KUALA LUMPUR: An Australian marine exploration company has claimed that it has found the wreckage of the crashed Malaysian plane in the Bay of Bengal, 5,000 km away from the current search location in the Indian Ocean.

Adelaide-based GeoResonance on Tuesday said it had begun its own search for the missing flight MH370 on March 10 and that it has detected possible wreckage in the Bay of Bengal, 5000 km away from the current search location, the Star newspaper reported.

GeoResonance’s search covered 2,000,000 square kilometres of the possible crash zone, using images obtained from satellites and aircraft, with company scientists focusing their efforts north of plane’s last known location, using over 20 technologies to analyse the data including a nuclear reactor, company spokesperson David Pope said.

He claimed his company used technology originally designed to find nuclear warheads and submarines.

David Pope said GeoResonance compared their findings with images taken on March 5, three days before MH370 went missing, and did not find what they had detected at the spot.

“The wreckage wasn’t there prior to the disappearance of MH370. We’re not trying to say it definitely is MH370. However, it is a lead we feel should be followed up,” said Pope.

Malaysia’s Department of Civil Aviation Director-General Azharuddin Abdul Rahman told the paper that Malaysia was unaware of the report of the finding.

“We will have to check and verify this report,” he said.

Another GeoResonance spokesperson, Pavel Kursa, said several elements found in commercial airliners were detected at the Bay of Bengal spot identified by GeoResonance.

“We identified chemical elements and materials that make up a Boeing 777...these are aluminium, titanium, copper, steel alloys and other materials,” said  Kursa in a statement.

The Beijing-bound Malaysia Airlines flight MH370- carrying 239 people, including five Indians, an Indo-Canadian and 154 Chinese nationals - had mysteriously vanished on March 8 after taking off from Kuala Lumpur.

The mystery of the missing plane continued to baffle aviation and security authorities who have so far not succeeded in tracking the aircraft despite deploying hi-tech radar and other gadgets. - PTI

UNITED NATIONS: India, which has contributed 1.7 lakh peacekeepers to UN missions, has told the UN Security Council that it wants crucial reforms of security institutions to facilitate peacebuilding in the conflict-hit nations.

India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Asoke Mukerji said in a UN Security Council debate on 'Security Sector Reform (SSR): Challenges and Opportunities' yesterday that security sector reform is an "important element of post-conflict peacebuilding" and should be part of the internal political process of a nation emerging from conflict.

"It was only a few days ago that two Indian Peacekeepers donning the blue helmet were injured while protecting civilians at the UNMISS base at Bor in the South Sudan.

"This attack is another example of unresolved political issues in South Sudan which also reflects the importance of understanding the complex political environment of these peacekeeping missions, where security sector reform has to take root as part of the internal political process of the concerned member state," Mukerji said.

Mukerji said India has experience relevant to reform of a country's security sector, having played an active role in 43 UN peacekeeping missions in which almost 170,000 Indian peacekeepers have participated so far.

Six peacekeeping operations and eight Special Political Missions have been mandated to do SSR.

He said in many of these peacekeeping operations, troops from India are directly involved.

Outlining a few principles that must guide security sector reform, he said the most sustainable way for effective reforms is by ensuring national ownership of the process.

"We have, in the past, also emphasized that the external footprint, including of the UN, should be light to avoid any possible overtones of neo-colonialism," he added.

Noting that establishment and maintenance of public order is important, Mukerji said a security vacuum after a peace agreement is dangerous.

The focus has to be on what is do-able and not on an agenda driven by priorities of donor countries.

"Given the importance of national ownership and the scarcity of resources, the priority, in our view, should be given to issues such as ensuring impartiality in recruitment, vetting of new recruits and training. A focus on the political dimension of police reform will only be controversial and, perhaps, also counter-productive," he said.

He cautioned against an over reliance on "innovative" approaches, in instances when there is need to cut costs.

"There is a belief that UN missions can be asked to do more with less. We can understand that – at some level – such logic will appeal to some people. The truth, however, is that cost cannot be cut without also cutting corners," he added.

He urged Member-States to be pragmatic by only including mandates that are deliverable and for which resources are available.

"Security sector capacity building needs to necessarily occupy centre-stage in security sector reform. Such an approach would be both cost-effective and sustainable," he said. -PTI 

AMETHI: Battling on Rahul Gandhi's behalf, Priyanka Gandhi today took on Narendra Modi over his 'shehzada', "namuna" and other barbs at her brother, saying the BJP leader is aspiring to be Prime Minister but indulging in "childish" behaviour and that he should maintain decorum.

Campaigning for Rahul here, she said BJP leaders used to make fun of her father and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi when he introduced computers in the country and they are now "mocking" her brother.

"They call him (Rahul) 'namuna' (specimen). Sometime they compare him to a stand up comedian and sometime they call him shehzada. I think you (Modi) aspire to be a Prime Minister, then why do you indulge in such childish behaviour? He (Modi) should take maintain dignity," she said at an election meeting at Deeh in Salon assembly area.

Priyanka, whose attack on BJP and its prime ministerial candidate over their targeting of her husband Robert Vadra has invited sharp reaction from them, continued with her criticism of the opposition party for its "destructive" policies which, she said, pitted one brother against another.

Exhorting people to vote for Congress, she said a message should be sent from her brother's constituency about the kind of politics that should be practised in India.

"Their (BJP) politics is destructive.... Don't vote for yourself or Amethi. A message should go from here about the kind of politics needed in the country. There should be clean politics," she said.

BJP candidate Smriti Irani and AAP, which has fielded Kumar Vishwas, also drew Priyanka's wrath as she accused Irani of holding meetings in dark rooms to tell people about lack of electricity and development in the constituency.

"There are different governments in the state and the Centre. Sometimes, it causes inconvenience. Giving power is state government's job.... When UP government diverted power supply here, their (BJP) leaders agitated in Lucknow. Now its candidate is doing drama here," she said.

AAP neither has power at the Centre nor in state and it cannot do any development, she said as she listed out the developmental works carried out by Rahul.

She claimed that half of the programmes given in BJP's manifesto are that of Congress.

"BJP copied Congress' manifesto. When their leaders come before you ask them that whether they have any plan for development. If the people are aware then the politicians have to become accountable.

"Vote is your power understand it. If you would have not given the power, then nobody would have dared to stand before you like me," she said. - PTI

WASHINGTON: A new round of twister tornadoes ripped through South US killing five people in Mississippi and Alabama a day after another storm left a trail of destruction in Arkansas.

At least 15 people were killed by Sunday’s storms in Arkansas where emergency officials searched for survivors in the debris left by a powerful tornado that carved in 80-mile path of destruction through suburban Little Rock, media reports said.

As Alabama Governor Robert Bentley on Monday declared a state of emergency for all counties, Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe said the storm was one of the worst to hit the state in recent memory.

Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant said the twisters inflicted “severe damage” around the town of Louisville, about 90 miles northeast of Jackson, and more around Tupelo, CNN reported.

Winston Medical Centre, Louisville’s major hospital, was among the buildings hit, Bryant told reporters.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado emergency warning for the area around Athens, Alabama, near the Tennessee state line, on Monday evening, CNN said.

A tornado emergency also was declared in south-eastern Tennessee for east central Lincoln, Moore and northwest Franklin counties.

Storm spotters were tracking a large and extremely dangerous tornado seven miles east of Fayetteville, Tennessee, the weather service said.

The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Centre declared tornado emergencies for several counties in northern Mississippi on Monday afternoon as the line of storms moved through the state from south-west to north-east.

Nearly 5 million people were at moderate risk of severe weather on late Monday, while 31 million people were at slight risk, including those in Atlanta and Nashville, CNN said.

The Arkansas tornado was the largest of several produced by a powerful storm system that rumbled through the central and southern US, according to CBS News. - IANS

SINGAPORE: Samsung Electronics Co. on Tuesday introduced a smartphone that has a camera with advanced features, aimed at meeting the needs of active social media users who frequently upload pictures on sites including Facebook and Twitter.

The Galaxy K zoom, which the company describes as a camera-specialised smartphone, had its global launch in Singapore.

It features a timer that allows users to take selfies, or photos of themselves, with the back camera using a timer.

Most smartphones allow users to take selfies with the camera at the front of the phone, which typically has a lower resolution.

The phone features a new retracting lens that offers 10 times optical zoom, enabling users to take pictures of distant objects by zooming into them using lenses, and an optical image stabiliser that helps to produce sharper photos by adjusting for shakes that may be caused while holding the device.

The pricing and availability of the Galaxy K zoom were not immediately announced.

The camera is designed for users of social media such as Facebook and Twitter “to record every precious moment in their daily lives,” said Sun Hong Lim, Senior Vice-president of Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics.

The phone’s camera has a larger, 20.7 mega pixel BSI CMOS sensor, which is bigger and allows more light to be captured, making it ideal for low-light photography, the company said.

The launch of the Galaxy K zoom follows the recent introduction of Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S5 model and comes as the South Korean company seeks to consolidate its position as the world’s largest maker of smartphones.

Mobile phone makers shipped more than 1 billion smartphones in 2013, according to the International Data Corporation’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.

Samsung’s share of the market exceeded 30 per cent, followed by Apple with over 15 per cent share.

The company’s Galaxy K zoom is equipped with a Xenon flaw and has five optimised filter settings.

“With the introduction of the Galaxy K zoom, Samsung continues to demonstrate our commitment to creating products that meet the diverse demands of our consumers,” Mr. Lim said in a statement issued by Samsung. Users can capture and share their most important everyday moments, he said.

The phone is 20.2 millimetres thin and weighs 200 grams. It records video at 60 frames per second.

Samsung said it has tied up with Twitter to provide the Vine app pre-loaded on the K zoom. This will allow Twitter users to upload photos.

The company also unveiled audio products branded Samsung Level, which consists of three types of headphones and a Bluetooth-enabled portable speaker. - PTI

RANCHI: A local BJP leader was allegedly gangraped by a group of unidentified people at Masmano village in Ranchi district, police said today.

The men barged into her residence and gangraped her on Sunday.

They also beat up her husband and abused their 13-year-old daughter before decamping with cash and jewellery, police said.

Efforts are on to nab the accused, they said. PTI