Britain's Hindu Forum
condemns Delhi bomb
blasts

LONDON, Oct 30: Strongly condemning the serial bomb blasts in New Delhi, an umbrella body of British Hindus has urged the UK to extend all help to India in its fight against terror and hoped that Indian Government would take a firm stand to defeat. ....more

Jordan's queen calls
for more help for
quake-hit PoK

MUZAFFARABAD, Oct 30: Jordan's Queen Rania today urged the world community to do more for survivorsof the massive .........more

US says bomb attacks cowardly act of violence

WASHINGTON, Oct 30: The United States today denounced the serial bomb blasts in New Delhi as cowardly act of violence.....more

Dhaka hotel cancells
block bookings for
upcoming SAARC meet

DHAKA, Oct 30: A premier hotel in Bangladesh, designated for scribes coming to Dhaka to cover the upcoming SAARC meet, cancelled block . .........more

Fighting across
Afghanistan kills 23

KABUL, Oct 30: Fighting across Afghanistan ahead of the announcement of the final results of landmark legislative elections killed 23 people, including a US paratrooper, a .....more

Recruitment crisis
forces army to pay
soldiers to sign up pals

LONDON, Oct 30: Britain's defence ministry will pay 500 pounds to soldiers who persuade friends to sign up amid a recruitment crisis partly triggered by the .......more

Father of London suicide bomber speaks about 'awful' attack

LONDON, Oct 30: The father of one of four London suicide bombers has spoken publicly for the first time of the "awful" attack and pledged to find out why it happened .....more

Young Asians
dominate classical
music competitions

PARIS, Oct 30: Meeting 16-year-old violin virtuoso Shion Minami of Japan minutes after watching her rehearse with the Orchestre National de France, .............more
Singaporean employers snoop on foreign maids with home cameras ...............

Charles, Camilla on first official trip abroad after wedding........

Indian Fireworks firms turn China into hub for exports...........

Hong Kong steps up WTO security after tax office murder ...........

Britain's Hindu Forum condemns Delhi bomb blasts

LONDON, Oct 30: Strongly condemning the serial bomb blasts in New Delhi, an umbrella body of British Hindus has urged the UK to extend all help to India in its fight against terror and hoped that Indian Government would take a firm stand to defeat "this blot on civilised life."

"We urge the British Government to extend all help to India in its fight against terror and hope the Indian Government will take a firm stand to defeat this blot on civilised life," Hindu Forum Secretary General Ramesh Kallidai said here last night.

The Forum also appealed to people of all faiths in India and of the South Asian origin in Britain to maintain a sense of unity and not let the terrorist agenda divide the communities.

"We condemn all forms of terror," Arjan Vekaria, Chair of the Forum's Security Committee said. "Britain and India face similar threats from ... Terrorism and both countries should cooperate to share information and good practices to reduce the terrorist threat."

The Forum is the representative umbrella body for British Hindus with formal membership of over 250 Hindu organisations from different regions and cultural backgrounds in Britain. (PTI)

Jordan's queen calls for more help for quake-hit PoK

MUZAFFARABAD, Oct 30: Jordan's Queen Rania today urged the world community to do more for survivorsof the massive earthquake in Pakistn, warning that thousands of lies are in danger as winter approaches.

"We have just four weeks before the harsh winter starts. If this four-week wndow is shut, then it will be difficult for us to carry out the humanitarian activities," she said after visiting a tented school and a hospital in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

"If we do not act now, thousands more innocent lives are going to die."

Rania, a United Nations Children's Fund goodwill ambassador, said nations were not doing enough to help victims of the 7.6-magnitude quake that struck October 8, killing about 80,000 people and leaving more than 3 million homeless.

Rania, who arrived with a planeload of supplies, was among several foreign visitors to the quake zone today.

"The world has the power and a moral obligation to save the lives of these people," she said, adding that villages and communities had been destroyed and thousands of children orphaned. (AP)

US says bomb attacks cowardly act of violence

WASHINGTON, Oct 30: The United States today denounced the serial bomb blasts in New Delhi as cowardly act of violence.

"We condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms. It is a cowardly act of violence," a senior State Department official told PTI.

"We hope that the perpetrators are swiftly identified and brought to justice," he said. (PTI)

Dhaka hotel cancells block bookings for upcoming SAARC meet

DHAKA, Oct 30: A premier hotel in Bangladesh, designated for scribes coming to Dhaka to cover the upcoming SAARC meet, cancelled block bookings by foreign missions to avoid losses, sources said here today.

The two-day SAARC summit is scheduled to start November 12.

"Yes, the Sonargaon Hotel has cancelled the bookings made by us for journalists," one diplomatic source said.

The hotel did not want to take the risk of running into huge losses, like it did on two previous occassions when the SAARC summits were postpone last minute, media reports said.

She said the missions were looking into the matter, but most likely bookings would have to be made by individuals by paying in advance.

A hotel official confirmed this, without citing any reasons. (PTI)

Fighting across Afghanistan kills 23

KABUL, Oct 30: Fighting across Afghanistan ahead of the announcement of the final results of landmark legislative elections killed 23 people, including a US paratrooper, a British soldier and two worshippers dragged from a mosque, officials said.

The bloodshed was some of the deadliest since the Sept. 18 polls and highlights the challenges in bringing stability and strengthening the country's nascent democracy four years after the ouster of the Taliban.

Election organisers plan to release the final list of winners in the next few days, Aleem Siddique, an election spokesman, said yesterday. The announcement has been delayed by widespread fraud that undermined the polls' legitimacy.

Human rights advocates warn that at least half of those listed as provisional winners are former warlords or others still linked to armed groups responsible for much of the violence in the past quarter-century of war.

In the latest fighting, a US paratrooper was killed yesterday after his patrol came under fire in eastern Khost province, a US military statement said.

American forces responded with small-arms fire, artillery and air attacks, prompting the militants to flee. It was not immediately clear if any of the assailants were killed.

Also, gunmen attacked NATO-led peacekeepers as they patrolled in northern Mazar-e-Sharif city, killing one British soldier and wounding five others, Britain's Ministry of Defence said. (AP)

Recruitment crisis forces army to pay soldiers to sign up pals

LONDON, Oct 30: Britain's defence ministry will pay 500 pounds to soldiers who persuade friends to sign up amid a recruitment crisis partly triggered by the Iraq war, a newspaper said today.

Adding to the problem, more than 6,000 members of the Territorial Army - made up of part-time reservists - have quit in the past year because of the Iraq campaign, another newspaper reported.

A Ministry of Defence document obtained by The Sunday Telegraph showed that the British infantry is facing one of its worst recruiting crises - less than half the number of recruits needed will join this year.

The infantry was under greater strain than any other part of the army because it provides most of the 8,500 troops serving in Iraq.

A further 3,200 soldiers who are due to be deployed to Afghanistan next April will come mainly from infantry battalions, The Sunday Telegraph said.

The infantry, which contains about 28,000 soldiers, is 1,859 men under strength. This figure will rise to 2,288 - about eight per cent of the total - by next March, the document revealed.

It also states that 38 of the 40 battalions are under strength.

"Senior officers blame a variety of factors for the collapse in recruiting, including a decision by the Ministry of Defence last year to stop recruiting because the army had effectively run out of money," the newspaper said. (AFP)

Father of London suicide bomber speaks about 'awful' attack

LONDON, Oct 30: The father of one of four London suicide bombers has spoken publicly for the first time of the "awful" attack and pledged to find out why it happened.

Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph, Mohammed Mumtaz Tanweer, from Leeds, northern England, said his family had no idea why Shehzad Tanweer, 22, and three other British Muslims blew themselves up on three subway trains and a bus.

The July 7 attacks - the worst terrorist atrocity on British soil - left 52 innocent people dead and more than 700 injured.

Tanweer, 56, speaking in Pakistan after burying his son there last Thursday, said: "All the bombings and killings were awful. Only the group of four (bombers) or God alone knows why they carried out this terrible act."

Shehzad Tanweer killed himself and seven others when he detonated a bomb hidden in a rucksack on a subway train at Aldgate station, east London.

Born and raised in West Yorkshire, his father appeared to be at a loss how to explain his son's decision to attack Britain.

"As far as I can understand, my son was more British in his orientation than anything else. He has planned his career in sport. Even on the night before he died, he was playing cricket," said Tanweer senior.

He told the newspaper that his first priority had been to give his son a proper burial in his ancestoral graveyard in the village of Chak-477 in Samoondran, in southern Punjab province. (AFP)

Young Asians dominate classical music competitions

PARIS, Oct 30: Meeting 16-year-old violin virtuoso Shion Minami of Japan minutes after watching her rehearse with the Orchestre National de France, on the eve of a major competition, is a rather unsettling experience.

On stage, Minami exuded power, confidence and an astounding mastery of her art as she bowed her way through the Saint Saens concerto that she was also to perform here yesterday, during the final of the prestigious Long-Thibaud violin competition, held every three years.

In person, she is someone else, a painfully shy child clutching her violin case like a security blanket as she politely answers questions through a translator.

And so it is in the world of classical music these days, where finalists -- especially in piano and violin competitions -- are younger than ever, and more often than not from Japan, Korea or, more recently, China.

The Long-Thibaud is a case in point, more than half of the 41 qualifiers came from east Asia, and another three were Asians living in Europe or North America.

There were 11 Asians among the 16 finalists, and a 12th, 19-year-old Yuki Manuela Janke of Germany, has one Japanese parent. Minami, Janke and South Korea's Ji-Yoon Park, 20, are all finalists, the other three coming from Armenia, France and the Netherlands.

Two weeks earlier, in the International Frederick Chopin piano competition in Poland, the national distribution among the 12 finalists was about the same, including four Japanese, three Koreans and one Chinese from Hong Kong.

Inspired by Midori of Japan and Korean-American Sarah Chang, both violinists, or Chinese pianist Lang Lang, millions of young east Asians are studying classical music. (AFP)

Singaporean employers snoop on foreign maids with home cameras

SINGAPORE, Oct 30: Singaporean employers are planting high-tech security cameras at home to spy on their foreign maids, a report said today.

Recent disturbing media coverage involving maids has prompted many homeowners to install domestic surveillance systems, some totalling as many as 10 cameras in a single apartment, the 'Sunday Times' said.

"It gives me peace of mind. Still, I'd rather not find anything," real estate agent Kent Tan was quoted as saying.

He forked out USD 4,190 US for the cameras and found his maid wearing his wife's clothes while at work.

Security camera vendors told the newspaper home queries had risen sharply in the past three years, with many customers opting for coin-sized cameras that can easily go unnoticed.

"I estimate across the market, about 20 or 30 houses have security cameras installed a day," said Chew Chai Seng, a director at a security vendor company.

More than 140,000 domestic workers, mainly from Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka, work in Singapore. Cases of employers abusing their maids, who sometimes retaliate, frequently make the headlines.

Last week an Indonesian maid threw her employer's five-month-old son from their high-rise flat before leaping to her death. (AFP)

Charles, Camilla on first official trip abroad after wedding

WASHINGTON, Oct 30: Britain's Prince Charles and his new bride Camilla will arrive in the US on Tuesday on their first official trip overseas since their wedding in April.

The eight-day visit to New York, Washington and San Francisco will include a wreath-laying ceremony at the site of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, a meeting with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, dinner at the White House and several receptions, as well as meetings with business leaders and organic farmers.

The Prince and the Duchess of Cornwall will also inaugurate a new memorial garden for British victims of the 9/11 tragedy.

Royal watchers said the eight-day tour would mark an opportunity for the heir to the British throne to test public sentiment toward Camilla in a country where his ex-wife, the late Princess Diana, remained hugely popular.

Social commentator Sally Quinn said although the royal couple was not likely to be met with the kind of frenzy that greeted Charles and Diana when they visited in 1985, they were bound to receive a warm welcome.

"Americans are always taken by royalty," Quinn told AFP. "My feeling is that most people have a positive view of Camilla.

Other royal observers noted that Camilla had undergone a remarkable image makeover in recent months that was sure to prove a hit with Americans.

The couple's schedule includes laying a wreath at a new memorial for World War II veterans and attending a seminar at the National Institutes of Health on Osteoporosis, a subject dear to Camilla, who heads the National Osteoporosis Society in the UK and whose mother died of the disease. (AFP)

Indian Fireworks firms turn China into hub for exports

SIVAKASI, Oct 30: Chinese crackers in markets abroad under Indian Brands? Yes Entrepreneurs of 'Little Japan,' as this town is popularly called have made their foray into the export market using mainland China as a manufacturing hub.

Popular brands of fireworks such as Sri Kaliswari, Cock, Anil and Standard are now available in South Africa and the USA.

'Made in India' crackers are forbidden for export and hence the companies have found a way out to overcome the restriction in their quest to reach out to other countries. Initially, these firms gained a firm foothold in South Africa, having a large expatriate Indian community.

A giant leap indeed for the fireworks industry, which so far was satisfied with availing Chinese technological know-how to enhance production and cost cutting.

None of the Indian firms have established their own manufacturing units in China. But, they have a modest but steady Rs 50 crore turnover in this overseas business, A P Selvarajan, President Tamil Nadu Fireworks and Amorces Manufacturers Association (TANFAMA), told UNI.

"It is a tie-up with the Chinese firms. We secure orders from foreign markets, especially South Africa and the USA and get them manufactured and delivered from China," he said.

China has been enjoying a lead in the fireworks industry thanks to the chemical combinations used and cost-effective production methods. It is a more than Rs 5,000 crore business in that country.

The mode of preparation as well as the chemicals used in the manufacture of crackers there is different. This answers only a part of the question why Indian companies have made China a manufacturing hub for exports.

Restrictions on the use of certain explosive materials under the Indian Explosives Act and other statutes have crippled the manufacturers from using the best for crackers and fancy fireworks.

The restrictions have been imposed due to the risk of these materials falling into the hands of naxalites and extremists, some of the manufacturers told this correspondent.

Hence, crackers and fireworks in the country are made of aluminium powder. Popular appeal of fancy items like multi-aerial satellites, hinges on the depth of colour and for this the domestic industry has been using PVC powder with some chemical combinations. Crackers of such a make obviously lack the depth in providing visual delights, Mr Selvarajan pointed out.

On the contrary, the Chinese products made of Potasium Nitrate have depth in colour and have an edge over Indian varieties. Since the chemical has been banned, the industry has been using other combinations like Sodium Nitrate and Berium Nitrate, he noted. (UNI)

Hong Kong steps up WTO security after tax office murder

HONG KONG, Oct 30: Security for a major world trade meeting in Hong Kong is to be tightened after a woman was murdered in a building close to the conference hall, a Government spokeswoman said today.

The killing of a Thai woman in a Government building across the road from where ministers will meet in December has raised questions about the city's preparedness for the World Trade Organisation (WHO) gathering.

The spokeswoman said security at the murder scene, the high-rise tax office, would be reviewed along with two nearby Government skyscrapers following the murder of 41-year old businesswoman Charitar Kamolnaranath.

"The Government's property agent and the building's management company have had a meeting to review measures and manpower. The company is required to submit a report as soon as possible," the spokeswoman said.

"In early November we will hold a joint inspection with police and (Government engineers) of the three towers to see what improvements can be made."

The discovery of Charitar's rotting body on Monday shocked this generally low-crime city.

She had gone missing 13 days before her stabbed corpse was found, with bound hands, dumped on a ventilation shaft on the 33rd floor of the tax office.

Experts said that if someone was able to dump a woman's body, they could also plant a bomb to disrupt the WTO meeting.

"There are no procedures in place (in the building) to stop a terrorist," Derek Elmer, chief executive of security firm I-OnAsia, told the Sunday Morning Post. (AFP)



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