W O R L D

Bush praises UNSC for ‘swift’ sanctions against N. Korea
Washington, October 15
The US President, Mr George W. Bush, has said the international community has sent a ‘swift and clear message’ in imposing sanctions against North Korea over its declared nuclear tests.

Clinton ‘hoaxed’ to make Pak stand down
Islamabad, October 15
A former Pakistan foreign official has accused the Clinton administration of playing a “hoax” to put “pressure” on Islamabad to withdraw its troops and end the 1999 Kargil conflict with India.

IITs still at No. 3 in world
London, October 15
The prestigious India Institutes of Technology have retained their number three rank among the world’s 100 best technology universities, where the Indian Institutes of Management also find a place.

Koirala, rebels peace talks fail again
Kathmandu, October 15
Nepali Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist rebel chief Prachanda failed once again today to bridge key differences in their crucial peace talks, negotiators said.

People attend the opening parade of “Bombaysers de Lille,” in Lille, northern France on Saturday — AFP

Veil row: minister wants Muslim teacher sacked
London, October 15
The controversy over Muslim women wearing veils escalated today with Britain’s Race Minister Phil Woolas demanding the sacking of a Muslim teaching assistant who insisted on wearing the garment.

4 of Indian family killed in Sharjah mishap
Dubai, October 15
Four members of an Indian family were killed and two injured when a van in which they were travelling hit a road divider at Sharjah Airport Road.

Bush praises UNSC for ‘swift’ sanctions against
N. Korea
Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington, October 15
The US President, Mr George W. Bush, has said the international community has sent a ‘swift and clear message’ in imposing sanctions against North Korea over its declared nuclear tests.

"Today the United Nations Security Council passed a unanimous resolution, sending a clear message to the leader of North Korea regarding his weapons programmes. This action by the United Nations, which was swift and tough, says that we are united in our determination to see to it that the Korea Peninsula is nuclear-weapons free," Mr Bush said in a statement.

He stressed that the message conveyed to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il that the world was united in its opposition to the nuclear tests.

"I have said all along there is a better way forward for North Korea. There's a better way forward for the people of North Korea. If the leader of North Korea was to verifiably end his weapons programmes, the USA and other nations would be willing to help the nation recover economically," Mr Bush added.

The United Nations Security Council has yesterday unanimously imposed non-military sanctions on North Korea to punish it for testing a nuclear device on Monday and warned it against repeating such an act in future. — PTI

Clinton ‘hoaxed’ to make Pak stand down
K.J.M. Varma

Islamabad, October 15
A former Pakistan foreign official has accused the Clinton administration of playing a “hoax” to put “pressure” on Islamabad to withdraw its troops and end the 1999 Kargil conflict with India.

Shamshad Ahmad, who was the Pakistan Foreign Secretary at that time and who attended the meeting between former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and US President Bill Clinton in Washington, said in an article published in a leading daily here that Clinton asked Sharif if he was aware of Pakistan Army’s movement of nuclear-tipped missiles to the borders.

“In my view, it was only an American hoax to bring Pakistan under pressure for withdrawal,” he said.

Ahmad also said there was no need for Musharraf in his book “In the Line of Fire” to give an explanation that Pakistan did not have nuclear weapons at that time.

In his book Musharraf had said it was a “myth that we (India-Pakistan) came to the brink of nuclear war. The limits of our conventional forces were nowhere in sight, still less in danger of being crossed. I can only say with authority that in 1999 our nuclear capability was not yet operational.”

“Merely exploring a bomb does not mean you are operationally capable of deploying nuclear forces in the field and delivering a bomb across the border over selected target.

“Any talk of preparing for nuclear strikes is preposterous,” he said in his book, an account contradicted by former US Secretary Strobe Talbott and Clinton’s aide Bruce Riedel in their separate accounts on Kargil.

The topic of nuclear-tipped missiles came when Clinton asked Sharif in two-on-one meeting that, “if he (Sharif) understood how far along his military was in preparing nuclear-armed missiles for possible use in a war against India. Sharif acted as though he was genuinely surprised. — PTI

IITs still at No. 3 in world

London, October 15
The prestigious India Institutes of Technology (IITs) have retained their number three rank among the world’s 100 best technology universities, where the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) also find a place.

The IITs, which were on number three slot last year also, came next to MIT, Boston, and California University, Berkeley, both in the US, according to a survey conducted by the Times Higher Education Supplement.

It placed Indian Institute of Managements (IIMs) at number 68, sandwiched between Hong Kong University and Eindhoven in the Netherlands.

The new technology survey showed academic opinion about the top places for science and engineering and puts IIT ahead of Imperial College, London, which comes in at number four.

However, in last week’s rankings by THES on overall global excellence, IIT had slid to number 57, seven places lower than in 2005.

According to a spokesman of the Times Higher Education Supplement, the latest technology table emerged following an assessment of 3,703 academics, who had been asked to rate universities in their area of specialisation. — PTI

Koirala, rebels peace talks fail again

Kathmandu, October 15
Nepali Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist rebel chief Prachanda failed once again today to bridge key differences in their crucial peace talks, negotiators said.

Both sides said they would meet again but set no date for fresh dialogue.

The main sticking points that have blocked a deal in the previous three rounds of talks in a week between Mr Koirala and Prachanda were disputes over the disarming of the rebel army and the future of the monarchy in the impoverished Himalayan nation.

More than 13,000 persons have died since the Maoists began an armed campaign in 1996 to turn Nepal, one of the world's poorest countries, into a communist state.

'“Today’s meeting ended without any decision,” Tourism Minister Pradip Gyanwali, a government negotiator, said here.

'“We’ll meet again after more homework and dates will be decided through mutual consultations.”

The rebels also said more preparations were needed before the next round.

“The meeting could not take any decision on the main political agenda,” said Dev Gurung, a Maoist negotiator.

Another rebel leader said the talks were stuck “on the issue of arms management.”

Both sides had said they had been “very close” to a breakthrough at the end of each previous round of talks. — Reuters

Veil row: minister wants Muslim teacher sacked

London, October 15
The controversy over Muslim women wearing veils escalated today with Britain’s Race Minister Phil Woolas demanding the sacking of a Muslim teaching assistant who insisted on wearing the garment.

Woolas said Aishah Azmi was “denying the right of children to a full education,” and had put herself in a position where she could not “do her job.”

The Communities and Local Government Minister, whose brief includes race relations, made his intervention in comments to the Sunday Mirror.

Azmi has been suspended from her job at Headfield Church of England junior school in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, and is now taking her case to an employment tribunal.

“She should be sacked. She has put herself in a position where she can’t do her job. She cannot teach a classroom of children wearing a veil.

“If she is saying that she won’t work with men, she is taking away the right of men to work in schools. That’s sexual discrimination. No head teacher could agree to that.”

The controversial comments by House of Commons leader Jack Straw that he would prefer Muslim women not to wear veils when they meet him stirred up a major debate in Britain. — PTI

4 of Indian family killed in Sharjah mishap

Dubai, October 15
Four members of an Indian family were killed and two injured when a van in which they were travelling hit a road divider at Sharjah Airport Road.

The accident occurred when the driver of the van in which the victims, hailing from Alapad in Kollam district of Kerala, were travelling from the airport lost control of the vehicle.

The van collided with a car before hitting a road divider, killing Saseendhran Pillai (40) and his two sons Vignesh (7) and Vivek (3) on the spot, the police said Pillai's wife Jaisree (32) died at the hospital.

The two injured, also hailing from India, were admitted to Al- Qassimi hospital in Sharjah. The family was living in Dubai for last 12 years and were returning after a picnic at Sharjah national park when the accident took place. — PTI