British travel pod makes science fantasy a fact

LONDON, Feb 24: A shiny white pod that began road tests this month may well be the taxi of the future.

The pod, known as ultra — urban light transport — could make driver-free transport a reality and not just the stuff of futuristic fantasy.

"It will be the first in the world," said Richard Treychenne, Director of Business Development at Ultra’s Makers, advanced transport systems limited.

The POD — which seats up to four passengers — is the brainchild of Bristol University’s Martin Lowson, who is no stranger to making science fiction dreams come true.

His past projects include the apollo moon-landing programme in the United States.

The first stage of the ultra project will have 30 PODs circling the Cardiff bay area in wales by 2004 if all goes according to plan, Treychenne said.

Next, the PODs would move to the centre of the Welsh capital.

At a maximum of 25 miles (40 km) per hour, ultra may not reach cosmic speeds but should still speed past cars and buses stuck in traffic.

The battery-powered PODs will operate on a single 1.5 metre (five foot) track — less than half the width of a single lane of road — and recharge at every stop to keep their energy levels topped up.

Resistant to vandalism, snow, rain and ice, the vehicles will be designed to stop automatically if they sense an object in their path.

Ultra PODs could work as an automated personal taxi system. Passengers will "hail" the pod from a designated stop, where they select the required destination along a set route.

When the POD pulls up, the passengers swipe a smart card giving the travel details and ultra carries them directly to their chosen stop.

Rubber wheels ensure a quiet journey and security cameras at every stop increase passenger safety.

Its designers say ultra could spell the end of long taxi queues, because passengers would find on-call pods at designated stops at least 80 percent of the time.

This efficiency would come from a large number of PODs in circulation, and by shortened journey times without conventional traffic jams.

Advanced transport systems estimate that building an ultra network would cost about one-third to one-half of the amount needed for a light railway.

Connecting Cardiff’s city centre to its waterside region is expected to cost 45 million pounds (65 million dollars). Old car parks and shops will be converted into express stations for hospitals and other focal points in the city.

The PODs will be accessible to the disabled, as well as passengers with bicycles or prams, with lifts taking people up to high-rise stations.

Designers hope that the experience will cost about as much as an ordinary bus journey, or even less if passengers are prepared to share their PODs.

Wherever possible, ultra will run along the ground, but some routes might require tracks to be raised on pillars above roads, creating a truly futuristic look.

"In a modern development like the cardiff waterfront area we feel that the system will match the architecture very well," said the ultra design team. (AGENCIES)

Israel eases restrictions on Yasser Arafat

JERUSALEM, Feb 24: Israel today eased restrictions placed for nearly three months on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat allowing him freedom to leave his compound in the West Bank of Ramallah but decided he cannot leave the city.

Following a three-hour meeting of the security cabinet, a statement from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s office said the cordon around Arafat’s compound would be lifted, but if he wished to depart from Ramallah, he would have to request with Sharon who would decide on it in consultation with a special ministerial committee.

Arafat has been confined to Ramallah, effectively under house arrest since december last year by Isarel.

The Palestine leader has been able to leave his compound before, but several tanks are stationed in the vicinity of the complex, including one just 70 metres from the northern gate.

Arafat last left the so-called ‘Mukhata’ compound on Thursday to visit Ramallah Hospital, where Palestinians who have been injured by Israeli forces are being treated.

The decision came after a 14-member security cabinet meeting today, in which 12 members voted in favour, the other two abstained.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat described Israeli cabinet’s decision as "pointless" and "shameful" and alleged that Israel had no serious plans for peace.

"This decision is totally unacceptable, shameless and shows that this Israeli Government has no political program and is determined to continue on the paion," he said. (PTI)

North Korea calls Bush ‘kingpin of terrorism’

SEOUL, Feb 24: North Korea, in its latest rhetorical roasting for the US President, described George W Bush today as a "typical rogue and a kingpin of terrorism" who visited South Korea this week just to review plans for war.

During his 40-hour visit to the south, bush renewed an unconditional US offer for talks with Pyongyang, but also criticised a lack of food and freedom in the north, saying the burden of proof was on north korean leader Kim Jong-Il to change.

North Korea responded to Bush’s remarks by issuing a toughly worded Foreign Ministry statement yesterday rejecting his call for talks and dismissing him as a "politically backward child" bent on using arms and money to change the north’s communist political system.

Today, the official KCNA news agency followed up with a commentary that regurgitated parts of the ministry’s statement but also concocted some fresh phrases to attack Bush in what was almost certainly the start of a long rhetorical campaign.

It said his visit was aimed at drumming up anti-reunification forces and noted he had toured the southern side of the heavily fortified demilitarised zone that bisects the Korean Peninsula.

"It was, in a word, a war junket to finally examine the preparations for a war on the spot," KCNA said.

"He asserted that the US nuclear and missile forces strong enough to destroy the world scores of times are ‘deterrent forces’ and the DPKR’s forces for self-defence to defend its national dignity and sovereignty from the potential threat of aggression from the US pose a ‘threat’ and can be used for ‘terrorism’," it said. "This is a gangster-like logic of a typical rogue and a kingpin of terrorism."

DPRK is the acronym of North Korea’s official name, the democratic people’s republic of Korea.

Bush has described North Korea as being part of an "axis of evil" for developing and seeking to proliferate weapons of mass destruction.

Apart from the lexical quirks, North Korea’s comments so far have been noteworthy for not criticising South Korea and its President, Kim Dae-Jung even though he voiced concern, after talks with Bush, about the north’s weapons programmes.

Kim said this morning his Government would not give up its "sunshine policy" of engaging the north despite pyongyang’s rejection of the latest US call for dialogue.

"Based on what the (Seoul) Government has achieved in the past four years, we will continue to push ahead with the engagement policy toward North Korea," the presidential office quoted kim as telling visiting foreign scholars.

Political analysts say it is possible North Korea will resume stalled talks with the south even if it rules out, for now, speaking to the United States.

But they say little progress is expected because the south’s kim is in his final year in office and there are other distractions such as the Soccer World Cup finals, being co-hosted by South Korea and Japan, and a major festival in the north.

Pyongyang’s brinkmanship and bluster on the road to deals have been well mapped by foreign experts over the years.

Today, KCNA said Bush’s "loud-mouthed" offer of dialogue was not worthy of note because he sought to change how North Korea was run.

"It is useless for the dprk to sit with those who do not recognise its political system," it said. "Bush and his group are well advised to stop acting recklessly."

US Secretary of State Colin Powell, aboard air force one returning from Bush’s six-day Asian trip, said on Friday the United States would use diplomatic channels to seek dialogue with the north despite its angry rejection of the offer.

The Koreas remain technically at war because the Korean war ended without a peace treaty. The United States keeps 37,000 troops in South Korea to deter the north, which has more than a million people in its armed forces, from repeating its 1950 invasion of the south. (AGENCIES)

Trouble-free Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca winds down

MENA, SAUDI ARABIA, Feb 24: Nearly two million Muslim pilgrims chanting "god is greatest" performed a ritual that symbolises the stoning of the devil today as a trouble-free annual Haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia wound down.

The white-robed faithful packed the 1,600-metre (mile-long) Jamarat Bridge in Mena and threw 21 pebbles each at three concrete pillars to the Arabic cry of "Allahu Akbar".

They will sleep in mena for another night before a third day of stoning tomorrow the fifth and final day of the Haj.

Saudi officials reported no accidents at Jamarat, traditionally the most troublesome part of the Haj, where last year at least 35 people died in a stampede during the stoning ritual. In 1998, 119 were killed in a similar incident.

Muslims believe the devil appeared to Abraham at the site near Mecca, the native city of the Prophet Mohammad.

Loudspeaker announcements in a variety of languages guided the crowds under the watchful eyes of hundreds of police and paramedic teams. Helicopters hovered overhead as Saudi officials distributed chilled water to the pilgrims in temperatures of 35 degrees celsius (93 fahrenheit).

There had been fears of political fallout at the Haj after the September 11 attacks on the United States were blamed on Islamic militants but the ritual has been spared controversy.

Thousands of Iranian pilgrims did stage an anti-American rally on Mount Arafat on Thursday despite a Saudi ban on political gatherings. Speakers denounced Israel, the United States and the war in Afghanistan. US President George W Bush has called Iran part of an "axis of evil", angering Iranians.

But the rally was confined to an area set aside for Iranian pilgrims and passed off without incident. A similar meeting at the 1987 Haj had led to clashes with Saudi security forces in which 402 people, mostly Iranians, died. Iran boycotted the Haj for three years after that incident.

Saudi authorities said 1.84 million people performed the Haj this year, compared with 1.80 million last year. Of these, 1.35 million came from abroad while 480,000 were from the kingdom. Around 115,000 pilgrims — 45,000 Saudis and 70,000 foreigners — were turned away from Mecca, carrying forged permits to enter the holy city. Haj is a once-in-a-lifetime religious duty for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it. (AGENCIES)

Truce pact evokes mixed reaction from Tamil parties

COLOMBO, Feb 24: The ceasefire agreement signed by the Sri Lankan Government has evoked mixed reaction from the North-East-based Tamil political parties, including ex-militant groups.

The MoU was signed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran yesterday.

Leader of the moderate Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) M Sivasithamparam, MP, said the long-awaited Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) had been welcomed by the Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities of the island.

"The TULF, the major ally of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is happy and thankful to the Prime Minister and the LTTE for their courage to sign such a document, thus setting the stage for the peace talks," he said. "It will bring relief to the suffering of the tamil people. This process should be continued and they should quickly get into talks to address the core issues of the conflict," he added.

Commenting on the President’s reaction, Mr Sivasithamparam said it was unfortunate and her expression could give a totally a wrong impression to the people.

"If she had doubts on the mou she could have simply clarified them with the Prime Minister. Any attempt to sabotage the peace process will certainly be defeated," he said.

N Srikantha, leader of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO), which is also one of the four parties in the TNA, said signing the MoU was a "very good move" in the right direction to achieve lasting peace. He said the President, being the head of the state, should rise to the occasion and discharge her responsibilities with regard to her declared commitment to a peaceful resolution to the national issue.

"The constitutional compulsion leading to the political cohabitation of a Peoples Alliance (PA) president and a United Nationalist Party Prime Minister has created a rare opportunity for these major Sinhala parties to collectively address the national crisis," he said.

One of the clauses of the MoU stipulates that the Tamil paramilitary groups shall be disarmed by the Government of Sri Lanka within one month and the Government shall offer to integrate individuals in these units under the command and disciplinary structure of the Government armed forces.

The PLOTE, the EPDP, the TELO and the EPRLF, even after becoming registered political parties have been working closely with the security forces in fighting against the LTTE for the past many years.

Mr Srikantha said the TELO was no more a paramilitary group with the PA stripping all the weapons given to the group. "Sooner they are disarmed so much the better. This is an absolute must for restoring normalcy in the north-east," he said.

Leader of the ex-militant People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) D Sidharthan, who is also a parliamentarian from the Wanni district, said, "the MoU of the present nature means nothing until and unless the Government and the LTTE reach the final agreement on a permanent solution to the ethnic crisis, meeting the basic aspirations of the Tamils".

Commenting on disarming, Mr Sidharthan said his party too was not a paramilitary group. He, however, said his party was ready to surrender the weapons provided to them, if the Government made alternative arrangement for their security."Getting recruited into the Army is the decision and will of individuals. But we will not force them to join or not to join," he said.

Former Chief Minister of the defunct north-east provincial council A Varatharajaperumal said the parameters of the paramilitary groups do not include his party. "It is the Government which gave us arms for our own protection. The so-called MoU cannot give us protection. We need to carry arms as long as the LTTE carries arms," he said.

"However, if the Government is ready to provide enough police protection to our local leaders and offices in the north-east, we have no need to carry weapons," he said.

He said the Tamil people have seen several accords and MoUs in the past three decades. "I have my doubts and apprehension since this MoU is only a test," he said.

Former minister and leader of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), Douglas Devananda was not available for comment. (UNI)

| home | state | national | business | editorial | advertisement | sports
| international | weather | mailbag | suggestions | search | subscribe | send mail |