W O R L D

US may amend laws for civilian N-deal
Washington, February 23
The US Administration could introduce legislation in both Houses of the Congress on Monday to amend the country’s laws to give effect to the civilian nuclear deal with India, just days ahead of President George Bush’s visit to the sub-continent from March 1, if last-minute talks between the two sides in Delhi to iron out differences in the implementation of the landmark accord succeed.

40 die in roof collapse
Moscow, February 23
At least 40 persons were killed and 29 injured when the snow-covered roof of a 30-year-old market in downtown Moscow collapsed today, as rescuers fought a fire that erupted among the rubble and made efforts to save people trapped there.

Russian Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu (left) directs a rescue operation at the ruins of a collapsed market in Moscow on Thursday. — AFP photo

First case of bird flu in Germany, second in France
Berlin, February 23
The German authorities said today that a duck on a poultry farm on the Baltic Sea island of Ruegen had tested positive for bird flu, the first time the disease had been detected among poultry in Germany.

Pak to monitor Munabao train for flu
Islamabad, February 23
Pakistan has said it will check the movement of live birds and poultry products from India to Pakistan through the Khokrapar-Munabao train to control the spread of avian influenza (H5N1).

35-year jail for NRI for killing family
London, February 23
A man of Indian origin in Britain has been sentenced to 35 years in jail for organising the murder of four relatives, including his wife and her parents, who wanted him to give up his ‘‘bachelor’’ lifestyle with a mistress.

127 dead in Iraq sectarian violence
Baghdad, February 23
Gunmen have killed at least 127 persons in Iraq in sectarian violence that flared after the bombing of a revered Shiite shrine and reprisal attacks on Sunni mosques, officials said today.

Canadian Sikh lawyer suspended
Mr Tapishar Sher Singh, a prominent Sikh lawyer of Ontario and recipient of the Order of Canada, has been suspended by the Law Society of Upper Canada for professional misconduct.

Man kills two sisters in Pakistan
Multan, February 23
A man shot and killed his two sisters today in eastern Pakistan because he suspected they were having love affairs, an affront to family's name, the police said.

UK terror policies under Amnesty fire
London, February 23
In a damning report, human rights watchdog Amnesty International today blasted Britain for “draconian actions” in the name of security such as army abuses in Iraq and long detentions of terror suspects, while warning against deporting foreign detainees to countries that are known to use torture.

US may amend laws for civilian N-deal

Washington, February 23
The US Administration could introduce legislation in both Houses of the Congress on Monday to amend the country’s laws to give effect to the civilian nuclear deal with India, just days ahead of President George Bush’s visit to the sub-continent from March 1, if last-minute talks between the two sides in Delhi to iron out differences in the implementation of the landmark accord succeed.

Diplomatic sources told UNI here today that US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns, who is in the Indian capital for talks with Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran on the contentious issue of the separation of India’s civil and military nuclear programmes, required under the deal, was expected to return here by the weekend.

If the talks succeed in sorting out the differences, there are chances that the Administration could introduce legislation in both the House of Representatives and the Senate simultaneously on Monday when they reconvene after a week’s break, the sources said.

Given the fact that some hearings on the issue have already been held, the sources felt that the legislation would be referred without much delay to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Committee on International Relations. They expected the amendments to be passed in about a month or so.

Diplomats and South Asia experts said President Bush would have to make quite a few telephone calls and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other members of the Bush cabinet would have to make active efforts to ensure that the legislation gets Congress approval.

The US would then have to take the issue to the Nuclear Suppliers Group to change its rules to enable nuclear commerce with India. This is expected to happen in May, the sources said.

The initiative on civil nuclear cooperation was the centre-piece of the Joint Statement issued by the two countries after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s historic summit meeting with President Bush here on July 18 last year.

The two leaders will review the implementation of the accord when they meet in India on March 2.

Under the agreement, the US had said that India, as a responsible state with advanced nuclear technology, should acquire the same benefits and advantages as other such states.

The deal, which would lift a 30-year ban on nuclear commerce between the two countries, must be approved by the US Congress to bring about changes in America’s strict non-proliferation laws and also changes in the rules of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). — UNI

40 die in roof collapse

Moscow, February 23
At least 40 persons were killed and 29 injured when the snow-covered roof of a 30-year-old market in downtown Moscow collapsed today, as rescuers fought a fire that erupted among the rubble and made efforts to save people trapped there.

Viktor Beltsov, a spokesman for the Emergency Situations Ministry, said 40 persons had been killed and 29 injured.

Interfax news agency reported that the fire might have been caused by a spark from rescue equipment, which set alight flammable liquids in the wreckage.

NTV channel reported that over 100 persons could still be trapped.— PTI

First case of bird flu in Germany, second in France

Berlin, February 23
The German authorities said today that a duck on a poultry farm on the Baltic Sea island of Ruegen had tested positive for bird flu, the first time the disease had been detected among poultry in Germany.

The bird flu crisis centre in Schwerin in northern Germany said the duck had tested positive for the virus, but further tests were being carried out to establish whether it had the highly pathogenic strain of bird flu which could be fatal to humans.

Bird flu was also suspected among some 50 chickens slaughtered on the island, but test results were still being awaited, the Agriculture Minister for the north-eastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania said.

Paris: A second case of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has been confirmed in a wild duck in France, Agriculture Ministry officials said today.

The duck was found dead on February 19 in the Ain region, the ministry said.

The discovery followed the first case of bird flu found a week ago in another duck found dead in the same region, in southeastern France.

The second duck was found in Bouvent village, around 35 km from Joyeux village, the site of the first case.

Special surveillance measures were being put in place around Bouvent, the Agriculture Ministry statement said.

Under the measures, vehicles will be checked to ensure that no poultry leaves the region.

The discovery of the second case of the lethal strain of the virus came a day after President Jacques Chirac ordered the government to calm consumer fears over bird flu in France. — AFP, AP

Pak to monitor Munabao train for flu

Islamabad, February 23
Pakistan has said it will check the movement of live birds and poultry products from India to Pakistan through the Khokrapar-Munabao train to control the spread of avian influenza (H5N1).

“We have not so far checked the Khokrapar-Munabao train, but would do it from now to make sure that no poultry products or live birds enter our country,” Federal Agriculture Minister Sikandar Hayat Bosan told a news conference here yesterday. — UNI

35-year jail for NRI for killing family

London, February 23
A man of Indian origin in Britain has been sentenced to 35 years in jail for organising the murder of four relatives, including his wife and her parents, who wanted him to give up his ‘‘bachelor’’ lifestyle with a mistress.

The unfaithful husband, Gurmej Rai (38), has been given four life sentences but must serve a minimum of 35 years in jail.

In September 2004, he planned and executed what a judge called a ‘‘wicked and terrible crime’’ in which he paid for his wife’s family home in Tipton, West Midlands, to be burned down. Rai organised for Raju Sahonta (21) and Ravinder Badhan (20) to enter the house, douse the hallway in petrol and set it alight.

The blaze engulfed the property and killed Rai}s wife, Darshan Kaur ( 30), her parents Ajit Singh (64) and Gurdish Kaur (60) and their daughter-in-law Palvinder Kaur (44).

Reports say that Rai was also sentenced to 25 years, to run concurrently, for the attempted murder of Amarjit Kaur (24), who was the only survivor of the blaze.

Sahonta and Badhan, both from the Handsworth area of Birmingham, were sentenced to 14 years on four counts of manslaughter at the Birmingham Crown Court.

Rai had moved to Britain in 1998 while his wife remained in India. During that time Rai lived a bachelor's life and had a mistress. But when his wife, Darshan, came to Britain in 2004, Rai was told by her family that he needed to give up his unfaithful lifestyle and become a model husband.

Rai reportedly resented this and hatched a plot to pay Badhan and Sahonta to set fire to their house while they were asleep. He gave them a key to the house and late on September 27, 2004, they entered through the front door, poured petrol in the hall and set it alight. The jury cleared them of four counts of murder and one of attempted murder. But both admitted the manslaughter of the four. — IANS

127 dead in Iraq sectarian violence

Baghdad, February 23
Gunmen have killed at least 127 persons in Iraq in sectarian violence that flared after the bombing of a revered Shiite shrine and reprisal attacks on Sunni mosques, officials said today.

Amid warnings that sectarian violence could spiral further out of control, Iraqi political leaders went into an emergency meeting with President Jalal Talabani.

Eighty bullet-ridden corpses were brought to the Baghdad morgue between yesterday afternoon and today morning, the deputy director of the morgue, Dr Kais Mohammed, told AFP.

“I’ve only been able to carry out autopsies on 25,” he said, adding that all had been shot. The bodies, which had been dumped in Baghdad and its suburbs, could not be identified immediately.

Another 47 bodies of men shot to death were found along with 10 burnt out cars alongside a road near Nahrawan, south-east of Baghdad, the police said. The corpses were found near a brick factory and it was not immediately known if the victims were workers from the factory.

Iraq has already placed its security forces on high alert and cancelled all leave. The night curfew in Baghdad was brought forward from 11 pm to 8 pm yesterday. The upsurge in killings came after suspected Al-Qaida linked militants yesterday morning bombed the 1,000-year-old Imam Ali al-Hadi mausoleum, one of the countries’ main Shiite shrines, in the town of Samarra, north of Baghdad. — AFP

Canadian Sikh lawyer suspended

Mr Tapishar Sher Singh, a prominent Sikh lawyer of Ontario and recipient of the Order of Canada, has been suspended by the Law Society of Upper Canada for professional misconduct.

Mr Tapishar Sher Singh (56) was found guilty of professional misconduct after three former clients lodged complaints against him. One of the complainants alleged that he had provided the lawyer with documents which were never returned to him.

The other complaint said that he billed his clients for work which was never properly documented.

The investigation of Singh, who served from 1990-93 on the Ontario Police Commission, culminated with a last hearing on November 11 last year by a three-member panel which found him guilty of professional misconduct.

It also found Mr Singh failed to keep accurate records of the second complaint; failed to fully co-operate with the investigation; failed to properly account to the couple for trust money received on their behalf; and didn’t follow legal requirements when he withdrew trust funds to cover legal fees and disbursements. — TNS

Man kills two sisters in Pakistan

Multan, February 23
A man shot and killed his two sisters today in eastern Pakistan because he suspected they were having love affairs, an affront to family's name, the police said.

The suspect, Mohammed Ashraf (35), was arrested shortly after he opened fire on the women in the remote town of Vehari, about 100 km southeast of Multan, said Abdul Sattar, a police official.

Mr Sattar identified the women as Kaneez (27), and Naveed (25). Naveed had filed a court case seeking a divorce, and her sister was going to the court in connection with the case when the attack occurred, the police official said. Killing of women for honour is common in Pakistan, where men consider it an affront to the family when their female relatives choose a husband without family's approval. — AP

UK terror policies under Amnesty fire
H.S. Rao

London, February 23
In a damning report, human rights watchdog Amnesty International today blasted Britain for “draconian actions” in the name of security such as army abuses in Iraq and long detentions of terror suspects, while warning against deporting foreign detainees to countries that are known to use torture.

The 83-page report exposing the damaging effect of Britain’s anti-terrorism policies on rights, accused the government of trying to circumvent its obligations in relation to abuses committed by its armed forces in Iraq.

After the Law Lords ruled that the detention was discriminatory and incompatible with the right to liberty, the government, instead of releasing them, enacted legislation allowing the issue of “control orders” to restrict their liberty, movement and activities, whether they were UK nationals or not, it said. — PTI