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French debut for Jnanpith winning Hindi author PARIS, Nov 1: The French, known for their taste for world literature, will now be provided a glimpse of the treasures of Indian literature with an.....more AIDS ‘vaccine’
fails to CHICAGO, Nov 1: A deactivated form of the AIDS virus designed like a vaccine to boost the immune systems of HIV-infected people failed to slow.....more Russia talks up military cooperation with Europe LONDON, Nov 1: Russia is willing to consider military cooperation with Europe if it goes ahead with plans for an international rapid reaction force....more Taiwan plane crash TAIPEI, Nov 1: The death toll from the crash of a Singapore Airlines jet at Taiwan’s International Airport rose to 77 today, with all passengers...more |
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Jetley replaced by Opande as head of UNAMSIL UNITED NATIONS, Nov 1: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has named Lt Gen Daniel Opande, Deputy......more Indians dazzle at international youth meet SYDNEY, Nov 1: Indians stole the show at the first ever International Youth Parliament (IYP), 2000, held ....more China begins mammoth BEIJING, Nov 1: Six million census workers today fanned out nation-wide to compile China’s fifth national .....more AI bombing accused arrested
while preparing VANCOUVER, Nov 1: Ripudaman Singh Malik, one the Sikhs accused of murdering 329 people in the 1985 bombing of Air India Flight 182, was....more |
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French debut for Jnanpith winning Hindi author PARIS, Nov 1: The French, known for their taste for world literature, will now be provided a glimpse of the treasures of Indian literature with an international publisher launching a series in French, the first being a novel of eminent Hindi author Nirmal Verma. The French translation of Jnanpith Award winner Verma’s novel ‘Ek Chitra Sukh’ (A rag of happiness) would be released tomorrow as part of a series on ‘Lettres Indiennes’ (Indian literature) for general readers being brought out by Actes Sud, a leading French publishing group. "It is our intention to publish a selection of the best works from Indian languages, at the rate of two to three books per year and make them accessible to the French readership," Rajesh Sharma, Director of the Series, who teaches at the Institut D’Etudes Polis, told PTI. Verma, a master of Hindi short fiction, who won this year’s Jnanpith Award, has already had many of his works translated into English, German, Russian, Polish and Italian. Once known as Indian writer "exiled" to Europe, he spent nine years in Czechoslovakia, where he translated Czech writers like Ivan Klima and Milan Kundera into Hindi, long before their work became reknowned in English. Annie Montaut, Professor of Hindi at the School of Oriental Languages in Paris, has translated Verma’s book titled ‘Un Bonheur En Lambeaux.’ Publishers said the 192-page novel, priced at Rs 740 would, also be the first Indian novel to be released in French commercially. (PTI) |
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AIDS ‘vaccine’ fails to boost immunity in US study CHICAGO, Nov 1: A deactivated form of the AIDS virus designed like a vaccine to boost the immune systems of HIV-infected people failed to slow the deadly disease in a trial, and the study was aborted, researchers said. In earlier testing, HIV-1 immunogen, made under the brand name remune by carlsbad, California-based Immune Response Corp., had shown promise by increasing the supply of immune system CD4 cells that are targeted by the virus. But study monitors halted the study last year, several months before the scheduled end of the largest-ever trial with remune, because the drug failed to slow the disease’s progress. "They recommended that the study, in fact, be halted, and that the patients released from the study so they could find other ways to receive treatment," study author James Kahn of the University of California at San Francisco said yesterday. HIV-1 immunogen, a so-called therapeutic vaccine, is an inactive form of an AIDS virus stripped of its protein envelope. The report was published in this week’s journal of the American Medical Association. Three-quarters of the 2,527 men participating in the study also were receiving some type of antiretroviral therapy, a cocktail of drugs proven to stave off the immune system breakdown that is the signature of AIDS. Half the subjects received HIV-1 immunogen, while the other half took a placebo. Over the three years of the study, 23 subjects taking the drug died, while 19 taking the harmless placebo died. The hope of the researchers was that the drug would stimulate the immune systems of people already infected with the virus, according to the study. "Oftentimes the immune system becomes lax in its ability to mount an effective immune response to control the virus," Kahn said. "Therefore, if you were to give it small amounts of HIV proteins, you would either reawaken or restimulate the immune system, so that it’s able to mount a more effective response in controlling the person’s native viral infection." Kahn said that other promising medications may provide the needed boost to the immune system that is ultimately destroyed by AIDS. (REUTERS) |
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Russia talks up military cooperation with Europe LONDON, Nov 1: Russia is willing to consider military cooperation with Europe if it goes ahead with plans for an international rapid reaction force aimed at defusing or preventing conflicts, a Kremlin Adviser said. But Sergei Ivanov, head of the increasingly influential Kremlin Security Council, hinted that future ties with the planned 60,000-strong force may be used by Moscow as a counterbalance to NATO, its old cold war foe. "We see this as one outlet of possibly joining forces on security issues in Europe, because many European countries are not in fact NATO members," he told a news briefing in London during a visit to Britain. He said that any concrete progress on the issue was unlikely in the near term, meaning the next year or two. Ivanov’s comments followed Monday’s agreement in Paris between Russia and the European Union to open talks on how Russia might contribute to the EU’s new common security and foreign policy. European Commission President Romano Prodi said Russia was "very positive" on EU enlargement in "complete contrast" to its view on NATO’s expansion towards its borders. Moscow views that expansion as a security threat. Bedrock of stability Ivanov also reiterated Moscow’s objection to US proposals to amend the 1972 ABM Treaty so it can build a national missile defence shield. Russia sees the treaty as the bedrock of stability without which a new global arms race may be sparked. "One main problem we’re concerned about is the ABM Treaty," he said. "There are other issues like the reduction of nuclear offence weapons which Russia is very keen to do." "The lower the levels are, the more destabilising the (US) missile defence system becomes." Ivanov underlined Kremlin plans to cut the country’s huge but ageing military machine and launch a major restructuring of its Soviet-era command structure. "It is clear that the army needs serious reforms to make it more professional, more mobile and smaller in size," he said. Russian media reports have pegged armed forces reductions at 400,000, or a third of the total, by 2003. Ivanov said similar cuts, possibly less drastic, could also affect forces outside the Defence Ministry such as the Interior Ministry. "It is possible that the President will decide that the time is right for a reduction in the number of personnel, though on a lesser scale, in these structures to make them more effective," he said. "Spending on the military is already four times lower than it was during Soviet times." The Kursk submarine disaster in August, in which 118 men died when the vessel sank in the Barents Sea, highlighted the parlous state of Russia’s forces and equipment and prompted President Vladimir Putin to pledge quicker reforms. Ivanov said efforts by divers to recover the bodies of the lost men and establish the causes of the tragedy were key. "We have a chance to establish (the reasons for the submarine sinking) with Kursk, but they will only become known next year," he said, without elaborating. (REUTERS) |
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Taiwan plane crash toll rises to 77 TAIPEI, Nov 1: The death toll from the crash of a Singapore Airlines jet at Taiwan’s International Airport rose to 77 today, with all passengers accounted for, aviation officials said. Seventy-six people were killed instantly when the Boeing 747 plunged to the ground and burst into flames shortly after take-off last night and a pregnant woman died in hospital from her injuries, they said. Of the other 102 passengers and crew on board, 58 were still in hospital early today. Doctors at a local hospital were reported by local television to have described some of the survivors as being very seriously injured, suffering from severe burns and smoke inhalation. The passengers included 55 from Taiwan, 47 from the United States, 11 Singaporeans and Indians, eight Malaysians, five Indonesians, four Mexicans and four from Britain, two each from New Zealand, Thailand and Vietnam, and one each from Australia, Canada, Cambodia, Germany, Japan, the Philippines, Ireland and the Canary islands. (AFP) |
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Jetley replaced by Opande as head of UNAMSIL UNITED NATIONS, Nov 1: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has named Lt Gen Daniel Opande, Deputy Chief of Kenyan Armed Forces, as successor to India’s Maj Gen Vijay Jetley to head the peacekeeping force in Sierra Leone. Annan’s decision to replace Jetley follows India’s announcement last month to pull out of the appointment as the "first move to reshape" the military leadership of the mission and chief spokesman Fred Eckhard said Gen Opande’s was first of the three appointments to be made as part of the process to overhaul the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL). Gen Jetley was the first force commander of the mission, set up in November last year, and had guided it through its formative stages including the uncertain period when over 500 peacekeepers were taken hostage by the rebels. India, which had the largest contingent in the African nation after Nigeria, last month announced withdrawal of its 3,059-strong force. Annan had told reporters last week that he planned to replace the Indian force commander and appoint someone who would be able to "lead the men in the field and mould them into a cohesive, active force." Diplomats had said earlier that some of the prominent African countries had been demanding replacement of Gen Jetley with someone from the region. The 15-member council has time till until 2100 hrs Ist tomorrow to raise any objection to the decision. Under the rules, if there is no objection, the choice is considered automatically approved, and the council is not required to take any formal decision. (PTI) |
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Indians dazzle at international youth meet SYDNEY, Nov 1: Indians stole the show at the first ever International Youth Parliament (IYP), 2000, held here with their tremendous grasp of national and international topics ranging from education and employment to poverty and women’s issues. "I have come here to discuss and devise practical and ground level strategies to break the cycle of poverty, that I can put in", said 14-year-old Dhruv Malhotra, who was among the 250 participants from 150 countries taking part in the 10-day meet organised by Community Aid Abroad-Oxfam. Deputy Director of a 160-member School Nature Club in New Delhi, Dhruv is all set to put into action a programme ‘Reach out’ addressing the problems of the capital’s slum-dwellers. To begin with he plans to establish a community biogas plant which would provide slum residents access to gas as an alternative to fuel for energy, with the help of financial help from the Government. "The aim is to get students actively involved in tackling problems affecting young people in the community, because they have new ideas, are enthusiastic, not prejudiced, and have an unlimited bank of energy", Dhruv, who is working at getting his school to adopt a slum, said. (PTI) |
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China begins mammoth 5th national census BEIJING, Nov 1: Six million census workers today fanned out nation-wide to compile China’s fifth national census which will become a key blueprint for the fastest developing country in the new millennium. The 10-day campaign is expected to collect up-to-date information about China’s 1.3 billion people from an estimated 350 million households, census officials said. Six million workers will collect door-to-door information in the first census for 10 years. The results are expected to be published by the end of next year. The previous census exercises were undertaken in 1953, 1964, 1982 and 1990, with the last census having reported a population of 1.13 billion. China’s population today ranges between 1.25 to 1.3 billion, with an average of 3.6 people in each of the 350 million households, according to official estimates. The Chinese Government has set the country’s population target at below 1.3 billion by the end of this year, thus adding pressure onto the census results. The results will reflect the level of success of China’s ‘one child per couple’ family planning policy. The census will be conducted in accordance with international practices and circumstances in China, the Deputy Director of the Fifth National Census Office under the State Council, Liu Changsong, said. This is for the first time that the census was being conducted in the month of November, unlike in the past, when it was conducted in July. (PTI) |
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AI bombing accused arrested while preparing to go to Pak VANCOUVER, Nov 1: Ripudaman Singh Malik, one the Sikhs accused of murdering 329 people in the 1985 bombing of Air India Flight 182, was preparing to travel to Pakistan when he was arrested, according to his lawyer. But, his lawyer, Terry La Liberte denied that his client was planning an escape. "Anybody that knows Malik knows he travels extensively," National Post newspaper quoted him as saying. Vancouver businessman Malik, 53, and Ajaib Singh Bagri, 51, both accused in the case, made a brief appearance in British Columbia provincial court on Monday and Judge Jane Godfrey ordered both men to be held in jail until their next court appearance on November 30. On Friday, Malik and Bagri were arrested and charged with eight counts, including first-degree murder, in connection with the Air India Flight 182 disaster off the coast of Ireland on June 23, 1985 in which 329 people died. The charges also include the attempted sabotage of another Air India flight heading to Bangkok. A bomb in baggage was to be loaded on that flight, but prematurely exploded in Tokyo’s Narita Airport, killing two baggage handlers. La Liberte told the court that he would challenge the prosecution to give details of its case in a preliminary hearing. Malik contended that the prosecution would use a direct indictment to route the case to trial without sketching out the evidence in court. "I would love to have a preliminary hearing on several issues but I would doubt we will have that opportunity," he said on Monday while terming a preliminary hearing as a "tool for testing the evidence before trial....I doubt they would hold one here." Geoff Gaul, a spokesman for British Columbia prosecutors, said the prosecution would saying nothing outside court about its tactics regarding the two accused. Meanwhile, the third man arrested in connection with the Air India bombing was released on Monday but police is still calling him a suspect in the mass murder, according to Vancouver Sun newspaper. Constable Cate Galliford said "suspect number three has been released with no charges". She refused to comment further, except to say "we are anticipating more arrests". While police did not identify the third suspect, his own employer, the Vancouver School Board, confirmed it was Hardial Singh Johal, a building engineer for the board since 1974, the newspaper said. (PTI) |
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