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World
leaders call for UNITED NATIONS, May 19: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan today joined world leaders in expressing concern over escalation of violence in the . ....more Peace
hopes dim, but COLOMBO, May 19: Sri Lanka and the LTTE are close to agreeing on a bilateral truce and easing of economic....more Protesters
torch KARACHI, May 19: Angry mobs torched several vehicles today despite tight security ahead of the .....more |
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TC
would have won if it LONDON, May 19: Trinamool Congress would have won the Assembly elections in West Bengal if its chief Mamata Banerjee had contested the ........more Swaraj:
Film industry LONDON, May 19: Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj has said that she is fully committed to save the Indian film industry from the .........more Estonian President, ST GALLNE (SWITZERLAND), May 19: Estonian President Lennard Meri and the head of the.........more |
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World leaders call for end to violence in Middle East UNITED NATIONS, May 19: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan today joined world leaders in expressing concern over escalation of violence in the Middle East and called for restraint and help in finding a political settlement to the crisis. Israel yesterday launched air raids in West Bank and Gaza in retaliation to a suicide bombing in Israel by alleged Hamas activist. Nine people died and 100 were injured in the attack. Annan termed Israel’s response to the suicide attack as "excessive and misdirected" and called for restraint. "While I have repeatedly made clear my utter condemnation of terrorism from whatever quarter and do so again today — I can only regard this response as excessive and misdirected. Its effect will inevitably be to increase bitterness even further on the Palestinian side," he said. "Everyone needs to understand that there can be no military solution to this conflict and that the only way to escape from the present downward spiral lies through ending the violence and resuming negotiations aimed at a comprehensive peaceful settlement based on the relevant United Nations resolutions," he said. The US said it was "deeply concerned" over the cycle of violence. "It is essential that the leaders in the Middle East speak out clearly against violence. We must break the cycle of violence in order to begin meaningful discussions about any kind of political settlement," President George W Bush said. He said his administration "will continue to work with the parties involved, reminding folks that violence will not lead to peace." Secretary of State Colin Powell said that "unless there is unconditional cessaton, reduction, and elimination of the violence, it is hard to get to the confidence building measures and a satisfactory negotiating track." "The Arab nations in the region," he said, "are quite disturbed. They want to see an end to the violence just as we do. They want to see quick movement back to the negotiating track. So do we. At the moment we are trapped in this cycle of violence." Britain and France also called for an end to the bloodbath in the region. Calling on Israel and Palestinians to end the "spiral of atrocity and retaliation" in the Middle East, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said "I deplore the violence and bloodshed we have seen today," he said in a statement Expressing concern over the latest round of violence, France said the "the reprisals carried out in the last few hours by the Israeli Army in the Palestinian territories, using substantial air power and killing or injuring a large number of people, is a matter of concern". Israeli officials held Arafat’s Palestinian authority responsible for the suicide bombing, However, Palestine condemned the bombing, saying they opposed "the murder of innocent Palestinian or Israeli civilians." (PTI) |
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Peace hopes dim, but Norway not disheartened COLOMBO, May 19: Sri Lanka and the LTTE are close to agreeing on a bilateral truce and easing of economic restrictions on northern Sri Lanka but continue to disagree on other issues related to direct talks, peace facilitator Norway has said. "The two sides are close to agreeing upon issues related to a halt in military operations and measures to alleviate the living conditions of the civilian population," the Norwegian Embassy said in a statement. However, in an apparent reference to the LTTE’s core demand for removing the ban on their organisation, it said "on certain matters related to the commencement of peace talks, agreement has not yet been reached." Norway released the statement late last night after its envoys met LTTE representatives on Thursday and President Chandrika Kumaratunga last night. Special envoy Erik Solheim and Norway’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Jon Westborg, and a Norwegian Foreign Ministry official held extensive talks with LTTE’s political wing chief S P Tamilchelvan and others in northern Sri Lanka on Thursday, but there was no breakthrough. Solheim left the island this morning without achieving the much-expected breakthrough after meeting Kumaratunga. It is by now clear that the Government’s inability to meet the core demand for de-proscribing the LTTE has stymied the current phase of the peace process, but Norway remained hopeful and said it would continue to maintain contact with the parties and encourage them to refrain from military operations. "The proscription of tigers in Sri Lanka has become the major hurdle for the imposition of peace talks and the LTTE will never take part in the talks as a banned, illegal, terrorist organisation," an LTTE statement said yesterday. The Norwegian peace facilitation team was told by the LTTE that lifting the ban onaring an indefinite ceasefire and removing the ‘economic blockade’ on the Tamil region were necessary steps for talks to begin. "These are not demands or preconditions for talks, but rather pre-requisite necessary steps to create the very foundation for political negotiations,’ the LTTE said. Solheim and Westborg met Kumaratunga last night to apprise her of the LTTE’s position and latest deadlock in the peace process. Solheim and Westborg also called on Indian High Commissioner Gopalkrishna Gandhi late yesterday and apprised him of the outcome of the discussions with the LTTE. ‘The Norwegians are not disheartened by the developments,’ Gandhi said later. However, there was much reason for disappointment among the diplomatic community over the deadlock. Solheim’s visit to Sri Lanka this time was awaited with great eagerness and confirmation that he would cross the battle lines to reach rebel-held territory for talks raised hopes of a much-needed breakthrough that may lead to direct talks. What worried diplomatic observers was that the stalemate in Thursday’s talks was reflected on the ground when the LTTE launched three deadly attacks on the army in military-controlled territory in Vavuniya on Friday, killing 13 security personnel and injuring over 20 others. (PTI) |
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Protesters torch vehicles ahead of slain leader’s burial KARACHI, May 19: Angry mobs torched several vehicles today despite tight security ahead of the funeral of a slain Sunni Muslim Party leader and five others in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, police said. Saleem Qadri, president of the Sunni Tehreek (Sunni Movement), was killed yesterday in an ambush outside his home in the city’s western district of Baldia. Police said unidentified gunmen intercepted his car and sprayed it with bullets as Qadri, along with party members and relatives, was heading to a mosque for Friday prayers. Qadri and two of his nephews died on the spot, while his cousin and an unidentified man died in hospital, police said. A police officer assigned to guard Qadri was also killed while the party leader’s two sons were in a serious condition with bullet wounds. City police chief Tariq Jameel said police suspected the unidentified dead man could be one of the assailants. His political affiliation or connections had not been established, Jamil said today. Police said around 50 people had been rounded up as investigations continued into the murders, which triggered angry protests in the city. Shops and markets remained closed and traffic was thin in the western part of Karachi, which houses several industrial units and middle and lower middle-class homes, residents said. Youths took to the streets and set ablaze at least five vehicles in different areas ahead of Qadri’s burial, scheduled for late today, police said. (AFP) |
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TC would have won if it contested with NDA: Swaraj LONDON, May 19: Trinamool Congress would have won the Assembly elections in West Bengal if its chief Mamata Banerjee had contested the polls as a constituent of the National Democratic Alliance, Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj has said. "If she (Mamata Banerjee) had gone to the elections as an nda constituent, the results would have been different. There was a winning atmosphere and she would have romped home victorious," Swaraj told newspersons here last night. Moreover, "whatever may be one’s charisma and capacity to draw a crowd, there has to be booth management and ability to convert the crowd into votes and BJP would have provided both," the minister said. Swaraj, however, parried a question on the possibility of readmitting the Trinamool into the NDA fold saying it was a hypothetical question. The minister said banerjee might have thought that she might not get Muslim votes if she continued her alliance with NDA and BJP. "But today she would have realised it was a big mistake. If corruption was an issue, then she should not have had any alliance with Congress," she said. Swaraj said when Banerjee was with the NDA, there was an all-pervasive atmosphere of victory. The momentum was lost when she announced her severance of relations with BJP. On the BJP’s poll debacle, she said it was because of a major polarisation between TC, Congress combine and marxists. BJP as third alternative lost out. On whether the Tehelka episode was an issue, she said it was not an issue as elections were fought on regional issues. (PTI) |
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Swaraj: Film industry to be protected from underworld LONDON, May 19: Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj has said that she is fully committed to save the Indian film industry from the "clutches of the underworld". Though law and order comes within the purview of the Home Ministry, as a parent ministry, "we have given industry status to films in order to provide it financial support," Swaraj told newspersons here last night. "I am deeply involved in saving the film industry from the clutches of the underworld," she said, adding there is close linkage between good cinema and good money. "If it (film industry) gets this sort of money (black money), then the films will also be like that," she said. The I and B minister, who arrived here on Thursday afer attending the international film festival at Cannes, said now films are listed under the IDBI act and funds have been set apart for financing films. "The day we provide them (film producers) funds, why will they go for black money" she asked. Swaraj, who is on a three-day visit here, also held a meeting with BBC officials yesterday to find out more about their manner of working. "BBC is a role model for public service broadcaster and we would like to adopt it and improve upon the model," she said. Asked whether BBC was the right model to be adopted since it was also facing problems, Swaraj said "since we are in the process of establishing a public service broadcaster, I am looking at different broadcasters and BBC is one of them." Meanwhile, in an interview to BBC world, Swaraj rejected suggestions that the RSS was trying to influence the induction of people in Government. "RSS never controls the Government. We are in office for the last three years and we’ve come back with a revised mandate but never did RSS control the working of the Government," she said. Asked about the refusal to allow foreign ownership of media and barring news on private radio stations, Swaraj said "we are opening up - that doesn’t mean that we must open up lock stock and barrel in the first phase. You have to adopt a very cautious approach to opening up the media. We do not want to control it - the only thing is we are opening up in phases. We want to assess what is the benefit and what is the loss with this opening up," she said. On whether the Government would now move towards secularism following the debacle in the recent Assembly elections, the minister said "it is a wrong statement to say that BJP is an anti-secular party. It’s only seen (as such) outside India, because you people are a victim of this misinformation. We swear by the Constitution of India and the Constitution of India swears by secularism." Asked about the bribery and arms scandal, Swaraj said "first of all this is not a bribery scandal.. Even the journalists who exposed this thing are not accusing any minister of taking any bribe - no arms deal was struck in this. We are committed to eliminate corruption in public life." On a question as to how her ministry proposed to control the satellite channels from beaming objectionable dance sequences, Swaraj told reporters that "there is a programme code that has to be adhered to by satellite channels." The minister also said that instead of having separate Press Councils for media and satellite channels, there should be one independent council or forum. Commenting on the cannes festival, she said India had for the first time set up a pavilion to provide a single window for enquiries regarding Indian films. It also provided a meeting place for buyers and sellers and there were several inquiries for co-production, permission for locale shooting in India and sale of Indian commercial films, Swaraj said. With India producing about 800 to 1,000 films a year, there is tremendous scope for marketing Indian films in the European market, she added. (PTI) |
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Estonian President, Indian executive win Swiss prize ST GALLNE (SWITZERLAND), May 19: Estonian President Lennard Meri and the head of the Indian computer company Infosys Technologies, N R Narayana Murthy, were awarded the Liberty 2001 prize today. The prize, worth 200,000 Swiss francs (approximately 133,000 dollars) recognised the two men’s efforts to promote individual responsibility and liberty, the head of the prize foundation, stefan Schmidheiny, said. The Indian businessman was honoured for having built up a high-tech company despite the difficult economic context. The Estonian leader was not only a politician, but "a man of culture who has expressed the hopes and fears of his fellow citizens in his literary and cinematographic works," Schmidheiny said. "He helped preserve the identity of the Estonian people during the years of Soviet occupation," he added. (AFP) |
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