Excelsior... Nation

Daimer dam will destroy rock carvings: Archaeologist

ISLAMABAD, Dec 5: Precious archaeological remains, including ancient rock carvings and inscriptions, will be inundated and lost forever if the proposed Diamer Basha dam was constructed in Pakistan's Northern Areas, a leading German archaeologist has cautioned the government.

If the dam was built, ancient remains ranging from the Epipalaelolithic or Neolithic age to the 16th century would be no more, Harald Hauptmann of Heidlberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities said.

The ground breaking ceremony of the dam, which was estimated to inundate about 32 villages and displace 30,000 in the Diamer region of the Northern Areas, was conducted by President Pervez Musharraf early this year.

The construction was delayed due to various technical reasons and people of the area also agitated against it. India conveyed its protest saying dam was being built in a disputed area.

"But it was sad that not once has anyone ever raised the concern that the world was about loose one of its greatest treasures," Hauptmann, who headed the research project on documenting and publishing the rock carvings and inscriptions, was quoted by the Dawn daily as saying.

Greater part of the rock art galleries of Diamer district would be destroyed as a result of the construction of the dam. "Forget everything. More than 80 per cent will be submerged and the remaining rock carvings on the slopes be destroyed because of the construction of the new 100 km stretch of the Karakurram Highways," connecting Pakistan and China, he said. (PTI)

Britain convinced Russian secret service authorised poisoning

LONDON, Dec 5: British intelligence officers are convinced that the Russian secret service authorised the poisoning of ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko, who died last month.

Citing security sources, the a newspaper today reported that only officials such as agents of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) -- the KGB's successor -- would have access to sufficient amounts of the radioactive substance polonium-210 to kill Litvinenko.

The former agent's urine was found to have unexplained large quantities of polonium.

"We know how the FSB operates abroad and, based on the circumstances behind the death of Mr Litvinenko, the FSB has to be the prime suspect," an unnamed source was quoted as saying by The Times newspaper said.

Security sources also told the newspaper that the FSB was likely to have used some of its former agents to carry out the operation.

A senior police source also told the newspaper that the method of killing Litvinenko, a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was intended to send a message to his friends and allies.

"It's such a bad way to die, they must have known ... The sheer organisation involved could only have been managed by professionals adept at operating internationally," the source was quoted as saying. (AGENCIES)

Schools reopen in southern Thailand, teachers may bear arms

PATTANI, THAILAND, Dec 5: In wake of ongoing insurgent attacks on teachers in this southern border province, schools in seven districts reopened Monday while more than 100 others in at-risk areas remain closed.

The schools, including the provincial seat, resumed classes Tuesday after a week-long closure from November 27 due to frequent insurgent attacks on teaching staff.

However, more than 100 schools in remote and violence-prone areas in Pattani remain closed.

The teachers' confederation in the district said that all schools in 12 districts will open from Wednesday. But some educational institutions may remain closed if they are not ready to resume classes due to security reasons. Meanwhile, Thailand's Education Minister Wijit Srisa-arn has said that self-defense measures--including allowing teachers to carry guns--will be effective in protecting them against the insurgent attacks.

The educators themselves will also help security officials look after their colleagues, the minister added.

He also said the ministry has already increased teachers' allowance to boost their morale and promoted temporary teachers. (AGENCIES)

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Chinese men spend 8.6 minutes daily in front of mirror: Survey

BEIJING, Dec 5: A Chinese urban man gazes at himself in the mirror for 8.6 minutes daily and spends 10 US dollars a month on male cosmetics, a survey has found.

In a survey of 2,239 male urban residents aged 18 to 60 in seven major Chinese cities - Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu, Shenyang and Xi'an - it was found that respondents spend on average 8.6 minutes looking at themselves in the mirror each day.

Men in Shanghai, China's largest city and commercial hub, were the most narcissistic, devoting 17.1 minutes to the looking glass.

The survey showed that one third of the respondents had cosmetics at home and cosmetics expenditure averaged 80 yuan a month, Xinhua news agency reported.

Modern Beijing men spend 119 yuan each month on cosmetics, more than in any other Chinese city, the survey said. Forty-six per cent of the Beijing respondents had cosmetics in their bathrooms.

Experts said cosmetics and beauty treatment used to be the exclusive preserve of Chinese women, but economic and social development have made Chinese men more conscious of their look. (PTI)

Bahrain crown Prince's visit to India postponed

DUBAI, Dec 5: An official visit to India by Bahrain's crown prince Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa has been postponed to allow more time to officials from both sides to prepare for co-operation agreements in various fields.

Khalifa's visit to New Delhi was scheduled for December 21. The date is now being re-scheduled to a more appropriate time early next year, the 'Gulf Daily News' today quoted sources as saying.

"This will allow more time for officials from both countries to prepare for co-operation agreements in more fields, including labour and media," it added. (PTI)

Japan to develop world's smallest spy plane

TOKYO, Dec 5: The Japanese Defence Agency would develop an unmanned reconnaissance plane, weighing 400 gm and measuring 60 cm in wingspan, with a capacity of monitoring enemy movements in Japanese territory, a report said here Monday.

"We will try to develop the world's smallest patrol plane," an agency official told the leading business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei).

Modelled on paper aircraft, the body of the plane will be made from polystyrene foam and it will run on an electric motor, the official was quoted as saying by the daily.

"A built-in camera will take pictures and transmit them to Self-Defence Forces' ground bases, though it will have no offensive capabilities," he said in the report.

However, the distance to which it can travel in one operation has not been determined yet, the plane will be equipped with a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, which will aid navigation to predetermined destinations and reconnaissance sites.

The agency, according to the report, will share development, including computer programming, with private-sector firms.

The estimated costs of the project has been worked out to be nearly one billion Yen (USD 7.5 million approx), and the agency aims to put the plane into practical use in five years. (AGENCIES)

Malaysian city bans revealing attire

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 5: Authorities in Malaysia's Kelantan region have banned revealing outfits and decided to fine women dressed "indecently".

The Kota Baru Municipal Council (MPKB) has announced that it would "no longer tolerate indecent dressing" by women, both Muslim and non-Muslim, the Star newspaper reported today.

"MPKB will no longer tolerate skimpy outfits, following mounting complaints from the public," public relations officer Mohd Azman said, adding under the by-laws, women working in retail outlets should wear decent clothes.

"Such outfits are prohibited here as it smears the reputation of Kota Baru and affects its status as an Islamic City," Daham said in an interview, adding women who dressed sexily or indecently could be fined.

"Although punishment for indecent dressing was in place under the by-laws, it had not been totally enforced," the paper quoted him as saying.

"The owners of retail outlets who employed indecently dressed workers could also be fined and if the offence was repeated," he said, adding the council could suspend the business permit of the outlet.

However, the State Local Government Committee chairman Takiyuddin Hassan said, "We apologise to non-Muslims if this comes across as harsh but we must respect our Asian culture and religion in public," the paper reported. (PTI)

China turns from net steel importer to net exporter

BEIJING, Dec 5: China has become a net steel exporter for the first time in over two decades with exports surging 92 per cent to 33 million tonnes in the first ten months of this year.

From January to October, China's steel imports dropped by 29 per cent year on year to 15.5 million tonnes, chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals and Chemicals Imports and Exports, Chen Haoran said.

It is the first time in more than two decades that China's steel exports have surpassed imports. Between 1981 and 2005, China's net import of steel totalled 295 million tonnes.

However, Chen said, the surge in steel exports will not last as Chinese government's policies to cut export tax rebates and slash production begin to take effect.

For the last ten years, China has produced more steel than any other country, reaching 352 million tonnes in 2005, nearly one-third of the world total, the National Development and Reform Commission said. (PTI)

Gold falls as buying interest wanes on steadier dollar

SINGAPORE, Dec 5: Gold fell in Asia as a steadier dollar deflated buying interest from investors who lifted the precious metal last week to its highest in more than three months.

Gold for immediate delivery traded at the day's low of 645.10 dollar an ounce, down 0.17 per cent after fluctuating in a narrow two-dollar range.

The metal in futures for February delivery fell 0.18 per cent at 650.30 dollar an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold has gained 12 percent in the last two months as the U.S. Currency's slide against the euro to a 20-month low spurred buying.

Gold, sold in dollars, generally moves in the opposite direction of the U.S. Dollar, whose decline in value usually boosts the metal's appeal as an alternative investment.

The U.S. Labour Department will release the non-farm payroll figure on Dec 7, an indicator of strength in the US economy. (AGENCIES)

US Justice Department says secrecy needs bar surveillance suit

DETRIOT, Dec 5: The Bush administration asked a federal appeals court to toss out a lawsuit challenging a warrantless surveillance programme, saying the government cannot defend itself without revealing national secrets.

The Bush administration secretly launched the surveillance programme in 2001. It monitors international phone calls and e-mails to or from the United States involving people suspected by the government of having terrorist links.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued the National Security Agency in January on behalf of journalists, scholars and lawyers who say the surveillance has made it difficult for them to do their jobs because they believe many of their overseas contacts are likely targets.

US District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit ruled in August that the programme violates the rights to free speech and privacy and the separation of powers.

The Justice Department appealed to the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, which ruled that the administration could keep the programme in place during the appeal.

"This suit must be dismissed because its very subject matter is a state secret, and litigation would inevitably result in disclosing state secrets," Justice Department lawyers wrote in a brief filed yesterday.

A secret court was established in the late 1970s to grant warrants for such surveillance, but the Justice Department said it cannot always wait for a court to act. (AGENCIES)

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Fijian military commander: rogue strongman or upholder of law?

SUVA, Dec 5: Depending on who you talk to, Fiji's military chief Voreqe Bainimarama is either a fearless defender of the constitution or a strongman determined to get his way at any cost.

Described as belligerent, tenacious and a demagogue, Bainimarama has been threatening for more than a year to force Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase's government from power.

Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes, taking leave in Australia following demands by Bainimarama that he step down, described him as "a good bloke" but tenacious in his determination to get rid of the elected government.

Even those who agree with his aims say they do not support his methods.

"He's obviously got this fixation that he's not letting go, like a dog with a bone in its teeth," said Hughes.

Bainimarama, 52, portrays the military as the last bastion of law and order and himself as protector of the interests of the ethnic Indian minority against the indigenous bias of Qarase's nationalist United Fiji Party government.

He has said Qarase's government could return Fiji to the days of "grass skirts and cannibalism" by being soft on plotters of a civilian coup in November 2000 and failing to turnaround the country's "coup culture".

He has focussed his attacks on proposed legislation to offer amnesties to plotters of a 2000 coup, but he has also targeted legislation he says discriminates against the Indian minority.

And he has a personal motive for wanting the 2000 plotters brought to justice - he had to run for his life during a military mutiny related to the coup, in which eight soldiers were killed. (AGENCIES)

China to shut polluting paper-making mills to protect lake....

BEIJING, Dec 5: China will shut down dozens of polluting paper-making factories near Dongting Lake, the country's second largest freshwater lake, to halt the deterioration in water quality, a report said today.

By the end of this year, eight severely polluting paper-making mills will be closed and all other paper-making firms who cannot meet waste discharge requirements will be ordered to stop production by late March 2007, according to a plan by the Environmental Protection Administration of central China's Hunan Province.

"The pollution at Dongting Lake will start to recede a year after the plan is carried out," director of the administration, Jiang Yimin said.

With a water area of 2,625 sq km, Dongting Lake is the second-largest freshwater lake in China after Poyang Lake. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River in northeastern Hunan.

The lake used to have a water area of 6,000 sq km, but shrank to 4,350 sq km in the early 1950s due to silting and land reclamation.

Large areas of reed and poplar, a fast-growing tree, which are used as raw materials in papermaking, have led to a sharp rise in the number of factories around the lake.

There are 101 paper-making factories near the lake, but only two of them meet waste discharge requirements, according to the administration.

Each year, the factories discharge more than 100 million tonnes of waste water without meeting environmental protection standards, the administration said, adding paper-making mills with an annual capacity of less than 10,000 tonnes will be shut down by the end of next year. Nearly 1,000 lakes have disappeared over the past 50 years. (PTI)