The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Special to the tribune Myanmar Prez meets Obama, pledges more reforms Ashish K Sen in Washington Myanmar’s President Thein Sein met US President Barack Obama at the White House on Monday, becoming the first leader of the South-east Asian nation to visit Washington since Lyndon Baines Johnson hosted military strongman Ne Win in 1966. Sein’s visit was a “reward” for his military-backed government’s efforts to institute democratic and economic reforms in Myanmar. In his meeting with Obama, Sein pledged his government’s commitment to more reforms, ending communal violence and striking peace deals with ethnic minority rebels fighting in Kachin state on the border of India and China. Outside the White House, protesters complained that Sein was not serious about making peace with the rebels or ending deadly violence by majority Buddhists and security forces against stateless Muslim Rohingyas that has left over 1,00,000 homeless. The Human Rights Watch accused the Myanmar government of waging a campaign of “ethnic cleansing” against the Rohingyas. Obama expressed his “deep concern” to Sein over the communal violence in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state. “The displacement of people, the violence directed towards them needs to stop,” Obama said. The US is prepared to work “in any ways that we can with both the government of Myanmar and the international community to assure that people are getting the help that they need, but more importantly, that their rights and their dignity is recognised over the long term.” Later, speaking at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, Sein did not mention the Rohingyas by name, but said the communal violence was “extremely tragic”. The Obama administration began normalising ties with Myanmar in 2011 as the Sein government took steps towards reforms, including releasing over 850 political prisoners, easing restrictions on the media and allowing freedom of speech, assembly, and movement. The US has lifted most sanctions and appointed an ambassador to Myanmar for the first time since 1990. At the White House, Obama praised Sein for leading his country in a “new direction” and making “genuine efforts” to resolve long-standing ethnic conflicts. Sein said he was convinced that his countrymen want to see democracy flourish. “We are trying hard to end Myanmar’s isolation,” he said, warning that there are “spoilers” in his country “who see their interests threatened”. Sein apprised Obama of his government’s plans to release more political prisoners, institutionalise reforms and end ethnic conflicts. Sein, a former general, was sworn in as president in March 2011. The military rule in Myanmar has since ended, a new Constitution has been put into effect, political and economic reforms have been undertaken and the government is working to peacefully end conflicts that have plagued Myanmar since its independence in 1948, he said. However, Myanmar’s military still dominates politics and economics. The Constitution guarantees the military a quarter of the seats in the lower house of Parliament. Obama repeatedly referred to the South-east Asian nation as Myanmar in his meeting with Sein. A senior US administration official, who spoke on background, described this as a “diplomatic courtesy”. “While we are not changing our policy to officially adopt ‘Myanmar’, we believe that showing respect for a government that is pursuing an ambitious reform agenda is an important signal of support for its efforts and our desire to help the transformation succeed,” the official said. The military had renamed Burma as Myanmar.
	Ex-PM Ashraf used threats to secure funds, Pak SC told Islamabad, May 21 A top government official today told Pakistan's Supreme Court that former premier Raja Pervez Ashraf had threatened him in order to get funds released for several projects. The Accountant General of Pakistan told a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry that he was threatened by Ashraf to secure the funds. The court was hearing a case over the release of funds for several projects a day before the previous government's term ended in March. He questioned the Accountant General whether he did not know about the restrictions imposed on the release of funds by the Election Commission. Chaudhry also questioned the Accountant General whether he had scrutinised the funds that Ashraf had sanctioned for himself from time to time. The apex court ordered a special audit of expenses incurred on projects sanctioned by Ashraf using discretionary funds. The Bench issued notices to the former premier's principal secretary, federal Finance Secretary, Sui Northern Gas Corporation, Sui Southern Gas Corporation, Water and Power Development Authority and other institutions and sought records of expenses incurred from the Prime Minister's discretionary fund. — PTI Muscle power The Accountant General of Pakistan told the apex court that he was threatened by former premier Raja Pervez Ashraf to secure the funds The apex court was hearing a case over the release of funds for several projects a day before the previous government's term ended in March The Chief Justice said billions of rupees were released for development schemes on March 15, a day before the national and provincial assemblies were dissolved
	Guatemala’s top court annuls Rios Montt genocide conviction Guatemala City, May 21 Guatemala's highest court on Monday overturned a genocide conviction against former dictator Efrain Rios Montt and reset his trial back to when a dispute broke out a month ago over who should hear the case. Rios Montt (86) was found guilty on May 10 of overseeing the killings by the armed forces of at least 1,771 members of the Maya Ixil population during his 1982-83 rule. He was sentenced to 80 years in prison. However, in a ruling on Monday, the country's Constitutional Court ordered that all the proceedings be voided going back to April 19, when one of the presiding judges suspended the trial because of a dispute with another judge over who should hear it. It was unclear when the trial might restart. Rios Montt's conviction was hailed as a landmark for justice in the Central American nation, where as many as 2,50,000 people were killed in a bloody civil war lasting from 1960 to 1996. When Rios Montt was in power, his government launched a fierce offensive in which soldiers raped, tortured and killed tens of thousands of Mayan villagers suspected of helping Marxist rebels. Thousands more were forced into exile or had to join paramilitary forces fighting the insurgents. After he was sentenced, a court ordered the government to apologise for atrocities committed against indigenous people. — Reuters
	Sikh bus driver in Finland fights for his right to wear turban London, May 21 A Sikh bus driver in Finland, who was ordered by his employers to remove his turban, is fighting for his right to wear the traditional headgear at work. Gill Sukhdarshan Singh, works at the Veolia bus company in Vantaa near the Finnish capital Helsinki. Gill came to Finland back in 1980s, making him one of the first Sikhs to arrive in the Scandinavian country. Following a visit to his native Punjab last December, Gill decided to start wearing a turban at work. That was fine with his employer for two months, before management ordered him to remove it to comply with uniform rules. — PTI
	Giant twister kills 24 in US Schools, homes & hospital destroyed Authorities warned town 16 min before tornado hit Moore, May 21 Emergency workers searchd for survivors in the rubble of homes, schools and a hospital in an Oklahoma town hit by a powerful tornado, but officials on Tuesday sharply lowered the number of deaths caused by the storm. The Oklahoma state medical examiner's office said 24 bodies had been recovered from the wreckage of Monday's storm, down from the 51 they had reported earlier. The earlier number likely reflected some double-counted deaths, said Amy Elliott, chief administrative officer for the medical examiner. The three-km wide tornado tore through Moore outside Oklahoma City on Monday afternoon, trapping victims beneath the rubble. One elementary school took a direct hit and another was destroyed. Thunderstorms and lightning slowed the rescue effort on Tuesday, but officials lowered the number of bodies recovered. "We have got good news. The number right now is 24,” Elliot said. “There was a lot of chaos." She said additional bodies could yet be recovered. Firefighters from more than a dozen fire departments worked all night under bright spotlights trying to find survivors at Plaza Towers Elementary School, which took a direct hit. Rescuers were sent from other states to join the search. President Barack Obama declared a major disaster area in Oklahoma, ordering federal aid to supplement state and local efforts in Moore after the deadliest US tornado since 161 persons were killed in Joplin, Missouri, two years ago. "The whole city looks like a debris field," Glenn Lewis, the mayor of Moore, told NBC. "It looks like we have lost our hospital. I drove by there a while ago and it's pretty much destroyed," Lewis said. There was an outpouring of grief on Plaza Towers' Facebook page, with messages from around the country including one pleading simply: "Please find those little children." The National Weather Service assigned the twister a preliminary ranking of EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, meaning the second most powerful category of tornado with winds up to 320 kph. The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center warned the town 16 minutes before the tornado touched down at 3:01 p.m. (2001 GMT), which is greater than the average eight to 10 minutes of warning, said Keli Pirtle, a spokeswoman for the centre in Norman, Oklahoma. The notice was upgraded to emergency warning with "heightened language" at 2.56 p.m., or five minutes before the tornado touched down, Pirtle said. The US Federal Aviation Administration imposed a temporary flight restriction that allowed only relief aircraft in the area, saying it was at the request of police who needed quiet to search for buried survivors. Oklahoma activated the National Guard, and the US Federal Emergency Management Agency activated teams to support recovery operations and coordinate responses for multiple agencies. — Reuters Obama pledges all necessary help WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama promised on Tuesday to make available all necessary US government resources to Oklahoma to help in the rescue and recovery effort in the aftermath of a devastating tornado. "The people of Moore (Oklahoma) should know that their country will remain on the ground, beside them, for as long as it takes," Obama said at the White House.
	Mahatma’s last will may fetch £40,000 at UK auction London, May 21 Mahatma Gandhi's last will and testament is expected to be the most sought after lot as part of an auction of rare items and documents being held in a small English town today. Described as a "highly important document", the two-page handwritten will on folio paper is priced between £30,000-40,000 and will compete with a fragment of Gandhi's blood on a microscopic slide, priced between £10,000-15,000. "While the blood sample may be sacred for some, the will is an extremely important historical document. It is hand-written in Gujarati and signed by Gandhi," Richard Westwood-Brookes, historical documents expert for Mullock's auctioneers, said. The slide of Gandhi's blood dates back to 1924 when the leader of India's freedom movement was in convalescence from an appendectomy near Mumbai. He is believed to have donated the blood to the family he was staying with at the time. "It is an important and rare artifact but we also have Gandhi's shawl and sandals, which are expected to attract a lot of attention," Westwood-Brookes added in reference to other key items that will go under the hammer today. The handwoven linen shawl, made from material spun by Gandhi himself, is estimated to fetch up to £20,000. His leather chappals, heavily worn and in fairly poor condition, are likely to attract up to £15,000, same as his wooden prayers beads. Another important signed document includes Gandhi's power of attorney to his son dating back to November 1920, with various stamps of the Bank of Baroda and Bank of India. It is also expected to attract some fierce bidding and could fetch as much as £40,000. Among some of the other rare personal items up for auction include Gandhi's personal copy of the Ramayana, a metal bowl and flask which he used as well as an iconic linen 'topi' (cap). — PTI
	Arunima is first Indian amputee to scale Mt Everest Kathmandu, May 21 Arunima Sinha, a former national-level volleyball player who had lost one of her legs after being thrown off a moving train by, created history today by becoming the first Indian amputee to conquer Mount Everest. Sinha (25) reached the 8,848 metre-high summit of the world's highest peak at 10.55 am today, as a member of the Eco Everest Expedition from the Tata Group, an official of the Tourism Ministry of Nepal said. Sinha, a resident of Ambedkar Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, was pushed out of the general compartment of Padmawati Express for resisting a chain-snatching attempt by some criminals, while travelling from Lucknow to Delhi on April 12, 2011. She was hit by a passing train and was seriously injured. She was hospitalised with serious leg and pelvic injuries and in a bid to save her life, doctors had to amputate her left leg below the knee. In an interview to an Indian TV channel before leaving for her expedition, Sinha recollected how she had decided to get her life back right in the hospital when she was recovering. "At that time everyone was worried for me. I then realised I had to do something in my life so that people stop looking at me with pity. I read about people scaling the Mt Everest. I spoke to my older brother and my coach who only encouraged me," she said. Overcoming the scars of the accident and defying all odds, Arunima started training at the Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF) camp in Uttarkashi last year under the guidance of Bachendri Pal. Arunima successfully scaled the 6,622-metre-high Mount Chhamser Kangri of Ladakh last year, but her ultimate goal was to climb Mount Everest. Yesterday, two 21-year-old Indian sisters scripted history by becoming the first twins ever to conquer the summit of Mount Everest together. Tashi and Nancy Malik from Dehra Dun achieved this feat along with other record-makers, including the first women from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to have climbed the peak. — PTI Daring feat Arunima Sinha, a resident of Ambedkar Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, was pushed out of the general compartment of Padmawati Express for resisting a chain-snatching attempt by some criminals, while travelling from Lucknow to Delhi on April 12, 2011 She was hit by a passing train and was seriously injured. She was hospitalised with serious leg and pelvic injuries and in a bid to save her life, doctors had to amputate her left leg below the knee