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PM orders probe COLOMBO, Oct 20: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has ordered the Defence ... ..more Tony
Blair eases LONDON, Oct 20: British Prime Minister Tony Blair heeded doctor’s orders to ease his workload today after requiring electric shocks to regulate heart .....more India
calls for united BEIJING, Oct 20: India today warned the international community that the menace of terrorism was far from over and proposed a united ....more Chinese, US Presidents explore North Korea standoff BANGKOK/WASHINGTON, Oct 20: US President George Bush, who earlier ...more |
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India suggests change BEIJING, Oct 20: India today suggested to the World Tourism Organization to change its name into International Organisation to promote tourism since .....more Nepal
people protest KATHMANDU, Oct 20: Intellectuals and several eminent citizens have joined the ....more Khatami
hints Iran may TEHRAN, Oct 20: Iran’s President Mohammad Khatami has indicated Tehran may halt uranium enrichment, which some western Governments.......more Kalam
interacts DUBAI, Oct 20: It was an unforgettable moment for 1,500 school children from Indian schools in the Gulf as they......more |
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PM orders probe into presence of LTTE arms ship COLOMBO, Oct 20: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has ordered the Defence Ministry and the Government peace Secretariat to probe into the alleged presence of a Tiger arms ship off Mullaitivu and if the details of the navy’s attempt to capture the vessel were leaked to the LTTE, media reports said today. The ‘Daily Mirror’ newspaper quoted Defence Ministry sources as saying that Mr Wickremesinghe yesterday ordered Defence Minister Tilak Marapana and head of the Peace Secretariat Bernard Gunatilleka to find out whether the vessel belonged to the LTTE or had this information been leaked to the LTTE by Nordic truce monitors. On Saturday, Navy Commander Vice Admiral Daya Sandagiri wrote to President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, said the Navy’s operation to capture the alleged LTTE gun running vessel some 250 miles east of Lanka’s North-Eastern Mullaitivu coast on Thursday night failed as the operation was "leaked" to the rebels by the Nordic truce monitors. Meanwhile, a statement from the Defence Ministry said head of the Nordic truce monitors Maj Gen Tryggve Teleffesen has clarified at a meeting with the Defence Secretary and the Navy Chief that the monitoring mission (slmm) ‘’had no intention of divulging any information.’’ According to a Defence Ministry statement, the Defence Secretary and the Navy Chief, "have explained to the slmm chief about the ‘grave repercussions’ of such information falling in to the hands of the LTTE, whatever the intentions of the slmm were." "It was agreed by the head of the slmm mission that any information of this nature will not be dealt in this manner," the statement said. However, at a top-level defence meeting it has been decided that a new set of ‘operational procedures’ had to be prepared immediately in dealing with such situations and they should be adhered to by all parties in the interest of the navy, its personnel and the peace process whilst ensuring the security of the country. The Navy has sunk at least two LTTE gunrunning vessels off Mullaitivu during the past 19-month- long truce, although the LTTE claimed they were mere commercial vessels. The incident is likely to cause more ripples in the uneasy co-habitation between the United National Front (UNF) Government and President Kumaratunga, who is already opposed to the way the peace process is handled by premier Wickremesinghe. Mr Wickremesinghe is presently in India on a three-day official visit. (UNI) |
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Tony Blair eases workload after heart scare LONDON, Oct 20: British Prime Minister Tony Blair heeded doctor’s orders to ease his workload today after requiring electric shocks to regulate heart palpitations in the first health scare of his premiership. The 50-year-old Blair, who has had the toughest year of his six-year rule with the Iraq war and its difficult aftermath, was sending his Foreign Minister Jack Straw in his place to report on a European Union meeting to Parliament. He was due to hold some low-key meetings at his Downing street office and residence today, but would not be back at his desk full-time until tomorrow, Blair’s spokesmen said. "There is no reason why this should reoccur," one spokesman said of the irregular heart beat Blair suffered yesterday. Blair was at his chequers country home when he felt dizzy and had chest pains. He was taken to London’s Hammersmith hospital, where doctors regulated Blair’s heart beat via electric shock in nearly five hours’ of treatment. He then returned "well and in good spirits" to Downing street, the spokesman said. Blair has no history of heart problems and is known to be a vitamin-popping fitness enthusiast who plays tennis, works out regularly on a treadmill and even joined US President George W Bush in a gym for a joint session on a recent trip. News of his ill health shocked Britons, with politicians and commentators asking just how big a toll the Iraq saga has taken. Blair has looked stressed and drawn through much of 2003, first as he sold an unpopular war to sceptical Britons, then when critics rounded on him for his office’s role in the outing of the name of scientist David Kelly, who committed suicide. "He’s doing quite the most stressful job I’ve ever seen anyone do. There’s nothing like taking a country to an unpopular war," said former newspaper editor Peter Stothard, who shadowed Blair during the Iraq Saga and wrote a book on his experiences. "This is certainly a shock for everyone, and a bit of a wake-up call for him." With his popularity ratings in a slump, some speculated Blair would benefit from public sympathy over his heart problem. There were calls for him to take a long break or ease his work-load. But biographer John Rentoul said that was unlikely. "Blair doesn’t do delegation," he said, adding: "The guy’s not been carried off yet. If what the doctors say is right, there’s no reason why he can’t just carry on as normal." Medical experts said Blair’s problem was worrying but relatively common and easily manageable. "As far as I understand he had sudden onset of rapid heart beat. There are several conditions which led to this but rarely are they things to be concerned about," said Tony Handrey, a British consultant cardiologist. "There is no evidence it is a stress-related condition... It usually just occurs out of the blue." Downing street said the Hammersmith hospital where Blair was treated viewed his as "a relatively common condition." (AGENCIES) |
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India calls for united fight against terrorism BEIJING, Oct 20: India today warned the international community that the menace of terrorism was far from over and proposed a united global front against terrorists to foil their attempts to attack anyone at will. "The menace of terrorism is far from over. We must, therefore, resolve once again to fight unitedly and in every conceivable way the scourge of terrorism and eliminate it from ever nook and corner of the world," Minister for Tourism and Culture, Jagmohan said here. "There should be no place for terrorists and no opportunity to them to attack anyone at will," Jagmohan said while addressing the 15th general assembly of the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) here in the Chinese capital. Noting that the WTO meeting was being held at a time when world tourism is steadily coming out of the fallout of the September 11 terrorist strikes, he said India has been making an all out effort to boost its Tourism Industry under a new brand image named "incredible India". "In the arena of tourism and culture, India for quite some time, has been a sleeping giant. It is fully awake now and making strides in the right direction," he said. "It is rediscovering its vast bounties of nature and also great treasures of art, architecture and improving their approaches and elevating their surroundings," Jagmohan said adding India’s domestic tourism sector has witnessed an increase of 30 million in one year, he said. In the international tourism sector, the percentage increase has been 15 in terms of number and 20 in terms of foreign exchange earnings, he said. Lauding the Madrid-based WTO for viewing tourism as an instrument of poverty alleviation, Jagmohan said India believes that this sector could help eliminate poverty, end unemployment and create new skills as well as help enhance the status of women. While hoping that the tourism sector would also act as a "smokeless industry," he said the industry would promote a dialogue amongst civilizations and also facilitate the growth of a more just and fair order, both at the national and international order. (PTI) |
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Chinese, US Presidents explore North Korea standoff BANGKOK/WASHINGTON, Oct 20: US President George Bush, who earlier proposed a written multilateral non-aggression agreement with North Korea over the nuclear standoff, explored other ways of defusing the crisis in talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao. The two leaders met on the eve of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit that kicks off today in Bangkok. Although the conference is focussed on trade, APEC leaders last year expressed commitment to keeping the Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons, and the issue is expected to dominate bilateral meetings in Bangkok. Bush and Hu discussed ways of establishing "verifiable progress" by the North Koreans in dismantling their nuclear weapons programme, a senior Bush administration official told US reporters travelling with Bush in Thailand. "There are things that we can see happening on the ground as opposed to just hollow assurances" that the programme was being dismantled, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. A transcript of the briefing was made available in Washington. The remarks raised the possibility that the US and the four other countries wrestling with the North Korea issue - China, Russia, Japan and South Korea - would give a written non-aggression pledge in exchange for North Korea’s allowing Inspections on the ground. Bush would also be exploring the possibility with the other three countries, the official said. Earlier, Bush offered the possibility of a written agreement with North Korea that would reassure Pyongyang that the US will not attack the country, but said a formal treaty was "not on the table". "We will not have a treaty, if that’s what you’re asking," Bush said to reporters in Bangkok, where he had just met with Thailand’s Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. But "perhaps there are other ways we can look at, to say exactly what I said publicly on paper, with our partners’ consent", he added. The Chinese have been pressing Washington to "come up with some form of security assurances", the official said, and Bush broached the possibility of a written agreement with Hu. "The president did make it clear that he thought that those security assurances have to be multilateral," he said. "So I think that’s an idea that the Chinese have to wrap themselves around." The official emphasized that any move would be made among all six parties engaged in the talks. In remarks after the bilateral talks, Bush thanked China for leading the Beijing talks on North Korea and said a multilateral security assurance could advance diplomacy. "We have a mutual goal and that is the peninsula be free of nuclear weapons," Bush said. President Hu said that China would "continue to strengthen our communication" and to work to promote the Beijing six-party talks". The idea of a written pact has been discussed in the past, but Bush’s remarks on the eve of the economic summit emphasized the US push for movement in getting North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons programme. "I’ve said as plainly as I can say that we have no intention of invading North Korea," Bush said. "And I’ve also said as plainly as I can say that we expect North Korea to get rid of her nuclear weapons ambitions." He said there was progress on the issue because other nations have become involved in the negotiating process, referring to Thailand’s Foreign Minister who had recently travelled to Pyongyang. The proposal for a non-aggression pact was first made by US Secretary of State Colin Powell recently. "We have been examining what one could present to them that would give them more of an assurance than the kind of assurances they received" in the past, said Powell recently. Pyongyang has recently announced that it reprocessed enough spent fuel rods to build several bombs, and the central intelligence agency suspects the country could already have two weapons. Talks in Beijing in August between the United States, China, Russia, Japan and the two Koreas failed to produce any substantive results, but in a move welcomed by Washington, Pyongyang said it desires a peninsula free of atomic weapons. The negotiations, however, have provided the United States and China with an opportunity to work together, and the effort has paid dividends in healing the rift that erupted between the two countries after a US spy plane collided with a Chinese fighter off the mainland coast. (DPA) |
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India suggests change of name of WTO BEIJING, Oct 20: India today suggested to the World Tourism Organization to change its name into International Organisation to promote tourism since its current abbreviation clashed with that of the World Trade Organization. "To avoid confusion with the World Trade Organization, which also uses the abbreviation of WTO, the name world Tourism Organization should be changed to International Organization to Promote Tourism (IOPT)," Minister of Tourism and Culture Jagmohan said here. Addressing the 15th session of the general assembly of the WTO here, Jagmohan said the word "promote" would also express better the main object of the Madrid-based organization. He also suggested that the WTO should step out of the confines of conferences, seminars and studies and undertake and fund a number of concrete projects, especially in the developing countries, which would provide "solid benefits" and also act as models. (PTI) |
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Nepal people protest British Govt’s discrimination to Gurkha KATHMANDU, Oct 20: Intellectuals and several eminent citizens have joined the agitation against the British Government’s discriminatory policy towards Gurkha soldiers and a recent statement of the British Ambassador to Nepal. "The Government should take our protest seriously and raise the issue of Gurkha soldiers, who have been serving the British Army for about 190 years," Major N B Chhetri said. British Ambassador to Nepal K Bloomsfield had compared the pension of an former British Gurkha Army Captain and Nepal’s Prime Minister at a press meet held in Kathmandu last week. Nobel K Rai, former Nepal Ambassador to Germany, lambasted Mr Bloomsfield for his remarks, saying, "if the envoy can be so irresponsible that he questions Nepal’s sovereignty, what can we expect from the British Government?" Nepali serving in the British Army have been demanding equal pension as that of their British counterpart. However, the British Government has said it is in accordance with the tripartite agreement signed between Nepal, India and Britain in 1947. Former Gurkha personnel are paid substantially low pension compared to Britishers and they are agitating against the discrimination. Nepalese soldiers serving in the British Army had filed a case against the discriminatory rules but they lost the case. "The treaty needs to be revised so that Gurkhas are not recruited under the discriminatory provisions, Mr Rai said. "A so called democratic country which talks of human rights has shown its real picture with the discriminatory attitude towards Nepali people who served in very difficult places including in Falkland, Afghanistan and Iraq," said Mr Krishna Thapa, who was with the British Army. (UNI) |
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Khatami hints Iran may stop uranium enrichment TEHRAN, Oct 20: Iran’s President Mohammad Khatami has indicated Tehran may halt uranium enrichment, which some western Governments say could be used to make atomic bombs, if it is allowed to keep its civilian atomic energy programme. Asked by reporters yesterday if Iran was prepared to stop enriching uranium as the United States and several European countries have demanded, Khatami said: "We will do whatever is necessary to solve the problems and in return we’re expecting our rights to be preserved which is (the right) to have nuclear technology." It was the first indication from a top Iranian official that Iran could mothball uranium enrichment facilities which it began building in 1985. Iranian officials had previously insisted they had every right to continue enriching uranium to use in nuclear reactors. Asked if Iran was prepared to meet the demands for tougher inspections and a halt to uranium enrichment, Khatami said: "We will do what is expedient for society and the nation. We have done our best for talks and exchanging views and we hope it will produce a result." Iranian officials have said the Foreign Ministers of Britain, France and Germany will visit Tehran this week to discuss a proposal to resolve Iran’s nuclear standoff before a looming October 31 UN deadline for Tehran to prove it has no atomic arms ambitions. The three countries wrote to Tehran a few weeks ago offering Iran the prospect of sharing technology if it stops its nuclear fuel enrichment programme and accepts tougher inspections of its nuclear sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said yesterday that Iran has invited the three ministers to visit Tehran for talks on the additional protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which would allow snap inspections of its nuclear sites. "Given that the German, French and British Foreign Ministers had in a letter voiced willingness to cooperate with Iran, we proposed initiating a constructive dialogue with Europe," the official IRNA News Agency quoted Asefi as saying. Asefi said the exact date for the ministers visit had not yet been set but added that "if things go well, the date for the visit of the ministers will be very close." Last year, US President George W Bush named Iran as a member of the "axis of evil" along with Iraq and north Korea. Bush went to war with Iraq over Weapons of Mass Destruction earlier this year and is in a diplomatic standoff with north Korea over its weapons programmes. He made Iran a top post-Iraq priority, urging the international community to make clear "we will not tolerate" construction of a nuclear weapon by Iran. The European Union agreed that force might be needed if diplomacy failed and joined Washington in demanding Tehran accept tougher Inspections by the IAEA. Khatami said on Friday his country had no plans to build nuclear weapons and predicted that it would reach an agreement on its nuclear programme with the UN atomic watchdog. Iran and the IAEA began formal talks on tougher inspections on Saturday. "The IAEA Chief Mohamed Elbaradei has given us the necessary assurances that neither the text of the additional protocol nor its implementation will cause any worries for Iran," Asefi said. UN Inspectors have found enriched uranium, which can be used to make atomic weapons, at two Iranian facilities this year. Iran blames this on contamination from machinery it bought abroad on the black market. (AGENCIES) |
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Kalam interacts with school children DUBAI, Oct 20: It was an unforgettable moment for 1,500 school children from Indian schools in the Gulf as they had an interaction with President A P J Abdul Kalam who is on a "learning trip" to the UAE, Sudan and Bulgaria. Kalam, who reached here this morning after a two-hour drive from Abu Dhabi went straight to the Indian High School where he impressed on the students "learning gives creativity, creativity leads to thought, though provides knowledge and knowledge makes you great". Emphasising on the need to have a vision, he explained to the children aged between eight and 17 that it was because of thousands of visionaries like scientists and engineers that India has been able to advance technologically and also launch rockets in space. Kalam stressed on the need to always think, saying "there is no age bar to thinking as it triggers your imagination". In a message to the children, he said "knowledge is so powerful that it can be used to strengthen your mind, but possessed the righteousness and a built-in character as these are very important in life". He told students to study and excel and "make a contribution as citizens of the country you are living in and when you come to India share your knowledge and experience with your countrymen". (PTI) Vietnam flood toll hits 38 heritage sites at risk HANOI, Oct 20: At least 38 people have died in central Vietnam after days of heavy rains and floodwaters have put many old houses in the world heritage town of Hoi an at risk of collapse, officials said today. Disaster reports said the death toll in five flood-hit provinces had risen from 19 on Saturday. At least 17 people drowned in Quang Ngai province, 890 Km south of the capital Hanoi, and 26 more were injured as floods washed away many roads. State radio voice of Vietnam said authorities in Quang Nam province, home to the UN-recognised ancient town of Hoi an, would spend nearly 2 million dollars to reinforce old houses and pagodas. The radio said 200 of the town’s 1,040 listed sites were facing collapse. Thirteen people died in Binh Dinh, four in Quang Nam, three in Quang Tri and another in Thua thien hue province in the week-old flood crisis. Officials said floodwaters had started to recede in parts of central Vietnam and soldiers had evacuated nearly 40,000 people in Quang Ngai and neighbouring Binh Dinh province. Nearly 52,000 houses were submerged, many villages were cut off and traffic on the country’s north-south highway one was blocked. They said they had yet to estimate the overall damage but at least 7,600 hectares of rice had been ruined. Rice prices are likely to rise because of the flood damage, additional demand to supply relief work and thin supplies in the Mekong delta in the post-harvest period. Vietnam is the world’s third largest rice exporter after Thailand and India. (AGENCIES) Iran Ebadi plans legal centre for human rights violations TEHERAN, Oct 20: Iran’s Nobel Peace prize winner Shirin Ebadi plans to create a legal centre in Iran for following up human rights violations, the Teheran press reported. The daily Yass-E No reported that Ebadi’s main aim is to allow the people to voice their protests directly to an office affiliated to Iran’s lawyer association. According to the plan, the problems would first be evaluated inside the country without first being referred to international organizations such as United Nations’ offices in Teheran. Ebadi was quoted by the daily as saying that while international organizations should be respected, it would still be wiser to refer first to an internal centre and try to solve the relevant problems nationally. Observers believe that with the Nobel Peace prize in her professional record, Ebadi hopes to have more acknowledgement by the Islamic establishment in her fight for children, women and especially human rights. Ebadi said after her return earlier this week from Paris that she would respect the country’s laws and not engage herself directly in politics. But already many intellectuals and human rights activists have called for her nomination at the 2005 Presidential elections. Ebadi had told the Students’ News Agency ISNA Saturday that all political groups, with whatever stance they have, should move hand-in-hand towards building up Iran. The 56-year-old secular dissident also called for the immediate release of all political prisoners, suitable venues for runaway children and social security for women who have no income of their own. (DPA) Powell to stop for sudan peace talks — Officials BANGKOK, Oct 20: US Secretary of State Colin Powell will travel to Kenya on Tuesday to push for an early conclusion to talks between the Sudanese Government and southern rebels, US state department officials today said. Powell will go to Nairobi from Bangkok, where he was attending a meeting of the Asia-Pacific economic cooperation forum with President George W Bush. The peace talks held near lake Naivasha, west of Nairobi, have made substantial progress but have not brought agreement on how to share power or on Sudan’s new-found oil wealth. Earlier this month a US official said the peace talks had gone 80 percent of the way and washington would take a good look at removing Sudan from its list of "state sponsors of terrorism" if a peace agreement was reached. On Saturday Sudan said it expected a deal by the end of the year to bring the 20-year civil war to a close. Almost two million people have been killed in the conflict. It also said Powell would attend the signing of a draft agreement if a deal was reached this month. But the United States has played down expectations that anything will be ready for signing by Wednesday. Powell plans to be in Madrid by Wednesday evening, the eve of a two-day conference raising money to rebuild Iraq. The trip to Nairobi means that Powell will not be going to Athens, which had been a tentative stop on his current trip. (AGENCIES) Security firms criticize new Singapore training rules SINGAPORE, Oct 20: A plan to tighten the training of guards to beef up security amid terrorism threats in the region has come under criticism from Singapore security firms, it was reported today. The firms complain the Ministry of Manpower’s (MoM) tests for guards are unfair because they fail to take into account the applicants’ low education, the Straits Times said. Forty per cent of the 7,112 guards who took the theory and practical tests flunked since the MoM announced moves to upgrade the industry in October last year, a week after terrorists bombs in Bali killed 202 people. The ministry said the guards fail mainly because they are not trained well enough, do not understand work procedures, or are not mentally prepared for the tests. The tests are only for the 10,000 guards hired by security firms. The 20,000 employed by corporations are exempt. The testers are either former police or Army officers who have at least three years of experience as guards and one year supervising them. "Being former police officers, their standards may be too high", said Ratan Singh, president of the association of certified security agencies. Most guards, with only a primary 6 education, speak little English, the firms said. He cited a guard who thought "loitering" was "littering" and told the tester he would do nothing to such a person. (DPA) |
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