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India, Russia, China to step up 60 dead, 88 missing in China mine blast
India to lease N-submarine from Russia
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Pervez discusses peace process with new Commanders Exempt Indians from Visa Mantis review: Pallone US blacklists 9 Pak charitable bodies
Travelling in traffic trebles heart attack risk
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India, Russia, China to step up anti-terror fight Almaty (Kazakhstan) October 21 External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh during a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing proposed establishment of a trilateral forum for business communities of the three countries. Meeting for the fourth time as part of the Trilateral forum, the ministers emphasised the need for multilateralism and greater UN role in world affairs as they demonstrated “convergence of views” on various issues. They discussed the issues of Afghanistan and Iraq and underlined the importance of restoration of democracy and peace there. “We agreed that this is a useful format. We discussed issues of common interest and concern,” Lavrov, flanked by Singh and Li, told reporters after the meeting which decided to continue such deliberations annually. Lavrov said three countries agreed to intensify fight against terrorism and drug-trafficking and other challenges as these were the issues of common concerns and challenges. During the meeting, Mr K. Natwar Singh noted that all three countries were large and had immense scope for cooperation in business. Lavrov said he and the Chinese Foreign Minister will seek the reaction of business leaders in their countries in this regard. The three countries had “convergence of views” on various issues, like importance to intensify fight against terrorism and drug trafficking and noted common desire for a multilateral and a multipolar world order. They also agreed that after a Committee set up the UN to examine reforms in the world body submits its report, they will discuss it. On terrorism, the ministers agreed that the menace did not respect boundaries while noting that all the three countries had become its victims. The recent terror attack in Beslan in Russia and killing of Chinese in Afghanistan and Pakistan were cases in point.
— PTI
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60 dead, 88 missing in China mine blast
Beijing, October 21 While 60 miners were confirmed dead, 88 others were still stranded underground in the Daping coal mine in Central China, local sources said. “Their condition is still unknown,” the official Xinhua news agency quoted a rescuer at the site. An earlier estimate had said the death toll could cross the 200-mark. The hope for the missing miners to come out alive is very slim, Deputy Director of the State Administration of Work Safety Sun Huashan said citing past experiences. As many as 446 miners were at work underground when the accident occurred yesterday. As many as 298 miners managed to escape, whereas twenty injured miners, including four with serious wounds have been sent to the General Hospital of the Zhengzhou Coal Industry Group. The blast
occured after there was a sudden rise in the gas density in the mine which increased from 1.49 per cent to 40 per cent in just over two minutes, mine officials said.
— PTI |
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India to lease N-submarine from Russia
Moscow, October 21 The Akula-II class third generation nuclear powered submarine was inducted by the Soviet Navy in 1984 and is said to be superior to the US ‘Los Angeles’ class nuclear submarines. According to Itar-Tass, a similar N-submarine “Vepr” (Boar), built in 1996, recently took part in the first ever war games with France. The submarine to be leased by India is a Project 971 ‘Nerpa’ (Sea Seal) nuclear submarine, which is being constructed at the Amur ship building facility, Komsomolsk-on-Amur town, right across the Chinese border. “It is 85 per cent ready right now,” another source was quoted as saying.
— PTI |
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Pervez discusses peace process with new Commanders
Islamabad, October 21 General Musharraf presided over the conference at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi in which professional matters and other areas related to operational preparedness were also discussed, an official statement said. General Musharraf gave an overview of the regional and domestic environmnt and the prevailing security situation in the country to the Commanders, the statement said, adding that he commended the performance of security forces combating terrorism under a challenging environment in the tribal areas. The President also briefed the conference about his recent visit to the United States, with special reference to his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and also dilated upon the ongoing peace process with India, the statement said. He expressed optimism that the peace process would be purposeful and resolve longstanding issues like Kashmir. General Musharraf also expressed his resolve to counter subversive actions by the foreign miscreants and their local facilitators, saying, “We shall not allow these terrorists to keep our society hostage to their malicious agenda.” “Pakistan is a responsible country and shall continue to play its rightful role in eradicating the menace of global terrorism,” the statement quoted General Musharraf as saying. The Commanders’ conference also discussed the recent incident of kidnapping of two Chinese engineers, one of whom died in the rescue operations. The incident cannot affect Pakistan-China relations, he said, adding that ulterior motives of kidnappers to disrupt the ongoing developing projects would be foiled. This was the first meeting of the Army High Command after it was revamped following the retirement of two top Generals this month. — PTI
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Exempt Indians from Visa Mantis review: Pallone
Washington, October 21 The USA does not list India among rogue and undemocratic nations, but Indians are subjected to strict Visa Mantis procedures applied to assess visa applications of individuals hailing from such countries. In a letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell, India Caucus founder Frank Pallone said: “I am writing to express my grave disappointment with the State Department’s current policy of treating India as a ‘rogue’ nation, with respect to visas for Indian scholars and science students applying to visit the USA.” “My request is for the State Department to remove India from this list of terrorist states. India is not only the largest democracy in the world and a pillar of stability in the South Asian region,” Mr Pallone wrote. Mr Pallone said India had a civilian-controlled nuclear program and had signed the Next Step of Strategac Partnership (NSSP) with the USA, which was in Phase I of implementation. “I understand the need to apply a strict standard of review, known as the Visa Mantis procedure, when assessing visa applications of individuals from Pakistan, China, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Iraq and Sudan. “These countries do not operate on democracy,” he added. Mr Pallone said it was unfair for scholars, from India to be subjected to the Visa Mantis procedures. The review delays Indian visa applications by 60 days or more, which academics argue, serve as a major hindrance to the US engaging in intellectual exchange. — PTI
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US blacklists 9 Pak charitable bodies
Washington, October 21 Altogether 27 organisations operating from Saudi Arabia, Bosnia, Albania, Bangladesh, Pakistan and other countries have been blacklisted by the Bush administration. Secretary of Treasury John Snow has asked the Muslims not to give “alms” and “fitr” to these groups and organisations. The Pakistani-based organisations included in the list are Al Rashid, Wafa Humanitarian, Rabita Trust, Ummah Tameer Nav, Afghan Support Committee, Aid Organisation of Ulema, Al Asqa Foundation and Al Akhtar Trust. While offering greetings to Muslims for the holy month of fasting (Ramazan), Mr Snow said, “many Muslims are moved to give to those who need” but cautioned some charitable organisations could be conduits for terrorist financing. — UNI
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Pak declines US aid
Islamabad, October 21 Pakistan’s reluctance to accept the US offer for streamlining madrasas, which cater over an estimated half-a-million poor students in the country, was conveyed by Education Minister Javed Ashraf Qazi to American Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca during her visit to Islamabad earlier this week. Qazi, a former ISI chief-turned politician, told her that madrasa reforms would be carried out exclusively through indigenous resources and the government would not accept any foreign assistance in this regard, local daily Dawn quoted Pakistani officials as saying.
— PTI |
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Travelling in traffic trebles heart attack risk
Fumes from car exhausts, noise and stress are likely to be the main causes of the sudden increase in heart attack risk, researchers say. Air pollution is known to be a factor in heart disease, which develops slowly over decades, and research has shown that people living close to a major road have twice the risk of dying from the condition. But the triggers for a heart attack, which is a sudden event, are little understood. If the findings are confirmed, traffic will have to be added to the known list of triggers which include outbursts of anger, strenuous exercise and use of the illegal drug cocaine. The findings are based on 691 heart attack survivors in the city of Augsburg in southern Germany who were interviewed about their activities in the four days before the attack occurred. The researchers found that one hour before the attack happened, exposure to traffic was twice as frequent as at any other time. Most patients had been travelling by car, but some had been on bicycles and others on buses and trolley cars. Women and those aged over 60 or with other health problems such as diabetes had the greatest increase in risk. The risk was also higher among the unemployed, indicating that the finding is not linked with commuting to work, the researchers from the National Research Centre for Environment and Health, Neuherberg say. Publishing their findings in the New England Journal of Medicine, the authors estimate that 8 per cent of the heart attacks they studied were attributable to traffic — amounting to 55 out of 691. They say it is "unlikely that the effect is entirely attributable to the stress linked with driving a car" because people who travelled by bus or trolley car were equally affected. Pollution is likely to be the key factor. Particulates in the air expelled by vehicle exhausts have been shown to increase the stickiness of the blood when breathed in which can lead to blood clots forming, as well as altering the function of the heart and blood vessels. "These changes have been observed in healthy officers of the highway patrol in association with the concentration of particulate matter in their vehicles and might be consistent with an increased risk of myocardial infarction [heart attack] after a transient elevation in in the concentration of ambient particles in vulnerable subjects," the authors write. Studies have shown that passengers in cars and buses are exposed to a higher level of particulates from exhaust fumes than is measured 100 m or more from traffic on the road. People in cars or buses have twice the level of exposure of cyclists even though cyclists breathe more heavily and thus draw the particulates more deeply into their lungs. The researchers say cyclists "may be able to leave congested situations (ie polluted microenvironments) more quickly than people in cars and buses" and, therefore, have a lower overall exposure. In a commentary on the finding, Peter Stone of Harvard Medical School, says it demonstrates the "extremely short-term effects" of particulate air pollution on the heart and circulation which come on top of "decades of evidence" of its damaging long term effects. "As both epidemiological and now mechanistic evidence mounts, there is a greater urgency to accelerate our efforts to reduce particulate air pollution and to improve cardiovascular health," he
writes. — By arrangement with The |
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US Cold War-era statesman Nitze dies at 97 Typhoon claims 55 lives in Japan |
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