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| US considering launching ground attack on Afghanistan ISLAMABAD, Aug 17: The United States is considering launching a ground attack, coupled with .......more ARD rejects Musharraf’s road map for democracy ISLAMABAD, Aug 17: The Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) in Pakistan has rejected President Pervez Musharraf’s road map for democracy .....more Yak-130
joins fray for ZHUKOVSKY (RUSSIA), Aug 17: The state-of-the-art Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT), designed by Russian ‘Yakovlev’ Design Bureau, is joining the fray to ......more |
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DNA database helping ANNAPOLIS, MD, Aug 17: In a hot new trend in law enforcement, police forces around the United States are increasingly using DNA analysis to crack ........more Ariel Sharon’s popularity plummets as violence rises JERUSALEM, Aug 17: Israelis are losing faith in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s ability to end nearly eleven months of conflict.........more Hong
Kong people more HONG KONG, Aug 17: Hong Kong residents are more prone to heart disease than people in neighbouring southern China because of their different diet and lifestyle, a survey published today found. ........more |
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US considering launching ground attack on Afghanistan ISLAMABAD, Aug 17: The United States is considering launching a ground attack, coupled with aerial support, inside Afghanistan from Pakistan’s north-west frontier borders to strike at the rebel turned Saudi billionaire Osama Bin Laden’s bases, media reports said. The proposed US action follows Islamabad’s acceptance to station UN monitors to keep a close watch on the implementation of the ongoing UN sanctions against Taliban, which is a close military ally of Pakistan. The speculation over American ground action follows Washington’s earlier failed attempts to knock out Osama Bin Laden and his bases by firing Tomahawk cruise missile in August 1998 which failed to cause any damage to Laden or his associates, ‘The News’ in its report said. Islamabad is under pressure from washington to permit and provide support to US commando teams to capture Saudi mastermind Osama Bin Laden, it said, adding Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s forceful opposition or resistance to such an operation may trip his administration’s pleas for urgent financial assistance from multilateral donor agencies. Musharraf’s administration while rejecting any possibility for such support has been trying to convince the Americans that another military strike against Afghanistan would prove counter-productive and will further fuel the extremist Islamic forces in the region, Pakistan daily said quoting senior Pakistani officials. (PTI) |
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ARD rejects Musharraf’s road map for democracy ISLAMABAD, Aug 17: The Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) in Pakistan has rejected President Pervez Musharraf’s road map for democracy describing it as a ‘roadblock with speed-breakers." The alliance in its meeting at Lahore yesterday under the chairmanship of Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan demanded the constitution of an independent and autonomous Election Commission and abolishing of the National Security Council of which Gen Pervez Musharraf was the chairman. The ARD chief said Gen Musharraf’s road map was actually an attempt to prolong his rule and people would not accept it. Mr Khan further said Gen Musharraf’s announcement for preparation of electoral rolls, delimitation of constituencies and his silence on Prime Minister’s election were tactics to delay the democratic process. The ARD further said " we are for devolution of powers at the grassroots level but already have rejected district Government system conceived by present military Government. The local bodies polls are not transfer of power, though this tactic was used by every military dictator to prolong his rule, Mr Nasrullah Khan said. It may be added that ever since the adoption of new system of local Government in which the Nazim is the head of the district, all Deputy Commissioners were not attending offices though President Musharraf had assured them that the district management group will not be abolished. (UNI) |
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Yak-130 joins fray for Advanced Trainer Jet for IAF ZHUKOVSKY (RUSSIA), Aug 17: The state-of-the-art Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT), designed by Russian ‘Yakovlev’ Design Bureau, is joining the fray to win orders from the Indian Air Force (IAF) and is confident of its victory over competitors, including ‘MiG-AT’, a senior official of the company said. Recently a team of Yakovlev Corporation had visited New Delhi for the presentation of its AJT at the air headquarters and an IAF team, led by Air Marshal S Gupta, who is currently in Russia to attend the international aerospace show -Maks-2001, has agreed to evaluate Yak-130, Yakovlev exports Director Arkady Gurtovoy told PTI at the aerospace show here. He did not rule out that one of the planes would be flown by Indian pilots on the sidelines the Maks-2001 airshow. Meanwhile, Russian Air Chief General Anatoly Kornukov told reporters at the airshow that he was against induction of ‘MiG-AT’ in Russian airforce because of its poor vintage French engine ‘Larzac’, developed by Snecma/Turbomeca Corporation in 1970’s for experimental Mirage jet. He said his stand will remain unchanged till ‘MiG-AT’ goes for an indigenous engine. According to sources close to the Indian negotiators, IAF is also linking the ‘MiG-AT’ deal with the availability of up-to-date Russian-built engines. After the collapse of Soviet Union both ‘Yakovlev’ and ‘MiG’ Aircraft Corporations had involved foreign partners to develop their Advanced Jet Trainers due to lack of funds. The ‘MiG’ Corporation went into a tie up with the French Snecma-Turbomeca to develop its advanced trainer, with the eye on the Indian and French market. On its side, ‘Yakovlev’ joined hands with the Italian ‘Aeromacchi’ to jointly develop ‘Yak-130’. However, unlike ‘MiG’, few years ago ‘Yakovlev’ divorced its Italian partner by giving it blueprints of the plane developed during the phase of joint collaboration and continued to independently upgrade it. According to Gurtovoy ‘Aeromacci’ with their ‘AM-346’ -the Italian version of Yak-130, are also in the race for selling AJT to the IAF. However, their ‘Honeywell’ engines raised the price tag of the trainer jet at least by 1.5 million dollars as compared to Yak-130’s RD-35 and AI-222-2.5 engines to be serially produced in Russia and Ukraine, Gurtovoy claimed. He said ‘Yak-130’ has an edge over ‘MiG-AT’. First of all its delta wings with greater clearance allow the use of trainer jet as an effective fighter in close combat, while ‘MiG-AT’ with its straight, low set wing cannot allow the use of all the available weapons, he added. "The biggest advantage is that the ideology of our trainer is the same as of IAF’s work-horse of the new millennium `Sukhoi’, though it can be used to train pilots for any type of combat plane, by just changing its software," Gurtovoy said. (PTI) |
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DNA database helping solve decades-old crimes ANNAPOLIS, MD, Aug 17: In a hot new trend in law enforcement, police forces around the United States are increasingly using DNA analysis to crack "cold cases" — unsolved murders and rapes that took place years, sometimes even decades ago. The development of new technology, particularly a growing nationwide DNA data bank run by the FBI known as CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) has prompted many police forces to create special "cold case" task forces. This week, around 90 investigators from mid-Atlantic States gathered at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis for a four-day workshop to hear some of the latest investigative techniques from experts in the field. According to the CODIS internet web page, http://www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/codis/index1.htm, the system now has the DNA profiles of 531,555 convicted felons from 36 states, the armed services and the FBI as well as profiles gathered at 21,904 crime scenes. The data base had aided 1,733 investigations through February of this year. DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is a nucleic acid consisting of large molecules shaped like a double helix that encodes an individual’s genetic information in the nucleus of cells. The navy’s own criminal investigative service, which deals with crimes committed by or against naval personnel and their families around the world, is a pioneer in the field with several successes to its credit. "We have 22 agents dedicated to cold cases working on 80 cases right now, with many more on the shelf waiting to be worked," said Jim Grebas, head of the cold case unit, which has solved 33 such cases since being formed in 1995. (REUTERS) |
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Ariel Sharon’s popularity plummets as violence rises JERUSALEM, Aug 17: Israelis are losing faith in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s ability to end nearly eleven months of conflict with the Palestinians, according to an opinion poll published today. The gallup poll for the Maariv newspaper showed 70 per cent of respondents believed the right-wing former General, dubbed "Mr Security" by his supporters, would not succeed in halting Palestinian violence, up 29 points from the previous survey. It was conducted following two suicide bombings in Israel on August nine and twelve that killed 15 people including the bombers. At the United Nations, the Palestinians launched another quest for foreign action after Israel responded to the attacks by seizing Palestinian offices in and around Jerusalem and briefly sending tanks into the West Bank town of Jenin. The 15-member Security Council scheduled an open meeting for monday for UN members to express their views as requested by the 57-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference. Palestinians hope the debate will lead to a formal resolution. Sharon scored a landslide election victory over Labour Party incumbent Ehud Barak in February on a promise to restore security to Israelis. But Friday’s poll showed 53 per cent of the 593 Israelis polled were unhappy with his efforts to keep his security promise, a 12-point rise from the previous poll. His satisfaction rating dropped 10 points to 49 per cent. Just over half the respondents said Sharon was using too little force to quell the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation that flared in September after peace moves stalled. Despite the poll evidence, Ahmed Abdel Rahman, an aide to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, said Israelis were becoming convinced that military means could not produce security. "The Israeli public has started to realise that a military solution is impossible and that their security will not be achieved by suppressing another people," he told Reuters. Labour Dove Yossi Beilin, an architect of the 1993 Oslo interim peace accords and minister in Barak’s cabinet, said more Israelis had been killed under Sharon than under Barak. "I would be worried, if I were Sharon, about my support," Beilin said. "Not all Israelis are stupid, and they understand that he sold them some non-existent merchandise about security." About 680 people have been killed since September, including more than 500 Palestinians and about 150 Israelis. (REUTERS) |
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Hong Kong people more prone to heart disease than Chinese HONG KONG, Aug 17: Hong Kong residents are more prone to heart disease than people in neighbouring southern China because of their different diet and lifestyle, a survey published today found. Researchers found that people in Hong Kong had significantly greater thickening of the neck arteries - an indicator of cardiovascular problems - than people of the same age and ethnicity in Panyu, southern China. Tests on 140 Hong Kong residents by the territory’s Chinese University found that they had 20 per cent thicker neck artery walls than their counterparts from Panyu. "In Hong Kong, the eating pattern is very Westernized, with fast- food outlets offering lots of greasy and fat-filled food," study co- organizer Professor Woo Kam-Sang told the South China Morning Post. "There is a lot of job-related stress due to competition and insensitive employers." (DPA) |
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