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Asian group for seat to India in UN Council
Media questions Dalai’s credentials as a Tibetan
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Education Reforms
Mosque collapse kills 41 in Morocco
Dutch govt collapses over Afghan mission
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Asian group for seat to India in UN Council
United Nations, February 20 Last month, India's path to a non-permanent seat got cleared after its sole competitor from Asia, Kazakhstan, backed out of the race. The Indian candidacy already enjoys extensive support among the member states of the United Nations outside the Asian group as well, according to Indian diplomats. The Security Council is made up of 15 states -- five permanent members who have the veto power and 15 non-permanent members elected for a two-year term. To win, India needs two-thirds of the General Assembly vote, which adds up to about 128 counties saying yes to India's presence in the Council. Even before Kazakhstan dropped out, diplomats here say 122 votes were in India's favour but now that it is the sole runner from Asia, more votes are expected. Running after more than a decade, India has orchestrated a year-long campaign led by India’s envoy to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri, who has campaigned locally here in New York and at multilateral events at the United Nations. The last time India had a seat at the Council was in 1992. In 1996, Japan won with India trailing behind with approximately 40 votes. Last year, the General Assembly elected Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Gabon, Lebanon and Nigeria to serve as non-permanent members of the Security Council for two-year terms starting January 2010. But the non-permanent seat for India isn't confirmed yet and a late entry, in the coming months, can also split the vote. The voting for the term starting in 2011 will happen in October this year. Meanwhile, the Africa group endorsed the candidacy of South Africa. At the same time, India continues to push for comprehensive Security Council reforms, including expansion of both the permanent and non-permanent category.
— PTI
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Media questions Dalai’s credentials as a Tibetan
Beijing, February 20 "When some foreign groups are claiming that they support the Dalai Lama for the protection of the distinct Tibetan religion, culture and language, it is also a question as to whether the monk himself is a Tibetan," a commentary on the Peoples Daily website said today. The paper referred to the Tibetan spiritual leader's comments after his Arunachal visit last year during which he had said: "I see myself as a son of India and I am proud of that. I am a Tibetan in appearance because my parents are Tibetans, but spiritually I am Indian." The paper said the Dalai Lama had also in 2007 asserted that Arunachal Pradesh, claimed by China, was a part of India, a statement echoed by the "Tibetan government-in-exile." Arunachal Pradesh and the McMahon region, which China claims as part of southern Tibet, it said, was governed by the local Tibet government in Chinese history. "It is the birthplace of the sixth Dalai Lama and boasts temples built by the fifth Dalai Lama," it said. "How can the Dalai Lama, who on one hand seeks a 'Greater Tibet' that would cover not only the Tibet Autonomous Region but also all other Tibetan-inhabited areas in China, and on the other present the land of ancestors to foreign countries, be representative of the Tibetan people?" "Is such a person in a position to talk about religion, culture, language and human rights? It only testifies to his plot of splitting the nation by counting on foreign forces," the paper said. It said the Tibetan leader's acts of sabotaging China's relations with other countries would only worsen his relation with the central government and cause nationwide resentment against him. "He will taste the bitter fruits of his plots in the long run," it said. China has termed Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama as interference in its internal affairs, and one that grossly violated basic norms governing international relations. An editorial in the Global Times said both China and the US have repeatedly openly expressed an intent to build cooperative bilateral relations, especially following Obama's last year's visit to Beijing.
— PTI
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Education Reforms
Washington, February 20 "Look, we can keep on being consumed by the politics of energy," he said at a grassroots fundraiser for Senator Michael Bennet in Denver, Colorado, on
Thursday. But "we know that whoever leads the clean energy revolution is going to lead the 21st century economy. The people of Colorado understand that. Michael Bennet (Senator from Colorado) understands that," he said amid applause from the audience. "And we can't wait. We can't wait. Because China is not waiting. India is not waiting. Germany is not waiting. We can't afford to wait," said Obama as an audience member piped up with "That's right!" "Exactly," responded the president amid laughter. "We can't continue to spin our wheels in the old education debates - the stale debates, they pit teachers against reformers - meanwhile kids are trailing their counterparts all around the world," Obama went on, seeking education reforms.
— IANS
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Mosque collapse kills 41 in Morocco Rabat (Morocco), February 20 Authorities had not determined the cause of the accident, which occurred during Friday prayers at the Bab Berdieyinne Mosque in the historic district of Meknes, about 130 km west of Rabat in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains. About 300 worshippers were in the mosque at the time of the accident, which may have been caused by heavy rainfall in the region. The saturated earth beneath the 400-year-old minaret may have caused the collapse. Rescue teams had to extract people from the rubble. King Mohammed VI sent his interior minister to the accident site to coordinate the rescue work. Meknes has about half a million residents and is an important trade and handwork centre in the north African country. — DPA
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Dutch govt collapses over Afghan mission Amsterdam, February 20 The fall of the government in the EU country, just two days short of the coalition's third anniversary, all but guarantees that the 2,000 Dutch troops will be brought home this year. That would be the first major a crack in the coalition of some 40 nations battling a steadily increasing Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. “I unfortunately note that there is no longer a fruitful path for the Christian Democrats, Labour Party and Christian Union to go forward,” Balkenende, who leads the centre-right Christian Democrats, told reporters. — Reuters
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African Union suspends Niger 
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