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"Good relations must not be pre-condition for SAARC" ISLAMABAD, July 19: Making it clear that it wanted good relations with Pakistan, India today asserted that it......more India to seek implementation of SAFTA convention on terrorism ISLAMABAD, July 19: India will make an impassioned plea to south Asian countries to jointly tackle the menace .....more New
health warnings LONDON, July 19: Children and adolescents who consistently watch television for 2......more Government
ponders BANGKOK, July 19: Thai Government officials are considering lifting the agricultural ministry’s ban against inoculating........more |
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Gaza gunmen issue new challenge to Arafat’s rule GAZA, July 19: Palestinian gunmen issued a fresh challenge to Yasser Arafat’s rule today in a standoff that followed a weekend of growing violence ....more Earthquake
in flooded WELLINGTON, July 19: A woman was killed when an earthquake sent a rain loosened tree crashing onto her car in the flooded bay of plenty area,....more Hamas endorses New Zealand rebuke of Israel WELLINGTON, July 19: The Islamic resistance organisation Hamas has endorsed ....more Malaysian intensifies search for chopper crash victims in jungles KUALA LUMPUR, July 19: Malaysian searchers today resumed efforts to rescue ......more |
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"Good relations must not be pre-condition for SAARC" ISLAMABAD, July 19: Making it clear that it wanted good relations with Pakistan, India today asserted that it cannot be a pre-condition for cooperation among SAARC countries. "It is important for India and Pakistan, as two neighbours, to have good relations. But that does mean that it becomes a pre-condition for SAARC" to be effective, Foreign Secretary Shashank told reporters after a breakfast meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Riaz Khokhar. During the meeting they reviewed the progress on the composite Indo-Pak dialogue process. "We do not see a pre-condition for SAARC cooperation," Shashank said when asked whether good relations between India and Pakistan were mandatory for an effective SAARC. Shashank said the main focus of his bilateral meeting with the Pakistani side was on SAARC-related issues. The two sides also reviewed the decisions taken at the Foreign Secretary-level talks last month. "We will carry forward this process," he said. Asked whether India was ready to accept Pakistan’s suggestion to include peace and security as part of the SAARC charter, Shashank said "we have not seen any such specific proposal from Pakistani side. You know the SAARC charter". India has consistently resisted repeated bids by Pakistan for including bilateral issues in SAARC so that it can rake up the Kashmir issue. To a question whether India would be inclined to agree to add resolutions of bilateral disputes to the SAARC agenda , Shashank said "the SAARC charter is very clear. So, we have to move on that basis". He went on to observe that the upcoming meeting is that of the SAARC Council of Ministers. The standing committee of Foreign Secretaries was preparing for the ministerial meet, he said noting "as and when we move towards a SAARC summit, it will be for the summit to consider such things and give directions to the officials". Shashank said the two sides also held discussions on how to proceed further on the implementation of the decisions taken last month. He said dates have already been fixed for discussing six subjects, three in Delhi and three in Islamabad. These are on Siachen, Sir Creek, Wullar barrage/Tulbul Navigation Project, terrorism and drug trafficking, economic and commercial cooperation and promotion of friendly exchanges in various fields. Shashank and Khokhar had last month held detailed discussions on Jammu and Kashmir and peace and security including CBMs which are top of eight-point composite dialogue process. The talks (on the composite dialogue) are moving forward and will move ahead, he said. External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said, at the breakfast meeting the two sides took the opportunity of revisiting the issues that they had discussed last month and took stock of different confidence building measures and explored "some ideas" on how to move these forward. Asked to elaborate on what these ideas were, he said some of the CBMs were on the table and the two sides were discussing how to work out the modalities to make them operational. The two Foreign Secretaries would present their recommendations for consideration at the forthcoming meeting between External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri. On Iran’s proposal for a gas pipeline to India through Pakistan for which New Delhi has sought guarantees from Islamabad, Shashank said it was for the petroleum ministers to deliberate on this issue. Shashank said the Foreign Secretaries would be recommending some ideas to the SAARC ministers on the question of energy cooperation. "We want to move closely on the issue of infrastructure cooperation. India has suggested that the SAARC countries should be thinking in terms of an infrastructure fund which shall not only take into account energy but also other areas of infrastructure," he said. Shashank said the last SAARC summit held here in January had achieved very good results and "we want to carry that process forward in the ministerial meeting and we hope at the Dhaka summit, we should be able to create a SAARC vision so that we can then start implementing it in the third decade of saarc and all are agreed on that." Describing his talks with Shashank as "good," Khokhar said the two sides reviewed the progress made so far under the composite dialogue mechanism. "Some ideas were discussed," he said adding these would be placed before the two Foreign Ministers who may announce certain decisions. Khokhar, however, did not elaborate. (PTI) |
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India to seek implementation of SAFTA convention on terrorism ISLAMABAD, July 19: India will make an impassioned plea to south Asian countries to jointly tackle the menace of terrorism and work for the economic integration of the region by dismantling all trade and tariff barriers at the SAARC council of ministers’ meeting, beginning here tomorrow. External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh will represent India at the two-day meeting, which is expected to set the agenda for the 13th SAARC summit to be held in Dhaka in January next year. The ministers will have a full plate of SAARC-related activities on their agenda, Indian delegation sources said here today. The agenda for the ministers’ meeting was finalised by the SAARC standing committee of senior officials, which concluded its two-day deliberations yesterday. The sources said it was the solemn duty of the seven SAARC countries-India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives-to strictly implement the additional protocol to the 1987 regional convention on suppression of terrorism, signed at the 12th SAARC summit in Islamabad in January. The objective of the additional protocol can only be achieved if all member-countries criminalise collection or acquisition of funds for terrorist acts , they pointed out. The sources said terrorism has affected almost every member of the grouping and it would be in the fitness of things for them to pool in their efforts to root out the evil from the region. But New Delhi’s endeavour at the meeting would also be on emphasising the need for enhanced economic cooperation among the member-countries. In this connection, the sources noted that the member-countries had been mandated to implement the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement at the 12th SAARC summit by January 1,2006 for an eventual economic integration of the region. India’s position is that SAFTA must come into force as scheduled and become fully operational by 2016. The aim of the SAARC is to move towards a customs union and eventually towards a South Asian Economic Union (SAEU) on the lines of the European Union (EU), they added. However, the movement towards a free trade area envisaged the launching of a phased tariff liberalisation programme by the member-countries. In the next two years, the non Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in the SAARC would bring down their tariffs to 20 per cent and the least developed countries to 30 per cent. The SAARC experts had been asked to evolve a mechanism for compensation of revenue loss to the LDCs among the member-countries. The SAFTA preparation committee has so far held three meetings since the 12th SAARC summit in Kathmandu, Islamabad and Colombo to consider ways to impelment the free trade area agreement. The fourth meeting was scheduled to be held in the second week of August in the Bhutanese capital of Thimpu at which the member-countries were expected to exchange their respective lists of sensitive items. Referring to the initiatives taken by India at SAARC since the Islamabad summit, the sources said India had proposed a freedom from hunger initiative by launching a food bank. A south Asian Development Bank was another proposal mooted by New Delhi. The grouping had also accepted India’s proposal to hold a SAARC trade fair in New Delhi in January 2005. On the social charter of the grouping, there were several subjects on which the grouping had held meetings in recent days. The subjects dealt with at these meetings included health, environment, information and media, science and technology, energy and culture. (UNI) |
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New health warnings about children watching too much TV LONDON, July 19: Children and adolescents who consistently watch television for 2 hours or more a day are at an increased risk of being overweight, to smoke, and to have high cholesterol concentrations in early adulthoodsubstantial risk factors for long- term health problems in later life. This is the conclusion of the authors of a study from New Zealand reported in a recent issue of the British Medical Journal the Lancet Previous Research has identified associations between television viewing and poor health outcomes such as high cholesterol and obesity no longitudinal study has assessed these effects into adulthood. Robert Hancox (university of Otago, New Zealand) and colleagues studied around 1,000 children born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1972-73 who were followed up at numerous intervals to the age of 26. During this time parents (for children aged 5-11 years) and adolescents (aged 13 years and over) provided details of the duration of weekly television viewing. Body-Mass Index (BMI), blood pressure, cholesterol concentration, and cardiovascular fitness was assessed at 26 years. A clear association was found between extensive television viewing (more than 2 hours a day) among children and adolescents and increased BMI, raised cholesterol, greater proportion of smoking, and poor cardiovascular fitness. No association was found between television viewing and blood pressure, however, the lancet reported. These associations remained after adjustment for potential confounding factors such as childhood socioeconomic status, BMI at age 5 years, parental BMI, parental smoking, and physical activity at the age of 15. The investigators estimate that among all 26-year-olds, 17 per cent of those who were overweight, 15 per cent with raised blood cholesterol, 17 per cent who smoked and 15 per cent in poor physical shape could be attributed to watching television for more than 2 hours a day during childhood and adolescence. "Although the adult health indicators that we have found to be associated with child and adolescent television viewing are unlikely to result in clinical health problems by the age of 26 years, they are well established risk factors for cardiovascular illness and death later in life," Dr Hancox commented. "Our results suggest that excessive television viewing in young people is likely to have far-reaching consequences for adult health. We concur with the American Academy of Pediatrics that parents should limit childrens viewing to 1-2 hours per day." Dr Hancox added that data suggested that that less than 1 hour a day would be even better. "Although parents might find this difficult to maintain, lifestyle modifications in adulthood to reverse overweight, poor fitness, high blood cholesterol, and smoking are also notoriously difficult to achieve. "Parents will need support and encouragement at an individual, community, and societal level. Adults are likely to obtain health benefits themselves if they lead by example and turn off the television. We believe that reducing television viewing should become a population health priority," he concludfed. In an accompanying commentary, David Ludwig of Harvard Medical School concluded: "The data presented by Hancox and colleagues strengthen the case for a ban on food advertisements aimed at children. The argument for action is based not only on strong scientific evidence, but also on common sense. "In an era when childhood obesity has reached crisis proportions, the commercial food industry has no business telling toddlers to consume fast food, soft drinks, and high-calorie low-quality snacks, all products linked to excessive weight gain," Ludwig said. "Indeed, the American Academy of Pediatrics has stated that advertising directed to young children is inherently deceptive and exploitative. A precedent for restrictions on the marketing of products deemed harmful to children already exists tobacco." Ludwig said that while there were many complex factors which can cause obesity, this should not "be an excuse for inaction. Measures to limit television viewing in childhood and ban food advertisements aimed at children are warranted, before another generation is programmed to become obese". (DPA) |
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Government ponders lifting ban on bird flu vaccine for chicken BANGKOK, July 19: Thai Government officials are considering lifting the agricultural ministry’s ban against inoculating chickens for bird flu so that an experimental bird flu vaccine could be tried out, a news report said. Veterinarians, poultry experts and Chinese livestock officials were to discuss lifting the ban, which would allow the agricultural ministry to experiment with the vaccine, the report said yesterday. Agricultural Minister Somsak Thepsuthin said, however, the ban on vaccination would stay in place for now until the Government has a chance to weigh all its options. "I am trying to get all the answers before finalising my decision on vaccinations," Somsak was quoted as saying by the nation. "The Government has to ensure safety for all procedures relating to vaccinations." The livestock development department opposes the experimentation, which would be carried out by a team of specialists working in infectious diseases. The department says the vaccination carries potential risks to public health and is unlikely to eradicate the disease. The department also says the vaccination could trigger the virus to mutate, spread to humans and cause a global pandemic. The meeting will also address guidelines for vaccination studies being carried out at several research institutions. The meeting comes as Thai officials reported a new outbreak of Avian virus in 13 of Thailand’s 76 provinces over the last several weeks. Around 100,000 fowl have been culled or died in the past two weeks since bird flu re-emerged last year in Thailand, the world’s fourth largest chicken exporter. Vietnam has also reported an outbreak of the lethal virus in a province in the southern part of the country. The World Health Organisation (WHO) warned in a statement Friday the new outbreak of bird flu in asia required tough precautions against the emergence of a new virus strain that could sweep through the human population. While who said the outbreaks so far had remained restricted to poultry populations, they also increased the chances of the virus mutating to a new strain that could infect humans and cause a global pandemic. WHO called for protective clothing for workers who might be exposed to the bird flu and vaccines for those workers. The WHO also urged countries with infected poultry populations to increase surveillance and set up procedures for quick sharing of virus samples. (DPA) |
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Gaza gunmen issue new challenge to Arafat’s rule GAZA, July 19: Palestinian gunmen issued a fresh challenge to Yasser Arafat’s rule today in a standoff that followed a weekend of growing violence in the Gaza strip, demanding police leave a compound so they could set it alight. The gunmen, intensifying pressure on Arafat to stamp out alleged corruption in his Government, and Palestinian forces shot at each other in the Rafah area overnight and the militants set fire to an office near the military intelligence compound. Yesterday, at least 18 people were wounded when scores of gunmen battled forces loyal to the Palestinian President’s new security chief in Gaza, his cousin Moussa Arafat — a member of a Palestinian old guard widely viewed as corrupt. The level of violence between Palestinians was unprecedented since Arafat’s Palestinian authority took control of most of the Gaza strip in 1994 under interim peace accords with Israel. "This corruption is like a cancer," gunmen shouted at a rally at the Nusseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, underlining the depth of feelings in a crisis that prompted Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie to resign on Friday. Calls for reform have soared amid a brewing factional power struggle in Gaza in anticipation of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s planned withdrawal of troops and settlers from the occupied territory by the end of 2005. Eager to stabilise his own position so he can push through the pullout plan, Sharon and his rightist Likud party began negotiations with the Centre-left Labour party yesterday in an attempt to bring it into his faltering coalition. Adding to Arafat’s woes was the resignation of Qurie over what he called the "unprecedented chaos" in Gaza, triggered by brief abductions of four French aid workers, a police chief and another official. (AGENCIES) |
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Earthquake in flooded area causes second death WELLINGTON, July 19: A woman was killed when an earthquake sent a rain loosened tree crashing onto her car in the flooded bay of plenty area, the New Zealand Herald newspaper reported today. The earthquake was the biggest of a swarm of 10 that rocked the flood stricken area, causing landslides on waterlogged hills. It sent a 30-metre tree toppling across the road just as the woman drove past. Another woman died on Saturday when a landslide engulfed her as she desperately dug drainage trenches round her home. The unstable landslide has made it too dangerous for rescue workers to recover her body. A man and his dog both narrowly escaped death when another landslide swept them into Scenic Ohiwa harbour near the town of Whakatane. The landslide swept Colin Ratlidge and his dog off the road and into the harbour. A friend who had been expecting Ratlidge was able to organise a successful rescue mission when Ratlidge did not turn up. National radio reported today that the rain had stopped, but almost 2,000 people were unable to return to their flooded homes and thousands of hectares of bay of plenty farmland were under water. The 18,000 inhabitants of Whakatane are without safe drinking water as the floods have damaged the towns water treatment plant, and lanslides have isolated 200 people in the village of Waimana in the eastern bay of plenty. (DPA) |
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Hamas endorses New Zealand rebuke of Israel WELLINGTON, July 19: The Islamic resistance organisation Hamas has endorsed New Zealands rebuke of Israel over the activities of its alleged spies, the Dominion post newspaper reported today. New Zealand has suspended diplomatic relations with Israel following the jailing of two alleged Israeli spies for conspiring to get a New Zealand passport illegally. The newspaper quoted Professor Jim Veitch, a religious terrorism expert at Wellingtons Victoria University, as saying Hamas issued the endorsement in Gaza and it appeared on the Hamas website. The website said Hamas "has highly appreciated the daring position of the New Zealand Government against the zionist entity" under a story titled "Hamas appreciates New Zealand position". Veitch said word of the endorsement would spread quickly throughout the Islamic world and would bolster the safety of New Zealand troops working in Iraq. New Zealand has demanded an apology from Israel but Prime Minister Helen Clarks office said none had been received. (DPA) |
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Malaysian intensifies search for chopper crash victims in jungles KUALA LUMPUR, July 19: Malaysian searchers today resumed efforts to rescue seven missing people, including five Government officials, on board a helicopter which crashed in the forested highlands of the eastern Sarawak state last week. Police, rescue teams and volunteers intensified efforts to locate the bell huey 206 helicopter and its passengers, all of whom have been missing since July 12 during a flight to one of the state’s rural areas, officials said. There are more than 1,000 ground volunteers and 19 aircraft involved in the search operation, the official Bernama news agency reported. Officials have said that the mountainous terrain of the state, as well as rainy weather over the past week, have hampered search efforts, adding that chances of finding the passengers alive were growing thin. George Chan, the state’s Deputy Chief Minister, said yesterday that search aircraft had indicated two likely spots of the crash site in the remote jungles. "We will zero in on the spots and I directed for the search to be intensified there," Chan said. The helicopter had been carrying five Government officials, including a state assistant minister, and Sarawak electricity supply corporation chief executive officer Roger Wong Hwa Puang and a pilot. (DPA) |
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Heathrow airport anti-terror plans found in road LONDON, July 19: British police said they had launched an inquiry into how a secret police Dossier went missing that according to a newspaper report contained counter-terrorist plans for London’s Heathrow airport. The Dossier, found lying in a road, showed 62 sites at the airport where Al-Qaeda was most likely to launch anti-aircraft missile strikes, the Sun newspaper said in its Monday edition. The Sun said the Dossier included facts about surveillance, escape routes, evacuation plans and deployment of rooftop snipers at the world’s busiest international hub. The plans, which have since been returned to police, were found by a motorist, the newspaper said. A police spokeswoman could give no details yesterday about what the Dossier contained or where it was found, but confirmed it had been returned to police. "We treat any breach of security extremely seriously," the spokeswoman said. "We have launched an internal inquiry into the circumstances of how these documents went missing and will take the appropriate action when we have ascertained the facts surrounding this matter," the spokeswoman said. She could not confirm whether the Dossier was compiled by the so18 anti-terrorist aviation security team, which is based at Heathrow police station. According to the Sun, the papers contained detailed maps and photographs, including aerial and satellite shots. In one section, the Dossier identified a field close to the airport as being ideal for a terrorist attack. "This site affords an excellent site to attack aircraft departing heathrow," the Sun quoted from the Dossier, saying it included aerial and satellite photographs of the site. Dated June 26 2004, the Dossier gave surveillance and assessment information valid until December, the newspaper said. Ten years ago, the Irish republican army targeted Heathrow airport with rocket attacks. None of the missiles packed with semtex plastic explosive detonated. Security chiefs sent tanks into Heathrow last year after intelligence pointed to a threatened missile attack. This year, flights to the US have been cancelled amid fears of an Al-Qaeda attack. (AGENCIES) California fire spreads Nevada fire 50 pc contained LOS ANGELES, July 19: Wildfires in southern California, which have driven hundreds of people from their homes and destroyed dozens of houses, were mostly caused by carelessness, news reports said. As thousands of firefighters continue to fight more than 200 blazes across the state, investigators were beginning their work to find out the cause of the fires. One of the worst fires still burning in California is in riverside county between San Diego and Los Angeles. An estimated 2,000 residents have fled their homes to escape it. Investigators believe the fire started when someone took target practise in the dry bush. Another fire north of Los Angeles has burned 6,000 hectares, and investigators believe it was started by arsonists. A third fire east of San Diego probably started by illegal fireworks set off in the area. Firefighters say anyone caught and convicted of starting a fire must pay for at least part of the cost of fighting the fire, which sometimes can run into millions of dollars. Shifting winds and high humidity over the weekend played into the firefighters’ hands. Most of the fires had been contained by yesterday, but authorities had not yet sounded the all clear because of fears that the weather could change again. Trees and undergrowth are especially dry, creating tinderbox conditions. In neighbouring Nevada, one of the largest fires in the state’s history was mostly under control yesterday. The wind shifting, aiding the firefighters efforts to extinguish the blaze, operations leader Kim Martin told the Las Vegas review-journal. The fire destroyed 16 homes in Nevada’s capital, Carson city. (DPA) Pilot who flew plane that dropped atomic bomb on Nagasaki dies BOSTON, July 19: Charles W Sweeney, pilot of the B-29 aeroplane that dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, has died, a report said. Sweeney, 84, died Thursday at Massachusetts general hospital in Boston, the Boston globe reported late last night. The cause of death was not given. Sweeney was a US air force major among the crew of an instrument plane that watched the first atomic bomb land on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, three days later he headed up the crew that dropped the second atomic bomb, effectively bringing an end to World War II. In an interview with the globe in 1995, sweeney recalled getting his orders to lead the second sortie from his commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Tibbets. "We want the Japanese to believe that we have a lot of these things, so we’re going to do another on the 9th, and I want you to run the mission," Sweeney recalled Tibbets telling him. Sweeney documented his wartime experiences in the 1997 book "war’s end: An eyewitness account of America’s last atomic mission". He was an outspoken defender of the decision to use nuclear weapons against Japan because he said the bombings saved hundreds of thousands of lives by bringing the war to a rapid conclusion. (DPA) Paris slams Sharon for urging Jews to quit France PARIS, July 19: France sharply criticised Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon after he urged French Jews to emigrate immediately to Israel to escape what he called "the wildest anti-semitism". Branding Sharon’s language "unacceptable", a French foreign ministry spokesman said lat night that Paris had demanded an explanation. France, home to western Europe’s biggest Jewish and Muslim communities, has been troubled by attacks on Jewish people and property in recent years, some of it blamed on youths of North African origin angered by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Sharon, who regularly calls on all the world’s Jews to migrate to Israel, acknowledged in a speech to Jewish leaders in Jerusalem that the French Government was making efforts to stem anti-semitism. But he added that the threat was so grave that French Jews should head for Israel without delay. "If I have to advise our brothers in France, I’ll tell them one thing — move to Israel, as early as possible. I say that to Jews all around the world, but there (in France) I think it’s a must and they have to move immediately," Sharon said. The French spokesman said: "We have been informed of comments made by Sharon calling on the Jews of france to emigrate to Israel. "We immediately made contact with the Israeli authorities to ask for an explanation of these unacceptable comments." In an attempt to smooth over tension with Paris, a spokesman for Sharon said the Prime Minister had praised France for its "strong stance against anti-semitism". "The Prime Minister admits, however, that the widespread anti-semitism in France is due to the demographic factor, that there is a large Muslim populace who are hostile to Israel," the spokesman Raanan Gissin said. "He is not telling them to flee because of anti-semitism, rather that this should be a contributing factor (for emigration)," Gissin said, adding Sharon called on all Jews to move to Israel so they could live "a full Jewish life". Some 600,000 Jews and five million Muslims form part of France’s population of 60 million. The French Interior Ministry registered 67 attacks on Jews or their property and 160 threats against Jews in the first quarter of this year compared with 42 attacks and 191 threats in the last three months of 2003. (AGENCIES) |
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