Fall in imports from EU
BRUSSELS, April 10 — India has recorded a surplus in its trade with the European Union for the first time in this decade, a senior official said.

Cop held in Lankan ransom case
COLOMBO, April 10 — A police officer and 10 others were arrested and most of the ransom money was recovered in Sri Lanka’s biggest kidnapping for ransom case, the police has said.

US-China talks on WTO fail

WASHINGTON, April 10 (AFP) — Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji cited “new complications” in talks with US officials on China’s entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO), saying Washington had sought too many concessions.

Speaking at a dinner here yesterday more than an hour behind schedule, Zhu said he was late because “new complications have come up on the issue of the WTO.”

“I feel that we should be able to reach agreement on market access but the US side wants still more,” Zhu told a dinner hosted by the American China Society and the National Committee on US-China relations.

“They want a greater investment ratio and lower tariffs, but can’t you just wait a while? If you want too much too soon, in the end you may wind up with nothing,” he said.

Neither Chinese Trade Minister Wu Yi nor President Bill Clinton’s Chief Asia Adviser Kenneth Lieberthal appeared at the dinner, and Zhu said he believed they were still negotiating.

Zhu, known for his animated style and self-deprecating humour, appeared irritated by what he described as excessive US demands during a state visit aimed mainly at repairing new strains in US-Chinese ties.

Those troubles stem largely from new allegations that China stole US nuclear weapons technology in the 1980s and again in the mid-1990s.

“I think it’s time to turn the theory of China as a threat into the theory of China as an opportunity. US business should not pass up this opportunity,” Zhu said.

“I originally was not intending to speak about these matters ... but yesterday the American side made public all documents and papers and said the Chinese side had agreed to these, but we had not agreed,” he said.

“Even if I were to sign these papers, the people of China would not accept this. It’s not that I’m afraid of losing my job — we are a developing country,” Zhu said.

Zhu’s speech wrapped up the Washington leg of his six-city, nine-day brainstorming tour of the USA, which will now take him to Denver and then to Chicago, New York and Boston.

In an interview yesterday with PBS Television, Zhu blamed US domestic politics for the absence of a final WTO agreement on Thursday.

He described Washington and Beijing as “very, very close” to a deal that would end a 13-year impasse over China’s WTO bid.

“But because of the current political atmosphere, my understanding is that President Clinton feels that this would not be an opportune time to finalise it,” Zhu said.

On the second full day of his official visit to Washington, Zhu found common ground with Vice-President Al Gore on protecting the environment, inking several deals to step up cooperation in that area.

AP adds: China agreed to slash high border tariffs on thousands of US products, from cars to corn, to open up its vast retail banking system to US banks and to drop demands that US high-technology companies share their technology as a condition of landing contracts.

For the first time, China also agreed to allow US telecommunications companies controlling interests in firms serving a vast potential market where only one in 10 households now has a phone.

The hitch is that China made the offers contingent on getting US approval for an overall package that would allow China to enter the WTO.

The administration, beseeched by labour unions, the textile industry and the steel industry, decided it needed more Chinese concessions. Those included a demand that Chinese goods shipped to USA be subjected to quotas for five years longer than currently permitted under WTO rules.Mr Zhu, China’s leading economic reformer, rejected these requests.

Duma delays verdict on impeachment

MOSCOW, April 10 (AP) — Parliament put off a final decision on when to open an impeachment debate against President Boris Yeltsin, the most serious effort yet to oust the Russian leader.

Dominated by hardliners bent on Mr Yeltsin’s ouster, parliament yesterday decided it needed more time to consider the issue and will vote next week on whether to delay the debate, tentatively set to begin April 15.

Mr Gennady Seleznyov, Speaker of Parliament’s Lower House, told lawmakers that Mr Yeltsin himself suggested a delay. But presidential spokesman Dmitry Yakushkin said Mr Yeltsin does not want the vote postponed.

The impeachment motion is considered a long shot, but Mr Yeltsin’s frequent illnesses and Russia’s economic crisis have weakened his power and made his ouster more likely than it once was.

The motion must win a two-thirds majority in both Houses of Parliament and approval by Russia’s highest courts. The Upper House, the Federation Council, has been more supportive of Mr Yeltsin in the past than the Lower House.

A Duma panel has charged Mr Yeltsin with instigating the 1991 Soviet collapse, improperly using force against hard-line lawmakers in 1993, launching a botched war in Chechnya, bringing the nation’s military to ruin and waging genocide against the Russian people by pursuing economic policies that impoverished the country.

Mr Yeltsin said yesterday that he wasn’t going to introduce a state of emergency, ban the Communist Party or fire Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, all rumours that had been circulating in Parliament during the day.

India, Pak population bomb

WASHINGTON, April 10 (PTI) — India and Pakistan are among the countries that face a “demographic train wreck” by 2050 due to their burgeoning population, a latest independent study says.

While India, which will overtake China as the world’s most populous nation in a few years, faces a “disaster”, Pakistan has a “calamity” staring at it, the study by the Worldwatch Institute, titled “Beyond Malthus”, says.

India’s population, which will hit a billion this August and in 2050 is expected to stand at 1,529 million as against China’s 1,478 million, will be strongly hit by scarcity of arable land and potable water, the study authored by Worldwatch Institute president Lester R. Brown, Gary Gardner and Brian Halweil says.

The availability of arable land in India, already facing shortage of water in parts of the country, will be reduced to less than one-tenth of a hectare, far lesser than a typical suburban lot in the USA.

Pakistan has grimmer prospects with its 1998 population of 142 million exploding to 345 million and its people having arable land of 0.03 of a hectare per head by 2050.

“In effect,” says Worldwatch, Pakistan’s farmers are losing the battle with population growth.

Three countries where grainland has shrunk to 0.03 hectares per head — Japan, South Korea and Taiwan — import some 70 per cent of their grain needs.

As for water, new estimates for India, says Worldwatch, indicate that withdrawals are now double the rate of aquifer recharge.

As a result, “water tables are falling by one to three metres per year over much of the country. Overpumping today means water supply cutbacks tomorrow, a serious matter where half of the grain harvest comes from irrigated land”, it says.

The International Water Management Institute, Brown Notes, estimates that aquifer depletion and the resulting cutbacks in irrigation water could drop India’s grain harvest by one-fourth.

“In a country where 53 per cent of all children are already malnourished and underweight, a shrinking harvest could increase hunger-related deaths, adding to the six million worldwide who die each year from hunger and malnutrition,” the study says.

India, Worldwatch notes, has achieved impressive gains in its harvest but these have been largely cancelled by population growth, leaving most of its 989 million people living close to the margin.

Brown sees one-third of humanity — with several other developing countries keeping company with India and Pakistan — sliding into a “demographic dark hole.”

The global population, which is expected to pass the six billion mark on October 12, is now projected at 8.9 billion by 2050 against the earlier projection on 9.4 billion.

“Tragically,” says Brown, “the world is dividing into two parts: one where population growth is slowing as fertility falls, and one where population growth is slowing as mortality rises.”

The two regions where death rates are already rising, or are likely to do so, are sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian subcontinent.

Barring a medical miracle, many African countries will lose one-fifth or more of their adult population to AIDS within the next decade, the study warns.

With four million of its adults now HIV positive, India is home to more infected individuals than any other nation, it says.

The infection rate among India’s adults is already roughly one per cent. That is a critical threshold for potentially rapid spread and the HIV epidemic now threatens to engulf the country if the government does not move quickly to check it, the study warns.

Clinton’s greetings on birth of Khalsa

WASHINGTON, April 10 (PTI) — U S President Bill Clinton has sent “warm greetings” to Sikhs on the occasion of Khalsa Panth Tercentenary, commending the community for its commitment towards preserving the values of religion.

“As you mark this important milestone, I commend each of you for your commitment to preserving the values and traditions of the Sikh faith and to sharing them with a new generation,” he said in a message released yesterday.

“By building on a rich past, you are helping to make a brighter future for us all,” he said in the message released through Dr Rajwant Singh, Executive Director of the Guru Gobind Singh Foundation here.

“Throughout our nation’s history, Americans have drawn strength, hope and inspiration from their religious traditions and ethnic heritage. Even as we seek to become a more united people, we must not forget our roots, for they remind us of who we are and of what we have to share with others,” Clinton said.

The Guru Gobind Singh Foundation, which represents the Sikhs in an umbrella organisation of all religious faiths, and gurdwaras in the U S are celebrating the tercentenary with religious functions, meetings and seminars, stressing that Sikhism is a faith that seeks to unite all religions.

Fall in imports from EU

BRUSSELS, April 10 (UNI) — India has recorded a surplus in its trade with the European Union (EU) for the first time in this decade, a senior official said.

Import and export figures available for first 11 months of 1998 show that India’s exports to the EU totalled $ 10.1 billion while imports were $ 9.7 billion.

“This means an increase of 4.2 per cent in Indian exports and 6.4 per cent decrease in imports over the previous year’s performance,” said Mr Andre Chalmin, Administrator at the European Commission’s Director General for External Relations.

The 15-member EU Remains India’s largest trading partner with 26 per cent share of India’s exports and 25 per cent of imports. The exports comprise of textiles and clothing, gems and jewellery, leather and related products, engineering goods, agriculture items and allied products.

Germany, Britain and Belgium account for nearly 70 per cent of Indian imports from the EU, the same three countries and Italy account for nearly 70 per cent of Indian exports to the EU.

One big economy with which India trades very little is France, comprising just 10 per cent of total EU India trade.

Indian exports to the EU grew at a bouyant rate of 20 per cent and 17 per cent in 1993 and 1994 followed by healthy growth rates of 12 to 10 per cent in the next three years. The export growth rate of 4.2 per cent in 1998 is in line with the overall global recession during this period.

Compared with this, Indian imports from the EU show a more uneven trend with growth rate of 20 per cent in 1993 followed by 12 per cent in 1994 and a whopping 34 per cent in 1995. This was followed expectedly by a subdued growth rate of 3 to 4 per cent in the next two years. A negative growth rate of 6.4 per cent in 1998 was due to economic slowdown in Indian industry.

Mr Chalmin said a look at the export basket showed subtle change over the past five years. India continued to export the same commodities. However, there are some changes worth mentioning.

The textiles-clothing-shoes products group which constituted 42 per cent of India’s exports in 1995 has now come down to 37.4 per cent in 1998.

Cop held in Lankan ransom case

COLOMBO, April 10 (AP) — A police officer and 10 others were arrested and most of the ransom money was recovered in Sri Lanka’s biggest kidnapping for ransom case, the police has said.

A police officer, three military deserters and seven others have been arrested in the past week and Rs 17 million ($ 261,000) recovered in the March 30 kidnapping of a company director. The Director was released a day later when his wife paid the ransom money, police officer Nuwan Wedasinghe said yesterday.

The kidnappers, who included a police officer, stopped Mr G.C. Wickremasinghe’s vehicle at Colombo’s elegant golf club and took him and the driver to a hide-out in the suburbs. They then called the tycoon’s wife and threatened to kill him if she did not pay the ransom.

Ex-Spice Girl’s motto
RIO DE JANEIRO (Brazil): “Forget Girl power, the future belongs to woman power,” says ex-Spice girl Geri Halliwell. The former Ginger Spice, who left the British supergroup nearly a year ago, wants to take the Spice catch phrase to a new level in her solo career. Ginger Spice is still a part of me but I want to take girl power one step further, “Halliwell said in an interview late Thursday. I think woman power is important now. It’s about being real with one another.” — AP

“No sex in cars”
ROME: The Italian Supreme Court in Rome has suggested couples engaging in sexual relations in a car “cover the windows” or face charges of “obscene behaviour in public”, Italian newspapers reported. The court’s ruling on Friday quashed a milder decision by a lower court in Genua which had found a couple guilty of “contravention of public decency” for having sex in a car and charged them 300 marks (168 dollars). The Supreme Court judge said the act is criminal “even though nudity on beaches has become quite normal”. — DPA

Guelleh elected
DJIBOUTI: Ismael Omar Guelleh, candidate of the party which has ruled Djibouti for 22 years, has won presidential elections with more than 74 per cent of the vote, Radio Djibouti said yesterday quoting the Interior Ministry. It said Guelleh got 74.09 per cent votes against 25.78 per cent of his opposition rival Moussa Ahmed Idriss in the election held on Friday. — AFP

Viral flu kills 820
KATHMANDU: An epidemic of viral influenza and other diseases sweeping parts of Nepal has claimed 820 lives in the past two months, medical authorities were reported saying on Saturday. The northwest districts of Kalikot and Jumla were the worst affected with 483 dead and more than 25,000 requiring treatment, the state-run RSS news agency said quoting the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division. In nearby Dailekh, the deaths of 82 persons were attributed to measles and viral influenza and in Gorkha, to the west, 54 persons died of measles or diarrhoea. — AFP

Mass graves found
COLOMBO: The discovery of at least nine skeletons at a sports ground in Sri Lanka’s embattled northern town of Jaffna has raised fears of more mass graves in the region, officials said on Saturday. Six skeletons were dug out from the Duraippa stadium in Jaffna on Thursday, a day after three were found at the same place, local officials said by telephone. Jaffna district judge AE Ehananthan who was present at the exhumations on Thursday has ordered forensic tests on the bones which some officials believe could belong to people who had died or were killed about 10 years ago. — AFP

Clinton’s work culture
WASHINGTON: Celebrating the lowest number of Americans on welfare in 30 years, President Bill Clinton on Saturday proposed new regulations to promote work and hold states accountable for moving more families off the rolls. The proposal was part of a initiative that Clinton outlined in broad terms of the union address in January. In his weekly radio address, Clinton announced welfare caseloads were at their lowest level since 1969 and that welfare rolls had fallen by nearly half since he took office in January 1993. — Reuters