London, February 6
A forum representing thousands of highly skilled Indian migrants today challenged recent changes in the British immigration law with a judicial review petition in the high court, claiming the new rules were “unfair and undemocratic” and affected their future.

Amit Kapadia, Director of the Highly Skilled Migrants Programme Forum, said the review petition was filed by Bates Wells & Braithwaite, a legal firm representing the Forum.

Almost 90 per cent of the 49,000 HSMP migrants (plus their families), a majority of them Indians, are affected by the new law implemented on December 5, 2006 with retrospective effect by the UK Home Office.

In its application, the forum said, “The changes have been imposed on the HSMP holders retrospectively, in an undemocratic manner, without any consultation with the stakeholders or any notification to the HSMP visa holders who were enticed to come here with the promise of permanent settlement.”

It said, “Altogether the new law reflected a complete change of track of the UK Home Office from its initial promises made to HSMP immigrants.”

Under the new immigration law, persons above 28 years of age and earning less than 35,000 pounds per annum would be ineligible to stay here. — PTI 

London, February 6
In the second such incident in as many days, a letter bomb exploded at a business centre southwest of London today, injuring two people.

“The police has evacuated the building and placed a cordon around the scene. An investigation has been launched, though it is likely an item of mail ignited and caused the injuries,” said a police statement.

“We are aware of a similar incident in London yesterday but it is too soon to speculate as to whether this is connected,” it said referring to yesterday’s explosion at a central London office which injured a woman employee.

Fourteen persons were evacuated from the building and a cordon has been set up around the site.

Police were called to the new incident at a company in Oaklands Business Centre, Wokingham shortly after 9 am (2.30 IST), the statement said.

Police said they were aware of a similar incident in central London yesterday but it was too soon to speculate on any possible connection.

South Central Ambulance Trust said two men, aged in their 30s, had been treated for minor injuries and were not being taken to hospital.

“The paramedic teams treated two male members of staff, in their 30s, for blast injuries to their hands and upper body,” Ambulance spokesman Graham Groves was quoted by BBC. — PTI

London, February 6
Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky has said former agent Alexander Litvenenko had told him he suspected Russian businessman Andrei Lugovoy of being involved in his poisoning.

Berezovsky, a leading Kremlin critic who lives in exile in Britain, said in a BBC interview yesterday he was willing to speak to the Russian and British authorities about the death of Litvinenko, whom he described as a friend who once saved his life.

Litvinenko died on November 23 in London from radiation poisoning caused by polonium 210. In a deathbed statement, he accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering his murder -- an allegation dismissed by the Kremlin.

Berezovsky, who visited Litvinenko in hospital, said: ''(Litvinenko) said: 'Boris you know that I think that Lugovoy is involved in my poisoning'.''

Lugovoy, a former KGB agent who met Litvinenko in a London hotel on November 1, the day Litvinenko first fell ill, has denied any guilt.

Last month he dismissed British media reports that Britain was preparing to demand his extradition over the poisoning.

Lugovoy was treated at a Moscow hospital after Litvinenko's death for what some Russian media said was radiation sickness. He has been questioned by British detectives.

Berezovsky said he was ready to meet the British or Russian authorities about Litvinenko's death but Britain's Scotland Yard police headquarters had not asked him.

''I initiate this idea for the Scotland Yard people and tell them I am absolutely open to meet people from Russia if it helps to investigate Alexander's case,'' he said. 
— Reuters

Orlando (USA), February 6
An astronaut drove 1,500 km and donned a wig and trench coat to confront a woman she believed was her rival for the affections of a space shuttle pilot, the police said.

She was arrested yesterday and charged with attempted kidnapping and other counts.

US Navy Capt Lisa Nowak, 43, who flew last July on a shuttle mission to the international space station, was also charged with attempted vehicle burglary with battery, destruction of evidence and battery. She was denied bail.

Nowak believed Shipman was romantically involved with Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein, a pilot during space shuttle Discovery's trip to the space station last December, the police said.

Nowak told the police that her relationship with Oefelein was "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship," according to an arrest affidavit. Police officers recovered a love letter to Oefelein in her car. NASA spokesman James Hartsfield in Houston said Nowak's status with the astronaut corps remained unchanged. — AP

Islamabad, February 6
In a veiled attack on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, former premier Nawaz Sharif has accused "uniformed Generals" of weakening the country's case on Kashmir by giving plan after plan.

In a telephonic address from his exile in London to a rally here yesterday to mark Kashmir Solidarity Day, he said uniformed Generals have stepped down from the national stance on Kashmir and have weakened Pakistan’s case on Kashmir by giving plan after plan.

Sharif, who was deposed by Musharraf in a military coup in 1999 said, the resolution of the Kashmir issue was possible only in case of a democratic and stable Pakistan.

"The Generals never let democracy flourish in Pakistan and have always acted against the popular democratic governments," the PML-N leader said. He said the nation was being kept in the dark on the Kashmir issue. — PTI

Washington, February 6
Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said on Sunday that she would return to Pakistan by the end of October or early November but did not announce a specific date.

Ms Bhutto also said that the presidential elections could not be held before December 2008 and “if they are held, they will be illegal.”

During an hour-long news conference, she was asked several times if she was returning home before the 2007 elections. “I am going back by the end of October or early November,” she said. “But I am not announcing a specific date yet.”

Asked to comment on President Pervez Musharraf’s determination to keep her and Mr Sharif out, she said: “That’s not President Musharraf’s decision. This has to be decided by the people of Pakistan.”

The PPP circles in Washington believe that if the government tries to prevent Ms Bhutto from returning home for the elections, it may become a major political issue both at home and abroad.

They say that it would be particularly difficult to defend such a decision in Washington where the victory of the Democratic Party in November’s midterm elections has added a new vigour to the demand for restoring democracy in countries like Pakistan. Her other statement that there’s no legal provision for holding the presidential election before 2008 could add to the government’s problems.

— By arrangement with the Dawn

Washington, February 6
The Dalai Lama has been named as a professor at a leading American private research institution, Atlanta's Emory University, in the first such appointment the Tibetan spiritual leader has accepted.

The appointment reflects a partnership between Emory and Tibetan exiles which includes a major project to provide a comprehensive science education curriculum to Tibetan Buddhist monks, the university said yesterday.

Emory has named the Nobel Peace Prize laureate a presidential distinguished professor. "I firmly believe that education is an indispensable tool for the flourishing of human well-being and the creation of a just and peaceful society, and I am delighted to make a small contribution in this regard through this appointment," the Dalai Lama said. — PTI