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Major US cities put on heightened alert
Bin Laden’s brother flays London blasts
PM gives taste of Indian English at Oxford
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Manmohan Singh for united fight against ‘global threat’ G-8 to check global warming, but no targets
Kashmir Forum slams Kashmiri delegation visit
Pakistanis keen on mastering Hindi
Ganga glacier may melt before end of century
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Major US cities put on heightened alert
Repercussions
from the four bomb blasts that ripped through London on Thursday were felt almost immediately across the Atlantic as major cities in the USA were put on heightened alert.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the administration was concerned about the possibility of a "copycat attack" in the USA. He added, however, that at present there wasn't any "specific, credible information of an attack that's imminent in the USA." Mr Chertoff elevated the threat level from Code
Yellow, or elevated, to Code Orange, high. The alert was targeted only at the "mass transit portion of the transportation sector," he said. "This includes regional and inner city passenger rail, subways, and metropolitan bus systems." State and local leaders and transportation officials have been asked to increase their protective measures, including additional police, bomb detecting canine teams, increased video surveillance, spot-testing in certain areas, added perimeter barriers, extra intrusion detection equipment, and increased numbers of inspection of trash receptacles and other storage areas, he said. By late Thursday morning, teams of heavily armed police officers, some handling sniffer dogs, were conspicuous at subway stations across Washington, including the city's bustling Union Station. Similar security measures were reported from New York, the target of terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Stephen E. Flynn, the Council on Foreign Relations' top expert on homeland security, said the well-coordinated bombings in London indicate that Al-Qaida or its affiliates remains a deadly threat in Western Europe. "I guess it's clear that Al-Qaida retains a footprint, an organisation, in Western Europe," he said. "This appears to be a very well-organised, well-rehearsed, simultaneous attack." The risk for the USA, he said, is that, while Al- Qaida may have a smaller presence in the USA, it is more likely to husband its limited resources for a more devastating attack. "If they took three years to put a footprint down, they're not going to squander it on something that, while newsworthy, doesn't have a really disruptive impact. They're not going to risk their limited resources on a lower-end attack," Mr Flynn said. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, offering his condolences to those who were affected by the blasts, said though it was not yet known with certainty who was responsible for the bombings, "we do know terrorists' intentions. They strike without warning and without regard for human life in the hope that they can frighten and intimidate free people - to change our way of life." But, Mr Rumsfeld added, "If these terrorists thought they could intimidate the people of a great nation, they picked the wrong people and the wrong nation." President George W. Bush, who is in Gleneagles, Scotland, for the Group of Eight summit, coordinated the US response to the terror attacks through a series of "secure" phone calls and video conference with some of his homeland security and national security advisors in Washington. "The war on terror goes on," the President said in a statement in Gleneagles. He said he was "most impressed" by the resolve of all the leaders at the summit. "Their resolve is as strong as my resolve. And that is we will not yield to these people, will not yield to the terrorists. We will find them, we will bring them to justice, and at the same time, we will spread an ideology of hope and compassion that will overwhelm their ideology of hate." In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice offered her condolences at the British Embassy. Miss Rice also spoke to British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and offered US "support." "The UK has no better friend than the USA and we stand with the UK in the fight against terrorism," she said. Britain, the second largest contributor of troops to the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, has become the focus of terrorists' ire and many terrorism analysts suggested Thursday's blasts could be the fallout of London's association with Washington and the war in Iraq. Kenneth Roth, executive director of New York-based Human Rights Watch, said no political cause could legitimise "this assault on innocent people. Whatever ends might have been sought by this atrocity, they cannot justify this inhuman means." |
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Bin Laden’s brother flays London blasts
Geneva, July 8 In a statement, the Swiss-based businessman and perfume manufacturer — one of more than 50 siblings of the man accused of masterminding the deadly September 11, 2001, attacks on the USA — called for an end to such violence. “I am very saddened to note that such acts of violence persist. Life is sacred and all forms of violence must be absolutely eradicated from our society,” Bin Ladin, who spells his name differently from the rest of his Saudi family, said in a brief statement issued by his Geneva office. “I offer my sincere condolences to the victims of these abominable attacks and their families,” he added. Bin Ladin, a dual Swiss-Saudi national who has lived in the Geneva area for two decades, has repeatedly condemned the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, which killed nearly 3,000 people.
— Reuters |
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Bicycles in demand
after blasts
London, July 8 Seasoned cyclists told of weary walkers offering them up to 300 pounds (500 dollars) for their bikes as they headed home yesterday, and of giving impromptu lessons to shaky beginners. Tim Davies, who manages Cycle Surgery near Holborn, said: ‘’The shop is so close to where the bus got hit that we thought we’d be evacuated. ‘’But by 11 o’clock we were running around like crazy. We’d normally sell five to 10 bikes a day, but we sold at least double that in a few hours. ‘’We had people who hadn’t ridden for over 10 years asking for refresher lessons — we even had a judge.’’ Others, who had walked home, dug long-forgotten bikes from sheds and garages for today morning’s commute. Fernando Gandioli said he noticed ‘’a lot of rusty bikes and squeaky chains’’ as he cycled in to work at accountancy firm KPMG. Shop assistant Maja, who works at Evans Cycles near Clerkenwell, said they had sold triple the usual number of bicycles yesterday, mainly folding bikes or cheaper models.
— Reuters |
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PM gives taste of Indian English at Oxford
Oxford, July 8 Dr Singh, who received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater Oxford University, had an audience of professors and students in splits when he said that Indians had experimented with Queen’s English, which is now “just another Indian language”. The choice of prepositions of Indians may not always be the Queen’s language and they might occasionally split the infinitive and drop an article here and add an extra one there, the Prime Minister said, deliberately pronouncing ‘split’ as ‘saplit’. “Of course, people here may not recognise the language we speak, but let me assure you that it is English,” he said, sending the scholarly gathering into raptures. Dr Singh, himself a profound scholar, paid tributes to the richness of English language, but reminded the audience that it is no longer the exclusive preserve of its original speakers. “It used to be said that the Sun never sets on the British Empire. I am apprised we were partly responsible for sending that adage out of fashion,” he said. If there is one phenomenon on which the Sun can’t set, it is the world of English-speaking people, in which the people of Indian origin are the single largest component, he went on to add. He said of all the legacies of the Raj, none was more important than the English language and the modern school system, “that is, if you leave out cricket”. “In indigenising English as so many people have done in so many nations across the world, we have made the language our own,” Dr Singh said. Lauding the efforts of Indian writers in English, he said he was certain that everyone would agree that English had been enriched by Indian creativity as well. “We have given you R.K. Narayan and Salman Rushdie.” Oxford University Chancellor Lord Patten of Barnes was present on the occasion along with National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran. — UNI
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Manmohan Singh for united fight against ‘global threat’ Oxford, July 8 Significantly, the Prime Minister also spoke his mind on the “beneficial consequences” of the British Raj as well as India’s grievances against the British Empire, which he said, “had a sound basis”. The Prime Minister came to his alma mater for conferment of an honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law and the 400-strong audience at the Convocation House was given a 10-page text of his speech. The PMO had yesterday itself added to the PM’s speech several paragraphs where Dr Manmohan Singh talks extensively on terrorism. He began his speech by conveying his deep sense of shock and anger at the London attacks. “I arrived here in the UK after dealing with the aftermath of yet another terrorist attack in India,” he said in an obvious reference to the July 5 terrorist attack in Ayodhya. “It is clear once again that terrorism is a global threat. Terrorism anywhere is a threat to peace, freedom, human dignity and civilisation everywhere. Terrorism is cowardice aimed at the innocent people. It is fed on hatred and criticism. Everytime terrorists strike anywhere all of us who believe in democracy and the rule of law must stand together and affirm our firm commitment to fight this scourge resolutely and unitedly,” Dr Manmohan Singh said. The Prime Minister delivered a substantive, 40-minute-long speech. He quoted the research work done by Cambridge historian Angus Maddison showing that India’s share of world income collapsed from 22.6 per cent in 1700, almost equal to Europe’s share of 23.3 per cent at that time, to as low as 3.8 per cent in 1952. “Indeed, at the beginning of the 20th century, ‘the brightest jewel in the British Crown’ was the poorest country in the world in terms of per capita income. Dr Manmohan Singh also talked about the “beneficial consequences” of the British Raj. “Today, with the balance and perspective offered by the passage of time and the benefit of hindsight, it is possible for an Indian Prime Minister to assert that India’s experience with Britain had its beneficial consequences too.” He elaborated how. “Our notions of the rule of law, of a Constitutional government, of a free press, of a professional civil service, of modern universities and research laboratories have all been fashioned in the crucible where an age old civilisation met the dominant Empire of the day.... Our judiciary, our legal system, our bureaucracy and our police are all great institutions , derived from British-Indian administration and they have served the country well.” Dr Manmohan Singh is one of 10 distinguished men and women selected for conferment of honorary
degrees by Oxford University this year.
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G-8 to check global warming, but no targets
Gleneagles, July 8 The leaders recognised that ‘’climate change is a serious and long-term challenge that has the potential to affect every part of the planet”. Their final declaration acknowledged that human activity contributed in large part to global warming, and said there was a need to reduce greenhouse gases — mostly the product of the fossil fuels that power much modern industry. They pledged to “act with resolve and urgency’’ to tackle the problem. But they set no yardsticks or clear goals. And their declaration made only cursory reference to the binding Kyoto accord on cutting greenhouse gases, which was signed by all G-8 powers, except the USA — President George W. Bush had branded it as economic suicide. Sidestepping any further rancour over Kyoto, the G-8 agreed to a wide-ranging ‘’action plan’’ to promote energy efficiency and the use of cleaner fuels.
— Reuters
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Kashmir Forum slams Kashmiri delegation visit
Washington, July 8 At a meeting held last night to discuss the recent visit by a Kashmir Pandit delegation, IAKF National President Vijay Sazawal said, “If the state government is not interested in meeting their demands, it is difficult to comprehend how the government will undertake the resettlement of nearly 3,50,000 internally displaced Pandits living outside of the valley today.” He, however, said the recent visit “will create further uncertainty and agony in the minds of internally-displaced Pandits longing to return to their homeland after 16 years of forced exile”. He said, “The trip arranged by the Jammu and Kashmir Government will prove counter-productive for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the visiting group consisted mostly of a few government paid workers and their associates who have no legitimacy to speak on behalf of the disfranchised community languishing in temporary shelters in various camps around Jammu.” Second, the group of visiting Pandits never approached Pandits who have continued to live in the valley through the worst of the insurgency. If these visiting representatives of the minority community were legitimate leaders, they would have surely held lengthy meetings with resident Pandits, which happened even though visitors stayed in the valley for a week and travelled to many towns. Finally, it is disturbing to note how little time the State government-approved delegation spent in visiting Pandit holy shrines and temples to personally assess their condition. “An eye-witness in Srinagar told us that only a few members of the large delegation visited the Ganpatyar Temple for less than 5 minutes. This reinforces the feeling that it was a politically-motivated visit which had very little to do with legitimate aspirations and hopes of returning Kashmiri Pandits,” the IAKF President said. He noted that recent attempts by the Jammu and Kashmir government to repatriate Kashmiri Pandits have been plagued with inconsistencies and insincerities. — UNI
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Pakistanis keen on mastering Hindi
Lahore, July 8 “We are looking for one or two persons in Islamabad having a PhD in Hindi and aim to start MA classes from the upcoming session in September 2005,” said Prof Dr Muhammad Akram Chaudhry, a Dean of Punjab University. Shabnam Riaz, the only lecturer in the university’s Hindi Department, said while previously it was only the older people who were interested in learning Hindi, now the youth were getting attracted to the language. “Judges, journalists, government officials, teachers, businessmen, youth and people from different walks of life have been joining the department to learn Hindi,” the Daily Times quoted her as saying. She, however, said some people were still prejudiced against learning Hindi. “Biases are still there as people see Hindi as the language of the ‘enemy’,” she said adding that the bias was gradually reducing. The university has been trying to start the course for the past two years, but it could not do so due to lack of qualified staff. The university, with a total of 14 students (10 in the certificate class and four in diploma course) enrolled in the Hindi Department, presently has a staff of only three—a teacher, an attendant and a clerk. Shabnam, an Indian who did her MA in Hindi from Patiala before getting married in Pakistan, said she along with some students of the Hindi Department had strongly urged the Pakistan government to allow importing Hindi publications, library books, journals, especially Hindi newspapers, from India. — ANI
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Ganga glacier may melt before end of century
London, July 8 According to Dr R.K. Pachauri, Director of the New Delhi-based Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI), and Dr Madan Shrestra, Director of Hydrology in Nepal, the effects of the glacial meltdown could stretch to billions of people in one of the most densely populated areas of the planet. A study for the UK Department for International Development (DFID) concluded that this figure was probably exaggerated because it was only in the mountains that the rivers were mostly dependent on glacial melt. On the plains, rivers were fed much more by the monsoons. Pachauri told the BBC’s Newsnight programme that climate change was predicted to disrupt monsoon rains. Combined with glacial meltdown this would leave people doubly vulnerable, he said. Appealing to developed nations to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, Dr Shrestra said Nepal was already suffering the effects of rapid warming in the mountains, and added that the river flow had increased because glaciers were melting twice as fast than previously thought.
— ANI |
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