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Manmohan, Finnish PM for strengthening UN
General Assembly to appoint new UN
Secy-Gen today
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Yankees pitcher killed as plane crashes into building
Pak will be “no more” if moderates lose power
Kiran Desai would like to celebrate in India
Reyat to undergo trial for perjury
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Manmohan, Finnish PM for strengthening UN
Helsinki (Finland), October 12 Addressing a joint press conference here after one-to-one and delegation-level talks, both leaders said contribution towards enhancing the effectiveness of multilateral initiatives was essential in the present international milieu. “Meeting the challenges of globalisation requires the strengthening of multilateral institutions such as the UN and the WTO. We value our dialogue with Finland which has a proven record of contribution towards effective multilateral initiatives,” Dr Singh said in his opening statement. Backing Dr Singh's stance to make the UN more effective and inclusive, Mr Vanhanen said: “We both reiterated our support for strong, effective and efficient United Nations. I have also told the Indian Prime Minister that Finland support India's permanent membership at the Security Council.” Congratulating Finland on its assumption of the Presidency of the European Union, Dr Singh said he was looking forward to Friday's deliberations at the Seventh India-EU Summit. Reflecting on his discussions with Prime Minister Vanhanen, Dr Singh said what had come out clearly was the fact that both India and Finland shared vast complementarities that “must be fully exploited.” Describing Finland as one of the fastest growing economies among the OECD countries, and lauding its leadership role in areas like telecommunications, information technology and bio-technology, Dr Singh said India offered advantages of a pool of highly qualified scientific talent and a skilled workforce in the manufacturing and service sectors, which Finland could exploit to its fullest potential. “We discussed the opportunities provided by India's sustained economic growth rates of over 8 per cent, and its recognition as a safe, secure and profitable investment destination,” Dr Singh said. “We are encouraged by the fact that a number of Indian companies are investing in high-tech Finnish firms. Looking at these developments, we (India) believe that there is a huge potential for the expansion of our trade and investment ties. We have agreed to work jointly to double our trade over the next two years,” Dr Singh added. He also welcomed the news of Finnair operating direct air services between Helsinki and New Delhi from October 30. Both leaders also discussed the need to strengthen international initiatives in combating terrorism and Dr Singh expressed his appreciation for the support and solidarity extended by Finland in addressing this menace. In the question and answer session that followed the opening statements, Prime Minister Vanhanen said European Union had yet not taken any decision on the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal. “We don't yet have a European Union position to a Indo-US nuclear deal. I have to get information on the issue from the Indian Prime Minister,” Mr Vanhanen said. However, he added that he understood India's ever increasing need for energy. There is a tradition in the European Union that its presidents take a common stand acceptable to the grouping. Indo-Finnish ties date back to 1949, when Finland appointed its first ambassador in India. India opened it's Embassy in Helsinki only in 1968. At present, there are over 1600 persons of Indian origin in Finland. There might be some differences on political issues, but on trade, both countries are partners of progress.
— ANI
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General Assembly to appoint new UN
Secy-Gen today
United Nations, October 12 Under the UN procedures, the 15 UN Security Council members recommend a candidate to the 192-member General Assembly, which has to endorse the nomination. The council voted for Ban on Monday, and the assembly is expected to approve him by acclamation. Gail Bindley-Taylor Sainte, spokeswoman for the assembly, yesterday said the confirmation of Ban’s candidacy was set for Friday afternoon, as South Korea had requested and regional groups approved. “We expect him to take the oath of office as soon as he is officially appointed but he doesn’t take office until January 1,” Sainte said. Ban, making his first appearance at the United Nations yesterday since his nomination by the Security Council two days earlier, met U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, ambassadors from Asian nations and visiting US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns. Ban told reporters he had three priorities as Secretary-General.
— Reuters
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Yankees pitcher killed as plane crashes into building
A single-engine plane carrying a New York baseball pitcher crashed into a 50-storey building in uptown Manhattan yesterday afternoon evoking memories of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in the city.
New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and his flight instructor were killed in their Cirrus SR20, a four-seat propeller plane. It was not clear who was at the controls. The crash ignited a fire that destroyed several apartments and sent debris crashing to the street below. Officials said 14 firefighters and four people in the building were injured. One woman who was in an apartment that was struck by the plane managed to escape with injuries. The North American Aerospace Defence Command scrambled military jets after the incident. The plane took off from Teterboro Airport located just outside Manhattan in New Jersey at about 2.30 pm. New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said the plane circled the Statue of Liberty before flying up along the East River. But the radar lost contact, he said, when the plane reached the 59th Street Bridge. “That is what you would expect if the plane started to descend,” he said. “We have no idea how it ended up on 72nd Street. The National Transportation Safety Board will have to figure that out.” In an interview to Philadelphia Inquirer this summer, 34-year-old Mr Lidle brushed aside concerns about flying. “I’m not worried about it. I’m safe up there,” he had said. The New York Times said the plane slammed into an apartment on the 30th floor of the building on the 72nd street. The paper said Dr Parviz Benhuri, who owns the apartment with his wife, Ilana, said she was at home when the plane blasted through the window and the apartment went up in flames. “She told me she saw the window come out and she ran. She is in shock. She is lucky she made it. It is a miracle.” The Federal Aviation Authority said it was too early to determine the cause of the accident. The accident snarled flights into New York and outbound flights were delayed by a few hours. Ranjan Chhibber, a passenger on a New York-bound flight from Buffalo in upstate New York, told the Tribune his Jet Blue airline “mysteriously” turned off TV programming on board the plane at the time of the incident and passengers weren’t informed about the crash. He says his flight was delayed due to the crash. Mr Lidle’s death has shocked the sporting fraternity. “This is a terrible and shocking tragedy that has stunned the entire Yankees organisation,” New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner said in a statement.
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Pak will be “no more” if moderates lose power
Islamabad, October 12 “The tussle will be between the moderates and the extremists. I am a moderate and strongly believe that the moderates must win. If the extremists win, than Quaid-e-Azam’s (Jinnah’s) Pakistan will be no more there,” he told reporters here last night at an iftar party. Musharraf came to power in a coup on October 12, 1999 posing as “reluctant coupmaker” who had to launch a “counter coup” to thwart the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s “conspiracy” to oust him as Chief of Army. After the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the USA, he deftly washed away the image of “Jehadi General” for staging Kargil with the help of Islamic militants and joined the war on terror bandwagon and emerged as the “front line ally” in US President George W Bush’s war against Al-Qaida and Taliban. Musharraf, who had addressed the nation during previous anniversaries of his assumption of power, took even his bitterest critics by surprise by projecting the “worst case scenario” of Jinnah’s Pakistan withering away if moderates lose to extremists in Pakistan. He stressed when he says that Jinnah’s Pakistan may be lost. “I mean every of it”, a remark seen as an attempt to placate mainstream moderate leaders like Sharif an another former premier, Benazir Bhutto. Noting that no individual means anything in the life of a nation, Musharraf said, “Individuals will keep coming and going. Everyone has a life and everyone has tenure. It is this nation which will continue. So irrespective of anyone’s attitude towards me, the greater objective is Pakistan not me. I am here temporarily, Pakistan will continue.” The general quickly doused speculation on whether he was willing to have rapprochement with Benazir or Sharif, saying, “elections will be held in 2007, no change in that and they will be fair and transparent. All parities would take part in it. These two individuals (Bhutto and Sharif) would not participate. I stand by that.” He however declined to go into reports that he was negotiating with Ms Bhutto to get her party’s support but hoped that the general election would be won by moderates, and that “the forces of extremism go down.” Musharraf said the creation of a moderate Pakistan was not only in the best interest of its people, but also they only way to dispel the growing impression in the world that Pakistan was in ‘irresponsible’ and a rogue state.
— PTI
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Kiran Desai would like to celebrate in India
London, October 12 “Because they care for the Booker so much. Sometimes it means something in America and sometimes it doesn’t. It would have been a lot of fun to be in Delhi, with lots of family and all the generations.” Desai said she was doubly shocked when her name was announced as the winner on Tuesday night. “I was very surprised.” After she was chosen for the prestigious prize, She said she didn’t sleep at all. “I drank lots of champagne and then tried to sleep for three or four hours and didn’t manage to.”
— PTI
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Reyat to undergo trial for perjury
Toronto, October 12 The May 7 date for Reyat’s
trial, who is serving a five-year sentence, was fixed yesterday by British Columbia Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm as Reyat watched the proceedings through a video-link from jail.
— PTI |
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