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N-fuel to India after NSG nod: France
Now heart cells from testes!
Rice, Straw visit ends, no date for
Maoists announce ceasefire in Kathmandu
3 die in Pak munition blast
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Ethnic Indian New Zealand’s next
Governor-General
13 Indians charged with murder
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N-fuel to India after NSG nod: France
Vasco (Goa), April 3 French Ambassador in New Delhi Dominique Girard said his country was looking forward to industrial cooperation in nuclear field with India in the backdrop of a joint statement issued by the two countries recently during the visit of President Jacques Chirac. "This (Indo-US nuclear agreement) is an excellent deal. We are quite happy with it," he told a select group of reporters here during his visit to witness start of week-long Indo-French Naval exercises 'Varuna II' off the Goa coast. On the requirement for NSG's endorsement of the deal, the envoy said: "We will help in that (building of consensus) as much as we can." Supporting India's quest for civilian nuclear energy to meet its growing needs, he hailed its track record. "We feel India should have better access to civilian nuclear technology and materials because of its behaviour, because of its non-proliferation record and because it is a democracy." Consensus within NSG and its endorsement of the Indo-US deal is a key requisite for allowing international community to resume trade in nuclear field with India. Under the deal, the US is responsible for building consensus for the deal in the NSG. Russia and Britain will also be helping in this process. The French envoy's comments assume significance as they come just ahead of India beginning talks with NSG on the nuclear issue. Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) Chairman Anil Kakodkar will travel to Vienna this week to present New Delhi's case before the NSG and talk about India-specific safeguards for civilian nuclear facilities as per the Indo-US agreement. Asked whether France, like Russia, would be ready to give uranium to India's fuel-deficient reactors like Tarapur till consensus could be evolved at the NSG, Girard ruled it out. "It is contingent upon the NSG and its green signal," the French Ambassador said. He said Russia could supply uranium to Tarapur Atomic Power Reactors (TAPS) as it has been doing so earlier also. Moscow has provided 60 metric tonnes of uranium to TAPS to prevent it from shutting down. About 20-25 metric tonnes of the consignment has already reached India. About the next steps in the Indo-French cooperation after issuance of the joint statement on nuclear issue, Mr Girard said Paris was looking forward to "actual cooperation, industrial cooperation". "But everything is possible after NSG's green signal," he said. Noting that France had always been advocating the need for civilian nuclear cooperation with India, Mr Girard said the Indo-US deal would give boost to supplies of nuclear material and technology to New Delhi.
— PTI |
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Washington, April 3 Their work has not been assessed by standard peer-review processes, but was presented at a meeting of stem cell researchers in Valencia, Spain. If other researchers can duplicate their efforts, the study offers a possible new source of valuable stem cells. The researchers, at Irvine, California-based PrimeGen Biotech LLC, worked with immature cells found in testes and ovaries known as germ cells. Scientists have hoped to use germ cells as a source of tissues for transplant and other medical uses. The findings are certain to be scrutinized before they are accepted. Earlier this year, South Korean researcher Hwang Woo-Suk was disgraced for having faked two studies in which he claimed to have cloned human volunteers and used the resulting embryos as a source of embryonic stem cells. Last week, Gerd Hasenfuss of Georg-August-University in Goettingen, Germany and colleagues reported in the journal Nature that they had transformed mouse germ cells into stem cells. Francisco Silva and colleagues said they had accomplished the same thing, and taken it several steps further by
doing the same thing with human germ cells.
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Rice, Straw visit ends, no date for Iraq govt yet
Baghdad, April 3 "We came here to give momentum to the process that is already underway. It is not my responsibility or of Mr Straw's to determine who is going to be the Prime Minister of Iraq," Rice told reporters. "That will be determined by Iraqis. But we need a strong, unifying government led by someone who can bring stability and meet the challenges of the Iraqi people." Straw and Rice wound up two days of intensive talks with Iraqi leaders pressing them to speed up the formation of a government without reporting any immediate signs of concrete progress. Rice said Iraqi leaders were under pressure from their own people to break the political deadlock and squabbling since the mid-December legislative elections but "that process has to take place quickly". She said the United States and Britain had a "better understanding of pieces that are falling in place to make this process go forward". Straw added: "There is a lot of indication this message (to speed up the process) is going through. I think there is a sense by Iraqi politicians that they recognise the urgency of the matter." Rice and Straw stressed that a rapid formation of a new government was the key to stem the tide of violence in the country. — AFP
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Maoists announce ceasefire in Kathmandu
Kathmandu, April 3 The ceasefire will come into effect this evening and will remain effective until further notice, Maoist leader Prachanda said in a statement. He said his party announced the ceasefire in Kathmandu valley in view of the request made by the seven-party alliance and civil society groups to expose the royal government that has claimed that the rebels might infiltrate in the seven parties' agitation. "We have decided to stop our military offensive in the capital until further notice to explose the claims of the autocratic regime that we were planning to infiltrate the seven-party protest programme," he said. The ceasefire in the Kathmandu valley is aimed at "creating an easy atmosphere for the people to participate in the peaceful protest movement," against the King, he said. The seven-party pro-democratic alliance has announced a four-day general strike between April 6 and 9 and called for mass protests across the Kingdom on April 8. Prachanda also asked his cadres to halt military actions in the capital. The announcement of the ceasefire came in the wake of Home Minister Kamal Thapa's warning that the government may declare emergency in Kathmandu in view of the possible infiltration of the rebels. — PTI
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Ethnic Indian New Zealand’s next Governor-General
Wellington, April 3 Justice Anand Satyanand, born and raised in New Zealand by Indian and Fiji Indian parents, in August will replace Dame Silvia Cartwright as the representative of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. Ms Clark said Queen Elizabeth had approved the appointment of Satyanand, a lawyer, Judge and former ombudsman. The former judge, who has close ties to Asia and the Pacific, would take up the post in August, she said. "Judge Satyanand will bring many personal strengths to the role of Governor-General, including a broad knowledge of the workings of government and law, as well as a deep appreciation of the different groups and communities which make up contemporary New Zealand," she added. Until the early 1970s the post of Governor-General was the preserve of members of the British nobility, with the first indigenous Maori New Zealander, Sir Paul Reeves, appointed in the 1980s. Mr Satyanand said he decided to take the post as a matter of duty, the opportunity to play a different role in government. — AFP
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13 Indians charged with murder
Dubai, April 3 One person was critically injured in the brawl that occurred on Saturday night in the Jordanian capital, Amman. Sources at the Indian Embassy in Amman said the accused and the victims were staying in the country legally and were engaged in construction, maintenance and farming jobs. The 13 were charged with premeditated murder on the basis of the statement of the injured. Those involved in the incident hailed from Punjab and neighbouring states, the sources said. The criminal prosecutor was quoted by Jordan Times as saying that the fight occurred over financial issues.
— PTI |
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