27 September 2006
New York, Sep 27 (IANS) Breastfed infants may be less likely to grow into overweight children than formula-fed babies, says a study.
Over 12.5 million children and teenagers in the US are overweight, according to government statistics. This accounts for 17.1 percent of children and teenagers aged two to 19 years, reported an online edition of health magazine WebMD.
Elizabeth J. Mayer-Davis and other researchers in the US studied 15,253 children between the ages of nine and 14 and their mothers. Roughly 6,000 of the studied mothers were overweight or obese without diabetes while 473 had diabetes.
They found that children breastfed during their first year of life were less likely to become overweight or obese than children who were not regardless of their mothers' weight or diabetic status, according to the findings published in the October issue of Diabetes Care.
Breastfed babies are less likely to grow into overweight children than those fed formula even if their mothers are obese or have diabetes, the researchers said.
Exclusively breastfed babies had roughly a 34 percent reduced risk of being overweight during childhood compared to children exclusively formula-fed, they added.
The finding suggests that breastfeeding could help break the cycle of obesity and diabetes among children born to mothers with diabetes.
"It is important for mothers who have diabetes or who are at risk for developing the disease to know that there are things they can do for their children that can make a real difference," Davis is quoted as saying.
She adds that breastfeeding appears to be an important first step for reducing a child's risk for obesity and related diseases like type two diabetes.
The home secretary has braved a critical audience to call on Muslim parents to do more in the battle against terrorism. He asked to look for the “tell-tale signs� in their children and intervene if they suspect they are being influenced by extremists. Islam was being perverted by “fanatics� exploiting young people. These fanatics are looking to groom and brainwash children for suicide bombing. When he was the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, he never urged parents to monitor their children. Muslim parents shall be treated differently if their children show extreme tendencies compared to others of different faiths who may also harbour extreme tendencies.
Muslim parents have been worried about their children indulging in anti-social behavior, binge drinking, drug addiction, sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancies and other social evils. Muslim children suffer bullying and racism in schools and outside the schools. Majority of Muslim children leave schools with low grades. Muslim parents would like their children to learn Standard English to follow the National Curriculum and go for higher studies and research to serve humanity. Majority of Muslim youths are unemployed and even 25% of Muslim graduates are without full-time employment. Those who are lucky to be employed find bullying, discrimination and few prospects for promotion to higher positions. The number of Muslim youths in prison and mental hospitals is on the increase. The number of drug addicts is on the increase. Hundreds of overseas Muslim doctors are unemployed. Terrorism is not the issue for the Muslims. It is the creation of the West.
Muslim children are human beings with social, emotional and spiritual needs and demands. They are not just economics for the economic prosperity of the British society. They are cut off from their cultural roots and are unable to enjoy the beauty of their literature and poetry. British schooling dislocates Muslim pupils from their cultural heritage. By the age of 16 “they are not ours, neither are they theirs�. Majority of Muslim parents wanted access to an� environment where their children can grow up with an understanding of Islam, Arabic, Urdu and other community languages. The sound knowledge of ones language would appear to help – and not hinder the acquisition of a second language and bilingual children may even have slight cognitive advantages. In British schooling, priority is given to suppress the other languages in favour of English. In fact, other languages should be fostered in addition to English.
Mastery of English language is not enough for the Muslim children. If they find that they are not welcome in a country, it is difficult to find motivation for integration and education. In the past Muslims were victim of Paki-bashing in all walks of life. The British Establishment did nothing to tackle that problem and issue. Now the young Muslim generation, well versed in English is victim of terrorism by the British Establishment and thousands of Muslim youths have been searched and arrested and are behind the bar without any charges and that make them more alienated from the British society.
Iftikhar Ahmad
London School of Islamics
An Educational Trust
63 Margery Park Road London E7 9LD
Email: info@londonschoolofislamics.org.uk
www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk
Tel/Fax: 0208 555 2733 / 07817 112 667
New York, Sep 27 (DPA) Declaring he has a stake in the fate of older people, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan asked governments to build a society for all ages in a message to mark the International Day for Older Persons on October 1.
"But I am only one of 600 million people in the world over the age of 60," Annan said, adding that the ageing population now remains productive while living longer. The world population stood at more than 6.5 billion in July.
"The whole world stands to gain from an empowered older generation, with the potential to make tremendous contributions to the development process and to the work of building more productive, peaceful and sustainable societies," he said.
The international day this year is focussed on improving the quality of life for older people. It involves ensuring housing, transportation and other living conditions that help older people remain independent.
New Delhi, Sept 27 (NDTV.COM) Aspirin is a wonder drug that can prevent heart attacks and strokes if taken properly - and also relieve cold and fever, yet it is an underused drug.
Many patients with hypertension and heart disease are also prescribed aspirin to maintain their blood flow.
Not enough doctors prescribe it and only a few who would benefit from the drug actually take it.
Ten days ago, Ramesh Raina was taking a stroll after dinner when he had a heart attack. The pain was sudden and acute.
"We called the family doctor. He asked me to go to a nearby nursing home. He also asked me to take an aspirin that saved my life," Raina said.
Three of his arteries were severely blocked and he had to undergo angioplasty.
Blood thinner
Few people are aware that aspirin, the pill that you take for headaches or minor fever, is also a blood thinner.
A blood thinner does not actually make your blood thin but reduces the risk of heart attacks and blockages in the arteries and veins by preventing formation of blood clots.
Heart attack is caused by a clot and an Aspirin can help prevent a heart attack or a stroke.
"It buys a patient time till he reaches the hospital these [aspirin] are best for treating heart attacks," said Upendra Kaul, Director of Cardiology at Fortis Hospital.
Apart from aspirin, other oral blood thinners used for more complex conditions such as irregular heartbeats and for those who have had heart valve replacement surgery are warfarin and acitrome.
But aspirin is by far the simplest and the cheapest. Yet, many cardiologists say only a small fraction of those who could benefit from the drug actually take it.
"Of the various drugs that have been used - asprin is truly remarkable, it tests man's ingenuity, medication is remarkable, inhibits and reduces incidence of heart attacks by 30 per cent," said Dr Koneti Rao of Temple University.
"It also prevents it in somebody who has never had a heart attack".
Low cost factor
Many doctors feel its low cost often works against it. "No medical rep pushes this drug because low returns," said Dr Upendra Kaul.
But aspirin does have side effects that patients must know. It can cause bleeding in the gums and stomach and stomach irritation and cramps.
Those who suffer from asthma, peptic ulcers or liver and kidney disorders and pregnant women should not take it.
If you have any two risk factors for heart disease, it would be best to ask your physician for aspirin.
Belgaum, Sep 27 (IANS) The Karnataka government has decided to make the border town of Belgaum the second capital of the state and build a full-fledged secretariat for administering the northern districts.
"Besides holding the joint legislative session every year, we will build a mini Vidhana Soudha (state secretariat) in Belgaum to facilitate speedy socio-economic development of north Karnataka," Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy told reporters here Tuesday.
"The cabinet will take a final decision soon on the modalities, including funds and manpower required to make Belgaum the second capital of Karnataka. We hope to make a formal announcement Nov 1, coinciding with the state's formation day," he said.
When the proposal is implemented, Karnataka will be third state in the country after Maharashtra (Nagpur) and Jammu and Kashmir (Jammu) to have a second capital for legislative and executive functions.
In the run-up, the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition government has began holding a five-day joint legislative session here since Monday for the first time outside the state's capital Bangalore.
"Though successive governments in the past have promised to do a lot for the 12 of the 28 districts in the state, which form north Karnataka, we are committed to develop the region, including Belgaum, which is an integral part of the state," Kumaraswamy said on the sidelines of the ongoing assembly session.
"Resources will not be a constraint as the region has immense natural and human resources to grow rapidly."
Earlier, making a suo moto statement in the legislative council, Education Minister Basavaraj Horatti told the members the demand for making Belgaum the second capital with a full-fledged secretariat and legislature had been pending for long.
"Since the status of Belgaum as part of Karnataka was settled long ago (1967) by the Mahajan Commission report, there is a consensus among the ruling and opposition parties to realise the dream and set right the regional imbalance," Horatti said.
Located 550 km from Bangalore in the northwestern region of the state, bordering Maharashtra, Belgaum is one of the oldest cities in Karnataka.
Situated about 800 metres above sea-level, the 12th century bustling city of 0.5 million people is known for its salubrious climate and rich cultural diversity, with three languages - Kannada, Marathi and Konkani spoken fluently.
Apart from being an important training centre for the Indian armed forces, Belgaum houses many interesting monuments, including a scenic fort dating to 1512 AD. It is also an important educational centre, and hosts the Viseswaraiah Technological University (VTU), to which all the engineering colleges in Karnataka are affiliated.
Belgaum has also several large industries, important among them are INDAL Aluminium and Polyhydron Ltd. The city acts as a trade centre for food grains, sugarcane, cotton, tobacco, oilseed, and milk products. Industries include leather, clay, pottery, soap, cotton and precious metals.
The power-loom sector provides employment to thousands of weavers. The hydraulic industry started here was the first of its kind in the country.
London, Sep 27 (DPA) British Prime Minister Tony Blair, in an emotional farewell to his Labour Party Tuesday, pledged to "heal" past divisions and said he would use his "remaining time in office" to help advance peace in the Middle East.
Blair, who has led Labour since 1994, has said he will hand over power "in the next 12 months".
"The truth is you can't go on forever, but of course it's hard to let go," Blair declared to rapturous applause. But he left open the exact date of his departure.
"From now until the day I leave office, I will dedicate my efforts to advancing peace in the Middle East," Blair told the conference.
"I may not succeed, but I'll try," he added, comparing his quest for Middle East peace to his 1990s efforts to help negotiate a lasting peace settlement for Northern Ireland.
Blair used his farewell speech at the party conference in Manchester, northwest Britain, to pay tribute to Gordon Brown, the chancellor of the exchequer tipped to take over from him as leader.
The success of New Labour and three consecutive election victories would "never have been secured without Gordon Brown", Blair said.
"He is a remarkable man, a remarkable servant to his country, and that is the truth," Blair said about Brown, while stopping short of endorsing him as his favourite candidate for the succession.
In a reference to the recent infighting and tension in the party over his departure, and some of his policies, Blair said: "I want to heal."
A lot of "lies and a lot of truths" had been spoken in the last few weeks, Blair added.
He made a joke of a controversial remark by his wife, Cherie, who was reported Monday to have accused Brown of "lying".
After thanking Cherie for her support over the years, Blair added to cheers: "I mean, I don't have to worry about her running off with the bloke next door."
The Blairs and the Browns live next door to each other in Numbers 10 and 11 Downing Street.
In his wide-ranging speech, Blair listed Labour's progress and achievements over the past 10 years, and outlined his own "route map" to a possible fourth election victory.
But Blair also delivered a typically staunch defence of his policies on law and order, anti-terrorism legislation and immigration.
Referring to criticism of his close relationship with and support for US President George W Bush, he said: "Yes, it's hard sometimes to be America's strongest ally."
He added: "Yes, Europe can be a political headache for a proud sovereign nation like Britain. But believe me there are no half-hearted allies of America today and no semi-detached partners in Europe."
Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan, September 27 (NDTV.COM) A suicide bomber struck outside the compound of a southern Afghan provincial governor on Tuesday, killing 18 people and wounding 17.
The attacker was stopped by Afghan soldiers at the compound's first security gate when the bomber detonated his suicide vest.
The spokesperson for the Helmand provincial governor Ghulam Muhiddin said 12 civilians and six policemen were killed while 17 others were wounded.
Governor Mohammed Daoud Safi was inside the compound and was not injured in the attack.
Sofia, Sept 26 (NDTV.COM) Bulgaria and Romania on Tuesday got green light to join the European Union in January 2007, but under tough conditions.
In it's report, the European Commission said that both Romania and Bulgaria needed to make further reforms in justice and home affairs, as well as food safety and state subsidies.
It also said that a significant chunk of expected economic aid should be made conditional on the completion of the reforms.
The President and Prime Minister of Romania welcomed the European Commission judgment that the country is ready to join the EU next year alongside Bulgaria.
Joining the European Union (EU) will give Romanians the "chance of a better life" said President Traian Basescu.
The EU's executive body issued its report on the two Balkan countries' readiness to join the bloc on Tuesday.
EU leaders will meet next month to give formal approval to Romania and Bulgaria, whose bid for EU membership had been stalled due to their flawed records on fighting corruption.
Both the countries are among the poorest nations in Europe. (With AP input)
Washington, Sep 27 (DPA) An angry US President George W. Bush, in his first remarks since an important intelligence report was leaked to media, Tuesday stridently denied that the Iraq war had worsened the world terrorist threat.
He said he was so annoyed by the way in which the report, the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), completed in April, had been taken out of context that he had ordered the document declassified.
The report found that the US-led invasion of Iraq had given birth to a new generation of home-grown Islamic radicals spread across the globe, according to anonymous sources quoted by The New York Times, The Washington Post and other newspapers over the weekend.
Answering a reporter's question at the White House after his meeting with Afghanistan President Hamad Karzai, Bush said that the US had been repeatedly targeted by terrorists long before the invasion of Iraq.
"We weren't in Iraq on Sep 11, or when they first attacked the World Trade Center (in 1993) or bombed the (USS) Cole or blew up our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania," he said.
"My judgement is if we weren't in Iraq, they'd find some other excuse because they have ambitions... They kill to achieve their objectives," Bush said.
He said that the selected excerpts of the NIE released to reporters were politically motivated to undermine the White House during the upcoming November midterm elections.
He said those behind the leak were "trying to confuse the American people about the nature of this enemy".
Sydney, Sep 27 (IANS) A group of international students in Australia are celebrating the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Hindu festival of Navratri together.
Students of Fred Hollows College in Sydney are giving multicultural and religious tolerance a new meaning.
"There are only a few Muslim and Hindu students here in our residence, so we decided to celebrate both Ramadan as well as Navratri together. After all, it is the peak festive season for both the Hindu and Muslim community. We have done it last time too," Suraj Verma, a student told Indian Link, an ethnic Indian newspaper.
"It is difficult for an international student to follow Ramadan, especially during the break (Iftar) as most of them are preoccupied with the college and part time jobs. So, we have decided to help our Muslim brothers in our accommodation to prepare for Iftar and other things related to the holy month," Verma added.
Back in India, the festival of nine nights, dedicated to goddess Durga is celebrated with fervour. Likewise, during the holy month of Ramadan, which falls this year between Sep 23-Oct 22, devout Muslims fast till dusk and observe strict abstinence.
Mumbai, Sep 27 (IANS) Deposed India captain Sourav Ganguly and stylish batsman V.V.S Laxman were selected for the India 'B' team while leg spinner Anil Kumble was ignored for the Challenger Series for the N.K.P Salve Trophy to be held in Chennai Oct 1-4.
"Kumble needs to recover fully from the injury and therefore we have not selected him for any of the teams," said Indian cricket board secretary Niranjan Shah after announcing the team here Tuesday.
Ashish Nehra and Laxmipathy Balaji returned to domestic cricket by being selected in the India 'B' squad. Zaheer Khan was also included in the India 'A', which will be led by Venugopala Rao.
Rahul Dravid will lead the India Seniors and Mohammad Kaif will captain India 'B'.
New Delhi, Sep 27 (IANS) Mohammed Afzal was set to approach the president with a mercy petition after a Delhi court Tuesday fixed Oct 20 as the date of execution of the Jaish-e-Mohammed militant for his role in the terror attack on India's parliament in December 2001.
Additional Sessions Judge Ravinder Kaur signed the death warrant directing the Tihar Central Jail authorities here to make arrangements for hanging Afzal at 6 a.m. on Oct 20.
Later Tuesday, the militant's lawyers said he will approach President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam pleading mercy.
The Supreme Court had Aug 4 last year upheld the Delhi High Court judgement confirming the death sentence awarded to him by the trial court.
Apart from Afzal, there were three accused in the case - Shaukat Hussain, Navjot Sandhu alias Afsan Guru, wife of Hussain, and S.A.R. Geelani, a lecturer in Delhi University.
The apex court had acquitted Geelani and Guru from all charges and had reduced the death sentence awarded to Hussain to 10 years' imprisonment.
However, it upheld the judgement of the high court in sentencing Afzal to death for actively participating in the conspiracy to attack parliament and waging war against the Indian state.
In its judgement the apex court characterised Afzal as a "menace to the society", whose "life should become extinct" to satisfy "the collective conscience of the society".
The Dec 13, 2001 attack on parliament was a meticulously planned exercise in which five Pakistani terrorists - Mohammed, Haider, Hamza, Rana and Raja - breached security barricades in an ambassador car and began random firing at security personnel positioned at the premises.
In the two-hour standoff, six police personnel and a parliament employee were killed.
Several union ministers and hundreds of MPs were inside parliament when the attack took place.
The apex court had said that there was clinching evidence against Afzal regarding his nexus with the slain terrorists who had carried out the attack.
The trial court had on Dec 18, 2002 awarded death penalty to Afzal, Shaukat, and Geelani and five years' imprisonment to Afsan Guru.
The Delhi High Court had on Oct 29, 2003 upheld the death penalty to Afzal and Hussain but had acquitted both Geelani and Guru.
While Afzal and Hussain had filed appeals in the apex court against the death sentence, Delhi Police had appealed against the acquittal of Geelani and Afsan Guru.
Meanwhile, preparations for the hanging were on at the Tihar Jail, the country's biggest prison.
"Most of the arrangements are in place but we expect that little renovation work would be carried out as it has not been used for more than 17 years," said a senior official of the jail.
The assassinators of former prime minister Indira Gandhi - Beant Singh and Satwant Singh - were the last to be hanged in the jail premises on Jan 6, 1989.
New Delhi, Sep 27 (IANS) The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Tuesday demanded an amendment to the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Act and Rules to bring in a cap on the land allotment for such projects and also a regulation of the land usage.
"Urgent changes are required in the SEZ Act and Rules," CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat told reporters after a three-day meeting of the central committee, apex decision-making body of the party.
The CPI-M, which along with three other Left parties supports Prime Minister Manmohan Singh government from outside, has been opposing the allotment of agricultural land for the SEZs.
At the Congress chief ministers' conclave in Nainital last week, Congress president Sonia Gandhi had also expressed her concern over acquisition of prime agricultural land to set up SEZs.
"There has to be a cap on the amount of land to be allotted. Secondly, the stipulation of land to be used in an SEZ for industry (purposes) must be increased to at least 50 percent and 25 percent for related infrastructure," Karat said, pointing out that currently only 25 percent of the land are used for industrial purposes.
The party also demanded that the tax exemption proposals for the SEZs must be reviewed and tax breaks must be drastically pruned.
"There should be an adequate policy to compensate and rehabilitate the displaced people and the farmers and agricultural workers."
Karat said the SEZs should be set up only with the approval of the respective state government.
"The allotment of land to the promoter companies lead to a large-scale displacement of farmers, meagre compensation and no alternative means of livelihood, while the promoters are getting land cheaply and they are going to make their fortunes out of real estate development and speculation."
The Communist leader pointed out that the indiscriminate approvals for SEZs would affect agriculture, food security, interests of farmers and the economic sovereignty.
"We want the government to discuss the matter in the next session of parliament," Karat said.
Welcoming United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Gandhi's remarks, Karat said: "The party politburo will prepare a comprehensive stand on the issue and mobilise support from other political parties for amendments and changes in the act."
New Delhi, Sep 27 (IANS) Petroleum Minister Murli Deora Tuesday ruled out any reduction in prices of petrol and diesel in tandem with fall in global oil crude prices, saying the state-owned oil companies were still facing losses on certain products.
"Though international prices have come down, they are still at a level where oil PSUs (public sector units) are still facing losses on some products," Deora said at a function held to flag off an expedition to Ladakh.
"When crude touches $50 a barrel, we may think about that (reduction in prices)," he told the media.
Over the last month global crude prices have fallen by around $10 per barrel to average at $61.61 per barrel.
Petroleum ministry officials said the prices needed to dip further before oil companies could consider passing on the benefits of the fall in global prices to consumers as these firms were yet to recover from the losses suffered over the last several months.
From a record high of $78.40 in July, the Indian basket of crude was $56.28 per barrel Monday.
Brussels, Sep 27 (DPA) International charity group Oxfam on Wednesday criticised the European Union (EU) for trying to forge free trade deals with the world's poorest nations, saying such agreements were unfair and not conducive to development.
The EU - which has been struggling for four years to strike free trade agreements with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states - was "still failing to put development at the heart of these trade agreements," Oxfam said.
The proposed deals will hurt rather than help the ACP countries by exposing their farmers "to direct and unfair competition with highly subsidised EU producers", the charity group warned.
It also said that the planned agreements would make ACP governments lose control over key policy instruments for development such as tariff policy, competition and investment rules.
Oxfam said the EU must redirect negotiations with the ACP nations, calling for a further opening of the bloc's markets to exporters from those countries and an end to ambitions of reciprocal market access.
If the deals are to help poor countries, they should not lead to losses in government revenue and employment, Oxfam stressed.
It also said that EU aid should not be made conditional to the signature of an economic partnership agreement with the EU.
"The future of some of the world's poorest people is at stake and Europe refuses to heed their concerns," said Oxfam's EU director Luis Morago, adding, "To have a fruitful trading partnership between Europe and its ACP partners, you can't have one side constantly dictating the rules of the game".
Berlin, Sept 27 (NNN-QNA) The German federal minister behind a bid this week to draw Muslims into the German mainstream called Monday for blunt talks with the 15 figures appointed to represent Islam.
The Islam conference on Wednesday is expected to kick off two to three years of talks aimed at introducing Islam classes in German schools as well as persuading Muslims to accept German institutions, the German news agency (DPA) reported.
Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said: “Islam is now a part of Germany. The conference should be blunt about the problems. “
“We’re not starting an event where we are just going to say friendly things,� he said in an interview to be published Tuesday in the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Islam must accept the ground rules and values that constitute Germany and Europe.
Officials have already said they plan to ask Muslim leaders to help fight terrorism, but also to offer government funding to train pro-western imams (Islamic preachers) at colleges in Germany.
the government has appointed 15 figures to represent the 3.2 million to 3.5 million out of Germany’s population of 82 million who are of Muslim heritage. Five of the 15 represent mosque communities.
New York, Sep 27 (IANS) Governing Pakistan is a very difficult job and it became tougher after the 9/11 terror attacks, confessed the country's president Pervez Musharraf.
Addressing the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York-based think tank, the visiting Pakistani president said that despite the difficulties, he was determined to take Pakistan on the road to prosperity and economic stability, reported the Online news agency.
Expressing confidence in Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's efforts towards building peace in the subcontinent, Musharraf called for an out-of-the-box solution to the Kashmir dispute. "We could work together for finding a viable solution to the Kashmir issue," he said Monday.
Talking about the security situation in Afghanistan, Musharraf said he wanted his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai to put his own house in order before blaming Pakistan for the problems in his country.
Brushing off allegations that Pakistan was not doing enough to control Taliban militants, who are being sheltered on Pakistani soil according to Afghanistan, Musharraf said that Kabul should do more as "Pakistan has done enough".
"President Karzai instead of blaming us for troubles at home should try to understand his country's situation and environment for improving the internal situation of Afghanistan," Musharraf said.
He categorically said that there is no Taliban headquarters in Quetta and was ready to challenge all such false claims. "I challenge anyone who said that," Musharraf said. "There is no question that any Taliban headquarters are there. This is the most ridiculous statement."
"We have broken the back of the Al Qaeda network and are now working on the elimination of Taliban from Pakistan.
"We do not have an abundance of resources that we can back the Taliban or provide them financial aid. Afghanistan should end its opium cultivation, which is the main source of income for Taliban," Musharraf said.
If the blame game continues then the war on terror would be compromised, he stressed.
He rejected a purely military solution to the US-led 'war on terror', saying it had failed to address the roots of extremism and terrorism and called for greater efforts to ensure that Muslims rejected extremist influence.
He urged the world to address the Palestinian issue, saying it was at the root of all conflicts between the West and the Muslim world.
The ongoing strife in the Middle East and Afghanistan was inextricably linked to the fate of the Palestinian people, he said.
"The root of all of them, whether Iraq or Afghanistan or Lebanon lies in Palestine. I think we should fight at solving Palestine first," he said when asked what he thought was the best solution for Iraq.
He urged for both the Islamic and Western world to step up efforts to change their mindset - riven by divisions, especially since the Sep 11, 2001, attacks.
"The Muslim world must reject extremism and work towards social and economic reform... The second part requires that the West, and the US in particular, resolve political disputes in the Muslim world justly," he said.
New Delhi, Sep 27 (IANS) The central government was committed to police reforms to make the force more efficient, accountable and humane, Home Minister Shivraj Patil said Tuesday.
Patil chaired an hour-long meeting here to discuss last week's Supreme Court judgement on police reforms. The meeting felt that the Supreme Court judgement was generally in line with the thinking in the home ministry on police reforms, an official release said.
The minister was informed that the Police Act Drafting Committee would be submitting its report next month and it was likely to pave the way for replacing the Police Act of 1861 with a new act incorporating far-reaching police reforms.
Home Secretary V.K. Duggal, Legal Affairs Secretary T.K. Viswanathan and Delhi Police Commissioner K.K. Paul were among those who attended the meeting.
San Francisco, Sep 27 (DPA) Intel said it would start selling a computer chip with four processors in November, reclaiming the lead in chip development from its smaller rival Advanced Micro Devices.
Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, also plans to manufacture chips with 80 processors on board within five years, Chief Executive Officer Paul Otellini said at a Intel Developer Forum.
Displaying an early prototype of the 80 processor chip Ottelini said the chips would be capable of exchanging data at a terabyte a second, and will be between 50 and 70 percent faster than the current dual-core chips, Otellini said, according to the computer news website Cnet.com.
Each core will run at over 3 gigahertz and could utilize the company's recent breakthrough in developing tiny silicon-based lasers.
Intel said its first quad-core processors would hit markets in November. They would be aimed at extreme gamers and high-end servers and would be followed by mainstream desktop models in the first quarter of next year.
"With this new set of dual and quad-core processors, we have regained our leadership," said Otellini who predicted that popularity of Internet video phenomenon such as YouTube, would drive demand for the powerful new processors.
San Francisco, Sep 27 (DPA) Internet advertising hit a record $8 billion in the first six months of 2006, fuelled by a 40 percent growth in search-related advertising, according to a study by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Online classified advertising was also sharply higher, as the Internet continued to draw advertisers away from print advertisements, the report said.
The study came just days after Yahoo issued a profit warning because it expects automakers and financial companies to cut advertising costs in an economic slowdown.
A second study released Monday indicated that the slowdown will not be confined to Yahoo.
Internet advertisements tracker eMarketer said it expects Web advertisements spending to hit $15.9 billion this year, ratcheting down an earlier forecast of $16.7 billion it made in July. The new figure represents an increase of 26.8 percent, compared with the earlier estimate of 33.2 per cent.
Yahoo's warning "may well signal a canary-in-the-coalmine syndrome: that lower revenues at the Internet's leading publisher for brand-oriented advertising reflect an overall softening in the US economy," eMarketer analyst David Hallerman wrote.
Washington, Sep 27 (DPA) The US war in Iraq is "shaping a new generation of terrorist leaders", according to portions of a declassified security document released Tuesday by George Bush's administration.
Bush announced his decision to declassify key parts of the report after some of its findings on trends in global terrorism were leaked and published over the weekend.
Bush voiced annoyance with the way that the report, the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), completed in April, had been taken out of context, and he ordered the document declassified.
Initial reports citing unnamed sources had said that the report found that the US-led invasion of Iraq had spawned a new generation of home-grown Islamic radicals spread across the globe.
The report says that decentralised terrorist groups are spreading and adapting to counterterrorism measures, which will make it more difficult to find and undermine terrorists.
"If this trend continues, threats to US interests at home and abroad will become more diverse, leading to increasing attacks worldwide," it says.
The portions of the report that were declassified Tuesday identified four underlying factors that are causing terrorism to spread: entrenched grievances in the Muslim world, the Iraq "jihad," the slow pace of reform in many Muslim countries and anti-US sentiment.
"The Iraq conflict has become the 'cause celebre' for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of US involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement," the report says.
Al Qaeda has exploited the situation in Iraq to gain new recruits and donors, the report concludes.
Bush said earlier Tuesday that the selected excerpts of the NIE released to reporters were politically motivated to undermine the White House ahead of the midterm congressional elections on Nov 7.
Bush said that he ordered the document declassified so that people can read it and judge the terrorist threat for themselves.
Bush insists that the war in Iraq has made the US safer and brought democracy to the country.
United Nations, New York, Sept 27 (IRNA) Foreign ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) member states, in their annual meeting on Tuesday, supported Iran's inalienable right to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
The meeting, which was attended by Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, was held on the sidelines of the 61st annual session of the UN General Assembly.
The statement issued by OIC member states referred to the most crucial problems of the world of Islam and urged the need for further solidarity among Islamic states to confront the challenges facing the Muslim Ummah.
Various articles of the statement deal with the major problems facing Islamic states and OIC's approach to them have been explained.
Meanwhile, the document underlined Iran's right to access nuclear technology for peaceful use without any discrimination and fully supports solving the remaining issues peacefully and through talks with no preconditions.
Besides, the statement points to the pressures against Iran and its consequences as well as the concerns over their impact on regional and trans-regional security.
Elsewhere in the statement, OIC member states' foreign ministers urged the need to complete elimination of weapons of mass destruction, nuclear arms and disarmament of the world powers possessing such weapons.
The document also condemns the Zionist regime for proliferation of nuclear weapons and its continuous resistance to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and reiterated the need for practical measures to create a Middle East free from nuclear weapons.
The final statement of the foreign ministers of Islamic states also condemns the crimes committed by the Zionist regime in the occupied territories of Palestine and Lebanon.
The document expounds on the current situation in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the approach of OIC member states to them.
Ayodhya, Sep 27 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hopes to revive its fortune in Uttar Pradesh with a promise to build a grand Ram temple in this Hindu holy city, party vice president Kalyan Singh indicated while launching the assembly election campaign here Tuesday.
Launching his party's campaign, Singh travelled from state capital Lucknow to Ayodhya, addressing rallies along the 130-km route. He offered prayers at the makeshift Ram temple erected at a disputed site over the debris of the 16th century Babri mosque.
"From this day we start out election campaign," the former chief minister told reporters.
"In view of the deteriorating law and order conditions in the state, elections should be held under the presidential rule," he demanded.
While the assembly elections are scheduled to take place early next year, local body elections in the state will be held next month.
Singh signalled that the party would resort to the temple card with a view to revive its fortunes.
"The temple issue is not a political issue but if others oppose the construction of a grand Ram temple there (at the controversial site), then we are going to make it a political issue," Singh said.
He also demanded bullet-proof security for the makeshift temple, saying that was necessary in view of the growing terrorist threat around the country as stated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week.
Indicating a return to the hardliner ideology, Singh said: "Hindutva is our response to the growing 'Islamisation' of politics."
Singh said the rally to Ayodhya had generated an enthusiastic response from the people.
"We are gaining support and people are looking up to the BJP for a respite from (Chief Minister) Mulayam Singh," he said.
By Arun Kumar,
Washington, Sep 27 (IANS) With US President George W. Bush standing beside him, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai Tuesday repeated his call to Pakistan to shut down extremist schools to give his country a chance to rebuild after losing almost two generations to terrorists.
"There will not be an end to terrorism without action against madressas preaching hatred," Karzai told the media at the White House after a meeting with Bush.
The US is helping both Afghanistan and Pakistan and they needed to work with more dedication to get rid of terrorism, he said when asked to comment on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's reported remark that "he should first learn more about his own country".
Bush has invited both Karzai and Musharraf - who have of late traded charges against each other - for dinner Wednesday for what he hopes will be an "interesting discussion among three allies" on how they can work together to defeat terrorism.
"It's in the interest of President Karzai and it's in the interest of President Musharraf to bring Osama bin Laden to justice," Bush said, adding: "By working together we can achieve this objective."
It would be interesting to watch the body language of his two guests, quipped Bush but hastened to add that, jokes aside, what the media perceived as tension between the two neighbours did in no way affect their determination to fight terror.
Asked to comment on Pakistan's deal with tribal leaders in North Waziristan, Karzai said they had initially thought it was a deal with the Taliban but Musharraf had explained that it was with the tribal leaders.
A key element of the deal, he was told, was that terrorists will not be allowed to cross into Afghanistan. "So we will have to wait and see. But generally, we back any move to deny terrorists any sanctuary in North Waziristan or Northwest Pakistan," Karzai said.
Musharraf, who had a separate meeting with Bush last week, has said extremist schools account for only about five percent of the schools in Pakistan but acknowledged that "we are moving slowly" against them.
Bush disagreed with a questioner that it was a mistake to go into Iraq or that the international support for the global war on terrorism had receded. The best way to defeat terrorism was to go on the offence, he said.
Karzai agreed with a call to go after them rather than wait for them to attack again.
By Arun Kumar,
Washington, Sep 27 (IANS) The war of words between two key allies of US President George W. Bush has become more strident on the eve of a dinner with him Wednesday to resolve their growing differences.
After separate meetings with Bush over the last week, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf will join him in the Oval Office to discuss ways to improve their cooperation in fighting a revitalized Taliban insurgency.
Karzai who met Bush Tuesday was a little restrained in the company of his host at the White House, but there was no mistaking his retort to "my brother" Musharraf's suggestion that he needed to get to know the situation in his own country better before talking about the origin of terror threats.
"We know our problems. We have difficulties. But Afghanistan also knows where the problem is -- in extremism, in madrassas preaching hatred, preachers in the name of madrassas preaching hatred. That's what we should do together to stop," he told the media with Bush standing by his side.
He also sounded a bit sceptical about Pakistan's recent deal with tribal leaders in North Waziristan, preferring to adopt a "a wait and see attitude."
"But, generally, we will back any move, any deal that would deny terrorism sanctuary in North Waziristan or in the tribal territories of Pakistan," Karzai said.
Hours later, Musharraf minced no words in telling CNN that Karzai was not totally oblivious of what that was happening in Afghanistan, as he had alleged earlier. He knew everything but was purposely shying away from facts like an ostrich for his own personal reasons.
Asked what those personal reasons were, he suggested that the Karzai government was getting alienated from the people as he had not been able to take the Pakhtoons along with him.
"We are getting late in Afghanistan. A Pakhtoon uprising is going on there," said Musharraf and said he had been warning about it for the last three months.
The Pakistani leader also rejected a suggestion that his Waziristan deal had the blessings of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and had effectively given an amnesty to Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
The deal was aimed at preventing Taliban getting converted into a people's movement, he said, for one must remember that while all Taliban were Pakhtoons, all Pakhtoons were not Taliban. In fact, the deal should be replicated across the border in Afghanistan too, he suggested.
Musharraf also stood by his statement in his just published book that the US invasion of Iraq has made the world a more dangerous place notwithstanding Bush's assertion earlier in the day that those who thought the war in Iraq has worsened terrorism were being naïve.
He again joined issue with President Bush over his plans to send US forces into Pakistan in the hunt for Al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, declaring that "we don't want our sovereignty to be violated."
Pakistan and the US were together in the hunt for bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al Zawahiri and will do whatever is required to deal with the situation when they are found.
He also stood by his assertion that the CIA had paid millions of dollars to Pakistan for handing over Al Qaeda suspects, but clarified the prize money was not paid to his government but distributed to the people and organizations involved.
Asked if he would like to appear again on CNN's "The Situation Room" programme together with Karzai after their Wednesday night dinner at the White House, Musharraf declined saying there must be harmony between the two allies.
But at the moment there was total misunderstanding with Karzai, who found it convenient to throw blame on Pakistan, he said in a parting shot.
So as Bush sits down for dinner Wednesday with Karzai and Musharraf for "an interesting discussion amongst three allies", it will indeed be interesting "to watch the body language of the two leaders" not only for the American president as he put it Tuesday, but for the whole world.
Later invited by CNN to comment on Musharraf's blast against Karzai, Under secretary of State for Political Affairs Nick Burns said the fact is that Afghanistan and Pakistan must work together militarily and diplomatically to fight terrorism.
Asked about his assessment of the Waziristan deal, Burns said they would have to see how it works out. But his advice to Pakistan would be to be resolute in fighting terrorism and use every possible means to go after terrorist cells in that part of Pakistan. As a matter of fact, it needs to work with Afghanistan.
It also needs to work with India to reduce threat from Kashmiri separatist groups many of whom were responsible for terrorist attacks in India. "So this is responsibility that all of us have. It is a major problem in South Asia in resolving which the United States has a direct and abiding interest," he said.
New York/New Delhi, Sep 27 (IANS) Even as President Pervez Musharraf claims "complete press freedom" during his current US sojourn, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has said that nine journalists have died and 20 have been "assaulted or improperly detained" in Pakistan.
Stating that violence against journalists and violations of press freedom are growing in Pakistan, CPJ has called upon the Pakistan government to keep its promise to reveal all information it holds on media deaths and disappearances.
The New York-based organisation's research of the state of the Pakistani press since 2002 shows that in recent months, the shooting deaths of two journalists apparently went uninvestigated by the government.
The teenage brother of a BBC reporter was shot after the family's home was bombed in December last year.
In addition, five men have disappeared, two of whom emerged from more than three months in secret government detention and were finally charged.
The whereabouts of the three still missing are not known. The most recent unexplained disappearance happened on Wednesday.
CPJ has reminded Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao and Secretary of the Interior Syed Kamal Shah of the pledge they made to shed light on the deaths and disappearances.
In a meeting with a CPJ delegation in Islamabad in July, North West Frontier Province Governor Ali Mohammed Jan Orekzai had also repeated the promise.
The three officials also pledged to establish a continuing dialogue with Pakistani journalist organisations and to assure them of government support for journalists' safety - another promise they have failed to honour.
In the prominent case of the abduction and death of North Waziristan journalist Hayatullah Khan, the government has not released the findings of the special investigation led by High Court Justice Mohammed Reza Khan.
The slain journalist's family said they were not interviewed by the judge or other investigators. Pakistani journalists tell CPJ that the lack of information poisons the atmosphere for their work and makes them fear for their safety.
"President Pervez Musharraf should immediately release the investigation's findings on an interim basis and, if Judge Khan's work was not thorough enough, insist that it be competently carried out," said CPJ executive director Joel Simon.
Simon pointed out that since the July meetings between the government and CPJ, the assault on journalists has continued.
"The record this year is chilling", Simon says, citing cases of Saeed Sarbazi of Karachi, Maqbool Hussain Sail of Dra Ismail Khan, brothers Taimor Khan and Dilawar Wazir Khan, Khairuddin Marri of Jati, Munir Ahmed Mengal of Sindh and several others who have been killed or persecuted on trumped up charges.
Islamabad, Sep 27 (Xinhua) Pakistan Muslim League (N) parliamentary leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali has accused President Pervez Musharraf of disclosing important national secrets in order to sell his memoir, "In the Line of Fire".
It is now up to the opposition parties to decide whether they will go with General Musharraf or side with the people of Pakistan, The News quoted Ali as saying Tuesday.
Demanding accountability for the dollars earned in return for handing Al Qaeda members over to America, Ali raised the question, "How did the money come and where was it spent?"
The combined opposition will have a meeting after Ramadan, where the issue of calling an emergency National Assembly session regarding Musharraf's book would be discussed, Ali said.
Musharraf wrote in his memoir launched Monday in New York that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had paid Pakistan millions of dollars for catching Al Qaeda fighters during the five years since the Sep 11 attacks on the US in 2001.
New York, Sept 27 (NNN-APP) Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf says the resolution of the Palestine issue is imperative to strike at the core of terrorism as its settlement will have effects everywhere in curbing extremism, which breeds terrorism.
He said new fronts like Lebanon and Iraq have further complicated the anti-terror campaign. "We should address the Palestinian issue first; that will create effects everywhere else, including in the war on terrorism and extremism," he said.
Speaking at the formal launch of his autobiography, 'In the Line of Fire - A Memoir',
President Musharraf said the world must understand the environment and address extremism and terrorism in their entire complexity.
Assessing the situation in response to a question, he said that using the instrument of military alone is not enough to combat terrorism and said it was imperative to address extremism, which is the source of the menace. "Extremism is a source that spawns terrorism and we need a different strategy to address it holistically," he added.
Furthermore, the president said that while talk of terrorism previously meant al-Qaeda, the Taliban had sprung up as a new phenomenon and introduced another element, Talibanization, which is a way of obscurantist thought.
"So we need to understand the situation in its entire complexity. We need to see the environment in the world in the region and in the respective countries and address the core issues through a well- thought out strategy and implement it."
He dismissed as absolutely wrong suggestions that Taliban were perhaps operating from Quetta in Pakistan’s Balochistan province and said their leader Mullah Omar was leading the radical militia from southern Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, President Musharraf has reaffirmed his commitment to hunt down Osama bin Laden, but said he could not confirm reports that the al-Qaeda leader died last month of typhoid in Pakistan.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Dallas Morning News in Highland Park, Texas, where he paid a brief visit on Saturday for a routine medical check up, he said he was aware of a French intelligence report of bin Laden's death, but could not comment on its details.
Islamabad/New York, Sep 27 (IANS) Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf plans to donate part of his book proceeds for poverty alleviation and social uplift of his countrymen.
He said at his book launch in New York that he had dedicated his autobiography, "In the Line of Fire", to the people of Pakistan.
In response to a question at the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York think tank, the president said that setting up a foundation could take sometime, Dawn newspaper reported Tuesday.
The foundation, that may be headed by his wife, Sehba Musharraf, may focus on women. This is keeping with Musharraf's current endeavour to have the controversial Hudood ordinances that weighed against women, amended to give them a better socio-economic deal.
Media reports have said that the publishers, Simon and Schuster, paid him an advance of $100,000. The royalty has been speculated at "anything between $1 million and $3 million".
In his opening remarks, President Musharraf said he started writing the book two years back and noted: "My autobiography is my contribution to the history of our era. It is also, of course, my own story, a life where I look back and see the contours of an eventful, turbulent path with both luck and destiny playing leading roles."
He said, "My autobiography is a window into contemporary Pakistan and my role in reshaping it...I want the world to know the truth."
"What happens in Pakistan socially, politically and economically in the coming years, will not only help decide the outcome of the global war on terror, but will also shape what the future will look like for both Islam and the West," Musharraf said.
Washington, Sept 27 (ZEENEWS.COM) U.S. researchers said on Tuesday they are starting trials of a new vaccine aimed at wiping out childhood ear and sinus infections and many cases of bronchitis in adults.
Unlike virtually all other vaccines on the market, this one will not be aimed at saving lives, but at preventing nuisance illnesses, the researchers said.
"We are now in an era where we look to vaccines that make life better," said Dr. Michael Pichichero, a professor of microbiology, immunology, pediatrics, and medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center, who is leading the trial.
The vaccine will target Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae or NTHi, which is the main remaining cause of ear and sinus infections and bronchitis, now that vaccines exist for various forms of streptococcal bacteria and Haemophilus influenzae B, the previous leading causes.
"For ear infections they are the No. 1 cause, for sinus infections they are the No. 1 cause and for bronchitis in adults they are the No. 1 cause, but they do not invade the bloodstream and cause life-threatening illness in normal people," Pichichero said in a telephone interview.
While ear infections are never fatal, they can cause serious damage in some children, Pichichero noted. He said 83 percent of U.S. children experience one or more ear infections by age 3 and in some cases hearing loss becomes permanent.
And the infections force children to visit clinics and emergency rooms, and are the leading reason for antibiotic prescriptions. Experts agree antibiotics are overused in the United States, which wastes money and also helps "superbug" bacteria evolve that resist the drugs.
A team at Rochester also helped develop the vaccine marketed by Wyeth as Prevnar, used to protect infants and toddlers against some bacteria strains that can cause pneumonia, meningitis and ear infections.
GlaxoSmithKline is working on a rival to Prevnar.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Prevnar's use has reduced pneumonia rates from the streptococcal strains it targets by 78 percent.
The University of Rochester announced on Tuesday it had won a $3.5 million grant from the National Institute of Deafness and Communication Disorders, one of the National Institutes of Health, to develop the new vaccine.
"I think the reason that this one has not moved forward at a faster pace despite the discovery of the potential vaccine ingredients ... (is that) up to now virtually all our vaccines have been focused on life-threatening illness," Pichichero said.
The vaccine uses little pieces of the bacteria that cause the infections to stimulate an immune response. As the bacteria are all in the same family, it should protect against a broad range of strains, Pichichero said.
Testing has begun. "We plan to enroll a total of 400 children and so far have enrolled 20," he said.
The university also has a $500,000 grant from the Thrasher Foundation, which pays for research into pediatric diseases, to study a new vaccine against Streptococcus pneumoniae strains not included in Prevnar's formulation.
"Our ultimate goal would be to combine the three ingredients from the Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae vaccine with the streptococcal vaccine, giving a vaccine that would prevent 90 percent of ear infections, sinus infections and bronchitis," Pichichero said.
That would leave cold viruses as the leading cause of respiratory diseases, he said.
New York, Sep 27 (IANS) Scientists have developed a prototype bandage that could detect hidden fractures once a person wears it.
The new bandage developed by Ozan Akkus and colleagues at Purdue University in Indiana contain sensors which pick up slight changes in sound waves created by tiny cracks in damaged bones, reported the online edition of Daily Mail.
They then sound an alarm, warning the patient to rest so that the injured bone is given a chance to heal properly.
The new high-tech bandage could be worn by people at risk of stress fractures - like soldiers, athletes, dancers and joggers - to warn them in time to prevent a major injury.
"The goal is to create a wearable device that would alert someone when a stress fracture was imminent, so they could stop rigorous physical activity long enough for the bone to mend," Akkus said.
Stress fractures are a common injury among professional athletes, as well as in amateurs who exercise too much. Runners are particularly at risk because jogging several times a week puts the same bones, usually those in the shin, under repeated pressure.
Washington, Sept 27 (PTI) Making it clear that the situations surrounding the nuclear programmes of India and Iran are "simply very different," the US Tuesday said that no comparison can be made between the two as New Delhi has been "very good" on proliferation matters "for its entire history."
"The situations are just simply very different. And I think most people believe that India can be as a part of a broad proliferation regime actually helpful to the non-proliferation effort. I don't think there are many people who believe that about Iran," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in an interview with the New York Post.
"...I've never been one who believes that in international politics every situation is the same. It's not. And you know, I know people make the argument about precedents and I just have to say to people, look, the situations are simply different," she said.
The top State Department official went on to explain what the Bush administration has been saying all along--that Iran has a "terrible" non proliferation record and among other things had been dealing with the known Pakistani proliferator A.Q.Khan.
"With Iran you have a state that signed onto the NPT, has been violating its obligations, including enriching without telling anybody at Natanz; has a terrible proliferation record; was apparently dealing with A.Q. Khan who, the last time I looked, never was very interested in civil nuclear power; and so doesn't -- and by the way, sits in a very volatile region," Rice said.
Chicago, Sept 27 (ZEENEWS.COM) A car dealership in Ohio has decided not to run a commercial proclaiming a "jihad" on the US auto market, a Muslim activist group said on Monday.
The Ohio Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations released a letter from the dealership offering an apology and saying the radio ad, which had never been aired, was a misguided attempt at humor.
"We appreciate the dealership's constructive reaction to feedback about the proposed advertisements," said Adnan Mirza, director of the group's Ohio's office. "We accept the apology ... and hope that it and the decision not to air the spots will bring this incident to a close."
The statement from the dealership, Dennis Mitsubishi in Columbus, said "A large number of people have contacted us. Lots of them have seen the humor we were trying to convey, but far too many were clearly bothered by it. This was simply an attempt at humor that fell short." It also offered a "sincere apology to anyone who was offended."
The group on Sunday had complained publicly about plans for a commercial it said would have proclaimed a "jihad" on the U.S. auto market offering "Fatwa Fridays" with sales representatives giving play swords to children.
New Delhi, Sep 27 (IANS) India's energy major Oil India Limited (OIL) Tuesday joined hands with tech firm ICSA (India) Limited to procure, market and undertake pipeline technology projects in the country and abroad.
Under the terms of the deal, the two firms agreed to incorporate a new company within 12 months of the execution of the signed agreement. The terms and conditions relating to the formation of the company, however, have not been finalised.
"ICSA (India) and Oil India make a perfect partnership given the tremendous synergies between the two," said Bala Reddy, managing director of ICSA (India).
ICSA (India) is into development of embedded technology solutions, software products and services for the energy sector.
"The innovative technology involved in the iCAP (Intelligent Cathodic Protection) system improves the efficiency of conventional cathodic protection, forecasts pilferage, pipeline tampering in real time and improves the life of pipelines to achieve design life and eliminates the requirement of expensive conventional measurements. This system is cost effective and meets international standards and compatibility," Reddy added.
Oil India chairman and managing M.R. Pasrija said: "This joint venture is the culmination of successful field testing of the new technology carried out over a 50 km pipeline in the Jagiroad and Guwahati sector.
"We are certain it will enhance value to our existing pipelines and the new customer base," Pasrija said.
New York, Sept 27 (NNN-APP) President Pervez Musharraf has observed that Pakistan plays a key role in developing the story of 21st century and what happens in the country in the coming years will help decide the outcome of the global war on terror as well as shape what the future will look like for the West and Islam.
"This book is a window into contemporary Pakistan and my role in shaping it," he said Monday as his memoir, "In the Line of Fire", hit bookstores across the United States with many places reporting soaring sales.
Speaking at the influential American think-tank, the Council for Foreign Relations, President Musharraf said he had dedicated the book to the people of Pakistan who toil, sacrifice and pray for their country and who wait patiently for a better future. "They deserve a committed, selfless leadership, which can help them realize their boundless potential," he said.
Musharraf also dedicated his book to his mother whose unwavering faith in him has been the driving force in his life. "Her unconditional love and prayers remain my unremitting source of strength," he said.
President Musharraf said he decided to write his autobiography after Pakistan took centre stage in the world's conflicts, including the war on terror. "There has been intense curiosity about me and the country I lead. I want the world to learn the truth," he read out from his opening statement at the CFR meeting, attended by leading intellectuals, policy- makers and journalists.
Pakistan, he said, plays a key role in the developing story of the 21st century. "What happens in Pakistan -- socially, politically, and economically -- in the coming years not only will help decide the outcome of the global war on terror, it will also shape what the future will look like for both Islam and the West,� he added.
"I am determined that that future be peaceful and prosperous -- not just for Pakistan but for the entire international community."
However, he pointed out that that vision is possible only if the Muslim world and the West, led by the United States, strive together toward resolving the issues before them.
"My autobiography is my contribution to the history of our era. It is also of course my own story, expressed in my own way, about an eventful, turbulent life in which both luck and destiny played leading roles."
Patna, Sep 27 (IANS) Bihar has ordered a high-level probe into the theft of 18 valuable bronze statues of Buddha and Mahavira from the Patna museum.
These rare bronze statues were stolen from the high security Patna museum Monday night.
According to officials of the museum, statues were missing from the first floor gallery of the museum.
Anjani Kumar Singh, secretary of arts and culture, said a high level probe has been ordered. "It is a matter of concern for us."
Police said the theft was detected Tuesday morning. In the past rare statues and manuscripts have been stolen from the museum.
Moscow, Sept 27 (IRNA) Head of Russian Federal Energy Agency Sergei Kiriyenko will pay a visit to Tehran in early December to discuss with Iranian officials issues related to mutual cooperation.
Deputy Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) for International Affairs Mohammad Saeedi told reporters in Moscow on Tuesday that the it is hoped that the visit would help the two sides reach agreement on speedy commissioning of Bushehr nuclear power plant.
Saeedi said that based on an agreement signed by Tehran and Moscow on Tuesday, Bushehr nuclear power plant will become operational by September 2007 and Russia will ship fuel to Iran in March 2007.
He said that in the meeting of the AEOI Head Gholam-Reza Aqazadeh and his Russian counterpart, Russians promised to observe the timetable for completion of the project and the Russian government practically assured Iran of its commitment to finish the project.
Regarding financial problems facing the contractor of the project, he said the two sides will solve the problem through a mutual contract.
Asked on outcome of talks between Aqazadeh and Russian Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov, Saeedi said the two sides discussed latest status of Iran's talks with the Group 5+1 and the Russian party voiced optimism about outcome of the talks.
Ivanov said he was confident that an agreement would be reached by Iran and Group 5+1, added the Iranian official.
Saeedi quoted Ivanov as telling Aqazadeh at the meeting that dialogue is the best solution to Iran's nuclear problem and through that way regional security would be guaranteed.
He ruled out certain media reports on possibility of 90-day suspension of Iran's enrichment activities. "That's not true and the basis of talks between Iran and the 5+1 Group is the proposals of both sides," he made it clear.
"We try to benefit from the best experiences in that connection," said Saeedi when asked about Iran's decision to involve Russians in its energy projects despite the latter's repeated delays in commissioning Bushehr nuclear power plant.
Aqazadeh, who arrived in Moscow on Monday, met and conferred with Kiriyenkov and Ivanov.
Kiriyenko had already announced that Bushehr nuclear power plant project will not be commissioned sooner than November and the Iranian officials have called for speedy implementation of the project.
Lucknow, Sep 27 (IANS) Cases have been registered against at least 77 engineers and contractors for poor roads in Rae Bareli, the parliamentary constituency of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, police said Tuesday.
Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav ordered action following Gandhi's complaint to the district administration during her visit to Rae Bareli earlier this month.
Several people have been arrested in this connection, said Sanjay Singhal, superintendent of police.
Gandhi had expressed her displeasure at the "extremely poor" quality of roads being made in her constituency. Significantly, she had got a special grant of Rs.2.5 billion released by the central government for "improvement" of the roads.
The chief minister soon directed his brother Shiv Pal Yadav, who is also the minister for public works, to inquire into the complaint.
Evidently, with a view to pre-empting any direct embarrassment to his government, the chief minister ordered prompt action.
A special inquiry committee of senior officials was rushed to Rae Bareli last week and its report explicitly confirmed much truth in the complaint.
According to the report, only a small 3 km stretch of the 150 km undertaken by the Public Works Department and its allied departments was up to the mark.
The rest of the roads were visibly "far sub-standard". Deep ditches had begun to appear in roads built or repaired only a few months back.
Eventually, FIRs were lodged against 77 people Monday night charging them for indulging in corrupt practices and pilfering government funds.
Among those in the line of fire were 49 contractors, two superintending engineers, eight executive engineers and 18 assistant and junior engineers.
Meanwhile, the Congress has termed this case as another example of Mulayam Singh Yadav's misrule.
"This case vindicates our stance that there is rampant corruption in the Mulayam regime and the chief minister, is in the dock," state Congress chief Salman Khurshid told reporters here.
By Lamat R. Hasan,
New Delhi, Sep 27 (IANS) For the first time, the 700-year-old tradition of singing 'qawwalis' is under attack at the famed Sufi shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin in the Indian capital.
Qawwalis are a key attraction at the shrine, and every Thursday thousands - Muslims as well as non-Muslims - crowd the dargah, located in the midst of narrow lanes of the Nizamuddin area to listen to the artistes.
Now, a cold war has erupted within the Muslim community: is qawwali Islamic or un-Islamic?
Those who preach the orthodox strand of Islam, known as Tablighs, are making it clear that singing of and listening to qawwalis - a Sufi tradition - should stop at the 14th century shrine.
The Tablighs believe that praying at shrines amounts to idol worship. They are objecting to the tradition of singing qawwalis, which are Sufi hymns, at the Nizamuddin dargah and at the nearby Hazrat Inayat Khan dargah.
The Tablighs have already succeeded in stopping the qawwalis in some of the smaller Sufi shrines in the city. Naturally, there is despair at the Nizamuddin shrines.
The Tablighs and the Sufis have a different understanding of Islam. While the Tablighs frown upon what they say are deviations from the basic fundamentals of Islam, Sufism - essentially a sub-continental phenomenon - is widely viewed as the tolerant face of Islam.
Many Sufi saints enjoy the near status of god. Muslims and also many non-Muslims pray at their shrines by lighting incense and following rituals that is not accepted by mainstream Islam.
Nearly seven centuries after the Nizamuddin shrine was built, the Tablighs have come up with a modern structure nearby housing their international headquarters.
Ironically, the devotees heading for the shrine in the Nizamuddin area in south Delhi have to now go past this structure, known as the 'markaz'.
Although thousands of devotees, cutting across class and religious divides continue to visit the shrine each day, the influence of the Tablighs is visibly growing in the Nizamuddin area.
Zubair, whose eating joint is situated bang in front of the markaz, told IANS: "These people tell devotees not to go to the dargah. They think this amounts to idol worship.
"We are here because of Hazratji. He wants us to be here. He provides for us, but we do not worship him. We only pray at his shrine and our wishes come true."
For the convenience of devotees, toilets have been built at the entrance of the shrine. The keeper of the toilet is Raju, a Hindu. Like many from his community, he too has full faith in Hazrat Nizamuddin: "Hazratji takes care of us."
Meraj Ahmed, the head qawwal whose ancestors have been singing at the shrine for centuries, confesses that Tablighs are against the singing.
"I know people from the markaz don't want us to sing at the dargah," he said.
Ahmed and his team sing not only Sufi compositions at the shrine but also bhajans (Hindu hymns). "Qawwalis are a mix of many poetic styles, including Persian and Arabic, and are based on the classical structure of 'tala' and 'raga'," Ahmed explained.
The head of the Nizamuddin shrine, Peer Syed Ahmed Nizami, told IANS: "Tablighs have for long been preaching that going to shrines is un-Islamic. But they have intensified their campaign in recent times."
Asked if the Tablighs ever approached him directly, he said: "They can propagate against us but they cannot stop us."
New Delhi, Sep 27 (IANS) The Supreme Court Tuesday took serious exception to the illegal occupation of VIP bunglows in several state capitals by unauthorised people.
The states that came under the scanner included West Bengal, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir.
The court also issued a contempt-of-court notice to the West Bengal housing secretary for not furnishing details of unauthorised occupants of VIP bungalows.
A bench of judges B.N. Agarwal and P.P. Naolekar issued the notice after the counsel for the state said that following the court notice he had written seven letters to the housing secretary asking for the details to be placed before the court.
However, he received no response from the government and was, therefore, not able to provide details of the illegal occupants in the state.
The bench directed him to remain present in the court Nov 7.
Taking up the same issue in case of Orissa, the bench issued notice to eight politicians asking them why they should not be evicted by using force.
The politicians are: former chief ministers Hemanand Biswal and Giridhar Gomango, currently MPs, Prasanna Acharya, a Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP, Dharmender Pradhan, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP, Bed Prakash Aggarwal, Prasad Kumar Harichandra, Bijoy Mohapatra and Shambhunath Nayak, all former legislators.
The bench also directed the Orissa government to publish the list of 108 unauthorised occupants in the state in all leading newspapers.
The judges issued notice to Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat to file a status report by Oct 31 regarding illegal occupants in government bungalows.
The apex court also directed estate officers of Jammu and Kashmir to be personally present in the court Nov 7 to explain why eviction proceedings were not initiated against the illegal occupants of the government accommodation in the state.
The Jammu and Kashmir government had said that since Srinagar was the summer capital and Jammu the winter capital, the legislators could be shown as migrants. However, the bench was not satisfied with the explanation.
The bench was satisfied with the action taken by the Madhya Pradesh government against illegal occupants in government bungalows there.
The matter was posted for further hearing Nov 7.
Chennai, Sep 27 (IANS) Tamils want India to play a more active role in Sri Lanka, but they want to keep Pakistan at bay, a Sri Lankan Tamil politician said here Tuesday.
R. Sampanthan, Member of Parliament from Trincomalee and leader of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary group in Sri Lanka told media persons: "India should no longer be a spectator."
"If Pakistan thinks it can help Sri Lanka militarily against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) it is not going to happen," said Sampanthan, who held discussions with the Indian establishment in New Delhi last week.
The TNA leaders held talks with E. Ahamed, Minister of State for External Affairs, M.K. Narayanan, National Security Advisor and foreign secretary-designate Shiv Shankar Menon.
India had maintained a distance from Lankan Tamil groups since the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
"After a long time we have been able to re-establish contact with New Delhi," the Lankan Tamil leader told IANS.
Asked if the team's inability to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was a snub, Sampanthan said, "No date and time had been fixed for a meeting."
The TNA leader, who was upbeat on the outcome of the India visit, said, "The visit has brought New Delhi a lot closer to the Tamils of Sri Lanka."
Asked if this would be a setback in the peace talks between Colombo and LTTE, Sampanthan said, "I do not think so."
He also denied that he was speaking on behalf of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
"Sri Lanka's constitution is like an albatross," he said.
"It permits the dismissal of an elected government after a year. It encourages colonisation by Sinhalese in Tamil areas. It discriminates on the basis of language. You cannot find a solution to the Sri Lanka-LTTE problem within the Lankan Constitution," Sampanthan said.
Sampanthan, however, refused to comment on reports that Tamil leaders and groups were invited for talks by the prime minister.
"We are here to urge India to get the Sri Lankan government to behave in a civilised manner, to stop the killing of innocent Tamil civilians by aerial bombings. The present situation is like how it was in 1983, when as many as 250,000 people were displaced," he said.
"I do not think anyone else can play as effective a role as India in restoring peace between the Sinhalese and Tamil ethnic groups," Sampanthan said, insisting that LTTE was not averse to such a settlement.
Asked if Pakistan's interest in Sri Lanka is targeted at India's space research programme and defence facilities in South India, he said: "It is a possibility".
Geneva, Sep 27 (DPA) The Lebanese population faces a "ticking timebomb" from the 100,000 unexploded bombs estimated to be littering the towns and countryside, UNICEF warned Tuesday.
Fourteen people were killed, two of them children and 90 injured after triggering the bombs since the end of Israel's recent 33-day conflict with the Lebanon-based Hezbollah movement, said the UN children's agency.
"This is now the biggest threat to lives," said UNICEF spokesman Michael Bociurkiw. "It is literally a ticking timebomb for the children of Lebanon, all of whom have already suffered too much from the conflict."
The UN has identified 400 strike sites where hundreds of thousands of bombs fell with an explosion failure rate of 10-40 percent.
Cluster bombs were the most dangerous as they could be triggered by vibrations and were often found hanging from trees or houses.
"They are more likely to cause death than injury making them more lethal than landmines," he added.
A few days ago a young boy climbing a tree was killed when a cluster bomb hanging from the branches fell onto his head and exploded.
The danger was very real during the current harvest when villagers, including children, would be helping farmers gather crops, Bociurkiw said.
By Arun Kumar,
Washington, Sep 27 (IANS) The United States has asked Pakistan to work with India to reduce threat from Kashmiri separatist groups, many of whom were responsible for terrorist attacks in India.
"It is a major problem in South Asia in resolving which the United States has a direct and abiding interest," Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nick Burns told CNN Tuesday.
Commenting on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's continuing tirade against his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai, he said the fact is that Afghanistan and Pakistan must work together militarily and diplomatically to fight terrorism.
Asked about his assessment of the Waziristan deal, Burns said they would have to see how it works out. But his advice to Pakistan would be to be resolute in fighting terrorism and use every possible means to go after terrorist cells in that part of Pakistan. As a matter of fact, it needs to work with Afghanistan.
"It also needs to work with India to reduce threat from Kashmiri separatist groups many of whom were responsible for terrorist attacks in India. So this is responsibility that all of us have. It is a major problem in South Asia in resolving which the United States has a direct and abiding interest," Burns added.
Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, Sept 27 (NNN-Bernama) The United States will continue to cooperate with the three Borneo states of Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia on the "Heart of Borneo" project to preserve one of the oldest rainforests in the world.
US Ambassador to Malaysia Christopher LaFleur said the 220,000 sq km
rainforest spread across the three countries is important to the entire world because it is one of the very few that remain in pristine form.
He said that according to scientific estimates, it is older than the
rainforest in the Amazon, South America.
The three Borneo states are also very important in Southeast Asia as key members of Asean and good friends of the US, he told reporters while visiting the Kota Kinabalu Wetlands Centre in this capital of the Malaysian Borneo state of Sabah Tuesday.
Last month, US State Secretary Condoleeza Rice pledged USD100,000 to support "Heart of Borneo" through the project initiator, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Malaysia.
LaFleur said the US government had also contributed about USD217,000 in financial aid for the protection of elephants, gibbons, orang utan and
rhinoceros in Sabah since 2005.
WWF Malaysia vice president Tengku Zainal Adlin Tengku Mahmood, who
accompanied LaFleur on the visit, said "Heart of Borneo" is meant for the world and the commitment of the US is significant to the organisation.
However, he said, WWF Malaysia only acted as the catalyst and it was still up to the individual government to best manage forest sustainability in their own area.
He said "Heart of Borneo" had not been officially accepted yet by the
governments of the three countries.
Hopefully, the three countries would reach a consensus to launch the project during the Asean Summit in the Philippines this December, he added.
New Delhi, Sep 27 (IANS) Former Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee Tuesday refuted claims by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf that both of them were insulted at their summit in Agra in 2001 and went on to blame the Pakistani strongman for the meeting's collapse.
In a statement, Vajpayee, who was prime minister then, said Musharraf's claims, made in his book "In the Line of Fire", have surprised him.
"No one insulted the general and certainly no one insulted me," said Vajpayee, who continues to take active interest in foreign policy affairs.
The former prime minister revealed for the first time what happened at Agra that led to its abject failure, forcing a red faced Musharraf to head home in visible pain.
"At Agra, during our talks, he (Musharraf) took a stand that the violence that was taking place in Jammu and Kashmir could not be described as 'terrorism'.
"He continued to claim that the bloodshed in the state was nothing but the people's battle for freedom.
"It was this stand of General Musharraf that India just could not accept. And this was responsible for the failure of the Agra summit," Vajpayee said.
Vajpayee's reaction came in wake of news reports based on Musharraf's book released in New York Monday.
"I have seen press reports about Gen Musharraf's book. I am still to see the book. But his reported comments on the failure of our talks at Agra have surprised me," Vajpayee said. "I am issuing this statement to put the record straight."
The Bharatiya Janata Party leader admitted that his "Lahore bus trip" in 1999 was appreciated by all but it yielded no results in terms of normalising relations between India and Pakistan.
"Ever since (our) government was formed in March 1998, establishing normalcy in Indo-Pakistan relations had been a principal item on our agenda," he said.
"But everyone in our government was acutely alive to the fact that there could be no normalcy in Indo-Pakistan relations until cross-border terrorism, which had cost thousands of innocent lives, was ended.
"With this objective in mind, I undertook a bus journey to Lahore to meet my counterpart and thrash out this and other issues in person."
Vajpayee said Musharraf took power after ousting then prime minister Nawaz Sharif, India decided to invite the latter to Agra. Musharraf readily accepted the Indian invitation.
If Musharraf had been willing to accept our position in 2001, the Agra summit would have become successful and the three subsequent years may have proved very valuable to take our initiative forward, Vajpayee said.
Mumbai, Sept 27 (NDTV.COM) The BCCI has put its weight behind the PCB and apparently asked the ICC for umpire Darrell Hair to be left out of the roster for next month's Champions Trophy in India.
Reports suggest that the BCCI has made a written request to the ICC to not include Hair as the Board would like to avoid any unnecessary controversy during the tournament.
The ICC has already delayed naming the umpiring panel for the tournament, which gets underway from October 7 in Mohali.
Hair, however, had said last week in a newspaper interview that he expected to be in India for this assignment.
New Delhi, Sep 27 (IANS) The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Tuesday asked the central government to explain why some Chinese construction companies had been "blacklisted" in the country on security grounds.
"We would like to know why the Chinese construction companies are not allowed to take over projects in the country when other foreign companies are allowed," CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat said.
He was referring to the central government's refusal to give the security clearance to Kerala's Vizhinjam port project, for which a consortium of two Chinese and a Mumbai-based firm had been selected through tenders.
"The party central committee decided to take up the matter with the prime minister," Karat said.
The central committee, the party's apex decision-making body, Tuesday concluded its three-day meeting for a mid-term review of the party congress decisions.
V.S. Achuthanandan, chief minister of the CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front government in Kerala, recently led an all-party delegation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking him to review the central government's decision to deny clearance to the Rs.43.60 billion ($950 million) port project.
Karat said: "The tenders had been cleared, the prime minister was expected to lay the foundation stone and the work was about to begin. But, suddenly they found Chinese companies could not given the security clearance."
"Are the US companies, which have projects in Pakistan, disallowed to take up port projects in India?" Karat asked referring to reports that the security clearance was denied as the Chinese firms, Kaidi Electric Power Company and China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), had projects in Pakistan too.
Karat pointed out that the Chinese firms had been denied permission to take up projects in India earlier too.
"We do not agree with the decision not to give security clearance to the companies because they are from China," Karat later told IANS.
Washington, Sep 27 (DPA) Afghan President Hamid Karzai joined US President George Bush in deflecting recent reports that the US-led Iraq war has aided terrorist recruiting around the world, and chastised the American public for forgetting the lessons of Sep 11, 2001.
"Terrorism was hurting us way before Iraq or Sep 11," Karzai said in a joint press conference with Bush in Washington Tuesday. "They came to America on Sep 11 but they were attacking you before Sep 11 in other parts of the world."
President Bush said he was "not surprised" that terrorists were using the Iraq war as a recruitment tool, but said it was one excuse among many.
"My judgment is if we weren't in Iraq they'd find some other excuse," Bush said. "We're not going to let their excuses stop us from staying on the offence."
Karzai also seemed to backtrack on his criticism of a peace deal to Pakistani tribal leaders made by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on the border region of Waziristan. But he said his country wanted to make sure the accord did not allow Taliban fighters to use the region as a launching pad for attacks on Afghanistan.
"We will have to see if (the treaty) is going to be implemented exactly the way it is signed," Karzai said. The Afghan leader said he initially understood a deal had been made with the Taliban, but that Musharraf had since "explained" the outlines of the accord.
Referring to the reports of tensions between the two Asian neighbours - sparked by Karzai's criticism of Musharraf's peace deal - Bush said it will be "interesting for me to watch the body language between these two leaders" during Wednesday's meeting.
Bush, Karzai and Musharraf are due to meet for a dinner at the White House on Wednesday.
Brussels, Sept 27 (IRNA) The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) called Tuesday on the world footballing authorities to end an 'intolerable' ban imposed on Andrew Jennings, a leading investigative journalist with a global reputation for exposing corruption in sport.
The IFJ in a statement said that to persist with the ban, which has been in force for three years, would undermine the Swiss-based International Federation of Football Association (FIFA) and its commitment to transparency.
The ban on Jennings was imposed following newspaper and television reports alleging bribery, secrecy, and corruption within the organization.
FIFA president himself has been accused of secrecy surrounding his salary, bonuses, perks, and allowances from FIFA, said the IFJ.
The campaign against the reporter has involved exclusion from press conferences, threatening letters and a persistent refusal to respond to documented and serious charges of maladministration.
"The Jennings experience illustrates just how difficult life becomes for investigative journalists when powerful institutions give the impression they are answerable to no one and beyond criticism," said Aidan White, IFJ general secretary.
For almost 20 years, global sports has been hit by scandals over doping, business deals and bribery.
Jennings himself is the co-author of 'The Lords of the Rings', a scathing attack on the International Olympic Committee and its former president Juan Antonio Samaranch.
"The world of sports needs to become more aware of its public responsibilities and needs to outlaw internal secrecy. FIFA can lead the way by ending this ban and by answering legitimate questions, no matter how difficult they may be, honestly and in full," said White.
The Brussels-based IFJ represents over 500,000 journalists in more than 100 countries.
Hong Kong, Sep 27 (DPA) At the turn of the 20th century, tobacco baron James Duke flicked through a world atlas, stopped at the population figure of 430 million, jabbed his finger at a map of China and announced: "That is where we are going to sell cigarettes."
One hundred years on, Duke's prophesy about the potential for cigarettes sales in China, where the population has since grown to 1.3 billion, has been realised on a literally breath-taking scale.
Three out of every 10 cigarettes produced globally are smoked in China.
Cigarette production in China increased seven-fold between 1960 and 2003, from 225 billion a year to 1.8 trillion - and 97 out of every 100 of those cigarettes are smoked within China.
More than 300 million men in China are smokers - more than the current population of Duke's home country, the US. Out of every 100 men, 67 smoke, a higher percentage than anywhere else in the world apart from Yemen and Djibouti.
Judith Mackay, Hong Kong-based policy advisor to the World Health Organisation and co-author of the newly-published second edition of the "Tobacco Atlas", says it was the obsession of Duke and his contemporaries that began China's smoking epidemic.
"The leaders of the tobacco industry have had their eyes on China for more than 100 years and they are not taking them off," she said.
"Duke was interested in China and rightly so in a sense because he could see the population numbers. That interest in China has simply never flagged."
While it was Duke's company, British American Tobacco, that first gave the Chinese a taste for cigarettes, it is China's own state-owned giant Honghe, now the fourth biggest selling cigarette brand in the world.
Between 2002 and 2005, Honghe sold 108 billion cigarettes almost exclusively within China. "It really is quite worrying," said Mackay.
In a foreword to the report, written as an advocacy tool by anti-smoking campaigners, American Cancer Society chief executive officer John Seffrin warns: "The world is facing a pandemic of epic proportions because it is under attack by a ruthless industry - the purveyors of tobacco."
That warning, the authors say, is particularly pertinent to China where they estimate that a third of Chinese men under the age of 30 will be killed by tobacco if current smoking patterns continue and where the direct health costs of smoking are already in the order of $4.29 billion a year.
The outlook for China might appear bleak, but Mackay emphasised that research had uncovered the first signs of a counter trend. For the first time, she said, there were record numbers of smokers in China who had kicked the habit.
"For the first time, there are some ex-smokers," she said. "That means there are people who smoked and who have quit. That is our first glimmer of hope for smokers in China. It just appears there is a peak effect, the message is getting through and some smokers are giving up and quitting."
Another significant development is that China is now a signatory to the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control which bans tobacco advertising, regulates cigarette packaging, bans the sale of cigarettes to minor and bans smoking in work and public places.
More significantly, however, Mackay believes there are signs on a social as well as a political level that awareness of the dangers of smoking is beginning to hit home in China.
"Fashions can change and I think we are beginning to turn a corner," she said.