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Poll in mind, Blair vows to break
Man selling bomb-grade plutonium arrested
Attack on Sikh shrine
shameful: UK Muslims
Daily Telegraph’s tribute to Anand
Dixit, Aziz to meet next month
45 more Indian fishermen held in Pak
Working age population to increase in |
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Sultan paves way for democracy in Brunei
Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah signs a constitutional amendment at the old
Parliament building in Bandar Seri Begawan on Wednesday.
Hugh Grant played no role
in divorce: Imran
New USA travel checks flawed, says rights group
Mars orbiter photographs rover
Stem cells as pacemakers tested on pigs
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Poll in mind, Blair vows to break ‘glass ceiling’
British Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged to create an "opportunity society" in which everyone had "an equal chance to succeed" yesterday.
He was outlining the policies he would introduce if Labour wins an historic third term in power. The Prime Minister tried to rally his party for the next general election by promising to help the most underprivileged people in society to break through the "glass ceiling" that stops them achieving their full potential. He hinted that Labour could perform a U-turn on the basic state pension by raising it in line with earnings rather than prices, which would be a shift away from means-tested payments and match the Tories' policy. Promising a pension system that "has the basic state pension at its core" and rewarded savings, he suggested that it could be funded by cutting the bill for incapacity benefit. He promised "tax relief" for millions of hard-working families rather than the Tory proposal to cut inheritance tax "for the wealthy few." But he did not spell out whether this meant tax cuts or an extension of tax credits. Mr Blair sought to end his damaging rift with Gordon Brown by describing him as "a personal friend for 20 years" and hailing him "as the best Chancellor this country has ever had." But he refused to give ground in his battle with Mr Brown over Labour's election manifesto. On Monday, the Chancellor said the NHS was about more than "contracts, markets and exchange". In a direct riposte to the Brown camp, Mr Blair rejected the criticism that his plans to extend "choice" in public services was a "Tory word". He said, "Tell that to 50 per cent of heart patients who have exercised it to get swifter operations and help bring cardiac deaths down 16,000 since we came to power. "Or to the parents who have made the new City Academy Schools so popular in areas of the greatest social disadvantage." "Choice is not a Tory word. Choice dependent on wealth; those are the Tory words," he added. "The right to demand the best and refuse the worst and do so not by virtue of your wealth but your equal status as a citizen, that's precisely what the modern Labour Party should stand for." Mr Blair set out a 10-point programme that will form the cornerstone of Labour's general election manifesto. On education, every parent would have the choice of sending their child to a "good specialist school", there would be "no return to selection at 11" and better sports facilities with pupils guaranteed a number of hours of sport each week. There would be the same commitment to quality vocational skills as academic education and 300,000 apprenticeships. Labour would bring in "universal, affordable and flexible" child care for the parents of all 3-14 year-olds who want it from 8am to 6pm. He announced that everyone who is arrested would be tested for drugs, doubling the number of tests to 240,000 a year, and given compulsory treatment if the tests proved positive. At present, they are made only when people are charged. Curbs on religious discrimination would be wider than expected and apply to all goods and services. To make it harder for people to enter Britain illegally, there would be a £15 million scheme to use on-line technology to check passengers from certain destinations before they leave. Mr Blair promised to bring broadband technology to every home that wants it by 2008. Four million households already have it but the Government will target the three million poorest families to close the "digital divide." He hinted at an extension of road pricing to reduce congestion, saying that Britain's transport problems could not be solved by "traditional methods of funding."
— By arrangement with The Independent, London |
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Man selling bomb-grade plutonium arrested
Bishkek, September 29 Former Soviet states, including Russia with its huge nuclear
arsenal, are under heavy pressure to prevent dangerous atomic material
from falling into the hands of extremists after the Soviet collapse left
many nuclear facilities under-protected. Tokon Mamytov, deputy head of
the Central Asian Republic’s National Security Service, said the
detained man was a Kyrgyz national, Nuclear experts in Moscow said the
material was likely to be of Russian origin. Investigators were trying
to establish the identity of the potential buyer and where the
substance, identified as plutonium 239, had come from, Mamytov
said. “That was plutonium, no doubt about it. That is the isotope
used to make arms’” Mamytov said, adding that the radioactive
material was packed in 60 ampoules. Dozens of nuclear reactors and
storage facilities scattered across Russia and Central Asia are a
potential lure of extremists because of their arms-grade nuclear
material. Highly enriched uranium and plutonium — found in spent
nuclear fuel — can be used to make a standard nuclear bomb. Spent fuel
can also produce a dirty bomb that spreads radioactive material through
a non-nuclear explosion. In Kyrgyzstan alone, special services have
arrested three Kyrgyz citizens trying to sell 110 grams of highly
radioactive and toxic caesium-137 for $ 110,000 this year. Russia’s
non-governmental nuclear watchdog, Ecodefence, said the material was
likely to be Russian-made because plutonium of that type is not stored
in Kyrgyzstan. “Preventing nuclear theft is a very difficult problem.
Spent nuclear fuel is scattered around Russia’s 10 non-military
nuclear power station, where security systems are worse than at military
sites,” it said. The watchdog said more than 16,000 tonnes of spent
nuclear fuel were stored in nuclear facilities in Russia alone. —
Reuters |
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Attack on Sikh shrine
shameful: UK Muslims
London, September 29 "This is an extremely shameful act and we call upon the Pakistan Government to take stern action against the culprits," CIM's Chairman Munaf Zeena said in a statement last night. "The Pakistan Government, its clergies and its people must remember the hadith of Prophet Muhammad that If anyone harasses non-Muslims, on the day of judgment I will plead for these non-Muslims before Allah". Mr Zeena said those who were involved in such ignoble acts were earning double sin by violating the spirit of the Prophet's teachings and by tarnishing the image of Islam. They were shamefully violating Islamic laws. — PTI |
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Daily Telegraph’s tribute to Anand
London, September 29 Anand, who died yesterday aged 98, was the author of a series of grimly realistic novels about India in the 1930s which, with the aid of fashionable Marxist convictions, earned him a place on the fringes of London literary society, said The Daily Telegraph. Regarded as a founding father of the English-language Indian novel, his most celebrated work, ‘Untouchable’ (1935) was a chilling account of a day in the life of Bakha, a young low-caste lavatory cleaner, who accidentally bumps into a member of a higher caste, the daily wrote. It was a tribute to Anand’s determination that he continued to believe in the book after 19 rejections from publishers, the newspaper stated. |
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Dixit, Aziz to meet next month
Islamabad, September 29 Hectic consultations are in progress between the two countries to work out dates for the meeting between the Indian National Security Adviser J N Dixit and his Pakistani counterpart Tariq Aziz in a third country, possibly in Dubai in mid-October, The Nation quoted. As part of the back-channel diplomacy, it said, Dixit and Aziz had met in Dubai that helped in facilitating the historic summit meeting in New York. Their meeting may help both the countries to hold conclusive consultations before Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz's visit to India in November as chairman of the
SAARC. He said it had been decided by the two sides to move simultaneously with a two-pronged strategy, which is to continue with the back-channel diplomacy along with the consultations between the foreign ministries as part of composite dialogue process that will be re-initiated in December.
— PTI |
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45 more Indian fishermen held in Pak
Islamabad, September 29 The fishermen were held yesterday for fishing in Pakistani territorial waters, Pakistani Maritime officials said in Karachi today. With the fresh arrests, the number of Indian fishermen in Pakistan custody rose to 521. On September 20, the Pakistani authorities arrested 44 Indian fishermen for violating the country's territorial waters and less than a week later arrested 26 more on similar charges.
— PTI |
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Working age population to increase in
India: IMF
Washington, September 29 The IMF, in its world economic outlook report, released today,
also said replacement level fertility is estimated to be 2.1 births per
woman in advanced countries and 2.4 births per woman in the developing
countries. The level exceeds partly due to the fact that more boys are
born than girls. — PTI |
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Sultan paves way for democracy in Brunei
Bandar Seri Begawan, September 29 In a royal ceremony in the Brunei capital, Sultan Hassanal
Bolkiah, wearing his customary white military uniform, signed a series of amendments to the 1959 Constitution that would allow for a partly elected Parliament of 45 members. But Parliament, which was re-convened last weekend for the first time in 20 years as a fully appointed chamber, will not erode the powers of the sultan, who has portrayed the reforms as a way of allowing Brunei’s young population of 350,000 to be heard. One of the world’s last remaining absolute monarchies, Brunei has increasingly become a political oddity in such important diplomatic clubs as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum and the Association of South East Asian Nations. The sultan has so far given no timetable for the elections.
— Reuters |
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Hugh Grant played no role in divorce: Imran
London, September 29 Khan divorced his wife Jemima, the daughter of billionaire James Goldsmith, in June after nine years, saying his wife had found it difficult to adjust to living in his homeland of Pakistan, where he is pursuing a political career. The couple has two young sons. Soon after the divorce, Jemima and “Four Weddings And A Funeral” star Grant were seen attending parties and dinners together, and they have since confirmed they are in a relationship. In his first interview since the divorce, Khan told “Hello!” magazine that he had been distressed by the rumors about the timing of his wife’s relationship with Grant. “Let me categorically state that there was no infidelity in our marriage of nine years,” Khan was quoted as saying. “It hurts when you hear these insinuations.” “No marriage could have ended in such an amicable way if a third party had been involved.” Khan said he had given his blessing to the relationship between Jemima (30) and Grant (43). “Jemima is obviously a very attractive woman and I knew she would meet someone new and find a new life,” he said. “If it had been a sudden divorce, maybe I would have been affected by her meeting someone so quickly, but we knew where we were heading for almost one and a half years.”
— AP |
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New USA travel checks flawed, says rights group
Berlin, September 29 Now most visitors entering the country will have to put each index finger in turn on a glass plate that electronically scans it and a digital photo will be taken. The USA says its US-VISIT programme, already in place for travellers requiring visas and now being rolled out more widely, will add an average of just 15 seconds to entry checks and will enhance security. It says the biometric data will be stored in databases along with personal information such as full name, date of birth, citizenship, sex and passport number and can be accessed by border, consular, immigration and law enforcement officials.
— Reuters |
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Mars orbiter photographs rover
Pasadena, September 29 The image made by a camera aboard the Mars Global Surveyor showed a dark dot identified as the rover Spirit next to giant Bonneville Crater and the thin dark line of its tracks leading back to its lander. The manoeuvre “is tricky and the spacecraft does not always hit its target. However, when it does, the results can be spectacular,” said Ken Edgett, staff scientist for Malin Space Science Systems of San Diego, which built and operates the Mars Orbiter Camera. Mars Global Surveyor reached Mars in 1997 and, after adjusting its orbit, began systematically mapping the planet in 1999. It has returned more than 1,70,000 images. In normal operations the spacecraft can pick out objects on the surface that are about 13 ft to 16 ft across.
— AP |
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Stem cells as pacemakers tested on pigs
London, September 29 An Israeli team from
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, along with US colleagues, took the stem cells from donated human embryos, Nature Biotechnology journal reports. In healthy hearts, groups of special heart cells make the organ beat regularly by stimulating the heart muscle cells to contract. In people where this mechanism fails, an electronic, battery-powered pacemaker is implanted to keep the heartbeat going. These devices may need replacing and some electrical equipment, such as mobile phones, can interfere with the way they work. In comparison, “natural” pacemakers made from the body’s own cells would need no power source and would become part of the heart.
— PTI |
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British Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged to create an "opportunity society" in which everyone had "an equal chance to succeed" yesterday.
He was outlining the policies he would introduce if Labour wins an
historic third term in power.
A leading London daily today paid tribute to writer Mulk Raj Anand, tracing the genesis of his ‘Untouchable’, which along with other grimly realistic novels earned him a place in the London literary society of the early 20th century, as also his relationship with Mahatma Gandhi.
Bandar Seri Begawan, September 29
London, September 29
Video
