Kuala Lumpur, January 20
Around 10,000 of Malaysia's ethnic Indians staged a pro-government rally today, two months after a similar number of Indians defied arrest and tear gas to protest against racial discrimination.

In a well-orchestrated event, Indians filled a badminton stadium in the capital to hear the Prime Minister promise to work harder to wipe out pockets of hard-core poverty in their community.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi won the biggest cheer when he announced a religious holiday for Wednesday, when Indians celebrate Thaipusam, a festival famous for its procession of devotees who skewer their bodies with metal spikes and hooks.

Abdullah, who is expected by political analysts to call an early election by the end of March, also said he would form a special cabinet committee to eradicate extreme poverty by 2010.

"We have succeeded in reducing poverty, but there is still a small amount (remaining)," Abdullah told the crowd which was seated in orderly rows.

He made no direct reference to November's demonstration, which stunned the government and caused diplomatic tensions with India.

But today's event, organised by the main pro-government Indian party, was clearly meant as a reply to that unrest.

Around 7 per cent of Malaysia's 26 million people are ethnic Indians whose forefathers were brought to the Southeast Asian country as labourers by British colonial rulers.

Many complain of racial discrimination and some accuse the government of trying to wipe out their culture by imposing Islamic laws and targeting Hindu temples.

Following November's protest in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia arrested five Hindu activists under a tough security law that allows indefinite detention without trial.

"The Indian community has to be cautious because certain quarters want to see the community split and not united," works minister S. Samy Vellu, whose Malaysian Indian Congress belongs to the ruling Barisan National coalition, told today's crowd.

Today's rally, attended by around 21,000 people according to Vellu spokesman E. Sivabalan, would be the first in a series ahead of the general election, Vellu told the official news agency Bernama.

Critics say Vellu, who has been the party leader and a cabinet minister since 1979, is out of touch with poor Indians.Many of those attending today's rally were ferried in by bus.

One, who gave his name only as Prabu, a 33-year-old brokerage clerk, said he opposed the November rally because it had threatened to split the Indian community. — Reuters

Kuala Lumpur, January 20
In a major concession to the agitated ethnic Indian community in Malaysia, the government today declared the Hindu festival of Thaipusam a national holiday.

Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi said the government had taken the decision after getting requests from the ethnic Indian community, which forms just 7.8 per cent of the total population in this Muslim-majority country.

“Moreover, every year during Thaipusam, the roads in Kuala Lumpur are very congested,” Abdullah told a cheering crowd of over 20,000 ethnic Indians at rally here organised by the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), the third lagrest component of the ruling Barisan Party.

The opposition had also urged the prime minister to recognise the festival as a reconciliatory gesture in the wake of tensions following the government’s crackdown on agitating Indian workers.

Thaipusam, which is widely celebrated by Hindu ethnic Malaysian Indians, who are mostly from Tamil Nadu, is currently a holiday in the states of Selangor, Perak, Negri Sembilan, Johor and Penang. — PTI

President Pervez Musharraf left on Sunday for an eight-day trip to four European nations saying he would focus on improving personal and country’s image and remove misconceptions about the security of the nuclear assets.

Muharraf would visit Belgium, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. This was his first trip to the western nations in a year that kept him bogged down in the country from one crisis to another.

During this period he made two brief visits to UAE and Saudi Arabia, which focused on domestic political crisis and return of country’s two mainstream leaders Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif.

Top on agenda of his talks with European leaders would be country’s upcoming elections, spate of terrorist acts in recent months, apprehension abroad over Pakistan’s political instability against the backdrop of the assassination of Bhutto, increasing terrorist acts and fears that Pakistan’s nuclear assets might fell into wrong hands amid continuing internal turmoil.

He had been stung by a highly negative media response in Europe and the US for the imposition of an emergency on November 3, dismissal of judiciary, trampling of media freedom and handling of investigations into the assassination of Bhutto by the government.

Apart from meeting top leadership of Germany, France and Britain, Musharraf would also attend the annual World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, where many world leaders would be converging. In Brussels, he would hold meetings with leaders of the European Union (EU).

“I am going to meet the foreign relations committee of the European Union, which is an important international player. We want to clear certain misconceptions about all the happenings in Pakistan and the region”, the President told reporters of official media at Chaklala Airbase, as he left for Brussels.

He said his visit was aimed at interacting with the European Union leaders and “to give them the correct perception of whatever has been happening in Pakistan and to project our viewpoint.”

When asked about the image problem faced by Pakistan, the President said during the visit he would specially focus on the image improvement in Europe with right perception and remove the misgivings and misunderstandings about Pakistan.

“The four-nation visit of Brussels, Paris, London and Davos is a wholesome package, with focus on improving Pakistan’s image and removing certain misconceptions,” he added.

Islamabad, January 20
The Pakistan Government has sought a report from officials on how Indian minister Jairam Ramesh "strolled" into Pakistani territory at the Wagah border, violating rules and regulations last week, a media report has said.

Indian minister of state for commerce Ramesh's "stroll" on Pakistani soil on Friday is being seen by diplomatic observers here as a show of disrespect for the country's sovereignty, The News daily reported today.

The interior ministry has asked its officials to submit a report on the incident, which was described by the Indian media as "inadvertent", it reported.

Interior ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema refused to comment on the incident, saying he wants to first see the report.

It was alleged that Ramesh and some Indian officials walked up to a conference hall of the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers, about 40 yards inside Pakistan.

However, Ramesh, when asked how he could cross the border without any legal papers, was quoted as telling Indian mediapersons that he did not cross into Pakistan illegally.

The Pakistan Government has reportedly taken a "serious view" of the incident as it did not comply with diplomatic norms, the daily said. — PTI

Abu Dhabi, January 20
India has warned that it would deal sternly with the immigrants who make their way illegally to the UAE and other Gulf nations.

“There will be zero tolerance to the illegal immigration in the UAE”, Indian ambassador to UAE Talmiz Ahmad said while speaking at a function in Abu Dhabi on Thursday to honour the Indian community members for their work during the general amnesty of 2007.

The UAE government announced a three-month amnesty that gives illegal immigrants a chance to either regularise themselves or leave the country without any punishment.

India, which is playing an important role in the region and world, cannot afford its citizens in such conditions anymore, Ahmad said.

The Indian government is trying to put the recruitment system for the Gulf in order to avoid such situation, when the measures like amnesty are needed any further. There are nearly five million Indians working in the region.

On the problem of maids, the Indian envoy said a majority of the complaints of ill-treatment from them in the UAE were against their own compatriot employers.

About 50 per cent of the Indian housemaids in the UAE are employed with Indian families and 50 per cent of them complain of ill treatment.

Ahmad said no complaints arose from legal immigrants whose job contract was attested by the Indian Embassy and the Consulate in the UAE. — PTI

Sydney, January 20
The ruling Labour Party's policy on uranium sales to India will not affect Australian efforts to bolster ties with New Delhi, foreign minister Stephen Smith has said.

Smith said forging stronger ties with ''the economic powerhouse'' was one of the top foreign policy priorities of the Kevin Rudd government.

But, he cautioned, it would not mean that Australia had any intention to change its policy of selling uranium to only countries who are signatories to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT).

''Australia's relationship with India and further progress in that relationship does not depend on uranium sales,''Smith was quoted by the AAP as saying.

''India is aware of the government's policy to supply uranium only to countries which are members of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty,'' he said.

India is still in the process of seeking international approval for the Indo-US
nuclear deal.

The agreement would give India access to US nuclear fuel and technology in exchange for opening its civilian reactors to international inspections.

The former Howard government agreed in-principle to sell uranium to India, based upon the agreement with the US. The deal was yet to be approved by the powerful 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), of which Australia is also a member, and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Uranium-rich Australia has 40 per cent of the world's yellowcake supplies. Smith, however, added: ''The Australian government has not come to a concluded view on (this matter).''

Asserting his government's resolve to have enhanced economic ties with India,federal treasurer Wayne Swan said ''Australia has a golden opportunity to work more closely with India to pursue our common economic interests.''

''I want to explore ways to institute closer ties between the Indian Ministry of Finance and the Commonwealth Treasury,'' he was quoted by the Sunday Age as saying.

''Part of the Rudd Government's mission is to modernise the economy, so modernising our relationships with key economies is a vital component of that,''Swan said.

India is Australia's fastest growing major market for both goods and services, increasing at a rate of more than 30 per cent a year.

Bilateral trade in goods between India and Australia reached $ 11.4 billion last year, of which$ 10.1 billion were exports to India, including goods such as gold, coal, copper and wool. — UNI

Washington, January 20
Senator Hillary Clinton, bidding to become the first woman President of the US, consolidated her position by winning the hard-fought Nevada caucuses edging past her Democratic rival Barack Obama while John McCain beat Mike Huckabee in Republican primaries in South Carolina.

The victory marked the third-straight campaign win for New York Senator Clinton, the former first lady, after she claimed New Hampshire and Michigan primaries.

The wife of former President Bill Clinton had made a remarkable comeback in the race for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination for the White House after losing out the opening Iowa caucuses to Obama, also attempting to script history by becoming the first black President.

The Nevada battle saw a huge turnout of voters with state party officials saying over 1.7 lakh voters attended the caucuses.

The Democrats will have their next battle on next Saturday at the critical primaries of South Carolina, where Arizona Senator McCain emerged victorious over former Arkansas Governor Huckabee in Republican caucuses last night.

Clinton got 51 per cent of the vote and Illinois Senator Obama 45 per cent, with over 90 per cent of Nevada precincts reporting, according to the state’s Democratic Party. Former vice presidential nominee John Edwards had nearly 4 per cent.

“This is one step on a long journey throughout the country as we put our cases forward and take that case to the people, and this was an especially wonderful day for me,” Clinton said after her victory.

Obama’s campaign, however, asserted he had in fact won more delegates to the national convention that will choose the Democrats’ presidential candidate.

Jeff Berman, the director of delegate distribution for Obama, was quoted as saying that Clinton was defeated by 13-12 on the delegate count. — PTI

Toronto, January 20
An Indo-Canadian man has been charged with killing his two-and-half-year-old daughter in the Vancouver suburb of Delta because he did not like having a third girl child.

Lakhvinder Singh Kahlon, 47, reportedly slit the throat of his baby on Friday morning at their home when his wife, Manjit, was away to drop their two older daughters at school.He was reportedly unhappy having a third daughter.

When Manjit returned home at about 8.45 a.m., she found the baby, Ravinder, dead. Screaming, she ran out for help. Neighbours called the police, who came and surrounded the house immediately and arrested Kahlon.

A construction worker, Kahlon was reportedly unhappy since Ravinder's birth and didn't go to work.

"Those who knew Kahlon told us that he was a changed person after the birth of Ravinder. She was his third daughter. Probably, he wanted a boy. He looked unstable and was often found doing bizarre things," Jasdip Wahla, an anchor with Channel M in Vancouver, said.

Although the police didn't say how Kahlon killed the daughter, the neighbours said his distraught wife told them that he had slit her throat. They said he was very cold towards the youngest daughter and often treated her rudely.

The body could be removed from the crime scene only on Friday night as the police looked for clues and waited for formal warrants for Kahlon.He was formally charged with first degree murder on Saturday.

"This is a terrible tragedy.The family and community are devastated. The family members are safe and under the care of extended family and friends," the police said in a statement.

The Kahlon family immigrated to Canada from Punjab many years ago. Their other two daughters, nine and 12, were born here. Delta, like neighbouring Surrey, has a huge Indian-origin population. — IANS

London, January 20
The last unpublished work of the author of the most controversial novel of modern literature, Lolita, may not see the light of the day, in fulfilment of the writer's last wishes.

Vladimir Nabokov requested in his will that his unfinished novel, The Original of Laura, should be destroyed on his death, saying he abhorred the idea of his readers seeing a work he had completed ''in my mind'' but not on paper.

But even after more than 30 years of his death, nobody has dared to incinerate the manuscript, a collection of 50 index cards that is languishing in a Swiss bank vault.

Dimitri Nabokov, the author's sole surviving heir and the only living person to have seen the entire manuscript, had described it as the most ''brilliant, original and potentially radical'' script he (Vladimir Nabokov) ever wrote.

The former opera singer has indicated that he is prepared to put a match to the manuscript. In an e-mail and telephone exchange with US literary critic Ron Rosenbaum, Nabokov has stressed that he wants to spare it the harsh treatment that his father's novel, Lolita, received at the hands of critics, Guardian reported.

In an article in a US online magazine, Rosenbaum says ''The desire to spare Laura similar molestation by the Lolitologists inclines him to obey his father's wishes and consign the manuscript to oblivion.” — UNI