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BJP-sponsored hartal in Kerala today

Fuel price hike has dealt a heavy blow to KSRTC
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala is bracing itself for a second blow within 30 hours of receiving the first in the form of a hike in the price of petrol and diesel. It has come in the form of a hartal, road transport workers' strike and suspension of private bus services all rolled into one to protest against the hike in fuel price.

The BJP has called for a State-wide hartal from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday in protest against the Union Government's decision to increase the prices of diesel and petrol.

At a press conference here on Tuesday, BJP State general secretary P.K. Krishnadas said the hartal was also to press the State Government to reduce the rates of sales tax on diesel and petrol so that the prices the consumers had to pay for these products could be brought down.

He urged all traders to cooperate by keeping their shops shut. Milk supply, newspaper distribution and hospitals would be exempted. The hartal would be peaceful, he said.

Mr. Krishnadas said both the Congress and the Left parties were equally responsible for taking the price of fuel beyond the means of the common consumers. The latest was the fourth hike since the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) had come to power at the Centre. The Left parties should stop propping up the UPA Government if they seriously objected to the decision. Mr. Krishnadas said it was well within the powers of the State Government to prevent the latest hike in fuel prices from affecting the consumers. The hike effected could be compensated if the State Government were to bring down the rates of sales tax on diesel and petrol from the existing high level to, say, 12 per cent, he said.

Vehicle strike

The impact will be felt more owing to the protest being organised on Wednesday by bus operators and the road transport workers. The All India Road Transport Workers Federation has called for a strike in the State as part of the countrywide protest being organised by it against the hiking of the price of petrol and diesel. Its general secretary, K.K. Divakaran, described the hike as a "heavy burden which neither the industry nor the common man can bear."

Centre to decide on higher rice price for Kerala

New Delhi: The Centre will take a decision on Wednesday on the Kerala government's demand for a higher price for the rice supplied to the Food Corporation of India by the State Civil Supplies Corporation, which procured paddy from farmers to ensure a fair price for them, State Chief Minister Oomen Chandy on Tuesday said.

Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has convened a meeting of those concerned here tomorrow to take a final decision on the matter, he said.

The Chief Minister who discussed the matter with Pawar today, told newsmen that if the Centre did not give a higher price for the quantity of rice supplied to the FCI, the state government would have to bear the losses.

He said the Civil Supplies corporation had already supplied rice to the FCI after milling the paddy procured from the farmers.

Chandy said the Power Ministry had released a sum of RS 69.4 crore to the state today under the Accelerated Power Development Reforms Programme. Another Rs 64 crore was released from the Central Road Fund.

He said a high level Qatari delegation would visit the state for three days from tomorrow. The state government would submit project proposals to the delegation after knowing their areas of interest for investment during the discussion.

Cabinet reshuffle in the offing, hectic consultations on

New Delhi: Hectic consultations are on ahead of a possible reshuffle and expansion of the Union Council of Ministers, probably this week-end or early next week.

Amidst a variety of speculation, Urban Development Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad met Congress President Sonia Gandhi last evening. He later met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for nearly an hour, informed sources said.


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Though these meetings have been termed as routine, discussions were believed to have touched the impending reshuffle. Azad holds dual charge of Parliamentary Affairs Ministry and Urban Development.

The sources said that the ministerial reshuffle could trigger changes in the All India Congress Committee, where induction of fresh blood like Rahul Gandhi and Sachin Pilot was also being talked about.

The ministerial reshuffle could involve change of portfolios of some ministers holding crucial departments. Either A K Antony or Vayalar Ravi from Kerala and JMM supremo Shibu Soren are likely to be inducted into the 13-month old UPA Government.

The names of new faces including G K Vasan, Anand Sharma, Pawan Kumar Bansal, Chandra Sekar Sahu and M Ramadass from Pondicherry are also doing rounds for inclusion.

Solar sail vehicle launched from Russian submarine

Moscow, : A solar sail vehicle designed to be propelled by the pressure of sunlight blasted into space from a Russian submarine Tuesday as part of a joint Russian-U.S project attempting the first controlled flight of a solar sail, space officials said.

A Volna booster rocket launched the unmanned spacecraft from a submerged Russian submarine in the northern Barents Sea at 11:46 p.m. Moscow time (1946GMT), said Lidia Avdeyeva, a spokeswoman for the Lavochkin institute involved in the project.

``The launch was successful,'' she said.

The aim is for streams of solar energy particles to push a giant, reflecting sail through space the way wind propels sailboats across water.

The spacecraft, called ``Solar Sail,'' weighs about 110 kilograms (242 pounds) and is designed to go into an orbit more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) high.

It should take the spacecraft 1 hour and 40 minutes to make a full orbit around earth.

Solar sails are envisioned as a potential means for achieving interstellar flight in the future, allowing such spacecraft to gradually build up great velocity and cover large distances.

The Solar Sail was expected to separate from the booster at 12:29 a.m. Moscow time on Wednesday (2029GMT Tuesday).

The ``Solar Sail'' will orbit the earth for four and a half days while the vehicle undergoes tests. Then inflatable tubes will stretch the sail material out and hold it rigid in eight 49.5-foot-long structures resembling the blades of a windmill.

Each blade can be turned to reflect sunlight in different directions so that the craft can ``tack,'' much like a sailboat in the wind.

Attempts in the past to unfold similar devices in space have ended in failure.

In 1999, Russia attempted a similar experiment with a sun-reflecting device, but the deployment mechanism jammed and the device burned up in the atmosphere.

In 2001, Russia launched another such experiment, but the device failed to separate from the booster.

The project involves Russia's Lavochkin research production institute and is financed by an organization affiliated to the U.S. Planetary Society.

The mission's cost is estimated at euro3.3 million (US$4.03 million) by U.S. project organizers.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has invested about US$30 million in space-sail technology, something that existed solely in science-fiction novels a decade ago. Yet the reflective solar sail could power missions to the sun and beyond within a decade.

War of words over Indo-Pak peace process: PM rejects criticism

NEW DELHI: A new war of words broke out on Tuesday between the Government and the Opposition over the handling of the Indo-Pak peace process after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rejected criticism from the BJP, which retaliated by accusing the UPA of “transferring initiatives” to Islamabad.

Singh refuted various contentions made in the letter his predecessor Atal Behari Vajpayee had written to him last week in which he stated that the Government had made the peace process “Kashmir-centric” and “diluted” commitments made by Pakistan not to allow cross border terrorism from its soil.

Replying to Vajpayee, Singh said Pakistan's decision to invite the Hurriyat leaders to Islamabad and other cities was in violation of the agreement on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service between the two countries.

The Hurriyat leaders, who had applied, were given passports and “it would not be, therefore, correct to state that the authorities on our side had mishandled the visit of the Hurriyat,” Singh said.

Maintaining that his government's endeavour was to fully safeguard the country's vital interests while carrying forward the dialogue process, Singh made it clear that “there can be no redrawing of boundaries”.

“We have also ruled out any role for a third party - either through intervention or as guarantor or as mediators - in any form,” he said in his letter to Vajpayee.

Singh said India had consistently held that the dialogue with Pakistan was predicated on this commitment. “The centrality of this position was recently reflected in the joint statement released after my meeting with President Musharraf,” he said.

“We have been consistently of the view that Jammu and Kashmir has a duly-elected government which came into office after an election that was internationally held to be free and fair.”

“We recognise that there are some groups that are outside the electoral process and the All Party Hurriyat Conference is one among such groups. We are nevertheless willing to enter into a dialogue with such groups, provided they agree to abjure the path of violence. Nothing in our actions in the last twelve months has compromised our adherence to this principle,” the PM said.

Shortly after the PMO released Singh's letter, BJP leader Jaswant Singh accused the Government of “transferring initiatives” to Islamabad and wondered what it had done on Pakistan's violation of the agreement in allowing Hurriyat leaders to travel beyond PoK.

He raised questions over Singh's suggestion for converting Siachen glacier into a “peace mountain” and the government's handling of the Baglihar hydro-project issue.

“If Siachen was to be a peace pinnacle, why were troops sent there by the former Congress government (in 1984) and what additional or extraordinary circumstances have taken place now” for the Prime Minister to make such suggestions, Jaswant Singh said.

On the PM's contention that there will be no redrawing of borders, the BJP leader asked “What does he mean by open borders? You cannot have simultaneously an open border as well as an unalterable border.”

“I want the Government to state if it knows that Pakistan had violated the understanding (on plying of Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus) and what has it done till now or what it intends to do now,” asked Jaswant Singh.

He said the Government was conducting itself with Hurriyat in such a manner as if the separatist conglomerate “holds a kind of veto both on the peace process between India and Pakistan and relations between the Government and various other organisations of Jammu and Kashmir”.

Gloom at end of Jerusalem summit

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas appear to have made little significant progress at a summit in Jerusalem.
Mr Sharon offered to hand over two more towns to the Palestinians within two weeks if Mr Abbas demonstrated efforts to control militant violence.

The Israelis said it was a good working meeting and reported some progress.

But the Palestinians expressed disappointment with the summit, saying it had failed to meet expectations.

"This was a difficult meeting," Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei told a news conference in the Palestinian city of Ramallah.

"There were no positive answers to the issues we raised," he said, making reference to the reopening of the airport, further releases of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and Jewish settlement expansion in the West Bank.

Ariel Sharon said for his part that he and Mr Abbas had agreed on "full co-ordination" over Israel's exit from Gaza.

Detentions

The second meeting between the two men since Mr Abbas was elected was overshadowed by the detention of at least 50 Islamic activists in the West Bank.

Israel said they were ordered because the Islamic Jihad group was not observing a truce agreed in February.

Islamic Jihad says its recent attacks were carried out because of Israeli ceasefire violations. Three Israelis died in the attacks.

The BBC's Alan Johnston in Jerusalem says the meeting took place in the worst possible atmosphere.

Even as the summit began, Palestinian witnesses said that an unmanned Israeli plane fired two missiles in the northern Gaza Strip without causing injuries.

Our correspondent says nobody was hurt, but the Israelis could not have sent a clearer message that they regard security matters as the central issue.

Gaza pullout

The discussions were designed to focus on co-operation over Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, which is to begin in August.

During the meeting Mr Sharon said that preparations for the re-opening of Gaza's airport and harbour could begin.

The opening of the ports is seen as key to reducing Gaza's isolation once Israel pulls out of the coastal territory.

Mr Sharon also offered to hand over the West Bank towns of Bethlehem and Qalqiliya in return for a cessation of militant activity, Israeli officials said.

The officials also said Mr Sharon had offered a number of other gestures in exchange for "quiet": allowing 26,000 Palestinian labourers and 13,000 merchants into Israel to work each day, and keeping crossings between Israel and Gaza open for longer hours.

Mr Sharon also said Israel would allow the return of some deportees to the West Bank and consider releasing more Palestinian prisoners, all in exchange for increased Palestinian efforts to rein in militants, said the officials.

It was the first time Mr Sharon and Mr Abbas had met in Jerusalem - claimed by Israel as its exclusive capital despite Palestinian objections.

Kerala to become investor's paradise: Chandy

Ahmedabad: Kerala will go ahead with its `Smart City' plans for Kochi and has invited a business delegation from Qatar to make investments in the state, Chief Minister Oomen Chandy has said.



"Though Kerala has just stories of woes and losses to tell, our government is committed to development in the state and is going ahead with our plans to make Kerala an investment locale," said Chandy while addressing members of Ahmedabad Kerala Samajam.



"Our government has been charged with accepting a bribe of Rs 500 crore for providing a Dubai-based IT company to set up shop in Kochi," he said adding that inspite of the baseless allegations levelled against his government, Kochi's Smart City project would go ahead along with other upcoming development projects.



Chandy asked the people of state to shed their "suspicious outlook" and welcome about Rs 20,000 crore of "probable" investments in various sectors like the Kochi's LNG project, petrochemicals, National Thermal Power Corporation's project and others.



"A 17-member business delegation from Qatar will be visiting the state on June 23 for a survey and is expected to invest billions of rupees in petrochemicals, gas-based thermal plants and others in Kerala," Chandy said.

High Court directs CPT file counter affidavit

KOCHI: The Kerala High Court, on Monday, directed the Cochin Port Trust to file a counter affidavit by June 23 on a PIL challenging construction of petroleum storage tanks at nearby Vathurthy, in the land leased by CPT.



A division bench, comprising Chief Justice Rajiv Gupta and Justice K S Radhakrishnan, issued the direction to CPT.



The PIL was filed by the Wellington Island action council a week ago complaining that the tanks were being constructed unauthorised, and without obtaining licence from factories and boilers department, fire-force and pollution control board.

Spurred by Reliance, Sensex hits 7000

MUMBAI: The 130-year-old Bombay Stock Exchange created history on Monday. As the much-awaited monsoon broke over Mumbai, the benchmark Sensex hit the magical 7,000 level for the first time in intra-day trading as bulls scrambled to buy Reliance stocks after Saturday's announcement of settlement in the Rs 100,000-crore Ambani empire.



The Sensex was not able to sustain at that level for a long time. It closed at a new all-time high of 6984.55, gaining 78.03 points from its previous close. But not before the Sensex hit a new all-time high of 7001.55 in intra-day trades.



The markets, which were lacking direction in the last couple of days, received a major trigger after the settlement in the Reliance group and good monsoon showers in Maharashtra. Major Reliance group companies like Reliance Industries, Energy and Capital hit their new peaks in euphoric buying.



Said leading stock broker Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, “I am happy and my outlook for the markets is positive. The markets are moving in an upward direction. The surge in Reliance stocks has been supporting the index since the 6,700 levels and it played a major role on Monday too. Factors like hike in crude prices also played an important role.”



Anil Ambani group stocks outpaced his elder brother's companies in gains on the exchanges. REL was biggest gainer on the Sensex, up 11.33 percent to close the day at Rs 658.25.



The RIL stock closed at its all-time high of Rs 630.40, gaining 4.92 percent over its previous close. RCL surged 24.79 percent to Rs 294.20 and IPCL rose 3.94 percent to Rs 167.60.



“Reliance was the main trigger for the market that touched the 7,000 mark today (on Monday). They will continue to be that (way),” JM Morgan Stanley chairman Nimesh Kampani said.



On a day of high drama in the street, the trading volume in Reliance stocks went through the roof. The volume in four Reliance stocks on the BSE and the NSE touched a whopping Rs 4,987 crore (out of the total turnover of Rs 9,933 crore on both the exchanges).



RIL accounted for a turnover of Rs 1,523 crore on the NSE and Rs 620 crore on the BSE. Significantly, RCL notched up a turnover of Rs 1,480 crore on both the bourses.



Investor wealth in Reliance stocks also jumped on Monday. The four Reliance companies added over Rs 6,000 crore to investor wealth. RIL contributed maximum with Rs 4,100 crore jump in market cap.



Mihir Vora, vice president-head of equity, ABN Amro AMC, said: “The Reliance pack was mainly responsible for the rise in Sensex. Going ahead the market still looks positive on back of fund inflows into Indian equities following strong fundamentals and Indian economy. Sectors contributing to infrastructure and consumption led demand will remain in limelight.”



While infotech and Reliance stocks remained bullish, several mid-cap and low-cap stocks fell for the third successive day. There is a school of thought that the market is in an over-bought position.



Though the Sensex hit the all-time high, the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty is yet to reach its peak. After touching a high of 2150.25, the Nifty eventually ended at 2144.35 on Monday, up 20.95 points or 1 percent from its previous close. Despite the Nifty closing in black, it has still not touched its intra-day all-time high of 2183.45 on March 9, 2005.



Now the big question is: Will the Sensex remain above the 7000 level? “Even if there is a correction in the markets, it may not happen immediately. A correction can be expected only after the first quarter results of FY06 are declared. If the results are disappointing, then the markets may fall to 6700 levels in the worst case scenario,” said Vasudeo Joshi, investment consultant. “Encouraging results may see the index stabilising at 6750-6800 levels.”

Petrol, diesel prices increased

NEW DELHI: Petrol prices were increased by Rs 2.50 per litre and the diesel prices by Rs two per litre today.



The decision was taken by the Union Cabinet at a meeting in New Delhi, presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. However, there is no increase in the prices of kerosene and LPG.



The nationwide hike has been effected keeping in view the increase in international oil prices. The new prices will come into force from midnight tonight.



The Government will continue to pursue an equitable distribution on the under-recovery. A part of the under-recoveries will be borne by the Government, oil marketing companies, and ONGC and GAIL, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyer told newspersons after the cabinet meeting.



Left parties have announced nation-wide protest against the increase in price of petrol and diesel. Strike to begin from June 28 onwards.

Bush calls for strong EU as ally

US President George W Bush has said he wants to see a "strong European Union" working with America to spread freedom and democracy.

His comments came after a meeting with EU leaders at the White House.



The US-EU summit comes days after an acrimonious EU meeting in Brussels which saw attempts to reach a deal on the bloc's budget end in failure.



UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has called for reform of how the EU spends its money, including cuts in farm spending.



Mr Blair said he was right to refuse to give up the UK's 4.4bn euro (£3bn) annual rebate without wider reforms, telling parliament that it made no sense for the EU to spend 40% of its budget on agricultural subsidies.



'Important goals'



the Bush administration is concerned that the EU's internal dispute will lead to a period of introspection.



He adds that President Bush wants the EU to continue the process of accepting new members.



"The United States continues to support a strong European Union as a partner in spreading freedom and democracy and security and prosperity throughout the world," Mr Bush said.



"My message to these leaders and these friends is that we want a Europe strong, so that we can work together to achieve important objectives and important goals.



"One of those important objectives and important goals is the advance of freedom in order to spread peace."



The two sides are expected to announce further co-operation on trade, though not over their dispute on subsidies to the aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus.



Progress has also been made on immigration controls. The US has agreed to postpone its requirement for Europeans to carry biometric passports for at least another year.



Our correspondent says that overall, US-EU relations have improved dramatically since their row over Iraq.



But he adds that there is now the uncertainty over Europe's future direction.

Philippines' Cardinal Sin is dead

Cardinal Jaime Sin, the influential former leader of the Philippines' large Roman Catholic community, is dead, Church officials have announced.

Cardinal Sin played a key role in the Philippines' transition to democracy following the lengthy dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.



He had a history of illness, having suffered from a reported heart attack last year, and was aged 76.



He retired in 2003 after nearly 30 years heading the Manila Archdiocese.



That period saw him playing key roles in the toppling of both Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 and Joseph Estrada in 2001.



The cardinal never made any secret about his view that religion had a role in affairs of state.



"My duty is to put Christ in politics," he said at his retirement ceremony. "Politics without Christ is the greatest scourge of our nation."



He was once called "the divine commander-in-chief" by former President Fidel Ramos for his ability to marshal huge protests.



'Political duty'



Cardinal Sin was taken to Manila's Cardinal Santos Medical Centre with a high fever on Sunday evening and suffered multiple organ failure, said his spokesman, Father Jun Sescon.

He died there at 0615 on Tuesday (2215 GMT Monday).



Speaking on Philippine radio station DZBB, Fr Sescon called on people in Asia's largest Catholic country to "include in their prayers the soul of Cardinal Sin".



Church officials are consulting with the late cardinal's family about funeral arrangements.



Cardinal Sin espoused a conservative vision of Catholicism, and after the election of the new pope in April he described Benedict XVI as a "bright and good man, and a good friend".



Known for his ready wit, he once said of the corruption which persisted after Ferdinand Marcos was ousted:



"We got rid of Ali Baba but the 40 thieves remained."

Iran hardliner to contest run-off

The hardline mayor of Tehran is to face a veteran former president in a run-off for Iran's presidency, after a surprise result in Friday's first round.

The second round pits conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad against pragmatic cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who led Iran for eight years until 1997.


Mr Rafsanjani had been expected to do well, but few predicted Mr Ahmadinejad would be his rival, correspondents say.


No Iranian presidential election has gone to a second round before.


The second round will take place on Friday, a week after the original poll.


Unprepared


Mr Ahmadinejad's showing was so unexpected even his own campaign team had not prepared a podium where he could react to the announcement.


He apparently had strong support among the devout poor who live in the capital's suburbs.


I am the people's candidate," he declared after workers quickly cobbled together a podium so he could hold a news conference.


Mehdi Karroubi, a reformist cleric and former parliamentary speaker whom few had tipped as a major contender in the race, came in third, close behind Mr Ahmadinejad.


As the results came in, he alleged they had been tampered with.


"There has been bizarre interference. Money has changed hands," he told reporters.


He called for an investigation.

The reformists' standard-bearer Mostafa Moin came in fifth place.


High participation


According to the interior ministry, some 62% of the electorate took part in the polls, despite boycott calls from some reformist groups.



Iranian authorities had hoped for a high turn-out to fend off foreign criticism that the elections were unfair.

The BBC's Frances Harrison in Iran said the turn-out was very respectable - and could be even higher in the second round.


Voters would want to choose between two men with very different policies, she said.


Mr Rafsanjani, 70, has close ties to the clerical elite, but he has adopted a more liberal message for his campaign, promising better relations with Western nations, including the US.


Mr Ahmadinejad, 49, is a former Revolutionary Guard who became mayor of Tehran in 2003 after reformists had run the capital in the 1990s.


He is a much-less known figure nationally and internationally, and has close ties to the regime, our correspondent says.


Voting was extended three times on Friday and finally ended at 2300 (1830 GMT), four hours later than planned.


Dissidents and students had called for a boycott in protest at the barring of women and many reformists from the race.


Iranians were choosing their president from a field of seven, after some 1,000 potential candidates were disqualified from the race by the clergy.


Some 47 million people, many of them under 30, were eligible to vote.


Ultimate power in Iran rests with clerical bodies and the unelected supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Express highway project not abandoned:Muneer

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Government has not abandoned the proposed Express-Highway project from Kasargode to Thiruvananthapuram, State PWD Minister M.K. Muneer said.

Addressing a press meet here, Muneer said the project's feasibility study had been completed and an environment impact study based on this would be carried out soon. The Government would hold talks with Opposition party leaders on the project during the coming Assembly session. The Government does not have any intention to implement the project against the people's will, he said.

The state's people would be taken into confidence before implementing the project, he added. Referring to a recent cabinet decision to constitute Road Safety Authority, he said increasing incidents of road accidents in the state was a cause for concern. Nearly 3000 people per day die in road accidents in the state, he said adding it was a very serious matter.

The Authority would implement projects to reduce road accidents and take steps to provide relief to accident victims, he said.

CCEA to meet on Monday on fuel price hike

New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs will meet on Monday to decide on increasing petrol and diesel prices. The Cabinet had informally agreed on the need to raise petrol and diesel prices but a decision was not taken pending Left parties' approval, Finance Ministry sources said.

Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee has been asked to consult Left parties on raising petrol and diesel prices by about Rs 2 each and convey their opinion to Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, sources said.

Officials said though petrol and diesel prices warrant a hike of Rs 4.5 and Rs 5 per litre on account of spurt in crude oil prices and rise in tax rates, government may settle for a hike of about Rs 2 each to limit the impact on the common man. The hike in excise duty on petrol and diesel and increase in road cess necessitate a Rs 2.20 per litre hike in petrol and Rs 1.06 a litre raise in diesel prices.

Additionally, the cost of supplying cleaner fuel from April 1 came to Rs 0.30 per litre for petrol and Rs 0.24 a litre for diesel. The remainder of the over Rs 4.50 a litre hike in petrol and more than Rs 5 per litre increase in diesel prices was warranted due to crude oil becoming dearer.

Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd and IBP, who are together losing Rs 72 crore per day due to non-revision in petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene prices, made a cash loss of Rs 1,424 crore in March and April.

Musharraf proposes nuke disarmament with India

AUCKLAND: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Friday said he has proposed nuclear disarmament with India to ensure peace and stability between the neighbours.

Musharraf said his country has gone "much further" than proposing a no first-strike nuclear policy, in order to build confidence between the two countries.

"We have suggested (nuclear) disarmament and reduction of forces," said Musharraf, who has repeatedly pledged in the past to defend and strengthen his country's nuclear and missile capability.

Pakistan also opposes nuclear proliferation and was "against any other country acquiring nuclear weapons," he said after talks with New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark in the northern city of Auckland.

Clark said she hoped recent confidence-building measures between the two neighbours "might extend into the nuclear arena."

New Zealand was the first nation to pass legislation banning nuclear arms and nuclear-powered vessels from its territorial waters.

Musharraf said he was committed to a "rapprochement" with India, and was working with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh toward that goal. Progress toward resolving the decades-old Kashmir issue was being made, Musharraf said.

"We see light at the end of the tunnel in our efforts to resolve the Kashmir dispute once and for all," Musharraf said, adding the "opportunity must be grasped."

"I have no doubt it can be resolved," he later told the Auckland Foreign Correspondents' Club.

Bare chested indigenous Maori warriors chanted, rolled their eyes and waved spears in a traditional challenge to Musharraf on Friday, as he arrived at Government House, while a security helicopter hovered overhead.

Bodyguards for Musharraf, who has survived two assassination attempts in Pakistan, were ordered to turn over their weapons, when the group arrived at Auckland International Airport.

Both nations said they are keen to expand trade links. Current two-way trade is worth less than USD 71 million.

On Saturday, Musharraf is scheduled to visit a dairy farm, a museum and high-tech company as well as take a harbour cruise with Clark.

Searing heat claims 15 more; monsoon hits NE region

New Delhi, : Coal town Talchar in Orissa was the hottest spot sizzling at 50 degrees celsius on Friday with the heat wave blistering vast swathes of the country claiming 18 more lives as monsoon advanced into the North-East drenching the entire region.

Thirteen deaths were reported from West Bengal and five in Uttar Pradesh as mercury soared to over 45 degrees celsius at many places in the country forcing people to stay indoors.

Of the 13 fatalities in West Bengal, five occurred in Asansol colliery belt in Bardhaman district where temperatures hovered between 48 degrees celsius and 51 degrees celsius.

As the scorching heat showed no signs of let up, Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee asked authorities to extend summer vacation in schools.

Gruelling heat wave persisted in Orissa with mercury zooming to 50 degrees celsius in Talchar and 46.2 degrees in capital city Bhubaneswar.

The mid-day temperature in Talcher was this summer's highest, almost equalling the record of 50.1 degrees registered at Titilagarh on June 5, 2003.

The oppressive heat in the state hit normal life with shops and business establishments downing shutters after noon and cities and towns wearing a deserted look.

Ending the dry spell, the monsoon on Friday hit the North-East with rainfall fairly distributed in the entire region.

The monsoon had already reached sub-himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim and was likely to advance into Orissa in the next few days, Met office said.

Heat wave continued unabated in North India with Hisar in Haryana turning out to be the hottest zone with a high of 44.7 degrees celsius.

EU budget summit ends in failure

EU budget talks have broken down after leaders failed to resolve a bitter dispute between Britain and France over the bloc's long-term finances.
Diplomats admitted defeat after Britain rejected a final proposal to have its EU rebate frozen to break the impasse.

British leader Tony Blair says any deal must be linked to reform of EU farm subsidies, a view rejected by France.

The current president of the European Union, Jean Claude Juncker, said the EU was now in "a deep crisis".

Mr Blair said the rebate was the result of a "distortion of expenditure across the EU".

"If we remove the rebate, we have to remove the reasons for its existence," he said.

He attacked the Common Agricultural Policy (Cap), which sets EU farm subsidies, for diverting to agriculture funds that would be better deployed on science, technology and education.

British officials have said their opposition to the deal had the support of four other countries - Finland, Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands.

According to the BBC's James Landale, the remarks were a clear attempt to counter suggestions that Britain has been isolated at the summit in its defence of the rebate.

The UK is set to take over the EU presidency at the start of next month.

Horns locked

Britain said it will veto any cut in the 4.4bn euro (£3bn) rebate unless farm subsidies are overhauled, a stance which puts it at loggerheads with France.

French President Jacques Chirac refused to discuss any cut in farm subsidies and says the rebate should "under no circumstances be linked to a reform of farm expenditure".

On Friday morning Mr Chirac said it would not be enough to freeze the British rebate and he wanted to see it scrapped altogether.

However, by the afternoon an aide to the French president said Mr Chirac would in fact be willing to accept a freeze of the UK rebate in order to bring about a deal.

"A freeze is not enough, but if it is a compromise, like all compromises, we'll have to accept that it doesn't make everyone happy," Reuters quoted the official as saying.

Call for delay

The BBC's William Horsley in Brussels says the summit had descended into a bitter feud about what Europe is for and who should decide its future.

Earlier Sweden suggested it may be best to put off any budget decision for a year.

"I think we should not rush into a deal today," he said. "It's better to take a year more and negotiate."

But the BBC's Jonny Dymond in Brussels says that while some states sympathise with the UK call for agriculture spending reform, none supports the UK's rebate remaining in place.

Earlier the leaders put the EU constitution on hold by abandoning a 2006 deadline for ratification.

French and Dutch voters rejected the treaty in recent referendums.

Other countries have postponed their referendums, including Denmark, Ireland, the Czech Republic and Portugal.

Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, however, bucked the trend by saying his country would press ahead with ratification as it was a "good treaty for Europe and also a good treaty for Estonia".

The proposed constitution, which needs to be ratified by all 25 member states, is designed to define the future direction of the union and the way it is run.

Kerala to weave new magic to attract tourists

Kochi: Stung with a sharp fall in tourist arrivals-- both international and domestic, Kerala Tourism is gearing up to weave a new magic with attractive packages and catchy slogans to woo visitors.
According to the latest figures, there has been a fall of nearly eight per cent in the arrival of international tourists and 2.9 per cent in domestic travellers to god's own country during the first quarter of this year. State Tourism Minister K C Venugopal and tourism secretary E K Bharat Bhooshan swung into action and held discussions with the stake holders on ways to package Kerala more attractively to the tourists.
With monsoon having already set in Kerala, it will be a lean season for the next three months. So, the tourism department is planning to give discounts on various packages, Bharat Bhooshan said. The hospitality industry has also been asked to keep their prices low to attract t

We are ready for unconditional talks with PM: Farooq

Kaman Post, LOC: Kashmiri separatist leaders returned home upbeat on Thursday after a fortnight's tour of Pakistan saying they were ready for unconditional talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"We have no hesitation for holding dialogue. We had not set any preconditions for the talks," Chairman of moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, who was among the nine leaders to visit Pakistan, told reporters when asked if they were ready to meet the Prime Minister.
"It is up to the government to decide when they want to hold the talks," said Farooq who, along with other separatist leaders held talks with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and militant leaders during their visit marred by controversy with India expressing reservations to their travel beyond Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
The Mirwaiz, who along with other members of the delegation, was given a warm send off by POK leaders at the LOC, said "we want to further strengthen the ongoing peace process between India and Pakistan and our visit across the border was part of that process".
The visit to Pakistan, according to the Hurriyat leader, marked the first step for involvement of Kashmiris as they have been "accepted as a party to the Kashmir dispute".
Asked if the delegation had failed to persuade the militant leadership in Pakistan and POK for a ceasefire in the state, Mirwaiz said "it is too early to talk about it. The visit was undertaken to interact and know the perspective of all the concerned people. This is just a beginning and the process should continue."

Dual citizenship for overseas Indians

NEW DELHI: After years of deliberation, the Indian government on Thursday approved dual citizenship for overseas Indians, meeting a long-standing demand of the estimated 20 million strong Indian diaspora.

The facility will be available on a reciprocal basis to Indian origin citizens of those countries which already offer dual citizenship in some form or the other.

Earlier the facility was only extended to 16 countries.

The government will also issue smart cards to non-resident Indians that will act as an all-purpose document that will facilitate their identification and travel to and from India.

"The government has decided to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 and (also the) allocation of Business Rules to let the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs issue notifications under Section 7B(1) of the Act and provide smart cards," said Information and Broadcasting Minister S. Jaipal Reddy.

He said the government was keeping its promise made during the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, an annual gathering of non-resident Indians.

Reddy was speaking to reporters after a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

He said the amendment would benefit all people of Indian origin and their children and grandchildren "who migrated from India to countries other than Pakistan and Bangladesh after Jan 26, 1950".

All those who were eligible to become Indian citizens Jan 26, 1950 or belonged to territories that became part of India after Aug 15, 1947 would be eligible for "Overseas Citizenship of India as long as their home countries allow dual citizenship in some form or the other", Reddy said.

EU heads bid to save constitution

EU leaders have agreed to extend the November 2006 deadline to ratify the struggling constitution, but the budget is still overshadowing their summit.
A "period of reflection" would occur after French and Dutch voters rejected the treaty, EU President Jean-Claude Juncker said after talks in Brussels.
However, the UK's budget rebate remains a key area of contention.
London wants any changes linked to a reduction in Europe's farm subsidies, but France refuses to discuss this.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has urged fellow European leaders to make concessions, saying a deal on the budget will only be possible "if everyone moves".
Correspondents say there is little sign of movement so far.
Friday's talks therefore look set to be deadlocked over the EU's budget for the 2007-2013 period.
UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has repeated his threat to veto any attempt to undermine Britain's rebate.
'Answers to questions'
Mr Juncker, Prime Minister of Luxembourg, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, told a news conference the deadline for ratification of the constitution would be extended beyond the current deadline of November 2006.
However, he said there would be no re-negotiation of the constitution, which needs to be ratified by all 25 member states.
"We believe that the constitutional treaty has the answers to many questions that Europeans are asking, so we believe the ratification process must continue," he said.
His comments came as Denmark, Ireland and the Czech Republic said they were postponing planned referendums on the constitution.
European CommissionPresident Jose Manuel Barroso said it was important to consider why French and Dutch voters had rejected the constitution, but it was too early to abandon the treaty.
"We don't want to give up the constitution, nor do we want to carry on with business as usual and pretend nothing has happened," he said.
"We have decided to undertake a stock-taking exercise and have a wide-ranging debate amongst all Europeans. We can't, at the moment, forecast the results of that debate."
French President Jacques Chirac has suggested holding an emergency summit to discuss the EU's future.
"In this new situation, can the union continue to expand without us having the institutions capable of making this enlarged union work efficiently?" Mr Chirac said.
Major rift
But while the deal to push back the deadline for ratification resolves that issue in the short term, the budget remains deeply contentious.
Prime Minister Tony Blair says any reduction to the UK's 4.4bn euro (£3bn) budget rebate must be tied to changes to farm subsidies, of which France is currently the major beneficiary.
But President Chirac has ruled out any concession on these payments, which were pegged until 2013 in a deal accepted by Britain.
Luxembourg has suggested a compromise which would link the rebate issue to farm subsidy reforms, but allow the UK to keep its rebate frozen at current levels for eight more years.
British officials say the proposal is the same one rejected by Mr Blair earlier in the week.
The Netherlands has also strongly rejected the proposal from Luxembourg, saying it does not address its demand for a huge cut in its financial contribution to the EU.
"The proposals do not go far enough... The Netherlands is the largest net contributor and we want that situation to improve," Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende told reporters.
"We must do something about our position of excessive payments."
Mr Juncker, who made the proposal, has said he is pessimistic about brokering a deal.

Chandy downplays NC(I)'s threat

Thiruvananthapuram: Seeking to downplay the threat by the National Congress-Indira to secure the resignation of some Congress MLAs in Kerala, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said nothing had happened though the party floated by K. Karunakaran had been posing this threat for quite some time.

"We have been hearing this for quite some time. Nothing has happened so far. I cannot predict what will happen in the future. Let us see what is going to happen," an undeterred Chandy told reporters after a cabinet meeting here.

The NCI leaders had, of late, been claiming that at least nine Congress MLAs would resign before the Assembly session planned for next month as they could no longer support the Oommen Chandy Government on the floor of the house.

The MLAs loyal to Karunakaran remained as members of the Congress Legislature Party as they faced the prospect of disqualification in the event of crossing the floor.

No plan to resign over oil-for-food scandal: Kofi Annan

Paris: UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, back in the spotlight over the oil-for-food scandal, said in an interview published on Thursday he has no intention of resigning and is determined to continue his work to reform the United Nations.

"I take seriously the allegations against me," Annan told France's Le Figaro newspaper. "That is why I wanted the Independent Inquiry Committee chaired by former Federal Reserve President Paul Volcker to carry out an in-depth investigation of this affair."

The committee said Tuesday it would again investigate Annan after an e-mail suggested he may have known more than he claimed about a multimillion-dollar UN contract awarded to the company that employed his son. The e-mail described an encounter between Annan and officials from Cotecna Inspection SA in late 1998, during which the Swiss company's bid for the contract was raised.

If accurate, the new details would cast doubt on a major finding the UN-backed Independent Inquiry Committee made in March - that there wasn't enough evidence to show that Annan knew about efforts by Cotecna, which employed his son Kojo, to win the Iraq oil-for-food contract.

Through his spokesman, Annan said he didn't remember the late 1998 meeting. He has repeatedly insisted that he didn't know Cotecna was pursuing a contract with the oil-for-food programme. "We all want the truth," said Annan, who did not specifically mention the e-mail or make any direct reference to his son in the comments to Le Figaro.

Petrol, diesel prices may be raised

New Delhi: Petrol and diesel prices may be raised by Rs 1-1.50 per litre when Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar meets Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday afternoon to finalise means to wriggle through rising cost of crude and increase in taxation.

Though an increase of over Rs 4.50 a litre on petrol and more than Rs 5 per litre was needed in step with the spurt in crude oil prices and increase in tax rates, the government may settle for a moderate increase, officials said here.

"We expect a decision tomorrow as the present situation may soon snowball into a crisis with cash-rich public sector oil firms sinking into red," an official said.

The hike in excise duty on petrol and diesel and increase in road cess warrant a Rs 2.20 per litre increase in petrol and Rs 1.06 a litre raise in diesel prices. Additionally, the cost of supplying cleaner fuel from April 1 came to Rs 0.30 per litre for petrol and Rs 0.24 a litre for diesel. Remaining of the over Rs 4.50 a litre hike in petrol and more than Rs 5 per litre increase in diesel prices was warranted due to raw material (crude oil) becoming dearer.

"Prime Minister had almost completed consultations with UPA government's coalition partners particularly the Left parties before Aiyar left for three-nation tour on June 4. Now that Aiyar is back, a decision is likely tomorrow," he said.

A moderate hike in petrol and diesel prices was being considered with a view to limiting the impact on common man. Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd and IBP, who are losing Rs 72 crore per day due to non revision in petrol, diesel, LPG (cooking gas) and kerosene prices, made a cash loss of Rs 1,424 crore in March and April.

Kalam calls for national solution to tackle insurgency

New Delhi, : Advocating a national solution to the problem of insurgency confronting certain States, President A P J Abdul Kalam on Wednesday said this could be found through regional development and security and employment generation.

Kalam, who made a power point presentation titled "Dynamics of Development" at the two-day Governors conference that ended here yesterday, hoped that Government would take fast action on all important issues and work for time-bound solutions.

The President focussed on the challenge of lifting 260 million people living below the poverty line through an annual economic growth rate of 10 per cent over a 10-year period.

He felt that India was well placed as it was in an ascending economic trajectory with rising foreign exchange reserves, decreasing inflation rate, global recognition of its technological competence and the energy of 540 million youth.

The President highlighted the need for five integrated actions for a developed India covering agriculture and food processing, education and health care, information and communication technology, infrastructure development and self- reliance in critical technologies.

Iran 'misled UN on nuclear work'

United Nations nuclear monitors say Iran has admitted to misleading them over its experiments with plutonium.
The UN's nuclear watchdog is expected to confirm later that Iran continued experimenting with plutonium - a key component of atomic bombs - until 1998.

Iran had previously told the body it had ended its experiments in 1993.

Correspondents say these latest inconsistencies in Iran's account will fuel suspicions about the real aims of its nuclear programme.

Iranian presidential favourite Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has told that Iran did not report all nuclear work.

"It's possible that at times, Iran has not reported its activities," Mr Rafsanjani told Newsnight television programme.

And he accused the UN watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), of neglecting its duty to help Iran make peaceful use of nuclear technology.

Mr Rafsanjani, a former Iranian president seen as a frontrunner in Friday's presidential election, insisted his country would not abandon its nuclear programme.

But, he said, there was no risk of war with the US because Iran was not pursuing a nuclear bomb.

'Changing story'

According to a draft speech to be delivered on Thursday to the IAEA's board of governors, the agency's deputy director Pierre Goldschmidt will confirm that Tehran has changed its version of events.

Tehran has now admitted that experiments took place in 1995 and 1998 after the IAEA confronted it with its analysis of its plutonium samples, according to the draft speech obtained by Reuters news agency.

"In a letter dated 26 May, 2005, Iran confirmed the agency's understanding with regard to that chronology," the draft speech says.

It also says Iran had acquired sensitive technology that could be used to make nuclear weapons earlier than it originally stated.

"This is nuclear material and, yet again, when Iran's backed into a corner the story changes," a Western diplomat on the IAEA board of governors told Reuters.

Iran is seeking the closure of a two-year UN investigation into its nuclear programme, which it says is solely for peaceful civilian purposes.

The US has threatened to refer Iran to the UN Security Council for sanctions over what Washington says are plans to build a nuclear bomb.

Iraq 'progress'

In his interview Mr Rafsanjani said the US had recently indicated it was willing to work with Iran.

He said the US had lifted obstacles to Tehran's entry into the World Trade Organization, had given consent to carry out limited enrichment of uranium and had agreed to sell it plane parts.

Mr Rafsanjani also urged the US to "leave Iraq as soon as possible" and hand over the running of the country to Iraqis.

Iran was pleased with recent political developments in Iraq, he said, pointing to the formation of new government in Baghdad.

"We hope the situation continues to progress like this," he said. "If it does... it will be easier for the Americans to leave Iraq."

Mr Rafsanjani said Iranians who were dissatisfied with the political process in the country should be free to speak their minds.

"If they have reasonable points, we should accept them," he told "If not, we should persuade them of our case."

Kochi gearing up for accounting BPO

Kochi: A US-based Indian venture Outsource Partners International (OPI) has opened its Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) service here to cater to finance and accounting for US-based companies.

Set up at the Infopark at Kakkanad near here, initially in a small way with 64 seats, the company proposes to expand its activities here in a big way in the coming years with an anticipated investment of six to seven million Dollars for provision of infrastructure, OPI President and Chief Executive Officer Kishore Mirchandani told mediapersons here yesterday.

By the first quarter of next year, the company would provide employment to 2000 personnel, mainly chartered accountants, he said.

Already building space with an area of 130,000 sqft had been provided at the site and an additional 300,000 sqft area would be added in the second phase, Mirchandani said.

The Leela group, owning a hotel chain in the country, would undertake construction of building space with an estimated area of 700,000 sqft in phases involving an investment of around Rs 80 crore, Mirchandani and Leela group Executive Director Venu Krishnan, who was also present, said.

The Kerala government had provided 6.5 acre land for the purpose at the Infopark, Mirchandai said, adding that the state government was extending all necessary assistance in this regard.

Although OPI had set up its first Indian BPO at Bangalore, the Kochi facility would be much bigger than that in Bangalore, he explained.

OPI also intended to train senior staff members in the United States to acquaint themselves with US accounting methods and they would, in turn, be used to impart training to the new comers, he said.

Title Deeds for one lakh persons: Minister

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Government would distribute Title Deeds or possession certificates to one lakh occupants of revenue and forest land within one year, Revenue Minister K.M. Mani said.

Talking to newspersons here, he said the United Democratic Front(UDF)Government had distributed title deeds to 51,120 landless persons and possession certificates to 20,000 persons during the past four years.

Mani said in the case of those settled in forest land before January 1, 1977, about 25,000 title deeds had been issued. The Minister said all the remaining applications would be processed soon. He said in the tsunami-hit region, the construction work on 3,692 houses had been taken up, out of which 102 units had already been handed over to the beneficiaries.

The Asian Development Bank(ADB) had promised Rs 250 crore for the tsunami rehabilitation activities, he said. Man

Manmohan to go for reshuffle after Sonia's return on June 17

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to go for minor changes in his Ministry this weekend, primarily to fill the vacancies caused by the death of Sunil Dutt and the resignation of Shibu Soren and to accommodate states which have no representation at present.

The changes are expected immediately after the return of Congress President Sonia Gandhi on June 17, political circles said.

Five states do not have representation in the one-year-old UPA government. They are Kerala, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. Of these, assembly elections are due in Kerala in May next year, along with Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

At least one Cabinet berth is expected to go to Kerala, where the Congress was washed out in the 14th Lok Sabha polls. The claimants from the state are former Chief Minister A.K. Antony and former state Home Minister Vyalar Ravi.

Although, Tamil Nadu is also headed for assembly polls, the reshuffle is not likely to have any impact on that state as it already has as many 12 Ministers in the Manmohan Singh government. This means that more than 30 per cent of the 39 MPs from the state have been accommodated in the Ministry, while under the new law the size of the Ministry cannot exceed 15 per cent of the strength of the Lok Sabha which has 543 elected MPs.

At present, the UPA government has 65 Ministers--27 of Cabinet rank, 10 Ministers of State with independent charge and 28 MoS-- and as such Dr Singh can have as many as 16 more Ministers.

However, the reshuffle-cum-expansion is expected to be limited to a number far below this, political sources said. Soren, who was a Cabinet Minister holding the Coal portfolio before his resignation to contest the assembly election in Jharkhand, would perhaps stage a comeback.

Barring Soren, the exercise is likely to be an all-Congress affair, the allies having been accommodated more or less adequately.

At present, Mani Shankar Aiyar is holding the portfolio of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Panchayati Raj in the rank of a Cabinet Minister, with no Minister of State to assist him. It is possible, he would be given two MoS -- one for Petroleum and Natural Gas and another for Panchayati Raj.

The claimants to ministerial berths from unrepresented states include Ambika Soni (Punjab), Ajit Jogi and Moti Lal Vora (Chhattisgarh) and Anand Sharma (Himachal Pradesh).

According to some Left party leaders, the Prime Minister could have chosen to go for the changes before the return of Ms Gandhi to send out a ''right signal'' and dispel the opposition charge that she was the ''super Prime Minister'' and Dr Singh was ''invisible Prime Minister.''

Dutt was a Cabinet Minister holding the portfolio of Sports and Youth Affairs before his death last month.

US offers India co-production of fighter planes

Washington, : The US has offered to sell to India F-16 fighter aircraft and its advanced versions as also entering into a co-production agreement for the warplanes, US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca said here on Tuesday.

The offer of co-production "is a big step," and shows that US relations with India are becoming "ever closer," Rocca told the House International Relations Subcommittee for Asia and the Pacific.

She said the Us reserves the co-production agreement for our close allies.

Terming 2005 as "a watershed year in US-India relations," she said, "We are accelerating the transformation of our relationship with India, with a number of new initiatives. We are engaging in a new strategic dialogue on global isues, and on defence and expanded advanced technology cooperation."

"Since Secretary (of State Condoleezza) Rice's trip to New Delhi in March, a series of visits by senior officials from both countries, including Minister of External Affairs Natwar Singh, have underscored the importance of our developing stronger ties.

"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be coming to the United States in July and President George W Bush has said he hopes to visit India soon," Rocca told the sub-committee.
"India and the US have begun a high-level dialogue on energy security, to include nuclear safety, and a working group to strengthen space cooperation. Our defence relationship is expanding and we are revitalizing our economic dialogue.
"The US relationship with India and our commitment to develop even deeper political, economic, commercial and security ties have never been stronger," she said.

Blair admits EU rebate difficulty

Tony Blair says he cannot see how he can bridge his disagreement with French President Jacques Chirac over the controversial British EU rebate.
The UK premier said his talks with Mr Chirac were "immensely amicable" but there was "sharp disagreement".

Mr Blair earlier flatly rejected a formal plan put forward by Luxembourg to freeze Britain's £3bn rebate.

A No 10 spokesman said the plan to freeze the rebate for 2007-13 would have cost the UK £16-20bn.

The spokesman said: "This was not acceptable to us". The issue of a wider review was now on the agenda, he said.

Farm subsidy row
Mr Blair's talks with President Chirac in Paris ended a diplomatic tour which took in Russia and meeting Germany's Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in Berlin.

It was during a stop off in Luxembourg that the country's Prime Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, holder of the current presidency of the EU, proposed a freezing of the UK rebate.
Mr Blair does not want the £3bn (4.4bn euros) annual refund discussed unless farming subsidies are also debated - something Mr Chirac will not accept.
The UK won its rebate in 1984 after tough negotiations by then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

The rebate's actual value varies from year to year - it returns to Britain two thirds of the difference between UK payments to Brussels and the money it receives back in EU spending.

In Paris, Mr Chirac did not hold the traditional post-talks news conference with Mr Blair.

But the UK prime minister conceded that controversy over Britain's rebate was a stumbling block in negotiations over the EU budget from 2007-2013.

"It is very difficult," he said. "The meeting I have just had with President Chirac was immensely amicable, but obviously there was a sharp disagreement
"I think it is difficult to see these differences being bridged, but of course we continue to talk to people including the presidency about it."

It was Mr Blair's first face-to-face talks with Mr Chirac since the French and Dutch "No" votes on their referendum on the European constitution.

He said he believed the EU should "have some pause for reflection" for months over the recent "no" votes in France and the Netherlands.

There had been "some convergence" between his views, and that of the French president, on such a pause.
Climate change

Mr Blair said this time should see a debate in which the leaders made clear their priorities were the same as Europe's people.

This meant concentrating on science, trade, training, tackling organised crime and people smuggling rather than spending 40% of its budget on agriculture, which employed 2% of people, he said.

On a more positive note he said he had received backing for his plans to make Africa and climate change the two priorities of next month's G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland.

France says the UK is undermining European solidarity by refusing to give ground on its annual refund.

UK Conservative leader Michael Howard says the focus on the rebate is a victory for Mr Chirac and a diversion from the constitution crisis.

The Liberal Democrats say the rebate is justified because of inequalities created by the farms subsidies.

CPM has not held any dialogue with NC(I): Pinarayi

- Kozhikode: The CPM in Kerala had not held any dialogue with the newly-formed National Congress (Indira) of senior leader K. Karunakaran on future tie-ups, party state Secretary, Pinarayi Vijayan said.
"Until now, we have not held any sort of discussions with the NC(I) regarding a possible tie-up in the future", he told reporters here. Noting that it was good on the part of NC(I) to oppose the `wrong' policies of the Oommen Chandy Government, Vijayan, however, said it was for the LDF to take a concerted decision on admitting that party into its fold.
"It is for the LDF to take a collective decision on the matter. As of now, neither the CPI(M) nor the LDF has discussed the issue in any form", he said when asked about the NC(I)'s reported claims that the party would forge an alliance with the LDF in the future to fight the Congress-led UDF.
However, he said the recent bypolls to the Koothuparamba and Azhikode assembly constituencies had made it clear whether Congress really enjoyed the support of the people. "It was for the first time that UDF had to draw its booth agents from outside the constituencies to do duty", he said, adding that showed with whom the party workers stood - the Congress or the NC(I).

Hurriyat says Pakistan has no solution to offer

Islamabad: With Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf talking of various options to resolve the Kashmir issue, moderate Hurriyat faction has said the country does not have a solution to offer on the vexed problem.
Playing down the optimism generated by the visit of Kashmiri separatist leaders, Hurriyat Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said they had "very honest discussion" with Musharraf and their understanding was that "Pakistan doesn't have a solution to offer to Kashmiri people." Without naming Musharraf, he referred to the various options being suggested to resolve the issue and said "I do not think we have reached that stage."
Addressing a symposium on Kashmir here organised by the 'Dawn' group of neswpapers, Farooq said "There is no ready-made solution" to the Kashmir problem and the best mode of moving forward could be tripartite talks with India, Pakistan, and Kashmiri leadership sitting on the same table. But, he said, since India would not agree to this, the alternative for the moment could be a triangular dialogue with Kashmiris talking to both Pakistan and India separately and Pakistan and India talking between themselves.
Farooq said they were still exploring the mode of their participation in the peace process already going on between Pakistan and India and they would be going to New Delhi for talks with the Indian leadership after the present visit. He said some people thought before his delegation's visit that a solution had already been decided and they would only put their thumb impressions. "... We are at the same place where we were 57 years ago," he said.

Indian peacekeeper killed in Congo

Kinshasa :An Indian peacekeeper was killed on Monday by a stray bullet during a shootout between Congolese troops and
unidentified gunmen in the volatile east of the country, UN Officials said.

U.S. telecom, IT companies eager to set up operations in India: Maran

Investment plans in the range of $1.2 billion; Chennai, Bangalore, Noida are preferred destinations
CHENNAI: Global leaders in telecom and IT hardware equipment manufacturing based in the United States, including the world's largest chip maker Intel Corporation, are bullish on setting up operations in India, said Dayanidhi Maran, Minister for Communications and Information Technology.
Mr. Maran said that within India, the competition for attracting multi-million dollar investments is essentially between Chennai, Bangalore and Noida as most firms had indicated their preference for these cities during his recent four-day visit to the U.S.
In an interview to The Hindu here on Monday, Mr. Maran said he held discussions with top executives of various companies, including Intel, UTStarcom, Flextronics, Cisco, AMD, Solectron and KLA-Tencor, and venture capital funds keen on investing in India.
According to industry sources, the cumulative investment plans of the companies would be in the range of $1.2 billion and the facilities would provide direct and indirect employment opportunities to several thousand people.
Plans for Chennai
Intel, which has been in talks with the Ministry for the last eight months, is close to finalising plans for its Assembly Test Manufacturing facility in Chennai, Mr. Maran said. It was earlier looking at China and Vietnam to set up the facility.
Noting that Craig Barrett, Intel chairman, indicated this to him during their meeting, Mr. Maran said there were, however, some issues regarding infrastructure, especially water that needed to be resolved.
Action required
Stating that he would be writing to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on the issues raised by Intel, the Minister said he informed Dr. Barrett about the Centre's plans to set up a desalination plant in Chennai at a cost of over Rs. 1,000 crores.
Apart from briefing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the visit, Mr. Maran said he would be writing to the State Chief Ministers on the plans of the companies and, if necessary, would meet them. The State Governments, he added, were required to act fast as "one State's loss could be another's gain."
Rural connectivity
Mr. Maran said the $3 billion telecom equipment manufacturing company, UTStarcom, which specialises in providing solutions to connect rural areas, was likely to join hands with C-DOT to explore possibilities of the use of its technologies in India. UTStarcom is providing some equipment for the broadband services of BSNL.
Telecom infrastructure
In his meeting with Mike McNamara, CEO of Flextronics, the world's largest hardware manufacturer with revenue of $22 billion and employing 80,000 people worldwide, Mr. Maran highlighted the huge requirement to upgrade the existing telecom infrastructure in the country. He also pointed to the new guidelines that make 20 per cent local value-addition mandatory for telecom products supplied to state-owned telecom companies.
Flextronics, he said, was engaged in supplying products to leading telecom companies, including Nokia, Nortel and Ericsson. The company, he added, which was operating out of Bangalore, was expected to come out with more plans for India by the month-end.
India as R&D hub
On his meeting with senior executives of Applied Materials, one of the largest semi-conductor fabrication equipment manufacturers and IBM, one of the most advanced semi-conductor process companies, he said the two firms were urged to set up a state-of-the-art fab in India.
John T. Chambers, president and CEO of Cisco Systems, Mr. Maran said, indicated that the company had plans to make India the largest research and development hub outside the U.S. Mr. Chambers is expected to visit India shortly and discuss the possibility of joint collaboration with BSNL, C-DOT and the e-governance group in the Department of IT, he added.
The CEO and chairman of AMD, Hector Ruiz, accepted Mr. Maran's invitation to visit India and explore the possibility of setting up a fab.
The company, he added, controlled 10 per cent of the chip market and reacted positively to his suggestions that it participate in the e-governance programme of India.
Equipment providers
Solectron, a company engaged in providing equipment to telecom majors, including Nortel, he said, was seriously planning to come to India and was looking at Chennai, Bangalore and Noida.
The meeting with Kenneth L. Schroeder, CEO of KLA-Tencor, a leader in process control and yield management solutions for semi-conductor and related micro-electronic industries, was to ascertain the requirement of such companies. It was also to explore the possibility of setting up a `Fab City' to host chip makers.
Stating that the response of the companies was very good and his discussions were very focussed, Mr. Maran said the visit was part of the United Progressive Alliance Government's emphasis on promoting investment in the manufacturing sector.

Michael Jackson cleared of abuse

Singer Michael Jackson has been found not guilty of all charges at the end of his four-month child abuse trial. There were cheers from fans outside the court as the verdicts were read. The singer had strenuously denied molesting 13-year-old Gavin Arvizo.
He was also cleared of giving the boy, now 15, alcohol and conspiring to kidnap him and his family.
The star left the court in Santa Maria, California, without speaking to the many fans gathered at the entrance.But his lawyer Thomas Mesereau said: "Justice was served. Michael Jackson is innocent."
The court in Santa Maria said Mr Jackson held a tissue up to his face and showed "muted emotion" as the verdicts were read.
Judge Rodney Melville told the singer before he left: "Bail has been exonerated, you are released."
He also read a statement from the jury saying: "We the jury feel the weight of the world's eyes upon us."
They asked to be allowed to return to "our private lives as anonymously as we came", he added.In a later press conference, an unnamed male jury member said: "One of the first things we decided, [was] that we had to look at him as just like any other individual. Not just as a celebrity.
"And once we got that established, we were able to deal with it just as fairly as we could with anybody else."
Another juror said: "We expected some better evidence, something more convincing but it just wasn't there."
The verdicts on the 10 charges were reached after about 30 hours of deliberations over the last week.
there was "complete hysteria" outside court after the verdicts, with the star's music pumping out.
Hundreds of reporters and supporters gathered for the verdicts, with scores of fans bursting into tears as the decisions were relayed on loudspeakers.
Mr Jackson waved to fans as he left the Santa Maria courthouse surrounded by minders and family members.
He walked straight to his car with little emotion and without the expected statement to the waiting fans and media.
Mr Jackson was in court with family members including father Joe, mother Katherine and sisters LaToya and Janet.
Santa Barbara district attorney Tom Sneddon, who led the case against Jackson, said he would accept the decision. "We did the right thing for the right reasons," he said.
He was "not going to look back and apologise for what we've done", he told reporters. "We've done a very conscientious and thorough job."
Mr Jackson's former wife Debbie Rowe, who defended the star in court, said she was "overjoyed that the justice system really works".
Fan Tara Bardella, 19, who came from Arizona two weeks ago to wait for the verdicts, said: "This proves that justice can prevail in America."
Raffles Vanexel, 29, from Amsterdam, said: "I cried as a little baby, it was the most beautiful day of my life.
"America is celebrating, this is a party and Michael Jackson is going to comeback with something incredible."
Mr Jackson's trial began in February and the jury retired on 3 June. More than 100 witnesses took the stand, including Gavin Arvizo and his mother Janet.
The trial was sparked after British journalist Martin Bashir made a documentary in which Jackson admitted sharing his bed with children.
Gavin told the court the singer had put his hands down his trousers and fondled him at Neverland.
The star could have been jailed for more than 18 years if convicted on all charges.

Kerala to have food certification agency

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A Rs.950 million food research institute is to be set up in Kerala to give a boost to agro and food processing units, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Adoor Prakash said on Sunday.
The institute would act as a certifying agency for the many ready-to-eat products like Kerala biryani, fish curry, and other curries. Certification on ready-to-eat food products has become mandatory in many countries.
"The research institute, to be set up at Konni in Pathanamthitta district, would be funded by the central government. The state government would contribute 100 acres of land for the institute," Prakash said.
"We have submitted four different projects to the central government for this state-of-the-art institute," the minister added.

Make Siachen a peace zone: PM from glacier

SIACHEN: Floating a bold idea in the midst of the peace process with Pakistan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh favoured conversion of the Siachen glacier, the highest battlefield in the world, into a ‘‘peace mountain''.
He, however, ruled out any changes in the ‘‘established'' boundaries of the country, saying it was related to the nation's ‘‘honour'' and ‘‘security''.
Becoming the first Prime Minister to visit Siachen, Singh said efforts should be made to create an atmosphere of peace wherein ‘‘nobody fears any threat, there is no scope for any conflict and this place becomes an example of peaceful environment.''
Briefed by top Army officers about the prevailing situation, Singh, addressing troops here, noted that ‘‘Siachen is called the highest battlefield'' where living is very difficult. ‘‘How long shall we allow such conditions to prevail (in Siachen). Now the time has come for us to make efforts to convert this battlefield into a mountain of peace,'' he said, saying talks were going on with Pakistan in this regard.
Emphasising that India wanted peaceful relations with Pakistan, the Prime Minister, however, asserted that in pursuit of this, ‘‘We are not ready to accept any changes in the drawn and established boundaries of the country... We feel these boundaries are important not only for our security but it relates to the country's honour. It is for this prestige that the Indian soldiers are happily putting up with the hardships here (in Siachen),'' he said.
Hailing the contributions of the soldiers towards unity and integrity of the country, Singh assured soldiers in this inhospitable sector that all their needs would be met.
Besides a CT scan facility, which would be made available here, the Prime Minister said that two home theatres would also be provided to the soldiers for providing entertainment. He said he was ‘‘very happy'' to meet the troops and was proud of their determination and patriotism.
‘‘I wanted to see for myself as to what your living conditions and arrangements are, what your problems are and what the government can do to address these,'' he told the soldiers

Terrorism not fully eliminated: Pranab

Kolkata, : The threat posed by terrorist outfits like Babbar Khalsa had not been completely eliminated though it had been controlled, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here Sunday.
On the question of possibility of terrorism re-surfacing in Punjab, Mukherjee said "it takes a long time to wipe out state-sponsored cross-border terrorism."
Babbar Khalsa was behind the recent bomb blast in cinema halls in Delhi. "So, we do not think that terrorism has been completed eliminated though it is controlled," the Defence Minister told a meet-the-press programme.
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Iran rocked by series of blasts

Six bombs have exploded in Iran, killing at least 10 people, days before the presidential election. Four blasts targeted public buildings in the south-western city of Ahwaz, killing at least eight people and wounding more than 70 others.
Hours later, a bomb exploded in the capital Tehran, killing two people. Three other bombs were defused.
Bombings have been rare in Iran since the war with Iraq ended in 1988. No group has claimed responsibility.
Ahwaz, which is close to the Iraq border, was the focus of unrest between Arabs and Persians in April, when several people were reportedly killed.
'Failure'
The bombings in Ahwaz took place over a two-hour period.
One of the bombs exploded outside the governor-general's headquarters.
Two went off near government offices and a fourth exploded near the home of a local state television executive.The explosion in Tehran took place near the Imam Hussein square in the city centre. As well as the two who died, at least two people were wounded.
The interior ministry also confirmed that a bottle filled with explosives blew up in Vali Asr square in central Tehran, but there were no reports of casualties.
A spokesman for the Supreme National Security Council, Iran's top security decision-making body, blamed the attacks on separatist Arabs aided by members of the armed Iraq-based opposition group, the People's Mujahideen, and remnants of the Baath Party.
The spokesman, Agha Mohammadi, told the BBC he was sure the Americans were behind the attacks and also suggested that Britain might be involved - but he gave no evidence to support his claims.
The People's Mujahideen denied any involvement in the attacks.
"Whoever is responsible for this, the target of the blasts is to undermine Friday's presidential elections," said interior ministry spokesman Jahanbaksh Khanjani.
Rumour
Iranians go to the polls on Friday to elect a successor to President Mohammad Khatami.
Opinion polls put former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in the lead.
April's trouble in Ahwaz - the capital of oil-rich Khuzestan province - started after a letter circulated on the internet suggested that non-Arabs were being-relocated to the city to dilute its ethnic Arab population.
Crowds attacked government offices and banks, setting them on fire, and hundreds of people were arrested.
The official who was supposed to have written the letter said it was a forgery.

Kerala to ban child-labour: Minister

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Labour Minister Babu Divakaran today said the state government was planning to introduce a new Act, seeking to ban child labour in the state.

Talking to mediapersons here, he said as per the proposed Act no child below the age of 14 years should be engaged in jobs.

Mr Divakaran said a proposal in this regard was at present with the Law Department to sort out certain technical details and that it was expected to be introduced in the next Assembly session.

He pointed out that as per the guidelines of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), children below the age of 14 years should not be engaged in hazardous jobs and so far no such cases had been reported from the state.

Steps would be taken to check the migration of labourers from neighbouring state, he said, adding that a statistics would be taken about the volume of labourers who had migrated to the state.

According to the available report, more than eight lakh labourers from outside were working in Kerala, he said, adding that though there was a provision that migrant labourers, if comprising a 20-member group, should be registered in the state, nobody had made such registration so far.

Ghatkopar blast: POTA court acquits all eight accused

MUMBAI: Giving benefit of doubt to eight accused in Ghatkopar bomb blast case, a special POTA court on Saturday acquitted them of all charges while pulling up police for its lapse to trace the missing accused Khwaja Yunus.

This was the first of the series of bomb blast cases in 2002-2003 in which POTA was invoked and controversy also broke with allegations of death of an accused Khwaja Younus due to police assault in custody although police maintained that he had escaped while being taken to Ahmednagar for investigation.

A powerful bomb blast ripped a best bus in suburban Ghatkopar on December 2, 2002, killing two and injuring 49.

The prosecution had alleged that the accused had links with Al-Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Toiba and had engineered blasts to avenge post-Godhra riots. Those acquitted were Dr Abdul Mateen, Shaikh Muzammil, Imran Rehman Khan, Mohammed Altaf, Toufiq Hamid, Aarif Hussain, Haroon Rashid and Rashid Ansari.

The judge, while acquitting the accused, observed in his order that the confessional statement given by some accused was "doubtful". In this regard, the court gave them the benefit of doubt.

The court also observed that the police had not followed proper procedure while attaching the CDs and Al Qaeda manual, seized from the accused, as a part of the evidence.

Castigating police, the court noted that if accused Khwaja Younus was indeed absconding as claimed by police, then the police should have taken all efforts to arrest him.

The court took on record allegation made by co-accused Mateen that Khwaja Younus was beaten in custody, which may have caused his death.

The judge said in the verdict that the prosecution's case was "weak" and it became weaker after the Prime witness, the conductor of the bus in which the bomb exploded, turned hostile.

The judge also said that had police had not properly investigated the mobile phone bills properly.

According to police, accused Dr Abdul Mateen, Imran Rehman Khan, Toufiq Hamid and Shaikh Muzammil were in touch with each other and police had also produced itemised bills of their phone calls.

Of the accused who were acquitted, three will continue to remain behind the bars as they are also facing charges in cases of bomb blasts at Mumbai central, Mulund and Vile Parle. They are Aarif Hussain, Haroon Rashid and Rashid Ansari.

Altogether 19 accused were arrested but nine of them were discharged during he trial on March four, 2004, by the prosecution due to lack of evidence. One more was discharged by the POTA Review Committee on April 17 last year.

Yet another accused, Khwaja Younus, disappeared from custody. A total of 148 witnesses were examined of whom eleven, including the key witness, the conductor of the bus, turned hostile.

Reacting to the judgement, BJP state president Nitin Gadkari demanded resignation of Home Minister R R Patil for accepting moral responsibility for police lapses leading to acquittal of accused in this case.

Indian defence industry ready for global market

Hyderabad, Indian defence industry has matured to enter global market and various missiles tested with the involvement of more than 200 small and medium scale industries proves it, according to DRDL director Dr Prahalada.

Inaugurating the second media centre and attending a workshop on 'Dissemination of Defence Research news: Opportunities and responsibilites' here on Saturday, he said dissemination of technology has to go from one place to other and media is the area from where information flows to the public.

He said it is important to see that technology reaches directly or indirectly to the arteries of industrial system.

He said scientists are realizing the need to market technology for civilian needs hitherto used only for armed services. Even the foreign partners know that India is a force to reckon with and the technology will soon be discussed at global level.

He said participation at international level is also increasing. World class technology is going on at DRDO and is recognized hence international players are also showing keen interest and there is a feeling that the message should reach to Indians working abroad to come and work here.

He said it is unfortunate that in India there is no policy or system that only indigenously developed weapons should be deployed. The user is allowed to buy from outside.

Wondering whether such a policy was designable or worth pursuing, he said the level of technology and maturity of Indian industry can make reliable products.

G8 reaches deal for world's poor

The world's eight richest countries have reached a landmark debt relief deal to alleviate global poverty.
The move provides relief for poor, indebted nations, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, freeing up much-needed revenue.

Announcing the deal at a meeting of G8 finance ministers in London, the UK's Gordon Brown said now was "not a time for timidity but a time for boldness".

The UK, which will host a summit of G8 leaders next month, has vowed to make poverty reduction a priority.


Click here for a map showing highly-indebted poor countries
The plan, which was devised by the UK, secured the backing of the US administration on Friday - paving the way for its adoption at the London meeting.

Conditions

Under the deal, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the African Development Fund will immediately write off 100% of the money owed to them by 18 countries - a total of $40bn (£22bn; 33bn euros).

Between them, it will save those countries a total of $1.5bn a year in debt repayments.

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown said up to 20 other countries could be eligible if they meet targets for good governance and tackling corruption.

The total package - which needs to be approved by the lending institutions - could be worth more than $55bn.

"We are presenting the most comprehensive statement that finance ministers have ever made on the issues of debt, development, health and poverty," Mr Brown said.

He added that the plan set the stage for July's G8 summit, where world leaders intend "to forge a new and better relationship, a new deal between the rich and poor countries of the world".

US Treasury Secretary John Snow hailed the agreement as "historic".

No apologies

Relief groups welcomed the plan as a step in the right direction - but said some it should be extended to cover more developing countries.

The debt deal is very good news for people in the 18 countries that will immediately benefit," said Romilly Greenhill of ActionAid.

"But it will do little to immediately help millions in at least 40 other countries that also need 100% debt relief."

Earlier John Nagenda, an adviser to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, told the BBC it was time for rich nations to deliver on their promises.

"I should be more apologetic and say please help us but where I come from we believe that if you are better off than someone else you help them. It's as simple as that - it's a moral duty."

The G8 countries are the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia.

'Strict vigil at Marad averted recurrence of violence': Antony

Kozhikode: The strict vigil maintained by the Police soon after the May 2003 violence at nearby Marad that claimed nine lives helped in averting recurrence of violence not only in the region but also elsewhere in the state, former Kerala Chief Minister and Rajya Sabha MP, A.K. Antony said.

While the January 2002 attack was soon followed by another bout of violence in May 2003, the police acted swiftly to avert recurrence of violence, Antony, who was the Chief Minister when communal conflagration took place in the Marad beach area, said deposing before the Marad Judicial Enquiry Commission here. Police force was not withdrawn totally from the area after the first incident and the number of police personnel to be positioned there was decided by the police officials, he said.

VHP leader Praveen Togadia was not banned from visiting Marad soon after the 2003 incident as the Government was advised so by the police, he said. Noting that there was no political pressure on him to keep his Cabinet colleagues away from visiting Marad after the violent incidents, Antony said it was based on police advice that he decided to visit the area alone.

Advani withdraws resignation as BJP clarifies stand on Jinnah

NEW DELHI: BJP's leadership crisis was on Friday resolved for now with L K Advani withdrawing his resignation as its president but he had to accept the party's repudiation of his controversial praise for Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

The four-day political drama ended on Friday evening at a meeting of parliamentary board and other top BJP leaders at which the party praised Advani's recent visit to Pakistan and sought to explain away his praise for Jinnah which had angered the RSS and led to his resignation.

With a view to placating the RSS, the party issued a statement after the meeting, which sharply criticised jinnah for dividing India on communal lines and said that there can be no "revisiting" the founder of Pakistan, who had led a communal agitation for creation of that country.

In a muted response, the RSS, which had taken serious exception to Advani's various statements in Pakistan, especially his praise of Jinnah, said it had sought a clarification from the BJP and "it has come and the controversy has ended".

"The BJP has clarified its stand and it is the correct portrayal of history," RSS spokesman Ram Madhav said on the end of the leadership crisis in BJP. But, he said, the entire controversy was avoidable.

Firebrand VHP leader Pravin Togadia said Advani has not apologised for his remarks on Jinnah and the Babri Masjid in Pakistan and by this he has insulted the Hindus who will never forgive him.

The BJP statement said the party "reiterates that whatever may have been Jinnah's vision of Pakistan, the state he founded is theocratic and non-secular, the very idea of Hindus and Muslims being two separate nations is repugnant to it.

"The BJP has always condemned the division of India on communal lines and continues to steadfastly reject the two-nation theory championed by Jinnah and endorsed by British colonialists.

"There can be no revisiting the reality that Jinnah led a communal agitation to achieve his goal of Pakistan, which devoured thousands of innocent people in its wake and dispossessed millions of their homes and livelihoods," the BJP statement said.

The statement virtually rejects Advani's view in Pakistan that emergence of the two countries as independent, separate and sovereign nations were an unalterable reality of history.

In a bid to clear the air on his remarks on Jinnah after the visit to his mausoleum in Karachi, the BJP statement noted that Advani welcomed the event of launching of the restoration work at the Katasraj Temple and in that context, without describing jinnah as secular, reminded the people of Pakistan of its founder's address to the country's constituent assembly.

In that address Jinnah had urged full freedom of faith for all its citizens and no discrimination between its citizens on grounds of religion.

The statement virtually rules out a debate on Jinnah, which Advani had advocated on his return when RSS and other Sangh Parivar affiliates expressed displeasure over his remarks on Jinnah after the visit to his mausoleum in Karachi

Pressure for Africa poverty deal

Finance ministers from the world's richest countries have gathered in London in an attempt to agree a debt relief deal to help Africa's poor.
The talks come just a month before world leaders - and thousands of anti-poverty campaigners - converge at Gleneagles for a G8 summit.

Britain has vowed to make poverty reduction a key plank of the summit.

Its plans got a boost as the White House confirmed the US and UK had agreed on how to implement debt cuts.

Germany, France and Japan are believed to be doubtful about a total debt write-off for poor countries so having US support may help UK Chancellor Gordon Brown win them over.

Mr Brown welcomed the eight finance ministers, who were joined by the new World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, and EU economic affairs commissioner Joaquin Almunia, to a working dinner at Lancaster House.
Mr Brown expressed optimism that a debt deal would be done, saying that there was the "political will of the richest countries to move forward," and promising that it would be "the biggest debt settlement the world has ever seen".

But the German Finance Minister, Hans Eichel, said he thought there would be no deal until Gleneagles.

"We will not come to an agreement here," he said. "What I see as very important is that we stick with the case-by-case approach on debt relief for every single country."

Debt deal?

Last Updated: Friday, 10 June, 2005, 22:37 GMT 23:37 UK

E-mail this to a friend Printable version

Pressure for Africa poverty deal
By Steve Schifferes
BBC News economics reporter at the G7 finance ministers meeting



High-profile celebrities are backing the poverty campaigners at the G8
Finance ministers from the world's richest countries have gathered in London in an attempt to agree a debt relief deal to help Africa's poor.
The talks come just a month before world leaders - and thousands of anti-poverty campaigners - converge at Gleneagles for a G8 summit.

Britain has vowed to make poverty reduction a key plank of the summit.

Its plans got a boost as the White House confirmed the US and UK had agreed on how to implement debt cuts.

Germany, France and Japan are believed to be doubtful about a total debt write-off for poor countries so having US support may help UK Chancellor Gordon Brown win them over.

Mr Brown welcomed the eight finance ministers, who were joined by the new World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, and EU economic affairs commissioner Joaquin Almunia, to a working dinner at Lancaster House.


The debt issue explored


At-a-glance


Mr Brown expressed optimism that a debt deal would be done, saying that there was the "political will of the richest countries to move forward," and promising that it would be "the biggest debt settlement the world has ever seen".

But the German Finance Minister, Hans Eichel, said he thought there would be no deal until Gleneagles.

"We will not come to an agreement here," he said. "What I see as very important is that we stick with the case-by-case approach on debt relief for every single country."

Debt deal?

The finance ministers spent Friday discussing the outline plan from the UK and US to write off the debts of 18 highly-indebted countries in Africa, according to White House spokesman Scott McCellan.

Full details of the plan were not available.

Mr McCellan said it would "cancel 100% of the World Bank, African Development Bank and IMF debt" - suggesting the US may have dropped objections to including IMF debts.

Funding the plan remains controversial. The US has previously said any debt relief from the World Bank should come out of funds the organisation uses to lend to poor countries.

Mr McCellan said debt would only be cancelled only for countries that showed a commitment to "sound economic policies" and reducing corruption.

Anti-poverty campaigners are concerned that only 27 poor countries have qualified for debt relief and would benefit from any initiative. They argue that 62 countries, including large debtors like Nigeria and Indonesia, should be included.

"There is only a 60% chance of a deal on debt relief, it is no means certain, and on aid we don't expect very much at all which is very disappointing," said Romilly Greenhill, policy officer at ActionAid.

Germany, France and Japan have proposed that the rich countries shoulder the costs of servicing poor nations debt, rather than write off the debts entirely.

However, Canada, which had earlier backed these plans, now appears to moving to support a complete write-off.

Disagreements among the rich

The finance ministers are hoping to resolve deep-seated disagreements over key proposals to boost aid to Africa, as well as cutting debt.

Despite a personal plea from Tony Blair, the US is unlikely to support a doubling in aid flows to poor countries to help them meet UN targets on poverty reduction.

The UK plan for an International Financing Facility, which would issue $50bn in bonds against future aid flows, is now likely to proceed only on a limited basis, perhaps supported by other EU countries but not by the US or Japan - the world's two biggest economies.

Nor does the US favour a French proposal to tax international airline travel to fund additional aid flows.

Public pressure

The development lobby, which is organising mass demonstrations during the summit, wants finance ministers to agree debt relief for all poor countries, back calls to double aid to $100bn a year, and reform the world trading system.

Campaigners said that growing pressure from the public was beginning to tell on governments.

African leaders generally welcomed the prospect of a deal.

Finance Minister Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu of Ghana, which would benefit from debt relief, said on Friday that African leaders must live up to their part of the deal in ensuring that the money from debt relief is spent wisely.

"We need to reinvest well enough whatever we get from it," he said.



The G8 countries are United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia.


The 27 countries who are eligible for debt relief under the HIPC (highly-indebted poor countries initiative) and the 18 who have reached completion point in bold: Benin, Bolivia, Burkino Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

The 11 countries who theoretically qualify for debt relief but have not been allowed to join so far are: Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Comoros, Congo, Liberia, Mynamar, Somalia, Sudan, Togo.

Jubilee Debt Campaign argue that the figures show that another 24 countries qualify as needing full debt relief if they are to have the resources necessary to meet the Millennium Development Goals: Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Georgia, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Korea, Kyrgyz Republic, Lesotho, Nepal, Moldova, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

Chinese flood kills 27 children

At least 27 children have been killed in north-eastern China, when a torrent of water engulfed their primary school.
The disaster happened at 1400 (0600 GMT) on Friday in Shalan, a town in Heilongjiang province, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Xinhua said 29 people were confirmed dead at Changan Primary School - two of them adults and the rest children.

But hospital officials told the French news agency AFP that the death toll could be higher than 40.

This is the latest in a series of disasters in China caused by heavy rains.

At least 250 people are known to have died in May, the usual start of the rainy season.

Local residents said heavy rains upstream from low-lying Shalan caused Friday's flood.

Cabinet seeks explanation from vigilance chief

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala cabinet today sought an explanation from Vigilance chief P. Upendra Verma for his controversial statement that the State Electricity Board had not handed over an important file on a case the Vigilance was enquiring into.

Briefing reporters after a cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the cabinet also approved in principle, the report of the Home Secretary K.K. Vijayakumar, who made an inquiry into Verma's charge during a press conference.

"An explanation has been sought on the basis of the report", Chandy said. Chandy said that as per the report, the vigilance department had sought files pertaining to the particular case in 2003, which KSEB furnished. after that, the department had not written to the board asking for more files.

An officer from the department visited the KSEB office in December, but did not meet any top officials, Chandy said. Verma had said that enquiry into the deal between KSEB and Canada-based SNC Lavlin company during the previous LDF rule could not be completed as the relevant files were not given to the Vigilance department.

The contract for renovating three hydro-electric projects at Pallivasal, Chengulam and Panniyar was awarded to the Canadian firm when CPM leader Pinarayi Vijayan was electricity minister. It was alleged that the contract was given at a rate much higher than international rates.

Petroleum Minister meets Azerbaijan President

New Delhi,; Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar on Thursday afternoon called on the President of Azerbaijan, IIham Aliyev.

Aiyar, who is in Azerbaijan to attend the 12th International Caspian Oil and Gas Conference, conveyed to the President India's deep interest in expanding bilateral cooperation in the oil and gas sector, an official release said here.

He specifically referred to the possibility of purchase by India of AZeri oil transported to Ceyhan by the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) Pipeline, and then brought to the Red Sea through the Ashkelon-Eilat pipeline in Israel.

Aiyer also mentioned to the Azeri President India's interest in the upgradation of refineries in Azerbaijan and to participate in oil and gas exploration and production proposals in the country.

Aiyar informed Aliyev about his discussions in Islamabad in regard to the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline and the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) pipeline.

In regard to the latter, the Indian Minister suggested that Azerbaijan, along with other Central Asian countries such an Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and possibly, Russia, could also join the pipeline to bring gas to India and Pakistan, whose joint shortfall of gas in 2025 would be about 500 million standard cubic metres per day.

Unrest halts Bolivian Congress

The Bolivian parliament has suspended a session due to discuss the resignation of President Carlos Mesa after a miner was shot dead and protests escalated.
Trade union officials say the miner died in a clash with army troops near Sucre, where the session is being held.

Protesters do not want Mr Mesa to be replaced the Senate speaker, who is seen as a member of the business

But Mr Vaca Diez has now announced he would step aside should Congress accept the president's resignation.

The next in line, the head of the lower house, had already said he would decline to succeed Mr Mesa - meaning that the presidency would pass to the head of the Supreme Court.

The BBC's Elliott Gotkine says the latter would then become president and be obliged to call presidential elections - which would defuse the protests.

Politicians in flight

But Thursday saw the first fatality of the month-long demonstrations.

Coro Mayta, 52, a miner union leader, was shot dead by a soldier at a checkpoint in the village of Yotala, just outside Sucre.

He was on board a bus full of protesters. Two more people were wounded when the troops opened fire, news agency Reuters reported Interior Minister Saul Lara as saying.

The military claim the miners attacked the checkpoint by throwing sticks of dynamite.

It is the first fatality since protests began a month ago.


Clashes took place also inside Sucre after miners managed to enter the city despite a heavy deployment of security forces aimed at sealing it off.

The emergency meeting of congress was suspended "due to lack of guarantees", in the words of conservative senator Ana Maria Flores.

Mr Vaca Diez was reportedly escorted to an unspecified military base while other congressmen fled.

"Many of them have left their hotels, but I cannot say where they were heading," congressman Guido Anez said.

Bloodshed warning

Unrest has also continued in the main city of La Paz, where a strike shut the airport and road blocks cause shortages.
The chaos in La Paz prompted Congress to hold Thursday's session in Sucre, 600km south-east of La Paz.

Earlier on Thursday, the body postponed a formal vote on President Mesa's resignation, which he announced on Monday.

Congress had been thought likely to accept his offer.

The armed forces had appealed for calm and said they would respect Congress' decision.

However, opposition leader and presidential hopeful Evo Morales warned earlier that bloodshed would follow if Congress conferred the presidency on Mr Vaca Diez, as the constitution requires.

Left-wing protesters want early elections, as well as nationalisation of the energy industry and constitutional reform.

Indigenous rights

The protests erupted last month after a law was passed imposing taxes on foreign companies that have invested in Bolivia's gas reserves, thought to be the second-largest in South America.

The protesters said the law did not go far enough and called for the gas industry to be nationalised.

They also want constitutional reforms to give greater rights to the country's impoverished highlanders, most of whom are of indigenous descent.

They oppose demands from Bolivia's resource-rich eastern provinces for greater autonomy and more foreign investment.

Mr Mesa came to power 19 months ago after his predecessor was forced out by similar protests over energy.

Mr Mesa offered to quit during similar protests in March, but the offer was rejected by Congress.

US agrees to back UN nuclear head

The Bush administration had called for him to step down at the end of his second term this year, after falling out with him over Iraq and Iran.

The US has been the only country to oppose Mr ElBaradei continuing at the International Atomic Energy Agency.

But the US now says it will vote for him, following a meeting between Mr ElBaradei and the secretary of state.

Condoleezza Rice indicated earlier that the US could back him if he toughened his stance on Iran.

"We expect that when the vote comes up in the (IAEA) board of governors on this issue we will join the consensus," US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

'Jury still out'

The 62-year-old Egyptian lawyer is the only candidate for the post, which he has held since 1997.

Thursday's meeting with Ms Rice was being seen as something of a job interview for Mr ElBaradei, the BBC's Jane O'Brien in Washington says.

They agreed on the urgency of halting the spread of nuclear weapons technology, the state department spokesman said, according to the Associated Press.

Ms Rice has made it clear that US support will depend on whether the two can reach agreement over the IAEA's position on Iran.

The US wants Mr ElBaradei to toughen up and report Iran to the UN Security Council for trying to hide its nuclear activities.

But Mr ElBaradei has said the "jury is still out" on whether Tehran is secretly developing nuclear weapons, because he has no clear proof.

However, he recently stressed that it was now up to Iran to dispel doubts about its programme "through absolute transparency measures and co-operation with the [IAEA]".

The IAEA says Mr ElBaradei will not strike a deal to secure his position. However, his decision to announce a progress report next week on the agency's two-year investigation into Iran's nuclear programme is seen by some analysts as a move aimed at winning favour with Washington.

The new IAEA head is expected to be chosen when the agency's 35-nation board of governors meets on Monday.

EC orders recheck of TN electoral rolls

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Wednesday ordered re-scrutiny and thorough field verification of claims and objections received by the Tamil Nadu election department on the enrollment of voters in the ongoing summary revision of rolls.

Applications without signature or thumb impression of the voter and proper full address would be summarily rejected. The rolls prepared in 165 Assembly constituencies, not affected by the tsunami, would come under the EC’s scanner, and the final rolls would be published only after getting the EC’s nod.

The Commission has given time till June 20 for the political parties to file their objections over the claim applications/objections received by the Electoral Registration Authority (ERO) in each constituency.

Not only the state election department teams, but also the EC officials from New Delhi would cross-check the genuineness of the voters with regard to their age, address and eligibility.

Stringent action as per law will be taken against officials found guilty of dereliction of duty, Commission’s secretary Tapas Kumar, who toured Tamil Nadu along with its legal advisor S. K. Mendiratta, said in a press release.

The Commission said all the EROs must dispose of the applications for claims and objections in every constituency by July 15.

It also ordered the EROs to file FIRs with the police against the office-bearers of the political party which has given names of bogus voters for inclusion in the rolls.

Issuing a stern warning to the supervisory staff who will be re-scrutinising at least 40 percent of the applications, the Commission said such exercise should not be done in any particular area or locality. ‘‘Under no circumstances the supervisory staff will seek assistance of influential persons or those with political lineage of the locality.’’

If at all any assistance is required, it should be sought from immediate neighbours of the persons to be verified.

In doubtful cases and in the case of applicants not found at the residence at the time of verification, the EROs should, as provided in the Handbook for Electoral Registration Officers published by the Election Commission of India (1993), send a notice to the applicant (in Forms 12 to 15) to appear in person before him or AERO at a place near his/her residence which can be decided in advance to deal with such cases.

The applicants must be asked to bring the relevant documents. The enquiry by the EROs can be held in taluk and zonal offices on appointed dates for the convenience of the public, the release said.

EC must stick to rules, says AIADMK

CHENNAI: Lashing out at the Election Commission for sending two of its officials to some constituencies in the state to verify the bulk applications for inclusion of voters, the ruling AIADMK urged the EC to keep itself aloof from the ‘‘motivated attempts on the part of Opposition parties’’ to malign the AIADMK.

Pro-NDA Bihar legislators leave for Delhi

Patna,: Seventy-nine members of the dissolved Bihar Assembly have left for New Delhi to present themselves before President APJ Abdul Kalam on June 10 and express their resentment over the dissolution of the house.

JD(U) state general secretary Jnanendra Singh 'Jnanu' said 55 JD(U) members in the dissolved house had left for New Delhi on Tuesday while former LJP national principal secretary general Nagmani, accompanied by four rebel LJP members left today for the national capital.

BJP leader Aswini Kumar Choubey led a group of 20 members of his party to New Delhi. Independent member of the dissolved house Jagdish Sharma claimed that 14 of the 17 independents would participate in the parade.

Some former MLAs would reach New Delhi directly from their constituencies, he added.

Leaders of breakaway faction of LJP Avdhesh Kumar Kushwaha and Vijay Kumar alias Munna Shukla said 132 members of the dissolved assembly would join the 'parade of MLAs'.

At least 22 of the 29 LJP members in the dissolved house were aggrieved at dissolution of the House even before the elected members were sworn in and all of them would march to Rashtrapati Bhawan with NDA members and independents supporting their cause, the leaders claimed.

Besides, the rebel LJP leaders had collected written declaration of five members of the dissolved house extending support to NDA leader Nitish Kumar for formation of government, Mr Kushwaha and Mr Shukla added.

UK Hindus asked to boycott French goods

London,: Indignant at a French manufacturer's refusal to remove a deity from its designer shoes Hindu organisations in the UK, asked all devotees worldwide on Wednesday to boycott all French-made goods and participate en-masse in a protest rally outside the French embassy here on June 12.

The move came after the French manufacturer Minelli refused to respond to requests for withdrawal of the sale of designer shoes with images of Lord Rama.

The Forum has also demanded that Indian Government should stop buying Mirage planes from the French Government, write to the international Olympic committee that selecting Paris as a venue for 2012 Olympics will not be in keeping with the ethos of human rights and religious freedom and stop flying with Air France.

"This is the last straw," commented Ramesh Kallidai, Secretary General of the Hindu Forum of Britain.

"Hinduism is a very tolerant religion and we have no problems if our images are used in a respectful manner. But to use the image of Lord Rama on a shoe, when we don't even wear shoes inside our temples, is disrespectful and disgraceful. It has hurt the sentiments of over one billion Hindus in the world and yet Minelli have not agreed to withdraw the sale."

But Kallidai claimed that this is not the only issue.

"France has a history of religious intolerance. Even though Hinduism predates Christianity by 5000 years, France has refused to accord the status of a bona fide religion to Hindu temples in the country, thus denying them legitimate tax benefits enjoyed by other religions.

"Hindu women and men cannot put bindis, tilaks and other forehead markings in school and other places for fear of religious persecution," he said.

He urged all Hindus in the UK to participate in the protest rally to mark religious intolerance in France.

"We are fortunate that Britain has such an excellent model of religious tolerance and community cohesion. Many countries in Europe should learn from our model of co-existence actively promoted by the British Government."

Over 1,000 Hindus are expected to converge at the protest which will include slogans, banners, speeches, and singing of devotional songs to the accompaniment of religious instruments like Mridunga, drums and Kartala cymbals.

Protesters will also be blowing on scores of conch-shell bugles, the sound of which has traditionally been used in India as a war cry.

Sikh community in Britain also lent its support to the campaign.

"...the French people need to realize that this is the 21st century and that the world is multi-cultural and multi-faith. For many people religious identity is as important as national identity. We urge people of all faiths to boycott all French goods and services," Principal advisor to the Sikhs in England group, Harmander Singh said.

Abbas visits Gaza to rescue truce

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has arrived in Gaza to persuade militants to abide by a ceasefire threatened by sporadic clashes with Israel.
The militants earlier fired rockets at Jewish settlements in response to an Israeli air strike on Wednesday.

No one was hurt in the air strike, which followed the deaths of three people in a Palestinian missile attack on a Jewish settlement on Tuesday.

The strike marked a major upsurge in violence during a four-month old truce.

The BBC's Jerusalem correspondent, Barbara Plett, says both sides offer different explanations for the strain on the ceasefire, accusing the other of violations.

Election tension

Israel also says the mortar attacks on settlements are part of an internal power game, aimed at weakening Mr Abbas.

Mr Abbas is expected to meet leaders from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant groups during his three-day stay in Gaza, as well as holding talks with colleagues from his Fatah party
On arriving in the territory, he criticised the Israeli air strike as "an unjustified operation" that "will destroy the truce".

Our correspondent says the Palestinian Authority's dealings with the militants have deteriorated since Mr Abbas announced the indefinite postponement parliamentary elections scheduled for July.

Hamas had been planning to contest the polls and capitalise on dissatisfaction with the administration.

Escalating violence

Israeli aircraft on Wednesday fired at militants in the Gaza Strip but the targets of the attack escaped unhurt, witnesses said.

The Israeli military said it targeted a mortar launcher and a vehicle carrying mortar shells near Khan Younis.

The militant group Hamas said that both the vehicle targeted on Wednesday and the people nearby belonged to the organisation.

They managed to escape before the explosion, witnesses said.

The assault followed a missile attack on a Jewish settlement in Gaza on Tuesday that killed three people - two Palestinian workers and a Chinese worker.

On the same day three Palestinians, including a militant leader, were shot dead by Israeli troops.

Separately, Israel and Palestinian officials say they have agreed to co-operate closely on ensuring calm prevails during the Gaza pullout later this year.

Israel's Defence Minister, Shaul Mofaz, met Palestinian Interior Minister Nasser Youssef to discuss joint security measures.

The Israeli defence ministry said "co-ordination in the field" would ensure Palestinians could deploy their security forces to prevent militants from taking over in areas vacated by Israel.

Beware of SMS spoofing

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: More than 23 lakh mobile phone users in Kerala could become vulnerable to a relatively new and emerging type of cyber crime that involves spoofing of short message service (SMS) communications, the State police have warned.

The Deputy Inspector General of Police, Thiruvananthapuram Range, Arun Kumar Sinha, said that "SMS Spoofing" software, tools and services offered on the Internet by certain hacking communities and private companies, including Indian firms, were being used to send hoax messages to unsuspecting cell phone users in Kerala.

A criminal or prankster could send a threatening, abusive, alarming or pornographic SMS message to any cell phone user through the Internet and show it as originating from another cell phone. The technology could be used by a prankster for victimising another person anonymously. For instance, the prankster could send an abusive message to an acquaintance of his victim and make it appear as if the SMS had originated from his victim's cell phone. The prankster can pull off the hoax without actually handling his victim's cellular telephone. "SMS faking is a criminal offence done mostly through the Internet. Some instances have come to the notice of the police. But the persons who have been hoaxed were not willing to file a police complaint," Mr. Sinha said.

A Bharath Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) engineer said that mobile telephone users could easily find out if they have received a fake SMS by going to message options menu and checking the SMS message details. The details include the mobile phone number of the message sender and the message centre number of the cellular service provider. "If it is a fake message purportedly from a BSNL number, the message centre number would not be that of the BSNL service. It would be that of the SMS gateway hired by the company that offers the web-based spoofing service."

The Karnataka police are learned to be investigating a web-hosting company in connection with some SMS faking cases reported in Bangalore. The company had offered the public a web-based SMS sending facility for money. Those who subscribed to the service were given a user name and password with which they could log into the company's server and send SMS messages to mobile phones from the Internet. Some of the persons, who misused the facility to send abusive messages, had subscribed to the service using fake identities, making it difficult for the police to trace the offenders.

"Pak can't force India to include separatists in J-K talks"

Islamabad, : Pakistan on Tuesday made it clear to visiting separatist Kashmiri leaders that it cannot force India to include them in the dialogue process to resolve the Kashmir issue and said any solution to the problem has to be acceptable to the two countries as well as Kashmiris.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, who held a two-hour dinner meeting here with a team separatist leaders from Kashmir headed by Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, said a solution to Kashmir issue has to be acceptable to India, Pakistan and Kashmiris and was possible only if takes into account wishes of the people of Kashmir.

He assured the separatist leaders that Pakistan would continue to consult the "true representatives" of Kashmiri people before taking any major Kashmir-related measures, state-run APP news agency said.

Differences among separatists remain

Meanwhile, the differences among visiting separatist leaders from Kashmir valley remained in fore on Tuesday as Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Yasin Malik met Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf separately after the military strongman held talks with the other leaders.

Pakistan's Geo TV said while Hurriyat Conference leaders held talks with Musharraf for over three hours but Malik met him separately. There was no official word from either side what transpired at the meeting between Musharraf and Malik.

Throughout the five-day visit of the separatist leaders, Malik had been keeping himself away from moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and his other colleagues who firmly backed the India-Pak peace process even while insisting on involvement of Kashmiris in India-Pak dialogue to resolve Kashmir issue.

Two days ago, Malik had met Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz separately, well after Farooq and his colleagues completed their talks.

Pakistani officials, who were embarrassed by the note of discord openly struck by Malik, said it was up to him to explain why he is choosing to keep away from the flock.

BJP in turmoil after resignation of Advani

New Delhi: The BJP was in turmoil after L.K. Advani paid the price for his controversial praise for Mohammed Ali Jinnah and resigned as party president following the RSS backlash.

With Advani not not in a mood to oblige appeals for reconsideration of his decision, top BJP leaders including former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee met and decided that the Parliamentary Board and the central office bearers would meet here on Wednesday evening to discuss the crisis in the wake of his resignation.

The 78-year-old BJP mascot, who had been under attack from the Sangh Parivar for describing the founder of Pakistan as secular, chose not not to retract his comments as demanded by RSS.

He, therefore, tendered his resignation to party General Secretary and RSS pointsman Sanjay Joshi through a letter which he said he had written before leaving Karachi for home on Monday.

The announcement of the resignation plunged the party into a turmoil with former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and other BJP leaders trying to persuade Advani to reconsider. Till late in the evening there was no no indication that he would retract his decision to quit.

BJP leaders have maintained that Advani was adamant that he would not go back on his decision They also strongly disapproved the statement made against Advani by VHP leader Pravin Togadia that he was a "traitor" calling the language "totally objectionable not not expected from a nationalist organisation."

The BJP condemned it in the "strongest possible" language, Naidu said after a meeting of senior leaders including Vajpayee who made a collective appeal to Advani to take back his resignation.

US and UK 'close to Africa deal'

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US President George W Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair say they are close to an agreement on providing debt relief for Africa's poorest countries.
They propose to write off the debt of 32 countries, provided they tackle corruption and enact economic reforms.

The pair will seek backing for their plan from the world's richest nations at the G8 group's summit next month.

The US has also promised more money in aid for Africa - but far less than Mr Blair had hoped to secure.

The BBC's Andrew Marr says the British leader hopes Mr Bush will ultimately offer a lot more in direct aid.

At a joint news conference on Tuesday, Mr Bush pledged $674m (£350m) to fight hunger in Africa - a sum aid groups said was a "drop in the ocean".

The prime minister had earlier said he planned to convince rich countries to add to their existing contributions - and help raise an extra $25bn (£13.5bn) in African aid.

The two leaders also failed to agree on taking action against climate change - an issue Mr Blair is hoping to highlight at the G8 summit.

Mr Blair said he and Mr Bush had differences over the issue which they hoped to discuss over the coming weeks.

The US has consistently refused to ratify the Kyoto treaty, which restricts the emissions of gases said to be responsible for global warming.

'Duty to act'

The US commitment stops short of the agreement Mr Blair is seeking ahead of July's G8 summit in Scotland.

The BBC's economics correspondent, Andrew Walker, says it is also unclear how the aid pledged so far will be funded.

Britain does not want the money to be drawn from sums already earmarked for poverty relief.

However, the US has so far said the World Bank and International Monetary Fund must bear the cost of any additional aid.

On his first trip to Washington since winning a third term in office last month, Mr Blair said thousands of children were dying every day in Africa from preventable diseases.

"It's our duty to act, and we will," he said.

But he said Africa's leaders had to show a commitment to democracy and fighting corruption.

"It's not a something for nothing deal," Mr Blair said.


'Central commitment'

Mr Bush said the US had already tripled aid to Africa since he came to office.

Africa is "a central commitment of my presidency," Mr Bush said. "We're committed to doing more in the future."

The $674m he announced is part of the US aid budget that had already been announced but had not yet been allocated to any country.

The money will now be spent on humanitarian emergencies in Africa, with $414m going to Ethiopia and Eritrea for immediate help in fighting hunger.

But the US has refused to agree to give 0.7% of its national income - the amount recommended by the United Nations - in international aid.

Washington's position has angered some development experts.

"The US is not pulling its weight right now," said Professor Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University's Earth Institute.

UK aid agency Oxfam said Mr Blair "must not cave in to US pressure and water down proposals on aid, trade and debt... To lower the ambition at this critical stage, would be seen by many as a betrayal of Africa".

Conditional licence given to Coca-Cola unit

PALAKKAD: The Perumatty grama panchayat, at its meeting here on Monday, issued a three-month licence to the Coca-Cola bottling unit at Plachimada, placing 13 conditionalities. The licence was given to the unit in compliance with the order of a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on June 1.

The licence has been issued under the condition that the company should produce a fresh clearance certificate as required under the Hazardous Waste (Management and Handling) rule, 1989 before August 1.

Also, the company would not be permitted to bring water from outside or store it without obtaining the requisite licence under the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act or Rules framed thereunder and it should inform the panchayat about the drawal and use of the quantity of water fixed by the High Court.

The High Court had allowed the company to draw five lakh litres a day, of which one lakh should be made available for distribution to the public. The company requires at least 15 lakh litres of water a day for its viable functioning.

Yet another condition imposed by the panchayat is that "the company shall submit a detailed plan regarding the social security schemes ordered to be implemented by the High Court and intimate the same to the panchayat within a period of one month from Monday."

Any violation of these 13 conditions "will entail cancellation of licence issued subject to the order of the Supreme Court, which had already been approached by the panchayat."

The court had ordered that if the licence was not issued within the prescribed time, it should be deemed that the company possessed the licence and that it would be free to function with effect from June 10 for two years, subject to the restriction laid down in the Bench's earlier judgment. The panchayat order said that "it has received legal advice to comply with the order of the High Court first and then move the Supreme Court to protect and safeguard the rights and obligations of the panchayat under the Constitution of India and provisions of the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act."

Meanwhile, the panchayat has set up a defence committee to mobilise funds to fight the case in the Supreme Court.

Pak backs gas pipeline project with India

Islamabad,: Pakistan's prime minister on Monday gave strong backing for a transnational gas pipeline that would also supply arch rival India, saying it would foster ``an enduring relationship'' between the two countries.

India's petroleum and natural gas minister is currently visiting Islamabad for talks with Pakistani officials on proposed billion-dollar pipelines that would feed natural gas from Iran and Turkmenistan to India, via Pakistan.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said after meeting with the Indian minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar, that a pipeline would ``create linkages and interdependencies for establishing an enduring relationship between the two countries.''

``The prime minister expressed the hope that both India and Pakistan will work closely and give top priority so that the details of the pipeline project can be completed as early as possible,'' a statement issued by Aziz's office said.

A nascent peace process between India and Pakistan _ enemies in three wars since independence in 1947 _ has led to the talks on what would be by far the biggest economic cooperation project yet between the two neighbors.

The US$4 billion (euro3.3 billion) pipeline from Iran, first proposed by Tehran in 1996, has never gotten off the ground, largely because of India's concern for the security of the pipeline in Pakistan.

The other proposed pipeline from Turkmenistan has also been hampered by instability in Afghanistan, whose territory it would also have to pass through.

But Aiyar said he was confident the project would be launched in early 2006.

``We would like to get this project in some significance sense off the ground by the beginning of the new year,'' he said.

Aiyar was due to meet with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday when a joint statement was expected to be issued.

On Sunday, Jadoon assured Aiyar that Pakistan would take ``requisite security measures'' to provide security to the proposed pipeline in Pakistan.

India wants to import gas to meet the growing energy needs of its rapidly expanding economy, and Pakistan, which would also have access to the gas, would earn transit fees from a pipeline passing through its territory to India.

The United States has voiced opposition to the pipeline from Iran. Washington has no diplomatic relations with Iran and wants to keep international pressure on the Tehran regime over its nuclear program.

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Sponging dolphins learn from mum

Female bottlenose dolphins are taught by their mothers to use marine sponges to look for food, according to a study.

The finding represents the first case of material culture observed in a marine mammal species.

An international team looked at wild dolphins from western Australia and used DNA analysis to investigate if the behaviour could be inherited.

They tell the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences it is most probaby transmitted socially.
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Biologists observing the dolphins in eastern Shark Bay saw the animals break marine sponges off the seafloor and wear them over their snouts to probe into the seafloor for fish.

Sponging was mostly confined to females - only one out of the 13 regular spongers was male.

"It looks like the animals use the sponge as a kind of glove to probe the [sediments]. It might just give them protection against some noxious critters hiding in there," said Michael Krützen, of the University of Zürich in Switzerland, co-author of the study.

"But they might also be able to chase other fish living on the seafloor. That's what it looks like from the surface. We can't go in the water; Shark Bay was given its name for a reason," he told the BBC News website.

All in the genes?

If genetic explanations for sponging could be discounted, it was likely the behaviour was passed down from mother to daughter through learning.

To investigate possible genetic factors, the team took small tissue samples from the dolphins' dorsal fins for DNA analysis
Results from mithochondrial DNA (mtDNA) - which is passed down the maternal line only - suggested spongers were part of a close-knit family group with a very recent common ancestor - a "sponging Eve" if you like.

This suggested transmission of sponging within a single "matriline" (a related group of animals linked by descent through the female line), but did not resolve whether it was learnt or inherited.

A complex pattern of inheritance based on multiple genes that can be shuffled during sexual reproduction was considered unlikely. "Why, then, would it be confined to one maternal line?" Dr Krützen proffered.

So the researchers investigated whether sponging might be inherited via a single gene. None of the 10 possible single-gene scenarios matched what researchers saw in the field.

'Recent switch'

"It's really hard to make genetic arguments for recent switches in behaviour, because things don't happen that quickly in populations," commented Grant Pogson, an evolutionary biologist at University of California, Santa Cruz, US.

Professor Andrew Read, professor of conservation biology at Duke University in Beaufort, US, said: "There have been similar insights from sea otters, so it wouldn't particularly surprise me if it were true.

"In bottlenose dolphins in Saratoga [US] there have been some suggestions that individually specific foraging behaviours are likely to be transferred from mother to daughter because of the long time they spend together."

It is unclear why the behaviour is confined solely to females, but clues may come from a recent study of chimpanzees.

A paper published in Nature last year suggested female chimps learn from their mothers how to gather termites much faster than males - who prefer to spend more of their time playing.

Dr Krützen added: "Those who work on these animals know that if there is a prime candidate for socially transmitted behaviour - culture - in the marine mammal world, it is bottlenose dolphins."

"It has been shown in captivity that they can socially learn - they can imitate. If one dolphin can do it then others should be able to."

Pope Slams Gay 'Pseudo-Matrimony'

Pope Benedict XVI condemned same-sex unions as anarchic "pseudo-matrimony" Monday and reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church's opposition to abortion.

Benedict repeatedly referred to marriage as a union between man and woman in an address to a conference of the Diocese of Rome on the role of the family held at St. John Lateran basilica.

He said matrimony was not just a "casual sociological construction" that changed in certain times in history but rather an institution that had its roots "in the most profound essence of the human being."

"The various forms of the dissolution of matrimony today, like free unions, trial marriages and going up to pseudo-matrimonies by people of the same sex, are rather expressions of an anarchic freedom that wrongly passes for true freedom of man," he said.

The Vatican defines matrimony as a divine union between man and woman.

Benedict, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, spearheaded a Vatican campaign against same-sex unions in 2003, issuing guidelines for Catholic politicians to oppose laws granting legal rights to gay couples when he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The former cardinal also frequently voiced the church's opposition to abortion — a message he repeated Monday.

Children, he said, were the fruit of marriage and reflected God's love for man.

"From here it becomes all the more clear how contrary it is to human love, to the profound vocation of man and woman, to systematically close their union to the gift of life, and even worse to suppress or tamper with the life that is born," he said.



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'China willing to solve boundary issue on basis of equality'

Beijing: China is willing to solve the boundary issue with India on the basis of equality and consultation with mutual understanding and concessions.

This was stated by the Chief of Staff of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), Liang Guanglie, during his meeting with National Security Advisor M K Narayanan, who is also India's Special Representative on the Sino-India boundary issue, in New Delhi, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Liang said the PLA was also ready to build confidence measures with the Indian army at the military areas along the Line of Actual Control, and continue keeping peace and tranquillity along the border.

The PLA chief, who also called on the Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, was told by Mukherjee that friendly atmosphere built by the two sides was helpful to the solution of border problems left over by history, Xinhua said.

Mukerjee said Liang's visit was another important high-level contact between the two countries after the official visit of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to India in April. He said Liang's visit itself proved the closeness of bilateral relationship.

The consensus concerning peace, stability and mutual prosperity is conducive to the further contacts of the two countries, he said, Xinhua reported.

Saddam faces trial for gassing Kurds, executing leaders

Baghdad: Former dictator Saddam Hussein faces a range of charges from gassing thousands of Kurds to executing political and religious leaders, a list of the cases against him showed on Monday.



Iraqi officials want the case against Saddam, who could face 500 charges if prosecutors want to proceed on all counts, to concentrate on about a dozen thoroughly documented cases that authorities believe the ousted leader will be convicted on.



A list obtained by The Associated Press today from the special tribunal, which will hear the case against Saddam and 11 of his henchmen, showed that prosecutors seem to be concentrating on 14 cases. Many received international attention during Saddam's three decades in power.



The list contains few details. Iraqi authorities believe the trial against Saddam, which could commence within two months, will have a major effect on curbing the violent insu

UDF jolted in Kerala

Kannur: Dealing a sever blow to ruling Congress-led UDF in Kerala, CPI(M)-controlled Left Democratic Front (LDF) on Sunday retained the Koothuparamba and Azhikode assembly seats with historic wins in the by-polls held in the Marxist heartland of Kannur district.



While CPI(M) nominee P Jayarajan pulverised Congress's K Prabhakaran in Koothuparamba defending the seat by a margin of 45,406 votes, his party colleague M Prakasan triumphed in nearby Azhikode trouncing his CMP rival C A Ajeer by an impressive margin of 26,376 votes.



LDF not only considerably improved on its performance of 2001 assembly polls but even bettered its lead of the last year's Lok Sabha polls in the two segments, when the Congress drew a blank in the state.



Held close on the heels of the Congress split in the state caused by veteran leader K Karunakaran and desertion of two minor partners from the ruling front, the by-poll results dashed UDF's hope of at least reducing its rival's winning margin.



The two by-polls also attracted added attention as the BJP did not put up nominees, triggering the charge that the saffron party had been hand-in-glove with the UDF.



The fledgling National Congress (Indira) floated by Karunakaran had thrown its weight behind LDF, making it clear that its prime aim for the time being is to embarrass the UDF government led by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.



In 2001, CPI(M) won Koothuparmba with a margin of 19,000 votes and Azhikode with a margin of 9,000 votes.

25 pc nuclear energy necessary for economic growth: AEC

Hyderabad,: Even as the country is targeting to generate 20,000 megawatts (MWe) of nuclear power by 2020, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Chairman Anil Kakodkar on Sunday cautioned that India's economic growth would be in jeopardy unless in the next five decades at least 25 per cent of its total electricity was derived from "nuclear mode."



Delivering the keynote address at the 14th National Symposium on Environment organised by the Osmania University's Physics Department and BARC's Human Safety and Environment Group here, Dr Kakodkar said the Department of Atomic Energy's recent study, covering a "horizon for the next 50 years," pointed out a "sizeable deficit" in the energy sector.



This was despite liberal collation of "all" sources, including nuclear power and DAE's expansion of electricity generating capacity to cope with the economic growth.



Unless nuclear power attained a minimum 25 per cent share of the total electricity production, it would be difficult to sustain the economic growth and empower its people by 2050, he said.



Later in his brief interaction with the media, he said the projection will mean "a 13-14 fold" increase for nuclear power to contribute atleast one-fourth of the electricity generation in the country.



"It will mean doubling our (nuclear power) generation every six to eight years," he said, expressing confidence that financial resources would not be a obstacle for the nuclear programme.



The AEC Chairman pointed out that Uranium, the base material for nuclear power generation, needed "at least 15-20 times less" material excavation than either coal or oil and had "million times" higher calorific value than coal.



With the Fast breeder reactor and thorium reactors, programmed by the DAE, the quantity of same Uranium can be recycled for generation of electricity.



The Atomic Energy Programme had developed the process for efficient extraction per tonne of (nuclear) material and the technology for the management of (nuclear) waste which was on par with the best technologies in the world.



He said the major challenge before India was to arrest degradation of its natural resources, including water and minerals, energy and food to support the economic development needed to cope with increasing population growth.



"The challenge of development is to restore to the original," he said.



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Congress gets power in Goa, sweeps Haryana but loses elsewhere

NEW DELHI: Congress, which came under attack during the political turmoil in Goa three months ago, on Sunday stormed back to power in the state and swept all the three bye-elections in Haryana but lost in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, where the Samajwadi party opened its account winning the Shimoga Lok Sabha constituency.



Winning three of the five by-elections on its own and with its ally NCP bagging one seat, the Congress-led United Legislature party raised its tally to 21 in a house of 39 in Goa which came under President's rule in March after two controversial confidence votes that unseated BJP and placed Congress in power.



BJP won the fifth seat and raised its tally to 17.



It also has the support of UGDP MLA. Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, at present a Lok Sabha member, fulfilled the constitutional requirement of becoming a member of the assembly when he won the Kiloi seat with a huge margin of over one lakh votes defeating INLD'S Azad Singh Attri.



Two of his party colleagues, Savitri Jindal and Kiran Choudhary, rode a sympathy wave to secure similar margins of victory in Hissar and Tosham in the wake of death of their husbands O P Jindal and Surender Singh, both ministers, who were killed in a helicopter crash a few months ago.



All the seats were retained by Congress, which has 67 members in a house of 90.



The Samajwadi Party made its parliamentary debut from the south with former chief minister S Bangarappa winning the Shimoga Lok Sabha constituency, which he had quit as a BJP member to join SP a few months ago.



He defeated Ayanur Manjunath, a former foe who now contested on a Congress ticket, by a margin of 28,000 votes.



Elsewhere, Congress ran out of luck. In the Chamrajpet assembly constituency in Karnataka vacated by former chief minister S M Krishna, the party lost to its coalition partner JD (S) when its candidate R V Devaraj was humbled by Jamir Ahmed Khan by 3278 votes.



In neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, in the Penukonda assembly constituency opposition Telugu Desam's P Sunita defeated her nearest Congress rival B Sriramulu by a margin of 18,850 votes.



Sunita cashed on the sympathy wave generated by the killing of her husband Paritala Ravi, a TDP MLA, late last year in the faction-ridden Rayalaseema region of the state.



The ruling Congress-led united democratic front in Kerala was dealt a severe blow when its candidates belonging to Congress and CMP lost both the by-elections to CPI-M In Koothuparamba and Azhikode with record margins of defeat.



In retaining the two seats, the CPM)-led LDF improved on its performance in the 2001 Assembly Polls and bettered its lead in the last year's Lok Sabha polls in the two segments.



In Uttar Pradesh, retaining its supremacy the ruling Samajwadi party-RLD combine swept all the four seats to which by-elections were held. SP's nominees won in Allahabad (west), Varanasi (north) and Haiser Bazar (Reserved) while ally RLD's candidate won in Khairagarh.



The Congress legislature party will meet on Monday in Panaji to elect its new leader amidst indications that the race for the chief ministers would be among Pratapsinh Rane, Ravi Naik and Lusinho Faleiro.

US pushes democracy at OAS summit

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has called for greater intervention by the Organisation of American States in promoting democracy in Latin America.

Opening an OAS summit in Florida, she highlighted concerns over political crises in Bolivia, Ecuador and Haiti.



Private groups and individuals should be able to raise concerns with the OAS to help monitor democracy, she said.



But Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accused the United States of seeking to impose a "global dictatorship."



"So, they're going to try to monitor the Venezuelan government through the OAS, they must be joking!" he said, speaking in Caracas shortly before the conference opened on Sunday.



"If there is any government that should be monitored by the OAS, then it should be the US government," he added.



Purpose, not ideal



Ministers from 34 Latin American and Caribbean nations are in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to discuss the region's most pressing problems.

"When you look at some of the fragile democracies that there are, it's very clear that the institution needs to be better capable of dealing with them," said Condoleezza Rice.



There was also an appeal for the OAS to advance democracy where it was absent - a reference to Communist Cuba.



Cuba was suspended from the OAS in 1961, two years after President Fidel Castro came to power.



"We must never, never accept that democracy is merely an ideal to be admired instead of a purpose to be realized," said the US secretary of state.



'Key moment'



President George Bush will address the conference on Monday.



He is expected to push a free trade agreement between the US, Central America and the Dominican Republic, known as Cafta.



Nearly all Latin American countries have moved from dictatorship to democracy over the last three decades - but elected governments have still been liable to fall or be overthrown.



Ms Rice said she had confidence that the new OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza, of Chile, could help bring about a change in fortunes for the region.



The US had originally backed Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez for the job, but he lost out when the organization came to vote for its new leader last month.



Extradition dispute



The rhetorical clash with Venezuela was expected, but she will further rile President Chavez when she meets a fierce opponent of his government, Maria Corina Machado, on Monday.



The two countries are also expected to clash over the fate of the terror suspect Luis Posada Carriles.



Venezuela wants him extradited for alleged involvement in the bombing of a Cuban plane in 1976, in which 73 people died.



The US has so far only charged him with immigration offences.



US government officials said prior to the meeting there would be no attempt to provoke a dispute with Caracas at the OAS summit.



Ms Rice met Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez at a private event prior to the official opening of the conference.

Fisheries Department for tie-up with Singapore for aqua park

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Fisheries Department and the Fish Research Management Society are planning to go in for collaboration with the Singapore Government's Agri-food and Veterinary Authority for setting up an aqua park at Kadungalore in Ernakulam District.

A decision to this effect was taken after talks between Fisheries Minister Dominic Presentation and Singapore Agri-food and Veterinary Authority Director Leslie Chiang and Ling Kai Huat, head of the aquaculture Centre of the Authority for setting up the aqua park.

The park would be established in a 10-acre plot with the financial assistance of the Marine Product Export Development Authority with a view to promoting ornamental fish market. The Singapore authority has expressed the willingness to train Kerala officials in modern fisheries technology, Mr. Presentation told The Hindu.

He said that he had also held discussions with Technofish Green Aquaculture, a Malaysian company, for developing an aquarium near Neyyar Dam. The State Government had already spent Rs.2 crores on the aquarium and the work had been stalled on this project. Mr. Presentation said he held discussions with company managing director Raymond Cheah and Director Xiang Lengh on the proposal.

He said that the two proposals would help boost export of ornamental fish from Kerala. A few ornamental fish varieties were popular in the world market. Technofish had also expressed its willingness to train youths in ornamental fisheries.

He said that the Malaysian team would arrive in Kerala this month.

The team is expected to conduct a survey on exports. The Malaysian group would extend financial and technical support for the project proposals prepared by the Fisheries Department for setting up the aquarium at Neyyar.

Malaysia and Singapore would participate in the International Ornamental Fish Exhibition in February 2, Mr. Presentation said.

Nationwide strike by petrol pumps on June 20

Kolkata,: Petrol pumps in the country will remain closed for a day on June 20 in response to a token strike called by the Federation of All-India Petroleum Dealers, demanding transparency in price fixation for petrol and diesel, besides dealer commission on percentage basis.

"All pumps in the country will remain closed on June 20. If the government does not pay heed, the pumps will go for an indefinite closure from July 18," Federation managing committee member Tushar Sen told PTI.

Sen, who is also the working president of the West Bengal Petroleum Dealers Association, said the Association, at its executive body meeting yesterday, has also decided to join the day-long token strike on June 20.

"We think that the Federation's demands are justified. We in West Bengal have also been demanding commission on percentage basis for the past 15 years. Now we get a fixed commission on sale per litre," he said.

Pointing out that dealer commission in Pakistan was five percent, Nepal four percent, Malaysia six percent and Thailand seven percent, he said, "Paying dealer commission on percentage basis is the international norm. Why should we be deprived of it?"

He claimed that pump owners in West Bengal are witnessing a reduction in commission because of dwindling sales.

Pope aide 'has not burned papers'

The personal secretary of the late Pope John Paul II says he has not burned the former pontiff's personal papers as the Pope had requested.
Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz said the papers were a great treasure and should be "saved and preserved for posterity".

He told Polish radio that the late Pope's notes should gradually be made available to the public.

He also suggested that they might help in the process of naming Pope John Paul as a saint.

Mr Dziwisz, who worked alongside the former Pope for almost 40 years, was named archbishop of Krakow by Pope Benedict XVI on Friday.

'Huge treasure'

http://imagehost.bizhat.com/img_page.php/225/7685/7226_41219295_filepopeap203b.jpg
In Pope John Paul's testament made public shortly after his death, the pontiff said he had asked Archbishop Dziwisz to oversee the burning of his personal documents and notes.
However, in an interview with Polish public radio, he said he felt his devotion to the late pontiff and his teachings outweighed his responsibility to destroy the papers.

"Everything will be examined carefully and put in order," he said.

"None of it is fit to be burned. It is a great heritage, a huge treasure, great texts of a rich variety. All of it should be kept for posterity."

Archbishop Dziwisz said the documents had to be studied and in the long run, he hoped they might even be published and help in the process of John Paul being made a saint.

The archbishop said he had also kept his own copious notes about the late Pope and they, too, could be made public.

Archbishop Dziwisz became secretary to Karol Wojtyla, in 1966 when he was archbishop of Krakow, and remained at John Paul II's side throughout his pontificate.

Chirac, Schroeder urge EU action

The German and French leaders have urged EU nations to continue ratifying the constitution despite the "No" votes in France and the Netherlands.
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and President Jacques Chirac voiced their position after meeting in Berlin.

Meanwhile, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has said the bloc must not fall into paralysis despite the setbacks.

He urged EU leaders to "turn a crisis into an opportunity".

'Profound unity'

"The chancellor and President Chirac were in agreement that the constitutional process must continue so that the views of each country are respected," German government spokesman Bela Anda told reporters after the two leaders met for dinner.

Meanwhile, his French counterpart Jerome Bonnafont said the talks "demonstrated a profound unity of views on what has happened in Europe and what must happen going forward".

Mr Chirac may have felt a tinge of envy when he sat down for the dinner, the BBC's Ray Furlong in Berlin says.

Mr Schroeder got the EU constitution ratified in parliament almost unanimously, avoiding the mess that a referendum might have caused.

The two leaders know there is considerable scepticism about the ratification process continuing and are particularly concerned that Britain might declare the constitution dead before the EU summit in mid-June, our correspondent says.

They also discussed the EU budget covering 2007-2013.

Germany, the biggest contributor to EU funds, wants Britain to make concessions over the budget rebate won by Margaret Thatcher in 1984.

But this would be politically explosive in the UK, our correspondent says.

'Intelligent synthesis'

Speaking in Messina, Italy, earlier on Saturday, Mr Barroso said: "It is vital that we use the present moment to forge a new consensus."

"What we need now is an intelligent synthesis between the market and the state which can help Europe win and not lose in the face of globalisation," he said.

"It is the role of the Commission... to avoid a confrontation between the different models or perceptions in Europe."

Mr Barroso was apparently referring to the French referendum on the EU constitution, which revealed local fears that Europe may be increasingly turning to the "Anglo-Saxon" liberal economic model.

However, Mr Barroso added that he "cannot see how to reopen negotiations with a view to revising the constitution".

"Its text represents a very delicate compromise which took several years to work out," he said.

Sand-mining: Government for debate on panel report

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy, said here on Friday that the report of the expert committee on mineral sand-mining on the Alappuzha coast would be discussed with all concerned.

Talking to presspersons after a meeting of the Cabinet, the Chief Minister said that talks would be held with people's representatives, trade union leaders, environmental activists and others who had joined the debate when the matter became controversial.

After the discussions, the matter would go before the Cabinet for decision in accordance with the announcement made before the appointment of the committee. The Chief Minister said that the inquiry report of Home Secretary K.K. Vijayakumar on the Vigilance Director's statement about non-receipt of files from the State Electricity Board for the vigilance probe into alleged irregularities in the award of contract for renovation of Pallivasal, Chengulam and Panniyar power stations had not been discussed by the Cabinet on Friday. The Chief Secretary had received the report. The Cabinet did not take it up as the Home Secretary was out of station.

Nursing schools


Mr. Chandy announced that the Cabinet had decided to grant no-objection certificates to 13 new nursing schools. Besides, 12 new B.Sc. (Nursing) courses and three post-basic B.Sc. courses would be sanctioned in the existing nursing colleges. The Government proposed to grant more NOCs if the applicant fulfilled the required conditions. No relaxation of norms would be permitted.

However, the facilities in Government hospitals would be extended to fulfil bed requirements if credible organisations of Scheduled Castes and Tribes or their cooperatives came forward to start nursing colleges or schools.

Though the Government had been liberal in sanctioning nursing schools and colleges, none had gone to organisations of Scheduled Castes and Tribes so far.

Kalam visits missile factory in Ukraine

Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine), June 4 (PTI): President A P J Abdul Kalam was on his home turf as the first citizen of the country, also known as 'India's missile man', visited the Yuzhnoye, an establishment in Ukraine engaged in manufacture of space rockets.

A day before ending his 14-day sojourn to four countries, the President arrived in this town, 500 kms from Kyiv, in a special IL-62 aircraft where he was received by the Governor and Mayor of the city.

The President, who was accorded a traditional welcome, drove straight to Research production enterprise Yuzhnoye, where he attended a briefing by scientists.

The delegation of Kalam consisted of senior scientists including Chairman of Indian Space Research and Organisation, G Madhavan Nair.

The President received a briefing from the scientists here about their new projects.

Yuzhnoye was established in 1954 and shot into prominence after the development of a missile based on radically new technologies of hypergolic propellant components and use of self-contained guidance and control system.

After the breakup of erstwhile USSR and declaring the denuclearised status of the country, the establishment was assigned a new programme of the missile weapons development which includes anti-aircraft missile defence system, air-borne, sea-borne, sea-based and surface-deployed missile systems.

New thrust to Indo-US ties: PM to meet Bush on July 18

NEW DELHI: Embarking on his first bilateral visit to deepen and widen the Indo-US ties, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet President George W Bush on July 18.

The three-day visit, at the invitation of Bush, is aimed at taking the process further based on a shared vision of the leaders of the two democracies, External Affairs Ministry spokesman said here on Friday.

A host of issues, including civilian nuclear energy, co-operation in space and technology and UN reforms are expected to figure in the talks between the two leaders, officials said here.

Ways of further boosting the ties will also be explored during the discussions, the officials said.

Singh and Bush have met at least twice, including on the sidelines of last year’s UN General Assembly since the UPA Government came to power last May but the upcoming meeting between the two leaders will be the first at the bilateral level.

India and the US are engaged in the process of enhancing their multi-faceted co-operative relationship with a number of high-level exchanges taking place recently.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited India in March soon after her appointment to Bush’s new team . Her visit was followed by Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca and top defence officials.

Defence co-operation is also likely to figure in the talks between Singh and Bush in the backdrop of mutual desire to expand relations in this field and Washington’s offer of multi-role combat aircraft to Indian Air force.

The strategic relations between the two countries, which had received a setback after the 1998 Pokhran nuclear tests, have lately undergone a transformation.

The two countries have begun the Next Step in Strategic Partnership (NSSP) dialogue, covering high technology trade. The first phase of NSSP has been completed and thrust is being given to expediting and expanding the second phase.

Ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit, the two countries launched a new bilateral dialogue on energy, which envisages setting up working groups focusing on, among other things, clean coal technology.

The ‘India-US Energy Dialogue’ was launched after a meeting between Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and US Secretary for Energy Samuel W Bodman in Washington on Wednesday.

Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and US Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, David Garman, will co-chair the steering committee supervising the five working groups.

Together, they will promote increased trade and investment in the energy sector to strengthen mutual energy security and promote stable energy markets to ensure adequate supplies, the statement said.

The first meetings of the working groups are expected to take place prior to Singh’s visit to the US.

BCCI will take up Ganguly ban issue

THIRUVANTHAPURAM: The cricket board on Friday made it clear that it had not given up on the issue of the six-match ban imposed on Indian captain Sourav Ganguly and would continue to pursue the matter with the International Cricket Council.

“We have written to the ICC that the six-match ban is too much. We are taking this up with the ICC,” Mahendra told reporters after BCCI's two-day working committee meeting here.

Ganguly was banned for six One-Day Internationals by ICC match referee Chris Broad after the Indian captain was found guilty for his side's slow over rate during the one-day series against Pakistan.

Ganguly, whose appeal against the ban was later turned down by ICC appeals commissioner Tim Castle, has already missed two matches - fifth and sixth one-dayer against Pakistan in April. If the ban stays, he would miss the Tri-Nation Series in Sri Lanka in August where West Indies is the third team.

US Guantanamo guard kicked Koran

US guards at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre kicked, threw water and splashed urine on copies of Koran.
The Pentagon has released details of five incidents in which the Koran was mishandled by US personnel at the camp, some intentional and others accidental.

In another incident a two-word English obscenity was found written in a Koran.

The Pentagon carried out the investigation after Newsweek published, then retraced, a report that the Koran has been flushed down a toilet.

Water balloons

According to a newly-completed military inquiry into the alleged mishandling of Korans at the high-security detention centre in Cuba, some of the incidents were unintentional.

In one instance, a guard urinated near and air vent.

The wind allegedly blew his urine through the vent, soiling one detainee and his Koran.

According to the report, the guard was reprimanded and sanctioned, and the inmate was given a new uniform and Koran.

Other Korans became wet after night-shift guards had thrown balloons filled with water into a cell block, the report found.

In a third case, an interrogator reportedly apologised to a detainee after stepping on his Koran.

In a fourth incident, a soldier deliberately kicked Islam's holy book.

Finally, a prisoner found a "two-word obscenity" in English written in his copy of the Koran.

Brigadier General Jay Hood, commander at Guantanamo, concluded in his report that the words might have been written by a guard or by the detainee himself.

'Lasting damage'

The Newsweek report sparked protests across the Muslim world. In Afghanistan riots resulted in the deaths of at least 15 people.

Thousands rallied in Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan, Lebanon and Malaysia, demanding apologies from the US and punishment for those involved.

The magazine withdrew its story after saying it could no longer corroborate the report.

The inmate who made the original allegation about the Koran being flushed down the toilet had retracted it, said Brig Gen Hood.

The White House rounded on the magazine, saying its report had done "lasting damage" to the US image in the Muslim world.

Iraq Suicide Bombings Surged to 90 in May

BAGHDAD — Suicide bombings have surged to become the Iraqi insurgency's weapon of choice, with a staggering 90 attacks accounting for most of last month's 750 deaths at the militants' hands.

Suicide attacks outpaced car bombings almost 2 to 1 in May, according to figures compiled by the U.S. military, The Times and other media outlets. In April, there were 69 suicide attacks, more than in the entire year preceding the June 28, 2004 hand-over of sovereignty.

The frequency of suicide bombings here is unprecedented, exceeding that of Palestinian attacks against Israel and of other militant insurgencies, such as the Chechen rebellion in Russia. Baghdad saw five suicide bombings in a six-hour span Sunday.

Early today, gunmen fired randomly at a crowded market in the capital city, and at least three suicide bombings north of Baghdad led to dozens of deaths.

The first bombing, about 8 a.m., ripped through a restaurant in Tuz Khurmatu where the Kurdish deputy prime minister, Rosh Shawais, was having breakfast. He was unharmed but a bodyguard was among at least nine killed.

In Baqubah, another blast killed the deputy head of the Diyala province governing council, Hussein Alwan Timimi, and four others.

In Kirkuk, a bomber plowed his car into a U.S. consulate convoy. Four Iraqis reportedly were killed, and at least 11 were hurt, according to the Associated Press.

In Mosul, two motorcycles laced with explosives blew up near a restaurant, killing five Iraqis, according to wire reports.

With U.S.-led forces now better protected with concrete blast walls and rings of concertina wire and sandbags, militants have taken to targeting Iraqi police and civilians in their bid to persuade Iraqis that their new leaders can't protect them. And increasingly, Iraqis are believed to be carrying out some of the suicide attacks.

U.S. officials and Iraqi analysts say the insurgents' resources are increasing on several fronts: money to buy vehicles and explosives, expertise in wiring car and human bombs, and intelligence leaks that help them target U.S. and Iraqi forces.

Suicide attacks are on the rise because the explosive devices "are simple to construct and easy to operate, thus making suicide bombers difficult to detect," said Navy Cmdr. Fred Gaghan, in charge of the Combined Explosive Exploitation Cell in Iraq that studies bomb scenes for clues to insurgent tactics.

"They are viewed by terrorists as a successful means with which to kill or injure coalition, Iraqi security forces and innocent Iraqi citizens," Gaghan said.

"At this time, there is nothing to indicate that the availability of volunteers is on the decline," he said, noting the media coverage and videos of suicide bombings posted on the Internet that are said to fuel extremist recruitment.

Saad Obeidi, a retired Iraqi major general and security expert, suggested that President Bush had invited Islamic extremists to bring their fight against America here.

"One aim of the U.S. military once it invaded Iraq was to lure all insurgents and terrorists from all over the world to confront them here," he said.

The first suicide bombings of the insurgency were attributed to foreign infiltrators — mostly Palestinians, Yemenis, Syrians and Saudis. But Obeidi believes that has changed.

"The Iraqi way of thinking in the past totally rejected that someone would kill himself," Obeidi said. "But once they realized how powerful this weapon is and saw its effectiveness, Iraqis started getting involved in suicide operations."

Some U.S. officials agree.

"There's a kind of axiom out there that says Iraqis aren't suicide bombers," Gen. George W. Casey, commander of multinational forces in Iraq, told reporters in Baghdad this year. "I'm not sure that's the case. I believe there are Iraqi Islamic extremists that are very capable of getting into cars and blowing themselves up."

Other U.S. officials say they still believe that foreign fighters are responsible for most of the suicide attacks, which have increasingly targeted Iraqis.

Israel releases 398 Palestinians

Israel has released almost 400 Palestinian prisoners, as part of a ceasefire deal agreed in February.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pledged to free 900 inmates in a deal with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Some 500 were let out soon after, but the second release was delayed while Israel said the Palestinians should do more to stop militant attacks.

Two men chose not to be released - one so he could finish exams and the other to stay with his brother - Israel said.

The 398 detainees who were freed on Thursday were taken by bus from Israel to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

They waved and many made the V for victory sign as they stepped off into Palestinian territory.

"I am happy to be free but thousands of others are still behind bars," Yousef Habas, 31, told the Reuters news agency at a checkpoint near the town of Ramallah.

Lebanon president urged to resign

Lebanon's opposition has called for pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud to resign over the killing of a leading journalist in Beirut on Thursday.
Samir Qasir, an opposition figure and critic of Syrian influence in Beirut, was killed by a bomb placed in his car.

An opposition statement said Mr Lahoud must resign over Qasir's death, which comes amid closely-contested elections.

Mr Lahoud has condemned the attack and Syria has rejected opposition charges that it engineered Qasir's killing.

Qasir's death was the most high-profile assassination in Lebanon since former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri died in a bomb blast on 14 February.

That killing plunged the country into its worst political crisis since the 1975-1990 war, prompting massive demonstrations and international pressure that led Syria to end its 29-year military presence in Lebanon.

HC asks Panchayat to renew Coke license within one week

kochi: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday directed the Perumatty Grama Panchayat to renew the license of soft drink giant Coca-Cola's controversial plant at Plachimada in Palakkad district, within one week.

A Division Bench of the High Court issued the direction to the licensing authority of the panchayat to renew the license for the Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Ltd on a petition by the latter.

The bench comprising Justice M. Ramachandran and Justice K.P. Balachandran further said if a formal license was not issued by the panchayat within one week, it should be deemed that the company possesses such license and it will be within their right to carry on the functioning of the factory with effect from June 10 for a period of two years.

The Court noted that even after the Cola plant fulfilled all mandatory conditions, the panchayat denied license to it. ``This was highly improper and per se shows a closed mind. The orders of the Court had been trifled with and we restrain ourselves from using strong words,'' the order said.

The court added the ''panchayat has been ill-advised in the course followed, and if further directions are not followed, it may tantamount to shirking of responsibility and we have to ensure lawful orders are obeyed.

"A panchayat is entitled to hold an opinion but when courts have pronounced upon rights and abilities, they have to gracefully accept the verdict. This is the rule of the law, as we understand it,'' the order further stated.

In its petition, the Cola company submitted that notwithstanding the direction in the earlier judgement, a negative approach had been shown by the panchayat which refused to renew the licence.

The stance of the panchayat was that it had discussed all the aspects in the case and was convinced that the company had not submitted application for renewal, fulfilling conditions stipulated by the High Court.

But the Court found that along with the applications, Coca-Cola submitted clearance certificates and licences issued under pollution control law and Factories Act. The enclosures included licences issued by director of Factories and Boilers, consent letter under Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution act) and the consent letter of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution Act).

The High Court, in April, had allowed the Plachimada plant to draw groundwater not exceeding five lakh litres per day for the year 2005-2006 taking note of the average rainfall. However, the Panchayat declined to renew the licence forcing the company to approach the High Court again.

A three-year-old agitation, led by tribals and later enforced by political parties and activist organistions, is going on before the plant, demanding its permanent closure.

ADB to give $700,000 green loan to India

Singapore,(UNI): The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday announced a technical assistance grant of US$700,000 to help India to efficiently undertake clean development mechanism (CDM) projects to cut back on greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions into the atmosphere.

The TA, financed by the Canadian Government and administered through ADB's Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency and Climate Change Program, will support various stakeholders in specific CDM sectors and selected areas to strengthen India's overall position as one of the key players in the evolving international carbon market.

"India has the potential to play a major role in the global CDM market, as significant potential for GHG reduction at relatively low marginal abatement costs is available across various sectors that are growing rapidly," said Ashok Sarkar, an ADB energy specialist.

The Kyoto Protocol sets binding targets for industrialised countries for the reduction of GHG emissions that would lower the risk of global climate change.

CDM is a market-based financial instrument set up under the Kyoto Protocol that allows industrialised countries to invest in developing country projects and acquire GHG emission reduction credits, or carbon credits, that they can then use to meet their GHG emission reduction targets under the protocol.

A CDM facility was also set up in ADB in September 2003 to provide technical and administrative assistance to eligible projects in parallel with project identification and loan processing, and to help in transactions with potential buyers of carbon credits generated by such projects.

"The CDM is emerging as a key vehicle of multilateral cooperation to tackle the potential risks of global climate change," Mr Sarkar added.

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New Delhi's new French connection is Prime Minister Villepin

NEW DELHI: French celebrations over the election of Dominique de Villepin as the new French Prime Minister has come with a dash of Indian spice. And why not? For Villepin's Indian friends, it is time to cheer the once-familiar Delhi face who's best remembered for his “aristocratic looks, sharp intellect and love for food.”

Villepin's two stints in India, first as the second councillor at the French Embassy in 1989-90 and then as the first councillor in 1990-92, have given Indians enough reason to join the French celebrations.

As conservationist and art historian, Aman Nath put it, “I am extremely happy that a man like Villepin has become the prime minister. He loves India which is a good thing for our country.”

Nath remembers him as a man who was a complete India-wallah. Calling him a “contemporary man with an extremely positive outlook,” he added, “I am pleased that Villepin now holds the top job.”

Nath recalled the Villepin couple's inimitable hospitality. “Like the stereotypical French, they loved to eat well and drink well. Their parties were always thoughtfully organised with interesting people and, most importantly, interesting conversation. To my mind, Villepin typifies the clichéd Frenchman-dapper, elegant and intelligent.”

To Indophile French hotelier Francis Wacziarg “what strikes me most about Dominique is his very modest approach, he's not the kind to carry a chip on his shoulder. Which is why I am delighted at the news of his becoming PM. This appointment will do good for Indo-French relations. I think I will post him a letter congratulating him.”

Wacziarg, who runs the The Neemrana Music Foundation, added, “As a young diplomat, he was simply mulling over the change. His father Xavier whom I knew asked me to speak to Dominique. I met him in Paris and we spoke for over an hour. Through our conversation I remember telling him of the good life in India. I almost feel instrumental in getting him to come here.”

Others like Dalip Mehta, member secretary, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) who had known Villepin in Delhi, recalled, “I had been to the get-togethers at his residence in Vasant Vihar. He was quite unlike the usual diplomats. One could connect with him and his wife Marie Laure at a very human level. He knew a lot of people in Delhi, served the best French food, even by the high French standards, and came across as particularly intelligent and knowledgeable.”

Conservationist O P Jain said, “Villepin was very good. He was very culturally oriented and loved India dearly. Certain cultural activities that he started here during his stint later went on to become benchmarks. Given his association with India, it may bring the two countries closer which will be wonderful.”

A Chirac loyalist, Villipen is known to be an eloquent speaker, sometimes even poetic. He has been Interior minister for the past year but made his mark as Foreign minister. It was as Foreign minister that de Villepin voiced his opposition to the Iraq war.

Born in 1953 in Rabat, capital of the former French colony Morocco, Villepin has been a career diplomat and played a key role in Chirac's inner circle for a decade.

He is a graduate of the prestigious Ecole Nationale D'Administration, a traditional breeding ground for top civil servants and politicians. He was named a top aide to the President in 1995 after playing a senior role at the Foreign Ministry and was a prime mover behind Chirac's early dissolution of Parliament in 1997.

Dutch say 'No' to EU constitution

Voters in the Netherlands have overwhelmingly rejected the proposed European Union constitution
Provisional final results indicated that 61.6% of voters said "No" to the charter and 38.4% approved it.

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, who campaigned for a "Yes" vote, said he would respect the result.

The vote deals what could be a decisive blow to the constitution, which was also rejected by French voters in a referendum at the weekend.

Mr Balkenende said he was "very disappointed" with the result but he said his government would honour the vote, which was consultative rather than legally binding.

The turnout was 62.8%, more than the double the level politicians said was needed for the vote to be accepted as the public's verdict on the treaty.

With some postal ballots still to be counted, the official result is not expected till 6 June.

Mr Balkenende said that despite the result, the ratification process should continue in other countries.

Nine countries have ratified the constitution, but it needs to be approved by the EU's 25 member states to become law.

UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the result of the French and Dutch votes "now raises profound questions for all of us about the future direction of Europe".

Popular discontent

One of the leading "no" campaigners in the Netherlands, right-wing politician Geert Wilders, told reporters he had not expected such a decisive result - which exceeded poll predictions.

I am extremely happy with it," he said.

"If you realise that two-thirds of parliament supported the constitution and two out of three people in the land are against, it means a lot is wrong in the country."

The BBC's Geraldine Coughlan in The Hague says many voters feel that Brussels has too much power and that their national politicians are not protecting them enough.

"No" supporters are also afraid of Brussels interfering in their liberal policies on soft drugs and gay marriage, they are disillusioned with the single currency, the Euro, and some disagree on rapid EU enlargement, our correspondent adds.
The centre-right government and major opposition parties had supported the draft constitution and argued that it would enhance Dutch influence in Europe.

The document was signed last year, after lengthy negotiations between members states.

It brings together for the first time the many treaties and agreements on which the EU is based. It defines the powers of the EU, stating where it can and cannot act and where the member states retain their right of veto.

It also defines the role of the EU institutions.

The constitution was rejected by 55% of French voters in a referendum on Sunday.

Kerala Government's debt mounts to Rs. 41,709 cr.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Finance Minister, Vakkom Purushothaman, has said that the debts of the State Government had reached Rs. 41,709 crores as of March 31, 2005, according to provisional figures available with his department.

Mr. Purushothaman was candid about the State's financial difficulties, when he addressed a press conference here on Tuesday. "We have not been successful in tackling our financial difficulties. You should, however, give credit to the Government for managing the situation well. Things are going on without any hitches," he said.

He claimed that the Government had been able to check the growth in debt. Borrowings increased by only 11.37 per cent in 2004-05, compared to 20.58 per cent in 2003-04, 15.25 per cent in 2002-03, 12.67 per cent in 2001-02, 18.55 per cent in 2000-01 and 28.5 per cent in 1999-2000.

When the UDF came to power in 2001, the debts of the Government were of the order of Rs.23,918 crores. Responding to a question, he said he did not have with him the figures showing the year-to-year growth in debt in real terms for the above period.

On salary and pensions


"The debts are bound to grow since we have to spend up to 92 per cent of our revenue receipts on salary and pensions alone. No development activities will take place if we do not borrow," he said. Another reason, according to him, was that the Government was often constrained to spend more funds than the budgeted amounts on certain activities. "Release of funds often exceeds the allocations made in the Budget," he said, suggesting that managing the finances was often beyond the control of the Finance Minister.The Minister said the debt problem was not Kerala-specific. The borrowings were going up everywhere. In some of the States, the burden had crossed Rs.1 lakh crores, Mr. Purushothaman said.

Treasury restrictions


Referring to the treasury restrictions the Government had to impose on May 23, he said the matter was purely a case of temporary liquidity problem.

Army launches 'in-house verification' of Ayub's charge

NEW DELHI: The army has launched an "in-house verification" of the charge made by former Pakistan foreign minister Gohar Ayub Khan that an Indian brigadier had sold 1965 war plans to Pakistan for Rs 20,000, Army Chief Gen J J Singh said on Wednesday.

"Government has already directed an investigation. The army is doing an in-house verification on whether there is any authenticity or truth in the allegation," he said.

Observing that it would not be correct to jump to any conclusion, he said "We will wait for more information to come from the author if he has made the allegation".

"It is not correct to jump to conclusions or to speculate on a matter like this", the army chief said.

Though senior defence officials said the claims appeared "far-fetched" as Gohar Ayub is a known hawk in Pakistan, investigations were being carried on the directions of Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee to check the veracity of the claim and, if true, to identify the officer.

Gen Singh had on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting at the army headquarters here along with director of general military operations Lt Gen Madan Gopal and director of general military intelligence Lt Gen Deepak Summanwar.

Bacteria alert at Indonesia mission

Indonesia's embassy in Canberra has closed after receiving a package containing bacteria.
The incident comes amid Australian anger over the fate of Schapelle Corby, who was jailed for 20 years last week for smuggling drugs into Bali.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard apologised to Jakarta, saying many Indonesians would see the incident as damaging to bilateral relations.

He said the attack was "reckless" and would not help Corby's case.

Mr Howard said the package contained a quantity of the bacillus bacteria, and that more tests were being conducted.

"It's not an innocent white powder. It's some type of biological agent. I'm not a scientist but they say it belongs to the bacillus group and is being tested. I can't tell you any more than that," Mr Howard told Channel Nine television.

Most bacillus-type bacteria are harmless to humans, but one type - anthracis - causes anthrax in humans and animals.

Mr Howard said it was the first time a biological agent had been used in this way in Australia.

'Unhelpful'

Corby maintained her innocence throughout her trial, and on Wednesday lodged an appeal. Opinion polls suggest 90% of Australians agree with her version of events.

The embassy said it had received a number of threats recently and had tightened security.

Correspondents say the street outside the embassy, which is home to several diplomatic missions, had been cordoned off by police by Wednesday afternoon.

Mr Howard said the attack showed "reckless indifference to human life".

"It will do great damage in the eyes of many Indonesian people to the relationship between our countries and it certainly won't help Schapelle Corby," Mr Howard added.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told parliament the embassy would have to shut for "some period of time" and 22 of its staff would remain inside the embassy in isolation for 48 hours.

Public sympathy

Those who sympathised with Corby should put their energies into supporting her legal defence team, the foreign minister added.

"[They should] not put their energy into abuse and denigration of Indonesia, its institutions and its leaders and not undertake these sorts of activities, which are potentially threatening to Indonesian staff working here in Australia," he said.

Corby's case has stirred widespread public sympathy in Australia.

The 27-year-old beautician from Queensland has repeatedly said her luggage was tampered with, after she was arrested last October with 4.1kg of marijuana in her bags at Bali airport.

Many Australians now say they would boycott Bali, a destination desperately in need of tourists after the disastrous impact of the October 2002 bombing.

The Australian government has urged people to accept the verdict, but said it will supply lawyers to help Corby's appeal.