Japan to explore 'all options' if N Korea tests missile

SEOUL, June 25:Japan warned today it would consider "all options" - including severe sanctions - in response to a possible missile test by North Korea, and accused the communist country of intimidation.

Tensions have risen in the region over alleged actions by the North that analysts say would enable the communist nation to test-launch a missile capable of reaching Japan, and possibly parts of the United States.

However, Pyongyang has given no hint whether it will fire a long-range missile as widely feared, Jane Coombs, New Zealand's ambassador to both Koreas, said yesterday after meeting with top North Korean officials.

"They did not confirm that such a test was imminent ... nor did they deny that such a test was not imminent," Coombs said in Beijing after her four-day trip to Pyongyang, where she presented her credentials for her new post as ambassador to North Korea.

Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Aso said today that Tokyo would consider sanctions, including suspension of aid to the impoverished North, if it launches a long-range missile.

"All options are on the table," Aso said on public broadcaster NHK. "I believe public opinion would condone sanctions, even on oil or food."

Intelligence reports say fuel tanks have been seen around a missile at the North's launch site on its northeastern coast, but officials say it's difficult to determine from satellite photos if the rocket is being fueled. (AP)

Norway's next step key to Lanka's faltering peace: Analysts

COLOMBO, June 25:A tense calm has settled over Sri Lanka as the Government and Tamil Tiger guerrillas await a decision from peace broker Norway that could make or break the fragile truce keeping the island from returning to war, analysts say.

Norwegian diplomats who have struggled to bring the two sides together will meet on Thursday with other Nordic nations to decide the fate of a truce monitoring mission, known by its acronym SLMM, that is observing the 2002 ceasefire.

"Both sides are poised to wait and see clearly what replies are given by the Norwegians," said retired Air Force chief Harry Gunatillake.

"Now everything has stalled," he said. Peace efforts appeared at the breakpoint earlier this month after a deadly bus blast blamed on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) killed 64 people, including 15 children.

The Government retaliated with air strikes and artillery bombardments in the rebel-held north, and the tit-for-tat attacks seemed ready to spill into open warfare.

But the violence, which has killed more than 800 people since the start of the year, seems to have subsided -- according to Gunatillake, only two or three people are dying each day in what he called a "low intensity conflict".

In the past week, the government and Tiger rebels have instead turned to a war of words, in effect to keep up appearances while at the same time giving the Norwegians some room to maneuver, a diplomatic official told AFP.

"In the last few days nothing major has happened -- both sides have sort of taken a breath," said the diplomat, who did not want to be named.

"After the failure of Oslo, I think they are giving the Norwegians some time to see if they can do something."

The two sides refused to come together for talks in Oslo earlier in June.

The ceasefire took another blow last week when the Tigers said European Union (EU) members Finland, Sweden and Denmark must quit the truce monitoring mission within one month.

The rebel demand, made after the EU officially branded the Tigers a terrorist group, would force out 37 of the 57 monitors now in Sri Lanka, hamstringing the efforts of observers here.

Colombo has hit back, saying the Tigers have laid down a "hostile deadline" and urging the Norwegians to continue.

But the government must also contend with anger among its own partners towards the Norwegians, according to retired Army brigadier general Vipul Boteju.

"There is a lot of mistrust, particularly among some partners within the government. They don't like the Norwegians," he said, calling the current standoff "really dicey".

Boteju, like the other analysts, warned the Tigers might launch a massive attack just before the June 29 talks as they try to force Norway's hand.

"It is a case where they want to score something and then say, 'Let's talk'," he said.

"My gut feeling is that (the Tigers) will try to do something before the talks to make the other side bend down."

Gunatillake agreed, saying: "Before a major event on the peace side there is a strike of a serious nature" in the past. (AFP)

Centre, NSCN-IM hold 'fruitful' talks in the Hague

THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS, June 25:Giving a push to the Naga peace process, a group of ministers has concluded "very fruitful" talks here with the NSCN-IM leadership on key issues raised by the rebels, including autonomy for Nagaland.

"This round of talks were part of the ongoing peace process. The talks were quite good and very fruitful," Union Minister Oscar Fernandes told PTI after three days of talks with Naga rebel leaders along with Union Minister of State for Home S Reghupathy and Minister of State at the PMO Prithviraj Chouhan.

Fernandes, Reghupathy and Chouhan are members of the Group of Ministers constituted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to look into the Naga peace process.

Asked whether NSCN-IM's 30-point Charter of Demands that included autonomy had figured in the talks, Fernandes said, "We discussed all relevent issues. But we cannot have talks on a piece-meal basis."

"We generally discussed the ongoing ceasefire in Nagaland. But the issue of extension (of the truce beyond July 31) was not taken up in the meeting," he said when asked whether the two sides had discussed extending the ceasefire that will end next month.

Asked whether another meeting would be held before July 31, Fernandes said, "Certainly another round of talks will be held before the expiry of the date. It is premature to talk about the extension now."

Sources said the 30-point Charter of Demands submitted by the NSCN-IM, including a greater say in the utilisation of Nagaland's natural resources, a separate Constitution, separate flag and control in areas like finance, defence and policing, had figured in the discussions.

The NSCN-IM is insisting on "some kind of concession" from the Centre on its demands to "please domestic constituencies" that have become desperate due to delays in the peace process. However, the Centre's response to this was not known, the sources said.

The issue of unification of Naga inhabitated areas in the northeast was also raised by the rebels.

The Naga outfit has made a case for a "federal relationship" with the Indian Union. It has argued that the nature of this relationship should be incorporated in the country's Constitution as well as the separate one for Nagaland. If it is granted, this alone can ensure a lasting settlement to the nation's oldest insurgency problem, the sources said.

The government's negotiators are believed to have put forward the Centre's view on the extent of flexibility under the Constitution that could take care of regional diversities and aspirations, the sources said.

The interlocutor for the Naga talks, K Padmanabhiah, was also present at the meeting while the NSCN-IM was represented by Chairman Isak Chishi Swu and General Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah.

The Centre began talks with the NSCN-IM in 1997 after the two sides agreed to a ceasefire. (PTI)

Pulse Foods to invest Rs 35 cr in five years for expansion

NEW DELHI, June 25:Poddar Heritage Group promoted restaurant chain Pulse Foods India Ltd plans to invest Rs 35 crore in the next five years for expanding operations both in domestic and global markets eyeing a turnover of Rs 70 crore.

"We have already opened 12 'Pulse' outlets in a span of 12 months that includes restaurants, food kiosks and food carts. Now, we are planning to add 75 more restaurants in the next five years," Chief Executive Officer Neeraj Jain told PTI.

Besides, the company is planning to add 200 food kiosks and food carts each during this period, he said, adding the company has earmarked a total of Rs 35 crore for the purpose.

"We will infuse fresh investment of Rs 25 crore in the next five years and Rs 10 crore more will be pumped in through internal accruals," Jain said.

It would invest Rs 10 crore in the current fiscal itself to add 10 restaurants and 60 food kiosks and carts, he said.

The ten restaurants would come up in Mumbai, Delhi, Surat, Lucknow and Vishakhapatnam.

On the company's overseas expansion, Jain said, "We have established our own office in UK and the the first restaurant in franchisee model will come up in July."

Investments for overseas expansion would be about 30 per cent of Rs 35 crore in the next five years for setting up offices, supply chain and for operating cost, he said.

It has finalised franchisees to open two more restaurants in Dubai and Muscat this fiscal and has plans to tap the markets of US, Singapore and Hong Kong, Jain said.

Pulse, the north Indian cuisine chain of restaurants, had a turnover of Rs one crore last fiscal and is expecting a Rs 12 crore turnover in 2006-07 and Rs 70 crore in next five years, he said.

Pulse, which hopes to break-even from 2008-09, has tied up with HPCL to open food kiosks at their petrol pumps, Jain said, adding strategic tie ups have also been formed with Shringar Films and Pantaloons for opening such outlets.

"We will go with them wherever they go," he said.

Besides, it has informal tie ups with real estate firms like DLF, Unitech and Ansals for opening outlets at their shopping malls, Jain said.

Barring few states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir and the North East, the company would have presence across India by the end of this year, he said.

To ensure a smooth supply chain, the company has tie ups with four processing units. It has also tied up with Snowman for temperature control storage and transportation.

"The supply chain is very critical to us as we aim to provide standardised, hygienic and quality north-Indian food across the world," he said. (PTI)

NASA's Hubble telescope camera has stopped working

BALTIMORE, June 25:The main camera on the Hubble Space Telescope, which has revolutionized astronomy with its stunning pictures of the universe, has stopped working, an instrument specialist who works with the camera said today.

The Advanced Camera for Surveys, a third-generation instrument installed by a space shuttle crew in 2002, went off line Monday, and engineers are still trying to figure out what happened and how to repair it.

"It's still off line today," Max Mutchler, an instruments specialist at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, said today.

Engineers are hopeful the problem can be fixed, said Ed Campion, a NASA spokesman at Goddard Space Flight Center outside Baltimore, which is responsible for managing the Hubble.

A bad transistor could be causing the trouble, Campion said. If so, a backup could be used. Another suspicion is that some of the camera's memory was disturbed by a cosmic event. That could be fixed by reloading the memory.

"Both possibilities are things that can be resolved here on the ground," Campion said.

The camera sent messages Monday indicating power supply voltages were above their upper limits and causing it to stop working. (AP)

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Japan must keep Zero rates as prices still fall

TOKYO, June 25:Japanese Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said keeping interest rates near zero is important as mild deflation persists in the world's second-largest economy.

Japan's economy ``has been improving, but mild deflation still continues,'' Tanigaki said today on Asahi Television's ``Sunday Project'' program. ``Zero interest rates are important for now.''

The Bank of Japan ended its policy of pumping cash into the economy on March 9 and has since drained excess cash from the banking system, a precursor to raising rates for the first time since August 2000.

BOJ Governor Toshihiko Fukui said last week the timing of a rate increase depends on economic and price data and the central bank has no predetermined period for policy action.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said deflation hasn't ended as consumer prices are unchanged when energy excluded. Consumer prices excluding fresh food and energy -- closer to how price trends are measured in the U.S.--rose 0.2 percent in April, slower than the 0.5 percent gain in core prices.

Core prices excluding fresh food, the central bank's preferred measure, gained for a sixth month in April. Tanigaki said the BOJ and the government need to work together to end deflation and support the economy.

Central banks in Europe, Turkey, India and South Korea were among those lifting borrowing costs in June, following a 16th straight increase in the U.S. Last month.

'`The global economy grew at a good pace, so some adjustments were seen,'' Tanigaki said. ``Japanese stocks, in particular, climbed considerably, so they had some correction.'' There may be little chance of a further slump in stocks, he added. (AGENCIES)

LG Philips plans to build LCD plant in Guangzhou, China

SEOUL, June 25:LG Philips LCD, a South Korean-Dutch joint venture, said today it planned to build a plant for producing modules for liquid crystal display panels (LCDs) in Guangzhou, China.

The global LCD maker said in a report to financial authorities here it signed the investment deal in May with the Guangzhou authorities in Guangdong province. Details on the deal were not available.

LG Philips has been expanding its global production network with the Guangzhou plant to be its second factory in China following one in Nanjing.

The company also broke ground on a new module plant in Wroclaw, Poland earlier this month.

In April, it completed one of the world's largest LCD production plants, worth 5.6 billion dollars, in Paju, North of Seoul. The plant will churn out 90,000 flat panels for LCD TVs every year, it said.

LG Philips, together with South Korea's Samsung Electronics, is one of the world's biggest LCD panel producers. (AFP)

India, Pak need to cut down on defence: Pak Minister

BEIJING, June 25:India and Pakistan should simultaneously reduce their defence budgets, relax visa regimes and open up borders for tourism so as to promote friendly ties and develop their economies, Pakistani Tourism Minister Nilofar Bakhtiar said here.

"The defence budget of India and Pakistan needs to be cut down. As a politician, I strongly feel that both the countries have to take a simultaneous step," Bakhtiar told PTI in an interview here.

"Pakistan alone cannot decrease the defence budget because the sovereignty of our country is important. It is the same for India. So, if we take the steps simultaneously, we can go a long way," she said on the sidelines of the 'Beijing International Tourism Expo 2006'.

"If the Berlin Wall can fall, why can't we do it also? Our habits are the same, emotions are the same. We are also the only two countries in the world which react the same way in the cricket field," she said.

"As the Tourism Minister, I strongly feel that if India and Pakistan open up their borders, truly and sincerely for tourists, both these countries will not need other tourists from anywhere else in the world. And both our economies depend on this and they need this. So why not just do it?"

"I think the people of India and Pakistan can play a major role in bringing these two countries together because the people understand the worth of peace," she said while recalling her frequent visits to India in her earlier capacity as the International Director of Lions Club International.

The Pakistani minister said the two countries should relax their visa regimes. (PTI)

Detroit suspect charged in lethal heroin case

DETROIT, June 25:A man suspected as a key player in the supply of a lethal form of heroin blamed for more than 100 deaths in the Detroit area was arrested on drug possession and weapons charges, officials said.

Wayne County sheriff's deputies and federal drug agents said Daren Reese was taken into custody on Thursday in the sale of a mix of heroin and the prescription painkiller fentanyl. He appeared in court yesterday.

Reese, 45, of Detroit, faces charges including four counts of delivering and manufacturing a controlled substance, and two felony weapons charges for carrying a firearm and body armor. He was being held in the Wayne County Jail on USD 200,000 bond.

Paul Curtis, a lawyer representing Reese, told the 'Detroit Free Press' after the hearing his client was a scapegoat for authorities trying to show they are combating the fentanyl scourge.

Fentanyl is 80 times stronger than morphine.

Officials in cities from Chicago to Philadelphia have reported deaths from the combination, more than 200 in all. (AP)