Manila, September 27
The rescuers stepped up their efforts in the northern Philippines today as the skies started to clear a day after a tropical storm tore through and left 106 persons killed or missing in the worst flooding in more than four decades.

The government declared a “state of calamity” in metropolitan Manila and 25 storm-hit provinces, allowing officials to utilise emergency funds for relief and rescue, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said. The Army troops, the police and civilian volunteers have rescued more than 4,000 persons.

Tropical Storm Ketsana roared across the northern Philippines near Manila yesterday, dumping more than a month's worth of rain in just 12 hours. The resulting landslides and flooding have left at least 51 persons dead and 21 others missing, Teodoro said.

Distress calls and e-mails from thousands of residents in metropolitan Manila and their worried relatives flooded the TV and radio stations overnight. Ketsana swamped entire towns, set off landslides and shut down Manila's airport for several hours.

Military Chief General Victor Ibrado, accompanied by journalists, flew over several suburban Manila towns today on board air force helicopters and saw many persons still waiting to be rescued on roofs of their houses in flooded villages.

New York, September 27
With India insisting on concrete steps against the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan today said New Delhi should not hold the relationship back on a single issue as it has done what was “required” in the case.

“The question is how do we move beyond this point. The relationship cannot be held or brought to a standstill because of a trial or one investigation,” Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir said after meeting his Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao here.

Bashir described the meeting, which came a day before the crucial talks between the foreign ministers of the two countries, as “useful” that helped in understanding the perspectives of the two parties “more clearly”.

“Pakistan has nothing to hide, infact, we have been very forthcoming on the quality of the work that has been done by our experts in terms of investigations and the arrests etc, and all that has been shared with India,” he said.

“It is now, I believe, time that India recognises, which they have, that Pakistan has done what was required,” Bashir added.

During the nearly two-hour-long discussions, the Indian side maintained that they want Pakistan to act speedily and in a transparent manner against those responsible for the heinous attack on 26/11 the Mumbai attacks.

“The Indian side asked for concerted action and the need to complete the process of investigation of the Mumbai attacks because the conspiracy emanated in Pakistan,” the Indian delegation said.

“There is a need to bring the investigation to a satisfactory conclusion,” it added.

Bashir said, “What our Indian friends need to realise is that much more than India, Pakistan has been a victim of terrorism so playing the victim does not help really.”

“As far as Pakistan is concerned, I think, I have personally found the meeting useful because we were able to touch upon a lot of issues, including issues which are of primary concern to India, that is the Mumbai investigations,” he said.

The Pakistani Foreign Secretary said, “We seek a meaningful engagement to address all issues, including Jammu and Kashmir. We look with a great deal of optimism and confidence for the future of our region.” The meeting between Rao and Bashir marked the first high-level contact between the two countries since the Prime Ministers of the two countries met at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on July 16.

“The positive momentum of Sharm-el Sheikh has not been fully registered in India but there was hope that the understanding at the high levels would continue,” Bashir said.

“We are very sincerely committed to promoting good neighbourly friendly relations with all of our neighbours,” he added.

External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna will meet his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi tomorrow.

The meeting takes place amid India's disappointment over the tardy progress of Pakistan's probe into the Mumbai attacks and its prosecution of the culprits which has led to the suspension of composite dialogue.

India has been expressing dissatisfaction at the “tardy” steps by Pakistan and has been particularly peeved over the freedom allowed by Pakistan to Hafiz Mohd Saeed despite ample proof of his role in masterminding the Mumbai attack.

Ahead of the meeting, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has made it clear that Pakistan must stop using terrorism as an instrument of state policy if it wanted normal relations with India.

The two sides will review the status of common concerns, including terrorism and water-sharing. — PTI

London, September 27
India is the country that is spoken of most often as an enemy in China, a British newspaper reported today, but quoted a retired Chinese officer as saying the men serving the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have no “devotion”.

“Compared with our last war against India in 1962, our equipment is much better but the devotion to country and people, of our officers and men is much worse,” the Sunday Times quoted an unnamed retired officer as saying. 

In an article on the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic, the paper said the occasion is set to be marked by the “grandest martial parade in the history of modern China”, with displays of a new generation of fighters, ballistic missiles, battle tanks and rifles. “Thursday’s parade is certain to provoke an outpouring of virulent nationalism.

Curiously, the enemy most often spoken of is India,” the paper said. Censors, otherwise draconian in their grip over Chinese netizens, permit “alarmingly frank discussion” on the Internet on going to war against India over Tibet.

The paper said veterans who know the PLA from the inside say that despite all its shiny new kit, such grandiose ideas mask the reality of “a force that has no recent battle experience and is riddled with corruption”. It said insiders speak of a system of bribes for a good post for a private soldier to 30,000 yuan for a place at military college. — IANS

The Sri Lanka government planning to set up a special tribunal to try the LTTE suspects who are believed to have been involved in grave crimes such as murder, abduction and arson. The government says there are around 10,000 LTTE suspects in their custody at present being held in detention centers across the country.

Authorities are at present in the process of sifting through the evidence and it is learnt that the suspects who are now in custody will be classified into three groupings --- suspects who are to be indicted for grave crimes, suspects who could be rehabilitated and suspects who are not involved in grave crimes and be able to release on supervisory bail.

The country’s Attorney General Mohan Pereis and Justice Ministry Secretary Suhada Gamlath are now on a tour of the USA and the United Kingdom to study the judicial instruments introduced in those countries to try terrorist suspects and their experiences in relation to Afghanistan and Iraq.

“It is important to gather experiences of the western world on transitional justice, which could be introduced in Lanka with necessary amendments and modifications to suit the ground conditions, political realities,” government sources pointed out.

Glasgow (UK), September 27
It's nothing quite like the buyout of Anglo firms by the Tatas, but iconic yoga guru 'Swami' Ramdev has acquired a Scottish isle for about £2 million to set up a wellness retreat.

The Little Cumbrae Island, off the fishing town of Largs in Scotland, will also serve as the guru's base overseas, where his teachings of yoga as a means to cleanse the body and mind are gaining popularity.

The acquisition itself was carried out by a Scottish couple of Indian origin, Sam and Sunita Poddar, who saw recession and the resultant fall in property prices as an opportunity to expand the base of the Patanjali Yogpeeth-the institution founded by Ramdev for scientific research and treatment. The island property inaugurated today with a 'hawan', will be administered by the Patanjali Yogpeeth (UK) Trust.

“The island base is not about property as much as it is about spreading Indian values,” Ramdev said to a question if he saw any likeness between his acquisition and those carried out by the Tata Group. “My aim is to turn this island into a peace haven,” said Ramdev.

One of them was the late Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who shot to fame because of his association with The Beatles. He had shifted from Rishikesh to Vlodrop in the Netherlands.

“Swamiji (Ramdev) will naturally become a frequent visitor to this island,” one of his associates said, when asked if he would spend less time in his Haridwar ashram. — PTI