SPECIAL COVERAGE
CHANDIGARH

LUDHIANA

DELHI


THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS
50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS
W O R L D

Choppers rescue Thai PM amid anti-govt protestA riot policeman trips over an anti-government demonstrator lying on the ground outside parliament in Bangkok on Tuesday.
Bangkok, October 7
It could have been a scene from the closing chapters of the Vietnam War - US-made ‘Huey’ helicopters flying in across a steamy southeast Asian city to rescue people trapped inside a besieged compound.

A riot policeman trips over an anti-government demonstrator lying on the ground outside parliament in Bangkok on Tuesday. — Reuters

Countering Terror in Pak
Joint session of Senate, National Assembly called
Top leaders of political parties not represented in parliament have been invited to the rare joint session sitting of the two houses, Senate and National Assembly, convened to give in-camera briefing on Pakistan's role on war on terror.

3-year-old enthroned as ‘goddess’ in Nepal
Keeping the centuries-old ritual alive, the government officials in Nepal on Tuesday enthroned a three-year-old girl named Matina Shakya as new Kumari, known as the main living goddess of Kathmandu.

Ranjit Singh’s bust goes for £1,10,400
London, October 7
A 19th century stunning marble bust of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the erstwhile ruler of Punjab, was auctioned for £1,10,400 at Bonhams Indian and Islamic Sale.




EARLIER STORIES


Indian-origin MP dropped from cabinet
London, October 7
An Indian-origin minister has been dropped from British Premier Gordon Brown’s cabinet and replaced as under-secretary of state in the department for communities and local government by another parliamentarian of Asian descent. 

Arms sales to Iran alarming, Olmert tells Russia
Moscow, October 7
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed concern about Russia's plans for the sale of advanced weaponry and technology to both Syria and Iran, an Israeli official said. In Moscow for a two-day visit, Olmert asked Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to do 'all he could' to prevent weapons passing from Damascus to Hezbollah guerrillas in neighbouring Lebanon, said an Israeli official who briefed reporters travelling with Olmert yesterday.

China protests over US arms sale to Taiwan
Washington, October 7 
China has abruptly cancelled a series of military and diplomatic contacts with the United States to protest a planned multi-billion dollar US arms sale to Taiwan, American officials said.






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Choppers rescue Thai PM amid anti-govt protest

Bangkok, October 7
It could have been a scene from the closing chapters of the Vietnam War - US-made ‘Huey’ helicopters flying in across a steamy southeast Asian city to rescue people trapped inside a besieged compound.

But the city was Bangkok in 2008, not Saigon in 1975, and the people included Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, holed up inside the parliament building as thousands of protesters outside called for his resignation. Amid a thick air with teargas from earlier clashes between protesters and the riot police, Somchai was forced to climb through a barbed wire fence at the back of parliament and onto the lawns of an adjoining palace before being flown to safety.

Left behind were hundreds of ruling party members of parliament who had gathered on Tuesday to hear Somchai's inaugural policy address - an event the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) demonstrators were determined to prevent.

One man’s leg was blown off and another lost his foot when the riot police moved in just after dawn to clear a route to a side entrance of the parliament building. Furious at what was seen as police brutality, thousands more PAD supporters joined the protest, eventually forcing the riot officers to flee, abandoning their batons, shields and six trucks.

“We are going to block them inside for as long as possible,” said a 45-year-old chartered surveyor, as MPs milled around inside the compound, speaking on mobile phones.

The protesters, who believe Somchai is a puppet of ousted PM Thaksin Shinawatra, then went to vent their rage at Bangkok’s police headquarters.

The police fired volleys of teargas rounds and stun grenades. The protesters, clad in yellow to show their allegiance to King Bhumibol Adulyadej, responded with fireworks, sling-shots and bottles.

“This is all Thaksin's doing. He is evil,” said Siriwan, an unemployed 43-year-old housewife, who blamed Thaksin personally for the violence, even though he is now in exile in London.

Shortly afterwards, a sewage truck drove slowly down the tree-lined avenue, spraying torrents of excrement all over the road outside the police HQ. Sheets of cardboard were placed across drain covers to prevent what the protesters said was teargas pumped into the sewer system by police. Nearby, a team of army and volunteer medics combed through the debris on one side of the road looking for a man’s toe they said had been blown off in one of the clashes. — Reuters

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Countering Terror in Pak
Joint session of Senate, National Assembly called
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

Top leaders of political parties not represented in parliament have been invited to the rare joint session sitting of the two houses, Senate and National Assembly, convened to give in-camera briefing on Pakistan's role on war on terror.

PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif; chairman Tehrike Insaf Imran Khan; Jamaat Islami Amir; Qazi Hussain Ahmed; president All Parties Demcoratic Alliance (APDM) Mahmood Khan Achakzai; provincial governors and chief ministers are among those specially invited by the speaker to attend the briefing.

In the past two joint-sessions were held, one in 1975 that declared Ahmadis as minority and in 1987 by former Premier Mohammad Khan Junejo before signing the Geneva Accord on ending the Afghan war.

The session has been summoned against the backdrop of uneding slew of suicide bomb blasts in the country, ongoing military operations against militants and tensions brewing with the United States on increasing airstrikes and incursions in Pakistani territory bordering Afghanistan. There is growing demand for reviewing Pakistan's cooperation with the US in the anti-terror war which many believe has brought the menace of terrorism inside Pakistan.

The new ISI chief, Gen Shuja Pasha, will lead the briefing and give details of military operations in tribal belt and Swat. Top government leaders and army chief will apprise the participants about pressures being exerted by the US while members would also hear about President Zardari’s meetings with world leaders during his recent trip to the United Nations. 

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3-year-old enthroned as ‘goddess’ in Nepal
Bishnu Budhathoki writes from Kathmandu

Keeping the centuries-old ritual alive, the government officials in Nepal on Tuesday enthroned a three-year-old girl named Matina Shakya as new Kumari, known as the main living goddess of Kathmandu.

Matina, having thick blackened eyelashes and wearing a red and gold costume, was enthroned in the divine role at Kumari Ghar in the heart of the capital city today amidst the presence of the Buddhist and Hindu priests in a special function. She is expected to keep there for the next seven to eight years.

According to the officials at the Guthi Sansthan, a government authority that looks after religious and cultural affairs on behalf of the state, a four-member panel, comprising priests of Taleju Temple and Kumari Ghar, selected Matina as successor of Preeti Shakya (11) as the latter arrived close to the retirement age.

Meanwhile, Preeti Shakya, who had been in the seat since 2001, shortly after the Royal massacre where at least 11 royal family members were assassinated, has been sent back home amidst a special function. Like her predecessors, Matina will be separated from her parents during her stay in Kumari Ghar as the living goddess. Traditionally, different cities in the Kathmandu Valley - Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur - which are also known as the cities of temples, have separate “living goddesses”. But the most powerful one lives in an ornate 15th century temple in an old part of Kathmandu.

For centuries, the head priest of the Nepali monarchy appointed the Kumaris in several towns in the Kathmandu valley. But following the abolition of the 239-year old monarchy from Himalayan nation in May, the Maoist-led coaliton government has delegated the power of selecting and appointing Kumaris to the Guthi Sansthan. On Sunday, the Guthi Sanstha had informed newly-elected President Dr Ram Baran Yadav about the selection of a new goddess.

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Ranjit Singh’s bust goes for £1,10,400

London, October 7
A 19th century stunning marble bust of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the erstwhile ruler of Punjab, was auctioned for £1,10,400 at Bonhams Indian and Islamic Sale.

The bust sculpted in India was estimated to sell for about £50,000 to £70,000 at Bonhams, one of the oldest and largest auctioneers of art in the world.

Clare Penhallurick, head of Indian and Islamic Art at Bonhams said “we are delighted to offer this magnificent sculpture for sale, particularly as in the past year we sold a bust of Ranjit Singh’s son, Duleep Singh, for £1.7 million.” Ranjit Singh was a great king who built an empire, which stretched from the Indian Ocean to the Himalayas.

Within 10 years of his death the empire he had built was in the hands of East India Company and many of his treasures, including the priceless Kohinoor diamond, had become Queen Victoria’s property. — PTI

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Indian-origin MP dropped from cabinet

London, October 7
An Indian-origin minister has been dropped from British Premier Gordon Brown’s cabinet and replaced as under-secretary of state in the department for communities and local government by another parliamentarian of Asian descent. 

In a reshuffle, Gloucester MP Parmjit Dhanda, was dropped from the Council of Ministers while the Prime Minister's confidant Ugandan-born Baroness Shriti Vadera was promoted to the post of parliamentary secretary and cabinet office minister.

Dhanda has been replaced by Tooting MP Sadiq Khan, who is of Pakistani-origin .— PTI

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Arms sales to Iran alarming, Olmert tells Russia

Moscow, October 7
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed concern about Russia's plans for the sale of advanced weaponry and technology to both Syria and Iran, an Israeli official said. In Moscow for a two-day visit, Olmert asked Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to do 'all he could' to prevent weapons passing from Damascus to Hezbollah guerrillas in neighbouring Lebanon, said an Israeli official who briefed reporters travelling with Olmert yesterday.

But the two made minimal progress toward an agreement on containing Iran's nuclear programme, which Israel sees as an existential threat. The official said Olmert asked Lavrov to strengthen involvement in western efforts to prevent Iran achieving the capability to produce nuclear weapons. — Reuters

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China protests over US arms sale to Taiwan

Washington, October 7 
China has abruptly cancelled a series of military and diplomatic contacts with the United States to protest a planned multi-billion dollar US arms sale to Taiwan, American officials said.

Beijing has notified the US that it will not go forward with several senior-level visits and other cooperative military-to-military plans, said Marine Maj Stewart Upton, a defence department spokesman.

"In response to the announcement of Taiwan arms sales, the People's Republic of China has cancelled or postponed several upcoming military-to-military exchanges," he said, lamenting that "China's continued politicisation of our military relationship results in missed opportunities." 

The Chinese action will not affect the country's participation with the US in the six-nation talks to get North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons or its participation in international efforts on Iran's nuclear programme, US officials said.

But Beijing is furious with the US decision to sell Taiwan the huge USD 6.5 billion package of advanced weaponry and military items, including guided missiles and attack helicopters. — AP

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BRIEFLY

Aussies prefer Obama: Poll
MELBOURNE:
A whooping majority of Australians have favoured Democratic nominee Barack Obama as the next President of the US. About 76 per cent of the Australians voted for Senator Obama to win the next month’s presidential election as against nearly 10 per cent supporting Republican nominee John Mccain, a recent poll has indicated. Surveyed on 1,000 persons, the poll confirmed that Australians were taking a keen interest in the race for the White House, with 85 per cent saying they are monitoring the contest and 24 per cent expressing a high level of interest, according to AAP report here. — PTI

Medvedev’s video blog
Moscow:
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has started his own video blog on the official Kremlin website. It is the latest phase of his drive to make the maximum use of modern technology across Russia, which includes the introduction of internet access in all schools. “This is the first time I have spoken to you through my website. I have never used this form of communication before,” Medvedev said in a video address on the Kremlin website. — UNI

Dubai launches Campaign against spitting
DUBAI:
With an aim to keep the city clean and healthy, Dubai has launched a campaign against spitting which it says sullies the look of the city and impacts hygiene. A month-long campaign has been launched enforcing a fine of Dh 500 (Rs 6,000) for spitting in public places. It will also encourage people not to litter and dry clothes in the balconies of buildings, municipality officials said. The sale of betel and any of its derivatives is prohibited. Those caught selling such products risk fine up to Dh 5,000, officials added. — UNI

5 hurt in Lahore blasts
LAHORE:
Five persons, including a woman and two children, were injured in three low-intensity blasts in this eastern Pakistani city on Tuesday. The blasts occurred within a span of 15 minutes in three shops in the Garhi Shahu area, witnesses said. The first two blasts occurred at juice shops while the third hit a hairdressing salon. Special superintendent of police (Operations) Chaudhry Shafique told reporters all blasts were of low intensity. — PTI

Singh is King in Japan too
TOKYO:
Not many people know Sarbjit Singh Chadha in his home country India, but in Japan crowds throng to hear him sing and fans jostle to get his autograph even three decades after he burst into its music scene. Chadha, 56, the first non-Japanese singer of enka came from India as a teenager and fell in love with its music. With no formal education in enka, Chadha, says he learnt by listening to other artistes. His first album made waves in the country in 1975 and sold 1.5 lakh copies. He will now be releasing a new album this month called “Odoru Mahachadha” named after the famous Rajnikath starrer “Odoru Maharaja”. — PTI


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