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Inderfurth terms India WASHINGTON, Feb 3: US Assistant Secretary of State Karl F Inderfurth .......more
Deep-seated rivalry WASHINGTON, Feb 3: Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet, citing.....more Clinton eager to WASHINGTON, Feb 2: US President Bill Clinton has delinked ...more
‘US more vulnerable to
WASHINGTON, Feb 3: In a remarkably sobering assessment of ....more |
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Is Queen Elizabeth LONDON, Feb 3: Britain’s dog-loving Queen Elizabeth, so often flanked by her.....more UNESCO meet apprised RECIFE (BRAZIL), Feb 3: Mr K S Sarma, Additional Secretary in the Human Resource Development Ministry, has said the Sarva Shiksha....more Paris summit launches battle against cancer PARIS, Feb 3: Scientists, Government officials, patients and advocacy groups gather in the French capital today for a two-day summit to launch a .....more Moscow to appeal Indian MOSCOW, Feb 3: Moscow is to appeal the decision of an Indian court to sentence four Russians convicted of an arms drop over Purulia in West.....more |
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Inderfurth terms India as emerging world power WASHINGTON, Feb 3: US Assistant Secretary of State Karl F Inderfurth, today described India, which President Clinton will be visiting next month, as an emerging economic power house and world power, a dynamic nation forged from amazing diversity, and a successful democracy with over a billion people. Delivering a lecture at the Howard University here, Inderfurth said Clinton’s visit to South Asia signifies a policy of greater US engagement with countries of the region but warned that this would depend a lot on progress in crucial areas such as nuclear disarmament and terrorism. Our growing engagement with South Asia can be realized only if that region addresses some of the tough issues, including proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, terrorism and regional and social conflict, Inderfurth said. My hope is that there will soon come a time when such issues no longer dominate our thinking about South Asia. I hope we will become deeply engaged on an agenda of growth, science and technology cooperation, cultural and educational exchange, joint efforts to combat infectious diseases, and many other areas. Amid uncertainty over Clinton’s visit to Pakistan if it fails to satisfy US concerns about restoration of democracy and cracking down on terrorism, Inderfurth held out an olive branch to Islamabad saying the US intends to stay engaged with it despite current difficulties. Pakistan’s military coup last October, he said, Is a regrettable setback for South Asia as a whole — but one that we hope will prove temporary. We do not approve the general’s method of taking control, and we are talking very frankly to him and to his newly appointed officials abut their plans to restore civilian democratic rule to this key country. Our goal, which General Musharraf says he shares, is to see Pakistan put back on the democratic path in the shortest possible time frame. To the extent we see evidence that this process is in motion, it will be in our own interest to see how we can most appropriately and effectively encourage it. Pakistan, once part of British India, said Inderfurth, has become a country with its own vision. That vision, as I was told by its new Foreign Minister when I was there last week, is of a ‘progressive, modern democratic, Islamic state.’ that is a vision we can support, and Pakistan’s potential is important because it is a link — both economic and political — between the Indian Ocean and Central Asia, because it has significant human and economic resources, and because it has historically been a friend of the us. For all these reasons, we intend to stay engaged with Pakistan despite the current difficulties it is facing. (PTI) |
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Deep-seated rivalry between Indo-Pak: CIA WASHINGTON, Feb 3: Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet, citing "the deep-seated rivalry" between India and Pakistan, has said that "India enjoys advantages over Pakistan in most areas of conventional defence preparedness. He said that recent changes in Government in both countries "add tensions," and that General Musharraf’s rule in Pakistan "has reinforced New Delhi’s inclination not to reopen the bilateral dialogue" soon. Mr Tenet said, "the new year brings continuing deep concerns about the antagonisms that persist in South Asia and their potential to fuel a wider conflict on the subcontinent." He said threats were growing from Weapons of Mass Destruction aimed at the United States from many parts of the world, and that "over the next 15 years, our cities will face ballistic missile threats from North Korea, probably Iran, and possibly Iraq." Mr Tenet said suspected Saudi terrorist Osana Bin Ladin was still foremost among terrorists planning attacks against the United States and that more than half of 24 terrorists brought to justice since July 1998 "were associates" of Bin Ladin’s Al-Qa’ida organisation. He said that despite some disruptions, US intelligence officials believed Bin Ladin could strike without warning, and that the terrorist—along with others—was "placing increased emphasis on developing surrogates to carry out attacks in an effort to avoid detection." Intelligence officials were "familiar with Russian and Chinese capabilities to strike at military and civilian targets throughout the United States," Mr Tenet said, adding that in the post-Yeltsin Russia, Russian polls indicated that acting President Vladimir Putin "is the odds-on favourite" to win the next election in two months, and he would face many challenges. The way he decides to meet them would determine whether Russia continued to move "further along the path toward economic recovery and democratic stability." Mr Tenet covered regions of the world "where vital US interests are at stake" including the West Asia, Iran, Iraq, the Balkans, Kosovo, China, North Korea, East Asia, Indonesia, Africa, and India-Pakistan. (UNI) |
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Vietnamese visit prostitutes to wipe out bad luck: Study HANOI, Feb 3: Vietnamese men are paying for sex in order to turn around streaks of bad luck, according to study results reported today by the official media. The study found that men who had sex with a prostitute, especially one who was pregnant, thought the illicit act would "release" their bad luck and stave off illness, the Vietnam news reported. Many Vietnamese consider the end of the year as the most unlucky in the annual cycle. "It was two days before tet (the lunar new year) and I had lost a lot in gambling," the report quoted a subject as saying. "A relative told me I should go and pay for sex to wipe out all the bad luck. So I went." The Institute of Social Sciences report, one of the first in-depth studies on Vietnam’s mushrooming sex trade, studied 212 men caught in police raids in brothels in Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital. Vietnam’s communist leadership has labelled prostitution a "social evil", and, though the practice is technically illegal, there are hundreds of thousands of sex workers in the country’s main cities, according to international health experts. A rapid change in lifestyle and newfound disposable income among urbanites is fuelling the boom in the sex trade, the report said. Teenage women from Vietnam’s impoverished countryside have flocked to centres such as Ho Chi Minh city in recent years, only to be drawn into the sex trade, experts have said. Some rural migrants were found to accept as little as 3,000 dong (22 cents) for sexual favours. Sex education is frowned upon in Vietnam, where ignorance about aids remains high despite some genuine attempts by Government health groups to spread the word. Recent reports in official media said as many as 100,000 Vietnamese women, mainly teenagers, have been smuggled into Cambodia to work in the sex industry. (DPA) |
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‘US more vulnerable to growing global threats’ WASHINGTON, Feb 3: In a remarkably sobering assessment of the threats facing the United States, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director George Tenet told a Senate Committee yesterday that growing resentment of American power plus new technologies means that the United States has become "a lightning rod for the disaffected". Tenet told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, "the fact that we are arguably the world’s most powerful nation does not bestow invulnerability. In fact, it may make us a larger target for those who don’t share our interests, values or beliefs." Tenet went down the long list of threats facing the United States: - The missile threat to the United States from states other than Russia or China - which includes Iran, North Korea, Iraq and Syria -is steadily emerging - The spread of technology such as computers and guidance equipment means an increasing risk of substantial surprise for any attack on the United States. - The threat of terrorism remains and in some ways becomes larger due to cooperation between various terrorist groups and their ability to finance themselves with narcotics sales. - Terrorist groups are more able to engage in "information warfare", attacking computer-based supply and control systems in the United States from anywhere on the globe. It is a weapon "that comes ashore", affecting the daily lives of Americans across the country. Tenet also said the war in Chechnya may impact directly on the United States as the militants are pushed out of Russia. They might seek refuge and stoke militancy in the South Caucusus and Central Asia. The Middle East was heading into a much less predictable period at the same time as the United States would be depending on the region for more oil a decade from now - 40 per cent compared to 26 per cent dependency today. In the Balkans, Montenegro, now a constituent republic of Yugoslavia, might be heading toward independence. Both Serbia and Montenegro would try to avoid a serious confrontation for now but a final showdown between them appeared to be difficult to avoid. In South Asia, the potential for a wider and possibly nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan remained. Africa’s instability would continue to grow as the economic situation in Sub-Saharan Africa grew worse. "Endemic violence and instability increase the danger that criminal and insurgent groups will zero in on individual US citizens as soft targets," he said. (DPA) |
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Is Queen Elizabeth shifting her canine affections? LONDON, Feb 3: Britain’s dog-loving Queen Elizabeth, so often flanked by her yapping corgis, has developed a new-found affection for cocker spaniels. She has five cockers of her own — bisto, oxo, flash, spick and span — and hosted the cocker championships for working dogs at her Sandringham Estate. Shooting Gazette Editor Robert Gray said: "I would not be surprised if the Queen’s affections were shifting because working-bred cockers are wonderful little dogs. She has been seen a lot with cockers in the last couple of years and is said to be mad keen on them." The British are mocked abroad for treating their pets better than their children so any news about the Monarch’s canine affections merits full-page spreads in the tabloids. But Buckingham Palace was at pains to placate corgi lovers. A spokesman told Thursday’s express newspaper: "The queen’s dogs fulfil different roles. Her spaniels are working dogs while her corgis are companions. To say she prefers one more than another is a bit strong." "The queen is fond of all her dogs in different ways. She is definitely not abandoning her corgis." (REUTERS) |
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UNESCO meet apprised of
universalisation RECIFE (BRAZIL), Feb 3: Mr K S Sarma, Additional Secretary in the Human Resource Development Ministry, has said the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is an attempt to redress the problems of elementary education through a convergent and holistic approach, making the school accountable to the community. Mr Sarma, who is leading the Indian delegation at the meeting of ministers of nine high population developing countries convened here by UNESCO at this Seaside Resort, apprised educationists from different countries of the steps taken by India to meet the basic learning needs of the people. The meet aims at reiterating the commitment of these countries — Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, and Pakistan — to the goal of providing education for all their citizens. These countries with a population of 3.2 billion people comprise more than half of humanity, and about one-fourth of their fifteen plus population is illiterate. The meeting will feed its decisions to the world forum on education to be held in Dakar in April. In the ten years since the 1990 world conference on education for all, each of these countries has recorded significant progress in every education indicator set up by UNESCO. But the new emphasis is on learning rather than enrolment and certificates. The meeting has placed strong emphasis on lifelong learning rather than on learning as a onetime activity that ends with formal schooling. The stress is equally on reaching poor children in inaccessible areas. A synthesis report prepared for the nine countries also refers to the psychological and societal effects on school drop-outs. (UNI) |
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Paris summit launches battle against cancer PARIS, Feb 3: Scientists, Government officials, patients and advocacy groups gather in the French capital today for a two-day summit to launch a global battle against cancer. The world summit against cancer aims to improve the care of cancer patients everywhere by mobilising international efforts and investment for research into the disease that kills six million people each year. French President Jacques Chirac and Koichiro Matsuura, the Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), will attend the conference that will culminate tomorrow with the signing of the charter of Paris against cancer. Organisers also plan to designate February 4 as world cancer day to highlight the suffering of patients. "We thought we should try to wake up the world about the reality of cancer," Professor David Khayat told Reuters. The professor, from the Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital in Paris, said efforts must be intensified to develop new treatments and patient rights must be recognised. "By the year 2001 we hope to rally one million people to sign the charter of Paris, thereby showing their willingness to mobilise on behalf of those affected by cancer," he added. Khayat and Professor Gabriel Hortobagyi, of the M D Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, and a group of international oncologists organised the summit to create global partnerships to combat the disease which experts predict will claim 10 million victims each year by 2020. Hundreds of cancer experts who attended the 10th international congress on anti-cancer treatment in Paris earlier this week will discuss innovations in research, global prevention programmes and the stigma that surrounds the disease. The charter of Paris against cancer, the first global plan to combat the disease, will consist of 10 points covering patient rights, commitments to basic research, improvements in access to clinical trials and prevention and screening initiatives. Nobel Laureate Eli Wiesel will also address the summit which will include an ecumenical service at the Cathedral of Notre Dame. (REUTERS) |
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Moscow to appeal Indian arms drop sentence MOSCOW, Feb 3: Moscow is to appeal the decision of an Indian court to sentence four Russians convicted of an arms drop over Purulia in West Bengal in 1995 to life imprisonment, a source at the Russian Foreign Ministry said today. Two other men who took part in the arms drop — one British, one Latvian — were also sentenced to life imprisonment for the drop. The men were arrested when Indian Air Force jets forced down the Latvian Antonov 26 transport plane they were travelling in after the drop. All six were charged with sedition last week in a Calcutta Court. Moscow said New Delhi had mis-identified the four Russian crewmembers as Latvians. Moscow does not believe the sentence is justified, the Foreign Ministry source said. It is an unexpected decision. We were expecting a seven to 10 year prison sentence, the source said. (AFP) |
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