October 2006
01 October 2006
Kabul, Oct 1 (ZEENEWS.COM) A suicide bomber on Saturday detonated himself next to Afghanistan`s Interior Ministry, killing at least 12 people and wounding more than 40, an official said.
The Interior Ministry spokesman, Zemeri Bashary, said 12 people were killed, including two policemen, and that 42 were injured. Salam Jalali, a Public Health Ministry official, said 54 had been injured. He said the wounded had been taken to six different hospitals in Kabul, complicating officials` efforts to keep track of the casualties.
The explosion occurred a little before 8 am (local time), as ministry employees were reporting to work, near a narrow dirt road where employees and civilians pass through a security gate.
Bashary said the suicide attacker had been acting suspiciously, then tried to get close to a big gathering of people just beyond a police checkpoint.
"The police warned him to stop, and then he detonated himself," Bashary said.
A witness said he saw the bomber run from police, who had tried to search him.
"The bomber ran into the area (past the checkpoint), and the policeman took out his gun, this all happened very fast, and then the guy detonated himself," said Ahmed Ramin, 18. "We saw lots of people killed and injured on the streets."
Ambulances rushed to and from the bomb scene, which police cordoned off. Windows of nearby shops were shattered, and tables were overturned and thrown to the back of the shops by the blast. At least three shops were destroyed.
Lucknow, Oct 1 (ZEENEWS.COM) Two persons have died of dengue and as many 40 cases of suspected dengue have been reported in different parts of Uttar Pradesh since the past one month, according to Health Department sources here.
Several people are also under treatment for the disease at various private and government hospitals, they said.
Alarmed over the dengue cases the Health Directorate has issued directives to respective chief medical officers to undertake fogging and sprinkling of insecticides.
The Health Department officials have been asked to collect information about dengue patients in different parts of the state and take prompt action to control the situation, sources said.
About 40 cases have come to light in Lucknow, Agra, Ambedkarnagar, Hardoi and Saharanpur districts and steps have been initiated to control the situation, they said.
Medicines have been provided at all the primary health centres and community health centres, and control rooms were also being set up at district level government hospitals, they said.
People are being apprised of the various precautions needed to be taken to check the disease and asked to consult doctors instead of going in for self treatment, sources added.
Abuja, Oct 1 (DPA) At least 40 people were feared killed when a dam collapsed in Gusau, northwest Nigeria.
More than 500 houses were washed away when the dam, the main source of water supply to the Zamfara state capital, gave way Saturday.
State governor Ahmed Yarima confirmed the accident and called on the Nigerian government to provide aid to those rendered homeless.
He blamed state government officials for dereliction of duty and said action would be taken against those officials who did not take preventive measures.
Yarima said he was at a loss as to where to begin helping the displaced, most of whom were poor and did not have any alternative shelter.
He said he had ordered those confirmed dead to be taken to mortuaries in the state capital, while the government looked for ways of making survivors comfortable, until a long-term solution could be found.
New Delhi, Oct 1 (ZEENEWS.COM) An AIIMS student died of dengue today taking the toll from the disease to 11 in the national capital which is already hit by nearly 350 dengue afflicted cases this year.
Kamal Raj Kiran, a fourth-year student, died in the day due to the deadly disease which has spread its tentacles across the AIIMS campus hitting as many as 11 medicos and five other staff members.
Earlier this week the 17-year-old daughter of a medico couple died due to the disease in AIIMS.
In view of the spurt in dengue cases, the AIIMS authorities have begun a drive to check all the coolers in the hospital premises.
Coolers are the main culprit in the spread of the disease, with the Aedes mosquito that is the dengue vector breeding in the water left over from the summer season.
Of the nearly 350 dengue cases this year, the majority of them were reported during the months of July and September, a senior MCD official said.
On an average 22 to 25 cases of dengue are reported everyday, the official said.
New Delhi, Oct 1 (ZEENEWS.COM) In order to remove ambiguities related with the CENVAT credit rule, 2004, industry body Assocham has asked the government to replace the existing legislation with a new set of rules.
In a representation to Finance Minister P Chidambaram, it said there are some instances on which the assesses and the government are confused for availability of CENVAT credit and therefore the steps should be taken to remove the ambiguity.
Assocham said, the service tax paid by the manufacturer on the transportation of final product from the place of removal and availability of CENVAT credit of service tax paid on mobile phones were some of the ambiguous instances in the rule.
Other examples include service tax paid on input services which are commonly utilised for taxable and non-taxable services as also service tax paid on various input services by a person or a company which is engaged in trading as well as manufacturing activities, it said, adding that CENVAT availability on following issues is also subject of confusion.
It said, on number of issues, there are diversion of view even from the different commiserates and Department of Revenues. At the same time, there can be certain companies which might be taking the undue advantage of such ambiguities.
It has further pointed out that such confusion arises mostly in respect of availment of CENVAT credit on input services. As is known, services are totally different from goods and it is not possible to apply the same law and logic, which is available to CENVAT credit on inputs (excise).
Madrid, Oct 1 (DPA) Barcelona rose to the top of the Spanish football league with a come-from-behind 3-1 win over troubled Athletic Bilbao, which was left with 10 men just 20 minutes into the match.
The win shows that Barca have a strong enough squad to cover up for the long-term injury of Samuel Eto'o.
Eidur Gudjohnsen, standing in for Eto'o, scored one while Bilbao's Ustariz - under pressure from Carles Puyol - turned a centre from Gudjohnsen into his own goal Saturday. The third was put away by Javier Saviola, who came on for Gudjohnsen.
"My goal is dedicated to Samuel," said Saviola. "We all hope that he is back in action soon."
The latest win leaves Barca with 13 points from five games, which is two more than Real Madrid and Valencia.
Former Spain playmaker Fran Yeste put Athletic Bilbao ahead with a spectacular volley after just 10 minutes. But the game started to go wrong way for the hosts in the 19th minute, when defender Javier Casas was harshly sent off for pulling down Gudjohnsen.
From then on Barca dominated possession and the equaliser was really just a question of time. It came just before the interval, Gudjohnsen shot Barca ahead on the hour, after being put through perfectly by Xavi Hernandez.
Saviola completed the scoring 12 minutes from time, turning in a clever pass from Andres Iniesta. The demoralising defeat leaves Athletic third from bottom, with just two points, and coach Felix Sarriugarte in big trouble.
Mumbai, Oct 01 (IANS) Thomas Berdych of Czech Republic advanced to the finals of the Kingfisher Airlines Tennis Open tournament here Saturday beating Austrian Stefan Koubek in straight sets.
Berdych defeated Koubek 7-6, 6-2 in the semi-finals played at the Cricket Club of India courts.
In the quarters Friday, Berdych had defeated Bjorn Phau of Germany 6-3, 7-5.
Washington, Oct 1 (ZEENEWS.COM) Rheumatoid arthritis can be cured with a potent cancer drug called Gleevec, a study conducted by the University of Stanford found.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a painful, chronic autoimmune disorder, characterised by inflammation of the lining of the joints. It affects more than 2 million Americans; up to half of those with the disease are disabled after 15 years due to disfigured joints.
Although standard therapy for rheumatoid arthritis currently includes agents that suppresses the immune system, many patients do not benefit from such treatments.
They do not get adequate reduction in the symptoms and signs of disease; they may also continue to have damage to their joints or develop side effects that make continued use of such therapies impossible.
In an effort to find a new treatment, Ricardo Paniagua, a MD/PhD student and the study`s first author, said that they looked at every drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
"It was the combination of rational selection and serendipity that we found that Gleevec worked better than anything else," said Paniagua, who works in Robinson`s laboratory at the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center of the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Health Care System.
In their study, Gleevec almost completely prevented the development of the rheumatoid arthritis-like disease in mice. The drug also halted the progression of established disease, significantly reducing the amount of inflammation and bone destruction around the joints. The researchers also tested Gleevec on the cells of human rheumatoid arthritis patients and found that it reduced the processes associated with inflammation and abnormal growth in the joints.
"We were very surprised that Gleevec worked as well as it did. It just seemed too simple. The results are especially encouraging since the drug is already FDA-approved, and has relatively few side effects,� said Robinson. "
However, although the study showed that Gleevec worked well in mice, the researchers cautioned against doctors using Gleevec for treating rheumatoid arthritis until clinical trials are completed demonstrating its effectiveness and safety for humans.
London, Oct 1 (DPA) Leaders Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw by Aston Villa in the English Premiership, while Bolton Wanderers beat Liverpool 2-0 to move up to second spot.
Beginning the day two points clear of Manchester United and Portsmouth, Chelsea looked set for another victory when Didier Drogba put them ahead at Stamford Bridge after just one minute Saturday.
But Villa, who made a superb start to the season under new manager Martin O'Neill, hit back and Gabriel Agbonlahor headed them level on the stroke of half-time.
"The result is not fair. One team tried to win, the other tried to get a draw," Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho said.
"I think it was our best game of the season. We produced incredible football and I think 10 great chances. I wouldn't have been surprised if they had scored a winner at the end. It just wasn't our day."
The result moved Chelsea two points clear of Bolton, who upset Liverpool with a typically physical performance at The Reebok.
Goals from Gary Speed and Ivan Campo gave the home side victory while Xabi Alonso came closest to scoring for Liverpool, hitting the post.
The first goal was hard on Liverpool as Jose Reina was wrongly penalised for handball and Speed fired the resultant free-kick home.
But Campo then rubbed salt into Liverpool's wounds as he headed Kevin Davies's cross into the net early in the second half.
Arsenal came from a goal down to win 2-1 at Charlton, while Manchester City clinched a 1-1 draw at Everton, thanks to a goal from Micah Richards with the last kick of the game.
And Sheffield United moved out of the bottom three with a 2-1 win over Middlesbrough, their first Premiership victory of the season.
London, Oct 1 (IANS) Sensitive personal information of British customers from Indian call centres are being sold for a price, according to an investigation by Channel 4, The Sunday Times reported.
The Channel 4 programme, as part of its 'Dispatches' series, is titled 'The Data Theft Scandal' and is to be shown on Channel 4 Thursday.
The details are likely to increase demands to close down call centres of British banks and other companies in India.
The report based on the programme said that data available for sale included credit card data, along with passport and driving licence numbers. The details are reportedly being "sold to the highest bidder".
The report added that middlemen were offering bulk packages of tens of thousands of credit card numbers for sale. They even have access to taped telephone conversations in which British customers disclose sensitive security information to call centre staff, it said.
The Sunday Times recalled that in June an HSBC employee in Bangalore was arrested after 230,000 pounds was stolen from British customers' accounts.
The report quoted Stewart Room, head of the data protection unit at Rowe Cohen solicitors, as saying that the investigation highlighted serious breaches of customer confidentiality.
"Customers are going to be outraged by this. By giving your data to a firm in Britain, you don't assume it's going to end up being sold in India," he said.
During the investigation for Channel 4's Dispatches, one middleman offering stolen data, Sushant Chandak, reportedly offered to sell a database with the credit card details of 200,000 people as commercial "leads".
At a meeting in Kolkata, he boasted of a network of agents in call centres across India. "I have a good rapport with them. We cooperate. I pay them, so they trust me," he is reported to have said.
In addition to credit card numbers, Chandak was also offering passport numbers, driving licence numbers and personal banking details.
In a separate meeting, the report said that Chandak offered the details of 8,000 British mobile phone users.
In the programme, the report said that Chandak was seen grinning on the film as a British woman is coaxed into giving the security number on the back of her credit card. The caller claims to be from a British company that sells mobile phones.
In a meeting in New Delhi, a second middleman, only known as Ghufran, reportedly offered details of customers with Halifax, Nationwide, Woolwich, Bank of Scotland and NatWest for five pound each.
Ghufran claimed the information was obtained by technical support staff who visited call centres and used memory sticks to download recent sale transactions.
The report added that Chandak and Ghufran had denied unlawfully selling information. Chandak said the information he provided was not genuine, while Ghufran said he was passed the data.
Manila, Oct 1 (DPA) The death toll after typhoon Xangsane wreaked havoc in the Philippines has topped 100, according to disaster relief agencies Sunday.
A total of 120 people were reported killed in the onslaught of Xangsane, the worst typhoon to hit metropolitan Manila in a decade.
The bulk of the deaths, 84, occurred in the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon, an area collectively called Calabarzon.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque said more casualty reports were coming in as electricity and communication services were restored in some of the affected areas.
More than one million people in 17 provinces were affected by the typhoon, which has caused damages to crops and properties worth more than 1.26 billion pesos (about $25.37 million).
Many provinces in the eastern region of Bicol were still without any electricity, according to the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC).
The NDCC added that 11 more people were killed in various accidents in the other affected areas.
The weather bureau warned another tropical depression was spotted near the Philippines, which could affect the country in three to four days.
By Minu Jain,
Durban, Oct 1 (IANS) Saying India was on the march, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that there was "enormous untapped potential" to deepen bilateral ties with South Africa.
"I am convinced that there is enormous untapped potential for forging new avenues of cooperation between our two countries," the prime minister told a gathering of the Indian community here Saturday.
He said India was undergoing a transformation that he described as "one of the most far-reaching social and economic revolution of this century".
"More than a billion people are seeking their salvation within the framework of an open society and open economy committed to full respect for fundamental human freedoms, the rule of law.
"I invite our friends in South Africa to participate in this adventure of creativity and enterprise any way you can to bind our countries closer," said the Indian leader who arrived here Saturday for a three-day visit, primarily to take part in events related to Mahatma Gandhi.
"India is on the march," the prime minister said. "Our economy in these few years has been growing at the rate of about 8 percent per annum. We have ambition to set higher goals in years to come.
"The buoyancy and vitality of our economy is a measure of the creativity of our people."
Manmohan Singh referred briefly to Mahatma Gandhi, whose humiliating ouster from a South African train in 1893 on account of his colour propelled him to launch a sayagraha movement that ultimately made him an international icon.
Referring to historic ties between India and South Africa and to New Delhi's campaign against apartheid, he said that recent bilateral relations were defined by warmth, kinship and trust dating back to the 19th century.
"The community of Indian origin that has made South Africa its home for many generations constitutes a special bond between us...
"Today you are helping to build the new South Africa and I am confident that you will do so with diligence, creativity and enterprise that have become the hallmarks of the Indian diaspora all over the world...
"We in India are proud of the achievements of the people of Indian origin worldwide. I have often said that the sun has set on all the great centers of the world, but the sun will never set on the homes of the people of Indian origin, who now live in all continents as proud and productive citizens of free nations making contribution to the lands they are living in today."
Manmohan Singh said India and South Africa had many complementarities in economy, in culture, in human resource development, in science and technology, in working together to improve quality of governance, in improving the quality of delivery system for public services.
"I have come here to forge new ties and bonds of cooperation between our two countries... It is up to the people to create a new mindset which will bind our countries in enduring friendship for mutual benefit."
New Delhi, Oct 1 (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit inaugurated a district cultural centre in west Delhi Saturday and announced similar centres would be opened in the other eight districts of the city.
"This centre at Janakpuri would help propagate unity in diversity and provide an opportunity to different organisations to stage shows," she said.
Constructed at a cost of Rs.20 million, the new centre is a joint initiative of Sahitya Kala Parishad and Delhi Public Library.
The centre will train and provide a platform to upcoming artistes and help decentralise cultural activities in Delhi.
Education Minister A.S. Lovely said the capital is set to become a cultural hub before the 2010 Commonwealth Games commence.
Beijing, OCT 1 (Xinhua) China is to raise the electricity price for companies with high-energy consumption in the next three years in order to restrict the indiscriminate growth of such industries.
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced here that the price hike, to start from Oct 1, would be carried out in three stages, with the next two stages marked for January 1, 2007 and 2008 respectively.
The NDRC predicted that the price hike would raise the cost of concerned companies by more than 5 percent per year and force most of them out of the market in three years.
In order to check the indiscriminate growth of industries with high-energy consumption, the NDRC had adopted different electricity prices in 2004 for industries such as electrolytic aluminum, ferroalloy, calcium carbide, caustic soda, cement and steel.
By May 2005, 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in China besides Tibet had adopted the policy.
Washington, Oct 1 (DPA) The European Union (EU) and United States failed to agree on a final deal for sharing air passenger data - sought by the US to prevent terrorism attacks - ahead of a deadline set by the EU's highest court.
US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Saturday he had sent a draft agreement to EU representatives that was awaiting "final ratification," but a spokesperson for the European Commission in Brussels said that negotiations in Washington failed to reach a deal and that the two sides would have to take up the issue again at a later date.
The Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice in May ruled that an existing deal - which requires European airlines to transmit 34 pieces of data on US-bound passengers to US authorities - was illegal because it had not been agreed under the correct framework of EU law.
The court had set a Sep 30 deadline for US and EU authorities to rework the sharing agreement - which includes passenger information such as credit card numbers, travel itineraries, addresses and telephone numbers - during which time the handing over of passenger data could continue.
Chertoff, in a statement Saturday, said he did not believe the failure to formally reach an agreement by the Sep 30 deadline would impact air travel across the Atlantic.
Should there be no agreement between the EU and US, it would be up to individual EU member states to reach separate accords with the US in order for the sharing of passenger information to continue.
New Delhi, Oct 1 (PTI) As the nation gears up to celebrate this year's Gandhi Jayanthi, the Mahatma's samadhi at Rajghat is embroiled in a controversey with the Delhi High Court seeking an explanation from the management committee on alleged irregularities surrounding the grave of the man who had epitomised truth, honesty and non-violence.
The allegations pertain to the theft and breaking of over 144 "tree name boards" and fleecing of foreign visitors at the shoe deposit counters.
A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Kailash Gambhir asked Rajnish Kumar, Secretary, Rajghat Samithi to file his personal affidavit on the allegations within four weeks and posted the matter for further hearing to December 8.
The court sought the explanation on a petition filed by a group of Rajghat employees through counsel R K Kapooor who alleged that Kumar was illegally holding the dual posts of secretary and caretaker of the grave and indulging in largescale irregularities.
The petition among other things alleged that 144 tree name boards out of the 186 boards installed at the samadhi by visiting dignitaries during the recent years had been stolen or broken resulting in a loss of Rs 3.31 lakh.
Interestingly, the petition quoted an official circular wherein the Secretary had sought replacement of a certain tree name board at the site where a Ukranian VVIP had planted a sapling in memory of the Mahatma which was subsequently stolen.
Lahore, Oct 1 (IANS) Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq Saturday felt his clearance from ball tempering charges by the International Cricket Committee (ICC) was a victory for the entire nation and said he won't recommend action against umpire Darrell Hair.
Talking to reporters here after his arrival from London, Inzamam said he was awarded minimum penalty and an appeal against the decision could not have minimised or erased the punishment.
He said he would not pursue any legal action against Hair although some people have advised him to do so.
"I want to end this matter and move on," GEO TV quoted him as saying.
The charges were brought against the Pakistan skipper after last month's forfeited Test against England at The Oval. He had refused to lead his side out on to the field after being penalised for ball tampering by umpire Darrell Hair on day four of the fourth Test.
The ICC Thursday cleared him of the ball-tampering charges but banned him for four one-day internationals for bringing the game into disrepute.
Inzamam said he was mentally prepared for the reprimand for any one of the two charges.
"The decision to launch the protest at Oval was a combined one of the team and the management," he said.
Inzamam thanked the Pakistan Cricket Board for its "support during the case".
Saying that Pakistan will have a strong side for the Champions' Trophy, he hoped his team would perform well in the tournament and win the title.
Bhopal, Oct 1 (IANS) The Durga Puja organisers and the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board (MPPCB) are at loggerheads over the immersion of idols in the lakes here - a source of drinking water for the residents.
Made of clay and Plaster of Paris, as many as 1,693 idols - coloured with paints containing lead, nickel and cobalt - were immersed in the lakes here after last year's Durga Puja.
These idols weighed 139,570 kg and caused serious impact on the bio-diversity of these lakes, a study undertaken by Madhya Pradesh Lake Conservation Authority (MPLCA) showed.
While the biodegradable materials are the cause of short-term deterioration of water quality, the heavy metals are the cause of health hazards in the long run, the study said.
Such a heavy amount of clay immersion also increases the base level of these water bodies, which results in decreased capacity to contain water.
Of the two main lakes - the lower lake and the upper Lake - the upper one alone caters to 40 percent residents here for their drinking water requirements. A large number of farmers also depend on these lakes.
However, the festival organisers accused environmentalists of making "false propaganda" regarding the damage to the ecology of the upper lake due to the immersion.
While MPPCB has urged the district administration not to allow the immersion of idols in the water resources used for supplying drinking water, the Puja organisers are unlikely to change their ways.
Dubai, Oct 1 (ZEENEWS.COM) The Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia is mulling setting up an emergency fund for medical treatment of Indians working in the unorganised sectors in the kingdom.
Ambassador M O H Farooq has promised to seek the permission of the Indian government to divert part of the funds of the embassy for these workers, according to the Federation of the Kerala Associations in Saudi Arabia (FOKASA).
The aim is to create a fund amounting to 250,000 Saudi Riyals (SR), which will be administered by the Indian embassy, with contributions coming from the embassy's welfare section, Indian expatriates and fund-raising campaigns through cultural programmes, said FOKASA.
R Muraleedharan, convener of FOKASA, told a news conference about the blueprint of a medical treatment plan for thousands of Indian workers in the unorganised sector like livestock farms, camel owners and other establishments with a workforce of 10 employees or less.
He said that since these employees do not earn more than SR 600 a month, they find it difficult to bear the cost of treatment when they fall sick.
Muraleedharan said the fund would target poor Indian workers facing medical emergency. The association has also entered into an agreement with some polyclinics for the treatment of workers.
In case an employee is in need of long-term treatment which requires his hospitalisation, the beneficiary will be paid sr 2,000 towards air fare to enable him to undergo treatment in his home state in India, said Muraleedharan.
New Delhi, Oct 1 (PTI) With probe into July 11 Mumbai serial blasts proving involvement of ISI and Pakistan-based terror groups, New Delhi today said it will confront Islamabad with the latest evidence and judge it by actions and not words.
Taking charge as Foreign Secretary, Shiv Shankar Menon rubbished Islamabad's denial of involvement of ISI and Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) in Mumbai train bombings and said India wants Pakistan to "not only talk but act also".
"We will take up the issue (of involvement in Mumbai blasts) with Pakistan in view of the new evidence," he told reporters here, a day after Mumbai Police said its investigations had proved that the serial blasts which killed nearly 180 people and injured over 800 were planned by ISI and carried out by LeT.
Menon, who was High Commissioner to Pakistan before his appointment as Foreign Secretary, said India will provide evidence with regard to the Mumbai blasts to Islamabad and see what it does to act on it.
By Prasun Sonwalkar,
London, Oct 1 (IANS) The exponential growth of the Indian media has led to some hand-wringing among many who bemoan the lowering of standards of content, but Western media research is increasingly taking note of what is becoming one of the largest culture industries in the world.
For decades India and other countries of what is considered the 'South' figured intermittently on the Western media research radar. But India and China featured prominently at a major conference at the University of Westminster recently.
The conference, titled 'Internationalising Media Studies: Imperatives and Impediments', was attended by academics and researchers from across the globe, including leading lights such as Annabelle Sreberny, Robin Mansell, Jeremy Tunstall, John Downing, Peter Golding, Joseph Straubhaar and Kaarle Nordenstreng.
Straubhaar of the University of Texas, Austin, said the US remained pre-eminent in finance, production and distribution of cultural goods globally. But research had shown that while audiences preferred local news, they exercised different and varied choice for entertainment.
"We are reaching the point where formats are becoming more important than programming," Straubhaar said, and cited the examples of Big Brother, Brazilian telenovellas, 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire', 'Pop Idol' and so forth.
Speakers at the conference said the curricula of media studies needed to be revised to incorporate the experiences of international students and the rapid changes in the media industries across the globe.
Daya Kishan Thussu, professor at the University of Westminster, said in his keynote address: "The economic growth of India and the 'peaceful rising' of China - the two ancient civilisations with huge potential to influence the emerging global 'knowledge society' - are likely to affect the way media studies is theorized."
Several case studies and new perspectives on global dimensions of media research were presented at the two-day conference. At several panel discussions, experts highlighted the burgeoning media strengths of India and China and called for going beyond Western perspectives in media research.
"It is important to remind ourselves that an international approach to studying and researching media would acknowledge that it has a global history, that printing was invented in China not in Frankfurt, that the first printing press in the Ottoman Empire was established in 1511 and the first printing press in the Americas was not in the US but in Mexico, in 1535," said Thussu, the first professor of Indian origin in the field of media studies in a British university.
"India had a daily newspaper in 1780, while by 1870s more than 140 newspapers in Indian languages were circulating there. The first Arabic newspaper was launched in 1789 while the first overseas Chinese newspaper was founded in San Francisco in 1854.
"There is a long history of media outside the standard Anglo-American or European version of it."
Thussu said that the globalisation of the media meant that media studies should be internationalised. Another reason to incorporate international or non-Western perspectives in media studies curricula was the increasing numbers of students from across the globe enrolling on media courses.
In a robust intervention, Sreberny, professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies and the doyenne of international communication research, said the recent recognition of 'the other' in media research was a new and welcome development.
Sreberny said: "Media research has been internationalising for a long time, but the significance and recent recognition of regionality is new. There is recognition of the cultural consistency of Asia and Africa.
"Western domination in the field has now fractured. Globalisation collapses spatiality and the nation-state becomes diasporic".
Mumbai, Oct 1 (ZEENEWS.COM) India Inc today warned that frequent changes in the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) policy could prove costly for the country as investors may change their mind and turn to other countries due to limited incentives.
"On the prowl, India needs investment to figure itself in the league of developed countries. SEZs with its incentives are not just an attractive investment destinations for many in India and overseas, but these are really an important step for India's industrialisation path also," an industry source said.
Industry sources said Maharashtra government's draft legislation `SEZ and designated areas act', submitted to the centre in February, was still pending, acting as a dampener for industry to commit investments in SEZs.
Maintaining that India needs to compensate with the agricultural land, another source said, while America has positioned itself as the numero uno grains producer in the world by employing only six per cent of its populace, India lags far behind though employs close to 70 per cent of its populace on agriculture.
"To combat unemployment, it's necessary for India to make productive use of lands. But, with frequent changes in the SEZ policy, India could lose investment worth of millions," he said.
Tehran, Oct 1 (IRNA) New Iranian Ambassador to Kuwait Ali Jannati conferred here Saturday with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad prior his departure to the country of mission.
According to the Press Bureau of the Presidential office, at the meeting, President Ahmadinejad underlined Iran's determination to expand ties with Islamic countries and all its neighbors.
Unity among Islamic states and solidarity among all countries in the region would have effective impacts on restoration of peace and stability in the region and the world, he said.
Referring to the deep-rooted cultural and religious commonalties between Iran and Kuwait, he said the two sides' relations are based on mutual respect and underlined the need to take advantage of existing capabilities to help enhance the current level of mutual cooperation.
The new Iranian ambassador to Kuwait, for his part, briefed the president of latest developments in Kuwait and welcomed president remarks prior to his departure.
United Nations, Oct 1 (NDTV.COM) Israel refused to give a UN-appointed investigation access to the officials who may have been responsible for the bombing of an observation post.
The attack killed four unarmed peacekeepers at the height of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, the United Nations said.
Israel said the bombing of the post along the Israeli-Lebanese border was a mistake that occurred at the "operational level."
But the panel investigating the killings was not allowed to interview commanders at that level to determine what happened, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
The four observers were killed by an Israeli precision-guided bomb that destroyed the bunker where they took shelter after their observation post along the border came under heavy fire.
UN officials in New York and Lebanon had repeatedly warned Israel that the observation post, built 30 years before, was under attack.
Because of Israel's refusal, the inquiry was "unable to determine why the attacks on the UN position were not halted despite repeated demarches to the Israeli authorities from UN personnel, both in the field and at headquarters," Dujarric said.
The Board of Inquiry investigating the attack submitted a confidential report with its findings to the UN and to the four nations whose observers were killed, Austria, Canada, China and Finland.
Tel Aviv, Oct 1 (DPA) Israeli troops completed their withdrawal from southern Lebanon early Sunday, said local media reports citing military sources.
The last troops left southern Lebanon at 2:30 am (1230 GMT).
Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz gave the military his approval Saturday to withdraw remaining forces from Lebanese soil by Sunday evening, the Jerusalem Post reported, following earlier claims by the commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Alain Pelligrini, that Israel would withdraw its forces Sunday.
The withdrawal was set for completion before the Sunday evening start of the Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, when the entire nation comes to a halt and most Jews fast.
More than two and a half months after the start of Israel's bloody war with Hezbollah militia forces in southern Lebanon, few soldiers remained on the ground Saturday - manning about 10 positions on the Lebanese side of the border - as the Israeli military made its final preparations for the withdrawal.
In the past weeks, soldiers from a multitude of nations have spread across southern Lebanon from the Litani River to the border with Israel as part of the internationally brokered end to the conflict.
A UN resolution putting an end to July's month-long conflict called for Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in parallel with the deployment of Lebanese government troops and up to 15,000 UN peacekeepers, as well as the disarming of all militias.
Mumbai, Oct 1 (IANS) The Maharashtra government Saturday said fast track courts would be set up to try those accused in the July 11 bomb attacks on Mumbai's suburban trains that killed 200 people and injured hundreds others.
"We are trying to set up fast track courts for the trial of the 7/11 accused soon. The process should not take more than two years," Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil, who also holds the home portfolio, told reporters here.
All the accused in the case are likely to be booked under the Maharashtra Control for Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), police sources said.
Four of the 15 accused arrested so far have already been booked under MCOCA.
New Delhi, Oct 1 (IANS) President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday greeted people on the occasion of Dussehra.
In a message, the president said: "The festival celebrates the triumph of truth and the power of ethical and moral values and value systems cherished so deeply in society. Let us on this auspicious day resolve to bring peace and well being and to share our happiness with those in need."
Manmohan Singh, who is in South Africa, said the festival signifies the triumph of righteousness over evil "and through this profound message inspire the humanity to lead a pious, virtuous and noble life".
Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat said the festival "reaffirms our faith in the sublime and eternal values in our lives and celebrates the triumph of good over evil with gaiety and enthusiasm.
"May the great festival bring peace, prosperity and happiness in the lives of all," he added.
Mumbai, Oct 01 (IANS) India's Mahesh Bhupathi and lanky Croat Mario Ancic moved into the doubles finals of the Kingfisher Airlines Tennis Open tournament here Saturday beating the Indian-Pakistan duo of Leander Paes and Aisam Qureshi
6-1, 5-7, 10-3.
With both the pairs winning a set each, the match had to be decided by a super tiebreak which Bhupathi-Ancic won comfortably. The finals will be played Sunday.
In the singles finals, also to be played Sunday, Thomas Berdych of Czech Republic will face Russian Dmitry Tursunov.
In the first semi-finals played at the Cricket Club of India courts, Berdych defeated Koubek 7-6, 6-2. In the other match, Tursunov beat Spaniard Tommy Robredo 7-6, 3-6, 6-1.
New Delhi, Oct 1 (IANS) Captain Brian Lara said Sunday that it was unfortunate that defending champions West Indies would have to go through the qualifying rounds of the Champions Trophy beginning in India Oct 7.
"It is a bit unfortunate that we have to qualify for the main tournament," he told a press conference here, a night after landing here for the tournament.
"But we will try to get some positives out of it (qualifying round). There is some plus about it."
The West Indies will play Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in the qualifying rounds Oct 7-14. Two top teams from this round will join the top six ranked teams in the main round Oct 15 to Nov 5.
Just four months separate this biennial tournament and the World Cup, to be played in the West Indies in March-April.
The teams will be keen to settle their World Cup squads through the Champions Trophy, to be played in Mumbai, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Mohali over one month. The final will be played in Mumbai Nov 5.
By Minu Jain,
Pietermaritzburg (South Africa), Oct 1 (IANS) It wasn't a cold night in June 1893, but a humid September afternoon 113 years later when Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday stepped back in time to travel on the train Mahatma Gandhi was pushed out of - and the sense of history was intact through all the hype and hoopla.
The four coach train with its cushioned first class compartments and its wooden slatted third class is exactly like the one that Gandhi, then a 24-year-old lawyer, travelled on from Durban on a first class ticket to Johannesburg before he was thrown out because of his colour.
That epochal moment in Gandhi's own words "changed the course" of his life and that of two nations - South Africa and India. "My active non violence began from that day," he has been quoted as telling a missionary on his 70th birthday in 1939.
And it was that moment in history that Manmohan Singh sought to recall Saturday when he travelled to the Pentrich station soon after landing at Durban after a 10-hour flight and took the 13-minute ride.
Plumes of black smoke painted the cloudless blue sky as the steam engine chugged its way to the Pietermaritzburg railway station, which is mostly used on ceremonial occasions such as this.
"I am awed and humbled to be at the very spot at which began the transformation of an ordinary young lawyer into an extraordinary legend who influenced the destiny of my country... I am happy and moved to see that the invaluable legacy and heritage of Mahatma Gandhi is alive and well in this historic city," the prime minister wrote in the visitor's book at the station.
He added in remarks later: "It is easy to feel the presence of the Mahatma here and to imagine what he want through during the night of 7th June 1893... All great changes begin in the minds of men. Through this incident was born Gandhiji's resolve to resist injustice and oppression, no matter what the personal cost to him."
A plaque at the platform of the quaint station, with its white-latticed railings and brick red facade, marks that point of time that put Gandhi firmly on the path of satyagraha, truth and firmness.
The prime minister, who is accompanied to South Africa by his family, including his daughter and grandchildren, placed a bouquet of flowers before the plaque which states simply: "In the vicinity of this plaque M.K. Gandhi was evicted from a first class compartment on the night of 7 June 1893."
The next two days will see Manmohan Singh visit the Phoenix settlement and other spots associated with Gandhi in South Africa. He will also hold meetings with South African President Thabo Mbeki, who he met in Brasilia earlier this month for the first summit of the IBSA grouping that comprises India, Brazil and South Africa.
The Phoenix settlement near Durban was inspired in 1904 by John Ruskin's "Unto This Last" and extolled the virtues of the simple life of love, labour and the dignity of human beings.
Exhibitions on Gandhi and pictorial representations of his life story in Durban and Pretoria form part of the prime minister's itinerary.
He is the first Indian prime minister to visit South Africa since I.K. Gujral in 1997.
On arrival at Durban earlier, Foreign Minister Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini-Zuma greeted Manmohan Singh. Sbu Ndebele, premier of KwaZulu-Natal province, and Durban Mayor Obed Mlaba were also present along with India's Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma.
In a statement in New Delhi before his departure, Manmohan Singh said they would exchange views on international issues as "our two countries share a common vision of a cooperative, rule-based multi-polar world order".
"I think South Africa and India have a major role to play in carrying forward the agenda for reforms at the UN, including the expansion of permanent membership of the UN Security Council, so that the interests of the developing world are better reflected and realised," he said.
India has teamed up with Brazil, Germany and Japan to seek inclusion as permanent members on the UN Security Council. Manmohan Singh's remarks indicate New Delhi may be trying to rope in South Africa as well in the efforts.
He said he would also meet Nelson Mandela, "whose life and work bear Gandhiji's deep influence".
The leaders of the two countries will address a joint press conference before Manmohan Singh flies back Tuesday.
Meeting representatives of the Indian community - who constitute over one million of the 45.3 million people of the country - and South African business leaders form an important component of the visit.
Monrovia (Liberia), Oct 1 (DPA) Many people are feared dead after a boat capsizd in the Sinoe River in the eastern Sinoe county of Liberia, according to a UN radio report.
Among those on the boat were about 20 undocumented Ghanaian migrants trying to reach the Liberian capital Monrovia, the UN's mission in Liberia (UNMIL) said Saturday.
The UN report said the boat, belonging to a Ghanaian, set sail on Friday but capsised in the Sinoe River en-route to the provincial capital Greenville due to serious weather conditions.
So far, two bodies have been washed ashore, while one survivor managed to swim to safety, the report said.
Islamabad, Oct 1 (IRNA) President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday described as very positive his meeting with President Karzai at the 'Iftar' Dinner hosted by the US President at the White House.
"The meting removed misunderstandings and paved the way for forward movement in the relations between the two states to forge closer cooperation in the fields of intelligence sharing," President Musharraf told reporters at Chaklala Airbase on his return to Islamabad on Saturday.
The President visited Cuba, Belgium, the United States and Britain during his two-week visit.
To a question on his meeting with the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Havana, the President said that it helped resume the peace process between the two countries and the joint statement is a major step forward as it recognizes our joint desire to resolve all disputes including Kashmir.
"The joint statement underlines the need to narrow down our divergences and reinforce our convergences".
The President said whenever the Prime Minister of India pays a visit to Pakistan, as he has already shown the desire in this regard, it should be a concrete visit.
On his visit to the United States the President said that his meeting with the US President George Bush and interaction with the important US Think Tanks were helpful in removing any misperceptions regarding government's peace treaty with the tribal elders.
About his meeting with Prime Minister Tony Blair in London, the President said during his meeting with the British leader he explained about the reality of Taliban.
The President said the two sides have also reached a joint strategy to combat extremism and terrorism and to counter Taliban.
By Prachi Bhuchar
Agra, Oct 1 (NDTV.COM) Dussehra may be a Hindu festival but Muslim artists from Mathura are the craftsmen putting together the effigies painstakingly from scratch.
"It feels wonderful to work in harmony. This year as well, there are some Muslims and Hindus working on the effigies but there are no differences between us," said Vishal, Hindu artisan.
Rashid and his family have been coming to Agra each year to prepare effigies for Dussehra.
They live in tents on the Ramlila grounds for a month before the festivities begin working inside the temple and on the grounds.
Age-old tradition
Creating magic with nimble fingers, they say it's an age-old tradition.
"I may be Muslim but there are Hindu children who have come with us as well, and we treat all of them in the same manner.
"We all eat and stay together while working. For us it is all about skill and tradition, so we don't look beyond that," said Rashid, Muslim artisan.
"This is one occasion where people from all religions work together. Many of the artists are Muslim and from other religious groups as well.
"There is no discrimination and for most of them, this is a good means of earning wages," said Bhagwan Agarwal, President, Ram Lila committee.
¶
Not long after the giant effigies light up the Ramlila ground in Agra, the family of Muslim artisans from Mathura heads home where ramzaan is already underway.
Washington, Oct 1 (DPA) A British newspaper on Sunday said it had obtained a new video showing Mohammed Atta, the leader of the Sep 11, 2001 suicide attacks in the US, and Ziad Jarrah, a pilot of one of the planes.
The Sunday Times reported that the tape, with no audio, shows the two Al Qaeda hijackers reading two documents marked as wills in Arabic.
Atta was the purported leader of the Sep 11 attacks, piloting American Airlines Flight 11, which crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. Jarrah flew United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after passengers on the plane revolted against their hijackers.
The Times said the video was filmed Jan 18, 2000, and had been authenticated by US authorities. The newspaper did not say how it had obtained the tape, which it would release at 1100 GMT Sunday.
The tape also shows clips of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden addressing a crowd of 100 members near Kandahar, Afghanistan, on Jan 8, 2000, the paper said.
Mumbai, Oct 1 (IANS) Mumbai police Saturday denied any link between the July 11 Mumbai serial train bombings and the 9/11 attacks in the US but hinted it was probing whether there was any connection with the Gujarat riots.
"We do not see any link between the July 11 incident and the Al Qaeda attacks in the US," Commissioner A.N. Roy told reporters at the Mumbai Police Club here.
"We have no information nor any knowledge about any links between the two attacks as reported in some section of the media," said Roy, who was accompanied by Maharashtra Director General of Police P.S. Pasricha and Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) chief Krishan Pal Raghuvanshi.
Asked whether the Mumbai attacks were linked to the Gujarat riots as the perpetrators targeted first class compartment commuters who were mostly Gujarati stock brokers and diamond traders, he said: "This information has come and we are looking (into it)."
About Malegaon blasts' link with July 11 attacks, Raghuvanshi said: "Malegaon link is not yet established."
"We will meet again on Melagaon (blast case). For now, get the facts of the Mumbai train blasts," quipped Pasricha.
"We can say now, we have solved the 7/11 case but the investigations are still on," said Roy, who earlier in the day along with Pasricha and Raghuvanshi had had a two-hour meeting with Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil, who also holds the home portfolio.
Islamabad, Oct 1 (IRNA) Pakistan on Saturday dismissed as 'irresponsible and repetition of baseless allegations' the reported statement by Mumbai Police Commissioner that Pakistan's intelligence agency was behind the train blasts in Mumbai in July that killed 186 people.
Mumbai police chief AN Roy said that the attacks were planned by the ISI and carried out by the Pakistan-based banned Islamist extremist group 'Lashkar-e-Taiba'.
"This statement, like those made immediately after the Mumbai bomb blasts, contains unsubstantiated allegations, which the Indian officials and media keep making for propaganda purposes," the Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said.
"It is quite possible that this is an attempt to divert attention from indigenous elements that may be responsible for terrorist acts in Mumbai and Malegaon in Maharashtra," the spokesperson said.
She said that Pakistan had offered to help with investigations into the Mumbai train bomb blasts on the basis of evidence and solid information.
"We have received absolutely nothing in terms of evidence, information or leads," Tasnim Aslam said.
Meanwhile the Interior Minister angrily rejected claim by Indian police that Pakistan's intelligence agency was behind the train blasts in Mumbai in July that killed 186 people.
"The allegations are highly irresponsible and without any proofs," Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said.
Sherpao told Geo television that such allegations can spoil relations between the two countries.
He said that relations between Pakistan and India were revived following the summit meeting of President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minster Manmohan Singh.
"But baseless allegations will have negative impact over the dialogue process".
He said India had not shared any information about the investigation into the attacks.
Seven well-coordinated blasts within 15 minutes ripped through trains on Mumbai's busy commuter network on 11 July 2006.
India had suspended composite dialogue with Pakistan after the blasts, but President Musharraf met with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the summit of Non Aligned Movement in Havana, Cuba earlier this month.
Bangalore, Oct 1 (IANS) Pakistanis were among the thousands who took part in prayers and meditation for world peace at the Navratri celebrations at the Art of Living center here.
On Saturday, nearly 25,000 people participated in a special yagna for peace, health, happiness and harmony of humanity held on the auspicious day of Ashtami, the eighth day of Navratri.
Amid the chanting of Vedic hymns and bhajans, the gathering meditated and prayed for world peace.
This year's devotees included those from Russia, Pakistan, Taiwan, Middle East, the US and Europe.
The annual nine-day Navratri celebrations at the Art of Living centre are marked by a series of yagnas, prayers and group meditations for world peace in the presence of spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
Explaining the significance of Navratri, Sri Sri said: "It is all about awakening the dormant divine consciousness in each one of us."
Devi Das Gupta
Durban, Oct 1 (PTI) Describing the transformation underway in India as "one of the most far-reaching revolutions of this century", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked non- resident Indians to participate in "this adventure".
Speaking at a reception hosted in his honour by Indian High Commissioner Satyabrata Pal here last night, the Prime Minister said, "The transformation underway in India is, in my opinion, one of the most far-reaching revolutions of this century.
"More than a billion people are seeking their salvation within the framework of an open society and an open economy," he said and remarked that the people in India were proud of the achievements of NRIs worldwide.
Having a word of praise for the people of Indian origin here in their efforts to build a new South Africa, the Prime Minister expressed the hope that he was confident that they would do so with the diligence, creativity and enterprise that had become the hallmarks of the Indian diaspora across the world.
He said India was proud of its remarkable achievement in sustaining the eight per cent growth of its economy. The buoyancy and vitablity of the Indian economy was a measure of the creativity of the people, which was unleashed after full-scale economic reforms undertaken in the 1990s.
"While doing so we are engaged in a massive task of fulfilling the basic needs of the teeming millions," he said.
New Delhi, Oct 1 (IANS) Within hours of police revelations about the ISI's hand in the Mumbai train bombings, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Saturday accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of misleading the nation on the issue of internal security.
Despite being aware of the course of investigation, the prime minister gave a clean chit to Pakistan in Havana, BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley told reporters here.
"It is quite clear by now that the Mumbai blasts were the result of a conspiracy hatched by the ISI and executed by Lashkar-e-Taiba. In such a situation how can the prime minister believe that a joint terror mechanism will work?" asked Jaitley.
"The prime minister's statements at Havana which announced a joint mechanism to tackle terrorism while treating Pakistan also as a victim of terror has severely compromised national interests."
The BJP leader said there was complete mismatch between the internal security scene and the country's foreign policy.
He said the internal security of the country was not safe in the hands of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
Washington, Oct 1 (ZEENEWS.COM) With the bill enabling Indo-US nuclear deal deferred till November after high drama in the Senate, observers are now blaming pre-election theatrics and posturing by Republicans and Democrats as well procedural delays for the failure to push through the measure.
The US Senate went into recess yesterday prior to the November 7 Congressional polls having failed to move the civilian nuclear deal to the floor for a debate and vote. The 'The United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006' or 'S 3709' can now be taken up at the Senate's 'Lame Duck' session in mid-November.
Bush administration's all out efforts to push the deal came a cropper as Republicans and Democrats failed to come to an understanding on the unanimous consent agreement that both the majority leader Bill Frist and the minority leader Harry Reid said they were going to on Friday.
Congressional observers said what was witnessed in the senate chambers including a so-called high drama minutes before the session came to an end on Saturday morning is nothing out of the ordinary with both Republicans and Democrats indulging in some pre-election theatrics and posturing.
While the Republicans blamed Democrats for blocking the legislation, the Democrats, turning the tables, argued that the grand old party had all the time in world between the end of June and end of September but allowed the legislation to be held "hostage" to a small group of conservative Republicans.
It is being maintained in some quarters that all parties are to blame for the current standoff on Capitol Hill-- Republicans, the Bush administration and the Democrats.
Procedurally the major problem came by way of the title two "tag along" to s 3709, the civilian nuclear legislation - something that had nothing to do with the original piece of legislation but an additional protocol between the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Observers claim that chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Richard Lugar, should not have tagged along this piece of legislation to the Senate Bill on India with some alleging that the Bush administration perhaps did little to dissuade the senior Republican.
It was not until about ten days ago that Senator Lugar worked out the acceptable language to a group of three senators so as to lift their anonymous hold, but just in time for Democrats to start complaining that Senator had given away "too much".
Valuable time was lost and that too when republicans, democrats and the administration knew that the Senate agenda prior to its scheduled recess was crowded.
Sources told that the two sides are quite a distance away from bridging their differences. The Republicans could be toying with the idea of forcing the legislation on to the floor of the senate, then invoking cloture to cut off debate and voting on the measure if the democrats still insist in procedurally objecting to the unanimous consent agreement in the Lame Duck session.
By Arun Kumar,
Washington, Oct 1 (IANS) Majority Republican leadership Saturday put the blame squarely on the Democrats for US Senate's failure to approve the India-US nuclear deal before it went into recess for the November Congressional elections.
"I am very disappointed," Majority Leader Bill Frist stated after Minority leader Harry Reid objected to his unanimous consent proposal to pass the US-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation bill without debate in the early hours of Saturday.
"For several weeks Senator Reid and I have been working the US-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation legislation. Tonight Republicans were prepared to pass the legislation without amendment or debate, and the Democrats objected.
"I am very disappointed that some Democratic members wish to defeat the bill by adding a large amount of unnecessary amendments. Since we have been unable to reach a unanimous consent agreement we will have to wait until the Senate reconvenes in November to take up this measure."
The Senate is now expected to take up the legislation on a priority basis when the Senate returns for a "lame duck" session Nov 9, two days after elections to one third of the 100 chamber seats.
Raipur, Oct 1 (IANS) Maoist militants killed three civilians while security forces gunned down at least six rebels in Chhattisgarh, police said Sunday.
Rebels raided villages late Saturday night under Gangrool police station of Bijapur locality in Bastar region and killed three middle-aged tribesmen by slitting their throat in separate incidents.
"We have three civilian deaths. Rebels probably killed them for their alleged link with the anti-insurgency operations," Bijapur Superintendent of Police Ratanlal Dangi told IANS over telephone.
The Maoists who have strong presence in the forested and hilly stretch of Bastar's 40,000 sq km, received a setback Saturday as paramilitary troopers gunned down at least six rebels and wounded several others in a raid carried out in Cherpe forest belt of the state bordering Maharashtra.
"We swooped on the rebel hideouts late Saturday in a thick forested region of Batsar that separates Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh and killed at least six rebels and injured dozens," said Dangi.
He added that forces busted 10 hideouts in the raid of banned leftists' extremists outfit, Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist).
Chhattisgarh is among the worst Maoist infested 13 Indian states. At least 275 people, mostly the tribal civilians in the state's southern Bastar region were killed since January this year.
By M.R. Narayan Swamy,
New Delhi, Oct 1 (IANS) The politician-son of Ranasinghe Premadasa, the Sri Lankan president who ordered Indian troops out of the island in 1989 sparking a diplomatic row, says he is keen to develop excellent ties with New Delhi.
In an interview before ending an 11-day visit to India, Sajith Preamadasa of the opposition United National Party (UNP) also credited President Mahinda Rajapakse of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) with pursuing a military campaign against the Tamil Tigers that he said was seen widely as "most efficient and prudent".
The 39-year-old MP chose words carefully when he was asked about his father's demand made in 1989 asking Indian troops trying to disarm the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the island's war-hit northeast to go home, saying Sri Lankans were capable of resolving their differences themselves.
The Premadasa administration also provided arms and ammunition to the LTTE to take on Indian soldiers, the last of whom left Sri Lanka in March 1990. Within months, the LTTE resumed an armed conflict that continues to this day, having claimed around 65,000 lives.
"I have done an authentic critique, a realistic critique of my father's policies," Premadasa told IANS. "I have ascertained the pros and cons, its negatives and positives. And I have formulated my own vision. But since my father is no more, I do not intend criticizing his policies."
He quickly added: "I have a great deal of passion and determination to surpass my father's noble achievements in the domestic arena.
"But when it comes to external relations, generally with the international community, more specifically with our great neighbour India, my thoughts and my vision and my perception are totally and absolutely different. I shall work for a frank, direct, authentic and transparent relationship with India.
"There were substantial deficiencies in external relations, especially with bilateral relationship with India," Premadasa said, referring to his father's presidency which ended when an LTTE suicide bomber killed him at a 1993 May Day rally in Colombo. "I shall champion all such efforts to correct it."
While making it clear that he was only articulating popular feeling in the Sinhalese-majority southern Sri Lanka, Premadasa explained why Colombo had the upper hand in the fighting against the Tamil Tigers.
"In terms of military strategy, it is perceived to be a success by a vast majority in Sri Lanka, particularly in the so-called south," he said. "I also see a situation where the government has very efficiently and methodically utilized all available resources to conduct a military and diplomatic approach to the conflict...
"I see the government approach extremely popular. It is very well received. For the first time people are beginning to state that here is a government, unlike any other, using a military approach in the most efficient and prudent manner. This is the perception."
He said incentives provided to security forces in the form of encouragement and quick promotions coupled with better weapons were "the distinct features of the present government's military strategy".
President Rajapakse, who took power in November defeating the UNP's Ranil Wickremesinghe, is "quite popular", Premadasa said.
"Right from inception he was very keen on achieving a settlement through the peace process. But for a variety of reasons, the process was scuttled. Ultimately these and other factors pushed him towards the warpath. Presently he is popular among the masses. I think he is quite popular among the masses."
Rajapakse, he added, would not be "a one-term president but a two-term president".
Premadasa, however, underlined the need for a political solution to the ethnic conflict.
"While military victories have given an upper hand (to the government), it is indispensable to have a political solution to this intractable issue. Many may claim that military strategy alone can achieve the objectives. I don't subscribe to that."
United Nations, Oct 1 (IANS) Sri Lanka has withdrawn its candidate from the race to succeed UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan but more may join the field before Monday's decisive straw poll in the Security Council.
South Korea's Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon has emerged the front-runner for the job with India's nominee Shashi Tharoor finishing second in three such informal polls.
Colombo Friday withdrew the name of Jayantha Dhanapala, a career diplomat and former UN undersecretary-general for disarmament, saying it did not want to further pursue his candidature in the interest of ensuring a consensus in electing an Asian candidate.
A candidate needs at least nine votes in favour and no veto from any of the permanent council members - the US, Britain, France, Russia and China.
In Monday's straw poll, coloured ballots will be used to distinguish the veto holders from the other 10 council members, elected for two-year terms.
In Thursday's informal poll, Ban received 13 votes in favour, one less than in the previous balloting. In second place was Tharoor, the UN undersecretary-general for public information, with eight favourable votes followed by Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, the only woman and non-Asian in the race, with seven positive votes.
Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai, whose country had a coup last week, received five votes. Dhanapala, Jordan's UN Ambassador Prince Zeid al Hussein and former Afghan Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani received three votes each.
The next secretary-general is to come from Asia because the job traditionally rotates among regions. The last Asian in the post was U Thant of Burma, who held office from 1961 to 1971.
Bangkok, Oct 1 (DPA) Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej Sunday approved a new interim constitution submitted to him by Thai military leaders who staged a coup last month.
The ruling junta is to announce an interim prime minister.
The military generals who seized power in a bloodless coup Sep 19 had vowed to step aside and allow a civilian government run the country. But the military will still reserve the authority to replace that government.
General Winai Phattiyakul, secretary general of the Council for Democratic Reform (CDR), said the junta would change its name to the Council for National Security from Monday to reflect a diminished role in the day-to-day governing of the country.
By Lamat R. Hasan,
New Delhi, Oct 1 (IANS) It's not just the devout who head for Old Delhi during the holy month of Ramadan; non-Muslims too flock the labyrinths of this part of the city to take in the festivities.
The sight of the lit up silhouette of the majestic Jama Masjid in the night sky and the make-shift hotels stocked with the many goodies more than make up for the many flaws of the walled city.
Inside the Jama Masjid with the time for 'iftar' (breaking fast) a few minutes away, devotees hurry to perform ablutions, while some spread 'dastarkhaans' (traditional table cloths) in the corridors of the mosque.
Many women and children huddle into corners to break their fast. Little boys wearing skullcaps and girls with 'dupattas' (scarves), neatly tucked behind their ears, excitedly serve the devotees dates, fluorescent-coloured 'papads' and 'nuktis', 'bhajiyas' and 'khare' (types of snacks).
The countdown has begun for 'iftar'! Everyone sits around the 'dastarkhaan' saying their 'duas' (prayers) till they hear the ear-shattering shot from the cannon that tells them it is time to break the fast.
The devotees quickly eat the dates following the legacy of Prophet Mohammed, who broke his fast with dates.
They pass around the plates, which run into hundreds, tucking in the goodies, and drinking sherbet in rainbow hues. Almost every home sends some snacks to the mosques.
As the muezzin prepares to give the 'azaan' (call for prayer), the devotees line up on the prayer carpets in neat rows to offer 'namaaz' (prayer).
After the 'namaaz' they spill into the streets, some head for their homes, some into the restaurants to have dinner.
The restaurants offer a special platter for the 'rozdaar' (those who fast). The waiters blurt out the names of the dishes breathlessly even before the customers settle down. Piping hot plates of 'korma', kebabs and 'biryani', accompanied with 'rumali rotis', 'naans' and 'sheermaals' are placed on the table in a jiffy for the main course. The portions are generous, and the meal is usually topped off with 'firni', a dessert.
Old Delhi springs to life during Ramadan, more so during the nights. The restaurants and roadside kiosks do brisk business through the night - the good part is there's something to suit everyone's pocket.
While the upper range restaurants sell the all-time favourite 'biryani' for up to Rs.300 per plate and more, it can be bought for as little as Rs.5 from the roadside 'deghs' (traditional cooking utensils).
By 8.30 p.m. the streets wear a deserted look. The devout are heading for the mosque to offer their night prayers and also Taravih, special prayers offered during Ramadan.
After the prayers they are back on the streets for a leisurely cup of tea, the 'meetha doodh' (sweetened milk) or the 'meetha paan'.
Some catch sleep before they are woken up by the Mian Sahab at 3.30 p.m. to eat 'sehri' - a quick bite before the next fast begins. Some others just stay up and pray, or add to the festive spirit by hanging out in the many bylanes.
The "quick bite" usually consists of a special dish called 'haleem' - made of red meat, pulses and wheat in rich gravy or 'pheni' - milk with dry fruits and noodles that can see the devout through the day.
It's good to see the old city eat to their hearts content, till someone descends to preach the concept of diet 'sehris' and diet 'iftars'!
Washington, Oct 1 (ZEENEWS.COM) The US Congress agreed on Saturday to extend sanctions on Iran set to expire this weekend that are aimed at choking off funds that could aid Iran in developing nuclear weapons.
With Congress scrambling to finish business before heading out to campaign for November 7 elections, the Senate approved a bill that matched one the House of Representatives approved on Thursday to keep the sanctions from expiring.
The bill would renew for five more years economic sanctions -- known as the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act, or ILSA -- to discourage companies from investing in Iran's energy sector. Libya, which has warming relations with the United States, was dropped from the sanctions.
The United States and other major powers are trying to get Iran to curb its nuclear program, which they suspect is aimed at developing nuclear weapons. Tehran maintains it is for civilian energy needs.
President George W. Bush signed the bill later on Saturday and said in a statement it would give the him flexibility to tailor sanctions and "impose sanctions upon entities that aid the Iranian regime's development of nuclear weapons."
The bill establishes mandatory economic sanctions on companies that provide Iran any goods, services or technologies that can be used in programs for nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.
It also authorizes assistance for human rights and pro-democracy groups and for independent broadcasting organizations that meet its criteria.
The bill initially was resisted by the White House until lawmakers agreed to give Bush more room to waive the sanctions.
New Delhi, Oct 1 (IANS) Authorities have launched a virtual war on mosquito here to prevent the spread of the dengue virus after it killed 10 people, including an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) student.
The civic authorities have stepped up sanitation drives across the city, especially in hospitals, community centres and public places, in a bid to kill the mosquitoes.
"We have also started random checks of homes, offices and places where there could be stagnant water breeding mosquitoes. We are spraying anti-mosquito drugs," said N.K. Yadav, the city's deputy municipal health officer.
The Delhi government has formed a special task force to help the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in the drive against stagnant water and to educate people on preventive measures against the disease.
"The death of the medical student is really a subject of concern," he said. Hospitals have been told to maintain cleanliness on the campuses.
Kamal Raj Kiran, a seventh semester student of AIIMS, died of dengue Saturday. He had tested positive for dengue Thursday, and was operated upon Friday to stem brain haemorrhage.
But the student from Hyderabad succumbed to the disease. More than 20 people at the hospital, including 14 students and some resident doctors, are afflicted with the disease.
Dengue virus is spread by the bite of the female Aedes mosquito, primarily Aedes Aegypti, that breeds in clean stagnant water.
The national capital has this year recorded over 400 cases of dengue - more than double the number in 2005. Of this 127 came to light last week.
Among the 10 people to have died are Kiran and the 17-year-old daughter of a Delhi doctor.
The disease could spread further in the next two months because the present weather helps the Aedes mosquito to breed.
Over 1,300 health workers have fanned out to inspect residences and advise people not to allow water to stagnate.
"Since October and November are the most dangerous months for the breeding of mosquitoes, we have appealed to citizens to be on alert," said Yadav.
"This is a difficult situation and we need the co-operation of citizens. The administration cannot control the spread of the disease by itself," he added.
In order to create awareness, the MCD has urged school authorities to educate people about the disease and the preventive measures.
The civic authority has sent legal notices to over 29,000 households and fined nearly 13,000 of them.
Washington, Oct 1 (PTI) US President George W Bush today said withdrawing from Iraq before defeating the enemy would only embolden terrorists, debunking the notion that militants were attacking America on being provoked.
"Withdrawing from Iraq before the enemy is defeated would embolden the terrorists. It would help them find new recruits to carry out even more destructive attacks on our nation, and it would give the terrorists a new sanctuary in the heart of the Middle East, with huge oil riches to fund their ambitions. America must not allow this to happen," Bush said in his weekly address.
"Some in Washington have selectively quoted from this document (NIE) to make the case that by fighting the terrorists in Iraq, we are making our people less secure here at home. This argument buys into the enemy's propaganda that terrorists attack us because we are provoking them," he said.
Parts of the National Intelligence Estimate were leaked to the media last week prompting an uproar on the Capitol Hill and the Bush administration responded quickly by declassifying sections of the document and then mounting a public relations offensive to take the sting out of the observations of the intelligence analysts.
"We do not create terrorism by fighting terrorism. The terrorists are at war against us because they hate everything America stands for, and because they know we stand in the way of their ambitions to take over the Middle East. We are fighting to stop them from taking over Iraq and turning that country into a safe haven that would be even more valuable than the one they lost in Afghanistan," Bush said. PTI
London, Oct 1 (IRNA) The world's longest underwater gas pipeline between Norway and Britain is due to go on stream on Sunday.
The 1,200-km Langeled pipeline stretching from Ormen Lange, the largest gas field under development on the Norwegian continental shelf in Easington in northeast England, is designed to partly ease concerns about Britain's dwindling energy supplies.
A further northern part of the USD 9.6-billion project, once completed in October next year, is hoped to carry more than 70 million cubic meters per day to Britain's grid network and to supply up to 20 percent of Britain's energy needs at a time when oil and gas resources in the UK sector of the North Sea is in steep decline.
The completion of the southern section comes as the Royal Bank of Scotland reported Saturday a further decline in combined oil and gas production from the British sector of the North Sea.
Oil output in July was reported to have fallen to an average of 1,424,882 barrels per day, down 15 percent from that of a year ago, while gas production averaging 195 million cubic meters per day was 16 percent less than in the same month in 2005.
Construction of the pipeline, which began in 2004, is said to have been a major engineering feat carried out by Norway's Norsk Hydro in conjunction with the country's partly privatized Statoil and Centrica of the UK as well as Royal DutchShell and ConocoPhillips.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair is due later in October to preside over the official opening of the gas pipeline along with his Norwegian counterpart, Jens Stoltenberg, at a ceremony in London.
Norsk Hydro has said it was uncertain whether the British prime minister, who is retiring from office in the next 12 months, would attend the ceremony, which is to be held on October 16.
"We were anxious to see whether or not Blair would be willing to take part in the opening of Langeled, but it turned out that it was not that difficult to get him to say yes," Hydro's Communication Director Cecilie Ditlev-Simonsen said.
Washington, Oct 1 (ZEENEWS.COM) The best remedy for allergies may be tricking the immune system into thinking it is encountering an old foe.
The idea is based on the so-called "hygiene hypothesis", the notion that the cleanliness of modern life deprives the immune system of a proper training against disease so that it ends up out of kilter and reacts to things that are harmless, such as grass pollen.
Cytos Biotechnology of Zurich, Switzerland, has developed a drug that it calls CYT003-QbG10, which fools the body into thinking it is being attacked by mycobacteria.
This class of bacteria is encountered far less today because of modern cleanliness. The bogus attack tricks the immune system into changing tactics to focus on tackling the potentially larger threat, rather than producing allergic reactions to less harmful things, reports New Scientist.
Preliminary results from a trial of 10 people with hay fever suggest that after a six-week course of injections, their sensitivity to grass pollen was reduced a hundredfold, eliminating their symptoms. Cytos claims the patients remained symptom-free up to eight months after the therapy, though it could not say whether the relief would be permanent.
This suggests that the drug tackles the root cause of allergies and could therefore be effective against a wide range of allergens. An earlier study suggests that the drug also works in patients with an allergy to house dust mites, although they were given accompanying doses of the allergen as well.
"They`re completely symptom-free, a year on from the therapy," says Claudine Blaser, a spokeswoman for Cytos.
New Delhi, Oct 1 (IANS) Zimbabwe's first task would be to qualify for the main round of the Champions Trophy cricket tournament beginning Oct 7, their coach Kevin Curran said here Saturday.
Curran said Zimbabwe, who have to contend with defending champions West Indies, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the qualifying round, will have to beat at least two of the teams to progress to the tournament proper.
"The bottom line is that we will have to beat at least two of the three teams, if not all, to qualify," Curran, flanked by captain Prosper Utseya, said at the team's press conference after arriving here.
"We have beaten Bangladesh before, so we can do it again. Then, we will have to beat either Sri Lanka or the West Indies to qualify. It's a big challenge for the guys," said the coach, also a former Zimbabwe player.
Zimbabwe begin their campaign with a match against the West Indies in Ahmedabad Oct 8.
The two top teams from the Oct 7-14 qualifying round will join the top six countries in the Oct 15-Nov 5 main round, with matches also being played in Mohali, Jaipur and Mumbai. The final will be played at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai.
Zimbabwe has come to the game's second-most important tournament with a very weak team as the nation struggles to make its mark at the international level. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has suspended their Test status, and allowed them to first stand the rigours of one-day internationals.
Part of the reason is that Zimbabwe cricket is poorly administered and many experienced players have left the country to play in Australia, South Africa, England and elsewhere.
The situation has forced the 21-year-old Utseya to lead the side after skipper Tatenda Taibu left Zimbabwe to play professional cricket in England following a dispute with Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC).
"It's quite challenging," Utseya, who has played one Test and 47 one-dayers, said of captaincy.
"Actually, I'm beginning to enjoy it," he said as an afterthought.
Curran, who played 11 one-dayers, is hoping his team, whose average age is just around 22 years, would be competitive in the Champions Trophy as Zimbabwe has just suffered a hammering against South Africa.
"The purpose (of matches against South Africa) was to learn from that series. We should be capable of competing. The players have come back experienced," he said, describing coaching the country as a "big challenge".
Curran said for his players international cricket is a "big learning curve".
"It's not going to be easy. But we will compete."
Fielding, said the 47-year-old, will be the best department of the team.
Curran said the team could develop with a lot of 'A' team tours that would provide experience to the youngsters.
He said the ZC is in talks with England, India and Pakistan to provide this opportunity to Zimbabwe 'A' side and have them play 12 to 16 longer version games before asking the ICC to readmit the country in the Test fold.
"The idea is to have the players play an average of 40 one-day internationals before the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies (in March-April)," he said.
Team: Prosper Utseya (captain), Stuart Matsikenyeri, Brendan Taylor (wicket-keeper), Vusi Sibanda, Elton Chigumbura, Hamilton Masakadza, Terry Duffin, Tawanda Mupariwa, Ed Rainsford, Piet Rinke, Anthony Ireland, Gregory Strydom, Chamu Chibhabha and Tafadzwa Kamungozi
02 October 2006
Baghdad, Oct 2 (DPA) A blanket 36-hour curfew imposed on the Iraqi capital Baghdad from Friday evening was in response to an information leak concerning a possible coup attempt, according to an Iraqi lawmaker.
Iraqi press reports Sunday quoted Bahaa al-Araji of the United Iraqi Alliance as saying that the alleged coup plot had been masterminded by supporters of Saddam Hussein.
According to al-Araji, security officials had told several MPs that a coup attempt had been uncovered.
"It was not a serious attempt though," said al-Araji. "It was more like a message from the Takfiris (Islamist extremists) and Saddamis telling us that they are still there, have power, and that they can do whatever they want."
A total curfew was imposed on Baghdad Friday evening and continued till Sunday morning.
The curfew was linked to the detainment of Sunni Iraqi MP Adnan al-Dulaimi's bodyguard on suspicion that he was plotting to carry out bomb attacks inside Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone. However, it was not clear whether the two incidents were connected.
Islamabad, Oct 2 (Xinhua) Pakistan Sunday said secretary-level talks with India are likely to be held after Ramadan, Pakistani news agency NNI reported.
Foreign office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said Pakistan wants to resume talks with India as early as possible to take forward the composite dialogue process between the two countries.
She claimed that India had unilaterally suspended the dialogue after the Mumbai train blasts in July.
At a meeting between Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohn Singh in Havana last month, the two sides agreed to resume the talks on all outstanding issues including Kashmir, she added.
Bhopal, Oct 2 (IANS) At least 16 pilgrims were killed and over 30 were missing after a flash flood in the Sindh river in Madhya Pradesh's Datia district, an official said Monday.
More than 45 people were washed away Sunday evening while crossing the river on foot to offer prayers on the occasion of Durga Navmi at Ratangarh Mata Mandir. They were swept away by the flash flood in the Sindh, caused due to the release of water from the nearby Manikheda dam. The authorities had given no prior information on the water release.
Police rescue teams have so far fished out 16 bodies and are searching for the missing.
Gwalior Divisional Commissioner Komal Singh has, however, denied that the people were swept away due to rise in water level.
"The question of Sindh water level rising does not arise because power production at the dam site was stopped since Saturday night," Singh told IANS by phone.
Accusing the district administration of callousness, the main opposition Congress demanded strict action against the district collector and the police superintendent.
"Neither did the administration take any precautionary measures nor did it make any arrangements for adequate boats despite knowing that villagers cross the river every year during Navratri for offering prayers," said Congress spokesman Manak Agrawal.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has directed the Datia district collector to enquire into the incident and provide necessary assistance to the affected families.
This is not the first incident of its kind in the state. In April 2005, more than 70 people were killed at Dharaji in Dewas district where they had gone for a dip in the Narmada river on the occasion of Bhutadi Amawasya.
Washington, Oct 2 (ZEENEWS.COM) Eating just one salad a day provides even greater health benefits than previously thought, according to a study that examined salad consumption by more than 17,000 adults.
The study, conducted by the UCLA School of Public Health and Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, supported by The Association for Dressings & Sauces, revealed that those who eat salads and raw vegetables with salad dressing have considerably higher levels of vitamins C, E, B6, and folic acid.
“Eating a salad a day is a convenient way to easily improve your nutritional status,� said Dr. Lenore Arab, professor of epidemiology at UCLA School of Public Health and lead researcher of the study, titled “Salad and Raw Vegetable Consumption and Nutritional Status in the Adult US Population". “Just one salad daily helps to satisfy the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which recommends eating two and a half cups of vegetables each day for a 2000-calorie diet.�
According to the study, less than 50% of the US population meets the daily recommendation for vegetables necessary for healthy living. Americans do not get enough of the water-soluble vitamins of which salads are a rich source. The raw vegetables in salads also offer the added benefits of fiber for better digestion and antioxidants for boosting immunity.
Interestingly, clinical trials have shown that adding salad dressing to a salad not only adds a delicious flavor, but also increases the absorption of certain nutrients being consumed. “It’s not just the leafy greens and vegetables that are doing a body good,� said Arab. “Some fat can also enhance the absorption of nutrients such as lycopene and alpha- and beta-carotene.�
Though it’s already known that salad was a healthy meal option, the bottom line, according to the UCLA study - eating one salad a day is a simple way to live a healthier lifestyle. The study has been published in the September issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
Cairo, Oct 2 (DPA) Jordan's King Abdullah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak called for self-restraint among Palestinian factions following fierce infighting in the Gaza Strip.
"How could we call on (our foreign counterparts) to help push for peace (between Israel and Palestine), and risk being faced with their questions regarding what is currently happening in the Palestinian arena?" Mubarak said after holding talks with Abdullah here late Sunday.
"Do these events pave the way for the reinstatement of the peace process?"
The Gaza Strip experienced wide-scale unrest as at least nine Palestinians were killed and 80 wounded in daylong clashes between militants from the armed wing of Fatah and militia from the ruling Hamas movement.
Heavy rioting by police and civil servants over unpaid wages was clamped down by Hamas auxiliary forces, leading to a clash between Hamas and Fatah.
The headquarters of the Hamas-dominated Palestinian Legislative Council experienced fierce clashes. Hamas forces exchanged fire with Fatah forces who tried to take over the parliament, said witnesses.
"The Palestinian internal fighting is a red line that must not be crossed," Mubarak said after a breaking-of-fast Ramadan banquet, hosted in honour of Abdullah and his delegation.
"It is not acceptable for such clashes to go on, especially at a time when a unified stance is urgently needed so that we can go back to the negotiation table."
The two leaders said they believed the current situation could result in repercussions for the Palestinian people.
They also called on the internnational community to continue sending humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people, who they said are in dire need of help under an almost-constant Israeli blockade and who are downcast by worsening living conditions following a cut in US aid.
The brief summit comes ahead of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to the Middle East.
Rice kicks off a Middle East diplomatic tour in Egypt Tuesday as she meets with Mubarak and Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit.
She is also expected to visit Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, where the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is expected to top her agenda.
Tamanrasset, Algeria, Oct 2 (NNN-APS) The several parties and evenings initiated in the holy month of Ramadan by Tamanrasset’s inhabitants reveal some facets of the social, cultural and religious heritage, which is held dear by the Ahaggar people.
For some Algerian families, Ramadan is the symbol of abundance and a competition in the culinary arts and of “craving,� but the Touareg families of Hoggar regard this month of piety as a month for austerity and sobriety as well as for reviving and redeeming some traditional cooking.
In this regard, the women prepare the table of iftar (fast breaking) by covering it with purely traditional dishes of Hoggar families. This custom to which families devote themselves, comes back every holy month of Ramadan.
The vegetable soup known as "Hsa" and sometimes a dish of dried and ground dates in addition to traditional tea, constitute the menu of breaking the fast in Ramadan.
New Delhi, Oct 2 (NDTV.COM) Rare artefacts representing various facets of Indian culture will be on display in four cities of China this year-end.
It will be as the two countries celebrate the 57th year of diplomatic relations.
Hundred rare artefacts selected from museums across the country will be exhibited by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) at the National Musuem in Beijing and three other cities of China from December.
The ASI has signed an agreement with China's Ministry of Culture for organising exhibitions in that country as part of the 'India-China Friendship Year 2006'.
The exhibition will run till next year, touring the neighbouring country for about nine months.
A team led by ASI Director General C Babu Rajeev will go to China in early December to organise the exhibition.
"The articles were selected in such a way that the Chinese people will get a feel of India, the cultural uniqueness and diversity of the two antions," Rajeev said.
"The exhibition will enhance ties between the countries and this is our tribute to the longstanding friendship between the people of the countries," he said.
A Chinese team from Shaanxi province, the home of terra-cota warriors and horses, is currently in the capital and organised a cultural evening and an exhibition of folk art from the region.
Earlier this month, a group from Beijing's National Aerobatics Acacademy has enthralled the Delhi residents with an acrobatic performance.
Dhaka, Oct 2 (DPA) The Bangladesh Supreme Court has stayed the execution of two Islamic militants for at least a fortnight to allow the court to consider mercy appeals filed by them, court officials said Monday.
The postponement followed submission of two handwritten statements from Abdur Rahman, chief of the banned Jamiatul Mujahideen group, and his deputy, Bangla Bhai, which defence lawyers said could be viewed as appeal applications.
The two Islamic clerics were condemned to death in May along with five other militants for masterminding bombings that killed two criminal court judges - Sohel Ahmad and Jagannath Pandey.
A higher court reviewing the verdict in August confirmed the death sentences against all seven.
Defending the twin murders and a series of orchestrated blasts across the Muslim-majority country last year, Rahman and Bhai said the Koran sanctioned killings because Islamic rule could not be established without launching a jihad, or religious war, against non-Muslims.
"We do not recognise courts set up by mortals," Rahman reportedly said in his statement calling on the authorities to establish Islamic shariah courts for their trial.
Prison officials said the statements of the two men were submitted overnight to the court, which decided to hold a hearing on the matter Oct 15.
"It is now the responsibility of the Supreme Court to decide whether the statements of the two militants constituted mercy appeals or not," said Shamsul Haider Chowdhury, the official in charge of the Dhaka Central Jail.
Sources in the Justice Ministry said the executions would now be delayed till the court gave a final decision on the statements.
By Imran Khan,
Patna, Oct 2 (IANS) A Bihar jail is ready to provide the right rope to hang Mohammed Afzal, who has been sentenced to death for the 2001 terror attack on parliament.
The Buxar Central Jail, 100 km from here, has a history of providing the special Manila ropes spun in the jail premises to hang convicts. The rope costs Rs.180 a kilo.
A jail official told IANS: "We are ready to send the rope if a demand is made."
Afzal, a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist, has been sentenced to hang Oct 20 at the Tihar Jail in New Delhi. But protests are gathering momentum in Jammu and Kashmir against his hanging and he can seek clemency from President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
When Dhananjay Chatterjee, accused of raping and killing a 14-year-old, was hanged at the Alipore jail in Kolkata in 2004, the rope was supplied by Buxar Jail.
There are varieties of ropes made by Buxar inmates - tent rope, handcuff rope and hanging rope. The count of the yarn indicates its finesse.
A lot of hard work goes into the making of the Manila rope. First the yarn is spun into a thick thread from J-34 variety of cotton. Then the thread is smoothened by soft wax.
"While making the rope it is important to ensure there are no knots in the thread," the official added.
According to the jail records, the rope was supplied to the Andhra Pradesh government in 2003. A consignment was also sent in 1995 to the Bhagalpur Central Jail where a dozen convicts sentenced to death are lodged.
Jail superintendent I.H. Ansari told IANS: "The demand for the hanging rope has decreased over the years as the number of cases of hanging has reduced."
Sasaram (Bihar), Oct 2 (IANS) Pollution and encroachments threaten Bihar's Sher Shah Suri's tomb, a national monument that is under Unesco consideration for a world heritage site.
The five-storey mausoleum stands in a tank on a stone terrace in Bihar's Sasaram town where the tank's acidic water and pollution pose dangerous threats to its survival.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) warned the state government in September about the ecological threats to the tomb.
"If urgent steps are not taken immediately to preserve this stone mausoleum, it would be impossible to save the tomb of Sher Shah Suri for future generations," said ASI official Neeraj Kumar.
He said the tank's water was acidic and highly polluted due to its use by locals in the full know of the district administration.
The tank is spread over a large area in which several untreated sewage and effluents have been flowing in for decades.
"The tank's water has turned acidic. It is posing a serious threat to the mausoleum's life," Kumar added.
According to him, the acidic water was dangerous for the mausoleum's survival as it would destroy the building material and weaken it. It also pointed out that the tank's depth has decreased alarmingly in the last two decades.
The ASI official also requested the state to immediately ban immersion of Hindu idols into the tank and restrict any new illegal construction within the radius of 200 metres of the mausoleum.
The district administration allowed the immersion of idols in the tank from 1980 after a pond in the neighbourhood dried up.
There are also encroachments and temples built within the mausoleum premises since 1977. Though the state claims to have spent Rs.700,000-800,000 on maintenance, it appears only to have been done on paper.
The historical tomb was declared a national heritage under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act (1958). The ASI took it for preservation and protection in 1938.
Suri (1472-1545) was also known as Sher Khan or the Lion King. Although his empire was short-lived, from 1539 to 1545, he left a fairly deep imprint in the realm of infrastructure building.
Quetta, Oct 2 (ZEENEWS.COM) A bomb shattered windows and damaged walls at a police radio control room in a remote town in southwestern Pakistan early today, but no one was hurt, an official said.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack in Khuzdar in the restive province of Balochistan, but area Police Chief Pervez Zahoor said rebel tribesmen were suspected.
Baluchistan has been the scene of small-scale bombings and rocket attacks targeting government owned gas fields, gas pipelines and railroads in recent years. Authorities say Balochistan tribesmen launch the attacks to press their demands that the Central government increase royalties for resources extracted in their territories.
The homemade bomb was hidden in a plastic shopping bag and planted outside the police building in Khuzdar, a town 300 kilometres southeast of Balochistan's capital of Quetta, Zahoor said.
No one was hurt in the blast but it left cracks in the walls of the police radio room and shattered windows at the police facility and several nearby homes, Zahoor said.
Tension has been high in Balochistan since the Aug 26 killing of a prominent tribal chief, Nawab Akbar Bugti. The government had accused Bugti of leading anti-government attacks.
In other violence in Balochistan, a shepherd died in a land mine explosion and two small, homemade bombs rocked Quetta last night.
The bombs shattered windows and created panic in two separate residential neighborhoods of Quetta but injured no one, Quetta Police Officer Wazir Khan Nasir said.
Brasilia, Oct 2 (NDTV.COM) There were no survivors among the 155 people aboard the Brazilian jetliner that crashed deep in the Amazon jungle in the nation's worst air disaster, authorities said.
Aviation officials said the Boeing 737-800 and a smaller executive jet apparently clipped each other in midair Friday, causing Gol airlines Flight 1907 to crash in jungle.
The jungle was so dense that crews had to cut down trees to clear a space for rescue helicopters to land.
The smaller plane carrying Americans landed safely at a nearby Air Force base.
Combed through wreckage
The Brazilian air force said in a statement that rescue workers had combed through the wreckage and found no signs that anyone could have survived the crash.
Rescue workers had recovered two bodies Sunday night and airlifted them out by
helicopter, the statement said.
Some 30 Brazilian air force troops were staying to search for bodies and inspect the wreckage throughout the night about 80 have been at the site during the day.
Gol airlines, which operated the flight, confirmed there were no survivors in its own release.
The list of passengers was released, but Gol said it wasn't clear whether any non-Brazilians were aboard.
Authorities had previously indicated it was highly unlikely anyone could have survived the crash.
They were reluctant to officially say there were no survivors until after carefully inspecting the crash site.
The death toll surpassed that of Brazil's previous worst air disaster in the 1982 crash of a Boeing 727 operated by the now-defunct Vasp airline in the northeastern city of Fortaleza that killed 137 people.
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 2 (NDTV.COM) Three more persons died of chikungunya in Alappuzha district in Kerala on Sunday, taking the total number of patients succumbing to the viral fever to 53.
State Health Minister P K Sreemathi instructed hospital authorities at Ambalappuzha and Cherthala taluks to depute all the staff for duty on holidays also.
Action would be taken against those who refuse to report for emergency duty today, a release from the Minister's office said here.
Reports said chikungunya had spread to more areas in Alappuzha District. More patients with symptoms of the disease were swarming hospitals in the area, sources said.
Finance Minister Thomas Isaac visited Ambalappuzha and Cherthala to oversee the arrangements being taken to provide treatment to patients.
Meanwhile, Youth Congress activists staged a black flag demonstration against the Health Minister when she arrived at the central stadium to attend a function, protesting the government's failure to prevent spread of the disease. (PTI)
Beijing, Oct 2 (Xinhua) China added a new passenger train service Monday from Guangzhou, capital of southern China's Guangdong province, to Lhasa in Tibet - one of the longest passenger train services in the country.
It is estimated to takes 57 hours and 21 minutes to cover the 4,980 km distance from Guangzhou to Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region.
The express train left Guangzhou at 10:29 a.m. Monday and is expected to arrive at Lhasa at 19:50 p.m. Wednesday.
From Oct 5, there will be one express train from Lhasa to Guangzhou every other day.
China opened the 4,373 km Shanghai-Lhasa passenger train service Sunday, and the 4,064 km Beijing-Lhasa service July 1 this year.
The Qinghai-Tibet railway, the world's highest railway that began service July 1 starts from Xining, capital of northwest China's Qinghai province, and ends in Lhasa. It is the first railway ever to go to Tibet.
New Delhi, Oct 2 (IANS) With dengue cases rising alarmingly in the capital, over 15 hospitals, including a few top private ones, have been issued notice for not doing enough to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes on their campuses, even as 10 new dengue cases were reported at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Monday.
In the last two weeks, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) issued notices to the hospitals, including the super speciality Indraprastha Apollo Hospital and Max Healthcare, after officials found stagnant water on their campuses.
"Over 15 hospitals, both private and government, have been issued notice after a team of our health officers inspected their campuses," said a top MCD health official.
"The notice asks the hospital authorities to take due note of the mosquito breeding grounds at their campuses and step up surveillance to curb it," said the official. The fountains at hospitals were among the favourite breeding places for mosquitoes, he said.
However, the official declined to divulge the names of all the hospitals.
An Apollo official, confirming the notice, said: "Yes, we have received a notice and have fully complied with the civic body's directives."
Meanwhile, AIIMS reported 10 new cases of the mosquito-borne virus Monday, taking the total number of cases to 45.
"Currently we have 45 patients of dengue, of which 20 are from the AIIMS campus, including resident doctors, students and support staff," Medical Superintendent D.K. Sharma told IANS.
"We have intensified our surveillance and are doing regular fogging of potential breeding areas. A cleanliness drive is also on in the campus," Sharma added.
On Sunday, the hospital confirmed 35 dengue patients, including 18 from the campus.
The authorities rang the alarm bell after a seventh semester student, Kamal Raj Kiran, died on Saturday of the deadly fever. Two medical students have also been shifted to the intensive care unit of the hospital.
The national capital has recorded over 460 cases of the virus so far this year and 10 deaths.
The dengue virus spread through the bite of the female Aedes mosquito, primarily Aedes Aegypti, which breed in clean stagnant water.
To control the growing menace of dengue, the Delhi government has hired 2,400 temporary workers, apart from over 3,000 working for MCD, to intensify surveillance of potential breeding grounds and launch fogging of anti-mosquito drugs.
Some of the worst affected zones of Delhi are the Civil Lines, Karol Bagh, Rohini and Shahadra areas, he said.
"We have started random checks at homes, offices and places where there could be stagnant water. We are spraying anti-mosquito drugs," said Delhi municipal health officer N.K. Yadav.
The civic authority has sent legal notices to over 29,000 households and fined nearly 13,000 of them for not removing stagnant water.
By Priyanka Bopana
New Delhi, Oct 2 (NDTV.COM) If one is prone to a migraine here are ways to keep the headache at bay and find way to a healthy and fit life.
Deal with the manifestation of the migraine the dreaded headache with these basic tips.
Make a compress by putting five drops of essential oil in cold water. Swish around a soft cloth then place it on your head or neck.
Try a cold pack wrapped in a couple layers of towel on your neck. Immersing your hands in hot water helps in drawing the pressure out of your head.
Put pressure on the webbed part of your hand between your finger and thumb. Rotate your fingers over your scalp to ease the pain.
Have someone kneed across your shoulders and the back of the neck. Next, have them press on the base of your skull with their fingers, and slowly release.
Keeping regular hours even on the weekends-may help you avoid pain. Make a concentrated effort to go to bed and get up at the same time each and every day.
Cayenne pepper, Ginger, Oatmeal, soy products, whole grains, dark green vegetables and milk are all sources of magnesium which helps relax the blood vessels hence giving you relief.
Say no the migraine managing your life. It's time to lay down the law or at least be comfortable whilst weathering it.
Cairo, Oct 2 (NNN-MENA) The housing, public utilities and reconstruction committee of Egypt's Shura Council under Suliman Metwali has approved an agreement signed between Cairo and Tokyo on a 20 million USD Japanese grant to develop a water treatment station in Gharbia governorate.
Said Saad, the deputy chairman of Egypt's National Organization for Potable Water and Sanitary Drainage, said Sunday the agreement fell within the framework of co-operation between the two countries.
Cairo, Oct 2 (NNN-MENA) A closed-door meeting held here Sunday between President Hosni Mubarak and Jordanian King Abdullah II dwelt on the latest developments on the Palestinian arena, Presidential spokesman Suleiman Awwad said.
Following the meeting, President Mubarak and King Abdullah continued their talks over an iftar (breaking of fast) banquet hosted by the president in honour of his Jordanian guest, said the spokesman.
The Egyptian-Jordanian summit came within the framework of continued consultations between Cairo and Amman on the Arab situation, particularly in the Palestinian territories, Awwad added.
President Mubarak was closely following up on developments in the Palestinian arena, said the spokesman, who added that means of bringing an end to the Palestinian people's sufferings topped Mubarak's priorities.
He further voiced his grave concern over clashes which erupted earlier in the day in Gaza city, underlining that Palestinian infighting was a red line that should not be trespassed.
Islamabad, Oct 2 (DPA) Eight people were hurt in a grenade attack on a mosque in eastern Afghanistan's Ningarhar province, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) agency reported Monday.
The attack on a congregation offering special Ramadan prayers Sunday night took place in Akhund village, some 40 km east of provincial capital Jalalabad, said Habibullah, chief officer of Rodaat district.
Habibullah said the unidentified attackers might have been aiming at delaying the elections to be held in the area under the National Solidarity Programme.
Hanoi, Oct 2 (DPA) At least five people were dead and 70 injured as typhoon Xangsane lashed Vietnam's central coast Sunday, ripping roofs off homes, knocking out electrical power and felling trees, officials said.
Vietnam cancelled domestic flights and evacuated more than 180,000 people from coastal and flood-prone areas ahead of the powerful typhoon, which left a path of destruction across the Philippines and more than 100 dead on Friday.
The coastal city of Danang and nearby World Heritage site Hoi An bore the brunt of the killer storm.
In the ancient town of Hoi An, where some homes date back to the 15th century, the storm destroyed 500 metres of dikes, unleashing flooding in the main town and damaging historic buildings, according to state television.
Shortly after it hit Vietnam, Xangsane weakened and was downgraded to a tropical storm, according to Bui Minh Tang, director of the National Hydrometeorology Centre.
New Delhi, Oct 2 (IANS) Journalists now have the equivalent of a journalism school available at the click of a mouse. The cyberspace offers rich resources to hone their professional skills.
UNESCO has collaborated with the Thomson Foundation, the Britain-based media training and consultancy group, and the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association to produce a handbook for journalists from developing countries on the use of Internet for media.
This training handbook, written by journalist and trainer Martin Huckerby, calls itself "a resource (with a printed manual and a CD) designed for both print and broadcast journalists and journalism students in developing countries around the globe".
The CD contains extra resources and lesson plans for trainers. While soft copies are available on the UNESCO website, hard copies can be requested through Hara Prasad Padhy of UNESCO (h.padhy@unesco.org).
The Gender for Journalists toolkit, developed from the Commonwealth Press Union, is designed "to raise awareness in news rooms worldwide of gender inequality and the crucial role that media can play to promote a balanced and non-stereotyped portrayal of women".
Author and Britain-based media and gender consultant Trish Williams says: "The 20th century saw many initiatives by the international community aimed at raising awareness of the inferior position that women have in society and the action that must be taken in order to redress the situation."
It can be accessed at www.cpu.org.uk/cpu-toolkits/gender_reporting/index.html. "Gender tools" made available include suggestions for gender-sensitive reporting and language, conferences and conventions, and Internet links.
Another site focuses on citizen journalists. Citizen journalism, also known as "participatory journalism", involves citizens "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analysing and disseminating news and information".
A link via sourcewatch.org offers software, hardware and other tools revolutionising journalism.
Meanwhile, the New Media Lab (NML) at Rhodes University, Grahamstown in South Africa, is also working on a resource website for journalists and bloggers.
The NML has been credited with several media projects using free and open source software platforms in partnership with civil society organisations and mainstream media, which can be accessed at nml.ru.ac.za.
The France-headquartered Reporters sans frontieres has also come out with its own "Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents", which is available for free download from www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=542.
It explains basic concepts from 'what is a blog' to the language used for blogging, tools available, how to start and run a blog, what ethics are involved, getting your blog picked up by search engines and personal accounts from bloggers including in Iran and Nepal.
There are also tips for 'cyber dissidents' on how to blog anonymously, technical ways to get around censorship, ensuring your e-mail is "truly private" and more.
Within India, there are a number of initiatives, right from thehoot.org - a website run by Delhi-based media commentator Sevanti Ninan - to a number of journalism-related networks on the mega mailing list network Yahoogroups.com.
Nagpur, Oct 2 (NDTV.COM) Four Naxalites were killed in an encounter near Pendhari village in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra.
All four bodies have been recovered.
Initial reports had said two to three policemen sustained minor injuries in the exchange of fire that broke out in the Naxal-infested district.
New York, Oct 2 (IANS) A specific class of antioxidants found in fruit and vegetable juice could stave off Alzheimer's disease, say scientists.
Non-vitamin antioxidants - polyphenols - are abundant in the skin and peels of fruits and vegetables. They are also present in teas and wines.
Lab trials have earlier shown that polyphenols can have a potent effect on health, with the potential to significantly delay the onset of serious cognitive impairment.
Qi Dai and colleagues at the Vanderbilt University, Tennessee, studied 1,836 dementia-free subjects based in Seattle. They looked into their intake of fruit and vegetable juice over a 10-year period while monitoring cognitive function every two years, reported science portal Science a GoGo.
The team found that people who drank over three serves of fruit or vegetable juice a week reduced the risk of Alzheimer's by 76 percent compared to those who drank less than one.
The team also found that the beneficial effects were most pronounced in subjects who carried a genetic marker associated with Alzheimer's.
The researchers said the next stage was to test blood samples to discover whether elevated levels of polyphenols are directly linked to a reduced risk of Alzheimer's, and discover which types of juice are most effective in achieving this outcome.
Kunming, Oct 2 (Xinhua) At least 770 people were evacuated after a gas well leakage in China's Yunnan province though no casualties were reported, officials said Monday.
The leak occurred at 7.25 p.m. Sunday at a farm in Luliang county, about 150 km east of provincial capital Kunming, said a publicity department spokesperson.
A drilling company based in the neighbouring Sichuan province was digging for a gas well on the Huaqiao farm, about five km from Luliang's county seat, when natural gas blew out 15 meters high, the spokesman said.
Emergency measures were taken and residents living within one km of the gas well were immediately evacuated.
Company sources estimated 90 percent of the blow-out was methane and the rest included dust, water and nitrogen.
No fire broke out following the leakage.
By Shubha Singh
A month ago the people of Guyana voted in a largely peaceful election to re-elect President Bharrat Jagdeo for a second five-year term. It was the first time in four national elections when there was no post-election violence. The peaceful aftermath of the polls, which was termed a remarkable sign of democratic maturity in Guyana by international observers, allowed the Guyanese parliament to be convened within a month.
Guyana is South America's only English-speaking country, and almost half its population (49 percent) is of Indian origin, descendants of Indian indentured workers the British brought to work on the sugarcane plantations. Another 40 percent comprises Afro-Guyanese, whose ancestors were brought from Africa as slaves by the Dutch colonialists, predecessors of the British empire-builders in Guyana. Chinese, Portuguese and Europeans form the rest of the ethnic mix.
Guyana was the first country to elect a prime minister of Indian origin, the legendary Cheddi Jagan, in 1953 while the country was still a British colony. But Cheddi Jagan's Left views caused great unease in the US and fear of a creeping communist takeover. Eventually, the British landed troops in Georgetown and dismissed the government.
Tensions between the two main political parties, which largely translate into the two main ethnic groups, roiled over into rioting after the elections in 1992, 1997 and 2001. The opposition's refusal to accept the results led to vandalism, riots and violent confrontations with the security forces in capital Georgetown and surrounding areas. The differences were eventually resolved through the intervention of the Caribbean regional grouping CARICOM and the Organisation of American States. Although located in South America, Guyana is considered part of the Caribbean.
With the latest election victory, the party dominated by Indo-Guyanese has retained control of parliament and the presidency for a fourth consecutive term. President Jagdeo's ruling People's Progressive Party won 55 percent of the vote, while the main opposition, People's National Congress, which has its power base among the Afro-Guyanese, got 34 percent. For the first time, a new political party, Alliance For Change, which campaigned on a multiracial appeal, won eight percent of the vote from mainly urban middle class voters. Under proportional representation system, 53 members are elected and 12 more nominated through local councils.
In his acceptance speech, after the bitterly fought election campaign, President Jagdeo pledged to bridge the racial divide, saying it was time for all parties "to dispense with all the feelings of hurt and animosity generated by the competitive political campaigns and work together to advance the goals of development and national unity".
During his previous term, the 42-year old Jagdeo, an economist who trained in Russia, is credited with making major improvements in infrastructure, roadways and schools and reducing the foreign debt. Since the late 1990s the government has divested itself of many industries and the economy is showing signs of revival. A decade ago Guyana's foreign debt was crippling and almost 95 percent of its revenues went to servicing the debt; in 2005 it had come down to 20 percent.
But Guyana still faces several intractable problems that include environmental threats to the coastal strip and rainforest, poverty and organised crime -- the last fuelled by the drugs trade. About 70 percent of the country is tropical rainforest. Despite its abundant resources of bauxite, gold and timber reserves, there is widespread urban poverty and unemployment with high level of migration to the US.
President Jagdeo visited India in August 2003 and January 2004 when New Delhi agreed to extend a concessional credit line of $25 million for the modernisation of Guyana's sugar industry.
Cricket is a popular game in Guyana and the Indian government has given a grant of $6 million for the construction of a new cricket stadium in Georgetown that will allow Guyana to host some of the matches of the Cricket World Cup 2007 series.
Guyana has a long history of racial and political acrimony. The People's National Congress, which has its power base among the Afro-Guyanese, was in power from 1964 to 1992 under the authoritarian rule of Forbes Burnham, a one-time associate of Cheddi Jagan. Burnham converted Guyana into a Cooperative Republic and nationalised all private holdings in the country, leading to the marginalisation of the Indo-Guyanese community. It was a period of drastic economic decline and a difficult time for the Indo-Guyanese till Burnham's successor, Desmond Hoyte, began loosening the autocratic system of governance.
Elections in Guyana through the 1970s and 80s were widely criticised for fraud, through grossly inflated overseas ballots and intimidation of Indo-Guyanese voters. The 1990 elections could not be held as the Commonwealth election observers criticised the electoral rolls. Persistent international pressure led to a revision of the rolls and elections were finally held in 1992 under international supervision.
The first free and fair elections in Guyana brought Cheddi Jagan and his People's Progressive Party to power. When Cheddi Jagan died in 1997, his wife and long-time associate Janet Jagan became president. But she retired from politics after a heart attack in August 1999 when Finance Minister Bharrat Jagdeo took over.
(Shubha Singh is a journalist and researcher on the diaspora. She can be reached on shubyat@gmail.com)
Gaza City, Oct 2 (NDTV.COM) Hamas militiamen's efforts to break up anti-government protests sparked running street battles across the Gaza Strip.
The violence killed eight people in the worst internal Palestinian violence since Hamas took power.
Militants from the opposition Fatah group retaliated by torching the Palestinian Cabinet building in Ramallah.
They also attacked Hamas offices throughout the West Bank, kidnapped a Hamas official and threatened mass strike.
The spasm of violence dampened already fading hopes for the creation of a national unity government between the two groups that could and crippling economic sanctions.
The fighting continued throughout the day and sent school children and other civilians in downtown Gaza City fleeing for cover.
"This is forbidden in Islam, we are in the holy month of Ramadan," said Majed Badawi, 33, who managed to escape uninjured after his car was caught in the crossfire.
"It's a shame on Hamas, who call themselves real Muslims, and a shame of Fatah as well. Why are they fighting and over what? We are victims because of both of them."
Late Sunday, Interior Minister Said Siyam ordered the Hamas militia off the streets, ministry spokesman Khaled Abu Hilal said.
Also, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak called on Egyptian diplomats in Gaza to hold a meeting with security commanders on both sides to resolve the violence, Egyptian officials said.
By Sharat Pradhan,
Lucknow, Oct 2 (IANS) Durga Puja and Dussehra may be Hindu festivals, but here the celebrations would be incomplete without Muslim participation.
Continuing Lucknow's tradition of sectarian harmony - known as 'Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb' or the best of Islamic and Hindu etiquette - Mohammad Hafeez has been participating in Durga Puja for over three decades.
"Durga Puja is just as sacred to me as Eid or Bakri-Eid and I cannot imagine life without being associated with it," says Hafeez, 55.
He not only provides the marquees for the annual event at the Bengali Club here but also fasts during the nine-day Navratri.
"When I got involved with Durga Puja way back in the mid-1970s, I was a pauper. But that was the turning point in my life. Since then there has been no looking back. I owe my prosperity to the goddess," he claims.
Naseer Chaudhary, 51, has been putting up the sound system at the half-a-century old club for years and even knows the Sanskrit mantras by heart.
"His recitation is so perfect that he points out even minor errors in the chanting," says club general secretary Arun Banerjee.
It is a Muslim who prepares the traditional bhog offering for the puja.
"Bhog preparation is an extremely important component of the puja and a Muslim has been handling it for the past two decades," Banerjee says.
At the Ramakrishna Mutt, another popular Durga Puja venue, Rais Alam's shehnai recital forms the backdrop for the puja organised by the saffron-clad priests. "We don't believe in playing recorded cassettes," an organiser says.
But it is Mohammad Waseem who carries out the most responsible task - of ensuring the upkeep of the goddess's deity - at the monastic order.
Waseem is particular about adhering to the Navratri traditions and observes a strict vegetarian diet during the nine days of the festival.
Swami Muktitanand, head of the Ramakrishna Mission here, says: "There are people of all faiths living on this earth. Goddess Durga does not discriminate against anyone. For her, all are a part of the human race."
For Dussehra too, Muslims work along with Hindus in the run-up to the preparations.
Abdul Miyan, 60, has made a 50-foot-tall effigy of Ravana and two 40-foot-tall effigies of Kumbhakarna and Meghnad. And what's more, he's been doing this for decades!
Washington, Oct 2 (ZEENEWS.COM) Hookahs or waterpipes are fast becoming the ‘in’ thing for youngsters under the impression that this form if smoking is less toxic than the traditional cigarettes. However, a leading expert in this field is warning that this notion is all hogwash, and that hookahs are rapidly becoming an epidemic.
Christopher Loffredo, PhD, Director of the Cancer Genetics and Epidemiology program at Georgetown University Medical Center revealed that though people, especially youngsters believe that hookahs are less toxic than cigarettes, the truth was that smoking a hookah for 30-60 minutes will be the same as smoking a pack of cigarettes.
"People who use these devices don't realize that they could be inhaling what is believed to be the equivalent of a pack of cigarettes in one typical 30-60 minute session with a waterpipe, because such a large quantity of pure, shredded tobacco is used," Lofferedo said.
Loffredo, who has been studying tobacco use in Egypt since 1997, said that hookahs were not only immensely popular in the East and Middle East, but were also fast becoming a rage in the West as well.
However, his study had found that the amount of cellular chromosomal damage produced inside the mouth is the same as that seen in cigarette smoking.
What was even more worrying he said, was that even in cultures where women were traditionally discouraged from taking up the butt, hookahs were becoming acceptable.
"In Egypt, we've seen boys starting to smoke the waterpipe at age 12, and young women, who are culturally discouraged from smoking cigarettes, are flocking to it," he said.
He said that people were under the misconception that as water absorbs toxins, it is safer to smoke hookahs than cigarettes. However, the study finds that those who smoke hookahs are exposed to larger total amounts of nicotine, carbon monoxide and certain other toxins.
"People think the water absorbs the toxins, and that is true to some extent if the toxins are water soluble, but tar isn't, and tar contains the carcinogens. We believe that, compared to the typical cigarette smoker, waterpipe smokers are exposed to larger total amounts of nicotine, carbon monoxide and certain other toxins," Loffredo said.
He added that as tobacco burns at a lower temperature in waterpipes, it is not only easier to inhale, but also penetrates deeper into the respiratory tract that cigarette smoke, thus cause more damage.
"And because the tobacco is burning at a lower temperature, it is more tolerable to inhale deeply, and in fact you need more force to pull air through the high resistance of the water pathway. That means the tobacco smoke can be penetrating deeper in a person's respiratory tract than cigarette smoke does. The damage could be even worse than seen in cigarette smokers, but we haven't done studies long enough to quantify the true cancer risk," Loffredo said.
New Delhi, Oct 2 (IANS) India's failure to play a more active role in bringing peace to Sri Lanka may prove to be "a monumental foreign policy blunder", warns J.K. Sinha, a former number two in the country's external intelligence agency.
Sinha, who was with the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) until two years ago, says India was content to remain on the margins of the peace process, in part due to its misgivings vis-à-vis the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which New Delhi banned in 1992 over former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination.
"Mouthing platitudes and self-righteous expression of good intentions has become a substitute for a credible and effective policy," Sinha writes in the latest issue of "Indian Defence Review", in an article titled "India Loses its Way in South Asian Neighbourhood". Sinha now heads the Central Reserve Police Force.
"India allowed the gradual erosion of the peace process and remained a virtual bystander," charges Sinha, who served with RAW during the years when a Norway-backed 2002 ceasefire between Colombo and the LTTE began to crack up, eventually resulting in hostilities that have now assumed menacing proportions.
"It will have a heavy price to pay as Sri Lanka once again descends into a civil war," he said. "India's inability to fully comprehend the ground realities in Sri Lanka and, hamstrung by the past, its reluctance to do business with LTTE to help evolve an equitable settlement may prove to be a monumental foreign policy blunder."
In an attack clearly targeted at the external affairs ministry, Sinha finds fault with New Delhi for failing to build on the 2002 Oslo agreement between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE under which the latter agreed for the first time to explore a federal settlement to the ethnic conflict.
"Instead of building on the positive developments at Oslo, India allowed its misgivings and suspicions with regard to the LTTE to stifle any follow-up policy initiative. India was content to remain in the margins."
The former RAW officer has come down heavily on former Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga for destabilizing the government of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in late 2003 soon after the LTTE submitted a proposal to set up an interim administration in Sri Lanka's northeast.
"India and the international community should have done all that was possible to prevent (Chandrika) from resorting to the politically dishonest and unconstitutional measure which really scuttled the peace process," Sinha said.
"India's ambivalence about the LTTE and its inability to pull its weight in Sri Lanka in favour of the peace process shall cost India dear. India is now caught between the devil and the deep sea.
"It cannot help the Sri Lankan government militarily to defeat the LTTE because of the sentiments in Tamil Nadu and the compelling political constraints that it entails. Its ambivalence interspersed with gratuitous hostile statements towards the LTTE has closed its option to proactively bring about a settlement of the ethnic crisis in Sri Lanka through a process of negotiations.
"The resumption of civil war in Sri Lanka portends the worst for that country and for India's security concerns in the region."
Sinha has not spared Colombo either.
"It is indeed ironical that Colombo, which conspired with LTTE to force the return of the Indian Army (in 1990), now looks up to New Delhi to rein in LTTE and play a decisive role as the regional superpower to bring about a durable peace."
But the bulk of the criticism is directed at New Delhi.
"In fact, both the major political parties of Sri Lanka believe that India is the reluctant hegemon, unwilling to act, being overwhelmed by self-doubt about its role but yet extremely sensitive to the international community asserting their presence and playing a decisive role in tackling the ethnic crisis in Sri Lanka...
"The gradual erosion of the peace process and the resumption of the conflict is a major setback for India and to its security concerns vis-à-vis Sri Lanka."
Chandigarh, Oct 2 (ZEENEWS.COM) The BJP on Sunday asked the Centre to reconsider continuation of diplomatic relations with Pakistan following the disclosure about the ISI`s hand in the Mumbai serial train blasts.
"The Pakistan High Commissioner should be immediately summoned and categorically told that India will reconsider continuation of diplomatic relations with Pakistan," BJP president Rajnath Singh told a press conference here.
He said it was high time the Centre launched a diplomatic offensive against Pakistan and "its terror machine the Inter-Services Intelligence".
Lauding Mumbai Police for "unravelling" the involvement of Pakistan`s intelligence agency and Lashkar-e-Toiba in the serial blasts that rocked Mumbai city on July 11, he said the peace process with Pakistan should be stopped immediately.
"The government should soon take a decision after taking Parliament and opposition into confidence," Singh said.
Referring to terrorist training camps across the border, he said India should destroy these camps.
The Centre should persuade the UN Security Council to impose economic sanctions on Pakistan and get it listed as a "rogue state," Rajnath Singh said.
Pointing that ISI was bent upon "destablising" India, he demanded that the ISI, which was masterminding terror attacks in India, should be put on the international watchlist.
Criticising the UPA government for allegedly not making serious efforts to curb terrorism, Singh said the Mumbai police revelations proved that Pakistan had betrayed the spirit of its January 2004 promise that territories under its control would not be used to promote terrorist activities.
The UPA government should not ignore evidence given by intelligence agencies on sustained anti-India activities of Pakistan and its agency ISI, Singh said, noting that "ISI plays an active role in smuggling of arms and drugs, funds terrorist activities, creates terror sleeper modules and dumps counterfeit currency in India through Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bangladesh border."
He said the recent Havana declaration by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh along with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was a "classic example" of the government`s failure in formulating a clear policy on terrorism.
"There is a disconnection between the internal security situation and foreign policy pursued by the Prime Minister in Havana," he said and alleged that it would be "incredulous" to assume the Prime Minister had no idea of the ISI link to the Mumbai blasts well in advance.
"How could the Prime Minister agree for a joint mechanism against terror and acknowledge Pakistan as a victim of terror," the BJP leader said, adding that the Mumbai Police disclosures had made the JMT a "non-starter".
New Delhi, Oct 2 (IANS) India Sunday said it will confront Pakistan with the "evidence" of the involvement of its spy agency - Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) - and terrorist groups aided by it in the July 11 Mumbai blasts, and told Islamabad sternly that it will be judged not "by words, but action on the ground".
New Delhi also asserted that the planned joint mechanism for countering terrorism, which was agreed to by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in Havana last month, will have to deal with "this kind of evidence".
"We will judge them not by immediate reactions or verbal statements (but) by what they actually do about terrorism," Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon told reporters here after taking charge from Shyam Saran.
"You have heard what is the evidence that has been found in Mumbai and it seems to me logical that the mechanism has to deal with this kind of evidence," Menon underlined, rubbishing Islamabad's repeated denials of involvement of the ISI and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) in Mumbai train bombings that killed nearly 200 people and injured hundreds.
"This (involvement of ISI and LeT in the blasts) is something we will certainly take up with the government of Pakistan in view of the new evidence," Menon said a day after Mumbai Police Commissioner A.N. Roy revealed a "diabolic plan" conceived by the ISI and executed through the LeT and the now-defunct Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
"We will judge its (mechanism's) success or failure by how it deals with it (terrorism)," said Menon, who was high commissioner to Islamabad before taking charge as foreign secretary, adding that terrorism had always been a "big issue" with Pakistan.
The plan to set up the joint anti-terror mechanism with Pakistan has elicited sharp reactions from India's strategic establishment, with some leading experts seeing it as a "compromise" of India's traditional position on terrorism allegedly flowing from across the border.
Asked when India will present the evidence of the ISI's involvement in the Mumbai carnage, Menon said that New Delhi will do so "at the right time and the right place".
"We will see what Pakistan does about the evidence and see what their reaction is," he said.
India is likely to present compromising evidence in the face of Pakistan's repeated denials when Menon meets his Pakistani counterpart Riaz Mohammad Khan next month here.
The meeting between Manmohan Singh and Musharaff on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Havana last month led to the resumption of the stalled peace process with both leaders agreeing to set up a joint anti-terror mechanism.
With what India sees as a "breakthrough" in nailing the culprits behind the July 11 Mumbai blasts, the tenor of the talks between the two countries is likely to be less than pleasant.
Pakistan has predictably gone into the denial mode again. Pakistan's Minister for Information and Broadcasting Tariq Azim Khan has termed the evidence as a "baseless allegation and yet another attempt by India to malign Pakistan".
New Delhi, Oct 2 (NDTV.COM) Government has decided to introduce biometric passports, using sophisticated technology of finger prints, in the country by the end of next year.
It is aimed at restricting misuse of passports.
These will initially be introduced in the category of diplomatic and official passports, officials said.
Such passports, aimed at eliminating the scope of impersonation and other forms of manipulations are subsequently expected to be given to other categories of people.
These passports will have a chip, which will carry the finger print and all other details of its holder.
The fingerprint will also be fed in the computer system of immigration officials at airports and ports.
"Whenever anybody with this passport approaches an immigration officer, he will be required to put his finger print on the computer window. If the finger print matches, the person is cleared," an official said.
Introduction of this system will involve massive computerisation and the task has been entrusted to the government-owned National Informatics Centre (NIC).
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has also decided to introduce a system wherein a sticker, carrying all relevant information of its holder, would be pasted on passports.
These will be beneficial in the context of people going abroad for studies or job.
It is being introduced in view of detection of large number of cases wherein wrong information has been furnished.
Kathmandu, Oct 2 (NDTV.COM) India and Nepal will sign an extradition treaty and a treaty on mutual legal assistance, aimed at combating terrorism and cross-border criminal activities.
It will be signed during Nepalese Home Minister's visit to New Delhi beginning October 4.
"Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitoula will lead a high-level delegation to sign the Extradition Treaty and the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) between the two countries in New Delhi next week," said sources close to the Home Minister.
These agreements would replace the five-decade old treaty that has become obsolete," sources further said.
The new extradition treaty will be useful to nab criminals who cross the border after indulging in criminal activities.
The MLA will facilitate legal aspects of implementing the extradition treaty.
The two treaties were initialed by the Home Secretaries of Nepal and India in New Delhi on January 20, 2005.
Then, it was agreed that the treaties would come into force after the Home Ministers of the two countries sign it.
However, delay was caused in finalising the treaty following King Gyanendra's royal coup in February 2005.
According to officials, the revised treaty and MLA have provisions that would help investigators of the two countries reach the suspects and smoothly allow court proceedings.
The two treaties were aimed at checking the possible nexus between extremists of the two countries, combating terrorism and other cross-border criminal activities, they said.
Tehran, Oct 2 (NDTV.COM) Iran's president has said his country was determined to expand its uranium enrichment programme.
Speaking to professors at Tehran University, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran hopefully would increase its enrichment programme to produce nuclear fuel.
The president has repeatedly rejected calls by the United States and its allies to stop enrichment.
"Allegations or charges by the United States than Iran is seeking nuclear weapons is a big lie," Ahmadinejad said during his speech Sunday, which was broadcast on state-run television.
The process of uranium enrichment can be used to produce electricity or to build nuclear weapons depending on the level of enrichment.
The US alleges Iran is seeking to build nuclear weapons, but Iran contends that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes.
Ahmadinejad said in his speech that Iran hopefully will install up to 100,000 centrifuges to process uranium gas for enrichment in order to produce nuclear fuel and said the Islamic Republic has no plans to suspend enrichment, not even for a day.
"Not a single person has a right to give up the rights of the Iranian nation," he said.
Isfahan, Oct 2 (NNN-IRNA) A cloned sheep that was born in a research center in the central city of Isfahan Saturday morning is now in good condition, said a center official Saturday evening.
Head of the Royan Research Center in the ancient city of Isfahan, Dr Mohammad-Hossein Nasr-Esfahani told IRNA that the sheep, second cloned in Iran, was not initially in good conditions after birth by Caesarean.
However, it recovered after a while thanks to the efforts of the center's medical team and was later able to successfully drink milk.
It is now in a good condition, said the doctor.
Iran's first cloned sheep, also born in Royan center, died a few minutes after it was born in August.
Cloning is an advanced technology only possessed by developed countries, said the doctor adding that obtaining the technology would enable Iranian specialists to use it in different fields of medical treatments.
A combination of the cloning methods and the new progress made by Iranian physicians in the field of spinal injuries would enable them to increase the possibility of curing those suffering from spinal damages, Nasr-Esfahani said.
The Iranian researchers and specialists have recently made a breakthrough in medical science to cure spinal injuries with the culture of Schwann cells enabling those suffering from paralysis to move.
Named after the German physiologist Theodore Schwann, the Schwann cells are a variety of neuroglia that mainly provide myelin insulation to axons in the peripheral nervous system of jawed vertebrates.
Tokyo, Oct 2 (NDTV.COM) Japan wants to hold summit talks with China and South Korea during a single trip abroad by new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The tour is aimed at mending ties with the two Asian neighbors, top government spokesman said on Monday.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said he favoured that Abe's visits to Beijing and Seoul would be during a single trip abroad, but refused to confirm news reports that Abe's trip would come as early as this weekend.
Abe was expected to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao on October 8, and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun on October 9, according to Japanese media.
By Lola Nayar,
Kapurthala (Punjab), Oct 2 (IANS) The Rail Coach Factory (RCF) here is on expansion mode. After meeting a major chunk of the Indian Railways' requirement for passenger coaches it is now planning to hike production by 40 percent to cater to rising domestic and overseas orders.
"As against the installed capacity of 1,000 coaches we are currently producing around 1,200 coaches. We are planning to enhance production capacity to 1,400 with an investment of Rs.550 million," said Pratap Srivastava, general manager RCF and additional member production in the railway board.
RCF is also planning to invest Rs.680 million on setting up a wheel assembly unit to bridge critical shortfall and also reduce production time at other units.
All railway manufacturing and repair units work on the basis of competitive production cost with constant flow of material and component inputs from other units. RCF also manufactures a lot of spare components, like frames of coaches, for replacing corded or damaged coach bodies.
"We are gradually shifting towards high-end lighter weight stainless steel air-conditioned coaches and special purpose coaches including those for exports," Srivastava told a media team visiting the sprawling 115-acre RCF mini-township which includes production units, a housing colony, five schools, a hospital, an 18-hole golf course and other facilities.
With support from other railway units in the country, RCF is planning to achieve a target of 13,012 coaches during the 2006-07 fiscal.
The railways' annual requirement is estimated to be 4,500 coaches, including air-conditioned coaches, during the 11-Plan period from 2007-12.
Together with the Integrated Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai, which is also raising its production capacity to 1,500 coaches annually, and RCF's enhanced capacity of 1,400 coaches, domestic production is likely to touch 2,900 annually.
"To meet the additional requirement we are looking at a public-private partnership venture to set up a manufacturing facility for around 1,400-1,500 coaches," said Srivastava.
Though the proposal has been under study for some time now, no private sector partner has been firmed up so far, the official said.
RCF, which started production in 1987 with technology transfer and purchase of 24 air-conditioned coaches from Germany's Alstom-LHB, is now manufacturing coaches based on 13 designs developed by Indian Railways.
One of their innovative designs would be visible when Railway Minister Lalu Prasad flags off a new low-cost air-conditioned Garib Rath express train from Sahrasa in Bihar on Wednesday.
Among other new features that RCF has helped develop and successfully tested is use of fire retardant materials and manufacture of crashworthy coaches that take over the impact and crumble up without letting the passenger area get affected.
The first crashworthy coach was manufactured in March 2005. Tests by Indian Railways' Lucknow-based Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) at 42.2 kmph proved the efficacy of the coach design. It has been designed to take crash impact of up to 60 kmph, said D.A. Anand, chief mechanical engineer South East Central Railway.
Manufacture of the new crashworthy coaches will begin next year.
Last year, RCF decided to test the global market with the aim of "pitching itself against international standards", said Srivastava.
RCF successfully met orders for 36 coaches from Myanmar and 20 chair-car coaches from Senegal. It has got orders worth Rs.360 million for 50 additional coaches of different designs from Senegal and Mali.
"We are happy that our new orders are not tied to any line of credit but have been bagged on basis of global tenders," said Srivastava.
New York, Oct 02 (ZEENEWS.COM) A day ahead of the last straw poll for the UN Secretary General`s post, India`s Shashi Tharoor said on Sunday independent countries should not be influenced by any considerations amid reports that South Korea has offered inducements to gain backing for its candidate.
Tharoor, who has been a runner-up in the last three straw polls, is not disheartened and said he was making an all out effort to emerge victorious as "we have a strong case in terms of qualification". He said on phone from New York that he was talking to all the countries taking part in the poll and hoped they would give "full consideration to our message".
"Monday`s poll is going to be quite determinant, I think. We have to see whether countries are prepared to make this into a horse race or whether to go ahead with the person who is leading," he said. "At this stage, we are doing everything we can."
Tharoor continues to be at the second spot after South Korean foreign minister Ban Ki-Moon in three straw polls. His task got tougher after he failed in the third straw poll to get the requisite nine votes needed for selection for the top post.
On reports that South Korea had been trying to induce countries to support Ban Ki-Moon, Tharoor offered no direct comment but said, "I would like to believe that independent countries would not be influenced by any considerations other than their own national foreign policy priorities."
"I am running on the basis of my own credentials for office and not on the basis of anybody else`s campaign," Tharoor said.
Marun ar-Ras, Lebanon Oct 2 (ZEENEWS.COM) Residents of southern Lebanon expressed relief and claimed victory on Sunday after Israel`s troop pullout from an area which was largely devastated by its 34-day war on Hezbollah.
"This is a great victory for the Lebanese in the south and for Hezbollah -- we will organise a great party," said Hamad Faris, a 28-year-old farmer in the border village of Marun ar-Ras.
"I am very happy. I will be able to go back to my fields and cultivate my land," he said, talking amid a crowd of cheerful neighbours who had gathered to discuss the news.
But Faris and his neighbors may have to postpone their party for a while, as the united nations has said that the Israeli pullout is not yet complete, and, more importantly, because most of the village is in ruins.
At daybreak, residents of Marwaheen border village were relieved to see that the Israeli flag which had flown for weeks on a nearby hilltop was no longer there.
The two Merkava tanks which had been stationed at the entrance of the village were also gone.
Marwaheen suffered great devastation and death during the conflict -- among them 26 civilians killed by an Israeli raid while fleeing the area.
Returning residents rushed to check on their destroyed homes and tobacco fields on the flanks of a nearby hilltop which was now free of Israeli occupation.
On the Hamas border hilltop, near the largely destroyed village of Khiam, residents also headed to check on their fields, apparently unconcerned by the possibility of ordnance.
"This is the first time i have come here since the war," said Mohammed Ahmad. "Until yesterday there were Israeli soldiers. Now we are free to come to our land."
Jammu, Oct 2 ZEENEWS.COM) Security forces gunned down one Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) militant and arrested two militants of Harkat-ul-Jehadi-Islami (HUJI) outfit in Jammu and Kashmir since Sunday, official sources said here today.
Security forces shot dead a LeT militant last evening in an encounter in Surankot area of Poonch district and seized an AK-47 rifle from the spot, sources said.
In another incident, security forces retaliated to firing by terrorists and arrested two of them in Banderkot area of Doda district, they said.
The arrested ultras were Noor Din alias Iqbal and Nissar Ahmed, both residents of Kuchal.
An AK-47 rifle and an SLR along with their magazines and some rounds were seized from the Huji ultras.
Security operation were continuing in the area, the sources said.
By Minu Jain,
Phoenix (South Africa), Oct 2 (IANS) The superlatives flowed freely Sunday when Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and South African President Thabo Mbeki met on the "hallowed grounds" of the Phoenix settlement, the commune founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1904, to celebrate their shared heritage.
This is the "blessed land" that transformed Gandhi to the Mahatma, Manmohan Singh said at the simple function at the settlement on the outskirts of Durban.
He added that he felt "spiritual bliss" to be present on the "sacred soil" of Phoenix, which was inspired after Gandhi read John Ruskin's "Unto this Last", which extolled the virtues of the simple life of love, labour and the dignity of human beings.
The settlement that was razed by apartheid violence in 1985 and then painstakingly rebuilt was a testament to Gandhi's spirit, said Manmohan Singh, who is here on a three-day visit of South Africa.
"I could almost feel his presence here today," he said at the complex of simple buildings surrounded by a sprawling urban settlement.
"The settlement is a place of pilgrimage for us as the site of Mahatma Gandhi's first endeavour in community living," Manmohan Singh wrote in the visitor's book.
Mbeki echoed the mood in a short, emotive speech punctuated with humour and lots of laughs.
Speaking impromptu, he told the gathering-comprising Indian ministers Ambika Soni and Anand Sharma and National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan as well as Gandhi's granddaughter Ela that he would very much like to keep Manmohan Singh back in his country, much like Mahatma Gandhi in Phoenix who stayed on longer than he intended to.
"We want you to follow in Gandhi's footsteps... so we want to keep you here for a little longer," he said.
"I don't know what will happen to India then," he added to laughs and splattering of applause.
The fact that India and South Africa shared a heritage and a leader was not replicated in any other countries in the world, the president said, emphasizing that it was important for his country that Manmohan Singh had come calling when it was celebrating 100 years of satyagraha.
Saying that "to many of us India is a second home", Mbeki said India was a country South Africa could always turn to.
"I trust you won't get tired of us and the high commission will not get tired of issuing us visas," he said good humouredly.
Earlier in the day, Manmohan Singh went to the resistance park, which commemorates the first resistance in South Africa, and also visited the Ohlange High School and the memorial of Rev John Dube -- a friend of Gandhi's who later went on to become the first president general of the African National Congress.
Islamabad, Oct 2 (Xinhua) Suspected militants fired rockets at a military base in a tribal region in northwestern Pakistan early Sunday, but no one was hurt, officials said.
Three rockets fired in the predawn attack slammed into a field inside the base in Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan tribal region, a government official and an area intelligence agent said.
Troops retaliated with small weapons fire in the direction from which the rockets were launched, according to the website of local newspaper The News.
It was not known whether the assailants suffered any casualties, the intelligence official said.
It is Déjàvu for Mumbai Police - same routine incidents of bomb blasts, same SIMI list of usual suspects and same foreign hand of Pakistan. 7/11 train bomb blasts are no different. Less than 3 months and Mumbai's Police Commissioner could hold a Press Conference, giving out a story worth comparing with any Saleem-Javed film script. However, to their despair the scenario is fast unraveling.
In a front page story in Mumbai's widely circulated URDU TIMES, Raees Ahmed, its correspondent, starts with blazing headlines: Nobody from outside visited our house and no bomb was prepared. Police is lying. So say home people, mostly ladies of the accused Mohammad Ali household. A photo of the group of 5 women and girls, a boy and a brother of Mohammad Ali are shown as part of the interview. The following is rough and rush English translation of the Urdu news story:
Mumbai, Oct. 1,(Raees Ahmed): Police has claimed to have solved the mystery of 7/11 bombings. But there is widespread resentment among the people of the locality, over the accusations on Govandi, Shivaji Nagar's resident Mohammed Ali Shaikh. Mohammad Ali was 5-time prayer and no strangers ever visited his house. Mohammad Ali's family has alleged that Crime Branch and Anti-terrorist Squad have always given them false assurances asking them for patience and promising that Mohammad Ali will be released after some enquiries. However, home people were shocked when he was brought in as prime accused and they searched each and every corner of the house. According to information, Mohammad Ali Shaikh is born in Bombay, and he studied in Shivaji Nagar Municipal School. Shaikh passed his 12th standard exams in Hindi medium. They are staying in Shivaji Nagar, House No. 33-T-2 since last 28 years. In 1982-83 he joined service with Aasooda Cooperative Bank. But following bank's failure in 1999, his economic conditions deteriorated. He traveled to Dubai for a job, but returned back within a month without getting any suitable employment. Later he worked for sometime in a mutton shop in Plot no. 25. After that he started the business of 'magical pearls' used to ease teething troubles of babies, when worn around the neck. He used to get the product from Hyderabad and supplied to Mumbai's medical stores. That took care of his home expenses. According to sources, in 1999 he contacted SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India) and was member of that organization till it was banned. As a member, he taught teachings of Islam in the neighbourhood and was instrumental in closing down of some illegal activities in Govandi, Shivaji Nagar. He was called (by the police) in connection with Mulund bomb blast. He was released (without any charge) after two days. In the similar fashion, he was called (for enquiries) after Ghatkoper and Gate of India bomb blasts, but every time, he was released after one or two days after police has completed its investigations. After the 7/11 train blast, he was taken with 4 others for investigations, to Shivaji Nagar Police Thana, where ATS, FPI and crime branch people questioned him and later released him. The news was published in Urdu Times. Later, people from Ghatkoper Unit (7) took him away for investigation and released him after one day. After that ATS team of Vijay Salaskar from Kurla took him away for investigation and detained him for one month five days. Mohammad Ali Shaikh's younger brother Mukhtar Shaikh informed URDU TIMES correspondent that whenever we used to visit his brother, police used to tell them, they will release him after a day or two. He said this way, they prolonged his detention to one month and five days. When he suggested he will hire a lawyer, he was warned not to hire a lawyer or they (the Police) will involve him in any (fake) case. Mukhtar further mentioned that "his brother Mohammad Ali too advised him not to hire a lawyer, as they will release him. After that they released Mohammad Ali. But barely 6 days had passed when Nagpada ATS's Sailesh Gaikwar team picked him up. At first, we never knew from where these police people had come. Only when we enquired with Kurla ATS, they informed us that Mohammad Ali was taken away by Nagpada ATS. When I and Mohammad Ali's wife Saeedunnisa went to Nagpada, the police allowed us to see my brother. There too, Mohammad Ali told me, they will release after two days. Later, on September 30, we enquired with Nagpada police, they informed us that your brother has been arrested and is in Kala Chowki. When I phoned Salesh Gaikawar (ATS), he told me that he is in an important meeting and advised me to go home as he cannot tell anything at the moment.
Mukhtar said, I was fasting and when we and my sister in law reached home, we found about 20 to 25 policemen in the house with Mohammad Ali draped in a black sheet over his head. We were prevented from entering the home, but when I told them that I am the brother of Mohammad Ali, they let me enter the house. Mukhtar told the correspondent that Mohammad Ali was crying loudly and he was even allowed to speak. Still he was able to tell me that he has been framed and you should immediately hire a lawyer. Mukhtar said: police checked each and every thing in the house. They took one cooker from the house, which was in use for the last seven years. They further scrapped and took samples of wall plaster. When Mukhtar told the police that he is hiring a lawyer, he was brusquely answered by the police: So you people have lots of money. There is no need for a lawyer. Mukhtar Shaikh told the correspondent that they are staying in a 10'x15' room. They are 3 families staying in that room. Mohammad Ali has 4 children. Rizwana (16), Suhail (12), Ammara (10), Ziad (2 1/2). We are all 22 people living in one house. It is our poverty and helplessness that we are forced to live in one room. Mohammad Ali's sister-in-law Rashida mentioned that it was the police who asked her permission to take the cooker away. People from the neighbourhood all vouched for the clean character of Mohammad Ali and could say that he can never be connected with any bomb blast. The whole neighbourhood is prepared to give witness to Mohammad Ali's good character. They have resolved to submit a memorandum to Home Minister R. R. Patel and MLA Yusuf Abrahini. Mukhtar Shaikh reiterated that his brother is innocent and he is being framed by the police. He said, as Anti-Terrorist Squad could not get the real culprits, they have framed my innocent brother. The pattern, alas, is all too familiar.
Anybody with minimum intelligence can make out, how a person, who is under constant police surveillance for months at end, would have dared to indulged in such a elaborate act of preparing and planting a bomb in a train. This while he is staying with a family of 22 members in a small room in a crowded community of Shivaji Nagar, where people are staying cheek by jowl and nothing but nothing escapes neighbours attention. If he Mohammad Ali Shaikh had been involved in any criminal or terrorist activity, his own neighbours would have informed the police. And police do have their own informers in all localities. Prima facie, Mumbai police has resorted to the old tricks of hauling people just to make up a successful enquiry and get their necks off from public scrutiny. The danger is that the real culprits are roaming the city scot-free and would be able to repeat their crime with impunity. One can only marvel at the chutzpah of the Hindu terrorists, Maruti Wagh and Sanjay Chowdhry from Nanded, who were injured while preparing of a bomb, which killed 3 and injured another three. Sanjay admitted that he placed the bomb at a Parbhani Masjid and Wagh admitted to a bombing in Jalna. When Wagh was arrested and presented in court, a panel of 40 Hindu lawyers presented themselves to take up his brief. While Bal Thackeray's nephew Raj Thackeray had openly warned any lawyer to take up the case of any Muslim accused in 7/11 bomb blast. What a travesty of justice --- 40 lawyers for a self-proclaimed bomber and no lawyer coming foreward for Muslim innocents, falsely accused.
The city of Mumbai is tense. The Muslim community, busy with Ramadan fasting and taraveeh prayers in the nights, is at edge over police atrocities and blatant discrimination against Muslims. A newly formed organization has plastered Muslim areas with posters appealing Muslims to boycott all Iftar parties organized by politicians and the police. This in the backdrop of daily sentencing of the accused in 1993 Bombay blasts --- practically all Muslims. A storm is brewing over Congress party's open anti-Muslim prejudice in not punishing criminals that orchestrated Bombay riots that took the toll of thousands of Muslims. The demand for activating the Srikrishna Commission recommendation to bring riot culprits to book is fast gathering momentum. This partisan show of Indian justice cannot be tolerated by Indian Muslims for long. Some thing is got to give.
GHULAM MUHAMMED, MUMBAI
London, Oct 2 (IANS) Former Pakistan foreign minister Sartaj Aziz has rejected the claims made by President Pervez Musharraf that the Kargil conflict helped bring the Kashmir issue back in international focus.
Aziz has also rejected the claim that the political leadership had lost the gains claimed to have been made by Pakistan army in Kargil. According to him, Musharraf's account of Kargil, in his book "In the Line of Fire" was not entirely correct.
"I do not agree with General Musharraf's view in his book that it was Kargil which helped in bringing back the Kashmir issue to international focus. In fact, Kargil led to disruption of the Lahore process initiated by Nawaz Sharif and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The military takeover completely destroyed the process", Aziz told the BBC Hindi service Sunday.
Contradicting Musharraf's claim that Nawaz Sharif and his cabinet were fully aware about the happenings of Kargil, Aziz. who was the foreign minister at that time said, "this statement of General Musharraf is not correct. He has mentioned about the date of February 5, 1999.
"I was present in that meeting. Discussion was held regarding the road disruption along Neelum valley and the possibility of an alternate road. Kargil was not mentioned in this meeting.
"I would like to say some of the things said about Kargil in the book are not correct. I would agree with some of the things he has written about Kargil, but not all".
Aziz also contested Musharraf's claim that the political leadership of the country had lost the gains claimed to have been made by the Pakistan army during the Kargil conflict.
He said: "I do not agree with General Musharraf that the political leadership lost the gains made the Pakistan army during the Kargil conflict. It was Nawaz Sharif, who during his visit to Washington, when the conflict was on, resolved the matter in a way which benefitted both India and Pakistan".
Aziz said the military option could not solve any problem between the two neighbours. He was also non-committal on Musharraf's claim that Kargil was a victory for the Pakistani forces.
He said: "Technically in the short run one may say so. However, it is difficult to establish the victory or loss in a conflict after the ceasefire. From army's point of view, this may be different, but once both countries decided to return to normal positions, victory or loss cannot be claimed".
Welcoming the Havana joint statement between Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Aziz said, "This is a good step and should be sincerely taken forward. It is always helpful to have a joint mechanism.
"The Mumbai blasts are a good test case for this mechanism. If a joint investigation could be carried out for Mumbai blasts, then the evidence would be credible in the eyes of international community.
"If those who have been arrested are made to go through joint investigation, then the case would certainly be solved and both nations would be able to reach to the roots of terrorism".
Aziz also appealed to India to exercise restraint while talking about terror activities. "It is does not help to blame any agency of a neighbouring country for any act of terror. If you say ISI (Pakistani spy agency) is behind the attacks, then we can also turn around and say RAW (Indian spy agency) is behind some violent activities in Pakistan. In my view, both countries should carry forward the peace process with sincerity".
Asked how he perceived Musharraf's rule, he said: "General Musharraf is trying to elicit the support of different countries in the world on the issue of terrorism. However I feel that issues concerning Pakistan can only be solved when there would be a true democracy governed by rule of law and supremacy of the constitution.
"Unfortunately, General Musharraf's book does not spell out a roadmap for any of these essentials of a democracy".
New York, Oct 2 (ZEENEWS.COM) The 15 million Muslims residing in Europe on Sunday do not pose a threat to European values or politics given the extent of their myriad divisions and internal fragmentation, a new study has said.
This conclusion contradicts analysts and policymakers who after 9/11 fear the impact of Muslims on European politics and policy based on the assumption that a Muslim bloc will soon emerge to dominate the foreign and domestic policies of European states if nothing is done to prevent it.
The findings of the study, coauthored by political scientists -- Carolyn M. Warner and Manfred W. Wenner -- at Arizona state university and entitled "religion and the political organization of Muslims in Europe," appeared in 'perspectives on politics,' a journal of the American Political Science Association (APSA).
The authors explore the diversity that characterizes Muslims in Europe as well as the documented instances of their inability "despite plentiful incentives, opportunities, and pressure to do so" to form coherent political fronts in countries like France and Germany that host large Muslim populations.
"Western fears and criticisms are partly based on serious ignorance of the characteristics of Islam and of the people in Europe who adhere to it," the authors said, pointing out that "Islam is a highly decentralized religion 'structurally biased against facilitating large scale collective action."
In addition, they note Muslim immigrants remain divided by ethnic differences. The upshot is that "religion has failed to be the unifying focal point of Muslims in western Europe," the study said.
The authors discuss several key divisions among Muslims that are "clearly reflected" in the politics of European Muslims.
First, they say, Islam remains split regarding the division of authority between religion and politics, with some favouring it and others opposing.
Second, there exists virtually no organized structure in the majority Sunni religious hierarchy which is dominant among Muslims in Europe. This, they add, makes mobilization a complex issue as there is no established or recognized hierarchy which can encourage unified action. Moreover, the study said, there are four different schools of law in Sunni Islam that co-exist and overlap.
Third, the different national and ethnic backgrounds of Muslims in Europe also shape their view of Islam and capacity to mobilize politically.
"Islam manifests itself differently across and within cultures and societies," state the authors, underscoring the importance of considering "the inter-relationship of the various 'brands' of Islam with the country of origin and ethnicity of its members." Thus, Kurds in Germany respond differently to calls for mobilization than do Turks or Iranians in the same country.
Finally, the unique characteristics of migration patterns by Muslims to particular European countries over time, and the type of political and state structures they encountered, also account for variations in the capacity of Muslims to organize.
New Delhi, Oct 02 (ZEENEWS.COM) President A P J Abdul Kalam today led the nation in paying rich tributes to Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on the occasion of their birth anniversaries.
Kalam paid floral tributes at Raj Ghat, the Mahatma`s samadhi where an inter-religious prayer meeting was organized this morning. He also paid tributes to Shastri at his samadhi `Vijay Ghat.`
A 24-hour non-stop collective spinning was also underway at Raj Ghat, which began yesterday at 2 pm, to commemorate the 137th birth anniversary of the father of the nation.
Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, leader of Opposition L K Advani, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit were among others who paid respects to the towering leaders of the country.
This year is celebrated as the centenary year of the launching of Satyagraha by the Mahatma.
New Delhi, Oct 2 (IANS) Several schoolchildren were among the thousands, including politicians and diplomats, who paid homage to the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi on his 137th birth anniversary Monday.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Information and Broadcasting Minister S. Jaipal Reddy and veteran Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande were among those who paid floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat, his memorial in the national capital.
Representatives of nine religions - Buddhism, Baha'i, Christian, Hindu, Islam, Jain, Judaism, Zoroastrianism and Sikhism - took part in an all-religion prayer meeting at Rajghat.
With devotional songs playing in the background, several Gandhians and others joined school children in paying tributes to Gandhi.
Hundreds of people queued up in front of Rajghat to offer their homage, braving the stringent three rounds of security checks and the hot sun.
"Even 58 years after his death, the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi have acquired greater importance. From educational institutes to the film industry, everyone is drawing inspiration from him," said Rajiv Rajasekharan, who has come all the way from Jaipur to pay homage.
"A simple glimpse of the memorial in black marble with 'Hey Ram' inscribed on it is enough to recharge you to take on untruthful practices," Rajasekharan told IANS.
"Gandhi Jayanti reminds the nation that non violence can yield desirable results. While India takes economic strides, people must not forget Gandhi-ji and his teachings that gave the country sovereignty," said Hariprasad Arora, a bank employee.
Many school-going children also took time out to visit the memorial.
"My mother told us to visit Rajghat. Along with my five friends, I am waiting till we are allowed by police to enter the place," said Monalisa, a 12-year-old girl.
Several organisations in the national capital like Gandhi Smriti and Gandhi Museum have organised special exhibitions on Gandhi to create awareness among youngsters about his teachings and his role in helping India gain Independence.
Seoul, Oct 2 (ZEENEWS.COM) Military officials from North and South Korea are to meet today at Pyongyang's suggestion, the first bilateral military talks since the North test-fired seven missiles in July, Seoul's defence ministry said yesterday.
''There will be working-level military talks early on Monday,'' a ministry spokesman said by telephone. ''North Korea has proposed the meeting.''
Topics for discussion were not known. South Korea's Yonhap news reported that North Korea had proposed discussing ''military agreements that have already been reached''.
Dialogue between the two Koreas, still technically at war half a century after their 1950-53 conflict halted with an inconclusive truce, has recently stalled due to a sudden rise in tension over Pyongyang's multiple missile launches on July 5.
South Korea postponed military talks after the launches, although it went ahead with a scheduled ministerial meeting with its Communist neighbour later in July.
Seoul says its ties with the North were strained by the missile launches but has urged diplomacy to resolve the crisis.
Separate six-party talks involving the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States on the north's nuclear weapons programmes have been deadlocked since last November.
Guwahati, Oct 2 (IANS) Rebels struck at the Durga Puja festival in Assam, killing a child and wounding 23 devotees, after a powerful grenade explosion rocked a community celebration in Dhemaji town, officials Monday said.
Militants suspected to be from the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) attacked a Durga Puja pandal in Dhemaji, 550 km east of here. The incident took place around 11.30 p.m. Sunday.
"Militants lobbed a grenade at the Durga Puja venue with the area crowded with devotees. A child was killed on the spot and 23 were injured, some of them critically," police official A. Bora told IANS.
"There was utter chaos and panic soon after the blast and the attack was definitely carried out by the ULFA."
This is the third attack in the past week after New Delhi Sep 24 called off a six-week ceasefire and resumed military operations against the ULFA.
The peace process collapsed last week after the People's Consultative Group (PCG), a group of civil society leaders nominated by the ULFA to mediate for talks, pulled out of the talks blaming the central government for calling off the truce.
The ULFA had carried out three explosions targeting civilians in eastern Assam in the past week and had also blown up a gas pipeline belonging to the state-owned Oil India Limited.
Islamabad, Oct 2 (ZEENEWS.COM) In a major policy shift, Pakistan today said visas will be given to Indians on arrival and citizens of 23 other countries.
The Visa On Arrival (VOA) scheme was announced by Pakistan`s Minister for Tourism Nilofar Bakhtiar after receiving Pakistani passengers from New Delhi at Wagah Border.
Bhakhtiar said the VOA scheme, which was recently approved, would be implemented in two months, she was quoted by state run news agency from Lahore. The scheme was aimed making Pakistan a tourist-friendly destination, she said.
She said the VOA period has also been extended from five to 15 days while visit visa would now be of one month duration instead of 15 days.
A group of at least five persons sent by approved tour operator of the respective country would have the right to get VOA, she said responding to another query.
Islamabad, Oct 2 (IRNA) Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Saturday that President Pervez Musharraf had promised to crack down on militants and religious schools breeding extremism.
According to" The News", Karzai Said, about his recent visit to the United States, again blamed other countries religious schools, or Madrassas, for promoting the extremism fuelling Afghanistan's Taliban-led insurgency. He was clearly referring to neighbouring Pakistan, home to Madrassas from which the Taliban emerged in the early 1990s.
Those places are apparently Madrassas but inside extremists are trained there, Karzai said.
He raised the issue with Musharraf during a meeting with US President George W Bush in Washington last week, he said.
Afghanistan raised its concerns in this regard and I hope will be able o have some very effective measures in this regard, he said.
Asked if Musharraf had made any promises, Karzai said: "We did get a very categorical assurance that they'll be moving against all extremists elements."
Karzai said fundamentalist Madrassas were waging a propaganda campaign against his country.
They say in Afghanistan there is no Islam, they say the country has been occupied, he said.
Afghanistan says Pakistan must do more to stop militants on its soil who are involved in the insurgency.
Musharraf insists much of the violence is homegrown in Afghanistan.
Karzai said his visit to the United States, which is a firm supporter of the Afghan leader, had been successful.
Our aim for this trip was to show this to the world that the terror nests will not be eliminated unless their sources from where they get money are eliminated, he said, again referring in part to Pakistan.
In a statement after 12 people were killed in a suicide attack in Kabul, hours before he met the press, Karzai said those behind the regular attacks come from outside Afghanistan.
"I condemn it in the strongest terms and call on the international community to work with Afghanistan in stopping sanctuaries that raise, train and brainwash young people to become suicide attackers," he said.
Baghdad, Oct 2 (Xinhua) The Iraqi police found 58 bodies during the past 24 hours in different parts of the capital, a police source said Monday.
"The number of unidentified bodies found by our patrols rose to 58 until Monday morning in different Baghdad neighbourhoods," said a police official.
Most of the bodies were blindfolded and showing signs of torture with bullet holes in different parts of their bodies, he added.
UN and Iraqi officials estimate that more than 100 Iraqis are killed everyday in insurgent attacks and fighting between Sunni and Shia factions.
Rome, Oct 2 (DPA) Pope Benedict XVI Sunday prayed for peace and harmony between Christians and Muslims in Iraq saying both faiths had lived together in the country for 14 centuries "as children of the same land".
Speaking during Angelus prayers at his Castel Gandolfo summer residence, the pope referred to the "tragic reality" of violence in Iraq and said he hoped that "the ties of brotherhood" between Christians and Muslims would not slacken.
The pope had Saturday met with the Chaldean patriarch of Baghdad, Emmanuel Delly, who is campaigning for the release of a priest who was kidnapped in the Iraqi capital.
Around three percent of the country's 26 million people are Christians, with the major denominations including Chaldean-Assyrians, Armenians and Roman Catholics.
Al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri in a video broadcast Saturday had slammed Pope Benedict XVI as an "imposter" over his recent controversial remarks about Islam.
On Sep 12, the pope quoted a Byzantine Christian emperor as describing some of the Prophet Mohammed's teachings as "evil and inhuman".
Mumbai, Oct 2 (ZEENEWS.COM) Actors, students and people from various walks of life, led by Member of Parliament from North-West Mumbai, Priya Dutt, today marched in a procession from SNDT College in suburban Juhu to the nearby beach to mark the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Actors Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Shabana Azmi, Kumar Gaurav, Nagma and Raza Murad joined the peace march carrying placards some of which read "remembering Gandhi for peace".
The march culminated at Juhu Beach where the participants offered floral tributes to the statue of the Father of the Nation.
The march assumes significance with actors of just released 'Lage Raho Munnabhai', Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi, joining it as the film focuses on relevance of the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi in modern times.
Moscow, Oct 2 (ZEENEWS.COM) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday ordered the Defence Ministry to continue troop withdrawal from Georgia as planned, the Kremlin said.
Putin directed that the pullout of Russian troops from their bases in Georgia must continue as planned "despite the current situation", his spokesman Alexei Gromov said in a statement.
Russian Gen. Alexander Baranov, the Commander of the North Caucasus military district, had said yesterday that Moscow was suspending planning for further withdrawals from military bases left in Georgia after the 1991 Soviet collapse because Georgian authorites last week detained four Russian military officers accused of spying.
Gen. Andrei Popov, the Commander of Russia military forces in Georgia, reaffirmed today that scheduled troop withdrawal from the two Russian military bases left in Georgia after the collapse of the Soviet Union could be affected by the spy scandal.
Along with some 2,500 peacekeepers in breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Russia has between 3,000 and 4,000 troops at two military bases in Georgia that it pledged to withdraw by the end of 2008 under a deal signed last year.
Russia signed the troop withdrawal agreement under a strong western pressure, and Putin`s decision appeared to be aimed at forestalling likely criticism of Moscow for reneging on the deal.
New Delhi, Oct 2 (IndianMuslims.info) The KABIR PURASKAR for the year 2006 in Grade-III has been conferred on Ram Babu Singh Chauhan today by the Government of India.
Ram Babu Singh hails from Village Tamana Garhi, Tehsil Hathras, District Mahamaya Nagar in Uttar Pradesh. He will receive Rs.25,000/- in cash.
Ram Babu Singh Chauhan got injured while protecting Muslim woman from some miscreants at Chamar Gate, Hathras. Apart from this, he has been organizing a number of seminars/corner meetings for promotion of National Integration, communal harmony and protection of human rights. He also undertook Pad Yatra from Hathras to Agra in 1996 to promote national integration. He has been doing social work for a long time.
Kabir Puraskar is a National Award instituted by the Government of India in April 1990 for recognizing the acts of physical/moral courage displayed by a member of one caste, community or ethnic group in saving the lives and properties of member(s) of another caste, community or ethnic group during caste, community or ethnic violence. The Award is given annually in three grades viz., Grade-I, Grade-II and Grader-III carrying cash amount of Rs.1,00,000/-, Rs.50,000/- and Rs.25,000/- respectively.
Manish Chand,
New Delhi, Oct 2 (IANS) A resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan and increasing casualties for NATO forces are making Afghanistan a security nightmare for India, impacting directly on New Delhi's stakes in the region.
Five years after the ouster of the Pakistan-backed Taliban regime in Kabul was greeted here with undisguised glee, the Indian establishment is now viewing the changing scenario in Afghanistan with alarm.
India, which has vital stakes in a "stable, democratic and prosperous Afghanistan" as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently put it, is worried about the re-groping of the Taliban militia, with its linkages to Al Qaeda and terrorist outfits targeting Jammu and Kashmir.
The grim situation in Afghanistan is gauged from the public recrimination between Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai.
Karzai says that Pakistan is not doing enough to stop the Taliban fighters from infiltrating into Afghanistan. Musharraf, feigning outrage, denies it.
But news reports from much of southern Afghanistan say that the Taliban has become a very visible phenomenon even as Karzai is increasingly becoming a prisoner in Kabul. At times, hundreds of Taliban supporters gather for meetings in open fields, and they are increasingly engaging NATO forces.
"India's interests in Afghanistan and Central Asia are significantly threatened by the rise of Taliban, which has been engineered by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)," Ajay Sahni, executive director of the Institute of Conflict Management, a think tank here, told IANS.
"India sees its interests in the region being linked to a stable Kabul under a not-unfriendly dispensation," says Sahni.
The Taliban's resurgence comes at a time when India's profile in Afghanistan is growing and its relations with Kabul are becoming broad-based, straddling diverse sectors including economy, education and technology, in sharp contrast to the situation over five years ago when it had no contact with the Taliban militia. That was when India actively backed the Northern Alliance, the Taliban's most formidable foe.
Afghanistan, for India, is not simply a security issue but a country that can be a crucial link in promoting economic and cultural integration between South Asia and Central Asia.
Fully aware that it can't afford to lose a strategically situated region to unfriendly fundamentalist forces, India has stepped up its diplomatic offensive to sensitise the international community about the dangers from the Taliban and their patronage by Pakistan.
The revival of the Taliban, says Sahni, is part of the long-term Pakistani plan to extend its influence not only in Afghanistan but also in Central Asia.
"The core of our policy should be to expose Pakistan as it is the fountainhead of terror in the region. We should join hands with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and promote a stable, democratic Afghanistan," Sahni suggests.
"The US should use its card with Pakistan to see that it is not radicalised," Ramakant Dwivedi, an expert on Central Asia, told IANS. "The radicalisation of Afghanistan must stop. India should reach out to all ethnic groups in Afghanistan including Pushtuns. We should build on our tremendous goodwill with Pushtuns."
Although India has pledged $650 million for the socio-economic reconstruction of war-torn Afghanistan, its options are limited as it is not in favour of sending troops to join the NATO-led forces, which are facing a tough time against the Taliban.
As for democracy, elections have taken place but the Taliban is doing its best to frustrate the nascent democratic institutions. In the process, stability has become a victim in Afghanistan.
"If the staying power of the US-led coalition collapses, India would be affected. There are nearly half a million Talibs in Afghanistan and their supply is limitless," Turkish Ambassador Halil Akana said here recently.
For India, which regained some influence in Afghanistan, a gateway to the resource-rich Central Asia, after the ouster of a hostile Taliban in late 2001, the escalating violence in that country is clearly bad news.
The murder of three Indians in Afghanistan who were engaged in reconstruction projects over the last one year by the Taliban brought into focus the contours of a "new great game" for control of this country.
Nagpur, Oct 2 (IANS) In an effort to woo neo-Buddhists, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief K.C. Sudarshan lauded Dalit messiah B.R Ambedkar and quoted Hindu priests as saying that the architect of the Indian constitution was forced to lead Dalits out of the Hindu fold because of the "grave mistakes of our forefathers".
In a Vijayadashmi speech replete with laudatory references to Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi here Sunday, Sudarshan revealed that Babasaheb Ambedkar had made efforts to have the ban on the RSS lifted post the Jan 30, 1948, assassination of Gandhi.
Sudarshan's effort at bridging the gap between neo-Buddhists - a modern Buddhist revivalist movement in India - and the upper caste Hindu organisation that he heads assumes significance in the backdrop of the mammoth golden jubilee celebrations of 'dhammachakra pravartan din' scheduled at the historic Deekshabhoomi here Monday.
Ambedkar had embraced Buddhism along with thousands of his followers on Oct 14, 1956, in Nagpur on Vijayadashmi or Dussehra day. The RSS was founded on the same day in 1925.
Nagpur witnesses two major events on Dussehra day every year - the RSS' Vijayadashmi rally and the dhammachaktra pravartan din rally of Ambedkarites.
This year however, the RSS function was held a day prior to Dussehra. The golden jubilee rally of dhammachakra pravartan din, being held to commemorate the conversion of Dalits to Buddhism, is to be held Monday, which is Vijayadashmi.
Sudarshan quoted the second RSS chief late M.S. Golwalkar praising Ambedkar for choosing Buddhism, "an offshoot of Upanishadik philosophy, born in India", instead of embracing an alien religion.
He also quoted Mahasthavir Chandramani and other Buddhist monks as saying in 1956 that Hindu religion and Buddhism are two branches of the same tree.
The RSS chief's speech also contained allusions to Azhimulla Khan, an important leader of the 1857 War of Independence, Sadguru Ram Singh Kuka who led the 1862 Kuka (Namdhari) agitation, Sardar Bhagat Singh besides several Hindu saints and acharyas.
Indirectly praising Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for being circumspect while signing the civil nuclear deal with the US, the RSS chief expressed apprehensions about India getting into the trap of the US Congress which was seeking to introduce certain conditions.
Sudarshan however flayed Manmohan Singh for what he termed as giving Pakistan a certificate in Havana for being a victim and not a source of terrorism.
Lt. Gen.(Retd) B.T. Pandit was the chief guest at the RSS rally.
Shanghai, Oct 2 (Xinhua) Ferrari's Michael Schumacher fought a breathtaking battle to claim the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix title here Sunday.
The victory, Schumacher's first win in Shanghai, means he is now level on points with Renault racer Fernando Alonso with just two races remaining.
Alonso's bid to win the race was effectively ended by crucial errors in his pit stops, having first been left with little grips that left him chasing a huge gap, though he finished strongly to take second.
His teammate Giancarlo Fisichella finished third while Jenson Button took fourth place and Pedro de la Rosa ended in fifth place.
Schumacher conquered a tricky damp track and the sixth place from the starting grid for the victory, a real boost to his title hope.
The seven-time world champion announced last month in Monza that he would retire at the end of this season.
New Delhi, Oct 2 (IANS) In-form batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan said Monday that senior West Indies players like captain Brian Lara will have to show the way to the inexperienced during the Champions Trophy starting Saturday.
"Since not too many West Indies players have played here in India before, so it's the responsibility of the senior players who have played here earlier to help the younger players," Sarwan said in an open session with the West Indies team.
"But the conditions here are not going to be too much different from Malaysia, weather wise because it's going to be humid, I think," said one of the mainstays of West Indies batting who has played 107 one-day internationals.
Defending champions West Indies open their campaign with a match against Zimbabwe in a qualifying round match at Ahmedabad Oct 8.
West Indies will also have to contend with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the eight-day qualifying tournament, after which the top teams join the six other automatic qualifiers - Australia, India, Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand and England. The final will be played in Mumbai on Nov 5.
West Indies is coming straight from Kuala Lumpur where it stayed back after taking part in the DLF Cup triangular series in which it finished second after losing to Australia in the final. India was the third team.
Sarwan, who bats at No. 3 or 4, has been in tremendous form since February. He has an enviable sequence of scores in ODIs: 56, 14, 65, 42, 14, 55, 40, did not bat, 54, 92, 2, 98 not out, 115 not out, 6, 52, 22, 37 not out, 25, 2 and 36.
Although he might not have crossed 37 in the Kuala Lumpur triangular series, he was one of the successes when India toured the West Indies in the summer.
After that series West Indies had a break of more than three months, which allowed the players to relax and recharge themselves.
"We haven't really had that much training back home and much games before we went to Malaysia. So we depended on the tournament in Malaysia to give us some sort of form leading into this tournament," said Sarwan.
The 26-year-old from Guyana is looking ahead to regaining his sublime form in India on batting oriented pitches.
"Pitches are going to be a little bit different, they will offer a lot more spin to the spinners and much more batting friendly," he said with a twinkle in his eyes.
Sarwan pointed that the middle order comprising Lara, Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul - not counting himself - will have to regain form quickly in India.
"Our middle order has not been performing that well. That's something that we have been working on. From that struggling lot, the one we can pick out is Chris Gayle who is in good form," he said.
"In Malaysia, the middle seemed to be coming together, so that's a plus for us."
Taking the names of Lara, Gayle and Chanderpaul, Sarwan said that they would be the key batsmen in the tournament.
"Then you have got young Fidel Edwards, Ian Bradshaw and Dwayne Bravo. So everyone has got a part to play. If we play as a team we will be better off," he said.
Sarwan conceded that West Indies being the defending champions would have pressure.
"But we are not paying much attention to the pressure. We don't want to be knocked out of this tournament too soon. But we have got to qualify first," he said.
"This is a great opportunity leading up to the World Cup back home in the Caribbean. So if we this tournament it's going to give us a lot of confidence."
By Nikhil Naz
Chennai, Oct 2 (NDTV.COM) Today's match in the Challenger Trophy is bound to have high ratings especially when former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly is batting.
Large number of people are queuing up to buy tickets to watch the top 39 playes in the country.
Though there is no sponsor for this tournament but at least there are lots of fans cueing up for tickets for the Challenger Trophy.
Hundreds of fans are waiting to see if former Indian captain can make a case for a comeback.
"It's been a long break and we are keen to see Sourav back in action not just a casual visit to the city and getting out cheaply but scoring heavily to get into the Indian cricket team," said a Ganguly fan.
"I am very happy to see Sourav back here. He has faced many obstacles and I am sure that he will be right back in the team. The way in which the present players are playing aren't any better than Sourav so, there is surely a place for him in the team," said another fan.
Sourav Ganguly's county outing for Nottinghamshire was not impressive but at least he will be happy to know that the new chairman of selectors, Dilip Vengsarkar has said that anybody who performs can be back in contention.
"This is a very important tournament because after this the domestic season starts and then there is Champions Trophy leading up to the World Cup. So, most people will try to stamp their authority in this tournament," said Robin Singh, Coach, India Greens.
It was the Challenger Trophy that cost Ganguly his place in the squad when Dada refused to take part in the tournament last year in Mohali.
We are back in Chennai with the same tournament only this year it serves as an opportunity to prince of Kolkata to reclaim his position in the famed Indian batting line up.
By Minu Jain,
Durban, Oct 2 (IANS) On the eve of his 135th birth anniversary, Mahatma Gandhi was the theme through the day Sunday in South Africa as Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his host President Thabo Mbeki moved from one event to another to celebrate their shared heritage.
The mood shifted too, much like the weather in Durban, from the sentimental to the pop.
If the function at the Phoenix settlement, the commune on the outskirts of Durban founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1904, was simple and emotive, the 100th anniversary celebrations of satyagraha at the Kingsmead Stadium here were pop patriotism at their kitschiest.
Quite appropriately, the Sahara Kingsmead stadium, the site of many a cricket match, had two stages erected and two giant screens on the side for the crowds. While one stage had a banner reading "Celebrating our heroes", the other, where Manmohan Singh and Mbeki along with other dignitaries were seated, stated "Satyagraha centenary commemoration".
The cultural programme on offer included some Bollywood dances, including the popular title track from the hit "Rang de Basanti" that ironically has a group of youngsters killing the defence minister and a father on grounds of corruption. There also was a Bharatnatyam performance, a sarod recital by maestro Amjad Ali Khan, fusion dance, and a vigorous Zulu dance as well.
The response to the much trumpeted event - observing the day 100 years ago in September when Gandhi chaired a meeting of 3,000 people in Johannesburg against a law discriminating against Asians and launched what Mbeki called a "non-violent defiance campaign" - was lacklustre, with a chill wind blowing through the stadium.
But that was just the weather. The atmospherics between the two countries and the two leaders more than made up for it.
The superlatives flowed freely at Phoenix earlier in the day and at the stadium as Manmohan Singh, on a three-day visit to South Africa, and Mbeki recalled the Mahatma and the ties that bind two nations.
"Our emancipation is only 12 years old. It is not so long ago that the celebration we hold today would not have been possible. It is not so long ago that it would have been impossible for a prime minister of the great country of India to set foot on our shores," Mbeki said at the Kingsmead celebrations.
Dwelling at length on the contribution of Gandhi "whose unparalleled leadership and example inspired the triumphant march to freedom and democracy both in India in 1947 and in South Africa in 1994", Mbeki also focused on the events that transformed a political leader to a Mahatma.
He said that it was no accident that it was India at the UN in 1946 that "first put on the global agenda the issue of the imperative to mobilise the international community to join us in our struggle for liberation from racism and white minority domination".
The bilateral component was important too, Mbeki stressed as he moved away from Gandhi.
"A century after satyagraha began ... we will tomorrow on Mahatma Gandhi's 135th birthday have the privilege to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his delegation to discuss the further measures we must take to raise to higher levels our concerted effort to strengthen our bonds of friendship with India," Mbeki said, referring to the bilateral talks the leaders will hold in Pretoria Monday.
In Phoenix earlier in the day, Mbeki spoke extempore but extended the theme of friendship in a speech punctuated with humour and lots of laughs.
He told the gathering - comprising Indian ministers Ambika Soni and Anand Sharma and National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan as well as Gandhi's granddaughter Ela - that he would very much like to keep Manmohan Singh back in his country, much like Mahatma Gandhi in Phoenix who stayed on longer than he intended to.
"We want you to follow in Gandhi's footsteps ... so we want to keep you here for a little longer," he said.
"I don't know what will happen to India then," he added to laughs and splattering of applause.
Saying that "to many of us India is a second home", Mbeki said India was a country South Africa could always turn to.
"I trust you won't get tired of us and the high commission will not get tired of issuing us visas," he said good humouredly.
Manmohan Singh more than kept to the mood with his speeches.
"In remembering satyagraha, we pay homage to the Mahatma. And in honouring the Mahatma, we honour South Africa . . ." he told crowds at the Kingsmead stadium.
"South Africa has shown that it is possible to resolve even the bitterest of differences with a spirit of reconciliation. You live the life Mahatma died for," he said and described in detail the Johannesburg meeting that set the pace for satyagraha.
"On this centenary of the launch of satyagraha, let each of us pledge, as those in the Empire Theatre did 100 years ago, to do everything" to bring about a world of equity and equal opportunity.
In an interesting aside, he also made it a point to mention the hit film "Lage Raho Munnabhai", though not by name.
"I was heartened to see recently that back home in India the most popular movie this festival season is a film about a young man's discovery of the universal and timeless relevance of the Mahatma's message."
His speech at Phoenix was simple and emotional.
This is the "blessed land" that transformed Gandhi into a Mahatma, Manmohan Singh said at the simple function at the settlement on the outskirts of Durban.
He added that he felt "spiritual bliss" to be present on the "sacred soil" of Phoenix, which was inspired after Gandhi read John Ruskin's "Unto This Last", which extolled the virtues of the simple life of love, labour and the dignity of human beings.
The settlement that was razed by apartheid violence in 1985 and then painstakingly rebuilt was a testament to Gandhi's spirit, said Manmohan Singh.
"I could almost feel his presence here today," he said at the complex of simple buildings surrounded by a sprawling urban settlement.
Earlier in the day, Manmohan Singh went to the resistance park, which commemorates the first resistance in South Africa, and also visited the Ohlange High School and the memorial of Rev John Dube - a friend of Gandhi's who later went on to become the first president general of the African National Congress.
Colombo, Oct 2 (NNN-Bernama) Sri Lankan authorities are planning a crash programme to churn out skilled construction workers to feed a construction boom in Doha sparked by next December's Asian Games.
The Games from Dec 1 to 15 are expected to draw thousands of athletes and had resulted in huge construction of the stadium and other facilities.
"There is a huge demand and we could send even 30-35,000 workers if we have the skills," said president of the Association of Licensed Foreign Employment Agents (ALFEA) Anver Ulumudeen.
He said the authorities, at ALFEA's request, will have a two-month crash course to train unskilled workers in construction work.
"The demand is there and all the workers we sent so far have been immediately accepted. The problem is we don't have enough," he said.
Islamabad, Oct 2 (Xinhua) An oil tanker carrying oil for US forces in Afghanistan was attacked at a Pakistani border crossing and the driver was injured, Pakistan border security forces said Sunday.
The tanker caught fire at the Pakistani border town of Chaman in southwestern Balochistan province and no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, local Geo TV reported.
The report said Taliban has claimed responsibility for such attacks inside Afghanistan in the past. Taliban had demanded drivers from Pakistan not to deliver oil for US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan.
Oil tankers are loaded at the Pakistani southern port city of Karachi, from where oil is routinely shipped to Kandahar for US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan.
Tankers carrying oil for US and coalition forces were also targeted in the past.
Three Pakistani nationals were killed when Taliban fired rockets on three oil tankers at the border Afghan town of Spin Boldak last year in April.
Bangkok, Oct 2 (DPA) General Surayud Chulanont, a respected retired army officer, was sworn in as Thailand's new Prime Minister Sunday.
Soon after the brief swearing-in ceremony, Surayud said he would select his cabinet in the next week and submit the list of names to King Bhumibol Adulyadej for approval.
Surayud said his administration would follow the economic policies espoused by the king including self-sufficiency. He added his administration would also cooperate with all government agencies investigating corruption in the country.
Surayud is Thailand's 24th prime minister since the kingdom became a constitutional monarchy in 1932. But perhaps more important he is the first since 1992 who did not win the position in an election.
Still, he is widely respected by civilian leaders and within the military as honest.
Surayud's appointment comes 13 days after the Sep 19 coup that toppled prime minister Thakson Shinawater after five-and-a-half years in power.
The military council said a new general election will be held in late 2007, but it will only be held under a new constitution.
San Sebastian (Spain), Oct 2 (DPA) An Iranian film and a French film were jointly awarded the top prize at Spain's 54th San Sebastian International Film Festival.
"Half Moon" from Iranian Kurdish director Bahman Ghobadi and "Mon Fils a Moi" (My Son) by Martial Fougeron share the festival's Golden Shell award.
Ghobadi's film deals with a Kurdish musician who returns to Iraq after the fall of dictator Saddam Hussein, while Fougeron's entry follows the love-hate relationship between a mother and son.
Nathalie Bayre, lead actress in "Mon Fils a Moi", took the Silver Shell for best actress, while Spaniard Juan Diego won for best actor for his role in the film Vete de Mi (Go Away from Me).
US director Tom DiCillo received top honours for his film "Delirious", and Argentinian director Carlos Sorin won the Special Jury Prize for his comedy "El Camino de San Diego" (The Way to San Diego).
The jury chaired by French actress Jeanne Moreau included Portuguese Nobel-winning author Jose Saramago, Swiss actor Bruno Ganz and Spanish director Isabel Coixet, among others.
The film festival in Spain's Basque region is the most important in Spain and is regarded as one the great film festivals along with Cannes, Berlin and Venice.
Cotabato City (Philippines), Oct 2 (DPA) Philippine troops and Muslim separatist rebels clashed in the country's south, leaving five rebels injured, as peace talks between the two sides remained deadlocked, the military said Monday.
Five Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels were injured in the fire fight Sunday in Bugasan village in Maguindanao province, 960 km south of Manila, said army spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Julieto Ando.
Ando said the rebels opened fire at a group of patrol soldiers, triggering the clash.
"Our soldiers were conducting their daily patrol along the national highway and it was the rebels who fired the first shot," he said.
MILF spokesperson Eid Kabalu, however, claimed that the soldiers attacked a group of Muslim civilians who were observing their noon prayer.
An international team monitoring a ceasefire between the MILF and the government has began an investigation into the fire fight, which occurred amid an impasse in peace talks over the key issue of Muslim ancestral land rights or what areas to include in an expanded autonomous region.
The MILF wants more than 1,000 villages to be added to the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), but the government said it can only agree to the inclusion of some 600 villages.
The ARMM currently covers five predominantly Muslim provinces and the Islamic city of Marawi.
By Kishlay Bhattacharjee
Guwahati, Oct 2 (NDTV.COM) One person has died and at least 17 people have been injured in a bomb blast near a puja pandal in the Dhemaji area of upper Assam.
The blast occured past Sunday midnight as the state geared up to join the rest of the country to pay homage to the apostle of non-violence, Mahatma Gandhi on his birth anniversary.
Dhemaji police said rebels of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) hurled a hand grenade at a mobile police patrol party.
The patrol party had just stopped near the puja pandal at Nalanipalam area of the town around 12.15 am (local time).
Though the grenade failed to directly hit them, the explosive fell on a pile of bricks causing it to burst.
The splinters killed a seven-year old boy, Debabrata Dhingia and injured 20 persons in the large crowd of pandal hoppers.
The grenade splinters also caused the tyres of the police vehicle to burst, police said.
City Superintedent of Police rushed to the spot, cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to nab the culprits who fled soon after the blast.
The ULFA had two years ago exploded a bomb at the official Independence Day celebrations in Dhemaji killing over 15 school going children and women.
The Centre had resumed army operations, which were suspended after revoking the ceasefire on September 24.
By Maya Mirchandani
New York, Oct 2 (NDTV.COM) Shashi Tharoor's wait to determine whether the election for UN Secretary General is indeed a two horse race or not, will be over on Monday when the UN Security Council conducts its final straw poll.
Unlike the three previous polls, this one will require the council's five permanent members to cast ballots of a different colour.
For the first time, Shashi Tharoor will find out whether any of the five - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - objects to his candidacy.
One veto from a permanent council member can kill a candidate's chances.
So far, Tharoor has given the main contender, South Korea's Ban Ki Moon, a tough fight, coming second in all the polls.
But last Thursday, Tharoor slipped from 10 encouragements in his favour to eight, with four Security Council members actually casting their vote against him.
The last poll was seen as a severe setback to Tharoor's candidacy, but weekend reports in a British newspaper suggesting that Ban, the South Korean foreign minister, had used international trade deals and promises of increased South Korean funding to some African nations in an effort to gain more support for his candidacy, could impact Tharoor's race.
When asked for his reaction to these reports, in an email to NDTV, Shashi Tharoor said that the decision "is in the hands of the Council and, like everyone else, I'm awaiting the outcome".
Hanoi, Oct 2 (DPA) The death toll from typhoon Xangsane in central Vietnam climbed to 13 Monday as residents began cleaning up from the storm that ripped roofs off thousands of buildings, said officials.
Electricity supply remained cut off in the coastal city of Danang, which saw nine deaths and 61 people injured, according to Nguyen Dong of the local storm response department.
"Many people cannot return to their houses, which have been destroyed," Dong said. "We are using generators now. Everyone is focusing on fixing houses, power lines and clearing away debris."
He estimated the damage from the storm at $187 million, with more than 1,200 houses flattened and more than 6,200 with their roofs torn off by the heavy winds.
Nearby Quang Nam province reported two deaths from the storm, and Quang Binh and Quang Tri reported one death each.
Xangsane ploughed through Vietnam Sunday after killing over 100 people in the Philippines earlier.
Vietnam had earlier ordered the evacuation of more than 180,000 people from coastal and flood-prone areas.
Madrid, Oct 2 (DPA) India were held by England to a 1-1 draw in a pool B match of the women's hockey World Cup here Sunday.
Asunta Lakra's strike in the 35th minute gave India the lead but it was equalised by Chole Rogers in the 47th minute.
In another pool B match, the Netherlands defeated Spain 2-0. Efke Muleder opened the scoring in the sixth minute and Naomi Van struck in the 42nd minute to double the lead.
Sanaa, Oct 2 (ZEENEWS.COM) Yemeni security forces on Sunday killed the alleged mastermind of the bombing of the French oil tanker Limburg in 2002 and a second suspected al-Qaeda fugitive, both of whom who broke out of jail earlier this year, a security official said.
Fawaz al-Rabihi, who was convicted of plotting the 2002 bombing of the French supertanker Limburg, "was killed in a shootout with security forces in a suburb of Sanaa, where he was hiding in a house," the official said.
"Security forces also killed Mohammed Dailami," another suspected al-Qaeda operative who was sentenced to five years in prison in 2004 for his role in a number of plots including an attempted attack in 2002 against a US hunt helicopter, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"Dailami was hiding in the same house as Rabihi," the official added.
The two were among 23 al-Qaeda suspects who broke out of their detention facility in Sanaa in February 2006.
Rabihi was sentenced to death in 2004 for his role in the attack on the French tanker, which killed a crew member and injured 12, but broke out of prison with 22 other suspected al-Qaeda members in February.
The explosion had ripped through the Limburg as it prepared to enter Ash-Shir Port on Yemen's southeastern coast to load a cargo of crude oil on October 22 in 2002.
The attack on the Limburg was virtually a repeat of the bombing of the us navy destroyer Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden two years earlier, which killed 17 American sailors.
03 October 2006
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 3 (IANS) With over 65 people dead and close to 100,000 people affected by chikungunya, a viral fever caused by mosquitoes, Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan Tuesday blamed experts for confusing the state government on the nature of the disease.
"Experts are confusing us because some now say that it is not chikungunya. The government is doing its best to contain it. We will call an all party meeting and we have asked people from other systems of medicines like Ayurveda and homeopathy to help," Achuthanandan told the Kerala Assembly.
Most of the deaths have occurred in Alappuzha district since chikungunya was first detected on July 27. The most affected are the costal districts of Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Kottayam, Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram and of late, the virus has started taking other districts in its grip.
"This was first raised by us in the assembly last month and it is sad that officials of the National Institute of Virology are coming Wednesday only. Some experts Monday said it is West Nile fever and not chikungunya," said Leader of Opposition Oommen Chandy.
Meanwhile the state Health minister P.K. Sreemathi who is camping at Alappuzha said a team of experts from World Health Organisation is arriving Thursday to make a spot study.
Patna, Oct 3 (IANS) Indians who could not dream of travelling by air-conditioned train coaches would be able to do so from Wednesday, thanks to Railway Minister Lalu Prasad.
The affordable 'Garib Rath' is set for its maiden journey, from Amritsar to Saharsa in Bihar.
Promising 30 percent cheaper fare for almost the same comfort in a three-tier air-conditioned coach, the new train will be able to accommodate more passengers. As against 64 berths in a normal three-tier coach, this has 75.
The railway minister has said that his goal was to end the class system in trains.
According to railway officials, more such affordable air-conditioned trains are on the anvil. The minister, in his budget speech for 2006-07, had promised four 'Garib Rath' trains this year.
The other trains will run between Nizamuddin in New Delhi and Mumbai, Chennai and Patna respectively.
Seoul, Oct 3 (DPA) A 29-car pile-up Tuesday in thick fog on a highway bridge in South Korea killed at least 11 people and injured 50 more, police said.
A collision between two trucks set off the pile-up, which left about 20 cars in flames near the west-coast city of Pyongtaek, about 70-km southwest of Seoul, the national Yonhap News agency reported.
Police blamed the chain-reaction accident on drivers going too fast for conditions.
New Delhi, Oct 3 (IANS) The deadly dengue viral enveloped 40 more people in the Indian capital Tuesday, taking the total cases to over 500, but the authorities stated that the situation did not warrant declaring it an epidemic.
"We will do our best to curb this menace. Our hospitals are well equipped to deal with the situation, hence there is no need to declare dengue as epidemic," said Health Minister Yoganand Shastri.
At an emergency cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, the government decided to ask its ministers to closely monitor the situation. Eleven people have died of the mosquito-borne disease in the city.
Finance and Planning Minister A.K. Walia is to oversee the availability of dengue medicines in the capital, said officials in the chief minister's office.
Labour and industries minister Mangat Ram Singhal is to visit industrial areas to create awareness among the people to curb the breeding of mosquitoes. Education Minister A.S. Lovely will be in charge of the populous east Delhi.
Extra beds and many blood-testing kits will be made available at hospitals, Shastri told reporters.
According to him, the city witnessed over 10,000 cases of dengue in 1996.
"The chief minister asked all of us to do whatever is possible to curb the dengue outbreak. Hospitals will also be held responsible for any irregularity," NDMC health director S.K. Garg told IANS.
"Sanitation officers at hospitals have been asked to step up surveillance and keep a close tab on the hygienic condition of their campuses," Garg said.
Meanwhile, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) reported over 50 cases of dengue - 12 new cases since Monday. Twenty of those affected are students, resident doctors and staff. On Saturday, seventh semester student Kamal Raj Kiran died of dengue.
A 125-bed special dengue ward has been set up at AIIMS, said hospital authorities. On Monday, the hospital began a two-day blood donation camp to deal with any blood shortage.
The dengue virus is spread through the bite of the female Aedes mosquito, primarily Aedes Aegypti, which breeds in clean stagnant water.
To control the dengue menace, the Delhi government has hired 2,400 temporary workers, apart from over 3,000 working for MCD, to intensify surveillance of potential breeding grounds and launch fogging of anti-mosquito drugs.
By Minu Jain,
Johannesburg, Oct 3 (IANS) 9/11, which symbolises the twin evils of violence and hatred that Mahatma Gandhi rejected, also marks the anniversary of the non-violent protest movement he launched and presents a choice the world must make, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh noted here Monday.
The prime minister was speaking at the inauguration here of a permanent exhibition "M.K. Gandhi: Prisoner of Conscience" at the historic Old Fort where the Mahatma was imprisoned four times during his formative years in this country.
"This year is the centenary of the movement, which the Mahatma launched in South Africa, which contributed to India's freedom, influenced many liberation struggles of South Africa... But the question is sometimes asked - are the Mahatma and the practice of satyagraha relevant today?
"The answer was given five years ago when the date on which satyagraha was launched became known almost universally as 9/11. (It) has come to symbolise the twin evils of violence and hatred that the Mahatma rejected.
"Sep 11 now symbolises a choice that the world has to make. Which is the path we should take - the path of a peaceful struggle for justice, or the path of a brutal violence that targets innocents?" the prime minister noted on the occasion of Gandhi's 137th birth anniversary.
"This is the legacy the city of Johannesburg has sought to preserve in this permanent exhibition," he told a gathering.
New Delhi, Oct 3 (IANS) If Bangladesh plays two days of good cricket, they will qualify for the main round of the ICC Champions Trophy beginning this week said vice-captain Shahriar Nafees here Monday.
"We are confident that we will move into the main round of the tournament. For that we need to play two days of good cricket," the 20-year-old Nafees said at an open media session.
"Realistically we are not here to be champions but prove that Bangladesh has emerged as a good cricketing nation."
Bangladesh will take on Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe in the qualifiers, which starts Saturday.
It has been only a year of international cricket for this boy from Dhaka but he has climbed the success ladder pretty fast and will be vice-captaining the team for the first time.
"Success may come fast and you have to work hard to hold on to it. This is a big challenge for me and I will try to give 100 percent to my new role," he said.
For Nafees, vice captaincy at a young age is not an added pressure but that makes him more responsible towards his job.
"I don't consider this as a pressure but take this as a responsibility. Once an individual is aware of his responsibilities he starts to perform better," he said.
Nafees said Bangladesh has a good nucleus of 20 players who are really talented and are really capable of proving themselves in the big stage.
"It has been a good move by our cricket board to include younger players in the team and this will help us in the long run," he said.
"We have the World Cup in mind but Champions Trophy is the main thing for us now. If we perform well we would have the confidence to go and repeat it again in the World Cup."
Beijing, Oct 3 (DPA) A group of western human rights advocates, lawyers and scholars Tuesday urged Chinese President Hu Jintao to curb a growing number of arrests and other abuses of civil rights activists.
"We note with concern the sharp increase in official retaliation against such advocates and their families through persistent harassment, banishment, detention, arrest, and imprisonment," the advocates said in an open letter to Hu published on the website of US-based Human Rights Watch.
"We note, too, the frequent use of state secrets charges to discourage social activism," the letter said.
The letter highlighted cases including detained lawyer Gao Zhisheng and New York Times researcher Zhao Yan, who was recently jailed for three years on disputed fraud charges.
Public order charges against blind legal activist Chen Guangcheng were "baseless" and his sentence to four years and three months in prison in August was "disproportionate to the alleged offences".
"We are equally concerned about the physical attacks on Chen's legal team," it said.
The 53 signatories of the letter included several well-known China experts, senior officials from Human Rights Watch and Human Rights in China, and international rights lawyer Richard Goldstone.
The three highlighted cases and other recent incidents "suggest that those who try to make Chinese officials more accountable, whether through journalism, legal activism, or other peaceful and internationally recognized channels, will be prosecuted through a legal system that lacks impartiality and denies them basic guarantees of fairness".
"So long as the government may, with impunity, persecute and punish those whom they perceive as challenging its collective power, the international community and China's friends and allies will remain deeply skeptical about China's commitment to reform, to transparency, and to the rule of law," they said.
The letter urged the immediate release of Zhao, Gao and Chen, and an overhaul of China's vague law on state secrets.
United Nations, Oct 3 (IANS) Cuba has protested against "an arbitrary and selective interpretation" that prevented it from addressing the UN Security Council on behalf of the non-aligned group when the situation in Myanmar was debated last week.
Cuba, the current president of the 118-member NAM, had petitioned the world body to allow it to participate in a closed-door UN Security Council session to debate the situation in Myanmar, Prensa Latina news agency said Monday.
The request "was fully justified and perfectly in accordance with the organisation´s temporary regulations," Cuban ambassador to the UN Rodrigo Malmierca Diaz said in a statement.
Cuba assumed the NAM presidency in September during the 14th summit of the group of developing countries held in Havana.
There are NAM members that are neighbours of Myanmar, with interests directly affected by the issue under discussion, the Cuban ambassador said. Hence, it was necessary for NAM to have a voice in the discussion on the issue, he added.
The Security Council's decision to deny NAM a role in the important discussion validates NAM's position on the need for an "urgent and comprehensive reform" of the UN Security Council.
"The reform will also need to be applied to the organisation´s working methods," said Malmierca, who presides over the NAM Coordination Bureau at the UN.
By Mayank Chhaya,
New York, Oct 3 (IANS) As in life so in the United Nations, there are no prizes for the also-ran. Shashi Tharoor, India's much heralded candidate for the job of the United Nations secretary-general, reached the end of the road when he finished second yet again in the fourth and final straw poll.
Tharoor, 50, who is under-secretary general for public information, managed 10 encouragements, three negatives and two no opinions and checked himself out of the race in favour of South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon who is now assured to rise to the coveted position. Ban polled 14 positive votes, including from all the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC), and one no opinion.
Those who were nursing hopes of Tharoor's campaign getting resuscitated in the wake of a British newspaper's allegations that Ban may have misused his country's financial muscle to indirectly influence the voting were disappointed. The verdict Monday also glaringly underscored that in the high-stakes game of international diplomacy, India's clout is limited and much less than what is often projected.
In some ways Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had staked his personal prestige on the line by campaigning for Tharoor only to find that New Delhi still falls way short of impressing the movers and shakers at the United Nations. If the poll is any indication India will have to rethink its strategy for the position of permanent membership of the UNSC.
Although purely in statistical terms Tharoor's performance was not all that bad considering he was a late arrival on the scene, it highlighted the limits of New Delhi's powers.
Ban comes at a time when with the staff of 9,000 and an annual budget of $5 billion the UN has been under unprecedented pressure to refashion itself from a body whose structure still reflects the archaic realities of the 1950s rather than addressing the demands of the 21st century. At the same time, and quite ironically, the UN once again finds itself assuming the role of a decisive player in major conflicts in the Middle East and Africa. This is notwithstanding the often unvarnished contempt for the international body expressed by the United States.
Ban has some India connection, posted as he was in the South Korean embassy in New Delhi as a top official. But beyond that he is seen as closely allied with Washington. He will be the first Asian UN secretary general since 1971 when U Thant of Burma left office. In theory, at least, the prospects of an Indian rising to the top post for the next two decades now seem remote.
For a short period there was some hope that since India was not being allowed into the UNSC as a permanent member with the full veto, Washington might consider pushing Tharoor's nomination as a happy compromise. But realists at the UN did not for a moment believe that even the so openly pro-India Bush administration would reward New Delhi with a seminal nuclear deal and the UN secretary-general in quick succession.
One of the calculations that may have gone against Tharoor and by implication against India could be the generally aggressively independent positions that New Delhi has been known to take on international issues. Although if elected Tharoor could not afford to be seen as New Delhi's man, many may have believed, or rather led to believe, that he could toe India's line on many sensitive international issues.
Islamabad, Oct 3 (IANS) Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has been accused of "settling scores" with his erstwhile army colleagues and spilling the beans on Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the country's much written about spy agency, even while trying to defend it during his just-concluded foreign tour.
He has come under heavy fire from defence analysts, media and former colleagues, who think that by admitting that retired officers and renegades earlier associated with ISI may have had a role to play in Afghanistan has refurbished the "stereotype" that governs the western minds even before 9/11 happened.
The News International places it in the context of Indian criticism of ISI's role, not only in the 7/11 explosions on the Mumbai suburban rail network earlier this year but also in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, the worst terror violence India has faced.
Among the foremost critics has been Musharraf's batch mate in the army, Lt. Gen. (retd) Ali Kuli Khan Khattak, who has disputed Musharraf's claim in his book "In the Line of Fire" that he advocated imposition of martial law when then prime minister Nawaz Sharif forced General Jehangir Karamat, army chief at the time, to resign.
Khattak told The News International he never made a case for military rule. "My view was that the army should be firm and fair in dealing with all situations. I certainly advised General Jehangir Karamat not to resign as army chief but I didn't ask him to stage a coup and impose martial law," he maintained.
Khattak, who was sidelined and removed, and Musharraf were batch mates, having joined the 29th Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) course in Kakul and then becoming involved "in an often bitter competition," the newspaper recalls.
"I can say we were friends until I was made Chief of General Staff (CGS). Musharraf was very unhappy that he couldn't make it," Khattak recalled.
Reached in Karachi for his reaction to the observations made by Musharraf about him in the book, Khattak argued it was a one-sided version of events in which facts have been misrepresented and "half-truths inserted to make General Musharraf look good".
Khattak has promised a rejoinder.
Musharraf's pinpointing ISI chiefs during 1979-89 in his NBC interview has earned a spate of denials and refutations from army generals. Among them is Lt.Gen. Hamid Gul, who has been known to be a mentor of jehadis in and outside the army and a known Mushasrraf baiter for forsaking the jehadis under alleged US pressure.
Gul has been quoted as saying that ISI was like Freemasons, the secretive western organisation that was "closed, once you are out of it".
Gul said retired army officers "stood in the queue to pay their bills" and there was little chance of their sustaining any militant movement from their retirement.
What Musharraf said about ISI was "extraordinary, coming from the head of the state", said The Nation in an editorial. It recalled that some of the former ISI chiefs have asked Musharraf to shed the uniform.
"The fact that some of the officials in various security agencies became radicalised during the Afghan jehad is widely recognised. But.... this is the first time that a head of state has pointed an accusing finger in a certain direction for being a potential source of encouragement for militancy." the editorial indignantly said.
Taking a somewhat lenient view of Musharraf's admissions while defending ISI, The News International said the role of ISI was well known and it was better to pinpoint the renegades and ex-servicemen than deny point blank and wholly the allegation coming from the western media.
"It cannot be denied that there have been a succession of former ISI chiefs and senior officials - many of them retired and leading a life of religious piety, pan-Islamic zeal or both - who have openly espoused an anti-US course of action and have criticised the government for backing what they think is the wrong side in the war on terror," it said.
The partial admission was necessary to show that the president was "not faking" the support to the global war on terror, the editorial surmised.
By Minu Jain,
Johannesburg, Oct 3 (IANS) Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa has been selected for the Gandhi Peace Prize for 2005 in recognition of "his contribution towards social and political transformation through dialogue and tolerance", Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced here Monday.
The 75-year-old renowned human rights activist won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.
The prime minister, on a three-day visit of South Africa, made the announcement after inaugurating a permanent exhibition, "M.K. Gandhi: Prisoner of Conscience" at the Old Fort here on the 137th birth anniversary of the Mahatma.
Terming Archbishop Tutu "a follower of the vision of the apostle of peace", the prime minister said: "I have great pleasure in announcing that in recognition of his invaluable contribution towards social and political transformation through dialogue and tolerance - truly Gandhian values - the government of India has decided to award the 2005 Gandhi Peace Prize to him."
New Delhi, Oct 3 (IANS) With Bollywood blockbuster "Lage Raho Munnabhai" spawning a new enthusiasm about Mahatma Gandhi, hundreds of youngsters, many below 10 years, joined politicians and diplomats to pay homage to the father of the nation on his 137th birth anniversary Monday.
The scene at the Rajghat, the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi, was different this year with the large presence of youngsters. The super success of Rajkumar Hirani's "Lage Raho Munnabhai" on the everyday relevance of Gandhi and his teachings of ahimsa and satyagraha - non-violence and passive resistance to fight injustice - has enthused people all over the country to a new awakening on the man whom India calls the father of the nation.
"After watching the movie, I had resolved to visit Rajghat on Gandhi Jayanti. Gandhi was always there as a beacon but this film brought a renewed interest in me. Many youngsters have started relating to him," said 22-year-old Santosh Bhargava, who had come from Meerut.
"I think where books failed to attract the modern Indian youth, the movie has certainly charmed the masses to think of Gandhi and his teachings," added Madhu Tripathi, a college student, who was standing in queue at the memorial.
"The number of youth is much higher than of elders this year. Look at the number of women and children," said Tripathi, pointing to the crowds waiting to enter the mausoleum.
Many school-going children also took time out to visit the memorial.
"My mother told us to visit Rajghat. Along with my five friends, I am waiting till we are allowed by police to enter the place," said Monalisa, a 12-year-old girl.
'Gandhigiri' - a colloquial for Gandhian ideals - of the movie seems to have spun its magic around the psyche of youngsters.
In the morning, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam led the nation in paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat. Kalam paid floral tributes at Raj Ghat. He later paid tributes to former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri at his nearby mausoleum 'Vijayghat' on his 102nd birth anniversary.
Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Information and Broadcasting Minister S. Jaipal Reddy, opposition leader L.K. Advani, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and veteran Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande were among the many to pay tributes to Gandhi Monday morning.
With devotional songs playing in the background, several Gandhians and other people joined school children in paying tributes to Gandhi. Next to the flower-decorated memorial, many people, including children, were participating in a 24-hour spinning event.
Gandhi popularized the charkha, or the spinning wheel, as a symbol of national self-reliance that Indians can make their own cloth and not depend on yarn imported from the textile mills of Britain.
"There is no other figure whom people can adore like Gandhi. India today should follow non-violence and equal opportunity for all as Gandhi taught to fight corruption, terrorism and other social malaise," said veteran Gandhian Y.P. Anand.
Anand, also a former director of National Gandhi Museum, said people today should introspect on the teachings of Gandhi and take lessons from them. "Gandhi is no more but it's up to the people of India to take lessons from him to build a vibrant country," he said.
Representatives of nine religions - Buddhism, Baha'i, Christian, Hindu,Islam, Jain, Judaism, Zoroastrianism and Sikhism - took part in an all-religion prayer meeting at Rajghat.
The hundreds who arrived at Rajghat had to brave the stringent three rounds of security checks as well as the hot sun.
"Even 58 years after his death, the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi have acquired greater importance.
From educational institutes to the film industry, everyone is drawing inspiration from him," said Rajiv Rajasekharan, who has come all the way from Jaipur to pay homage.
"A simple glimpse of the memorial in black marble with 'Hey Ram' (Gandhi's last words) inscribed on it is enough to recharge you to take on untruthful practices," he said.
Several organisations in the national capital like Gandhi Smriti and Gandhi Museum organised special exhibitions of photo and books on Gandhi to create awareness among youngsters about his teachings and his role in helping India gain independence.
Baghdad, Oct 3 (Xinhua) Fourteen people were kidnapped Monday from a market in eastern Baghdad by unidentified gunmen wearing police commando uniforms, said an official.
"Gunmen in seven sport utility vehicles, usually used by Iraqi police, stormed several shops selling computer appliances on Sina'a Street, and seized 14 people," said an interior ministry official.
The attackers fled the scene with the kidnapped people, he added.
On Sunday, unidentified gunmen had stormed a food factory in the al-Amil neighbourhood in southwestern Baghdad and kidnapped 26 workers.
The attackers also took away two refrigerator trucks and two cars from the factory, he said.
New Delhi, Oct 3 (IRNA) Setting a perfect example of communal harmony, 23 Hindu prisoners, four of them women, of Bhagalpur Central Jail are observing Ramadan fast along with Muslim inmates, jail sources said on Monday.
A total of 303 inmates are observing Ramadan fast in the high-security Bhagalpur Central Jail, jail superintendent P K Jha told PTI.
Special food arrangements have been made for prisoners on fast, he said adding that the gesture by Hindu prisoners should set an example to others who want to divide society on communal lines, Jha said.
United Nations, Oct 3 (IANS) India has demanded a lead role for the United Nations in giving direction to comprehensive reform of the international financial, monetary and trading systems to end their domination by a few rich countries.
"The democratic deficit in the international financial architecture can only be addressed through a fundamental reform of the quota structure," Nirupam Sen, Permanent Representative of India, told the UN General Assembly Monday.
Describing it as an absolute necessity for the credibility and legitimacy of international financial institutions, he said the UN should encourage further, effective and time-bound steps for the second stage of IMF quota reform without delay.
Voicing concern at the suspension of the Doha Round of trade negotiations, Sen said many developing countries' problems are not because of inadequate liberalisation or corruption but because developed countries set the agenda and went back on their promises, thereby ensuring that the history of trade negotiations would be a history of broken promises.
Demonstration of political will by developed countries will be required if negotiations are to be saved. A clear political direction to the World Trade Organisation that was not possible in the 2005 World Summit in spite of broad political support remains necessary.
The primacy of development on the global agenda can only be achieved if the UN takes a lead in setting the international economic agenda. The problem is the reform of the UN system, the reinstatement of the UN-driven and development oriented approach, Sen said.
What is needed is the UN overseeing the international economic agenda and promoting the reform of international economic institutions through a revitalized General Assembly, a strengthened Economic and Social Council and a reformed Security Council, he said.
In the IMF, the rich countries, in fact a single rich country has virtually a veto, Sen said in an obvious reference to the United States, noting that the most powerful country appoints the head of the World Bank and, with Western Europe, shares the top two posts of the IMF.
Unless developing countries managed to change things lock, stock and barrel, the organisation may pass out of their hands and they would end up as irrelevant spectators without any rights.
For developing countries, the centrepiece is development. Poverty and conflicts are not only the legacy of the colonial past but a result of the structural policies of the international financial institutions, Sen said.
The present international system takes from the poor - net transfers from developing countries continued to rise for the twelfth consecutive year reaching over US$450 billion, he alleged.
Without addressing the development problems faced by the vast majority of UN members, security in its full sense cannot be achieved, Sen said noting that even though aggregate Official Development Assistance (ODA) reached a record high of $106 billion in 2005, only a small fraction of this actually went to support real investments in countries that need them most.
Welcoming the agreement to monitor the fulfilment of commitments made to provide development assistance, he said India backs all initiatives in support of low-income countries.
Citing recent events in Lebanon, Sen said the main problems that beset peacekeeping are not a lack of resources or even personnel, but an un-representative Security Council, which lacks the political will to act and, when it does, does so in a manner that is entirely inadequate.
There is widespread acknowledgement that no UN reform would be complete without the reform of the Security Council. The Security Council must not only be more representative but also more effective, if it is to satisfactorily perform the role mandated to it by the Charter, Sen said.
Turning to terrorism, Sen said the adoption of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy is a step in the right direction. He called for the early finalisation and adoption of a comprehensive convention on international terrorism.
Meanwhile, taking part in a committee debate, C.K. Chandrappan, MP and a member of the Indian delegation, welcomed the proposal for intensifying global development partnership for helping Africa.
India supports greater efforts through the UN system for assisting the efforts of countries in Africa as well as for addressing the special needs of the least developed countries (LDCs), landlocked developing countries and the small island developing countries, he said.
United Nations, October 3 (NDTV.COM) India has lambasted the 15-member Security Council for failing to meet its obligations of maintaining international peace and security, saying it is the result of its "un-representative" character and consequent lack of political will.
In a sharp criticism of the Council's inaction as the "tragic events" unfolded in Lebanon recently and the Mideast peace process was derailed, Indian Ambassador Nirupam Sen likened the Council to Emperor Neor who was fiddling while Rome was burning.
"The main problem that beset peacekeeping are not lack of resources or even personnel, but an un-representative Security Council which lacks the political will to act and when it does, does so in a manner that is entirely inadequate," he told the United Nations General Assembly.
Asking the Council members to shore up their participation in the peacekeeping operations, Sen said it is a "distressing reflection" on their willingness to share the burden of maintaining international peace and security when overwhelming number of troops in the peacekeeping operations are contributed by the developing nations.
Stressing that reform of the United Nations, which the major power are demanding, would be incomplete without the expansion of the 15-member Council, he said it needs to be made more representative and effective if it is to satisfactorily perform the role mandated to it by the Charter.
It is imperative, Sen said, that any expansion and restructuring of the Council must include developing countries in both permanent and non permanent categories. (PTI)
Pretoria, Oct 3 (IANS) Celebrating the centenary of Gandhi's passive resistance movement satyagraha here, India and South Africa Monday pushed their strategic ties further with two pacts and decided to explore ways to collaborate in civilian nuclear energy.
"South Africa and India reaffirm their commitment to a global order of peace, equality and justice," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and South African President Thabo Mbeki said in a joint declaration.
Called the Tshwane Declaration, the document signed by the two leaders covers a host of issues - from defence and strategic cooperation to economic and cultural ties that go back more than a century.
The declaration had a significant statement on nuclear cooperation stating the two countries agreed that nuclear fuel could play an important role in ensuring safe, sustainable and non-polluting sources of energy to meet rising global demands.
The document not only reaffirmed the inalienable right of all states to the peaceful application of nuclear energy, consistent with global commitments, but also agreed to explore approaches for cooperation with adequate safeguards.
The declaration expressed deep concern over international terrorism and trans-border crime and said India and South Africa would work towards adopting the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism under the UN soon.
"The ultimate objective is total eradication of this scourge so that barbaric attacks such as the ones carried out on July 11, 2006 in Mumbai and other parts of the world do not recur," the two leaders said.
President Mbeki and Prime Minister Singh reiterated their conviction that peace and development were indivisible and good governance was the best-known way to ensure both.
The two countries signed two pacts - for establishing ties between the Indian Railways and South Africa's Spoornet and cooperation in education - and agreed to conclude a preferential trade pact at the earliest.
"It would provide a significant incentive to the business communities of the two countries to explore mutually beneficial commercial opportunities and contribute to the growth of bilateral trade," the two leaders said about the trade pact.
They also categorically said that they would soon sign two pacts - to exempt visa requirements for officials and diplomats and design a programme of cooperation in science and technology.
The two leaders recalled that the Red Fort declaration, signed during Mbeki's visit to India in 2003, had recognised the comparative advantages of the two countries and had resulted in doubling of bilateral trade and investment.
"They acknowledged, however, that the full potential in this regard was yet to be tapped and reaffirmed their determination to explore these opportunities to their optimal extent," the declaration said.
The areas identified included energy, tourism, health, automobiles, components, chemicals, dyes, textiles, fertilisers, information technology, small and medium enterprises and infrastructure.
India was appreciated for its role in establishing the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme and for Manmohan Singh's assurance that the number of such projects in South Africa would be increased from 55 to 100.
The two leaders saluted Gandhi on his 137h birth anniversary - particularly to the global role he played by following the principles of truth, non-violence and self-service that form the core of the philosophy of satyagraha.
"It was the unflinching spirit of Mahatma Gandhi that contributed decisively towards the demise of British Raj (rule); similarly, it inspired the struggle against apartheid," the two leaders said.
Pretoria, Oct 3 (IANS) India and South Africa Monday signed two agreements aimed at consolidating their relationship.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his host President Thabo Mbeki signed here an agreement reaffirming the strategic partnership between the two countries, while Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma and a South African minister inked a pact paving the way for cooperation in education.
Manmohan Singh is on a three-day visit to South Africa.
Madrid, Oct 3 (Xinhua) The Indian team launched a scathing attack on the umpires at the Women's Hockey World Cup here Monday, saying that they were "incompetent and biased".
A statement signed by Indian team manager Anurita Saini said: "Our team has been constantly under pressure from incompetent and biased umpires which has been directly affecting our performance here in the ongoing world cup.
"Level-playing field is the most important of requirements for any team to showcase their potential, which simply did not exist here for us.
"We firmly assert that we have been at the wrong end of many umpiring decisions. We have enough video recordings and statistics to prove beyond doubt our points of view in this respect," the statement said.
The Indian outfit also questioned the arrangement of umpires in the World Cup.
"We object to the fact that though England and the Netherlands are in our pool, umpires from the Netherlands and Scotland are posted for our matches," said the statement.
The Indians' wrath comes after a controversy in their Sunday's game against England, where they were disallowed a goal which they believed should stand.
"We assert that a panel of experts should be constituted to review the goal that was disallowed during half time against England as a special case and the justice to be done to us in the spirit of the sportsmanship and for the glory of hockey," the team claimed.
Islamabad, Oct 3 (NDTV.COM) Indo-Pak Foreign Secretary-level talks, suspended after the July Mumbai blasts, would be held after the holy month of Ramzan.
"The Foreign Secretaries of the two countries are in touch with each other. They have exchanged some ideas," said Tasnim Aslam, Spokesperson, Pakistan Foreign Office.
"The likely time for their meeting is any time after Ramzan," said Tasnim.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had agreed to resume the Foreign-Secretary level talks after their meeting on the sidelines of the NAM summit in Havana last month.
Foreign Secretary-level talks, scheduled in July last, were postponed at the last minute after the serial train blasts in Mumbai that killed nearly 200 people. (PTI)
Paris, Oct 3 (DPA) In an attempt to resolve a diplomatic impasse over its nuclear energy programme, Iran Tuesday proposed making France a partner in its uranium enrichment activities.Q
"We proposed to France to create a consortium for the production of enriched uranium in Iran," the deputy director of the Iranian Atomic Energy Agency, Mohammad Saeedi, told France Info radio. "In this way France, through its companies Eurodif and Areva, would have a tangible way of checking our activities."
State-owned Areva is the world's leading atomic technology firm and majority owner of the uranium-enrichment company Eurodif. The Iranian Atomic Energy Agency also owns shares of Eurodif, through the French-Iranian company SOFIDIF.
There was no immediate response to the proposal from the French government, which has been involved - with the United States, Britain, Germany, Russia and China - in a long diplomatic tug-of-war with Tehran over its nuclear enrichment programme.
Last year, Iranian authorities made a similar proposal, to create a joint venture for uranium enrichment with foreign partners. However, the offer was rejected.
Iranian authorities insist that they have the right to have an independent nuclear energy programme for civilian purposes, while Western countries, particularly the US, believe Tehran is building a nuclear bomb.
Baghdad, Oct 3 (NDTV.COM) Iraq's prime minister announced a new plan aimed at ending the deepening crisis between Shiite and Sunni parties in his government and uniting them behind the drive to stop sectarian killings that have bloodied the country for months.
The four-point plan, which emerged after talks between both sides, aims to resolve disputes by giving every party a voice in how security forces operate against violence on a neighborhood by neighborhood level.
Local committees will be formed in each Baghdad district made up of representatives of every party, religious and tribal leaders and security officials to consult on security efforts.
A Sunni representative, for example, could raise a complaint if he feels police are not pursuing a Shiite militia after an attack. A central committee, also made up of all the parties, will coordinate with the armed forces.
"We have taken the decision to end sectarian hatred once and for all," Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told reporters. "We have vowed before Almighty God to stop the bloodshed."
Muqtada al-Sadr
In a possible boost to the effort to rein in the violence, a radical cleric who heads one of the most powerful Shiite militias, Muqtada al-Sadr, has ordered his followers to put aside their weapons temporarily, a Sadr spokesman told The Associated Press.
Al-Maliki announced his plan hours after gunmen abducted 14 computer shop employees in a bold, midday attack in downtown Baghdad, the second mass kidnapping in as many days.
The bodies of seven of the 24 captives seized Sunday were found dumped in southern Baghdad. Sunni politicians blamed Shiite militias for both mass kidnappings and demanded the government take action.
Al-Maliki is under increasing pressure to stop the violence, which has killed thousands since February. US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad warned this week that al-Maliki must make progress within the next two months to avert a crisis.
But al-Maliki's administration has been plagued by growing mistrust between its Shiite and Sunni members, who each accuse the other of fueling the bloodshed.
Al-Maliki announced a 24-point reconciliation plan when he took office in May, which laid down ways to tackle violence including an amnesty for militants who put down their weapons as well as security crackdowns. So far, the plan has done little to stem the daily killings.
Sunnis accuse the Shiite-led security forces of turning a blind eye to killing of Sunnis by Shiite militias some of which are linked to parties in the government. Sunnis have accused al-Maliki, a Shiite, of being hesitant to crack down on the militias.
Accusations
Shiites, meanwhile, accused Sunni parties of links to terrorists after a bodyguard of a Sunni party leader, Adnan al-Dulaimi, was arrested by U.S. forces on Friday and accused of plotting al-Qaida bombings. Some Shiite politicians demanded a government reshuffle to push out Sunni parties.
The local committees aim to resolve these disputes.
"We will spare no efforts to succeed in this great initiative which we agreed on today to stop the violence and killings in Baghdad and in all Iraq," al-Dulaimi said at a news conference with al-Maliki.
The two men signed an agreement with other Sunni and Shiite politicians on the four-point plan.
In addition to the local and central committees, the plan calls for establishment of a media committee and a monthly review of progress, al-Maliki said.
However, the new plan does not directly tackle the issue of cracking down on Shiite militias, a step Sunnis demand but many Shiites oppose.
In theory, the committees would give Sunnis a venue to press security forces to take action against militias. But Shiites on the committee would have an equal chance to try to prevent action.
The top parties are to meet Tuesday to work out the details of how the committees will work, but already divisions were showing even over wording. Shiite parties want the new plan to be focused on "terrorism," which would suggest insurgents, while Sunnis want it to address "violence," which would include Shiite militias.
The most well-known of these militias is the Mahdi Army led by al-Sadr, who on Friday ordered his fighters to put aside their weapons temporarily.
He told supporters "the resistance (should) be political. ... he does not want to see a single drop of (Iraqi) blood shed," said Sadr spokesman Amir al-Husseini.
The Mahdi army
The Mahdi Army has been blamed for many attacks on Sunnis since the bombing of a Shiite shrine north of Baghdad in February sparked the wave of sectarian violence.
But U.S. commanders have suggested that since then some militants have split from al-Sadr, saying he is not radical enough and carrying out attacks on their own.
Violence has not slowed in the wake of al-Sadr's orders. A curfew slapped on Baghdad on Saturday after the arrest of al-Dulaimi's bodyguard brought a day of calm. But as soon as it was lifted, violence explode.
More than 50 bodies most bound and many of them showing signs of torture were found in Baghdad alone on Sunday, apparent victims of sectarian killings, police said.
Midday Monday, gunmen wearing military-style uniforms pulled up to a group of computer stores at the Technical University in downtown Baghdad and pulled out 14 employees, forcing them into SUVs and driving off, police said.
Gun attack
On Sunday, gunmen stormed into a frozen meat factory in Baghdad and forced 24 workers into a refrigerator truck, shooting two others who refused to get in.
Hours later, seven bodies were found in a Sunni district of the Baghdad neighborhood of Dora and were identified as workers from the factory. The fate of the other abducted workers was not known. In similar mass kidnappings in the past, the attackers have sorted out Shiites and Sunnis and killed those of the rival sect.
Lawmakers from the Iraqi Islamic Party, a Sunni political group, said the kidnapped workers were all Sunnis and called on the government to act.
"It is the time the government takes serious and urgent steps to disband these criminal organizations and to save the people from their harm," they said in a statement.
At least 20 other people were killed in attacks around Iraq, including a bomb blast in Baghdad's downtown Al-Nasir Square that killed four people and wounded 13, and mortar barrages against two Sunni neighborhoods that killed two people and wounded dozens.
The U.S command said three US Marines died in Anbar province Saturday two in combat and the third in a vehicle accident. A British soldier was killed and another wounded in a mortar attack in the southern city of Basra. One shell hit a nearby house, killing two children.
New Delhi, Oct 3 (IANS) The Left Front will raise the issue of transfer of news agency United News India (UNI) to Zee Television group at a United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-Left coordination meeting Wednesday.
"Apart from other issues, we will also raise the UNI takeover at the meeting," Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary A.B. Bardhan told IANS Tuesday.
The Left parties, which support the Congress-led government from outside, had sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention into the Subhash Chandra-promoted Essel group's decision to take over the trilingual news agency saying the latter was interested in misusing the prime real estate of the wire service that had been allocated to them by the government.
Expressing its apprehensions over the future of the UNI after the takeover, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo has said: "This has been done despite the widespread apprehensions that a news agency which was set up as a Section 25 of the Company Act should not come under the control of any single business house.
"There are grounds to believe that this transaction is inimical to the future of the UNI as a news agency and for its role as a premier news agency."
The Delhi High Court Friday ordered to maintain status quo on the transfer of equity in the company. Following protests from the Left parties as well as the employees of UNI, the government also had suggested that transfer of the shares could be delayed.
The coordination meeting will also discuss the Left Front's reservations on special economic zones (SEZs).
"Our concerns over SEZ will also be a major point of discussion at the coordination meeting," Bardhan said.
Sources in the Left Front said before the coordination committee meeting - which is expected to be held at Manmohan Singh's residence Wednesday evening - the four parties would hold a discussion to sort out the differences among them over the issue.
The Left Front - comprising CPI-M, CPI, Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and Forward Bloc - appears to be divided over the creation of SEZ as the CPI-M favours it with riders but allies oppose these in toto.
"We are completely against the concept," said Bardhan.
At the coordination meeting, the Left leaders are also likely to raise the issue of providing clemency for Mohammed Afzal, who is to be hanged on Oct. 20 for his role in the December 2001 terror attack on parliament.
Although Bardhan said the issue would not be a "particular one" in the meeting, Left party sources said the Communists were likely to express their opposition to death sentence to Afzal.
The Left leaders will also seek a response from the prime minister on the nine-page note, they had delivered to him in June. At the occasion of the UPA government's second year anniversary in June, the Left Front had accused the government of distancing itself from the promises in the common minimum programme, the agenda for governance for the coalition.
New York, Oct 3 (IANS) Limiting your children's television viewing time to one hour or less daily could improve their grades in school, suggests a new study.
Iman Sharif and researchers at the paediatrics department of New York's Children's Hospital at Montefiore and Albert Einstein College of Medicine studied about 4,500 middle-school students in New Hampshire and Vermont, reported the online edition of science magazine WebMD.
In the survey, students reported whether their grades in the previous year were excellent, good, average, or below average. The survey also recorded the time they spent watching TV and playing video games on weekdays and weekends.
They also recorded their access to cable movie channels, parental rules about TV use, experience of watching movies with "R" ratings, self-esteem, rebelliousness, best grades, and least screen time.
The study found that students who spent the least amount of time watching TV and playing video games during weekdays reported the highest grades.
These students were also the most likely to have parents with rules about TV use, and they were the least likely to have watched movies with "R" ratings, it said.
The researchers weighed other influences such as the kids' self-esteem and rebelliousness, their mothers' parenting style, and social or economic factors.
The study, however, does not prove that increased TV time made grades slip. It's possible that the students with the best grades just aren't drawn to TV, and vice versa, the researchers noted.
Sharif and colleagues did not actually check the students' report cards. But said students generally tell researchers the truth about their grades.
Weekend TV watching time was not tied to the students' grades, as there is time for these activities without sacrificing studies.
The researchers stated that the study, published in the journal Paediatrics, may not apply nationwide since it was carried out in just two states.
But the results support the recommendation for parents to limit their middle-school children's TV and video game time to one hour or less daily, Sharif's team added.
New Delhi, Oct 3 (IANS) Legendary Clive Lloyd will be a part of the West Indies team during the ICC Champions Trophy, which starts on Saturday.
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) in consultations with coach Bennett King and captain Brian Lara took the decision.
"Clive will be in India essentially to support (manager) Tony Howard and the team management," said WICB president Kenneth Gordon in a statement.
As a Board member and chairman of the Cricket Committee of the WICB, Lloyd will explore the opportunities for additional games next year and make his vast experience available to the team.
"It is something we've done before and we know that Clive's vast experience in leading victorious West Indian teams in the past would be an additional asset to the touring team," said Gordon.
New York, Oct 3 (IANS) Low birth weight babies could face more physical, mental and cognitive difficulties as compared to those with normal weight, says a new study.
Low birth weight has been known to increase the risk of disabilities like cerebral palsy and mental retardation.
However, new research suggests that low birth weight may also contribute to minor difficulties in motor skills and cognitive abilities like thinking, learning and memory, reported the Newswise wire quoting a study published in the October issue of Archives of Paediatrics & Adolescent Medicine journal.
The study also said these problems could last till adolescence but added that enhanced maternal-foetal and neonatal care may help them improve.
Agnes H. Whitaker and colleagues at Columbia University Medical Center and New York State Psychiatric Institute studied 474 non-disabled adolescents who were born at or admitted to one of three New Jersey hospitals between 1984 and 1987 and weighed less than 2,000 grams at birth.
The participants, who had an average age of 16 at the time of assessment for the study, underwent intelligence and motor tests at their homes.
Compared with the standardisation sample, or the large group of teens used to provide a reference point for the assessments, the adolescents with low birth weight had more motor problems.
Their IQ scores were within the normal range, but on an average were significantly lower than the average for their age group.
Male participants, who had injuries to the white matter (nerve tissue) of the brain on neonatal ultrasound and who spent more days on a ventilator as infants, were more likely to have motor difficulties, the researchers said.
Social disadvantages, a lower foetal growth ratio (calculated by dividing birth weight by the median weight for the infant's age) and white matter injury, also predicted lower IQ scores.
But the researchers also noted that enhanced maternal-foetal and neonatal care have the potential to substantially improve cognitive and motor outcomes for non-disabled low birth weight children.
Bhopal, Oct 3 (IANS) The death toll rose to 39 in flash floods in Madhya Pradesh's Datia district with 23 more bodies being fished out from the swollen Sindh river. Search is on for the missing people, police said Tuesday.
More than 55 pilgrims were washed away Sunday evening in a flash flood in the Sindh as they were crossing the river on foot to offer prayers on the occasion of Durga Navami at the nearby Ratangarh Mata Mandir.
The flash floods were reportedly caused by the release of water from the nearby Manikheda dam. The authorities had given no prior information on the water release.
Police rescue teams are still searching for the missing pilgrims. The dead include 18 men and women each and a child.
Gwalior Divisional Commissioner Komal Singh, however, denied that the people were swept away due to rise in the water level.
"The question of Sindh water level rising does not arise because power production at the dam site was stopped since Saturday night," Singh told IANS by phone.
Accusing the district administration of callousness, the main opposition Congress has demanded strict action against the district collector and the police superintendent.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced an ex-gratia of Rs.100,000 each to the kin of the victims. He has asked the Datia district collector to enquire into the incident and provide necessary assistance to the affected families.
This is not the first incident of its kind in the state. In April 2005, more than 70 people were killed at Dharaji in Dewas district while taking a dip in the Narmada river on the occasion of Bhutadi Amavasya.
Rome, Oct 3 (IANS) Mahatma Gandhi and his teachings were remembered in the historic Italian city of Narni at an institute of higher studies named after the great leader on his 137th birth anniversary Monday.
A bust of Mahatma Gandhi was unveiled at the Gandhi Institute of Higher Studies in Narni, central Italy, by the Indian Ambassador to Italy Rajiv Dogra.
Mayor of Narni Stefano Bigaroni and Guido Viscione, director of the institute, were also present at the ceremony, according to an Indian embassy press release here.
The bust, made by noted Indian sculptor Ratnabali Kant, was commissioned and gifted by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).
The institute decided to name itself after Mahatma Gandhi in 1987 and since then the students of the school and its teaching establishment have kept the memory of Gandhi alive through their efforts.
Ambassador Dogra also gave away prizes to the first six winners of the Mahatma Gandhi national poetry competition organised by the institute for students all over Italy. The prizes were sponsored by the Indian embassy here. This competition is to now become an annual event.
On the occasion, the institute opened a new section of its library housing books and audio-visual material on India. Dogra also announced, on behalf of ICCR, a new scheme to invite five students from the institute to visit places associated with the life and work of Mahatma Gandhi in India.
After 1987, Oct 2 has always been celebrated in a special way at the institute and at the Narni town hall.
The students of the Narni Institute held a daylong programme celebrating their association with Mahatma Gandhi and emphasising the relevance of his message of non-violence and peace in today's world.
By Minu Jain,
Johannesburg, Oct 3 (IANS) Describing him as the "greatest living Gandhian", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday met former South African president Nelson Mandela here and conveyed to him the good wishes of the people of India.
"It is a privilege to meet you. You are the greatest living Gandhian," Manmohan Singh told the 88-year-old Mandela during the 25-minute meeting that took place on the 137th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi.
"Your contribution to the welfare of millions in Africa and the world is awe inspiring," Manmohan Singh told the South African elder statesman.
The prime minister also conveyed to Mandela the "warmest regards" of the people of India and the "personal regards" of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the chairperson of India's ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition).
In his remarks, Mandela said he was happy to receive Manmohan Singh, who is here to observe the centenary of the "satyagraha" movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi.
"India and Indians have played a positive role in the growth and development of South Africa," Mandela noted, and also recalled the visit here two years ago of Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
Raipur, Oct 3 (IANS) Four civil militia cadres in Chhattisgarh were killed by guerrillas of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) in a forested hamlet, police said Tuesday.
Three senior cadres of the government backed civil militia movement, Salwa Judum, (Campaign for Peace), were killed in a landmine explosion set off by the rebels late Monday in insurgency-hit Dantewada district's Usoor police station area, 450 km from here.
"Leftist extremists killed three tribesmen, all between 25 and 30 years, in a landmine blast while a 45-yr-old person was dragged out of his home Monday night and shot dead," a senior police officer told IANS.
Thousands of personnel of the federal police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have been carrying out raids since last week at rebel hideouts in Bastar forest - a region considered a Maoist hotbed for over three decades.
"Maoist militants have suffered heavy casualties during recent assaults launched by the CRPF in their strongholds. Now the rebels are killing civilians to vent their frustration due to losses suffered by them," the officer added.
Chhattisgarh is among the 13 worst Maoist-infested Indian states and officials say at least 280 people, mostly tribal civilians, in the state's southern Bastar region have been killed since January.
Maoists claim to fight for rights of poor peasants and landless labourers and have killed hundreds of people and destroyed government properties worth millions in a three-decade old movement that began in 1967.
Tashkent, Oct 3 (IANS) Top seed Maria Elena Camerin of Italy came within a whisker of being upset by a Chinese qualifier but held her nerves to win 6-1, 5-7, 7-5 in the first round of the Tashkent Open tennis tournament here Monday.
Nineteen-year-old Ren Jing, ranked 304 in the world, served for the match in the 10th game of the third set, but three backhand errors cost her the game.
Camerin, not in the best of form herself, made the most of it and won the match, which lasted two hours and 26 minutes.
"It has happened to me also, when I played against much higher-ranked players," said Camerin later.
"The first match (of a tournament) is never easy. I did not play well. The key today was fighting and staying there. I wasn't timing the ball well and she started to play better in the second set."
In other matches, Uzbekistan's Iroda Tulyaganova defeated fifth seed Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus 6-3 7-6 (7-5) and fourth seed Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine withdrew from the tournament following a wrist injury she suffered while winning the final against Francesca Schiavone at Luxembourg Sunday.
Islamabad, Oct 3 (Xinhua) Pakistan will take action against those responsible for the July 11 serial blasts in Mumbai if India provided evidence against them, an official said here Monday.
"If India has some information suggesting links of some people in Pakistan to these blasts, Pakistan will take action and help India," Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said.
She, however, said instead of making allegations in media, Pakistan expected India to share solid information so that Islamabad could cooperate with them.
The Mumbai police probing the serial blasts that claimed about 200 lives, said last week that a number of Pakistanis were involved in the attacks that were masterminded by Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI).
In her weekly briefing here, Aslam termed the Indian allegations as propaganda.
"These allegations are like earlier ones which were not based on facts and it is only propaganda of Indian media," she said.
New Delhi, Oct 3 (IANS) Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf overshadowed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Indian TV news channels last week, getting thrice the attention on prime time bulletins, according to a survey.
Between Sep 21-28 - the week when Musharraf released his memoirs in New York - six New Delhi-based Hindi news channels devoted 378 minutes of their prime-time bulletins to the Pakistani president against 114 minutes to Manmohan Singh, the survey by the Centre for Media Studies (CMS) found.
Of the six, NDTV India devoted 164 minutes to Musharraf against just four minutes to the Indian prime minister.
The other channels surveyed were DD News, Zee News, Sahara Samay, Star News and Aaj Tak.
Overall, the Doordarshan news channels devoted 94 minutes to Manmohan Singh against 35 minutes to Musharraf.
On an average, Musharraf got 10 minutes of prime time coverage a day per channel against hardly three minutes for Manmohan Singh.
"No Indian prime minister would have ever got such a coverage in the Pakistani news media as Musharraf often gets in India," a CMS release said Tuesday.
On Sep 25, the day Musharraf released "In The Line of Fire: A Memoir", the six channels devoted 227 minutes to him, and 102 minutes in the four days preceding this.
This included Musharraf's meeting with Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Summit in Havana and the Pakistani leader's meeting with US President George W. Bush in New York, the CMS survey said.
Manmohan Singh also lost out on his birthday - Sep 26 - to veteran actor Dev Anand, who was born the same day.
Dev Anand got 34 minutes in the prime-time bulletins of the six Hindi channels against two minutes and 30 seconds of Manmohan Singh. While NDTV India devoted 24 minutes to the actor, it ignored the prime minister.
Doordarshan was the only saving grace for Manmohan Singh, giving him a minute and 50 seconds against 30 seconds to Dev Anand, even as Zee devoted 30 seconds to the prime minister against seven minutes to the actor.
"Interestingly, both Aaj Tak and Star News did not cover either of the two birthdays in their prime-time news bulletins," CMS noted.
Washington, Oct 3 (DPA) From the frontline of the fight against terrorism, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf offers new details on Al Qaeda plots and unflattering views of his US partners.
In his autobiography, published last week in New York in a remarkable blaze of publicity, Musharraf claims suspected Sep 11 mastermind Khaled Sheikh Mohammed killed or was involved in the January 2002 murder of US reporter Daniel Pearl in Pakistan.
For most of last week, Musharraf was a near constant presence on major US television stations and even appeared on a late-night comedy talk show to promote "In the Line of Fire: A Memoir".
The general writes that Mohammed, captured in Peshawar, Pakistan, a month after Pearl's killing, also told interrogators he suggested that Al Qaeda bomb the London underground - which happened on July 7, 2005.
And Musharraf alleges Al Qaeda planned to hijack jetliners in five Central European countries and Malta in a plot uncovered in 2003 to crash jetliners into London's Heathrow airport, Europe's busiest.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Al Qaeda's former number three and now in US custody, has never officially been linked to Pearl's killing.
The Wall Street Journal reporter was researching a story on Al Qaeda when he was kidnapped in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, lured by Islamic militants who promised him an interview with one of their leaders.
Pearl's abductors videotaped his beheading and dismembered his body. Four militants were convicted of the killing, but Musharraf's claim could be used against Mohammed if the US puts him on trial as President George W. Bush says he wants to.
"The man who may have actually killed Pearl or at least participated in his butchery, we eventually discovered, was none other than KSM, Al Qaeda's number three," Musharraf wrote. "When we later arrested and interrogated him, he admitted his participation."
Mohammed also told interrogators that he suggested to Abu Talha, an Al Qaeda operative, "that the London underground should be targets after the Heathrow operation," Musharraf says.
Al Qaeda never pulled off the Heathrow attack, for which Musharraf says they planned to use airports and national airlines in Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Poland, Romania and Malta "because security at these airports and in their aircraft was lax".
Already Croatian Airlines has said that the airline stepped up security after being warned by authorities, though it was unclear when.
Musharraf made waves with his claim that the US threatened after the Sep 11 attacks to bomb Pakistan "back to the Stone Age" if it now failed to side with Washington.
Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, he assumes, is "moving back and forth across the Pakistan-Afghanistan border somewhere".
New York, Oct 3 (ZEENEWS.COM) The 15 million Muslims residing in Europe on Sunday do not pose a threat to European values or politics given the extent of their myriad divisions and internal fragmentation, a new study has said.
This conclusion contradicts analysts and policymakers who after 9/11 fear the impact of Muslims on European politics and policy based on the assumption that a Muslim bloc will soon emerge to dominate the foreign and domestic policies of European states if nothing is done to prevent it.
The findings of the study, coauthored by political scientists -- Carolyn M. Warner and Manfred W. Wenner -- at Arizona state university and entitled "religion and the political organization of Muslims in Europe," appeared in 'perspectives on politics,' a journal of the American Political Science Association (APSA).
The authors explore the diversity that characterizes Muslims in Europe as well as the documented instances of their inability "despite plentiful incentives, opportunities, and pressure to do so" to form coherent political fronts in countries like France and Germany that host large Muslim populations.
"Western fears and criticisms are partly based on serious ignorance of the characteristics of Islam and of the people in Europe who adhere to it," the authors said, pointing out that "Islam is a highly decentralized religion 'structurally biased against facilitating large scale collective action."
In addition, they note Muslim immigrants remain divided by ethnic differences. The upshot is that "religion has failed to be the unifying focal point of Muslims in western Europe," the study said.
The authors discuss several key divisions among Muslims that are "clearly reflected" in the politics of European Muslims.
First, they say, Islam remains split regarding the division of authority between religion and politics, with some favouring it and others opposing.
Second, there exists virtually no organized structure in the majority Sunni religious hierarchy which is dominant among Muslims in Europe. This, they add, makes mobilization a complex issue as there is no established or recognized hierarchy which can encourage unified action. Moreover, the study said, there are four different schools of law in Sunni Islam that co-exist and overlap.
Third, the different national and ethnic backgrounds of Muslims in Europe also shape their view of Islam and capacity to mobilize politically.
"Islam manifests itself differently across and within cultures and societies," state the authors, underscoring the importance of considering "the inter-relationship of the various 'brands' of Islam with the country of origin and ethnicity of its members." Thus, Kurds in Germany respond differently to calls for mobilization than do Turks or Iranians in the same country.
Finally, the unique characteristics of migration patterns by Muslims to particular European countries over time, and the type of political and state structures they encountered, also account for variations in the capacity of Muslims to organize.
Guwahati, Oct 3 (IANS) Myanmar is planning a major military operation to evict Indian separatists from its soil within a week, fuelling fears of heavy fighting in the north of that country, a rebel leader said Tuesday.
Kughalo Mulatonu, a senior guerrilla leader of the S.S. Khaplang faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K), which is fighting for a tribal homeland in India's northeastern state of Nagaland, said hundreds of Myanmarese soldiers were moving into areas dominated by the rebels. He alleged that India was assisting Myanmar by supplying it with military equipment and ammunition.
Mulatonu said the NSCN-K cadres were alerted and were ready to repulse the military offensive by Myanmar.
"The Myanmarese army is seen setting up bunkers and moving military hardware close to our bases and we expect an assault by them within a week or so," Mulatonu told IANS by telephone from an area bordering Myanmar.
The rebel leader said a brigade (about 3,500 personnel) of troops were being moved to the military-run Myanmar's northern Sagaing Division where the NSCN has at least 50 camps with some 7,000 guerrilla fighters entrenched in fortified bunkers.
"We have spotted 98 trucks, loaded with weapons and ammunition being sent by the Indian government, crossing over to Myanmar through the border town of Moreh in Manipur to aid the junta to crush our bases," the rebel leader alleged.
There were no immediate comments available to confirm the rebel claims of India sending weapons to the Myanmar junta to fight the rebels.
"We are ready to give the Myanmarese military a real taste of our fighting skills," he said.
There has been no immediate confirmation of any military offensive by Myanmar.
At least four other militant groups from India's northeast, where numerous tribal and ethnic groups are fighting for greater autonomy or independence, have training camps in northern Myanmar's thick jungles - all of them sheltered there under the patronage of the NSCN.
In March, Myanmar had launched an assault on NSCN-K bases in the area.
"During the last operations we lost about 20 cadres and our fighters killed at least 30 Myanmarese soldiers in heavy pitched battles. They managed to demolish five of our mobile bases," Mulatonu said.
The NSCN's Khaplang faction has been observing a ceasefire with New Delhi since 2001 although peace talks are yet to begin.
India and Myanmar share a 1,640-km-long unfenced border, allowing militants from the northeast to use the adjoining country as a springboard to carry out hit-and-run guerrilla strikes on federal soldiers.
The rebels say they are seeking to protect their ethnic identities and allege the federal government has exploited the resources in this mineral, tea, timber, and oil-rich region.
More than 50,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in the northeast since India's independence in 1947.
New Delhi, Oct 3 (IANS) India's IT software and services body has urged Britain's Channel 4 and Star News (India) to cooperate with authorities here and provide basis for allegations of data security lapses in BPO centres.
"We are concerned about the verifiability of such stories, especially sting operations where monetary inducements were provided. These operations sometimes go beyond uncovering wrongdoing and actually induce criminal activity that is then recorded and aired," said Kiran Karnik, president of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) in a statement Monday.
"In this particular case, one of the alleged criminals has stated the data he offered for sale was fake. This, and the lack of prompt cooperation by the producer with enforcement agencies, makes difficult the task of bringing to book the criminals involved," said Karnik.
On Thursday, Channel 4 is scheduled to broadcast a programme showcasing security lapses in Indian call centres.
The programme is based on a year-long effort to locate security lapses in India's call centre industry.
In a letter to Dispatches (Channel 4), Nasscom has sought immediate cooperation and "requested details of the allegations which Dispatches intends to make together with the evidence/support documentation that they have".
Dispatches have refused to provide that information.
Stressing the need for Star News and Channel 4's Dispatches to "to cooperate immediately, fully and wholeheartedly" with the Indian authorities, Nasscom has stated that this is very important "in the light of allegations that the programmes have made about finding corrupt staff associated with Indian call centres".
"Whilst there are a lot of unanswered questions, we take any allegation of a breach in our security extremely seriously. It is vital that Dispatches cooperates immediately so the perpetrators of any breach can be brought to justice and that lessons can be learnt," said Nasscom president.
"Nasscom will reach out to the Indian police authorities to investigate the claims made in the programme. The media can help by ensuring that there is no further delay in bringing evidence of their claims to the Indian Police," said Karnik.
"We urge Star News to similarly cooperate and ensure that all information is provided to the police."
Karnik has underlined that "security is a number one priority. India has established an excellent international reputation and under no circumstances will we allow this to be compromised".
Kabul, Oct 3 (DPA) The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces are set to take over the security command of Afghanistan on Thursday, officials said.
The takeover brings an estimated 12,000 US troops, currently on an independent US counter-terror operation in eastern Afghanistan, under NATO command.
The eastward expansion will take NATO into even more volatile and dangerous territory.
NATO is already commanding more forces in north, south and central Afghanistan as well as capital Kabul with more than 20,000 troops.
NATO currently has 20,000 soldiers in Afghanistan as part of its three-year-old International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The operation includes forces from all 26 NATO nations as well as 11 partner countries.
By K.S. Jayaraman,
Bangalore, Oct 3 (IANS) A five-member team of India-born medical researchers in the United States has discovered what may become a potent new weapon in the fight against colon cancer.
The scientists from the University of Texas succeeded in stopping colon cancer growth in mice by halting the activity of a single enzyme called aldose reductase.
Blocking this enzyme shuts down the toxic network of biochemical signals that promotes inflammation and colon cancer cell growth, the scientists reported in the latest issue of journal Cancer Research.
They showed that blocking the production of aldose reductase halts the growth of human colon cancer cells implanted in laboratory mice.
"By inhibiting aldose reductase we were able to completely stop the further growth of colorectal cancer tumour cells," they said. Colon cancer is the second leading cancer killer in the US.
The team included senior author Satish Srivastava and his colleagues - Ravinder Tammali, Kota V. Ramana, Sharad S. Singhal and Sanjay Awasthi.
In their experiments on mice, the researchers implanted human colon cancer cells beneath the skin of "nude mice" - a hairless and immune-deficient variety commonly used in medical research.
Tumour progression stopped completely in the mice treated with genetic material known as small interfering RNA (or "siRNA") that was engineered to prevent cells from making the aldose reductase enzyme.
The treated mice seemed unharmed by the procedure. In contrast, the untreated control animals experienced uncontrolled tumour growth, they reported.
The researchers, however, point out that the gap between a brand new procedure that works in nude mice and one that works in humans is considerable.
New York, Oct 3 (IANS) Obese people may become addicted to food in a similar way that a drug edict is hooked onto drugs, says a new study that examined the brain scan of a few obese people.
Gene-Jack Wang and colleagues at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York studied seven obese people who were fitted with electrical devices designed to fool them into feeling full by making their stomachs stretch, reported the online edition of New Scientist.
The implanted devices, known as "gastric stimulators", provide low-level electrical stimulation to the vagus nerve, which runs from the stomach to the brain.
When the device is switched on, the vagus nerve stimulation causes the stomach to expand and produce peptides that sends a message of "fullness" to the brain.
"We know that if we eat, our stomach sends a signal to the brain via the vagus nerve. The ingredients of food touch the wall of the stomach and the signal goes through to the brain to say 'eat more' or 'eat less'," explained Wang.
"But we wanted to know which area of the brain the signal goes to," he said.
So the participants were given radioactive sugar so that they could use a scanner to see which parts of the brain were active, by tracing where the sugar was metabolised in the brain.
The seahorse-shaped parts of the brain called hippocampus were activated in the people the same way it gets activated in drug edicts when they crave for cocaine, the researchers said.
"It (The hippocampus) is the area related to memory and the reward system. The areas lighting up were areas activated in drug addicts. It's very similar to what triggers the craving for cocaine," said Wang. So despite receiving the "full" signal, they still have the craving for more.
The findings help explain why it is so difficult to retreat from obesity. "We now know the decision to eat involves emotions and the cognitive system too. This study shows how the brain tries to manipulate the body and not the other way around," Wang noted.
It is difficult for an obese person to diet because they can't suppress the craving to get their next "fix" even when physiologically, they're getting a "full" signal from the stomach, the researcher added.
Such people may continue to feel hungry, even when they have eaten an amount that would satisfy the hunger of a healthy person.
Punjab Human Rights Committee's Report
Released on: 30.9.06
Punjab Human Rights Committee's Report on Cold Blooded Murder of a Muslim Youth on 20-21st night.
Even after the end of terrorism in Punjab, functioning of some senior officers of Punjab police still remains the same without any accountability and responsibility.
On the information of murder of a youth in Giana village about 40km from Bhatinda on the night between 20-21.9.06 by the Special Task Force police men (STF), The Punjab Human Rights Committee (PHRC) formed a three member panel to investigate this cold blooded murder.
The panel comprised of Punjab Human Rights Committee General Secretary Ved Parkash Gupta, Mr. Balwinder. S. Bhullar social worker and Mr. Sukhjit Singh (Neena).
The panel visited villages Giana, Kanakwal and townships Rama Mandi and Talwandi Saboo in Bhatinda district and interviewed and interacted with common people and the police officers in this connection. The panel heard the eye witness account of Jagsir Singh one of the occupants of the truck who was fortunate enough to escape death at the hands of STF men. The panel also met the first man who saw the blood covered body of the youth lying in a truck and had reported to the police at Rama Mandi. He told the panel that the villagers heard indiscriminate firing which started between Kanakwal and Giana.
PHRC panel's findings are as under:
According to the findings of the PHRC panel four persons including the driver of the truck were coming from Bhagu village in Haryana. They were bringing a bull in the truck. At Kanakwal village the personal of the Special Task Force (STF) signaled them to stop. According to the facts collected by the panel, this STF is nothing but a group of about one dozen loyal and trusted policemen formed by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ferozepur range. This STF is personally controlled and run by the IGP. The STF is not answerable to any one but the IGP only. This force has been working in all the six districts of Ferozepur range independently without any connection, cooperation or coordination with the Senior Superintends of Police (SSPs) of these districts. The working of this STF is very dubious. A few instances when this force directly interfered in the working of the district police have come to the notice of the panel.
The driver of the truck panicked and did not stop and tried to flee as they had stolen a bull from somewhere in Haryana. The STF men chased them in their own vehicle toward village Giana. The STF started unprovoked indiscriminate firing on the truck. This indiscriminate firing was heard by the villagers and the fact substantiated by a panchayat member Raj Singh. The truck driver did not stop even then. The STF police tried to overtake the truck but their vehicle grazed with the truck, which infuriated the policemen. Then they fired at the tyre of the truck and punctured it. Even after the puncture of the tyre the truck covered some distance from village Giana. Ultimately the truck got stuck in the Kutcha road and stopped. The STF men pounced upon the truck one of the constables gave a lathi blow on the glass panel of the driverÂ’s seat and shattered it. Then they pulled out the driver and tied his hands behind his back. They gave him a sound beating.
When the STF men inspected the truck they found the blood covered dead body of one of the four occupants of the truck. They panicked and tried to put the blame of the murder of the youth upon them in vain. After some deliberations the STF men released the tied driver and left the place in their vehicle leaving the truck with the dead body of the youth there.
A panchayat member of village Giana S. Raj Singh dared to find out the cause of so much firing in the early hours that night. In the morning he saw the truck and found the blood covered body of the youth. He immediately informed the Rama Mandi police as well as DSP Talwandi Saboo about the incident. The Rama Police took the truck as well as the dead body of the youth in its custody.
Jagsir Singh one of the four occupants of the truck who was released by the STF men informed the relatives of Namim Khan at Muzaffarpur in Utter Pradesh on phone. Namim Khan was a Muslim youth in his twenties who was shot dead by STF firing. About one dozen near and dear ones of the youth Namim Khan reached Bhatinda on 22nd evening along with Jagsir Singh who escaped death at the hands of STF men. Jagsir Singh narrated the whole story to the press men as well as to the PHRC panel in detail. He also told that the STF men have snatched his mobile set no. 9814876110 also.
The panel also met the SHO Rama police station, also inspected the bullet ridden body of the truck number GLIG 4100 there. The right side of the rear of the truck was still covered with blood. The blood of the victim trickled down covering even the number plate of the truck. The panel also talked to Mr. Gurmit Singh DSP Talwandi Saboo in whose area the village Giana falls.
The police got the postmortem of the dead body and hurriedly cremated it without taking the trouble of identifying the dead person.
The panel interviewed SHO Rama Mandi and DSP Talwandi Saboo, the panel found both these officers hesitant to tell the whole truth behind the firing and the resultant death of a youth on the night of 20-21.9.06. Some police constables on condition of anonymity informed the panel that firing and the murder of the youth is the work of STF. The panel wanted to know some more in detail about the STF from here and there. Some other persons connected with the police department were also interviewed. The facts collected from all these persons about STF working by the team have already been mentioned.
The local police of Rama Mandi and Talwandi Saboo was not informed in advance by the STF about their movements in the area and setting up check post there. The panel noted that the STF men deliberately did not inform the local police there about the firing and the death of a youth in the early hours of 20-21 September 06. They must have thought that the case would be hushed up as nobody knew any thing at that time.
Mr. Varinder Kumar SSP Bhatinda ordered immediate probe into the incident. From the quick result of the investigation ending in the arrest of one Surjit Singh ASI Ferozepur and Lakhvir Singh head constable Bhatinda, it appears that Bhatinda police must be knowing about the activities of the so called STF men in the area. Surjit Singh ASI is the leader of STF and Lakhvir Singh as its trusted member. Both have been arrested under section 302 IPC.
It is to be noted here that Bhatinda is a developing area and is a good place for minting money. The IGP and DIG both have shifted their offices from their head quarters at Ferozepur and Faridkot respectively to Bhatinda city.
Panel has many questions to be asked and probed. Was working of STF in the knowledge of district authorities? Why other STF men not identified and arrested? What was the hurry to cremate the body of the youth without making efforts to find out his identity?
The Punjab Human Rights Committee after thorough investigation, interaction with villagers, eye witness account of Jagsir Singh and circumstantial evidences has concluded that STF men were responsible of murder of youth Namim Khan. PHRC panel has demanded a thorough investigation into the formation, control and activities of this STF and the arrest of other members who were present at the time of firing resulting in death of a youth near Giana.
The PHRC panel has apprehensions that the powerful and mighty officers may be successful in hushing up the case or pressurize the victims for a compromise and retract their statements given the press and the Panel.
Copies of this report are being sent to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Chief Justice Supreme Court of India, Chief Justice Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chairman National Human Rights Commission, CBI, CVC, Chairman Punjab State Human Rights Commission, Chief Minister of Punjab and Director General Police Punjab for thorough investigation to punish the guilty.
Report released by:
Ved Parkash Gupta.
Punjab Human Rights Committee,
5042, Afim Wali Gali, Bhatinda. Punjab.
Ph. 0164-2253903.
E-Mail - vitull@sancharnet.in
Members of the panel:
Mr. Ved Parkash Gupta,
General Secretary, Punjab Human Rights Committee.
.
Mr. Balwinder Singh Bhullar,
Social Worker.
Mr. Sukhjit Singh (Neena),
Farmer.
Bhubaneswar, Oct 3 (IANS) Orissa has sent blood samples of at least 24 people, suspected to be suffering from chikungunya, a viral fever caused by mosquitoes, to the National Institute of Virology in Pune.
"We have collected blood samples from 10 people in the coastal district of Cuttack in the last fortnight. We also collected blood samples from four people in Ganjam and 10 from Gajapati in the past two months," M.N. Debata, the state's joint director of health told IANS Tuesday.
We have not yet received any report, he said.
"Although we suspect them to be chikungunya, no dengue case has been reported from any part of the state so far," he said.
The state had two confirmed chikungunya case in February, this year.
Islamabad, Oct 3 (Xinhua) Pakistan and the US have concluded the much-publicised deal of F-16 fighter planes, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) said Monday.
"The ongoing negotiations regarding F-16s have culminated in the signing of letter of acceptance between the governments of Pakistan and US of America on Sep 30, 2006 at Rawalpindi," a PAF statement said.
"The package includes the supply of 18 new F-16s, upgraded used F-16s, upgradation of the present fleet of PAF F-16s, air-to-air and air-to-ground weaponry and other support infrastructure," the statement said.
"Subsequent to the signing of letter of acceptance, the supply of aircraft and weapons to Pakistan will take place in due course of time," it said.
Reports said the deal is part of a $5 billion arms package for Pakistan, which includes F-16 fighter jets and an assortment of air and ground weaponry.
The Bush administration has received congressional approval for selling 18 new F-16 jets to Pakistan.
Datia, Oct 3 (NDTV.COM) Bodies of 35 pilgrims, who were washed away by strong currents in Sindh river at Ratangarh, have been fished out.
The state government has announced a compensation of Rs one lakh each to the kin of the deceased.
Among the deceased were 20 women and a child. Nine persons have been identified till now.
While relatives of missing pilgrims anxiously waited on the river banks, senior officials closely monitored the entire operation in the remote area.
Strict action
The pilgrims were crossing the river to attend religious ritual on the ninth day of Durga festival at Mandula Devi temple when water was allegedly released from Manikheda dam in adjoining Shivpuri district, leading to the mishap.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has asked state Home Secretary to conduct a probe into circumstances that led to the incident and promised strict action against the guilty.
Meanwhile, the state Congress termed the steps inadequate and demanded Rs 10 lakh compensation to kin of the deceased and a judicial probe into the mishap, alleging sudden release of water from the dam without prior intimation.
Rio de Janeiro, Oct 3 (NDTV.COM) A single-engine plane crashed in northeast Brazil after hitting a vulture, killing all three people aboard, the plane's owner said.
The plane crashed just before landing at the airport in Pinheiros, 3,000 KM northeast of Rio de Janeiro, owner Litoranea Taxi Aereo said.
The accident comes just three days after the largest air disaster in Brazilian history, in which a Boeing 737-800 from Brazil's Gol airline crashed on Friday in the Amazon rain forest killing all 155 people aboard.
Yesterday's plane left the Maranhao state capital of Sao Luis, 80 KM from Pinheiros, and had been transporting money to local banks.
It crashed in a forest about 100 metres from the landing strip, according to the National Civil Aviation Agency's web site.
"Because the airport in Pinheiros is near a garbage dump, it is pretty common to have vultures swarming around the planes," said Edson Santos, an administrator at Litoranea.
"But we have never had a crash like this before." (AP)
London, Oct 3 (IRNA) Peace campaigners have held a demonstration outside the largest US Air Force base in Britain demanding removal of over 100 American weapons stationed at the base in eastern England.
"There are B61 bombs stored at the base which are ten times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb," vice-president of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), Bruce Kent, was quoted as saying.
"Their existence is an obstacle to nuclear disarmament which is the issue in front of us," he said.
The protest at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk on Sunday is part of the Europe-wide action of peace campaigners against the storage of NATO nuclear weapons held in the continent.
CND Chairperson Kate Hudson said that NATO was a "cold war relic which should have been disbanded when the Warsaw Pact was dissolved" in 1991.
"It is a nuclear-armed organization with a first-strike policy which is a dangerous provocation in today's world. US nuclear weapons, under the guise of NATO, have no place in Britain," Hudson said in a statement.
The rally comes after demonstrations were held last month at a US sister base in nearby Mildenhall to protest against Britain being used as a transit for American flights carrying weapons for the Israeli regime.
Peace campaigners said that Britain's top air force base was used for controversial US arms shipments to fuel Israel's continuing bombardments of Lebanon and Gaza.
Jeddah, Oct 3 (NDTV.COM) US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday where she met Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal and King Abdullah in the western city of Jeddah.
The stop in Saudi Arabia is the first leg of Rice's tour of the Middle East, with stops in Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian territories lined up for the days ahead.
Eight US-allied Arab countries are banding together to meet Rice in Cairo on Tuesday, in hopes of reviving the deadlocked Arab-Israeli peace process and making headway on other regional issues.
During the meeting, the ministers of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, Egypt and Jordan are expected coordinate efforts to buttress the stature of the moderate Palestinian leader and stem Iran's growing influence.
The trip comes as Arab countries have in recent weeks halted dealings with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
They want it to join a unity government that supports a 2002 Arab League plan that would offer peace to Israel in exchange for land and they've even started funnelling aid through Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, according to Arab diplomats.
The goal of the secretary of state's tour is to push ahead the US democratisation agenda and discuss threats to stability in the region such as Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah, Rice's spokesman has said.
But the Arab ministers' priority according to officials and media reports in the region - is relaunching peace talks.
Kannur, Oct 3 (ZEENEWS.COM) Adiraja Sainaba Ayisha Bi assumed charge as `sultana` of the Arakkal clan, the only Muslim royal family in South India, at a solemn function here on Sunday.
Documents relating to the palace and the erstwhile dynasty were handed over to Ayisha Bi at the durbar hall of the renovated Arakkal Palace facing the Arabian Sea.
The dynasty became prominent for fostering healthy martime relations with Lakshadweep and foreign rulers and played a pivotal role in the history of the region for centuries.
Eighty-year old Ayisha Bi, the senior most member of the royal family assumed charge of the clan after the demise of Sultana Adiraja Ayisha Muthubi at the age of 84 last Wednesday.
The function was attended, among others, by local MP A P Abdulla Kutty, the district collector and chairperson of District Tourism Promotion Council, Ishita Roy and representatives of Chirakkal royal family, with whose lady member the Arakkal family had entered into wedlock and became seat of convergence of Hindu-Muslim religious customs and conventions.
Kabul, Oct 3 (DPA) Two suicide bombings in the Afghan capital Monday wounded three foreign soldiers and several civilians.
Three soldiers of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and three local Afghan civilians were injured when a suicide bomber detonated explosives attached to his body close to a convoy of troops about 800 metres from the US embassy here.
Another suicide bomber blew himself up and injured three people at Kabul's Mekroyan Square, which has suffered a series of suicide bombings in recent weeks, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) agency reported.
The bombings followed a grenade attack on a mosque in eastern Afghanistan's Ningarhar province Sunday night in which eight worshippers were hurt.
The attack on a congregation offering special Ramadan prayers, took place in Akhund village, some 40 km east of the provincial capital Jalalabad, said Habibullah, chief officer of Rodaat district.
Washington, Oct 3 (DPA) Six people were dead at a small, one-room school run by one of America's most peaceful communities, the Amish of Pennsylvania, media reports said.
The shooting occurred before 11 a.m. in the farming town of Nickle Mines, Lancaster County, in a rural schoolhouse that housed 27 children of Grade 1 to 8.
KYW radio of Philadelphia quoted the Lancaster County coroner Gary Kirchner as saying there were "six confirmed dead" and a number of helicopters arriving at Lancaster General Hospital with shooting victims.
State police spokesman Corporal Ralph Striebig earlier said he did not know the exact number of dead but confirmed that the shooter had been killed, KYW radio reported.
Victims of the shooting at the Wolf Rock school were taken to two area hospitals, KYW reported.
The violence was the third US school shooting in less than a week that has killed a student and the killer in a Colorado high school and a teacher in a Wisconsin school. In Las Vegas on Monday, two schools were shut down after reports that a student was seen carrying a gun.
The Amish religious sect spurns electricity and motorised vehicles in their farming communities. Horse-drawn ploughs cultivate the fields, and during the days of the military draft, young Amish boys were exempted from service as conscientious objectors to violence.
Most Amish, whose mother tongue is a dialect of German called Pennsylvania Dutch, have neither phones nor televisions in their homes.
Televised images showed clusters of Amish leaning together and weeping outside on a brisk fall morning - the women in long black dresses with bright coloured aprons and white bonnets, the men in straw hats and suspenders.
Rescue workers were combing the fields, followed by a herd of white horses, possibly looking for children who had fled, television footage showed.
By Minu Jain,
Pretoria, Oct 3 (IANS) India can expect support from South Africa when its civil nuclear agreement with the United States comes up before the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), South African President Thabo Mbeki indicated in no uncertain terms to visiting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here Monday.
The two leaders, who met in the South African legislative capital for bilateral talks that followed two days of interaction in Durban in connection with the 100th anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi's satyagraha, discussed the possibility of civilian nuclear cooperation during their 75-minute talks.
While the restricted meeting between the two leaders and select officials went on for 50 minutes, several South African ministers, including the trade and industry minister, joined later for the delegation level talks.
They signed a joint declaration reaffirming the strategic partnership between South Africa and India. An agreement on education was signed by Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma and South African Education Minister Naledi Pandor. The two countries were initially supposed to sign three agreements.
"After it (the deal) is passed by the US Congress, it will go before the Nuclear Suppliers Group of which South Africa is a member. I hope that when that happens, South Africa will take a sympathetic view of India's concerns," Manmohan Singh told reporters at a joint press conference with Mbeki.
Mbeki responded by saying: "We have discussed the matter. We are all awaiting the outcome of the processes at the US Congress."
"South Africa has no problem in that. When the matter is to be decided, South Africa will surely support it," he added, saying that the matter had been discussed by the NSG in its meeting in Brazil.
The issue of UN reforms came up as well in the talks.
"During our discussions, we decided to strengthen our cooperation in the reform of the UN system and, in particular, reform and expansion of the UN Security Council, without which the overall reform of the United Nations will remain incomplete," Manmohan Singh said in his opening remarks.
Asked whether India would support South Africa as a permanent member of the Security Council, he said: "South Africa is eminently entitled to that place by virtue of its standing."
Mbeki added in a humorous aside later to a question on satyagraha - the passive resistance movement that Mahatma Gandhi began here a century ago - that it was not necessary for India and South Africa to mobilize a campaign of civil disobedience. "We'll use other means (for reforms in the Security Council)."
The South African president also laid stress on the need for sharing information on terrorism during the brief media interaction.
Referring to the 7/11 Mumbai blasts and the subsequent investigations, Mbeki said "the kind of work in Mumbai becomes important for our own law enforcement agencies".
"We would want to draw strongly on India's experience," he added, and laid forward the supposition that if the terrorist had flown in from South Africa and information was being shared then such acts could possibly be prevented.
"Sharing must be done as extensively as possible."
"When any act of terror occurs, surely the war against terrorism has not been won," Mbeki declared.
In his opening remarks, the president expressed satisfaction at the trade and investment relations but qualified that by saying: "It is clear that more can be done in that area."
Bilateral trade between the countries is nearly $4 billion with South Africa being India's largest trading partner in the African continent.
The India-South Africa CEOs' Forum holds its third meeting here to "provide further momentum to our economic cooperation in the jointly identified priority sectors", Manmohan Singh said.
London, Oct 3 (IANS) Prominent industrialist Lord Swraj Paul will take over as the chancellor of the University of Westminster in October, official sources here said.
Lord Paul of Marylebone will assume office as the first chancellor of the university in a ceremony at London's Banqueting House.
The name of Indian-born businessman Lord Paul, 75, was announced as the university's first Chancellor in March.
He is chairman of Caparo Group, involved in global steel, engineering and property development business
The University Vice-Chancellor Geoffrey Copland said: "The university is honoured that Lord Paul agreed to be our first chancellor. He has been a strong supporter over the years and his commitment to diversity and to international education and partnerships is well-known."
Bangkok, Oct 3 (DPA) Thailand's ousted prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, resigned Tuesday as leader of the party he founded, Thai Rak Thai, saying the move was necessary in light of the new political climate brought on by the country's Sep 19 coup.
In a hand-written note faxed to the party's Bangkok headquarters from London Tuesday, the former prime minister thanked his party's faithful and apologised to them for resigning.
"Because of the political change brought on by the coup, all the executives of the party should show sacrifice by resigning. This will give a chance for the selection of a new executive board," Thaksin wrote.
In his letter, Thaksin declared his loyalty to the Thai king and constitution and blamed his enemies in the People's Alliance for Democracy for dividing the country.
"I have based my work on giving benefit of the Thai people and the Thai nation," he said, adding that he had worked hard to maintain peace in the country.
Thai Rak Thai, which means "Thais Love Thais", was founded by Thaksin in 1998 and came to dominate Thailand's politics. It won landslide victories in the 2000 and 2005 general elections by record margins.
But since last month's coup many party leaders had already resigned and its alleged corruption has come under scrutiny by a counter-corruption commission appointed by the leaders of the military junta that overthrew the Thaksin government.
Thaksin signed his letter Lieutenant Colonel Thaksin Shinawatra, the rank he held in the Royal Thai Police before he went on to become a telecommunications tycoon and populist politician.
Thaksin was in the United States when the coup was hatched and flew shortly afterwards to London, where he maintains one of his residences.
United Nations, Oct 3 (IANS) India's nominee Shashi Tharoor bowed out of the race for UN secretary general after South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon won Monday's crucial straw poll with no opposition from any of the five veto-bearing powers.
Ban received 14 "encourage" and one "no-opinion" votes in the informal poll among 15 Security Council ambassadors on seven candidates vying for the job to replace Kofi Annan, who leaves office Dec 31.
For the fourth time in a row Shashi Tharoor, 50, currently UN undersecretary-general for public information, finished second with 10 votes in favour - same as in the first two ballots, but two more than in the last one.
Tharoor's candidature sank as there was one veto-holding member among the three voting against him. Two others had "no opinion". To be recommended to the General Assembly, a candidate must get at least nine positive votes and no veto in the Security Council.
With Ban's selection nearly assured, thanks to his practically unbeatable lead over his six competitors in the poll, Tharoor made it clear he was withdrawing from the race.
"I have written to Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon to express my warmest congratulations on the outcome of the poll," Tharoor said. "It is clear that he will be our next secretary-general.
Tharoor told reporters he would "strongly support" Ban because "the United Nations and the world has a stake in his success."
In third place was Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, the only woman and non-Asian in the race, with five positive votes, two less than in the last straw poll.
An official poll is expected to be held on Oct 9 after which the 192-member UN General Assembly must approve the council's recommendation.
The informal poll was the fourth held since July and the first to distinguish between permanent members and the other 10 nations, elected for two-year terms.
Council members marked ballots to "encourage, discourage or express no opinion" as in three previous informal polls. Each member could vote for more than one of the seven candidates.
The five permanent members with veto power - the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China -used blue-coloured ballots, while the 10 rotating members used white ones.
Khan Younis, Oct 3 (NDTV.COM) An Israeli airstrike early on Tuesday morning hit a building in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, wounding three people, Palestinian officials said.
The building housed a metal workshop that belonged to a man affiliated with Hamas, Palestinian officials said.
The Israeli army said the strike targeted a building used to make weapons for militants.
Izmir, Oct 3 (NDTV.COM) An explosion at a cafe in the Aegean port city of Izmir injured at least seven people on Monday, police said.
The explosion occurred at the Alsancak Cafe in the affluent district of Alsancak, police said. The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear, police said.
Kurdish, leftist and radical Islamic militants are active in Turkey, and have carried out bomb attacks in the past.
On Sunday a bomb exploded outside a hospital in the Mediterranean port city of Mersin, injuring three people.
Sunday's attack came on the first day of a new unilateral ceasefire declared by autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels on Saturday.
The group, the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, declared the ceasefire starting on Oct. 1, in "the hopes of starting a democratic process for the solution of the Kurdish problem."
The declaration followed a surge of rebel violence that has killed more than a dozen soldiers and policemen in recent weeks.
Militants believed to be linked to the rebels have also bombed tourist resorts, killing three and injuring more than a dozen tourists.
Militant leftist and Islamic groups are also active in Turkey.
Mumbai, Oct 3 (IANS) Dimitry Trusunov of Russia defeated Thomas Berdych of Czech Republic to lift the singles title in the inaugural Kingfisher Airlines Tennis Open Tournament here Monday.
In the final at the Cricket Club of India courts, Berdych won 6-3, 4-6, 7-6.
The doubles crown went to the India-Croat pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Mario Ancic who defeated the Indian pair of Rohan Bopanna and Mustafa Ghouse 6-4, 6-7, 10-8 in the finals.
Stockholm, Oct 3 (DPA) Andrew Z. Fire and Craig C. Mello of the US have won this year's Nobel Prize for Medicine in recognition of their discovery of gene silencing by double-stranded RNA, it was announced here Monday.
The Karolinska Institute cited their discovery of RNA interference in awarding them the 10-million-kronor ($1.37-million) prize.
The award winners have discovered "a fundamental mechanism for controlling the flow of genetic information", the institute said.
RNA interference features in plants, animals and humans and is of great importance for regulating gene expression. It also participates in defence against viral infections and keeps so-called "jumping genes" under control, it noted.
RNA interference is also used in basic science to study how genes function and may perhaps in future offer therapies for cardiovascular diseases and cancer, according to the institute.
The American scientists first published their findings in the scientific journal Nature in 1998, opening a new research field.
Professor Bertil Daneholt of the Karolinska Institute's Department of Cell and Molecular Biology told the Swedish radio that the discovery centred on a completely new mechanism to regulate gene activity.
"I was very happy," Fire told the Swedish radio, minutes after being notified by the Karolinska Institute. "At first one doesn't believe it, could be dreaming or a mistake, but guess it is not. Wonderful point to be in."
Fire added that he aims to continue with his research and teaching.
Fellow-laureate Mellow told Swedish radio that "it is still sinking in, I can hardly believe it" after being notified.
Both award winners, who equally share the prize money, said they hope to attend the awards ceremony in Stockholm on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.
Mellow, reached at his home in Boston, said he was "very surprised because I am fairly young and thought there were so many other discoverers worthy of a Nobel Prize".
Fire, born in 1959, earned his PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is now professor of pathology and genetics at Stanford University School of Medicine in California.
Mello, born in 1960, earned his doctorate at Harvard University, and is professor of molecular medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
The Nobel prize for medicine or physiology was the first of this year's awards to be announced. Prizes are also awarded for physics, chemistry, literature, economics and peace.
The physics prize was slated to be announced Tuesday.
Srinagar, Oct 3 (IANS) Police gunned down two top Hizbul Mujaheedin guerrillas in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district early Tuesday.
According to Farooq Ahmed, deputy inspector general of police (Kashmir Range), the police and paramilitary troops raided a house in Chadoora, 30 km from here, on specific information.
"The hiding guerrillas opened fire on the raiding party. The security forces returned the fire and in the ensuing gun battle two militants of the Hizbul Mujaheedin were killed. One police man was injured," Ahmed told IANS.
The two guerrillas were identified as Muhammad Ashraf Ganai, district commander of the outfit, and Naseer Ahmad Wani.
Arms and ammunition, including two AK-47 rifles, one pistol, eight magazines, one grenade thrower and a wireless set were recovered from the two slain men.
"Search in the area is continuing for other terrorists," Farooq said.
Manila, Oct 3 (DPA) The death toll in continuing bad weather in the Philippines, including a powerful typhoon that battered a large portion of the country last week, has reached 219, disaster relief officials said Tuesday.
Seventy-two people were still reported missing in landslides caused by typhoon Xangsane in the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon, an industrial area collectively called Calabarzon just outside Manila.
The Calabarzon area has so far posted the most number of killed at 147, including six people who died in flashfloods and landslides in Antipolo City and Teresa town in Rizal on Monday evening following continuous heavy rains.
Twenty-three people were also killed when a passenger mini-bus sank in a swollen river in the central province of Iloilo on Monday, police said. Seventeen others were reported missing in the accident.
While Xangsane has already left the Philippines, the weather bureau said the continuing bad weather was due to a new storm skirting the country's extreme northern region and the southwest monsoon.
Xangsane, the worst typhoon to hit metropolitan Manila in a decade, also killed 25 people in the eastern region of Bicol, nine in the capital, 11 in the central region of Visayas, and four in northern provinces.
The typhoon destroyed crops and infrastructure worth at least 1.33 billion pesos ($20.66 million), including 208,442 houses and thousands of school buildings. More than 96,000 people were staying in evacuation centres.
New Delhi, Oct 3 (IRNA) Visiting Chief Secretary of the UK Treasury Stephen Timms has expressed firm optimism on the proposed secretary general-level dialogue between the ruling Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and the opposition Awami League.
He expressed his optimism while talking to newsmen emerging from a courtesy call on Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia at her office Sunday afternoon, The New Nation reported from Dhaka.
Stephen Timms said he had "very good discussions" with Khaleda Zia which covered growing bilateral relations, development assistance and the forthcoming general elections in Bangladesh.
The British cabinet minister said his country believed the next polls in Bangladesh would be free and fair and would have the participation of all parties.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia sought British assistance in exploration of oil and gas and other mineral resources in Bangladesh.
She appreciated the commitment of the British government to provide Bangladesh with financial assistance for development of primary education.
Begum Khaleda Zia said the "school meal" program was her priority and that UK assistance in this program would help it improve further.
She also sought British assistance in training of civil servants and nurses.
The British minister, who praised Dhaka as a beautiful and big city, said the prime minister told him about her plan to construct more fly-overs, underpasses, overpasses and elevated expressways.
Stephen Timms appreciated Bangladesh's achievements in education, health, women empowerment, infrastructure development, poverty reduction and economic growth.
The prime minister's principal secretary, Dr Kamal Siddiqui, and British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Anwar Chowdhury were present during the meeting.
London, Oct 3 (IRNA) A British soldier has been killed during an attack at a UK base in Basra, southern Iraq, on Monday, bringing the total death toll of UK troops to 119 since the US-led invasion in 2003.
The Ministry of Defence said another soldier was also seriously injured in an "indirect fire attack" at the Shatt Al-Arab Hotel after mortars landed inside the base perimeter.
A British military spokesman in Basra said about 15 mortars were fired at the base, with three or four landing inside the perimeter.
The soldiers were taken to hospital, where one later died. The other was said to have suffered a broken arm.
The latest casualties come after the UK handed over responsibility for security last month in Dhi Qar, the second of four provinces on southern Iraq under UK control. Mutthana was transferred back to local control in July.
Last week, senior British military officers were reported to have been pressing the government to withdraw British troops from Iraq and concentrate on what they now regard as a more worthwhile and winnable battleground in Afghanistan.
According to press reports, pressure was also coming from military chiefs for an early and significant cut in the 7,500 British troops in Iraq that was motivated by the extreme pressure placed on soldiers and those responsible for training them.
Washington, Oct 3 (DPA) The United States cut Guatemala's debt in return for a pledge by the Central American country to invest millions in protecting its tropical forests.
The deal commits Guatemala to offer $24 million to non-governmental organisations and other groups over the next 15 years for environmental projects, the US Treasury Department said.
The US is contributing $15 million and two private groups, Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy, are pledging a total of $2 million to the project, a Treasury statement said.
The funds will help conserve Guatemala's high-altitude forests, rain forests and coastal mangrove swamps, home to hundreds of species of songbirds and waterfowl that migrate between the two countries.
The regions are also home to rare and endangered species such as the quetzal bird, jaguars and margays, a wild cat similar to ocelots.
The US has reached similar deals with seven Latin American and Caribbean countries as well as the Philippines. The deal with Guatemala is the largest in the US programme's history, the government said.
Jammu, Oct 3 (IANS) The cold desert region of Ladakh in northern Jammu and Kashmir is all set for a ecological transformation with the World Bank having committed Rs.2.6 billion ($55 million) for the development of remote Kargil and Leh districts in the region.
"The World Bank has prepared the Participatory Watershed Management Project and under this scheme Rs.2.6 million will be granted for the environmental development of the region," state Forest Minister Qazi Mohammad Afzal told IANS.
Special attention will be paid to the agriculture, forestry, and rural development sectors. "The idea is to improve the lot of the people in the region, which experiences harsh weather conditions. The World Bank mission can really transform or at least set into motion a process of transformation in the region," said Afzal.
The Ladakh region, which has borders with Pakistan-administered Kashmir and China, is known for its harsh weather conditions with temperatures dipping to minus 40 degrees Celsius. Drass, the second coldest place in the world after Siberia, is part of Kargil district of the region.
The extreme weather conditions are a bane for the people, because the vegetation is bare minimum.
The World Bank has instituted several schemes to improve the ecology of Jammu and Kashmir, with the participatory project in Ladakh being the latest.
Ladakh is also known for being home to the highest battleground - the Siachen glacier situated at a height of 18,000 feet above sea level.
Daniel Semell, team leader of the World Bank team, was in Leh last week to prepare for the project.
The forest minister added that the government would step up efforts to improve Ladakh's flora and fauna and arrest desertification for maintaining the ecological balance.
New York, Oct 3 (UN News) The world can expect a robust economic growth rate of 3.6 per cent this year but a deceleration to 3 per cent is projected for 2007, according to the latest United Nations assessment.
A number of downside risks could reduce that projection even further, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs José Antonio Ocampo told the General Assembly Second Committee on economic and financial matters today.
A decline in the housing market, for example, is a real threat in the United States and could have strong ripple effects. Since that country was suffering from large external deficits, a sharp fall in housing prices could trigger a disorderly adjustment of global imbalances, Mr. Ocampo said.
The impact of oil prices on global growth remains uncertain, with recent increases due to stronger-than-expected growth in world demand, a tight capacity for oil production and refining, natural disasters and geopolitical concerns, he added. Though worries about supply shocks were likely to dominate market movements, higher oil prices had not resulted in major recessionary effects, unlike those of the 1970s and 1980s.
But if supply disruptions were to happen, implications for the world economy would be greater and it is therefore crucial to increase investments to safeguard the world economy against such a disruption, Mr. Ocampo told the committee.
Heightened volatility in oil prices and other primary commodities is also a vivid reminder for commodity-exporting developing countries that their economic growth was vulnerable to the vicissitudes of commodity prices.
The longer widening global imbalances are allowed to develop, the higher the risk of a sudden and sharp disorderly adjustment, he noted. For instance, a US recession and devaluation of the dollar could in turn depress the world economy as a whole, with a particularly large impact on developing countries.
As for the outlook for developing countries, Mr. Ocampo said an increasing income gap between them and the developed world – a “dual divergence� – could be seen alongside a “growth divergence� among the developing countries.
He called the suspension of the UN World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Round of talks a major setback. The least developed countries are the most adversely affected by trends in global disparities, and as such, development partners, including other developing countries, should continue to increase their support through the contribution of official development assistance (ODA), debt reduction and the provision of market access.
The Doha Round has been in limbo for months, partly over subsidies from wealthy nations to their agricultural industries, tariffs and quotas, which all shut poorer agricultural countries out of the market.
Berlin, Oct 3 (IRNA) The world's biggest book fair will open Tuesday in Frankfurt, highlighting the blossoming literary scene of this year's guest country India.
More than 7,000 exhibitors from 111 countries will showcase around 400,000 books and multi-media products at the 58th Frankfurt Book Fair, scheduled to run from October 4-8.
Some 280,000 visitors are expected to attend the exhibit which has turned into an important networking base for authors and publishers.
Around 1,000 international writers have been invited to take part in 2,500 book presentations.
Guest nation India will be represented by 70 prominent authors, among them Vikram Seth, Amitav Ghosh, Amit Chaudhuri and Shashi Tharoor, and 200 publishing firms.
The book fair will also focus on the problems of illiteracy around the world as well as the rise of the Internet as a major challenge to the printed word.
04 October 2006
Islamabad, Oct 4 (IANS) President Pervez Musharraf is "behaving ostrich-like" by calling the 1999 Kargil operations "a landmark" when it was actually "the worst debacle in Pakistan's history," a superseded army colleague said.
"I am totally amazed at such ostrich-like behaviour when the whole world considers Kargil to be the worst debacle in Pakistan's history and where countless innocent young lives were lost for nothing. Absolutely nothing", Lt. Gen. (retd) Ali Kuli Khan Khattak said.
Musharraf's planning and handling of the operations was "unprofessional" and it was "totally futile" on his part to blame the political leadership of the day," he said.
Demanding a probe into the Kargil operations since Musharraf's book, "In the Line of Fire", has "raised more questions than answers," Khattak said: "It is also fairly obvious that the Kargil Operation was not conceived in its totality, with the result that apart from bringing ignominy to Pakistan it also caused unnecessary misery to a lot of innocent people."
Khattak issued a strong rejoinder Monday in The News International that has thrown open the newspaper's forum to carry other versions of the events and claims made by Musharraf, promising to do so "without fear or favour".
"Allegations can only be made against others when one's own work is above par and not when there are gaping holes in it," Khattak said, adding: "I regret to say that the conception and planning at the highest level had been poor; in fact so poor that the only word which can adequately describe it is unprofessional."
"We all know that the main duty of the high command is to ensure that with their meticulous planning they create conditions whereby their junior combatants can fight easy. This was certainly not done at Kargil," he said.
Khattak was a batch mate of Musharraf and one of the two the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif superseded to make Musharraf chief of army staff. He resigned in protest.
In his rejoinder, he has disputed Musharraf's claims, bringing out in the open the internal rivalry in the Pakistan Army.
He has disputed the president's claims of having been selected one of the five cadets to be sent to Sandhurst, Britain, for higher military training.
Khattak says that while he was selected, Musharraf was not one of the five as claimed in the book.
Accusing Musharraf of being "an obsessive mind", conjuring up "conspiracy theories", Khattak said that at no stage of their careers that ran simultaneously was Musharraf's performance and record better than his.
Musharraf has claimed that Khattak had advocated an army takeover; the latter has denied it. "But what is incongruous is the fact that a person who was such a strong supporter of democracy suddenly flipped when his own person was involved. Suddenly democracy became sham and we now have a messiah who will lead us to his version of promised true democracy in accordance with his own oft modified programme," Khattak said.
Mumbai, Oct 4 (IANS) A special court here Tuesday held Niyaz Ahmed Sheikh guilty of conspiracy in the 1993 Mumbai blast case, even as it acquitted Rukhsana Mohammad Shafi Zariwala of aiding and abetting terrorist acts.
The special Terrorists Disruptive Activities (Preventive) Acts (TADA) court said that the accused number 98, Niyaz, was found guilty of acquiring training and handling of arms and explosives in Pakistan.
The court Tuesday resumed giving verdicts in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case after a three-day break over the weekend and a festival holiday.
Special Judge Pramod Kode said: "Niyaz was responsible for conducting a survey of the Greater Mumbai building, a potential target for the blasts.
"He also attended meetings with the key accused in the blasts case, Tiger Memon," the judge added.
The court, however, acquitted Rukhsana Mohammad Shafi Zariwala.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in its charge sheet had alleged that she had helped co-accused Parvez Sheikh, who has been already found guilty by the court, in transporting arms from Jogeshwari in northwestern Mumbai to Musafir Khana in central mumbai.
Rukhsana is the second woman accused in the case to be acquitted after Rahin Memon, sister-in-law of Tiger Memon.
While Rukhsana's husband Mohammed Shafi is absconding, Parvez was earlier last week acquitted of the same charges as those against Rukhsana, though he was found guilty on other counts.
Discarding the prosecution's adduced evidence that Rukhsana had transported the arms in a taxi from Jogeshwari to Msafir Khana, the judge said: "The confessions of two co-accused to implicate the accused number 103, Rukhsana, were not recorded properly and the court was not accepting them.
"Besides the confessions of the co-accused, there was no independent evidence to corroborate charges against her," the judge added.
The serial blasts of March 12, 1993, targeting the heart of India's financial and entertainment capital, had killed 257 people and injured 713 others.
After completing the trial, which started in 1994, the court began delivering verdict in batches last month, convicting so far 21 of the 123 people accused in the blasts case.
It has so far acquitted six accused including two members of Memon's family.
Hyderabad, Oct 4 (IANS) More than 50 people were injured in clashes between two communities and caning by police since Tuesday night in Nizamabad district of Andhra Pradesh.
Fresh incidents of violence were reported Wednesday in Bodhan town and Nizamabad district headquarters during a general strike called by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to protest Tuesday's incidents.
Dozens were injured in clashes in Bodhan town when police fired several rounds in the air to disperse clashing groups.
Police have imposed prohibitory orders banning gathering of five or more people in communally sensitive Nizamabad, about 200 km from here. Police also arrested 10 BJP activists for trying to stop trains.
Violence broke out in Nizamabad during a rally taken out by BJP, which was demanding action against the rioters in Bodhan. The protesters set afire four shops even as police used force to disperse them.
Police have described the situation as tense but under control.
The trouble in Bodhan began last evening when a procession carrying idol of Hindu Goddess Durga Devi passed in front of a mosque, where Muslims had gathered for 'iftar' or breaking of fast.
The Durga procession was allegedly stoned when some participants sat in front of the mosque dancing to the drum beats disturbing the prayers in mosque. Heavy stone throwing followed between two groups and police fired several rounds in the air. Local Muslims alleged that police and miscreants entered the mosque and beat up those present inside.
The organisers of Durga procession claimed that police failed to take any action against those who stoned the procession from inside the mosque.
New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS) Leading private carrier Air Sahara will commence direct Delhi-Thiruvananthapuram and Delhi-Kochi flights from Thursday.
"Air Sahara will further expand its network by adding Thiruvananthapuram to its route network," the airlines said in a statement Wednesday.
The airlines will offer daily return flights from New Delhi to Thiruvananthapuram via Kochi and a direct Thiruvananthapuram-Delhi service, the statement said.
From Thursday, it will also become the only airline to operate a direct return service between Delhi and Kochi. Air Sahara will also continue with its Delhi-Hyderabad-Kochi return service as before, making it the only airline to offer two connections between Delhi and Kochi.
"We are delighted to add Thiruvananthapuram to our route network. The new flights will have very convenient timings and will reduce the travel time to Cochin and Thiruvananthapuram significantly," said Air Sahara president Alok Sharma.
From Thursday, Air Sahara will also increase flight frequencies among the metro cities. This will see seven daily return flights between Delhi and Mumbai, five daily return flights between Delhi and Kolkata and four daily return flights between Delhi and Bangalore.
New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS) The 58th edition of the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany, where India is the guest of honour, was inaugurated by Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh Tuesday.
Singh termed the fair as a "great celebration of plurality - of linguistic diversity of mankind and of creativity, knowledge and wisdom," an official statement said.
India is the only country to be named guest of honour twice in the fair's history.
More than 200 Indian publishers are participating in the specially created India Pavilion. A delegation of eminent personalities like writer Mahashweta Devi, actor Girish Karnad, poet-lyricist Javed Akhtar, and others are at Frankfurt to participate in the fair and also interact with the audience at various sessions.
Frankfurt Mayor Petra Roth, German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier and many other top officials were present at the inaugural function.
The five-day long fair is the largest congregation of publishing professionals from all over the world and provides an opportunity for the publishing industry to showcase the latest developments, share new concepts, exchange ideas and, of course, transact business.
The Indian contingent has planned a wide spectrum of activities revolving the central theme 'Today's India'. A number of events including a rare display of manuscripts, photograph exhibition, an exhibition of Amrita Shergil paintings, exhibition of over 43 Indian films of various genres including contemporary Hindi movies and a seminar on India are part of the planned activities.
Drama performances by Habib Tanvir's troupe, dance by Astad Deboo's team and live demonstrations of yoga and culinary delights are part of the scheduled as well.
With more than 7,000 exhibitors from 111 countries, the fair is estimated to attract 280,000 visitors.
South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, now the hot favourite to become the next United Nations Secretary General, conceals a driving determination behind his mild manner.
The career diplomat was set to succeed Kofi Annan after all five of the UN Security Council's permanent members gave him their backing yesterday in the latest straw poll to determine who the Council will recommend for the job.
"Minister Ban is a kind of iron-hand-in-the-velvet-glove person at work," said Ko Ki-Seok, a Foreign Ministry spokesman who also termed him a "people person" concerned about staff welfare.
Ban himself has acknowledged that he may be seen as too soft for the world's toughest diplomatic post.
"I may look soft from the outside but I have inner strength when it's really necessary. I've always been very decisive," he told a news agency.
"In Asian countries humility is regarded as a virtue. Soft-speaking should in no way be regarded as a lack of leadership or commitment."
The 62-year-old is resolute and energetic in getting things done, according to Foreign Ministry officials.
"He was born healthy," said Ko. "He never fails in his killing work schedule that divides each day into a schedule of five minutes at a time."
Ban says he wants to channel that determination into reforms to make the world body leaner and more efficient.
He said that the most urgent issue confronting the UN was "management reform, regaining the trust and confidence of member states and major stakeholders."
Ban, in office for 33 months, is one of South Korea's longer-serving foreign ministers -- surviving the sometimes turbulent diplomacy on the divided Korean peninsula.
Officials and acquaintances see him as a non-partisan professional who works diligently.
Former Foreign Minister Hong Soon-Young, who picked Ban as his deputy, described him as "a very capable and faithful man."
"Maybe I am biased in favour of him. But Ban is very well qualified to be a UN Secretary General. Once elected, he would be capable of performing the job brilliantly," Hong said.
"He is a man committed to the ideals of the United Nations and the values of the international community -- democracy and human rights."
Ban has always been proud of his 36-year career in the foreign service, which has included 10 years on UN-related missions.
He became a diplomat in 1970 after graduating from the prestigious Seoul National University and doing postgraduate studies at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.
Ban had a stint as first secretary at South Korea's UN mission from 1978 to 1980 and was director of the Foreign Ministry's UN division until 1983.
He served as South Korea's chief envoy to the UN for two years from 2001 and also led the cabinet of the president of the 56th UN General Assembly.
Ban is married to his high-school sweetheart, Yoo Soon-Taek, and they have one son and two daughters. The eldest daughter is working for UNICEF in Africa.
New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS) The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday criticised Pakistan for its refusal to hand over the July 11 Mumbai blasts accused to India, saying the move rendered all bilateral agreements pointless.
"By declaring its unwillingness to handover the Mumbai train blast suspects, Pakistan has wiped out the essence of all agreements between the two countries right from Shimla to Havana in one go," BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar told reporters Tuesday.
He was referring to the joint statement issued by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf during their meet on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Havana last month, paving the way to resume peace talks.
"This has also proved how our prime minister was wrong in assessing the real design and intent of Pakistan for continuation of bilateral talks," he added.
After investigating the seven blasts along Mumbai's commuter train network that killed about 200 people, the police last week claimed a number of Pakistanis were involved in the conspiracy that was hatched by Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI).
The BJP also condemned Tuesday Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad for reportedly seeking pardon for Mohammed Afzal who is to be hanged this month for the December 2001 terror attack on India's parliament.
"The nation stands shocked that the Congress chief minister makes such a request for the terrorist who was conspirator of a terror attack on parliament - a symbol of democracy and Indian sovereignty," Javadekar said.
"Those who are asking for pardon (to Afzal) should actually apologise to the nation for insulting the brave security guards of the parliament complex who laid their lives fighting these terrorists," he added.
Rio de Janeiro, Oct 4 (DPA) Rescue teams have found around 100 bodies in the thick Amazon jungle in northern Brazil where a large passenger jet fell to the ground last week, killing 155 people in the worst plane crash in the country's history.
The airline Gol said in a statement that rescue teams on Tuesday found the bodies of the pilot and the co-pilot. The National Agency of Civil Aviation (ANAC), which is leading the investigation, said they were found inside the plane's cabin.
Budget airline Gol's large Boeing 737-800 collided with a smaller, twin-engine private Embraer Legacy 600 jet Friday. The Brazilian-built Embraer managed to land in a nearby military airfield, and its seven occupants were unhurt.
Brazilian Air Force commander brigadier Luiz Carlos da Silva Bueno indicated that the 100 bodies were found close to each other, in a remote area of dense Amazon rainforest in the state of Mato Grosso.
On Monday, the two black boxes of the Boeing, considered vital to the crash investigation, were found. Bueno said the boxes are in Brasilia and are to be sent to the United States in order to be studied by Boeing technical teams.
Rescue teams are cutting through thick jungle vegetation. The human remains are being taken to Brasilia for identification.
A full probe into the mishap is expected to take at least three months, given the difficulty of reaching the remote jungle crash site.
In the US, The New York Times published an account of the miraculous survival of the Embraer Legacy by one of its business writers.
Joe Sharkey described the tense moments as the plane recovered, and how some of the seven men on board started writing letters to loved ones. After the plane landed safely, the passengers "bowed our heads in a long moment of silence, with the sound of muffled tears" when they learned that a Brazilian airliner with 155 people aboard was missing after Friday's mishap.
Sharkey, a weekly columnist for the Times business-travel section, wrote that the US pilots of the Embraer were stunned by the fate of the other aircraft. It was "clear the weight of all this would remain with them forever," he wrote.
By Arun Kumar,
Washington, Oct 4 (IANS) The Bush administration says it is certainly doing everything to encourage the US Senate to approve the India-US nuclear deal in its "lame duck" session in November.
While it was really up to the members how they wished to proceed, the administration is certainly hopeful that the Senate will take up the enabling bill when it meets again Nov 13 after the Nov 7 general election, State Department Deputy spokesman Tom Casey said Tuesday.
The deal, which would allow resumption of nuclear commerce between the two countries for the first time in three decades, is "an important agreement" not only for India and the US, but broadly also for the world non-proliferation regime, he told the foreign media.
Casey said the administration continues to have discussions with Congressional leaders and others about the deal that has been hailed by President George W. Bush and others as the core of building a new US relationship with India and a lucrative opportunity for American business.
But despite more than a year of upbeat assessments by administration officials and the intervention of Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the Republican-led Senate failed to take up the India bill before going into recess in the early hours of Saturday.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee had approved a draft bill by a 16-2 vote in June, but the full chamber could not take it up before the recess despite wide bipartisan support. The House of Representatives approved a different version of the companion legislation by an overwhelming 359-68 vote in July.
Ron Somers, head of the US-India Business Council, part of the US Chamber of Commerce, said: "When we all look back at this historic opportunity of aligning our two great democracies for the 21st century, we will recognise that delays like these, though unfortunate, amount to small bumps in the road."
He and other lobbyists pledged to regroup and push anew for passage in the "lame duck" legislative session after the Nov 7 election to the 435-member House as a whole and one third of the 100 Senate seats. The new Congress would hold its first session only in January leaving pending business to the old Congress.
The session is expected to run from one to three weeks, and the press of other business, plus continuing disputes between Republicans and Democrats, could still thwart a vote.
Senate leaders have blamed each other. Senate Republican leader Bill Frist accused the Democrats of wanting to defeat the bill "by adding a large amount of unnecessary amendments", while Democratic leader Harry Reid said Republicans seemed "more interested in scoring political points than passing this important bill".
If the Senate fails to pass the bill in November, the entire process must start again - the bill will have to go through the new Congress that may have an altogether different political complexion.
New York, Oct 4 (IANS) Scientists have created a digital camera capable of capturing mega-pixel images that could be used for imaging wavelengths outside the visible spectrum.
The digital camera created by Kevin Kelly and colleagues at Rice University, Houston, uses a single-pixel silicon chip sensor and thousands of tiny mirrors, reported science portal Science A GoGo.
The silicon chip, known as a digital micro-mirror device (DMD), is used primarily in digital projectors where digital information is converted into light.
The scientists turned this functionality around so that the mirrors could be used to capture light instead.
Unlike a normal one-mega-pixel camera that captures one million points of light for every frame, the new camera creates an image by capturing just one point of light or pixel several thousand times in rapid succession.
"For some wavelengths outside the visible spectrum, it's often too expensive to produce large arrays of detectors, which the new camera is capable of doing," said one of the researchers.
Madrid, Oct 4 (DPA) China defeated India 1-0 in a Pool A match of the women's World Cup hockey tournament here Wednesday.
India is already out of contention for a semi-final berth.
Islamabad, Oct 4 (IRNA) Shouting Quranic verses, hundreds of Chinese Muslims protested in front of the Saudi embassy here on Monday seeking visas so that they can join the annual Haj pilgrimage to Mecca.
According to the Daily Times, wearing skull caps and long tunics, many elderly men blocked the entrance to the embassy on a tree-lined residential street in Islambad while others sat cross-legged on the road shouting verses from Islam's holy book.
Women were lined up behind them and some laid beddings on the pavement and the grassy central road reservation.
"We have been trying to get visas for more than a month but they are not giving us," Dawood Mohammad, an 80-year-old man, said.
"We have no political aims. We just want to go for Haj," he added.
The pilgrimage is due to be performed in January.
The protesters said that the Saudi embassy had refused to grant them visas on the advice of the Chinese government.
By Lola Nayar,
Wagah (India-Pakistan border), Oct 4 (IANS) The colourful retreat ceremony by Indian and Pakistani frontier guards at this border post, with its high-pitched display of patriotism, continues to attract every day large numbers of tourists who swell to thousands during weekends and other holidays.
The Wagah post, with cultivated land all around and barbed wire fence clearly visible for long stretches, is the only point on the India-Pakistan border where for decades the pomp and fervour of the traditional lowering of the flag at sunset and closing of the gates linking the two countries has been maintained.
The well-orchestrated ceremony attracts sometimes well over 10,000 visitors during weekends and public holidays, said officials of the Indian paramilitary Border Security Force (BSF).
The visitors' gallery on the Indian side, 30 km from the Sikh holy city of Amritsar, has inspired Pakistan to start building a similar gallery on its side to develop the venue as a tourist attraction, officials said.
The milling crowds at the visitors' gallery, the sidewalks and even the roads leading up to the border gate include school children, families and the young as well as old who gather two to three hours ahead to gain vintage points.
Ten BSF officials and soldiers on the Indian side and an equal number of Pakistani Rangers personnel on the other side participate in the daily show. Dressed in ceremonial clothes - three-fourth khaki pants and shirts, long boots and adorned headgear - the BSF soldiers are indeed a sight to behold. The Pakistani Rangers sport a similar turra cap with their green Afghani salwar suit.
With visitors in mind, forces manning the gate on both sides admittedly raise the patriotic pitch by playing popular film and non-film songs. Visitors from all over India, like 70-year-old Abu Hassan and his wife Ameena from Kozhikode in Kerala, soon join in shouting slogans.
A very popular number with the crowds is 'Suno gaur se duniya waalon, buri nazar na hum par daalo, hum hain hindustani' (We are Indians, don't cast evil glances at us....) that gets them into the mood for slogan-shouting, said officials.
The recent controversy over the compulsory singing of Vande Mataram seems pointless at the border with everybody singing the national song. In fact, many raise slogans with no prompting from the BSF personnel.
To ensure public participation, two sets of youths are selected to run towards the gate carrying the national flag aloft. The flags are then passed on to the visitors' gallery with much fervour and enthusiasm.
While the foreigners in the visitors' gallery may not join in shouting slogans, they are definitely there in spirit with Indians and Pakistanis on the other side of the border, clapping and cheering the show of strength, the strutting and leg swings of over six-foot tall soldiers.
The ramrod BSF soldiers, mostly from Rajasthan, easily steal the show with their poise and drill.
One may wonder if any animosity is suggested by some of the ceremonial drill movements, the posturing, the aggressive swinging of the flagpole rope (which has been known to accidentally hit soldiers on the other side) and the shaking of hands without any eye contact.
Yet members of the BSF unit at the border deny any altercation due to the retreat ceremony that lasts around 25 minutes and is held all through the year, even during the peak winter and heavy rains.
The popularity of the retreat has generated business and job opportunities near the border post. Do not despair if you run out of photo rolls or batteries for the camera as the tea vendor nearby will have the answer in his dusty plastic box.
With nothing but a thin strip of grass to demarcate the border for a stretch of over 500 km, BSF personnel also man the movement of farmers to their fields through gates in the border fence erected 500 metres inside on either side of the international border.
The gates are open from 8 a.m. till 4 p.m. and farmers have to work under the eagle eye of the troopers.
Hyderabad/Bhopal, Oct 4 (IANS) Clashes between Hindu and Muslim groups broke out at two places in south and central India following quarrels over Durga Puja processions.
More than 50 people were injured in clashes between two communities at Bodhan town in Nizamabad district of Andhra Pradesh, about 150 km from Hyderabad. Fresh incidents of violence were reported Wednesday in Bodhan during a general strike called by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to protest Tuesday's incidents.
The trouble in Bodhan began Tuesday evening when a procession carrying an idol of Hindu Goddess Durga for immersion passed before a mosque where Muslims had gathered for their ritualistic 'iftar', or fast-breaking.
The Durga procession was allegedly stoned from inside after some devotees accompanying the procession reportedly began dancing to the drum beats thereby disturbing the prayers in the mosque.
Heavy stone throwing followed between the two groups and police fired several rounds in the air. Local Muslims alleged that police and the miscreants entered the mosque and beat up those present inside.
Dozens were injured in clashes when police fired several rounds in the air to disperse clashing groups.
Police have imposed prohibitory orders banning gathering of five or more people in communally sensitive Nizamabad. Police also arrested 10 BJP activists for trying to stop trains.
Violence broke out in Nizamabad during a rally taken out by BJP, which was demanding action against the rioters in Bodhan. The protesters set afire four shops even as police used force to disperse them.
Police have described the situation as tense but under control. The organisers of Durga procession claimed that police failed to take any action against those who stoned the procession from inside the mosque.
Curfew was also clamped in the Chhindwara town of Madhya Pradesh Wednesday following tension between Hindu and Muslim groups.
Trouble started when some someone allegedly threw a bone at a Goddess Durga idol in Diwanjipura locality of Chhindwara, 300 km from here, while it was being taken for immersion Tuesday.
"The procession passed off peacefully due to police presence, but later a dead animal was allegedly found near a mosque," Chhindwara Collector Arun Pandey told IANS over phone.
Angry Muslims spilled out on the streets shouting slogans. Another group reportedly started throwing stones at a Jain temple.
"No untoward incident was reported, but prohibitory orders under Section 144 (banning assembly of five or more people) have been clamped," Pandey said.
"Curfew was imposed Wednesday morning when a fresh attempt to desecrate a religious place of worship started and all efforts to disperse the mob failed," the district collector said.
The situation in the town is said to be tense but under control.
Meanwhile, police imposed a ban on assembly of five or more persons in Betul district where some people threw stones at a Durga immersion procession.
According to Betul superintendent of police Jagat Singh, problem began Monday evening when members of a Durga procession started dancing in front of a mosque. The incident was repeated in another area Tuesday evening.
"The situation is now under control," Singh said.
New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS) A dramatic spread of the mosquito-caused dengue fever has killed at least 31 people - including one Tuesday evening at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here - and affected 2,050 others across the country, officials said Tuesday.
According to P.L. Joshi, director of the National Vector Born Disease Control Programme, the country recorded at least 30 deaths till Sep 30 while 2,050 patients have been suffering from the deadly fever.
The situation, however, did not merit the status of an epidemic, the official said.
He said 157 people had died and 11,985 were affected by the fever last year.
While Delhi has recorded the maximum number of death, the southern sates of Kerala and Karnataka have reported four cases each.
A 35-year-old man died at AIIMS Tuesday evening due to brain haemorrhage.
"Banshi, a native of Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, died this evening of brain haemorrhage - a serious stage of dengue fever," said Anil Sharma, a senior resident doctor at the institute.
He said AIIMS was over burdened with the number of patients and nearly 1,400 people had been diagnosed at the hospital since Monday.
"I am returning home after 72 hours of continuous work and every one is overworked in the hospital. We appeal to the people to go to other hospitals for primary investigations and come to the hospital only if dengue is confirmed," Sharma told IANS.
The recent death took the total number of death in the national capital to 12. The capital has so far reported over 500 confirmed cases of dengue.
Director General of Health Services, R.K. Srivastava said 2,500 schools across the country were roped in to create awareness about the disease.
"It is not a case of epidemic and people should not panic. We are taking the help of schools and have asked the Indian Medical Association to help in our efforts to control the outbreak," Srivastava told reporters after a meeting with top health officials in the capital.
In the afternoon Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss had a meeting of concerned officials.
"There is a ... situation but it is not alarming," Ramadoss told reporters at his office here.
"We will do our best to curb this menace. Our hospitals are well-equipped to deal with the situation, hence there is no need to declare dengue as epidemic," said Delhi Health Minister Yoganand Shastri.
The dengue virus is spread through the bite of the female Aedes mosquito, primarily Aedes Aegypti, which breeds in stagnant water.
On Saturday, seventh semester AIIMS student Kamal Raj Kiran died of dengue.
"It is unfortunate that AIIMS has come to this stage but they are doing their best," Ramadoss said. Some 20 resident doctors, medical students and other staff at AIIMS are among those bed-ridden.
Ramadoss said he would hold a meeting of the health ministers of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan Thursday.
At an emergency Delhi cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Tuesday, it was decided to ask Delhi ministers to closely monitor the situation.
Eleven people have died of the disease in the city. Seven deaths have been reported in Rajasthan and two in Uttar Pradesh.
Delhi's Finance and Planning Minister A.K. Walia is to oversee the availability of dengue medicines in the capital.
Delhi had witnessed over 10,000 cases of dengue in 1996.
After media exposure that even leading hospitals like AIIMS were surrounded by filth that could breed mosquitoes, the Delhi government ordered a major cleanliness drive in a desperate bid to stop the further spread of dengue.
Action was being contemplated against a dozen private and state-run hospitals for not keeping their surroundings clean.
The AIIMS reported over 50 cases of dengue - 12 new cases since Monday. Twenty of those affected are students, resident doctors and staff.
A 125-bed special dengue ward has been set up at AIIMS, said hospital authorities. On Monday, the hospital began a two-day blood donation camp to deal with any blood shortage.
In Rajasthan, where dengue has killed seven people, the government has decided to provide free tests to patients suspected to be suffering from fever. There are 21,746 cases of malaria and 193 of dengue cases in the state.
The dengue virus is also fast spreading its tentacles in Uttar Pradesh, with as many as 68 cases detected during the past two months. Two people have died.
"The state capital is the worst hit with 22 cases," said Arun Kumar Misra, the principal health secretary. Other districts affected by the virus included Noida and Ghaziabad, close to the national capital.
"We have ensured availability of drugs for treatment of dengue in all government hospitals at the district level as well as community health centres and primary health centres at the village level," Misra said.
And with about 50 patients suffering from dengue in Punjab and Haryana, the governments in both states have put their health facilities on alert. Faridabad district in Haryana, adjoining Delhi, reported 15 confirmed cases of dengue.
Kabul, Oct 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) Two gunbattles in Eastern Afghanistan killed four Afghan and two US troops, officials said on Tuesday, as NATO prepared to assume military command of all of the country from the US-led coalition.
Meanwhile, a suicide bomber on a motorbike attacked a Canadian military convoy in Southern Kandahar city today, but no troops were injured, said Maj Dayl Morrell, a NATO-led force spokesman.
Two American and one Afghan soldier died yesterday evening during a gunfight with militants in Eastern Kunar province, which borders Pakistan, the US military said in a statement. Three US soldiers were wounded in the battle in Pech district, although they were now in stable condition, it said.
"The soldiers were operating as part of a combat patrol that made contact with enemy extremists. The unit engaged the insurgents with small arms and artillery fire," the statement said.
About 7,000 Afghan and US troops are operating in Eastern Afghanistan as part of operation mountain fury, aimed at wiping out militants and extending the afghan government's reach.
Separately, three border police were killed and three wounded last night after Taliban fighters attacked their outpost near the border in the eastern province of Paktika said provincial gov Mohammad Akram Akhpelwak.
In the Taliban's former southern stronghold of Kandahar, flames engulfed a military vehicle after a suicide bomber rammed into a NATO convoy, witnesses said.
Tashkent, Oct 4 (IANS) Sania Mirza defeated Pauline Parmentier of France 6-3, 6-1 in the first round of the Tashkent Open tennis tournament here Wednesday.
"It's good to have an easy first round. I don't have it too often," said Sania.
The Indian, ranked 55th in the international rankings, got off to a quick start, breaking Parmentier twice in the first set and then going up by 3-0. But she faltered and dropped her serve.
In the second set, Sania got an early break to go up by 2-0. Parmentier had another chance to come back into the match when she had Sania 0-40 in the next game but she could not force the break.
The Indian then won 16 of the last 18 points of the match.
In the second round, Sania will face Hana Sromova of the Czech Republic.
Washington, Oct 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) The same brain circuits are involved when obese people fill their stomachs as when drug addicts think about drugs, a finding that suggests overeating and addiction may be linked, U.S. researchers reported on Monday
The finding may help in creating better treatments for obesity -- a growing problem in the United States and elsewhere.
"We wanted to know why, when people are already full, why people are still eating a lot," said Dr. Gene-Jack Wang of Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York.
"We were able to simulate the process that takes place when the stomach is full, and for the first time we could see the pathway from the stomach to the brain that turns 'off' the brain's desire to continue eating."
Wang and colleagues tested seven obese volunteers who had been fitted with a gastric stimulator -- a device that tricks the body into thinking the stomach is full, a state known as satiety.
They used a positron emission tomography or PET scan to see which parts of the brain activated when the stimulator was activated. They also carefully questioned their volunteers, all of whom were very obese, about why and when they overate.
"We thought the activated area (of the brain) must be in the satiety center, which we learned in medical school is supposed to be in the hypothalamus," Wang said in a telephone interview.
But they did not see activity there.
"We saw a lot of activity in all areas of the brain, especially in the hippocampus. That region is related to learning, memory and is also related to a lot of things such as sensory and motor impulse and emotional behavior," Wang said.
Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Wang and colleagues said the hippocampus was 18 percent more active when the gastric stimulator was on.
The stimulators also sent messages of satiety to brain circuits in the orbitofrontal cortex and striatum, which have been linked to craving and desire in cocaine addicts.
"This provides further evidence of the connection between the hippocampus, the emotions, and the desire to eat, and gives us new insight into the mechanisms by which obese people use food to soothe their emotions," said Wang.
The volunteers were all genuinely hungry -- they had been fasting for 16 or 17 hours when the PET scans were run. The stimulator succeeded in making them feel less hungry, Wang said.
But the surprise was in which brain circuits it used in doing so.
"It was very similar to a study on when cocaine abusers, when they think of cocaine, they have a craving for cocaine," he said.
"This new pathway should be explored in further studies to determine if there are any implications for treating or preventing obesity."
Berlin, Oct 4 (IRNA) More than 1,000 mosques and Islamic centers will open their doors to the German public on Tuesday for the tenth consecutive year, DPA reported Monday.
Around 100,000 people are expected to tour the mosques, take part in discussion groups and attend exhibitions on Islam, announced the Central Council of Muslims which organizes the event every year.
Mosque Open Day always takes place on October 3, the Day of German Unity.
According to the Central Council of Muslims, the date for the open day was selected to underscore that Muslims view themselves as an integral part of German society.
There are some 2,300 mosques and Muslim worshipping centers throughout Germany.
Muslims number around 3.5 million out of Germany's 82.5 million people.
Srinagar, Oct 4 (IANS) Separatist guerrillas attacked a paramilitary camp in Lal Chowk, in downtown Srinagar Wednesday morning, triggering a heavy exchange of fire with the security forces. One person was injured, police said.
According to police, an unknown number of militants lodged themselves in a hotel in the Lal Chowk area, the busy shopping and commercial district of the Jammu and Kashmir summer capital.
The militants hurled grenades and fired from automatic weapons at the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) guards outside the Akhara building used as a barrack by the CRPF.
"We are returning the fire. We have surrounded a hotel and are trying to evacuate the shoppers and shopkeepers who are trapped in the area," said a police official.
"We are trying to locate the guerrillas who attacked the CRPF guards," he said.
Heavy police and paramilitary reinforcements have been moved to the area and the city centre has been sealed.
"We ran for cover as heavy gunfire reverberated in the area. There are many shopkeepers who are still trapped inside the shops," said Abdul Rashid a shopkeeper in Lal Chowk.
The injured person has been taken to hospital, police said.
Ankara, Oct 4 (Xinhua) Italian police said that two men who hijacked a Turkish Airlines jet have surrendered in Italy, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported Tuesday.
Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Yidirim, who is visiting Azerbaijan, was quoted as saying that the hijackers had asked for political asylum from Italy.
Istanbul deputy Governor Vedat Muftuoglu said that "20 minutes after take-off, two Turkish hijackers entered the pilot's cabin and demanded that the airplane change its course to Rome instead of Istanbul."
"The hijackers wanted to send a message to Pope Benedict XVI and protest the pope's upcoming visit to Turkey," noted Muftuoglu.
Muftuoglu indicated that as soon as legal procedures are completed in Italy, the THY jet will fly to Istanbul, the largest city of Turkey.
The Istanbul-bound THY jet with 113 people aboard, including six crew members, departed from Tirana at 16.20 (1420 GMT) and was hijacked after takeoff.
The THY Boeing 737-400 jet bounded for Istanbul was hijacked by two Turkish nationals, said the report.
The plane later was forced to land at Italy's Brindisi airport after two Italian F-16s took off and intercepted the hijacked plane.
The two Turkish hijackers said after the landing that they did this to protest a planned visit of the pope Benedict XVI to Turkey next month, airline officials said.
All of the passengers on board are safe now and no threats were issued by the two hijackers yet.
In a speech at Regensburg University in Germany in last month, Pope Benedict XVI quoted a 14th-century Christian emperor criticising the Prophet Muhammad.
The speech drew widespread criticism from Muslim world, which demanded much clearer apology from the Pope despite his expression of regret over his speech.
New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS) Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL), the Indian unit of the South Korean auto major, posted a growth of 14.1 percent in domestic sales in September compared to the same month last year.
Hyundai's total sales last month was 26,492 car units - a growth of 11.5 percent as against that of September 2005.
In the overseas market the parent company has noted a growth of 7.5 percent.
HMIL is the largest exporter of passenger cars from India with exports of over Rs.18 billion.
Recently, with the launch of its sedan Verna, the company announced plans to set up a second plant in Chennai, which will produce 300,000 units per annum, raising HMIL's total production capacity to 600,000 per annum by 2007.
HMIL will also increase its dealer network from 162 to 200 this year, an indication of the growth of the company in India where car sales registered a 7.55 percent growth in the past year.
Indian passengers car market may triple to three million vehicles annually by 2015, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).
New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS) Consumers will feel the full impact of the new pricing regime for hundreds of generic drugs in a month when the current stocks with chemists were phased out, Chemicals and Fertiliser Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said Tuesday.
"The agreement by the pharma industry to reduce the retail margin for generic and generic branded drugs has been implemented as scheduled on Oct 2 (Monday). The package of new pricing for around 1,000 drugs should have been implemented," Paswan told IANS.
"The full impact of the new pricing regime - with wholesale margins being kept at 15 percent and retail margins at 35 percent - will be felt in a month as we have agreed to give the pharma industry time till Nov 2 to phase out the current stocks with old minimum retail price (MRP) in retail outlets," he said.
The move to limit the margins at the wholesale and retail end has been worked out by the government and the industry as per the directive of the Supreme Court and is expected to make drugs more affordable, particularly for the poor.
Under the new regime, the MRP will be inclusive of the local taxes.
Effectively, the prices of hundreds of generic and branded generic drugs will be cheaper up to 80 percent in some cases.
Washington, Oct 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) Asian giants India and China have transformed the international economy with their burgeoning economies shifting global markets, reshaping trade, investment patterns and directly affecting the environment, a new report has said.
The report entitled `Engaging China and India: An economic agenda for Japan and the United States` also recommended that Washington and Tokyo must actively engage both New Delhi and Beijing to ensure that the emergence of these two Asia countries is not seen as a zero sum game.
"China`s and India`s imprint will become all the deeper in the years ahead as both evolve into centers of technological innovation and scientific excellence. China`s and India`s rise has already sparked adverse reactions in the two countries that currently sit atop the world`s economic hierarchy: the United States and Japan," scholars of the two nations involved in the study have said.
"While this development has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty, it has also raised concerns about the potential economic and political dislocations in other countries," says the report.
The binational study group was sponsored by the Chicago council on global affairs, the Pacific council on international policy and the Japan economic foundation.
The report stresses that the US and Japan will have to focus on real opportunities for all four nations to grow and prosper through mutually beneficial partnerships and makes the point that "this will require strong leadership."
By Rahul Bedi,
New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS) Ignoring protests from Western countries, India has begun transferring military equipment to Myanmar's military junta in order to neutralise China's burgeoning defence, diplomatic and economic ties with Yangon.
In August, unmindful of British protests, the Indian Navy transferred two BN-2 'Defender' Islander maritime surveillance aircraft and deck-based air-defence guns and varied surveillance equipment to Myanmar.
Soon after the navy announced its intention of supplying the British-built Islanders to Myanmar following Indian Navy Chief Admiral Arun Prakash's visit to Yangon in January, Britain had declared that it would be unable to provide spares and maintenance support for them as it opposed the country's military administration.
Alongside, India had quietly transferred other hardware to the Myanmarese military.
"We have recommended and started giving them (Myanmar) 105-mm Indian field guns," Indian Army Vice-Chief Lt. Gen. S. Pattabhiraman told Force magazine recently.
In the past we had given them 75/24 Howitzers, Pattabhiraman declared adding that though the numbers were not "much" they were neither "symbolic".
Last month Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt finalised negotiations in Yangon (formerly Rangoon) to supply it varied military hardware in return for the military junta's cooperation in flushing out separatist groups like United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) that have long used Myanmar's dense jungles as a sanctuary.
In exchange for an unspecified number of T-55 tanks - which the Indian army is retiring - armoured personal carriers, 105-mm light artillery guns, mortars and the locally designed advanced light helicopters, Delhi also wants to conduct joint military operations against north-eastern militant groups along the 1,643-km-long Myanmar frontier.
In anticipation of the army's anti-insurgency offensive in the region expected later this month, the security forces have stepped up vigil along its borders with Bangladesh and Bhutan to "tie-in" the insurgents.
Dutt's visit, however, was kept under wraps because of Western sensitivity to engaging with Myanmar's military regime.
The defence ministry refused to comment on the moves.
On Sep 15 the UN Security Council led by the US and Britain added Myanmar to its list of countries considered a threat to international peace and security.
The US is also pushing for a strong resolution on the ongoing human rights abuses in Myanmar and the continued incarceration by the military junta of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.
India dumped Suu Kyi's cause and launched an aggressive diplomatic and military thrust into Myanmar in the late 1990s, backed by a developmental and commercial drive to try and neutralise ongoing Chinese programmes like the modernisation of Myanmarese naval bases at Hainggyi, Munaung, Akyab, Zadaikyi and Mergui by building radar, refit and refuel facilities.
The Indian Navy fears this could support Chinese submarine operations in the region as part of Beijing's "string of pearls" strategy of clinching regional defence and security agreements to secure its mounting fuel requirements and enhance its military profile in the Indian Ocean region.
The Chinese are also believed to have established a Signals Intelligence facility on Myanmar's Coco islands, 30-km from the Andaman Islands territory on India's east coast to monitor Indian missile tests, an activity that has proliferated in recent years and is poised to grow.
India is also concerned about China's nuclear-armed close ally Pakistan's long standing military ties with Myanmar to whom it had supplied several shiploads of ordnance and other military hardware like 106 mm M-40 recoilless rifles and various small arms over the past decade.
Pakistan also regularly trains Burmese soldiers to operate a range of Chinese equipment like T-63 and T-53 tanks, Soviet fighter aircraft and 155-mm Howitzers and to instruct its air force and naval officers at many of its institutions.
Consequently, Indian Army chief Gen. J.J. Singh made a three-day trip to Yangon last November following an earlier visit by the country's since retired air chief to finalise a comprehensive upgrade programme for Myanmar's vintage Soviet-era fighter fleet.
Several Myanmarese military leaders too frequently visit Delhi to further defence cooperation.
Political leaders and diplomats also make reciprocal trips to each other's country to cement bilateral ties.
Madrid, Oct 4 (DPA) India suffered another humiliation when they lost 2-3 to hosts Spain in a women's hockey World Cup pool A match here Tuesday.
In other pool A matches played earlier in the day, the Netherlands thrashed China 6-1 and England defeated Germany 1-0.
New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS) India Wednesday adopted the global practice to check petrol and diesel adulteration with kerosene as Petroleum Minister Murli Deora Wednesday unveiled plans of selling 'marked kerosene' across the country that can be detected through a simple test right at the petrol station.
Used globally to prevent adulteration of transport fuels with kerosene, which costs far less than petrol or diesel, the marker (special permanent dye) will turn pink when tested for adulteration, Indian Oil Corporation chairman and managing director S. Behuria said at the launch function.
Having tried and failed several times in the past with various other markers, this time the petroleum ministry has selected a British firm Authentix to supply the ingredient.
The marker and testing kits together are expected to cost the oil companies Rs.1.6 billion over the next six months, said Behuria.
The cost of the marker liquid alone is Rs.1,500 per litre. The oil companies will blend 0.5 millilitre of marker in one kilolitre of kerosene.
"This new-generation marker is being used internationally to check fuel adulteration. It will help to ensure that subsidised kerosene, currently being diverted from public distribution system (PDS), reaches the below poverty line (BPL) families," said Deora.
"Being easy to administer, the marked kerosene will be made available across the country through all retail outlets within two months," said Petroleum Secretary M.S. Srinivasan.
Alongside the introduction of marked kerosene, the petroleum ministry is planning to approach the law ministry to amend the rules making test of fuels for detection of adulteration mandatory.
The cost of conducting one test for detection of adulteration is around Rs.60.
"We will be approaching the law ministry for amendment of the Market Discipline and Control Order to make the test mandatory," said Srinivasan.
He did not expect any drop in import of kerosene due to the check on diversion for adulteration, as currently the supplies to BPL families are way below desired levels.
Of the 10.5 million tonnes of kerosene consumed annually, the government and the oil marketing companies together currently provide around Rs.16-17 subsidy per litre of kerosene sold to BPL families.
United Nations, Oct 4 (IANS) India says the UN General Assembly has a role to play in strengthening social development and adopting a people-centred approach to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
As high growth does not automatically lead to greater equality and social justice, direct anti-poverty programmes are necessary, Mabel Rebello, a member of the Indian delegation, said during a committee debate at the General Assembly Tuesday.
The first Millennium Development Goal of halving extreme poverty by 2015 cannot be achieved on target in the absence of a significant flow of resources and increased application of science and technology in developing countries, she said.
While private investment is important to achieve higher growth rates, the physical and social infrastructure is sometimes too weak in some developing countries to attract any investment.
Sequencing is therefore important. Equally important is the fulfilment of the commitment of 0.7 percent target of Official Development Assistance (ODA) and debt cancellation by the developed world. Similarly, it is imperative to identify innovative sources of financing, Rebello said.
The Indian experience could provide useful lessons to others, she said. Thus, liberalisation of the economy may need to follow a certain level of development of economic and scientific capacity. The role of the state is as important as that of the market, she said.
At the same time, unleashing entrepreneurial energies is also crucial. Education is an absolute must and constitutes the basis for the rapid development of science and technology and their application to most socio-economic areas. In this process, democratic governance also has a crucial role to play, Rebello said.
India, she said, looked forward to the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by the UN General Assembly during 2006, as it believed it would be an important milestone in addressing the rights of about 650 million persons with disabilities.
Kolkata, Oct 4 (IANS) India would soon float tenders to procure 126 multi-role aircraft to equip the armed forces with the upgraded technology, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here Tuesday.
The government was constantly monitoring the requirement to replace or substitute aircraft and the armed forces would be upgraded with the latest technologies as and when the need arises, Mukherjee told reporters on the sidelines of a CII-sponsored meet on "Defence-Industry Partnership in Human Resource Management".
The government had earmarked Rs.890 billion for defence procurement this year, he said.
With the implementation of the Ajai Vikram Singh Committee report, the stagnation in promotion of army personnel could be solved but still there would be a shortfall of officers, he said.
Because of their skills, air force pilots were in high demand by the private airliners but the government has barred these officers from doing so before 20 years of service, Mukherjee said.
Hoping the new Pay Commission would look into the payment structure of the armed force personnel, the defence minister said he had talked to the home ministry on possibilities of lateral movement of army personnel to Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) taking into account their security management capabilities.
"We will have to take into account the promotion and other aspects in the CRPF and ITBP before taking any decision on the subject," he said.
Complimenting some states for their activeness in resettlement of army personnel after retirement, he said governments were asked to open state-level Sainik Boards to look into the issue.
Nearly 60,000 army personnel retire every year in accordance with the norms to keep the force in good physical and mental condition, leaving many well-trained and motivated personnel of varying age group left with huge productive working profile.
New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS) India will confront Pakistan with "detailed dossier" on 11 Pakistani nationals suspected to be involved in the July 11 Mumbai terror bombings when the foreign secretaries of the two countries meet next month to discuss the contours of a joint anti-terror mechanism.
Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon, who assumed office three days ago, met Home Secretary V.K. Duggal and discussed the specifics of evidence collected by Mumbai Police that points to a Pakistani hand in the commuter train bombings July 11 that killed nearly 200 people and injured hundreds.
The two top officials discussed the information Indian intelligence agencies have collected on the antecedents of the 11 Pakistani suspects and the role of Pakistan's intelligence agency in the Mumbai blasts, sources in the home ministry told IANS.
Duggal shared with Menon the evidence of alleged complicity of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) provided to him by Mumbai Police Commissioner A. N. Roy and Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) chief K. P. Raghuvanshi.
There is also a plan to provide the Pakistani authorities with the identikit of Azam Cheema, the commander of Lashkar-e-Toiba in Pakistan's Bahawalpur district who allegedly masterminded the Mumbai carnage, the sources told IANS.
New Delhi also plans to confront Islamabad with details of terror training camps operating in Bahawalpur and provide the Pakistani authorities with how money was routed from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan and then to India to finance the Mumbai blasts conspiracy, sources added.
Roy had first presented evidence of the alleged complicity of Pakistan-based terrorists in the Mumbai carnage Saturday. The next day, Menon told the press that India would confront Pakistan with evidence and sternly warned the latter that it would be judged by action, and not words.
Pakistan angrily reacted to India's contention and asked it to hand over the evidence, but made it clear that it would not hand over the suspects.
After wrapping up his three-day visit to South Africa, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday told the travelling press aboard Air India One that Pakistan's response to the evidence India gives regarding its involvement in the Mumbai blasts would be a test of its sincerity in controlling terrorism.
"Now here is what our people have discovered. We will share this information with Pakistan and test them on how sincere they are in carrying forward the commitment that I and President Musharraf underlined in our joint statement (in Havana)," Manmohan Singh said.
"How else can we ask Pakistan except through a mechanism like this," he said in response to a question about the planned anti-terror mechanism agreed to by Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in Havana last month. The meeting between Manmohan Singh and Musharraf led to the resumption of the peace process that was stalled after the Mumbai blasts.
New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS) India's pharma and biotech major Wockhardt Limited Tuesday announced the acquisition of Pinewood Laboratories Limited of Ireland for $150 million that will help it broaden its presence in the European market.
"This acquisition gives us a larger footprint in Europe spread over Britain, Ireland and Germany," Wockhardt chairman Habil Khorakiwala said.
"European business will now exceed $200 million, accounting for almost half of Wockhardt's total sales," he added.
The all-cash deal was done on an enterprise value basis, according to a company statement.
As almost half of Pinewood's sales come from the British market, this acquisition will strengthen Wockhardt's position there, it added.
With this acquisition, Wockhardt UK can now leverage Pinewood's marketing and distribution system and its customer base in Ireland for its vast range of hospital products.
"The acquisition offers us enormous opportunities to unlock value of our enlarged customer base in Britain and Ireland by offering them a wider range of products," Khorakiwala said.
New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS) A business delegation from India is headed for Azerbaijan to explore investment opportunities and enhance bilateral trade between the two countries.
The Indian delegation - brought together by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)- will be on a three-day visit from Oct 4 to boost commercial ventures and projects in that region.
Some of the companies represented in the delegation include Atlas Cycle Limited, Aryan Coal Limited, Builcon Group and CSJ Networks.
Bilateral trade between the countries will be initiated with the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between CII and the Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
High-level discussions will be held on various issues pertaining to IT, oil and gas (new projects), healthcare, medical equipment, mining and mining equipment, transport sector and agriculture equipment, said a CII release.
India's current bilateral trade with Azerbaijan is $34.68 million, with exports worth $28.82 million and imports $5.86 million.
Some of the export items from India consist of meat, pharmaceuticals, apparel, machinery, ores, tobacco and iron and steel.
India's major imports from Azerbaijan include aluminium, copper, electrical machinery, precision instruments, iron and steel, rubber, pearls, precious stones and jewellery.
This visit is also expected to give an impetus to the 1998 agreement that envisages regular consultations on economic and technical cooperation between both the countries.
Tehran, Oct 4 (DPA) Iranian National Security Council head Ali Larijani has expressed the hope that Russia would settle the dispute over Iran's controversial nuclear programme.
"Both of us have agreed that solving the situation through negotiations is possible and we hope that Russia can help us in this direction," Larijani said Tuesday at a joint press conference with Russia's Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov.
Larijani and Ivanov discussed the nuclear dispute for three hours behind closed doors at the National Security office in Tehran.
"Russia can play an effective role to enable a diplomatic solution, especially as we share close standpoints on the issue," Larijani said.
Also Ivanov said through an interpreter that Russia firmly believed that the nuclear dispute could be settled through negotiations.
"Russia will do whatever possible to make negotiations work and lead to positive results," Ivanov said.
Ivanov also reiterated Russia's commitment to complete the first phase of the Bushehr nuclear power plant as scheduled by September 2007.
The plant in the southern Persian Gulf port of Bushehr was initially scheduled to be completed by the Russians at the end of 1999 but was delayed several times.
Larijani further refrained from commenting on an interview by Iranian Atomic Energy Agency deputy, Mohammad Saeedi, with France Info radio Tuesday in which he had proposed that France create a consortium for the production of enriched uranium in Iran.
Besides President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki, Larijani is the only official to disclose political decisions by the Iranian government on nuclear issues. Saeedi has so far been responsible for technical issues only.
Sources close to Ivanov said that Larijani, who is also Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, had insisted on holding the talks.
Ivanov's visit to Tehran, Larijani's scheduled visit later this week with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, and Saeedi's remarks were described as a breakthrough in the nuclear dispute by Iranian state television Tuesday.
Iran had previously made the same proposal to Russia and other countries, even to its political foe, the US, but the West wants to avoid any enrichment process on Iranian soil, with or without foreign participation.
Tehran, Oct 4 (Xinhua) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has given permission for foreign tourists to visit the country's nuclear facilities, an action aimed at proving the peaceful nature of its nuclear programme, the state media reported Wednesday.
"Foreign tourists can visit Iranian nuclear sites, after an order from President Ahmadinejad," Esfandyar Rahim Mashaii, head of Iran's Tourism and Cultural Heritage Organisation, was quoted as saying by the state television.
The president gave this order to prove Iran's nuclear programme was peaceful, and it was aimed at generating electricity, not nuclear bomb, said Mashaii.
"We are reviewing the related instructions in this regard," he added.
No immediate details were reported on the definition of a foreign tourist and when it could be legally implemented, but possible nuclear sites include Iran's first nuclear plant being built in the southern city of Bushehr, the uranium conversion facility near Isfahan and the uranium enrichment plant in Natanz.
Before the latest authorisation, only inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and some reporters were allowed to enter these mysterious nuclear sites.
The United States has accused Iran of using the nuclear energy programme as a cover to develop atomic weapons and pushed UN Security Council for possible sanctions against Iran.
But Iran has rejected the accusations, insisting that its nuclear programme was totally peaceful.
Chennai, Oct 4 (IANS) Wasim Jaffer will lead the Rest of India in the Irani Trophy tie against 2005-06 Ranji Trophy national champions Uttar Pradesh starting in Baroda Monday.
Indian cricket board secretary Niranjan Shah announced here Wednesday after a meeting of senior selection committee held at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.
Irani Trophy is five-day one-off match held usually at the start of a domestic cricket season between the winner of previous season's Ranji Trophy winners and Rest of India, comprising promising players from around the country.
Squad: Wasim Jaffer, Venugopal Rao, Robin Utthappa, Badrinath, Gauttam Gambhir, Dinesh Kartik, Vikram Rajvir Singh, Sreesanth, Zaheer Khan, Murali Kartik, P. Ojah, Rohit Sharma, S. Lahari and Y. Mahesh. Coach: Robin Singh
Rome, Oct 4 (IANS) Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, Italian Minister for International Trade and European Affairs Emma Bonnino plans to organise satyagraha in her country for peace in the Middle East.
Bonnino announced her plans here while addressing a gathering of Italian parliamentarians, writers and academicians on the occasion of Gandhi's birthday Monday, according to an Indian embassy press release.
Her political party Radicali was so influenced by Gandhian ideals of passive resistance, called satyagraha, that it has the figure of Mahatma Gandhi on its flag, said the minister. Bonnino said she followed the teachings of truth and non-violence of Gandhi at every step.
Indian Ambassador Rajiv Dogra was also a part of the gathering. Earlier he unveiled a bust of Gandhi at the Gandhi Institute of Higher Studies in Narni, central Italy.
Mumbai, Oct 4 (IANS) Asif Khan Bashir Khan, alias Junaid, suspected to have planted one of the bombs that led to a series of explosions here July 11, was Tuesday arrested from neighbouring Karnataka, Mumbai police sources said.
"We have picked him up from Belgaum today morning. He will be produced in a court tomorrow," an official of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Mumbai police, told IANS.
Asif Khan, hailing from Jalgaon in Maharashtra, was earlier known to be involved in subversive activities and had been associated with the outlawed Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) as well as terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the official said.
The seven blasts along the commuter train network in this financial capital of India claimed around 200 lives and injured many more.
Patna, Oct 4 (IANS) The much-awaited Garib Rath, a train with air-conditioned coaches but economical fares, was Wednesday flagged off by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad at the Saharsa Railway Station in north Bihar.
The train was for those poor Indians who could not dream of travelling by air-conditioned train coaches, Lalu prasad said before flagging off the Garib Rath on its maiden journey to the Sikh holy city of Amritsar in Punjab.
The fare for the train is 30 percent cheaper compared to that for a three-tier air-conditioned coach on any other route. As against 64 berths in a typical three-tier coach, the coaches of the new train have 75 berths, thus accommodating more passengers and also compensating for lower fares.
The railway minister said his goal was to put an end to the "class system" in trains.
He also announced a special reward of Rs.500,000 for the Indian Railways team involved in timely construction of the coaches for the first Garib Rath at the Kapurthala Coach Factory .
The minister, in his railway budget speech for 2006-07, had promised four Garib Rath trains this year. The remaining three will link New Delhi with Mumbai, Chennai and Patna.
Beirut, Oct 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora yesterday welcomed the departure of "disappointed" Israeli troops from southern Lebanon but warned much remained to end the Jewish state's "occupation".
"The occupier has left disappointed," Siniora told a cabinet meeting the day after Israeli troops all-but completely withdrew from Lebanon after their July-August war with Hezbollah.
"But we still have tasks to complete: recover the Shebaa farms, free Lebanese prisoners held in Israeli jails and the enemy still refuses to hand over maps of the landmines they left behind" after leaving in 2000, he said.
Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers on July 12 in the hope of carrying out a prisoner exchange sparked a 34-day Israeli onslaught.
Mines and unexploded ordnance from that occupation as well as the summer's conflict continue to kill and maim Lebanese civilians on a regular basis.
Siniora's comments also came on the day that Lebanese soldiers deployed to Lebanon's southern frontier for the first time in nearly 40 years.
"It is the duty of the Lebanese army, which has deployed in southern Lebanon after many years of absence, to verify there are no violations of the blue line (UN-demarcated border) and end the occupation of Ghajar village in cooperation with UNIFIL."
Ghajar is a border village where the last handful of Israeli soldiers remain.
Kathmandu, Oct 4 (DPA) A demand from Nepal's Maoists has caused the postponement of this week's signing of an extradition treaty between Nepal and India, a television report said Wednesday.
Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known as Prachanda, telephoned Nepalese Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala Tuesday night to demand that the governing Seven-Party Alliance not sign the treaty without the participation of the Maoist rebels, the Kantipur Television reported.
Kantipur Television quoted highly placed Maoist sources as saying Koirala agreed to the Maoist request to postpone the signing of the treaty that was agreed upon earlier this year until a more representative government was in place in Nepal.
Nepalese Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula had been scheduled to leave for New Delhi Wednesday to sign the treaty.
It is to replace an extradition treaty that Nepal and India signed in October 1953. India wanted to revise it, saying the 1953 document was not adequate to deal with the modern-day problems of drug and human trafficking along the countries' 1,700-kilometre-long border.
Government sources said Koirala agreed to put off the signing of the revised extradition treaty until after top-level peace talks scheduled for Sunday between the leaders of his ruling alliance and the Maoists, who have been waging a civil war for a decade.
Raipur, Oct 4 (IANS) A Mizo battalion trained in guerrilla warfare in hostile terrain reached the Maoist-hit state of Chhattisgarh Wednesday to step up battle against the Leftist extremists, mainly in the 40,000 sq km forested Bastar region.
Personnel of the 2nd Mizoram Indian Reserve Police battalion reached Raipur in a special train. They will be deployed at strategic locations in the interior regions of Bastar during the next week.
"We welcome the Mizo battalion as it was a long pending demand of the Chhattisgarh government which was conceded by the Indian government only last month," said a state home department senior official.
"They are specially trained to deal with guerrillas in hostile terrain. They are much skilled in terms of topography and able to take on rebels who operate on 'hit and run' tactics in the hilly Bastar region mainly in Dantewada, Narayanpur and Bijapur pockets," the official added.
"We have at least 10,000 forces mostly the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force troopers in Bastar. With the arrival of the Mizo battalion, the war against the rebels mainly in their hideouts is set to be intensified," the state Home Minister Ramvichar Netam told IANS.
Maoists have strong presence in as many as eight of the state's 16 districts. The rebels have compelled forces to be on the defensive during recent years in the districts of Dantewada, Bastar and Kanker districts, the official added.
The rebels started pounding security forces on an increased frequency since June last year when the government joined in a civil militia movement launched by locals against the Maoists.
The militia movement called Salwa Judum (Campaign for Peace) has left at least 50,000 indigenous Bastar tribes homeless and they are now settled in over a dozen government-run heavily guarded relief camps.
Chhattisgarh is among the worst Maoist infested 13 Indian states and officials say at least 282 persons, mostly tribal people in state's southern region, had been killed since January.
Maoists claim to fight for rights of poor peasants and landless labourers and have killed thousands and destroyed government property worth millions in a three-decade old movement that began in 1967 from a West Bengal village.
New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS) There is a substantial growth in the number of visas issued to Indian students for studying in the US even as representatives of 17 American universities were camping in Delhi to woo more students.
"In the fiscal 2005-06 we had issued 18,000 student visas but in the last six months 24,000 student visas have been issued," said Adam Packar, a visa counsellor in the US embassy here.
"Nearly 80,000 students are currently enrolled in the US and the number is consistently growing. Looking at the current interest of Indian students, we are ready to give visa to all deserving candidates," Packar told IANS on the sidelines of an education fair here Tuesday.
"Indian students constitute 14 percent of all our foreign students and the country provides maximum number of students to the US," he added.
Representative of 17 US universities were participating in the education fair organised by the United States Educational Foundation in India (USEFI).
California State University, Indiana University, University of North Carolina, Webster University and Savannah College of Arts and Design were among those who participated in the fair.
"We consider Indian students as sharp and are here to tap the talent. The fair gives an opportunity to interact with students and explain them about our expectations from them," said Charles E. Beech, associate vice president (international enrolment) of Webster University.
"There is a huge response from students and they have been asking about placement, scholarship facilities, course curriculum and other issues. Our representatives are giving detailed information to them," Beech said.
Students too were happy to have all their queries about studying abroad answered in one visit.
"From the variety of courses to visa requirement, the fair throws light on many issues relevant to students aspiring to go abroad," said Shruti, a student.
Cairo, Oct 4 (DPA) The majority of Egypt's approximately 73 million inhabitants have known no leader other than 78-year-old Hosny Mubarak.
Coupled with persistent rumours that his son Gamal is preparing to succeed him as president, critics have been prompted to speak derisively of the "Egyptian monarchy".
Twenty-five years ago on Oct 6, a group of three Islamists shot and killed Egypt's former president Anwar al-Sadat, who was reviewing a parade in Cairo. Mubarak, then vice president, was beside Sadat on the reviewing stand. A week later he was officially appointed president.
No festivities are planned to mark the 25th anniversary of Mubarak's accession to power. On the contrary, it almost seems as though Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) wants to make as little fuss as possible.
"The party hasn't planned anything special for the day," said Mohammed Kamal, an NDP spokesman and member of Gamal Mubarak's reform wing.
Mubarak, who was decorated for his role as air force commander during the 1973 Yom Kippur War against Israel, has successfully prevented serious unrest and the total collapse of the ailing economy. But he has failed to bring the two biggest problems under control: radical Islamism and high population growth.
As a mediator in regional crises, Egypt's president has become a useful partner for Western countries, who return the favour in the form of financial aid, arms deliveries and development projects.
After 25 years with Mubarak at the helm, however, Egyptians are grumbling louder than before. Objects of their ire are rampant corruption, insufficient government services, rising prices, high youth unemployment and security forces unable to stop terrorist attacks on tourists, which occur at least once a year.
The opposition, leftists, liberals and Islamists, report constant attempts by the government to intimidate them. Police often club demonstrators. Members of the Muslim Brotherhood, who hold about 20 percent of the seats in parliament, can disappear behind bars at any time.
Martial law, imposed after Sadat's assassination, remains in effect. Human rights organisations say it restricts free speech and is responsible for dubious judicial decisions.
Mubarak broke new ground last year by allowing a multi-candidate presidential election. He previously had himself confirmed without opposition in referendums. However, his electoral opponents, one of whom has since been sentenced to five years in prison for having allegedly forged documents, said the election campaign had been too short and not fair. Mubarak won 88.6 percent of the vote. Turnout was low.
No one knows whether Mubarak will serve out his fifth term in office, which ends in 2011. Nor does anyone expect him to go voluntarily.
"Governing Egypt is a very difficult task considering how limited the resources are and how fast the population is growing," Mubarak said several months ago.
"It's not easy to govern Egypt, but it's not easy to step down either," he added.
London, Oct 4 (IRNA) A Muslim teenager was stabbed in the latest Islamophobic incident in Britain when a mosque in northwest England was attacked by gangs of white youths using brick and concrete blocks, reports said.
The local police described the attack on the Jamia Masjid mosque in Preston on Sunday evening as "racially motivated" street violence during which the 16-year-old boy was knifed in the arm.
In the same town, 20-year-old Shezsan Umarji was killed during a mass street fight in July. Three tennagers have since been charged over the attack.
Police said that a number of cars were also damaged outside the mosque in one of the most serious incidents that have targeted the Muslim community in Preston.
"These problems are being caused by a small group of criminals in the area who are intent on intimidating the local community," Chief Superintendent Mike Barton of the Lancashire Constabulary said as quoted by BBC.
About 200 worshipers were said to have emerged to confront the white gang stone-throwers while about 100 police were deployed to defuse the situation.
Following the attack, police met with local politicians and community leaders and pledged to work together to avoid a repeat of violence and root out those responsible.
Extra patrols were mounted in the area and there was no repeat of the problems overnight.
Washington, Oct 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) A North Korea nuclear test would be an "unacceptable threat to peace and stability" and further isolate Pyongyang from the rest of the world, a state department spokesman said on Tuesday.
The spokesman, Sean McCormack, said the United States will work with its allies to discourage "such a reckless action".
North Korea today announced that it would conduct a nuclear test in the face of what it claimed was "the US extreme threat of a nuclear war". The statement from Pyongyang gave no precise date as to when a test might occur.
Such a test, McCormack said, "would pose an unacceptable threat to peace and stability in Asia and the world."
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said: "the announcement is troubling."
"If they were to conduct such a test it would only further isolate them from the international community," Whitman said, adding that President George W Bush is "seeking a peaceful, diplomatic solution."
Seoul, Oct 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) North Korea`s quest for nuclear weapons has relied on the former Soviet Union, China and more recently a smuggling ring linked to the father of Pakistan`s own atom bomb.
The North has sought nuclear weapons since the end of the 1950-1953 Korean War, when Washington stationed nuclear warheads in South Korea and Japan.
Pyongyang then got help from the Soviet Union and China in launching its own drive to acquire the bomb.
Later, assistance was obtained in crucial technology areas from other countries, including Pakistan.
In the mid-1950s North Korea signed a research agreement with Moscow under which hundreds of its scientists were trained in nuclear physics by the soviets. Pyongyang later signed a similar cooperation agreement with China.
Around 1960, North Korean leader Kim Il-sung ordered the construction of an atomic energy research complex in Yongbyon, 90 kilometres north of the capital, Pyongyang.
Two years later Soviet scientists helped the North Koreans assemble a two-megawatt IRT-20 research reactor shipped by Moscow to Pyongyang. In return, North Korea exported the spent fuel back to the soviet union. The reactor was in operation in 1965.
In 1974, North Korean leader Kim visited China, and reportedly won China`s promise to train more North Korean nuclear scientists.
North Korea was ready to step up its nuclear drive and five years later began work on a second reactor at Yongbyon. The five-megawatt research reactor was operational in 1987, and ready to produce some seven kilogrammes of plutonium a year, enough for one or two nuclear weapons.
In 1989, US satellite pictures showed the existence of a reprocessing plant at the Yongbyon complex.
At about the same time, the reactor was shut down and North Korea was suspected of unloading it and reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods to separate around 12 kilogrammes of plutonium, enough for a couple of atomic bombs.
Washington accused North Korea of actively pursuing nuclear weapons. Pyongyang denied the charge but started to build two larger reactors, a 50-megawatt and a 200-megawatt plant.
Gathering tension about North Korea`s nuclear ambitions reached crisis point when the united states reported several undeclared nuclear sites in North Korea and Pyongyang rejected outside inspections and threatened to withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The two-year-long standoff was headed off in 1994 when Pyongyang agreed to freeze its nuclear programme in return for the construction of safe nuclear reactors for the impoverished country.
But the issue flared up again in October 2002 when Washington said North Korea, while freezing its plutonium-based programme, had admitted secretly using a different route to nuclear weapons, helped by Pakistan.
North Korea began seeking nuclear weapons fuel through uranium enrichment while the ink was still wet on the 1994 accord, according to US sources. The programme was given a boost by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan`s nuclear bomb, who in 2004 admitted passing nuclear technology to North Korea and other countries.
According to US reports he made 13 trips to North Korea in the 1990s and helped supply uranium enrichment equipment and possibly even warhead designs. Finally the North declared in February 2005 that it had built nuclear weapons. The CIA has stated in the past that it believes Pyongyang has created several crude nuclear bombs.
Kabul, Oct 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) NATO says it will take command of foreign troops who had been under us authority in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, completing its expansion across the country.
"On the 5th of October NATO`s security assistance force will be expanded to all of Afghanistan," the alliance`s senior civilian representative Dan W Everts told a press conference in Kabul.
"Most of the US forces that are operating under their own command right now in the east will join the overall ISAF organisation and be part of the unified ISAF command," he said.
ISAF stands for international security assistance force, the official name for the NATO-led force in Afghanistan.
He did not say exactly how many of the nearly 20,000-strong us-led force currently carrying out counter-insurgency operations mainly in eastern Afghanistan will join ISAF.
Other NATO officials however have said that 10,000 to 12,000 of them will do so.
Another about 8,000 US troops in the east will remain under the US-led coalition which has been commanding the area.
NATO endorsed the expansion at a meeting of its defence ministers in Brussels on last Thursday.
The 37-nation ISAF took over command of the Taliban-dominated southern provinces from the coalition on July 31, moving into one of the most hostile areas of the country and embarking on its most ambitious mission yet.
Troops in the south - mostly Canadian, Britons, Dutch and Americans - have confronted some of the heaviest fighting their nations have seen in decades.
New York, Oct 4 (DPA) The UN Security Council will formally pick a successor for the UN's top job next Monday - choosing in all likelihood South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon, the council's president said.
Ban has come out on top in four informal votes by the 15-nation council over who should succeed Secretary General Kofi Annan next year.
In the latest vote Monday, the career diplomat received 14 votes in favour and one abstention, prompting the second place finisher, Undersecretary General Shashi Tharoor of India, to say he was pulling out of the race.
Security Council president and Japanese Ambassador Kenzo Oshima said the council would take a "formal decision" Monday morning and could make its recommendation to the General Assembly on the same day.
The assembly must approve any choice, though this is widely considered a formality.
Annan will step down on Dec 31 after a 10-year term.
New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS) Global IT major NIIT Technologies has tied up with Singapore's Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) to develop and market e-government procurement solutions.
"Singapore is regarded as a leader in implementing e-governance technology, hence we decided it's best to tie-up with the leaders to provide e-government solutions to South Asian countries," Arvind Thakur, chief executive of NIIT, said Wednesday.
As part of the contract, DSTA will be outsourcing the development and maintenance support of their government electronic business portal (GeBIZ) to NIIT, which it will market to the governments of South Asia, Middle East and Central Europe.
Said Kailash Agarwal, NIIT's e-governance project head: "With the announcement of the allocation of Rs.230 billion ($50.3 billion) by the Indian government under the National e-governance Action Plan, the e-governance market definitely has tremendous potential.
"Identifying this opportunity, we at NIIT planned to venture into this business."
New York, Oct 4 (IANS) Breastfeeding has little impact on a child's intelligence, says a new study but adds that it is still important that newborns continue to be breastfed.
Anjali Jain and colleagues from the British Medical Research Council studied 5,475 US children and mothers. They also identified 332 sibling pairs in which one child was breastfed and the other was not, reported the online edition of science magazine WebMD.
They found a positive impact for breastfeeding on intelligence only when other potential contributors such as the mother's IQ and the parents' educational and economic status were taken into consideration.
The researchers also did not find any significant difference in intelligence among the breastfed and non-breastfed siblings.
"The mother's IQ was by far the most important variable, accounting for 70-75 percent of the difference between children who were and were not breastfed," said Geoff Der, one of the researchers.
He, however, said that these findings should not discourage mothers from breastfeeding their newborns.
"Even if it does not enhance intelligence, breastfeeding remains an unequalled way of providing ideal food for the healthy growth and development of infants," said Der.
Breastfeeding has been shown to lower an infant's risk of infections and is believed to help protect against allergies, diabetes, and obesity later in life.
"We would never suggest that any woman should choose not to breastfeed on the basis of our findings," Der said. "Clearly, there are many good reasons to breastfeed."
Seoul, Oct 4 (DPA) North Korea announced Tuesday it plans to carry out a nuclear test, saying it was being compelled to do so because of US sanctions and hostility.
Such a test would strengthen the nuclear deterrent of North Korea, said a statement from the foreign ministry that was distributed on the official Korean Central News Agency.
"DPRK will in the future conduct a nuclear test," the statement said, using the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
It did not say when a test might be carried out.
North Korea had previously said it possesses nuclear weapons, but it is not yet known to have carried out a nuclear test.
"The already declared possession of nuclear weapons presupposes the nuclear test," Tuesday's statement said.
"The US extreme threat of a nuclear war and sanctions and pressure compel North Korea to conduct a nuclear test, an essential process for bolstering nuclear deterrent as a corresponding measure for defence," it added.
The statement came as six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear programme have been stalled for a year.
In September 2005, North Korea agreed to abandon its nuclear programme in return for aid and security guarantees, but later that month and in October, the US imposed financial sanctions on it.
Pyongyang has refused ever since to return to the negotiating table with the US, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia.
North Korea's statement Tuesday heaped scorn on the US and blamed Washington's actions for Pyongyang's future nuclear test. It accused the US of preparing for a second Korean war and threatening North Korea's sovereignty.
It added that it would "never use nuclear weapons first" and prohibits any nuclear transfers.
However, Washington has charged Pyongyang with the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and some of the financial sanctions it imposed in autumn 2005 targeted firms it said were engaged in the trade of such weapons.
North Korea's relations with the US have deteriorated under the administration of President George W. Bush, who called Pyongyang part of an axis of evil in 2002.
Bush warned in August this year that a North Korean nuclear test would be a threat and urged the international community to work toward ensuring Pyongyang cannot jeopardise stability.
Oslo, Oct 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) A Norwegian commercial television channel was yesterday set to broadcast pictures of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed in a documentary on the row surrounding last year's publication of the cartoons, Norwegian media reported.
TV2's Dokument 2 programme was to screen in "some form or another", the cartoons first published by Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September last year.
The paper's publication of 12 caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed, followed by a slew of other, mostly European media, sparked outrage in the Muslim world.
TV2 did not want to say whether or not the documentary titled "Bound to Silence" would show the controversial drawings.
The Norwegian Foreign Ministry said the programme did feature the cartoons and said it had alerted its embassies in some Muslim countries about the broadcast.
"There's nothing dramatic in this. We have sent a message" to our embassies in countries most affected by the cartoons crisis, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, who had seen the documentary, Anne Lene Dale Sandsten told agencies.
Norway was one of the first countries where the cartoons were reproduced. In ensuing protests, the Scandinavian country's interests were hit especially hard in Syria and Afghanistan.
Srinagar, Oct 4 (IANS) One policeman was killed and six people injured as a fierce gun battle raged between separatist guerrillas holed up inside a hotel and security forces in Budshah Chowk in Srinagar Wednesday.
Of the six injured, two are security personnel and the rest civilians.
Police moved swiftly to evacuate shoppers and shopkeepers to safety as gunfire continued between the guerrillas holed up inside the Standard Hotel in Budshah Chowk, adjacent to Lal Chowk- the busy shopping and commercial district of the Jammu and Kashmir summer capital- and the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troops.
The militants had hurled grenades and fired from automatic weapons at the CRPF guards outside the Akhara building, which is being used as a barrack by the CRPF, triggering retaliatory attacks.
A caller of the Al Mansoorian militant outfit called up a local news agency to claim responsibility for the attack. According to the caller, around three men of the outfit were hiding in the hotel.
However, a senior police official told IANS that there were two fidayeen guerrillas inside the hotel.
"A raiding party of the CRPF and police entered the first floor of the hotel and searched some rooms. We have to move cautiously as the area is heavily congested," said the official.
"We have so far rescued more than 200 persons safely. There are still people trapped inside shops and some homes there. Efforts are continuing to rescue them," he told IANS from near the Standard Hotel building.
Tension is high in the summer capital as anxious parents thronged schools to fetch their children back before the usual closing hour. Some anxious relatives of the shopkeepers, who are trapped inside, were waiting and enquiring from police officials about their welfare.
Announcements were being made on loud speakers by the police, asking shopkeepers and others in the area to move out of the buildings and leave the area in waiting bullet-proof vehicles.
Heavy police and paramilitary reinforcements have been moved to the area and the city centre has been sealed.
Among the four civilians is Nazir Ahmed, the manager of the hotel, police said.
Baghdad, Oct 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) More than 30 people were killed in violence around Iraq on Tuesday, including a state TV employee, a judge and three people in a morning suicide attack on a fish market in Baghdad that wounded 19 others.
The bomber detonated a belt rigged with explosives in the outdoor market in the primarily Sunni area of Sadiyah, Southwestern Baghdad, at 7:10 a.m. (0940 IST), Police Lt. Maitham Abdul Razzaq said.
In the northern city of Mosul, Jassim Hammad Ibrahim, who was working as a driver for state-run Iraqia TV, was killed in a drive-by shooting, police Maj. Ahmed Khalid said. Mosul`s Iraqia TV station manager Ghazi Faisal confirmed Ibrahim`s death, adding that he had been going shopping when killed by the unknown assailants.
In Hay, 220 kilometers south of Baghdad, unidentified gunmen shot and killed Naeem Manei, an assistant judge in the hay court, police said.
A mortar attack on a Shia area of Baghdad`s Dora neighborhood, killed one civilian and injured 17 others, police said.
In another Baghdad attack, two civilians were injured when a roadside bomb targeting an American convoy blew up, police 1st Lt. Bilal Ali Majid said. There were no immediate reports of US casualties.
One civilian was killed and two more wounded in a rocket attack on a residential neighborhood in northern Baghdad, police said.
Another three people were killed and nine more injured when a parked car bomb blew up near a Shia mosque in downtown Baghdad. The attack came in Karradah, a Shia neighborhood at 9 am (1130 IST), police 1st Lt. Thair Mahmoud said.
About 30 kilometers south of Baghdad, mortar shells landed on a residential area in Mahmoudiya, killing one person and wounding five others, Iraqi Army Capt. Odai Abdel-Rhida said.
Two pedestrians were killed in a drive-by shooting in Mosul, 360 kilometers northwest of Baghdad, police said.
One civilian was killed and three others were injured when unidentified gunmen stormed the house of a Shia family in Muqdadiyah, about 90 kilometers north of Baghdad, police said.
Meanwhile, authorities in Baqouba, 60 kilometers northeast of Baghdad, said four gunmen were killed in a morning clash with police in the city.
Police also found seven bodies in an area north of Baqouba, identified as being the father, three sons and three other relatives from a Shia family.
Five more people, whom neighbours said were a Shia family fleeing their home after receiving threats, were killed in the Gatoun area of Baquoba, police said.
In addition, Baqouba general hospital doctor Ahmed Fuad said the hospital had received the bodies of eight other people who had been shot today and two who had been killed in a roadside bombing.
In an area near Amarah, 320 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, police found the body of Col. Adnan Hussein al Hreshawi, a former Iraqi officer in Saddam Hussein`s Army. His hands were cuffed, and he had been shot in the head and other parts of the body, Police Capt. Hussein Kareem said.
Islamabad, Oct 4 (IRNA) Pakistani law enforcement agencies have arrested 246 pro-Taliban Afghans in the last two months, a senior Interior Ministry official said on Monday.
The official, as quoted by the Daily Times, said the arrests were made in connection with an ongoing campaign launched against Taliban operatives and Afghans supporting the Taliban.
So far Pakistan has handed over 57 pro-Taliban Afghans to the government of Afghanistan, he added.
The countrywide campaign against suspected Taliban supporters was launched in the backdrop of intelligence agencies reports saying the presence of pro-Taliban Afghans would cause serious security threats in Pakistan.
The Interior Ministry had directed provinces to monitor activities of Afghan refugees and to take prompt action against those involved in dubious activities.
Following the directive, the provinces launched efforts to identify former operatives of the Taliban regime hiding in Pakistan disguised as refugees.
The official said a majority of pro-Taliban Afghans have been injured in clashes with security forces in Afghanistan.
They entered Pakistan's province of Balochistan for medical treatment, but were arrested.
Authorities concerned also warned private hospitals providing medical treatment to injured Afghans.
Hospitals have been directed not to treat such people without seeing their medico-legal reports.
The Interior Ministry also directed provincial authorities to help facilitate the repatriation of Afghan refugees under the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) repatriation program.
The voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan in 2006 has so far surpassed the 100,000 mark.
More than 2.8 million Afghans have returned from Pakistan and more than 1.4 million from Iran since the NHCR started facilitating their return to Afghanistan in 2002.
An estimated 2.6 million Afghans remain in Pakistan.
The official said that during an upcoming registration of Afghan refugees, they would be provided with special identity cards to legitimize their refugee status in Pakistan.
New Delhi, Oct 4 (PTI) With investigations into the Mumbai serial train blasts pointing towards a Pakistani hand, the Maharashtra Government's view that the recent terror trend was part of Islamabad-sponsored jehadi terrorism stands vindicated.
The jehadi terrorism involved "luring and training" of a large number of Muslim youth by Pakistan and using Bangladesh and Nepal as active transit routes as part of a design to engulf India into the arc of violence, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had told the just concluded Nainital conclave.
In his presentation at the Congress Chief Ministers's meet, Deshmukh had underlined the need for a declared anti-terror policy as also "mainstreaming" of the minorities, education, intervention and handling of illegal migration problem.
Besides, he had spoken about measures to streamline internal migration because of "skewed development" in the country, an obvious reference to backwardness of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar from where streams of people come to Mumbai.
To deal with the situation, Deshmukh had suggested provision of police custody of 45 days in terror crimes as also provision of filing chargesheet within 180 days instead of 90 days at present.
Besides special courts for prosecution of such crimes, he also wanted a provision for recording of confession by designated police officer to be confirmed before judicial magistrate.
Maharashtra has been affected by terrorism since 1984 and the recent incidents include the bomb blast in Nanded in Marathwada region on April six and the Malegaon blasts last month besides the Mumbai attack.
By Minu Jain,
On Board Air India One, Oct 4 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday came down heavily on Pakistan, saying it would have to "walk the talk" on controlling terrorism.
Referring to the serial blasts in India's financial capital Mumbai July 11, he said it was the most recent instance of terrorism where "we had lost 200 lives".
The peace process between India and Pakistan cannot move forward until "both our countries work to gain mastery over this menace," Manmohan Singh told journalists on his way back from a four-day tour to South Africa.
"Despite all that, we are making efforts to normalize relations with Pakistan," he said categorically.
The joint mechanism on terrorism agreed on during Manmohan Singh's meeting with Pakistan President Pravez Musharraf in Havana last month, was yet to take off, the prime minister said.
" We have yet to test it. We will test it. We have set up this mechanism. How else can we ask for information except through a mechanism like this?" he asked, stressing on the need to share information.
" We will test the waters...I think Pakistan will have to walk the talk."
The Havana joint statement explicitly condemns the Mumbai blast and details the steps the two countries will take to control terrorism.
" We will share that information with Pakistan and ascertain how sincere they are in carrying forward the commitment that I and President Musharraf have underlined in our joint statement," Manmohan Singh asserted.
The issue of terrorism and the fact that India had been the victim of cross-border terrorism for a long time also came up during Manmohan Singh's meeting with South African President Thabo Mbeki.
Manmohan Singh said he had not read Musharraf's much talked about autobiography but hoped to do so over the weekend.
Discussing the civilian nuclear deal with the US and the uncertainty that surrounds it, the prime minister said: "One has to reckon with the fact that we have no control over the legislative process in the United States; that uncertainly will always exist.
"There is nothing I can do to get over that uncertainly. We have to watch what happens in November (when the Senate reconvenes to consider the measure)," the prime minister maintained.
Moving on to economic reforms, he admitted that there were problems and said reforms were needed in the banking and insurance systems.
"Now, unfortunately, these reforms are blocked because we don't have consensus in our coalition, but we keep trying."
Similarly, there was no consensus in the coalition on how to handle the issue of the creamy layer in reservations, the prime minister said.
On the oft-asked question of a new foreign minister, he said there were vacancies in the cabinet of the external affairs and labour ministers.
"I have to (fill the slots) and I will do so shortly," Manmohan Singh stated.
Jammu, Oct 4 (IANS) A resident of Pakistan-administered-Kashmir was apprehended by the Indian Army along the Line-of-Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch sector Wednesday.
The man, identified as Abdul Razaaq, had "inadvertently" walked into the Indian side of the LoC, said informed sources.
Army officials said Razaaq, who is in his early 20's, appeared to be innocent. They added that the Pakistani army had been informed and Razaaq would be sent back soon.
By Liz Mathew,
New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS) After making them slog for decades for a pittance, India's dominant communist party has finally decided to hike the wages of its full-time activists to give them a slightly better standard of living.
Across the country, "whole timers" - as they are known - are eagerly waiting for the windfall promised to them by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), which pays a monthly fixed wage, or salary, to its estimated 25,000 activists.
The lowest monthly slab is now Rs.1,500, which is barely enough to give a decent lifestyle. If the CPI-M decision to pay its "whole timers" the minimum wages prescribed by central and state governments for unskilled labour is implemented, this amount is likely to rise by a few hundred rupees.
That, party activists say, is something they badly require.
"It's a good step," said K. Veeriah, a 32-year-old activist who has been with the party since 1997.
Veeriah, who works at the CPI-M headquarters here as a personal assistant to politburo member Sitaram Yechury, earns Rs.3,300 a month - just a few hundred more than what courier company delivery boys in the city get. Mercifully, his accommodation and family's medical expenses are taken care of by the party.
But he doesn't get to take home even the meagre monthly amount that comes his way although that is less than the notified wage for an unskilled labourer in the national capital.
Worse, Veeriah has to pay around Rs.600 to the party as "levy" annually. This is mandatory for all members.
But Veeriah, the single breadwinner in his family that includes a school-going child, says he does not feel bad. "We find it difficult to meet the expenses in an expensive city like Delhi. It is our commitment to ideology that drives us," Veeriah told IANS.
But mere ideology, the party is realizing, cannot fill people's stomachs, not in this age.
The CPI-M says it does not differentiate between the wages of an ordinary "whole timer" and a party leader. Even Yechury or party general secretary Prakash Karat draw more or less the same amount as the others.
But senior leaders get some extra facilities because they need to travel more and interact with people. "They will get vehicles too," explained Roopchand Pal, a college lecturer-turned-CPI-M Lok Sabha MP from West Bengal.
The party decides a full timer's wage on the basis of the living expenses of the place where he works. If his spouse is employed, the amount would be less. According to Pal, the party stands by members who are in distress.
However, P. Karunakaran, an MP from Kerala, pointed out that most members including some MPs found it difficult to make both ends meet. An MP earning Rs.26,000 as salary, including the constituency allowance, gives backs a whopping Rs.19,500 to the party.
"If I go for parliamentary committee meetings (for which we get special allowances), things are ok that month. Otherwise it is very tough. As an MP I end up spending at least Rs.12,000 on taxis alone," he said.
So why is the CPI-M, which opposes any hike even in MPs' salaries with unflinching regularity, increasing the wages of its members?
Some say this is because the poor wages have affected the party membership.
"Cost of living in cities is so high that we found it difficult to manage. So the second generation tends to move away from the party," said a former member who was a full-timer for almost a decade.
Pointing out that surviving on one's income from the party was "almost impossible" the member said: "Whole-timers tend to be isolated at the place they work. Unless you are from a well-off family, which many of the central leaders are, it is extremely difficult to manage. That's why the numbers are dwindling.
"Unlike the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh), communist parties do not insist on bachelorhood for members. So everyone tends to have families," she pointed out. This makes it worse.
Things are slightly different in Left-ruled Kerala and West Bengal. "The youth in the two states seem to be more keen to join the party as membership would be advantageous to get jobs," said a sympathiser.
CPI-M leaders admit that many of them prefer their children not to follow their footsteps.
"I have been getting many calls from my former friends asking for jobs for their children. They are keen to keep their children out of the party," another former full-timer told IANS.
The CPI-M, which claims its popularity has risen since it extended support to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, says it is aware of the realities.
"We found that whole-time cadres are underpaid. It is difficult for them to work with that money. We have decided to make our system more effective."
Tehran, Oct 4 (DPA) Ramadan in Iran has various angles. While committed Muslims take the occasion as a religious duty, less committed Muslims take the one-month period to compensate their religious negligence and return to spirituality.
But for many Iranian women Ramadan - fasting from sunrise to sunset - is also suitable occasion not only for fulfilling their religious duties but also for shedding the odd extra pound.
Samireh, a 24-year student from Tehran, and her university friends have decided this year to avail of this opportunity to renew their good intentions, and also lose some of the annoying extras around their waste and hips.
Many intentions, such as helping their mothers with housework, supporting their little brothers with homework, aiding homeless people or studying harder might eventually come true somehow, but the toughest aim remains dieting.
As Iranian food contains a lot of rice along with oily and salty stews, many Iranians suffer from being overweight.
Dieting in Iran basically starts with avoiding rice but as for almost all Iranians anything without rice is not regarded as real food, the dieting process frequently ends in failure.
The first date for putting into practice good intentions is usually the Persian New Year (March 21). While for the New Year only personal motivations are involved, there are also religious ones during Ramadan, encouraging women to conquer their weaker self.
"The diet part of the good intentions made on New Year usually ends after a few days. But thank god, my friends and I renew them again on Ramadan," Samireh says.
Samireh has an additional motivation this year round: she is going to get married. But as wedding ceremonies are not held during Ramadan and the couple has to wait until the Eid-ul-Fitr feast, which marks the end of the fasting month, she will have enough time to lose at least some of the additional pounds.
"Spirituality and love? Motivation enough to make it work this time, Inshallah!" she says.
Samireh's 50-year-old mother wants to join her daughter in fasting. Although mother and daughter are religious, they do not constantly pray or fast.
"I like my daughter to take Ramadan as an occasion to be closer to god but I have never ever forced her to fast," says the mother who nonetheless welcomes the idea of using Ramadan for dieting. "Losing some pounds myself would not be bad, either."
Nutrition expert Zia Mozahari considers fasting during Ramadan a suitable opportunity for "cleansing mind and body" and the best time for losing weight.
Yet other experts believe that not eating anything during daytime and starting at Iftar - the fast-breaking meal after sunset - eating dinner later, then sleeping and then again having breakfast for Sahari - last meal before sunrise - could backfire and increase people's body fat.
"This could indeed be the case as taking the wrong food will not only be harmful for your body but make you extremely thirsty during the day and eventually cause great inconvenience," Mozahari says.
"The desirable results can only be gained by taking the right food, especially boiled vegetables is a must on the menu," he recommends to those who intend to diet.
However, this is easier said than done as most of the traditional Ramadan delicacies for breaking the fast are either extremely sweet or enormously heavy, such as "Ash'e Reshteh", a noodle soup with beans and an undeniable obligation on every Ramadan dining table.
Although Iran is widely considered one of the fortresses of the Islamic world, not all Iranians follow the Muslim duties such as praying or fasting.
Besides its religious aspects, Ramadan is used as a time for family reunions. Family members take their time to gather for making Iftar and having dinner together throughout the month.
"I like Ramadan, especially the nice and cosy gatherings and the colourful dining tables and the various delicious food. But this time I better not look at the dishes," Samireh says.
Tbilisi/Moscow, Oct 4 (DPA) Russia enforced a threatened transport blockade on neighbouring Georgia amid a spying dispute, closing all of its transport routes into the Caucasus republic.
Since midnight Monday, air, sea, rail and road links between the two former Soviet republics were reportedly paralysed.
The blockade would continue indefinitely, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Moscow.
The speaker of Russia's Duma lower house of parliament, Boris Gryzlov, said the measures constituted "sanctions against the regime" of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili.
The Georgian leader has angered Russia by adopting a strong pro-Western line since coming to power in 2004.
The dispute flared further last week after the detention by authorities in Tbilisi of four Russian military officers for alleged spying.
Under growing international pressure to calm the situation, Georgia released the officers on Monday but Russia went ahead with the transport freeze, citing unpaid bills and other "serious matters" in relations.
Moscow, Oct 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) Russia warned the United States on Tuesday against basing elements of a planned missile defense system in Poland, saying this would undermine strategic stability and require a "corresponding" response from Moscow, Interfax news agency said.
"This could have a negative impact on strategic stability, regional security and the relations between states," Interfax quoted ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin as saying in an interview.
"Such a new situation objectively requires corresponding measures from us," Kamynin said.
He did not specify what those measures would be. Russia, however, announced earlier this year that it was supplying Belarus -- an ex-soviet republic wedged between Russia and Poland -- with its sophisticated s-300 anti-aircraft defence system.
The United States has for years been planning and testing elements of a new global anti-missile defence system that would combine space-based elements capable of detecting hostile missile launches with ground-based rockets that would track and destroy those missiles.
Washington has consistently stated that the objective of the planned system is to protect the United States and allies from ballistic missile launches from what it terms "rogue" states such as North Korea or Iran, and has insisted that it is not aimed against any other party.
With equal consistency however, Moscow has made clear its deep unease at the planned us system. Most recently, the Chief of Staff of Russia's armed forces, General Yuri Baluyevsky, warned that the planned us system could ignite a new cold war-style arms race.
Sacramento (California), Oct 4 (DPA) Seeking re-election in the heavily Democratic state, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger stayed away from "unpopular" US President George Bush in an apparent bid to avoid alienating voters.
Many of his recent policies, including signing a landmark environmental bill, have put him squarely at odds with Bush's policies, helping to propel Schwarzenegger to a commanding lead over Democratic rival Phil Angelides.
Bush made a rare visit Tuesday to California to campaign for a local Republican candidate for the Nov 7 mid-term poll.
California voters believe Schwarzenegger represents very different values from the "unpopular president", who has a 66-per-cent disapproval rating in the state.
"Bush is incredibly unpopular in California, but Schwarzenegger has successfully separated himself from the president," said pollster Phil Trounstine of the San Jose State University research centre Tuesday.
"They know he's a Republican, but they don't see him as Bush's evil twin."
Minu Jain,
On Board Air India One, Oct 4 (IANS) There was no reason to be disheartened by Shashi Tharoor withdrawing from the race for UN secretary general, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Tuesday, describing the UN official's performance as "very, very creditable even though he has not made it".
It was always going to be a Herculean task with India up against existing international order, the prime minister told journalists on his way back from a three-day trip to South Africa.
"This is the first time we have challenged it (the international order)," Manmohan Singh said.
"I think there is no reason for being disheartened. I think the future will have to reckon with the fact that India is ready to assume its rightful role in the management of international system," he added.
Chandigarh, Oct 4 (IANS) The Sri Lanka and Bangladesh teams arrived here Tuesday evening for qualifying matches of the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Champions Trophy to be played at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) stadium at Mohali near here.
Both teams went through a practice session in the evening at the newly renovated Sector 16 cricket stadium here.
It was almost after a decade that international teams have come to this ground.
Both teams will play practice matches with the Punjab XI team here in the run-up to the Champions Trophy that begins Oct 7 at four centres - Mumbai, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Mohali.
While Bangladesh will take on Punjab XI that features some India team players Wednesday, Sri Lanka will take on Punjab XI the next day.
Bangladesh coach David Whatmore said here his team was the weakest among the participants but was ready to fight it out.
"Our recent performance in South Africa was just average," he admitted.
Sri Lanka and Bangladesh clash in the opening game of the Champions Trophy Oct 7 at PCA stadium at Mohali, 10 km from here.
Dear friends:
Please look at the following appeal we have received from the Forum for Democrative Initiatives in New Delhi. It reminds us of the courageous man Bant Singh, a Dalit and an activist for the Agricultural Labourers Association in Punjab. Back in July 2002 his daughter Baljit Kaur was gang-raped. Bant Singh and his daughter Baljit decided to decided to wage a struggle against the rapists. For a whole month the police would not even file a case; the village panchayat (council) dominaed by powerful upper-caste locals put pressures on the father and the daughter, not to press for legal cases. They persevered. Ultimately they won the legal battle. The rapists were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
But the village powerfuls didn't leave Bant Singh alone. Three times he was assaulted by their hit-men, in August 2005, December 2005, and on January 5, 2006. The last one was a deadly one. Both his arms and one leg had to be amputated. But Bant Singh is holding out. "They have taken away my limbs, not my spirit and not my voice". He still holds rallies and sings peoples songs.
For details on the incident, petition and protests, newspaper reports following it, please see
www.punjabdalitsolidarity.blogspot.com
St. Stephen's Hospital in Delhi is willing to medically rehabilitate Bant Singh, with artificial limbs. This needs big funds.
We urge you to salute this courageous and indomitable fighter by giving what you can. All the details are in the message below. There are pictures of him and also of his daughter, with her own statement, in the link above.
many thanks
hari sharma
for SANSAD
*******************
Dear friends,
Early this year, we had sent you information about the barbaric, gruesome attack on Bant Singh, a dalit singer and leader of AIALA, the organization of agrarian labour, in Punjab. You had also signed the petition and expressed solidarity. A pdf file with details is also attached with this email.
As you may know Bant Singh has shown exemplary courage in the face of extreme adversity. He refused to surrender to the demands of the caste panchayat when they asked him to drop the case against the rapists of his minor daughter. He relentlessly pursued legal justice by declaring that the struggle that he pursued for his daughter was also the struggle for the dignity of similarly oppressed dalit women. He continued to organize agricultural workers for their rights and wages brushing aside dangers to his person. And when his arms and legs were smashed to a pulp (and subsequently amputated) by politically powerful landlords he comforted his friends and said, "They have taken my limbs but I've got my voice - I can still sing!"
Medical Rehabilitation of Bant Singh
While Bant Singh continues to defy the fetters imposed by disability following the barbaric assault, he is currently facing several difficulties. He is unable to move on his own, a surgery is pending in the leg that was left intact but dysfunctional. He has 8 very young children to look after; his piggery-the work that had freed him from the feudal bonds of being tied to the landlords' fields-has collapsed and there are multiple medical complications.
What needs to be done
Bant Singh's courage will be a source of inspiration to all but we need not be mere spectators to the tragedy unleashed on him. We can express our solidarity by helping him access the best possible medical rehabilitation, so that he is back on his feet. Doctors have pointed out that with the current developments in medical technology, it would not be impossible to fix artificial limbs, both arms and legs, for him. Given the nature of amputation and the extent of prosthetic aids required, it is an expensive procedure but this is also necessary to prevent his organs from getting atrophied.
The St. Stephen's Hospital, Delhi, is attempting to medically rehabilitate Bant Singh. While this procedure has started, there is an urgent need for funds so that the best possible prosthetic aids can be acquired for him. We urgently seek your financial support for this purpose.
Bant Singh's rehabilitation would give all struggling people immense courage and hope. We owe it to Bant Singh to enable him to walk again.
You can draw your cheque/ DD in favour of AIALA, and send it to U-90, Shakarpur, Delhi 110 092.
For further details and queries on nature of contribution, you could contact:
Forum for Democratic Initiatives
fdidelhi@gmail.com , fdi_delhi@yahoo.co.in
9868038981/ 9811625577 / 9910074470 / 9818416968/ 9818514952
Stockholm, Oct 4 (Xinhua) US scientists John C. Mather and George F. Smoot won the 2006 Nobel Physics Prize Tuesday for their work on the Big Bang theory on the origin of the universe.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the two men were instrumental to the success of the cosmic background explorer (COBE) satellite programme launched by NASA in 1989.
"The COBE results provided increased support for the Big Bang scenario for the origin of the universe, as this is the only scenario that predicts the kind of cosmic microwave background radiation measured by COBE," the Academy added.
Under the Big Bang theory, the cosmos was formed from a cataclysmic explosion that happened about 13.7 billion years ago.
Measurements taken by the satellite offered insights into the age of the universe, galaxies and stars by calculating the temperature of cosmic microwave background radiation, a relic of the infant universe, the Nobel jury said.
"These measurements also marked the inception of cosmology as a precise science," it added.
Mather, 60, works at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and Smoot, 61, works at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California.
This year's award announcements began Monday with the Nobel Prize in medicine going to Americans Andrew Fire and Craig Mello for their discovery of how to silence malfunctioning genes, offering new hope for fighting diseases as diverse as cancer and AIDS.
The Chemistry Prize will be announced on Wednesday. The Economics Prize is scheduled for Monday, Oct 9. The Peace Prize - the only one not awarded in Sweden - will be announced Oct 13 in Oslo, Norway.
The date for the Literature Prize has yet to be announced but it is traditionally on a Thursday, and could fall on Oct 5 or Oct 12.
The Nobel prizes, founded by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, were first awarded in 1901.
The 2006 laureates will each receive a gold medal and a diploma and will share a cheque for 10 million Swedish kronor ($1.37 million) at the formal prize ceremony slated for Dec 10, the anniversary of the death in 1896 of the prize's creator Alfred Nobel.
New York, Oct 4 (DPA) The UN Security Council chose to make no official comment on North Korea's latest threat of a nuclear test, with members instead saying they would work on a more comprehensive response in the coming days.
North Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that it was planning to carry out a nuclear test, blaming US sanctions and hostility for its decision.
The US media reported that American intelligence had detected an increase of activity at a possible test site in North Korea.
"What I urged today was that the Security Council ... come up with not just a knee-jerk reaction to the North Korean announcement but to develop a coherent strategy to convince them that it's not in their interest to engage in nuclear testing," US ambassador John Bolton said.
But China's ambassador Wang Guangya seemed unenthusiastic about pushing for action in the Security Council, preferring to seek a solution in the stalled six-party talks.
"I do urge all sides to exercise restraint," Guangya said. "The best way, the best channel to address this issue, is the six-party talks."
North Korea has refused to resume discussions since the six countries met a year ago in Beijing. The nations involved are China, Japan, Russia, the United States and the two Koreas.
The council had condemned North Korea's missile tests and demanded a halt to all future tests. It also called on nations to restrict the sale of technology to North Korea that could be used in a nuclear or missile programme.
Japanese ambassador and current Security Council president Kenzo Oshima said many members of the 15-nation body spoke out for a strong response to North Korea's latest threat, during discussions Tuesday in their regular monthly meeting.
"Council members have agreed ... to take up this issue, to give it the appropriate attention that it deserves because of the seriousness of the issue," he said.
North Korea's statement Tuesday did not say when a nuclear test might be carried out, but heavily criticized US efforts to rein in its programme.
The communist nation has in the past declared that it possesses a nuclear capability, but has carried out no known test.
Oshima said North Korea's statement demonstrated that it had not taken the Security Council's July resolution seriously.