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| Tuesday,
March 27, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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‘Gladiator’
wins best film Oscar
Bob Dylan
snags first Oscar 58 boys
perish in Kenya fire |
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India
opposes move on caste Pak rules
out trade ties with India Pak
cautions missions Democrats
share poll honours in Germany Taipei to
ban prostitution Taliban
show demolished Buddha statues Singapore
to have its own KBC
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‘Gladiator’ wins best film Oscar Los Angeles, March 26 “It takes a lot of people to make a Colosseum, but it only takes one or two to mess it up. To all the wizards who brought to life the sights, sounds and citizens of a faraway world, we should take a chisel to this statue and give you your fair share,” said Douglas Wick, a producer of “Gladiator,” which also won the Oscar for sound, costume design, visual effects today. Steven Soderbergh did what observers felt was impossible: He won best director for “Traffic,” his sprawling exploration of the futility of the US-Mexico drug war, even though people felt he would split his vote by being nominated for “Erin Brockovich.” Following “Gladiator” was “Traffic with four awards, including Soderbergh’s, supporting actor for Benicio Del Toro adapted screenplay by Stephen Gaghan and film editing. “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” the dreamlike martial arts tale from Taiwan, also scored four Oscars - foreign language film, art direction, cinematography and original score. Director Ang Lee thanked “my friends and family in Taiwan and to my collaborators in Hong Kong and everyone, people in China helped so much. You make this movie. This is a great honour.” When she won, a giddy Roberts ascended the auditorium stage and warned that she would be speaking for a long time “because I may never be here again.” She clutched her first Oscar and said, “This is quite pretty.” The audience was amused by her glee. “I love the world. I’m so happy,”
Roberts squealed. Crowe, who seemed distracted earlier in the programme, responded exuberantly after winning for his role as the Roman general reduced to slave and arena fighter. “Really folks, I owe this to one bloke, and his name is Ridley Scott,” Crowe said of his director. “If you grow up ... in the suburbs of anywhere, a dream like this seems kind of vaguely ludicrous and completely unattainable,” he went on. “This moment is directly connected to those childhood imaginings. And for anybody who’s on the downside of advantage, and relying purely on courage, it’s possible.” Marcia Gay Harden, who played the long-suffering wife of artist Jackson Pollock in “Pollock,” won best supporting actress. Del Toro, who portrayed an honest Tijuana detective, thanked Soderbergh and others connected with his movie, while Harden noted that few people had seen “Pollock,” since it opened in theatre the same week as the Oscar nominations, and thanked the voters for taking the time to review the videotapes made available to them. Cameron Crowe won original screenplay for “Almost Famous.” The show began from orbit as astronaut Susan Helms, with fellow crew members of the International Space Station floating by the side, introduced first-time host Steve Martin. “By the way that introduction cost the government $ 1 trillion,” Martin quipped to the glittering Shrine Auditorium throng. Among other winners, “U-571” won for sound editing and “Dr Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” for makeup. In the documentary categories, “Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport” won the feature Oscar and “Big Mama” received the short subject honour. The animated short film Oscar went to “Father and Daughter,” and the live-action short film honor to “Quiero Ser (I want to Be).” Bob Dylan won the best-song Oscar for the rollicking “Things Have Changed,” the tune he wrote for the quirky campus drama “Wonder Boys.” “Oh good God, this is amazing,” Dylan said by satellite from Sydney, Australia, where he is on tour. Oscar ballots were mailed to the roughly 5,700 Academy members, who nominate in their own categories — such as actors voting for actors. All can nominate for best picture. Most of the final awards are voted on by all members. The exceptions: members can vote for the short, documentary and foreign language films only if they can certify that they have seen all the nominees. Last night marked a farewell to the venerable Shrine Auditorium. Next year, the Academy Awards will move to the 3,300-seat Kodak Theatre in the heart of Hollywood. Oscar will be returning to Hollywood for the first time in 40 years.
AP |
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Los Angeles, March 26 “Oh, good god! This is amazing!” said the singer upon receiving the award. Dylan, who turns 60 in May, has described the work as “a song that doesn’t pussyfoot around.” The song was only the second that Dylan has ever penned for the big screen. The first was the memorable “Knockin’ on heaven’s door ...” from 1973’s “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.” “If he had written songs for movies before, he would have been eligible before,” said Academy Awards coordinator Patrick Stockstill. Rock star Sting and Icelandic pop singer Bjork were also up for this year’s best song award, as were Ennio Morricone for “Malena,” as was first-time nominee Tan Dan, who wrote the score for “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” Bjork was nominated for her song, “I’ve seen it all ...” from the film “Dancer in the Dark,” in which she also starred. Sting, with David Hartley, co-wrote “My funny friend and me ...” for the animated film “The Emperor’s New Groove.” Randy Newman, who was also nominated this year for “A fool in love ...” from “Meet the Parents,” now has lost the best song award 13 times.
AFP |
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After the Oscars... Beverly Hills, March 26 “I know some people are going to say the fix is in,” John quipped at his post-Oscars party as he handed the door prize, diamond-encrusted Chopard watch, to his good friend director John Waters. The director was the big winner at the Elton John AIDS Foundation party last night. The
swoiree, at Moomba in Beverly Hills, appeared to be vying hard with the Vanity Fair gala down the street at Morton’s for hippist post-Oscar bash. As John, dressed in a subdued blue suit and green shirt, mingled with such guests as Waters, Tim Allen, Eric McCormack of the TV comedy “Will and Grace,” and Dule Hill of the TV political drama “The West Wing,” party organisers had to put up barricades to hold back the hordes of enthusiastic celebrity watchers. AP |
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Machakos (Kenya), March 26 Local police chief Julius Narangui said he suspected arson caused the inferno at Kyanguli mixed secondary school near Machakos town 65 km east of Nairobi and the police Criminal Investigation Service had been called in. “It is one of the worst things I have ever seen,” he said. “The number is so high and they are all burned beyond recognition. There was a scramble but many people were trapped by the flames.” Machakos district Police Commissioner Hussein Dado told Reuters many of the 130 boys sleeping in the dormitory when the fire broke out had scrambled to safety but 58 were killed and 28 were injured, many with serious burns. Those who died were aged between 14 and 20. “First the fumes engulfed them, and then the roof caved in. The fire spread very quickly,” Dado said. Weeping relatives milled outside the blackened single-storey brick building some five km from Machakos, as emergency workers picked through the charred wreckage of wooden furniture searching for clues to the cause of the blaze. Inside the dormitory, a pile of about 15 charred bodies lay huddled in a corridor dividing rows of beds. “It is sad and pathetic. I feel so bad,” said local resident Judy Ngina. The police said the fire, which began at 1.40 a.m., was the country’s worst school blaze and the country’s deadliest fire of any kind in recent times. The police said cops were called to Kyanguli in the small hours after being told that the students had gone on the rampage, and were astonished to find instead that the building was on fire. Francis Ngunga, who teaches English at Kyanguli, told reporters that at about 1.30 a.m. a boy left the dormitory to report to an adult supervisor that liquid was spread across the floor. “He left the dormitory through the door — it was not locked. When they (the boy and the supervisor) came back, they found the dormitory on fire and the door locked,” Ngunga said. The police declined to comment on this version of events but said they were following up a number of leads. At Nairobi’s Kenyatta Hospital, reporters saw two badly burned survivors swathed in protective gauze and attached to drips being rushed into the casualty department. Five other injured persons were also admitted
there. Reuters |
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India opposes move on caste Geneva, March 26 Defending the Indian government’s stand, Savitri Kunadi, India’s permanent representative to the United Nations office here, said caste system did not fall within the purview of racial discrimination. “Such a demand seems to be a deliberate attempt by some groups to dilute the focus of the conference,’’ Ms Kunadi said while speaking on “Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and all forms of Discrimination” at the 57th session of the Commission on Human Rights here. Some Dalit-based NGOs, backed by European groups, are making determined attempts in the UN Commission on Human Rights to get caste system included in the coming conference. Ms Kunadi said India had always been in the forefront of the international endeavour to combat racism. “We stand equally proud of our heritage based on values of pluralism, tolerance, diversity and equality and stand firm to counter the forces that seek to destroy these values’’. She favoured setting up of an independent national institution for addressing effectively the evils of racism and racial discrimination.
UNI |
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Pak rules out trade ties with India Islamabad, March 26 Addressing a press conference in Karachi yesterday, during which he outlined his vision to pull Pakistan out of the present economic crisis and international isolation, he said he was interested in according permission and protection to the proposed multi-million dollar Iran-India gas pipeline project but he was not ready for restoration of normal economic relations between the countries till the resolution of the Kashmir problem. “We will allow it and adhere to international norms in ensuring the security of the pipeline. But for the development of full economic relationship with India, we need to resolve our disputes... address the issue of Kashmir to the satisfaction of all parties and then proceed to develop economic relations between both countries,” he said. The gas pipeline project involves laying a network between Iran and India through Pakistan territory. If it materialises, it would bring over $ 8 billion as foreign exchange to the cash starved Pakistan economy, which is currently reeling under 60 billion foreign and domestic debt. In his two-hour-long press conference in which the military leader outlined his vision for Pakistan’s future, General Musharraf also laid to rest all speculation concerning his own future by stating that he would not step down when his term as chief of the army ends later this year. General Musharraf ruled out any plans to hold elections before the October 12, 2002 as stipulated by the Supreme Court. He also did not deny speculation concerning his plans to declare himself as the President of the country. Just as General Musharraf’s press conference was being telecast on the national network yesterday night, deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML) party was being split into two, pro and anti-Musharraf factions at a meeting in Islamabad. Mian Mohammad Azhar, who earlier broke away from Sharif was unanimously elected as the party president at a convention of the PML dissidents organised here yesterday.
PTI |
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Islamabad, March 26 The Pakistan’s Interior Ministry in a letter circulated among the diplomatic missions and the multinational companies has advised them to take extraordinary security measures during Muharram as they could be the likely target of terrorist attacks, the daily said today, quoting sources. The official letter referred to specific warnings from the intelligence agencies, which said that the foreign missions and companies could be the foremost targets of subversive activities. The intelligence agencies have also warned that enemy agents and anti-social elements have decided to cash in on the prevailing sectarian tension, particularly after the recent incidents of Hangu, Sheikhupura and Lahore and are likely to strike during Muharram, it said.
PTI |
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Democrats share poll honours in Germany Berlin, March 26 Results from yesterday’s elections showed the two-party coalition governments led by the CDU and SPD retaining power in Baden-Wurttemberg and Rhindeland-Palatinate respectively. The CDU, which has been in power in Baden-Wuttemberg continuously for 48 years, returned victorious with a better than expected showing, getting 45 per cent votes, up by nearly four percentage points despite losing six seats to get 63 in the state Parliament with a strength of 130 deputies. Erwin Teufel of the CDU, who has been the state’s premier since 1991, will serve a third term by continuing the coalition arrangement with the small business friendly Free Democrats which lost five seats to get nine. Baden-Wurttemberg, which is Germany’s third largest state and has Stuttgart as its capital, is home to corporate titans such as Daimler Chrysler and Porsche. Significantly, voters firmly rejected the right-wing Republikaners which failed to win even one seat after getting 14 seats in the 1996 state elections. Baden-Wurttemberg is the only state in Germany where this party sits in Parliament. They won 4.4 per cent votes, compared to 9.6 per cent in 1996, and thus failed to meet the 5 per cent vote requirement to get representation in Parliament. Schroeder’s social-democrats, led by charismatic 36-year-old Ute Vogt, improved its performance but will continue to sit in the opposition. It increased its vote to 34 per cent up by 9 per cent and got six additional seats to take the tally to 45. The environmentalist Greens Party was relegated to the fourth position, slipping one place below, after losing 10 seats to get only nine with its vote share sliced by nearly 5 per cent for a 7.1 per cent vote. In a house of 101, the SPD gained six seats to get 49 and increased its vote share to 44.7 per cent, a 5 per cent jump. The incumbent premier Kurt Beck has been in office since 1994 after he took over from Rudolf Scharping, the present Defence Minister. The ruling coalition had ended the CDU’s 44-year old rule in 1991.
PTI |
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Taipei, March 26 “Abolishing licensed prostitution forces women to work underground,’’ said Wang Fang-ping, an activist with the Collective of Sex Workers and Supporters (COSWAS), a support group for licensed prostitutes. Prostitution was first made illegal in Taipei in September 1997 by then Taipei Mayor Chen Shui-bian, whose decision met with fierce resistance from women’s rights groups and sex workers. Licensed prostitution will end on March 28, after which prostitutes will face legal consequences if discovered.
DPA |
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Taliban show demolished Buddha statues Bamiyan, March 26 All that remained of the two towering sandstone statues of the Buddha that had been carved in the mountainside in the third and fifth centuries was chunks of rubble. Taliban’s interpretation of the Islam recently caused their reclusive leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, to order them and many other religious statues in Afghanistan destroyed. He said they were idolatrous and against the tenets of Islam, which forbids idol worship. Soaring 51 metres the larger of the two statues, was believed to have been the world’s tallest standing Buddha. Local residents of Bamiyan, who considered the mountain monuments neighbours, called the lofty sandstone Buddha, “Solsol,” meaning year after year. The statue measuring 36 metres was thought by the residents to be a woman, although no body parts were visible when it stood. They called her “Shahmama,” or kingmother.
AP |
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Singapore to have
its own KBC Singapore, March 26 “We’ve received an overwhelming response of over 10,000 calls since we opened our lines,’’ said Mr Byron Lim, assistant manager for programming at Mediacorp TV, the broadcaster that will screen the show in both English and Mandarin.
Reuters |
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