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Tuesday,
June 5, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Sophisticated Russian weapons for India USA cuts military
contacts with China
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 Hollywood legend Anthony Quinn deadBoston, June 4 Anthony Quinn, the barrel-chested Oscar winner remembered for his roles as the earthy hero of “Zorba the Greek” and the fierce Bedouin leader in “Lawrence of Arabia,” is died. He was 86. Quinn’s death was reported by Providence, Rhode Island, Mayor Vincent “Buddy” Cianci, a friend of the actor. He said Quinn died of respiratory failure at a Boston hospital. Troops turn heat on
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12 killed as taxi,
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Sophisticated Russian weapons for India Moscow, June 4 “We find Russian weapons upto the mark,” Mr Narayan, who is accompanying External Affairs and Defence Minister Jaswant Singh, said, adding New Delhi was going to further increase the acquisition of sophisticated weapons, including airborne “Awacs” systems, aircraft carrier Gorshkov and ‘Smerch’ MLRs from Moscow. Denying that India’s stand on NMD would have any adverse effect on defence co-operation with Russia, Mr Narayan said: “We do not have basic dissonance on the issue of NMD.” According to Mr Narayan, India bought military hardware worth $ 10 billion from Moscow in the past four years, including the Su-30mki multi-role fighters, T-90 tanks, kilo class submarines and stealth frigates. On the issue of ‘Awacs’ India was holding joint negotiations with the Russians and Israelis, he said. Under the deal Israel will fit its Phalcon radar and control system onboard Russian plane. The government has set up a committee to give its verdict on ‘Gorshkov’ after studying ‘detailed project report’ (DPR) submitted by Russia, Mr Narayan said. Over the weekend, joint working groups on military-technical co-operation co-chaired by Mr Narayan and subgroups on aviation, shipbuilding and landforces co-chaired by the Defence Production Secretary, Mr Subir Datta, held their meetings to pave the way for the inter-governmental commission to be co-chaired by Mr Jaswant Singh and the Russian Vice-Premier, Mr Ilya Klebanov. Russia has also reacted positively to India’s request for ‘direct interaction’ with original equipment manufacturers by-passing the state agency ‘Rosoboronexport’. Both countries have also agreed to work out a ‘model contract document’ to avoid lengthy process of negotiations on future arms deals.
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USA cuts military contacts with China Ankara, June 4 The official, who asked not to be identified, stressed that Rumsfeld continued to look at bilateral contacts on a case-by-case basis, but confirmed a New York Times report that those contacts have been reduced since the April 1 mid-air collision off the Chinese coast. The official said Chinese officers were no longer being invited to seminars at the Asia-Pacific Centre for Security in Honolulu, the US Defence Department’s main study centre on security issues in the region. The official also confirmed the Times report that although US officers were authorised to attend multi-national seminars on relief operations to which Chinese officers were also invited, Rumsfeld had issued specific guidance that the American officers were to “minimise contact” with their Chinese counterparts. Under the new policy of reduced ties, the USA is also no longer requesting port calls in Hong Kong by American warships. China last week announced that it had rejected a planned visit by an American navy ship. “We are looking at things on a case- by-case basis,” the US official told Reuters. “Right now, the priority is to get the plane back.” Reuters |
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“The Producers” sweeps Tony Awards New York, June 4 The previous record was set in 1964 by the musical “Hello, Dolly” which won 10
Tonys. “The Producers,” adapted by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan from Brooks’ 1968 film comedy of the same name, has garnered rave reviews and hefty advance ticket sales of more than $ 25 million. The storyline deals with two con-artist Broadway producers who hatch a get-rich-quick scheme. Under their plan, the characters decide to raise a large sum of money to put on a low-budget Broadway play that is sure to fail and laugh all the way to the bank when it closes a day after its premiere. But the plan goes hilariously awry, and the pair’s would-be bomb, “Springtime for Hitler,” turns into a smash hit. Since its April 20 premiere, “The Producers” — like its make-believe play — has been a huge winner on Broadway. “The Producers” earned 15 nominations for this year’s awards, including two for best musical lead actor and three for best featured actor in a musical. Yesterday, it won Tonys for its book, its score and one of its leading men, Nathan Lane. The award for best non-musical play went to the drama “Proof,” which was also awarded a Pulitzer Prize earlier in the year.
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Hollywood legend Anthony Quinn dead Boston, June 4 Quinn’s death was reported by Providence, Rhode Island, Mayor Vincent “Buddy” Cianci, a friend of the actor. He said Quinn died of respiratory failure at a Boston hospital. “He was larger than life,” Cianci said. “I was proud to call him a friend.” Quinn was living in Bristol, near Providence. Quinn, who appeared in more than 100 feature films, won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in “Viva Zapata!” and “Lust for Life.” Born in Mexico and raised in poverty in East Los Angeles, Quinn went from stage and B-movie roles to become an international leading man renowned for his big-man sensitivity and honest acting style. In a film career that spanned almost 30 years, Quinn portrayed characters ranging from kings to Indians, including a pope, a boxer and an artist. “I never get the girl,” Quinn once joked in an interview. “I wind up with a country instead.” He won his first Oscar for his work in the 1952 film “Viv Zapata!” as the brother of Mexican revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata. To many, Quinn’s Oscar-nominated characterisation of the Greek peasant Zorba from the Nikos Kazantzakis novel remained his most memorable role. the ouzo-drinking and bouzouki-dancing Zorba was his favourite role, so much so that he returned to the stage in 1983 in a revival of the musical that inspired the 1965 film. As a child, he shined shoes, sold papers and preached with Aimee Semple McPherson. After working as a movie extra, he met and married the adopted daughter of Cecil B. de Mille, Katherine. A real-life artist, sculptor and author, his role as painter Paul Gauguin in the 1956 film “Lust for Life” earned him his second Oscar. He left Hollywood for Italy, as leading roles became lesser: “What could I play there? They only think of me as a Mexican, an Indian or a Mafia don,” he told AP in 1977. He was divorced from Katherine in 1965 after he fathered two children with Italian costume designer Yolanda Addolari. In 1972, Quinn wrote his autobiography, “The Original Sin,” which has been translated into more than 18 languages. He followed with a second volume titled “Suddenly Sunset.” The straightforward actor shunned the use of ghost writers, favouring blunt honesty over Hollywood image-making. “I could either lie or tell the truth,” he said. “I figured the only value in such a book would be to describe my life as I lived it.” Quinn said in a 1987 interview that he reached most of the goals he set for himself as a young boy. “I never satisfied that kid but I think he and I have made a deal now,” he said, referring to his younger self. “It’s like climbing a mountain: I didn’t take him up Mount Everest, but I took him up Mount Whitney. And I think that’s not bad.”
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Troops turn heat on Abu Sayyaf men Lamitan, Philippines, June 4 “We are doing our best to track them down and at any time now there should be a contact,” military spokesman Brigadier General Edilberto Adan told a news conference. He said there was a virtual naval blockade to contain them on the southern Basilan island but expressed concern that other rebel groups fighting the government could offer them boats to flee or provide sanctuary. National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said Abu Sayyaf gunmen might have taken with them up to 50 hostages from about 200 persons they held captive while in a hospital and church they had occupied in Lamitan town in Basilan. This is in addition to nine hostages, including three Americans, they took from a tourist resort off the western island of Palawan on May 27. The Abu Sayyaf rebels first took 20 hostages from the resort but nine of the captives fled while the rebels were battling the military as they were holed up in the hospital.
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LoC can’t be border, says Pakistan Islamabad, June 4 The News quoted him as saying that “status quo is the problem. It cannot be a solution.” He said a solution to the 50-year-old Kashmir dispute had to be responsive to the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. The paper said the 30-year-old LoC today lies quiet as Pakistan had decided to withdraw its troops from the area following India’s declaration of a unilateral cease fire in Kashmir in November last year. The paper claimed Pakistan was still honouring the decision despite New Delhi ending the cease-fire last month. Mr Sattar said, “The LoC resulted from the cease fire of December 17, 1971, and was so described in the Simla Agreement of 1972. It could not and did not prejudice or compromise the right of the people of Kashmir to self-determination. They, as well as Pakistan, have made it clear that a settlement must be responsive to the aspirations of the people of Kashmir.” The Pakistani Foreign Minister said, “We will be going to the New Delhi meeting with an open mind and with the intention of making the summit a success. We hope the Indian side will also have the same approach.” The positions of both Islamabad and New Delhi are well known. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has said he is hopeful of finding a solution to the Kashmir dispute. Similarly, military ruler Pervez Musharraf has, on many occasions, spoken of “flexibility” on the issue without going into details. The question being raised ahead of the talks between General Musharraf and Mr Vajpayee, likely in July, is what the possible solution to the Kashmir issue could be. Mr Sattar said, “The Kashmiri people have to be allowed to exercise their right to self-determination. This is their birthright. It was pledged to them by Pakistan and India and by the international community in the UN Security Council resolutions.” He said the APHC was an active and effective political force. “It favours the improvement of relations between Pakistan and India. For the realisation of that objective, it has pointed out that the settlement of the Kashmir question requires respect for the views of the Kashmiri people,” he said. The paper said experts in Islamabad opined that both countries were staring at an “imperfect solution.” All three sides — Pakistan, India and the Kashmiris — would have to give and take if some sort of agreement was to be reached. Publicly, however, positions seem to have hardened and neither side appears willing to budge from its stated position. Last week Indian External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh said Kashmir was an integral part of India. Asked how Pakistan would deal with a situation where India insisted on staying away from a plebiscite and was unwilling to give away any territory in Kashmir, the foreign minister replied: “An attempt to impose a solution by force is inconsistent with the norms and principles devised by the civilised community in the UN Charter.”
IANS |
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12 killed as taxi,
truck collide Johannesburg, June 4 Acting Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said two children — a girl and a boy — were among those killed in the early morning accident west of the city centre.
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