Hitler's 'lost fleet' found in Black Sea

LONDON, Feb 3: Adolf Hitler's U-boats dominated the seas during World War II, earning notoriety by sinking hundreds of Allied ships.

Now, 60 years on, the Nazi dictator's 'lost fleet' -- the resting place of three German submarines -- has been found in the Black Sea off the coast of Turkey.

The hulls of the submarines -- U19, U20 and U23 -- have been discovered by a team of researchers who established the boats' positions through research in German archives and by sonar studies of seabed, 'The Sunday Telegraph' reported.

"It's one of the least well known stories of the war but one of the most interesting. It is a quite incredible story. To get to the Black Sea these boats had to be taken across the land, and once they got there they had no way out," said Turkish marine engineer Seluk Kolay, who led the team.

The submarines were carried 2,000 miles overland from Germany to attack Russian ships during the Second World War, but scuttled as the war neared its end.

In fact, the vessels formed part of the 30th Flotilla of six U-boats, taken by road and river across Nazi-occupied Europe, from Germany's Baltic port at Kiel to Constanta, the Romanian Black Sea port.

In two years, the fleet sank dozens of ships and lost three of their number to enemy action. But in August 1944, Romania switched sides and declared war on Germany, leaving the three remaining submarines stranded.

With no base and unable to sail home -- the Bosporus and Dardanelles were closed to them due to Turkish neutrality -- their captains were ordered to abandon the U-boats before rowing ashore and trying to make their way back to Germany. However, all the German crews were caught by the Turks.

"This is a significant find because these U-boats were all scuttled, so they should be intact, like a sealed tube. They are unique survivors of the war," Nautical Archaeology Society's Secretary Mike Williams was quoted as saying. (PTI)

Curtains for Indian student to contest for Oxford Union

LONDON, Feb 3: It is curtains for India's Krishna Omkar as far as his ambition to contest for the presidentship of the Oxford Union is concerned, for which a re-poll has been announced by the university authorities.

The Appellate Board has upheld the rulings and sentencing of the original Election Tribunal, which found 23-year-old Omkar guilty of electoral malpractice.

Omkar, hailing from New Delhi and studying for a PhD in sociology at Merton College, beat Charlotte Fischer, 21, who is studying modern history and politics at Balliol College, by 959 votes to 658.

However, Omkar, the union's treasurer, was disqualified and banned from standing again in any future elections by the Election Tribunal after Fischer complained that he had held an eve-of-poll meeting for 30 people in a hired room contrary to union rules that prevent electioneering.

"There will be a re-poll for the Office of President-Elect. We hope to see a fairly contested election and look forward to welcoming a new President-Elect to the committee," Emily Partington, President of the Oxford Union, said in a statement.

Emily said "rule changes have been suggested by Omkar and their approval or disapproval will be subject to the democratic rights of our members and our existing rules."

While Omkar has been barred from contesting the election, his opponent, Charlotte Fischer, has resigned from the Standing Committee of the Oxford Union, stating that she does not intend to stand in any further polls.

Fischer wrote a lengthy resignation letter which was made openly available to committee members. (PTI)

Lord Paul second richest in British Midlands - Birmingham Post

LONDON, Feb 3: NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul has been adjudged as the second richest in the British Midlands with a family business worth 1.5 billion pounds (Rs 12,000 crore), according to a new Rich List.

Lord Paul, British Ambassador for Overseas Business, comes next only to John Caudwell, founder of a mobile communications company, who is worth 1.65 billion pounds.

According to 'The Birmingham Post Rich List', the meteoric rise of the Indian and Chinese economies and their insatiable demand for raw materials has pushed the price of steel through roof.

"This has done no harm at all to Lord Paul of Marylebone's Black Country-based-Caparo Group," the report said.

"Steel, engineering and property group Caparo, with its major regional office in Oldbury and a technology division on Wolverhampton Science Park, has posted profits of 55 million pounds on sales on 2.7 billion pounds, and continues to expand worldwide. Caparo's success has rocketed Lord Paul 14 places up The Birmingham Post Rich List."

The report said that acquisitions and growth - in 2006 alone Caparo acquired no less than 22 companies - have taken the group's employee numbers to nearly 6,000.

"Caparo is now made up of more than 40 companies operating on 60 sites in the UK, India, Spain, North America, Canada and Dubai. With business interests mainly centred on the manufacture of steel, automotive and engineering products, the group's other activities include materials testing, film distribution and bespoke furniture." (PTI)

Aditya Birla plans USD 120 million investment in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, Feb 3: Aditya Birla Group, one of India's largest corporates, is planning to invest 120 million dollars in a carbon black plant in Sri Lanka.

"The matter has been under discussions since last year. Aditya Birla Group is likely to go ahead with its proposed 120 million dollar investment on the carbon black plant in Koggala Export Processing Zone, south of Sri Lanka," an official said.

Meanwhile, an official release said the plan could fructify as a result of the meeting held between Sri Lankan Minister of Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion Sarath Amunugama and senior officials of the Birla Group in New Delhi recently.

The company had initially selected western India for its new plant but is now convinced about the potential in Lanka after its feasibility studies and assurances from Amunugama, it said.

Carbon black is one of the main raw materials used for in manufacture of tyres and the island nations is already one of the world's largest exporter of solid rubber tyres.

Amunugama noted that Sri Lanka will have a competitive advantage in both natural well as synthetic rubber with the launch of the proposed plant.

The Birla investment is expected to draw interest to Sri Lanka from some of the world's largest manufacturers of tyres, including Michelin of France. (PTI)

Pak teenager tricked into marriage, forced into prostitution

LONDON, Feb 3: A teenage Pakistani girl was "tricked" into marrying a mentally disabled man in the UK and was then forced into prostitution, a media report claimed today.

The 15-year-old girl was wedded to a mentally challenged Sheffield man last April into a "telephone marriage" ceremony, the Sunday Times reported.

On her arrival in London, the girl discovered her partner to be a man aged 40, unemployed and disabled. To make matters worse, the girl's mother-in-law forced her into prostitution, the report alleged.

However, the girl managed to escape and reached for police help, the paper said, adding she is currently in a refuge centre.

The case was highlighted in a report by the Centre for Social Cohesion, which has found that policemen, councillors and taxi drivers in Britain are turning a blind eye or even "conniving" in enforcing "moral code" on young Muslim women.

The girl's marriage was not recognised by the Home Office but was approved by the Islamic Sharia Council in Britain.

Jasvinder Sanghera, director of a voluntary organisation, Karma Nirvana, alleged that police who find girls having escaped from their families often simply return them to their parents where they face further abuse, with some Asian officers actually "colluding" in crimes. (PTI)

Indian Tamarai blooms in Britain

LONDON, Feb 3: Indian Tamarai has blossomed in Britain -- the popular restaurant chain added another feather to its reputation for culinary excellence, this time by winning an award for the Best Night Bar in London.

Tamarai (meaning lotus in Tamil), India's Old World Hospitality group's third London restaurant after Chor Bizarre in Mayfair and Sitaaray, has got the accolade at the Theme Bar Awards 2008.

The award by Britain's widely read magazine, Theme, celebrates the best in the industry bringing together excellence in modern drinks, design and hospitality in different categories.

"lt's an exceptional honour for a bar operated by an Indian company in the most competitive food and drinks city in the world," said a spokesperson for the group which operates the Habitat World at India Habitat Centre as well as 12 other restaurants in Delhi.

The restaurant was last year awarded 'The Best Wine List in London' by 'The Independent' newspaper and 'The Best Pan-Fusion Food in London' by the 'Evening Standard'. (PTI)

Egypt begins closing breached Gaza border-witnesses

RAFAH, GAZA STRIP, Feb 3: Egyptian forces began closing the breached border with the Gaza Strip today, stemming the flow of Palestinians across the frontier breached by Hamas Islamists last month, witnesses said.

Egyptian forces brought barbed wire and metal barricades to the only remaining gap in the Egyptian side of the border which was breached by Hamas Islamists on Januaru 23, allowing Gazans to stock vital goods as relief from an Israeli-led blockade.

Since then Hamas has been under pressure from Egypt to stop the movement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have crossed the border.

Reuters staff at the border said the Egyptian forces closed the gap, but still allowed Palestinians and Egyptians to return to their homes.

After talks with Egyptian officials in Cairo on Saturday Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar said Hamas ''will restore control over this border, in cooperation with Egypt, and gradually''. (AGENCIES)

Australia PM calls summit to tackle drought, reforms

CANBERRA, Feb 3: Australia's Government said today it will hold a summit to tackle the country's greatest problems including economic reform, the worst drought for a generation, climate change and the plight of aboriginal people.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the so-called 2020 Summit in late April would bring together 1,000 experts to deal with 10 long-term challenges too important to be sidelined by the pressures of national elections every three years.

''The summit will bring together some of the best and brightest brains from across the country to tackle the long-term challenges confronting Australia's future,'' Rudd told reporters.

With its popularity at risk from rising interest rates and inflation at 16-year highs in the December quarter, the conference is an attempt to paint Rudd's new centre-left Labor government as nation-builders above day-to-day politics.

The conference would be broken into 10 groups, Rudd said, tackling slowing productivity, the digital economy, water management and health, as well as chronic disadvantages suffered by Aborigines, including a 17-year life expectancy gap.

Invitees would include state leaders and the conservative opposition, which was dumped by voters after 11 years in powe during elections last November.

Rudd's government has promised to tackle hurdles including rising inflation, which is expected to bring another central bank interest rate hike on Tuesday, placing more stress on mortgage holders in a country where house ownership is an obsession.

On February 13, the government will also deliver an official apology to Aborigines taken from their homes under past assimilation policies, ending a decade-long row over the pace of reconciliation between black and white Australians.

Rudd is also under pressure to maintain the long economic boom and solve state water allocation problems worsening the impact of the drought, which continues to bite many farmers despite good recent rains in some parts of the country.

Experts have warned Australia appears to be suffering from an accelerated climate change, driving up temperatures and bringing potentially catastropic droughts, storms and floods.

''What we want is for this gathering of the nation's brightest and best to put forward options for the nation's future,'' Rudd said. ''Those that we accept will form part of the government's long-term planning for 2009 and beyond.''

Treasurer Wayne Swan on Sunday said while Australia had prospered from the long global commodities boom fuelled by demand from China, 16 years of economic expansion had also brought inflation above the central bank's 2-3 percent target band.

''We need a war on inflation and we need to get downward pressure on inflation and downward pressure on interest rates,'' Swan told local television.

The Reserve Bank of Australia board meets for the first time this year on Tuesday and is expected to raise the cash rate by 25 basis points to 7.0 per cent. That would be the third hike in six months and take rates to their highest since late 1996.

Research by JP Morgan and Fujitsu Consulting on Sunday showed around 750,000 Australian homeowners would suffer mortgage stres s this year, a fact which Rudd said he was deeply aware of.

Swan said Australia should be able to head off any global downturn and a US economy showing signs of a recession thanks to continued demand from energy-hungry China.

''What will carry Australia through this is the strength of the developing world, and most particular the strength of Asia,'' he said. ''There is a view out there that a downturn in the US will not necessarily have the traditional impact it may have once had on the developing economies.''

(AGENCIES)

British prof claims Chirst's scrouge 'light' ....

LONDON, Feb 3: How would it feel if you were nailed to a cross and left to die like Jesus Christ?

Professor Terry Eagleton feels it is a ''pretty light'' punishment. The outspoken Marxist academician claimed that the crucifixion of Christ ''wasn't as bad as it's been painted'', media reported.

Te Professor of Cultural Theory at the University of Manchester will say on Radio Four's Lent Talks, slated for broadcast on February 20, that Jesus ''got off pretty lightly'' because it only took him three hours to die.

Prof Eagleton claimed Jesus' punisment was a ''blessing in disguise'' as it hastened his death.

''If the New Testament account is to be believed it took him only three hours to die whereas a lot of those killed by this hideous mode of execution thrashed around on their crosses for days,'' the 64-year-old professor will say in his talk, the Daily Mail reported.

The professor further attacked modern Christianity, saying the faith has abandoned the poor and dispossessed in favour of the ''rich and aggressive''.

Professor Eagleton's remarks in the run-up to Easter have highly piqued traditionalists, who also criticised the BBC for commissioning him.

Responding to the remarks, the Bishop of Durham, the Rt Rev Tom Wright who will also speak on the show said it is all a bit tired and sad.

''The professor might also like to get his facts straight. Jesus took six hours to die on the cross, not three,'' Bishop Wright added. (UNI)

MIC demands rights for ethnic Indians from Malaysian Govt

SINGAPORE, Feb 3: The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) has called on the Government to immediately act on seven critical issues relating to the recent ''uneasiness'' among the ethnic Indian community.

MIC President and Works Minister S Samy Vellu said Malaysia's Indian community has demanded equal rights in the socio-economic development, at par with other communities.

The other six issues are to ensure that a high number of Indians have educational opportunities in public universities, especially in critical courses, provide greater employment and promotional opportunities in the public sector, increase the number of government scholarships, greater access to entrepreneurship training and micro-credit loans, Mr Vellu said at the MIC special convention for branch chairmen ahead of the upcoming general elections expected next month.

Malaysian media reports said the convention was opened by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and attended by 3,700 MIC branch chairmen.

Mr Vellu urged the Government to set up a special purpose company for ethnic Indians to participate in the local stock and share market to help attain the three per cent equity target by 2020.

The minister said MIC was also confident of retaining nine parliamentary and 19 state seats in the general elections despite the recent unhappiness among the ethnic Indian community. (UNI)

Stallone challenges Myanmar junta, eyes "Rambo 5"

LONDON, Feb 3: Not satisfied with slugging it out with Myanmar's military Government on celluloid in his latest ''Rambo'' film, Sylvester Stallone wants to go there and confront the junta face-to-face over human rights.

Stallone, who said he was gearing up to make a fifth and final instalment in the blood-and-guts series, told Reuters that media reports of his film becoming a bootleg hit in the former Burma, and an inspiration to dissidents, was a pinnacle in his movie career.

''These incredibly brave people have found, kind of a voice, in a very odd way, in American cinema... They've actually used some of the film's quotes as rallying points,'' Stallone, 61, said in a telephone interview.

''That, to me, is the one of the proudest moments I've ever had in film.''

Residents in Yangon told Reuters this week that police had given strict orders to DVD hawkers to not stock the movie -- named simply ''Rambo''. Locals said fans had ''gone crazy'' over lines in the hero's brusque dialog such as: ''Live for nothing. Die for something.''

In the film, Vietnam War veteran John Rambo -- best known for mowing down enemies with an M60 machine gun in the 1980's -- comes out of retirement in Thailand to save a group of Christian missionaries from a sadistic Myanmar army major.

Stallone said that, rather than make a film about Iraq or Darfur, he focused on a lesser-known crisis before Myanmar suddenly grabbed the spotlight in September when the military junta crushed a pro-democracy campaign led by Buddhist monks.

Officials put the death toll from the crackdown at 15, but diplomats and aid groups say it is much higher and some media have reported hundreds -- or thousands -- were killed.

''People finally got the idea of how brutal these people are,'' said Stallone.

INVITE ME, PLEASE

Stallone's movie specifically focuses on the Karen tribe of eastern Myanmar. UK-based Christian Aid says the Karen and other groups have suffered half a million cases of forced relocation and thousands more have been imprisoned, tortured or killed.

Many ethnic rebel groups have fought Burmese governments for more autonomy since independence from Britain in 1948. Stallone said he was in communication with some, and several former freedom fighters acted in the movie.

And he hopes the film can provoke a confrontation.

''I'm only hoping that the Burmese military, because they take such incredible offence to this, would call it lies and scurrilous propaganda. Why don't you invite me over?'' he said.

''Let me take a tour of your country without someone pointing a gun at my head and we'll show you where all the bodies are buried... Or let's go debate in Washington in front of a congressional hearing... But I doubt that's going to happen.''

''Rambo'' opened last month second in north American box office returns to the ancient Greek warrior spoof ''Meet the Spartans'', making 18.2 million dollars in its first week.

Stallone said he was happy with what he described as ''the bloodiest, R film (for) a generation'' and hoped to make another.

''It will depend on the success of this one, but right now I think I'm gearing one up. It will be quite different,'' he said.

''We'll do something a little darker and a little more unexpected.''

(AGENCIES)

Ohio Guv seeks Indian-American doctors' help

NEW YORK, Feb 3: Governor Ted Strickland of Ohio has sought the cooperation of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) in improving health care facilities in the state.

''AAPI should help us focus better on prevention strategy and look into health care disparity among ethnic divisions and geographic locations,'' the Governor told an annual meeting recently of the AAPI, considered the largest and most influential organisation of its kind in the US.

Ohio has strong health care providers, doctors and hospitals such as Cleveland Clinic, Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus and Cincinnati Children's Hospital, he said and praised the efforts of the physicians of Indian origin involved in the health care delivery to residents of Ohio.

Ohio accounts for about 25 per cent of all clinical trials conducted in the US and the AAPI could play a leading role in consolidating this position, the governor added.

The Indian-American population in Ohio went up from 21,000 in the 1990s to about 40,000 in 2000, projecting an 86 per cent increase. More than 75 per cent of Indians form part of the few educated ethnic groups in Ohio.

The State of Ohio plans to open an office in New Delhi to attract investments and businesses from India, said the Governor.

AAPI President Hemant Patel said the organisation is now stable and poised for greater growth. He urged AAPI chapters to undertake membership drive and grass- roots level meetings to attract more physicians.

Dr Patel said access to affordable and quality health care should be available to all Americans regardless of their socio-economic status.

Indian-American doctors are worried over the lack of coverage for so many of our patients especially in rural parts of America, he said, adding, ''We want to be able to provide quality health care for the currently 47 million Americans that lack it.''

The AAPI was now forging alliances and crossing global boundaries to reach out to the common man.

Dr Patel narrated the first ever Indo-US health care summit in New Delhi and the appreciation from the President Pratiba Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the leading role played by the AAPI.

The organisation is committed to working with Indian physicians to improve health care. AAPI had organised a mammoth first-ever Indo-US Healthcare Summit in New Delhi in partnership with Indian Medical Association and the Medical Council of India, attended by more than 350 physicians from India and about 85 physicians from the US.

(UNI)