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Natwar’s three nation DUBAI, Dec 24: External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh begins his tour of three Gulf countries tomorrow as part of Indian Government’s efforts to hold . ......more 21
killed in bangla DHAKA, Dec 24: At least 21 people were killed and five seriously injured in a road accident in northwestern town of Tangail, about 90 km from here today. ....more China
closes 12 non-performing key BEIJING, Dec 24: China has closed 12 non-performing key national labs but will hike .....more Ex-priest
free after HK HONG KONG, Dec 24: A former Roman Catholic priest accused of sex abuse in ....more |
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Malaysia urged to release Indian illegal migrants SINGAPORE, Dec 24: A Malaysian lawyer of Indian origin J Ganesan has urged the country’s Home Minister Azmi. ...more Chinese
vaccinated BEIJING, Dec 24: Amid the nationwide alert against SARS, a top chinese health expert has urged people to ...more Disney says revises long-term compensation plan LOS ANGELES, Dec 24: Executives at Walt Disney Co will have some of their stock benefits subject to performance-....more Gunmen
kill 23 in attack TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS, Dec 24: At least 23 people were killed in the.......more |
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Natwar’s three nation tour begins today DUBAI, Dec 24: External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh begins his tour of three Gulf countries tomorrow as part of Indian Government’s efforts to hold substantive dialogue with the Arab world. Singh arrives in Muscat, the capital of Oman, tomorrow on the first leg of his tour which will also take him to the UAE and Bahrain. During his visit to the UAE beginning Sunday, Singh will pay tributes to late UAE President Sheikh Zayed and meet a spectrum of the new leadership of the country to affirm India’s resolve to carry the robust bilateral ties forward. Singh’s last stop will be Manama, the capital of Bahrain. He is also scheduled to address a meeting of 15 heads of Indian missions in the region and attend a reception hosted by the Indian Business and Professional Council (IBPC) in Dubai, diplomatic sources said. The India-UAE trade has been on the upswing in the last few years. Buoyed by a sizzling economic growth back home, exports from India to the uae grew by a whopping 47.2 per cent in the year 2003-2004 to touch USD 4.45 billion in value up from USD 3.02 billion the previous year, according to the Indian embassy in Abu Dhbai. The booming exports helped India overtake China in total trade turnover with the UAE for the first time this millennium as the UAE for yet another year ended up as second largest trading partner for India after the US with a total trade turn over of USD 6.23 billion marking an increase of 63 per cent over the previous year. In the context of the growing trade relations, the External Affairs Minister’s visit will help establish a personal rapport with the new leadership of the UAE which will be beneficial to the one-million-strong Indian community here. (PTI) |
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21 killed in bangla road accident DHAKA, Dec 24: At least 21 people were killed and five seriously injured in a road accident in northwestern town of Tangail, about 90 km from here today. Police and witnesses said a fertilizer-loaded truck from Chittagong turned turtle at Ashekpur at 0530 hrs local times when its driver lost control due to dense fog which killed 21 people. The victims were travelling in the truck. The injured have been admitted to the Tangail general hospital. (UNI) |
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China closes 12 non-performing key national labs BEIJING, Dec 24: China has closed 12 non-performing key national labs but will hike investment in basic research to such a level that the funds used for basic sciences account for 20 per cent of the state’s total research and development expenditure, a report said today. "Key labs with low efficiency, bad management, few research achievements and heavy brain drain will be closed," Vice-Minister of Science and Technology Cheng Jipei said. The competitive mechanism helps the key national labs to maintain their high research standards, he said at a meeting marking the 20th anniversary of establishment of state key laboratories and the fifth anniversary of the initiation of the national basic research and development plan. Cheng said the state will increase investment in basic research to such a level that the money used for basic sciences accounts for 20 per cent of the state’s total research and development expenditure. In 1984, China started establishing key national labs aiming to enhance its basic research level. By the end of 2003, there were 161 labs and six pilot labs and together they had more than 5,000 full-time research fellows, equipment worth three billion yuan (362 million us dollars) and annual research funds of two billion yuan (241 million US dollars), according to the ministry. Statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that the R&D expenditure in 2003 reached 153.96 billion yuan (18.6 billion US dollars), or 1.31 per cent of the gross domestic product. The expenditure on basic research took up 5.7 per cent of the total R&D funds. (PTI) |
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Ex-priest free after HK court halts sex abuse case HONG KONG, Dec 24: A former Roman Catholic priest accused of sex abuse in Hong Kong walked free today after a court threw out the case, saying the alleged offences happened too long ago to allow him a fair trial. Stanislaus Lee, now 53, bowed slightly and muttered "thank you" when deputy District Judge Patrick Li halted the case. "Everything is in the hands of the lord, I accept everything," Lee said as reporters mobbed him outside the courthouse after the judge ordered a permanent stay on all legal proceedings. "I pray every day," Lee said, the lower part of his face hidden behind a surgical mask, which people often wear in Hong Kong to avoid passing on colds and flu. The plaintiff, whose identity is protected by the court, was "very disappointed and worked up" by the outcome, his lawyer Steve Chui told reporters. Chui said his client had yet to decide whether to lodge an appeal. Lee, who quit the priesthood in the 1980s and now works as an interpreter, was charged with four counts of indecently assaulting a boy between 1975 and 1977. The plaintiff was 12 and Lee was a master at the boy’s school and training to be a priest at the time of the first alleged offence. (AGENCIES) |
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Malaysia urged to release Indian illegal migrants SINGAPORE, Dec 24: A Malaysian lawyer of Indian origin J Ganesan has urged the country’s Home Minister Azmi Khalid to allow more than 2,000 Indian nationals, detained as illegal immigrants, to return home under an amnesty programme. Kuala Lumpur-based media reports today said some of the Indians had worked for two-and-a-half years but had not received their salaries for the past two years. Jamarul Khan, president of the Indian Muslim Restaurant Owners Association in Malaysia, was quoted as saying that business had been badly affected due to the continuous harassment by the immigration department enforcement personnel. He said the continuous raids by the department had affected the morale of the foreign workers, especially those with valid travel documents. Indian Muslim restaurants are popular in Malaysia, catering the south Indian type of spicy food. But the restaurants are dependent on workers from India. A number of cases have been reported against these restaurants. Malaysia generally does not prosecute illegal immigrants but detained them untill they can find money and someone to sponsor their trip out of the country. In October this year, some 160,000 Indonesian illegal immigrants were allowed to return home under the two-week Ramadan amnesty programme. Malaysia had offered a similar amnesty in 2002 to more than 300,000 illegal foreign workers, mostly Indonesians and Filipinos. Malaysia, one of the richest countries in south-east Asia, has about 1.2 million illegal immigrants, mostly from Indonesia and Philipines as they are allowed in without visas and find work in the massive infrastructure building and plantation sectors. (UNI) |
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Chinese vaccinated against influenza BEIJING, Dec 24: Amid the nationwide alert against SARS, a top chinese health expert has urged people to realise the importance of influenza prevention, as fewer than one per cent of population was vaccinated against it. Director of the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases, Zhong Nanshan, said it is important for the public to know about the harm of influenza and the best way to prevent it is to inject vaccine. Zhong, also a leading expert on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), noted that a recent survey of 1,100 residents in Chinese cities revealed that more than half of them think influenza is almost equal to a cold, and 80 per cent believe there is no necessity to take any preventive measures. During a department store promotion here, customers were allowed to choose various gifts including a card for influenza vaccine worth about 100 yuan (12 US dollars) and other small commodities less than 20 yuan (2.4 US dollars) each. Most of customers preferred "useful" small commodities. Experts say the rate of vaccination against influenza in the US is about 27 per cent and in European countries around 7.8 to 17.7 per cent. The lower rate in China is mainly due to belief that treatment is more important than prevention. The spread of influenza mainly breaks out from November to March, Zhong said, stressing vaccination is not only conducive but also beneficial to save medical resources. China is currently on alert against the recurrence of SARS, which broke out first in southern Guangdong province in Nov 2002, triggering a major global health crisis. In China alone 349 people died and thousands were affected. (PTI) |
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Disney says revises long-term compensation plan LOS ANGELES, Dec 24: Executives at Walt Disney Co will have some of their stock benefits subject to performance-based requirements as part of changes to its long-term compensation plan, the entertainment company announced on Thursday. Disney, which has faced shareholder criticism about executive compensation, said about 60 percent of stock grants to senior executives will be in restricted stock units under the new plan, with the rest in stock options. Half of the restricted stock units will be subject to vesting based on Disney’s "total shareholder return" and whether it exceeds that of the S P 500 index over a specific period. Under pressure from dissident shareholders, Chief Executive Michael Eisner lost his position as Chairman. Angry shareholders also have sued the board for awarding former President Michael Ovitz a 140 million severance package. Disney said its top five officers will now have to acquire and hold Disney stock equal in value to anywhere from three to five times their base salaries. The new plan also requires top officers to hold shares representing a large portion of their gains for at least 12 months after exercising options. Disney said the new rules will take effect starting with its annual grant awards to be made in January. (AGENCIES) |
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Gunmen kill 23 in attack on bus in Honduras TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS, Dec 24: At least 23 people were killed in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula when gunmen sprayed a public bus with bullets and left a menacing message for crime-busting politicians, police said. At least four men in two cars forced the bus to the side of the road and opened fire on it with assault rifles yesyterday. "Sixteen people died at the scene of the attack, and seven more died in hospital," police official Wilmer Torres told . "As well, there are at least 10 wounded." The gunmen left a message written on cardboard at the scene, challenging leading politicians who have taken hard stances against organized crime. Police have arrested a member of the Mara Salvatrucha gang in connection with the killings, Torres said. (AGENCIES) Oldest Chinese tiger may have cancer BEIJING, Dec 24: Lingling, the oldest Chinese tiger in captivity, is suspected to have cancer, a report said today. The tigress, about 20 years old, was found at the end of 2003 to have a suppurating intumescence on her right eye. A recent examination showed that the tigress is developing a tumour, which is probably malign, said veterinarian Zhang Lingli, also deputy Manager of the Qianling Zoo in Guiyang, capital of southwest China’s Guizhou province. Lingling was first diagnosed with a Benign Tumour in her saliva glands in October 2001, and underwent surgery. Another tumour was found five months later in March 2002, which caused vomiting and bleeding. Ma Hong, a surgeon from the hospital of the Guiyang Medical College, said the second tumour was probably malign. Ma operated on lingling with four colleagues in April 2002 to remove her second tumour. Further examination, however, is needed to decide whether the new tumour is malign and can be removed, Zhang said. The Chinese tiger (panthera tigris amoyensis), from which other sub-species such as Siberian tiger evolved, is a critically endangered sub-species native to south China. It is listed as one of the world’s ten most endangered animals. Today, fewer than 30 Chinese tigers remain in the wild while about 60 survive in Chinese zoos. It is estimated that they would disappear by 2010 if they are not well protected. Usually a wild Chinese tiger can live 13 years at most. One living in captivity can enjoy a longer life of around 20 years. (PTI) One of world’s largest quakes hits near Australia CANBERRA, Dec 24: Australia’s southern state of Tasmania was rocked by the world’s largest earthquake in three-and-a-half years when it struck under the sea half way between Australia and Antarctica today, seismologists said. No injuries or damage were reported. The earthquake measuring 8.1 on the richter scale hit near Macquarie island in the southern ocean, more than 800 km (500 miles) southeast of Tasmania, at about 2 a.m. (1500 gmt), said geoscience Australia seismologist Cvetan Sinadinovski. "Usually this kind of earthquake happens every three to four years in the world, it is just a part of the dynamic cycle of the earth," Sinadinovski told . The earthquake could have caused a Tsunami, but no noticeable changes in water levels had been reported in Tasmania or New Zealand, Sinadinovski said. An aftershock measuring 6.1 hit at 6.50 a.m., he said. "The last earthquake of similar magnitude in the macquarie rise region was in 1924. The magnitude of that earthquake was 7.5," Sinadinovski said. It is the largest earthquake to hit since more than 120 people were killed in Peru when an earthquake measuring 8.4 on the richter scale struck less than 200 km (125 miles) off the coast of the south American nation in June 2001. The richter scale measures the magnitude of an earthquake with a reading of more than 8 regarded as a "great" earthquake that can cause serious damage over several hundred kilometres and a reading of less than 2 considered micro. Geoscience Australia said an earthquake measuring 8.6 on the richter scale releases energy equivalent to about 10,000 atom bombs like the one that destroyed the Japanese city of Hiroshima in World War Two. (AGENCIES) Vietnam sentences six heroin traffickers to death HANOI, Dec 24: Six Vietnamese were sentenced to death by firing squad, three to life in prison and one Lao to 20 years in jail yesterday for trafficking heroin and other drugs from Laos into Vietnam, a state-run newspaper said. The VN express said on its web site the Hanoi people’s court jailed six others to between 17 and 20 years in jail after a trial which began on December 15. The court was told the gang smuggled nearly 50 kg (110 lb) of heroin, 4.8 kg of opium and 764 ecstasy pills into Vietnam, the newspaper said. Trafficking in more than 600 grams of heroin or 5 kg of opium is punishable by death by firing squad or life in jail in Vietnam. Vietnam has been stepping up its campaign against drugs, a major problem in a country which is a transit point for heroin smuggled from the golden triangle, the region where Laos, Thailand and Myanmar meet. Next month a court in Ho Chi Minh city is scheduled to open a 20-day trial of what would be Vietnam’s largest drug smuggling gang to be apprehended, with 28 people facing death sentences on charges of selling a record 3.5 tonnes of heroin. (AGENCIES) British tourist dies in Bulgarian ski accident SOFIA, Dec 24: A British tourist has died from severe head and back injuries after a skiing accident in Bansko, a resort in southwest Bulgaria, state news agency BTA reported. The skier, a 54-year-old man from Ccheltenham, had been skiing alone on a difficult slope on Wwednesday when he fell and hit a rock. He was take to a hospital but later died, BTA said, citing Bansko police. Bansko, one of three main winter resorts in the Balkan country of eight million people, has been growing in popularity among western Europeans and is expected to attract thousands of British tourists this winter. (AGENCIES) |
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