Clinton, Obama seek
to end race row
NEW
YORK, Jan 15: US presidential rivals Hillary
Clinton and Barack Obama sought to put an end to
a bitter row over the race issue which has
clouded the Democratic race.
The campaign had
been mired in a dispute over comments the former
first lady made about civil rights icon Martin
Luther King which her critics interpreted as
devaluing his contribution to the 1960s movement.
"Over this
past week, there has been a lot of discussion and
back and forth -- much of which I know does not
reflect what is in our hearts," Clinton said
in a statement yesterday. "And at this
moment, I believe we must seek common
ground."
"We differ on
a lot of things," she said. "But when
it comes to civil rights and our commitment to
diversity, when it comes to our heroes --
President John F Kennedy and Dr King -- Senator
Obama and I are on the same side."
Campaigning in
Nevada ahead of the state's caucuses on Saturday,
Obama, who is seeking to become the first
African-American president, also sought to stop
the dispute from spiraling out of control.
"We've got
too much at stake at this time in our history to
be engaging in this kind of silliness. I expect
that other campaigns feel the same way,"
Obama said.
Earlier, Clinton
took her campaign to black voters yesterday as
she visited a group of African-American security
sector workers in Manhattan, and paid tribute to
Martin Luther King. (AGENCIES)
Virginia
politician pounces on state law's about theft...
RICHMOND,
US, Jan 15: Achieving equality for cats is not
as easy as it sounds. A Virginia state lawmaker
found that out when a legislative panel wrangled
over a proposal to make stealing a cat a felony -
the same as for swiping a dog.
Unable to find a
solution, the panel's chairman designated a
couple of members to work on the bill with
McClellan, the Richmond Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Virginia
Farm Bureau and bring it back for a future
meeting.
State Delegate
Jennifer McClellan, a Richmond Democrat, opened
her pitch yesterday for the legislation with a
disclaimer: "I do not now, nor have I ever,
owned a cat."
But for people who
do love their cats as much as dog owners adore
their pets, she said, Virginia law is unfair.
Stealing a cat is a misdemeanor, punishable by as
much as a year in jail. Dognappers can get as
many as 10 years.
"All I'm
trying to do is have the law reflect that if you
steal a dog or steal a cat, the punishment should
be the same," McClellan told the House
Courts of Justice subcommittee.
Supporters of the
bill are informally calling it "Ernie's
Law" in honor of the kitten whose ordeal
inspired the legislation.
Ernie was abducted
from the Richmond SPCA's shelter last summer.
Robin Starr, the organization's chief executive,
said in an interview that two men asked to visit
the kitten before possibly adopting it. One man
put the cat under his shirt, and they walked out.
An SPCA worker got
their license plate number, and the car was
tracked down. The SPCA pressed charges, but the
prosecutor decided the misdemeanor was not worth
pursuing after the defendant failed to appear for
arraignment. (AGENCIES)
Aspiring Indian
medicos heading to China...........
BEIJING,
Jan 15: China has become the destination for
many aspiring Indian doctors, with the Government
providing them with an easy access to their
medical universities.
It is not just the
lower fees but simple admission procedures that
have triggered the flow to Chinese medical
universities.
Students with 70
per cent and above in the Indian intermediate
examination are given admission.
"There are
more than 6,000 Indian students studying in China
now, mainly for medical science", Jasminder
Kasturia, First Secretary of the Indian Embassy
to China, told state-run China Daily.
More than 400
Indian students are studying for a bachelor's
degree of medicine at Tianjin Medical University
and the number of applications from India far
exceeds the available places at the university,
said Professor Guo Fenglin, Director of the
University's International Exchange Department.
Chinese medical
university charges an average tuition fee between
USD 2,000 and 3,000 a year and another USD 1,000
for boarding and lodging, one fourth of what it
costs in India.
"This is much
more affordable, in India, all the places are
taken up even before the exams, so even though we
study hard we can't get a place over there",
Manpreet Kaur, a second year medical student at
TMU was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
Of course,
ultimately, students studying medicine in China
will have to pass the Indian Medical Council
test.
"If the pass
rate is more than 60 per cent, then our education
is successful", says Miao Jingcheng, Deputy
Dean of the School of Medicine under the Suzhou
University in East China's Jiangsu province.
(PTI)
India
susceptible to gains from N-tech export: 1974 CIA
report..
WASHINGTON,
Jan 15: India, France and Israel were
unlikely to proliferate as a matter of national
policy but was "susceptible" to the
lure of economic and political advantages to be
gained from exporting nuclear arms-related
materials and technology, a just-declassified US
intelligence report, that came after the 1974
Pokhran test, had said.
In the wake of the
Indian nuclear tests on May 17, 1974 and growing
concern about the spread of nuclear weapons
capabilities, the US intelligence community
prepared a Special National Intelligence Estimate
(SNIE) titled "Prospects for Further
Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons", a
document that was released today by the National
Security Archive (NSA).
Though the
introductory note said that the paper includes
"discussions of Indian nuclear
intentions", the NSA has pointed out that
"when it reviewed the 1974 SNIE for the most
recent release, the CIA heavily excised the
discussion of the Indian nuclear programme."
The SNIE had
estimated that "many countries" would
have the economic and technological capability to
produce atomic weapons, believed that Israel has
already produced nuclear arms and expressed
apprehension that terrorists might attempt theft
of either weapons or fissionable materials.
"France,
India and Israel, while unlikely to proliferate
as a matter of national policy will prove
susceptible to the lure of economic and political
advantages to be gained from exporting materials,
technology and equipment relevant to nuclear
weapons programmes. And most proliferators are on
good terms with one or all others," the SNIE
had said. (PTI)
Lukla Airport to
be named as Hillary Tenzing Airport.....
KATHMANDU,
Jan 15: Lukla Airport, the gateway to the
world's highest peak Mt. Everest will be
rechristened as Hillary-Tenzing Airport.
"Nepal
government is considering to name the airport
situated at an altitude of 2,800 meter after the
twin summiteers," said Minister for Tourism
and Civil Aviation Prithvi Subba Gurung while
addressing a memorial organised in honour of the
first Everest co-summiteer Sir Edmund Hillary in
Kathmandu yesterday.
Tenzing Norgey, a
Nepali Sherpa who later took Indian citizenship,
and New Zealander Hillary were the first persons,
who climbed the world's tallest peak Everest
(8,848 mts) in May 29, 1953 setting a record in
the history of mountaineering.
Hillary had taken
initiative to construct the Lukla Airport way
back in 1965 according to Ang Tshering Sherpa,
chairman of Nepal Mountaineering Association.
The construction
of Lukla Airport has made expedition to the
Everest convenient and thousands of summiteers
were lured to the summit.
Hillary had made
valuable contributions in educational, social and
economic development of Sagarmatha region and
helped to uplift the life of the Sherpas, whose
main profession is to facilitate the
mountaineers. (PTI)
|
