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India, China conclude BEIJING, Dec 19: India and China have ended another round of talks to resolve the boundary ....more Getting
Bin Laden WASHINGTON, Dec 19: Killing or capturing Osama bin Laden will not end the global ....more 3,000-strong
peacekeeping force to be deployed in KABUL, Dec 19: A 3,000-strong International Peacekeeping Force (IPF) is to be deployed in Afghanistan....more Hollywood
goes to LOS ANGELES, Dec 19: Hollywood has gone to war well, sort of ... Maybe and, anyway, we might not find out who won for a couple of years. . ....more |
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Karzai vows to end rule ROME, Dec 19: Hamid Karzai, chosen to lead the new Afghanistan, today said he felt the great weight of his task......more Film veteran Lee drives stake through dracula role LONDON, Dec 19: Don’t mention dracula to veteran film star christopher. . .....more Lankan PM to form panels to chalk out peace plans COLOMBO, Dec 19: In his first move to revive Sri Lanka’s stalled peace process, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.....more India,
Japan make WASHINGTON, Dec 19: India and Japan made significant strides in space technology ......more |
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India, China conclude boundary talks BEIJING, Dec 19: India and China have ended another round of talks to resolve the boundary issue with Beijing describing as positive and concrete the latest efforts. The talks, during when the two sides exchanged opinions on clarifying and confirming the Line of Actual Control (LAC), were positive and concrete and deepened the mutual understanding, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue told PTI today when asked to comment on the Experts Group (EG) meeting held here on Monday. Zhang noted that the 10th session of the Sino-Indian diplomatic and military experts group on the border issue was held in the backdrop of emergence of excellent bilateral ties. In an atmosphere of friendship and frankness, both sides exchanged opinions on clarifying and confirming the lac alignment, establishing confidence building measures, bilateral relations etc, she commented. Zhang, however, did not say whether the two sides have finalised the map concerning the less disputed middle sector of the Sino-Indian boundary or whether they exchanged maps of the eastern and western sectors. The 10th session of the EG has been held ahead of the scheduled visit to India by Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji in January, 2002. Chinese Foreign Ministry sources are hopeful that the two countries will be able to make continuous progress during border consultations, with the spirit of the principle of mutual trust, mutual understanding and mutual accommodation. The ninth round of EG was held in New Delhi on June 28. Thus, for the first time, India and China held two meetings of the EG as per an understanding reached between External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan in July, 2000 to hasten the pace of boundary negotiations. India and China for the first time exchanged maps of the middle sector during the eighth meeting of the EG held here in November 2000. The disputed India-China border is divided into three sectors: The Eastern Sector, Middle Eector and Western Sector. India says China is illegally occupying 43,180 sq km of Jammu and Kashmir including 5,180 sq km illegally ceded to Beijing by Pakistan under the Sino-Pakistan Boundary Agreement in 1963. On the other hand, China claims that India has occupied about 90,000 sq km of Chinese territory and describes the McMahon line drawn by the British as unlawful. The clarification of the LAC is the first step towards the final resolution of the vexed Sino-Indian boundary dispute that has held back bilateral relations from realising its potential, analysts say. (PTI) |
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Getting Bin Laden won’t end threat, says FBI WASHINGTON, Dec 19: Killing or capturing Osama bin Laden will not end the global threat of attack from his Al Qaeda network, FBI counter-terrorism officials have told Congress. With hundreds of operatives worldwide and thousands of sympathizers who have passed through Al Qaeda’s Afghan training camps, the organization is too deep and far-flung to be shut down by neutralizing one man, said J T Caruso, acting Assistant Director of the FBI’s counter-terrorism division. "To disrupt or dismantle the organization we need to go beyond one leader and get down into middle management, or at least upper middle management," Caruso told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s terrorism sub-panel. "There is a natural momentum in organizations," he said, and taking out Bin Laden might only prompt a short pause or curtailment of operations. "Although we may reduce the horrific consequences by 30 percent, we still have the 70 per cent to deal with," he said. US special forces and their Afghan allies have been hunting unsuccessfully for Bin Laden, suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington, in the caves and tunnels of the mountainous Tora Bora region of eastern Afghanistan. Thomas Wilshere, an official in the counter-terrorism section, told the panel that Bin Laden inspired intense loyalty from his followers, who described him as "extraordinarily charismatic." "He’s the type of person who is perceived to be humble, he gets down in the dirt with the troops," he said. As many as 70,000 to 80,000 people are believed to have passed through the training camps run by Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network, Wilshere said, although the number of those with real "terrorist capability" is probably only "in the hundreds." "That’s a serious, serious worldwide threat," he said. He said he believed some members of Al Qaeda might have looked at setting up training camps in the United States, but ultimately decided Europe was "more benign." In addition to the military campaign in Afghanistan, the United States must continue its diplomatic, financial and law enforcement efforts worldwide to stop Al Qaeda, Caruso said. "We must continue on with all the tools in the toolbox," Caruso said. Larry Johnson, a former Deputy Director of the State Department’s office of counter-terrorism, said the Bush administration also should focus on Lebanon. "We’ve allowed Lebanon a pass," he said, adding that apart from Afghanistan, Lebanon had the most active militant groups and training camps. (AGENCIES) |
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3,000-strong peacekeeping
force to be KABUL, Dec 19: A 3,000-strong International Peacekeeping Force (IPF) is to be deployed in Afghanistan with the interim Government today agreeing to its induction and the first troops are expected to land before the new regime assumes office this Saturday. The 3,000 foreign troops drawn from several countries including those from the west will be deployed in three fields and mainly assigned the task of providing security and reconstruction work in the war-ravaged nation. "Of the agreed multinational force, 1,000 will focus on security affairs and deployed in Kabul and another 1,000 would concentrate on medical and engineering work to aid the country’s reconstruction," Defence Minister Mohammad Qasim Fahim told newsmen here while announcing the interim regime’s endorsement of the force. The remaining 1,000 troops would stay as a reserve force and may be based at bagram airport. The 1,000 strong foreign troops mandated with security operations in Kabul will oversee the security requirements right from the airport on December 22 when the Hamid Karzai Government assumes office. Fahim said the mission of the IPF would be over at the end of the six month period when the Loya Jirga or Grand Assembly will take place to elect a new Government. Asked what kind of cooperation the new government expected to get from India, the 44-year old Defence Minister said "it could be in so many areas and cited a few fields like political, technical and intelligence." Stating that the multinational force will not be in overall charge of security for the country, Fahim said it would only carry out some security operations like patrolling Kabul. "They will not be here to interfere in people’s affairs. Affairs of the Afghan people should be run by Afghans themselves," he said. "The people of Afghanistan liberated their country by themselves and international forces will come here mainly for the reconstruction of Afghanistan," he said adding "security affairs will be conducted by the military intelligence service and the Kabul garrison, which is part of the Defence Ministry." Asked whether Northern Alliance soldiers would be kept out of the city limits during the reign of the interim Government, Fahim said "there is nothing now called as Northern Alliance. We are the interim Government. The Bonn agreement did not say that forces would be kept out of the city. But the military will go back to its bases and the security of Kabul will be looked after by a security Commission." The Commission would draw personnel from the Defence and Interior Ministries as well as from the Intelligence Department, Fahim said, adding that the forces of Afghanistan are capable of looking after the security of the country. Asked about his plans to visit India, Fahim said "I will visit India at the first opportunity but as there is some fighting going on in different parts of the country, it will not be proper for me to go out." Asked about the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden, fahim said most of his Al-Qaeda fighters were either killed or captured from Tora Bora mountains. "Laden and a few small band of his followers are either still hiding in the difficult mountainous terrains or may also have escaped to Pakistan," he added. He said Laden’s terrorist network in Afghanistan has been smashed and that the terrror mastermind himself was running for his life. "I do not think he has the capability to strike terror in other countries, at least for the time being," he said. (PTI) |
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Hollywood goes to war, sort of ... Maybe LOS ANGELES, Dec 19: Hollywood has gone to war well, sort of ... Maybe and, anyway, we might not find out who won for a couple of years. Since September 11, hollywood has been in hyperdrive proclaiming its loyalty, holding meetings with the White House, sending its stars to entertain the troops and advancing the release date of every patriotic war movie it has in house. If a film is about to be released, you can be assured there’s a producer lurking in a dark corner of a theater intoning this mantra to reporters and critics: "This film is perfect for the times, perfect for the times, perfect for the times." But for those who remember the golden years when hollywood really went to war — world war two — the question is whether the "war against terrorism" is going to produce a rick’s cafe ("Casablanca") or a mere burger king franchise ("Rambo" movies). The hijacked airliners that slammed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon seemed to fly straight out of a hollywood movie, bearing an uncanny resemblance to the violent fare that the world’s greatest film-making machine has been serving up for decades in movies like "die hard" and "armageddon." This led to a brief bout of soul-searching followed by a lot of speculation on just how September 11 will change movie-making, and the consensus among critics and filmmakers at the moment is: Not much in the short term and not much in the long term either. Said one former studio president, who asked to remain anonymous, "it’s as though hollywood has forgotten that September 11 ever happened. Things are so back to normal in this town, it’s almost scary. .... What really can hollywood do? produce war films? we’re already doing that?" But most experts agree that hollywood will not be blowing up landmarks in films for a long time to come. "The explosions will be a lot more generic in future," said time magazine film critic Richard Schickel. And the critics also think that hollywood’s future violence will be a lot more measured. "I can hear producers saying the violence in their film is organic — natural, part of the plot, fitting naturally into the environment, not gratuitous. Hollywood loves the word ‘organic,"’ said one film journalist who asked not to be identified. They don’t see hollywood rushing out to make villains of arabs and any bad ones in future films will be cast as Osama bin Laden extremist types, not ordinary folk. There has also been some caution exercised in what is being made. Sony delayed starting shooting of a new Jennifer Lopez film about a man who blows up shopping centers. When daily variety called the film "terrorist-themed," a studio executive complained that the man was not a terrorist but only "a mad bomber." Another studio dropped entirely a planned film about a Fire Department on the take because firemen since September 11 have assumed the mantle of civilian saints. Mark Harris, Assistant Managing Editor of entertainment weekly, said it could take a year or longer for hollywood to come to grips with September 11 in terms of film content — but designing marketing to meet the national mood is already taking place. "You won’t see a change in the content of movies for a full year or more because hollywood generally operates on an 18-month lead time so it may be two years before we see a film with a post september 11 sensibility," Harris said. "But ‘behind enemy lines’ and ‘black hawk down,’ both war movies that were already completed before September 11 had their release dates pushed forward and there has been an attempt to sell the movies as expressions of patriotism," he added. Producer Irwin Winkler, whose new film "the shipping news" is opening this month, said he also has discerned no changes in filmmaking so far. "Most of the films for 2002 were already started before September 11. You might see something in 2003 but people generally like to see the same things year in, year out." But one series that probably won’t be seen is a sitcom suggested to cbs about a man and woman who meet and fall in love after they both lose their spouses in the World Trade Center disaster. At least not right away. (AGENCIES) |
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Karzai vows to end rule of gun in Afghanistan ROME, Dec 19: Hamid Karzai, chosen to lead the new Afghanistan, today said he felt the great weight of his task but vowed to end terrorism, "warlordism" and the rule of the gun in a country he wants to rebuild almost from scratch. "I am very, very determined...Terrorism has made our people suffer unbelievably difficult times," he said in a late-night interview in Rome with Reuters television. Speaking at a hotel in the Italian capital soon after he had received the encouragement of Afghanistan’s exiled former king, Karzai also said he would be happy with a foreign peacekeeping force of any size necessary to be beneficial to his country. "They have killed us," he said of the ousted Taliban and their foreign allies in Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network. "They have destroyed our orchards. They have destroyed our vineyards. They tried to destroy Afghanistan. "They tried to destroy the essence of Afghans. I am very determined to get rid of them, not only in Afghanistan but in the rest of the world too." Shortly before, Karzai had received the blessing and the personal Koran of the ex-king, Mohammad Zahir Shah. "That was a tremendous, good gesture and a very good blessing," Karzai said. Karzai, who was expected to return to Kabul later today, said he felt the enormous load of his responsibility but that the possibility of success was great because of the backing of the international community. He said he was not daunted by the challenge of trying to unify Afghanistan, where many of the groups that ousted the hardline Taliban from power were bitter foes of the past. Memories are still fresh of the ethnic conflict of the early 1990s, when street battles between rival warlords, Tajiks and Hazaras, Uzbeks and Pashtuns, reduced much of Kabul to rubble. Karzai said he hoped there could be agreement on the size of an international peacekeeping force, adding that he would accept "any number that makes the task feasible, the task beneficial". But he also stressed: "There is total agreement by all concerned that Afghanistan must have a National Army that should be totally under the control of the Ministry of Defence and a national police force under the total control of the Ministry of the Interior." "Warlordism must end and the rule of the gun must end in Afghanistan and the Afghan people must be able to choose their destiny themselves and have their Government chosen themselves." Karzai was asked what he would tell Bin Laden if he were in the same room with the Saudi militant whom Washington has blamed for the September attacks against the United States. "I won’t meet him in the same room. I’ll have him arrested before he reaches my room and have him tried," he said. Asked where he would like to see Bin Laden put on trial if captured, Karzai said: "Anywhere. Anywhere that he can see the evils that he has done to the people of the world and to the Afghan people, that the Afghan people finally get some justice for what he and his friend Mullah Omar did to Afghanistan and to the rest of the world," he said, referring also to the fugitive Taliban leader. Former King Zahir Shah, who said he had given Karzai "lots of advice" during their meeting last night, is due to return to Kabul himself next year to open a Loya Jirga, or grand council, to map out the country’s future as part of a UN-sponsored peace plan. "He does not intend to go in any official capacity. He is now going back to Afghanistan as an Afghan, a great capacity," Karzai said earlier when he met the former king. (AGENCIES) |
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Film veteran Lee drives stake through dracula role LONDON, Dec 19: Don’t mention dracula to veteran film star christopher lee or he might just bite your head off. The 79-year-old British actor may be best remembered for his classic portrayal of the blood-sucking count and a host of other horror film monsters but he really wishes people would stop talking about it. "Why do we keep going back to dracula? there is no point. Lee said wearily ahead of Wednesday’s world release of his latest film "the lord of the rings: the fellowship of the ring". "That was a part of my career that at the time — 43 years ago — was very important, but that was a long time ago. I have not done a horror movie since 1975 so I just don’t see the point in talking about it." While Lee may have cast off his horror film roots long ago, he hasn’t entirely left the dark side behind, playing the fallen wizard saruman the white in Peter Jackson’s Epic 270 million adaptation of J R R Tolkien’s "the lord of the rings" trilogy. A longtime tolkien fan since a chance meeting with the reclusive author many years ago, Lee said he approached the project with considerable reverence. "This is the outright creation of an entire world," he said. "It brings together history and languages and cultures and makes a dreamscape come true." After a career spanning more than half a century, Lee says he is fortunate to be still enjoying the kind of success other actors can only dream about. He is listed in the guinness book of movie facts and figures as being the international star with the most screen credits —more than 250 at the last count — and his workload shows no signs of easing off. As well as the rings movies, he will feature in the next instalment of the star wars series "Star Wars II: Attack of the clones", which is due for release next year. "I don’t think there will be another 55 years somehow. But i have been very fortunate because in the last 18 months I have worked with three of the great directors of today — Peter Jackson, Tim Burton and George Lucas." Lee said he had no doubts from the first day of filming in New Zealand that the rings films were going to be "fantastic". The films were shot all at once and out of sequence over 18 months in New Zealand. The next two instalments in the series, "the two towers" and "the return of the king" will be released at the end of 2002 and 2003. "I was asked the other day what is my greatest ambition in life and I answered to see the third (rings) film," Lee said. "I’ll be 80 in five months so I hope it happens." Lee said he was now in a position now where he was working with directors who grew up with, and were influenced by, his early horror films — a double-edged sword. While dracula might have put lee on the map, the vampire has also threatened to suck the life out of his wider career through the curse of type-casting. To ward off the curse, lee has sought out a diverse range of roles in latter years, but to his intense irritation, has found it almost impossible to shake off his image as a screen monster. "Someone asked me yesterday if dracula met saruman and there was a fight who would win. I just looked at this man. What an idiotic thing to say. I mean, really, it was half-witted." (AGENCIES) |
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Lankan PM to form panels to chalk out peace plans COLOMBO, Dec 19: In his first move to revive Sri Lanka’s stalled peace process, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said he will form three committees to provide a stable foundation for his efforts, and cautioned colleagues and the people against nurturing hopes of early return to peace. Briefing his new cabinet yesterday on his plans to revive dormant peace efforts, Wickremesinghe said a consultative committee would be set up to advise him on a political solution to the north-east conflict, while another panel would look into preparatory work for negotiations. A third committee would look for alternative solutions, an official release on the briefing said here today. He gave no indication about the composition of the consultative committee, but said it would comprise senior ministers, it said. He also explained the need for strengthening the foundations of the process. "All earlier steps to find a political solution to the crisis failed due to the lack of a strong foundation. Therefore, we should study all past experiences and plan our future steps," he said. "We should not have high hopes. We should move forward step by step. This is not a path strewn with flowers. It is rough and difficult, and we should remove all barriers on this rough path," Wickremesinghe said. Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando has denied a remark attributed to him that the Government wanted the LTTE to lay down arms as a precondition to peace talks. "The Government is prepared for unconditional talks. We are more concerned about the core issue," he said. In his cabinet meeting, Wickremesinghe said he would meet the Government agent of the Northern Vavuniya district before discussing further measures with President Chandrika Kumaratunga. Thereafter, he would leave for india to discuss the issue with Prime Minister A B Vajpayee and External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, as part of his revived peace efforts, he said. "A final decision on procedures of the process will be taken after these meetings." The idea of meeting the Vavuniya district authorities is an indication that the new Government wants to understand the ground situation in the war-torn north, where the movement of goods is severely restricted to prevent supplies from falling into the hands of the LTTE. Wickremesinghe had said before the recent parliamentary election that lifting the "economic embargo" was one of his priorities if voted to power, as he was aware of the travails of the people living in those areas. His new Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Refugees Minister, Dr Jayalath Jayawardena, said the Government was considering a plan to lift the embargo on items, including food and medicine, reaching ltte-held areas. Travel and residential restrictions on the Tamil community would also be withdrawn, he said, soon after assuming office yesterday. "I appealed to the Prime Minister that the economic embargo should be lifted and I have been assured that it is being considered favourably." Jayawardena, known to be sympathetic to the plight of the Tamils, has organised peace missions to northern Sri Lanka in the past and special health camps for Tamil refugees. (PTI) |
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India, Japan make
significant progress WASHINGTON, Dec 19: India and Japan made significant strides in space technology this year fielding new launch vehicles even as the united states lost its preeminence in commercial satellite manufacturing, according to the US Space Foundation’s Annual Assessment of the State of the Global Space Industry. With more than 54 significant space missions launched globally during the year, 2001 was a blockbuster in the human pursuit of exploring, developing and using space. It was also a year in which space gained the ultimate "high ground" in military operations, the foundation said. The Colorado springs-based space foundation is a national non-profit organization seeking to advance space awareness and education. With the April 18 launch of its GSLV rocket, India continued to show space prowess, foundation president and CEO Elliot G Pulham said. The 401-ton launcher operates from Sriharikota launch complex and can place satellites up to 2,500 kg into geosynchronous orbit. Japan also launched its new vehicle, the H-IIA, from Tanegashima Space Center in August. The French firm Arianespace continued to lead the commercial launch markets in 2001, completing its 146th space flight mission on November 26. The US space shuttle flew five times. Meanwhile, China demonstrated its capacity to fly humans into space with the launch of its Shenzhou two spacecraft on January nine. The spacecraft’s, human-capable ship returned safely to earth January 16. China is expected to orbit its first astronauts some time in 2002, Pulham said. Of the 54 major space launch missions worldwide in 2001, only two were unsuccessful. Satellite emerged as a major factor in military operations in 2001. With a constellation of Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites providing precision navigation capabilities to troops, pilots, aircraft and even to individual bombs and missiles, space systems have defined US military operations in Afghanistan, the foundation said. Military and commercial satellites provide key intelligence capabilities, and the entire operation is orchestrated by way of military communications satellites. "Space has become the ultimate "high ground" in military operations," the Foundation said. The Foundation said that despite the global economic slowdown, worldwide space industry revenues for 2001 are expected to be 149 billion dollars, up from 103.4 billion dollars in 2000. Government activities account for a third of the revenues, it said. The successful space year has not brought cheer to everyone in the industry though. US satellite manufacturers, hit hard by restrictive US export laws, saw their share of the world market decline from 75 per cent to just 45 per cent. Many orders traditionally won by US companies are now going to companies in Europe and Asia. A negative development during the year, the foundation said, was that the international space station, designed as a science facility to spawn more such technologies, continued to be hammered in the US Congress for cost overruns. With the first phase of the station built, some in Congress don’t want to pay to complete the laboratories. Space science and agreements with more than a dozen nations are threatened as a result, the Foundation said. Among the landmark space events in 2001 listed by the foundation was the de-orbiting of the venerable Russian space station mir by controllers in Moscow, showering a fiery hail of debris into the pacific. The 40th anniversary of Yuri Gregarin’s historic first human flight into space was observed in 2001, as was the 20th anniversary of space shuttle flight, and the first anniversary of permanent human presence on the international space station. (UNI) |
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