Before ballot, political affiliations divide Bhutan

THIMPU, Mar 22: Bhutan's shift from absolute monarchy to the world's newest democracy is creating unprecedented rifts as people row over which party to vote for in the next week's elections, observers say.

The isolated Buddhist kingdom has long stressed community bonding, but divisions ahead of the elections are creating serious problems, they say.

Political tempers are running so high "people aren't talking to each other" even though there are no major ideological differences between the two major parties competing for power, said Tashi Dorji, the editor of Bhutan Observer.

Around 70 per cent of the population of under 7,00,000 live in remote mountain villages and the two main parties -- People's Democratic Party (PDP) and Bhutan United Party (BUP)-- are in a tight race.

A family of six fled their house after one of their sons, in a drunken rage, threatened to burn down the house if they did not support the party of his choice, the weekly Bhutan Observer reported.

In another sign of disharmony, a nephew and an uncle are pitted against each other, dividing the village where they live into two camps.

Such discord is unfamiliar in insular Bhutan where famous "gross national happiness" index takes precedence over gross national product.

"For the first time, the Bhutanese are confronting each other. But once the polls are over, we will mature politically," said Kinley Dorji, managing director of the national Kuensel bi-weekly newspaper. (AGENCIES)

Malaysia will not impose curbs on bloggers

KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 22: Malaysia has said it will not impose curbs on bloggers, who have been accused of spreading lies and undermining public stability by officials during the recent general elections.

"If there is something newsworthy, I don't see anything wrong in them posting it," Information Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek said, according to New Straits Times.

Internet commentators played a key role in recent general elections by catering to voters who wanted an alternative source of news besides television and newspapers, he said.

"In a few weeks, we will invite all bloggers for a meeting, to better understand their sentiments and provide them an avenue to express themselves," he said.

The remarks by Ahmad Shabery, who took over the ministry Wednesday, reflects a softening in the government's stance toward bloggers.

His predecessor and other officials have repeatedly criticised bloggers and warned that new laws could be crafted to rein in bloggers who dispense malicious or false rumors that could stir tensions.

Opposition groups credit the Internet for helping to convince voters to turn against the ruling National Front coalition in March 8 elections. The coalition stayed in power, but lost its two-thirds parliamentary majority and retained control of only eight of Malaysia's 13 states amid public dissatisfaction over rising prices, corruption and racial and religious tensions.

Shabery said the government had come to recognise the role of alternate media like the Internet and blogs, which enjoyed uncensored freedom of expression and a large following. (PTI)

Tunnel collapses near Egypt-Gaza border, injuring five

EL-ARISH. EGYPT, Mar 22: A smuggler's tunnel linking the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip to Egypt has collapsed, nearly suffocating four Palestinians and trapping another under rubble, Egyptian and Hamas officials said.

The Palestinians were trying to hollow out a recently sealed tunnel, located some 10 metres below ground, when its vulnerable sandy ceiling crumbled under its own weight, the officials said yesterday.

Four of the Palestinians were freed by rescuers and are in serious condition at a Gaza hospital, said the Hamas official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media.

Rescue workers on the Palestinian side were still digging down in search of the fifth smuggler, he said.

The incident comes a day after a Palestinian was buried alive under another collapsed tunnel near the Egypt-Gaza border.

The Hamas official accused Egyptian security forces of spraying a "long-acting poisonous gas" in the tunnel that collapsed yesterday to smother smugglers.

But an Egyptian border security official said this was "nonsense," adding that the mouth of the 700-metre-long tunnel was destroyed using explosives several days ago.

"Most likely, the smoke that has resulted from this choked the smugglers as they tried to reopen the tunnel," the Egyptian official said, speaking under customary condition of anonymity.

Hospital workers in Gaza confirmed the smugglers were being treated for gas inhalation, but could not say what kind.

Palestinian smugglers have increasingly used tunnels to bring weapons and contraband goods from Egypt into Gaza since the territory was taken over by Hamas last June. (AGENCIES)

Another company recalls blood thinner heparin

WASHINGTON, Mar 22: A manufacturer of the blood thinner heparin initiated a nationwide recall because some products may contain a potentially dangerous contaminant. Contaminated heparin from a different manufacturer has been associated with 19 deaths and hundreds of allergic reactions.

In the recall announced yesterday, B Braun Medical Inc said it was recalling 23 lots of heparin as a precaution. No adverse events have been reported in connection with their product, company officials said in a news release.

Braun said it acted after a supplier, Wisconsin-based Scientific Protein Laboratories, disclosed that an ingredient it provided contained oversulfated chondroitin sulfate, a chemical that does not occur naturally. Federal officials are investigating how the contaminant got into the drug.

Heparin is derived from a mucous obtained from pig intestines and other animal tissues, often processed by small, unregistered workshops in China. Scientific Protein Laboratories owns a Chinese factory, Changzhou SPL, and buys additional raw heparin from other Chinese suppliers.

Scientific Protein Laboratories also supplies Baxter International Inc. Baxter recalled nearly all its US-sold heparin injections after some patients experienced extreme allergic reactions. The lots of heparin linked to hundreds of allergic reactions were marketed by Baxter International and produced in China.

Similar recalls of Chinese-sourced heparin in Germany and Japan.

China's drug safety agency says raw heparin suppliers have been required to improve their management and tests on their products.

Typical symptoms of the allergic reaction to heparin include low blood pressure, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. (AGENCIES)

Dalai Lama 'cried' over the recent turmoil in Tibet

NEW YORK, Mar 22: Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama has said that the recent turmoil in Tibet made him "cry" once but the practice of Buddhism helped him deal with the situation.

Speaking to Newsweek Magazine, the Dalai Lama said looking at the disturbing and graphic images of casualties "he once cried."

But one advantage of belonging to the Tibetan Buddhist culture is that even if at the intellectual level, there is a lot of turmoil, anxiety and worries, at the deeper emotional level, there is calm, he said.

"Every night in my Buddhist practice I give and take. I take in Chinese suspicion. I give back trust and compassion. I take their negative feeling and give them positive feeling. I do that every day."

"This practice helps tremendously in keeping the emotional level stable and steady. So during the last few days, despite a lot of worries and anxiety, there is no disturbance in my sleep, he added.

Monks-led demonstrations marking the anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule had erupted into violence in the most intense protests in the two decades on Friday last, claiming 13 lives. (PTI)

Nepal Govt invites armed Terai groups for talks

KATHMANDU, Mar 22: Ahead of the crucial April assembly elections, the Nepal Government has invited four armed groups active in the troubled southern Terai region for talks and expressed confidence that their problems could be resolved through a dialogue.

The ruling Seven-Party Alliance government has already signed a deal with the United Madhesi Democratic Forum (UDMF), representing three main parties of Terai, and agreed to fulfil their demands for greater rights, political representation and autonomy.

However, several armed groups operating in the region were not parties to the last month’s pact reached between the government and the UDMF.

The formal invitation for talks came after Jwala Singh-led Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (JTMM-J) shot dead an election candidate of the National People’s Front, Kamal Prasad Adhikari, in Banke district.

Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Ram Chandra Poudel, who is also the coordinator of the Government talks team, said letters were sent yesterday to Madhesi Mukti Tigers, United Terai Janatantrik Mukti Morcha (Goit), JTMM-J and Terai Cobra.

"They also seem interested in resolving their problems through talks...In that sense, I am confident that the problems will be solved through dialogue," Poudel said.

He said the Government would jointly hold talks with the groups. "We have proposed four members from the Government and one each from the groups for the purpose," he said.

The Government were in informal contact with the armed groups through mediators, he said. (PTI)

District bodies authorised to take own decision on security

KATHMANDU, Mar 22: Nepal’s Government has authorised district bodies to take decisions of security arrangement during the upcoming Constituent Assembly elections without consulting the centre to facilitate prompt response to any untoward incident.

"Authority was given to the district security committees...The security personnel will not have to wait for the decision from the centre," Home Minister Krishna Sitoula said yesterday.

He also promised to upgrade security to ensure the safety of candidates and voters.

"We will upgrade security provisions after assessing the threat to the candidates and voters," he said.

In continuing pre-poll violence, at least 10 CPN-UML cadres were injured when Maoists attacked them during an election campaign in Butawal in western Nepal yesterday.

Also yesterday, police arrested three Maoist cadres from Amchaura Village of Baitadi district on charges of attacking Puran Dayal, a CPN-UML candidate for the April 10 polls.

CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal asked the Government to strengthen security and check attacks and threats against his party cadres by the Maoists.

Over 4,000 complaints of breach of election code of conduct have been registered by the Election Commission so far. (PTI)

Man's hands, foot chopped off for alleged illicit relations

ISLAMABAD, Mar 22: The hands and a foot of a man were chopped off by a group of seven men in eastern Pakistan on the suspicion that he had an illicit relationship with their sister.

Ishaq, Altaf, Abbas, Mushtaq, Sadiq, Sabir and Junaid allegedly chopped off the hands and the right foot of Allah Diwaya, a resident of Basti Gujj near Multan in Punjab province, for his alleged relations with their sister Irshad.

The incident occurred last night.

Diwaya had allegedly kidnapped Irshad three months ago, police said today. She is currently at a woman's home in Bahawalpur. Diwaya is a married man and has six children, officials said.

Two of the seven -- Ishaq and Altaf -- were arrested while raids are being conducted to nab the others. A case has also been registered against the seven.

Doctors said Diwaya is in a stable condition and had been given five pints of blood to save his life. (PTI)

Astronauts ready for 5th spacewalk of busy mission

HOUSTON, Mar 22: Astronauts aboard the International Space Station prepared today for a spacewalk to store an extension boom and other tasks, the fifth and final outing during a busy visit by the shuttle Endeavour.

The extension sensor-studded boom was used on Friday to scan Endeavour's heat shield to ensure it is safe for next week's re-entry through the Earth's atmosphere.

The scan, part of the safety enhancements NASA implemented after shuttle Columbia's fatal flight in 2003, is usually done after the spacecraft undocks from the station. But the next shuttle mission will have such a crowded payload that there will be no room for the boom, so it must be stored on the space station.

The complex storage procedure will be done in stages.

''This is very complicated,'' lead shuttle flight director Mike Moses said late on Friday at a mission status briefing at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Moses said it would be 24 to 36 hours before the data from Friday's scan was fully assessed. Initial observations suggested no damage, but he said those visual scans can fail to detect problems.

''It is very easy to get a false sense of security from the visuals,'' he told Reuters.

During Saturday's spacewalk astronauts Robert Behnken and Mike Foreman will also inspect a contaminated joint that is needed to rotate one of the station's solar wing panels.

The spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 0256 IST GMT, after the station crew's sleep period.

The spacewalkers will ''camp out'' during their sleep period in the station's Quest airlock to purge nitrogen from their bodies ahead of the excursion.

The crew has already assembled a Canadian-built robotic maintenance man and delivered a storage room for Japan's upcoming Kibo laboratory complex.

Endeavour is scheduled to undock from the space station on Monday night and land at the Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday evening at 0431 IST.

(AGENCIES)

Woman sentenced to death

BEIJING, Mar 22: A woman was sentenced to death by a local court in China's Zhejiang province on charges of illegally raising USD 100 million and duping investors by falsely promising high returns.

The 43-year-old woman, was convicted of fraud for mobilising funds with enticing returns ranging from 1.8 per cent to 10 per cent a month from 2003 to July 2006, the Intermediate People's Court in Lishui said.

Du Yimin, nicknamed "Little Girl", whom many investors had not seen before her arrest in July 2006, channeled the funds into her company through her 67 creditors, the court said.

Dui, owner of a beauty parlour, spent much of the ill gotten money on purchasing apartments and cars and on luxury items, the court was told, according to official Xinhua news agency.

Dui said she would file an appeal against the court verdict. (PTI)

Indefinite curfew imposed in Pak town after sectarian clashes

ISLAMABAD, Mar 22: Indefinite curfew has been clamped on the northwestern Pakistani town of Hangu after sectarian clashes left at least four persons including a policeman dead and 25 others injured.

Rival Sunni and Shia groups exchanged fire during the clashes yesterday which coincided with the celebrations to mark the Persian New Year 'Nawroz' and the birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammed.

The two groups clashed with heavy weapons, including mortars and rockets.

The administration imposed indefinite curfew in the town and held a series of jirgas to restore peace and harmony in the area, officials said.

One police official was among the persons killed while two policemen were among the 25 people injured, they said.

Hangu had witnessed violence in January on the occasion of Ashura, which marks the death of Prophet Mohammed's grandson Imam Hussein. (PTI)

Bhutan parties in last-ditch efforts to woo voters

THIMPHU, Mar 22: With campaigning for Bhutan’s maiden general elections entering the last day today, candidates of both the contesting parties are making last-ditch efforts to woo voters for the March 24 polls.

People, on the other hand, feel their leaders should be competent and have passion for social changes. Most of them also feel their promises should be genuine.

During the campaign, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) mainly concentrated on house-to-house electioneering concentrating on slogans like "walk the talk" and "service with humility" while the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) promised it would ensure growth with equity and justice.

The DPT has said it will not harp on false promises.

"Campaigning will mean the candidates will promote the party, listen to the needs of people and see what can be done," DPT president Jigmi Y Thinley had said in his speeches.

Thinley, who is the party’s prime ministerial candidate, expressed confidence that the DPT achieves its three main aims-citizens receiving equal and just treatment, Bhutan is able to develop a high standard of political conduct and that the government is compact.

On the other hand, the PDP announced a slew of promises, including salary rise for civil servants and an airport in eastern Bhutan and has said that the party will base its policies on an understanding of the people’s needs.

In the battle for the north Thimphu constituency, the two candidates - DPT’s Ugyen Tshering and Tobgyal Wangchhuk of PDP - are busy giving final touches to their campaign.

Both the candidates said that most residents of north Thimphu are not registered in the constituency but they still make an effort to go and visit them.

Strategy of DPT and PDP to interact with the voters may appear similar, but their messages are not.

"We had to first learn which was the best way to proceed and I wanted to do a more personalised campaign," said the former labour minister Tshering.

On the other hand, Wangchhuk, an ENT surgeon, said he’s young, energetic and this was the right time to shoulder such a responsibility (of representing the constituency).

Bhutan’s transition to democracy began in 2001 when former king Jigme Singye Wangchuk handed over the powers of daily governance to a Council of Ministers.

In 2006, he abdicated the throne in favour of his Oxford-educated son Jigme Khesar Namgyel.

In the run-up to the National assembly polls, two rounds of dummy elections were held last April and May in which the Bhutanese voted for traditional values.

Bhutan elected 15 members to its National Council or upper house of Parliament on December 31 last year and five others on January 29. The King will appoint five more members.

In Paro, PDP’s Kaka Tshering, a Barack Obama fan, frequently borrowed the American presidential frontrunner’s message of ‘change’ and used it even in the remote villages near the Bhutan-Tibet border.

His rival, former minister Khandu Wangchuk tried to woo voters of Paro by vouching to capitalise on his 33 years of experience.

For the Dewathang-Gomdar constituency in Samdrup Jongkhar, bordering Assam, observers predict a close fight between former managing director of Bhutan Broadcasting Service Mingbo Dukpa and ex-assistant director of the policy and planning division of labour ministry Ugyen Dorji. (PTI)

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