19 September 2006
Islamabad, Sep 19 (Xinhua) Cooperation between Pakistan and China in the oil and gas sector was growing rapidly, Pakistan's Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Amanaullah Khan Jadoon said Tuesday.
The minister was talking to a delegation from China Xinjiang Petroleum and Allied Services to discuss investment opportunities in the oil and gas sector, a petroleum ministry statement said.
Jadoon said the government was providing attractive incentive package to the prospective investors in the onshore and offshore oil and gas exploration.
Xinjiang Petroleum and Allied Services expressed its keen desire to participate in the exploration activities in Pakistan.
London, Sep 19 (DPA) British Defence Secretary Des Browne admitted Tuesday that NATO's mission in Afghanistan had turned out to be "even harder than expected" and that the scale of the task had been underestimated.
Speaking in London, Browne said: "We always knew the south (of Afghanistan) would be hard. We do have to accept that it's been even harder than we expected. The Taliban's tenacity in the face of massive losses has been more than we expected."
According to Browne, there is a "hard core" of about 1,000 Taliban who were "implacable, irreconcilable and determined to keep their impunity in the south and possibly reclaim control of the whole country."
Forty British soldiers have died in Afghanistan since 2001, but most of the fatalities were recorded in the last four months.
Browne, who was speaking to military experts at the Royal United Services Institute in London, said there had been "very little progress in governance and reconstruction" in south Afghanistan.
Chandigarh, Sep 19 (IANS) Leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal Tuesday protested outside the Punjab assembly demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into alleged irregularities in the sale of a multi-million rupees commercial space in Ludhiana.
The leaders raised slogans against the Amarinder Singh government.
They said the state government had compromised interests worth Rs.21 billion in the Ludhiana city centre.
A TV sting operation had shown a private builder - Today Homes and Infrastructure - was selling commercial space in the city centre at 30 percent on-paper price and taking 70 percent of the amount in black money.
The Akali leaders charged the chief minister and Local Bodies Minister Jagjit Singh of indulging in corruption.
Akali Dal president Parkash Singh Badal and nearly 40 Akali legislators and MPs were present. Inside the assembly, Amarinder Singh carried on with the special session debate on development in Punjab sans any opposition.
Speaker Kewal Krishan had suspended the entire opposition Friday after it created a ruckus inside the house demanding a CBI probe into the issue.
The chief minister claimed the opposition deliberately created a situation to get suspended to avoid a debate on development, as they had nothing to oppose the government's report card.
He listed the achievements of his government, especially in attracting investments of nearly Rs.800 billion in the infrastructure and industry areas.
By Prasun Sonwalkar,
London, Sep 19 (IANS) Bare-chested, clad in a white dhoti and with lathi in hand, an American follower of Mahatma Gandhi paid a unique tribute to the legendary Indian campaigner of non-violence and peace.
On Sep 11, Bernie Meyer led a procession of more than 200 people in a re-enactment of Gandhi's famous 1930 Salt March in Olympia in Washington state of the US. Gandhi's 409-km and 24-day Salt March in Gujarat was to protest the infamous British salt laws.
His principle of satyagraha or peaceful resistance as a form of protest was a success.
Meyer's march culminated in a public meeting where many people dressed in white attentively and respectfully listened to Meyer saying: "We must become the change we seek in the world. Truth is our guide, love is our way - we seek to overcome our fears with courage."
Sep 11 this year also marked 100 years of the birth of satyagraha advocated by the champion of non-violence. Gandhi had launched the satyagraha movement in South Africa on that date exactly a century ago as a form of protest against the apartheid regime.
The day was also observed in the West and across the world to mark the infamous anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001.
Meyer and his followers vowed to work for a sustainable planet Earth. "The Earth is threatened," said Meyer, 69, a former Catholic priest and social worker. "The tundra is melting, the seas are warming and water is being depleted."
Speaking to London-based website www.nrifm.com, Meyer said: "We are committed to non-violence, sustainable way of living." His interview can be accessed on the website that has been set up by a former BBC journalist, Vijay Rana.
Meyer said that the people in America were surprised when they saw him dressed like Mahatma Gandhi. Even though there was a lot of ignorance about Gandhi in the US, Americans saw Gandhi as "a highly respectable teacher of non-violence".
Stating that he had taken a vow to spread Gandhi's message in American schools, he added: "I portray Gandhi. I dress in a dhoti (white ankle-length wrap) and I walk with a walking stick and I go to the classrooms and tell stories about Gandhi and what he meant by non-violence."
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1937, Meyer became a Catholic priest in 1965. He protested against the war in Vietnam for which he was jailed in 1969. He has been campaigning against nuclear weapons for last 40 years.
A critic of US President George W.Bush's war against terror, Meyer argued that "you cannot overcome violence with violence".
Meyer said he visited India in 2005 and was warmly welcomed by many followers of Gandhi. He would like to visit the country again, but his biggest ambition is "to possibly go to the Middle East, to Palestine and Israel, to portray Gandhi and to spread his message of peace and reconciliation".
New York, Sep 19 (DPA) UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called on the international community to re-engage Iraq and its neighbours to help rebuild the war-torn country, saying the alternative could be civil war.
"Peace in Iraq will ultimately depend on domestic and regional cooperation," Annan told the first formal meeting of the so-called International Compact with Iraq, which aims to get more countries involved in Iraq`s reconstruction.
"The international community may not be able to ensure Iraq`s success, but it can guarantee failure if it does not come through in time with sufficient support," he said Monday at the meeting, attended by the five UN Security Council permanent members - the US, Russia, China, France and Britain.
"There is a grave danger that the Iraqi state will break down possibly in the midst of a full scale civil war," he added.
Annan's comments echoed remarks last month by US General John Abizaid, commander of US forces in the Middle East, who warned that sectarian violence in Iraq could lead to a civil war unless it is stopped.
But US President George W. Bush has rebuffed such comparisons, saying the conflict in Iraq was sectarian violence between Shia and Sunni Muslims that involves only "a small number of people".
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani also addressed the UN gathering, pledging that Baghdad would work to build an efficient and accountable Iraqi security force and uphold the rule of law.
The compact, launched in July, received support from the US and other UN members and was first discussed in Abu Dhabi last week by Iraqi and some Arab officials who began to give it some direction and content.
Annan urged the drawing up of the compact to be completed by the year-end.
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh and UN Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown co-chair the compact. EU and Arab League officials also attended the meeting at the UN headquarters.
Talabani reiterated that Iraq would not allow its territory or resources to be used against the interests of any of its neighbours and will not allow interference in its internal affairs.
The compact provides the opportunity for international cooperation with Baghdad to rebuild the war-torn country. Annan said the compact also provides "the framework for a defined, prioritised and benchmarked economic programme for the next five years".
Bangalore, Sep 19 (IANS) More than 200 political leaders, industrialists and top executives from all over Europe are expected to meet in Brussels in November for a five-day symposium being organised by the Art of Living Foundation.
It is for the first time the International Business and Leadership Symposium is being held Nov 8-12 at the European Parliament in Brussels, the seat of economic activity in Europe, the organisers said.
"The most important need today, in my view, is spirituality and the expansion of consciousness to really enhance this idea of ethics within a chaotic society," according to Nobel laureate economist Myron Scholes.
Besides Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the Art of Living Foundation, the other speakers include India's Knowledge Commission Chairman Sam Pitroda, EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs and European Parliament member Neena Gill.
The first part of the symposium on Nov 8 and 9 will discuss "Europe Meets India: Strategic Partnership, Challenges and Opportunities" and focus on strengthening the growing relations between India and its largest trading partner.
The second seminar a day later is on "Corporate Culture and Spirituality: Ethics and Business-Complementary or Contradictory?" with an aim to evolve sustainable and profitable leadership styles.
This will be followed by a two-day workshop on "Success Without Stress" in which Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will teach the participants how to achieve personal and professional excellence along with breathing and meditation techniques.
Other institutions involved in the five-day event include the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) and the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO), besides the Embassy of India in Brussels.
The symposium is an initiative of the International Association for Human Values (IAHV), a sister organisation of the Art of Living.
Melbourne, Sept 19 (ZEENEWS.COM) Facing criticism from ethnic groups over the proposed changes in its citizenship laws, Australian government on Monday denied that the step was taken to target Muslim immigrants.
Prime Minister John Howard, who has, in the past, urged moderate Muslims to speak out more often against terrorism and favoured reinforcing "Australian values" on immigrants, today defended the proposed "citizenship test" saying it had "nothing to do with the Muslim religion".
"We have no argument with faithful Muslims who practise their religion as part of our way of life," he said reacting to criticism from
"But we require everybody to be part of the mainstream of the community," he said, adding the government in the past had made citizenship "a little too easy."
The conservative Premier, in a statement, said the changes should be in place before the next election, and he expected bipartisan support for them.
The government released a discussion paper yesterday proposing to strengthen laws to make immigrants wait longer to be eligible for citizenship. Immigrants also would have to take a test to prove they understand Australian history, national symbols, culture and the democratic system, as well as English, before being granted citizenship.
Parliamentary secretary for immigration Andrew Robb said the test was "certainly not" motived by the Muslim community. "Certainly, many areas of the Muslim community will be advantaged by this test as will every other non-English speaking or every other migrant coming to this country."
"The important thing is that people, no matter where they come from ... That when they come here they become an essential part of our community very quickly, very effectively," Robb said.
Australian multicultural foundation executive director Hass Dellal has said it was important the test apply to all communities.
"It seems that it's always directed toward the Muslim community that they are the people that aren`t integrating or can`t speak English," he said yesterday.
"Let`s put it in balance a little bit and not just focus it totally on the Muslim community. This should apply for all if it`s going to apply."
The opposition Labour party said the government had nearly doubled immigration numbers in the past decade but has not provided the support needed to the new Australians.
Labour`s citizenship spokeswoman Annette Hurley today said she supported the government`s moves, but said more money needed to be spent on integrating migrants into the Australian community.
Senator Hurley said many migrants were unprepared when they arrived in Australia.
"I think we have to equip people to understand our country by adequate programs and I think this is where the government has failed," she told the nine network.
But the government denied its spending on integrating new migrants had been inadequate, saying up to 500 hours language training was available to migrants at taxpayers expense.
The government is taking submissions on the discussion paper until November 17.
London, Sep 19 (IANS) Scientists have identified a protein in the brain of rats that they say may help curb obesity though they haven't yet tested how the protein behaves in human beings.
Alessandro Bartolomucci and colleagues at the Institute of Neuroscience of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (National Research Council) in Rome spotted the TLQP-21 protein in the brain of male rats and isolated it for lab tests, reported the online edition of the health magazine WebMD.
First, the rats ate normal chow for four days. They were then made to go on a high-fat diet laced with lard. The rats also got a steady stream of a solution with or without TLQP-21 directly into their brains round the clock for two weeks.
The rats that received TLQP-21 gained less weight and burned more calories compared with those that were not administered the protein.
Metabolism increases were measured by taking the rats' rectal temperature. The rats in the TLQP-21 group showed a rise in rectal temperature.
The researchers said TLQP-21 may boost metabolism and limit obesity, at least in rats. However, they do not know what its long-term effects could be and whether the protein behaves in a similar manner in humans.
Kolkata, Sep 19 (IANS) Italian arrogance was on display as Alberta Brianti rocketed into the second round with a power-packed 6-4, 6-2 win, and in the process, packed third seed Yulina Fedak of Ukraine out in a first round match of the Tier III Sunfeast Open here Tuesday.
Alberta Brianti, world No.127, whose only claim to fame so far was her win over Sania Mirza in Montreal last August, took exactly 78 minutes to display a game of power tennis to make complete mockery of WTA ratings as Fedak found herself on the odd side of the court.
For the Ukrainian, this was an encore of sorts. Last year, Russian wild card entrant Elena Likhovtseva had stopped her run with a straight set defeat in the first round.
In another match held simultaneously on Court I on Day II, Kudryavtseva upset eight seed Anastassia Rodionova in a three-setter 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 to set up a second round clash with Shikha Uberoi-slayer Hana Sromova.
Sromova, unseeded here, had an easy game. She merely kept the ball in play as a patchy Shikha who rose to sublime before plummeting into the depths, with a cocktail of sublimity and ridiculousness, got tied up in knots and presented the game to the Czeck 4-6, 3-6.
The Indian, who resides in New Jersey, lacked deep enough approach shots and made Sromova's task easier. The world No.132 whipped past winners with consummate ease.
With both players holding serves till 5-4 in the first set, it looked as if Shikha would take it to the tie-breaker. Whether or not it is matter of nerves is debatable, but in the crucial tenth game, the world No.194 made a costly double fault that saw Sromova going up 6-4.
The loss of first set seemed to rob Shikha of confidence. She started throwing her racket around. The harder she tried to hit winners, the more she ended up with unforced errors. It took another break in the fourth game for Sromova to go up 3-1.
Thereafter the Czech, who turned professional in 1997, held her serves and nerve to shut out the match.
The other Indian in fray Tuesday, qualifier Sanaa Bhambri, was no match for the talented Angelique Widjaja of Indonesia. The former world No.55, who missed the entire 2005 season owing to left knee surgery, took no time in dismissing the younger of the two Bhambri sisters, Sanaa, 6-2, 6-3.
In other matches of the day, Olga Poutchkova of Russia blew away Spain's Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-1, 6-0 to set up a second round date with Widjaja.
In a battle of the qualifiers, Iroda Tulyaganova of Uzbekistan, the former world No.16, put Chinese Taipei's Chia-Jung Chuang in her place 6-4, 6-1.
Brussels, Sep 19 (IANS) The Belgian capital will throb with Indian music, dance, poetry and philosophy during a four-month-long India Festival beginning Oct 7.
The festival, organised by Belgium's Centre for Fine Arts (Bozar) in collaboration with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, will run till Jan 21, 2007.
Paul Dujardin, director-general of Bozar, told newspersons here: "There is one aspect of India, in my view a fundamental one, that remains relatively neglected and receives less media exposure: Indian culture.
"One of the key priorities of the artistic policy of Bozar is to open up to Europe. But this India Festival reminds us of an indispensable corollary to that priority: opening Europe up to the world.
"It is from this perspective that the Centre for Fine Arts decided to initiate this India Festival."
The India festival has developed into an ambitious project comprising a total of 106 events - music, dance, film, literature, talks, debates, the visual arts, and educational initiatives - are all included in this wide range of activities.
"The example of India shows us how it is possible to preserve those elements of a country's origins and traditions - intellectual, spiritual, and artistic - that go to make up a civilisation, while still being alive to today's world and the future," said Dujardin.
Members of Belgium's royal family and Karan Singh, chairman of ICCR, will inaugurate the festival on Oct 7, according to INEP agency.
Noting the importance that India attached to this project, Dujardin said the exhibition will welcome Sonia Gandhi, Congress party president, and Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt on Nov 11.
He pointed out that it is not by chance that the festival was being launched just a few days before the 7th EU-India summit in Helsinki on Oct 13. During the festival, Nobel Prize-winner V.S. Naipaul will speak as a conscientious observer of his grandparents' country.
Prominent Indian artistes to perform during the festival include Asha Bhonsle, Ustad Hussain Sayueedudin Dagar, Zakir Hussein, Hariprasad Chaurasia and others.
Dujardin said: "Our societies of the future - and that future has already crossed our threshold - will be like India: with a multiplicity of ethnic origins and of cultures, and of mixtures and hybrids.
"How we respond to these socio-cultural challenges will to a great extent determine the human and social success of the European project. In this respect, and in our own cultural and artistic context, India must serve as an example."
New Delhi, Sept 19 (ZEENEWS.COM) Rattled by a spurt in polio cases which have touched a figure of 297 this year, the Union Health Ministry has called an emergency meeting of Health Ministers and officials of polio affected states here on September 21.
Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss has called a meeting of Health Ministers and Health Secretaries of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Uttaranchal, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana.
The meeting also comes in the backdrop of United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan reportedly writing to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressing concern over the increase in polio cases in the country.
A total of 297 cases were reported till September 15 as against a total of 66 cases reported in 2005.
Uttar Pradesh presented an alarming picture with a total of 269 cases with Moradabad district reporting as many as 56 cases this year.
Other Western UP districts like Muzaffarnagar has reported 25 cases, Badaun and Meerut accounted for 24 cases each, Bijnor (23), Ramput (21), J P Nagar (19), Bareilly (13), Ghaziabad (11), Aligarh and Bulandshahar (6 each) among others.
"The state government has not been able to implement the programme properly. It is failure on the part of the district administration. Everything is provided by the central government," sources in the Union Health Ministry said.
Of the 269 cases in UP, as many as 101 cases have been reported in July this year. While 34 cases were reported in May, June saw a spurt with 74 cases and August 36 cases.
Observing that UP was "dragging" the Pulse Polio Programme which created a "fatique" among the activists, the sources said that there might be some children left out.
"Question is reaching children and vaccinating them. Where we missed some children, there is a case," they said.
Apart from UP, Bihar has reported 17 cases so far followed by Haryana five, one each in Jharkhand, Uttaranchal, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Chandigarh.
"Investigation of strains of the polio virus and their genetic sequencing carried out in the African countries of Congo and Mozambique has revealed that they are of Indian origin," Buren Bayar, the UNICEF polio coordinator for Uttar Pradesh had said in Lucknow recently.
Bayar was, however, optimistic about the eradication of polio from the country but stressed the need to reach out to every child.
Mumbai, Sep 19 (IANS) A special court on the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts Tuesday pronounced Abdul Gani Turk guilty of setting off explosions at Century Bazar in Worli area which killed 113 people.
Turk was the lone accused held guilty for the blasts by the Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) court here. He was charged on four counts by special judge P.D. Kode.
The blast - the deadliest of the serial bombings - had also left 227 people injured. Turk has been found guilty of fitting vehicles with RDX and transporting arms and ammunition.
On Monday, the court pronounced Asghar Yusuf Mukadam alias Munna and Shahnawaz Qureshi guilty for their involvement in planting bombs at the Plaza cinema in Dadar in which 10 people were killed.
In the first verdicts in the case, the Memon brothers - Tiger, Yusuf, Essa and Yakub - and Yakub's sister-in-law, Rabina, were held guilty under anti-terror laws, while three others of the family were acquitted. They were the first eight in the list of 123 accused in the March 12, 1993, blasts that killed 257 and injured over 700.
Raipur, Sep 19 (IANS) Chhattisgarh Governor K.M. Seth has suspended state Public Service Commission chairman Ashok Darbari, bringing the curtain down on a long-drawn battle between the official and the state government.
Darbari, the seniormost Indian Police Service officer in Chhattisgarh and a former state police chief, was suspended late Monday.
Commission member Khelanram Jangre has been appointed acting chairman.
Darbari was appointed chairman in October 2004. Several commission members and student organisations had been demanding his removal for his alleged involvement in irregularities committed during examinations held in November 2005.
Cadres of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) student wing Akhil Bhartiya Vidharthi Parishad (ABVP) and Opposition Congress party's National Students' Union of India (NSUI) burst crackers here Tuesday morning to celebrate Darbari's suspension.
Earlier this year, the Chhattisgarh government had recommended to the governor that Darbari be removed to "restore the image of the commission", as several candidates were reportedly declared qualified for its main exam even they did not sit for the preliminary test in November last year.
Dhaka, Sep 19 (IANS) Seven Bangladeshi Islamist militants convicted for the bombing attack that killed two judges last year moved closer to the gallows with the high court confirming the death sentences against them.
The death sentence had been imposed on the Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) militants by a lower court and was referred to the high court.
The sentence, confirmed by a high court bench on Monday, would be carried out unless the convicts appeal against it to the Supreme Court within 30 days.
Senior assistant judges Jagannath Pandey and Sohel Ahmed were killed in a bomb attack in Jhalakathi town on Nov 14 last year.
Those convicted are the top leaders of banned JMB - an organisation reportedly having links with Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda - including its chief Sheikh Abdur Rahman and his top aide Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai.
On May 29, additional district and sessions Judge of Jhalakathi, Reza Tarik Ahmed, ordered the seven JMB men to be hanged until death. He acquitted one in the sensational Jhalakathi judges killing case.
The other convicts are JMB's Majlish-e-Shura, the top decision-making body, members Ataur Rahman Sunny, Abdul Awal and Faruk Hossain Khan [also known as Khaled Saifullah], suicide bomber Iftekhar Hasan Al Mamun and Asadul Islam Arif, who is absconding.
Bhopal, Sep 19 (IANS) Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has given an ultimatum till Wednesday evening to the Bhopal district administration to demolish all mosques constructed on government land.
In a memorandum submitted to Bhopal Collector, S.K. Mishra Monday, VHP threatened that encroachments on government land in the name of constructing or renovating mosques would not be tolerated any more.
"Several temples have been removed under the present Bharatiya Janata Party rule in the state on the pretext that they were constructed on encroached government land. At the same time, no action is being taken against the mosques built on government land," said VHP secretary A.P. Singh.
"We will launch an agitation against this partiality of the government borne out of its desire to pose itself `secular'. After the ultimatum ends, the government will be responsible for any action by us," Singh added.
A delegation of VHP activists, which met the collector, also handed over a list of mosques constructed on government land.
"Nearly 13 temples have been demolished in the state capital alone in the name of carrying out drive against illegal structures. But not a single illegal structure constructed by other religious communities were razed," said Vishal Purohit, VHP district convener.
Meanwhile, the collector directed the sub-divisional magistrate to probe into the matter and submit a report to him.
Mumbai, Sept 19 (ZEENEWS.COM) Taking cognizance of protests of the accused and prosecution and defence lawyers in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, Tada court judge P D Kode today asked the media to exercise restraint and not speculate on the proceedings to ensure the faith in the judicial system is not lost.
He asked the media not to interview the accused in the court premises and not to speculate as this could interfere with the future work of the court. The media would be entitled to criticism after the full judgment was passed, he said.
Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam today raised the point about interviews taken inside the court premises and said he felt "threatened" by abuses hurled by relatives of those who spoke to the media after their conviction.
Defence counsel Farhana Shah said the opinion poll run by various TV channels should also stop.
The accused then stood up and protested against the photographs published in the media. They called for a boycott of the special public prosecutor and alleged that photos taken of them by the administration in 1993 were being supplied by the police to the media.
Yakub Memon, who has been convicted in the case said they would not entertain the media and were concerned only about their lives.
The judge assured the accused that the verdict was given by the court itself and not by the media and warned them of indulging in such bickerings. He asked the defence laywer to talk to the accused in private and submit their grievances to the court.
Ranchi, Sep 19 (IANS) Eight people, including six tribals, were killed in what appeared to be a caste war in Jharkhand's Gumla district, police officials said Tuesday.
Tribals and members of a backward caste clashed Monday night in Kurkura village of Gumla district, about 170 Km from here, according to police.
"Eight people have been killed in the clash. Of these, six were tribals and two were Mahtos (backward caste people)," G.S. Rath, additional director general of police (special branch), told IANS.
Rath said the tribals had gathered for a meeting when Ramnath Mahto and Saryu Mahto taunted them, prompting the tribals to chase them away. In retaliation, the Mahtos opened fire, killing six tribals.
The tribals lynched Ramnath and his father to death while Saryu managed to escape.
Police said the Mahtos were henchmen of a gangster Jayanath Sahu, who extorted money from tribals. They added that the opposition to Sahu could have led to the clashes.
Newly appointed Chief Minister Madhu Koda is likely to visit the village.
Brussels, Sep 19 (DPA) The European Union (EU) and China agreed Tuesday to establish "smart and safe trade lanes" in a bid to boost trade while tackling product piracy and preventing terrorist attacks.
EU Taxation and Customs Commissioner Laszlo Kovacs said he had signed an agreement on the cooperation with Chinese Customs Minister Mu Xinsheng, who was in Brussels for talks.
The scheme will start with pilot projects between Britain and China and the Netherlands in China, the European Commission said.
It would cover all sectors of trade but focus first on sea containers coming from the Chinese port of Shenzhen to Rotterdam and to the British port of Felixstowe.
The commission said it plans to extend the co-operation deal to all EU countries once the project was running successfully.
In addition, the project is designed to tackle the infringement of international property rights (IPR) and counterfeiting, Kovacs told reporters earlier Tuesday.
The EU is China's largest trading partner while China is now the EU's second largest trading partner after the US.
New Delhi, Sep 19 (IANS) Advertisements should not glamorise over-speeding but rather emphasise on safety measures like wearing of crash helmets and seat belts, said Road Transport Minister T.R. Baalu here Tuesday.
"One of the important reasons for road accidents is over-speeding," Baalu said at a seminar on 'Auto Retail: Framework for Growth', co-organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) here.
Advertisements should help spread road safety messages to help bring about a reduction in accidents, he said.
In 2004, an estimated 92,000 people were killed in over 400,000 road accidents in the country.
According to Baalu, the number of motor vehicles had increased at a great pace and was set to touch 70 million by March next year.
Accidents lead to a loss of two-three percent of India's gross domestic product.
"The induction of new generation and high-speed vehicles is not enough. We shall have to ensure safety of our drivers and other road users. This is of paramount importance and should not be lost sight of," he emphasised.
Ficci's past president Onkar S. Kanwar, speaking of the cumbersome process for registering cars through regional transport offices, called for direct registration by dealers of new and used cars.
He suggested that the policy for old vehicles, by defining the age of commercial vehicles, must be scrapped. He proposed uniformity of road tax, reduction in service tax on repairs and provision of land for auto malls and auto zones.
He said his ministry had taken the initiative to provide software for computerisation of all regional transport offices in the country to be able to deal with the vehicle registration procedure efficiently.
State governments should take steps to computerise the transport offices to facilitate uniformity of records and expedite the transfer of vehicles, he said. He lamented that the progress in this regard was not very encouraging.
Islamabad, Sep 19 (Xinhua) The foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India would meet at the earliest to review the peace process in pursuance of the joint statement of President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the foreign office said Tuesday.
This would be followed by resumption of the next round of the composite dialogue, Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said at the weekly news briefing here.
She rejected the assumption that Pakistan had in any way moved away from its position on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. She said the status quo or making the Line of Control (LoC) permanent was no solution.
The spokesperson emphasised that the Kashmir issue was not about a piece of territory but destiny of the Kashmiri people. She said that any mutually acceptable solution should also be acceptable to the Kashmiri people.
To a question about the Indian prime minister's remarks regarding recent terror attacks in India, the spokesperson said that in the absence of any evidence these remained mere allegations.
She said that if India had any information in this regard it should share it with Pakistan.
To another question regarding joint institutional mechanism to counter terrorism as agreed between Musharraf and Manmohan Singh during their meet in Havana Saturday, she said the basic purpose was to help each other in preventing terrorist acts.
Commenting on Musharraf's meeting with US President George W. Bush this week, she said the two leaders would review the work done by a number of working groups established following Bush's Pakistan visit this year.
The two leaders would also discuss bilateral relations, regional situation, situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan-India peace process, the Middle East and other global issues, she said.
Ahmedabad, Sep 19 (IANS) The Gujarat police Tuesday said they had busted a nationwide network of terrorists by arresting in two days four people allegedly having links with the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).
The crime branch of police arrested three people, Ilyas Memon, Khalid Ansari and Sirajuddin Ansari, from Ahmedabad and Kari Muqadil, a cleric, from the south Gujarat city of Surat.
Khalid Ansari, arrested Monday, is a younger brother of Aslam Ansari alias Imran Kashmiri, one of the main accused of the Mumbai train blasts of July 11 and was behind the suspicious activities in Aurangabad from where the Maharashtra police had earlier this year recovered a huge cache of arms, police said.
The arrested people were the members of a nationwide network of the LeT and were running a sleeper cell, said Ahmedabad deputy commissioner of police (crime) Manoj Shashidhar.
"They were in constant contact with other terrorist cells in north India, Maharashtra and Hyderabad. Their main purpose was recruitment and they have recruited numerous youths from Maharashtra and Gujarat, sending many of them for training across the border," Shashidhar told reporters here.
Police said the two people arrested Monday, Ilyas Memon and Khalid Ansari, revealed that there were 20 terrorists trained recently by LeT to spread terror across India.
The two people arrested Tuesday were among the 20 trained in terror. Ten of them belonged to Gujarat and search was on to nab the remaining.
They had been circulating CDs on the communal violence in Gujarat in 2002 and those with jehadi speeches among Muslim youths, police said, adding such material was seized from Muqadil in Surat.
Shashidhar said that the Gujarat police had been working in close coordination with their counterparts in other states to nullify the terrorist network.
Kolkata, Sep 19 (IANS) Swiss tennis star Martina Hingis spent time Tuesday with the Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity saying it was "important and inspirational".
"The experiences of visiting the Mother Teresa's house was a lingering moment that I will carry in my heart forever. Yes, the visit was very important and an inspirational experience," said Hingis after spending about an hour at the Missionaries of Charity.
"People can hardly emulate the things she had done. She had a vision and goal that people should try to achieve. It's so difficult to live a life like her and attain whatever she got. If my game and my smile helps people in someway I shall remain thankful."
Hingis donated $20,000 to the house. She was accompanied by her mother Melany, doubles partner Liezel Huber, fellow players Tamarine Tanasugarn and Melinda Czink, Swetha Bhupathi of Globosports and a few ITC officials.
She also went to Sishu Bhavan to interact with the nuns and the orphaned inmates.
"This is the place Hingis always wanted to visit and felt at peace with herself after visiting it," Swetha said.
Singapore, Sep 19 (DPA) The International Monetary Fund's (IMF's) decision to overhaul members' votes in the lending group is a "great start" for further reforms giving more clout to emerging states, IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato said Tuesday.
Speaking a day after an overwhelming number of IMF members voted to immediately boost voting rights for China, South Korea, Mexico and Turkey to reflect their growing economic stature, Rato said the voting reforms were vital for the future of the fund.
Rato told the annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank that the agreements reached would "enhance our effectiveness and add legitimacy to all of the reforms we are implementing".
IMF members also agreed to hammer out a new formula allowing for a further shake-up of voting rights of rich and poor nations over the next two years.
The revamp - described as the most ambitious in the organisation's 60-year history - was agreed Monday by 90.6 percent of votes cast by the IMF's 184 members. A total of 85 percent of votes was required to approve the blueprint.
Once in place, the reforms were expected to give the fund more credibility in poorer nations and reflect the rising economic power of China and other emerging nations.
Rato also called for immediate efforts to resume the World Trade Organisation's crippled Doha round of talks, saying the failure to clinch a new deal to expand trade had increased the threat of protectionism.
"The stakes are too high to accept failure," said Rato, saying that rich nations must act quickly to put the Doha round back on track.
The IMF chief vowed to sharpen surveillance of exchange rates and said the fund was also determined to focus on crisis prevention.
Meanwhile, German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said IMF's reform drive must take into account interests of the EU as well. He said "underrepresented EU countries" should also be brought into focus.
Germany has often argued that as the third largest global economy - after the US and Japan - it must have a greater voice in IMF policymaking.
United Nations, Sep 19 (IANS) India wants international organisations to provide replicable models to help the world's 50 poorest and most vulnerable countries build national capacity for domestic resource mobilisation to reduce poverty.
"The key to achieving sustained economic growth in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) is developing productive capacities," said India's Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma Monday at the United Nations General Assembly's high-level meeting on these nations.
"For this, the development partners need to move vigorously in supporting the efforts of LDCs," said Sharma, head of the Indian delegation, at the meeting, reviewing progress on an agreement forged five years ago in Brussels aimed at assisting the LDCs.
The issue of debt is a critical one for many LDCs, he said. India welcomed the Multilateral Debt Relief initiative (MDRI) and looked forward to the G-8's political intentions being fully converted into unqualified commitment.
India, on its part, has demonstrated its commitment to help LDCs, which are in a particularly difficult position, in reducing their external debt burden by writing off the debt owed by seven Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) who had reached their 'decision points'.
Debt relief through HIPC initiative or MDRI alone is not sufficient unless accompanied with efforts to improve debt management capacity and a proactive approach to assist achieve higher growth, enhanced exports performance and revenue mobilization through better market access and enhanced trade related opportunities, Sharma said.
The launching of the third round of negotiations for the Global System of Trade Preferences holds promise in terms of immensely benefiting both LDCs and other developing countries. India is also in the process of finalising a package for preferential market access for LDC products.
Official development assistance (ODA) disbursements to LDCs are more than a third short of the agreed target. There is an urgent need for new and additional commitments to fulfil the commitment by the developed countries to meet the 0.15-0.20 percent target for ODA to LDCs.
This needs to be without prescribing development modes, policies of actions, either directly or through conditions attached to their support, as has been noted by the Secretary-General, Sharma said.
Moreover, wherever appropriate, aid should help promote greater foreign and domestic private investments consistent with national priorities for sustainable development.
However, a "one size fits all" approach for all LDCs is not practical and is unlikely to succeed and while private sector investment is important, the physical and social infrastructure in many LDCs is too weak to attract investment, and therefore requires sequencing.
LDCs and other developing economies also need to be assisted in capacity-building, particularly in setting up the requisite institutional framework to help prioritise the sources and destination and to attract, evaluate and facilitate, foreign investment inflows, Sharma said.
India has been a strong votary of South-South cooperation. The Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) has, since 1964, provided technical assistance of over US$ 2.5 billion and more than 5,000 representatives of developing countries receive training in over 250 institutions in India every year.
New Delhi has constantly tried to increase mutually beneficial economic cooperation with all LDCs in general, and with those in our extended neighbourhood, in particular, Sharma said referring to programmes in Afghanistan, Myanmar, Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan.
Africa has always been a high priority for India and we are strengthening our cooperation through NEPAD and through other efforts such as TEAM-9 for Western Africa, he said noting that its commitment in terms of lines of credit and other concessional financial assistance adds up to almost US$ 1 billion.
According to a report of the Secretary-General prepared for the High-Level Meeting, governance has improved in the LDCs since world leaders adopted the Programme of Action for LDCs in Brussels in 2001.
While conflicts in the LDCs have decreased in number since then, these countries still suffer disproportionately from civil unrest, with half of the UN's 16 active peace operations being in LDCs. The report cites poverty and underdevelopment as a breeding ground for unrest in the LDCs.
The report calls for increased investment in education, health, clean water, sanitation, physical infrastructure and rural and agricultural development. It also calls for expanded international support, including greater and better aid, accelerated debt relief and better market access for LDCs coupled with support for improving export capacity.
By Murali Krishnan,
New Delhi, Sep 19 (IANS) The Task Force on Global Strategic Developments constituted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has found that the convergence of interests between the United States and India for strategic collaboration is "phenomenal".
The report of the task force, headed by strategic affairs analyst K. Subrahmanyam, has dealt extensively with the nature of India-US partnership and what to expect from the tactical collaboration between the two countries.
The report, submitted its report to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) two months ago, focuses on what lies in India's long-term national interest and other aspects relating to cooperating with the US on democracy initiatives, on the energy issue and on dealing with terror.
"The basic thrust of the report is how to deal with the US and on what to expect as the convergence of interests is phenomenal. It is up to the PMO to make the report public now," Subrahmanyam told IANS.
"We have extrapolated on the balance of power game between both countries and arrived at our own strategic assessments," said another task force member.
Set up in November last year to study the implications of global realties for India's future, the task force also looks at US motivations for seeking a partnership with India and how best India can leverage it for better bargains.
With the strategic threat analysis undergoing a significant change since the 9/11 terror attacks, the task force also examined likely scenarios relating to maritime terrorism, terrorist threats to energy security, terrorism involving the use of WMD (weapons of mass destruction) material and terrorist threats to critical information infrastructure.
The idea behind constituting such a task force was to provide substance and rationale for the India-US strategic tie-up that came about as a result of the July 18, 2005, joint statement signed by Prime Minister Singh and US president George W. Bush.
The task force also wanted to seriously assess China's opposition to the Indo-US nuclear deal and examine the reasons why it did not want India to grow faster.
"But we did not go into this issue in a detailed fashion. China figures peripherally in the report," said Subrahmanyam.
"Since the US expects to have India as a natural partner, and not a natural ally, we set out to examine the long-term implications of this partnership as it goes ahead," said one task force member.
The members of the task force include Prof. P. Rama Rao, ex-chief of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, R.K. Pachauri, director general of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Arvind Virmani, director, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), Tarun Das, former DG, Confederation of Indian Industry, Air Marshal (retd) Vinod Patney, M S Ananth, director, IIT-Madras, Dr Amitabh Mattoo, vice-chancellor of Jammu University, and Uday Bhaskar, Deputy DG, Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses.
London, Sept 19 (ZEENEWS.COM) The Islamic bond market is burgeoning, with much of the investment coming from non-Muslim overseas investors, according to a study by a London-based law firm published yesterday.
During the first half of 2006, the value of issued Islamic bonds, or Sukuk, more than doubled to 4.585 billion dollars, according to Trowers and Hamlins, whose offices abroad are based mainly in the gulf region.
Its report showed also that these represented 81 per cent of all new bonds issued in the gulf during the first half compared with 26 percent during the first six months of 2005.
Trowers and Hamlins said that the principal driver behind the surge in issuance of Islamic bonds is the proliferation of gulf-based Islamic investment funds, which are creating demand for investments which comply with Islamic law.
"There has been a huge inflow of oil wealth into Islamic investment funds which are, naturally enough, seeking Islamically-compliant vehicles, such as Sukuks, in which to channel funds," said Neale Downes, a partner at Trowers and Hamlins.
"Foreign investors represent an increasingly dominant segment of the market for Islamically-compliant debt. What is really significant is that they are now comfortable buying corporate Sukuk and not just those issued by sovereign borrowers," he added.
Unlike a conventional corporate bond, a Sukuk is asset-backed. Investors own a portion of the assets financed, rather than the cash the assets produce.
Jerusalem, Sep 19 (DPA) Israeli troops will pull out of Lebanon by the Jewish New Year, which begins Friday, Israel Defence Force (IDF) Chief of Staff Dan Halutz told a Knesset committee Tuesday.
Lieutenant-General Halutz told the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee that "if all goes well, all Israeli soldiers will be out of Lebanon by the eve of the Jewish New Year," committee member Ran Cohen told Israel Radio.
Israeli troops deployed in south Lebanon during the recent hostilities between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah guerrilla, which broke out on July 12.
Tokyo, Sep 19 (DPA) Japan has decided to impose new financial sanctions on North Korea in compliance of a UN resolution adopted after the July 5 firing of seven ballistic missiles, media reports said Tuesday.
The new set of sanctions are being adopted because the communist state has not accepted the UN Security Council resolution, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe was quoted as saying.
The new restrictions will target remittances and the transfer of financial assets to North Korea by those suspected of links to its weapons of mass destruction or missile programmes.
The government will require 15 financial groups and one individual, already facing similar sanctions from the US, to get permission for bank transactions for overseas remittances.
The UN resolution adopted in mid-July urged North Korea to unconditionally return to the six-party talks and suspend all missile-related activities. It also requires all UN member states to block the transfer into North Korea of financial resources, goods and technology that are related to missiles.
After North Korea launched seven ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan in early July, Tokyo immediately banned the only passenger link between Japan and North Korea - a ferry - for six months.
New Delhi, Sep 19 (IANS) A Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) has been constituted under Lok Sabha MP Iqbal Ahmed Saradgi (Congress) to examine the constitutional and legal position relating to offices of profit, it was announced here Tuesday.
This follows motions adopted by both houses of parliament on the issue last month.
The JPC will:
* Examine, in the context of settled interpretation of the expression "Office of Profit" in article 102 of the constitution and the underlying constitutional principles therein, and to suggest a comprehensive definition of "office of profit";
* Recommend, in relation to "office of profit", the evolution of generic and comprehensive criteria which are just, fair and reasonable and can be applied to all states and union territories;
* Examine the feasibility of adopting a system of law relating to prevention of disqualification of members of parliament as existing in Britain and considered by the Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act, 1976;
* Examine any other matter incidental to the above.
The JPC has decided that constitutional/legal experts, academicians, law institutes, bar councils, public bodies or individuals desirous of submitting memoranda on the above issues should send two copies of these in English or in Hindi, an official release said.
These should be sent to the director (CB), Lok Sabha Secretariat, Parliament House Annexe, New Delhi, email: almartin@sansad.nic.in on or before Oct 6.
"The memoranda which might be submitted to the JPC would form part of the records of the committee and should be treated as strictly confidential and not circulated to anyone, as such an act would constitute a breach of privilege of the committee," the release said.
Those wishing to giving oral evidence before the committee besides submitting a memorandum, should said a communication to this effect for the committee's consideration, it added.
Johannesburg, Sep 19 (DPA) South African political icon and former president Nelson Mandela has been awarded Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience Award for 2006, according to reports on Tuesday.
The award is to be presented to the 88-year-old Nobel laureate by Nadine Gordimer, the South African author and fellow laureate, at his home in the city of Johannesburg on Nov 1, the human rights organisation said in a statement.
Amnesty International secretary general Irene Khan was quoted as saying the award, which was inspired by Irish author and Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney, aimed to promote the work of the organisation through association with the life, personal example and work of its ambassadors.
Mandela, who spent nearly three decades in prison for opposing black oppression under white minority rule in South Africa, became the country's first democratically-elected president in 1994.
A staggering amount of awards and honours from across the world have been presented to him for opposing black oppression under white minority rule in South Africa.
By Sujeet Kumar,
Raipur, Sep 19 (IANS) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has said the central government alone should initiate talks with Maoist rebels as attempts by state governments have proved futile.
"We will not initiate peace dialogue with the rebels but wait for New Delhi to do so to bring an end to the decade-long leftist violence," Singh said.
"Maoist violence is a national problem and individual states cannot manage it. Andhra Pradesh held talks on its own a few years ago but they turned out to be futile," Singh told IANS in an interview.
Chhattisgarh is among 13 Indian states hit hard by leftist violence. The violence has escalated since June last year with the state government joining in a civil militia movement, Salwa Judum, (Campaign for Peace) launched by tribals of the Bastar region.
"The problems and demands of Maoist areas - mainly of land reforms - can be handled by the central government only," Singh said.
Chhattisgarh has borne the brunt of stepped up Maoist violence in the country during recent years. Rebels, who have infrastructure in 4,000 sq km of inaccessible Abujhmad in Bastar protected by landmines all around, have killed hundreds of tribal civilians in raids at relief camps and policemen in landmines attacks.
"The terror movement of Maoists has to come to an end sooner or later. If militancy in Punjab can be crushed, why not the Maoists' terror?" Singh asked.
The Maoist movement that began in 1967 from a village in West Bengal has now spilled over to other states. In Chhattisgarh alone, at least 260 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since January this year in Maoist violence.
The Pope Benedict XVI,
The Most reverend Head of Catholic Church,
Head of Vatican City,
Vatican.
Your Reverend and very Exalted Holiness,
This is in reference to the lecture that you gave in Germany and where you quoted an emperor, the emperor was on war with Islam and it was not surprising that he uttered such sentences, but the mention of such quotes by Head of Biggest religion which preaches nothing but PEACE, was Shocking to non only Muslims all over the world but all those who have studied comparative religion. The quote shows ignorance about Islam and its Prophet (May Peace and Allah's blessing be on him). You might not have meant to hurt the feelings of any body but the damage has been done, whole of the world is shocked and bewildered.
As the head of a religion which offers the other cheek for sake of peace to appease a hurt feeling and which preaches nothing but Peace it is but natural that Your Holiness personally elaborate what you actually meant and what made you quote from Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palcologos. Emperor Hercules and Negus were nothing but praise for Islam and its teaching when its was presented to them by Muslim emissaries that time.
Muslims believe in every word of The Holy Quran which is full of reverences and love for Jesus and Maryam. Muslim therefore believe that Christians are their friends because The Holy Quran says in 5:82 "strongest among men in enmity to Believers will thou find the Jews and the Pagan; and the nearest among them in love to the believers will thou find those who say 'we are Christians' because amongst those are men devoted to learning and men who have renounced the world and they are not arrogant." You have renounced the world. You are a learned person you call yourself Christian. Quoting from a person who seemingly had no knowledge of Islam and its prophet is certainly not befitting of a person of your stature. It is very far from a person who wants an interfaith dialogue for world peace. You have since, stated that you are sorry on the reactions and that remarks were offensive to sensibilities of Muslims. It is hoped that it will settle the issue. Yet it will be fair enough to state what you personally think of Islam.
I pray Almighty Allah the most benevolent. The most Beneficent, The One Allah, The Absolute, the eternal who neither begets nor is he begotten to bestow you the strengh and make you an instrument to bring eternal peace to this earth. Amen
A word in response and an acknowledgment will be appreciated.
Muhammad Rabey Hsani Nadwi
Rector,
Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama,
Lucknow, UP, India
President, All Indian Muslim Personal Law Board
By Arun Kumar,
Washington, Sep 19 (IANS) The United States is more secure today because law enforcement authorities and America's Arab, Muslim, Sikh and South Asian communities are working more closely together, according to a senior government official.
"We sincerely hope and expect that those relationships will deepen and strengthen as the years progress," said Daniel W. Sutherland, officer for civil rights and civil liberties at the department of Homeland Security, at a panel discussion here.
Addressing the panel on security enhancement through community, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Wan Kim called the Sep 11, 2001, attacks in the US "a seminal event in the nation's history" and deplored post-9/11 hate crimes against Arab and Sikh Americans.
Among the most effective tools to counter such incidents are outreach programmes to the Arab and South Asian American community leaders, he said, adding that cooperation with federal, state and local law enforcement officials has enhanced protection of civil rights in their communities and brought criminals to justice.
Kim cited the examples of James Herrick, who attempted to burn down a Pakistani restaurant in Salt Lake City; Frank Roque, who gunned down Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh, in a Mesa, Arizona, service station; and an Iowa Marriot hotel that, under false pretences, cancelled an agreement to host an American Syrian and Lebanese group's annual convention.
Kim said there was redress in each case: Herrick was sentenced to five years in prison; Roque was sentenced to death; and the Marriot apologised, paid $100,000 in compensation and instituted training for its employees in cultural sensitivity.
Cases of harassment of Muslim students have been investigated. "In New York, currently we are litigating a case involving the right of Muslim and Sikh bus and subway drivers to wear their religious headgear," he said.
New training on cultural issues has been incorporated at the FBI, according to FBI unit chief Brett Hovington. "We are fighting in a totally different environment these days, and the war on terrorism is not going to be won, necessarily, with knocking down doors, but based on building relationships," he said.
Manjit Singh, head of the Sikh American Legal Defence and Education Fund, described the ongoing problems that American Sikhs have experienced, and how Sikh organisations have worked with US security agencies to define culturally sensitive guidelines for airport screening. "One can't have security without making everyone secure," he said. "We can't be discriminatory and say security applies to some and not to others."
"There has been a collective decision at the level of the Muslim communities of America to become a part of the solution in the post 9/11 conflict as opposed to a part of the problem," said Ahmed Younis, national director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council.
"We do not subscribe to the proposition that there is a clash of civilisations, we as Muslims subscribe to the proposition that there is a clash of the uncivilised," Younis said.
To a question about why American Muslims are not drawn to extremism as readily as their European counterparts, Imam Mohamed Hagmagid Ali of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society Center said, "American Muslims are unique. They are very integrated with the community."
Agartala, Sep 19 (IANS) More than 400 militants of the Bru Liberation Front of Mizoram (BLFM) would surrender later this month in Tripura, raising hopes for repatriation of 35,000 Reang tribal refugees sheltered to their homeland in Mizoram.
"At least 417 BLFM cadres will lay down arms and ammunition at a ceremony in north Tripura and then surrender before the Mizoram government," said Elvis Chorkhy, general secretary of Bru Displaced People's Forum (BDPF).
"The Mizoram government has been insisting that the repatriation of Reang refugees will not begin until Bru militancy was wiped out completely," Chorkhy told IANS over phone.
The Reang refugees have been sheltered in six north Tripura camps since 1997 following ethnic clashes with the majority Mizos in Mizoram.
The BDPF leader alleged that police opened fire on Bru rebels Sunday at Kanchanpur, 180 km north of here, when the cadres were making preparations for the surrender ceremony. Four BLFM members and a tribal woman were injured.
The Mizoram government and the militant Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF) last year signed an agreement to solve the decade-old ethnic problem.
Both the rebel outfits have been fighting for setting up of autonomous council for the refugees.
The Tripura government had earlier asked Mizoram and New Delhi to take early steps to repatriate the refugees.
Dhaka, Sep 19 (IANS) Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has exhorted the Muslim world to integrate into "the mainstream of knowledge and science" to survive and advance in the fast-changing and highly competitive world.
She pointed to "backwardness in all fields" but singled out military technology during her address to the 20th convocation of the Islamic University of Technology (IUT) here.
The Muslim world should give "a fitting reply to untrue and misleading campaigns in certain mass media against Islam and Muslims" through democratic advancement, socio-economic progress and supremacy in knowledge and science, she said Monday.
Zia was ostensibly referring to the campaign in the Western media that highlights growing suspicion of Muslims across the world in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks five years ago.
She said she was fighting Islamist militancy at home, citing the recent conviction of militants who had killed two judges last year and a campaign against militant organisations.
The prime minister is, however, also accused of fomenting this militancy through her political allies, the Jamaat-e-Islami and three other parties that are part of the ruling coalition.
The Islamist militants convicted for killing the judges have named key functionaries of Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
Zia noted that "untrue and misleading campaigns" were being carried out against Islam and Muslims, and, "at some places, the struggles for establishing freedom and self-determination are being branded as religious terrorism".
She did not elaborate.
"Sustainable technologies will have to be devised and applied for socio-economic prosperity and development. Backwardness in all fields, particularly military technology, will have to be overcome. This has become essential now to build up a rightful and balanced world order," she told the audience, who comprised Islamic academia in the technological field, UNB news agency reported.
A message of the secretary general of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), who is the university's chancellor, was read out.
Zia awarded degrees and certificates to students of Bangladesh and many other Muslim countries, including Pakistan, the Maldives, Afghanistan, Palestine, Sudan and Jordan.
New Delhi, Sep 19 (IANS) State-owned exploration major Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) Tuesday said it is looking at partnering national oil companies abroad to acquire hydrocarbon assets in countries like Kazakhstan and Cuba.
At the company's annual general meeting, chairman and managing director R.S. Sharma also announced a bonus issue for shareholders in the ratio of one share for every five held in the company.
"The board had proposed bonus issue in August and the annual general meeting has approved it today. The bonus shares will be issued in November," Sharma said.
The company top brass was also optimistic on winning several hydrocarbons in the latest round of exploration bids announced by the Indian petroleum ministry. "We are really hopeful of grabbing substantial blocks," he said.
The top ONGC official said the company would be getting the first consignment of 90,000 tonnes of crude oil from the Sakhalin oil field in Russia in the second week of November. "It will be processed at Mangamore Refinery," he added.
ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas investing arm of the state-run company, has a 20-percent stake in Sakhalin-I oil field.
The ONGC chairman said that the company was also looking at importing liquefied petroleum gas. "Gas is an emerging fuel of the decade and its derivatives have a huge business potential," Sharma said.
Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 19 (IANS) Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar is pained at the way the media ignored his tour of drought-hit districts and meeting with suffering farmers instead only highlighting his political hobnobbing during his recent state visit.
"He is deeply upset at the manner in which the media here reported his three-day trip," State Water Resources Minister N.K. Premachandran told IANS.
"He genuinely wanted to see for himself the plight of the farmers who have been affected. Instead, they had reports like he spent his time in a resort or on his political discussions. This has pained him a lot," said Premachandran.
Pawar visited the five drought-hit districts of Wayanad, Idukki, Palakkad, Alappuzha and Kozhikode during his Sep 10-12 trip.
Since 1998, more than 1,500 farmers have committed suicide in the state unable to bear their financial losses on account of failed crops.
He carried on with the trip despite the inclement weather. On one day he travelled nearly six hours - from Palakkad to reach the hilly district of Wayanad, where the most affected farmers in Kerala live.
"I was with him during his three-day visit. He could have easily skipped the trip to Wayand saying that his helicopter could not land. But at his age, he travelled by road from Palakkad all the way to Wayanad and visited the interior districts to see for himself the situation. In other districts he travelled by road deep into the interiors," said Premachandran.
"He was pained at a newspaper editorial on his visit. He would get all the vernacular news reports translated. His meeting with Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran) chief K. Karunakaran got delayed by five hours as he wanted to visit Wayanad," said the minister.
The state government has submitted a detailed package to the federal minister, seeking Rs.56.65 billion in assistance to help the farmers who have been hit by the falling price of cash crops.
Islamabad, Sept 19 (ZEENEWS.COM) Charging President Pervez Musharraf with opposing Taliban at the behest of the US and the Afghan President, a senior militia leader has warned that any violation of Pakistan government’s agreement with the local Taliban in Waziristan would destabilise the area.
"We know he (Gen. Musharraf) has been siding with President George W. Bush against fellow Muslims. At the behest of the US, he waged war against the Taliban in Waziristan and is now publicly proposing to Karzai to jointly fight the Taliban and Talibanisation," Taliban military commander Mulla Dadullah Akhund said.
He said, "Pakistan Taliban, which stopped fighting in Waziristan tribal belt following the recent agreement with the Pakistan government would be justified to retaliate if Gen. Musharraf broke the truce and went back on his word for peacefully resolving the conflict." "Violation of the terms of the recent peace agreement in Waziristan would cause problems and destabilise the area," he said. He was referring to a deal which Pakistan claims to have entered with local tribal leaders which stipulated that fighting between local Taliban and Pakistan Army should seize and the tribal should stop providing shelter to hundreds of foreign militants holed up there.
The deal which was criticised in Pakistan and abroad also stipulates that the militants should stop crossing into Afghanistan to fight the Afghan and foreign forces there. Akhund said he visited North and South Waziristan in Pakistan’s tribal areas about three months ago and advised the Taliban there not to fight their country’s armed forces. "I told the Pakistani tribal militants that fighting in Waziristan was in the interest of America. My argument was that we should fight the US, UK and armies of other Western countries," he said.
He argued that the Taliban fight was with the Americans and their allies and not with the Pakistan Army and claimed to have 500 suicide bombers at his disposal. "Other Taliban commanders have their own list of fidayeen and it is growing with names of more volunteers," he said.
He also claimed 12,000 Taliban fighters were resisting US-led foreign forces under his command in four south western provinces.
"We have no shortage of fighters. In fact, we have so many of them that it is difficult to accommodate and arm and equip them. Some of them have been waiting for a year or more for their turn to be sent to the battle field," he claimed.
Akhund said the Taliban would be launching new and bigger attacks in Afghan cities from spring next year.
Kabul would be specially targeted as it was Afghanistan’s capital and the headquarters for the US and other Western forces, he said.
Asked about the possibility of holding talks with US, Nato and Afghan authorities, Akhund said all foreign forces should first withdraw from Afghanistan and apologise for attacking and destroying our country and people.
He said deployment of more Nato troops in southern Afghanistan would not make any difference to the Taliban.
He added that only 14 Taliban fighters, and not 500 as claimed by Nato, were killed in the recent fighting in Panjwai district in Kandahar.
Mumbai, Sep 19 (IANS) Petrol and diesel dealers in Maharashtra Tuesday called off their strike to protest high sales tax levied by the state government after some assurances given to them by Petroleum Minister Murli Deora.
About 2,200 petrol, diesel and compressed natural gas (CNG) stations run by members of the Federation of All Maharashtra Petrol Dealers' Association had gone on strike Sunday midnight to protest the state's levy of 34 percent sales tax.
"Maharashtra's sales tax is the highest in the country," said the federation's chief Ravi Shindhe, adding that it is 21 percent in neighbouring Goa, 28 percent in Andhra Pradesh and 30 percent in Karnataka.
"We have agreed to take up their issues with the state government. The sales tax is quite high. We have spoken to the chief minister and the finance minister of Maharashtra about this," Deora said in New Delhi.
He gave the assurances during a meeting with some representatives of petrol pump dealers' association. Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and Petroleum Secretary M.S. Srinivasan also attended the meeting.
Vehicle owners had to wait for hours Monday to get fuel and taxis opted to stay off the roads during non-peak hours because of the agitation, which had a major impact on India's financial capital.
By M.R. Narayan Swamy,
New Delhi, Sep 19 (IANS) Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet in two or three days Sri Lankan Tamil MPs sympathetic to the Tamil Tigers, who arrived here Tuesday, as part of wider efforts aimed at resolving the ethnic conflict.
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) members flew into the capital from Chennai with the intention of presenting a memorandum to Manmohan Singh, who returned to India Monday night from Cuba.
The MPs are here on the invitation of the state-run Indian Council for World Affairs (ICWA). They will be meeting National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan as well as Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran at the earliest.
They are likely to call on the prime minister most probably Wednesday or Thursday.
With 22 MPs, the TNA is the largest Tamil bloc in the 225-seat Sri Lankan parliament. It supports the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which is outlawed in India. A likely meeting between the Indian prime minister and the TNA has created a stir in Sri Lanka.
Mavai Senathiraja, a member of the TNA delegation led by their leader R. Sambandan, told IANS before leaving Chennai Tuesday that they were yet to know when they will get an audience with Manmohan Singh.
The TNA has been seeking a meeting with Manmohan Singh for two years, arguing that the Indian leadership listens to all points of view from Sri Lanka barring that of the leading Tamil political party due to its pro-LTTE bias.
The understanding here is that there is nothing wrong in meeting the TNA as it is a political party whose MPs get to regularly interact with Indian diplomats in Colombo and also get invited to India's national day functions in Sri Lanka.
But New Delhi is very clear that a meeting with the TNA should not be construed as an endorsement of its policies or as a likely change in India's overall understanding of the Sri Lankan conflict.
India, officials say, desires a negotiated settlement to the dragging ethnic conflict in a manner whereby the aspirations of the Tamil minority are taken due care of.
It is also being emphasized that the Indian leadership will also be meeting Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) leader V. Anandasangaree and members of the Jatiya Hela Urumiya (JHU), a Sri Lankan political party of Buddhist monks. Both Anandasangaree and JHU are bitterly anti-LTTE.
The objective is to have wider consultations with all sections of public and political opinion from Sri Lanka to reach a possible consensus that will help in a resolution of the conflict that has claimed over 65,000 lives since 1983.
Officials here are not aware what the TNA MPs plan to tell the prime minister but are clear on what will be told to them: New Delhi desires a negotiated end to the conflict that has dangerously escalated leaving hundreds dead and hundreds of thousands displaced in recent months.
The TNA MPs are expected to highlight the suffering caused to the Tamil community in the island's northeast due to the fighting, particularly since the start of July.
The escalating trouble has also forced thousands of Tamils to flee to India.
IANS had reported Sep 6 that Manmohan Singh was most likely to meet the Tamil MPs Sep 8. The MPs were preparing to leave for New Delhi when they were told at the eleventh hour to stay put in Chennai.
Manmohan Singh subsequently left on a weeklong tour of Brazil and Cuba, where he attended the Non-Aligned Movement summit.
As one informed source told IANS: "There is nothing wrong in meeting the TNA MPs. They are representatives of a legitimate political party who interact with Sri Lankan leaders. We will want to know what they have to stay."
Senathiraja had earlier told IANS that the TNA considered a meeting with Manmohan Singh "important" and that the MPs wanted quality time to "discuss all matters".
Vatican City, Sept 19 (ZEENEWS.COM) Pope Benedict tried on Sunday (September 17) to calm Muslim anger at his remarks on Islam, saying he was "deeply sorry" about the reaction and that medieval quotes he used on holy war did not reflect his personal views.
The head of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics stopped short of the full apology or retraction demanded by some Muslims for a speech they say portrayed Islam as tainted by violence.
It was unclear whether his words would end the backlash.
Before the Pope spoke, there had already been attacks on churches in the West Bank.
In the town of Tubas outside Jenin, a group of Palestinians set fire to a Roman Catholic church, causing minor damage before the flames were put out. One individual was arrested, Palestinian security forces said.
A Roman Catholic church in the town of Tulkarm also sustained damage in a blaze. Witnesses said they saw a man set the fire in the early morning.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack.
Michel Sabbah, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, visited Nablus on Sunday after five churches in the West Bank city were attacked over the weekend.
Palestinian security forces were deployed to churches in the West Bank to prevent further violence, witnesses said.
"(The attacks) are totally rejected. Every Palestinian must stop any harm to the churches of Christians on the Palestinian land," Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said on Sunday in response to the series of church attacks.
But Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas rejected the Pope's expression of sorrow.
"In Hamas we do not view the statement attributed to the Pope as an apology. We see there is nothing new in the position of the Pope. He has to show full courage and correct his position following the great offence he has caused to muslims and Islam," Sami Abu Zuhri said in Gaza.
In Egypt, deputy leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Habib who initially described Pope's remarks as "a sufficient apology" later said: "It does not rise to the level of a clear apology and, based on this, we're calling on the Pope of the Vatican to issue a clear apology that will decisively end any confusion."
Many across the Muslim countries have expressed dismay at what they see as offensive comments and religious leaders have called it the start of a new Christian crusade against Islam.
In the speech, the Pope, a former theology professor and enforcer of Vatican dogma, referred to criticism of the Prophet Mohammad by 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus.
The emperor said everything the Prophet Mohammad brought was evil "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached".
Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and politicians in Italy rushed to Benedict's defence, saying he had been misunderstood and had really being making an appeal for dialogue.
But angry Muslim leaders flung what they saw as allegations of violence back at the West, referring to the medieval crusades against Islam and to the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which have fanned the flames of Muslim resentment.
In Iran about 500 theological school students protested in the holy city of Qom on Sunday and influential cleric Ahmad Khatami warned that if the Pope did not apologise, "Muslims' outcry will continue until he fully regrets his remarks".
"The Pope should fall on his knees in front of a senior Muslim cleric and try to understand Islam," Khatami said.
In London, a small demo was held outside Westminster Cathedral. The protesters chanted slogans and carries banners condemning remarks made by the Pope.
The uproar had raised questions about whether a papal visit to Turkey in November could go ahead, but the Turkish government, while calling his remarks "ugly", said there were no plans to call it off.
The church has officially encouraged dialogue with Islam and other non-Christian faiths since the Second Vatican Council that ended in 1965. Benedict has sought dialogue with Islam -- but he also stresses Europe's Christian roots and, before elected, said he opposed mainly Muslim Turkey joining the European Union.
He may have come closer than any modern-day pope to saying sorry in public for something he has said. His predecessor John Paul II made public apologies for the church's historic errors, such as the Inquisition and its failings in World War Two.
New Delhi, Sep 19 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Tuesday attached properties of Ravi Shankaran, who is allegedly involved in leaking sensitive information from the Indian Navy war room.
Shankaran's properties in Goa and Pune were attached after he failed to appear before a court, CBI officials said.
The investigating agency had earlier asked Interpol to issue a red corner notice against Shankaran, a close relative of Indian Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash and had revoked his passport.
Shankaran, a retired naval officer, is believed to be in London.
Shankaran, along with nine others, is accused of stealing sensitive data in what is known as the Navy War Room leak case.
The CBI had earlier issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against him after he failed to appear for questioning despite several notices.
The CBI had also raided the offices of his company Shanks Oceanographic Private Ltd in Mumbai and Goa and recovered sensitive documents.
During the investigations, retired naval commander Kulbushan Parashar, who was arrested by the CBI, told investigators that he had met Shankaran in London.
The CBI arrested Parashar April 6 when he returned from Britain. The agency had also issued a notice against him.
New York, Sep 19 (IANS) Women activists belonging to different NGOs staged a demonstration to highlight the plight of women and human rights violations in Pakistan.
The protesters, though small in number, carried placards inscribed with slogans demanding halt to human rights violations in Pakistan, Online news agency said.
Tonk (Rajasthan), Sep 19 (IANS) "I may be illiterate but I am not a fool." The irate comment from 32-year-old Shakeela sliced through the gathering at the Rajasthan Women's Commission (RWC) public hearing in the state's Tonk district.
The wife of Saleem Khan from Kala Paltan village was livid about her failed vasectomy operation.
An agitated Shakeela was narrating on July 7 her tale of woe to the RWC panel, including district officials responsible for redressing women's grievances. An official asked why she had opted for the operation when she knew she was pregnant.
Shakeela started having problems after her operation six months ago. But when she went to a doctor for a medical check-up, she was told she was pregnant.
"I was not pregnant then. It happened two months after the operation," she shot back enraged. "What should I do?" she asked. "I had gone for a sterilisation operation but landed in bigger trouble."
The panel was dumbstruck. There were huddled discussions as the chief district medical officer protested saying it was a rare case since the success rate was 98 percent. But RWC chairperson Tara Bhandari was unsparing.
"There is something you can do even now," she declared sternly. "Give her the best medical treatment free of charge, and keep me posted."
There was a hint of triumph in Shakeela's eyes as chastened officials promised to do the needful.
This newfound courage of uneducated, repressed women to stand and speak up formed the silver lining of the public hearing, reports Grassroot Features.
Five hundred poor women from far-flung villages in remote Tonk district came with their tales of woe.
The event was organised by the RWC in partnership with UNICEF-Rajasthan, and the Jaipur-based Centre for Community Economics and Development Consultants Society (CECOEDECON).
Desertion by husbands, torture for dowry, inadequate medical facilities, botched sterilisation, non-payment of widow's pension and land disputes with in-laws accounted for most of the complaints.
But some were absolutely horrifying.
Seventy-year-old Naraini Devi of Sohela lost her daughter in June last year when police fired at villagers demanding water. Naraini Devi barely escaped, though a bullet tore through her neck. She remained under treatment at Jaipur's Sawai Man Singh Hospital for months.
"My daughter was my only support," she wailed. "Now I can't even work much because of my injured fingers."
The hapless woman was finally promised a government pension and free food grains with immediate effect with the intervention of the panel chairperson.
A sobbing Kamlesh from Toda Raisingh worked hard to educate her husband and help him become a schoolmaster. On getting a job in a government school, he abandoned her because of her dark complexion and married again.
"I am forced to live with my in-laws. Where else can I go?" the 20-year-old said. She was married at the age of nine and had lost her parents.
"It is your husband who is unfortunate because he didn't care for a loving wife," Bhandari said. "He will be made to pay for his mistake."
The panel asked the district magistrate to provide legal help to Kamlesh, so that she could sue her husband for divorce and damages.
Situated 100 km from Jaipur, Tonk is a dusty desert town, once a centre of feudal Muslim culture. It was known as the Lucknow of Rajasthan. Its traditional artisans make Lamdha woollen rugs. Agriculture and sheep rearing are the main livelihoods.
The status of women and maternal health care is poor in most parts of Rajasthan. It is worse in Tonk district. Pregnant women have to be physically carried 15-20 km, to reach roads that take them to the nearest primary health centre.
Child marriage is rampant despite a legal ban. Infant mortality is at 93 deaths per 1,000 live births, compared with a national average of 60. Less than a third of women are literate. More than half of all young children are malnourished.
Muffled sobs and occasionally complete breakdowns punctuated their tales. The suffering seemed endless.
Shobha Devi, 19, of Malpura was brought to the public hearing on her mother's shoulders. Her drunkard husband had literally broken her back by throwing her from their first floor, crippling her. She was turned out of the house with her three-year-old daughter.
Kaushalyadevi of Malpura was seeking protection. The villagers had declared her a witch where she lives.
After a preliminary scrutiny of complaints, CECOEDECON social workers had earmarked nearly 200 cases for the public hearing.
The panel spent the whole day listening to 45 women complainants in person. Spot orders were issued in the majority of presented cases. Most remaining complaints were clubbed department wise, and referred to concerned officials for immediate action.
"Our main aim was to listen to their grievances and help them get justice," said Tara Bhandari.
"Public hearing is now getting a positive response not only from women victims but society at large," Shikha Wadhwa of UNICEF, Rajasthan, pointed out.
Wellington, Sep 19 (IANS) Qualified new immigrants in New Zealand are being discriminated against over their work credentials and language skills by employers, a new survey has found.
Lack of communication skills was a common factor for discarding job applications from new immigrants, says the survey conducted by New Zealand's Massey University.
The problem is rife in Auckland, which is now ahead of Sydney in having the highest number of overseas-born people in Australasia, the survey said.
The survey took into account the nature of discrimination experienced or perceived by new settlers in New Zealand.
The survey indicated that the attitude of some employers were out of step with reality and did not recognise the rapid growth in immigrant population.
The report, titled 'Being Accepted: The Experience of Discrimination and Social Exclusion by Immigrants and Refugees in New Zealand', suggested among other things that the host population should try to understand new settlers' backgrounds and culture.
A point highlighted in the survey finds that New Zealand had focused a lot on recruiting immigrants but paid little attention to how well immigrants settle.
Many of the immigrants interviewed during the survey said they had expected to find work in the country much more easily than they did.
Others expressed annoyance that their overseas qualifications were not recognised here and they had to retrain or undergo further study in New Zealand to gain local qualifications before they were accepted.
In some cases, applicants presumed 'Muslim' were rejected.
"Muslims and people of Middle Eastern origin who were not Muslim felt particularly discriminated against in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks in the US," the survey said.
"Some people are making fun of us and saying you are a terrorist or perhaps you are from (Osama) bin Laden family and you are a Muslim so that makes you a terrorist," the report said, quoting a Muslim respondent.
Many immigrants felt under-valued, under-utilised or ignored when they could have been appointed to positions of responsibility they felt they deserved, others - both professional and trades people - reported being perceived as outsiders and excluded from the social networks in their workplace, the survey says.
The survey coincides with a 30-year high in New Zealand's skilled labour shortage.
Kolkata, Sep 19 (IANS) Indian tennis sensation Sania Mirza Tuesday displayed her silken touch combined with raw power to move into the second round of the Sunfeast Open here even as three seeded players were shown the door.
Mirza beat compatriot Rushmi Chakravarthi 6-0, 6-4 in just 53 minutes.
She decimated Chakravarthi 6-0 in the first set, breaking her in the first, third and fifth games. A barrage of forehand down the lines and cross-court volleys felled the veteran Indian against whom the teenager already has a 2-1 win record.
Chakravarthi, ranked 457 in the world, did try to put up a semblance of resistance in the second set, but a break in the fifth game was all Mirza needed to seal the match.
The second game saw Chakravarthi coming to the net more often and that helped her win a few games with drop volleys and down-the-line backhands, but Sania soon changed her game and a few charges to the net settled the scores in her favour.
"I had a good match. There were a few nervous moments but I am glad that I was able to overcome that," said Mirza.
"I was a little rusty but this is the first tie and maybe I play better with nerves," she said.
She also praised the city crowd and hoped to make amends for the early exit last time.
Earlier, Alberta Brianti went into the second round with a power-packed 6-4, 6-2 win over third seed Yulina Fedak.
Brianti, the world No.127 who defeated Mirza in Montreal last August, took 78 minutes in a game of power tennis to make complete mockery of WTA ratings as Fedak found herself on the odd side of the court.
For the Ukrainian, this was an encore of sorts. Last year, Russian wild card entrant Elena Likhovtseva had stopped her run with a straight set defeat in the first round.
This was the beginning of the day of upsets. The next to bite the dust was eighth seed Anastassia Rodionova of Russia who was beaten in a three set thriller by compatriot Alla Kudryavtseva 6-1, 3-6, 3-6.
Rodionova never looked in her elements and was overwhelmed with the service game of her opponent and made too many unforced error to see the game slipping away.
There were more debacles in store as Aussie Casey Dellacqua, ranked 180, gave some lessons in tennis to last year's finalist and World No 50 Karolina Sprem.
The second seed was clueless to the gritty baseline game of the Aussie who in addition to a big serve matched it up with returns with such difficult angles on them that Sprem just ran herself ragged.
Casey conquered the Croat 2-6, 7-6(7-2), 6-2.
Kudryavtseva set up a second round clash with Shikha Uberoi-slayer Hana Sromova.
Sromova, unseeded here, had an easy game. She merely kept the ball in play as Uberoi got tied up in knots and presented the game to the Czech 4-6, 3-6.
The Indian, who resides in New Jersey, did not play badly but she lacked deep enough approach shots and made Sromova's task easier. The world No.132 whipped past winners with consummate ease.
The other Indian in fray Tuesday, qualifier Sanaa Bhambri, was no match for the talented Angelique Widjaja of Indonesia.
The former World No.55, who missed the entire 2005 season owing to a knee surgery, took no time in dismissing the younger of the two Bhambri sisters 6-2, 6-3.
In other matches of the day, Olga Poutchkova of Russia blew away Spain's Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-1, 6-0 to set up a second round date with Widjaja.
In a battle of the qualifiers, Iroda Tulyaganova of Uzbekistan, the former world No.16, put Chinese Taipei's Chia-Jung Chuang in her place 6-4, 6-1.
In the doubles Brianti and England's Anne Keothavong defeated the Russian-Belarusian pair of Alla Kudryavatseva and Tatiana Poutchek 7-5,7-5, while Melinda Czink (Hungary) and Uberoi got the better of Sandra Kloesel and Galina Voskoboeva 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).
By Sudeshna Sarkar,
Kathmandu, Sep 19 (IANS) In an unprecedented flexing of muscles and flouting of international norms, Nepal's Maoist guerrillas made hundreds of school children attend their rally at the heart of the capital, triggering widespread public outrage.
Students as young as 10-year-old were made to wear red caps with the rebels' party symbol and red bandannas and listen to guerrilla leaders' propaganda for nearly five hours under the scorching sun on Monday. The rally was held at a public park in the capital, a stone's throw away from parliament, the prime minister's office and the army headquarters.
The militant student wing of the Maoists, the All Nepal National Independent Students' Union (Revolutionary), celebrated its 17th convention with fanfare. It had remained underground since 2003, when the then government of Nepal banned it as a terrorist organisation.
Another student organisation, affiliated to the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist - the second largest party in the ruling coalition-, also held its convention in southern Nepal. The simmering rivalry between the two student outfits resulted in the Maoists bearing extraordinary pressure on schools in and around Kathmandu valley to send students to their rally.
Though most of the private schools in the valley remained closed Monday for fear the rebels might shanghai students from the classrooms, they still could not shake off the rebel pressure. Several schools, including the Modern Indian School run by Indians, were forced to let school buses be used for ferrying participants to the rally.
Media reports said the rebel student union had sent circulars to Kathmandu schools, asking them to send at least 50 students each to the programme. The park was a sea of red and blue as hundreds of school children in their blue uniform wavered between listening to Maoist leaders ranting against "US imperialism" and "Indian expansionism" and a volleyball match going on in the adjacent field and hundreds of red flags waved in the air.
When the government was at war with the Maoists there had been frequent reports about the guerrillas forcing students in hundreds to attend indoctrination camps in the remote districts where security forces were not present. This is the first time it happened on such a massive scale in the capital.
The government remained silent but rights organisations flayed the assault on schools.
Children as a Zone of Peace, an alliance of child rights organisations, said using children in a show of power was against the UN Convention on child rights.
The National Human Rights Commission, Nepal's apex rights body, said the rebels' student programme had disrupted classes in the majority of valley schools. Expressing concern at using children in political programmes, the commission said schools should be regarded as "zones of peace".
Earlier this month, the Unicef and Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal had also expressed grave concern at the presence of children in political demonstrations, which often turned violent.
Nepal's rights organisations have also documented the presence of child soldiers in the Maoists' guerrilla army though the rebels say the children have joined voluntarily and are not used in armed combat.
London, Sep 19 (DPA) Scotland Yard has launched an investigation into a protest here during which calls were reportedly made for Pope Benedict XVI to be "subject to capital punishment" for his controversial remarks about Islam.
Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur said Monday that the force had received "a number of complaints" about the reported comments by a leading Muslim extremist.
Many of the complaints related to alleged comments made by Anjem Choudary, who has been described as a former leader of the outlawed Al-Mujaharoun group.
"Anyone who insults the message of Mohammed is going to be subject to capital punishment," Choudray told the gathering, according to media reports.
British police were "facilitating lawful demonstrations", but will not allow people to break the law at demonstrations, Ghaffur said in a statement.
Police were investigating what took place at the protest outside Westminster Cathedral, London's main Catholic church. About 100 people protested outside as worshippers left mass Sunday morning.
They said they would also examine other publicly made statements, with a view to ascertain if any criminal offences had been committed, Ghaffur said.
"We will always proportionately police all protests but equally will take decisive action where crime is committed," he said.
Colombo, Sep 19 (DPA) The Sri Lankan government Tuesday sent investigators to probe the massacre of 11 Muslim civilians in the eastern part of the country as Tamil rebels and government security forces traded allegations regarding the killing.
Defence spokesperson Keheliya Rambukwella said circumstantial evidence suggested that rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) carried out the attack at Panama, Pothuvil.
But he added that the government was willing to carry out a full investigation into the incident.
The decision to send a team of investigators came after Muslim political leaders also called for a probe, citing allegations that there was a dispute between the villagers and police commandos in the area that led to the massacre.
In a separate development, air force jets bombed LTTE targets in the Batticaloa district, 240 km east of the capital, the defence spokesperson said.
Colombo, Sept 19 (ZEENEWS.COM) Tamil Tiger rebels have hacked to death 11 Muslim construction workers in eastern Sri Lanka, the Defence Ministry said.
The bodies of the victims were found today near Panama in the district of Ampara, a Ministry official said.
The victims were labourers working on an irrigation project. One man escaped with injuries and has been admitted to hospital.
There was no immediate reaction from the Tigers to the massacre which came as the Navy and the Air Force bombed and sank a suspected Tiger arms ship off the same coastal region yesterday.
It was not clear if the two incidents were related, but the Tigers have been accused of attacking minority Muslims in the region.
New Delhi, Sep 19 (IANS) The Supreme Court has granted bail to Mohammad Chand Mulani, retired assistant commissioner of police, Pune, and a co-accused in the Rs.21.89 billion stamp paper scam case.
Mulani was arrested in December 2003 on the charge of receiving a bribe of Rs.1.5 million for relieving the wife, daughter and brother of Abdul Karim Telgi, the alleged brain behind the scam, in the case.
A bench comprising judges K.G. Balakrishnan, G.P. Mathur and R.V. Raveendran Monday granted bail while disposing of an application from Mulani against an order passed by the Bombay High Court rejecting his bail plea.
The apex court bench said according to the prosecution the appellant was to receive Rs.30 million as bribe and Rs.1.5 million was paid as a part of it. It said that the appellant had been in jail for more than two years and nine months. The trial was likely to take several years, as there were more than 800 witnesses to be examined.
"Having regard to the nature of the involvement alleged and the role attributed to the appellant in the charge sheet, we are of the view that this is a fit case for grant of bail to the appellant," the bench said and directed the trial court to release him on bail on his furnishing a security for Rs.200,000 with two solvent sureties for a like sum.
Bangkok, Sep 19 (Xinhua) Radio and TV channels broadcast a military statement claiming a successful coup late Tuesday while Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra announced a state of emergency, even as eyewitnesses said the military had seized his office here.
Thai military TV Five earlier reported that the Thai military declared launch of coup.
Over a dozen tanks blocked roads around Thailand's government headquarters here and eyewitnesses saw armed soldiers in the streets of the capital.
The Thai prime minister, who is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly meeting, announced a state of emergency in Bangkok.
"I declare Bangkok under a severe state of emergency," Thaksin said in a voice broadcast on Thai television. He also ordered troops not to "move illegally".
He said he was ordering the transfer of the nation's army chief to work in the prime minister's office, effectively suspending him from his military duties.
However, the statement was suddenly cut off after being aired for about 13 minutes.
Several hundred soldiers were deployed at keys points in the capital.
The army-owned TV channel interrupted regular broadcasts with patriotic music and showed pictures of the king.
By Tarun Basu,
New Delhi, Sep 19 (IANS) Is there a subtle change in Indian policy towards Pakistan or at least a shift in emphasis? Indian policy planners deny this, but a change has been discernible in Indian pronouncements after the Havana declaration about resumption of high-level dialogue between the two countries.
When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke to the media accompanying him on his trip to Brazil and Cuba, he made two comments that led to much discussion: one, that Pakistan is also a victim of terrorism and, two, there were forces in Pakistan that act outside of government control.
What this meant was that for the first time India was saying that Pakistan was as much a victim of terror as it was a source. This was a far cry from the usual demonizing of Pakistan and the almost instinctive blaming of Islamabad every time violence strikes India - whether in Mumbai, Malegaon or Bangalore.
With Indian investigative agencies yet to come up with solid evidence linking Pakistan-based groups to either the train bombings in Mumbai or the blasts in Malegaon in the most recent of terror acts in India, realization had dawned on Indian policy planners that snapping the dialogue process with Pakistan on the basis of circumstantial evidence was not going to get them anywhere.
As the prime minister himself said: "We cannot wish away geography. Our destinies are interlinked, and these cannot be realized unless there is reconciliation between India and Pakistan."
The Joint Statement issued after the meeting between Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in Havana reflected these sentiments: "The leaders agreed that the peace process must be maintained and the success was important for both countries and the future of the entire region.
"In this context, they directed their foreign secretaries to resume the composite dialogue at the earliest possible."
This was a far cry from the atmosphere immediately after the Mumbai train bombings of July 11 that killed nearly 200 people, when Pakistan was instantly blamed for the outrage and even Manmohan Singh talked of "elements from across the border" orchestrating violence in India.
It was then made out by the government that it cannot talk to Pakistan unless it gives iron clad assurances that it will not allow its soil to be used by anti-India terrorists. The foreign secretary-level talks due in July got indefinitely postponed as New Delhi refused to confirm the dates for the meeting.
With Havana looming on the horizon, it became clear that the two top leaders who were going to be there to attend the NAM summit could not avoid a face-to-face meeting. Much water had flown down the Ganges since the last NAM summit in Kuala Lumpur in February 2003 when Indian diplomats strove to ensure that then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee did not even accidentally "bump into" Musharraf in the lobby of the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre - so deep was the estrangement then.
Then came the thaw with Vajpayee shaking off the bureaucratic restraints on talking to Pakistan and making his dramatic offer of "hand of friendship", then his visit to Islamabad in January 2004 followed by the resumption of the peace dialogue.
A senior Indian official who travels usually with the prime minister on his foreign trips and is quite familiar with his thinking describes the latest reconciliation as a "leap of faith".
It will help India to reduce the trust deficit with Pakistan, he said. The India-Pakistan anti-terror institutional mechanism that has been decided upon will go into specific charges against and evidence of who was behind terror attacks and will investigate them under joint auspices. It was better than trading charges against each other and getting nowhere, he explained.
"This meeting (in Havana) produced solid results," said the prime minister, as he returned home. "I am very pleased with the outcome."
Informed sources familiar with current thinking say policy planners realize that India has to be realistic about Pakistan.
"We cannot just say we don't talk to them. They are our neighbours. We also have to realize that there are different interests in Pakistan - there is the military, the ISI (the Inter-Services Intelligence agency that is seen as the fount of anti-India subversion), the emerging middle class that wants to do more business with India, the common people who want peace, etc.
"Our policy may in many ways sound contradictory but it is a nuanced approach that we have to take," said a source, seeking to rationalize the present policy.
Musharraf was desperate for a resumption of the foreign secretary-level talks. After seven years in power, with elections next year, and things going wrong for him on other fronts, he needed to have "something to show" to his people about his achievements. One of them was peace with India, which the ordinary citizens who are going to vote do want.
Will this 'talk tough-talk peace' policy work? Nobody is sure. But it is a sure way to remain engaged while making it clear to the policy makers in Islamabad that if they do not act more firmly against terror-fomenting groups, it will be to their own peril.
"You have to remain engaged. You cannot just say we won't deal with them. It's the policy of the United Progress Alliance (UPA) government to have better ties with Pakistan and the prime minister is committed to that," said the officials who travelled with Manmohan Singh.
And although Manmohan Singh and others deny there is any shift in policy towards Pakistan, there is no doubt one will see more of what one official says is attaining a "certain mean in our relationship".
Kolkata, Sep 19 (IANS) The Trinamool Congress' Sougata Roy Tuesday emerged victorious in the by-election to the Bongaon assembly seat, salvaging the party' prestige in the West Bengal assembly.
The Trinamool had lost the status of official opposition party due to its numerical minority in the state assembly following the death of a legislator soon after its debacle in this year's April-May assembly elections.
Of the three Lok Sabha seats, for which by-elections were held Saturday, the Congress is leading in Malda. In the Lok Sabha seats of Purulia and Katwa, the Left Front candidates are leading by unassailable margins and are set to make a clean sweep.
Sougato Roy, who had lost the April-May election from Dhakuria in south Kolkata, defeated Pankaj Ghosh of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) by 5,761 votes in Bongaon in North 24 Parganas district.
The by-election was necessitated by the death of Bhupen Seth of the Trinamool Congress, reducing the party to 29 seats in the assembly.
The counting of votes in the by-elections began Tuesday morning.
Roy's win helped salvage the prestige of Mamata Banerjee's party which needed at least 30 seats in the 294-member assembly to be officially recognised as an opposition.
An opposition without recognition is not entitled to table a no-confidence motion against the government.
"There was no anti-Left candidate in Bongaon. The Congress also helped us. Bongaon helped show that if anti-Left votes are not split, then we can win. We also encashed on the sympathy following the death of Bhupen Seth," said Roy. He had initially faced opposition from Seth's son, who opposed his candidature as an outsider.
"We will be more scathing in the assembly now," said Roy, whose oratory was missed in the new assembly.
The by-elections from Malda and Katwa (in Burdwan district) were necessitated by the deaths of veteran Congress leader A.B.A. Ghani Khan Chowdhury and Mehboob Jahedi of the CPI-M respectively.
The by-election from Purulia arose from the conviction of All India Forward Bloc MP Bir Singh Mahato in a rape case.
Islamabad, Sep 19 (DPA) Taliban said it had executed Tuesday a Turkish hostage, a day after it said it was giving more time to his road-construction company to quit Afghanistan in return for his release, the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press agency reported.
Engineer Mustafa Asimi was taken hostage and a colleague was killed Aug 28 in a Taliban attack at a construction site in Helmand province.
Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf told the private Afghan news agency that a Taliban court ordered the execution because the Kolenat Company of Turkey showed no interest in saving his life.
Muzaffarnagar/Meerut, Sept 19 (ZEENEWS.COM) Two Muslim clerics purportedly caught on camera allegedly taking bribes for declaring fatwas were suspended as Ulemas on Monday decided to form a body to monitor issuance of religious edicts.
All India Milli Council set up an inquiry committee and announced "a social boycott" of those involved in the Fatwas racket.
Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband suspended Mufti Habibur Rehman and Meerut's Shahi Jama Masjid removed Maulana Imran following reports that they were seen accepting the money in return for issuing Fatwas.
Darul Uloom Vice-Chancellor Marghoobur Rehman said a four-member panel would investigate the matter and if found guilty Habibur would be dismissed. "It may be a conspiracy to malign the image of this world-famous seminary," he said.
Senior clerics of the seminary asked the community to seek Fatwas from reliable institutions to ensure its legality.
Meerut Naib Qazi Jenur Rashideen told reporters that Imran had been removed from the mosque's clergy and also asked to leave Nakkarchian-Gudri Bazar locality.
In a late night meeting attended by Ulemas and Qazis, the mosque management decided to soon set up a body, "Darul Ifta", to monitor the declaring of Fatwas, he said.
Rashideen said prominent clerics would be members of the body managed by him.
An 11-member committee had also been constituted to probe the Fatwa racket with Haji Haneef Qureshi as convenor. Maulana Asad Jilani and Qazi Shafiqul Rehman were among its members, he said.
Imran late last evening tendered an apology but claimed that the "money was not taken for Fatwas. It was taken for the welfare of Madarsas".
Meerut MP Sahid Akhlaq meanwhile claimed that none of the clerics had accepted money in lieu of issuing Fatwas and described the sting operation as "completely wrong and mischievous".
"The Muslim society condemns the way its has been twisted and shown on TV," he told reporters after a delegation of clerics met him at his house today.
The clerics alleged that two of the Muftis shown in the sting operation accepting were not even members of the clergy.
Dhaka, Sep 19 (IANS) Opposition parties in Bangladesh blockaded roads here to protest a former chief justice being named to head the caretaker government ahead of the January 2007 general election even as European Union (EU) officials expressed doubts over whether the polls would be smooth.
The 14-party opposition blockaded streets of Dhaka to protest against Justice K.M. Hasan taking over as the country's caretaker chief. The opposition maintains Hasan had worked under Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and hence could not be seen as impartial. The Zia government's tenure ends on Oct 27.
Under Bangladesh's constitution, an interim government is required to take office three months before the elections to ensure its fairness.
Meanwhile, a team of EU officials voiced doubts over whether the polls would be held properly and on time. The EU is one of the many foreign bodies monitoring Bangladesh's political situation.
"The EU mission has doubts about the next elections as the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and opposition Awami League (AL) are yet to sit to resolve the political impasse centring the election," H.M. Ershad, former president and chief of the Jatiya Party, told newsmen after a meeting with the six-member EU team of election observers.
Apart from the EU, many ambassadors and captains of trade and industry in Bangladesh have expressed concern at the widening political divide and urged leaders to sit together and talk rather than protest on the streets.
The opposition is clamouring for electoral reforms prior to the elections.
Leader of Opposition Sheikh Hasina urged the opposition to ensure that Hasan is "unable to function", said The Daily Star newspaper.
"Come to Dhaka with whatever you can in your hands on the day the present government will step down and K.M. Hasan will assume office without realising our demands. We will see how the Hasan-led caretaker government and Justice M.A. Aziz-led Election Commission continue functioning," said Hasina, chief of the main opposition Awami League.
The former prime minister announced a countrywide blockade of roads, railways and river communications scheduled for Wednesday and a dawn-to-dusk countrywide shutdown on Thursday.
The opposition is also unhappy with the country's election body.
"The election cannot be held under the Justice Hasan-led caretaker government and Justice Aziz-led Election Commission," Hasina said, questioning the neutrality of former chief justice Hasan and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Aziz.
New Delhi, Sep 19 (IANS) A staggering 27 types of aircraft will be on view as President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam conducts the first ever review of the Indian Air Force (IAF) fleet to mark its platinum jubilee.
The review will be conducted in the first week of March at Chandigarh, IAF sources said Tuesday. The president will be conducting the review in his capacity as supreme commander of the armed forces.
While there is no official confirmation of this as yet, it is known there are intense preparations underway at the operational level to work out the format of the review and fine-tune its various elements.
"We consider this a unique honour, akin only to the Indian Navy fleet review that is held once during the tenure of every president," an IAF source said.
The IAF operates 27 different types of helicopters, combat jets, trainers and transport aircraft and at least one of every type will be on view - either as part of the static display or as part of a flypast to be also staged on the occasion.
An enthralling aerobatic display by the nine-aircraft Surya Kiran team will form the grand finale of the review, the sources added.
The platinum jubilee celebrations will officially kick off with an investiture ceremony, march past and a fly past - a mini version of the one staged during the review on IAF Day Oct 8 at the Hindon Air Base on the outskirts of the city.
This is the first time the parade is being held at Hindon. It has hitherto been held at the Palam Air Base here and is being shifted as it leads to considerable disruption of commercial traffic from the domestic and international airport.
"Also, since we have more space at Hindon, we can put on a much grander show," the sources said.
Among the aircraft the IAF operates are:
Helicopters: Cheetah, Chetak, Chetal, MI-8, MI-17, MI-26, MI-35, Dhruv (Advanced Light Helicopter).
Fighters/Bombers: MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-27, MiG-29, Sukhoi SU-30 MKI, Mirage-2000, Jaguar, Canberra.
Transports: HS-748, AN-32, Il-76.
VIP aircraft: Boeing-737, Embraer.
Refullers: Il-78.
Trainers: HPT-32, HJT-16 (Kiran), Iskara TS-11.
New Delhi, Sep 19 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday blamed the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for buckling down under the pressure of "unforeseen forces" on the issue of cross-border terrorism.
"The joint statement of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on the issue of a combined terror mechanism has serious implications from the Indian perspective," former external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha told reporters at the party headquarters here.
"Are unseen powers pushing India towards a solution of Jammu and Kashmir that it has rejected all along?" he asked.
"The Havana statement is an unprecedented capitulation of India before Pakistan on the issue of cross-border terrorism."
Sinha said the stand taken by the prime minister has "wiped out in one stroke all that had been achieved by India in its war against terror through years of hard work with the international community, and bilaterally with Pakistan".
He said the BJP would not remain a mute spectator to the "surrender of nation's interests by the UPA government".
A meeting of top leaders was held at former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's residence Monday to chalk out the party's strategy on this issue.
New York, Sep 19 (IANS) President Pervez Musharraf says the United States cannot