North Pagai, October 29
Indonesia battled today to deliver aid to remote islands where a tsunami has killed over 400 persons, as bodies lay strewn on beaches and buried in debris, days after the wave hit.

Disaster response officials believe, the final death toll from the huge wave that hit the Mentawai island chain, off the west coast of Sumatra on Monday, could pass 500, with many of the victims sucked out to sea as the tsunami receeded.

Almost 13,000 people are living in makeshift camps on the islands, after their homes were wiped out in the wave, which was triggered by a powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake.

Elsewhere in the disaster-prone archipelago, the nation's most active volcano, Mount Merapi, was spewing lava and ash, threatening residents who may have returned to their homes after an eruption on Tuesday killed 34 people.

"It shot heat clouds at 6:10 am as far as 3.5 km down its southeastern slopes and followed this with ash rain," volcanologist Heru Suparwoko said.

He said the heat clouds were "definitely dangerous" for people who had refused to obey orders to evacuate the danger zone on the island of Java or who had returned to tend to their livestock and property.

Some 50,000 people have fled to temporary shelters but officials expressed frustration that many were returned to their homes on the volcano's slopes during the day, despite the threat of another deadly eruption.

An official said the death toll had risen to 408, as hopes dimmed for another 303 still listed as missing after the wave flattened villages and homes. — AFP

Melbourne, October 29
Four Australian police officers have been sacked and seven others fined for circulating "highly offensive" racist e-mails, including one in which they were caught joking about electrocution of an Indian man and suggesting it could be "a way to fix the Indian student problem" here.

Two sergeants, one leading senior constable and one senior constable in Australia's Victoria state were dismissed over circulation of the e-mails, which the police says contained "highly offensive material" of a sexual, violent, homophobic and racist nature, The Age newspaper reported today.

Seven other members, all ranging between the ranks of senior constable and senior sergeant, have been fined between $500-3000 and placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond, it quoted Victoria Police as saying.

The dismissals are part of 'Operation Barrot', which was established in June to investigate a series of e-mails that had been circulated before December 18 last year.

Assistant Commissioner Emmett Dunne, of the Ethical Standards Department, said "...we have a duty to ensure that our members act with the utmost professionalism and integrity.

Given the circumstances, the action we have taken was both appropriate and entirely justified." The latest disciplinary action against the police officers follows the dismissal of four of their colleagues in August as part of 'Operation Barrot'.

All of the members have 14 days to appeal their dismissal at the Police Appeals Board and show cause as to why they should not be dismissed.

The police officers had circulated racist e-mails, including sickening video footage showing the death of an Indian man, who was travelling on the roof of a crowded train in India, The Herald Sun had earlier reported. When the train stopped at a station the man stood up and touched an overhead power cable. Onlookers screamed as he was electrocuted, showed the clip contained in one of the offending e-mails.

The e-mail containing the shocking video began circulating in the Victoria Police computer system and racist comments were added, suggesting "this might be a way to fix the Indian student problem".

Outraged over the racist slurs by top Australian police officers, the Indian government had summoned Canberra's High Commissioner Peter Varghese and sought an explanation on the issue, saying such an attitude was "shocking" and a "matter of serious concern". — PTI

October 29
As the United States President Barack Obama prepares to visit India early next month, he is facing pressure to throw US support behind India’s bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Successive US administrations have been cautious about supporting India’s candidacy, waiting for an international consensus to build up. Officials in both the Obama and George W. Bush administrations have said India deserves a "greater voice" and would be a suitable candidate for a permanent seat in a reformed council, but they have not endorsed India’s candidacy. As UN reform moves one step closer to becoming a reality, analysts say the time is ripe for Obama to come out in support of India.

Ashley Tellis, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, says Obama should, preferably during his address to Parliament in New Delhi, “declare that the US will support India’s candidacy for permanent membership in a suitably reformed United Nations Security Council.”

Tellis, who has produced a new policy paper on Obama's visit to India, said it is important that this support not be further delayed because, “We are rapidly coming to the point where we have offered tantalising suggestions about US support and it is simply not sustainable to continue the tantalising suggestions for much longer.”

He conceded that the Obama administration may not be ready by the time the president visits India to say “we have the grand plan.” Three of the permanent five (P5) UNSC members-Britain, France and Russia-have voiced their support for a permanent seat for India. Noting that the US and China were the only holdouts, Tellis said, “You want to get ahead of the curve, not stay behind.” He added that the U.S. stands to gain the most by supporting India before a permanent seat for it becomes inevitable.

Critics are quick to point out that the U.S. and Indian votes in the U.N. General Assembly matched just 30 per cent of the time last year. The U.S. and India have worked better together bilaterally than in multilateral organisations. The two do not see eye to eye on issues including Burma and Iran, which are of key importance to the US.

October 29
India and South Korea have struck a deal to finalise an agreement on civil uses of nuclear energy. This is a major success for India during the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Asia tour as India has also put on “fast track” a similar agreement with Japan.

National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon said here today that India and Korea have finalised the agreement on cooperation in civil uses of nuclear energy. “This agreement now awaits signature from both the sides. This will be a major step in India’s relationship with South Korea, as we have already signed a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) in July this year,” he said.

The issue came up for discussion during the bilateral meeting of the Prime Minister with the President of the Republic of Korea, Lee Myung-bak, held here today. The Korean President has invited the Prime Minister to Korea next year and the deal is likely to be signed then.

With this, Korea becomes the ninth country with which India will be signing the nuclear agreement. Ever since the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) ended India’s isolation from global nuclear commerce mainstream in 2008, India has signed civil nuclear pacts with U.S.A, France, Russia, Canada, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Argentina and Namibia.

Menon said the two leaders also held discussions on progress made in cooperation in civil aviation and space and expressed satisfaction that the economic relationship between the two countries is moving forward steadily.

“The two leaders also discussed issues relating to G-20 and stressed that it is important not only to take decisions but to have a system of systematic implementation so that they are carried forward over several years. Both agreed to work together in G-20, whose Summit is taking place in Seoul, in November,” he said. The NSA, however, said no discussion was held regarding Korean steel project POSCO in Orissa.

BRIEFLY

Nepal fails to elect new PM in 14th run-off poll
Kathmandu: Nepali Congress leader Ram Chandra Poudyal, the sole candidate who is adamant over not quitting the prime ministerial race, on Friday failed to garner a majority in Parliament for an unprecedented 14th time in a row, prolonging the leadership crisis in the country. Four months after the 22-party coalition led by Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal collapsed under intense pressure from the Maoists, the parliament has been unable to elect a new leader despite a series of polls since June 30. — PTI

Court dismisses Fonseka’s petition
Colombo: Sri Lanka's Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition challenging the re-election of President Mahinda Rajapaksa filed by his defeated opponent and now jailed former Army Chief Sarath Fonseka alleging that there were large-scale irregularities in the polls. The five-member Supreme Court bench dismissed the petition by upholding on a preliminary objection raised on behalf of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The defence argued that there was insufficient grounds to proceed with the case, a court official said. — PTI

Anti-drug operation in Afghanistan
Moscow: In their first ever joint anti-drug operation in Afghanistan, the drug enforcement agencies of Russia and the US have destroyed three heroin laboratories, a top Russian drug control official said on Friday. Drugs worth $1 billion were destroyed in the operation carried out last night with the help of nine helicopter gunships of the US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan, Chief of Russia's Federal Drug Control Service Viktor Ivanov told reporters here. — PTI

Airports across US on alert 
Washington: Airports across the United States were put on high alert on Friday after suspicious packages originating from Yemen were found on a plane in the UK, even as the FBI is investigating whether it is a part of a terror group's rehearsal for a mail bomb attack. Barack Obama, was notified about it on Thursday night. The White House said intelligence and law enforcement agencies discovered potential suspicious packages on two planes in transit to the United States last night. — PTI