Ukrainian tanks for Pakistan
LONDON, Oct 23 — Ukraine will deliver the last 25 of the 320 modern tanks to Pakistan, a deal for which was signed between the two nations in 1996.

Book on Bush withdrawn
NEW YORK, Oct 23 — A New York publisher, admitting that the author of a controversial biography of Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush had credibility problems, recalled all copies of the book.

Poor Canadians as guinea pigs
TORONTO, Oct 23 — Contract research firms in Canada are actively recruiting students, welfare recipients, the underemployed and unemployed as human guinea pigs to test new versions of drugs such as Viagra and Prozac, a bioethicist has charged.

24 Peruvian kids die of food poisoning
LIMA, Oct 23 — At least 24 schoolchildren died in a remote Andean village on Thursday after eating food believed to have contained insecticide. It was the worst tragedy involving youngsters in Peru for years, the police said.

Andreotti acquitted of mafia charge
PALERMO, Oct 23 — Former Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti today escaped a possible 15-year jail sentence when a Palermo court absolved him of representing Mafia interests in Rome.

India can take lead on CTBT: USA

WASHINGTON, Oct 23 (AP) — Failure of the USA to ratify a global nuclear test ban treaty gives India an opportunity to take the lead on the pact, US Energy Secretary Bill Richardson has suggested.

Mr Richardson, who will visit India next week, told reporters that his trip will mainly deal with energy issues but that he’s certain the subject of nuclear proliferation will also come up.

He said he was taking to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee a letter from President Bill Clinton that he described as “very positive”.

Mr Richardson is the first US Cabinet member to visit India since a new government was formed on October 3 and Mr Vajpayee was sworn in for the third time as Prime Minister.

Mr Clinton still intends to visit India and the region, Mr Richardson said yesterday. He did not give a timetable, just saying “in the new year.”

The October 12 coup in neighbouring Pakistan was also likely to be discussed, he said.

Part of Mr Clinton’s message conveys hope for a return to Pakistan of civilian democracy and encouragement for getting the Indian-Pakistani peace process back on track, Mr Richardson indicated.

He conceded that the Senate’s defeat earlier this month of the nuclear test-ban treaty made it harder to persuade other nuclear powers like India to ratify the pact.

But, he said, “the setback in the Senate gives India an opportunity to step forward and take the lead.”

Mr Vajpayee has said he will seek a consensus among all parties on signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

Mr Richardson said the USA still felt India would be better off without nuclear weapons. Still, “we recognise that India feels it needs such a capacity,” he said.

PTI adds: India has asserted that “no pressure works on us” to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) though the USA said it was “disappointed at the lack of concrete action” by New Delhi to achieve non-proliferation goals.

“I can tell you frankly, no pressure works on us (to sign the CTBT). I have said it and the government has said it a number of times,” National Security adviser Brajesh Mishra told reporters after a meeting with Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott here on Friday.

Indo-US working group

India and the USA have proposed to set up a joint working group to consider ways to counter international terrorism, of which New Delhi has been a victim for nearly two decades Mr Mishra has said.

The proposal is an outcome of several high-level talks between the two sides and “a better understanding” by the USA of the Indian concerns, Mr Mishra, who is also the Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Vajpayee, told reporters here on Friday after a meeting with Mr Talbott.

Expressing concern over the “unfortunate” developments in Islamabad, Mr Mishra, who is here on a two-day visit, said: “There have been three previous military rulers in Pakistan. Under two, we had two wars; under a third, there was export of terrorism to India in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of the country.

“So, obviously, we have to be vigilant in the present circumstances,” he said while conveying India’s views on the military coup in Pakistan.

Reuters adds: Mr Brajesh Mishra met senior US officials in Washington and repeated his country’s refusal to talk with Pakistan until it halted backing for guerrillas in Kashmir.

Mr Mishra, whose talks touched on the military takeover in Pakistan, told reporters: “Even when there was a civilian government we kept on saying that unless cross-border terrorism is stopped, meaningful talks with Pakistan could not take place. The situation is the same today.’’

Surya launch in mid-2001: weekly

WASHINGTON, Oct 23 (PTI) — India is likely to launch a 5,000 km range missile, Surya, in mid-2001, Defense News weekly said.

A sum of $ 50 million had already been spent on the development of Surya and the missile would be powered by a Russian cryogenic engine which used liquid fuel cooled to a very low temperature, the weekly said quoting Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Scientists.

India was building its own cryogenic engine but it would not be ready by 2001.

India, said the weekly, had a deal with Russia for cryogenic engines through 2002. The first engine was received in December, 1998, for a large satellite booster. One of the next cryogenic engine deliveries would be for the Surya.

The DRDO’s missile plan included an upgradation of the range of India’s existing short-range Prithvi missile from 150 km to 350 km.

A naval version of the Prithvi missile, with a range of 250 km was expected to be tested later this year. Also, about 20 Agni ballistic missiles with a range of more than 2,000 km would be manufactured by 2001 at a total cost of $ 150 million the weekly said.

The DRDO was also planning to develop a medium range air-to-air missile called Astra, to be fired from combat aircraft such as the Sea Harrier, the MIG-29 and the SU-30.

India was expected to provide fresh funding for a major push into missile research and development taking into account the tactical value of missiles in the country, the weekly said quoting government sources in Delhi.

A missile research plan, submitted earlier this year by the DRDO, costing $ 800 million, was not acted on but now it was being dusted off as a basis for a wide-ranging new programme, the sources said.

Against the request of the DRDO for $ 800 million for 1997-2000, the government allocated it only $ 142.8 million. But this was set to change, according to Finance Ministry and DRDO officials.

The plan was outlined in a letter from the DRDO chief and “Father of Indian missile technology” Abdul Kalam to Defence Minister George Fernandes but was largely ignored due to the Kargil conflict and national elections, the weekly said.

Now, however, the government would take a new look at the comprehensive missile plan drawn up by the DRDO. The plan was based on developing a wide range of modern missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads. The plan focused on the early deployment of a number of new missiles, including two versions of an inter-continental ballistic missile.

Hold talks, USA tells Russia, Chechnya

WASHINGTON, Oct 23 (DPA) — The USA has called for an urgent dialogue between the Russian Government and Chechen leaders to stop the escalating violence in the province.

“The escalation of violence over the past 24 hours has raised concern in the USA and elsewhere about the prospects for a peaceful settlement of the conflict,” US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott said yesterday in a written statement.

“Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has expressed these concerns to Foreign Minister IGOR Ivanov previously and plans to speak with him again over the weekend,” Mr Talbott said.

Additional details on the planned discussion were not disclosed.

Russian troops, battling separatist Chechen guerrillas, have surrounded the provincial capital of Grozny. New reports said Russian forces bombed a market in Grozny, killing more than 100 persons.

Russia has denied responsibility for the attack.

“The crisis in the north Caucasus has clearly worsened especially with yesterday’s shocking violence in Grozny,” Mr Talbott said. “The increasing loss of civilian life further jeopardises the security and stability of the region.”

UNITED NATIONS, (PTI): The UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has expressed “strong hope” that special care would be taken to avoid innocent civilians casualties in the “current conflict in northern Caucasus” region of Russia.

Mr Annan has read with “great concern” reports of recent development there and hopes that provisions of humanitarian law in armed conflict are respected, his spokesman Fred Eckhard said.

The Secretary-General in his statement, however, did not mentioned. The name of Chechnya or blamed anyone on this issue.

Ukrainian tanks for Pakistan

LONDON, Oct 23 (ANI) — Ukraine will deliver the last 25 of the 320 modern tanks to Pakistan, a deal for which was signed between the two nations in 1996.

This was announced by an aide to Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma in Kiev on Thursday.

One of the world’s leading tank makers. Kiev had signed a $ 650 million deal with Pakistan for the supply to T-80 UD tanks.

Ukraine expressed the hope the deal would revive the military factories it inherited after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Book on Bush withdrawn

NEW YORK, Oct 23 (Reuters) — A New York publisher, admitting that the author of a controversial biography of Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush had credibility problems, recalled all copies of the book.

“St Martin’s Press announces today a recall of ‘Fortunate Son: George W. Bush and the Making of an American President’ by J.H. Hatfield,” said the publisher yesterday. St Martins already had suspended the distribution of the book after reports that Hatfield was convicted in 1988 for attempted murder “brought the author’s credibility into serious question.”

Poor Canadians as guinea pigs

TORONTO, Oct 23 (Reuters) — Contract research firms in Canada are actively recruiting students, welfare recipients, the underemployed and unemployed as human guinea pigs to test new versions of drugs such as Viagra and Prozac, a bioethicist has charged.

“It’s unjust the poor in this country carry the burden of evaluating new treatments for all Canadians and unfortunately that’s what is happening here,” said Dr Charles Weijer, a bioethicist at the University of Dalhousie in Halifax.

The advertisements are placed by contract research firms, such as Biovail Corp. International BVF. To , Phoenix International Life Sciences Inc. PHX.To and Canadian Medical Laboratories Ltd. CLC.To, which are hired by pharmaceutical companies to conduct clinical research on humans.

24 Peruvian kids die of food poisoning

LIMA, Oct 23 (Reuters) — At least 24 schoolchildren died in a remote Andean village on Thursday after eating food believed to have contained insecticide. It was the worst tragedy involving youngsters in Peru for years, the police said.

More than 12 other children, who suffered excruciating stomach pains, were seriously ill in hospital near the southern historic town of Cusco after eating a meal at school, a police spokesman said.

Andreotti acquitted of mafia charge

PALERMO, Oct 23 (DPA) — Former Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti today escaped a possible 15-year jail sentence when a Palermo court absolved him of representing Mafia interests in Rome.

The former Prime Minister had been accused of being the Mafia’s political godfather in Rome, exchanging votes in Sicily in return for near impunity for the Mafia’s criminal activities.

Landslides kill 10
KATHMANDU: Landslides triggered by heavy rain killed 10 persons and injured seven in Nepal, a newspaper report said on Saturday. A family of five was wiped out when a landslip buried their home at Khanalthok village, 50 km east of Kathmandu. Five members of another family perished in the district of Kuntabesi. — DPA

Emmy Awards
NEW YORK: The British television network Sky News was nominated for an international Emmy Award for being the first broadcaster to report live from inside Kosovo the day NATO troops entered the province after the war. It was among 21 nominees for the 27th annual International Emmy Awards, which will be presented in New York on November 22. — AP

Jupiter’s moon
WASHINGTON: The ageing Galileo spacecraft braved punishing radiation to capture the closest-ever images of Jupiter’s moon IO, astronomers at NASA’s jet propulsion laboratory have said. Taken on October 10, the pictures show new lava flows from the volcanic centre Pillan, where the lava is hotter than anything that has occurred on earth for the last several billion years, they said. — Reuters

Bogus moon rock
NEW YORK: Just as his brother did a month ago, an Atlanta man who was caught trying to sell pieces of a fake moon rock that he claimed had been given to his father by US space pioneer John Glenn pleaded guilty on Friday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Ronald Trochelmann was charged along with his brother Brian Trochelmann last year at a court in Manhattan in a scheme to sell the phony moon rock for millions of dollars. — Reuters