16 September 2006
Lucknow, Sep 16 (IANS) An Uttar Pradesh minister, who hogged the limelight early this year for announcing a whopping bounty on the head of a Danish cartoonist who caricatured Prophet Mohammad, is in the news again. This time, however, for travelling in a train without a ticket.
Minorities Welfare Minister Haji Yaqoob Quraishi was Saturday fined Rs.14,056 for travelling in the air-conditioned cabin of the New-Delhi-Lucknow Mail along with six others without tickets.
"The minister boarded the train at Hapur station Friday night and forced himself into a First AC coupe. When the ticket examiner asked for his ticket, he claimed he had one but refused to show it," a railway spokesperson said.
"He then locked his compartment from inside and refused to come out."
It was only when a special ticket checking squad came that Quraishi opened the door at Alamnagar railway station here Saturday morning.
"We then discovered there were six other ticket-less passengers with him," the official said.
Eyewitnesses alleged that the minister was furious at the railway staff.
Rajendra Singh, Lucknow's additional divisional railway manager later said ministers were entitled to travel free but only after official requisitions were converted into tickets.
Jakarta, Sep 16 (DPA) An earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale shook parts of eastern Indonesia Saturday but there were no reports of damage or casualties.
The quake's epicentre was near Seram Island in Maluku province, 180 km northeast of the provincial capital Ambon, according to an official at the Jakarta meteorology and geophysics agency.
Meanwhile, a 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck off the western coast of Sumatra island early Saturday but there were no reports of damage or a possible tsunami.
The temblor struck around 1.20 a.m. in the Indian Ocean, about 75 km southeast of the capital Banda Aceh, according to the agency official.
In December 2004, a 9.1-magnitude quake triggered a tsunami that struck nine countries, killing some 177,000 people alone in Aceh and wiping out entire villages.
Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 16 (IANS) Factionalism within the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) in Kerala took a new turn with A. Akbar, reported to be close to state party secretary Pinnarayi Vijayan, stepping down as chief of a state-owned enterprise.
The rival groups - those owing allegiance to Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and those to Vijayan - have been opposing recent postings.
Only last month had Akbar, a former top official of the Bank of Kabul in Afghanistan, taken over as managing director of the state-owned Kerala State Financial Enterprises Ltd (KSFE).
Achuthanandan's close aides had criticised Akbar's appointment to KSFE.
However, P. Sasi, chairman of KSFE, denied that Akbar's putting in his papers Friday was due to internal party problems. "He has cited personal reasons for his stepping down," said Sasi.
The trouble started after Achuthanandan posted Joseph C. Mathew as an IT expert and allowed his former private secretary K.M. Shahjahan to get back his job in an autonomous institution from which he had resigned a few years ago.
These two do not figure in the good books of Vijayan.
The Vijayan faction was upset because Mathew is known to be close to Achuthanandan's son and a close aide of Shahjahan who was booted out of the party a few months ago on account of indiscipline.
Shahjahan was Achuthanandan's secretary when the latter was leader of the opposition in 2001-06.
Reports indicate that with Akbar leaving, the Vijayan faction is in no mood to relent and is expected to create uneasiness for the chief minister over the postings, which do not have the clearance of the party.
London, Sep 16 (IANS) Critically ill malaria patients given albumin in their resuscitation fluids are seen to benefit and it has helped reduce the mortality rates greatly, say scientists.
The new treatment could help save the lives of millions affected by malaria.
The mosquito-borne infectious disease is widespread in many tropical and subtropical regions. It causes between one and three million deaths annually, mostly among young children in Sub-Saharan Africa. The disease is characterised by extreme exhaustion associated with paroxysms of high fever, sweating, shaking chills, and anaemia.
Scientists from the Imperial College in London and experts in Kenya have developed the new technique based on fluid replacement for children ill with malaria, reported the online edition of BBC News.
Using intensive care methods usually only available on paediatric intensive care units in developed countries, the researchers showed that fluid depletion was key to the development of severe symptoms among Kenyan children with malaria.
In the past children with severe malaria have been denied additional fluids for fear it might exacerbate brain swelling associated with the disease.
The new treatment avoids this problem by including albumin - a molecule that holds water inside blood vessels - in resuscitation fluids given to children.
In two preliminary studies, less than five percent of children who received albumin died - compared to up to 40 percent who die after receiving conventional treatments.
And in a new trial of 88 children, just two percent of children receiving albumin died, compared to 16 percent receiving a cheaper synthetic solution.
"The observation is that treating very sick children with severe malaria with albumin infusion can reduce the mortality rate by over 80 percent," said one of the researchers, Kathryn Maitland.
Administration of fluid to children critically ill with malaria is contrary to prevailing practice, and albumin is currently not available in most African hospitals.
"It is absolutely essential that the results are reproduced in larger studies before we advise on any change in practice."
Maitland said her team was now seeking funding for a larger trial involving over 1,000 children in Ghana, Gambia and Kenya.
KUWAIT, Sept 16 (KUNA) -- The Arab world will not witness any war based on sectarian disputes as predicted by some analysts, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz said Saturday.
Kind Abdullah told the Kuwaiti Al-Seyassah daily that "the upcoming days will be better as we are busy with many important issues."
He added that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) "has been and will remain part of the regional unions."
He stressed that "As a big brother Saudi Arabia will stand with GCCC in resisting attempts to create any dispute." King Abdullah affirmed that "GCC is a very important union which will benefit all people of the Gulf region by tying their interests to the international economy."
He indicated that the "expected huge revenue is an opportunity to complete building the infrastructure of Gulf countries where people can live in luxury."
According to King Abdullah, the Saudi agreement with UAE for establishing an Economy City "proves currently construction contracts are being signed at the highest levels.
He stressed that "Saudi Arabia will remain patient with some people who are trying to destroy this crucial unity."
Meanwhile, King Abdullah expressed his satisfaction towards the recent developments in the Palestinian lands, especially the formation of a national unity government that includes all political parties to replace the existing government "which represents only one political segment."
He noted that the formation of such a Palestinian government means marking an achievement in the Mideast peace "according to the initiative taken by Saudi Arabia, Israel will no longer be able to claim Arabs are against peace."
Regarding the ties between Saudi Arabia and the US, the kings said "freedoms allowed in the US allow various sounds and signs to come to the surface. We are keen to listen and notice these signs to update ourselves with the latest developments."
As for the ties with the US administration, he affirmed "our ties are spotless because we have mutual understanding on various international issues.
According to King Abdullah, "on many occasions when we gave the American administration advice on how to deal with some issues, they listened to our views."
As for the latest Saudi economic developments, he noted that some laws are being revised to be improved and make them adequate for the future to attract local and foreign investors.
"We want to achieve substantial economic development by making our laws flexible and attractive to foreign investors," King Abdullah pointed out.
Dhaka, Sep 16 (IANS) Bangladesh and Thailand are planning cooperation in the energy exploration sector, covering a vast region from the eastern flank of South Asia to Southeast Asia.
Dhaka and Bangkok signed a memorandum of understanding on conducting a joint study for hydrocarbon exploration in the Bay of Bengal and development of human resources in the energy sector, New Age newspaper said.
It was decided that there would be a study report before any joint move is finalised. Since elections are due in Bangladesh and Thailand, both are leaving further action on the report for the governments that would assume office after the elections.
While Bangladesh is keen on joint exploration in off-shore oil and gas drilling in the Bay of Bengal, Thailand wants Dhaka to participate in joint exploration of hydrocarbon in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries including Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.
To facilitate a move forward, a joint working group of Petrobangla, the state sector venture of Bangladesh, and PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Ltd of Thailand (PTTEP) will be formed, it was announced here at the end of a brief visit by Thai Energy Minister Viset Choopiban.
Petrobangla chairman Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, and PTTEP president Maroot Mrigadat signed the MoU.
Petrobangla has expertise in developing onshore gas-fields whereas the PTTEP has expertise in offshore gas-fields, Choppiban said.
"So both the corporations can exchange knowledge and work together in both the countries. They can also work in other countries jointly," he said.
The PTTEP has evinced interest in forming a joint venture for hydrocarbon exploration in three offshore blocks - 18A, 19A and 19B.
The Thai company proposed that it would be the owner of 70 percent of the blocks and Petrobangla would get 30 percent ownership. This sort of a deal, the newspaper pointed out, has not been perceived as favourable by many energy experts.
Bangladesh's Energy Advisor Mahmudur Rahman, however, said that no specific blocks were included in the MoU and the sharing formula is yet to be worked out.
Kolkata, Sep 16 (IANS) In West Bengal, the land of communism and its band of non-believers, there is a revolt suddenly from within.
West Bengal Sports and Transport Minister Subhas Chakraborty, known to be a maverick, offered floral obeisance - on camera - to the state's presiding deity - goddess Kali.
The outcome: controversy, embarrassment for the ruling communist group and a broad grin on the faces of leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
"Given my name, wherever I go in India, I am first a Hindu and then a Brahmin. This is the truth, how can I deny it?" the transport minister said, after his controversial visit on Thursday to the famous Tarapith temple of goddess Kali in Birbhum district where he offered flowers and a donation of Rs.501.
As the BJP rolled out the welcome mat to Chakraborty and state party unit president Tathagata Roy went to the extent of inviting him to their fold, the minister was unfazed - either by the BJP or the embarrassment of his own party, in which he enjoys the sound backing of Jyoti Basu despite his uncomfortable relationship with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya.
In the recent Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) elections, he backed Jagmohan Dalmiya and flayed Sourav Ganguly much to the chagrin of Bhattacharya who was made to eat humble pie by Dalmiya.
Chakraborty said he did no wrong by visiting the temple, though even his 93-year-old mentor Jyoti Basu said: "Whom does he see and worship? Does she (goddess Kali) exist at all? It would be better if he worshipped mankind."
Chakraborty said Basu was the equivalent of god to him but "people need not always agree on all counts".
"I've been to all famous temples and mosques in India, those who criticise me now have themselves done the same on the sly," Chakraborty said in his usual style.
"I was given flowers by the priests of the temple. Should I have thrown them away?" he asked.
"I fold hands before the elders while the communists believe in Red salute. I believe in my own style. I find it a more civil and humble way of greeting people," Chakraborty said.
But the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) is not very impressed by his explanations.
"The party state secretary (Biman Bose) would seek an explanation from him," said Binoy Konar, a member of the CPI-M state committee.
Raipur, Sep 16 (IANS) The dissension-plagued Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Chhattisgarh is unlikely to reshuffle the ministry fearing it may fuel further trouble among senior members.
Chief Minister Raman Singh has been reviewing the performance of his 13-member council of ministers since August. The party had said that ministers with a poor record would be stripped off their important portfolios or accommodated in the party.
The government began its review after it sacked tribal leader Shiv Pratap Singh in August from the party state president's post after he questioned the capability of some ministers.
He also alleged that "corruption has been overtaking development" in the state.
"Losing power in Jharkhand is a big setback. We do not want to stoke up dissension among ministers by cracking the whip in the name of poor performance. We want a smooth run for the government," a senior party member told IANS.
"The proposed cabinet reshuffle will either be spiked or delayed until March next year," a source added.
The BJP came to power in December 2003 and has a slender majority in a 90-member state assembly with 52 legislators.
The BJP is divided into various groups and sub-groups in the tribal-dominated state. Several tribal leaders, including legislators, have been pressing for a tribal chief minister to boost BJP's prospects in the next polls due in 2008.
"The demand for a tribal chief minister is genuine as the BJP was voted to power in 2003 because tribals surprisingly switched over from the Congress for the first time. They now feel betrayed," said a dissident minister.
The BJP, which won 25 tribal seats out of 34 reserved for the community, had promised to provide a cow free to each tribal family but did not carry out the promise.
Hamburg, Sep 16 (DPA) China's political and business leadership is defensive following complaints from Western investors about restrictions on access to that country's markets and claims about poaching of industrial ideas.
A major business summit here this week helped to underscore the tensions unleashed by Western accusations about counterfeiting, intellectual property rights, forced transfer of technology and the need for greater market liberalisation as China moves to propel itself into the top league of world economic powers.
The barrage left Chinese political leaders and industrialists attending the summit, including Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, to fend off the criticism by insisting that Beijing was stepping up action to address the problems.
But Cai Weici, vice president of the China Machinery Industry Federation, bluntly warned that foreign companies complaining about the forced transfer of technology should be aware that it was a matter of competition.
Cai told the three-day summit, organised by the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, that if Western firms were not prepared to fulfil the needs of Chinese companies, then others would.
After all, he said, Chinese companies seek out foreign partners to help in meeting their growing technology needs. China is currently drawing in foreign direct investment totalling about $60 billion a year.
However, echoing remarks made by Jiabao at Wednesday's summit opening, Cai said: "If we improve our awareness, then intellectual property rights will improve."
In his comments, the Chinese premier tried to allay foreign investors' concerns about his country's commitment to boosting intellectual property rights and economic reforms.
The Chinese premier told the summit opening that Beijing had already taken steps to shore up intellectual property rights. "Now we have recognised the importance of this and we will take it seriously," he said.
"Their (foreign investors') intellectual property rights will be protected."
The Hamburg summit comes against the backdrop of a booming trade between Germany and China with the northern German port emerging as the gateway between Asia's powerhouse economy and Europe.
To be sure, China's blistering expansion growth rates and rapid economic transformation is likely to mean that the nation's bourse will become the world's third biggest stock market in the coming years.
"Five years ago Chinese companies were not known," Ronnie C. Chan, chief of the Hong Kong-based Hang Lung Group, told the summit. "Now they are acquiring companies around the world."
Further highlighting China's fast-paced change, Lutz Bethge, managing director of the luxury accessory goods maker Montblanc International, said he expects the country to replace the US as the world's second biggest luxury goods market in the next decade.
But Bethge was also forthright in warning China about the threat posing to Western business in the country by counterfeiting and the manufacture of fake brand names.
He went on to challenge the official line on China's commitment to addressing Western industry's concerns about counterfeiting. "To say we are getting protection is one thing," he said. "To actually get it is another thing."
"Clarity and legal security are for us indispensable," said Bernd Gottschalk, chief of Germany's car industry federation, while urging Beijing to accelerate moves to open up its market for car supplies and to improve import conditions.
Ulrich Ellerbeck, a senior executive with the leading regional German bank Nordbank, said Beijing officials would never allow local banks to disappear in a wave of foreign takeovers as had been the case in Central and Eastern Europe.
"It will take a long time for a free market to show up in China," said Ellerbeck.
Jin Yun, chairman of the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, said the finance sector was a sensitive area. "We need reform in China, but it needs to be a step by step process."
New York, Sept 16 (IndianMuslims.info) Nearly 30 years after safety concerns led to the phasing out of indoor spraying with DDT and other insecticides to control malaria, the United Nations health agency said today it will start promoting this method again to fight the global scourge that kills more than one million people every year, including around 3,000 children everyday.
“The scientific and programmatic evidence clearly supports this reassessment. Indoor residual spraying is useful to quickly reduce the number of infections caused by malaria-carrying mosquitoes,� said Dr Anarfi Asamoa-Baah, World Health Organization (WHO) Assistant Director-General for HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria.
“Indoor residual spraying has proven to be just as cost effective as other malaria prevention measures, and DDT presents no health risk when used properly.� Indoor residual spraying is the application of long-acting insecticides on the walls and roofs of houses and domestic animal shelters.
“We must take a position based on the science and the data,� said Dr Arata Kochi, Director of WHO’s Global Malaria Programme. “One of the best tools we have against malaria is indoor residual house spraying. Of the dozen insecticides WHO has approved as safe for house spraying, the most effective is DDT.�
WHO actively promoted indoor residual spraying for malaria control until the early 1980s when increased health and environmental concerns surrounding DDT caused the organization to stop promoting its use and to focus instead on other means of prevention. Extensive research and testing has since demonstrated that well-managed indoor residual spraying programmes using DDT pose no harm to wildlife or to humans, the agency said.
Views about the use of insecticides for indoor protection from malaria have been changing in recent years. Environmental Defense, which launched the anti-DDT campaign in the 1960s, now endorses the indoor use of DDT for malaria control, as does the Sierra Club and the Endangered Wildlife Trust.
At a news conference today, the WHO also called on all malaria control programmes around the world to develop and issue a clear statement outlining their position on indoor spraying with long-lasting insecticides such as DDT, specifying where and how spraying will be implemented in accordance with WHO guidelines.
Every year, more than 500 million people suffer from acute malaria, resulting in more than one million deaths. At least 86 per cent of these deaths are in sub-Saharan Africa. Globally an estimated 3,000 children and infants die from malaria every day and 10,000 pregnant women die from alaria in Africa every year. Malaria disproportionately affects poor people, with almost 60 percent of malaria cases occurring among the poorest 20 per cent of the world’s population.
By Sujit Chakraborty
Agartala, Sep 16 (IANS) Dhaka has refused to sign an extradition treaty despite New Delhi's persistent requests, India's High Commissioner to Bangladesh Veena Sikri said.
"Despite India's repeated requests and submission of proposals and the draft text of an extradition treaty, the Bangladesh government is yet to respond positively," Sikri told IANS.
Bangladesh, which shares a 4,206-km border with India, has one such treaty with Thailand.
"New Delhi had submitted the draft proposal and text to Dhaka three years back and the matter was discussed at various forms and meetings," said Sikri.
The Indian envoy was in Tripura's capital Agartala as part of the Indian delegation to the Indo-Bangla Joint River Commission (JRC) that Friday visited disputed water projects and land strips along major rivers that separate the two countries.
"India again raised the issue of signing an extradition treaty at the seventh home secretary-level four-day talks between the two countries in Dhaka last month," she said.
Asked about media reports regarding Anup Chetia, general secretary of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), taking shelter in Bangladesh, Sikri said: "We have no concrete information and evidence about the ULFA leader's latest movement."
India has been seeking extradition of Chetia and a few top militant leaders of various outfits of the northeast from Bangladesh.
"Despite New Delhi's repeated requests, Bangladesh never gave any information about the Indian militants who have been killed by security forces of that country on various occasions," the high commissioner said.
India has repeatedly been maintaining that separatists from the northeast have bases inside Bangladesh from where they carry out their hit-and-run guerrilla strikes. Dhaka denies the charges.
By Arun Kumar & IndianMuslims.info
Washington, Sep 16 (IANS) Some extremists in India perceive ineffective prosecution of attacks on religious minorities, particularly at the state and local level, as a signal to commit such violence with impunity, a US government report suggests.
While the Indian government generally respected the constitutional right for freedom of religion, it sometimes did not act swiftly enough to counter effectively societal attacks against religious minorities and attempts by some leaders of state and local governments to limit religious freedom, said the 2006 International Religious Freedom Report.
This resulted in part from legal constraints on central government action inherent in the country's federal structure and from shortcomings in its law enforcement and justice systems, although courts regularly upheld the constitutional provision of religious freedom, said the report released Friday by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The US government discussed religious freedom issues with the Indian government as part of its overall policy to promote human rights, said the annual report to the US Congress under its International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.
The US embassy and its consulates promoted religious freedom in their discussions with India's leadership, as well as with state and local officials, and supported initiatives to encourage religious and communal harmony, it said.
During meetings with key leaders of all significant religious communities, US officials discussed reports of ongoing harassment of minority groups, converts, and missionaries, explained US government policies around the world, and endeavoured to better understand Indian religious attitudes towards the US, the report said.
US embassy officers continued to investigate and discuss religious freedom, incidents of concern such as violence in Gujarat, the implementation and reversal of anti-conversion legislation, attacks on places of worship, caste-based discrimination, and the plight of internally displaced Hindu Kashmiris, it said.
The report, covering 197 countries, also reviews actions taken by the US government to advance international religious freedom in eight countries that were designated as CPCs (countries of particular concern)" last year. These were Myanmar, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Vietnam.
Countries that have "engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom" are designated as CPCs. This year's list of countries so designated may be released in a couple of months.
Releasing the report, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hoped it will serve as a source of encouragement to those whose plight is documented in the report and whose right to believe and practise and worship as they choose is still denied by their governments.
Later, briefing the media, the US ambassador at large for international religious freedom, John V. Hanford III, said in India, the central government is leading efforts to promote greater respect for religious freedom, although there have been instances in which some state and local governments have attempted to limit this freedom.
There is a rise of fundamentalism in many religious contexts around the world with followers trying either to create sectarian violence or to get highly restrictive laws on other religions, he said in reply to a question.
"And so that is a general trend that we see as well throughout-in certain corners of the Muslim world, the Hindu world and the Buddhist world," Hanford added.
Events over the past year, such as the "Prophet Mohammed cartoons" printed across Europe, which many around the world felt deeply offensive, point to the need to go beyond protection of religious freedom and law to a concerted effort to create the conditions for harmony, mutual understanding, and respect within our societies, he said.
The India section of the report said while the central government took positive steps in key areas to improve religious freedom, the status of religious freedom generally remained the same as in the previous year ended June 30, 2005.
The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) continued to implement an inclusive and secular platform based on respect for the country's traditions of secular government and religious tolerance, and the rights of religious minorities, it said.
Terrorists attempted to provoke religious conflict by attacking Hindu temples in Ayodhya and Varanasi. The government reacted in a swift manner to rein in Hindu extremists, prevent revenge attacks and reprisal and assure the Muslim community of its safety, the report noted.
The report lists various incidents that involved RSS and its members. Incidents range from attack on people, house of worships to forced conversions.
The government also quelled religious violence in Vadodara, Gujarat, after protests over the demolition of a Muslim shrine threatened to spark Hindu-Muslim violence. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) continued monitoring ongoing legal battles surrounding the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The vast majority of Indians of every religious faith lived in peaceful coexistence; however, tensions between religious groups were a problem in some areas. While the government took some steps, violence directed against minorities by both state and non-state actors occurred in several states, it said.
Conversion continued to be a highly contentious issue. Some Hindu organisations and others frequently alleged that Christian missionaries lured converts, particularly from the lower castes, with offers of free education and healthcare, and equated such actions with forced conversions, the report said.
Link : Report on India
By Subhash K. Jha
Mumbai, Sep 16 (IANS) It is not easy being a Muslim now. TV star Iqbal Khan discovered this when he headed for the US embassy for visa to attend a celeb-presence event in the US and Canada starting Sep 20.
Iqbal's request for visa was turned down. As a result he will not be able to take part in the event that will go on till Oct 2.
"Why me? I've been asking myself since I was turned down. There were 14 of us from television - a majority were ladies including Kanchi Kaul and Sakshi Tanwar. I was the first one to reach the embassy. I was the only Muslim. I was the only one denied visa. Only because my name is Mohammed Iqbal Khan?"
Iqbal tries hard to suppress his emotions.
"The lady at the embassy said there are three bad people (terrorists) with that name and that they'd have to put me through fingerprint scan. She then made me take the fingerprint test. My hands were blackened like a suspected criminal."
Iqbal says for the first time he felt isolated as a Muslim.
"This event in the US and Canada was supposed to pay for the house that I am buying for me and my fiancée before our marriage. Now I can't afford it. Why was I treated this way? It's not as if I'm an unknown.
"In fact, when the lady at the embassy asked me if I was a known face, I was too embarrassed to say who I was. Some Indians in the room told her who I was. I still had to go through the fingerprint test, still treated like a suspect."
He says this is his second such experience in two months.
"Earlier I was denied visa to go to Britain. But I didn't connect it with terrorism. Now when I think back there were two Muslims in that team to Britain and we both were denied visa."
Iqbal admits he is scared.
"We're living in troubled times; anything can happen. Earlier, I used to hear it was difficult for Gujaratis to get visa to the US. I've never had this experience before. Now, I wonder when I'd be allowed out of the country! I'm getting married in January. I had big plans for my fiancée and for honeymoon abroad. Would we be allowed to go?"
Singapore, Sep 16 (DPA) Developing countries on Saturday demanded a stronger voice and more votes in the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of a wide-ranging overhaul of the two key global financial institutions.
Ministers from the Group of 24 (G24) nations, who met in Singapore at the same time as their rich country Group of Seven (G7) counterparts, said they welcomed plans to grant an ad hoc quota increase to China, South Korea, Mexico and Turkey.
But IMF and World Bank reform should also adequately address the issue of under-representation of developing and low-income countries as groups, G24 ministers insisted.
G24 members include developing country heavyweights Brazil, India, Pakistan and Argentina as well as Algeria, Egypt and Nigeria.
Ministers from the G7 and G24 nations met ahead of the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank to be held in Singapore next week.
A statement issued by G24 finance ministers said that emerging countries, developing nations and economies in transition accounted for half of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and represented a majority of the world's population.
As such, these nations must be given more voting power in the IMF and the World Bank, the statement said.
G24 ministers said they wanted the reform blueprint to take account of GDP as well as countries' vulnerabilities to commodity price fluctuations, capitals flows and other shocks.
Singapore, Sep 16 (DPA) Finance ministers from the world's leading Group of Seven (G7) industrialised nations opened day-long talks Saturday amid rising concern over signs of a US economic slowdown and its impact on the global economy.
Ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US are also expected to call for urgent moves to revive the crippled world trade talks.
The Doha negotiations, launched in November 2001, were suspended in July amid bitter transatlantic quarrels over farm sector liberalisation.
Economists say failure to inject new life into the talks heightens risks of a global economic slowdown.
The focus at the G7 meeting is also on China, with Beijing under increasing pressure to further ease controls on the yuan.
Critics in the US and the European Union say a cheap yuan is allowing China to flood world markets with low-cost goods, fuelling demands for protectionist action.
The threat of a disorderly unwinding of global economic imbalances - a reference to the huge US current account and budget deficit compared with large export-led surpluses in China and other Asian countries - is also on the agenda.
"The risk is that if nothing is done, imbalances will not be reduced gradually, but suddenly, and in a disruptive way," IMF managing director Rodrigo Rato warned last week.
The IMF has invited the US, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia and the 12-nation euro zone countries to take part in the discussions.
The G7 meeting comes only a day after the IMF said the world economy is currently performing better than expected, with growth of 5.1 percent forecast for this year.
IMF chief economist Raghuram Rajan has warned that IMF predictions are "surrounded by more uncertainty than usual, with risks tilted to the downside."
The G7 meeting takes place ahead of the annual gathering of the World Bank and the IMF next week, which will also discuss the health the global economy in the face of higher inflation, further increases in oil prices and the fall-out from the failed Doha talks.
Gaza, Sept 16 (UN news) Palestinians face major difficulties in Gaza, including shortages of food and a crippled fishing industry because of the continued conflict with Israel, the United Nations food agency warned today, as it distributes aid to almost a quarter of a million of those most in need.
“Gaza's food security remains an issue of serious concern, the World Food Programme (WFP) says. Naval restrictions continue to block all boats from fishing off-shore, crippling the fishing industry,� UN spokesman Marie Okabe told reporters in New York.
“Furthermore, Gaza's agricultural markets continue to suffer from access restrictions. WFP is distributing food to 220,000 of the most vulnerable people among Gaza’s non-refugee population.�
Also on the humanitarian front, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has delivered five water tankers to municipalities in Gaza with damaged water networks, and also stepped up support for vaccination services in the northern West Bank, she added.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Wednesday that following an agreement between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas on forming a unity Government, the diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East, which includes the UN, will meet next week to discuss these developments and possible ways to provide humanitarian assistance to the occupied territory.
International donors have baulked at funding the Hamas-led Palestinian Government and the continuing conflict with Israel has led to what Mr. Annan described as a “very desperate and serious situation� in the occupied territory.
The diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East – comprising the UN, United States, European Union (EU) and the Russian Federation – are sponsoring the Road Map plan for a two-State solution, with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace, however Mr. Annan has lamented its lack of progress.
Over the past few months there have been several high-level UN meetings on the worsening plight of the Palestinians in the occupied territory and last week a UN conference of Civil Society in Support of the Palestinian People adopted a plan of action aimed at addressing their plight.
Moenchengladbach (Germany), Sep 16 (DPA) Defending champions Germany will clash with Australia in the men's hockey World Cup final Sunday after their respective wins in the semi-final matches.
Germany defeated Spain on penalties while Australia twice came from behind to defeat South Korea 4-2 to reach the World Cup final.
In the 2002 final in Kuala Lumpur, Germany had defeated Australia 2-1.
There was nothing to choose between hosts Germany and European champions Spain in a hard-fought semi-final which went to penalty strokes after the match finished 2-2 at regulation time.
The hosts twice took the lead through Bjoern Emmerling in the 20th minute and by Moritz Fuerst 10 minutes after the breather, but were pegged back by Spain who equalized in 28th minute through Santiago Freixa and Alex Fabregas in the 47th minute.
Both sides enjoyed spells of supremacy, with Spain finishing the stronger but unable to capitalise on their territorial advantage.
In the shoot-out, Germany showed the stronger nerves, converting three of their seven-metre shots, while Spain could only net once and were twice foiled by goalkeeper Ullrich Bubolz and once by the post.
Christoph Zeller, brother Philipp and Timo Wess were the German penalty scorers, while Fuerst's shot was parried by Barnardino Herrera in goal.
Eduard Tabu converted for the Spanish, while Freixa, Paul Quemada both failed and Pol Amat mishit the decisive shot which was easily stopped by Bubolz to send the Germans through to a third World Cup final.
Olympic champions Australia earlier also secured their third appearance in a World Cup final with victory over the South Koreans who were in front with hits through Jang Jong Hyun (31) and Kang Seong Jung (51), but were unable to hold on to their advantage.
The 1986 world champions levelled through Bevan George (39) and Travis Brooks (51) and were rewarded for an improved second-half show with goals from Jamie Dwyer (61) and Michael McCann (70).
Earlier, England defeated New Zealand 4-3 while Pakistan overcame the Netherlands 3-2 to secure places among the top six nations at the 12-team tournament.
Pakistan and England will now meet Saturday to decide fifth place, while the Netherlands and New Zealand will have to be content with the match for seventh spot.
For the highly-fancied Dutch, the current Champions Trophy holders and European runners-up, the tournament has turned into a major disappointment following the narrow failure to reach the semi-finals.
Pakistan took full advantage of the Dutch gloom by racing into a 3-0 lead through Shakeel Abbasi (10), Sohail Abbas (33), both from penalty corners, and a reverse hit from Muhammad Zubair (36). Rob Reckers gave the Dutch some hope in the 42nd minute and Taeke Taekema notched a second four minutes later from a penalty corner to trigger a period of mounting Dutch pressure.
However, Pakistan managed to survive a last-minute corner to win the match.
In the first of the classification matches to determine places five to eight, England beat New Zealand by a 70th-minute winner through James Tindall following a penalty corner.
New Zealand began strongly and got two goals from penalty corners from Hayden Shaw in the 29th and 33rd minutes before Simon Mantell pulled one back two minutes later.
Glenn Kirkham then equalized for England in the 46th minute, only for Simon Child to put New Zealand back in front eight minutes later. Mantell was again on target for England on the hour to level the score at 3-3. Tindall struck the winner for England at the last.
For The Right to Housing and To Save Basic Democratic Values
On 22-09-06
Starting from Collector’s Office, Kothi Char Rasta at 4.00 pm
To BJP and Congress offices in Vadodara Mun. Corporation premise, Khanderao Market.
With The Demand To Pass Resolutions in Standing Committee
* To provide land for relocation of slums within 2 km of original site, where demolition is inevitable.
* To fence the site 4’ by 6’ where Dargah at Champaneri Darwaja was demolished without proper democratic procedure of consulting and providing room for the views of Minority Community on 1st May,06.
In the name of development, Baroda has seen a demolition drive where more than 600 huts and @ 1200 non permanent housing units situated in slums are demolished in last one year and with the same excuse of road widening for ‘development’ a 300 year Dargah was demolished giving just 3 days’ notice in the name of the saint whose Dargah it was, without any consultation with minority community to know their sentiments or any solution that can solve the whole problem.
The minority community leaders had suggested on their own during those three days to reduce the dimension and fence a smaller place to avoid hurting their feelings, but even when the discussions were still not finished to reach any amicable solution to the satisfaction of both sides, the Dargah was demolished using extensive force, which lead to communal riots in Baroda. Two big police vans are standing on the site now to protect the site, in effect obstructing the traffic much more than the dargah actually was. This act of bullying the minorities is against the principles of basic democratic values and fanning of communal violence are dangerous for the working people. Therefore the demand to restore the site of Dargah is to pave way for communal harmony and save democratic values at each step where the state is becoming more and more authoritarian these days.
The rally will give memorandum to collector to ask the State Government to take action on both the issues and to the office bearers and corporators of both BJP and Congress to pass resolution in Standing Committee.
We appeal all to join the rally, send messages to Gujarat Government and VMC in favour of the demands.
‘Jan Aandolan’ c/o 101, Shri Krishna Appartment-2, Opp. Kothi Police Parade ground, Raopura, Vadodara-390 001.
By Kuldip Nayar, Special to Gulf News
I do not know why after every bomb blast in India, be it at Mumbai in a Hindu locality or at Malegaon outside a mosque, Indians, particularly the media, resoundingly say there was no communal riot. One leader after another repeats in more or less the same words that terrorists have failed in their nefarious purpose to disrupt the Hindu-Muslim unity.
So far the refrain has been that terrorists have no religion. But after the September 8 Malegaon blasts, most Urdu newspapers in the country have said that the bomb blasts were the handiwork of Hindu fundamentalists. Probably so, but if in the past the comment has been that terrorists have no religion, then why change the policy now? It does reflect anger, but smacks of parochialism.
If the blasts are engineered by particular communities, it is bad enough. But the worst is the message it conveys: the Hindu-Muslim unity is superficial. When the two communities leave the elites aside live in their own localities, have little social contact and very limited economic dealings with each other, why should Indians feel the bomb blasts were used to cut the unity asunder?
Confusing
The absence of conflict is not unity. We are confusing it with co-existence. The fact, however sad, is that even after nearly 60 years of independence, Indians have not been able to establish a secular polity which they thought they would after getting rid of the British rulers and parting company with those who wanted to establish a separate and religious polity.
India's freedom struggle projected pluralism as its ethos. Where did it go wrong? This was the question I raised in my maiden speech in the Rajya Sabha (upper house of Indian parliament) in 1997. I still have no firm answer. Either the seed of separatism has been sown so deep that Indians have not been able to uproot it or they have left things as they were because they did not care. Once India got independence, Indians hardly bothered to establish a secular society.
True, India adopted a constitution which has given all communities equality before the law. But to make this meaningful, little has been done.
The effort to blot out old prejudice or rectify communal thinking has seldom gone beyond paper. Indians have stayed more as Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs than Indians and their approach has been sectional and it has remained the same way in one form or another.
Indians have not imbibed the secular spirit which a secular society demands. That is the reason why most of them do not rise against blatant acts of communalism and a few even give shelter to terrorists, foreign or Indian.
Indians are barking at the wrong tree. Take for example, Vande Mataram (Mother, I bow to thee). It is a song which has stirred national feelings for years. To use it for political purpose is fatal.
India's federal minister Arjun Singh, a top Congress leader, was the first to throw the brick, making the singing of the song compulsory at government-aided schools on September 7, when Vande Mataram was supposed to be 100 years old. Congress president Sonia Gandhi would have done the country proud if she had said that she was not compelled to sing it. True, she did not sing, but the party's explanation was that the date of September 7 was historically wrong for the centenary year.
Message
The message that a person does not become less patriotic if he does not sing the song went awry. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has no other programme except to communalise every facet of India feels happy that it has embarrassed the Congress.
The question is not whether the Congress has lost or the BJP has won. The question is whether the Indian nation has won. It has not.
The BJP may have scored a point but it is at the expense of Vande Mataram.
I was amused to read the comment by the Muslim Personal Law Board and some Islamic organisations. They do not have to teach the nation that Islam does not worship anyone else expect Allah. After living together for centuries, all Indians know that. They made it a religious issue and played into the hands of the BJP.
A society does not become secular by enunciating that it is secular. It requires commitment to the principle of tolerance and accommodation. Above all, it needs conviction that one's religion is not superior to that of others. All people, belonging to different religions, realise that their separate entities merge into one entity, that of India.
When there is no odium of guilt in a community which kills people of the other community, every verdict gets lost in recrimination. A secular society should be made of sterner stuff.
Source:
http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/editorial_opinion/world/10067736.html
Kolkata, Sep 16 (IANS) A face-off between top seeded Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Sania Mirza of India at the Sunfeast Open here is not on the cards before the semifinals.
According to the draws, Hingis will take on Melinda Czink in the opening tie, while Sania will take on a qualifier. While the 'Swiss Miss' will have to meet sixth seed Estonian Kaia Kanepi, Sania has the prospects of meeting French star and fourth seed Aravane Rezai.
Second seed Karolina Sprem has a relatively easy draw till the quarters, when she could meet eighth seed Anastasia Rodionova, while third seed Yuliana Fedak will have smooth sailing till the semis where seventh seed Nicole Pratt will lock horns with her.
However, Czink's rank of 84 is too flattering to deceive, for the Hungarian has had a couple of good WTA outings just before the Open, and can cause trouble to any opponent on her day. She also got the better of Sania early, casting a dampener on the meet.
Sania will also try to prove a point or two as indifferent form has seen her slip in the rankings and drop out of the top three seeds in the Sunfeast Open. She would surely try to do justice to her reputation and hope for the meet to be a turnaround for her.
Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus who has just returned from a good WTA outing will be her likely opponent in the quarters and she needs to do well to remain in the hunt.
Monchengladbach (Germany), Sep 16 (DPA) It was shame and humiliation again for India as they lost 2-3 to Argentina in a 9-12 position classification match in the men's hockey World Cup here Saturday.
India will now face South Africa for the 11-12 positions while Argentina will take on Japan in another classification match for the 9-10 position here Sunday.
Earlier in the day Japan thrashed South Africa 5-2 in another 9-12 classification match.
For India it was a chance to restore some dignity and finish in the top 10 in the 12-team tournament.
They started well by taking the lead in the third minute as Arjun Halappa sounded the board via a field goal.
It was in the 41st minute that the South American team netted the equaliser off a penalty corner conversion by Damian Matias Villa.
Ten minutes later Argentina went into lead when Enrique Matias Paredes found the net from a penalty corner again. The lead was shortlived as three minutes later India fired the equaliser off a Raj Pal Singh strike.
With eight minutes left for the final whistle, Argentina found the winner as Villa again converted a penalty corner.
ISLAMABAD, Sept 16 (NNN-KUNA) As the founding father of Pakistans nuclear bomb, accused of international nuke trafficking, speedily recovers from prostate cancer surgery, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has cleared Pakistan of nuclear material trafficking.
In its recent report on illicit trafficking and other unauthorised activities involving nuclear and radioactively contaminated material, the IAEA has cleared Islamabad of nuclear material trafficking within the last decade as it is reported to have taken stringent measures to secure its nuclear material and is continuously pushing to meet the international standards, press reports said Saturday.
The report said that from 1993 to 2005 a total of 827 confirmed incidents were reported by the participating member states of the IAEA Illicit Trafficking Database (ITDB).
None of these incidents, happened mostly in Western and Eastern European countries or USA and Russia, were attributed to Pakistan.
IAEA has been maintaining ITDB since 1995 to facilitate the exchange of information among member states, who voluntarily report such incident.
Pakistan also subscribes to it through Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA).
Dr. A. Q. Khan, father of Pakistans nuclear bomb, has been under house arrest since 2004 after confessing to have transferred nuclear technology to other states including Iran, Libya and North Korea.
He underwent prostate cancer surgery last week at Agha Khan Hospital in Southern Karachi city. According to doctors, his condition is stable and is speedily recovering from the surgery. He is expected to be flown back to Islamabad in the next few days.
Weekly Review
Mumbai, Sep 16 (IANS) Indian equities closed higher for the eighth straight week resulting in a key market index breaching the 12,000-point mark once again after over four months, propped by buying support from both Indian and foreign funds.
The overall movement in the markets, however, was choppy since some key indices were nearing all-time highs and investors were nervous to take fresh positions on a long-term basis, analysts said.
As the trading week drew to a close Friday, the sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) was positively placed at 12,009.59 points - up 90.94 points, or 0.76 percent, over the previous week's close at 11,918.65 points.
Looking ahead, analysts expect the market sentiments to continue to remain edgy. "Investors will wait for the third quarter results - expected in the first week of October - before fresh positions," an analyst with a brokerage here said.
"Most of the heavyweight stocks are overvalued - given the first quarter results of companies and their future prospects. Therefore, one can expect much of the action to shift to mid-cap stocks," the analyst added.
Trading commenced on a negative note during the week under review as the Sensex recorded its steepest fall since July 17 and closed at 11,550.69 points, Monday - down 367.96 points, or 3.09 percent, over the last Friday's close of 11,918.65 points.
But after that the markets began to look up, albeit amid volatility, and the key index managed to scale the psychologically important 12,000-point level.
The index was up 110.10 points, or 0.95 percent, Tuesday, followed by a further gain of 233.00 points or 2.00 percent Wednesday.
Thursday saw the Sensex top the 12,000 mark, but slip back at close to register a gain of 79.23 points, or 0.67 percent, at 11,973 points against the previous day's close at 11,893.79 points.
The markets continued to be charged Friday and the key index ended at 12,009.59 points to register a gain of 36.57 percent, or 0.31 percent, over the previous day's close.
During the week, even though foreign institutional investors sold equities worth $10.5 million Monday and $25.9 million Wednesday, they emerged as net buyers of stocks estimated at $201.2 billion during the week.
Foreign institutional investors have bought equities worth $532.30 million in September, $4.38 billion this year and their net cumulative purchases since they entered the Indian markets stands at $45.48 billion.
Among the Sensex stocks, the main gainer during the week was Larsen and Toubro, up four percent at Rs.2,640. The other stocks that rose included Grasim (3.94 percent at Rs.2,486) and Satyam (2.30 percent at Rs.829).
The biggest loser was Reliance Communications, down two percent at Rs.318. The other losers include Infosys (1.12 percent at Rs.1,809), Bajaj Auto (1.16 percent at Rs.2,792) and Hindustan Aluminium (1.25 percent at Rs.169).
By Arpana
New Delhi, Sep 16 (IANS) Munnabhai's experiments with Gandhian truths have made Raj Kumar Hirani's "Lage Raho Munnabhai" a smashing hit.
While Hirani employed the classic 'jadoo ki jhappi' (the magic hug) to reform a medical institution in "Munnabhai M.B.B.S.", in "Lage Raho..." he broadens his canvas and draws from Gandhian philosophy to cure society of its ills.
The film's success proves that though Gandhi is remembered only on his birth and death anniversaries his values are immortal.
The Gandhian values - conveyed in a tongue-in-cheek manner - have been received well by the youngsters too.
"I found Gandhi's presence in the film very outstanding - especially the way it was juxtaposed against the film's main theme. Gandhi's presence - by way of his morals - has been neatly showcased," says Nayan, a young journalist.
"Gandhi's lessons on non-violence can be seen everywhere in daily life. There may be different views and perspectives about him but each one of us follow him till today, consciously or unconsciously.
"Who wants the Iraq war? Who wants Lebanon bombings? Who wants bomb blasts in passenger trains? We are all votaries of non-violence," she adds.
Actor Abhay Deol echoes the same views.
"With his 'ahimsa(non-violent) movement' he gained freedom for the country. He didn't even have to raise a finger. The Dalai Lama is trying the same formula to resolve issues. I think in this age of terror nothing can be more effective than Gandhian philosophy," Abhay told IANS.
"Lage Raho..." is a perfect blend of humour and intellect and the bonding between Gandhi and Munnabhai has bowled over viewers.
"I enjoyed professor Munnabhai's tryst with Mahatma Gandhi more than doctor Munnabhai's friendship with Circuit in part one of the movie. The film teaches without preaching," says Madhulika, a young professional.
"Gandhi-ji is more relevant in today's times than he was at the time of Independence. His theory of non-violence should be practised even now," Anupam Kher was quoted as saying.
Undoubtedly, "Lage Raho..." is an ambitious film and it succeeds in its endeavours, which is the greatest achievement for its maker.
Everyone appreciated the film because Hirani has not portrayed Gandhi as an historical figure like Shyam Benegal in "Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero" and Ketan Mehta in "Sardar".
Munnabhai treats him like a commoner and he talks to him in his typically Mumbaiya lingo. As a result, it's easy for people to connect with Gandhi's values and principles.
For instance - in a scene where Munnabhai is playing a radio jockey a harassed caller tells him that he is fed up of his neighbour, who spits at his door.
Munnabhai asks Gandhi who suggests that whenever his neighbour spits, he should immediately clean it and one day his neighbour will realise his mistake and stop doing that.
The caller reluctantly follows his advice and as Gandhi-ji predicted, the guy stops spitting.
Children who are more into "Superman" and "Spiderman" movies and computer games also enjoyed the film.
"I enjoyed the film. I liked Gandhi's part more. He is humorous and I think the actor who has played Gandhi has done a great job.
"I won't mind seeing more films on our national heroes but it should be in the same format. I know about Gandhi but I learned one thing from the film and that is his mother's name," Srikant, a Class 9 student, told IANS.
In the film there is an old age home called "Second Innings" where children dump their aging parents. Hirani has used this as an analogy for Gandhi and his forgotten values.
Hirani also makes fun of Ekta Kapoor's fixation with the letter 'K' and touches upon quite a few issues plaguing society.
"The movie comments on social problems and beliefs in a very humorous way, especially superstition of girls being labelled 'mangalik' (born under Mars). It deals with how successful children dump their elderly parents and the stupidity of believing in astrology and bribery," says Anjana, a mother of two.
"It also brings out the importance of saying sorry to those who are close to you whom you take for granted," she added.
The film entertains - but also forces the audience to introspect about the social ills plaguing society.
Dhaka, Sep 16 (Xinhua) Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia has offered to talk to the main opposition Awami League (AL) on electoral reforms to resolve the political deadlock in the country.
The opposition, however, said after the offer was made Friday that they would discuss the sudden offer for dialogue.
Zia had in the last few days refused to agree to talks on electoral reforms, saying the upcoming general elections will be held according to the existing constitution.
"If the Awami League boycotts the elections there are other parties in the country who will participate," the prime minister had said.
AL President Sheikh Hasina, who is leading the 14-party opposition alliance, said her alliance will not take part in the elections without the reforms. She said they will not even allow the government to hold elections with only Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) men in the caretaker government and the Election Commission.
A group of western diplomats have asked the BNP and the AL leaders to resolve the current political dispute through negotiations.
The donor countries are also putting pressures on the BNP leaders to go for the electoral reforms to make the next government credible.
Meanwhile, the AL said that after the Sep 18 protest rally here, it will paralyse the government by calling for an indefinite general strike.
In Bangladesh, non-partisan caretaker government conducts the general elections under the constitution and the next elections are due in January.
Rome, Sept 16 (IndianMuslims.info)The Libyan government subjects migrants, asylum seekers and refugees to serious human rights abuses, including beatings, arbitrary arrests and forced return, while EU is helping Libya keep these migrants away from Europe, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
The 135-page report, "Stemming the Flow: Abuses Against Migrants, Asylum Seekers and Refugees," documents how Libyan authorities have arbitrarily arrested undocumented foreigners, mistreated them in detention, and forcibly returned them to countries where they could face persecution or torture, such as Eritrea and Somalia. From 2003 to 2005, the government repatriated roughly 145,000 foreigners, according to official Libyan figures.
"Libya is not a safe country for migrants, asylum seekers and refugees," said Bill Frelick, director of refugee policy for Human Rights Watch. "The European Union is working with Libya to block these people from reaching Europe rather than helping them to get the protection they need."
The European Union is currently negotiating joint naval patrols with Libya to block migration. But EU members, including the frontline country of Italy, have failed to insist that Libya protect the rights of the hundreds of thousands of foreigners in the country.
Over the past decade, hundreds of thousands of people have come to Libya, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, either to stay in the country or to travel through it to Europe. Many of the foreigners came for economic reasons, but some fled their home countries due to persecution or war. Once welcomed as cheap labor, sub-Saharan Africans in Libya now face tightened immigration controls, detention and deportation.
A persistent problem is physical abuse at the time of arrest, Human Rights Watch found. Foreigners who had spent time in Libya also reported abuse in detention, including beatings, overcrowding, substandard conditions, lack of access to a lawyer, and limited information about pending deportations.
The Libyan government maintains that the arrests of undocumented foreigners are necessary for public order, and that the security forces carry them out in accordance with the law. Some border guards and police officers have used excessive force, officials told Human Rights Watch, but those isolated incidents were punished by the state.
According to government statistics, roughly 600,000 foreigners live and work legally in Libya, a country of about 5.3 million people. But between 1 and 1.2 million foreigners are in Libya without proper documentation, placing a strain on resources and infrastructure.
An overarching problem is Libya's refusal to introduce an asylum law or procedure. Libya has not signed the 1951 Refugee Convention, and the government makes no attempt to identify refugees or others in need of international protection. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has a Tripoli office but no formal working arrangement with the government.
The report also documents the treatment of foreigners in the Libyan criminal justice system. Foreigners in Libya reported police violence and violations of due process, including torture and unfair trials. Sub-Saharan Africans in particular face hostility from a xenophobic host population, expressed in blanket accusations of criminality, verbal and physical attacks, harassment and extortion. Top Libyan officials blame foreigners for rising crime and health concerns such as HIV/AIDS.
A large section of the report examines the migration and asylum policies of the European Union, which is cooperating closely with Libya on migration control, but not taking adequate regard for the rights of migrants or the need to protect refugees and others at risk of abuse on return to their home countries.
Italy, the country most affected by migration from Libya, egregiously flouted international law under the recent government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Human Rights Watch said. In 2004 and 2005, the government expelled more than 2,800 migrants – and quite possibly refugees and others in need of international protection –back to Libya, where the Libyan government sent them to their countries of origin. At times, the authorities collectively expelled large groups without a proper screening of possible refugee claims.
In a positive development, the current government of Romano Prodi has said it will not expel individuals to countries that have not signed the Refugee Convention, including Libya. International organizations have been allowed regular access to the Lampedusa facility since this year, and the current government formed a commission to investigate conditions at immigration detention centers around the country.
"The Prodi government took a welcome step by halting collective expulsions and recognizing that Libya is not safe for return," Frelick said. "Now it should ensure that everyone who arrives in Italy or is intercepted at sea gets a proper chance to submit an asylum claim."
To read the Human Rights Watch report:
"Stemming the Flow: Abuses Against Migrants, Asylum Seekers and Refugees,"
please see:
http://hrw.org/reports/2006/libya0906
By Tarun Basu
Havana, Sep 16 (IANS) India and Pakistan announced an end to their stalemated peace process as they decided to resume foreign secretary-level talks and set up an anti-terror institutional mechanism following talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf here Saturday morning.
The two leaders - meeting after nearly a year - decided that the "peace process must be maintained and success was important for both countries and the future of the entire region".
A joint statement issued after their hour-long talks at the Protocol House, and read out on their behalf by Manmohan Singh, said the two leaders met in the aftermath of the Mumbai blasts of July 7 and have "strongly condemned all acts of terrorism and agreed that terrorism is a scourge that needs to effectively dealt with".
"They decided to put in place an India-Pakistan anti-terrorism institutional mechanism to identify and implement counter-terrorism initiatives and investigations".
The two leaders also directed their foreign secretaries to meet shortly in New Delhi to continue their talks that is known as the composite dialogue.
The joint statement said that Manmohan Singh, in response to a renewed invitation from Musharraf, "looked forward to a purposeful visit". The dates of the visit will be decided through diplomatic channels, though indications were it could happen later this year if the tempo of the dialogue process is maintained.
Both of them refused to take questions from journalists after reading out the joint statement. But confronted by Indian journalists later as he was leaving the International Convention Center where the two met the media, Musharraf described their meeting as "very good" and agreed with a questioner that it could be termed a breakthrough.
He also echoed the sentiments expressed by an Indian journalist "Mohabbat Zindabad (Long live love)" - a phrase from an old Hindi film that is popular in both countries.
Putting his finger on his lips, he said he was committed in mutual agreement to not saying anything that would hamper the progress of their talks but promised to speak to the Indian media at a later date.
The meeting - their fourth in two years - expectedly centred on issues like terrorism and Kashmir though the joint statement said all aspects of India-Pakistan relations were discussed in a "cordial, frank and detailed exchange".
The two leaders have so far met twice in New York and once in New Delhi. They first met in September 2004 in New York after which Manmohan Singh said he could do business with the Pakistani leader.
Both were in Havana to attend the two-day summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) that concluded Saturday.
Those present at the talks, which began as a one-to-one between the two leaders, were, from the Indian side Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma, National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan and Foreign Secretary-designate Shiv Shankar Menon, who is ending his tenure as India's high commissioner to Pakistan.
Present from the Pakistani side were Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, Human Resource Development Minister Sumaira Malik and Foreign Secretary Riaz Khan.
Musharraf has been pressing Manmohan Singh to make a return visit to Pakistan, but the Indian prime minister had said he could not go to Islamabad till Indian public opinion was convinced that concrete steps were being taken to ensure that militants were not allowed to use Pakistani soil to launch terrorist attacks on India.
The anti-terror consultative mechanism, in which both are likely to share information on terrorism, seems to be in response to that. There was no new assurance from Musharraf on restraining cross-border terror, though the joint statement recalled commitments made in previous documents from 2004 to 2005.
On Jammu and Kashmir, the joint statement said the two leaders had useful discussions and there was a "need to build on convergences and narrow down divergences".
The foreign secretaries have also been directed to arrange consultations for an early solution of the military confrontation over the Siachen glacier in the Himalayas.
The foreign secretaries were also asked to agree on coordinates for joint survey of the disputed Sir Creek and adjoining area "without prejudice to each other's position on the issue".
The two sides will also facilitate implementation of agreements and understandings reached on trans-border confidence building measures, including bus services, crossing points and the start of a truck services between the two Kashmirs.
Movement Against Uranium Project (MAUP)
540, Road no.12, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad-500 034.
Tel Nos. 2332 1350; 9393366000;
E-mail < captjrrao@gmail.com >
----------------------------------------------------------------
MAUP/2006 14th September 2006
To,
Hon'ble Dr. Justice A.S. Anand
Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission,
Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg,
New Delhi, PIN 110001
Tel.No. 23382742 Fax No. 23384863
E-Mail: chairnhrc@nic.in
Respected Sir,
Sub: - Uranium Project – Tummalapalle of Cudapah District, Andhra Pradesh - Environmental Public Hearing – False cases hoisted on Protestors - Gross violation of Human rights.
This is to bring to your notice that recently (on 10th Septemeber 2006) an Environmental Public Hearing (EPH) was conducted in Tummalapalle of Cudapah district in Andhra Pradesh on Uranium mining proposed by Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) as mandated by the Environment Impact Assessment Notification of 1994 issued by Ministry of Environment and Forests.
That so called Environmental Public Hearing (EPH) conducted had turned out to be a “Private� hearing of UCIL and the individuals colluding with UCIL . The presence of large number of hired people brought from the villages not likely to be affected by the project and unprecedented large Police Force and prevention of the villagers likely to be directly affected by the project, from participation, are clear indications of the stage managed EPH , with the collusion of the authorities concerned.
Purpose of EPH
The EPH is the only legal space that is available to the people, where they can raise their concerns about the proposed project, which are to be considered in the process of decision making, for according Environmental Clearance to the project or otherwise. But unfortunately the people of the villages likely to be affected by Tummalapalle Uranium Project i.e. Mining & Processing of Uranium, had been denied of this opportunity by not permitting them to take part in EPH conducted on 10 th September.
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The Electronic and print media have extensively covered the event, giving the particulars of the way the EPH was conducted and the presence of some individuals not connected with the EPH process on the stage , which has vitiated the entire process. The press clippings of the same are enclosed. However the District Collector in his closing remarks, is reported to have stated that the public had expressed in favour of the project and accordingly the Report will be submitted to the authorities, which it is in contradiction of the actual facts.
Sustainable Development
The right to “Sustainable Development� has been declared by the UN General Assembly to be an inalienable Human Right. The 1992 Rio Conference declared that Human beings are at the center of concerns for sustainable development and Human beings are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature. In order to achieve “Sustainable Development� environmental protection shall constitute an integral part of development process and cannot be considered in isolation of it.
The Gross Injustices of Corrupt Police Department
The local police officials have foisted false cases on the protestors against this project blaming them of various crimes, which they have never committed. The most irregular thing about these police cases is the fact that no individual or agency has lodged any complaint on any of them.
We strongly believe that this is being done to discourage local people to participate in a future public hearing, which is being demanded after cancelling the one held on 10th September 2006, by various organisations as well as all major political parties like TDP, CPM, CPI and MIM. The press clippings on the same are attached for your reference.
Request
In the light of the position explained above, it is requested that all the false and malicious cases booked against innocent villagers who were exercising their fundamental rights by voicing their concerns be lifted and also strict action be taken against the officials involved. We also request you to declare the EPH conducted on 10th September be treated as null and void in view of the human rights violations of not allowing people to exercise their Freedom of Speech, Illegal and conduct a fresh EPH after giving adequate notice, in a free, fair and transparent manner under the supervision of impartial body like the State Human Rights Commission. Thanking You,
Yours Cordially,
Capt. J.Rama Rao I.N. (Retd)
Convener
Copy to: -
Andhra Pradesh State Human Rights Commission
E-Mail: aphumanrights@ap.nic.in
HAVANA, Sept 16 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) -- Cuba's Foreign Affairs Minister Felipe Pérez Roque called for Non Aligned member countries to take measures for making stronger and more determined their support of the Palestinian people.
After assuming the presidency of the NAM Ministerial Committee on Palestine, Perez Roque said that organization is more important than ever for solidarity with those countries, which suffer from human rights violations, including the right to life and self-determination.
The Cuban foreign minister recalled that a UN resolution, which establishes the creation of a sovereign, Palestinian State continues pending 59 years after it was declared.
He condemned the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, in which Tel Aviv applies mass punishment, lifts walls, closes borders and deteriorates the conditions of living of the population.
"Israel's unpunished action is a result of the support given by the United States, which has used its veto power 40 times at the UN Security Council, and continues threatening to use it to preventing Tel Aviv's crimes from even being considered", stressed Perez Roque.
He added that US financial and military support, which includes weapons supply for the Israeli nuclear arsenal, is also another contribution to Tel Aviv's action.
Malaysia, leading the Non Aligned Movement until the current 14th Summit, has passed the presidency of the Committee on Palestine, formed by 12 States, to Cuba.
HAVANA, Sept 16 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stressed on Friday that the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) should have a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council considering its role and status as the representative of the world's most populous countries.
In his address at the opening session Friday of the 14th NAM Summit, Ahmadinejad, who was talking as the representative of Asian states in the organisation, said NAM can play a crucial role in the international arena on account of its political capabilities.
Saying that the body at the present juncture shoulders a heavy responsibility, Ahmadinejad said that NAM member states can resist bullying and aggression by big powers by taking appropriate stances and decisions on major issues arising in today's world.
He added that the only way the 118-member organization can meet its responsibilities is through active interaction among its members.
Noting that NAM was originally intended to be a "bastion" for the world's independent countries, the president said there was no doubt its decisions could play a key role in bringing peace, justice and security to the entire world.
The summit, attended by heads of state and government of 118 member states, ends later today.
Nepal government's control in countryside eroding: UN
DPA
Kathmandu, Sep 16 (DPA) The UN's chief representative in Nepal warned in an interview published Saturday that government control of the Nepalese countryside was "shrinking".
"The presence of the state is further shrinking in the countryside due to increased Maoist influence," Matthew Kahane, the UN representative and humanitarian coordinator, told the Kathmandu Post.
Kahane's comments came amid growing reports that the Maoists were running parallel governments in most of the rural areas of the country.
Kahane said the rebels were becoming more organised and were blocking government activities in the countryside.
"Presence of the state is very limited," he said. "The government was ineffective during the armed conflict, but it's shrinking now."
A ceasefire between the government and Maoist rebels took effect in April.
Kahane also said he had been told by some Maoist leaders that the rebels would permit development activities of "the UN and other bilateral donors, but not those of the government".
"What we see is the absence of effective presence of government institutions in the countryside," Kahane said, citing the increasing influence of Maoists.
The government has sought the return of village development committee secretaries, who represent the state in villages and who were driven away from their place of work by the rebels. But the secretaries cited "lack of security" and were not heeding the government's call, Kahane said.
This had badly affected government-run development and other activities in the countryside.
Rebels have also prevented the spending of government grants of NRS one million ($14,000) to each of the country's more than four thousand village development committees - another dangerous development, according to Kahane.
Kahane said his views were "based purely on what we are seeing at the operational level where I am concerned about development works".
Kathmandu, Sep 16 (IANS) A chance encounter between a Nepali delegation headed by a minister and four Nepali women in New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport saved the women from being trafficked to Kuwait.
The delegation, led by Nepali minister Urmila Arryal, was returning from a study trip to Kabul when they became suspicious at the sight of a vulnerable-looking group huddling desolately in the busy airport.
After questioning the group, which included a nursing mother, the delegation learnt that the quartet were being taken to Kuwait to work as housemaids even though Nepal has banned its woman from working as domestic help in Gulf countries.
The group had apparently been left in the lurch by the broker and at Arryal's initiative, they were taken to the Nepali embassy in Delhi.
The ministry of labour and transport management has been asked to look into the incident and arrest the culprits.
India is a major route for trafficking Nepali women to the Gulf countries.
Since Nepalis do not require a visa to travel to India, unscrupulous touts flout the ban by luring victims to India. From there, some are sent to destinations in the Gulf where they are often sexually abused and maltreated.
Others are left in the lurch in Indian cities after the touts collect their fee from the victims.
To pay the touts, people often mortgage their land or borrow money at heavy interest rates.
A decade-old insurgency, unemployment and political instability combine to cause thousands of Nepalis to seek employment abroad every year.
By Sudeshna Sarkar
Kathmandu, Sep 16 (IANS) Three years after a fierce opposition to alleged Indian investment in the media, Nepal's new government is now thinking of liberalising this sector, including allowing up to 49 percent foreign direct investment.
After the fall in April of King Gyanendra's regime that had imposed harsh restrictions on the media, the new seven-party alliance (SPA) that came to power on the wings of a mass revolt pledged to democratise the media and formed a commission of journalists to advise on how to improve the sector.
The media commission has submitted its report to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, recommending that transparent foreign investment up to 49 percent should be allowed in the national media. However, to safeguard national interests, the managerial chief and editorial staff should be Nepalis.
The recommendation comes three years after the Nepali media unitedly opposed the launch of a new Nepali daily, the Annapurna Post.
Around 2002, a new publishing house, the International Media Network, launched an English daily, the Himalayan Times, and triggered a price war among the existing dailies. The fierce competition caused an English daily, the Space Times, to fold up.
Alarmed at the way the new daily began capturing the market, the existing newspapers began a campaign when it announced the launch of a Nepali daily. The campaign was mainly based on the allegation that the dailies were funded by Indian investors and were intended to be used for propaganda by the Indian government.
Though Nepal's laws regarding FDI in the media remain hazy about allowing foreign capital, the campaign at times turned violent, with attacks on the two dailies' office and vans.
But now, there could be a sea change with the prime minister asking Information and Communications Minister Dilendra Prasad Badu to implement the recommendations.
In another revolutionary move, the media body has asked the government to allow the private sector to open news agencies. Currently, there is only one, the state-owned National News Agency, an "unprofessional" organisation used as the government mouthpiece.
The other state-run media organisations, including the Gorkhapatra daily, Nepal Television and Radio Nepal, which were grossly misused during the royal regime to defend the king's power grab by a coup, could also undergo a transformation if the recommendations are heeded.
The commission has advocated that the private sector should take over the state dailies while the TV and radio channels should become public broadcasting institutions.
To guide the media, the commission has also mooted establishing an information and communications commission that should lay down guidelines regarding the extent of freedom of speech, press rights and people's right to information.
Interestingly, the commission has made reference to a proposal floated by the army during the king's direct rule to run FM stations. Though it was granted licence by the royal regime, the plan was dropped after the ouster of the regime.
New Delhi, Sep 16 (IANS) Nine days of carnival for book lovers began here Saturday as nearly 270 publishers unveiled their offerings at the Delhi Book Fair.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit inaugurated the fair at Pragati Maidan in style as she spoke about the growing reading culture in India.
Eminent Urdu poet and Bollywood lyricist Javed Akhtar, chief guest for the inaugural function, waxed eloquent on the power of books and creativity in moulding sensibilities of people.
Organised jointly by the Federation of Indian Publishers (FIP) and India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), the 12th Delhi Book Fair has foreign buyers from four countries - Britain, Mauritius, Malaysia and Uganda - participating for the first time.
Affirming deep civilisational ties with India, Iran has showcased its history, culture and literature at an impressive stall in Hall no. 8 of Pragati Maidan.
Pakistan, Germany and Mauritius are also participating in the fair.
Online booksellers like a1books.com and Google, participating for the first time in the fair, are a big draw with many visitors trying to understand the brave new world of digital publishing.
"I want to provide an online market for publishers in India. I am excited about the growing hunger for books in India," Shinu Gupta, chairman and CEO of a1books, told IANS.
It is not just buying and selling that will dominate the show.
The organisers have tried to instil some intellectual and literary excitement through a string of seminars, conferences, book launches and a poetry reading competition.
"We are also planning a children's painting workshop to encourage the creativity of kids," Delhi Book Fair director Shakti Mallik said.
For bibliophiles and purveyors of the intellectual marketplace, the fair promises to be a veritable paradise with books on just about every subject under the sun ranging from kitschy pulp fiction to the Bhagavad Gita displayed in nearly 600 stalls at the fair.
Kolkata, Sep 16 (IANS) The Kalighat temple here will no longer have pandas harassing devotees.
To end the bullying tactics of the pandas, the middlemen who assist devotees with their ritual offerings, the Calcutta High Court Friday delivered an "experimental" verdict, prohibiting their entry into the temple's garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum).
"No one except priests appointed by the temple committee will be allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum," ruled the division bench consisting of Chief Justice V.S. Sirpurkar and Justice Nadira Patherya.
The court directed the police to ensure that no devotee is harassed by the pandas at the temple.
Once the temple is closed at night, the sealed cash offering boxes will be opened in front of a temple committee representative, the sebayet, the person in charge of the daily puja, and a police officer.
After paying the sebayet his dues, the committee is to deposit the amount in the bank the next morning.
The order also mentioned that the civic body entrusted by the state to beautify the temple has received Rs.10 million from the International Fund for Sustainable Development and it will start work within two weeks.
New Delhi, Sep 16 (IANS) The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government can breathe easy. Communist veteran Prakash Karat says his party has no intention of toppling it and a third alternative is not in sight.
Karat, general secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), admitted that the Left had influenced the government's functioning but it would not do "a veto on everything and pull down the government".
"Then the government would not have lasted six months," he told Karan Thapar in an interview with CNN-IBN.
"We went into supporting the government knowing fully well there are basic differences between the Congress and us, but the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) should be attempted to be worked and implemented."
The government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has had several tiffs, big and small, with its Left allies since taking office in May 2004.
Karat said there was no alternative, for now, to the Congress government.
"There's no better alternative and the alternative which my party wants, a third alternative, is not doable or see-able in the near future," he said. "So we will work for the third alternative but that is a much more long-term process."
The CPI-M leader admitted that the Marxists had come to wield a certain influence on the government.
"At no time has the CPI-M and the Left been able to influence policies at the national level to the extent that is happening today," he said.
"We have shifted the whole terrain of political debate in the country and the issues that have come up to the bread and butter issues, the real issues of the people, and we have shown that on every question we give no quarter...
"We play a role of opposition to policies," Karat said.
"Our job is to act as the sentinel of what we consider people's interests and whenever there is a policy measure which we consider is not in the interest of the people of the country we oppose it and in some cases we are able to stop but in some cases they went ahead and we continue to mobilise people to oppose it. It's a political process," Karat said.
By Tarun Basu
Havana, Sep 15 (IANS) Urging the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to reject extremes and be the voice of "moderation, harmony and reason", Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday said it should deal with urgent trans-national issues like terrorism, pandemics, energy security and environment.
In his address on the first day of the two-day NAM summit here, Manmohan Singh rejected the oft-quoted Western notion of a 'clash of civilisations' and said NAM should "play the role of a bridge of understanding" and work instead toward a "confluence of civilisations".
He said for NAM to remain relevant it could not equivocate on terrorism.
"A message must emanate from us that we are united in our desire to fight and eliminate the scourge of terrorism. We cannot allow the forces of intolerance and extremism to distract the world's attention from the vital concerns of our people - the problems of poverty, ignorance and disease," the prime minister said, addressing leaders and delegates from 118 nations at the International Convention Center overlooking the vast Atlantic Ocean.
He said the world was being split along an artificially created cultural and religious divide and the NAM, encompassing as it does "every religion professed by mankind", was uniquely placed "to play the role of a bridge of understanding".
Among other things, Manmohan Singh, called for:
* Constitution of a high-level NAM group for West Asia that would promote understanding in the Middle East and promote implementation of the agreed roadmap to peace;
* Work towards efforts to achieve universal nuclear disarmament and a world free of nuclear weapons as enshrined in the 1988 Rajiv Gandhi Action Plan for Nuclear Disarmament;
* Establish a NAM Working Group on Energy to draw up an action plan for energy security for member nations. India can coordinate the action of such a group;
* Take a major NAM initiative on Africa to pool assets for investment in the future of Africa, particularly focussing on human resource and agricultural development.
Manmohan Singh said NAM should spread the message of Mahatma Gandhi, the apostle of peace.
"If we wish to revitalise the Non-Aligned Movement, the collective message of our summit must be seen as being central to the success of global efforts to deal with urgent trans-national issues - be it terrorism, pandemics, energy security or the environment.
"As a group we have rejected extremes....Our voice must then be one of moderation, harmony and reason. If such is the voice of more than half of the people of the world, it will prevail," the prime minister concluded.
Islamabad/Brussels, Sept 16 (Press Release)The Balochistan insurgency will not recede until Islamabad ends its heavy-handed, armed response to legitimate Baloch grievances and negotiates matters of political and economic autonomy.
"Pakistan: The Worsening Conflict in Balochistan", the latest report from the International Crisis Group, examines the troubled Pakistani province and finds the situation deteriorating in the wake of the killing of Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti in August 2006 and the deadly riots that followed. The conflict will escalate further if the government continues to insist on a military solution to what is a political problem. The international community, especially the U.S., should recognise the price involved for security in neighbouring Afghanistan.
“Eliminating a political leader like Bugti will only fuel the insurgency in Balochistan�, says Samina Ahmed, Crisis Group South Asia Project Director. “By using indiscriminate force, the military government is perpetuating this conflict�.
After almost seven years of military rule, deprived of representative participatory institutions and with their natural resources exploited by Islamabad, Baloch alienation is at an all time high. Although regional parties and leaders are still struggling to obtain their rights within a democratic, federal, parliamentary framework, militants have picked up the gun.
Baloch political parties and militants have a common goal – to assert provincial control over Balochistan’s natural resources and gain a voice in shaping its political, economic and social development. By choosing confrontation over negotiation, however, the government of Pervez Musharraf bears responsibility for the state of the conflict.
If the dangerous and fast widening gap between the Baloch and the centre is to be narrowed, the restoration of democracy is the only way out. Free and fair general elections in 2007 would restore representative institutions, once again giving the Baloch political avenues and mechanisms to voice their grievances and demands.
Disturbingly, the military government’s reliance on Pashtun religious parties to counter Baloch opposition has strengthened Pashtun Islamist forces at the cost of moderates in Balochistan. With their chief Pakistani patron running the Balochistan government in alliance with Musharraf’s Muslim League, a reinvigorated Afghan and Pakistani Taliban are attacking international forces and the Kabul government across Balochistan’s border with Afghanistan. Pakistan’s Western allies seem oddly unaware or unconcerned.
“Dropping the failed military response to Baloch demands and empowering moderate forces in Balochistan would improve stability in the region�, says Robert Templer, Director of Crisis Group’s Asia Program. “It is in the interests of the international community to ensure the 2007 election is democratic, free, fair and transparent�.
Link:
Rome, Sep 16 (DPA) Pope Benedict XVI was "deeply sorry" that his controversial remarks about Islam earlier this week may have caused offence, Vatican secretary of state Tarcisio Bertone said here Saturday as angry reactions continued to pour in from the Muslim world.
The pope had said he was "deeply sorry" that some passages in his speech "may have sounded offensive to the sensibility of Muslim believers," Bertone said in a statement.
The statement referred to a speech delivered by the pope last Tuesday during his visit to Germany, in which he quoted a 14th Century Christian emperor as referring to elements of the Muslim faith as "evil and inhuman".
Bertone's statement said: "Regarding the judgement by the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus, quoted by the pope in his speech in Regensburg, the Holy Father absolutely did not intend, nor does he intend, to make it his own."
Bertone said the pope merely referred to the 14th century speech "to discuss the relationship between religion and violence" and to make "a clear and radical rejection of religious motivations of violence, from whatever side they may come".
"The Holy Father is therefore deeply sorry that some of the passages of his speech may have sounded offensive to the sensibility of Muslim believers and that they were interpreted in a way that in no way corresponds to his intentions."
Earlier, the head of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany had warned the pope's remarks could trigger violent protests similar to those that erupted after the publication in some newspapers of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed earlier this year.
"He should apologise to Muslims. It's the best way to calm things down and clear up the matter," Ayyub Axel Koehler said in a newspaper interview.
The maelstrom of controversy over the pope's remarks came weeks before his planned visit to Turkey - his first to a Muslim country - in November.
Turkish foreign ministry sources were quoted by Hurriyet newspaper as saying Saturday that Benedict's remarks would in no way affect his visit to the secular state, although the ministry had asked the papal nuncio in Ankara for the text of the pope's remarks.
Earlier Saturday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaking from Havana had called for an analysis of the pope's comments by theologians while the Iranian foreign ministry had called on the pope to revise his stance on Islam and violence to clear up any misunderstanding.
The Jordanian government Saturday described the pope's remarks as "extremely offending" and pointed to the "great achievements in the sphere of inter-faith dialogue" achieved by Benedict XVI's predecessor, Pope John Paul II.
Over the past two days, the pope's remarks were slammed by Pakistan's lower house of parliament in a resolution, by the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, by the Organisation of the Islamic Conference and by religious leaders in Iraq, Lebanon, India and other countries.
Two Christian churches in the Palestinian territories were also firebombed but no one was injured.
Muslim groups in European countries with large Muslim populations, including Britain and France, had also expressed their surprise and hurt at the pope's remarks.
In Regensburg, the pope quoted a conversation that took place in Ankara in the 14th century between Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Paleologus and an educated Persian on Christianity and Islam.
The Vatican on Thursday and Friday sought to stem the torrent of criticism, saying the pope "never intended to offend the sensibility of Muslim believers" and that he was keen to "cultivate an attitude of respect and dialogue toward other religions and cultures".
German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended the pope's remarks, saying the pope had been expressing "a decisive and uncompromising rejection of every form of violence carried out in the name of religion" and that the speech was an invitation to engage in inter-faith dialogue.
Kula Lumpur, Sep 16 (IANS) The third match of the DLF Cup triangular series here Saturday was interrupted again during the Indian innings due to strong showers.
Chasing a target of 245, India were 16 for no loss after five overs when the drizzle became strong and the players had to leave the ground. Sachin Tendulkar was batting on 11 while Rahul Dravid was unbeaten with 2 runs.
Earlier, opting to bat first, Shane Watson made a flamboyant 79 and Michael Clarke scored a gutsy 64 as Australia were all out for 244.
The match was also held up for a few minutes towards the end of the Australian innings due to rain.
Brief scores: Australia 244 all out in 49.2 overs (Shane Watson 79, Michael Clarke 64; Munaf Patel 3/53). India 16/0. Match interrupted due to rain.
Kuala Lumpur, Sep 16 (IANS) India were saved the blushes after yet another middle-order collapse as the third match of the DLF Cup triangular series against Australia here Saturday was abandoned due to rain and the teams split points.
Chasing a revised target of 170 runs from 29 overs, India were struggling at 35/5 in the day-night encounter at the Kinrara Academy Oval.
Mitchell Johnson wrecked the Indian batting line-up by picking up four wickets for just 11 runs in his four overs. His fiery spell put the Australians in the box seat as India faced an obvious defeat.
Rahul Dravid (6), Sachin Tendulkar (12), Irfan Pathan (0) and Yuvraj Singh (0) were his victims, while Virender Sehwag was run out for eight.
After the eighth over of the Indian innings, it started raining again for the third time in the match, leading to the tie being abandoned.
A keenly awaited contest between Australian pacer Glenn McGrath and Tendulkar began with the fast bowler's delivery hitting the maestro on his helmet in his second over. Tendulkar responded by dancing down the track and hitting him for a four over the mid-wicket in his third over.
Australia, opting to bat first, were bowled out for 244 in 49.2 overs. Opener Shane Watson made a flashy 79 and Michael Clarke scored a gutsy 64.
Watson and Phil Jacques gave Australia a decent start. The duo put on a 64-run partnership for the first wicket, with the fifty coming up in 8.2 overs.
Munaf Patel broke the partnership in the 10th over when he had Jacques caught by Sehwag.
Patel was the most successful Indian bowler, picking up three wickets for 53 runs. Harbhajan Singh and Ajit Agarkar bagged two wickets each.
Watson's innings lasted 74 deliveries and included 10 boundaries and two sixes over long on. He was well set for a deserving century but was out in the 28th over trying to hit Harbhajan, caught brilliantly by a diving Suresh Raina in the mid-wicket area.
The Australian middle-order failed to deliver and it was captain Ricky Ponting's (19) dismissal that triggered the collapse. He tried to pull Irfan Pathan but played straight into the hands of Sachin Tendulkar at deep fine leg, with just 92 runs on board.
Damien Martyn, playing the first match of the series, didn't trouble the scorers much as he made only four. Dhoni caught him off a Rudra Pratap Singh deliery.
Martyn edged it to Dravid in the slips but the Indian captain fumbled the easiest of chances. Wicketkeeper Dhoni, however, was alert enough to pounce on a rebound.
Bradley Haddin (16) was run out by Sehwag in the 41st over.
But it was Clarke's innings, which proved vital to help the Australians pile up a competitive total. The Aussies lost wickets at regular intervals but he kept the scoreboard ticking by stealing the singles.
After his departure in the 47th over, the lower order crumbled as Brad Hogg (12), Mitchell Johnson (2) and Stuart Clark (7) failed to deliver.
Australia lost the last four wickets for just 13 runs.
Scorecard
Third one-day international, DLF Cup triangular series, India vs Australia, Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur (day/night), Sep 16
Australia
Phil Jaques c Sehwag b Patel 25
Shane Watson c Raina b Harbhajan 79
Ricky Ponting c Tendulkar b Pathan 19
Damien Martyn c Dhoni b Rudra Pratap 4
Michael Clarke c Raina b Patel 64
Mark Cosgrove c Dravid b Harbhajan 4
Bradley Haddin run out (Sehwag) 16
Brad Hogg c Dhoni b Agarkar 12
Mitchell Johnson c Dhoni b Agarkar 2
Stuart Clark c Rudra Pratap b Patel 7
Glenn McGrath not out 1
Extras (b 1, lb 4, w 5) 10
Total (all out in 49.2 overs) 244
Fall of wickets: 1-64 (Jaques, 9.6 overs), 2-92 (Ponting, 15.2), 3-113 (Martyn, 18.1), 4-157 (Watson, 27.6), 5-167 (Cosgrove, 31.3), 6-200 (Haddin, 40.5), 7-230 (Clarke, 46.1), 8-232 (Johnson, 47.1), 9-243 (Clark, 48.5)
Bowling
Ajit Agarkar 8.2-0-50-2 (1w)
Munaf Patel 10-1-53-3
Rudra Pratap Singh 7-1-35-1
Irfan Pathan 4-0-32-1 (2w)
Harbhajan Singh 10-0-26-2 (2w)
Virender Sehwag 10-0-43-0
India
Rahul Dravid c Martyn b Johnson 6
Sachin Tendulkar c Haddin b Johnson 12
Irfan Pathan b Johnson 0
Virender Sehwag run out 8
Yuvraj Singh c Hogg b Johnson 0
Suresh Raina not out 1
Extras (w 7, nb 1) 8
Total (for 5 wickets in 8 overs) 35
Fall of wickets 1-20 (Dravid, 5.5 overs), 2-20 (Pathan, 5.6 ), 3-34 (Sehwag, 6.6), 4-34 (Tendulkar, 7.2), 5-35 (Yuvraj Singh, 7.6)
Bowling
Glenn McGrath 3-1-10-0 (1nb, 1w)
Mitchell Johnson 4-0-11-4 (1w)
Stuart Clark 1-0-14-0 (1w)
Toss: Australia
Result: Match abandoned due to rains.
Umpires: Mark Benson (England) and Anthony Hill (New Zealand)
TV umpire: Asad Rauf (Pakistan)
Match Referee: Chris Broad (England)
Jaipur, Sep 16 (IANS) In a bid to curb growing resentment within the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rajasthan's ministers have been instructed to interact with party workers regularly.
Hari Shankar Bhabhra, in-charge of the party's programme implementation committee, has written letters to all ministers, asking them to spare time for party workers to ensure better coordination between the government and the organisation.
Bhabhra, a former deputy chief minister, has said that the ministers had in recent months discontinued the practice of coming to the party headquarters here to meet party workers.
The ministers have been asked to adjust their schedules in such a way that they meet party members regularly and hear their problems.
The party carried out a similar exercise in 2004 but it was later discontinued.
Kolkata, Sep 16 (IANS) India's Sanaa Bhambri caused the first upset of the Sunfeast Open Saturday when she defeated big-serving Dutchwoman Brenda Schultz-McCarthy in three sets in a qualifying match.
The 691st ranked Bhambri won 0-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9-7).
After winning the first set quite easily, Schultz-McCarthy was surprised by Bhambri's solid returns and baseline play. In the second, Bhambri broke Schultz-McCarthy to take a 4-3 lead and pocketed the set 6-3.
In the third set, both the players held serves to six games all, sending the game to a tiebreaker.
"I had no clue as to what was happening in the first set. But in the second I regained my composure and started to hold my serves. I knew if I can return the balls well she was bound to make mistakes," Bhambri said after the match.
"It's always good to win a big match in the first round. It sets you up for the tournament. With more such exposure and more tournaments like this I am bound to play better in the coming days."
Schultz-McCarthy was once ranked world number 9 and has won seven singles and nine doubles titles.
CAIRO, Sept 16 (KUNA) -- The best thing the international community can do for Sudan is to support the Abuja peace deal on Darfur instead of planning for deploying international forces, Sudanese Foreign Minister Al-Samani Al-Wasila stressed Saturday.
Al-Wasila told Sawt Al-Arab (Voice of the Arabs) Radio that the tension in Darfur was a result of violent acts committed by sides opposing the Abuja agreement.
He also stressed that peace must be achieved by the people of Sudan themselves and no one else.
Senior Sudanese officials rejected United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution 1706 demanding transferring of the mission of African peace-keeping forces in Darfur to a UN-led operation.
Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir had accused some countries on Friday of providing support to two Sudanese groups refusing the Abuja deal, pointing out that sides refusing the agreement formed the National Redemption Front and invaded areas controlled by a third group.
He made repeated demands for extension of the African troops' mission in Darfur, scheduled to end at end of this month, instead of bringing international forces.
Foreign ministers of the European Union (EU) called, in their meeting in Brussels on Friday, Sudanese authorities to accept the deployment of international forces in Darfur, virtue of the said resolution, which Sudan considers interference in its internal affairs.
New Delhi, Sep 16 (IANS) Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) journalist Syed Zarir Hussain Saturday bagged the sixth Sarojini Naidu Prize for best reporting on women in panchayati raj.
Guwahati-based Hussain, a special correspondent with the IANS, will get Rs.200,000 and a citation from the Hunger Project here Oct 2.
The Hunger Project is a global movement of women and men committed to build a future free from hunger.
In more than 10,000 villages across 13 countries of South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, the Hunger Project empowers millions of people to achieve lasting progress in health, nutrition and family income.
Hussain has got the award for a series of stories on women panchayati leaders and their crusade against alcoholism in Assam's tea gardens.
Washington, D.C., Sept 16 (IndianMuslims.info) The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called for increased dialogue between Muslims and Catholics over the controversy sparked by remarks perceived as insulting to Islam and the Prophet Muhammad made by Pope Benedict XVI. CAIR is also seeking a meeting with the Vatican's representative in Washington, D.C., to discuss the remarks.
In an address on Tuesday, the Pope quoted a 14th century Byzantine Christian Emperor as saying: "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."
In a statement issued today, the Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group said:
"The proper response to the Pope's inaccurate and divisive remarks is for Muslims and Catholics worldwide to increase dialogue and outreach efforts aimed at building better relations between Christianity and Islam. This unfortunate episode also offers an opportunity for Christians to learn more about Islam, the Prophet Muhammad and the Islamic concept of jihad.
"Jihad is a central and broad Islamic concept that includes struggle against evil inclinations within oneself, struggle to improve the quality of life in society, struggle in the battlefield for self-defense (e.g., - having a standing army for national defense), or fighting against tyranny or oppression. 'Jihad' should not be translated as 'holy war.'
"The Quran, Islam's revealed text, condemns forced acceptance of any faith when it states: 'Let there be no compulsion in religion.' (2:256) Islam calls for peace once oppression ends: 'Fight in the cause of God with those who fight against you, but do not exceed the limits...If they desist, let there be no hostility except against the oppressors." (2:190-193)
"Muslims are also asked to maintain good relations with people of other faiths, and to engage in constructive dialogue. 'And dispute not with the People of the Book (Christians and Jews) except with means better (than mere disputation). . .but say, 'We believe in the Revelation that has come down to us and in that which came down to you.'" (29:46)
"The Quran also states: '(Rest assured that) those who believe (in the Quran), and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians, and the Sabians - whoever believes in God and the last day and performs good deeds - will be rewarded by their Lord. They will have nothing to fear or to regret.' (2:62)
"In Islam, there is no contradiction between faith and reason. The first verses revealed to the Prophet Muhammad included: 'Read! In the name of your Lord. . .Read! Your Lord is the Most Gracious, Who taught by the (use of the) pen, taught man what he knew not.' Historically, whenever Islam flourished, so did knowledge and discovery.
"Let us all continue the interfaith efforts promoted by the late Pope John Paul II, who made great strides in bringing Muslims and Catholics together for the common good."
Along with a request for a meeting with a Vatican representative in the United States, CAIR is urging Americans of all faiths to learn more about Islam and about the life and legacy of the Prophet Muhammad by requesting a free Quran or a book or DVD about Muhammad at www.explorethequran.org and www.cair.com/Muhammad.
CAIR has 32 offices and chapters in United States and Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
Beirut, Sept 16 (IndianMuslims.info) Spanish troops today arrived for the first time in Lebanon, helping to boost the United Nations force to around 4,600, while Israel’s withdrawal from the south is continuing and Lebanese troops are expected to deploy into more areas tomorrow, the world body announced today.
Some 500 officers and soldiers and approximately 100 vehicles from Spain brought the total number of troops serving with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) “up to around 4,600,� the Force said in a press release.
It said that 200 extra French troops had also arrived yesterday, while the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) withdrew from more areas of the south. UNIFIL is continuing to coordinate the force movements as stipulated by Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the fighting last month.
“On 14 September, The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) withdrew from the general areas of Naqoura, Alma ash Shab, Ayta ash Shab, Rmeich and Yarun. By this morning, the Ghanaian battalion confirmed that there were no IDF present there. Lebanese Armed Forces are planning to deploy in these areas tomorrow, 16 September,� UNIFIL said.
Resolution 1701 mandated strengthening UNIFIL up to a maximum of 15,000 troops although UN officials have spoken of a “general understanding� that the IDF will completely withdraw from Lebanese territory once the UN Force reaches 5,000 troops and the Lebanese army is ready to deploy at the full strength of 15,000 troops.
On Thursday, UNIFIL Commander Maj. Gen. Alain Pellegrini said he expected all Israeli forces to have left southern Lebanon by the end of this month.
New York, Sep 16 (DPA) The UN Security Council has voted in favour of a US request to haul Myanmar before the UN body to confront the South Asian nation over its human rights record.
The council voted 10-4, with one abstention, to debate Myanmar's alleged human rights violations, which the US said could be classified as a threat to peace and security in the region. The issue has never before been formally discussed at the UN.
China, Congo, Qatar and Russia voted against the request. Tanzania abstained from the vote.
The vote Friday was unusual because decisions to include issues for discussion on the agenda are procedural measures and are decided by the 15-nation council in closed-door meetings. China strongly opposed including Myanmar on the agenda, forcing the US to demand the vote in an open session.
It takes nine votes to put an item on the agenda. A negative vote by any of the five permanent members - the US, Russia, China, France and Britain - does not constitute a veto in a procedural matter.
China's Ambassador Wang Guangya told the council before the vote that he considered US Ambassador John Bolton's demand to debate Myanmar "preposterous".
Wang said human rights and drugs issues in Myanmar cannot be seen as a threat to international peace and security.
Bolton called the vote "significant". He said: "It's a major step forward for President (George) Bush to call the attention of the international community on the situation in Burma (now Myanmar). We see the refugee situation in Burma as a threat to peace and security."
Bolton insisted on calling Myanmar by its original name Burma. The country is "known to the US as Burma," he said.
Bolton asked the council to discuss Myanmar after Sep 19, following the opening of the UN General Assembly.
The UN had described the human rights and humanitarian situation in Myanmar as "grave". Concerns include the detention of over 1,100 political prisoners, outflow of refugees, drug trafficking, HIV/AIDS and health-related issues.
Bolton told the council in a letter that the existing conditions in Myanmar "threaten to have a destabilising impact on the region".
"Therefore, we request that the situation in Myanmar, known to the US as Burma, be placed on the council's agenda, and that a senior UN official formally brief ... the Security Council on this situation and its implications for international peace and security," the letter said.
The military government in Myanmar has rejected UN calls for faster democratic reform, including the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League of Democracy, the main opposition party. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, has been under house arrest for over a decade.
By Arun Kumar
Washington, Sep 16 (IANS) The US-India Business Council and the Coalition for Partnership with India have urged the US senate to approve the nuclear deal with India, as it will help create major trade opportunities for American companies.
"Congress has an opportunity to strengthen the growing partnership between the world's oldest and the world's largest democracies. As leaders in the US business, Indian-American, and policy communities, we urge you to support US-Indian civil nuclear cooperation," the two organisations said in a letter to each US senator.
The supportive advocacy letter sent in anticipation of the US Senate vote on the enabling legislation bears the names of five leading business associations, 28 leading US companies, nine Indian-American organisations, and 22 leading foreign-policy experts.
The US-India Business Council (USIBC) is the premier advocacy organisation representing the largest US companies investing in India, promoting economic reforms with an aim to deepen trade relations and broaden commercial ties with India.
The Coalition for Partnership with India is comprised of American businesses, academic institutions, associations, think tanks, and like-minded individuals supporting a deeper strategic partnership with India.
The letter is signed, among others, by former US secretary of defence William S. Cohen, three former US ambassadors to India, Frank G. Wisner, Thomas R. Pickering and Richard Celeste, and noted policy experts like Karl F. Inderfurth, S