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| 2,500 Indians seeking political asylum in Britain LONDON, Nov 3: British authorities are faced with applications from about 2,500 Indian nationals, mostly hailing from....more US
post-war glow CRAWFORD, TEXAS, Nov 3: The triumphal post-war glow in which US President George W Bush once taunted Iraqi....more China’s
chief political BEIJING, Nov 3: The chief political rival to China’s President Hu Jintao has quietly taken....more Gujral for
India-China- BEIJING, Nov 3: Advocating Asian integration, former Prime Minister I K Gujral today urged India.......more |
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Tibetan Buddhists find peace in Scottish hills ESKDALEMUIR, SCOTLAND, Nov 3: A towering gold statue of the revered Buddhist Philosopher Nagarjuna sits cross.....more Gibraltar
furious at LONDON, Nov 3: Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Peter Caruana accused Spain today of "outrageous overreaction" for its....more China’s
VP spreads BEIJING, Nov 3: The Chief political rival to China’s President Hu Jintao has quietly taken on a military portfolio and been.......more Iran’s
Rohani cancels MOSCOW, Nov 3: Hassan Rohani, head of Iran’s supreme national security council, has cancelled his planned trip to......more |
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2,500 Indians seeking political asylum in Britain LONDON, Nov 3: British authorities are faced with applications from about 2,500 Indian nationals, mostly hailing from Punjab, seeking political asylum in this country, raising concerns over various dimensions of the growing problem and forcing the Government to clamp tighter visa regimes and stringent measures which include a two-year prison term for those who destroy their travel documents. "Their applications seeking asylum are pending," a senior British official here told a group of visiting Indian journalists. The modus operandi in several cases followed a similar pattern. Such persons have a transit halt at heathrow airport where they destroy their passports, claim they are persecuted back in India and seek asylum in UK. Luring prospective aspirants with lucrative offers, unscrupulous travel agents from India have also used this route to make money. In august this year, five of a team of visiting women cricketers went missing, apparently in search of greener pastures. Three have since returned but the whereabouts of the remaining two are still not known. Indians continue to be among the largest asylum seekers in the UK. There are sizeable numbers in this category from Somalia, Zimbabwe, China, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan and Congo. "It is a major problem," noted industrialist Lord Swraj Paul said adding this was one of the primary reasons for the introduction of the transit visa by the British Government. Put into force on October 15 this year, it stipulated that nationals of India, Angola, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Lebanon and Pakistan will need visas to travel through the UK. Previously, people from these countries required visas to visit the UK but were able to travel without one if they passed through on their way to a third country. "The tightening of the rules is in response to attempts by some of these nationals to circumvent the UK’s immigration system," said the home office here. "We are responding to intelligence that some nationals of these countries are using transit visas to flout our immigration controls and either enter the UK illegally or make unfounded asylum applications," it said. British authorities clarified that in certain categories, transit visas will not be required. This will not apply to those having a valid visa for entry to Canada or the US and a valid ticket to travel to these countries. Diplomats and those holding official passports, persons having US green card, Canadian permanent resident cards have also been exempted from this requirement. Earlier this week, British Home Secretary David Blunkett unveiled a package of asylum measures. For the first time, a criminal offence will be laid out if one arrives in Britain without a good explanation for not having any travel documents. It will also become a criminal offence to refuse to cooperate with getting a new set of documents to prevent deportation. Significantly, Blunkett brought relief to 15,000 asylum families who have been waiting for more than three years. They have been allowed to live and work in Britain. The measures plug benefits made available to people seeking asylum. The Government proposes to end support for families unwilling to return home, provide for only a single appeal for failed asylum applicants and arm the authorities with new powers to raid unqualified immigration advisors. (PTI) |
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US post-war glow dimmed by growing Iraqi violence CRAWFORD, TEXAS, Nov 3: The triumphal post-war glow in which US President George W Bush once taunted Iraqi militants by saying "bring them on" has faded to a grim determination against a resistance growing more deadly. "It’s getting worse, in the sense that, as today ... We’ve seen a much more sophisticated use of improvised explosive devices against coalition forces," the top US civil administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, said on CNN’s "late edition" yesterday. But the Bush administration vowed that it will not retreat, and Bush continues to cite his Iraq policy as an accomplishment despite accusations of a widening "credibility gap." Bush was at his ranch in Texas on Sunday and made no comment after a guerrilla attack on a US helicopter in Iraq killed 15 soldiers. The attack was the single deadliest strike since the United States invaded Iraq in March to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. In two other incidents yesterday, a US soldier and two civilian contractors were killed, making the day’s death toll the highest since Bush stood under a "mission accomplished" banner and declared major combat over on May 1. The President’s low profile on Sunday was in contrast to his defiance in July, when he said americans occupying iraq could handle attacks by resistance fighters. "Bring them on. We have the force necessary to deal with the situation," he said in July. White house spokesman trent duffy delivered the White House reaction to the helicopter’s downing, telling reporters "we mourn the loss" of all those who have died in service. However, he said, "our will and our resolve are unshakable. We will prevail in this critical front in the war on terror because the stakes are too high to do anything less." Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, on ABC’s "this week" called the attack a "tragic day." Public confidence in the administration’s handling of Iraq has faded, polls show, and democratic presidential candidates have sharpened their criticism of Bush over Iraq. "There is a widening credibility gap between what the administration says is going on in Iraq and what is actually going on in Iraq," said David Sirota, a spokesman for the liberal think tank center for American progress. The administration last month launched a campaign to break through a media "filter" and promote positive news of Iraq’s occupation, even as Rumsfeld in a private memo was predicting a "long, hard slog" in Afghanistan and Iraq. Bush last week sought to distance himself from the "mission accomplished" image. He said the banner had been placed by the crew of the aircraft carrier on which he spoke, although the White House later acknowledged it helped produce it. Bush also said he had always warned Iraq was a "dangerous place." Sirota said Bush must "start leveling with the American people" over Iraq and replace his current policy with one based on drawing more help from other countries. But Bush is gearing up to run for re-election on his Iraq policy, and crowds at his fund-raising events and republican political rallies last week cheered when he cited Saddam’s ouster. He said last week he would defend his iraq policy in the coming campaign. "I’ll say that the world is more peaceful and more free under my leadership, and America is more secure." Sirota said, "If they (the Bush administration) think that this is a winning national security or a winning political strategy they are completely and totally out of touch with what is going on on the ground in Iraq." Public confidence in the administration’s handling of Iraq has faded, polls show, and democratic Presidential candidates have sharpened their criticism of Bush over Iraq. "There is a widening credibility gap between what the administration says is going on in Iraq and what is actually going on in Iraq," said David Sirota, a spokesman for the liberal think tank center for American progress. The administration last month launched a campaign to break through a media "filter" and promote positive news of Iraq’s occupation, even as Rumsfeld in a private memo was predicting a "long, hard slog" in Afghanistan and Iraq. Bush last week sought to distance himself from the "mission accomplished" image. He said the banner had been placed by the crew of the aircraft carrier on which he spoke, although the White House later acknowledged it helped produce it. Bush also said he had always warned Iraq was a "dangerous place." Sirota said Bush must "start leveling with the American people" over Iraq and replace his current policy with one based on drawing more help from other countries. But Bush is gearing up to run for re-election on his Iraq policy, and crowds at his fund-raising events and republican political rallies last week cheered when he cited Saddam’s ouster. He said last week he would defend his Iraq policy in the coming campaign. "I’ll say that the world is more peaceful and more free under my leadership, and America is more secure." Sirota said, "if they (the Bush administration) think that this is a winning national security or a winning political strategy they are completely and totally out of touch with what is going on on the ground in Iraq." (AGENCIES) |
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China’s chief political
rival taken on military BEIJING, Nov 3: The chief political rival to China’s President Hu Jintao has quietly taken on a military portfolio and been named point man on Hong Kong, Bolstering power for a possible future challenge to the throne, Communist Party sources said today. But Zeng Qinghong, 64, the protege installed by former party Chief Jiang Zemin as pretender to power in China, may find himself waiting in the wings a long time, perhaps in vain, for the cautious hu to put a foot wrong, analysts said. "I don’t think Hu will ever be secure in his position with Zeng looking over his shoulder," said Joseph Fewsmith, a China watcher at Boston university. "It is possible to imagine Zeng replacing hu in the event of an upheaval of some sort. But it would take an upheaval to convince people that hu had made a ‘mistake’ and had to go." A western diplomat agreed. "It would have to be a major, major, major fumble," he said. Hu, 60, has weathered two crises — an outbreak of the flu-like SARS virus and the biggest protests in Hong Kong since 1989 — and further consolidated his position since rising to the pinnacle of power in China last November 15. A well-placed Communist Party source said Zeng had been given a role in military affairs and would eventually become Vice-Chairman of the party’s Central Military Commission, a post now held by Hu. Zeng is tipped to inherit that post when Hu takes over as chairman from Jiang, the source said. There was no timetable for the change of guard. In a sign of Zeng’s new military credentials, he met the Defence Ministers of Uganda, Canada and Australia in Beijing in September. He also met the Vietnamese Army’s Chief of the General Staff in the Chinese capital in October. "That seemed to be suggesting a role being developed," the diplomat said of the meetings. A Beijing-based western military analyst said: "Zeng definitely has ambitions to enter the military realm." Jiang handed the top job in the Communist Party to Hu last November in China’s first orderly succession since 1949. He passed on the state Presidency in March, but remained head of the Military Commission and wields influence in retirement through Zeng and other proteges in the top leadership. Zeng, Jiang’s Chief of Staff and top protege since 1980s Shanghai, stepped into Hu’s vacant Vice President job in March. On the surface, the new leadership appears to be working together smoothly. It is difficult to assess the true nature of their relationship — or Zeng’s with Jiang — because what goes on behind the walls of the leadership compound is a tightly guarded secret. But in a show of solidarity, Zeng accompanied hu to the northern Communist Revolutionary base of Xibaibo last December. Both Hu and Zeng met Hong Kong’s embattled Chief Executive, tung Chee-Hwa, in Beijing in July in a display of support after 500,000 protesters demanded Tung’s resignation for trying to railroad a tough anti-subversion bill through the legislature. Party sources said Zeng had been made head of the central leading group on Hong Kong to revive the territory’s ailing economy and restore stability and confidence after the July 1 protests. "It’s a competent man given a difficult portfolio," the diplomat said of Zeng becoming point man on Hong Kong. But some analysts see any Hu-Zeng coalition as unstable. Zeng’s possible appointment to the Central Military Commission would indicate Hu’s position was still not secure, Fewsmith said. "Hu still needs to navigate among different groups and will, in effect, be leading an unstable coalition," he said. "The biggest danger here is that it is the sort of balance of power situation that could be thrown into open conflict if faced with a major crisis — social disorder, disagreement about national priorities and Taiwan." Still, some question how loyal Zeng really is to his mentor. "I wouldn’t be surprised if Zeng betrays Jiang one day," Chinese political commentator Liang Kezhi said. "modern-day succession politics in Asia has many examples like this." (AGENCIES) |
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Gujral for India-China-Japan
axis to counter BEIJING, Nov 3: Advocating Asian integration, former Prime Minister I K Gujral today urged India, China and Japan to make "sacrifices" and join force on the basis of `Panchsheel’ to oppose the emerging unipolar world led by the United States. "In recent days, the emergence of a unipolar world is becoming evident. Hopefully, the major powers of Asia should learn the lessons of history and set about in real earnestness to resolve the old rivalries and overcome the old mistrust to form a new Asia based on the principles of `Panchsheel’ enunciated in Asia," Gujral said. Addressing the second annual conference of BOAO Forum for Asia (BFA) in BOAO city in south China’s island province of Hainan, Gujral said he believed that the big three countries of Asia - Japan, China and India - should play an active role and also make some sacrifices for the greater good of the region. Speaking on the second day of the BFA summit, Gujral said the ‘big three’ have to clearly "forsake aspirations for a hegemonic role, if any" in order to prevent the dominance of the US in Asian affairs. Gujral said India, China and Japan should come forward to provide financial and technical assistance to smaller countries in need of such assistance. The three also should devise institutional mechanisms to set up a pan-Asian fund that would help the needy to build their financial and environment infrastructures, he said. "It is time for us Asians who had suffered the three centuries of imperial rule to collectively meet challenges of destabilisation lurking before Asia in general and South, West and Central Asia more specifically, to strengthen in every possible manner the bilateral and regional initiatives to meet these situations. "The Asian states must themselves come forward with creative initiatives to build an effective structure of Asian peace and stability in the spirit of UN charter which endorses regional security system," he said noting that the US has established military bases all over Asia - Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Gulf countries and central Asian republics. "I believe that Iraq and rest of Asia does not need more troops or military bases. What is needed is a paradigm shift in policy on the part of America," he said. The former Indian Prime Minister cautioned the audience about the entry of a major non-Asian power in Asia’s security equations and the role it was playing in "perpetuating and in some cases escalating tensions in parts of Asia". (PTI) |
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Tibetan Buddhists find peace in Scottish hills ESKDALEMUIR, SCOTLAND, Nov 3: A towering gold statue of the revered Buddhist Philosopher Nagarjuna sits cross-legged in the middle of an ornamental lake. Tibetan prayer flags flutter in the breeze and Buddhist Monks in crimson and orange robes stroll across the courtyard in front of the ornate facade of a Temple. It could almost be the Tibetan capital Ihasa or a remote retreat in the Himalayas. But this is southern Scotland, home to the largest and oldest Tibetan Buddhist Monastery in the western world. Samye Ling — the name means "place beyond imagination" in Tibetan — was founded in 1967 by two Buddhist Monks who fled to India as teenagers after Chinese communist troops took over their remote mountain homeland in the 1950s. They found refuge in a school for young Buddhist priests in Delhi and from there came to Britain. Drawn to the remote, peaceful hills of the Scottish borders, they set up a Buddhist learning centre in an old stone country house near this quiet village. Since then, they and their followers have expanded the centre, building the Temple, guest houses, a 14 metre (45 feet) high "stupa" — a consecrated tower — Tibetan tearooms and a shop selling Buddhist books, trinkets and compact discs. There is even an internet cafe. While there are only around 20 Monks and nuns based at the centre, hundreds of Buddhist lay practitioners flock to Samye Ling for lectures, courses and retreats. Some courses, which teach everything from Tai Chi to Buddhist-Christian dialogue, attract up to 700 people. Samye Ling, a startling, incongruous sight against the backdrop of Scotland’s Dun-coloured hills and fields of heather, has also become a major tourist attraction. The main draw is the shrine, designed by a Tibetan artist and opened in 1988. It contains a large gilded statue of the Buddha surrounded by 1,000 smaller golden Buddhas. "The Scottish tourist board tell us it is now the 10th most visited site in Scotland," said the centre’s leading Lama, or Buddhist cleric, Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche. "There seems to be something about Tibetan Buddhism which appeals to people in the west, where so many people are disillusioned with the stress and the lack of a spiritual aspect in their lives," he told . Lama Yeshe, the younger brother of one of the centre’s co-founders Akong Tulka Rinpoche, says the centre has had a major impact on the local economy. "When we arrived this was an area that people were leaving," he said. "The local school and the local post office were about to close but the area has recovered since then." British Buddhists have moved to the area to be close to the Temple and some of them work in the Centre’s vegetable gardens. The Centre runs a soup kitchen in glasgow and oversees projects abroad. Its charity arm, originally set up to help Tibetan refugees, funds projects as far afield as Zimbabwe and South Africa. Buddhism is gaining in popularity in Britain, as it is in most western countries. The latest British census lists 145,000 Buddhists and London, where many of them live, is soon to have its first permanent Tibetan Buddhist monastery. Lama Yeshe, now 60, has spent more time in Scotland than he has in Tibet, which he left aged 16. Asked if he would go back to his homeland if the political climate there improved, he smiled and said: "I would like to go as I still have sisters and other relatives in Tibet". "But Buddhism teaches us to be very patient and tolerant," he added. "Who knows when we will go back?" (AGENCIES) |
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Gibraltar furious at Spanish border closure LONDON, Nov 3: Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Peter Caruana accused Spain today of "outrageous overreaction" for its decision to close its border with the British territory due to worries about a ship carrying sick tourists. Spain closed its border with Gibraltar — effectively cutting off the tiny British colony — as a cruise ship carrying hundreds of sick Britons docked there. "It’s an outrageous reaction — an overreaction —disproportionate and in no way justified by any sensible medical analysis of the situation," Caruana told BBC radio. The Cruise Ship Aurora, loaded with hundreds of British tourists who have suffered from a 24-hour viral infection, arrived in Gibraltar’s harbour today morning. The Aurora has been heading for the territory since Friday, when it left the Greek port of Piraeus after authorities there refused to allow passengers or crew to land. Caruana said he would urge the British Government to make the strongest possible protests to the Spanish Government and to the European union. "This is a flagrant interference with the right of EU nationals to exercise their right of free movement. There is no public health justification for interrupting that right," he said. (AGENCIES) |
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China’s VP spreads wings, has military portfolio BEIJING, Nov 3: The Chief political rival to China’s President Hu Jintao has quietly taken on a military portfolio and been named point man on Hong Kong, bolstering power for a possible future challenge to the throne, Communist Party sources said today. A well-placed party source said Zeng Qinghong had been given a role in military affairs and would eventually become Vice-Chairman of the party’s Central Military Commission (CMC), a post now held by Hu. But Zeng, 64, the protege installed by former party Chief Jiang Zemin as Chief Pretender to power in China, may find himself waiting in the wings a long time, perhaps in vain, for the cautious Hu to put a foot wrong, analysts said. "I don’t think hu will ever be secure in his position with zeng looking over his shoulder," said Joseph Fewsmith, a China watcher at Boston university. "It is possible to imagine Zeng replacing hu in the event of an upheaval of some sort. But it would take an upheaval to convince people that Hu had made a ‘mistake’ and had to go." Hu, 60, has weathered two crises — an outbreak of the flu-like SARS virus and the biggest protests in Hong Kong since 1989 — and further consolidated his position since rising to the pinnacle of power in China last November 15. Party sources said Zeng had been made head of the central leading group on Hong Kong to revive the territory’s ailing economy and restore stability and confidence after the 500,000-strong protest in Hong Kong on July 1 against a tough anti-subversion bill. (AGENCIES) |
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Iran’s Rohani cancels trip to Moscow—embassy MOSCOW, Nov 3: Hassan Rohani, head of Iran’s supreme national security council, has cancelled his planned trip to Moscow, an embassy official told today. Rohani was due to arrive in Moscow today and was expected to announce when his country would sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which allows the international nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, to conduct snap inspections of nuclear installations. (AGENCIES) Israel’s Sharon to meet Putin in Moscow MOSCOW, Nov 3: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow today to discuss prospects of reviving the stalled road-map peace plan for west Asia. Russia, a co-sponsor of the peace process, hopes the meeting will help resume a "maximally extensive political dialogue" and prevent an escalation of violence in the region, a Kremlin source told the ITAR- Tass News Agency. The talks between the leaders were also expected to focus on Russian- Israeli relations. Sharon arrived in Moscow yesterday and is due to leave tomorrow evening. (DPA) Aunt’s punch saves Australian from crocodile SYDNEY, Nov 3: A 19-year-old Australian attacked by a saltwater crocodile in a remote aboriginal community in the northern territory was saved after his aunt punched the three-metre beast on the nose, news reports said today. Margaret Rinybuma, in her 50s, told the northern territory news she acted after crocodile grabbed manuel pascoe’s leg as he was launching a boat to go duck hunting at Jibalbal in Arnhem land. Pascoe is recovering in hospital. (DPA) Frankfurt passenger jet emergency lands in Glasgow LONDON, Nov 3: A passenger aircraft with 276 passengers on board requested an emergency landing late yesterday at Scotland’s Glasgow airport, according to an airport spokesperson today. Nobody was injured during the landing. Smoke entered the cabin of the United Airlines Boeing 777 during the flight to Washington DC.The pilot relayed an SOS. The smoke had subsided by the time the plane landed. (DPA) Thai authorities raid illegal animal trade at market BANGKOK, Nov 3: Thai authorities seized more than 1,000 animals, many of them endangered, at a popular weekend market during the launch of a crackdown on the illegal animal trade, local media reported today. A team of 300 police and forestry officials confiscated more than 400 endangered species yesterday after raiding the popular Chatuchak weekend market. The raid was headed by the protections and suppression unit of the national park, wildlife, and plant conservation department. Senior official Thanit Palasuwan said there are "countless" stalls at the market selling an array of endangered animals, as well as protected monkeys, snakes and turtles. Thanit said the raids would continue each weekend in an effort to stop the illegal trade, local newspapers reported. The sentence for trading in endangered species is a fine of 40,000, a four-month jail term, or both. The weekend raid coincided with the end of an amnesty period for owners of legal wildlife to register their pets. The world wildlife fund estimates the illegal animal trade in Thailand nets around 200 million baht annually. (DPA) |
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