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Israel agrees to ease Gaza land blockade
US imposes penalties on Iranian firms
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Special to the tribune Anderson was assured a safe exit: Ex-US top diplomat Gordon Streeb, Charge d'affaires at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi at the time of the Bhopal tragedy, told The Tribune in an e-mail interview that the Government of India had welcomed Union Carbide chairman Warren Anderson’s plan to visit Bhopal in 1984 and had given the assurance that he would get access to the site and would be allowed to return to the United States safely.
Gandhi’s statue in Canadian museum
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Israel agrees to ease Gaza land blockade
Jerusalem, June 17 "It was agreed to liberalise the system by which civilian goods enter Gaza [and] expand the inflow of materials for civilian projects that are under international supervision," the government said. Bowing to mounting international pressures in the wake of a deadly raid on Gaza-bound aid flotilla, Israel's cabinet today expanded its list of approved products that can enter the coastal territory to include all food items, toys, stationery, kitchen utensils, mattresses and towels. The decision, however, does not loosen Israel's tight grip on the sea route with naval blockade in place and also does not remove the ban on private import of building materials, vital to wide-scale reconstruction of the war-ravaged territory. Israel is wary that an unrestricted import of cement could lead to Islamist group Hamas seizing the material and using it to rebuild military infrastructure. It currently allows limited quantities of construction material to enter the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory for UN projects. The procedural issues on easing of three-year-old blockade are, however, still not clear and it is likely to take a few more days to become clear. “Existing security procedures to prevent the inflow of weapons and war material" would continue, the government said in a statement. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement that Israel would "liberalise the system by which civilian goods enter Gaza" and "expand the inflow of materials for civilian projects that are under international supervision". But the government noted that Israel would "continue existing security procedures to prevent the inflow of weapons and war material" to the 1.5 million populated Gaza Strip. European diplomats have recently said that a plan drawn up in coordination with Quartet Middle East envoy, Tony Blair, called for Israel to move from a policy of banning the entry of many commercial goods, except a few designated items, to accepting all products and prohibiting only those proscribed on a list. Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip after vanquishing Palestinian Authority (PA) troops in pitched battles in June 2007, dubbed the Israeli measures as "media propaganda". Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said some of the goods that would now be allowed in were "trivial and secondary". "What is needed is a complete lifting of the blockade. Goods and people must be free to enter and leave. Gaza especially needs construction material, which must be allowed to come in without restrictions," Abu Zuhri said. Israel faced mounting international calls to ease or lift its Gaza embargo following the death of nine pro-Palestinian Turkish activists aboard a Gaza-bound aid ship on May 31. Israeli leaders said that the troops acted in self defence after being attacked by knife-wielding activists and justified the blockade by calling it necessary to prevent arms smuggling to Hamas.
— PTI
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US imposes penalties on Iranian firms
Washington, June 17 The list includes two top commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard that controls the country's nuclear programme and a bank that the US alleges is acting as a front for another to evade sanctions. The decision to slap new sanctions against Iran comes after the UN Security Council resolution last week. The resolution was drafted and sponsored by the US and all other permanent members of the Security Council - France, Britain, Russia and China - supported it. Turkey and Brazil were the only two non-permanent members to have voted against the resolution. Announcing the sanctions at the White House, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, said the US had designated Iran's Post Bank for its support of proliferation activities, bringing the number of Iranian-owned banks on the US sanctions list to 16. The US announced adding five front companies and more than 90 ship names that Iran's national maritime carrier has been allegedly using to try to evade sanctions. "We are adding two individuals and four entities that are part of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, which plays a key role in Iran's missile programmes and its support for terrorism," Geithner said. It also added two individuals and two entities that are actively involved in Iran's nuclear or missile programmes. It identified 22 petroleum, energy and insurance companies, located inside and outside Iran, which are owned or controlled by the Iranian government. "In the coming weeks, we will continue to increase the financial pressure on Iran. We will continue to target Iran's support for terrorist organisations. We will continue to focus on Iran's Revolutionary Guard. We will continue to expose Iran's efforts to evade international sanctions," Geithner said. The US is taking additional action against Iran's national maritime carrier, IRISL "Since we first sanctioned IRISL in 2008, it has desperately attempted to evade those sanctions by setting up new front companies, renaming and reflagging and even repainting its vessels to hide their true ownership. It has also been caught violating UNSC sanctions," Geithner said.
— PTI
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Special to the tribune Gordon Streeb, Charge d'affaires at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi at the time of the Bhopal tragedy, told The Tribune in an e-mail interview that the Government of India had welcomed Union Carbide chairman Warren Anderson’s plan to visit Bhopal in 1984 and had given the assurance that he would get access to the site and would be allowed to return to the United States safely. “Immediately following the disaster, we were contacted by Union Carbide indicating its chairman, Warren Anderson, wanted to come to India to see for himself what had happened and to show Union Carbide’s concern for the victims at the highest level of the company. The issue was whether he would be guaranteed access to the site and eventual safe return to the United States,” Streeb recalled. He contacted the Foreign Office explaining the Union Carbide request and was subsequently advised that it would be a very welcome gesture if Mr. Anderson could come to India and that the Government of India could assure him that no steps would be taken against him during his visit. Once the US Embassy in New Delhi learnt that the Madhya Pradesh government had placed him under house arrest, Streeb contacted the Foreign Ministry and was assured the Government of India would honour its commitment to provide Mr. Anderson safe passage in and out of India. Subsequently Anderson was flown to New Delhi and departed on the next commercial flight back to the United States. Streeb remembers interacting with Foreign Secretary Rasgotra but not much else. He left India in 1988 and went on to other assignments. Asked to comment on the current uproar in India following the court’s verdict in the Bhopal case, the former diplomat is philosophical. “We have been through a number of such tragedies in this country and are about to go deeply into another with the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. Ultimately, the courts have to make the tough decisions on the level of compensation for the victims. The task is made all the more difficult when many of the victims live with permanent disabilities and some health consequences manifest themselves long after the event. Not everyone is going to agree with the courts but, in a democratic society, it is the only recourse we have.”
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Winfrey, Rowling in richest women list
Boston, June 17 By contrast, 665 men are self-made billionaires, including the three richest people in the world, Carlos Slim Helu, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. Among the 14 women, who represent just 2 per cent of all self-made billionaires, at least five of them started their business with their husbands, brothers or sometimes both. The richest self-made woman is China's Wu Yajun, chief executive of real estate developer Longfor Properties. Wu, with a net worth of $ 3.9 billion, had ranked 232nd in Forbes 2010 world billionaires list. Others who got wealthy on their own include Winfrey, 56, and Rowling, 44, "both of whom overcame tough personal odds to strike it rich in media and entertainment". Winfrey, with a networth of $2.4 billion, was "born to single teenage mother, grew up on grandmother's farm in Mississippi, moved to Wisconsin where, she says, she was a victim of sexual abuse". Winfrey is wrapping up her daytime talk show 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' next year and launching a show in the night slot on the new Oprah Winfrey Network cable channel. Rowling's networth is a billion dollars, making her the world's richest author. Also on the list is Meg Whitman, former eBay head, who recently won the Republican nomination for California governor.
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Gandhi’s statue in Canadian museum
Toronto, June 17 "I think it's appropriate that the statue is located at the entrance of CMHR, a great institution. Mahatma Gandhi's belief in human rights is indivisible, absolute and uncompromising," he added. The Government of India presented the statue as a gift to the Friends of CMHR in 2004. The sculpture was created by renowned sculptor Ram Vanji Sutor and has been on display at Fork Market Building for the past six years. A large number of Indo-Canadians attended the function organised by the Friends of the CMHR. Hemant Shah, Chairman, Indian Chapter of Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, who presented a book on Gandhi to Gail Asper, national campaign chair for the Friends of CMHR, said, "It is a very proud moment for every Indian particularly people belonging to Gujarat who are celebrating the golden jubilee year".
— PTI
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