Taiwan's President-elect says he has no plans to visit China

TAIPEI, Mar 23: Taiwan's president-elect said today that he had no immediate plans to visit China and would work to fulfill his campaign pledge to improve relations with the communist neighbour, starting direct flights, allowing more Chinese tourists to visit and helping the island's financial industry go to the mainland.

Ma Ying-jeou, a former Taipei mayor, trounced his ruling party rival, Frank Hsieh, in Saturday's vote after a long campaign that focused on relations with China. Ma was widely viewed to be favoured by Beijing, which insists this self-ruled island of 23 million people is part of the mainland.

A sitting Taiwanese president hasn't set foot on the mainland since a bloody civil war split the two sides in 1949. Ma told reporters today that he had no plans to visit China in the near future.

"I think the most urgent job for us to do is to solve many of the urgent problems in terms of our relations with mainland China," said Ma of the Nationalist Party. "For instance, direct flights, to allow mainland tourists to come to Taiwan and to allow our financial services industry to go to the mainland."

Although thousands of Taiwanese companies have invested in China in recent years, the island still maintains a ban on direct shipping and air links across the 160-km-wide Taiwan Strait.

Ma, who won 58 per cent of the vote, endured an often nasty campaign by Hsieh, a former premier, who got 41 per cent of the ballots. Hsieh tried to paint Ma as a softy who would quickly cave in to China and sell out Taiwan's interests. (AGENCIES)

Writing 'eases stress of cancer

NEW YORK, Mar 23: The simple act of writing down their deepest feelings can help cancer patients improve their quality of life, according to a new study.

A team of researchers in the United States has found that cancer patients who express their fears through writing can experience changes in thoughts about their illness, the 'The Oncologist' journal reported.

According to lead researcher Nancy Morgan of Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Centre, "Previous research have suggested that expressive writing may enhance physical and psychological well-being.

"But most of those studies involved three to five writing sessions that were conducted in a controlled setting. Here, we found that just one writing session in a busy cancer clinic where the patients are frequently interrupted can still have a positive impact on patients."

Morgan and her colleagues came to the conclusion after a research on a group of over 70 patients waiting in a clinic at a cancer centre in Washington from July to November 2006.

It included a pre-writing survey, just 20 minutes of expressive writing, a post-writing survey, and an optional follow-up survey that was completed by telephone three weeks later. (PTI)

Bangladesh plans major food aid for urban poor

DHAKA, Mar 23: The interim Government in emergency-ruled Bangladesh has planned a major expansion of subsidized food sale in the capital as experts warned that urban poor were the worst victims of the price spiral.

Commerce Adviser of the interim Cabinet Hossain Zillur Rahman said the Government would increase open market sale (OMS) of rice from 350 tonnes a day to 1500 tonnes to ease the price pressure on poor.

"The Government has noticed that present food allocation is not sufficient for vulnerable group in the urban areas (as) they are suffering most due to the price escalation," the Financial Express quoted him as saying.

Officials said the main staple rice would be sold at a subsidized rate, which is at least 25 per cent less than its current market price, at the OMS outlets.

They said the Government also planned to distribute potato under its vulnerable group feeding (VGF) programme, along with rice, to ease pressure on the main staple and to make maximum use of its huge production this year.

The development came as rice prices jumped again exposing poor and middle class people to extreme miseries with market operators attributing it on season-end and delay in rice import from neighbouring India.

Former finance adviser Akbar Ali Khan said a "silent famine" is going on in the country as tens of millions of people are struggling to buy daily food needs.

Another ex-adviser and leading economist, Wahiduddin Mahmud, last week said urban poor were the hardest hit, "as they don't grow food and their income doesn't saw any increase since commodity prices began to escalate from middle of last year." (PTI)

Hundreds rally against China's crackdown on Tibetan protesters

LONDON, Mar 23: Hundreds of people marched through the central London to protest against China's crackdown against pro-independence demonstrators in Tibet.

The protesters, including many exiled Tibetans, marched from Regent's Park to Trafalgar Square last evening, staging a rally in front of the National Gallery and singing the Tibetan national anthem outside the Chinese embassy.

The demonstrators said the proposed meeting between Prime Minister Gordon Brown and their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in May must produce solid action.

The march was organised by Tibet support groups in the UK to show solidarity with the protesters in Tibet and pressure international leaders to speak out against China. (PTI)

Two Indian dies

DUBAI, Mar 23:A 33-year-old Indian was found dead in his room in the Hor Al Anz area here under mysterious circumstances, Dubai police said.

The police were being called after deceased's friends found him hanging from the ceiling of his room, they said.

In an another incident, an Indian drowned near the Burj Al Arab while four others were rescued here on Friday, said Dubai Police Sea Rescue Section head Captain Yahya Hussain. (PTI)

11 persons arrested

KATHMANDU, Mar 23: The Kathmandu metropolitan police claimed to have busted a gang with the arrest of 11 persons on charges of abduction, extortion and possession of fake currency worth Rs 20,000.

While six persons were arrested from Lalitpur district for burglary, other five were arrested on charges of kidnapping a 10-year-old boy from Kathmandu by the police yesterday.

According to the police, 20,000 fake US dollar currency and weapons were recovered from the burglers. (PTI)

Lord Paul to lead high-level British Par delegation to India

LONDON, Mar 23: Leading NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul will head a high-level British Parliamentary delegation to West Bengal next month to discuss various issues like terrorism and ways and means of enhancing the Indo-UK trade.

"The team will be in Kolkata between April 5 and 12 at the invitation of the West Bengal Assembly," Lord Paul, also British Ambassador for Overseas Business, said today.

During the stay, the delegation will meet members of the FICCI and visit Shantiniketan, where Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore founded Visva-Bharati, an international University where the cultures of the East and the West could meet and mingle.

The delegation is expected to discuss various issues including terrorism, investment in Bengal and ways to enhance trade between India and the UK during its India visit.

A detailed programme is still being finalised by West Bengal Assembly and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, London. (PTI)

St Peter was not the first Pope, claims documentary

LONDON, Mar 23: The Apostle Peter, also known as St Peter, was not the first Pope and he never went to Rome, a new documentary has claimed.

In the documentary, 'The Secrets of the Twelve Disciples' on Channel 4, prominent academics have accused the Vatican City of misleading the world over the fate of St Peter whose journey to Rome, the Church claims, led to the spread of Christianity in the West.

According to its presenter Dr Robert Beckford of the Oxford Brookes University, "We found there is no scientific evidence to support the idea that St Peter was buried in Rome, but yet the rival theory has not got out because it challenges the Church.

"If you undermine its basis for power you undermine the Church. It's tragic that the faith gets reduced to manipulating the facts and to one Church trying to make itself superior to others."

Roman Catholicism holds that the Pope is the sole successor to the "supremacy" of St Peter and is thus the "Vicar of Christ" for the world.

It is claimed that Peter was crucified in Rome and buried where the Basilica of St Peter was later built, beneath the high altar. Moreover, in 1939, the Vatican had announced that the bones of St Peter had been found in Rome during an archaeological dig. (PTI)

GMR eyeing projects in Middle-East, North Africa

ANKARA, Mar 23: Leveraging on its recent success in obtaining a contract to expand the Sabiha Gokcen International Airport at Istanbul, India's infrastructure major GMR Group is eyeing projects in the Middle-East and North Africa, besides other Europe countries.

"Istanbul airport project has given us a foothold in Europe, and we can now enter into other markets in the continent...We are also looking at investment opportunities in the Middle-East and North Africa", GMR's International Business Division CEO Ranjt Murugason told PTI.

The London-based international business division of GMR, he said, is closing in on 2-3 major projects in the infrastructure sector, which are expected to be finalised shortly.

The focus of the GMR, he added, would continue to be on projects in sectors such as energy, airports and highways, for which it has the requisite expertise.

The group, he added, will also be trying to enter the infrastructure space in the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) building on its business relationship with the Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad (MAHB).

MAHB has provided various services to the group's new airport project at Hyderabad and will pick up 20 per cent stake in the GMR-led consortium to upgrade the Istanbul airport. (PTI)

18 persons missing after collision

BEIJING, Mar 23: Eighteen persons were reportedly missing after a container carrying freighter and a tugboat collided in Hong Kong, official Xinhua news agency said.

The tugboat, carrying 25 people on board, sank shortly after the collision last night but seven, including a Chinese and six Ukrainians, were rescued, it said.

All the seamen on board the freighter were safe, it said.

The mishap occurred near the Brothers, an island group located between Tun Men and the Hong Kong International Airport.

Marine police, fire fighters and a helicopter had been engaged in search operation, the agency said. (PTI)

Rowling contemplated suicide as struggling single mother

LONDON, Mar 23: In a revelation, "Harry Potter" author J K Rowling has said that she had contemplated suicide while suffering from depression as a struggling single mother.

Rowling, 42, said she was prescribed cognitive behavioral therapy after suffering from "suicidal thoughts" in the aftermath of separation from her first husband, Jorge Arantes, a Portuguese journalist.

At that time, her economic condition was weak as she could only afford to pay the rent of flat in Edinburgh where Rowling resided with her baby daughter Jessica.

"Mid-twenties life circumstances were poor and I really plummeted," she said.

"The thing that made me go for help... Was probably my daughter. She was something that earthed me, grounded me, and I thought, this isn't right, this can't be right, she cannot grow up with me in this state," the author said.

It was there she began writing the first Harry Potter book, and now she is one of the world's richest women, with a fortune worth 545 million pounds.

She has spoken before of her depression, but it is the first time Rowling has admitted that she contemplated suicide.

Rowling said she finally sought professional help.

The author said her usual General Practitioner (GP) was away, and the replacement doctor sent her away.

"She said, "if you ever feel a bit low, come and speak to the practice nurse" and dismissed me," Rowling said. (PTI)

China to help Pak build major hydro-electric project in PoK

BEIJING, Mar 23: Pakistan is expected to conclude soon reinsurance deals with a Chinese consortium for the strategically important Neelam-Jhelum hydro-electric project being built by it at a cost of USD 1.5 billion in Pakistan- Occupied Kashmir (POK), over which India has voiced concerns.

"The talks are in very advanced stages and close of the deal is expected by April end or early May," a senior executive of Adamjee Insurance Company, Pakistan-based insurer, who is tying up the deals, told PTI.

A consortium consisting of China's Gezhouba Water and Power Company and China National Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Corporation (CMEC) were awarded contracts by Pakistan in December last year to build the Rs 7,873 crore project in eight years.

Chinese insurance companies PICC, Ping An, China Pacific and AIG (China) have experience in insuring the works carried out by the Chinese contractors in China-based domestic projects, Zersis Rustom Birdie, General Manager (Development) of the Karachi-based insurance company, said.

"We feel they (Chinese firms) are better experienced than European-based reinsurance companies to cover the works carried out by Chinese contractors in Pakistan," he said.

Asked if the premiums from the international reinsurance companies were high because of war and terrorism-related risks, Birdie did not comment directly but said European firms were tough on terms for such a project as they did not have Chinese domestic experience directly and used PICC or Ping An in the past. (PTI)

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