.70 billion for a 3.2 million tonne plant in the Maoist-insurgency hit Dantewada district.

Public sector fertiliser company IFFCO is all set to invest Rs.45 billion in Surguja to install a 1,000 MW thermal power plant.

Chief Minister Raman Singh told IANS: "I am happy that Chhattisgarh has got the maximum investments. This ranking reflects our commitment to the development of the state."

UN report warns of trade imbalances' danger

By Arun Kumar,

United Nations, Sep 3 (IANS) Although a major global economic crisis is unlikely, significant trade imbalances are posing a threat to long-term world economic health, a new UN report warns.

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in its annual report characterises the global economy as one of "relatively fast growth in developing countries, driven by strong global demand originating mainly in the US and amplified by the rapid expansion of the large Chinese economy."

The report finds little evidence of a looming major financial crisis, comparable to the Asian or Latin American crises of 10 years ago.

It notes that many developing countries are now less vulnerable to big shocks because they have stabilised their exchange rates at low levels and are running sizeable current-account surpluses and accumulating large amounts of dollar reserves.

That approach poses a problem, however, because it "can only function as long as there is at least one country in the global economy that accepts running the corresponding trade deficit," the report says.

That country, the US, has become overburdened in its role as "global engine for growth." UNCTAD economists fear that, at some point, American demand will no longer be able to act as a bulwark against worldwide deflation and recession.

They add that other key industrial countries have not only failed to play their part, but have actually added to the US' burden by running up huge surpluses of their own.

They say countries like Japan and Germany must increase their domestic demand to prevent a sharp devaluation of the American dollar that could send shocks reverberating throughout the developing world.

The report notes that China's surging domestic demand and imports have played a positive and vital role in spreading and sustaining global growth. To prevent that process from being derailed, its currency, the renminbi, should not be revalued too quickly.

UNCTAD economists say that redressing global imbalances requires a responsible multilateral effort rather than pressure on the developing world.

"A well-coordinated international macroeconomic approach would considerably enhance the chances of poorer countries being able to preserve and continue recent improvements in their growth performances," the report notes.

UPA may pay heavy price for ignoring key issues: CPI-M

Bhopal, Sep 3 (IANS) The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Sunday warned the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government that it would pay a political price if it continues to ignore important issues mentioned in the coalition's common minimum programme (CMP).

Talking to reporters here, CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat said there were several issues on which the UPA government was ignoring the parties supporting it and this might end in the coalition paying a heavy price.

He, however, said it was because of his party's opposition that prices of several essential commodities like cooking gas and kerosene have not been raised.

The CPI-M leads the Left Front that supports the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government from outside.

"The UPA government has increased the price of petro products five times in the past two years. This has resulted in a rise in prices of all essential commodities," he said.

Karat recommended reduction in the tax levied on petrol and diesel to bring down their prices and check inflation.

US for cooperation with India on public acceptance of n-power

By Arun Kumar,

Washington, Sep 3 (IANS) A positive fallout of the India-US nuclear deal could be collaboration between the two to overcome problems of public acceptance associated with nuclear power, according to President George Bush's science advisor.

The United States would like to work together on this issue with countries like India, Japan and Russia which have a better understanding of nuclear power engineering rather than weapons, said John H. Marburger

"We regard nuclear fission power as so important for world peace and world economy that we believe it's important to collaborate in this science with other countries that have nuclear technology and capacity," he said in an interaction with foreign media.

Given the importance of nuclear power, the president has set up an Advanced Energy Mission to look for technical solutions for problems associated with its public acceptance, said Marburger, who is also director, office of science and technology policy.

To address three major problems of safety, nuclear waste and proliferation, US scientists are trying to design new kind of reactors that are inherently safe so that even if there is an accident it does not spread radiation.

They are also looking for technical solutions for eliminating nuclear waste in such a way that it does not create a long list of radioactive places.

As proliferation was a matter of great concern to the US Congress, it was very important how spent fuel from nuclear reactors is processed because one way of doing it produces plutonium that can be used to make weapons.

It was important to collaborate with other countries in this respect as the sooner these scientific problems were solved, the better it would be for everyone, Marburger said.

In general nuclear plants today are safer as shown by their long records of operational safety, but public acceptance is still so negative that people don't want them to be built in their own backyards, he said.

But as local communities in more than 100 locations with nuclear power plants accept them, the US power industry is planning to build new power plants in some of these locations.

To encourage power companies to set up new nuclear power plants, the Nuclear Regulatory Authority has changed licensing regulations to speed up permissions with the federal government offering to share half the cost of delay due to public opposition.

What made nuclear power plants attractive was that at least they don't have other problems like carbon dioxide emission associated with burning fossil fuels and yet could be scaled up like them, Marburger said.

Other alternative sources of energy like wind and sun too would probably be important in the small scale power market, but not in the mass market for providing power to houses and factories.

But it should be possible to burn fossil fuels in such a way that capture carbon dioxide and either use it as part of another chemical process to convert it into something else that can be used elsewhere or pump it back into ground where it came from.

The government attitude was very positive about nuclear power. Most of the Congress too was positive, but like the public at large it had concerns about three things- safety, spent fuel and proliferation, Marburger said.

Energy cooperation was important as the rapidly improving standard of living in many countries, particularly India and China that have huge populations is creating an appetite for energy.

But we should build power plants in the most environment friendly way because issues like carbon dioxide and green house gases affects the whole world. So we should cooperate with other countries to develop carbon free power technology.

There were lots more plans to address these problems and that's where better technology and some new science too was needed to make thee ideas economically feasible, Marburger said. India and China are both part of America's Energy Partnership Initiative and they are all working together with the department of energy to develop new concepts, he noted.

Asked to comment on the Iran issue, Marburger said proliferation was not a science issue but primarily a geopolitical issue. The role of science was limited to providing a monitoring mechanism.

Iran has signed the non-proliferation treaty (NPT) that includes provisions of international inspections which finally detected Tehran's plans. This led to suspicions which are coming in the way of acting rationally.

Usually agreements between countries don't fail because of science but because of lack of confidence in one other, political reasons and so forth and these are much more difficult to predict than science, he said.

Vande Mataram is anti-Muslim: IUML

Mumbai, Sept 3 (ZEENEWS.COM) The Indian Union Muslim League today said Vande Mataram is "anti-Muslim" and any attempt to force Muslims to sing it would be "uncivilised".

"Any attempt to force the singing of Vande Mataram will be uncivilised and an affront to the secular character of our polity and will also not be tolerated by Muslims," IUML president G M Banatwala said in a press release here.

"Vande Mataram has been consistently and conscientiously held as idolatrous by Muslims. It also has an anti-Muslim and objectionable background. Muslims cannot sing it," he said.

Banatwala called on Muslim students not to attend classes on September seven in case there was "any fear of insistence on singing Vande Mataram".

The Centre has issued a directive asking schools to get their students to recite Vande Mataram on September seven to mark the centenary of the national song.

"It is most unfortunate that instead of appreciating the Muslim position, the Sangh Parivar is out to vitiate the communal atmosphere," he said.

"Muslims should not, as usual, accept any provocations and maintain calm and patience. They may stand up silently as a mark of respect to the right of the gathering singing Vande Mataram," Banatwala said.

Website to outsource tutoring services from India

New York, Sep 3 (IANS) A new website will help teachers in India and Pakistan set up their own business of teaching students in the US.

Catching on to the trend of what is being called educational services outsourcing (ESO), www.tutorswithoutlimits.com expects over 100,000 teachers in India and Pakistan to set up their Internet businesses in the next two weeks.

Founded by American IT entrepreneur Glynn Willet and his son, Tutors Without Limits (TWL) incorporates the new Web 2.0 AJAX technology to create the most advanced learning system for teaching on the Internet in a system called the Lesson Board.

Glynn and his brother Steve Willet had earlier founded ATX, a professional tax software company.

"This is just like teaching in my classroom!" a press release quoted one of the first teachers to use the Lesson Board as saying.

With the start of the US academic session in September, parents and students in the country will now be able to get help any time of the day or night.

US students usually pay $40 an hour for tutoring services. However, last year, call centres in India started offering these services for as low as $14 to $20 an hour.

Now, with the launch of TWL, tutors will be offering their services directly to students in the US at prices they determine.

However, Raghavendra Rao, a mathematics online tutor who teaches a number of children in California from Bangalore, told ITWire, an Australian IT news website: "This will no doubt be good for us, but there are going to be a number of teething problems that would have to be ironed out.

"The overseas clients have to be sure that they are getting value for their money and at the same time tutors in India should not just scramble for this and let down pupils. That would create a very bad impression and would not be good for the e-learning community."

According to the press release, the TWL marketplace will quickly sort services based on quality, content, qualifications and recommendations.

Although initially limited to the US, India and Pakistan, TWL services will be launched in Canada, Australia, Europe and Japan within two months.

Where madrasas nurture tolerance

From Prasanta Paul
DH News Service Kolkata: Julita Oraon, a schoolgirl and devout Christian, never misses Sunday mass, but the rest of her week is spent studying Arabic and Sufi
literature among other subjects at an Islamic religious school or
madrasa.
Oraon is one of the hundreds of Hindu and Christian students in West
Bengal now attending madrasas, stereotypically seen across the world
as breeding grounds of religious intolerance and even terrorism.

However, the reality is in this part of India flies in the face of
such constructs as madrasas here are emerging as beacons of tolerance
and setting up examples of how liberal education and madrasas can
wonderfully co-exist. And no wonder, recently, the Bengal madrasas
made their presence felt even across the border.

Pak impressed

The Pakistan High Commission has dispatched a letter to the West
Bengal government seeking details about the curricula in these Islamic
schools and requesting the authorities here to help Pakistan modernise
madrasas. At a time when international gaze has been fixed more or
less on Pakistani madrasas considering them hotbeds of terror, the
High Commissioner�s missive comes as welcome tidings.

�Christians, Muslims, and non-Muslims all study here. Teachers are
chosen from a panel and above all, there is no Hindu-Muslim divide
here,� West Bengal Minority Development Minister Abdus Sattar told
Deccan Herald here on Saturday.

While a predominantly Hindu state, a quarter of West Bengal�s 80
million population is Muslim and one per cent Christian. Thousands
died in communal violence before and after the Partition of the
subcontinent in 1947.

There was more violence in the 1960s and 1970s after the arrival of
several thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslims and Hindus from what was
then East Pakistan.

But there have been no major communal clashes for decades in the state
which is being ruled by the Communists who have gained at the polls
from their policies designed to boost Muslim employment.

The Pak High Commission letter has also sought to understand how 12
out of every 100 madrasa students in Bengal are non-Muslims, in what
is perhaps an effort to pick up a tip or two from Bengal on how to
modernise these institutions in Pakistan.

Mr Sattar and other Left leaders have promised all help to Pakistan in
this regard.

Chief minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya who stressed on the need for
adopting a liberal curriculum � a balance between the old order and
the brave new world, found his efforts are paying dividends. In higher
madrasas one has the option of studying theology, Arabic literature,
physics, chemistry and even computer science.

Irrespective of whether the Bengal madrasa model gets replicated
across the border, one thing that is certain is that these students
will surely help in changing perceptions and make tomorrow a better
place to live in.

'Acharya Devo Bhava' says concerned PM

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) Pained over the death of an Ujjain professor who was beaten up by students, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday urged parents to teach their children to value the saying "Acharyan Devo Bhava" (teacher is god).

"I urge every parent in our country to teach their children the value of the idea of 'Acharya Devo Bhava'," Manmohan Singh said while addressing the National Award winning teachers here ahead of Teacher's Day that falls on Tuesday.

Expressing his concern over the growing "cross commercialism and anti-social behaviour" that is overtaking the country's educational institutions, he said: "This year, on Teachers' Day, I want every child, every student, every parent, every citizen to chant those ancient words of wisdom and pledge that we will never show disrespect to our teachers."

Manmohan Singh said he was "deeply pained" at the Ujjain incident last week.

"I am also pained by incidents of disrespectful behaviour by students and some anti-social elements, who pretend to be students," he said.

The prime minister, who was a teacher at the Delhi School of Economics, urged the teachers to uphold the best traditions of excellence and commitment to knowledge that they expected from their teachers.

"I want every teacher to also take a pledge to impart knowledge to their students without fear or favour, committed to the best and highest traditions of learning."

"India needs good, hardworking, honest teachers, and caring teachers. In turn, we must show respect to our teachers, take good care of them, offer them a status that recognises their great contribution to society and to the processes of nation-building," Manmohan Singh said.

Pointing out that his United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was committed to improving infrastructure in education, the reformist prime minister said there was need to initiate reform in curricula, the examination system and the development of textbooks in the states at all levels of school education.

'Public money wasted on useless patents'

By K.S. Jayaraman,

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is squandering public funds on useless patents, allege some of the agency's own scientists.

They claim that India's largest public sector research agency is wasting the taxpayer's money in filing patents in the US on spurious inventions.

The patents inflate the scientist's bio-data for awards and promotions but hardly bring any funds into the nation, they add.

Other CSIR officials, however, insist that it is too early for its US patents to make money and that India must be patient.

Each US patent costs the Indian tax-payer about $25,000 for filing and $4,000 annually for maintenance. Between 2002 and 2005, the CSIR obtained a whopping 542 US patents.

But a data-base search shows that the agency's US patents include frivolous inventions like herbal tooth powder, herbal drinks and "a new method of mixing water with fly ash to make slurry".

In 2002, the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), one of the 40-odd labs under the CSIR, took a US patent (No.6410059) for a substance extracted from cow urine, claiming it enhanced antibiotic activity.

The claim did not pass scientific scrutiny and "has never been substantiated by peer-reviewed publications", U.C. Lavania, a senior scientist at CIMAP, wrote in the Aug 17 issue of the international science journal Nature.

"This kind of activity, which is widespread, diverts millions of dollars from research into filing patents," he complained.

What has surprised critics is CIMAP's extraordinary feat in taking 80 patents in just four years - half of them in the US - on new plant varieties that Lavania says are unlikely to be cultivated in that country.

Top in the list is CIMAP's US patent for a new variety of poppy plant when, according to US embassy officials, cultivation of poppy is legally not allowed in the country, implying that the patent cannot generate any revenue in the US.

"Obtaining a US patent, especially on plant varieties, is an easy alternative to publishing in peer-reviewed journals for high-profile scientists, because money for filing patents is easily available, with no questions asked about the financial viability of the discovery," Lavania wrote in Nature.

Nature even nicknamed CSIR as "India's patent factory" after noting that its US patents exceeded the total number of patents granted to its counterparts in France, Japan and Germany combined.

According to CSIR's chief of patents division R.K. Gupta, not all its US patents turned out to be duds. A cluster of three US patents on a potential anti-cancer molecule has been licensed out to an Indian entrepreneur in the US for $100,000, he said.

CSIR director general Ragunath Mashelkar, whose slogan "patent or perish" propelled the craze for US patents, said it was too early for CSIR to expect big monetary returns considering that only about three percent of all existing US patents are ever licensed.

"For us to be noticed, we need a portfolio of patents. That is what we are creating," Mashelkar added.

But critics, including A.V. Rama Rao - former CSIR director of the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology in Hyderabad, doubt if promoting trivial inventions in order to fatten the patent portfolio is really the answer, considering the cost to the taxpayer.

"As far as I know, not a single US patent has been exploited even in India, let alone in the US," Rao told IANS. "In the name of patents, a lot of money is going down the drain."

"Most of the patents are not even worth the paper it is printed on," said Suresh Chandran, who handled biotech patents in India before becoming licensing manager for a firm in Singapore's Biopolis.

"May be it is a passing phase...but I can tell you that we waste quite a lot on this activity," he said.

Trivial patents for "self aggrandisement" with little commercial value are worrying scientists, not just within CSIR, but across India.

M.D. Nair, a Chennai-based patent consultant to drug companies, said that while there have been technology and know-how transfers to local industries, "it is obvious that no major product has come out of Indian patented inventions in the global context and in global markets".

In a hard-hitting letter to the journal Current Science, published from Bangalore, N. Udupa and colleagues at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education said the time has come "to curb frivolous patents that do not have commercial viability".

Gupta of CSIR said that his agency had been filing a lot of US patents because of its policy "to file a patent on any new finding that meets the criteria for international patent, whether or not we want to commercialise it".

"This policy has been forcing us to take patents even if we know they are not worth it," said a senior CSIR scientist, who did not want to be named. "Many of us file patents because it helps us get promotions and awards."

Critics say this strategy had served the original purpose of creating patent awareness among scientists and now needs a fresh look to ensure that patents create products and wealth and not just statistics.

The only way to do it, said Rama Rao, is for the CSIR to set up an independent division headed by professionals in the place of the existing set-up that just acts as a post office - picking patent applications from CSIR labs and passing them on to attorneys for filing without any rigorous scrutiny of the claims.

'Say No to schools on Sept 7'

Muzaffarnagar, Sept 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband has asked Muslims to keep their children away from schools on September 7 to avoid any controversy with regard to singing of Vande Mataram in educational institutions on the day.

Addressing a congregation after Friday prayers at Deoband's Jama Masjid, Maulana Mohammad Arif said Muslims should not send their children to schools on September 7 ‘to avoid any controversy’.

"Muslims are loyal to the nation and they do not need a certificate from anyone," he said.

He alleged that some ‘politically’ motivated people were trying to make an emotive issue out of it.

He also criticised BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi for his remarks that those who oppose Vande Mataram should leave India.

Meanwhile, Darul Uloom sources said that the seminary had not issued any fatwa (edict) against the singing of Vande Mataram.

Some Muslim leaders and clerics had reacted sharply to a decision by the Centre asking all schools to make their students recite the first two stanzas of the national song as part of its centenary celebrations saying it was ‘against the tenets of the Shariat (Islamic law)’.

'Vande Mataram' brings world's children together

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) While debates rage in India over singing of "Vande Mataram", children from 17 countries joined their Indian friends here in celebrating the spirit of patriotism by singing the national song to pay tribute to their motherlands.

The performance was part of the closing ceremony of the seventh International Children's Festival of Performing Arts Sunday night. Around 5,000 children from 18 countries participated in the four-day event to stage 250 productions.

"We presented a dance performance on 'Vande Mataram' with our friends from India and other places. It was a nice way of paying respect to our respective motherlands," said Kwenzakufan, from Kantharuby Dance Academy in South Africa.

Young and promising children from Poland, Pakistan, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, Slovenia and others countries showcased their country's cultures through different performing arts in the festival.

Another attraction of the valedictory function at the Kamani auditorium was a musical performance titled "Sa Re Ga Ma Tak Dhina Dhin", directed by octogenarian children's theatre expert Rekha Jain. It showed the origin of music and its relation to nature and everyday life.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Murli Manohar Joshi, who attended the function as special guest, praised the enthusiasm of the children.

"I dedicate the evening to the children who have put up such a spectacular show of talent and culture," Joshi said.

Rajya Sabha MP and former governor of Maharashtra P.C. Alexander, who was chief guest, thanked the visiting children and spoke about the richness of the Indian civilization.

"Ours is a 5,000-year-old unbroken civilization which has not died out in the process of living," said Alexander.

The festival was jointly organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and Ryan Foundation in association with Sangeet Natak Akademi and University of Cambridge International Examinations.

Tom Austin, director, University of Cambridge International Examinations called the function full of "colours, vibrancy and fantastic".

"Working beyond national and international borders is really great and I am delighted to be a part of the programme," said Austin.

400 Indian workers flee Nepal

Patna, Sep 4 (IANS) Around 400 Indian labourers, mostly from Bihar, working in a Nepal factory have returned after being allegedly assaulted by Nepalese labourers and suspected Maoists there.

The Indians, working in Nepal's Triveni Spinning factory, arrived in their villages in Bihar after being attacked over a dispute on duty allocation Saturday night.

The labourers, after reaching Raxaul on the border with Nepal, told Indian officials that they were forced to leave.

They alleged that they were targeted by Nepalese labourers and backed by people from nearby villages in the dispute. Kamlesh Yadav, one of the labourers, said a heated exchange took place between the Indians and the Nepalese. This was followed by a scuffle and they were beaten.

"We were beaten, threatened and warned not to work in the Nepal factory and told to leave Nepal immediately if we wanted to save our lives," Subodh Prasad, another labourer, said.

According to him, some of the Nepalese who attacked them said they were Maoists.

Jeevan Kumar Singh, district magistrate of Motihari, confirmed that many Indian labourers working in Nepal had fled and arrived in Raxaul. "We have consulted the concerned officials in Nepal and put the issue before them for immediate settlement," he said.

According to official sources, about 1,600 Indians work in the Triveni spinning factory situated near Birganj, in Nepal's Bara district near the Indo-Nepal border.

Africa sympathetic to Tharoor's candidature: minister

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) African countries are "sympathetic" to Shashi Tharoor's candidature for the post of UN Secretary General and India's quest for a permanent seat in the Security Council, Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi said here Monday.

Ravi, who met Ugandan President Yoweri Kagutta Museve and Kenyan Foreign Minister Raphel Tuju last week, said he had sought their support for India's membership to the Security Council.

"I have also sought support for the candidature of Shashi Tharoor as UN secretary general. The leaders were sympathetic to India's efforts," he told reporters.

"But they were of the view that a UNSC membership without veto power would not be a great idea. But I told them that insistence on veto power may make it impossible," Ravi said.

New Delhi is seeking an expanded UNSC and is promoting Tharoor, currently UN under secretary general for public affairs, as Kofi Annan's successor.

Ravi, the first Indian minister to visit Uganda after former prime minister I.K. Gujaral in 1997, also said better ties with the African nations would open up more avenues for Indians there.

"After visiting the two African countries, I felt India should have better ties with them. The countries really want to have good relations with India. In fact, Ugandan President Museve has special regards for India as he had studied in India," Ravi said.

While the 80,000-strong Indian community in Uganda contribute 60 percent of that country's economy, the 60,000 Indians in Kenya amount to provide 30 percent.

"They are keen to have more Indian presence there. We have already established ourselves in trade and industrial sectors, we have opportunities in service sector also," the minister explained.

He also extended an invitation to the Ugandan president to visit India.

During his visit, Ravi held discussions to increase cooperation in agricultural technology, agro processing, hydroelectric project, oil exploration, tourism, fish production and training in defence, health-care facilities and IT sectors.

In Uganda, Ravi also met Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa, Trade and Industry Minister Janat Kukwaya, Security Minister Amama Mbabazi, Energy and Mineral Development Minister Daudi Migereko, Minister of State for Internal Affairs Matia Kasaija and First Lady Janet Kataha Museveni.

Ailing Biman faces strike threat

Dhaka, Sep 4 (IANS) Bangladesh Biman, the country's ailing national carrier, is facing a strike threat from Thursday by workers who have combined to ask the company to please take measures "to be solvent".

Officials and employees of Bangladesh Biman Sunday called an indefinite strike at airports across the country to press for their 14-point charter of demands after the airline began shrinking its operations, especially on international routes.

"We wrote to all local agencies of international airlines to refrain from using Bangladeshi airports from Sep 7," a leader of the Bangladesh Airline Pilots Association (BAPA) was quoted as saying in the Daily Star.

The airline has been refused money for resuscitation by the government that has asked it to seek funds from the market.

Money crunch has derailed its modernisation plans and put on hold purchase of new aircraft. It operates 13 ageing aircraft at present.

Security concerns and high operations have forced it to suspend its operations to the US and other major foreign destinations.

The government is looking for a foreign collaborator. Among those reportedly short-listed are Thai Airways and Singapore Airlines.

But the BAPA leader calls it "a conspiracy to bring in foreign airlines at the cost of Biman".

He said from Thursday the Biman officials will not do any ground handling at Zia International Airport, Shah Amanat International Airport, Chittagong and Shah Jalal International Airport, Sylhet.

Ten trade bodies of Bangladesh Biman yesterday integrated themselves into a broader platform styled Biman Sammilito Sangram Parishad (BSSP) to protest the national flag carrier's ailing financial condition and tarnished image abroad.

Captain S.M. Helal of BAPA was made convener of the Sangram Parishad launched after a joint protest rally in front of Biman headquarters. Presidents and general secretaries of the other nine trade unions were made members.

"Our only demand to the government is now for immediate allocation of the funds Biman needs to bail itself out of the acute financial crisis," said another BAPA leader.

Alternative method sought for nursery admissions

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Monday constituted a five-member panel to suggest an alternative to the present system of interviews for admission to nursery and pre-nursery classes in the capital.

Ashok Ganguli, chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education, heads the panel.

Judges Vijender Jain and Kailsh Ghambir issued the direction when Action Committee of Unaided Recognised Private Schools failed to reach a consensus on an alternative admission method.

The bench directed the panel to invite the views of parents and school managements before reaching a decision on the alternative method. The bench said people were free to give their opinion to the body.

The panel has been told to submit its report to the court in four to six weeks.

The court had Aug 23 directed the school committees to devise an alternative method within a week and inform the court, failing which it said it would pass an appropriate order.

The court said that based on the Ganguly panel report, it would pass an order giving effect to a new admission mechanism.

The bench directed school managements to start the admission process for the next academic year in November in line with the new mechanism. The admissions normally begin in September/October.

An urgent appeal!!!

Dear Friends,

You are aware of the fake political controversy that is being created
in the name of Vande Mataram nowadays. Last day, Lal Krishna Advani
also gave his statement that no compromise can be done on the national
symbols. The fact that Vande Mataram is a national symbol which
catalysed the freedom movement is true...but the fascist and communal
forces in our country are ready to play the second most foul game afer
independence in the name of no compromise...the first being the Babri
Masjid demolition.

To inform you, some very credible sources have revealed yesterday that
on the coming 7th of September, lumpens of Hindu Vahini under the
leadership of Mahant Adityanath, Member Of Parliament have planned to
forcibly intrude into the Fal Mandi Masjid of District Gonda of Uttar
Pradesh. They have a plan to sing Vande Mataram inside the mosque.
This pre-emptive news is of no use to the media as it covers the
incidents when they take place...not before that.

You can easily imagine about the repurcussions and consequences of
this planned event. This is planned just to spread communal unrest in
U.P. You can also easily connect this conspiracy with the upcoming
assembly elections in the state.

We have a collective duty to stop this kind of nuisance as soon as
possible. I don't know what is the way out, but at least we can
disseminate this information to as many people as possible so as to
create social pressure upon the communal-fascist forces who are again
trying to raise their heads in the name of non-issues. Let's don't
forget the tragedy of Godhra-Gujarat and Babri demolition which
changed the whole course of our secular polity. Let's decide
collectively what could be done...

DOWN WITH FASCISM!!!
--
Abhishek Srivastava

Australian Muslims under pressure as terror fears grow

Sydney, Sept 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) The Australian government pressured local Muslims at the weekend to denounce terrorism, learn English and accept women as equals, as fears grew of a first attack on home soil.

Prime Minister John Howard led with calls for the country`s 300,000 Muslims to integrate fully into Australian society and adopt its values, sparking warnings that he was inciting racial violence.

Howard`s remarks came at the end of a week which saw 11 local Muslim men committed for trial on terrorism charges and a Muslim convert subjected to the first control order issued under controversial new anti-terror laws.

They also coincided with the arrest of 14 terror suspects in Britain, where the July 7, 2005 suicide attacks by young British Muslims that killed 56 people prompted Howard to express the fear that the same thing could happen in Australia.

"Fully integrating means accepting Australian values, it means learning as rapidly as you can the English language if you don`t already speak it," Howard said in a radio interview.

"People who come from societies where women are treated in an inferior fashion have got to learn very quickly that that is not the case in Australia."

The head of the government`s own moderate Muslim advisory committee, Ameer Ali, said Howard risked inflaming tensions seen in rioting between white youths and Arab-Australians in Sydney last December.

Bill on NRI voting rights in parliament's winter session

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) A bill to extend voting rights to non-resident Indians (NRIs) would come up again in the winter session of parliament as the house panel had returned it to the law ministry after examination.

"The bill will come up again in the winter session of parliament. The parliamentary standing committee has given its report over it," Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi told reporters here.

"The report is positive. The bill is expected to be passed without major changes," Ravi said.

The new bill seeking to confer voting rights to Indian citizens who are away from their place of ordinary residence in India for employment, education or otherwise, was introduced in parliament in the budget session and had been referred to the parliamentary panel on personnel, public grievances, law and justice for examination and report.

Voting rights for NRIs were promised by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during India's annual conclave to connect with its diaspora - the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas - in Hyderabad in January.

The prime minister had said the demand for such rights had a "convincing political basis" and assured the delegates that his government would take appropriate measures in this regard.

BJP demands strong action plan for internal security

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday blamed the Manmohan Singh government for the country's deteriorating internal security and demanded a strong action plan to deal with cross border terrorism and Maoist violence.

"On the eve of the chief ministers' conference slated to discuss the issue of internal security in the country, we would like to express our concern over growing incidents of cross border terrorism and Maoist attacks," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told reporters.

"The current internal security scenario is the result of gross neglect of vital security aspects by the UPA government," he added.

Blaming the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) for undoing the gains of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government that had forced Pakistan to make a commitment to stop cross border terrorism, Javadekar said: "UPA has allowed the situation to drift. The India-Pakistan dialogue has again become Kashmir-centric instead of terrorism-centric."

The actions of UPA government smack of a "soft" approach and lack of coordination on crucial issues of internal security, the BJP leader said.

"The centre has asked all chief ministers to come up with a separate action plan to deal with Maoist violence. In fact, there is a need for not separate plans, but an integrated action plan."

British detectives search Islamic school

London, Sept 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) Detectives searched an Islamic school among other sites across London Sunday following raids to round up suspects accused of running terrorist training camps in Britain, police said.

A three-mile exclusion zone was set up around the Jameah Islameah School as officers examined the former convent near Crowborough, 40 miles south of London. Forensic specialists were sweeping buildings and woodlands and planned to search a lake on the grounds, police said.

Charles Hendry, a lawmaker representing the area where the school is located, said the jailed radical cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri had visited the school with a group of followers. Al-Masri is serving a seven-year prison sentence for inciting his followers to kill non-Muslims.

According to a December 2005 government inspection report, the school set on several acres of grounds had only nine pupils.

Police arrested 14 people late Friday and early Saturday in raids at a halal Chinese restaurant and locations across London in an operation targeting a ring suspected of training and recruiting people for terror attacks.

Two other people were arrested Friday in an unrelated terrorist operation in the northern city of Manchester, police said.

Police said the arrests were not linked to an alleged plot which emerged last month to bomb as many as 10 trans-Atlantic jets or to the July 2005 suicide bombings on London`s transit network, which killed 52 commuters and the bombers.

Government officials said the London arrests were connected to the alleged recruitment and radicalization of young British Muslims, but did not say what triggered the arrests.

The 14 men � between the ages of 17 and 48 � were being questioned on suspicion of committing, preparing or instigating terrorist acts, police said.

Bush admn wants Senate to pass Indo-US N-deal unchanged

Washington, Sept 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) With the US Senate getting into a month-long session on Tuesday, the Bush administration is keen that the Indo-US civilian nuclear act is passed without any changes keeping in mind India`s apprehensions and objections to certain provisions.

"The administration is keen on the Senate voting on the S 3709 (United States India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act) as it stands today. The administration is quite aware of India`s apprehensions, concerns and objections in the Senate Bill especially as it pertains to Sections 106 (Prohibition on certain exports and re-exports) and 107 (End Use Monitoring programme)," sources here said.

They said that apparently the thinking was not to start an argument with Senators now when the Senate gets into session tomorrow after its summer break, but use the Conference stage to apply pressure to drop the provisions.

Indications were this bill would come up in the full chamber sometime towards the third week of September. But no one either on Capitol Hill or elsewhere put a firm timeline.

It has been pointed out that the White House and the administration are keen to have the Senate pass the measure; and prior to the Senate going on recess last month the administration was said to have leaned on Majority Leader Bill Frist to schedule the vote. That could not be done for time constraints as there were other pressing issues and votes.

The administration was aware of its urgency given that the Senate has just about a month left before its target adjournment; and the order of business on the nuclear deal is such that the Senate has not only to pass it, but have the versions reconciled so that it and House of Representatives can pass the final versions before adjournment of the second session of the 109th Congress on October 6.

All unfinished legislative business will have to be re-introduced in the new 110th Congress when it reconvenes in January in 2007; and if by any chance the character of the Congress changes in the November 7 elections, it would be a totally different ball game after that, sources said.

The substantive part of the bill and the expected objections from Senators aside, there is a larger procedural impediment that is yet to be sorted out -- taking out the title two of S 3709 that has no relevance to India but a protocol having to do with the US and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Conservative Republicans against the additional protocol

Several Conservative Republicans are reportedly against the additional protocol and want it to be debated and voted upon separately.

Lawmakers like Senators Jon Kyl of Arizona and John Ensign of Nevada are not quite satisfied with the kind of obligations Washington is signing on to by way of an additional protocol with the IAEA, especially as it pertains to inspections and payments and even perhaps a perceived interference in the fashion Americans would want to run their programmes.

"Tags" are a routine part of the American legislative process but in the present instance title 2 of S 3709 is more than just a "political nuisance" as it runs the risk of jeopardising the major and substantive part of the legislation dealing with the United States-India deal.

Diplomatic sources point out that the additional protocol will have to be "de-tagged" from S 3709 for the simple reason that the bill in its original form will have difficulty in rounding up Republican support.

The apprehension being that those Conservatives Lawmakers inclined to support the United States-India civilian nuclear deal will vote against the Senate bill if the additional protocol remains a part of the measure.

But there is confidence that the administration and its allies in the senate will bring sufficient pressure to "de-tag" the US-IAEA additional protocol from the bill and efforts to this end will be one of the major behind-the-scene developments taking place over the next several days.

B`desh counts cost of rejecting billion-dollar investments

Dhaka, Sept 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) Bangladesh has cancelled four billion dollars worth of foreign projects in moves analysts warned Sunday could deter overseas companies from investing in the impoverished country in the future.

Analysts said political jitters ahead of national polls in January were partly behind the government's shelving on Wednesday of a 1.4-billion-dollar plan for an open-pit mine by London-based Asia Energy.

The announcement came less than two months after India's Tata Group was forced to suspend a three-billion-dollar plan to invest in steel, power, coal and fertiliser operations.

Ministers told Tata executives that political sensitivities in the run-up to the elections would make it tough for Prime Minister Khaleda Zia to approve the plan. Anti-Indian sentiment is strong in Bangladesh and political parties fear being seen courting the country's powerful neighbour.

"These two decisions say to investors that Bangladesh is a country where investment can be subject to irregularities. It says there is a chance a government may not have the political capital to conclude a deal," said Zafar Sobhan, a columnist with the English-language daily Star.

After five days of violent street protests, the government bowed Wednesday to demands to scrap the mine in northern Phulbari which demonstrators claimed would damage the environment and displace 100,000 people.

Central team assures sufficient flood relief to Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal, Sep 4 (IANS) Madhya Pradesh has been assured sufficient relief from the central government for relief operations after the state was hit by floods last months that claimed 131 lives.

A seven-member central government team, headed by Dinesh Singh, joint secretary, was informed during its visit to the state last week about the losses suffered and the state's requirements to cope up with the situation, state officials said here.

The state government has asked for a financial aid of Rs.7.50 billion from the central government.

The loss suffered due to floods across the state includes 8,991 cattle and damage to 97,668 houses.

The team was told the state would require Rs.2 billion for employment and relief to the affected families while Rs.5.49 billion were required to be spent for compensation towards deaths, cattle loss, house damage, health, drinking water, foodgrains, electricity and damaged infrastructure.

Heavy showers during the season have battered 25 of the state's 48 districts, severely affecting over 660 villages there.

Meanwhile, incessant rains have abated in the state since Saturday giving respite to people and facilitating relief operations in the affected areas.

Chappell to senior players: Get back to basics

Bangalore, Sept 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) Coach Greg Chappell says senior players, including Sachin Tendulkar, need to get back to the basics.

Speaking about the next batch of senior players slated to take guard at the rolling camp here tomorrow, Chappell said: "there will be some variations, but sometimes the senior players need to get back to the basics as well".

"I think this (the ongoing rolling camp) is an opportunity to get them back to the basics", the former Australian captain said.

"The good thing about good players like Tendulkar, (Virender) Sehwag, (Rahul) Dravid, Yuvraj (Singh) and (Mohammed) Kaif is that these guys have been around for a long time but they are prepared to revisit the basics from time to time.

"There are no short-cuts, no magic formula. It is about applying the basics better than the other person. We won't have any trouble with the senior guys because they revisit the basics all the time", he said.

On Tendulkar, Chappell said the batsman will basically 'revisit' the basics like what everyone is doing.

"He (Tendulkar) will have an input on what he wants to do. He has a very good feel for what he needs. We -- (biomechanist ian) Frazer and I -- had a session with him up in Mumbai last week and he is working on some specifics. He is very good in understanding his own game".

On specific goals vis-a-vis the Champions Trophy, Chappell said the team would vary their goals from time to time depending upon the opposition and the conditions and try to utilise its resources to the best.

"We have identified some areas in one-day cricket where all teams are finding it difficult. We also find it difficult and we are trying to get better at," he said.

Chappell said they were looking at repositioning some of the resources against different teams because of the faster bowlers they might have, so that the team could match "what our best attribute is against their best attribute at that time".

"So it could mean someone who bats down the order might bat up the order and someone who bats up the order could bat down the order. I don't think there are any set solutions to any situation. So we need to be ready for giving our best attribute to that situation".

Chappell said hitting the stumps is a critical thing in one day cricket and if one can get one or two run-outs in one-day cricket, it does make a big difference like having an extra bowler.

"So we are just trying to improve all around," he said. "When you get a group of 15, it is very hard to get a one-on-one session but with just five players.

"That was one of the reasons behind having a small group this time. We won't have an opportunity like this again before the World Cup and it is a blessing in disguise.

"Yes, we would have preferred to play on in Sri Lanka (the series was aborted) but may be this (the rolling camp) was meant to happen", he said.

On the second phase of the rolling camp which concluded today, Chappell said it has been another good camp.

"We varied it a little bit this time as these guys (M S Dhoni, R P Singh, S Sreesanth, Suresh Raina and Munaf Patel) identified fielding as an area that they wanted to work on as well.

"We did some extra fielding stuff this morning. It went very well. The boys responded excellently to what we were doing in the camp. I am hopeful that the third one will go even better".

Asked about the aspects of fielding that he focussed on, the coach said it was on throwing from the deep.

"We are reasonably good in the short distance, but we need to work on the longer distance throws. We are working on a few areas in their technique so that they get more power and accuracy when they throw."

On how he determines specific areas to work on with each player, Chappell said: "we have identified areas which each player has to work on individually but also as a group while playing on slower wickets, playing against taller bowlers.

"These are areas we have identified and need to work on. The stumps and the golf ball is about building confidence really."

He pointed out that if the players can consistently hit the golf ball with the stumps then they have to get into good positions. "You can't get into bad positions and get away with it with a golf ball which you might do with a cricket bat and a cricket ball. We are emphasising again good basics, we are really emphasising basics in all areas."

Convert setback into opportunity, Chappell tells Sreesanth
Hoping that S Sreesanth, who has been dropped for the ICC Champions Trophy, would stage a comeback and emerge stronger, coach Greg Chappell asked the Kerala speedster to convert the setback into an opportunity.

"...But sometimes, what seems like a setback could be a benefit because it gives him a chance to go away and work on a few things that we have had him work on already," Chappell said here today.

"I have no doubt that he (Sreesanth) has a choice. And like I told him in the morning, he can let it (the dropping) take him down or he can let it take him up. Thankfully, he has got a very good attitude and he can only get stronger," the former Australian captain said. "That's what it is, just a setback. He will come back".

Chappell said it can be frustrating for the player (when he is dropped). "Whoever missed out would have been unlucky because they all have done some really good work and Sreesanth is improving all the time. His (Sreesanth's) bowling, batting, fielding and fitness are all getting better".

Chhattisgarh's 'record-making' drive to plant jatropha

Kawardha (Chhattisgarh), Sep 4 (IANS) The Chhattisgarh government Monday claimed to have created a world record by planting at least three million saplings of Jatropha and Karanj in only 11 hours to raise awareness about the plants that are rich sources of bio-fuel.

Thousands of volunteers of the National Cader Corps (NCC), schoolchildren, village representatives, teachers and officials participated in the plantation drive in all four blocks of Chief Minister Raman Singh's home district Kawardha, spread over an area of 3,958 sq km.

Raman Singh, accompanied by Finance Minister Amar Agrawal, Industry Minister Rajesh Munat and Agriculture Minister Nankiram Kanwar, formally launched the campaign by planting a few jatropha saplings at Ramhepur village.

"The state government has launched the mega jatropha plantations drive with the sole objective to make India an energy-secure country by 2015," Raman Singh, who is using jatropha bio-fuel to power his official vehicle since May 2005, told a gathering of farmers at Ramhepur.

District collector Sonmoni Bora told IANS: "At least three million saplings of jatropha and karanj were planted in hundreds of villages, mainly on fallow land, to create a revolution for bio-fuel awareness."

Bora, who coordinated the daylong campaign, added that the number of saplings planted was a world record.

China keen on piped Saudi gas via Qatar, Pakistan

Islamabad, Sep 4 (IANS) Energy-starved China is exploring ways to tap Saudi Arabian gas through a tie up with Gulf-South Asia (GUSA) Gas Company of Qatar that already has a joint venture for a deep sea pipeline with Pakistan.

Once gas from the 'Pak-Qatar' pipeline reaches Gwadar on the Balochistan coast where Beijing has already invested heavily in a port and a military base, the Chinese want to move the gas along the Indus river by a land route across the Karakorum Highway via a "white oil pipeline" feeding its energy grid.

China has accelerated its effort in this direction after its earlier interest in joining the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline and the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) gas pipeline diminished. While the first pipeline is bogged down due to global politics, Beijing is not too keen on the TAP line due to security considerations.

Quoting unnamed sources, The Nation newspaper said a formal agreement or memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Pakistan and China could be signed during the visit of the Chinese President Hu Jintao in November.

A technical delegation from China is expected next month to study the possibilities of cost sharing over the two proposed trans-national high cost projects.

The GUSA Gas Company has already done spadework on the Pak-Qatar gas pipeline. However, progress on the prospective pipeline from Qatar to Gwadar on the Balochistan coast has remained slow due to high costs of the deep-sea construction.

As an alternative, Chinese are exploring the feasibility of routing the proposed oil and gas pipelines from their origins in Qatar and Saudi Arabia to Oman as overland facilities.

From Oman to Gwadar, both the oil and gas pipes would be laid side-by-side across the deep-sea in order to share the extraordinary cost on laying pipelines on the seabed, the sources added.

Chinese industrial park in Bengal

Kolkata, Sep 4 (IANS) The West Bengal government Monday signed an expression of interest (EoI) with Jiangsu Overseas Group Corporation of Nanjing province to set up a Chinese industrial park in the state.

State Industry Department Principal Secretary Sabyasachi Sen told reporters here that the Chinese corporation had sought 250 acres of land for setting up the park, which would house only companies from Nanjing province.

The official said that a three-member Chinese delegation had visited Haldia in East Midnapore district and Rajarhat near Kolkata. The corporation was in favour of the former location due to its proximity to a port, he added.

Sen said the industrial park might be converted subsequently into a special economic zone (SEZ).

According to him, a number of Chinese companies were keen to invest in West Bengal.

On the first country-specific industrial park in West Bengal, Sen said the Nanjing province had companies in chemicals, pharmaceuticals, textiles and food processing.

Chinese Li upsets Pierce

NEW YORK, Sep 4 (Xinhua) Li Na became the first Chinese woman to reach the last 16 of the US Open here on Sunday after upsetting last year's runner-up Mary Pierce 4-6, 6-0, 6-0.

"I'm not nervous. I'm excited," said the 24-year-old, who came back to sweep the last 12 games to seal victory after losing the first set to the 13th-seeded French veteran.

Li, having battling injuries this season, blasted 51 winners to just 14 for Pierce though committing 22 unforced errors in the opening set, and turned to make only three errors in a near-perfect second set to turn the match around.

"I was hitting the ball short and my opponent played very good. She served well and hit the ball hard and deep. She didn't give me much of a chance," said Pierce, last year's runner-up at Flushing Meadows.

Li will next play third-seeded Russian Maria Sharapova, who has beaten Li three times without losing a set, twice this season and in the third round of the 2005 Australian Open.

Convert to Islam: Qaeda warns Bush, non-Muslims

Dubai, Sept 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) Al Qaeda called on President Bush and non-Muslims especially in the United States to convert to Islam and abandon their 'misguided' ways or else suffer the consequences, according to a video posted on a Web site on Saturday.

The speaker was identified as Azzam the American, also known as Adam Yahiye Gadahn -- an Islamic convert from California wanted for questioning by the FBI and who US authorities believe to be involved in a "propaganda" campaign for al Qaeda.

"If the Zionist crusader missionaries of hate and counter-Islam consultants like ... the crusader and chief George W. Bush were to abandon their unbelief and repent and enter into the light of Islam and turn their swords against the enemies of God, it would be accepted of them and they would be our brothers in Islam," Gadahn said in English.

"To Americans and the rest of Christendom we say, either repent (your) misguided ways and enter into the light of truth or keep your poison to yourself and suffer the consequences in this world and the next."

Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri made a brief statement at the start of the tape urging viewers to listen carefully to the message, entitled: "An Invitation to Islam".

"Our brother Azzam the American is speaking to you out of pity for the fate that awaits (unbelievers) and as someone who wants to lift his people out of darkness and into the light," Zawahri said.

Zawahri, like Osama bin Laden and other leaders of al Qaeda -- the group that masterminded the September 11 attacks on the United States -- is thought to be hiding in Pakistan or Afghanistan.

Zawahri and Gadahn appeared to be speaking from different places, as Zawahri spoke in front of a black background.

The tape was dated September 2006 and appeared to have been recorded recently as Gadahn referred to Israel's war on Lebanon.

Gadahn appeared in the video dressed in a white turban and seated in front of a computer and books.

"But whatever you do don't attempt to spread your misery and misguidance to our lands," he said. The video carried Arabic subtitles of his English message.

Gadahn recited verses from the Muslim holy book the Koran in Arabic, then translated them into English and said Muslims needed to boost their faith to expel their countries' rulers.

"Muslims don't need democracy to rid themselves of their home grown despots and tyrants. What they do need is their Islamic faith, the sprit of jihad and the lifting of foreign troops and interference from their necks," he said, adding that God did not recognize a separation of religion and state.

"Those who think that democracy is synonymous with freedom are either people who haven't experienced life in America or Americans who haven't lived abroad."

Zawahri last appeared in a video in August in which he said that some leaders of Egypt's Gama'a Islamiya have joined al Qaeda. Gama'a Islamiya later denied his statement.

Court notice to Stephen Marandi, Jharkhand speaker

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) The Supreme Court Monday issued notice to Jharkhand independent legislator Stephen Marandi and Speaker Inder Singh Namdhari on a petition questioning Namdhari's order that Marandi was qualified to become a member of the assembly.

A bench of judges K.G. Balakrishnan and D.K. Jain issued the notice on a petition filed by former legislator Kamla Kant Prasad Sinha, contending that Marandi was disqualified as per the provisions of the amended anti-defection law.

Sinha contended that Namdhari's June 20 order that Marandi did not attract the disqualification was illegal. He said Marandi could not continue as an independent legislator after voluntarily resigning from the membership of his original party.

Marandi, who was earlier elected to the Rajya Sabha on the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) ticket, resigned from the upper house after winning the assembly election from the Dumka constituency.

He also became the chairperson of Public Accounts Committee of the Jharkhand assembly.

Assailing the speaker's order, Sinha said Namdhari did not properly understand the provisions of the anti-defection law, which "provides that a member of a house belonging to any political party shall be disqualified if he has voluntarily given up his membership of such political party".

Sinha sought a declaration that Marandi was disqualified under the provisions of the Tenth Schedule of the constitution (relating to defections) and a consequent direction that the seat held by him had fallen vacant from Feb 27, 2005, the date on which he was declared elected to the assembly.

Cured meat could affect lungs

New York, Sep 4 (IANS) The nitrogen-containing compounds that food producers use to cure meats may become reactive in the body and could affect the lungs, says a new study.

Previous studies have found a link between processed meats and cancer, but the latest study by Graham Barr at Columbia University Medical Center in New York and colleagues is the first one to show the affect on lung function in humans, reported the online edition of the New Scientist.

Barr and his team analysed data from more than 7,500 people surveyed in a national nutrition study. About 20 percent of participants never ate cured meats and another 20 percent reported consuming this type of food at least 14 times a month.

During the study, participants breathed into a machine that measured their lung function, including testing how quickly they could blow out air. A healthy person can usually expel about 2.5 litres to 3.0 litres of air from their lungs in one second.

Those who consumed a lot of cured meats managed 115 millilitres of air less per second than those who ate none, the team found. The result was statistically significant.

While the average person might not notice a three percent decrease in lung strength, those who have lung disease may do so.

Preliminary analysis should not stop people from eating cured meats, Barr says, although more research needs to be done. He will present the findings from the new study at the European Respiratory Society meeting in Munich this week.

Deleting error messages on PC

Washington, Sep 4 (DPA) There is only one thing more frustrating than getting an error message on your PC: not knowing what to do about it.

The trouble with error messages is that most of them seem to be written so that only computer programmers can understand them. Given that most of us do not work with a computer programmer looking over our shoulders, that leaves us on our own or close to it.

Before you figure out what to do about an error message, you usually need to be able to answer one question: which application gave the error?

The more you know about the source of the error message, the easier it will be to understand it. Look for obvious signs first. Is the name of an application listed anywhere in the dialog box that presents the error message? Often you'll see the name listed as a file rather than the official name of a programme.

For example, an error message that mentions "outlook.exe" most likely came from the Outlook e-mail programme. "Wpwin.exe" comes from WordPerfect for Windows.

Knowing the source of the error message equips you with most of what you need to learn more. The major software makers document all of the error messages found in their programmes, and the best place to look for an explanation of those error messages is on the software maker's website itself - you won't find the information in software manuals.

So if you get the error message SMTP_REJECTED_SENDER from Microsoft's Outlook Express, log on to Microsoft's Web site, go to the support page, and use the search box to enter the message SMTP_REJECTED_SENDER.

That should lead you to a document of "Outlook Express Error Codes". Use this document to locate the particular error, and read the description provided.

In this case, you would see "unknown sender". This is caused by having the incorrect e-mail address in the "reply-to" field. The solution in that case would be to make sure you've set up your e-mail account properly, closely following the directions supplied by your e-mail account provider.

Another useful resource for locating more information about error messages is the error message database at SmartComputing.com's tech support page (http://www.smartcomputing.com/techsupport).

Once you've logged on to the page, locate the Error Messages section, and click either the link labelled Browse Error Messages Alphabetically or the one labelled Search By Error Message Text.

Not all error messages are contained in SmartComputing's database as you might expect, but the ones you find there are accompanied by very helpful explanatory text and detailed instructions outlining possible solutions.

Of course, you can always use Google or other search engines to try and locate more information about error messages. When you use Google, don't forget to click the Groups link above the search bar for potential solutions that have been discussed in one of the web's many newsgroups or chat boards.

Chances are good that if you've been troubled by an error message, someone else has been bothered by it before you - and online discussions about that error message may have ensued.

Error messages are a fact of life when living with computers. And those messages are unlikely to go away - or even get easier to understand - anytime soon.

But with a little know-how and access to the Internet, you can often figure out what to do about error messages without having to resort to a time-consuming and expensive call to tech support.

DLF to sponsor tri-series in Malaysia

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) Real estate developer DLF announced Monday that it will be sponsoring the cricket tri-series, involving India, Australia and the West Indies, to be played in Malaysia this month.

The tri-series will be played from Sep 12 to Sep 24.

"Cricket is a very popular sport and has acquired the status of religion among a cross-section in the Asian subcontinent," Rajiv Talwar, executive director of DLF Ltd, said in a statement.

"Therefore, given our widespread operations in India, this will help build awareness about DLF among the large number of cricket fans."

India captain Rahul Dravid unveiled the DLF Trophy at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai Sunday evening.

Drugs worth $21 mn seized in capital

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) In yet another major drug haul in the Delhi Monday, a consignment of 550 kg of ephedrine, worth over $21 million, was seized before it could be smuggled out of the country to an undisclosed destination.

Officials of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) said the seizure was made close to the inland container depot (ICD) in Okhla, south Delhi, where the narcotic substance was hidden in containers.

"We have arrested two people but the raids are continuing both in Delhi and in some other states and some arrests are possible," said Om Prakash, deputy director general of NCB.

The official added that the consignment was to be smuggled out of the country.

The officials, however, refused to reveal from where the consignment had come or to where it was heading.

In the past 20 months, authorities have seized a total of 216 kg cocaine, 247 kg heroin, 100 kg ephedrine and 4,400 kg of Mandrax in the country - a major portion of them from Delhi and Mumbai that have become major transit points for drug trafficking.

Dutch troops deployed in Afghan offensive

The Hague, Sep 4 (DPA) Over 100 Dutch troops have been deployed to assist Canadian forces in Afghanistan's Kandahar province for a major operation, the defence ministry said here Monday.

The troops have been redeployed from the neighbouring province of Uruzgan, where a Dutch force is engaged in reconstruction under the aegis of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

The 100 troops would man a post on the route between Kandahar city and Tarin Kowt, the capital of Uruzgan, the ministry said.

The redeployment has stirred controversy in the Netherlands, with some members of parliament saying approval had been given for deployment only in Uruzgan.

Duty on private wheat imports removed

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) The government has decided to remove customs duty on import of wheat by private companies to check high retail prices, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said here Monday.

"We have taken the decision to allow private wheat imports duty free. The notification will be issued shortly," Pawar told the media on the sidelines of a global meet on fisheries and aquaculture.

Stating that the government is open to more wheat imports, he said the facility to import wheat duty free "will be available for the next four-five months, maybe until December or January."

Since June, when the government cut import duty on wheat from 50 percent to five percent to allow private companies to supplement its efforts to import 5.5 million tonne wheat in order to boost buffer stocks following lower than expected crop production, according to official estimates hardly 1.2 million tonnes wheat has so far been imported by traders.

Imports by private traders are meant for use by food industries for manufacture of wheat-based products like biscuits, bread and wheat flour.

The minister expected that plans to import 5.5 million tonnes of wheat through the State Trading Corporation would suffice till the next wheat harvest season beginning mid-April.

He said a special campaign to raise acreage in non-traditional wheat-growing regions like West Bengal would be undertaken this year to boost production.

With good rains in most of the wheat-producing areas like Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, Pawar expected the 2007 crop to be better than that of this year. Haryana is the only wheat-growing state that has received lower than expected rainfall during the June-September monsoon season.

Faridabad car mishap: experts call for detailed probe

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) A day after Faridabad Police found four members of a family dead inside their car, automobile experts Monday said only a detailed investigation of the vehicle would establish whether the deaths were caused by carbon monoxide suffocation.

"There has been no case study of such an accident in the country and I think the police should carry out detailed investigation before jumping to a conclusion," said T.K. Malhotra, president, Automobile Association of Upper India (AAUI).

The bizarre case took place in Faridabad, a satellite town close to Delhi, Saturday evening when the four, including two children, were trapped inside the car. Police believe the deaths occurred because the car was filled with carbon monoxide and the family was suffocated.

Malhotra said the police belief is on the basis of the post mortem reports but no investigation has been carried out on the vehicle.

"I think what the police has explained is on the basis of common thoughts because such an incident does not happen in a few seconds but takes time," said Malhotra, who has been in the industry for the past 26 years.

"The car manufacturers have also not issued any precautionary notice in the manuals which suggests that a deeper investigation is needed in such accidents," said Malhotra.

Meanwhile, Faridabad Police said though they have seized the vehicle, its investigation was yet to begin.

"We are not carrying out any investigation of the vehicle but if necessary, measures will be taken at a later stage," said Mahendra Sheoran, superintendent of police, Faridabad.

He added the investigations have so far revealed that the family died due to suffocation.

Terming the accident as an "unlawful murder" another expert in the industry Rohit Balujja, president of the Institute of Road Traffic Education, said since there have been not many accidents of this nature, the police should carry out a scientific investigation."

According to Balujja, the car should be preserved and sent for detailed investigations.

"Investigators should find out whether the accident was due to a manufacturing defect or faulty servicing by the car dealers."

Four die in Gujarat after blood transfusion

Ahmedabad, Sep 4 (IANS) At least four people have died due to the multiple organ failure and suspected infection after blood transfusion in Rajkot, Gujarat officials said Monday.

The four people, admitted in different private hospitals of Rajkot, 230 km from here, died in the past two days after blood, brought from a blood bank, was transfused to them, the officials said here.

The blood bank was closed down Sunday and the blood samples taken from it were sent to the Food and Drug Department's laboratory in Vadodara.

"Four women have died after transfusion, but the exact cause of their death will be known only after the lab investigation is over," said Amit Hapani, president of the Rajkot chapter of the Indian Medical Association.

According to the Rajkot Municipal Corporation's health department head M.N. Bhanderi, there was no mismatch in blood but it might have been affected because of some problem with preservation chemicals.

Govt can appoint staff on contract basis: SC

New Delhi, Sept 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) The Supreme Court has held that Government has absolute right to appoint persons on contract basis in higher posts if the person fulfils the required qualifications.

"There is no bar for appointment to the post in question (Managing Director) on contract basis. The Government has absolute right to appoint persons on contract basis," a Bench comprising Justice A R Lakshmanan and Justice Tarun Chatterjee said while upholding the contractual appointment of an MD in Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board.

The Court said the Government's power on appointment included the power to make appointment on temporary, officiating basis, adhoc basis, daily wages or contractual basis.

The judgment was delivered by setting aside two rulings of the Karnataka High Court which had quashed the appointment of B Srinivasa Reddy as MD on contractual basis.

"Reddy's appointment was at the instance of the state government in accordance with the provisions and rules. The state government has power to take its own decision on a suitable candidate for appointment as long as the eligibility criteria was satisfied," the Bench said.

"It is settled law by catena of decision that Court cannot sit in judgment over the wisdom of the Government in the choice of the person to be appointed so long as the person chosen possesses prescribed qualification and is otherwise eligible for appointment," Justice Lakshmanan, writing the judgment for the Bench, said.

The Court said with the vast multitudinous activities in which a modern state is engaged, "there are bound to be some posts which require for adequate discharge of their functions, high degree of intellect and specilised experience".

Observing that it was always a difficult problem for the Government to find suitable officers for specialised post, the Bench said ordinarily there were not many officers to meet the requirements of specialised post.

The Government has in the circumstances to make the best possible choice it can, keeping in view the larger interest of administration," the Bench said.

Haryana fixes expenditure limit for municipal elections

Chandigarh, Sep 4 (IANS) The state election commission in Haryana Monday fixed the expenditure limit for the forthcoming elections to municipal councils and municipal committees in the state to be held Oct 4.

Contesting candidates in the elections to municipal councils are allowed to spend up to Rs.50,000. For municipal committees, the limit has been fixed at Rs.35,000, state Election Commissioner Chander Singh said here.

He said the final list of candidates after nominations and scrutiny would be put up on Sep 23.

ICC final warning to Inzamam, PCB for comments

Dubai, Sep 4 (IANS) The International Cricket Council (ICC) Monday gave the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), its team management and captain Inzamam-ul-Haq the final warning, asking them to desist from making public comments on the ball-tampering issue.

"The acute international diplomatic and political sensitivity of this issue has persuaded me not to lay a charge to date, but despite the exceptional circumstances I will not hesitate to lay a charge should further inappropriate public comments be made ahead of the hearing," ICC CEO Malcolm Speed said here.

Speed disclosed that he had raised the matter twice in the last 10 days with PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan and he had also asked ICC match referee Mike Procter to do likewise with the Pakistan captain and team management during the ongoing Pakistan-England one-day series.

Umpire Darrell Hair allotted the fourth and final Test last month to England following Pakistan's delay in taking the field after the Australian awarded five penalty runs for alleged ball tampering at The Oval, London, enabling the hosts to win the series 3-0.

Following forfeiture - the first in 129-year Test match history - the issue snowballed into a major crisis, with Hair even offering to resign from the ICC Elite Panel of Umpires in exchange of $500,000.

Pakistan captain Inzamam, team manager Zaheer Abbas and PCB have made comments over the issue, but have escaped the ICC's censure.

"I have been very disappointed by some of the public comments that have been made by members of the PCB, team management and captain Inzamam-ul-Haq following the Oval Test," said Speed.

"Over the course of the last two weeks there has been a stream of unnecessary and inappropriate public comment from the PCB, much of which could be seen as prejudicial to the pending code of conduct hearing."

Speed said that all concerned parties will have an opportunity to present their evidence during the hearing this month as per the "fair and independent process" for dealing with such matters.

Details of the timing and venue of the Code of Conduct hearing will be announced in due course, ICC said.

India make clean sweep in Asian clay shooting

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) World trap champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu won the gold as India made a clean sweep in the men's individual trap at the Asian Clay Shooting Championship in Singapore Monday.

Manavjit secured 141 points out of 150 -- 120 in the first five rounds and 21 in the final -- to edge past compatriot Mansher Singh (120+20 points) by a solitary point, said National Rifle Association of India.

Anwer Sultan, another Indian, collected 119+19 points to secure the third place and a bronze medal.

The three men joined hands to establish shatter the Asian team clay record of 359/375 points. China won the silver with 340/375 and Chinese Taipei the bronze with 338/375.

India to host meet on Afghanistan; 18 countries to attend

New Delhi, Sept 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) Foreign ministers of 18 countries, including those of the US and Pakistan, will assemble here in November for a conference on Afghanistan, providing an opportunity for bilateral talks as well.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai will also be here to inaugurate the two-day foreign ministers' conference on November 18 on economic reconstruction in the war-ravaged country.

The second such conclave will be attended by foreign ministers of 18 countries neighbouring Afghanistan and donor nations like the US, Britain and Russia. Heads of 10 multi-lateral organisations like the UN, UNDP, World Bank, IMF, European Commission and ADB would also be invited for the meet.

The occasion will provide a chance for bilateral discussions with these countries. Significant among these will be the talks US Secretary Of State Condoleezza Rice and Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri will have with their Indian counterpart.

The conference offers an exceptional opportunity for the region to work together to promote security and development in Afghanistan.

The focus of the conclave is expected to be promotion of specific forms of economic cooperation in areas of critical concern, including electricity, border management, trade promotion and investment.

The first such conference was held in Kabul in December last year and it was attended by 11 countries.

Indian embassy blacklists Bahraini firms

Dubai, Sep 4 (IANS) The Indian embassy in Bahrain has blacklisted a total of 49 companies there for the alleged cheating of Indian workers.

The embassy will pass on the list to the Indian government so that potential recruits can be forewarned before they travel to Bahrain, the Daily Gulf News reported.

"The list includes firms who kept workers in cramped living quarters or unhygienic conditions, failed to pay their salaries on time, physically abused them or had not provided safety measures at worksites," said Indian Ambassador to Bahrain Balkrishna Shetty.

Shetty pointed out that the number of rogue companies has gone up sharply in recent months. He also said the embassy was working with Bahraini authorities to prevent the abuse of Indian workers by their employers.

"We do it (blacklisting) in a very systematic manner," Shetty said.

Shetty stressed that before any action is taken against a company, embassy officials thoroughly investigate the allegations and write to the company concerned, giving them a chance to respond. If the firm fails to respond or does not take steps to alter its treatment of workers, it is automatically blacklisted, he added.

"These firms are harming the good companies in Bahrain because they do not pay their own workers fairly and they are able to undercut the good companies.

"The good companies in Bahrain will benefit from this and the bad ones will be eliminated.

Shetty said that once a company has been blacklisted, it is possible for a firm to come off the list, if evidence was provided that it had changed its ways.

Indian worker beaten by Bahraini sponsor

Dubai, Sep 4 (IANS) An Indian man who was allegedly beaten up by his sponsor for not paying money to extend his stay in Bahrain will now be able to return home after the Indian embassy intervened.

Mustafa Kelam Valappil, 29, claims he was dragged from his bed in the middle of night, beaten and threatened by his sponsor for not paying him the money to extend his stay there, the Gulf Daily News reported.

"I was punched, kicked and threatened with dire consequences if I did not pay," said Valappil.

"My residence permit in Bahrain expired a month ago and I have been told to pay 900 Bahraini dinars (BD) to be able to stay another two years.

"I told my sponsor I am not able to pay and he threatened to take me to the police," he added.

The Indian worker said he was too scared to go to the police at first, but his friends convinced him to approach the Indian embassy in Bahrain.

Valappil arrived in Bahrain four years ago to work in the sponsor's restaurant.

He also said he had been paying his sponsor BD 25 every month for nearly four years to be allowed to do odd jobs because the restaurant closed down within two months of his arrival in Bahrain.

The Bahraini sponsor, who was summoned by the Indian embassy, has however, denied all the charges.

The sponsor has agreed to provide a one-way ticket home to the Indian worker and the embassy has advised Vallapil to file a case against his sponsor.

Meanwhile, Surya Charitable and Cultural Association President P.P. Basheer, who is following the case, said his organisation would also help resolve the matter.

Infiltration along LoC rising: army

Jammu, Sep 4 (IANS) Infiltration of militants from Pakistan into the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir has "marginally increased" this year due to "relaxation of restrictions imposed by Pakistan", a top army official said Monday.

"This is perhaps due to the reason that the authorities across (in Pakistan) have now relaxed curbs on infiltration which were there earlier," said Lt. Gen. Tej Kumar Sapru, General Officer Commanding (GOC) 16 Corps.

"The militants who were apprehended or were surrendering substantiate the reports that there is general lift on restrictions (on infiltration)," Sapru, told reporters at Nagrota near here after a flagging-in ceremony of 36 religious and community leaders from Rajouri.

The leaders were taken on an India tour "Sair-e-Watan" by the army under Operation Sadbhavana. The team that included 22 Muslims, 10 Hindus and four Sikhs met President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, besides visiting several historical sites at Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, Ajmer and Amritsar during their 14-day tour.

Sapru said the aim of these trips was to expose "these people from remote areas to the greatness of Indian nation, its unity in diversity, spirit of peaceful co-existence and fast track development".

Said Noor Hassan from Rajouri, who was part of the team: "It was wonderful and an eye-opening trip for me. I will now always strive for and spread the message of peace and development to people in my area."

Bhupinder Singh, a Sikh leader from Rajouri, was thrilled about the tour. He said the best part of the trip for him was when he offered a chadar at the Ajmer Sharif dargah and prayed for peace in their area and the state.

"It was such an emotional moment that tears started tricking down my eyes," he said.

And Abdul Rashid experienced same emotions when he went to the Golden Temple at Amritsar. "I could not imagine that India is such a great nation".

Japan signs MoU to explore ICT, electronics sector

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) Japan Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore opportunities of trade and investment in India's information communication and technology (ICT) and electronics industry.

The MoU was signed between Yutaka Kobayashi, vice minister for economy, trade and industry of Japan who is leading the 30-member delegation of the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA), and Vinnie Mehta of the Manufacturers' Association for Information Technology (MAIT) here.

Top executives of big Japanese conglomerates such as Fujitsu Ltd, Sharp Corporation, Hitachi Ltd, Toshiba Corp, Mitsubishi Electric Corp and many other small and medium electronic companies represent the Japanese delegation.

Said Kobayashi: "Even though trade between India and Japanese has been rising, in the IT, ICT and electronics sector it has been a meagre eight percent which needs to be addressed and that is why this MoU has been signed."

"We will be here for a week now and we plan to explore various opportunities in strengthening trade links with India's IT sector."

Mehta, executive director of MAIT, told IANS: "Through this MoU we will exchange information relating to India's electronics industries, facilitate contact between both the countries government agencies."

"We have a strong R&D base to offer to Japan and fields like nanotechnology and biotech are unaddressed sectors that need investment," Mehta added.

Kalam asks universities to imbibe moral leadership in youths

Chennai, Sept 04 (ZEENEWS.COM) Stressing on capacity building of students by universities, President A P J Abdul Kalam today said moral science classes, which would elevate them to work for the country's progress, should be part of the curriculum.

Inaugurating the sesquicentenary celebrations of the madras university and its virtual portal, he said the varsities should imbibe moral leadership in youths, which he defined as "doing the right thing and making others do the right thing".

Apart from meeting the modern needs of society for employment and excellence in education, the university education system should promote human values that would transform the society, the president noted.

Imbibing confidence in students was an important aspect of education, Kalam said and exhorted them to involve themselves in energy and water saving schemes, apart from setting an example to others in cleaning the environment.

Kalam said the virtual university portal he had launched would provide global connectivity in education and the power of technology would play an important role in modern education.

Noting that only six per cent of youths below 35 were able to receive higher education, Kalam said this should be increased in phases.

The scientist-president said interconnectiviy of villages using e-governance should be given priority and an interconnectivity grid would serve as a knowledge platform "as we are stepping into a knowledge era".

Karunanidhi promises full support on reservation issue

Chennai, Sep 4 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi Monday promised full backing of the DMK allies in the state to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government on its reservation policy.

"Your battle is like Arjuna's battle," the DMK patriarch told Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh, alluding to the mythical Hindu hero Arjuna who had to fight relatives for the cause of right and justice.

"I will be your Krishna," Karunanidhi said, extending full backing to the UPA government's programme by its allies.

Both Singh and Karunanidhi were sharing the same platform during the celebrations to mark the 150th anniversary of the University of Madras here.

Singh is steering the government's plan for an additional 27 percent reservation for students of other backward classes in higher educational institutions, which has faced opposition from various quarters.

The PMK, a member of the Manmohan Singh government in New Delhi, wants implementation of the quota at one go and is unhappy with Singh's plans to stagger the execution over several years.

"The cabinet has taken its decision and all parties in the UPA government have accepted it," Singh said.

"We have introduced the bill (in parliament) on the basis of the decision taken at the cabinet meeting," he said, adding: "Karunanidhi is aware of what is happening. His stand on the issue remains the same."

Kerala minister resigns over misbehaviour charge

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 4 (IANS) Kerala Public Works Minister P.J. Joseph Monday resigned over allegations that he had misbehaved with a woman passenger during a flight last month.

Joseph submitted his resignation to Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan.

He had allegedly misbehaved with a 53-year-old woman passenger on board the Kingfisher flight from Chennai to Kochi Aug 3. He was under pressure to quit the state cabinet after media reports on the incident.

Joseph denied Monday he had misbehaved with the woman. He said he did not want to continue as minister in the wake of "needless suspicion" and demanded a thorough inquiry into the incident.

The chief minister has accepted the resignation, official sources said.

Inspector General of Police B. Sandhya, who was asked by Achuthanandan to probe the matter, submitted the report on Saturday. She collected evidence from many people travelling on the plane.

Joseph said he would come back to the ministry with his "hands clean".

Leading banks in race for United Western

Mumbai, Sep 4 (IANS) Huge selling pressure was seen in the troubled United Western Bank stock Monday, as four leading banks ICICI Bank, Canara Bank, Andhra Bank and Federal Bank queued up to acquire the struggling bank placed under moratorium by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The United Western Bank (UWB) Saturday was placed under moratorium till Dec 1 by the central bank to protect depositors and said the aim was to merge it with a stronger one.

Inefficient management led to the erosion of net worth of the UWB.

On the Bombay Stock Exchange, Monday UWB share price dropped to Rs.10, representing a fall of over 55 percent from Friday's close of Rs.22.55 per share.

The bank's share price dropped to as low as Rs.5.25 early in the morning trade, representing a drop of 77 percent from the previous close of Rs.22.7., on the National Stock Exchange.

The stock recovered some of the lost ground by noon at Rs.15.15 - a drop of 33 percent.

"The shares can go down to any level as there are maximum selling orders and market analysts are advising not to touch the stock at any fall," said Rajiv Malik, a broker.

"A takeover is unlikely to give its shareholders a good deal," Malik told IANS.

Meanwhile, India's second largest lender ICICI Bank said Monday its board had approved a bid for the struggling UWB, whose rural network could help boost its operations.

"ICICI Bank believes UWB's network can be leveraged to grow its rural and small and medium enterprise banking operations in particular and its overall distribution franchise in general," ICICI said in a statement.

But, ICICI will face stiff competition from state-run lenders such as Canara Bank and Andhra Bank that also plan to bid for UWB. Federal Bank is also bidding for the ailing bank.

All these banks have queued up to acquire UWB, as it will give them a huge presence in Western India and a readymade infrastructure.

The UWB has 230 branches, 12 extension counters and 75 ATMs spread across the rural belts in nine states.

"ICICI may find it hard to take over UWB, but if it succeeds the acquisition will help its reach. Given the central bank's preference for public sector banks for merger and with better reach in the terms of branches, ICICI may find the going tough," analysts pointed out.

Announcing the moratorium Saturday, RBI executive director Anand Sinha said: "Generally, preference is given to public sector banks (for merger)."

New York-listed ICICI, which has a market value of $11.7 billion, has about 614 branches and extension counters. In comparison, state-run Bank of Baroda, with a market value of about $2 billion, has 2,737 branches, analysts pointed out.

UWB has deposits of Rs.64.8 billion ($1.39 billion) and outstanding loans worth Rs.40.06 billion, according to the RBI.

Modern education should be value-centred, not money-centred

By Firoz Bakht Ahmed

Conflict in teaching today is between the obsession with the earning power of learning on the one hand, and the seeming irrelevance of the pedagogical activity resulting in an intellectual and moral vacuum on the other.

On Teacher's Day (celebrated Sep 5 in honour of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, noted educationist and India's second president), a grateful nation pays its ritualistic annual tribute to the teaching community. As usual, there will be a lot of rhetoric, including traditional lectures, on ideal teachers and some mandatory awards and a dose of nostalgia.

But this time in Delhi, an educational platform has avowed to improve the status of teachers in the state, if not all over the country. The Friends for Education (FFE) has asked teachers to court arrest on the Teacher's Day to raise their genuine grievances that have been blatantly neglected by the authorities concerned over the years.

The question is, what would a talented teacher carry home in terms of salary every month? The truth is that there are hardly any incentives for a person who joins the teaching profession and that is why the best brains are not joining this stream. Besides, what is of paramount importance is to follow a model of value-based education.

The teaching system in India seems to be at awkward crossroads as both the teaching community as well as the community of the taught, in schools and colleges, talk of discontentment and also disenchantment with each other.

Students today feel that the teaching style adopted by their lecturers is outdated. Others lament that the norms and values too have changed. But similar, rather more vehement, is the grouse of teachers who feel that values were missing in their students as well as parents.

The fact is that the professional development of teachers is in the hands of the bureaucrats and hence opportunities for teachers are severely limited by the system. The Indian model of education not only discourages experimentation in teaching but also undermines the very desire to teach.

When we were young and studied at school, some of us harboured dreams of becoming teachers one day. But what about my students? Their response for over two decades has corroborated what I never wanted to know.

Unfortunately, the teaching profession these days does not attract bright young people any more as it did a few decades ago. The bitter pill to swallow is that it does not attract any one these days - at least at the school leaving stage. Perhaps there may be valid reasons for that.

Fifty years ago children had ambitions about becoming teachers and serving their nation. Today, a majority of the teachers both in schools and colleges are either those who have opted the profession owing to the comfortable working hours, or because they have not been able to cope with the demands of lucrative ad competitive careers elsewhere.

In the olden times, the society accorded the gurus the status of angel, guide, guardian and mentor. What is of paramount importance for the teachers today is to introduce value education.

States the Taittarya Upanishad: Matri Devo Bhava, Pitri Devo Bhava, Acharya Devo Bhava (Respect the mother, the father and the teacher). All our sacred texts have mentioned how spiritual guides and teachers, sages and saints with the strength of their character, upright morals and strenuous practices, had remained fearless when attacked by men of physical might.

In a comment on value education sometime ago, Anil Wilson, the principal of Delhi's St. Stephen's College, pointed out at the Modern School Diaspora Initiative lecture that the conflict today is between the obsession with the earning power of learning on the one hand and the seeming irrelevance of pedagogical activity on the other.

The natural result is an intellectual and moral vacuum that is increasingly being filled up by populist rhetoric in the one hand and coercion and corruption on the other.

Educational scientists have presented solutions but myopic politicians have unfortunately acted in disregard to the same. The Indian brain is today recognised as the best in the world but perhaps the same cannot be said of the Indian heart. This is because we have not spent as much effort in educating the heart as we have in educating the head.

Our efforts at educating the heart have not only suffered due to a lack of understanding and direction but also because most attempts in this direction are hijacked by power brokers who manipulate educational systems.

The need to control people is fundamental to the quest for power. Power brokers have, over the years, instinctively realised that in order to control people they first need to control educational matrices that determine a people. Dilute education of values and they have control over people.

This is because people with values cannot be ruled over except by the values they hold dear.

"Networking" is the watchword, not merit, to undermine the people's sense of integrity that takes toll of brilliance introducing pull, not ability. Impetus towards work, improvement, perfection and excellence are killed by setting up standards of achievement available to the most inept. This crisis has divested education of values today.

In his book "Law of Education", M. Atyab Siddiqui, lawyer and standing counsel of Jamia Millia Islamia writes that sensitising and not dehumanising should be the motto of education that implores that the study of literature is important only if it sensitises us to the importance of human feelings and emotions.

If we are sensitised to the human condition in context of the material aspects of life, only then our study of economics will be value-based.

Siddiqui further writes that no study of science will be meaningful unless it sensitises us to the humane aspect in science and all progress. Likewise, the study of history will be rendered futile unless it sensitises us to impel the menacing forces that endanger human life.

But what is lamented is the fact that we study these subjects not for their sensitising potential but for minting money.

Besides the status, the earning potential of learning determines the importance and the "value" of a subject in the eyes of a student. Thus, commerce is a much sought after subject today whereas philosophy, history or the arts find few takers.

It is obvious that the notion of value in education has shifted from the philosophical and transcendent sense and come to rest in the market place. That's why the criminals are accepted, dictators admired, and corrupt power mongers emulated.

The new education order separates value from education.

This has resulted in a closing not only of the human mind but more significantly the closing of the human heart. The intellectual cacophony that surrounds us can only be resolved when we realise that an education that ignores moral and spiritual values cannot qualify as a quality education.

Modern education has largely separated virtue and knowledge and has severed the link between reason and virtue, between the mind and the heart.

An adequate education cannot afford to ignore either the mind or the heart. Together they form the vital links in the chain of civilisation.

Thus, education, to be truly value-centred, must move away from "survival learning" and towards "generative learning".

This implies that the aim and purpose of any and all kinds of study is to get to the heart of what it means to be human.

(Firoz Bakht Ahmed teaches English at New Delhi's Modern School. He can be reached at firozbakht@rediffmail.com)

Motorist charged for killing Indian woman

New York, Sep 4 (IANS) A motorist in Sewell, New Jersey, has been charged with homicide after police found he was driving in the wrong direction and collided head-on with another car, instantly killing an Indian woman.

Bhavna B. Patel, 59, of Cynthia Court, New Jersey, was declared dead at the accident scene. She was in the car driven by Baldev Patel, 60, believed to be her husband, according to newjersey.com.

John T. Davis, 32, was driving his Nissan Altima around 2 a.m. Sunday when he struck the Honda driven by the Patels, said Bernie Weisenfeld, spokesperson for the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office.

According to the spokesperson, it is believed that Davis was under the influence of alcohol when the accident occurred.

Baldev has been admitted to the Kennedy Memorial Hospital with 'moderate injuries'.

Davis was admitted to the Cooper Medical Center in Camden, also for treatment of moderate injuries, the spokesperson said.

Mumbra, the ghetto, vs Mumbra, the safe haven

SEEMA CHISHTI
Posted online: Monday, September 04, 2006 at 0000 hrs Print Email

MUMBAI, SEPTEMBER 3:As far as builders like 45-year-old Mohammed Farooq Ashraf go, business in Mumbra hasn’t been too bad since 1993. Sitting in Noor Manzil, just off the main road, he says, “Land prices soared after the Bombay riots, the population of this settlement was about three-and-a half lakh but it nearly doubled when those whose homes were destroyed came here to settle down wanting to escape the misery.� So the price of a one-room-with-kitchen used to be Rs 40,000 before 1993. Today, it’s nearly Rs 3 lakh.

This could be just any Mumbai real-estate story.

But the reality is that property built here is linked to life and property destroyed somewhere else. So there you have it: this vast sprawl, more potholes than road, more power-cuts than power. Credit-card providers and home-loan bank lists call it a “grey zone.� Means, institutionally, it’s off the economic radar in the country’s financial heart.

If the isolation of Muslims in a city needed one physical symbol, it’s here in Mumbra, about 40 km off Mumbai in Thane. Ghetto or safe haven? Depends on whom you ask.

Just like in any unplanned Mumbai neighbourhood, it has an endless list of civic problems but talk to residents and you can sense despair rather than hope. For, they seem resigned to the fact that Mumbra will stay the way it is because it’s home to The Victim. Of riots and murder, for over 13 years now. Gujarat was the latest.

Says Ashraf: “In my Jhansi Palace building, there are at least eight families who have shifted base here after the Gujarat riots in 2002.� He, with his son and partner Khalid Ashraf, organizes the Milaad-un-Nabi (Prophet’s birthday) annual procession. Says Khalid Ashraf: “It’s very safe here, even in 1992-3, nothing happened. That’s why all these people flocked here with all they had left. On our Prophet’s birthday celebrations, Hindus on stage receive the procession and arrange the qawwali. The only problem now is that police stations call this sensitive.�

Hindus welcoming the Milaad-un-Nabi procession may seem like a picture postcard of communal harmony in the city but that’s just the surface. It is here that Ishrat Jehan lived. Young Ishrat was shot dead in a police encounter in 2003, accused of plotting to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. The Lashkar-e-Toiba website claimed she was a martyr. While the police are non-committal when you ask if Mumbra is “sensitive� and a place for potential trouble-makers, people here don’t want to discuss Ishrat Jehan.

The only thing they say is that she is buried in the Kausa qabrastan in Mumbra. Her family has moved out since, to escape the scrutiny, and word has it that they may be in Parbani. In the neighbourhood where Ishrat lived, people are angry when you bring her name up.

Says Shaukat Ansari, living in the Simla Hills building nearby: “She is buried, it is over, so go back and look up your press clippings.�

The owners of the ration shop her family used to frequent are edgy when you even mention her name. In Mumbra, Ishrat Jehan has become a symbol of the sense of unease they experience about living here. In Kausa, where Ishrat lies buried, nearly all the shops are run by people who have come in after the 1993 riots. Al Noor Stationery and Store is run by 25-year-old Wasim who came here in 1993 from Santa Cruz. His effortless English betrays his education at St Anthony’s in Mumbai. So why this low skill job? Why not one of the newer options in a rapidly growing Mumbai?

He smiles as he doles out toffees to a young customer: “I tried at a call centre, and a firm in 2002 and 2003. Then I realized I wasn’t getting a response at all, so I decided on my own little business.�

Mohammed Haroon runs a kirana store very close to him, he has studied only till Class 8, but boasts of a wife educated till Class 12. They spend a lot sending their two girls to a convent in the hope of a better life. He is not forthcoming on why he came here from Sion in 1993. His only explanation: “The mahaul (atmosphere) here is much better than there.�

Obviously, though residents here say there is little government attention, a fact borne out by no government hospital in the area and no government schools for children beyond Class 8, the township’s streets are dotted with boards like Talent Tutorials, Oxford Tutorials and Onyx Coaching Classes suggestive of aspirations higher than otherwise betrayed on the surface.

The chorus here: Yes, we can educate ourselves but now, especially after the train blasts, who will give us jobs with Mumbra in our address column.

Mumbra has no government hospital, and so much garbage strewn around, that you almost believe the locals when they say that all the kachra from nearby Thane, Damboli and Diva gets dumped here. An NGO Khoj, working in education, has presented a detailed memo listing local woes to the state government. But the local corporator, Yasin Qureshi, is ready to rubbish the pessimistic prognosis of Mumbra-ites when he says “Rs 15 crore from the Thane Municipal Corporation has just been okayed for the Mumbra city road and work is to start early next month. The garbage is a problem as one resident has gone and got a stay on the place where the Mumbra garbage is dumped, we are fighting that in the High Court.�

Speaking about the branding of the place as “sensitive,� Qureshi blames the media: “This place has never seen a riot, on the contrary, it has given panaah (shelter) to those affected by riots, many Hindus live here too. When ex-CM Sushil Shinde was supposed to come here, a newspaper headlined the report as “CM to visit terrorists.� So could it be general anti-Muslim bias? Says Qureshi, “What to do, Madam, the journalist was also a Muslim.�

Tomorrow: (Back to the fundamentals � and fundamentalism)

seema.chishti@expressindia.com

Source :
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/11991.html

Netherlands eyes India as 'key of innovations'

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) India and the Netherlands are set to accelerate their bilateral trade and investment with the Dutch government expanding its embassy network here to aid Indian investors eyeing business opportunities in Europe's key economic hub.

The Dutch government is planning to appoint a counsellor for industrial affairs in New Delhi and its embassy network is being strengthened through a science and technology counsellor, said the visiting Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade Karien van Gennip here Monday.

"Indian companies have great ambitions and are increasingly finding their way to markets other than the US and the UK," she told Indian businessmen at a seminar organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

"Europe is an important market for any fast growing, ambitious international business and choosing Europe means choosing the Netherlands," said van Gennip, who began her six-day visit to India Sunday.

The expanded network at the Dutch embassy here will help Indian investors with customised business partnership solutions, she stressed.

Projecting the Netherlands as the "best place for Indian companies to access the European internal market", van Gennip underlined strategic advantages of investing in her country, which besides having a strategic location in Europe has a world-class business environment, including excellent information technology and research and development infrastructure.

During her five-day visit, she will also go to Hyderabad and Chennai.

"India is and can be an engine of the next round of global trade. Above all, India can be a key source of innovations," said Rutger Koopmans, leader of the accompanying Dutch business delegation.

In a glowing tribute to the spirit of Indian enterprise and the country's growing profile in the Netherlands, Koopmans said: "This new mindset and way of thinking about India is now strongly in place in the Netherlands, thanks to so many Indian companies who have already found their way to the Netherlands."

India is one of the three priority countries for the Dutch Trade Board, a public-private partnership set up by the government a year ago, that aims to promote and increase international business.

New animal species found in Southeast Asia

Singapore, Sep 4 (DPA) New animal species have been found in Southeast Asia's hilly limestone area during a graduate student's expeditions to Malaysia and Indonesia, the National University of Singapore said Monday.

The discoveries by Reuben Clements consist of 20 species of invertebrates, mostly snails, which have been buried in the limestone called karst.

The 27-year-old Clements, pursuing his master's degree in conservation biology, has made nine expeditions, each to different hills, the Straits Times reported.

Peter Ng, director of the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, said the new species were unearthed in karsts, previously visited by other scientists.

"They must have missed it," Ng was quoted as saying.

Formed millions of years ago by calcium-producing marine coral, limestone karsts are huge formations covering 400,000 square km of land in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

Clements said the formations became the "perfect places" for unique species to develop and evolve.

However, he warned that the biological treasure is under threat.

Karst is often where the Chinese delicacy, birds' nest, is harvested, he told the newspaper. As the main component for cement, limestone is also being rapidly mined for the booming demand for building materials in Southeast Asia.

Losing the plant and animal species native to these rock areas would be a terrible waste, he said.

More studies are needed to determine how quickly the karsts are being destroyed, Clements added.

New Pakistan militant group targets Shias

Islamabad, Sep 4 (Xinhua) Pushtoon militants who fought against the US-led invasion of Afghanistan have formed a new anti-Shia militant group in Pakistan, the Daily Times newspaper reported Monday.

Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials learnt of the new group from interrogations of three men arrested for suspected links with the assassination of prominent Shia leader Allama Hassan Turabi. He was killed July 14 by a suicide bombing outside his house in Karachi.

The suspects told investigators the group was planning suicide attacks against Shia leaders, said the FIA team in a report sent to the Pakistani interior ministry.

The new militant group is led by Mufti Ilyas and Hazrat Ali from Darra Adam Khel, a town in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), located between Peshawar and Kohat, very close to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, said the Daily Times report.

Its members include men who recently fought against the US forces in Afghanistan, and have links with Abdullah Mehsud, the militant leader responsible for the attack on Chinese engineers at the Gomal Zam Dam site.

FIA said the new group is active in Quetta, Karachi and other major cities in Pakistan, and has established a supply line of weapons and ammunition between Darra Adam Khel and Karachi.

Pakistan's interior ministry has directed the provincial chief secretaries and Islamabad chief commissioner to identify members of the group operating in their areas. Security officials in Waziristan have also been put on alert.

No 'lady governor' please, its 'first lady' in Tripura

Agartala, Sep 4 (IANS) A bizarre debate over the right term to address the governor's wife in Tripura has been resolved with the state government being advised by the Raj Bhavan to refer to her as the "first lady" and not as "lady governor".

The controversy arose after Shyamacharan Tripura, a tribal legislator, took offence when Tripura Governor Dinesh Nandan Sahaya's wife was referred to as the "lady governor" at a police function. The legislator shot off a formal letter to Tripura police chief G.M. Srivastava and the governor expressing his dissatisfaction over the matter -- and the debate ceased to die down.

"Lady governor is not a correct nomenclature or form of address though in all states of the country it has come to pass in usage and common parlance both in official and non-official levels," the governor said in a letter to Shyamacharan Tripura.

"Whenever the need be on formal or official occasions, I address my spouse as the first lady of Tripura, which is a correct and appropriate nomenclature for the spouse of the governor."

Non-bailable warrant issued against Bina Ramani

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) A court here Monday issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against socialite Bina Ramani for forging a document to claim she had permission to serve liquor at a restaurant where ramp model Jessica Lall was shot dead in April 1999.

Issuing the NBW, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kamini Lau directed the police to arrest Ramani and produce her in the court on or before Sep 15.

Ramani is accused of using forged documents to claim ownership of "Once Upon a Time" restaurant-cum-bar, also known as Tamarind Court in Qutub Colonnade in South Delhi and that she had a license to serve liquor there. Lall was killed in Tamarind Court April 4, 1999 after she had allegedly refused to serve liquor to Manu Sharma, saying the bar had closed for the day.

Sharma and eight others were acquitted earlier this year, sparking widespread outrage. Delhi High Court then ordered Delhi Police to reinvestigate the case.

Aa special investigation team (SIT), set up to probe the destruction of evidence in the Lall murder, was also investigating Ramani's role in this.

The police said its investigations had revealed that Ramani had forged the signature of Diwan Chand (since dead), the alleged owner of the restaurant, to show to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) that she had taken the restaurant on rent from him.

Ramani had also allegedly forged Chand's signature to produce a no-objection certificate (NOC) from him allowing her to serve liquor at the restaurant, the police said.

The police further alleged that Ramani and her husband had forged certain other documents mentioning that they had become owners of the restaurant.

Ramani had obtained a license from the MCD for running the eatery on the basis of forged documents and had used these for registering the eatery with police licensing branch, the investigating officer of the case said.

The ration card that she had submitted to the MCD and the police as her residential proof was also fake, the police alleged.

The Hauz Khas police had earlier this year registered a case against Ramani under sections 120-B (conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using a forged document as genuine) of the Indian Penal Code.

The investigating officer submitted that Ramani was required for interrogation but had refused to join it.

Allowing the plea, the magistrate said that in view of the nature of allegations, her custodial interrogation was necessary.

Meanwhile, Chandigarh-based doctor J.S. Bedi who had allegedly issued a fake medical certificate to Vikas Gill, one of the accused in the Lall murder, informed Delhi High Court Monday he would surrender before Delhi Police.

Gill had used the certificate to get exemption from personal appearance in the murder trial.

Bedi also withdrew his anticipatory bail application.

Lau had August 25 issued an NBW against Bedi on an application by the Delhi Police saying the accused had been avoiding his appearance before them for interrogation in the case.

On a Delhi High Court direction, Delhi Police registered the case against the doctor in April.

Now, BJP wants no concessions on Vande Mataram's length

New Delhi, Sept 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) With Muslim clerics opposing calls to mandate singing of the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram in schools, the BJP has now said portions of the national song opposed by the Muslim League almost seven decades ago too should be sung by all.

"I am of the opinion that Vande Mataram should be sung in its entirety," RSS organ Panchjanya has quoted BJP chief Rajnath Singh as having said.

In 1937, the Muslim League opposed singing of portions in Vande Mataram which referred to goddess Durga.

"This song should be sung collectively," Singh, who has announced his party will mandate Vande Mataram in UP schools if voted to power, said.

The BJP chief, however, denied news reports that he had issued written orders to the BJP-ruled states on the compulsory singing of the national song.

"I sent my message through newspapers only. There was no need for a written order. The national song will be sung at all party offices on September 7 in BJP-ruled states," Singh said.

He, however, made no mention of any plans to ensure compliance by all of government directives in the party-ruled states to schools on the Vande Mataram singing on that day.

Singh, whose calls for mandating Vande Mataram have been endorsed by his predecessor L K Advani, maintained the national song and the national anthem should not be viewed through religious angle.

Olmert says he yearns for peaceful ties with Lebanon

Jerusalem, Sept 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday said he had appealed to his Lebanese counterpart Fouad Siniora through various sources to establish peaceful ties between the two countries.

"How natural, how understandable it would be for the Prime Minister of Lebanon to respond to the many calls I have made toward him and say, `Come on, let`s sit, shake hands, make peace and end once and for all the hostility, the jealousy, the hatred that some of my people have toward you,'" Olmert said during a visit to a school in Northen Israel.

"I hope this day comes soon. I yearn for it. I am sure that you yearn for it. I`m sure all of Israel yearns for it. But until then, we will do everything, thoughtfully, responsibly to handle everything needed to be ready for every opportunity," the Prime Minister said.

Last week, responding to Olmert`s optimism that the deployment of international peacekeepers in southern Lebanon will pave the way for a "new reality" in the region and possible cooperation between Lebanon and Israel, Siniora had said that his country "would be the last Arab country that could sign a peace agreement with Israel."

Olmert once again asserted his intention to invest resources in the north areas battered by Hezbollah rockets so that it will be a "flourishing paradise."

A number of small demonstrations were organised in the area by the movement for quality government in Israel calling upon Olmert to appoint a state commission of inquiry to investigate the war in Lebanon.

Oman hopeful of better gas supply soon

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) Oman is banking on new discoveries as well as supplies from Qatar to boost its gas supply position soon, Omani Commerce and Industry Minister Maqbool Ali Sultan indicated here Monday.

Oman is currently not in a position to meet the demands of gas-based industries but it might be in a better position in a few years, said Maqbool.

"For small industries gas will be available, but not for big gas-based industries. We hope to find more gas to meet the needs of more industries," Maqbool told IANS.

Oman is currently exporting 9 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to countries like South Korea and Japan among others.

Besides banking on new discoveries, Oman is also looking at gas supplies from Qatar under a gas sales agreement signed last year by Oman Oil Company (OOC) with Dolphin Energy Ltd, which has promised to deliver an average 200 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmcmd) to Oman from early 2008.

"Only when more gas becomes available would Oman be in a position to go in for expansion of existing projects and undertaking more projects in fertiliser and other sectors," said Mohammed Hassan Al-Theeb, deputy chief executive officer of Salalah Free Zone.

Al-Theeb said in the first phase the government proposed to invest $15 million in development of infrastructure including warehouses and port connectivity for the free zone covering 19 million square metres.

The second phase of the free zone would be developed depending on demand.

"The aim of the free zone is to promote both heavy as well as small and medium industries and logistics operations. While we would like to provide water and gas, the latter is not available as yet. But within next three to four years it will be available," the official said.

Indian Ambassador to Oman Ashok Kumar Attre said Oman is keen to build another fertiliser plant at the Sohar Industrial Port though on a smaller scale than the Oman India Fertiliser Company, a joint venture that will be supplying India 1.68 million tonnes of urea and 255,000 tonnes of ammonia under a long-term buyback arrangement.

The project, currently on hold, is expected to take off once gas becomes available in a couple of years.

"Oman is looking at India for investments in areas like plastics, steel, power generation and other spin- off industries using feedstock from its oil refinery, aluminium smelter, and polypropylene plants in the Sohar Industrial Port," said Attre.

The projects in the Sohar Industrial Port, which has already witnessed investments worth $12 billion in little over a year, "is tailored to provide feedstock for steel plants, petrochemical and fertiliser projects," said Attre.

Through these mega projects Oman is striving to increase its non-oil revenue, which registered a 9.2 percent increase in 2005.

Oman woos Indian investment

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) Oman's Commerce and Industry Minister Maqbool Ali Sultan Monday urged Indian industry to look at diverse opportunities in the Gulf country while indicating that Omani companies too are studying investment openings in India.

Highlighting possibilities in tourism, health, technical education and industrial projects particularly in the upcoming Oman's Salalah Free Zone and Sohar Port, Maqbool sought specific joint venture proposals.

"Governments (of both countries) need to have commitment for cooperation. We would like specific joint venture proposals and like to know what the Oman government needs to do to realise these proposals," he said during an interaction organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Maqbool, who is leading a 14-member official delegation to attend the India-Oman Joint Commission meet here Tuesday, is accompanied by an 18-member business mission that includes several Indians who have invested in Oman and are keen to promote bilateral trade and investment flow.

Citing the $1 billion Oman-India Fertiliser Company (Omifco) as a cornerstone of joint venture between the two countries that has helped Oman to raise its exports from $64 million in 2000 to $366 million in 2005 under the Indian commitment to buy the total production from the plant, the minister said there are possibilities of other similar ventures.

Oman exports to India have considerably bridged the trade imbalance with imports from India constituting $397 million in 2005, up from $164 million in 2000.

"We are interested in expansion of the Omifco project but it depends on the availability of gas," Maqbool said.

Stating that Oman currently has no spare capacity for supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to India out of its 9 million tonnes annual production, he said if at any time it becomes available, India's demand would be considered favourably.

On investment plans in India, the minister revealed that Oman Oil Company is in talks with Bharat Petroleum Company for possible increase in stake in the long delayed 6 million tonnes Bharat Oman refinery project at Bina in Madhya Pradesh.

State-owned Oman Oil Company currently holds three percent stake in Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd. The refinery is slated for completion in 2009.

"We are in discussions with BPCL for possible increase in stake and will be holding talks with them during the visit to Mumbai Wednesday," the minister said.

Highlighting the attraction of Salalah Free Zone, the first project of its kind in Oman that is being set up under a royal decree issued in June this year, he said its location is ideal being strategically located on Indian Ocean and suitable for traffic going east or west and being next door to a container port.

Though operations have started barely three months back, Salalah Free Zone is already seeing considerable investment flow with some Indian companies like TVS Motor firming plans to set up manufacturing unit there, a senior Omani official said.

In Sohar Port, Oman is looking for downstream investments using feedstock from the new oil refinery, aluminium smelter and other projects already in operations there.

On the proposed India-GCC (six nation Gulf Cooperation Council) Free Trade Agreement, Maqbool said that with the WTO talks not making much progress the FTA would bring greater benefit to not only the Gulf countries but also India.

"We want to stress on the need for fast track, particularly with the problems we are having with WTO. So FTA can be more important," he said.

The third round of India-GCC meet is expected in March 2007.

Opinion against forced singing of "Vande Matram"

SUPREME COURT DISALLOWS 'FORCIBLE' SINGING OF NATIONAL ANTHEM AS WELL AS NATIONAL SONGS. HOLDS IT AGAINST CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT OF FREEDOM OF RELIGION.

SANGH PARIVAR'S CAMPAIGN TO FORCE MUSLIM CHILDREN TO SING VANDE MATARAM IN SCHOOL AND MADARSAS IS A DIRECT CONTEMPT OF THE HIGHEST COURT IN THE LAND.

MEDIA COLLABORATION DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY WITH SANGH PRIVAR'S CAMPAIGN IS AIDING AN ABETTING AN ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN.

LK ADVANI AND ASHOK SINGHAL CAN BE HAULED IN FOR CONTEMPT OF COURT.

DR. A. R. MOOKHI WRITES:

In the state of Kerala there is a sect of Christians called Jehovah's
witnesses.Singing National anthems is taboo in their religion. Some students belonging to this community refused to sing "Jana,Gana, Mana" on religious ground.They were expelled from the school. This case [Bijoe Emannuel v/s State of Kerala 1986] was decided by the Supreme Court in favor of the students. Their expulsion was struck down as unconstitutional and in violation of their rights to religious freedom. The court ended the judgment on a strong note: "Our tradition teaches tolerance, our philosophy preaches tolerance. Our constitution practises tolerance. Let us not dilute it." This fact that Apex court of the country has ruled that not to sing even the National anthem is not against the law surely can not be unknown to stalwarts of the BJP. Is it not unconstitutional for the BJP governments in some states to make singing of Vande Mataram mandatory?

JYOTI PUNWANI WRITES IN THE TIMES OF INDIA:

" The judge ( Justice Srikrishna of Srikrishna Commission on Mumbai riots) asked (Anil) Shrouti (Sr. PI of Ghatkoper Police Station during the riots) point blank: against the backdrop of the tension already generated by the Babri Masjid controversy and Advani's rath yatra, could he still maintain that allowing Hindu groups to shout such slogans ( Is desh mein rehna hoga to Vande Mataram Kehna hoga) would not have contributed to communal tension? When the officer grudgingly accepted this reasoning, his lawyer sprang to his defence. "Anyone who does not agree to recite Vande Mataram is anti-national," he said hotly.

"Who is the VHP to say that you must recite it to prove your patriotism?" countered Justice Srikrishna. "That's nothing but fascism".

Ghulam Muhammed

Pak PM asks youths to stay away from extremism

Istanbul, Turkey, Sept 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) The Pakistani Prime Minister has called on Muslim youths to stay away from "extremism" and serve humanity in the "noble tradition of Islam."

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was speaking in Istanbul at a ceremony marking the inauguration of the 56-nation organization of the Islamic Conference's Youth Forum, an organization aimed at encouraging dialogue among young people from the world's largest Islamic Bloc. President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also attended.

"The Muslim youth must be prepared to serve humanity in the noble tradition of Islam," Aziz said at the ceremony yesterday held at a former Ottoman Palace by the Bosporus. "We want them to be proud and progressive Muslims."

"Extremism and terrorism which have maligned our noble faith must be curbed," he said.

Aziz said the Muslim world made up one-fifth of humanity and pledged Pakistan's support to the Muslim youth.

"Our level of socio-economic development needs to improved," he said. "These challenges can only be addressed through sustained reform and development."

The forum's headquarters were formally inaugurated by Turkish Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc who at the same time launched the "Youth Alliance of Civilizations" project – an initiative designed to promote friendship between youths from the Muslim world and Western societies.

The project's goal is to advance the United Nations "alliance of civilizations" initiative which Turkey and Spain are co-sponsoring to overcome misunderstandings between the West and the Arab and Muslim world

Pakistan may send junior minister to New Delhi meet

Islamabad, Sep 4 (IANS) Pakistan may send State Minister for Economic Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar and not Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri to a conference on economic reconstruction for Afghanistan that New Delhi is hosting Nov 18.

Although foreign ministers of 18 countries, including the US, are expected to attend, Pakistan wants to send a message to India: that Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri need not be there, since India does not currently have a foreign minister, The News International reported.

Kasuri has been repeatedly having a dig at India in interviews and statements that much as he would like to "lift the telephone and talk" to his counterpart, to engage in informal diplomacy and resolve issues, he realises that India does not have a full-fledged foreign minister.

India has pledged $500 million for Afghanistan's reconstruction, more than what Pakistan has offered.

The Delhi conference will be opened by Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

The first such conference was held in Kabul last year and attended by 11 countries. The Delhi meet will be attended by foreign ministers of 18 countries, including neighbouring Afghanistan and donor nations like the US, Britain and Russia.

Heads of 10 multilateral organisations like the UN, UNDP, World Bank, IMF, European Commission and ADB would also be invited to the moot.

The conference offers an opportunity for the region to work together to promote security and development in Afghanistan.

The focus of the conclave is expected to be on promotion of specific forms of economic cooperation in Afghanistan in areas of critical concern, including electricity, border management, trade promotion and investment, the newspaper said.

Pakistan opposition divided on resigning from assemblies

Islamabad, Sep 4 (IANS) Baloch leader Akbar Bugti's killing united the opposition in Pakistan, but there are now divisions in the ranks over the political strategy that needs to be adopted to confront the government.

Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) Chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim on Sunday said the opposition has decided "in principle" to resign from the assemblies en bloc.

But the dilemma of the rightwing Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) is that it is part of the governments in Balochistan and North West Frontier Province (NWFP). And the MMA is unlikely to resign to make an issue of Bugti's assassination, The Nation newspaper said Monday.

Earlier reports had indicated that the MMA might quit to seize the leadership of the movement to protest Bugti's killing on Aug 26 in a military operation in remote Balochistan.

The News International reported that MMA ministers who went to Bugti House to condole the death and offer prayers were turned away by family members of the slain leaders.

MMA has 15 ministers in Balochistan of which at least six visited, without success, the Bugti home.

Leaders of other parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) were, however, allowed in, the newspaper said.

Media reports indicate that Bugti's killing has aroused sentiments that the opposition parties feel compelled to respond to.

Reflecting the opposition mood, Fahim said: "General Ziaul Haq gifted Sindh the body of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto while Gen Musharraf gifted Balochistan the body of Nawab Akbar Bugti."

Seeking to draw a parallel of the two actions of 1979 and last week, he said the results would be "dangerous for national integrity".

The opposition parties in Balochistan are clear in their approach. The Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) announced on Sunday that its members would resign from the assemblies and the Senate.

Addressing a protest rally here, BNP Central President Sardar Akhtar Mengal termed the assemblies "useless in the aftermath of martyrdom of Nawab Bugti and denial of his body to heirs".

Short of numbers in the National Assembly, the opposition lost the no-trust move against the government. But cricketer-turned politician and Tehrik-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan on Sunday described the defeat of the motion against Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz as "a huge step towards restoration of democracy in the country".

Pakistan should shut down terror camps

By Arun Kumar,

Washington, Sep 4 (IANS) Saying there were "dangerous international terrorists" hiding in Pakistan, the New York Times has suggested that among the "crucial things" that Islamabad could do was to "permanently shut down" Kashmiri terrorist groups based on its soil.

Islamabad for one "could permanently shut down the Pakistan-based Kashmiri terrorist groups that have survived past crackdowns by reopening under new names, with little interference from Pakistani authorities", the daily suggested Sunday in an editorial titled "The Wrong Battle in Pakistan".

But any of these efforts would stir up opposition in one part or another of the Pakistani military, the only constituency that Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, ever really cares about, the influential paper said.

So long as elections are brazenly rigged, opposition parties are banned and Washington's uncritical support remains guaranteed, Musharraf has little incentive to take up any of these vital challenges, it said.

When General Musharraf comes to the United States, he loves to be lauded as a leader in the war on terrorism. Back home, his government too often acts like a garden-variety military dictatorship, the American daily said.

"There are dangerous international terrorists hiding out in the mountain caves of Pakistan. But 79-year-old Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, the Baluch tribal leader, politician and rebel, was not one of them," it said.

Now that Bugti is dead and the impoverished but energy-rich province of Balochistan is in an uproar after an ill-explained military operation last month, the last thing Pakistan needs is an upsurge in violence and repression in Balochistan.

"That would only be a distraction from far more important challenges, like developing a chronically underachieving economy; restoring a ravished democracy; and placing a dangerous nuclear weapons establishment, including exports of bomb-related technology, under firm and reliable civilian control.

"And there are far more crucial things that Pakistan's military could be doing than hunting down Bugti and his followers. For example, it could finally seal its scandalously porous border with Afghanistan, making it much harder for the Taliban to infiltrate into that country, the fighters killing American, NATO and Afghan soldiers.

"Not least, it could make a more serious effort to find and arrest Osama bin Laden, widely believed to have spent much of the past four and a half years on Pakistani soil," the New York Times said.

Pakistan should shut down terror camps

By Arun Kumar,

Washington, Sep 4 (IANS) Saying there were "dangerous international terrorists" hiding in Pakistan, the New York Times has suggested that among the "crucial things" that Islamabad could do was to "permanently shut down" Kashmiri terrorist groups based on its soil.

Islamabad for one "could permanently shut down the Pakistan-based Kashmiri terrorist groups that have survived past crackdowns by reopening under new names, with little interference from Pakistani authorities", the daily suggested Sunday in an editorial titled "The Wrong Battle in Pakistan".

But any of these efforts would stir up opposition in one part or another of the Pakistani military, the only constituency that Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, ever really cares about, the influential paper said.

So long as elections are brazenly rigged, opposition parties are banned and Washington's uncritical support remains guaranteed, Musharraf has little incentive to take up any of these vital challenges, it said.

When General Musharraf comes to the United States, he loves to be lauded as a leader in the war on terrorism. Back home, his government too often acts like a garden-variety military dictatorship, the American daily said.

"There are dangerous international terrorists hiding out in the mountain caves of Pakistan. But 79-year-old Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, the Baluch tribal leader, politician and rebel, was not one of them," it said.

Now that Bugti is dead and the impoverished but energy-rich province of Balochistan is in an uproar after an ill-explained military operation last month, the last thing Pakistan needs is an upsurge in violence and repression in Balochistan.

"That would only be a distraction from far more important challenges, like developing a chronically underachieving economy; restoring a ravished democracy; and placing a dangerous nuclear weapons establishment, including exports of bomb-related technology, under firm and reliable civilian control.

"And there are far more crucial things that Pakistan's military could be doing than hunting down Bugti and his followers. For example, it could finally seal its scandalously porous border with Afghanistan, making it much harder for the Taliban to infiltrate into that country, the fighters killing American, NATO and Afghan soldiers.

"Not least, it could make a more serious effort to find and arrest Osama bin Laden, widely believed to have spent much of the past four and a half years on Pakistani soil," the New York Times said.

Palestinian teachers' strike hurts boy

Nablus, Sept 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) Masked militants trying to keep students away from school during a politically charged Palestinian teachers' strike on Sunday shot and wounded a 12-year-old boy.

Palestinian teachers began striking Saturday, the start of the school year, to demand full back pay and regular salaries from the Hamas-led government, which has been financially crippled by six months of international sanctions.

Most schools throughout the West Bank remained closed, some by force, as the strike continued.

At least three masked militants stood outside a school in the northern West Bank city of Nablus and fired in the air to keep children away, witnesses said.

Stray fire hit a 12-year-old boy, Issam Ghannam, in the abdomen, witnesses said.

He was in stable condition after undergoing surgery, doctors said.

"He has passed the danger zone and is now resting in intensive care," said Dr. Khaled Qadiri, a doctor at Rafidya Hospital in Nablus.

The child's family, Fatah loyalists, refused to condemn the militants. "There were unknown men with weapons, preventing the students from going to school," said the boy's uncle, Ghannam Ibrahim Ghannam. "They fired, and as an unintentional result of the shooting he was hit."

The strike was widely viewed as a tactic by Fatah to pressure Hamas to join it in a national unity government. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hopes the alliance will force Hamas to recognize Israel, helping end the sanctions and enabling him to renew peace talks.

Israel, the United States and the European Union � all of which label Hamas as a terror group � have demanded the Islamic militant group renounce violence and accept Israel's right to exist before they will restore aid to the Palestinian government.

PM fondly remembers his village teacher

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) During his school days in Punjab in then undivided India, the man who would one day be prime minister fetched water from the well for his teacher, whose family gave him great affection, Manmohan Singh recalled fondly Monday on the eve of Teacher's Day.

"I recall with gratitude my own days in a village primary school and what I learnt in those four years in primary school has played a very important role in shaping my outlook to problems in life," Manmohan Singh said while addressing the National Teachers' awardees.

"Those were the days when teachers had taught not only to work together in the classroom, but also at their home."

"I was the beneficiary of the affection of the family of my teacher where I went day after day in the evening sometimes to fetch water for the teacher's family from the village well and that sense of communication I never forget, it has been a very formative influence in my life and I remain grateful to my teachers forever for that," the prime minister said warmly.

Expressing his concern over the death of an Ujjain professor who was beaten up by students last week, the prime minister in his speech urged the Indian parents to teach their children to value the saying "Acharyan Devo Bhava" (teacher is god).

Manmohan Singh, himself a teacher - he used to teach at Delhi School of Economics - reminded the gathering that a "teacher of exemplary character, thought, and action communicates the ideals through his or her own example".

He urged the entire teaching community to "strive for higher moral standards, a liberal and modern outlook and a commitment to professionalism and fair play".

PM to take stock of rising Maoist violence

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will return to his Independence Day theme Tuesday when he urges chief ministers to raise resources and technologies to improve public security vis-à-vis Maoism and terrorism.

In his address to chief ministers, in the wake of the July 11 Mumbai train bombings and a spate of Maoist killings, Singh is expected to emphasize the need to tackle the socio-economic conditions that lie at the root of Maoism.

Many officials admit that the fruits of many of the programmes meant to bail out the poor rarely reach the intended beneficiaries.

Cross-border terrorism and infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir and militancy in the northeast will also figure in Tuesday's deliberations with chief ministers.

Ahead of Tuesday's meeting, the Cabinet Committee on Security has decided to employ new measures to safeguard nuclear installations, dams and other vital facilities from possible terror attacks.

Home Secretary V.K. Duggal, at a meeting here last week, instructed chief secretaries and police chiefs of 13 Maoist-affected states to adopt a pro-active approach to deal with the guerrillas.

The central government has also allowed the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in Chhattisgarh for intelligence gathering.

In view of the Mumbai bombings that killed nearly 200 people and the unrelenting Maoist violence in Chhattisgarh, the prime minister has repeatedly stressed the need to gear up the state machinery to meet internal security challenges.

In his interaction with chief secretaries last month, Singh virtually took them to task insisting that state governments should utilize all technologies and trained manpower to meet the challenges of terrorism and Maoism.

Mincing no words, Singh said: "It is the primary responsibility of the state to maintain public order and ensure the safety of its citizens. All other responsibilities come subsequently.

"Business cannot be carried on as usual. We must recognise that past responses are inadequate in dealing with these problems, which are of a different intensity, magnitude, scale and scope."

Even during his Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort, the prime minister highlighted the threats to internal security from terrorism and Maoism in many parts of the country.

During his last interaction with chief ministers in April, Singh termed the Maoist rebellion as the single biggest internal security challenge faced by the country and pointed out that the strategy to counter it would have to be based on an effective response and a focus on reducing underdevelopment.

The strategy unveiled by him was to be to "walk on two legs" - to have an effective police response while at the same time focusing on reducing the sense of deprivation and alienation.

Although Maoists have not realised their aim of creating a red corridor from Nepal to Andhra Pradesh, their expansion in recent years has been impressive.

Statistics show Maoist violence has cast a shadow over almost a third of the states, with rebels extending their influence from 55 districts in nine states in 2003 to 170 districts in 15 states in 2006.

The Maoists damaged property worth Rs.110 million ($2.5 million) in nine states and killed 301 people and 91 security personnel in 2005. Maximum damage was inflicted in Chhattisgarh, where 190 people were killed and property worth Rs.90 million was damaged.

Police carrying planned attacks on my family: Ramani

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) Hours after a Delhi court issued a non-bailable warrant against her Monday, entrepreneur Bina Ramani alleged it was a planned move by the police who want her and her daughter to stay away from the ongoing court proceedings relating to the Jessica Lall murder, in which both of them are prime witnesses.

Reacting sharply against the order, Ramani said the police had made false allegations against her and were trying to pressurise her by raking up old cases.

The warrant was issued against her for allegedly using forged documents to claim she was the owner of Tamarind Court in South Delhi and that she had a license to serve liquor there.

Lall, who was filling in as a bartender, was shot at April 4, 1999 when she had allegedly refused to server liquor to Manu Sharma.

Ramani said she enjoyed a favourable relationship with the Diwan Chand family from whom she purchased the land for the restaurant.

"We have all the papers of the deal," Ramani, who is out of the city, told IANS over phone.

"My daughter and I are the key eyewitnesses in the (Jessica) case and police are trying to harass us by raking up this old issue," she said.

President launches Madras varsity's 150th year celebrations

Chennai, Sep 4 (IANS) President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Monday inaugurated the 150th anniversary celebrations of Madras University, his alma mater and one of the oldest and most prestigious educational institutions in India.

Speaking on the occasion, the president called for moral leadership and greater research. "Good teaching emanates from research. Any university is judged by the research it produces," Kalam told students and academics here.

He opened a virtual university portal, a joint project of Madras University with the Calcutta and Bombay Universities, by which millions of students will be able to access quality education.

"Technology is a learning tool, linking economy and the environment," the president said recalling his own college days and paying tribute to his teachers at the St Joseph's College, Tiruchirapally, under the university in 1950-54.

"The government of Tamil Nadu should be a catalyst", to ensure that all the universities in the state are linked to the tri-university portal online, by which millions of students can get access to quality higher education, Kalam said.

He released 16 books on the university, part of the project to publish 150 such books during the year-long celebrations.

A postage stamp and its first day cover were released on the occasion.

Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram announced a grant for a super-speciality nanotechnology R&D centre under the university.

Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Sing promised central government's support for a Rajiv Gandhi Chair for Contemporary Studies. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi said a Centre for Dravidian Movement studies will be established at the university.

Kalam also inaugurated the Senate Hall, a beautiful example of Indo-Saracenic architecture after its renovation at a cost of Rs.60 million.

Construction of the Senate House had begun in May 1869 under the supervision of Robert Fellowes Chisholm, one of the great 19th century architects.

Madras University, set up in September 1857 after a public petition by 1,000 citizens, was the only university for the entire southern region till India's independence in 1947.

Its alumni include former presidents, S. Radhakrishnan, V.V. Giri, N. Sanjeeva Reddy, R. Venkataraman and K.R. Narayanan as well as Nobel laureate physicists C.V. Raman and S. Chandrasekar.

Among the dignitaries present at the glittering function were Tamil Nadu Governor S.S. Barnala, who is also chancellor of the university, outgoing vice-chancellor S.P. Thyagarajan and S. Ramachandran, the next vice-chancellor.

President, PM greet citizens on Onam

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday greeted the nation, and the people of Kerala in particular, on the occasion of Onam, saying the festival should inspires people to work for India's development.

In a message, Kalam said that Onam, which falls Tuesday, should be an occasion to radiate happiness through kind acts towards the needy.

"Festivals are occasions for celebrations and for sharing joy and happiness with neighbours and those who are in need. May this year's Onam, the festival of harvest, bring peace, happiness and prosperity among our people and inspire all of us to work for further development of our country."

"Whenever happiness prevails, it radiates through kind acts towards the needy," the president said while extending good wishes to people living in India and aboard.

In his message, Manmohan Singh said Onam heralds the beginning of the harvest season and reaffirms the secular traditions of the people of Kerala.

"The festival is an opportunity to celebrate the spirit of unity and brotherhood that underpins our national fabric.

"May the festival bring joy, peace and prosperity to all," he added.

Protests against sealing drive in capital

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) On day three of the sealing and demolition drive, civic authorities faced huge protests from residents and traders in south Delhi while traders' associations sent letters to both the presidents and prime minister requesting their intervention in the matter.

Areas like Greater Kailash I and II, Malviya Nagar, Darya Ganj and New Rajinder Nagar were targets of the capital's civic authorities Monday.

Hundreds of people in Jamrudpur and Greater Kailash-I came onto the roads, halting the sealing operation for over two hours.

"The work was delayed by a couple of hours but we have resumed our operation. It's very natural that people will protest when their house gets sealed. It's a matter of their livelihood and we can understand that anger," said S.C. Bhandari, deputy commissioner (south zone), Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

Bhandari said the operation would continue as per the directions of the Supreme Court and added that they would avail police protection if required.

Traders in the capital sent letters to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to bail them out of the crisis.

"We have sent letters to both the prime minister and the president and have sought an appointment with them," said Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).

"We think, the top leadership of the country should have a look at the issue on a purely humanitarian angle," Khandelwal said.

On Sunday, hundreds of children of traders' families held a protest rally in Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi as a mark of protest.

In their quest to seal over 45,000 commercial establishments operating in residential areas, civic authorities have so far sealed over 400 units in all the 12 zones of Delhi.

After a three-month gap, the sealing drive resumed Sep 1 following a Supreme Court directive, which stayed the May 20 notification of the central government allowing a one-year moratorium on all such activities.

Qatar Airways to defy Israeli blockade on Beirut

Doha, Sept 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) Qatar Airways has decided to resume direct flights between Doha and Beirut "within the next 24 hours" despite the Israeli blockade on Lebanon, a company spokeswoman told mediapersons on Sunday.

"We have asked for authorisation from the Lebanese authorities and they have given it. Therefore flight QR 422 is going to go to Beirut," said the spokeswoman, who did not wish to be named.

"Qatar Airways will become the first international carrier to make a commercial flight into Beirut since the war ended," she added.

Israel imposed an air and sea blockade on Lebanon at the outset of its 34-day conflict with the Shiite Hezbollah militia on July 12.

The blockade is being maintained despite United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 calling for it to be lifted.

The only two companies which have since the blockade been authorised to operate commercial flights to Beirut, via Amman, are Middle East Airlines (Lebanese) and Royal Jordanian.

Relief works on as Kashmir rains abate

Srinagar, Sep 4 (IANS) An overnight let up in rains in Jammu and Kashmir helped the authorities resume relief operations Monday in the several areas submerged due to incessant rains in the last three days.

The south Kashmir districts of Anantnag and Pulwama were the worst hit, with the swollen Jhelum and its tributaries devastating standing paddy crops, houses and livestock swept away.

Scores of villages and localities in the state's summer capital were still flooded and efforts were on to drain out the water, officials said.

"We have pressed into service 64 de-watering pumps in the capital. We feel the worst is over," Flood Control Minister Muhammad Dilawar Mir told IANS here.

Thousands of people from the flooded areas in Srinagar and suburbs were evacuated, a senior officer said.

Authorities were busy in a massive relief operation as the weather improved Monday. Life in the entire Kashmir valley had been paralysed due to rain and floods.

Traffic remained off the Srinagar-Jammu national highway, the supply lifeline of the valley, for the fifth consecutive day.

The state government ordered closure of schools and colleges for two days till Tuesday. The school buildings were being used as temporary relief centres for the flood affected.

Russia willing to send military engineers to Lebanaon

Moscow, Sept 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) Russia on Sunady indicated its willingness to send military engineers to rebuild infrastructure in war torn Lebanon as part of the international military presence in the West Asian nation.

"We have special units, which are not combat troops, engaged in restoring destroyed infrastructure. Such units of the defence ministry could help Lebanon rebuild bridges and roads, if the Lebanese government gives its consent," Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Sergei Ivano V today said.

He said the Russian defence ministry had special units to deal with the restoration of the infrastructure.

"There are many optimal options [for Russian armed forces` presence in Lebanon] but, to my mind, our armed forces could help eliminate the consequences of the infrastructure tragedy, which has hit Lebanon," Ivanov was quoted as saying by Ria Novosti.

Ivanov said the damage caused to Lebanon from the military operations was estimated at USD 4 billion and the country urgently needed to rebuild its infrastructure.

Sania enters US Open doubles third round

New York, Sep 4 (IANS) India's Sania Mirza entered the third round of the women's doubles at the US Open, but lost the mixed doubles battle in the first round itself.

Sania and Liezel Huber of South Africa, seeded 11, beat France's Stephanie Cohen-Aloro and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain 6-0, 6-3 in the second round at Flushing Meadows Sunday.

They had beaten American pair of Angela Haynes and Neha Uberoi in the second round.

However, pairing with Pavel Vizner of the Czech Republic, Sania lost the mixed doubles battle in the first round itself to Katarina Srebotnik of Slovania and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia and Montenegro, but not before extending them into the third set.

They lost to the sixth seeded pair 2-6, 6-3, 7-10 after a tough long struggle.

Sania was knocked out of the women's singles by 14th seed Italian Francesca Schiavone Thursday. The Indian star went down 7-5, 1-6, 2-6, in the second round match.

Sikh League on Vande Matram

LUDHIANA, September 4, 2006

Sikh League, the religio-political front of International Human Rights Organisation (IHRO), today asked the powers that be to call a halt to exploiting the sentiments and religious feelings and beliefs of people just for petty political gains in forthcoming elections.

The well celebrated litany of Hindu faith Vande Mataram is being used for this sinister design, interestingly both by the ruling coterie and the fascist elements in the Opposition to the utter dismay and disgust of several cultural and religious minorities living in India, further says the Sikh League.

Sikh League secretary-general D S Gill, chief coordinator M S Grewal and secretary Jatinder Singh Sandhu, in a statement here, said, "The furor about the recital of Vande Mataram on September 7 demonstrates how deep-rooted is the conspiracy between the so-called secular and fascist forces of the country to exploit sentiments of the people for their respective electoral advantages."

While, on the other hand, they said, the Article 28 of the Constitution very clearly says, "No religious instruction shall be provided in any educational institution wholly maintained out of state funds and no person attending any educational institution recognised by the State or receiving aid out of State funds shall be required to take part in any religious instruction."

Not only that, they added, even the Supreme Court of India's ruling that the singing of the National Anthem cannot be made obligatory applies both to Vande Mataram and Saraswati Vandana (a hymn to the Goddess Saraswati ) with yet greater force.

"So, Sikhs, Muslims, Christians or others who believe in Oneness of God and not in any devi, devta or avtaar, can not be asked to sing Mata Sarwati's Vandana as it is unconstitutional and violates human rights of non-Hindus who only praise One God."

The Sikh League has, thus, called upon all people living in India , irrespective of caste, creed or political views, to beware of these political thugs (cheats) and maintain communal harmony in order to frustrate their nefarious and sinister designs.

Six dead, thousands stranded in J&K floods

Srinagar, Sept 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) Schools and colleges were on Sunday ordered closed for two days in Jammu and Kashmir where the flood situation worsened with six persons dead and thousands marooned after incessant downpours inundated low-lying areas and water levels of major rivers rose sharply.

The Army and Air Force were put on standby for flood relief and closure of schools and colleges ordered by Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad who convened a special Cabinet meeting to review the grim flood situation.

Incessant rains have spawned floods and cut off Kashmir valley from the rest of the country for the third consecutive day as traffic on Srinagar-Jammu and Srinagar-Leh National Highways remained suspended due to landslides.

Over 2,000 passengers were stranded at various places on the arterial roads while 1,500 were marooned at Chatel village in Kulgam district after flood waters entered their locality.

Six members of a family, including two women and two children, were killed when their house collapsed due to rains in Kathua district. One was rescued from the debris.

Another 200 people including 100 patients were evacuated after flood waters entered Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Srinagar and shifted to Soura Medical Institute.

The river Jhelum was flowing 9 feet above the danger mark at Sangam in Anantnag, submerging parts of Awantipora and Charsoo, and had crossed the red mark at Ram Munshi Bagh in Srinagar by 4 ft, inundating Kursoo Rajbagh, Padshahibagh, Soiteng and Lasjan, officials said.

The water level of the Dal Lake was also rising, posing a threat to Nishat, Shalimar, brain and adjoining areas.

Meanwhile, the meteorological department has forecast more rains in almost all places in next two days.

More rains forecast, chaos prevails in Orissa

Chaos prevailed in Orissa`s flood-hit Kendrapara district with relief materials yet to reach the villages marooned by flood water.

The situation may worsen further with another low pressure threatening to open the sky on coastal districts.

Latest satellite pictures indicated that yesterday`s low pressure area over north-east of the Bay of Bengal now lay centred over north-west of the bay, Met office sources said. The system is likely to be more marked.

The weather is likely to remain squally with wind speed reaching between 45 km and 55 km. Under its influence, heavy rains lashed all over the district this evening.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who made an aerial survey of Kendrapara district and reviewed the flood situation there, directed the district administration to provide relief materials to the affected people for the next seven days.

Reports from the district said that relief material could not be reached to Marshaghai and Mahakalapada blocks due to lack of adequate boats. A rescue team could not reach most of the water-locked areas as flood water breached the NH-5 a at Chhagaria.

Over 400 villages have remained surrounded by flood water and the number of affected people has risen to more than four lakh.

Rains batter Madhya Pradesh

Incessant rains battered Madhya Pradesh claiming seven more lives while army was called out and choppers pressed into service to rescue the marooned in Rajasthan as widespread showers drenched vast swathes of North India today.

Seven more perished in downpours in Madhya Pradesh since last evening pushing the number of fatalities in heavy monsoon rains in the state to 134.

Gushing waters of rain-swollen rivers washed away bridges and culverts as an alert was sounded in capital Bhopal where schools were shut and offices reported thin attendance.

Flight operations were hit at Raja Bhoj airport owing to to waterlogging which also snapped vital road links as normal life in the state was thrown out of gear.

Central team visits flood-hit areas in Rajasthan

A Central team on Sunday began their visit to assess the damage to crops and property and loss of human lives in 12 flood-affected districts of Rajasthan.

After arriving at Udaipur, the nine-member team led by Krishna Kumar, director of Rashtriya Gramin Rozgar Guarantee Scheme, was divided into two groups, one with five officers started their survey from Udaipur, Dungarpur, Banswara and Chittorgarh while other four went to Barmer, Sirohi, Jalore and Pali.

The second team began an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas in Barmer district and would visit Jaisalmer, an official said here.

Meanwhile, commenting on the flood situation in Hadauti, Superintendent of Police Sanjay Agarwal (Kota) said the water level in dams and Chambal river receded as the rains stopped.

In Rajasthan, torrential rains triggered flooding in Hadauti region in Jahalawar district prompting authorities to call out army and requisition choppers to rescue the marooned.

Rains submerged several villages as 35 people perched on a hilly terrain were rescued this morning, Rajasthan Relief Secretary R K Meena told a press conference in Jaipur. Rains also lashed Pink city and adjoining sub-urban towns since last night. Jaipur recorded 40 mm of rains.

Flood alert in 31 Gujarat villages

Authorities today sounded a flood alert in at least 31 villages of Narmada district due to a rise in the water level of Narmada River, official sources said.

The 31 villages in Nandod and Tulkwada talukas, all located on the banks of Narmada river, were alerted as the water level in the Sardar Sarovar dam at Kevadiya, about 110 km from Vadodara, touched the danger mark, Narmada district official sources told.

They attributed the sudden water rise to heavy rains in the catchment areas of dams in neighbouring Madhya pradesh.

Sonia promises special package for Karnataka

Dismissing as "baseless" the JDS-BJP government`s charge that the Centre discriminated against Karnataka in giving financial assistance to tackle flood and drought, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday promised that the UPA government would soon announce a "special package" to the state to help people hit by floods.

Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, after undertaking an aerial survey of flood-hit areas in the state last week, had announced Rs 250 crore immediate assistance to the state.

"A special package would be annoucned for Karnataka soon to help people affected by floods. It will be done shortly," the UPA chairperson said.

Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had alleged that the Centre meted out step-motherly treatment to the state in sanctioning assistance to flood and drought relief works. The state government had also complained to President A P J Abdul Kalam and sought his intervention.

Six killed in Afghan suicide attack

Kabul, Sep 4 (Xinhua) Six people were killed and seven injured in Kabul Monday in a suicide attack, apparently aimed at foreign troops.

However, the Afghanistan interior ministry said that only four people were killed in a car bombing in Kabul's Qalai Wazir area.

According to a witness, the attack took place at 10.00 a.m. (local time), killing a British soldier of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and five civilians.

An ISAF spokesperson confirmed the incident, but declined to comment on the number of casualties.

"We have a report on the explosion on Jalalabad road and we are checking it," said Major Luke Knittig of the ISAF.

Afghanistan has seen a rise in Taliban-linked violence this year, during which over 2,100 people have been killed.

Sotheby's Indian art sale to showcase miniatures

New York, Sep 4 (IANS) Sotheby's will hold an Indian art sale next week that will feature Indian miniatures, apart from a section on modern paintings including those by upcoming contemporary artists. The sale is expected to net over $12 million.

The fall sale of the Indian Art exhibition, beginning Sep 14, will feature 21 lots of Indian miniatures from a private single-owner collection. The miniatures, from the Punjab Hills schools, include a series of illustrations from the "Sunder Shringar", circa 1780, featuring Radha and Krishna (estimated at $10,000-15,000 each) and paintings from the "Harivamsa" or life of Krishna, circa 1820 (estimated at $10,000-15,000 each).

Highlighting the section of Modern Paintings is a magnificent dark-toned work by Francis Newton Souza titled "Man with Monstrance 2", an oil-on-board dating to 1953 (estimated at $500,000-700,000). Painted in textured dark tones, it deals with the conflict between religion and sex, a pervasive theme in Souza's work.

Also included in the sale are a number of works by abstract landscapist Ram Kumar, a leading figure in the modern art movement in India. Among them is an unusually rare untitled work from 1956 (estimated $120,000-180,000) belonging to the artist's early figurative phase.

Painted in glowing colours in a semi-Cubist manner, the canvas depicting two forlorn figures against a bleak cityscape is a sensitive commentary on the disillusionment of the faceless millions of urbanites with poverty and decay of post-Independence India.

Another highlight is "Varanasi" ($80,000-120,000), an ephemeral landscape painted in soothing tones inspired by that Hindu holy city.

The sale also features works by other leading modern artists such as M.F. Husain, Tyeb Mehta, S.H. Raza, J. Swaminathan and Zen master V.S. Gaitonde, and is expected to bring $8.6-12.1 million.

On Sep 22, Sotheby's will hold its first dedicated sale of Indian Contemporary Art, featuring 58 lots by young cutting-edge artists in a variety of media, including works by Atul Dodiya, Anju Dodiya, Jitish Kallat, Subodh Gupta, Riyas Komu, Shibu Natesan and Bharti Kher.

The cover lot of the sale is Atul Dodiya's "Mirage", an installation from his famous "Shutter" series of 2002 ($180,000-220,000). Another highlight of the sale is Ravinder G. Reddy's iconic Head, a gold-gilded work painted on polyester resin fibre glass (estimated $100,000-150,000).

Sudarshan Shetty creates a surreal combination of familiar forms in unexpected ways in his untitled sculpture from the "Paper Moon" series, which consists of a life-size horse standing aside a small boat with a diminutive house on its back ($60,000-80,000).

Another notable piece is "Feast for Hundred and Eight Gods" (2005), a sculpture by Subodh Gupta that uses stainless steel utensils and is the first of an edition of three (estimated $40,000-60,000). The sale is expected to bring $1.1-1.5 million.

In New York, September indeed belongs to Indian art.

Speaker to lead Indian team at CPA meet in Abuja

New Delhi, Sept 04 (ZEENEWS.COM) Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee will lead a delegation of Indian lawmakers to 52th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Conference commencing in Abuja in Nigeria today.

During the week-long meet, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be formally nominated as the vice-patron of the association as the next CPA conference is being held in India in September next year.

Chatterjee, who is the vice president of CPA, would be elected as the president of the association for the year 2006-07.

The delegation also includes Members of Parliament Harin Pathak, S S Ahluwalia, Pratibha Singh, Sarbananda Sonowal, Nand Kishore Yadav and C S Sujatha (MP), a statement issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat said here.

Besides, some Speakers and presiding officers of state assemblies and councils will also form part of the delegation, it said.

During the conference, Chatterjee would be the moderator of the topic "the role of Parliamentarians in promoting good governance through increased fiscal transparency."

Sri Lanka Army sees eastern operation winding up

Colombo, Sept 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) Sri Lanka's military said it expects to be able to resettle tens of thousands of mostly Muslim civilians displaced by fierce fighting in the east by tomorrow, a week after it launched a major operation to flush ethnic Tamil rebels from the area.

About 40,000 people fled their homes in eastern Trincomalee district in late July when the military and Tamil tiger rebels engaged in a fierce battle over control of the town of Muttur.

Most are now living in cramped and squalid refugee camps in nearby Kantale district, afraid to go home because of the near-nightly shelling and possible attacks by rebels or security forces.

Sri Lanka's Muslim population has largely kept out of the country's more than two-decade conflict between the Sinhalese-dominated state and Tamil Tiger rebels, but because they speak Tamil, they are often suspected of being informers for both sides.

Insurgents are also accused of forcibly evicting Muslims -- the country's second largest ethnic minority after the Tamils -- from areas under their control.

The military insists that its operation launched a week ago to flush rebels from Sampur and four adjoining villages, including Muttur, is based on "humanitarian grounds" so that civilians can return safely to their homes.

The government, however, says Tigers in Sampur have been firing artillery and mortars across the bay at the strategic Trincomalee Naval Base and that it is a matter of national security to reclaim it.

Sri Lankan military resumes key offensive in east

Colombo, Sep 4 (Xinhua) Sri Lankan military resumed its key push towards securing a strategic area in the east of the country, the National Security Media Centre (NSMC) said here Monday.

The troops fired multi-barrel rockets and artillery fire at the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) positions in Sampur, south of the Trincomalee harbour, the NSMC said.

Battles resumed at 8.00 p.m. Sunday and continued till around 3.00 a.m. Monday (2130 GMT, Sunday) after a complete lull Saturday, said NSMC officials, adding that the troops met with little resistance from the rebels.

The troops began its operation last week aimed at ending the Tiger control at Sampur and have now consolidated their position in four adjacent villages after early resistance from the rebels.

The government wants to capture Sampur as the LTTE have earlier attacked Trincomalee harbour from there.

Analysts say the battle for Sampur would be crucial for both the government and the rebels and may even see the current shadow war converting itself to a real war.

Though Sri Lanka has witnessed some of the worst fighting since the February 2002 Norwegian backed ceasefire, both sides claim they have not returned to armed hostilities and are only defending each other against aggression.

The LTTE's defence spokesperson Rasiah Ilanthirayan had said the battle for Sampur could well end up as the beginning of the "Eelam War IV".

The LTTE have been demanding a separate homeland for the minority Tamils in the northern and eastern provinces claiming discrimination at the hands of the majority Sinhalese community.

More than 64,000 people have died in the conflict so far.

Suspected ISI agent held in Hyderabad

Hyderabad, Sep 4 (IANS) Police claim to have foiled a conspiracy to trigger communal violence during Wednesday's Ganesh immersion procession festival with the arrest here of a suspected agent of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).

Mohammed Shakeel, 25, a resident of Saeedabad area here, reportedly confessed before police that he and his friends were planning to kill a local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader to create disturbances during the Ganesh festival. Police, announcing his arrest late Sunday, claimed to have seized CDs containing provocative speeches, urging youth to take up weapons.

Police said Shakeel, a former activist of radical group Darasgah Jihad-o-Shadat (DJS), was planning to kill BJP leader Basant Kumar Yadav. Police are on the lookout for six other people allegedly involved in the conspiracy. They also claimed to have found in Shakeel's possession a court summons issued in 2004 in connection with communal riots cases pending against him.

The arrest came even as the city is gearing up for mammoth Ganesh idol immersion processions on Wednesday. Thousands of Ganesh idols will be immersed in Hussain Sagar Lake in the city during the annual event.

This is not the first time that such arrests were made ahead of the Ganesh immersion festival. Three years ago police claimed they had foiled a plot by Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) to blow up temples aimed to spark large-scale communal violence during the festival.

Thousands of policemen have been deployed in the city ahead of the immersion processions, which will see around a million people participating and bring the entire city to a standstill.

This communally sensitive city has witnessed many communal riots in the past. However, no major violence has occurred during the processions in the last decade.

Temporary passports for stranded pilgrims in Iraq

Hyderabad, Sep 4 (IANS) The regional passport office here is arranging temporary passports for 12 Indian pilgrims, all women from Andhra Pradesh, stranded in Iraq.

The insurgents, who killed all three male members of the pilgrims' group near the Shia holy city of Karbala, also took away their passports.

According to Regional Passport Officer B. Bala Bhaskar, efforts are being made to bring back the women pilgrims, who were stranded after losing all their belongings including money and the travel documents.

He said the temporary passports were likely to be issued Monday to enable the women to return home.

However, it is not clear if the survivors, now in Karbala, want to return home immediately or continue with their planned trip to other shrines in Iraq and Islam's holiest cites of Makkah and Madina in Saudi Arabia.

Group leader Syeda Zainab Fathima informed the families of the slain pilgrims here that they would go by the decision of Zahera and Masooma, widows of the two of the three slain pilgrims.

However, the relatives of pilgrims said they were all likely to return soon as continuing the trip in the absence of male members and without travel documents may not be possible.

Four unidentified gunmen stopped the bus carrying 40 pilgrims to Karbala on Thursday. After ordering all men to get down, they asked the driver to continue the journey. Bodies of three Indians and eight Pakistanis were found later.

The three -- Jaffer Mashaddi, Mohammed Ahamed Ali and Mohuiddin Beig -- were part of a 15-member group of pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh, which had left for the pilgrimage on Aug 23 and entered Iraq after visiting pilgrim centres in Syria and Jordan.

All three slain pilgrims were buried there in the presence of other members of the group.

Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy has promised to extend all possible assistance to the kin of the slain pilgrims. According to Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, the chief minister promised Rs.200,000 as compensation to the family of Ahamed Ali and a job to one of his two sons.

Relatives of Mashaddi and Beig also met the chief minister, who promised similar assistance to them.

Thirst sensor that reminds elderly to drink

Aachen (Germany), Sep 4 (DPA) German researchers have developed a thirst sensor designed to alert the elderly when they need to drink water in order to avoid dehydration.

The device evaluates the relationship between bodily fat, water and bone mass, emitting a signal when the body has too little water.

Four tiny contact strips are attached to the skin, constantly recording data and relaying it to a pocketbook-sized apparatus carried next to the body.

"Older people lose their sense of thirst," according to Marian Walter, the scientist in charge of the project at Aachen's Technical University. "They no longer have a dry feeling in their mouth and therefore don't drink enough."

One of the reasons for this is a change in the body's hormone makeup, according to Walter.

Lack of fluids in the body leads to dehydration, which in turn can affect kidney functions, heartbeat, blood circulation and a person's memory.

A prototype is currently being tested but it is expected to take five years before the sensor is available in the market.

Three NSUI activists arrested in Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal, Sep 4 (IANS) Police Monday arrested three National Students' Union of India (NSUI) activists for violence and rioting at a Madhya Pradesh college on Aug 26, leaving a professor dead and gravely injuring another.

The violence was triggered by the cancellation of student union polls in Ujjain's Madhav college.

The NSUI activists - Jitendra Parmar, Sandeep Lote and Vinod Chourasia - were arrested after a case was registered against them by college principal L.N. Verma.

Meanwhile, the state criminal investigation department (CID), probing the murder of H.S. Sabharwal caused by mob violence, summoned nine persons for recording their statements, an official said.

Those summoned included two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) corporators - Sonu Gehlot and S.N. Chouhan and a BJP leader Sanwar Patel, a police official said.

Police also identified around two dozens people belonging to both Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and NSUI for their alleged involvement in manhandling college teacher M.L. Nath and violence in the college premises, the official said.

As the news about the BJP workers being summoned by the CID spread Sunday night, a large number of BJP workers surrounded two Ujjain police stations (Dewas gate and Jiwajiganj) protesting police action.

Train robbery in Bihar, passengers injured

Patna, Sep 4 (IANS) An armed gang of criminals looted and assaulted passengers of a train in Bihar's Bhagalpur district Sunday night, said an official.

According to police officials, over a dozen armed men looted cash and valuables worth Rs.1 million from nearly 100 passengers of the Upper India Express between Sultanganj and Maheshi station. Several passengers were injured when they resisted the robbers.

The train was travelling from Mughalsarai to Sealdah in Kolkata.

"Most of the victims of the train robbery were migrant labourers returning to Bihar from Gujarat and other states with their hard earned money," said a police official.

Train robberies in Bihar are not uncommon. Last week, armed miscreants looted the passengers of two local trains.

A few months ago, an armed gang shot a retired police officer and looted cash and valuables from passengers of a train near Patna junction.

Two dead in South African chemical plant explosion

Johannesburg, Sep 4 (DPA) At least two people were killed Monday in an explosion at one of South Africa's largest chemical plants, national radio reported.

Another worker was seriously injured when he fell at a neighbouring facility on the same site in Secunda, in the eastern part of the country.

Both facilities were temporarily shut down. They are owned by the Sasol petrochemical company and specialise in the liquefaction of coal into fuel.

There have been earlier reports of accidents at the site.

Two killed in Turkey bomb blast

Istanbul, Sep 4 (DPA) A bomb blast in a southeastern city in Turkey killed two people and wounded 14, Turkish news agency Anadolu reported.c

The explosive device was detonated in a rubbish bin outside a teashop in the city of Catak in Van province. A police officer and a city worker were killed in the bombing Sunday.

Eight of the wounded were hospitalised in Van, the provincial capital. Six others were treated locally. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Over the weekend, seven Turkish soldiers were killed in attacks allegedly carried out by Kurdish separatists.

Three of the soldiers were killed by a remotely detonated explosive device, while two were killed during a militant attack on an army post near the Turkish-Iraqi border. Two soldiers were injured in the three-hour gunfight.

A sixth Turkish soldier was killed near the Iranian border when his patrol came under attack. Provincial Governor Niyazi Tanilir said the ambush was believed to have been a carried out by militants of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), designated a terrorist group by Ankara.

In Diyarbakir province in the east, a soldier died in a landmine explosion, also blamed on Kurdish insurgents.

Over 32,000 people have been killed since the PKK began its fight in the early 1980s for independence or autonomy for the mainly Kurdish-populated southeast Turkey.

Three people were killed and over 100, including foreign tourists, wounded in bomb attacks a week ago in Istanbul and the Mediterranean resorts of Antalya and Marmaris. A PKK splinter group, the Kurdish Freedom Falcons (TAK), claimed responsibility for the bombings.

ULFA representatives to meet PM to break deadlock

Guwahati, Sep 4 (IANS) Representatives of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) are expected to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday to seek his personal intervention to break a deadlock over holding of direct peace talks between the rebel leadership and government negotiators.

"We are likely to meet the prime minister today (Monday) and give him a formal letter expressing our concern over the delay in holding of direct peace talks and New Delhi's imposition of some fresh preconditions for the release of five jailed ULFA leaders," Indira Goswami, a noted Assamese writer and sought by the ULFA to mediate for talks, told IANS by telephone from New Delhi.

Direct peace talks between the ULFA leadership and government peace negotiators were deadlocked with New Delhi last week seeking a formal letter from the outfit stating that it was ready for direct talks, name a negotiating team and to specify a timeframe for the dialogue.

"We are sure to get a positive response from the prime minister to help break the deadlock for the greater interest of peace in Assam," Goswami said.

Goswami is the leader of an 11-member team of civil society leaders - collectively called the People's Consultative Group - nominated by the ULFA in September last year to begin exploratory talks with the government.

The main issue now blocking the start of formal face-to-face talks between the ULFA and Indian government negotiators is the rebels' demand for release of five of their jailed leaders. The ULFA maintains that the outfit was not in a position to take a decision without their five central committee leaders who are currently in jail and hence insisting on their release.

"The ULFA had already in a written statement committed to holding talks in Dispur (Assam's capital) within 48-hours if the government released its five jailed rebel leaders. So I think there is no need for another letter from the ULFA as sought by the government," Goswami said.

On Aug 13, New Delhi announced a 10-day suspension of army operations against the ULFA which was later extended by another 15 days. The term of halting military operations expires Sep 7. The ULFA, too, reciprocated the government's 'goodwill gesture' by announcing cessation of hostilities for an indefinite period.

UPA steps up efforts to dislodge Jharkhand government

Ranchi, Sep 4 (IANS) The opposition United Progressive Alliance (UPA) has stepped up its effort to dislodge the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in Jharkhand.

UPA leaders of the state are camping in New Delhi and trying to cash in on the three disgruntled independent ministers - Madhu Koda, Harinarayan Rai and Enos Ekka.

Koda, Rai and Ekka are also camping in New Delhi.

"We are trying for an alternative government in the state. The three independent ministers are in touch with us. We are keeping close watch on the development of the state," said Mabel Rebelo, Congress Rajya Sabha member from Jharkhand.

She was here for two days and parlayed with the leaders of the party as well as of other political parties on the issue.

According to reports, Railway Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad has been assigned the job of exploring the possibilities of an alternative government.

Lalu Prasad held meetings with his Jharkhand legislators Saturday in New Delhi. He is also said to be in touch with Coal Minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Shibu Soren.

The RJD chief is trying to pacify Soren to allow others to become chief minister instead of him.

Sources said the central leaders of Congress have taken upon them the job of dislodging the Arjun Munda government. The Congress party is alluring the rebel ministers, with an offer of chief ministership to Koda.

The BJP leaders are trying to avert the crisis by deploying its leaders to appease the independent trio. The rebels are unhappy with the chief minister over various issues.

Chief Minister Munda Sunday spoke to party president Rajnath Singh and informed him about the Congress game plan and the grievances of the rebel trio.

Munda, however, said: "Efforts are on to dislodge my government for the past few months. My government is safe and we are enjoying a majority."

"We are dedicated to the development of the state," he said.

The threat could be assessed from the fact that Munda Sunday cancelled all his programmes and huddled with party leaders and ally partners to avert the crisis.

Jharkhand Speaker Inder Singh Namdhari is returning to the state after cutting his foreign visit midway. Even Governor Syed Sibte Razi, who was in New Delhi, returned to Ranchi Sunday.

Uttar Pradesh cops kill 210 'outlaws' in five months

Lucknow, Sep 4 (IANS) Police in Uttar Pradesh have gunned down 210 criminals in the last five months, top officials said here Monday.

The 210th "kill" was 22-year-old Ramesh Chandra Pandey, who faced charges in several cases, including murder and extortion, and was gunned down here Sunday, said Principal Home Secretary Satish Kumar Agarwal and Director General of Police Bua Singh.

According to the officials, who described the numbers as unprecedented, Pandey was a member of the Hanuman Shukla gang that had unleashed terror in large parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh.

"The Shukla and other gangs known for monopolising multi-crore government contracts in departments of public works and irrigation were also responsible for retarding development in the economically backward eastern Uttar Pradesh," Agarwal told IANS.

"These criminal gangs were largely responsible for the slow pace of development in the eastern part of the state as they not only indulged in extortion, but were also known to have murdered honest government engineers who refused to bow down before their undue demands."

Agarwal denied that the 210 criminals gunned down by police had any political links.

"During the course of this drive, we have so far not encountered any kind of interference from any political quarter," the official claimed.

DGP Singh added: "We are determined to teach these criminals a lesson and we wish to send the message loud and clear that enough is enough."

Asked why police had failed to overpower or eliminate more wanted outlaws, who had been at large for decades despite declaration of huge cash rewards, Singh admitted: "We have not been able to track them down so far despite our best efforts. But we have not given up and hope to get them too."

The exercise was apparently undertaken as a key part of the Mulayam Singh Yadav government's image-building drive after it got considerable flak for the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

World religious leaders discuss Lebanon future

Assisi (Italy), Sep 4 (DPA) Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders gathered in the central Italian town of Assisi Monday to discuss the crisis in Lebanon and how to foster dialogue between the world's faiths and cultures.

The Sant'Egidio Community, a Rome-based Catholic group, organises the annual two-day "International Meeting and Prayer for Peace" and this year takes place in the home of St. Francis.

It comes 20 years after the first such gathering of religious leaders headed by the late Pope John Paul II here in 1986.

In an address read out to participants during the meeting's opening ceremony, Pope Benedict XVI warned believers against the use of force in the name of religion, saying religion should unite rather than divide.

"No one should be allowed to use religious difference as an assumption or a pretext for belligerent attitudes towards other human beings," Benedict said.

Sant'Egidio said worldwide peace, religions and cultures in dialogue, would form the central theme of the meeting here.

"At a time marked by terrorism and war, as well as by efforts towards dialogue and reconciliation, religion has assumed a prominent role in public life and in conflicts of identity.

Religions are ever more exposed to the peril of becoming implements in the hands of extremists," Sant'Egidio said in a statement.

Prominent participants include the Grand Rabbi Cohen of Haifa, Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, Rector of Egypt's Al-Azhar University, as well as a number of Catholic cardinals. Orthodix Christian, Protestant, Buddhist and Shintoist leaders were also taking part.

Monday's agenda included a discussion on the future of Lebanon attended, among others, by Lebanon's Culture Minister Tarek Mitri.

Italian troops, meanwhile, arrived in Lebanon over the weekend as part of a planned 15,000-strong UN Interim Force (UNIFIL) contingent to be deployed in a buffer zone between Israel and Lebanon.

'40 Abu Sayyaf militants killed in Philippines'

Manila, Sep 5 (DPA) At least 40 Abu Sayyaf rebels were killed in a clash with government troops on a southern Philippine island that also left six soldiers dead, a marine commander said Tuesday.

The Abu Sayyaf guerillas were suspected of harbouring two key suspects in the 2002 Bali bombings.

"Soldiers hurled six grenades on about 40 militants, who were taking their breakfast, killing them," Brigadier General Ben Dolorfino said.

"But our men had no idea that they were also surrounded by another band of Abu Sayyaf militants."

Dolorfino said 20 soldiers were wounded in the close-quarter combat with the Al Qaeda-linked guerrillas that lasted for more than two hours Monday in Patikul town on Jolo island, 1,000 km south of Manila.

Troops were not able to recover the bodies of the guerrillas, the officer said.

The military said the rebels were lead by Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani and included Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militants Dulmatin and Omar Patek, key suspects in the October 2002 bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, which killed more than 200 people.

Last week, the military said it was dispatching more troops to Jolo to boost the hunt against Janjalani, Dulmatin and Patek, and this week, reinforcement were dispatched to Patikul to pursue the rebels after Monday's clash, when they fled deep into the jungle.

The military has been conducting an offensive against the
Abu Sayyaf on Jolo since the start of the month in a bid to flush out Dulmatin and Patek, who are allegedly under the protection of the rebels.

The Abu Sayyaf rebel group has been held responsible for deadly terrorist attacks in the Philippines as well as high-profile kidnappings of foreign nationals.

The US has included the Abu Sayyaf and JI on its blacklist of foreign terrorist organisations because of their alleged links to the Al Qaeda terrorist network.

'Balochis will rise again'

By G.S. Bhargava

As a correspondent in Pakistan I had an insight into Balochistan for the first time in 1960-61. The area was in the news when Western wire services reported rumblings of revolt in Pakistan's largest province.

Luckily for me there was a knowledgeable Balochi lecturer in Rawalpindi where I was stationed. He taught history part-time in the local Gordon College. A young man in his late 20s, he was the source on Balochi developments to many of our Pakistani colleagues but they could not use most of what he told them about the happenings in the area. So they would pass it on to me.

Like Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, 'Bugti' for short, the lecturer also was from Sui, where massive reserves of natural gas had been discovered in 1952. (There was an abortive agreement for the sale of piped Sui gas to India when Field Marshal Ayub Khan's was president.)

Mind you, although martial law had been lifted, Pakistan remained under 'Field Marshal law', referring to Field Marshal Ayub Khan's dictatorship. Indirect elections under his 'basic democracy' system were still to take place. As the two Indian correspondents in 'Pindi, we were under intense watch.

For a government institution, the Gordon College was an interesting establishment. The geography lecturer would openly say in the classroom that he was not used to drawing the map of a truncated country. That was nearly 15 years after the partition of the subcontinent.

He was in his late 40s and apparently did not mind speaking out his sentiments. But our colleagues - many of them Mohajir migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar struggling to strike roots in Ayub Khan's capital after having shifted from Karachi - were uneasy to be seen in my company.

Archaeological and historical evidence showed that what had come to be known as Balochistan was already inhabited in the Stone Age, 7,000-3,000 B.C. Until overrun by Alexander the Great, it was part of the Persian Empire, with the appellation of "Maka".

Muhammad bin Qasim brought Islam to it in 711 A.D. when he conquered Sind, but the area was too remote to be controlled by any of the later local dynasties.

More significantly, the lecturer and my Pakistani colleagues credited me with kinship with the Balochis because the Brahui language of the tribes occupying the hills around Kalat belonged to the same family as Tamil - Dravidian, which is outside the Indo-European group. (They did not perceive any difference between Tamil and my mother tongue Telugu because we are all "Madrasis"!)

The Brahuis are seen as the last survivors of a Dravidian population, which perhaps helped in the founding of the Indus Valley civilisation.

Another nugget was that Balochistan was not part of Pakistan at its birth in August 1947. It had to be virtually annexed in 1948. The last ruler of Kalat, Mir Ahmad Yar Khan (1902-79), did not sign the merger treaty with the new dominion, taking advantage of loopholes in the state's 1876 treaty with the British.

That led to Kalat's forcible merger with Pakistan along with Balochistan in tow to become Pakistan's largest province. Ten years later, the Sultan of Oman sold the strategic Gwadar port and adjacent area to Pakistan, completing the present territorial shape of Balochistan. The Gwadar area had been gifted to an ancestor of the Sultan of Oman by the then Khan of Kalat.

The current phase of turmoil in Balochistan began in January 2005 when Frontier Corps personnel stationed at Sui reportedly raped a local woman doctor. The victim, Shazia Khalid, was ultimately sent off to Canada but public resentment against "Punjabi atrocities" simmered.

Bugti and his nationalist allies, especially Balaj Marri, the Balochistan Liberation Army leader, made an issue of their demand for an increased share of wealth from natural resources extracted from the province.

Bugti was not a run-of-the-mill rabble-rouser. After graduation from the prestigious Aitchinson College of Lahore, he went to Oxford for higher studies. A polished speaker in Urdu as well as his native Balochi, he was forward looking and creative in his approach to public life.

Although the Pakistani Army and bureaucracy were gunning for him, Ayub Khan found him a potential ally in the nation building. So with the help of the Khan of Kalat, related through his daughter's marriage, he sorted out the trouble amicably. Later, General Zia-ul-Haq also got on famously with Bugti, who was made governor of the province from 1973 to 1977.

But Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, first when he replaced General Yahya Khan as chief martial law administrator and later as prime minister, unleashed terror on Balochistan using helicopter gunships and missiles to maim and kill the tribals.

In the present crisis, General Pervez Musharraf's troops have killed Bugti, his two grandsons and at least a score or so tribal followers of Bugti. The tribals have undoubtedly suffered a setback in the armed struggle. But the psychological aspect of the Balochi struggle continues.

As the president of the Balochistan National Party, Sardar Akhtar Mengal, has poignantly pointed out: "After every 10 years they gift us dead bodies of our leaders... We will not forget this. Bugti's murder shall not go unavenged."

In other words, "the Balochis will rise again".

(G.S. Bhargava, who served as a newspaper correspondent in Pakistan, is a former principal information officer of the Government of India. He can be reached at gsbhargava@hotmail.com)

10 killed in road accidents in UP

Pratapgarh (UP), Sept 5 (ZEENEWS.COM) Ten persons, including a security guard and driver of former MP Ratna Singh, were killed and 14 injured in separate accidents in Pratapgarh and Barabanki districts on Monday.

The jeep carrying the security guards of Ratna Singh, who was travelling in another vehicle, dashed into a roadside tree while trying to overtake a truck on Kalakanker-Allahabad road near Manikapur area, police said.

While the security guard and driver of the former MP died on the spot, six seriously injured were admitted to hospital, police said.

In Barabanki, four persons travelling in a mini truck were killed and six others seriously injured when the vehicle fell into a canal after hitting a tree in Rasauli area, Superintendent of Police S B Sheredkar said.

In another accident, four persons were killed and two injured when their car collided with a truck in Asandra police station area, the SP said, adding the injured were referred to the Lucknow Medical College Hospital.

15 dead in Egyptian train wreck

Cairo, Sep 5 (DPA) At least 15 people were killed and 35 injured when a passenger train collided with a freight train about 25 km north of Cairo, an Egyptian security official said.

The death toll was likely to rise as rescue operations continue on the accident site. The accident occurred late Monday.

The cause of the mishap was not immediately known.

A train accident last month in the same part of the country killed 58 people.

33 bodies found scattered across Baghdad

Baghdad, Sept 5 (ZEENEWS.COM) Police found the tortured, blindfolded bodies of 33 men scattered across the capital and the U.S.-led coalition reported combat deaths of seven servicemen, a day after Iraqi leaders said the capture of a top terror suspect would reduce violence.

Iraqi soldiers also clashed Monday with gunmen near the holy city of Karbala during an operation to secure the area ahead of a religious festival on Saturday, leaving 14 gunmen and one soldier dead, the prime minister's office said.

Kidnappers also dragged off a popular soccer star in Baghdad, while a security crackdown in the city expanded into the upscale Mansour neighborhood.

An al-Qaida-affiliated group dismissed the Iraqi government's claim that the organization's second most important leader had been arrested, suggesting the man was not a senior figure and denying the terror group had suffered a significant blow.

On Sunday, Iraq's national security adviser announced the arrest of Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi, also known as Abu Humam or Abu Rana, and said that had left al-Qaida in Iraq suffering a "serious leadership crisis."

But the Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of Sunni Arab extremist groups that includes al-Qaida in Iraq, issued a statement Monday saying its "leadership was in the best condition."

The statement did not directly deny the arrest, or say what position al-Saeedi held, although it suggested he was not the No. 2 leader.

The security adviser, Mouwafak al-Rubaie, described al-Saeedi as the second most important al-Qaida in Iraq figure behind Abu Ayyub al-Masri, who is believed to have taken over the group after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed by a US airstrike in June.

70 percent addicts in Nepal are schoolchildren

By Sudeshna Sarkar,

Kathmandu, Sep 5 (IANS) An unsuspecting Nepal should wake up to a hard lesson -- about 70 percent of its documented drug addicts are schoolchildren.

Social service organisation Narconon Nepal says it came across the stunning discovery that about 64 percent of addicts are youngsters studying in Classes 7 and 8 during its work with drug users in the Himalayan kingdom.

According to Puja Kanwar, director of the Nepal chapter of the international network of drug prevention and social education rehabilitation centres founded by a former convict and heroin addict, there are at least 150,000 addicts of whom nearly 105,000 are school students.

Of these, over 80 percent were introduced to drugs by other older or former students.

A vicious cycle of initiation and addiction is forged in middle school that gradually expands to include sexual exploitation and domestic violence.

"I was introduced to drugs by an older student of my school and I began peddling drugs among my friends so that I could use the money to buy drugs for myself," a student who joined Narconon Nepal's de-addiction centre told the authorities.

"In three years, I had taught 45 of my peers to take drugs."

Teenage romance is a key factor in spreading drug abuse in schools, according to Kanwar.

Students start having boyfriends and girlfriends while in school. If one in a couple is a drug user, chances are that he or she will try to introduce the partner to the habit. There are about 25,000 teenage girls among student drug users.

Girls are especially vulnerable because their parents often do not try to get them treated, but seek to hide the fact for fear they would not be able to get them married. Often forced to stay at home and lacking other ways to get money, girls get into prostitution.

Besides health problems that can shorten one's life span, addicted youngsters also tend to get moody, violent and abusive, taking out their frustration and anger on parents. Subsequently, parents also fall prey to illnesses, especially heart and hypertension related diseases.

Kunwar says about 90 percent addicts are known to lay hands on their parents or spouses.

Finally, she says, the mother becomes the most affected with other relatives blaming her for her child's affliction. She is accused of having spoilt the child by overindulgence, leading to the tribulation.

As a measure to fight back, Narconon Nepal asks mothers to be especially vigilant and contact social organisations to learn how to spot drug problems in their children.

The Narconon programme was founded by Arizona citizen William Benitez in 1966. Benitez, a heroin addict serving his sentence in the Arizona State Prison, read a book by American author L. Ron Hubbard that taught how one could increase one's abilities and began applying the principles along with dozens of other inmates, resulting in a permanent cure to their addictions.

Account freeze can hit peace process: TRO

Colombo, Sep 5 (IANS) A Tamil charity linked to the Tamil Tigers says the Sri Lankan government's decision to freeze its bank accounts will surely impact the country's blood-splattered peace process.

The Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) said the action "is bound to have a serious negative impact on the Tamil diaspora, significantly affecting their capacity or willingness to bring about a peaceful settlement to the conflict".

On Aug 29, Seylan Bank, Commercial Bank, Bank of Ceylon, People's Bank, Hatton National Bank, Pan Asia Bank and Standard Chartered Bank informed TRO that they had been asked by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to "freeze" all TRO accounts.

The TRO office here was advised by all these banks that no transactions would be allowed until further notice.

TRO said it had not received any official notice on this matter from the Central Bank and there had not been any request for information from the Central Bank or any notice of any investigation into TRO's activities.

"TRO, as always, will assist and fully support any enquiry or investigation into any aspects of its operation. However, this action by the central bank exerts extreme pressure on its ability to operate and will negatively impact the tsunami and war affected populations," it said in a statement.

It also said that since registering with the Sri Lankan government as a charity, TRO had responded to all requests for financial and project information from various government departments.

The frozen funds amount to approximately US$ 750,000 and were targeted for tsunami related projects that would benefit Tamil, Muslim and Sinhalese people in Sri Lanka's northeast. The Tamil diaspora had donated 40 percent of the funds.

AISF demands speedy action in harassment of student

Aligarh, Sept 5 (ZEENEWS.COM) All-India Students Federation activists on Monday took out a procession protesting the delay in action against an Aligarh Muslim University teacher for alleged sexual harassment of a former girl student, who is on an indefinite hunger strike here.

AMU Vice-Chancellor Naseem Ahmad was due to meet the former student of the Sanskrit department Asma Javed and her supporters to work out a solution tonight and has expressed "serious concern" at the turn of events.

"There is no reason for Asma Javed to lose faith in the AMU women's grievance cell probing the case. The inquiry is taking time as several witnesses on both sides had turned hostile and some were from outside Aligarh," he said.

The condition of Javed, on a fast since August 31, has deteriorated and the CPI-affiliated AISF has threatened to intensify its agitation if punitive action is not taken against the AMU senior teacher accused of sexual harassment.

Javed had also written to the National Commission for Women that she received death threats pressuring her to withdraw the charge of "mental and sexual harassment" against Mohammed Shareef of the Sanskrit department.

She has alleged that her score in the admission test for the PHD course in Sanskrit was tampered with and she failed to qualify by just one mark.

All students to sing Vande Mataram in Haryana

Chandigarh, Sep 5 (IANS) Students will have to sing the national song - Vande Mataram - in their respective institutions Sep 7 to mark its anniversary in Haryana.

Education Minister Phool Chand Mullana said here Tuesday that instructions have been issued to all schools in this regard.

He said that the national song has been an important part of India's freedom struggle. The song will be sung by students in the morning assembly.

Mullana said that principals and teachers have been instructed to explain the importance of the song to students.

Allahabad HC to hear petition on Vande Mataram

Lucknow, Sept 5 (ZEENEWS.COM) A writ petition seeking to make mandatory for every one in Government, semi-government and educational institutions, except Muslims, to recite Vande Mataram on September 07 was filed in the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court yesterday. It is likely to be heard today.

The petition by one B N Shukla was filed in the registry of the court yesterday and was likely to come up for hearing today.

The petitioner has also sought directives to the Union and state governments to ensure that Muslims were not allowed to participate in the celebrations and the recital of Vande Mataram.

It pleaded that Vande Mataram had been accorded the status of National Anthem.

Annan agrees to mediate release of two Israeli soldiers

Jiddah, Sept 5 (ZEENEWS.COM) UN chief Kofi Annan has agreed to mediate in efforts for the release of two abducted Israeli soldiers after requests from both Hezbollah and Israel, Annan's spokesman said today.

It would be the first time that Israel has publicly agreed to indirect contacts with the Lebanese guerrilla group over winning the release of the two soldiers, snatched in a cross-border raid on July 12. Their capture sparked a massive Israeli offensive against Hezbollah that lasted 34 days until a U.N.-arranged cease-fire.

Hezbollah has said it would only free the two Israelis as part of a swap for Arab prisoners held by Israel, and has repeatedly said it is ready for mediation to arrange an exchange. Israel has insisted it wants an unconditional release of the soldiers.

Annan's spokesman, Ahmad Fawzi, would not comment on whether the Secretary General's mediation would focus on proposals for a swap.

"The Secretary-General has accepted to play a role as mediator in the matter of the abducted soldiers,'' Fawzi told the associated press. ``They have both requested mediation,'' he said, referring to Hezbollah and Israel.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev and Hezbollah's chief spokesman, Hussein Rahal, refused to comment on the report.

Word of the mediation mission came as Annan met with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah in the Red Sea port of Jiddah, the latest stop in the U.N. chief's 11-day tour of the Middle East aimed at getting all sides to implement and support the U.N. cease-fire resolution.

The UN resolution calls for the two Israelis' release, and Israel has underlined that winning their freedom is crucial for the truce to hold. At the same time, it has been showing signs of backing down on its refusal to negotiate a swap amid growing public pressure. Hezbollah and Israel have had prisoner swaps in the past.

During his Mideast trip, Annan has also been dealing with the west's nuclear standoff with Iran, after Tehran ignored a United Nations deadline last Thursday to halt uranium enrichment, opening the door to possible UN sanctions over concerns that Iran is building nuclear weapons.

Art of Living peps up rural leaders

Bangalore, Sep 5 (IANS) A three-day camp hosted by a leading Indian lifestyle guru for village leaders in Karnataka has ended, winning accolades from participants for turning them into new men.

Over 500 Zila Parishad members from all parts of the state participated in the 'Gyan-Dhyan-Yoga' event hosted by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living group. They have returned home with a new zest for serving rural masses, according to Art of Living officials. The camp ended Aug 31.

This watershed initiative inspired by Sri Sri empowered and instilled a new sense of commitment and dynamism among the rural leaders, cutting across party lines.

The camp was organised by Sri Sri Rural Development Programme in collaboration with the ministry of rural development and Panchayat Raj.

"As a result of this camp there will be a healthy atmosphere for development in the villages," said Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister C M Udashi.

"The idea behind the camp was to engineer a transformation at the grassroots level. Seeing the enthusiasm of the participants, I am happy that the camp has had the desired effect," he said.

A new zest for service was evident amongst these elected representatives of rural Karnataka. Many Zila Parishad participants called it a new beginning in their lives.

"Thanks to the rainy weather of Kodagu, I used to drink every day. After experiencing the 'Sudarshan Kriya', I have decided not to drink again," said Manumuthappa, a Bharatiya Janata Party member of Kodagu Zila Parisahd.

"Earlier we thought money was the purpose of our work. But now I have realised the importance of serving other people," said S.M. Ankad, a Zila Parishad member from Gadag.

Many participants reported freedom from tension and stress.

"I pray five times a day, but I experienced a different level of prayer when I was doing the 'Sudarshan Kriya' and sitting in satsang with Guruji. The whole experience was like doing zikr (japa) of Allah," said S.M. Khadari of Gulbarga.

Addressing the participants, Sri Sri called upon them to focus on character building of the masses. "The respect a person commands in society is because of his character and behaviour, not the position he or she holds," he said.

He called upon the villagers to rise above party politics and stay united for the development of villages.

"Do not divide the people in the name of caste and religion," he said. "The camp will help provide a new direction in the administration of the villages in Karnataka."

The Art of Living, founded by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, is running several development programmes aimed at creating economically, socially and environmentally self-reliant rural communities. So far it has reached out to over 25,300 villages in India.

Australian cities seek Indian investments

New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) Seeking Indian investments, delegations from two Australian cities, Melbourne and Ballarat, Tuesday held interactive meetings here with leading investors and highlighted possibilities they offer.

At the interactive organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the delegation from Melbourne, led by councillor Fiona Snedden, discussed possible collaborations in information and communications technology (ICT), mining, manufacturing and entertainment and also offered assistance in the run-up to the 2010 Commonwealth Games being hosted here.

Given Melbourne's experience of hosting the 2006 Commonwealth Games, Snedden said: "Melbourne can assist India in organising the 2010 Games in New Delhi."

She highlighted that Melbourne has a fund that supports the economic and business development, and helps in making it a connected, accessible, innovative and vital business city.

With the success of Bollywood film "Salaam Namaste" shot in Melbourne, joint ventures in film production, related software and post-production were highlighted among areas of cooperation.

The team from the neighbouring city of Ballarat, led by the city's mayor councillor David Vendy, focused on small and medium industries, ICT, education and food processing.

A gold-rush town, Ballarat is one of Australia's largest inland cities and home to several large ICT companies such as Telstra, Neighbourhood Cable, Chariot NetConnect and IBM Global Services as well as leading processed foods companies.

In March this year, Ballarat had hosted a business delegation led by the CII to Australia coinciding with the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

The City of Ballarat and CII (small and medium enterprises division) Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding under which they would partner in the India Global Summit on SMEs in the capital from Nov 22-23.

The event is being organised by CII in association with the Indian ministry of small scale industries.

Australia has become an increasingly important economic partner for India, with bilateral trade at $5.8 billion in 2005-06.

Many Australian companies have outsourced call-centre and IT work to India and several others have invested in India in mining, port development, chemicals, entertainment and breweries.

Similarly, many major Indian companies like NIIT, HCL, TCS, engineering companies such as Dastur Engineering International and hospitality companies including Oberoi Hotels International have operations in Australia.

Bali bomber gets 8 years jail

Bali (Indonesia), Sep 5 (DPA) An Indonesian court sentenced a militant to eight years in prison for involvement in a triple suicide bombing in Bali last year that killed 20 people.

Bali's Denpasar District Court handed down a guilty verdict Tuesday against Abdul Azis, 30, who was accused of harbouring the alleged mastermind of the attack, Malaysian terrorist leader Noordin Mohammed Top, in the months before the blasts occurred.

Azis was charged under an anti-terrorism law enacted only weeks after the first Bali bombings in October 2002, which killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.

State prosecutors had recommended Azis be sentenced to 10 years.

"The defendant Abdul Azis was convincingly and legally guilty of committing an act of terrorism" on Oct 1, 2005, Chief Judge Nyoman Gde Wirya said in her ruling.

In the attacks, militants detonated bombs hidden inside backpacks they were carrying at tourist sites on Bali's Jimbaran and Kuta beaches.

In addition to being convicted for sheltering Noordin, Azis was also found guilty of helping construct a now-banned website that offered extremists instructions on how to carry out attacks on Westerners in Jakarta and the best locations for it.

Anti-terror police have been on a nationwide manhunt for the elusive Noordin, who most recently escaped a police raid on a hideout in Central Java province in late April.

Two Indonesian militants, who along with Noordin were members of the Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terrorist network, were shot and killed during that raid, while two others were captured.

Noordin is accused of orchestrating some of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Indonesia in recent years, including the October 2002 Bali bombings, the August 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing in Jakarta, and the September 2004 blast outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta.

Meanwhile, another militant went on trial Tuesday in East Java's Surabaya district court, accused of involvement in the bombing outside the Australian embassy, which killed 11 people.

He is also accused of being a member of JI, whose goal is to turn Indonesia and the other nine Southeast Asian nations into an Islamist caliphate.

Bangladesh Biman stir called off, financial problems continue

Dhaka, Sep 5 (IANS) Even as the strike call for Thursday by employees of Bangladesh Biman was called off, the ailing national carrier is beset with serious financial problems.

The airline has no money to pay salaries. The government says it has no extra budgetary allocation for the airline, an autonomous corporation. It can only arrange bank loans provided Biman affects cost-cutting in it operations.

"I have no money for Biman," said Finance Minister Saifur Rahman after a meeting with Minister of State for Aviation, Mirza Alamgir, The Daily star said on Tuesday.

Employees had given a strike call for Thursday aimed at suspending all domestic and international air operations.

However, the strike was called off on Monday as their leaders were satisfied with the assurance from Alamgir that the financial woes of the airline would be tackled.

The airline has incurred a loss of Taka 10 billion (about $150 million) during the last fiscal and has sought Tk 70 million from the government for its immediate needs.

The minister promised to meet the employees' demand of Tk 120 million during the meeting he had on Monday.

Bangladesh has a growing 12 percent per year aviation market, but against its earning of $200 million annual, foreign airlines earn $1.2 billion.

While the government blames Biman for lack of planning and cost-cutting strategy and running it in an unprofessional manner, the newspaper blamed the government for "utter negligence" in equipping Biman with adequate aircraft, absence of professional marketing plan and poor manpower planning.

This had helped foreign airlines to drain out 90 percent of air-passenger revenue from Bangladesh, it said. Bangladesh's growing airlines market should have encouraged the cash-strapped government to invest more in this sector to make Biman "a cash cow".

The over-staffed national airline is helplessly watching the foreign airlines bag another $500 million a year from freight charges, the newspaper said.

Be prepared for new age terror: PM

New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) Exhorting chief ministers to revamp past security practices and brace themselves to prepare for new age terror, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Tuesday that intelligence agencies had warned of more terrorist attacks, possibly on economic and religious targets, as well as on nuclear installations.

Singh's grim forewarning comes nearly two months after a series of bombs on commuter trains in Mumbai, India's financial hub, that killed 186 people.

During the address to the conclave, the second in five months, Manmohan Singh also cautioned chief ministers on the threats to internal security from terrorism and Maoism that had engulfed huge swathes of the country and which was spreading to other states.

"Intelligence agencies warn of a further intensification of violent activities with the possibility of more fidayeen attacks, use of suicide bombers, attacks on economic and religious targets, targeting of vital installations, including nuclear establishments and army camps."

"Reports also suggest that terrorist modules and sleeper cells exist in some of our urban areas, all of which highlight the seriousness of the threat."

"Concern about the increasing activities of externally inspired and directed terrorist outfits in the country is justified," Singh told the internal security meeting.

Almost as a reaction to Singh's grim observations, home minister Shivraj Patil immediately announced a sum of Rs 9 billion for shoring up security in all coastal states with Rs 5 million earmarked specially for Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Singh also cautioned the chief ministers against unfairly targeting the Muslim community while the security agencies came down heavily in the fight against terror.

This, he stressed, was imperative to offset a sense of alienation among India's roughly 140 million minority Muslims and ensure that efforts to stamp out Islamist militancy do not victimise the entire community.

"It is unfortunate that terrorism has resulted in certain sections of our population being targeted, with the result that a wrong impression has been created of the radicalisation of the entire Muslim community," the prime minister noted.

"It is, hence, imperative that we embark immediately upon a proactive policy to ensure that a few individual acts do not result in tarnishing the image of an entire community, and remove any feelings of persecution and alienation from the minds of the minorities."

Bemoaning that not enough was done to fill up vacancies in the police forces, Singh said states needed to bring "beat constables" into the fold to help in pre-empting militant attacks.

He also pointed to the need for improving the quality of state Special Branches and toning up the law and order administration.

Addressing the press at the end of the day's deliberations, Patil announced that police and beat constables would be roped into the intelligence wing as well as improve on the working ratio between the police and public. Currently, there are a mere 12,700 police stations in 850,000 cities and villages.

Tuesday's conference was primarily aimed to discuss and fine-tune security strategies to tackle terrorism and insurgencies across the country as well as improve coordination between New Delhi and the states.

Dwelling on the Maoist rebellion in the country that he described as the single biggest internal security challenge faced by the country, Manmohan Singh pointed out that the strategy to counter it would have to be based on an effective response and a focus on reducing underdevelopment.

The Andhra Pradesh government came up for praise for deploying the specialist Greyhounds force on anti-Maoist operations and Singh exhorted other affected states to take in hand what deliverables were possible even while preparing to meet the challenge through effective law and order measures.

Besides terrorism, the meeting also discussed the insurgency in Jammu & Kashmir where Singh said the overall security situation had shown signs improvement in the past two years but it was necessary for New Delhi to maintain its guard.

"We should remain on our guard in view of continuing efforts by anti-India and antinational elements to whip up emotions and transform these into a violent movement."

For the last two months, India has been on a heightened security alert, with fears of more attacks across the country, particularly in New Delhi and Mumbai, and at airports after a US embassy warning on Independence Day.

Beware! Cosmetic products could damage your health

London, Sep 5 (IANS) Some of the cosmetic products one uses in every day life contain mind-boggling cocktail of different chemicals that scientists say could cause cancers, hormone problems and skin cancers.

Every day an average woman applies 175 different chemicals to her body in the form of cosmetics and toiletries, reported the online edition of Daily Mail.

Most beauty products contain chemicals linked to various health problems. They include chemicals linked to cancers, hormone problems and skin-irritations, according to Chemical Safe Skincare.co.uk, a campaign group set up by a group of concerned consumers and conscientious manufactures.

The group - set up by the manufacturers of natural products - is especially concerned about three commonly occurring ingredients, which it says can be extremely harmful.

Preserving agents called parabens - often used in moisturisers and body creams - have been linked to breast cancer and also to skin inflammations.

Foaming agents such as sodium lauryl sulphate and sodium laureth sulphate - used in shampoos - are said to be skin irritants.

The disinfectant formaldehyde - in shampoos and hand wash - can make skin flare up and is linked to asthma and headaches, the group said.

Some of the chemicals in these everyday toiletries may also trigger irritant reactions or allergy, spokesman for the British Skin Foundation charity David Gawkrodger said.

Reactions are particularly seen in patients with atopic eczema and those with sensitive skin.

"Most reactions will be to the face or hands, and sometimes on the arms and legs," Gawkrodger said.

BHEL in Book of Records for doing India proud

New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) Reflecting the dominant position of state-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) in the country's engineering and power plant equipment industry, the Limca book of Records 2006 features the company under the section 'Doing India Proud'.

Set up with a mission to make the country self-reliant in the manufacture of power plant equipment, the book recognises BHEL's contribution to the power development programme.

Today BHEL sets account for 65 percent of India's total installed generating capacity while generating 73 percent of the total power in the country.

To meet the country's power capacity addition targets for providing 'power to all by 2012', BHEL is presently investing more than Rs.16 billion for modernisation and capacity expansion of its facilities, the company said in a statement Tuesday.

The focus of the initiative is on addition of facilities for various products in its manufacturing units and for construction tools and equipments for erection and commissioning services at customer project sites.

India is targeting capacity addition of over 62,000 MW during the 11th five-year plan (2007-12).

To meet this target BHEL is on course to raise its manufacturing capacity from 6,000 MW per annum at present to 10,000 MW per annum, which will be available in 2007.

The Limca Book of Records also recognises BHEL's role as India's industrial ambassador to the world having supplied products/services to over 65 countries.

Bhutan's march to democracy begins with mock election

Thimphu, Sep 5 (IANS) Bhutan is holding a three-day mock election from Thursday to prepare officials and citizens ahead of the first general polls in 2008 when the Himalayan kingdom shifts from monarchy to parliamentary democracy.

A statement by Bhutan's Election Commission said the three-day mock election to be held at the National Institute of Education at Paro, 65 km from capital Thimphu, would include political campaigning, voting, counting of votes and declaration of results.

"The key objectives of such a mock election is to introduce the new political system and the election process to the teachers and lecturers and test run the Election Commission's election procedures," the statement said.

The entire exercise, where teachers and other election officials would act as politicians and voters, would be made into a documentary film.

"The film would be shown in the national television and would serve as education material to make the people aware about the election process," an election official said.

The first round of mock elections ended last week with the Election Commission announcing that it would hold such dry runs on a regular basis to create awareness about the poll procedures to its citizens and political parties.

"The mock elections would orient both citizens and officials across the country on how parties are to be formed, who could vote, and how to operate the electronic voting machines," Bhutan's national newspaper Kuensel said.

King Jigme Singye Wangchuck in December last year made a landmark decision to abdicate the throne in favour of his eldest son, Crown Prince Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, 25, before Bhutan adopts a constitution and elects a prime minister in 2008.

Bhutan's Election Commission said some 400,000 voters out of the country's nearly 600,000 people would be eligible to exercise their franchise in the 2008 elections to choose the first democratically elected government.

The commission would issue photo identity cards for voters to make the polling fair.

"It is our prayer and our commitment that the Election Commission shall raise to the occasion. We look forward to the fullest support and cooperation of the citizens of Bhutan," Dasho Kunzang Wangdi, Bhutan's chief election commissioner, said.

The transition began five years ago when the king handed over the powers of daily government to a council of ministers and empowered the national assembly to force a royal abdication if three-quarters of its membership backed the motion.

Bhutan in 2004 year unveiled a 34-point constitution and the same was sent to some 530,000 citizens for their views. The constitution is expected to be ratified after a referendum.

Once adopted, the constitution will replace a royal decree of 1953 giving the monarch absolute power.

King Wangchuck is the fourth ruler in the Wangchuck dynasty that came to power in December 1907.

BJP calls for amnesty plan by Centre on Delhi sealing drive

New Delhi, Sept 5 (ZEENEWS.COM) As the sealing drive gained momentum in the capital, BJP today asked the Centre to pitch in with an amnesty plan to provide relief to thousands of Delhiites by regularising all buildings constructed on private-held land.

The opposition party also alleged that the Centre and the state government, both led by Congress, have made the people of capital "fools" by repeated promises of providing relief.

Proposing a general amnesty scheme to help people who bear the brunt of the ongoing sealing and demolition drive, BJP'S deputy leader in Lok Sabha V K Malhotra said the plan should envisage regularisation of all houses and shops built on their own lands.

"This does not mean that we are for regularising constructions on encraoched land," Malhotra told reporters here releasing a letter written by him to Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy in this regard.

The BJP leader said schools recognised by the government and MCD should be spared from the ongoing demolition drive as it affects the future of a lot of students.

He also ridiculed the present system of categorising areas on the basis of house and property tax was flawed as political pressure can effect changes in the categorisation.

Like earmarking industrial areas, commercial areas should be marked, he said. He also demanded that mixed use land should be allowed in all the areas of Delhi. For the purpose of mixed land use the compulsion of the house owners to run the shops should end, he said.

In the letter, he also asked the government not to demolish religious places built before January 2006 and to regularise all unauthorised colonies on public and non-public land so that lakhs of underprivileged people would be benfitted.

Calderon to be Mexican president

Mexico City, Sept 5 (ZEENEWS.COM) An electoral court will name conservative Felipe Calderon to be Mexico's next president on Tuesday, ending months of legal battles but not spirited protests by leftists who say he stole a July vote.

Losing left-winger Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador alleges massive fraud in the July 2 election and promises to keep up his fight with street demonstrations, even though the seven electoral court judges tossed out his fraud claims last week.

The panel meets again on Tuesday morning and will confirm Calderon's slim victory, sources close to the court said.

The election and the fraud claims have divided Mexico and represent a serious challenge to its fledgling democracy just six years after President Vicente Fox's dramatic victory ended decades of one-party rule.

On Monday, Calderon aide Juan Camilo Mourino said the new government would make the fight against poverty a central theme, in an attempt to win over the millions who voted for Lopez Obrador and still believe the election was stolen.

"Without a doubt the next government of Mexico must have a clear social leaning," he said. "Without a doubt this must be one of the priorities if not the priority."

A source close to the court said the judges are likely to unanimously approve Calderon, 44, a former energy minister with a Harvard degree. He is expected to become one of the few pro-US leaders in Latin America, where the left has made gains in recent years.

Lopez Obrador is not giving up. He will hold a large rally in the capital's Zocalo square on September 16, Mexico's independence day, and says he will set up a radical parallel government to overhaul corrupt institutions. He has not yet made clear how such a government would function.

"What we are proposing could be a dream. It might not bear fruit, it might fail, but we have the confidence and the responsibility to do it," he told a Monday night rally.

Champions Trophy tickets for Pakistani fans

Lahore, Sep 5 (IANS) Tickets for the Champions Trophy cricket tournament, to be held in India in October and November, will also be available for Pakistani fans and they can book their seats by contacting the Indian board.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Tuesday told spectators who would like to travel across the order for the Oct 7-Nov 5 tournament to buy tickets for all 21 matches from bcci.tv, the official website of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

"For the first 10 days, BCCI would be taking pre-booking requests only via fax or e-mail," PCB said in a statement here.

"Thereafter, the ticket master system for online bookings will become live and fans will be able to buy their tickets online."

The PCB said that spectators wishing to travel to India are advised to visit the BCCI website to download forms and follow the respective instructions.

"Spectators may also opt to wait for the online version that would become available online from Sep 12 for the same," it said.

Champions Trophy will be played for the first time in India. Matches will be staged in Ahmedabad, Mohali, Jaipur and Mumbai, where the final will also be played Nov 5.

There will be a qualifying round for four teams - holders West Indies, 2002 joint winners Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh - between Oct 7 and Oct 14.

The two top teams from the qualifying round will make it to the tournament proper that starts Oct 15.

The matches, all day-night affairs, will be played over 30 days, at the end of which the winning team will take home a cheque of $500,000.

Group A comprises Australia, India, England and the second-placed team in the qualifying round, while Group B has South Africa, Pakistan, New Zealand and the top team emerging from the qualifying round.

Chhattisgarh to get three Project Tiger parks

Raipur, Sep 5 (IANS) The central government has accepted "in principle" a Chhattisgarh government proposal to include three tiger habitats in the state under the Project Tiger conservation plan.

These habitats are Achanakmar in Bilaspur district spread over 550 sq km, Sitanadi in Dhamtari district over 553 sq km and Udanti in Raipur district that stretches for 237 sq km.

"All the decks have been cleared by the central government. After some formalities, the state government will issue a notification soon for inclusion of the state's three tiger habits into Project Tiger," said Forest Minister Brijmohan Agrawal.

According to him, Achanakmar has over 12 big cats while Sitanadi has three and Udanti has 11. The government would undertake to improve the three tiger locations and increase the numbers after funds that it would get from Project Tiger.

About 44 percent of Chhattisgarh is under forest cover, amounting to 12 percent of the forests in the entire country. The central Indian state has three national parks and 11 wildlife sanctuaries.

The Indian government had launched Project Tiger, a major wildlife-conservation initiative, in 1973 to save the Indian tiger from extinction.

India has half the world's surviving tigers, but conservationists say the country is losing the battle to save the big cats. There were about 40,000 tigers in India a century ago, but decades of poaching have cut their number to 3,700.

Comment on Zidane's sister led to headbutt: Materazzi

Rome, Sep 5 (DPA) Italian defender Marco Materazzi revealed Tuesday that it was a comment about Zinedine Zidane's sister that caused the Frenchman to headbutt him in the chest during the World Cup final.

Materazzi told the Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport that he was pulling on the French star's shirt when Zidane said, "if you want my shirt so much I will give it to you after the game".

"I answered that I do prefer his sister," said Inter Milan's Materazzi.

The remark led the 34-year-old Zidane to turn and headbutt Materazzi, for which he received a straight red card after his actions were spotted by the fourth official. Italy went on to win the match on penalties.

Zidane has claimed that Materazzi insulted both his mother and his sister while there was also speculation that a racial slur was involved.

However, the Italian vehemently denied this, saying also that he hadn't deliberately intended on provoking Zidane.

"It's not a particularly nice thing to say, I accept that," said the 33-year-old, adding that he was totally surprised by Zidane's reaction. "But lots of players say worse things on the pitch."

Zidane, who retired after the game, was subsequently banned for three games while Materazzi received a two- match suspension.

Congress to complain against Delhi municipality

New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) As the sealing drive in the national capital entered day four Tuesday, ruling Congress legislators readied to meet union Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy to point out the loose ends in the ongoing operation.

According to Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC), a group of Congress MLAs will meet Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy late Tuesday evening and apprise him of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi's (MCD) "pick and choose policy".

"Apart from demanding a quick change in Delhi master plan, we will categorically demand action against the civic body for carrying out the operation selectively," said Subhash Chopra, MLA from south Delhi's Kalkaji area.

"We want relief for people and at least uniformity in the sealing drive. It seems the MCD is working under some pressure and not giving due attention to all," Chopra told IANS.

The move came a day after Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit sent a letter with suggestions for changes in the Draft Master Plan to Reddy. The letter was prepared in consultation with Delhi Urban Development Minister A.K. Walia and Chief Secretary R. Narayanswamy.

On Monday, Dikshit informed Reddy about the "prevailing panic in parts of the city due to the ongoing sealing process".

The drive Tuesday was carried out in areas like Karol Bagh, Nazafgarh, New Rajinder Nagar and Shahadra among others. Over 500 commercial establishments operating in residential areas have been sealed in the last three days.

After a three-month gap, the sealing drive resumed Sep 1 following a Supreme Court directive, which stayed the May 20 notification of the central government allowing a one-year moratorium on all such activities.

Controversial general named Nepal's new army chief

Kathmandu, Sep 5 (IANS) A controversial general, who tried to suppress street protests against King Gyanendra in April, was Tuesday named the new chief of Nepal Army despite protests by human rights activists.

Lt-General Rukmangad Katuwal, the second most senior officer in the army, had been appointed acting chief of army staff last month when army chief General Pyar Jung Thapa, who retires on Sep 9, went on leave following the tradition of giving his successor time to learn the ropes.

Katuwal too was scheduled to retire five days later. However, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and his ministers met Tuesday and decided to appoint him as Thapa's successor.

Katuwal had became embroiled in controversy over his role in trying to suppress the street protests against King Gyanendra's government in April that resulted in the death of 21 people while more than 3,000 were injured.

After the royal regime fell, Thapa and Katuwal were questioned by a probe commission regarding their role in the atrocities committed by security forces on unarmed protesters. Katuwal defended himself by saying as a soldier he was simply following orders.

The new army chief was dragged into another controversy earlier this year when a Nepali weekly, Jana Aastha, reported he had falsified documents to give his age as 1949-born when his actual year of birth was 1944, which puts him well past the age of retirement.

Last week, human rights activists had petitioned Koirala, protesting against Katuwal's appointment as acting army chief, citing his involvement in human rights violations.

On Monday, 16 activists sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, urging him to take steps against the appointment, which they said would promote a culture of impunity in Nepal.

Fate smiled on Katuwal when as a young boy in remote Okahldhunga district, he sang a song to welcome the late King Mahendra, the present king's father, when the monarch visited the area.

Struck by the lusty singing, the king took him under his wings, sponsored his education and set him on a career that was to bring him both bouquets and brickbats.

On the positive side, Katuwal becomes the first commoner officer to get the top army post. He comes from an indigenous group at a time Nepal's army had been traditionally controlled by the upper class Thapas, Ranas, Thakuris and Chhetris, most of whom were related to the palace.

Besides Katuwal, the cabinet also appointed the acting chiefs of the three other security wings as their new heads. Om Bikram Rana was named chief of Nepal Police, Basudev Oli chief of the Armed Police Forces and Dhansingh Karki chief of the National Investigation Department.

Court directs Bihar to arrest absconding criminals

Patna, Sep 5 (IANS) Patna High Court Tuesday asked the Bihar government to ensure arrest of over 5,000 absconding criminals by Nov 6, this year.

In response to the public interest litigation, filed by Bihar unit of Indian Medical Association, the court directed state government to arrest over 5,000 absconding criminals and submit a report on compliance of the order.

A police official in the headquarters admitted most of the absconding criminals face serious criminal charges including murder, kidnapping, rape, extortion and robbery.

"In most cases non-bailable arrest warrants and property attachment orders were pending across the state," the official said.

Names of politicians, society higher ups and gangsters also figure in the list of absconding criminals, he said.

The court also asked the state government to set up a special task force in the comparatively more crime-prone districts from where incidents like kidnapping were often reported in the last few months.

A senior official of the state home department said a special drive would be launched soon to arrest the absconding criminals, once state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is currently in New Delhi, returns.

The chief minister had admitted in the state assembly early August that 1,618 murders and 97 kidnapping cases were reported in just six months. Last year, 1,688 murders and 117 cases of kidnapping were registered in the state.

Delhi school teachers to retire at 62

New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) As a reward on the eve of Teachers' Day, Delhi government Monday decided to raise the superannuation age of teachers in its schools from 60 to 62.

After a cabinet meeting, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, said: "On the eve of Teacher's Day, we have taken a decision to increase the retirement age from 60 to 62 years, subject to their fitness and vigilance clearance."

"This would go a long way in inspiring school teachers to work more vigorously to further improve standard of education in Delhi," Dikshit told reporters.

Delhi Education Minister A.S. Lovely said the government schools fared well in the last two years and all credit goes to the hardworking teachers.

"The decision will help 40,000 teachers in Delhi. A social audit report has found teachers are attending school regularly and three-fourths of students happy with the teachers in their schools," Lovely said.

Did Nepal King try to sabotage peace talks?

By Sudeshna Sarkar,

Kathmandu, Sep 5 (IANS) Thwarted by a civilian revolt in his attempt to capture absolute power through a coup, like his father, did Nepal's King Gyanendra try to scuttle the peace talks and retain his crown by engineering a rumour campaign about a secret arms deal?

After a Nepali weekly, 'Jana Aastha', last week reported that arms intended for Nepal were languishing in India's Ahmedabad airport after being denied permission by the Indian authorities to fly over India, the story was gradually picked up by other Nepali publications.

The reports, predictably, triggered a strong reaction from the Maoist guerrillas, who said the government's attempt to clandestinely procure arms while peace talks were going on smacked of a conspiracy to force them to break off negotiations.

Maoist spokesman and former member of parliament Krishna Bahadur Mahara delivered a public ultimatum to the government, saying if the next round of peace talks was not held within 10 days, his party would start a new peaceful but powerful revolt.

The warning compelled the government that had earlier been professing ignorance about the arms deal, to make a statement in parliament saying the deal had been struck by a previous government last year.

However, Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula told parliament Monday, the present government had decided to forego the $189,000 advance paid on the $1.4 million deal and not accept the arms cache.

While Sitaula took great pain to clarify the reports in the local media about the arms bought from Israeli manufacturer Hornet Ltd, he however has remained strangely silent on the Russian aircraft that sought the Indian government's permission to land in Mumbai airport on August 31 with a cargo of aircraft equipment from Belarus and missiles from Bulgaria.

With Sitaula's disclosure that the Israeli cargo was ordered by the previous government of Sher Bahadur Deuba, whose party is a partner in the present coalition government, the old resentment harboured by the Maoists against Deuba, whose tenure saw the imposition of emergency and a record number of disappearances, is likely to be re-fuelled.

There is speculation that royalists could have selectively leaked and manipulated information to create further distrust between the parties and the Maoists and block the next round of negotiations, if not break them off altogether.

The king's fate could be decided by the next round, instead of an election scheduled next year. Both sides are likely to decide on a new constitution that has still not been finalised due to differences over the king's status in it.

While the guerrillas want monarchy to be abolished in the new constitution or remain suspended, some of the parties in the government still have a soft spot for the crown. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala himself has been advocating retaining a ceremonial monarch.

With a UN team likely to arrive this month to assist in the supervision of arms and armies of both sides, a key contentious issue, it would be in the interest of royalists to sabotage the truce before it reaches Kathmandu.

However, the palace too found itself caught in the arms deal controversy with reports that the agreement could have been facilitated by Crown Prince Paras, who visited Austria in March.

Unlike the Koirala government, the palace however reacted with alacrity when the reports about the crown prince's alleged involvement surfaced.

The king's secretariat issued a denial, calling the reports baseless and motivated.

"The objective of the visit," the statement said, "was to hand over a pair of rhinos gifted by the people of Nepal to the people of Austria".

Empowered committee to monitor internal security: Patil

New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) The government Tuesday announced setting up of an empowered committee that will encompass India's internal security concerns including the northeast insurgency, Maoist violence and Jammu and Kashmir militant terror.

The committee, to be headed by the home minister and comprising select chief ministers and senior officials of the home ministry, would meet at frequent intervals and review measures that need to be taken, Home Minister Shivraj Patil said.

Briefing media after the daylong chief ministers' conference on internal security held here, Patil said: "Terrorist activities are spreading in other states apart from Jammu and Kashmir and the use of certain instruments by them is a cause of concern."

While the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast had improved, some states affected by Maoists violence were a matter of concern, he said.

"Maoist-related violence has gone down but there are one or two states where the situation is of concern," Patil said.

He added that all chief ministers participating in the conference agreed that economic and infrastructure development with emphasis on housing, food and health facilities should be given priority to eradicate this problem from some of the most backward areas of the country.

"We should ensure social justice so that people do not take up arms after being frustrated because of the injustice done to them," said Patil.

In the conference, the states were suggested to strengthen 'beat constables' to help pre-empt anti-national activities, he said.

"Since police is the first force to counter these problems, there was a need to strengthen this force and collect intelligence inputs from these policemen," said the home minister.

He also said that all state governments had been asked to strengthen the intelligence collection.

"Internal intelligence agencies are doing their duty but there was a need to strengthen state intelligence units so that they can collect information," said Patil, adding that the state governments should also take help of individuals and organisations that have interest in intelligence collection.

Patil said that a need to improve the police-public ratio should also be improved, pointing out that there were 12,700 police stations in 850,000 cities and villages in the country.

"The ratio should improve and should be comparable to the ratio in other countries," said the home minister.

"The state governments should make full use of funds given to them for modernisation of the police force," he added.

England to host West Indies and India in 2007

New Delhi, Sept 5 (ZEENEWS.COM) The England Cricket Board (ECB) have announced details of the national team's home series against West Indies and India next year.

England's busy itinerary kicks off with four tests against the West Indies followed by two Twenty20 matches and three one-dayers between May 17 and July 7, the ECB said in a statement.

India feature in three tests and seven one-dayers between July 19 and September 8.

The three Tests, one less than the previous tour in 2002, were decided as a reciprocal step after England played the same number of Tests and seven ODI's during their 2006 tour of India.

India also did not figure in a Twenty20 contest because they were not playing games under the format when the schedule was agreed, the ECB's director for England Cricket John Carr said.

The itinerary:

v West Indies:

May 17-21: 1st Test, Lord's

May 25-29: 2nd Test, Headingley

June 7-11: 3rd Test, Old Trafford

June 15-19: 4th Test, Chester-le-Street

Twenty20:

June 28: 1st match, The Oval

June 29: 2nd match, The Oval

One-day series:

July 1: 1st ODI, Lord's

July 4: 2nd ODI, Edgbaston

July 7: 3rd ODI, Trent Bridge

v India:

July 19-23: 1st Test, Lord's

July 27-31: 2nd Test, Trent Bridge

Aug 9-13: 3rd Test, The Oval

One-day series:

Aug 21: 1st ODI, Rose Bowl (Day/Night)

Aug 24: 2nd ODI, Bristol (D/N)

Aug 27: 3rd ODI, Edgbaston

Aug 30: 4th ODI, Old Trafford (D/N)

Sept 2: 5th ODI, Headingley

Sept 5: 6th ODI, The Oval

Sept 8: 7th ODI, Lord's

Ex-Guantánamo detainees get faulty trial in Russia

Moscow, Sept 3 (HRW news) The Russian government's prosecution of two former Guantánamo detainees for an explosion on a gas pipeline has been riddled with procedural irregularities and allegations of mistreatment, Human Rights Watch said today.

According to a document obtained by Human Rights Watch, a criminal suspect now in police custody confessed in July 2005 to the same crime for which the two men were convicted on May 5, 2006.

Earlier, in September 2005, a jury had unanimously acquitted the two former Guantánamo detainees, Ravil Gumarov and Timur Ishmuratov, as well as a third defendant, Fanis Shaikhutdinov, of the January 2005 explosion on a gas pipeline in Tatarstan, a republic within Russia several hundred miles east of Moscow. But prosecutors subsequently got approval from the Russian Supreme Court to annul the verdict so that the three could be tried again for the same crime.

On May 12, after a second trial, Gumarov was sentenced to a term of 13 years, and Ishmuratov to 11 years and one month. The third man, Shaikhutdinov, received 15 years and six months.

Gumarov told family members that interrogators pulled hairs from his beard and forced vodka down his throat, a particularly offensive form of ill-treatment for an abstinent Muslim, in an effort to get him to confess. Ishmuratov told his lawyer that interrogators warned him that they would call in his pregnant wife for questioning and could not guarantee the safety of the fetus. Ishmuratov's mother told Human Rights Watch that security service officers brought Ishmuratov in handcuffs to the birth hospital to urge his wife to admit to whatever officers asked.

Both men confessed to the crime while in custody during the investigation, but recanted their testimony in court.

"This case shows precisely why the U.S. government should be screening Guantánamo detainees before sending them home," said Carroll Bogert, associate director of Human Rights Watch. "Forcing people to go back to this kind of abuse is a clear violation of international law. Detainees at Guantánamo must have a chance to challenge their return."

Under the Convention against Torture, the United States is prohibited from returning people to countries where they are at risk of torture. The U.S. government claims that it seeks "diplomatic assurances" of humane treatment from receiving states before a detainee at risk of abuse is transferred out of Guantánamo Bay. Diplomatic assurances from states where torture is a serious problem or in which specific groups are targeted for torture, including Russia, are inherently unreliable and do not provide an effective safeguard against torture and ill-treatment.

The U.S. government returned Gumarov and Ishmuratov, along with five other Russian citizens, from Guantánamo to Russia in February 2004. Their relatives said they were frequently harassed by local law enforcement authorities in Tatarstan until they were finally arrested for the pipeline explosion in April 2005.

Other ex-Guantánamo detainees in Russia have also faced repeated harassment and have been detained and ill-treated. Human Rights Watch will be releasing additional information about their treatment in coming weeks.

U.S. embassy officials in Moscow told Human Rights Watch that they were not making any efforts to assess the treatment of former Guantánamo detainees after their return to Russia.

"First the U.S. government detained these men for years without charge in Guantánamo, then it sent them back to Russia in violation of international law, and now it's not even bothering to monitor their fate," said Bogert. "Washington has got to start doing the right thing for these Russians."

Prosecutors said the accused men hoped the pipeline explosion would "influence law enforcement authorities" to release other Muslims in a local detention facility and draw media attention to their plight. The explosion caused no casualties. It occurred on a small pipeline conducting heat to a residential area of Bugulma, in southern Tatarstan.

The defendants were convicted of terrorism (Article 205 of the Russian Criminal Code) and illegal possession of weapons or explosives (Article 222). They were also ordered to pay damages of about U.S.$2,000 for property damage.

Prosecutors said that on January 7, 2005, the men were in repeated telephone contact to plan the explosion on the following day. But according to their lawyers, telephone records showed that no phone calls between them, either by mobile phone or landline, were made on that date. Neither Ishmuratov nor Gumarov lived in Bugulma, where the explosion took place, and both said they were not in Bugulma on the day of the explosion.

Defense lawyers also said that the Islamic religious leaflets confiscated from Gumarov's apartment – and described in the court's verdict as "literature of terrorist intentions" – were in fact openly available in Russia and were not banned.

In a handwritten document that Gumarov's mother said was smuggled out of the Bugulma detention facility before her son's first trial, he writes: "Mama, don't listen to the authorities, no matter what they say about me. … My nerves gave in, I couldn't take it. I spoke against myself and the worst thing is that I spoke against others. Everyone has the limit for what they can take, and many break sooner or later. They broke me too. It seems I'm destined to serve time for what I didn't do."

Two other men told Human Rights Watch that police detained and beat them to force them to give witness testimony against the defendants. Timor Ishmuratov's brother, Rustam Hamidullin, told Human Rights Watch that police from the Tatarstan organized crime unit detained him at his aunt's house in Nefteyugansk, in Khanti-Mansiisk province on March 31, 2005. Police held him for several days at the Nefteyugansk police station and beat him while he was handcuffed to a radiator to coerce him to admit that he had witnessed preparations for the crime. Police then took him on the train to Tatarstan. Hamidullin told Human Rights Watch that he was kept in a regular compartment of a passenger train and tortured during the two-day train trip.

Another witness for the prosecution, Ildar Valeev, told Human Rights Watch that on April 1, 2005, he was called in for questioning to the organized crime unit in Almetievsk, Tatarstan, and subsequently sentenced to five days' administrative arrest for swearing in a mosque. He was held in an investigation cell in Bugulma, where he was stripped, beaten and subjected to threats and psychological pressure until he agreed to sign a statement saying he had witnessed the explosion. He was only released on April 27, 2005.

Both Hamidullin and Valeev recanted their coerced statements at the trials.

The five-page confession to the Bugulma explosion is signed by Vilsur Khairullin, who is accused in a separate case of conspiring to blow up key industrial targets in Tatarstan in 2005. According to the document, the interrogation was conducted by an investigator in the serious crimes division of the Tatarstan procuracy, V.A. Maksimov, on July 7, 2005 between 10:10 am and 1:00 pm. In the confession, Khairullin says that he planned and executed the explosion alone. Gumarov and Ishmuratov were in custody at the time Khairullin made his confession, awaiting trial for the same crime. Yet prosecutors never mentioned the confession to lawyers for either defendant.

Investigator Maksimov told The Washington Post that investigators took Khairullin to the scene of the crime and that he was unable to identify the exact location of the explosion, so they did not feel it necessary to inform defense lawyers about his confession.

Police in Russia frequently use torture and ill-treatment to extract confessions.

"Defense lawyers for Gumarov and Ishmuratov should have been told about the confession," said Bogert. "And if the confession wasn't genuine, that begs the question: what methods did investigators in Tatarstan use to extract it?"

After a jury acquitted the three men in September 2005, the Tatarstan procuracy filed a request with the Russian Supreme Court to annul the verdict. In an interview with Human Rights Watch, the public prosecutor of Tatarstan, Kafil Amirov, said, "We think the jurors took this case too lightly. They didn't fully understand … they're simple people." He denied that the second trial constituted double jeopardy, which violates both Russian and international law.

Defense lawyers for all three defendants have appealed the conviction to the Russian Supreme Court.

Falcon connects India with Middle East through undersea cable

New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) India Tuesday asked Middle East nations like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain to join in its efforts to cut bandwidth costs.

Communications and Information Technology Minister Dayanidhi Maran made this appeal while launching an 11,859-km undersea cable system that connects India with the region.

Named Falcon and built at a cost of $400 million, the project is the largest global network in the world with 65,000 route km. It was been launched by Flag Telecom, a subsidiary of Reliance Communications.

The inaugural call was made by Communications and Information Technology Minister Dayanadhi Maran at a function here to his Egyptian counterpart Tarek Kamel.

"The information technology enabled services sector in India with a growth rate of more than 30 percent in the last two years will fuel bandwidth requirements," Maran told the launch function.

"The initiatives of Reliance and others will provide healthy competition and robust growth," he said.

"I take this opportunity to propose to all high-level ministers of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Egypt and Bahrain to jointly work towards brining down the prices and landing costs of bandwidth connectivity," Maran added.

Reliance Communications chairman Anil Ambani said the project was completed four months ahead of schedule. "Initially we thought we would require $500 million but we were able to complete it with $400 million - that too before time."

Falcon is a part of FLAG Telecom's global network. With the commissioning of the new cable system, the network has emerged as the largest private submarine cable system in the world spanning 35 countries in four continents.

"This connectivity will open up more opportunities for trade and investment by creating a smaller world and we plan to extend it to US and Europe soon," Ambani said.

FBI to depose in case of Indian industrialist's abduction

Kolkata, Sep 5 (IANS) A FBI official would depose before a special court here in the case of the 2001 abduction of an Indian industrialist by a Dubai-based underworld group.

The special court, functioning from the Alipore central jail premises, had issued summons to John T. Dwyer, then assistant legal attaché in the New Delhi embassy of the United States. Since he has retired, another US official from the FBI would depose in the case of the abduction of Partha Pramtim Roy Burman, co-owner of the shoe company Khadim.

The FBI official would arrive here for the trial anytime this week, sources said.

Dubai-based don Aftab Ansari, the main accused in the American Center shootout who was given a death sentence by a Kolkata court last year after he was brought here following his arrest, was allegedly involved in the abduction.

Burman, co-owner of the shoe company Khadim, was kidnapped from C.N. Roy Road here on July 25, 2001.

He was allegedly released after payment of a huge ransom, though police now needs proof (phone call records of a US cell company) to establish that.

A man identifying himself as Arsalan had called his Salt Lake home demanding Rs.200 million as ransom. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) later tracked the call to Chennai and found that the call was only routed through the Tamil Nadu capital, but actually belonged to US-based cellular operator Sprint.

The CBI, the help of which was sought by the CID, got in touch with the FBI to trace the calls which were actually made from Dubai.

The Sprint tower in Chennai was used to make the calls.

Aftab Ansari came into the picture after the FBI provided the call details.

Ansari and six others were sentenced to death by a Kolkata court in May last year for their involvement in the attack on the American Center in Kolkata in 2002, which killed five people.

Fiat, Tata working on 'low-cost' car

Rome, Sep 5 (DPA) Fiat and its Indian partner Tata Motors are working on a "low-cost" automobile priced at around euro 2,000 ($2,570) intended for the growing Indian market, according to Italian media reports Tuesday.

Fiat chief executive officer Sergio Marchionne was quoted by daily La Repubblica as saying the Italian carmaker would provide Tata with "technological know-how and perhaps money".

The project follows a series of recent deals between Fiat and India's largest heavy vehicle manufacturer and should become operative "relatively soon", Marchionne said.

Renault of France recently launched a low-cost sedan, Logan, whose sales have so far exceeded expectations.

Finnair ties up with Ambassador for in-flight catering

By Arvind Padmanabhan,

Helsinki, Sep 5 (IANS) Finnish carrier Finnair, which commences a scheduled air service to New Delhi from Oct 30, has entered into a pact with the Mumbai-based Ambassador Group for in-flight catering for the new sector.

Promoted by Narangs International Hotels Ltd, the Ambassador Group has already deputed its chefs to train their counterparts at Finnair's catering division here on how to prepare Indian meals for the airline's service to India.

"This sector will only serve Indian food - both vegetarian and non-vegetarian," Finnair director for catering Olli Karvonen said at the airline's office at the Vantaa Airport here, showcasing some items that will form a part of the menu on the Helsinki-New Delhi route.

The fare includes pulao (aromatic rice), alu palak (potatoes and spinach), paneer or chicken makhani (cottage cheese or chicken in cream sauce), samosas, chicken tikkas (charcoal grilled marinated chicken), prawn malai curry (prawn in spiced up cream sauce) and lentils.

"While Indians flying on this sector will appreciate their home food, we believe it will also be welcomed by the Europeans or other passengers," Karvonen told a group of visiting Indian journalists here.

"We are also recruiting Indian crew. Two-three flight attendants from India will be deployed on every flight," he added.

"The food will also be paired with the choicest of wines that are best suited for the spicy Indian food and palate," said Kishore Bhutani, vice president of operations at the Ambassador Group.

"Most of the spices that will go into the food will be sourced locally. In fact, the recipes have been specifically written keeping in mind the availability of ingredients here and perfected accordingly," he added.

According to airline officials, India is not a new market for Finnair since it has been operating chartered flights to Goa for over 20 years and uses the Ahmedabad airport for refuelling for its service to Phuket in Thailand.

Finnair, which is starting with three flights a week, is considering expanding the service to all seven days by the summer of 2007, by which time it may also look at targeting Mumbai or Chennai.

"We will of course target the business travellers since trade and business ties between India and Finland are expanding fast. But we will also promote leisure tourism to Finland," said Finnair president and chief executive Jukka Hienonen.

The service will start with a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 aircraft and use Airbus A-340 or A-350 aircraft from the summer of 2007, when the service will be operated daily, officials added.

Statistics released by the Finnish government show that the country was home to 1,619 Indians in 2005, as against 756 in 2000. The numbers are expanding fast due to growing bilateral trade and investment relations.

Finland's most famous company in India, Nokia, has set up a manufacturing unit in Chennai for $150 million. The Bangalore-based IT major Wipro's recently purchased Finland's Saraware Oy for $31.90 million

This apart, the Chennai-based Sterling Infotech Group recently announced its foray into the renewable energy sector with the acquisition of a 40 percent stake in Finland for around $27 million.

"Finnair is ideally located between India and the US. And the growing trade ties with India means increased traffic for not just passengers but also cargo," said Chandru Iyer, consultant with Finpro - the Finnish investment promotion agency.

Officials of the Association of Finnish Travel Agents said around 5,800 tourists from the Nordic country travelled to India in 2004 - up 26 percent on 2003 - and visas issued to Finns by the Indian embassy in Helsinki have gone up fivefold to 30 a day.

The main attractions for Indians travelling to Finland has been the Siberian dog safari, a meeting with Santa Claus, watching the celestial spell of Northern Lights, ice bars, saunas, igloo hotels and designer fashion from the house of Marimekko.

Five soldiers killed, 20 wounded in Philippine clash

Zamboanga, Sept 5 (ZEENEWS.COM) Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents shielding two suspected Bali bombers killed five soldiers and wounded 20 others in a clash early on Monday in the Southern Philippines, the military said.

The attack took place on the war-ravaged southern island of Jolo where the military, along with US advisers, have been waging a deadly campaign against the Abu Sayyaf since August.

The military said two members of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) extremist network believed to be involved in the 2002 nightclub bombings on the Indonesian Resort Island were among the estimated 200 Abu Sayyaf rebels.

Troops closed in on an Abu Sayyaf jungle lair late last night and overran the positions at dawn today, regional military chief major general Eugenio Cedo told reporters.

"Five were killed in action, and 20 wounded," Cedo said, adding that based on radio intercepts and trails of blood on the ground, a number of guerrillas also may have been killed or wounded.

He said Indonesian Islamic militant Dulmatin, believed to be one of the masterminds of the 2002 attacks, was among the Abu Sayyaf during today's attack.

The second suspect, Umar Patek, was not seen in the area of the clash, and could have possibly joined a splinter Abu Sayyaf group hiding out elsewhere in Jolo, according to the military.

The US Government has offered up to USD 11 million for the capture of the two, as well as USD five million for the Abu Sayyaf leader Khadaffy Janjalani.

Floodwaters inundate 200 villages in Pakistan

Islamabad, Sep 5 (Xinhua) Nearly 200 villages in eastern Pakistan's Punjab province have been inundated as rivers flow above danger mark and heavy rains lash the area.

The fresh spell of rain and flash floods in the province have killed over 20 people since Saturday, Dawn newspaper reported Tuesday.

Two people drowned in Sialkot while a woman died and four others sustained injuries when three rain-soaked houses collapsed in Lahore, the provincial capital of Punjab, Monday.

Lahore and several other districts saw 36 hours of rain that ended Sunday morning, the newspaper said.

Almost 100 villages were submerged in Sialkot, 80 in Gujranwala and 12 in Mandi Bahauddin districts of the province, according to the newspaper.

District administrations of downstream areas along the water route of the Chenab river, which is in high flood due to incessant rains in the region, have been warned to evacuate people, Dawn reported.

France, Italy to clash again in Euro 2008 qualifiers

Hamburg, Sep 5 (DPA) World champions Italy travel to Paris for another meeting with France less than two months after their victory on penalties over Les Bleus in the World Cup final in Berlin.

The Group B match is the pick of the 21 qualifying games for the 2008 European Championships.

France, still reeling from their World Cup defeat in which midfielder Zinedine Zidane was sent off, are out for revenge against an Italian side who have yet to get into their stride.

On Saturday, Italy were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Lithuania and, with the Italian season yet to start, many of the Italian players are lacking match practice.

France meanwhile won 3-0 Saturday over Georgia and go into the game full of confidence.

Despite the draw, Italy coach Roberto Donadoni said he would not be making changes.

Asked about possible defeat in the Stade de France, he remarked: "If that happens, I will answer after the match. But I could turn the question round and ask myself: what if we came back with four points? It's great to play our World Cup final opponents again.

"Meeting them after Berlin is beautiful. France are technically and physically strong, and in midfield and up front they have some killer players.

"I do not know if (their seeking revenge) will be an added difficulty. My boys too want to show they deserved the world title."

With most of his men seeking their best form after the summer break, Donadoni is likely to call back Gianluca Zambrotta to beef up an unusually shaky defence missing the injured Alessandro Nesta and Marco Materazzi, still suspended for the insults that in the final triggered his head-butting from Zidane.

France coach Raymond Domenech, who has called up Girondins Bordeaux midfielder Julien Faubert to replace the injured David Trezeguet, played down the idea of revenge.

"The World Cup is over," he said. "It was a big disappointment for us, but we must look ahead."

England meanwhile travel to Macedonia for a Group E encounter in Skopje buoyed by a 5-0 win over Andorra, which had followed a 4-0 drubbing of Greece in a friendly.

However, Steve McClaren acknowledged Macedonia would be the first "real test" of his reign as England manager. The two sides drew 2-2 in Southampton four years ago in a Euro 2004 qualifier

McClaren, who replaced Sven-Goran Eriksson after a disappointing World Cup campaign, said: "We've got a bit of momentum. There's a spirit there, which was needed after the disappointment of the summer.

"What I like after two games is the sense that we're building a squad. But Macedonia are a good side. They move the ball well, they're compact and well organised."

Also in the group, Russia and Croatia begin their qualifying campaigns in Moscow, the Croatians reeling from a nightclub incident, which led to the suspension of three players.

Coach Slaven Bilic suspended attacking trio Darijo Srna, Ivica Olic and Bosko Balaban, after they reportedly left the squad's training base to visit a Zagreb nightclub.

Germany, who began their Euro 2008 campaign solidly with a hard-earned 1-0 win over Ireland, should have an easier time in San Marino.

Coach Joachim Loew takes the same 19-man squad to San Marino, buoyed by the fact that a makeshift defence stood up well against the Irish. Mainz defender Manuel Friedrich, who played well in his first full game for the national side, is being treated for an ankle injury. He is expected to be fit.

Dutch coach Marco van Basten is looking for an improved performance from his side against visiting Belarus after a narrow 1-0 win over Luxembourg in Group G.

"It was too poor to talk about details, really nothing worked out," van Basten said of the performance Saturday.

"These players all proved in the recent past they can play football but didn't show that."

Van Basten has made three changes to his squad, with defenders Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Khalid Boulahrouz coming in following suspension, and Ajax midfielder Wesley Sneijder, allowed time off for personal reasons, also returning.

Fujitsu plans to set up unit in India

New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) Leading Japanese computer maker Fujitsu Ltd. plans to set up a new manufacturing unit in India by 2007.

"India's software services market is growing in a big way. India has achieved tremendous growth in telecommunications as well," Toshihiko Ono, corporate senior executive vice president of Fujitsu Ltd, told IANS.

"Looking at India's growth, we are planning to invest in this country. We are going to set up a manufacturing unit by 2007 in India. For these we are in talks with various government agencies."

He added: "By 2008 we have plans to venture into the wireless business with greater focus on Wi-max (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) as I know the market is booming."

"Though this is my first visit to India, now I plan to come here more often and I see a lot of business here," Ono emphasised.

Fujitsu currently operates in India through seven subsidiaries. It also has plans to expand its channel presence in the country by launching new products.

Germany take on India in World Cup campaign

Moenchengladbach (Germany), Sep 5 (DPA) Title-holders Germany hope to benefit from home advantage when they begin the men's hockey World Cup campaign against India here Wednesday.

Germany believe the bonus of playing in front of their own fans will provide a boost similar to that experienced by the nation's football team at the World Cup this summer.

Coach Bernhard Peters, who was in fact wanted earlier by former German soccer coach Juergen Klinsmann as technical director, said the minimum aim for the Germans was the semi-finals.

That echoed Klinsmann's minimum aim at the World Cup in the summer, which his side achieved with a third-place finish.

"That won't be easy with the high-class teams taking part because I wouldn't count us as among the absolute favourites," Peters said.

Peters regards top-ranked Olympic champions Australia, European champions Spain and Champions Trophy winners Netherlands as among the leading teams vying for the title.

Germany are seeking to defend the title they won in Kuala Lumpur four years ago, but since the competition began in 1971 only Pakistan in 1981-82 in Bombay have managed successfully to defend a world title.

"We are all very tense right now," he said. "But if we can reach the semi-finals, we will be ready to take the next step, and then anything is possible."

Peters has rejuvenated the German team, which won the bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Beaten in the Champions Trophy final by the Dutch in Terrassa, Spain in July, his team looked anything but title candidates at last month's four-nation tournament in Hamburg when defeats to Pakistan (2-1), Spain (5-2) and winners Netherlands (2-1) proved a dampener.

However, captain Timo Wess believes the side has now put the indifferent form behind them. "The important thing is that we get off to a good start against India," he said.

Twelve nations are in two pools of six for the 11th edition of the tournament.

Oceania champions Australia are with European champions Spain, four-time world champions Pakistan, Argentina, New Zealand and Japan in Pool A.

Pool B pits together Germany, India, Netherlands, South Korea, England and South Africa.

Gujarat announces farmers' flood relief package

Ahmedabad, Sep 5 (IANS) Gujarat announced a compensation package of Rs.2.15 billion for farmers affected by floods and excess rains this season, said an official statement here.

According to the announcement late Monday, the six-part package would benefit 632,000 farmers in 8,104 villages. The package was announced after a survey of more than 700,000 hectares of rain-affected agriculture land in the state.

The package would include damage to standing crops and sowed land, loss of implements and other farming equipments, and damage owing to silting of farm land, waterlogging and washing away of fertile top soil.

Up to Rs.10,000 would be given to farmers for land damage in the form of top soil loss or sand silting. Small and marginal farmers who suffered more than 50 percent crop damage would be compensated at the rate of Rs.1,500 per hectare of non-irrigated land, and up to Rs.3,000 for irrigated land.

For horticulture crop damage, the compensation would be to the tune of Rs.4,000. While Rs.500 was fixed for seed loss, up to Rs.5,000 would be paid against farm equipment loss, said the release.

The central government has also allocated Rs.5 billion for Gujarat as interim flood relief.

The estimate of Rs.20 billion after crop loss assessment was submitted to central government, said the joint director of state agriculture department, M.B. Patel.

Gujarat town protests arrests for 2002 violence

Ahmedabad, Sep 5 (IANS) Residents of the north Gujarat town of Bhiloda observed a shutdown Tuesday protesting the arrest of 12 residents this week in connection with a reopened case of communal violence in 2002.

Officials here said the local police Monday arrested the 12 people, including some businessmen, on charges of abetting violence in the town during the sectarian strife in the state that had claimed at least 1,000 lives.

"A case was pending against them and now they have been arrested. The shopkeepers have voluntarily closed the market to register their protest," said a police official of Bhiloda, 120 km from here.

Police had Friday arrested nine people from Kishangadh village of Bhiloda block on charges of loot and arson during the 2002 violence.

The arrests have been made following the reopening of 1,594 of 2,020 violence-related cases that had been closed by the Gujarat police after preliminary investigations.

Following a petition from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the Supreme Court in 2004 ordered the state government to set up a cell to review the cases and decide which cases needed to be investigated again.

Haryana wants work permits for Bangladeshi migrants

New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) The Haryana government Tuesday asked the central government to issue work permits to Bangladeshi migrants to deal with the problem of illegal immigrants.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, while addressing the chief ministers' conference on internal security in the capital, said that Bangladeshi migrants should be provided with work permits and all Indian nationals should be given identity cards.

He said Haryana was facing problems with illegal migrants from Bangladesh. He pointed out that whenever Delhi Police initiated a drive to catch Bangladeshis to deport them, the offenders sneaked into neighbouring Haryana.

More coordination was needed between security agencies in Delhi and in Haryana to tackle security issues in Delhi and the national capital region (NCR).

Hooda demanded an assistance of Rs.1.77 billion from the central government for upgradation of security mechanism in the state, particularly in areas adjoining Delhi.

Pointing to the spillover of organised crime from Delhi to its adjoining areas of Gurgaon and Faridabad in Haryana, Hooda said the state government had made installation of closed-circuit TV cameras and other electronic security equipment mandatory in shopping malls and multiplexes coming up in the NCR.

Hockey World Cup live on TEN Sports

New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) TEN Sports will telecast live 27 of the 42 matches, including all featuring India, in the men's hockey World Cup starting in Germany Wednesday.

India, the 1975 champions, and defending champions Germany will play the opening match at the Warsteiner Hockey Park in Mönchengladbach at 7 p.m. (IST), said a TEN Sports statement here Tuesday.

India will play at least five matches in the league phase.

Twelve teams, divided in two groups, are competing for the sport's top prize.

India is in Group B along with Germany, Champions Trophy winners The Netherlands, South Korea, England and South Africa, while Group A comprises Olympic champions Australia, European champions Spain, Pakistan, Argentina, New Zealand and Japan.

The final, slated for Sep 17, will also be telecast live.

Live matches:

Sep 6: India vs Germany at 7 p.m.
Sep 7: India vs England at 5 p.m.
Sep 9: India vs South Africa at 4.30 p.m.
Sep 11: India vs South Korea at 7.30 p.m.
Sep 12: India vs The Netherlands at 11.30 p.m.

Sep 17: First semi-final at 2 p.m.
Sep 17: Second semi-final at 4.30 p.m.
Sep 17: Final at 7p.m.

Illegal constructions of LS member, HC summons MCD officials

New Delhi, Sept 5 (ZEENEWS.COM) Taking a strong view of the MCD's reported failure to demolish three alleged unauthorised constructions of Lok Sabha member D S Yadav at Vikas Marg in the capital, the Delhi High Court today summoned the Deputy Commissioner Shahdara, south and two others to appear before it at the next date of hearing.

A division bench headed by acting Chief Justice Vijender Jain also refused to grant the plea of the MP for granting a stay on the demolitions of the illegal structures and posted the matter for further hearing to September 7.

The bench summoned the three officials after the court commissioner Sanjay Bansal, complained that the MCD failed to take any action against the MP's unauthorised constructions despite specific directives by the court appointed monitoring committee which found grave violations of the sanctioned plan by the VIP.

According to Bansal, the monitoring committee after examining the unauthorised constructions of the MP on August 8, ordered the MCD to cancel the sanctioned plan besides disconnecting the power and water supply to the three premises owned by Yadav.

Cancellation of the sanctioned plan under Section 338 of the MCD Act empowered the civic body to demolish the structures.

But despite the specific instructions from the committee the Deputy Commissioner and his staff failed to carry out the demolitions citing alibis, Bansal complained.

It was alleged that the MCD officials initially expressed their inability to carry out the demolitions due to lack of police protection.

However, even after adequate police protection was provided by the zone's Deputy Commissioner of Police, the MCD officials backed out against carrying the demolitions.

In the meantime, the MP moved an application before the bench seeking a stay on the demolitions when the court commissioner intervened to bring to the notice of the court the alleged illegal constructions by Yadav.

The court after perusing Bansal's report took a serious view of the MCD's failure to take action on the basis of the monitoring committee's report and accordingly summoned the three officials.

Besides, the Deputy Commissioner, the Executive Engineer and the architect of the building were ordered to appear before it by the bench.

India is setting an example for others: Albright

New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) Less than a week before the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks in Washington and New York, former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright urged all democracies to "balance security with human freedom" as they continue their battle against terrorism.

"As we approach the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in Washington and New York, we are conscious of the need for balance between security and democracy," Albright told a select gathering of businessmen, diplomats and mediapersons here Tuesday.

The interactive discussion was organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Aspen Institute India, a think tank based in New Delhi.

Condemning the "tragic Mumbai carnage", Albright, secretary of state during the second Clinton presidency, underlined that each country has, however, to deal with the issue of balancing security with civil rights while dealing with terrorism on its own.

Calling the India-US ties "an equal partnership", Albright conjured up a robust picture of the growing strategic relationship between the world's oldest and largest democracies. "There are endless possibilities of India-America relationship," she said.

Albright, the first US woman secretary of state, is currently a principal of the Albright Group, an international advisory firm that assists business groups and organisations in solving problems throughout the world.

Albright also sounded upbeat about the future of the India-US nuclear deal, saying it is "good for both countries". "It signals our growing interrelationship. I am glad we have broadened our relationship," she said.

In her eloquent address on 'America, India and Democracy in the 21st Century', Albright hailed India as a model democracy. "Democratic tide remains a rising tide in the world. India is setting an example for others to follow," she said.

Calling for a "moral US foreign policy", she advocated the inclusion of radical elements in an inclusive democracy.

Although she expressed her uneasiness about the ascent to power by radical organisations like Hamas through the democratic route, Albright also sounded critical about the so-called 'democracy promotion' in the Middle East by the Bush administration.

"The US should have a moral foreign policy, and not a moralistic one," she said.

Albright also exhorted other democracies to help Iran build democratic institutions. "Security in Iraq is a major issue. Other countries should go in and help Iraq lead."

When asked whether the US has an exit plan for leaving Iraq, she replied: "We don't want to leave Iraq in a chaotic mess. I personally believe in territorial integrity of Iraq. I am very worried about Iraq falling apart."

"Democracies can only grow from within. Democracy is not just about the enjoyment of rights, but the fulfilment of responsibilities," Albright said.

In a realistic tone, she added: "Democracy is not a ticket to heavenly kingdom where every evil is banished.

"In Latin America and Africa, many feel that democracy is not working because it has not brought enough benefits to people."

India should promote Iraqi democracy, security: Iraqi diplomat

By Manish Chand,

New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) Condemning the killing of three Indian pilgrims in Iraq, the country's charge d'Affaires Muayad Hussain has urged India to bolster democracy and help in restoring security in his strife-torn country.

"We consider all such activities as terrorism. My government is doing its best to ensure the security of the Iraqi people and expatriates living there," Hussain told IANS in an interview here.

He was speaking about to the gunning down of by insurgents of three Indians and eleven Pakistanis last week when they were going on a pilgrimage to the Shia holy town of Karbala. The 14 Indians and 26 Pakistanis were intercepted at Rutba in Iraq and killed. It was the first reported case of Indians falling victim to the escalating anarchy in Iraq.

The diplomat asserted it was a "freak incident" and hoped it would not happen again. He sought India's support for Iraq's fledgling democracy and also to arrest the rapid deterioration in law and order in his country.

"Our government is taking more positive steps to overcome the security situation in Iraq. We want India to support the new government and evolve democracy there and help us in creating a safe and secure Iraq," Hussain said.

India has spurned an American request to contribute troops for peacekeeping in Iraq, saying it would do so only under the UN flag. New Delhi has however agreed to help in Iraq's reconstruction.

The Aug 31 terror attack on pilgrims has again put the spotlight on the sharpening Shia-Sunni divide and the unending activities of insurgents in Iraq since an attack on a Shia mosque in Samarra early this year.

The Indians and Pakistanis were executed in Rutba, the heartland of Sunni insurgency. The three Indians, all males, were from Andhra Pradesh and were with their families when they were ambushed, separated from the women and shot.

Indian government officials have insinuated that the killers were robbers.

Saying that while Iraq respects New Delhi's travel advisory asking Indians not to visit his country, Hussain claimed Baghdad would still love to receive Indians. "We respect the Indian decision. Iraq is open to Indians visiting the country. We welcome them to visit Iraq," Hussain said.

The diplomat, however, admitted to logistical problems in ensuring the security of everyone in as vast a country as Iraq. "It's a sad incident. But Iraq is a huge country and it's not possible to ensure everybody's security day and night. I hope that this incident is not repeated in the future," he said.

Asserting that the new Iraqi regime headed by Nouri Al-Maliki enjoyed popular backing, he blamed the killings of Indians and Pakistanis on "isolated disgruntled elements opposed to democracy and human freedoms".

"Most of the Iraqi people are supporting the new government in Iraq," the diplomat insisted.

"There are some frustrated people, however, who don't like freedom and who don't like democracy. These are terrorists and we are confident we will be able to rid Iraq of them.

"We hope we will be able to establish lasting security in Iraq," he added.

India to make MiG-29 engines with Russian help

Moscow, Sept 5 (ZEENEWS.COM) Russia will help India make modernised engines for the MiG -29 fighters of the Indian Air Force under a USD 250 million deal .

Russia's state-run 'Rosoboronexport' arms exporting corporation has just signed the deal with India under which Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) will make 120 rd-33 series 3 jet engines at its Koraput plant for the up-gradation of MiG -29 fighters.

By January 2007 Moscow-based Chernyshev machine-building plant will supply 20 rd-33 jet engines with extended life-cycle for trials in India, according to Kommersant daily.

The engine designer - St. Petersburg-based Klimovv- is also one of the players in the deal with India. Both of them are part of the RAC MiG Corporation.

In the first stage HAL will make 120 engines, which would cost less than those directly bought from Russia.

This deal would help HAL master the assembly of next generation jet engines, including RD-33mk (sea wasp) engines for deck based MiG -29k naval fighters being acquired under the Gorshkov aircraft carrier deal. It will also help develop thrust-vectoring engines for the MiG -35 fighters, which Russia is fielding for USD 9 billion Indian tender for 126 advanced combat jets, the daily writes quoting experts.

Later this month RAC MiG is planning to sign about USD 1 billion deal with India for the modernisation and upgradation of 66 MiG -29 fighters in service with the IAF.

India wants substantive debate, at global summit: Ambassador

Havana, Sept 5 (ZEENEWS.COM) India wants to avoid finger-pointing and US bashing and instead have a substantive debate of issues affecting developing nations at this month's global summit of the Non Aligned Movement, the country's ambassador to Cuba has said.

Focusing on past injustices is not constructive, especially when the third-world movement of 116 countries from Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America needs to become relevant again, Mitra Vasisht told the media yesterday.

``We are done with rhetoric,'' Vasisht, said from her office in Havana. ``We want to be working along with our other partners, including the USA, so that there's maximum benefit on both sides. Rhetoric does not serve our purpose.''

Countries like India, South Africa, Egypt and Malaysia have increasingly close ties with the United States, and not all members of the movement ``want to hit the USA,'' Vasisht said.

``We do not want to entertain that age-old stupidity of saying you did this to us,'' she said. ``We have lots of ground to cover right now. And we are looking for partners - not for ex-enemies.''

Poverty, health care and gender issues are all important topics that need to be addressed seriously at the summit, the ambassador said. Though India will listen to all nations' concerns, its delegation will resist blaming any single country in the final document produced at the event, she said.

Nonetheless, stern messages will be sent to western countries for the handling of the crisis in Lebanon and broader issues of respect for different cultures, particularly in Muslim countries, Vasisht said.

India, France to step up strategic partnership

Paris, Sep 5 (IANS) India and France are to step up their up their strategic partnership to new levels through a slew of measures including joint production, co-production, transfer of technology and ready availability of spares, says Indian Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Mukherjee, who is on a three-day visit to France, was Monday also briefed on a new French project to combat air terrorism.

"There is greater degree of convergence of views on most matters," Mukherjee told reporters here Monday night after an hour-long meeting with his French counterpart, Michele Alliot-Marie.

"The details of the increased cooperation will be worked out between the officials and companies of the two countries in an expeditious manner," he added.

During the meeting, Mukherjee stressed the need for firming up transfer of technology for critical technological components such as the ring laser gyro and other guidance systems for the BrahMos cruise missile that India is jointly developing with Russia.

In his opening statement at the delegation level talks, Mukherjee said the full potential of Indo-French cooperation in the defence industries had not been fully exploited due to certain apprehensions about Paris' arms sales to China and Pakistan.

He spoke of the need for French investment in Indian defence industries for the European and the world market also, rather than the Indian market alone.

The two sides exchanged views on global hotspots such as Afghanistan, Iran and Lebanon in the context of Mukherjee's statement that the security situation had changed considerably since the last summit level meeting of the two countries in February.

On Afghanistan, Mukherjee said while India was committed to the economic development of the country and strengthening its democratic institutions, in recent times there have been certain "disturbing" developments in the form of the regrouping of the Taliban.

"The Taliban must not be allowed to grow," Mukherjee asserted.

On Iran, the defence minister said diplomacy should be given a chance to resolve the impasse over its nuclear programme.

"This approach may sometimes appear to be a painfully slow process but what is important is that a peaceful resolution to the problem needs to be found," Mukherjee maintained.

Turning to Lebanon, he said Indian troops would continue their peacekeeping operations in the war ravaged country after the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon was extended till February 2007.

"We believe that peace must be restored in Lebanon and tension must not be allowed to escalate. This needs restraint from both sides," he pointed out.

According to Mukherjee, global challenges like terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, piracy on the high seas, trafficking of arms and drugs and increasing levels of violence resorted to by non-state actors have to be jointly met "head-on".

"This belief leads India to actively work with friendly countries in regional and global security responsibilities. There is need to consider possibility of widening the initiative to cover sharing of information received from other maritime agencies with the aim of greater coordination in the event of piracy incidents and drug trafficking etc," he contended.

Mukherjee also appreciated the French support to India's candidature for a permanent seat in an expanded UN Security Council.

Earlier, Mukherjee was presented an inter-services guard of honour on his arrival at Hotel de Brienne, the headquarters of the French defence ministry.

On Monday morning, Mukherjee visited the French Air Defence and Air Operations Command (CDAOA) for a briefing on the strides made by European nations to confront the new threat posed by terrorists through the use of explosive laden aircraft.

Though a French defence ministry project, CDAOA is, in fact, a joint European mission conceived in the wake of the 9/11 terror strike.

"This is much more a European project than a national one," French officials pointed out.

At CDAOA, experts network satellite and other overhead surveillance systems like aerostat balloon radars with ground based radars and sensors to keep a pan-Europe eye on potential threats.

Mukherjee, who spent nearly two hours at the site, said such projects and research were of immense interest to India as New Delhi also faced such threats.

When officials said the response time given to react to such threats in Europe was seven minutes, Mukherjee responded that this could be even less in India.

French officials said the objective of Mukherjee's visit to the project was part of the effort to take friendly countries into confidence for evolving a system of sharing information of such threats in real time.

The officials also said France had moulded its just inducted Rafale multi-role combat aircraft along with Mirage-2000-5 into quick reaction aerial response teams to deal with airborne threats.

Indian Army battalion in Lebanon honoured

New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) An Indian Army battalion serving on UN peacekeeping duties in Lebanon has been honoured for the high standard of professionalism it displayed during the 34-day Israel-Hezbollah war by remaining at its posts in the heart of the conflict zone.

While the fourth battalion of the Sikh Regiment was honoured with the UNIFIL (UN Interim Force in Lebanon) Force Commander's Unit Citation, 73 soldiers of the 800-strong unit were honoured with UNIFIL Force Commander's Citation, it was announced here Tuesday.

"The force commander, Major General Alain Pellegrini, honoured them for their gallantry, devotion to duty and professionalism," a defence ministry spokesman said.

Pellegrini had earlier conveyed UN Secretary General Kofi Anan's appreciation when he visited the battalion headquarters on Indian Independence Day Aug 15, saying but for its resilience, UNIFIL could have been wound up.

"The UN secretary general has commended the professionalism of the Indian Army because of which UNIFIL is still here, whereas Israel had plans to wind up UNIFIL," Pellegrini noted.

"Sandwiched between two extremely violent and modern warring forces, the officers and soldiers came out with a smile against all odds," he added.

"Based on lessons learnt 100 years ago during the Battle of Saragarhi when 21 soldiers sacrificed themselves fighting a 12,000 strong enemy, this elite battalion has done the Indian Army proud and also kept the tricolour flying high. 'Together we shall accomplish the toughest of tasks' is the motto of the battalion and they have lived up to this," the spokesman said.

The battalion, commanded by Colonel Subhash Panwar, is currently engaged in monitoring the withdrawal of Israeli Defence Forces, the deployment of the Lebanese Army in South Lebanon, and in providing humanitarian assistance to the residents in its area of responsibility who have suffered major losses in the 34-day war.

The battalion serves under Chapter Six of the UN charter, under which it can open fire if fired upon. UNIFL's mandate had run out July 31 and was initially extended for a month and then till February 2007.

India and Ghana provide the bulk of the 1,900-strong UNIFIL. The Indian battalion is responsible for monitoring roughly half of the 121-km border Lebanon shares with Israel and Syria.

Some 8,000 Indian Army officers and soldiers currently serve as UN peacekeepers worldwide and are deployed in all the major hotspots of Sudan, the Congo, and Ethiopia/Eritrea.

Indian Navy doctors gain much from 'Mercy' mission

New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) Ten Indian Navy doctors, including a woman and paramedics, have returned home after serving for 102 days on the US Navy hospital ship Mercy, an experience that they say overwhelmed them and which would forever stay with them.

"It was quite overwhelming to serve on the world's largest floating hospital. It is an experience I shall never forget," Surgeon Commander Divya Gautam told reporters here.

"We were a little apprehensive at the start as this was the first time the navy was participating in an Indo-US joint medical mission but the Americans were so warn that all our apprehensions were allayed within 24 hours of boarding the ship," Gautam, a general duty medical officer posted at Mumbai, added. She is only the second woman medical officer of the Indian Navy.

Joining her were six Indian Navy doctors and three paramedics, who conducted 10 medical camps in the Philippines, East Timor, Indonesia and Malaysia that the ship visited.

In addition, they also participated in medical activities and seminars on board the 70,000 tonne converted supertanker that boasts among its facilities 12 operating theatres and 120 ICU beds.

Doctors and medical staff from 18 other countries including Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines were also on board during the May 23-Sep 1 voyage.

The deployment of Indian Navy doctors on Mercy was first mooted on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Military Medicine Conference here in March during talks between Captain Bob Krisher of the US Navy Medical Corps and the Indian Navy's Surgeon Commodore B.S. Rathore and Surgeon Commander K. Bose.

The details were finalised during the visit here early May of the US Pacific Fleet Commander, Admiral Gary Roughead.

"It was a very educative experience," said Surgeon Commander C.N. Chaudhari, a microbiolgist and transfusion specialist.

"During the mission, I conducted demonstrations of laboratory procedures in the diagnosis of tropical diseases as also practical demonstrations of diagnosing diseases like tuberculosis and malaria," he said.

Among the other doctors were Surgeon Commander Sanjoy Chatterjee, the first Indian surgeon to arrive in Sri Lanka after the killer Dec 26, 2004 tsunami, who was stationed at Gayala and Amparai for six weeks. Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunge cited him for his relief efforts.

Also on board were Surgeon Commander Piyush Joshi, a radiologist; Surgeon Commander Ashok Yadav, a pediatrician; Surgeon Lieutenant Commander S. Dalawayi, a general medical officer who had sailed around the world in the tallship Tarangini in 2004; and Surgeon Lieutenant A. Nayak, an internal medicine specialist.

Joining them were three paramedics - Chief Petty Officer D. Behera and Petty Officers B. Samal and B. Khejar.

With 900 officers, medical specialists and paramedics on board, Mercy's primary mission is to provide rapid, flexible, and mobile acute medical and surgical services to support US Marine Corps air and ground task forces deployed ashore, army and air force units deployed ashore, and naval amphibious task forces and battle forces afloat.

Its secondary mission is to provide mobile surgical hospital service for use by US government agencies in disaster or humanitarian relief or limited humanitarian care incident to these missions or peacetime military operations.

The departments and facilities provided on Mercy include casualty reception, radiological services, main laboratory plus satellite lab, central sterile receiving, medical supply/pharmacy, physical therapy and burn care, dental services, optometry/lens lab, morgue, laundry, and two oxygen producing plants.

San Diego's National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. built Mercy as SS Worth in 1976. In July 1984, she was renamed and converted into a hospital ship by the same company. Mercy was commissioned Nov 8, 1986.

Iran discounts attacks by US, Israel

Tehran, Sep 5 (DPA) Iran's defence minister said he doubted the possibility of a military attack by the US or Israel against his country's nuclear sites, the news agency ISNA reported.

"I do not think that the US would realise its military threats against Iran as this would be another big mistake, but we are nevertheless vigilant and would nip even the thought of an attack in the bud," Defence Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najar said at a press conference Tuesday.

"And Hezbollah exposed the straw power of the Zionist regime (Israel)," the minister added.

He termed military threats against Iran as a "psychological war" in the nuclear dispute to which Iran would pay no serious attention but nevertheless would maintain its vigilance.

Najar said that several successful tests have been conducted on homemade ballistic missiles adding that the missile research programme would continue.

Last week Iran tested its new anti-ship missile fired by a submarine during war games.

The defence minister emphasised that Iran's military potential was for defensive purposes only and that the Islamic state would not attack any country in the region.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said last week that Iran's nuclear programmes were no threat to any country, "not even the Zionist regime (Israel)."

Iran's main missile, the Shahab-3 missile, has a reported range of 1,300 to 2,000 km and is said to be capable of hitting any part of Israel.

Iran tests new Air Defence System

Tehran, Sept 5 (ZEENEWS.COM) Iran said on Monday that it had tested a new Air Defence System to counter missiles and aircraft during large-scale military exercises throughout the country, state-run television reported.

"The upgraded missiles successfully destroyed the presumed enemies' missiles in low altitude simultaneously in several points," said Gen Amir Amini, Deputy Commander of Iran's Air Force.

The television footage showed at least four surface-to-air missiles being fired from mobile launching pads. The report did not say if the missile is equipped with a guidance system.

During manoeuvres dubbed "the blow of Zolfaghar," which began in August 19, Iran test fired short range surface-to-surface and sub-to-surface missiles.

Iran's military test-fired a series of missiles during large-scale war games in the Persian Gulf in March and April, including a missile it claimed was not detectable by radar that can use multiple warheads to hit several targets simultaneously,

After decades of relying on foreign weapons purchases, Iran now says it is increasingly self-sufficient in its military equipment claiming it annually exports more than USD 100 million worth of military equipment to more than 50 countries.

Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armoured personnel carriers, missiles and a fighter plane, the government has said. It announced in early 2005 that it had begun production of torpedoes.

Iran to discuss nukes with EU official

Vienna, Sept 5 (ZEENEWS.COM) The EU's foreign policy chief and Iran's senior nuclear negotiator tentatively agreed late Monday to meet in two days in Vienna to try and bridge differences over Tehran's nuclear program, UN and European officials said.

The officials, who demanded anonymity for discussing confidential information with reporters, stressed the date and venue still could change despite initial agreement to meet Wednesday in the Austrian capital.

While word leaked last week that the Iranians had agreed to meet with the EU's Javier Solana to explore potential chances of solving the impasse, the time and venue are officially being kept secret in an apparent attempt not to jeopardize any chance of their success.

Asked to confirm the reports, Solana's spokeswoman Cristina Gallach only would say "the lines of communications are being kept open" between the two sides.

At issue is Tehran's refusal to consider freezing uranium enrichment, a potential pathway to nuclear weapons, despite a demand by the UN Security Council.

On Thursday, the last day of a council deadline for Iran to suspend enrichment, the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that Tehran had failed to do so, despite the threat of UN sanctions.

The talks between Solana and Iran's Ali Larijani are seen as the last chance to explore the possibility of a negotiated solution to the standoff before the council actively starts work on such sanctions.

Senior negotiators of the five permanent Security Council members plus Germany are expected to meet in Berlin on Thursday to discuss the results of Wednesday's meeting.

Israeli blockade of Lebanon to end soon: Annan

Alexandria (Egypt), Sep 5 (DPA) UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said he expected Israel to lift its sea and air blockade of Lebanon soon.

During a visit to the Egyptian port city of Alexandria, where he met Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak, Annan said Tuesday that the Lebanese would be receiving some "good news" on the issue within the next 48 hours.

Annan's comments were the closest indication yet of movement on the diplomatic efforts towards achieving an end to Israel's sea and air blockade of its northern neighbour.

The UN chief was visiting Alexandria while winding up his Middle East tour focusing on recent developments in Lebanon, Iraq, the Palestinian issue and the dispute over Iran's nuclear programme.

Jagat Singh expelled from Congress

Jaipur, Sep 5 (IANS) The Congress Tuesday expelled Rajasthan legislator Jagat Singh, son of former external affairs minister K. Natwar Singh, from the primary membership of the party on charges of anti-party activities.

"We, on the recommendation our disciplinary action committee, which found Jagat Singh guilty of indiscipline, have expelled him from the primary membership of the party," state Congress president B.D. Kalla told IANS here.

"Jagat was served a notice on Aug 18 and was given time to reply. But he did not submit any reply and on the contrary was busy in criticising the Congress leaders and leadership. We had no option but to expel him from the party," Kalla added.

Jagat Singh, who represents Laxmangarh constituency in Alwar district, was indicted along with his father in the probe by Justice R.S. Pathak Inquiry Authority into irregularities in Iraq's oil-for-food programme.

The Congress subsequently suspended Natwar Singh.

On Aug 23, Jagat Singh had roundly criticised the Congress leadership while addressing a rally here organised by the Kisan Sangarsh Samiti Rajasthan and the Rajasthan Jat Mahasabha in support of his father Natwar Singh here.

Jagat Singh had begun his political career as general secretary of the Youth Congress in 1998.

Jessica murder: Chandigarh doctor surrenders in court

New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) A Chandigarh-based doctor who had allegedly issued a fake medical certificate to Vikas Gill, one of the accused in the case related to Delhi model Jessica Lal's murder, surrendered before a court here Tuesday.

J.S. Bedi, who surrendered before an Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) court, had Monday informed the Delhi High Court that he would surrender before Delhi Police. He had also withdrawn his anticipatory bail application.

ACMM Kamini Lau sent Bedi to three days' police remand.

Gill had used the certificate issued by Bedi to get exemption from personal appearance in the trial of the murder case.

The ACMM had Aug 25 issued a non-bailable warrant against Bedi on an application by Delhi Police saying that he had been avoiding appearing for interrogation.

On a Delhi High Court direction, Delhi Police registered the case against the doctor in April.

The doctor's certificate had come under doubt when police told the high court that Gill, who was tried and acquitted along with eight accused in the case in February this year, had left the country without permission of the court during the trial and has been absconding since.

"Vikas Gill had left the country on Oct 9, 2004, without the permission of the trial court when the trial proceedings were pending," the standing counsel for Delhi police, Mukta Gupta, had told the high court.

Jharkhand government in minority as four ministers quit

Ranchi, Sep 5 (IANS) Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda's National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government was Tuesday reduced to a minority after four ministers quit and aligned with the opposition United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

While irrigation minister Kamlesh Singh announced his resignation Tuesday morning, disgruntled independent ministers Madhu Koda, Harinarayan Rai and Enos Ekka soon joined him by faxing their resignations to Governor Syed Sibtey Razi.

Parliamentary affairs and mines minister Koda, transport minister Ekka, and forest minister Rai have reportedly been in talks with the leadership of the Congress that leads the UPA.

With the four ministers quitting, the ruling alliance's strength in the 82-member assembly has been reduced to 39.

The rebel trio arrived here from Gurgaon near Delhi in a chartered plane Tuesday evening and met the governor.

"We have resigned from the cabinet and withdrawn support to the government," Koda told reporters after the meeting.

Asked if he would he the next chief minister, Koda said: "UPA leaders will decide about the chief minister."

However, Munda, who returned from New Delhi Tuesday evening after attending the chief ministers' meeting on internal security called by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was still optimistic.

"We will prove our majority on the floor of the house. We are also ready for an election," the chief minister said.

While the rebels were in talks with the opposition for a few days, the drama intensified Monday midnight when police detained Kamlesh Singh, who belongs to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), as he was on way to Kolkata, apparently to join the other three rebel ministers who were camping in Gurgaon.

He was detained after reports that he could be switching loyalties to the UPA.

Protesting the police behaviour, Singh said: "The treatment meted out to me on the directive of the chief minister itself tells the story of the plight of the state. We supported the NDA government for the development of the state. But we are humiliated by the chief minister.

"When the chief minister has no faith in us, why should we remain ministers? We now find it difficult to work under the leadership of Munda."

Asked whether he would join the opposition UPA, he said: "All options are open. We can support any government that will ensure development."

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that heads the NDA government swung into action by engaging Human Resource Development Minister Pradeep Yadav to pacify Singh.

When the news came in that the minister was going to join the rebel ministers, the state police swung into action.

The state police first tried to search for the minister in trains bound for Kolkata. Then the roadways were blocked and the minister was finally caught at midnight near Chandil at Jamshedpur. The minister was stopped and taken to a guesthouse located in the same district.

He pleaded with the police that he was he was going to pacify the rebel ministers, but the cops said they had been directed to take him to a guesthouse.

Reacting to the police action, Singh said: "They behaved with me as if I was a criminal. They (police) told me that I would not be allowed to go Kolkata."

"I will complain about the behaviour of police to Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil," he fumed.

Kashmir's 'longest surviving terrorist' killed

Jammu, Sep 5 (IANS) Billu Gujjar, a top commander of the Hizb-ul-Mujahadeen, group whose name was a byword for terror in this Hindu-majority region, was killed in a shootout with police early Tuesday. He has been described as "the longest surviving terrorist of Jammu and Kashmir".

Acting on a tip-off, police raided his hideout in Malogi, a hilly village in Gool, about 175 km from Jammu, around 1 a.m. The terrorist, who was apparently taken by surprise, tried to offer some resistance in a shootout that lasted for around 20 minutes before succumbing to police bullets.

Inspector General of Police Jammu zone S.P. Vaid told IANS this was a well-planned operation in which "we got rid of the longest surviving terrorist of Jammu and Kashmir".

Vaid said: "With the killing of Billu Gujjar, we have broken the backbone of Hizb-ul-Mujahadeen in Jammu and Kashmir. They are virtually leaderless now and the Hizb cadres would be rudderless."

This would help the police to nab and target other Hizb cadres in the region, he added.

Gujjar was involved in countless incidents of terrorist violence from assassinations to explosions since 1991 in the Kashmir Valley.

The slain terrorist used to operate in Doda and Udhampur districts, but his writ ran all over Jammu region. He was one of the topmost militants of the region and had the skills of manufacturing improvised explosive devices and also shooting his targets, especially security forces during ambushes.

Gool, often termed as an ideal operating area for terrorists and a bane for the security forces, still has a large presence of militants.

The dead Hizb commander from Gool took up arms in his late teens. A booklet would be required to record the crimes that he committed, a police officer said, commenting on the innumerable crimes executed by him.

Lebanon to protest Israel's blockade

Beirut, Sept (ZEENEWS.COM) The Lebanese government has decided to protest to the UN Security Council over Israel's blockade of the country and call on it to force Israel to lift the siege.

The move came two days after Lebanese legislators began an open-ended sit-in at the Parliament building to protest the Israeli blockade of Beirut's airport and the country's seaports, which began two days after fighting erupted on July 12 between Israeli troops and Hezbollah guerrillas.

Israel says it is not required under the cease-fire resolution to lift its blockade until Lebanese borders and points of entry are secured to prevent weapons shipments to Hezbollah. It wants a UN peacekeeping force deploying in the south to also take positions on the Lebanese-Syrian border to stop shipments � but the force is not mandated to deploy there.

"The Cabinet has decided to file a complaint with the Security Council against Israel for its continued blockade of Lebanon, its violation of international resolutions ... and its insistence to challenge the international will," Information Minister Ghazi Aridi told reporters after a special Cabinet meeting.

The Cabinet also urged Security Council member states to condemn Israel and force it to implement Resolution 1701, Aridi said, referring to the U.N. resolution that ended 34 days of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah on Aug. 14.

Despite the air blockade, a Qatar Airways plane landed at Beirut airport on Monday carrying 142 passengers, the first commercial flight from the Gulf country to Lebanon since the war. Though company officials said the plane flew without Israeli permission, Israel said it had agreed to the flight and that more were expected.

Resolution 1701 calls, among other things, on Israel to lift its sea and air blockade of Lebanon. Israel says the restrictions are necessary to prevent Hezbollah from rearming, while Lebanon says they hamper the delivery of food and medical supplies and put a damper on attempts to revive its badly battered economy.

Loud music on MP3 could damage your hearing forever

London, Sep 5 (IANS) People who listen to music with high volume on MP3 players might lose their hearing forever and reducing the volume even slightly can go a long way in reducing the damage to the ears.

The Royal National Institute for Deaf (RNID) tested 10 MP3 users and examined the volumes used at London's Victoria station. They found eight out of 10 had machines at more than 80 decibels, a noise level considered potentially hazardous, said the online edition of BBC News.

The RNID says it is not trying to stop people from listening to MP3 players - or from going to pubs, bars and clubs and enjoying music - but does want to encourage people to protect themselves against the cumulative effects of loud music.

Listening too loudly for too long a period of time causes hearing loss from noise. Ringing and buzzing in the ears are "warning signs" that hearing could be damaged, it said.

MP3 player manufacturers have a responsibility to make their customers aware of the risks and the need to listen at sensible levels and we urge them to incorporate prominent warnings into the packaging of their products, the charity said.

"New technology and ever-increasing storage capacity enable people to listen non-stop for hours - and at louder volumes than ever before. If you are regularly plugged in, it is only too easy to clock up noise doses that could damage your hearing forever," John Low, chief executive of RNID, warned.

He added: "It's clear young people are not only shockingly unaware of any risk to their hearing, but also manufacturers aren't yet doing enough to warn people.

"We want people to be aware of the risks and take control to protect their hearing and are willing to help manufacturers come up with an effective solution to this growing problem."

However, there are ways people can protect their hearing. Take a five minutes break every hour to allow ears to recover, the charity suggests to MP3 listeners.

Manmohan going to South Africa Oct 1

New Delhi, Sept. 5 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will go to South Africa Oct 1 to launch the year-long celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of satyagraha, the passive resistance movement pioneered by Mahatma Gandhi against colonial oppression.

Manmohan Singh will go on a two-day visit to Durban, Johannesburg and Pretoria and revisit places associated with Gandhi's struggle against persecution of indentured labourers of Indian origin in South Africa.

A global celebration on satyagraha, a multimedia presentation on Gandhi and his non-violent movement and a dance-drama on the man that India reveres as the Father of the Nation are some of the events being planned for this historic event.

Gandhi's birth anniversary falls Oct 2.

Prominent Gandhian scholars and activists will be invited for these celebratory events to be held here and in various cities of South Africa, including Johannesburg, over the next year.

Manmohan Singh will be going to South Africa a fortnight after attending the summit of IBSA - a regional grouping that comprises India, South, Africa and Brazil - conclave in Brasilia.

The prime minister's visit is set to give a big boost to India's new Africa diplomacy revolving around trade and technology and an equal partnership with Africa.

"It's a huge momentous year for India and South Africa relations. India had given an ordinary lawyer called Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to South Africa, but we gave back Mahatma to India," South African High Commissioner Francis Moloi told IANS ahead of the visit.

Massive security for Ganesha procession in Hyderabad

Hyderabad, Sep 5 (IANS) Watchtowers and air surveillance are part of the massive security arrangements being put in place for the Ganesha immersion procession here Wednesday that marks the end of 10-day festivities.

About 22,000 policemen, including Rapid Action Force personnel, are being deployed and close circuit television cameras and watchtowers being installed at the Hussein Sagar lake here where 10,000 idols of Lord Ganesha will be immersed.

Besides, anti-sabotage teams and bomb disposal squads form part of the elaborate security arrangements for the annual procession, during which riots have been known to break out.

Top police officials will fly in choppers over the main procession, which starts from Balapur on the city outskirts. Thousands of idols from different parts of the city will join the process en-route.

Dozens of cranes have been installed at Hussain Sagar for the immersion of idols. Following concerns over pollution threats to the lake, the Andhra Pradesh High Court recently declared that immersions would not be allowed from next year.

Every year, the entire city comes to a standstill for the mammoth procession, which covers a distance of 20 km and passes through the communally sensitive walled quarter.

Additional security arrangements are being made in the old city, especially areas surrounding the historic Charminar.

About a million people are expected to attend the annual procession that is being organised by Ganesh Utsav Samiti since early 1980s.

Additional security arrangements have been made this year in view of the reported intelligence inputs that subversive elements could create trouble.

Besides Hussein Sagar, hundreds of idols will also be immersed in lakes and ponds in and around Hyderabad.

Militants kidnap six in Tripura

Agartala, Sep 5 (IANS) At least six people including two policemen were kidnapped by tribal separatists in Tripura, an official said Tuesday.

Heavily armed militants belonging to the outlawed National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) descended on village Gokulnagar, 65 km west of state capital, late Monday and kidnapped them, police spokesman Nepal Das said.

"Six villagers, including two teachers and two policemen, were taken hostage by the militants," Das said.

The NLFT had earlier served extortion notice to the villagers.

"The NLFT carried out the abduction as the villagers did not pay the money," another police official said.

Senior police officials are leading an operation in the area to rescue the kidnapped people.

"The combing operation is conducted cautiously to avoid jeopardising the kidnapped," added Das.

MMA to quit government in troubled Balochistan

Islamabad, Sep 5 (IANS) Sensing the volatile mood following the killing of Baloch leader Akbar Bugti, Pakistan's rightwing alliance Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) has decided to quit the government in Balochistan where it is a coalition partner.

The decision was taken at a MMA meeting in Karachi on Monday, reports here said.

What appeared to clinch the decision was the line adopted by Islamabad that the provincial government, of which the MMA is a part, was consulted throughout the military operations in Kohlu where Bugti was killed in a military operation on Aug 26.

The strength of the MMA in the Balochistan coalition government, which comprises 65 legislators, is 28. Fifteen of them are ministers.

The decision was taken with mutual consent of the six parties comprising the MMA. The supreme council would take the final decision at a meeting in Quetta after studying the latest situation, said Shahid Ahmed Shamsi of the major component, Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI), who is the alliance's central information secretary.

MMA leaders cited the fact that they were not able to discuss the Balochistan issue in the legislatures and thus saw no point in staying on there.

Debated two days after Bugti's killing, the opposition's no-confidence motion was lost in the National Assembly for want of numbers. The issue only created pandemonium in the highest legislature.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz did not even mention Balochistan in his speech in defence of the government.

Shamsi said the leadership of all the six parties of the religious alliance, including Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed and Qazi Hussain Ahmed, deliberated before agreeing to resign in protest over the killing of Bugti.

MPs demand Blair make way for successor

By Prasun Sonwalkar,

London, Sep 5 (IANS) The clamour for British Prime Minister Tony Blair setting out his timetable to hand over to his successor in the near future has reached the next phase with 17 Labour MPs writing to him and urging him to quit office.

Eager columnists are beginning to write his political obituary. Michael Brown, columnist for The Independent, Tuesday said on television: "Blair is already turning from a lame duck prime minister to a dead duck prime minister."

The 17 MPs are among the 38 MPs who were elected for the first time in 2001, and have always been considered close to Blair.

Adding grist to the clamour Tuesday was cabinet minister David Miliband, who said he expected Blair to quit in a year's time.

The letter is reported to have been coordinated by Blairite MPs Chris Bryant and Sion Simon but the two have not spoken on the record so far.

Several such letters were said to be in circulation for more signatures from MPs and cabinet ministers.

As Blair finds himself between a rock and a hard place, there is much concern that if he announces his exit strategy, he would wield less authority in the remaining months in office.

Major government projects may also be held in abeyance until the new leader takes over - widely believed to be the current chancellor, Gordon Brown.

Blair has already announced that he will not contest the next general election. But MPs are anxious and apprehensive that they will need to defend this government's unpopular policies - mainly on Iraq and the 'war on terror' - when Blair himself will not be in the fray.

A senior Labour functionary told IANS: "Forget the top people - when MPs start fearing for their jobs, which is what is happening now, the countdown well and truly begins for the prime minister".

One reason why Blair has come under increased pressure to announce his exit strategy by the annual Labour conference in Manchester later this month is the fear that the party would be "wiped out" during the May 2007 elections to the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly and the English councils.

Blair has refused to oblige demands to announce a timetable for his departure. He has said that he is more interested in "getting on with the job" and had already announced that he would not contest the next election. His consistent refusal has further infuriated his party MPs.

The letter written by the 17 MPS is seen as the first written salvo that is expected to gather further political moss as the annual Labour conference draws near.

Even Blair's aides are worried that continuing uncertainty over his departure would tarnish his legacy after a record three consecutive terms in office.

A senior Labour functionary told The Independent: "Tony is in danger of ruining his own legacy by hanging on too long. He should have a brilliant legacy after winning three general elections. He should not leave immediately after an electoral rout that we could avoid under a new leader."

Meanwhile, the Daily Mirror Tuesday published what it called a memo written by Blair's aides earlier this year, detailing a glittering array of activities before Blair rides into the political sunset.

The five-page document details plans for Blair to leave No 10 Downing in a whirlwind of television and radio appearances and a nationwide tour. It says that the prime minister's departure should promote the "triumph of Blairism".

"He needs to go with the crowd wanting more. He should be the star who won't even play that last encore," it reportedly says.

But Downing Street said that neither Blair nor any senior staff had seen the memo. The prime minister's official spokesman said Blair was interested in addressing the issues and knew that people would make up their own minds about what the government has achieved.

Munda government in crisis as minister announces resignation

Ranchi, Sep 5 (IANS) The crisis in the Arjun Munda-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in Jharkhand deepened Tuesday morning with a minister from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) announcing his resignation.

Kamlesh Singh, irrigation minister, announced his resignation because of alleged ill-treatment by the state police. He was detained by police midnight Monday as he was on way to Kolkata, apparently to join three other rebel state ministers who are camping in Gurgaon, Haryana.

He was detained after reports that he could be switching loyalties to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

Protesting the police behaviour, Singh said: "The treatment meted out to me on the directive of the chief minister itself tells the story of the plight of the state. We supported the NDA government for the development of the state. But we are humiliated by the chief minister."

"When the chief minister has no faith in us then why should we remain minister. We now find it difficult to work under the leadership of Munda."

Asked whether he would join the UPA he said: "All option are open. We can support any government that will ensure development."

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which spearheads the NDA government in Jharkhand, swung into action by engaging Human Resource Development Minister Pradeep Yadav to pacify Singh.

The minister was reportedly going to join the three rebel ministers - Madhu Koda, Enos Ekka and Harinarayan Rai. The trio are camping in Gurgaon and they are likely to put in their papers Tuesday to topple the BJP government.

When the news came in that the minister was going to join the rebel ministers, the state police swung into action.

The state police first tried to search for the minister in trains bound for Kolkata. Then the roadways were blocked and the minister was finally caught at midnight near Chandil at Jamshedpur. The minister was stopped and taken to a guesthouse located in the same district.

He pleaded with the police that he was he was going to pacify the rebel ministers, but the cops said they had been directed to take him to a guesthouse.

Reacting to the police action, Singh said: "They behaved with me as if I am a criminal. They (police) told me that I would not be allowed to go Kolkata."

"I will complain about the behaviour of police to Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil," he fumed.

Arjun Munda government enjoys wafer-thin majority in the 82-member house. It enjoys the support of 43 legislators, including the speaker. If the three rebel ministers withdraw support to the government, the Munda government will be reduced to a minority.

The Jharkhand UPA legislators are camping in Gurgaon along with the three rebel ministers. Madhu Koda, one of the rebel ministers, has been reportedly offered the post of chief minister by the Congress.

Munda government in minority as four ministers resign

Ranchi, Sep 5 (IANS) The Arjun Munda-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in Jharkhand was Tuesday reduced to a minority after four ministers resigned.

While Kamlesh Singh, irrigation minister, announced his resignation Tuesday morning because of alleged ill treatment by the state police, three disgruntled independent ministers joined him soon.

Madhu Koda, Harinarayan Rai and Enos Ekka faxed their resignation to Governor Syed Sibtey Razi.

Koda, parliamentary affairs and mines minister, Ekka, transport minister, and Rai, forest minister, had earlier been reportedly in talks with the leadership of the main opposition Congress.

With the four minister deciding to quit, the ruling alliance's strength in the 82-member assembly is reduced to 39.

Singh, who belongs to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), was detained by police midnight Monday as he was on way to Kolkata, apparently to join the three other rebel state ministers who are camping in Gurgaon, Haryana.

He was detained after reports that he could be switching loyalties to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

Protesting the police behaviour, Singh said: "The treatment meted out to me on the directive of the chief minister itself tells the story of the plight of the state. We supported the NDA government for the development of the state. But we are humiliated by the chief minister."

"When the chief minister has no faith in us then why should we remain minister. We now find it difficult to work under the leadership of Munda."

Asked whether he would join the opposition United Progressive Alliance (UPA) he said: "All option are open. We can support any government that will ensure development."

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which spearheads the NDA government in Jharkhand, swung into action by engaging Human Resource Development Minister Pradeep Yadav to pacify Singh.

The minister was reportedly going to join Koda, Ekka and Rai. The trio were camping in Gurgaon, near New Delhi.

When the news came in that the minister was going to join the rebel ministers, the state police swung into action.

The state police first tried to search for the minister in trains bound for Kolkata. Then the roadways were blocked and the minister was finally caught at midnight near Chandil at Jamshedpur. The minister was stopped and taken to a guesthouse located in the same district.

He pleaded with the police that he was he was going to pacify the rebel ministers, but the cops said they had been directed to take him to a guesthouse.

Reacting to the police action, Singh said: "They behaved with me as if I am a criminal. They (police) told me that I would not be allowed to go Kolkata."

"I will complain about the behaviour of police to Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil," he fumed.

Musharraf emphasises political dialogue in Balochistan

Islamabad, Sep 5 (IANS) Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has asked supporters in the government and leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Qaid (PML-Q) to initiate moves for a dialogue with various political forces in troubled Balochistan.

The Musharraf directive Monday came amid opposition protests and resignations by lawmakers belonging to local Balochistan parties.

Baloch voices were heard at the meeting he convened. Former prime minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali was quoted by The Nation newspaper as telling the closed-door meeting: "Tempers are high and there is an immediate need to cool them down through skilful negotiations."

Sources attending the meeting told the newspaper that Musharraf asked PML-Q leaders Chaudhry Shujat Hussain and Mushahid Hussain to remain in contact with political forces in Balochistan and "continue to pursue a political dialogue to address their genuine concerns".

Deputy Chairman of the Senate Jan Mohammad Jamali regretted the Balochistan government's decision not to hand over the body of slain leader Nawab Akbar Bugti to his heirs.

However, Balochistan Governor Owais Ghani and Chief Minister Jam Mohammed Yusuf did not agree with Jamali. They said that it would have been an unwise step in the situation prevailing at that time in the province. They claimed the situation was showing signs of improvement as the number of people attending protest rallies was declining rapidly.

Bugti's burial remains a subject of controversy and arouses angry sentiments. The government has sought to control the damage.

Chief military spokesperson Maj. Gen. Shaukat Shahin explained that the coffin containing Akbar Bugti's body was locked "with good intent to provide an opportunity to his relatives to immediately open the lock and have his 'Deedar' (last glimpse)".

"Normally, the wooden coffin containing a body is sealed off by fixing nails. Had the nails been fixed on the outer edges or top corners of the coffin, it would have been very difficult for anyone to open it if one wished to see the body," said Shahin.

The News International newspaper said: "The justification (by Shahin) makes sense, as a lot of criticism was thrown on the authorities for locking the coffin containing Bugti's body at the time of his Namaz-e-Janaza (funeral prayer) and burial."

Bugti was killed in a military operation on Aug 26 at Kohlu in a remote part of Balochistan where he had holed up and was resisting the security forces.

"Reports reveal that the stubborn Nawab blew himself up along with soldiers in a fit of sheer frustration and rage," the newspaper said.

He said the lock remained unopened as none of the Bugti family turned up for participation in his last rites.

It was not an issue as the government's intent was to allow the Bugti family members to attend the funeral rites and they were offered an opportunity to see him in the coffin.

According to Shahin, there were witnesses who saw Bugti's body in the coffin.

Muslim minister opposes directive on Vande Mataram

Hyderabad, Sep 5 (IANS) A Muslim minister in Andhra Pradesh has opposed the state government's directive for mass singing of the national song Vande Mataram in all educational institutions on Sep 7.

Minorities Welfare Minister Mohammed Fareeduddin said the singing should not be made compulsory and it should be left to the choice of minority educational institutions.

The education department had last week issued an order that Vande Mataram be sung in all schools and colleges to mark the centenary year of the national song.

With Muslim clerics and a section of political leaders opposing the song on the ground that it violates their religious belief, a controversy has cropped up over whether Muslim students should attend school and college Wednesday.

Fareed cited Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Arjun Singh's clarification that singing of the national song was not compulsory but only voluntary.

Education department officials said they would go ahead with the implementation of their directive for mass singing of first two stanzas of the national song at 11 a.m. on Sep 7. The directive is for all government, aided, private and residential schools.

But there is huge confusion. While School Education Minister Rajyalaxmi said it was compulsory for all schools to sing the song, Information and Public Relations Minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir claimed that it was only optional.

Shabbir said the state cabinet took no decision for compulsory singing in educational institutions.

The directive has sparked a controversy, especially in Hyderabad, where hundreds of schools are either run by Muslim management or have predominantly Muslim students. Several private and aided schools have already decided not to arrange the singing to avoid any controversy.

Muslims constitute 40 percent of Hyderabad's four million population. Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), the powerful Muslim political party which has one MP and five state legislators from the city, has strongly opposed the government order.

MIM president Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi said Muslims could never sing Vande Mataram as it goes against Islam's basic belief of oneness of Allah. "History also shows that the song was used to spread hatred against Muslims and provoke them," he said in a statement.

National award for Tibetan teachers

Dharamsala, Sep 5 (IANS) Two Tibetan teachers received a national award from President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Tuesday.

The award was presented on the occasion of Teacher's Day at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.

Sonam Choedon, a postgraduate teacher at Central School for Tibetans (CST), Darjeeling and N.K. Singh, primary teacher at CST Sonata, near Darjeeling, were recipients of this year's prestigious award along with 316 other teachers from across India.

The award carries a cash prize of Rs.25,000, a silver medal and a certificate of merit.

Nepal arms deal: Govt disclosure thickens mystery

By Sudeshna Sarkar,

Kathmandu, Sep 5 (IANS) Five days after a media uproar about New Delhi denying permission to a Russian company to ferry arms to Nepal via India, Nepal's new government "came clean" on the clandestine deal in parliament but the admission added more to the mystery than clearing it up.

After initially denying any knowledge about the weapons cargo that was scheduled to arrive in Kathmandu last month, the Girija Prasad Koirala government was finally forced to make a disclosure after the Maoist guerrillas warned of another revolt if the government did not stop "conspiring" with ousted King Gyanendra and hostile foreign powers to scuttle the election planned next year to put monarchy to vote.

Home minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula told parliament that an arms deal worth $1.l4 million had been struck in January 2005 between the then Sher Bahadur Deuba government and an Israeli arms manufacturer, Hornet Ltd, to buy rocket launchers and raw material for making bullets.

Though the Deuba government paid an advance of $180,000 for the consignment, the Israeli company failed to honour its commitment. The government had to extend the delivery deadline thrice.

With the last deadline going to expire on Oct 30, the supplier planned to send the shipment via Ahmedabad city in western India last month.

However, the defence ministry ruled out procuring arms for the Nepal Army at this stage and instructed the army should not be given permission to bring the transporting aircraft to Nepal, Sitaula told the house.

But instead of clearing up the mystery, the home minister's statement compounds the confusion. The government has chosen to stay mum regarding the aircraft that had sought permission to land at Mumbai airport last month and was carrying shipments from Belarus and Bulgaria.

It also doesn't explain why the minister provided an explanation five days after the furore started. Throughout the five days, Sitaula himself, finance minister Ram Sharan Mahat and prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala's adviser on foreign affairs, Suresh Chalise, had denied any government knowledge of the matter.

Interestingly, Koirala went to the palace last week to meet King Gyanendra and "brief" him on the security situation, and the government explanation came after that.

Finally, Sitaula's statement that the army should not be allowed to bring the shipment to Nepal smacks of the army still acting on its own, despite assertions by Koirala, who is also the defence minister, that the forces were no longer commanded by the palace but his government.

Oil price hike to impact air-carriers' bottomlines: Jet CEO

Mumbai, Sept 5 (ZEENEWS.COM) Jet Airways CEO Wolfgang Prock- Schauer today hinted that bottomlines of airlines would be hit in the coming quarters as a result of increase in oil prices, which has been passed on to customers through higher fuel surcharge.

"There is 50 percent more capacity prevalent in the market presently but fuel costs are at a record high. Airlines cannot recover their high fuel costs and hence you will see their bottomlines impacted," he said on the sidelines of a jet airways press conference held here.

On passenger traffic, he said there was a 25 percent increase in Q1 this fiscal for Jet Airways but now it had fallen. "This is because the present time is the lean season," he pointed out.

According to him, passenger traffic will pick up in September-October which is the peak season. "But we have still managed a double-digit growth," he averred.

Queried on discounted fares offered by other airlines, he said Jet Airways may also consider offering such schemes in the future but at a reasonable discount as in the long run, no airline can sell below cost.

Olmert denies prisoner swap deal with Palestinians

Jerusalem, Sept 5 (ZEENEWS.COM) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert today denied knowledge of an impending deal to swap Palestinian prisoners for an Israeli soldier held by Palestinian militants for the past two months.

"I read about it in the newspapers alone and know nothing of such a deal," Olmert told Parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee, according to meeting participants.

Committee member Ran Cohen said Olmert gave no further details during the closed session.

In recent days, Arab media have carried multiple accounts of a deal in the making. Over the weekend, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak disclosed that negotiations to secure Cpl Gilad Shalit's release were ongoing.

Israel has publicly refused calls for a prisoner swap, but privately, Israel officials have said there are ongoing contacts with Egypt to win Shalit's freedom. Officials said today, however, that they were unaware of any breakthrough.

An Egyptian diplomat familiar with the negotiations said the Israelis and Palestinians still have not agreed on the number or names of prisoners to be released, and a deal was unlikely in the coming days. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorised to speak to the media.

In Gaza, officials with the ruling Hamas militant group said they had no details on an imminent deal.

Militants linked to Hamas captured Shalit on June 25 after tunnelling into southern Israel from Gaza and attacking an Israeli military post.

Olmert to meet Abbas if Israeli soldier freed

Tel Aviv, Sep 5 (DPA) Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas if an Israeli soldier kidnapped over two months ago by Palestinian militants is released, Vice Premier Shimon Peres said.

"The two will meet to discuss the (international) road map (peace plan) as soon as the crisis over the kidnapped soldier is solved," Peres told Israel Army Radio Tuesday.

The soldier, Gilad Shalit, was kidnapped from an Israeli army post adjacent to the Gaza Strip during a June 25 raid carried out by three Palestinian militant groups.

Reports of his imminent release as part of a prisoner swap have proliferated in recent days, and on Tuesday Abbas told the Bahraini Akhbar Al Halij newspaper that progress had been made toward a prisoner swap deal, whereby Shalit would be transferred to Egypt, after which the number of Palestinians to be freed by Israel would be made public.

However, a spokesman for the radical Popular Resistance Committees, one of the groups believed to be holding him, denied reports that Shalit had already been moved to Cairo.

In addition, Osama Musani, a senior member of the Hamas movement, whose military wing participated in the June 25 raid, told reporters that "technical" disputes were holding up the prisoner swap.

He said Hamas wanted the exchange to be simultaneous and not carried out with Shalit freed first and Palestinian prisoners afterwards.

Orissa seeks flood assistance from centre

Bhubaneswar, Sep 5 (IANS) Orissa sought financial assistance of Rs.17.97 billion from the centre to tackle the floods that hit the state five times in the past two months affecting over 3.2 million people.

The state government had earlier sought Rs.11.31 billion flood assistance, after the first flood in July this year.

"Since the situation is grave and deteriorated further with several rounds of floods, we submitted our revised demand," state Special Relief Commissioner Jagadananda Panda told IANS Tuesday.

The state government placed the demand before the seven member central team who arrived here Monday to assess the damage caused by the past five floods, he said.

The central team led by ministry of home affairs Joint Secretary S.K. Chattopadhyay divided itself into groups and are touring flood hit regions, he said.

The state witnessed the series of floods due to repeated low pressure in Bay of Bengal. It caused extensive damage in 26 of state's 30 districts killing over 85 people damaging properties worth billions.

Pakistan accuses India's RAW for Balochistan's troubles

Islamabad, Sep 5 (IANS) India's spy network, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), has been blamed for the troubles in Balochistan province at a meeting chaired by President Pervez Musharraf.

Media reports on Tuesday did not directly quote Musharraf, except saying he "did not rule out a foreign hand" in the developments in Balochistan, the country's largest province where the situation reached a flashpoint Aug 26 with the killing of rebel leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti in a military operation.

"The Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) pumped huge money, into the province, transferred arms and ammunition via Kishan Garh into Dera Bugti, from various routes, all of which have now been sealed," it was disclosed at the meeting, The News International said.

The accusation came amidst a low-key announcement by the foreign office of a possible meeting between Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the NAM (Non-Aligned Movement) Summit in Havana, Cuba later this month.

Significantly, Islamabad ruled out any meddling in Balochistan by Kabul, where Musharraf is scheduled to travel later this month to confer with his counterpart Hamid Karzai.

Foreign office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said territories in Iran and Afghanistan were "being used" to foment trouble in Balochistan.

It was alleged that Indian consulates in Kandahar and the Iranian city of Zahidan were being used to send arms and ammunition to certain parts of Balochistan for creating disturbance through anti-Pakistan elements, the newspaper said, not citing any source in particular.

Musharraf said the problem existed only in small pockets of the province as most parts remained peaceful. "The government will ensure its writ as it is very important to bring law and order under control for the safety of the people of the province," Musharraf was quoted as saying.

"All arms supply routes have been sealed both from India and Afghanistan and it is the key reason that Bugti's 'farari' (rebel) commanders started surrendering," military spokesman, Major General Sultan Shahin, said.

He said that surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), 107mm rockets and other lethal weapons were recovered by the law enforcement agencies in the province.

Parliament can't unseat MP's: Jethmalani

New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) Parliament does not have the jurisdiction to terminate an MP's membership by expelling him, eminent lawyer Ram Jethmalani argued before a five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court Tuesday.

The bench, comprising Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, and judges K.G. Balakrishnan, C.K. Thakker, R.V. Raveendran and D.K. Jain is hearing a batch of petitions challenging the validity of the expulsion of 11 MPs - 10 from the Lok Sabha and one from the Rajya Sabha - who were secretly filmed in a "cash-for-queries" TV sting operation

Appearing for the petitioners, Jethmalani argued that only the president, on the advice of the Election Commission, could disqualify an MP under article 103 of the constitution. This decision could not be left to a single house of parliament.

Arguing that disqualification must be created by law and not by a resolution of the house, he said: "This expulsion is different from an expulsion which does not entail the termination of membership, which expulsion may be only a measure of protecting the house against obstruction to its proceedings and discharge of its legislative functions as a result of misconduct of a member committed in the house."

The former law minister argued that the freedom of speech of the MPs was wider than the right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under article 19 of the constitution. Unlike certain restrictions under article 19, the rights of an MP under article 105 of the constitution could not be subjected to any such restriction.

According to him, "Indian Legislatures have never in their history functioned as courts. They are not superior courts and their non-speaking warrant of commitment is subject to judicial scrutiny."

Maintaining that the right of an elected MP remained for the duration of the house, he said these rights were statutory and constitutional. Only statutory and constitutional provisions could bring about termination or extinction of these rights.

He pointed out that article 102 provided for disqualification of members and it would be open to parliament to provide a clause under this article that a Member would be disqualified if found guilty by the house to which he belonged of conduct unworthy of an MP. By implication, this could not be done by a resolution of one house, Jethmalani maintained.

The arguments will continue Wednesday.

PM warns of terror, but cautions against profiling

New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warned Tuesday that the country faced the real prospect of more suicide attacks on economic and religious targets but cautioned against targeting "certain sections of our population", particularly Muslims.

Addressing state chief ministers at a meeting on internal security, the prime minister said: "Without effective law and order, economic development would be impossible".

"Intelligence agencies warn of a further intensification of violent activities with the possibility of more fidayeen attacks, use of suicide bombers, attacks on economic and religious targets, targeting of vital installations, including nuclear establishments and army camps," the prime minister said.

"Reports also suggest that terrorist modules and sleeper cells exist in some of our urban areas, all of which highlight the seriousness of the threat."

During the address to the conclave, the second in five months, Manmohan Singh also cautioned the chief ministers against unfairly targeting the Muslim community while the security agencies came down heavily in the fight against terror.

"It is unfortunate that terrorism has resulted in certain sections of our population being targeted, with the result that a wrong impression has been created of the radicalisation of the entire Muslim community," he noted.

"It is, hence, imperative that we embark immediately upon a proactive policy to ensure that a few individual acts do not result in tarnishing the image of an entire community, and remove any feelings of persecution and alienation from the minds of the minorities."

He asked the chief ministers to be sensitive and scrupulous while dealing with terrorism.

"In dealing with terrorism, scrupulous regard and respect for fundamental human rights of citizens, particularly of minority communities, ought to be a core concern of our law enforcement agencies," he said.

"No innocent person should be harassed in our struggle against terrorism. If a mistake is made, effective remedial corrective measures must be taken well in time."

Highlighting the threats to internal security from terrorism and Maoism that has engulfed huge swathes of the country, Manmohan Singh proposed the setting up of an empowered group of ministers, headed by the home minister and select chief ministers, to monitor the rapid spread of the Maoist movement.

Lamenting that not enough was done to fill up vacancies in the police forces, Manmohan Singh, in a reference to laxity in certain states, pointed to the need for improving the quality of state Special Branches and toning up the law and order administration.

"Without effective law and order, economic development would be impossible," he said.

The importance of filling up vacancies in state police forces was most necessary while fighting Maoist violence, said the prime minister, adding that "good" intelligence was primary especially at the level of the police station.

"The police is the first responder in Naxal-related situations, and is a very important pole in this entire effort. Sensitising the police is, therefore, a critical requirement."

Dwelling on the Maoist rebellion that he called the single biggest internal security challenge faced by the country, Manmohan Singh pointed out that the strategy to counter it would have to be based on an effective response and a focus on reducing underdevelopment.

While praising the efforts of the Andhra Pradesh government for deploying the specialist Greyhounds force on anti-Maoist operations, the prime minister exhorted other affected states to take in hand what deliverables were possible even while preparing to meet the challenge through effective law and order measures.

On the situation in the northeast, Manmohan Singh pointed to the necessity of being sensitive to the nuances of each situation, and the encyclopaedic character of regional and tribal demands which, if not anticipated and dealt with in time, could culminate in a full-fledged insurgency.

"States like Manipur and Nagaland in the northeast appear specially vulnerable today, and demand your personal attention. There is little scope for personal predilections that override national considerations and requirements."

Although the overall security situation in Jammu and Kashmir had shown signs improvement in the past two years, the prime minister still called for constant vigil.

"We should remain on our guard in view of continuing efforts by anti-India and anti-national elements to whip up emotions and transform these into a violent movement."

Polio cases reported from Chandigarh, Haryana

Chandigarh, Sep 5 (IANS) Chandigarh has reported a case of polio, described by health officials as the first such case that has come to light in the union territory in the last four years.

Adjoining Haryana too has reported three polio cases - two in Sonepat district and one in Faridabad. One polio case was reported from Kurukshetra last month.

Health officials said here Tuesday that the polio-affected child, Meena, was daughter of a labourer from Bihar who had migrated to the city.

The 10-month-old child was born here and had been immunised twice with the polio vaccine.

The officials said that the health of the girl was being monitored. They appealed to all parents to get their children immunised against polio during pulse polio campaigns conducted from time to time.

Sources in Haryana's health department said that the three cases of polio reported were a setback to their anti-polio drive.

They said that the next phase of the pulse polio campaign would focus on the districts where the polio cases have been detected.

Sania ousted from US Open

New York, Sep 5 (IANS) India's teenage tennis star Sania Mirza was ousted from the US Open, when she and her South African partner Liezel Huber were defeated in the third round of the women's doubles event.

Sania and Huber, seeded 11th, lost 6-3, 3-6, 5-7 to the sixth seeded pair of Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic and Francesca Schiavone of Italy at Flushing Meadows here Monday.

The two had made it to the third round of the doubles event after beating France's Stephanie Cohen-Aloro and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain 6-0 6-3 in the second round and an American pair of Angela Haynes and Neha Uberoi 6-4, 6-0 in the first round.

It was the more experienced Schiavone who had proved Sania's undoing in the women's singles. The Indian ace lost the second round match to 14th seeded Italian 7-5, 1-6, 2-6, Thursday.

The 19-year-old Sania had beaten experienced Croat Karolina Sprem 6-4, 6-2 in 75 minutes in her opening singles match last week, in what was considered as one of her best wins of the year.

Sania had lost the mixed doubles battle in the first round itself. Sania and her partner Pavel Vizner of the Czech Republic went down fighting 2-6, 6-3, 7-10 to Katarina Srebotnik of Slovania and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia and Montenegro.

The Hyderabad girl became the first Indian woman to reach the women's singles fourth round at her first US Open in 2005. She then lost to Maria Sharapova of Russia in the pre-quarterfinals in the singles, but could not go beyond the first round in the doubles.

Separate buffalo slaughter methods, Supreme Court urged

New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) The Supreme Court was Tuesday urged to order that separate areas be designated for slaughtering buffalos by different methods at a new abattoir being built here - earning the court's wrath.

The Buffalo Traders Welfare Association wanted separate areas in the Ghazipur slaughterhouse in east Delhi for slaughtering the animals through the "halal" and "jhatka" methods. In the first, the animal dies a slow death, while in the second, it is killed in a single stroke.

Annoyed at such a plea being made, a bench comprising judges S.B. Sinha, G.P. Mathur and A.K. Mathur told the plaintiff's counsel it would not entertain the application, which also sought a direction to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to provide a separate entry and exit for animals and people involved in different methods of slaughtering at the modernised facility.

Observing it would not entertain such an application after 60 years of Independence, the bench asked counsel: "What difference does it make whether you slaughter an animal by this method or by that method?"

The application sought separate entry and exit points on the ground that Muslims were opposed to the "jhatka" method as Islam only permitted the "halal" method. It said that on inspecting the new abattoir, it was observed that both methods of slaughtering existed side-by-side contrary to the practice of keeping them separate.

"Also, there is only one entry point and one exit point for animals being taken in for slaughter by 'halal' and 'jhatka' methods as well as for taking away the meat. This is bound to create problems," the association maintained.

Noting that it had been catering to Delhi's meat-eating population for about 100 years and that more than 40,000 people were connected with the trade directly and indirectly, the association said it had filed the application to avoid any inconvenience once the abattoir became operational.

Shutdown brings Madhya Pradesh to a standstill

Bhopal, Sep 5 (IANS) Schools, colleges and business establishments across Madhya Pradesh came to a grinding halt Tuesday in a statewide shutdown to protest the fatal assault on professor H.S. Sabharwal.

The college teacher died after a group of students attacked him following cancellation of the student union election at Ujjain's Madhav College on Aug 26.

Attendance of students in schools and colleges also remained thin Tuesday, which also happens to be "Teachers' Day".

Most parents abstained from sending their children to school for fear of violence as the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (affiliated to the ruling Bharatiya Jannata Party) had announced to oppose the shutdown called by Congress and its affiliated wings.

Almost 80 percent shopkeepers all over the state downed their shutters voluntarily as a mark of respect to the slain professor. Ujjain saw a complete shutdown for the second time within a week.

Offices, banks and cinema halls however remained open and vehicular traffic was normal.

The shutdown by and large remained peaceful in the state except for minor skirmishes in some places where Congress and National Students' Union of India workers pressed for closure of shops.

However, Congress workers clashed with cops in Jabalpur. The Rapid Action Force had been deployed to avoid any untoward incident.

Some relief for Pakistani women in draft Hudood law

Islamabad, Sep 5 (IANS) In what appears a partial victory for women in Pakistan, a draft law to amend the 1979 Hudood ordinance has a new provision against publicising of the names of a rape victim and her family.

Violation of this shall be punishable with six months imprisonment or fine or both, The News International said, reporting on the proceedings in the National Assembly on Monday that witnessed divisions in the opposition ranks on approach to the law. A report on the draft law was tabled in the National Assembly.

The Hudood Ordinance, which aims to Islamise Pakistani jurisprudence, has been criticised at home by experts, women's organisations and by human rights bodies abroad for being weighed against women.

One major relief envisaged by the bill is to spare a woman of automatic prosecution on the basis of assumed confession if she is unable to prove her charge of zina-bil-jabr, or rape, against a man by producing four witnesses of the crime.

A select committee had studied the legislation that was introduced earlier amid angry protests by the conservatives, led by Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), that significantly, received full support from the opposition Pakistan Muslim League of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, The News International said.

The same line-up continued when the report was tabled.

MMA members shouted "Allah-O-Akbar" and walked out to protest the legislation, joined by PML (Nawaz) members.

Another exiled premier Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) stayed on in support of the legislation The PPPP has also submitted its dissenting note on some of the clauses, while supporting majority of the bill's clauses.

The PPPP sources hinted that the party would fully support the bill when comes for voting as a "package deal", as few of its amendments had been made part of the bill.

According to critics, President Pervez Musharraf has been prompted by the West to bring this legislation. "The American bill is unacceptable. The bill cancelling Hudood of Allah is unacceptable, whoever is a friend of America is a traitor of the country," MMA members chanted during their second protest and walkout before the speaker adjourned the house until 10 a.m. on Tuesday.

The Dawn newspaper said that although the MMA regretted the PPPP's stance, it made it clear that Monday's differing stance did not mean the end of the combined opposition forged to campaign against Musharraf's government.

It noted that the protesters did not tear up the bill as they had done on Aug 21 when the original draft was introduced and referred to the select committee, which originally had members from all parliamentary groups but was later boycotted by the MMA and the PML-N.

To check abuse of the Zina and Qazf ordinances, often aimed at settling vendettas and deny women basic human rights and fundamental freedom, the new bill seeks to amend the criminal procedures to provide that only a sessions court may take cognisance of such a case after receiving a complaint.

The draft bill seeks to amend five different legislations of the Hudood ordinance.

The offence has been made bailable so that the accused do not languish in jail during trial. The police will have no authority to arrest anyone in such cases without a sessions court directive, which can be issued only to compel attendance in court or in the event of a conviction.

Critics have said the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance 1979, enacted during the rule of Gen. Ziaul Haq, has been the most contentious piece of legislation because of its conceptual inaccuracies, textual errors, and religious and gender discrimination, and of course abuse in application of law.

Terror threat real, improve intelligence mechanisms: PM

New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) Sounding a dire warning, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Tuesday that internal security problems had become more complex and the country faced the real prospect of more suicide attacks on economic and religious targets.

Addressing chief ministers at a meeting on internal security, the prime minister emphasised the necessity of a road map to meet the myriad challenges.

During the address to the conclave, the second in five months, Manmohan Singh also cautioned the chief ministers against unfairly targeting the Muslim community while the security agencies came down heavily in the fight against terror.

"It is unfortunate that terrorism has resulted in certain sections of our population being targeted, with the result that a wrong impression has been created of the radicalisation of the entire Muslim community," the prime minister noted.

"It is, hence, imperative that we embark immediately upon a proactive policy to ensure that a few individual acts do not result in tarnishing the image of an entire community, and remove any feelings of persecution and alienation from the minds of the minorities."

He asked the chief ministers to be sensitive and scrupulous while dealing with terrorism.

"In dealing with terrorism, scrupulous regard and respect for fundamental human rights of citizens, particularly of minority communities, ought to be a core concern of our law enforcement agencies," he said.

"No innocent person should be harassed in our struggle against terrorism. If a mistake is made, effective remedial corrective measures must be taken well in time."

Highlighting the threats to internal security from terrorism and Maoism that had engulfed huge swathes of the country, Manmohan Singh proposed the setting up of an empowered group of ministers, headed by the home minister and select chief ministers to monitor the rapid spread of the Maoist movement.

"Intelligence agencies warn of a further intensification of violent activities with the possibility of more fidayeen attacks, use of suicide bombers, attacks on economic and religious targets, targeting of vital installations, including nuclear establishments and army camps."

"Reports also suggest that terrorist modules and sleeper cells exist in some of our urban areas, all of which highlight the seriousness of the threat."

Lamenting that not enough was done to fill up vacancies in the police forces, Singh, in a veiled attack against certain states, pointed to the need of improving the quality of state Special Branches and toning up the law and order administration.

"Without effective law and order, economic development would be impossible," he said.

The importance of filling up vacancies in state police forces was most necessary while fighting Maoist violence, said the prime minister, adding that "good" intelligence was primary especially at the level of the police station.

"The police is the first responder in Naxal-related situations, and is a very important pole in this entire effort. Sensitising the police is, therefore, a critical requirement."

Dwelling on the Maoist rebellion in the country that he described as the single biggest internal security challenge faced by the country, Manmohan Singh pointed out that the strategy to counter it would have to be based on an effective response and a focus on reducing underdevelopment.

While praising the efforts of the Andhra Pradesh government for deploying the specialist Greyhounds force on anti-Maoist operations, the prime minister exhorted other affected states to take in hand what deliverables were possible even while preparing to meet the challenge through effective law and order measures.

On the situation in the northeast, Manmohan Singh pointed to the necessity of being sensitive to the nuances of each situation, and the encyclopaedic character of regional and tribal demands which, if not anticipated and dealt with in time, could culminate in a full-fledged insurgency.

"States like Manipur and Nagaland in the northeast appear specially vulnerable today, and demand your personal attention. There is little scope for personal predilections that override national considerations and requirements."

Though the overall security situation in Jammu and Kashmir had shown signs improvement in the past two years, the prime minister still called for constant vigil.

"We should remain on our guard in view of continuing efforts by anti-India and antinational elements to whip up emotions and transform these into a violent movement."

Top Hizb-ul-Mujahadeen commander killed

Jammu, Sep 5 (IANS) Billu Gujjar, a top commander of the Hizb-ul-Mujahadeen, whose name was a byword for terror in this Hindu-majority region in Jammu and Kashmir, was gunned down in a fierce shootout with police early Tuesday.

Acting on a specific tip-off, police raided his hideout in Malogi, a hilly village in Gool - about 175 km from Jammu, around 1 a.m. The terrorist, who was apparently taken by surprise, tried to offer some resistance in a gun battle that lasted for around 20 minutes before succumbing to police bullets.

Inspector General of Police Jammu zone S.P. Vaid told IANS this was a well-planned operation in which "we got rid of the longest surviving terrorist of Jammu and Kashmir".

Gujjar was involved in countless incidents of terrorist violence from assassinations to explosions since 1991 in the Kashmir Valley.

The slain terrorist used to operate in Doda and Udhampur districts, but his writ ran all over Jammu region. He was one of the topmost militants of the region and had the skills of manufacturing improvised explosive devices and also shooting his targets, especially security forces during ambushes.

Vaid said: "With the killing of Billu Gujjar, we have broken the backbone of Hizb-ul-Mujahadeen in Jammu and Kashmir. They are virtually leaderless now and the Hizb cadres would be rudderless."

This would help the police to nab and target other Hizb cadres in the region, he added.

Gool, often termed as an ideal operating area for terrorists and a bane for the security forces, still has a large presence of militants.

The dead Hizb commander from Gool took up arms in his late teens. A booklet would be required to record the crimes that he committed, a police officer said, commenting on the innumerable crimes executed by him.

US court retains flawed Hinduism textbooks

Washington, Sep 5 (IANS) A California court has accepted a Hindu body's contention that some textbooks with a flawed presentation of Hinduism were approved improperly, but refused to throw them out of schools for now.

A flawed approval process had resulted in textbooks that presented the debunked Aryan Migration Theory as fact, misrepresented caste as central to Hinduism and left the impression that Hinduism devalued the role of women, the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) said in a press release.

The California Superior Court last week upheld HAF's claim that the state School Board of Education (SBE) had followed a flawed and illegal approval process for sixth grade textbooks.

But the court denied its demand that SBE be required to throw out the currently approved textbooks and revisit the entire textbook adoption process, it said.

In his ruling, Judge Patrick Marlette wrote the California SBE has been conducting its textbook approval process under invalid 'underground regulations', but said the rejection of textbooks would be disruptive not only to affected sixth graders, but potentially every California public school student using any and every textbooks.

So while the process followed in adopting the contentious Hinduism sections, and all recently approved textbooks in California, was illegal - as HAF had argued - the judge apparently decided against a sweeping ruling that could open the door to other lawsuits discarding textbooks in the most populous state in the US, the release said.

As the immediate goal of revising textbooks was unmet, HAF attorneys are considering their options for an appeal to force revisions to the Hinduism section in the contested textbooks, it said.

US envoy warns North Korea against nuclear test

Tokyo, Sept 5 (ZEENEWS.COM) US envoy Christopher Hill today warned North Korea against provoking the international community with a nuclear test, urging the secretive state to return to stalled talks on its atomic program.

"The DPRK (North Korea) does not seem as enthusiastic as we are about pursuing a diplomatic track, and obviously this is a very big problem for the six-party process," he told reporters in Tokyo at the start of a regional tour.

"There is no reason for the DPRK to stay away from the diplomatic process and my government is very much committed to these talks," said Hill, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs voiced concern about media reports that Pyongyang, which claims to have built nuclear weapons, may be preparing an underground nuclear test.

"I think all governments in the world have made very clear that it would be a very unwelcome development, and that the DPRK should really think long and hard for it to take such a provocative step.

"I hope the DPRK will understand that their future lives are not with these tests but by coming to the negotiating table and implementing the September agreement," he said.

Hill will also visit China and South Korea during his swing through the region, which he said was part of regular consultations.

US safer, though not yet safe: White House

Washington, Sep 5 (Xinhua) Taking credit for its war on terror, the White House said that the country is safer, though "we are not yet safe".

In its latest update on the US counter-terrorism strategy Tuesday, the White House claimed some "successes" in its campaign against terror, stressing that it has "deprived Al Qaeda of safe haven in Afghanistan" and it is "aggressively prosecuting the war against the terrorists in Iraq".

However, it also listed challenges ahead, namely, a more dispersed and less centralised terrorist network, the danger of another attack on US soil and terrorists' use of media to "twist US efforts in Iraq".

Moreover, "the enemy" has adjusted to US strategies and "our effective anti-terror efforts in part have forced the terrorists to evolve and modify their ways of doing business", said the 23-page terrorism strategy update.

"The enemy we face today in the war on terror is not the same enemy we faced on Sep 11," it said.

But "along with our partners, we will attack terrorism and its ideology and bring hope and freedom to the people of the world, this is how we will win the war on terror", said the report.

The update is the White House's latest attempt to highlight national security, a strong area for the Republicans, before the midterm elections in November.

'Muslims can recite Vande Mataram if its means paying respect'

Lucknow, Sept 6 (ZEENEWS.COM) Criticising fatwas issued indiscriminately by clerics, noted Shia scholar and All India Muslim Personal Law Board vice-president Maulana Kalbe Sadiq on Tuesday said Muslims could recite Vande Mataram if they felt it was not tantamount to worshipping the country.

Muslims could not recite anything that amounted to worshipping a person or object, Sadiq told reporters here. "According to the dictionary, vande means to worship and as such it is not right for Muslims to recite it," he said.

"However if vande means saluting or paying respect to the country, there is nothing wrong in its recitation by Muslims," he said.

A directive from the Centre that Vande Mataram should be recited in educational insitutions on September seven to mark the national song's centenary has sparked a controversy, with Muslim groups opposing the move.

Sadiq disagreed with the influential Darul Uloom seminary's advice to Muslim children not to attend school on September seven. He suggested Muslim children could join the recitation of Vande Mataram but omit the word 'vande'.

Eminent Sanskrit and Muslim scholars could work together to ascertain the correct Urdu translation of the word 'vande', he said.

Sadiq termed the controversy over the national song as a "non-issue" created by the BJP, which was desperately looking for an issue for its survival. He urged the BJP to restrain its Muslim leaders from issuing reckless statements on the issue.

He said some clerics had been harming the cause of Islam by issuing reckless fatwas at regular intervals on practically every issue and making it appear as if they were religious diktats.

13 killed, 27 injured in Punjab accident

Ropar (Punjab), Sep 6 (IANS) At least 13 people, including 10 women, were crushed to death Wednesday in Punjab's Ropar district when a tractor-trolley carrying about 40 devotees to a Sikh shrine at Kiratpur Sahib overturned.

Twenty-seven people were also injured, many of them seriously.

Eight of the injured were taken to the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh in a critical condition.

While nine of the victims died on the spot, four others succumbed to their injuries at PGIMER. Another four admitted there were still critical.

Other injured people were admitted to government hospitals in Anandpur Sahib and Ropar for treatment.

Eyewitnesses told police officials that the vehicle overturned when it was negotiating a turn on a slope.

Expressing shock over the accident, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh announced an ex-gratia grant of Rs 100,000 to the kin of those killed and Rs 25,000 for those seriously injured.

30,000 security personnel missing in Nepal

By Sudeshna Sarkar,

Kathmandu, Sep 6 (IANS) Reports that 30,000 security personnel have deserted their posts in the course of the decade-old Maoist insurgency have alarmed political circles in Nepal in a fragile transitional stage awaiting a new government.

"Who knows where all these trained and probably armed personnel have gone!" said a parliamentarian who did not want to be named.

"Some of them could have also joined the Maoists, given the record that Nepal has of members of the same family being in the army with some more joining the Maoists."

About a fortnight ago, the chief of Nepal's Armed Police Force Basudev Oil held consultations with a committee of MPs where he disclosed that 8,000 personnel of the Armed Police Force and 1,400 members of Nepal Police were missing.

A former senior army official, who was also security advisor to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, told the parliamentarians that about 30,000 security personnel were reported to have deserted their posts.

With robbery and vigilante activities, often by armed gangs, having increased in the capital and outer districts, the MPs are alarmed at the possibility of some of the deserters, who could have disappeared with their arms, having taken to crime.

There were several reports earlier this year of police and army personnel being involved in robberies and extortion.

Last month, the local media reported a "mutiny" in the barracks of the army in Pokhara city in central Nepal. According to an MP, the army suspects the revolt by some junior soldiers against their commanding officers was incited by the Maoist guerrillas.

Discontent has also been reported in the Nepal Police, especially after the current Girija Prasad Koirala government announced several promotions recently. Some of the disgruntled officers are said to have threatened the government with a revolt in the police rank and file if the government did not review the promotions, some of which are allegedly tainted by favouritism.

The crowning touch to the dismal security situation has come from Maoist supremo Prachanda. Frustrated at the slow pace of peace negotiations and the government's insistence that his guerrillas disarm before they can join the government, the rebel leader has warned that his once banned party could begin an "October Revolution" to implement its demands.

"The October Revolution in Russia engineered by Lenin was not a mass revolt," the parliamentarian said. "It owed its success to the participation of security forces. Who knows if some of the missing soldiers might not be roped in by the Maoists when they start a new stir."

Though the rebels say that if they begin a new revolt it would be peaceful, members of the seven parties in the coalition government are not reassured.

According to a former minister, the army has told senior leaders it has information that Maoist special task forces, comprising well-trained commandos, have been taking position in strategic areas.

"The government knows much of these things and yet has been doing nothing so far," the MP said. "We are sitting on a powder keg and if it erupts, this time it would not be the royalists but the seven parties that would bear the brunt of Maoist attacks."

60 Taliban militants killed in Afghanistan

Kabul, Sep 6 (Xinhua) At least 60 Taliban insurgents were Tuesday killed in Kandahar province of Afghanistan in Operation Medusa, an ISAF spokesman said.

The militants were killed in Panjwai district in the operation that was launched by around 2,000 troops of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan forces Saturday, said Maj. Quentin Innis.

ISAF air forces were involved in the operation, he said, adding there were no reports of casualties to ISAF and Afghan troops.

Operation Medusa is the largest one against Taliban rebels since ISAF took command in southern Afghanistan from the US-led coalition forces on July 31.

ISAF had said over 200 Taliban militants were killed and more than 80 were captured in the first two days of the operation, which has been denied by the Taliban.

70 injured in opposition protest in Bangladesh

Dhaka, Sep 6 (DPA) Thousands of opposition activists throwing rocks and burning tyres fought with riot police in this Bangladesh capital Wednesday, defying an overnight ban on rallies around key areas, witnesses said.

At least 70 people were injured in clashes, which turned central Dhaka streets into battlefields. The violence erupted as protesters tried to push back police barricades in the central Dhanmodi district, witnesses said.

The ban on rallies and street marches was imposed by the ruling coalition in Bangladesh ahead of a week-long campaign of protests planned by the opposition Awami League and its allies.

The opposition has called for reforms in a bid to ensure the credibility of the upcoming general election in January 2007 for a new 345-seat national parliament.

It is also demanding the sacking of the current Chief Election Commissioner M.A. Aziz, accusing him of being partisan to the governing coalition.

More than 5,000 additional police and other security forces were deployed to prevent a march to the central election office in Dhaka's northern Sher-e-Bangla Nagar district, official sources said.

Among the critically injured in the violence was Sabir Chowdhury, political adviser to opposition chief Sheikh Hasina.

The coalition headed by Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party is expected to hand over power to a non-party caretaker government at the end of its tenure in October.

The caretaker government will hold the national polls within the next three months under the country's constitution.

904 children abducted in Bihar since 2001

Patna, Sep 6 (IANS) At least 904 children have been kidnapped in Bihar in the last five years, says Bihar Chief Secretary G.S. Kang.

In the affidavit filed in the Patna High Court Tuesday, Kang noted that of the 904 children reported abducted since 2001, 766 were rescued, 40 were killed by the kidnappers, and 98 were still missing, said an official here Wednesday.

However, informed sources said many kidnappings had gone unreported.

Kang filed the affidavit on a court direction on public interest litigation (PIL) filed in 2005 on the spate of abductions in the state.

Parents belonging to the middle class and affluent sections of society are not taking any chances with the safety of their children, who are not even allowed to play in neighbouring parks.

"We take extra care because the fear of abduction always hangs in the air," Sunita Rani, a mother of a school-going boy.

Many parents alleged that the media highlighted only a few abduction cases, while a majority of them have gone unnoticed.

Said a parent: "In the last few weeks alone, over half a dozen cases of children being kidnapped have been reported across state but none of them have been highlighted like cases in the past."

According to the affidavit, 475 children were abducted in the Patna region alone - the highest in the state. While 391 of them were rescued, 61 were still missing and 23 were killed.

The Muzaffarpur region ranked second with 241 children abducted, 209 rescued, 16 missing and 16 children murdered during the period.

Meanwhile, the court has asked the state government to ensure the arrest of over 5,000 absconding criminals by Nov 6. All the accused are reportedly wanted in cases of kidnapping.

Ahmadinejad asks Bush to revise 'language of force'

Tehran, Sep 6 (DPA) Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on his American counterpart George Bush to mind his "language of force".

"Why do you always want to settle world affairs by using force and weapons? This era is finished and we are in the era of thought and culture," Fars news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying Wednesday.

In a speech on the war on terrorism Tuesday, Bush called Iran's leaders "tyrants", compared them with Al Qaeda terrorists and said that the world's free nations would not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon.

"Those who have their hand on a bomb while talking cannot guide the world," Ahmadinejad said.

"We are against the use of force and weapons as well as against US and British plans to dominate the world, but we are ready to discuss the issue and listen to their argumentations," the Iranian president added.

Ahmadinejad last month invited Bush to a television debate "under the condition however that nothing is censored".

The White House rejected the invitation as a "distraction" from the nuclear dispute.

"(The US) rejected and came up with the excuse that the Iranian president is threatening us. No, I am not threatening you but it is the world that is threatening you because the world is against injustice," Ahmadinejad said.

"It is now the era of people and nobody should believe that they can sit in their glass houses and rule over the world," he added.

All-women commando force on the anvil

By Gyan Varma,

New Delhi, Sep 6 (IANS) India will soon get its first all-women elite commando force to protect high-profile women personalities, and the recruits will be those who can fire five bullets in five seconds.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) is setting up the commando force, whose trainers would be Israeli-trained.

"Since many women politicians will be more comfortable with women bodyguards, we have decided to raise an all-women force," a senior CISF official told IANS.

Senior CISF officials say the home ministry has directed it to develop a special force to protect VIPs.

The 2,021 officers and personnel to be trained by CISF will include 100 women. In the first batch CISF will train 1,200 men and women.

This is for the first time such an all-women commando force is being raised. As of now, only the National Security Guards have women commandos.

The women commandos will be trained to use sophisticated weapons and gadgets and will be capable of handling sniper attacks.

"Most women who have showed interest in the job are new recruits and aged between 20 and 22. The personnel will be able to serve till the age of 30 and officers till 40," the officer said.

Apart from the prime minister and some politicians who are guarded by the Special Protection Group, most politicians are protected by CISF.

"We protect over 300 dignitaries at present, including some chief ministers, MPs and ministers. We also protect some witnesses of the Gujarat riots cases," the official said.

Commandos from Israel have given training to the CISF trainers. "We are in touch with the commandos in Israel. The training programme will be very tough so that our commandos can compete with the best," he said.

"These personnel would master the art of shooting five bullets in five seconds -the toughest part of the three-month training," the official added.

Arjun Munda seeks time to prove majority

Ranchi, Sep 6 (IANS) Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda Wednesday sought time from Governor Syed Sibte Razi to prove his government's majority on the floor of the house.

Munda met Razi shortly after noon along with leaders of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and All Jharkhand Students' Union (AJSU).

"We have asked the governor to give us time to prove majority on the floor of the house," said Munda after the meeting.

The governor has not given any time frame to prove majority. Sources close to the governor said he would decide on the time frame later and inform the chief minister.

The Munda government was reduced to a minority after four rebel ministers Tuesday resigned from his cabinet and withdrew support to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime.

The four ministers are: Madhu Koda, mines and parliamentary minister, Enos Ekka, transport minister, Harinarayan Rai, forest minister, and Kamlesh Singh, irrigation minister.

Singh belongs to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Ekka to Jharkhand Party (JP). The rest are independents.

In the 82-member house, the Munda government now enjoys support of 39 legislators, including one nominated member and the speaker.

After putting in their papers, the four ministers flew back to New Delhi Tuesday night to chalk out their future strategy.

NDA leaders were reportedly trying to poach the legislators of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). The five of the seven RJD members were considered to be unhappy with their state leadership and speculation has been rife about their switch to the BJP.

Leaders of the opposition United Progressive Alliance (UPA) were also holding parleys in New Delhi and drawing up strategy to form an alternative government.

According to political observers, Koda is ahead in the race for the chief minister's post.

Ayodhya attack case; judicial remand of five accused extended

Faizabad, Sept 6 (ZEENEWS.COM) A court here today extended the judicial remand of the five persons accused in the Ayodhya blast case by 14 days to facilitate arrangement of defence counsel for the accused.

District and Session Judge R P Shukla fixed the next date of hearing as September 20.

The District Judge has written to the District Magistrate, Faizabad, to arrange a defence counsel for the five accused, and provide the counsel with adequate security, according to senior government standing counsel O P Sinha.

The court has also written to the president of Faizabad Bar Association to cooperate in the appointment of "amicus curiae" for the accused.

Sinha said one of the accused Dr.Irfan Khan submitted an application to the court that he has asked an advocate to plead his case as defence counsel, and his reply was awaited.

The court extended the remand to facilitate arranging some defence counsel to appear in the court for the accused.

Sinha said the court has also written to the Allahabad High Court to make necessary arrangement for a defence counsel.

All the five accused, Dr Irfan Khan, Mohammed Aziz, Mohammed Naseem, Mohammed Shakeel and Asif Iqbal were brought to the court here under tight security from Naini Central Jail, Allahabad.

The five were arrested in connection with the Ayodhya bomb case of July five last year when five terrorists were shot dead by security forces in the Ram Janambhoomi Babri Mosque complex.

Baghdad explosion kills nine workers

Baghdad, Sep 6 (DPA) At least nine workers were killed in a bomb attack in Baghdad and 36 others were injured, according to witnesses.

A car bomb exploded on a street corner Wednesday, which was followed by a second explosion on the other side of the street in the Cairo quarter, in the city's northeast, the witnesses said.

The area is mainly populated by Shia Muslims. Extremists have repeatedly targeted places in Baghdad where men looking for a day's work assemble in the morning.

Berlin mosques to commemorate 9/11 terror victims

Berlin, Sept 6 (IRNA) Berlin mosques will dedicate this week's Friday prayers to the victims of the devastating September 11, 2001 terror attacks in the US, DPA reported Tuesday.

Around 40 mosques will remember those 2,749 victims who died in the kamikaze terror attacks, Berlin's integration commissioner Guenter Pienning announced.

He anticipated that almost 10,000 Muslims would take part in the commemoration ceremonies titled 'Prayer for peace and common responsibility'.

Meanwhile one mosque in each district of Berlin city's center will open its doors to the followers of other religions in a bid to display societal cohesion.

Pienning hailed the decision of the mosques as what he called a "milestone" of a growing societal and political engagement of Islamic community in Berlin.

Bhatt calls Modi dictator, quits BJP

Ahmedabad, Sep 6 (IANS) Calling Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi a dictator, former state education minister Nalin Bhatt Wednesday resigned from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after being suspended over his criticism of the administration's handling of the last month's devastating floods.

Known to be part of the dissident camp of the BJP, Bhatt was suspended last month from the party after he blamed the administration for floods in his Vadodara city, 110 km from here.

"I have resigned to protest the dictatorship of Narendra Modi and Om Mathur (in charge of the party affairs in Gujarat)," Bhatt told media here after tendering his resignation.

"There is no decentralisation in the party. They don't even consider party workers when it comes to political appointments in (state-run) corporations and boards. How would you expect the party to grow?" he said.

"Earlier the party was supreme, now individual is supreme in the party. Party workers are forcefully brought to programmes to flatter Modi," Bhatt alleged.

A party spokesperson said that Bhatt's resignation was immaterial since he had already been suspended from the party for anti-party activities.

Many parts of the state, notably Surat and Vadodara, were affected last month by floods that experts and critics say were due to the administration's mismanagement of dams.

Biotechnology to boost China's GDP in 2020

Beijing, Sep 6 (Xinhua) A leading Chinese life scientist estimated that the output of China's biotechnology industry will hit two trillion yuan ($250 billion), or five percent of GDP, in 2020.

China would enter the top five countries in the world in terms of biotechnology industry scale, Zhang Yaping, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), said in a speech at the ongoing Nobel Laureates Beijing Forum 2006.

Zhang, also director of the CAS Kunming Animal Research Institute, said China had made significant progress in life sciences and biotechnology.

Biotechnology industry was listed as one of the key areas for China's science and technology development in the next 15 years, according to the guidelines on national medium and long-term programmes for science and technology development (2006-20), issued by the State Council earlier this year.

By 2020, China is set to develop its own frontier technologies, such as pharmaceutical elements, genetic operations and protein engineering, dry cell-based human tissue engineering and new-generation industrial biotechnology.

China established five large biotechnology research and development centres and had successfully developed more than 200 kinds of bio-chip products.

Wang Hongguang, director in charge of the China Biotechnology Development Centre said biotechnology, a major research and development focus in many developed countries, could one day create revenues ten times more than information technology.

China had already set up a coordination group for biotechnological research and development.

BJP hardens its stand on Vande Mataram

By Arun Anand,

Dehradun, Sep 6 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to kick off its national executive meeting Thursday by stoking the raging fire over Vande Mataram, saying that singing merely two stanzas wouldn't do and everybody should sing the complete national song.

Putting several important issues on the backburner, including increasing dissensions in the party, the BJP made the announcement Wednesday on the eve of the centenary of the national song.

This, despite the fact that even the Constituent Assembly had asked for singing of only the first two stanzas of the national song. A section of minorities have expressed reservations over that as well.

"As a part of the centenary celebrations, all those present in the national executive, including senior party leaders, would sing the full national song as a mark of respect towards this vibrant symbol of nationalism," party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

"The mention of Goddess Durga in Vande Mataram in its last few lines should not hurt anyone's sentiments. It doesn't promote idolatry as here Durga is a symbol of mother India," he added

According to party insiders, this is a clear indication that the party wants to carry the issue forward and spur a debate on the issue of nationalism and patriotism as it had done in early 1990s.

All party units have been told to hold programmes at 11 a.m. Thursday to sing the national song. These programmes would be held at district and block levels wherever possible, BJP sources said.

BJP legislator occupies bungalow meant for judge

Ranchi, Sep 6 (IANS) A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator in Jharkhand has been charged with occupying a bungalow originally allotted to a high court judge.

The building and construction department of Jharkhand has given several reminders to ruling party legislator Vishnu Bahiya but he appears in no mood to vacate the bungalow.

"We cannot use force against the legislator as he belongs to the ruling party. He is one of the powerful legislators of the BJP," said an official of the department.

The sanctioned strength of Jharkhand high court judges is 12 though the state government could allot only nine bungalows.

When the authorities of the court took up the matter with the government one more bungalow was allotted. In the allotted bungalow the BJP legislator is residing for the past year.

The Jharkhand High Court Tuesday served notices to the Building Construction Secretary, the Deputy Commissioner (DC) and the Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) of Ranchi.

The court has asked them to file affidavits relating to unauthorised occupation of the bungalow.

Two judges of Jharkhand have not got official residence. One is residing in his own house while the other is residing in the accommodation meant for judicial officers.

The BJP legislator could not be contacted because of his busy schedule after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government led by the party was reduced to a minority following the resignation of four rebel ministers Tuesday and their withdrawal of support to the government.

Reacting on the issue, a close associate of the legislator said: "How can Bahiya (the legislator) vacate the house till he gets another bungalow. The building and construction department should first arrange another bungalow and then ask him to vacate it."

According to state government officials, the BJP legislator is a first timer and in no way entitled to a bungalow.

BJP meet to focus on internal security

Dehradun, Sep 6 (IANS) The current internal security scene in the country would figure prominently in a three-day national executive meet of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that begins here Thursday.

"The party will discuss the issue at length and adopt a resolution highlighting the failure of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government on the matter of internal security," BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told IANS.

Party sources said president Rajnath Singh would set the tone of BJP's aggressive stand on the issue in his inaugural address.

"In the context of internal security, the party will focus on Left wing extremism, failure of intelligence agencies, infiltration and support for terrorists from across the border," a senior BJP leader said.

Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and former BJP chief L.K. Advani would also address the meeting.

Other important issues on the executive's agenda include farmer suicides, controversies related to school textbooks and the party's electoral strategy for the upcoming assembly elections in four states -Uttaranchal, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

The party is organising a massive rally here Sep 8 to kick off its election campaign in Uttaranchal.

Blasts probe: A N Roy assures Muslims

By Ketki Angre

Mumbai, September 6 (NDTV.COM) Mumbai police chief A N Roy has written a letter to a large number of Muslim community leaders assuring them that the investigations into the 7/11 blasts will be carried out in an impartial manner.

The initiative comes amidst a rising perception amongst many Muslims that they are being unfairly targeted by the police.

Soon after the blasts there were many high profile transfers to the Anti Terrorist Squad, which is investigating the case. But there were little results on the ground.

As the time went by the pressure for a breakthrough began to mount and so did the detentions and round-ups. With the police action came strong resentment from the community.

"We are trying to reach out to the Muslim community leaders. The investigation is very complicated and that is why we are questioning so many people. Those who accuse us of bias should give specific instances," said Roy.

Face of terror

Muslim leaders welcome the police attempts to soothe tensions but say their experience of the past few weeks has been a nightmare.

"The Muslims have been singled out. In predominantly Muslim areas like Mahim sometimes 200-500 people have been rounded up at odd hours. It's as if the police are out to prove that only one particular community are terrorists," said Maulana Mehmood Dari Abadi, General Secretary, All India Ulema.

But investigators say the new face of terror is hard to trace as sleeper cells are made up of those without criminal records like doctors, engineers and software professionals.

Brain drain only one part of story: UN

New Delhi, Sep 6 (IANS) Despite concerns of developing countries over migration of highly trained people leading to brain drain, a new UN report supports the World Bank view that the losses may be more than offset by remittances, increased trade and investment.

"Put more simply, remittance income can spur consumption in the home country and can be used to invest in business," states the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report, 'The State of World Population 2006', released here Wednesday.

While there are no simple conclusions to the debate on brain drain effects, the report suggests that benefits can only be determined according to each specific case.

"When highly trained people find no outlet for their profession at home, neither the person nor the country benefits and the end result may be 'brain waste'," the report states.

It is of the view that brain drain tells only a part of the story concerning the overall impact of migration on an economy or society.

Recent research findings promote the idea of 'optimal brain drain', which says an increase in the migration of skilled labour may actually benefit the source country in some cases.

A case cited is of Taiwan's experience in providing subsidised education only up to the level required by the national economy, use migration as a brain reserve in terms of advice and returning skills, support diaspora networking and recruitment and build a critical mass of returnees.

"There are also practical reasons why attempts to restrict mobility may simply not work. Many migrants will find ways around recruitment bans," the report says.

When faced with a hard choice, the aspiring migrant will resort to illegal means to achieve his or her goal of getting employment overseas, it says.

However, an area where brain drain is proving to be a matter of great concern is health services, admits the report.

"In some countries the supply of nurses and doctors has been severely depleted. Aggressive recruitment policies on the part of the developed countries to address skill shortages in their own health workforces are partly responsible," the report admits.

Recent World Health Organisation surveys show that keenness to migrate is especially high among health workers in regions hardest hit by HIV/AIDS.

Effects of brain drain are more in small and less developed countries, particularly Africa and the Caribbean, where loss of a high proportion of the highly educated population can have adverse impact on the economy, the report states.

British Asians' wealth graph continues to rise

By Prasun Sonwalkar,

London, Sep 6 (IANS) Asians in Britain are today richer than they were in 1998 and are moving into higher value sectors such as IT, pharmaceuticals and the media, according to new research.

In fact, the rate at which Asians have been generating wealth far outstrips that of mainstream economic variables, said the 'Asian Entrepreneurs in the UK' study released by Barclays Business Banking. The research was conducted by Spinder Dhaliwal, lecturer in entrepreneurship at Surrey University.

Analysing the wealth of Britain's 200 richest Asians between 1998 and 2005, the research revealed that Asian wealth increased by 69 percent compared to the overall GDP growth figure of 22.8 percent.

The move away from traditional industries such as textiles and manufacturing to highly lucrative sectors has resulted in the entry level for joining the top 200 Asian wealth creators more than doubling from 2 million pounds in 1998 to 5 million pounds in 2005.

Number one in the survey was Mike Jatania who, with his family, owns the branded cosmetics company, Lornamead, valued at 650 million pounds. He is followed by the Patel brothers, Vijay and Bikhu, worth 455 million pounds who have been on a 30-year mission to create an "Asian Glaxo".

Third on the list is Lord Swraj Paul, ambassador for Overseas British Business, whose Caparo group has sales of 650 million pounds. He is a member of the Lords select committees for science and technology and economic affairs, and is chancellor of the University of Wolverhampton.

The pharmaceuticals industry is now the largest source of Asian wealth in Britain. Wealth generated by Asian women within the top 200 more than quadrupled between 1998 and 2005, with the number of women listed within their own right doubling within the same period.

An example is Mohammed Amin Zaman, founder of Bradford-based Craven Computer Supplies. Established in 1996, the company, which provides a one-stop shop for a range of computer supplies, has a turnover of around 1 million pounds and ambitious expansion plans.

Zaman said: "Whenever there is a niche market Asian businessmen are keen to exploit it. When I set up this business I was keen to make an impact away from the traditional markets such as restaurants which are overpopulated. We pride ourselves on good customer service and sheer hard work."

Satish Kanabar, corporate director, Barclays Business Banking, said: "Asian wealth is now built on a much broader base of entrepreneurs who are challenging traditional stereotypes and making serious money in hi-tech industries.

"As a result, Asian wealth creation is more important than its headline contribution to overall economic growth would indicate. Asian entrepreneurs are actually in the vanguard of the UK's emerging high-tech, service economy."

This year's Asian Rich List, published in April, included IIT-educated Anurag Dikshit, the 34-year-old software designer and co-founder of online gambling firm PartyGaming. His stake is estimated to be worth 1.7 billion pounds and he enters this year's Rich List at number three.

In 1998, almost two-thirds of Asian wealth was generated by the top 20 entries in the rich list. Their contribution was just one third of overall wealth in 2005. Over the same period, wealth generated by women listed in their own right quadrupled to 87.5 million pounds from 21 million pounds.

British minister loses trust in Blair, quits

By Prasun Sonwalkar,

London, Sep 6 (IANS) Pressure mounted on British Prime Minister Tony Blair to step down Wednesday with one of his junior ministers sending in his resignation letter saying, "I no longer believe that your remaining in office is in the interest of the party or the country".

Tom Watson, junior defence minister in the Blair government and one of the 17 signatories to the controversial letter seeking the prime minister's resignation, repeated the demand again.

Watson, who was the under-secretary of state for defence and a known Blairite, wrote to the prime minister, saying that that it was no longer in the interests of Labour or of the country for him to remain the prime minister.

Watson's resignation is expected to further ignite the frenzy over growing demands that Blair announce a schedule for his departure. Through allies, Blair made it known that he would be gone in the next 12 months, but party MPs want him to go sooner.

In his letter to Blair released to the press, Watson wrote: "It is with the greatest sadness that I have to say that I no longer believe that your remaining in office is in the interest of either the party or the country.

"How and why this situation has arisen no longer matters. I share the view of the overwhelming majority of the party and the country that the only way the party and the government can renew itself in office is urgently to renew its leadership."

Meanwhile, close allies of chancellor Gordon Brown - who is widely tipped to succeed Blair - have said claims that Blair will quit by May next year are "not good enough". They want Blair to make a public declaration about when he will go, so that he cannot go back on it.

Former minister Doug Henderson, a Brown supporter, says he cannot see what Blair will achieve in the next 12 months. There should be a new leader in place by the end of March, in time for the local elections in England and to the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly.

He told the BBC Wednesday that the timetable suggested by Blair's allies - that he would go in about 12 months time - seemed "the worst time to appoint a new leader. People in the country want a change".

On Wednesday, the Sun newspaper named May 31 next year as the date Blair would announce his departure as Labour leader, with his time as prime minister coming to an end on July 26, 2007. Downing Street refused to comment on any such speculation.

Hilary Armstrong, senior minister (social exclusion), announced Tuesday that Prime Minister Tony Blair would be gone by the annual Labour conference in September 2007. "We expect that there will be a new leader in position for conference 2007," she announced.

Environment Secretary David Miliband told BBC Radio 4: "The conventional wisdom is that the prime minister sees himself carrying on for about another 12 months."

On Tuesday, while Blair was making important policy announcements in the social sector in York, his ministers and MPs in London and elsewhere were circulating letters seeking his resignation among themselves for signatures.

By the end of Tuesday, even though Blair himself did not add anything to what he had already said earlier, a consensus seemed to have emerged in political circles that Blair has only 12 more months in office.

After the letter signed by 17 MPs (including junior minister Watson) reached Downing Street, 49 Labour MPs signed a statement saying that they were satisfied with a 12-month timetable for his departure.

Jeremy Beecham, chairperson of Labour's national executive committee, said that Blair was "conscious of what needs to be done" and would ensure a new leader was in place by the time of next year's Labour conference.

Burqa-style gowns for Muslim women patients in Britain

London, Sep 6 (IANS) Muslim women patients in Britain are for the first time being offered burqa-style gowns called inter-faith gowns during their stay in hospitals to protect their religious beliefs.

The blue gown has been introduced in Lancashire where Muslim women can now cover themselves completely as per their religious requirements. Traditional gowns were considered insufficient to cover patients' heads, arms or legs.

The poly-cotton gowns are sold to the National Health Service (NHS) for 12 pounds each.

Tim Meadows, customer service manager for Interweave Textiles - the Yorkshire firm that makes the gowns -, told The Telegraph: "We make gowns for obese people and others with necessary requirements - is that a waste of NHS money?

"Surely the point is to have people feeling comfortable and get them out of hospital as quickly as possible - saving money. There are far more important issues in the NHS than the cost of a few gowns."

The inter-faith gown is said to be the brainchild of Karen Jacob, the linen services manager at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. She said: "I noticed a gap in the market and thought that it would be great if there was a gown that helped to preserve a patient's modesty."

Bush vows to deny WMDs to terrorists

By Arun Kumar,

Washington, Sep 6(IANS) US President George Bush announced a five point strategy for combating terrorism, including denial of weapons of mass destruction like those provided by "world's most dangerous nuclear trading cartel" run by the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb.

"Working with Great Britain and Pakistan and other nations, the United States shut down the world's most dangerous nuclear trading cartel, the AQ Khan network," he said Tuesday in the second in a series of five scheduled speeches in the run up to the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sep 11, 2001.

"This network had supplied Iran and Libya and North Korea with equipment and know-how that advanced their efforts to obtain nuclear weapons," Bush noted, calling the danger of extremists and terrorists armed with weapons of mass destruction as "the greatest threat this world faces".

Other four key elements of the Bush strategy envisaging "a battle of arms and ideas," in the global war on terrorism focus on: -- Preventing future attacks by neutralizing cell leaders and operatives, freezing the flow of funding and weapons, and targeting terrorists' communications and propaganda efforts;

-- Denying terrorists the support and sanctuary of rogue regimes;

-- Denying terrorists control of any nation that they could use as a base and a launching pad for terror; and

-- Denying terrorists new recruits, by defeating their hateful ideology and spreading the hope of freedom.

Achieving these short-term strategic objectives, the strategy states, will buy the necessary time and space for the international community to focus on the long-term solution for winning the War on Terror: winning the "war of ideas" by advancing effective democracies to address underlying societal conditions that terrorists seek to exploit.

"Effective democracies honour and uphold basic human rights, including freedom of religion, conscience, speech, assembly, association, and press. They are the long-term antidote to the ideology of terrorism today," accordong to a White House report on the strategy.

"There will continue to be challenges ahead," the report concludes, "but along with our partners, we will attack terrorism and its ideology, and bring hope and freedom to the people of the world. This is how we will win the War on Terror."

Meanwhile, an American Islamic civil rights and advocacy group said Bush's address on the status of America's war on terrorism "grants undeserved legitimacy to extremists."

"By focusing almost exclusively on the views of groups like Al Qaeda and failing to address the concerns of the vast majority of Muslims worldwide who reject terrorism, President Bush grants undeserved legitimacy to extremists and marginalizes true moderates," the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) stated.

"Rather than focus on the negative messages of Al Qaeda, the President ought to work with mainstream Muslims at home and abroad to isolate terrorists and promote a positive vision of hope, mutual respect and diplomacy" it said.

Cameron lauds India, Labour calls his India visit cynical stunt

By Prasun Sonwalkar,

London, Sep 6 (IANS) Conservative Party leader David Cameron and shadow chancellor George Osborne - currently on a four-day visit to India - have heaped praise on India's growing political and economic prowess, but Labour leaders have dismissed the visit as "yet another cynical stunt".

In separate articles in the British press, Cameron and Osborne called for much closer links between Britain and India. Indeed, Cameron called for Britain forging a "special relationship" with India on the lines of Britain and the United States.

Writing in The Guardian, Cameron said: "Our special relationship with America has been forged through a shared past and a shared understanding of the world. And now, in the 21st century, as the world's centre of gravity moves from Europe and the Atlantic to the south and the east, I believe it is time for Britain and India to forge a new special relationship, to meet our shared challenges in this new era of international affairs.

"I attach the highest priority to Britain's relationship with India. For too long, politics in this country has been obsessed with Europe and America. Of course these relationships are, and will continue to be, vital.

"But serious and responsible leadership in the 21st century means engaging with far greater energy in the parts of the world where Britain's strategic interests will increasingly lie."

Taking note of latest indicators of economic growth such as millions of new mobile users enlisted in India each month, Osborne wrote in The Times: "The message from the subcontinent could not be clearer. Britain is in danger of missing the bus - again.

"I say 'again' because in China we have failed to make the most of the extraordinary opportunities of the past decade, languishing behind 11 other nations in our levels of trade.

"Now in India we risk losing out as well, despite the enormous potential for British companies.

"Democracy is on India's side too. Who knows what the future holds for Chinese communism? Political risk is a concern of every investor in China. Yet in Delhi we will be having lunch with a prime minister who can boast a bigger democratic mandate than all the prime ministers and presidents of Europe and the United States put together."

He said there was need to get rid of the "patronising assumption" that the only thing India has to offer is a giant back office.

"I have met here Indian companies who have bought pharmaceutical factories in Huddersfield, opened call centres in Northern Ireland and, in the case of Tata Consultancy Services, have UK operations that employ more than 7,000 people.

"Yet many tell me that the British Government, unlike our competitors, still does not see this as a partnership of equals. If Britain is to compete in the new global economy, it is time to think again."

Cameron recently visited Nelson Mandela in South Africa and famously stated that former prime minister Margaret Thatcher was wrong in dubbing Mandela and his African National Congress 'terrorists'.

Labour leaders make light of Cameron's international forays and point out that after the visit, Mandela had merely stated that Cameron's visit was a courtesy call and that no serious issue had been discussed.

Labour leaders similarly dismiss the ongoing visit to India - particularly Cameron's visit to Mahatma Gandhi's memorial at Rajghat - as a "cynical stunt".

The Daily Mirror quoted a senior Labour source as saying:: "There appears to be no end to Cameron's bid to ingratiate himself. Last week he was praising Mandela, this week it is Gandhi.

"The truth is these men fought the prejudice and ignorance that epitomises the Tory Party. Thatcher failed to support Mandela's battle against Apartheid, and Churchill accused Gandhi of aiding the enemy during World War II. But Gandhi stood up for Indian independence and invented the policy of non-violent civil disobedience. He was a man of great compassion and vision."

Chikungunya virus affects lakhs of people across India

New Delhi, Sept 6 (IRNA) Chikungunya, a viral disease spread through mosquitoes, has resurfaced after 32 long years, affecting lakhs of people across India.

But because it is not usually fatal, it has not received the kind of national attention it deserved.

Seven states have been badly affected by the virus, which is transmitted by the bite of the Ades Agypti mosquito that also causes dengue.

Andhra Pradesh has reported 76,000 suspected cases so far, and Madhya Pradesh so far has 40,000 cases, but a central team is on its way since fresh cases were reported in the eastern parts, an NDTV report said here.

Moreover, Gujarat, which has never had the disease in the past, has seen over 25,000 cases of Chikungunya this time.

However, among the worst hit states is Maharashtra, where nearly three lakh cases have been reported. The first confirmed case of Chikungunya in Maharashtra this year was in Balamtakali village in the Ahmednagar district.

But within a few days, cases were reported from other districts as far apart as Nashik and Parbhani.

But this is not Maharashtra's first tryst with this mysterious disease, as the first time Chikungunya struck Maharashtra was in 1965 in Nagpur.

This time also in places like Goradh village in Nagpur district, Chikungunya has spared no household with every family is struggling with their sick.

Karnataka is the worst hit states and while no deaths have occurred, at least seven lakh people were affected since December.

Many people say that the authorities did not do enough well in time to control the spread of the disease.

It was only after several districts reported the disease that the authorities woke up.

Health ministers of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra met in Bangalore in the last week of July to work out a joint strategy to combat the disease.

But by then, it was too late as the disease had crossed the borders.

Over 65,000 people across Tamil Nadu are affected by Chikungunya over the past few weeks.

Vector borne disease experts say that such epidemics are emerging because of changing lifestyles.

"Water scarcity makes people store water. Migration and ecological factors are leading to these epidemics. Also immunity in the population is low so they are more susceptible to the disease," said PL Joshi. Director, National Vector borne disease control program.

Children of older fathers may develop autism

New York, Sep 6 (IANS) Children of older men could face the risk of developing autism more than the children of younger fathers, says a new study.

Autism is a chronic disorder that emerges by the age of three and is associated with behavioural disturbances such as social and language abnormalities and repetitive patterns of behaviours.

The prevalence of autism and autism-related spectrum disorders increased dramatically, rising from 5 to 50 cases per 10,000 children over the last 20 years.

Abraham Reichenberg at Mount Sinai School of Medicine here and other researchers looked at more than 300,000 17-year-olds, assessed medically and psychologically by the military draft board in Israel during the 1980s.

They checked to see whether the age of the father contributed to the risk of autism in young men and women.

The results showed advancing age among the fathers was associated with an increased risk of autism, even after adjusting for the year the teens were born, their socio-economic status and the age of their mother, reported online edition of health magazine WebMD.

Overall, the risk of autism was 5.75 times greater among children born to men aged 40 to 49, compared with those born to men under 30. Age among mothers was not associated with autism after factoring in the effect of the father's age.

Older maternal age has been linked to an increased risk of developmental problems in children, but researchers say few studies have looked specifically at the role of the father's age in autism risk.

China begins military exercise

Shenyang (China), Sep 5 (Xinhua) The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has launched an exercise to test the long-distance manoeuvrability of its land forces under real-war conditions, according to an officer with the headquarters of the PLA Shenyang Military Area Command.

The exercise is being conducted in accordance with recent instructions by Hu Jintao, chairman of the Central Military Commission, who has ordered the army to pay greater attention to military exercise and the essence of the recent PLA conference on military training.

A PLA brigade, which plays the role of the "Red Army", left its barracks in northeast China Tuesday and will trek in a dozen days to arrive at a training base of the PLA Beijing Military Area Command, where it will fight with a "Blue Army" brigade belonging to the Beijing area command.

The "Red Army" brigade, which travels to the destination by train and its own vehicles, will hold a series of drills on war preparation, long-distance manoeuvre, firing, self-protection and logistic work.

Over 50 experts from several military academies and training bases have formed a direction board to examine the results of the exercise.

Countdown in Athens to select world wonders

Athens, Sep 6 (DPA) With the launch of a hot-air balloon over the ancient Acropolis, the campaign to select the new seven wonders of the world reached its final countdown in Athens.

More than 2,200 years after the naming of the seven wonders of the ancient world, people across the planet are to be given the chance to choose the new seven wonders.

All structures built or discovered before the year 2000 are eligible.

Last January, former UNESCO head Federico Mayor short-listed the 77 nominations to 21 finalists.

Voters around the world are to be given the chance to place their ballots until July 7, 2007 when the monuments that have been named the new seven wonders are scheduled to be announced in Lisbon.

Among the contestants are the Ancient Acropolis in Athens; Hagia Sophia in Istanbul; the Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow; Roman Colosseum; Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany; Eiffel Tower, Paris; Stonehenge, Britain; The Alhambra, Spain; The Great Wall of China; Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto; Sydney Opera House; Angkor Wat, Cambodia; the Taj Mahal, India; Timbuktu, Mali; Petra, Jordan; the Pyramids ofGiza; the Statue of Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro; the Easter Island Statues; Machu Picchu, Peru; Chichen Itza, Mexico; the Statue of Liberty, New York.

Crime, student politics go hand-in-hand in Chandigarh

By Jaideep Sarin,

Chandigarh, Sep 6 (IANS) Students contesting the Panjab University (PU) polls Sep 8 are facing charges ranging from attempt to murder to rioting.

Along with the students' council election in the university, polls will also be held in about a dozen local colleges.

In the past five years, police have registered 157 cases against students in this otherwise 'peaceful' campus. A majority of these cases were registered in the run-up to the polls.

Panjab University Students Union (PUSU) presidential candidate Rupinderjit Singh Maan was released from prison last month - just in time to contest for the central students council (CSC).

The charges Maan faces include attempt to murder and criminal intimidation. He was jailed after being booked for a murderous assault on a student leader of the rival Students Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU) July 11.

His main contender and SOPU presidential candidate Dalvir Singh Goldy is no less "dangerous". He was detained by the police recently because he was thought to be "dangerous for public peace".

In the past too, student leaders have been booked by the police for various offences including attempt to murder. Over two decades ago, student leader Makhan Singh was murdered in Chandigarh due to student group rivalry.

The main fight for the campus polls and in the city's colleges is between SOPU and Panjab University Students Union (PUSU), though there are smaller political outfits like the Congress-backed National Students Union of India, the Bharatiya Janta Party's Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Indian National Students Organisation (INSO) and Himachal Students Unio