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One killed, 24 hurt in LTTE suicide bomb attack COLOMBO, Oct 19: A suspected LTTE suicide bomber was killed and 24 people injured, including three American tourists, when a male suicide bomber blasted himself opposite the town hall, one of the .....more Chinese experts worried BEIJING, Oct 19: India’s growing world stature is being viewed with keen interest here with a section of .....more Attitudes toward foreigners in Europe changing UNITED NATIONS, Oct 19: Despite growing xenophobia about foreigners, European officials are reviewing ....more |
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IAF plans to buy 350 WASHINGTON, Oct 19: Indian Air Force has drawn up plans to buy 350 multirole aircraft and other air assets, .....more Pak receiving tank WASHINGTON, Oct 19: Pakistan has started receiving from a Ukrainian company components for its Al-Khalid main battle tanks being ......more COLOMBO, Oct 19: Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga today administered oath of office to a 44-member Council of Ministers amid ......more |
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One killed, 24 hurt in LTTE suicide bomb attack COLOMBO, Oct 19: A suspected LTTE suicide bomber was killed and 24 people injured, including three American tourists, when a male suicide bomber blasted himself opposite the town hall, one of the city’s main squares, minutes before President Chandrika Kumaratunga administered oath of office to the new cabinet. Police said that a male suicide bomber, apparently waiting to target a senior politician or military official, blew himself up at 0930 hours Ist when police personnel attempted to check him. While the bomber was killed on the spot, a number of policemen and civilians, besides the American tourists travelling in a car, were injured. The place where the blast took place was strewn with flesh and blood mainly that of the suicide bomber. The head of the bomber was recovered, police said. One of the injured Americans, who was immediately rushed to the hospital, said she saw a convoy with heavily armed personnel pass through before the explosion took place. Three of the five persons travelling in the car were injured, she said. This was third time in this month, an LTTE suicide bomber missed his intended target and got two suicide bombers, one in Colombo and another in Muthur in eastern Trincomalee district, killed themselves during the run up to October 10 general elections in which over 30 people were killed. When the blast took place, top leaders of the ruling People’s Alliance (PA) had gathered at the President’s house to take oath as ministers. The President’s house is located about five km from town hall, where Chandrika had escaped a suicide bomb blast in December 1999, during the Presidential polls. Today’s swearing-in ceremony went off without any hitches during which Chandrika administered oath of office to the new council of ministers. (PTI) |
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Chinese
experts worried about India’s BEIJING, Oct 19: India’s growing world stature is being viewed with keen interest here with a section of the official Chinese media and experts pondering over the motives behind New Delhi’s "big power diplomacy." This year, a warm reception to US President Bill Clinton received in India and the red carpet welcome Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was accorded at the White House recently are hotly being discussed by the Chinese media and the strategic community. Their apprehensions on New Delhi’s rising diplomatic status spilled out when Russian President Vladimir Putin recently inked a strategic partnership with India and agreed to sell top-of-the-line weapons. "During this year, India’s diplomacy has had varied and effective success," Prof Ma Jiali of a leading Chinese think-tank, China Institute of Contemporary International relations told PTI here. Citing the New Delhi’s productive engagement with the US Russia, Japan and even China this year, Prof Ma said New Delhi’s "big power diplomacy" has been a clear success. "Though now is just October, it can be said without doubt that the year 2000 will be India’s `big power diplomacy year,’ further confirming the present trend," he said. This was also the view of Prof Sun Shihai, a deputy director with the Institute of Asia-Pacific studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who said major powers ‘failed’ to recognise India’s potentials and ‘ignored’ her. Prof Sun also stressed that apart from geopolitics, the vast Indian market and technical expertise, including software skills have attracted the international community to ‘engage’ India. The official Chinese media also commented on New Delhi’s "big power diplomacy" while stressing that India is gaining at the expense of Pakistan, China’s closest ally. "Since the 1998 nuclear tests, India started considering itself as having potentials for being a big power," it says. The article also accuses India of pursuing "big power diplomacy" to `isolate and attack’ Pakistan. An article in the ruling Communist Party’s mouthpiece "people’s daily" on the recent Vajpayee-Clinton summit says that although the detailed contents of the talks between the two are not known, "the Americans’ high-level reception of the Indian Prime Minister was obvious to all." The US strategy is to "use Japan and India to contain China" the article says while urging the leaders of big countries to show "prudence" to thwart Washington’s `game-plan’. (PTI) |
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Attitudes toward foreigners in Europe changing UNITED NATIONS, Oct 19: Despite growing xenophobia about foreigners, European officials are reviewing immigration policies in response to reports suggesting migrants could offset ageing populations, UN experts said yesterday. "There is a sea change," said Joseph Chamie, Director of the UN Population Division, who issued a march report on ageing populations in industrial countries. "The numbers are not in question," he said. "The question is what should be the response," despite the unpopularity of the issue among politicians. EU immigration policies are nearly zero except for families of foreigners and asylum seekers. Ron lesthaeghe, a Belgian participant in a three-day meeting of demography experts, told the same news conference europe was still bitterly divided on migrants. "On the one hand you have the right-wing parties who do not want to hear anything about migration. On the other hand you have the business community who refer to the need for immigration on economic needs," said Lesthaeghe, a Demography Professor at the Free University in Brussels. Chamie noted that many of the migrants were unskilled and that the wealthier countries needed educated immigrants. But he said the national "atmosphere," whether in Germany or elsewhere, played a role in attracting skilled foreigners. Another expert, Karen Dunnell of Britain’s office for national statistics, acknowledged many immigrants from Asia lived in ghettos where housing and schools needed to be provided in case of a new influx. "Immigrants are very much pocketed in particular communities," in Britain, she said. Japan and South Korea also face shrinking populations that could force them to lower bars to immigration. Japan has an even more difficult problem than the 15 European Union Nations. "They are not accustomed to any immigration of any size in their past, and they are much more reluctant of bringing in foreign labour than Europe," Lesthaeghe said. In varying degrees, the decline in fertility means swollen ranks of pensioners, with an ever smaller work force to support them. To keep their economies running at about the same pace as today, these nations must either raise the retirement age, cut pensions and social services or open their doors to migrants, the UN report said. Or countries could also institute polices that permit women and men to have children and work at the same time. Lesthaeghe said a conservative scenario was to increase EU immigration to 900,000 people per year in 2025, from the current level of between 250,000 and 400,000 migrants. The United States has less of a problem, mainly because of its steady stream of immigrants, both skilled and unskilled. Its fertility rates were also higher than most rich nations, in part due to a comparatively high number of teenage births. In Europe, Spain leads the world’s ageing population with an anticipated 43 per cent of its population over 60 years of age by the year 2050. Italy is close behind at 41 per cent Japan at 38 percent, Russia at 33 per cent, Germany at 32 per cent, Britain at 31 per cent, France at 30 per cent and the United States at 20 per cent. As an example of the "sea change," Chamie said the European Union’s Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Antonio Vitorino indicated that immigration policies of the last 25 years have been a failure and no longer serve the EU’s economic needs. Britain’s Immigration Minister Barbara Roche has called for an overhaul of immigration policy. And France’s Interior Minister Jean-Pierre chevenement said public opinion needed to be convinced the EU needs more immigrants, he noted. (REUTERS) |
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IAF plans to buy 350
multirole warplanes WASHINGTON, Oct 19: Indian Air Force has drawn up plans to buy 350 multirole aircraft and other air assets, with an estimated cost of 25 billion dollars, over the next 15 to 20 years, the ‘Defense News’ said. The weekly, in its latest issue, said warplanes include early warning and surveillance aircraft such as the Israeli-built Phalcon, refueling aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and helicopters and other air assets. IAF chief, Air Chief Marshal A Y Tipnis, told the weekly that the air force wants to upgrade its fleet with purchases of fighters such as the Russian SU-30 MKI, the French Mirage 2000 and British hawk trainer aircraft. He said MiG-21S will not be phased out for another decade from the IAF and that the first batch of the upgraded fighters will roll off production lines by mid-2001. India is upgrading 125 MiG-21BS at the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd at Nasik. India and Russia signed an agreement on October four to continue co-production of 140 SU-30 aircraft from a previous contract. In addition, India is also acquiring from Russia 40 SU-30S worth 1.8 billion dollars. Of these, 16 have been delivered. Meanwhile, the weekly reported, India has begun to take deliveries of the first of a family of Advanced Russian ship -and-submarine launched anti-ship cruise missiles (3M-54E). They are being supplied as part of the weapon suit for the latest of India’s kilo-class 977EKM submarines. Russian officials told the Defense News that it set sail from its construction site in St Petersburg late August. In another development, it reported that Russia’s flagship defence firm wants permission from the Government to invite Indian and Chinese companies to participate in the development of next-generation weapon systems to compensate for the looming decline in exports of ready-to-use arms to these countries. Ruslan Pukhov, head of the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, told the weekly: "Sooner or later, India and China will meet their needs for the present generation of Russian-made arms and we would have to offer them something much more capable." However, attempts to export to them sub-strategic Russian systems such as TU-22 long-range bombers, nuclear submarines and ships—even those that do not carry ballistic missiles—will be strongly opposed by the us and other western countries (which are opposed to the emergence not only of China but also of democratic India as a major military power), he said. He, however, said the US and other western countries would not object to the Russian Government allowing domestic companies to invite India and China to share development cost of next generation weapons systems. (PTI) |
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Pak receiving tank components from Ukrainian company WASHINGTON, Oct 19: Pakistan has started receiving from a Ukrainian company components for its Al-Khalid main battle tanks being assembled in the country, a media report said here. Malyshev Plant, based in Kharkov in Ukraine, has begun shipping sets of engines and transmissions to Pakistan for the tanks, the ‘Defense News’ report from Moscow said quoting an Ukrainian industry official. The plant has already assembled and shipped 15 sets to heavy defence industries, Taxila, which is integrating Pakistan’s indigenous main battle tank, according to Mikhail Borisyuk, general designer at the Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau, which is a partner of Malyshev in the project. Some 320 T-84 tanks have been manufactured by the Malyshev Plant and shipped to Pakistan as part of a 650 million dollar deal that Kiev and Islamabad signed in 1996, Borisyuk said. "Our cooperation with Pakistan," he said "is very successful and we hope to further expand it." Offered to provide anti-aircraft guns and air conditioners to Pakistan as well as other components for the Al-Khalid. One way to expand this cooperation, said Borisyuk, would be to further adapt Al-Khalid tank, which Pakistan is jointly developing with China for onsets Pakistan plans to procure from Ukraine. However, it is known that Pakistan plans to assemble at least 300 Al-Khalids, with all engines to be supplied by Ukraine, according to Pyadushkin, who estimated that each set is priced around 200,000 dollars. Pyadushkin said India has purchased another 196 Russian-made main battle tanks. (PTI) |
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COLOMBO, Oct 19: Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga today administered oath of office to a 44-member Council of Ministers amid tight security after an LTTE attack in Central Colombo that killed the suicide bomber and injured 24 others. Despite the bomb attack outside the town hall, Chandrika reached the President’s house in the fort area amid tight security and administered oath to the new ministry, retaining the important portfolios of defence and finance for her Peoples Alliance (PA). Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake, considered close to Budhhist monks, has been given additional charge of Ministry of Buddhist Affairs and Plantations. Lakshman Kadirgamar was retained as Foreign Minister. Two key ministries were allocated to minority party allies — Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and National Unity Alliance (NUA) — which helped the ruling PA to attain simple majority in the just-concluded parliamentary elections. The two parties representing the minority Muslim community won 12 seats. Rauff Hakeem, joint leader of SLMC and its sibling, NUA, was sworn in as Minister for International Trade and Commerce, Muslim Affairs and Shipping. SLMC’s joint leader, Farial Ashraff, widow of SLMC’s founder leader M H M Ashraff has also been made a minister. She would be sworn in after she completes the mourning period of the death of her husband who was killed in a helicopter crash two months ago. Douglas Devananda, leader of Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP), a Tamil party, has been made Minister for Northern Development, which would give him wide powers to administer Northern Jaffna and the LTTE-held Vanni region. The support of the EPDP and SLMC is crucial for survival of the PA Government. PA has won 107 seats in the 225-member Parliament, NUA and EPDP have nine seats. Sports Minister in the previous cabinet, S B Dissanayake, who was entangled in a major controversy with sprint queen Susanthika Jayasinghe, has lost the portfolio. He, however, retained the Co-operative Development Ministry. The bronze medallist in the Sydney Olympics has accused Dissanayake of sexual harassment. Minister for Media and Telecommunications in the previous cabient, Mangala Saraweera, who enjoyed a love-hate relationship with the fourth estate, has been shifted to urban development. The media portfolio has been given to his deputy in the previous cabinet, Anura Priya Darshana Yapa. Chandrika also accommodated three UNP dissident leaders, Wijayapala Mendis, Ronnie De Mel and Sarath Amanugam. Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) leader Armungam Thondaman has retained the estate infrastructure portfolio held by his grandfather and party founder S Thondaman. Chandrika’s previous Council of Ministers was 32-member strong. (PTI) |
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