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Blast in Tel Aviv market kills
four
Video suggests Laden living
comfortably
Bobby Jindal poised to enter US
Congress
How US President is
elected
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Queen to support fight against global warming
Aides say Arafat recovering
Senate allows Musharraf dual posts
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Blast in Tel Aviv market kills
four
Tel Aviv, November 1 Paramedics treated dazed shoppers on the ground as vegetables were strewn on the pavement. The police searched waste bins for additional explosives. Medics and the police said they believed a Palestinian suicide bomber was responsible, but that involvement of criminals was not ruled out. However, Israel’s TV Channel 10 reported that the police had found the body of a suicide bomber. A witness, who was identified only by his first name said he heard an explosion in the market. “I thought may be fireworks, or a gas canister. But then I saw a store completely destroyed. Goods fell to the ground. People ran away. I lost my glasses and my hat,” he told the Israel Army Radio. Israel TV’s Channel Two, quoting a local fire chief, initially said four persons were killed, but medics later revised the death toll to three. —
AP |
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Video suggests Laden living
comfortably
New York, November 1 “He is not tired, is not running and is not worried,” Newsweek magazine quoted a Taliban official as saying. It was the second tape to be aired within a week. On Thursday, ABC television network had broadcast footage of an angry, fluent-English speaking man claiming to be an American member of Al-Qaida who promised attacks that will make US streets “run red with blood.” The tape had an electronic logo at the bottom of the image — the same logo that appeared on the Bin Laden tape and other Qaida videos, the magazine said. —
PTI |
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Osama may sneak into India: FBI A senior official of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) quietly visited India last week to alert intelligence agencies about the possibility of Osama bin Laden sneaking into India, official sources said on Monday. The Pakistan-based official also sought Indian assistance for joint operations by the Indian and US forces to nab the world’s most wanted fugitive if he crossed over from the north-eastern Pakistan, the sources said. The official’s visit followed reported spotting of Osama in the north-eastern Pakistan, close to the Pakistan-China-India border tri-junction, they added. The sources said the FBI official met senior officials of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Intelligence Bureau (IB), Border Security Force (BSF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). They said the FBI official appeared to have information about the impending release of the latest videotape by Osama, carrying yet another warning against the US. A few days later, on October 29, an unidentified person delivered the tape to the office of Al Jazeera television in Islamabad. In the tape, Osama had warned the American people: “Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or Al-Qaida.” He was referring to the Democratic nominee for the presidential election John Kerry and President George W. Bush. “Your security is in your own hands. Do not play with our security, and spontaneously you will secure yourself,” Osama said. The FBI official also offered to share intelligence with Indian agencies about areas of common interest like Afghanistan, the sources said. Defence sources on Monday dismissed as “highly exaggerated” news reports that an Indian Air Force spy plane had spotted Osama bin Laden’s convoy in north-eastern Pakistan. “For all you know, Osama may be living in Karachi,” the Pakistani port city where many of his senior Al-Qaida and Taliban activists had found safe houses, one official said. They noted that from his appearance in the videotape, he looked healthy and not like someone on the run. — IANS
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Bobby Jindal poised to enter US
Congress
Metairie (USA), November 1 Today, Jindal sits in an austere campaign office on a featureless strip, making history in a quieter way. Though he didn’t reach the Governor’s office, his packed resume and unusual background attracted such widespread attention that he’s now well on his way to representing this New Orleans suburb in Congress. With no opposition to speak of, a sky-high margin in polls and piles of cash, the son of immigrants from India is set to become the only Indian-American in the House. Already, there is speculation that a Republican Party eager to emphasise diversity will give him a prominent role when he gets to Washington. The former Rhodes scholar and government whiz-kid will represent an area of paradoxes: the wealthiest district in a chronically poor state, and the one-time power base of Ku Klux Klansman David Duke, whose legislative district was located within it. If he wins, Jindal would be the first Indian-American elected to Congress since Dilip Singh Saund of California in 1956. He lost last year’s Governor’s race to Democrat Kathleen Blanco, 52 per cent to 48 per cent, a surprise since polls showed him leading until a few days before the election. This time Jindal hardly needs to campaign, though he insists he is still hard at it. One by one, his serious opponents have dropped out of the race, stunned by his 10-to-1 fund-raising advantage and polls that early on showed support edging over 60 per cent. Jindal yard signs are everywhere in these parts — on the neat lawns of suburban ranch houses, and on the fences screening yards from busy arteries. —
AP |
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List of Indian Americans in US
poll
Washington, November 1 2. Sylvester Fernandez (Republican) is running for the House of Representatives from New Jersey’s 6th Congressional District. He is running against Rep. Frank Pallone (Democrat from New Jersey), a co-founder of the Congressional Caucus on Indians and Indian Americans. 3. Swati Dandekar (Democrat) is running for re-election for the Iowa State Assembly from District 36. 4. Nikki Randhawa-Haley (Republican) is running for the South Carolina State Assembly from District 87. 5. Sidharta ‘Sid’ Das (Democrat) is running for the New Hampshire State Assembly from District 27. 6. Rano Singh (Democrat) is running for the Arizona House of Delegates from District. 7. Jay Rao (Republican) is running for secretary of state in North Carolina. 8. Eduardo Bhatia (Popular Democratic Party) is running for mayor of San Juan, capital of Puerto Rico. 9. Rakesh Sharma (Democrat) is running for City Council of Fremont, California. 10. Tej Maan (Democrat) is running for the Yuba City Council, in California. 11. Kash Gill (Republican) is also running for the Yuba City Council in California. 12. Shantu Shah is running for Board of Director Position 1, of the Washington County Public Utility District, Oregon. 13. Sheela Kini (Democrat) is running for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, from District 7. 14. George James (Republican), running for Westwood Township Council in New Jersey. 15. Atul Mitra (Democrat) is running for the New Haven School District Board, Alameda County, California. 16. Shinku Sharma is running for Saratoga Union School District Board, California. 17. Mital Gandhi is running for the Advisory Neighborhood Commission of Northwest Washington. —
IANS |
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How US President is
elected
The election to the US President this time has generated immense interest in the unipolar world as the policy decisions taken in Washington would have some effect or the other on sovereign nation states across the globe.
Although most of the debate has been on Mr George W. Bush or Mr John Kerry and their policy statements, little effort has been made to understand the way US President is elected especially after the controversial “Florida tangle” which helped Mr Bush to defeat Mr Gore in 2000. Unlike the election in the world’s largest democracy India where elections are held to choose people’s representatives in Parliament, US Presidential election is a complex process, where the people do not directly elect Mr Bush or Mr Kerry rather it is through the electoral college that Republican or Democrat candidate wins the poll. Each Presidential candidate runs together with a Vice-Presidential candidate on a “ticket”. Voters select one ticket to vote for; they cannot choose a Presidential candidate from one ticket and a Vice-Presidential candidate from another, according to information available in the US Government website about the election process. The national Presidential election actually consists of a separate election in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. In these 51 elections, the voters are really voting for “electors” pledged to one of the tickets. These electors make up the “Electoral College.” Each state has the same number of electors as it has Senators and representatives (there are two Senators from each state but the number of representatives depends on the state’s population in the most recent census). The District of Columbia, although it is not a state, also participates in the Presidential election and it currently has three electors. In most states, the winner takes all, which means that which ever ticket receives the most votes that state gets all electors. The only exceptions are Maine and Nebraska. In these states, just two of the electors are chosen in a winner take all fashion from the entire state. The remaining electors are determined by the winner in each congressional district, with each district voting for one elector. The Electoral College then votes for the President and the Vice-President with each elector casting one vote, these votes are called electoral votes. Each elector takes pledge to vote for a particular candidate for the President and the Vice-President. In most elections, the electors vote in accordance with the pledge they make, it is not clear what would happen if a large number of electors violated their pledge and voted differently. Normally, one of the Presidential candidates receives a majority of the electoral votes and that person is elected President. In the rare event that no Presidential candidate receives a majority of the electoral votes, then the President is chosen by the House of Representatives from the top three Presidential vote getter in the Electoral College, each of state delegation in the Congress casts one vote. There are many arguments but this system does guarantee that the person elected President has substantial support throughout the USA. |
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Queen to support fight against global warming
The Queen, in an unprecedented initiative, during her state visit to Germany, will publicly signal her concern about the possibility of a catastrophic heating of the planet by opening a meeting in Berlin that is planning the next steps in the worldwide effort to head it off.
This will bring into the open a largely unnoticed greening of the monarch, which has already produced some measures to make Buckingham Palace more environment-friendly. Senior Buckingham Palace sources said yesterday that they could not remember a previous occasion when the Queen had opened a conference on such a sensitive international issue on a state visit. She is augmenting a strong family tradition. Prince Philip was one of the world’s earliest green campaigners, and has long been one of the most influential figures in the green movement, helping to found the World Wildlife Fund more than 40 years ago, and then serving as its international president. Top government officials say that, in private, the Queen has been increasingly struck by the mounting scientific evidence that the world is heating up. She has quietly been putting her concerns into practice in Buckingham Palace over the past few years. Skylights have been double-glazed following a comprehensive audit to see how the giant building could cut down on energy waste. More radically, two combined heat and power plants - which greatly increase energy efficiency by producing both electricity and hot water for heating - have been installed. Water-saving “hippo” plastic containers have been placed in the tanks of the royal lavatories, paper and glass are recycled, and the Queen’s most used Bentley car runs on LPG. Wednesday’s conference - an invitation-only meeting of ministers, industrialists, top scientists and officials from Britain and Germany - could prove to be one of the most important ever held in the urgent battle to mitigate, and adapt to, climate change. Chaired by Klaus
Topfer, Germany’s former Environment Minister who now runs the United Nations Environment Programme, it comes at a particularly crucial time. This month, after years of wrangling, it became clear that the Kyoto Protocol would finally come into effect - despite President Bush’s vigorous efforts to kill it - when Russia resolved to ratify it. But the treaty has always been seen as only a small first step. Tony Blair, who will address the conference by video, has made working out the next international measures a top priority for his presidency of both the EU and the G8 group and wants Wednesday’s meeting to come up with concrete proposals. To underline her concern, the Queen will also accompany German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder to a parallel session of young people to hear their concerns about increased flooding due to climate change. — By arrangement with The Independent, London |
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Clamart (France), November 1 French medical sources are more cautious, saying nothing can be ruled out until doctors release the results of the tests, which will determine the length of Mr Arafat’s stay in the hospital southwest of Paris. Palestinian officials met in Ramallah in his absence yesterday and pledged to ensure order. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed to remain tough and said his long-time foe would remain barred from the holy city of Jerusalem, even in death. Arafat’s aides have been keen to show that the 75-year-old Palestinian leader is in command since he was rushed from his shell-battered compound in Ramallah to France on Friday. — Reuters
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Senate allows Musharraf dual posts
Islamabad, November 1 The Bill allows the President ‘’to hold another office of profit in the service of Pakistan’’ after December 31, 2004. It was passed after a five-day debate and will now be sent to the President for his assent. It was passed by the National Assembly on October 15. However, ‘’The President to Hold Another Office Act’’ will not be applicable to future presidents. Opposition members belonging to the six-party alliance Muttahida Majlis-e-Ammal (MMA) and the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) boycotted the vote and flayed the government for ‘’legitimising military rule and undermining supremacy of Parliament.’’ This was for the first time that the opposition members in the 100-member Upper House turned violent and attacked Treasury members after a heated exchange of words. The MMA, would launch a public mobilisation campaign against Gen Musharraf’s decision not to quit as Army chief after December 31 this year, MMA sources said. —
UNI |
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Metairie (USA), November 1
