W O R L D

496 Indian students left in lurch in Oz
The Australian education dream continues to sour and indications are that it is likely to only worsen for many currently enrolled Indian students.

Gilani: Won’t impinge on media freedom
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has rejected apprehensions about the government plans to place new restrictions on electronic media that, in a landmark move, has framed its own comprehensive code of conduct.

Iran set to ‘reject’ UN nuclear plan
Tehran, November 7
Iran has decided to turn down proposals from the major powers for the supply of nuclear fuel, a leading member of parliament said today, in a serious setback for UN-brokered efforts to allay Western concerns about its ambitions.

Maoists defer declaration of autonomous regions in Nepal
The main opposition party of Nepal, the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists (UCPN-M), on Friday withdrew the party's programme to declare autonomous provinces on November 9 and exercise parallel governance across the country.

A Russian communist supporter takes part in a rally to mark the anniversary of the 1917 Bolshevik revolution in central Moscow on Saturday. — Reuters

A Russian Communist party supporter holds a portrait of Vladimir Lenin during a march marking the 92th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution on Saturday. — AFP

Qaida videos found from Rana’s house
Washington, November 7
Giving a new dimension to the LeT plot to attack Indian facilities, the FBI sleuths have recovered two inflammatory Al-Qaida videos containing speeches by Osama Bin Laden and other terrorists from the house of Pakistan-born Canadian Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who was arrested last month.

Ban: Not withdrawing from Afghanistan
United Nations, November 7
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has clarified that the relocation of UN staff members in Afghanistan should not be misconstrued as flight from the war-torn country. “I know some people have inaccurately characterised this as withdrawal or evacuation,” Ban told journalists here.

Karan Singh honoured by US varsity
New York, November 7
Scholar and politician Dr Karan Singh was today conferred with an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters by the State University of New York here. “As an internationally respected humanitarian and one of the most learned individuals of modern times, you have a lasting impact on philosophy, culture, education, and the environment in India and abroad," the university said in the citation. — PTI

496 Indian students left in lurch in Oz
Dinesh Kumar writes from Melbourne

The Australian education dream continues to sour and indications are that it is likely to only worsen for many currently enrolled Indian students. On Thursday, 496 Indians were among 2,000 students, mostly from overseas, who were left stranded in Melbourne when three well known major vocational training colleges teaching mainly hospitality, cookery and design, along with a secondary school, shut down abruptly after declaring bankruptcy.

This takes the number of Indian students left adrift in the last four months in the state of Victoria alone to 869 and the number of educational institutions that have shut down in the same period to nine.

Global Management Group, a Cayman Island-based company owned by a Chinese national, which operated these colleges, also shut down their campuses in Sydney where an unspecified number of Indians are among a further 1,400 students that have been left adrift. Ironically, most of these 1,400 students, mainly from overseas, had been placed in this school after earlier being displaced from Global College in Sydney that had similarly declared bankruptcy last year.

For once, these colleges did not form part of the many fly-by-night ‘shonky’ vocational educational institutions that have tarnished Australia’s reputation of quality education. Interestingly, these colleges had passed a government audit that examined its financial viability only two months ago which, in turn, raises questions on the credibility and performance of Victoria’s regulatory system. These questions are reinforced by the fact that the Victorian government has since June identified as many as 41 previously licensed educational institutions, in which many Indian students are enrolled, to be ‘high risk’ and requiring special audits.

Following the expose of the Australian education system being used as a cover for backdoor migration amounting to what some commentators here have termed as ‘people smuggling’, the Australian authorities have reacted by not only reassessing the operations of many of the private vocational training colleges but by also severely tightening immigration standards while awaiting the results of a major review of its student visa policies. It is understood that in the last few months more than 80 per cent of Indian student visa applications to Australia have been rejected, which seems to confirm allegations that the laxity of the previous visa regime had led to an influx of ‘sub-standard’ students from India.

In Melbourne, three major vocational educational providers that have shut down in the last four months declared bankruptcy after they found their anticipated income flows falling. Observers here fear that many more vocational institutions may take the same route because of dramatic reductions in student intake due to the tightened student visa regime. Many of these education providers had apparently made their business plans on the assumption that the intake of students from India would continue to grow. Indian students, who comprise the second largest number of overseas students and were slated to overtake the Chinese before the spate of violence against Indian student forced a reassessment of the education sector, are mostly concentrated in and around Melbourne contributing significantly to Australia’s A$ 15 billion education industry.

Gilani: Won’t impinge on media freedom
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has rejected apprehensions about the government plans to place new restrictions on electronic media that, in a landmark move, has framed its own comprehensive code of conduct.

Gilani responded to countrywide furore over recommendations approved by a panel of the Assembly calling for resurrection of the draconian laws enforced by former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf on November 3, 2007.

Analysts, besides media, were intrigued by the fact that all the political parties concurred on these recommendations sponsored by a right-wing lady member Bushra Rehman. These included a gag on any coverage against the vaguely defined ideology of Pakistan, criticism of the army or any court decision and defaming the president or key state functionaries.

“We will respect press freedom and will never place any curbs on print or electronic media,” Gilani declared in the National Assembly adding: “I have told the House Standing Committee on information to review its recommendations that had created such an impression.”

In a significant development, media managers of more than a dozen leading TV channels have framed a code of conduct for TV coverage, in particular the reporting on war on terrorism and bombing incidents. Gilani said his Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had agitated against media curbs imposed by General Musharraf’s emergency and that he has now directed his Information Minister that “no such amendment (in the Pakistan Electronic Media Regularity Authority Law) be brought that could impinge on media freedom”.

Wants resumption of Indo-Pak talks

Lahore: Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on saturday made a strong pitch for the resumption of the Indo-Pak composite dialogue, saying Pakistan wants good relations with its neighbours "on the basis of equality". Gilani said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had also stated that he was ready for discussions on all core issues. — PTI 

Iran set to ‘reject’ UN nuclear plan

Tehran, November 7
Iran has decided to turn down proposals from the major powers for the supply of nuclear fuel, a leading member of parliament said today, in a serious setback for UN-brokered efforts to allay Western concerns about its ambitions.

Under the plan thrashed out in talks with France, Russia and the United States, Iran was to have shipped out most of its stocks of low-enriched uranium in return for fuel for a research reactor in Tehran.

The proposals were designed to assuage fears that Iran could otherwise divert some of the stocks and enrich them further to the much higher levels of purity required to make an atomic bomb.

But officials, who strongly deny any such intention, had expressed mounting concern that Iran's arch-foe Washington might welch on the deal and Tehran might ship out its uranium without receiving anything in return. — AFP

Maoists defer declaration of autonomous regions in Nepal
Bishnu Budhathoki writes from Kathmandu

The main opposition party of Nepal, the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists (UCPN-M), on Friday withdrew the party's programme to declare autonomous provinces on November 9 and exercise parallel governance across the country.

Four days ago the former rebels had scheduled a protest program of picketing the International Airport and halt all national and international flights on November 10. The United National People's Movement steering committee led by party ideologue Baburam Bhattarai issued a statement in this regard.

Earlier, after receiving pressure from the Ambassadors of 10 European countries, the party, which has been carrying out nationwide protest from November 1, had decided to call off its program of storming 2,00,000 persons to picket the airport.

In the statement Bhattarai said the program to declare autonomous provinces had been withdrawn as “the party felt it necessary to make minor amendments in few of its pre-announced protest programmes”.

The highways connecting Kathmandu to the rest of the country will, however, be obstructed, the release reads.

Qaida videos found from Rana’s house

Washington, November 7
Giving a new dimension to the LeT plot to attack Indian facilities, the FBI sleuths have recovered two inflammatory Al-Qaida videos containing speeches by Osama Bin Laden and other terrorists from the house of Pakistan-born Canadian Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who was arrested last month.

Produced by 'As Sahab Media', commonly acknowledged to be the media wing of the Al-Qaida, one of the videos is titled 'Bombing of Denmark Embassy' and was recovered from the living room of 48-year-old Rana, who has been staying in Chicago for nearly a decade.

Rana was arrested by the FBI last month along with David Coleman Headley, 49, for planning attacks on the National Defence College in Delhi, Doon school in Dehradun and Woodstock in Mussourie, besides some other facilities at the LeT's behest. — PTI

Ban: Not withdrawing from Afghanistan

United Nations, November 7
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has clarified that the relocation of UN staff members in Afghanistan should not be misconstrued as flight from the war-torn country. “I know some people have inaccurately characterised this as withdrawal or evacuation,” Ban told journalists here.

“Let me be crystal clear we are not evacuating, we will not, cannot and must not be deterred.. our work will continue,” he said.

“I was able to see for myself that the determination and commitment of our staff in Afghanistan remains strong,” he said yesterday, speaking of his recent trip following the attack on the UN workers in Kabul. — PTI