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25 dead in J-K bridge collapse

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:03:00 +0530

At least 25 people died and several others injured at Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday when a bridge across river Jhelum collapsed at Bandi about six kilometers from the Line of Control (LoC).

The District Administration and police along with Army have launched rescue operations. (ANI)

Dalai Lama envoys say Chinese response unyielding

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:02:00 +0530

Envoys of the Dalai Lama, Tibetan spiritual leader in-exile said on Sunday that talks with China were a ''total failure'' and were unyielding.

The envoys held a news conference in Dharamsala the seat of the Tibetan government in exile after returning from the ninth round of talks with China since 2002 and the first since the Beijing Olympic Games.

One of the representatives said that the talks between China and the Tibetan government in-exile were on the verge of a collapse and that they have not even asked the Chinese government for the next round of talks.

“Did not even this time discuss the possibility of future any rounds (further talks in the future), that''s absolutely true because of the current situation, first of all total failure, total failure on the part of the Chinese government to sincerely reciprocate the efforts of his holiness,” said Kasur Lodi Gyanltsen Gyari, one of the envoy of Dalai Lama who along with Kelsang Gyaltsen negotiated with the Chinese Government.

The representatives said that they had given their Chinese hosts a ''Memorandum for all Tibetans to enjoy genuine autonomy''.

The two sides had met to try to ease tension in Tibet.

Beijing vilifies the Dalai Lama as a traitor and earlier this year accused him of orchestrating a deadly wave of unrest in Tibet ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

Many Tibetans, especially younger generations, see the talks as a Chinese ploy to delay progress on the question of either independence or regional autonomy for Tibet.

The Dalai Lama fled into exile in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule. He has since lived in India, travelling the world to promote his cause, and is still widely revered in his homeland.

He and other critics of China''s rule say it stifles religious and cultural freedom and promotes development that skews wealth and opportunities away from poor Tibetans while encouraging influxes of Chinese labour from other parts. (ANI)

Egyptian President arrives in New Delhi

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:02:00 +0530

Egyptian President Mohammad Hosni Mubarak has arrived in New Delhi for a four-day visit to India.

The President is accompanied by a high-level delegation including several ministers, senior officials and businesspersons.

Mubarak is visiting India after 25 years. He last came here in 1983 on a state visit.

President Mubarak will address the Indo Egyptian Business Forum on Monday.

On Tuesday, President Mubarak will be presented the Jawahar Lal Nehru Award for International Understanding, which was conferred on him for the year 1995.

The focus of Mubarak''s visit will be on intensifying strategic and economic cooperation between India and Egypt, old friends and founders of non-aligned movement and South-South cooperation.

A Ministry of External Affairs press release said that during his visit, Mubarak would meet with President Pratibha Devisingh Patil and hold delegation level talks with Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.

The Vice President, Mohammad Hamid Ansari, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani will call on Mubarak.

President Patil will also host a State Banquet in honour of the visiting dignitary on Tuesday. Several agreements are expected to be signed during the visit.

Bilateral trade between India and Egypt touched 2.2 billion dollars in 2006. The two countries are eyeing an ambitious target of achieving 10 billion dollars worth of bilateral trade by 2010. (ANI)

J-K Coordination Committee appeals to people to boycott polls

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:01:00 +0530

The Jammu and Kashmir Coordination Committee on Sunday appealed to the people of the State to totally boycott the Assembly polls, first phase of which is going to be held on Monday in 10 constituencies of Bandipora, Ladakh and Poonch districts.

The meeting of the Committee was held here today and presided over by Mian Abdul Qayoom (President Bar Association).

While talking to the media, Qayoom maintained that holding of polls in the occupied territory was intended to sabotage the ongoing liberation struggle. He also said that anti poll posters have been dispatched to all districts of Kashmir valley urging people to boycott the polls.

The Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Hurriyat leaders, Maulana Abbas Ansari and Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi, are still under house arrest.

Farooq and senior Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Gilani appealed to Kashmiri people to massively march towards Bandipora to reaffirm that they rejected holding of polls and their sacrifices were intended to secure inalienable right to self-determination.

The campaigning for the first phase of elections concluded on Saturday.

As compared to the 2002 Assembly elections when only 40 candidates were in fray for these 10 constituencies, 102 candidates are contesting this time.

It is notable to mention here that 10 constituencies going to polls in the first phase, 233 rallies and public meetings were held during the campaign. These include 177 in Bandipora, 46 in Poonch, seven in Kargil and three in Leh district.

Thirty-seven candidates are going to fight for the three assembly constituencies of Poonch district, which is going to the polls in the first phase of elections.

Polling officers said that security arrangements are being reviewed on a regular basis to ensure free and fair elections in the state.

According to reports, committees have been constituted to monitor the enforcement of the model code of conduct at various levels.

The seven-phase polling in Jammu and Kashmir will begin from November 17 and end on December 24 to replace the Governor’s rule imposed after the Congress party-led coalition government fell in July over the Amarnath shrine land transfer row. (ANI)

Hosni Mubarak arrives in New Delhi today

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:01:00 +0530

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will arrive in New Delhi today on a four-day visit to India.

Mubarak will be visiting India after 25 years. He last came here in 1983 on a state visit.

On Tuesday, President Mubarak will be presented the Jawahar Lal Nehru Award for International Understanding, which was conferred on him for the year 1995.

The focus of Mubarak’s visit will be on intensifying strategic and economic cooperation between India and Egypt, old friends and founders of non-aligned movement and South-South cooperation.

He will be accompanied by his wife Suzanne Mubarak and by a large delegation that includes Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Information Minister Anass Ahmed Nabih El-Fiqqi, Communications and Information Technology Minister Dr. Tarik Mohamed Kamel Mahmoud,Trade and Industry Minister Rasheed Mohamed Rasheed,and Minister Gen. Omar Suleiman,besides senior officials and business persons.

A Ministry of External Affairs press release said that during his visit, Mubarak would meet with President Pratibha Devisingh Patil and hold delegation level talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The Vice President, Mohammad Hamid Ansari, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi,External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani will call on Mubarak.

President Patil will also host a State Banquet in honour of the visiting dignitary. Several agreements are expected to be signed during the visit.

Bilateral trade between India and Egypt touched 2.2 billion dollars in 2006. The two countries are eyeing an ambitious target of achieving 10 billion dollars worth of bilateral trade by 2010. (ANI)

Cold wave grips Jammu and Kashmir

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:00:00 +0530

Cold wave gripped Jammu and Kashmir after the region witnessed the season''s first snowfall, causing a steep dip in temperature in the valley.

The region received season''s first rainfall on Friday breaking the dry spell that the region was grappling with for the past few months.

The snowfall has affected the life in the region, as people prefer to stay indoors considering the dipping temperature.

Locals could be seen huddled together on roads as they warmed themselves in front of fire.

The snowfall and the sudden change in weather has taken the locals by surprise.

“It is quite sudden. The temperatures never dip so much in this month, the winters have arrived a month early,” said Saleem Ahmed, a resident.

The locals say they were not ready for the sudden arrival of winter in the valley and they do not have any provision for it.

“People are not ready for the weather. There is no coal, no other provision for winters. The snowfall has taken everyone by surprise,” said G.M. Malik, another residnet.

According to the locals, this is the coldest November they have witnessed in past 18 years. (ANI)

Manmohan Singh bats for developing economies at G-20 summit

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:00:00 +0530

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh batted for developing economies at the G-20 summit.

Addressing a news conference onboard Air India One, while returning from Washington on Sunday, Singh said, the present economic crisis was threatening to spill over to the developing countries as well and that the developed countries must not lose sight of the impact of the crisis on the developing countries.

“All developing countries were united in making this demand that this crisis should not become an occasion to divert the world''''s attention from the development dimension of the human condition. There our point of view was that in a situation where private capital was not available for various reasons- market failures and all that, first of all there was need to mount a considerable fiscal stimulus to make good for the deficiency in private demand,” said Singh.

World leaders gathering in Washington DC had backed a series of measures to kick-start the global economy with better financial market regulation and more say for emerging countries.

Singh had said, before going to the summit, that he was apprehensive that the developing countries might not find a say in voicing their point of views at the summit, which would not be good for handling the financial crisis.

“When President Bush first spoke to me about this idea, I had mentioned to him that there was a risk that if the meeting was not well prepared, it could be counterproductive. Also, I was worried that the Europeans and the Americans may not be able to agree. And similarly, the emerging countries'''' point of view may not receive the attention that we would like, in which case there would be a clear picture of dissension, which would not be good for handling the financial crisis, or its aftermath, the recession that is now on the horizon,” said Singh.

Expressing satisfaction, Singh said, this was the first time there was a dialogue between major developed countries and major emerging countries and that it was the first time that the balance of power was increasingly shifting in favour of emerging economies.

“It is a clear indication that the balance of power is increasingly shifting in favour of the emerging economies. We were previously also, for the last couple of years, being invited to the G8 meetings, but consultations were merely for the sake of form. Our views were not really taken into account, while they were formulating their viewpoints. This is for the first time there was a genuine dialogue between major developed countries and major emerging countries,” Singh said.

Shedding light on the outcome of the summit, Singh added, it was agreed that as far as the developing countries are concerned, infrastructure investment and its protection will be a major contributory factor to sustaining growth rates and therefore the International Financial Institutions, both the World Bank and international Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Regional Development Banks must come out with facilities to increase their assistance to these countries.

India''''s impressive growth of around nine per cent in the past few years has attracted global attention and investors have moved in to take part in the long-term growth prospects.

Its economic clout has meant India is an important voice in major global economic and political foras and New Delhi has been acknowledged as a leader of developing countries at world trade talks. (ANI)

Karunanidhi reiterates his demand of ceasefire between Sri Lankan forces and LTTE

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:00:00 +0530

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi on Sunday reiterated his demand of ceasefire between the Sri Lankan forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Sri Lanakan President Mahinda Rajapakse on November 13 in New Delhi ruled out any possibility of ceasefire till the rebels laid down their arms.

The Tigers say they are fighting to establish a separate homeland for Sri Lanka''s Tamil minority, which has complained of marginalisation by successive governments led by the Sinhalese majority since independence from Britain in 1948.

But the Sri Lankan government says the rebels must be destroyed, because they are on a host of terrorism lists including those from the United States, India and Europe, and adds that it is increasingly confident of defeating them soon.

"Ceasefire will be our primary demand and until we see this happening we cannot be satisfied," Karunanidhi, who was in Coimbatore for a party function, told reporters.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has ruled out any Indian involvement in solving the conflict, which the government says must be solved through dialogue.

Sri Lankan government''s special envoy to India had sought assurance from Colombo that all humanitarian steps would be taken to protect the ethnic Tamils in the island nation during the ongoing military offensive against the LTTE.

Meanwhile film fraternity of Tamil Nadu industry including actor Vijay joined one-day long hunger strike to demonstrate solidarity with the Sri Lankan Tamils being allegedly killed by the forces in the island nation.

Hundreds of fans of Vijay participated in the hunger strike, organised by them.

"I am very happy that my fans from across the state have organised such a humanitarian and genuine cause. I am very happy to be part of this and I wish them all the success," said Vijay.

The escalating conflict in northern Sri Lanka between government troops and Tamil Tigers has roiled Indian politics.

LTTE supporters in India say the government gives weapons to Sri Lanka, but New Delhi says it only provides non-lethal equipment. Diplomats say it also provides intelligence that has helped Sri Lanka to intercept Tiger boats.

The Indian government had also decided to provide 800 tonnes of relief material to the civilian population in conflict-hit northern Sri Lanka.

Nearly 80,000 relief packets containing necessary life saving drugs, clothes and food material have already been dispatched to Sri Lanka. (ANI)

Manmohan Singh calls for coordinated fiscal stimulus to deal with economic crisis

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:59:00 +0530

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Sunday called for coordinated fiscal stimulus to deal with present economic crisis.

Addressing a news conference onboard Air India One today, while on his way back from Washington where he attended the G-20 summit, Singh said, all the countries were in complete agreement that there was need for considerable fiscal stimulation.

He also said that international financial institutions should come out with facilities to increase their assistance to developing countries to help them tide over the crisis and added that the international financial institutions must be provided with adequate resources to meet the challenge of the crisis as far as developing countries are concerned.

“There was complete agreement that a considerable fiscal stimulation was called for. In the present time inflation was much less of a danger deflation was the real concern, which the world had to grapple with. Therefore those countries that have the maneuverability should use fiscal stimulus to stimulate demand. It was also agreed that as far as the developing countries are concerned, infrastructure investment and its protection will be a major contributory factor to sustaining growth rates and therefore the International Financial Institutions, both the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Regional Development Banks must come out with facilities to increase their assistance to these countries, and I was very happy that in anticipation of the meeting both the Fund and the Bank came out with schemes. Though there are doubts whether the resources available with the institutions will be adequate to take care of all the demands that may build up. But there was the unanimity at the meeting that international financial institutions must be provided with adequate resources to meet the challenge of the crisis as far as developing countries are concerned,” said Singh.

Acknowledging the burden on the developing countries, Singh also said, that they are the worst sufferers because of the global economic crisis.

“There was also the recognition that as far as the developing countries are concerned, though they had done nothing to contribute to this crisis, they were probably the worst sufferers. The growth of exports was going down, the flow of capital and direct investment was slowing down. There were attempts on the part of the foreign capital to fly out putting pressure on the exchange rate of a number of developing countries. Also there was a danger that the flow of remittance from overseas workers may also decline. Our concern was that in tackling the crisis, the developed countries must not lose sight of the impact of the crisis on the developing countries,” said Singh.

World leaders gathering in Washington DC had backed a series of measures to kick-start the global economy with better financial market regulation and more say for emerging countries.

India''s impressive growth of around nine per cent in the past few years has attracted global attention and investors have moved in to take part in the long-term growth prospects.

Hijacked ship “Stolt Valor” with 18 Indians freed

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:59:00 +0530

Exactly after two months, the hijacked merchant ship “MT Stolt Valor” was released this morning. The ship, with 18 Indian crew members on board was said to be on its way to Mumbai now.

The Japanese vessel was hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia on September 16.

For the last two months, the Indian sailors from Stolt Valor had been held hostage by the Somalian pirates, who were demanding a ransom. The hijackers had demanded a ransom of 6 crore rupees, said sources.

The Japanese shipping company had been holding negotiations with the pirates to secure the sailors’ release, even as there were demands from their family members that the Indian government to intervene and get them to safety.

In fact, India has identified that a large number of sea pirates were operating from the seaports of Eyl and Hobyo in Somalia and is closely monitoring movements of pirates in the area.

A sizeable portion of India''s trade flows through the Gulf of Aden and there has been a quantum increase in the number of piracy attacks in the region over the last few months. (ANI)