 |
|
|
India against amending Kyoto Protocol
Dialogue only way forward between India, Pak: Gilani
Nepal Major in custody
|
|
|
Italy to ban plastic surgery for u-18 girls
Philippines hostage crisis ends
Lankan army killed surrendering LTTE leaders: Fonseka
Indian migrants in UK want dual citizenship
Aussie, Chinese officials urge pandas to reproduce
Nobel economics laureate Samuelson dies
Drive against Taliban will continue: Gilani
Obama’s half-brother is ‘image ambassador’
Prince William to be next British King?
Akram: Indian docs did their best
Super-massive black holes found
|
|
India against amending Kyoto Protocol
Copenhagen, December 13 Informal talks among the environment ministers on the draft deal, criticised by rich nations and emerging economies, continued over the weekend with the hope that they could agree on a text that could be put before the heads of state and government assembling for the plenary here later next week.
"There are articles bracketing the Annex 1 and non-Annex countries and allows Annex 1 (developed nations) to abandon Kyoto, which is not the right message to give at this point of time," India's Environment Secretary Vijay Sharma said. The highlight of the past week was an attempt by tiny Pacific Island nation Tuvalu to stall the negotiations by staging a walkout as the chair of the conference refused to take up its proposal for limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius from the pre-industrial years. However, Danish Minister Connie Hedegaard, chairing the talks, insisted that procedural advances in the first six days had been "fantastic." "The core discussions... have really started," she said adding the the delgates "still have a daunting task in front of us over the next few days." Sticking to its one protocol approach, developing countries like India, China and Brazil are opposing attempts led Tuvalu and Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) to add another protocol to the Kyoto Protocol at the December 7-18 Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, held under tight security. "Our focus is on heightened implementation of the convention," Sharma said, noting that "the spotlight is on existing commitments." Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, who is here to participate in the ministerial meet, has said India will play a constructive role in the climate negotiations but slammed efforts of rich nations to make domestic emission reduction claims by developing nations legally-binding and verifiable. Ramesh asserted that India's national voluntary domestic measures to tackle global warming were not up for global scrutiny and progress on these would be checked only by the country's Parliament. India and other developing nations suspect that Europe's support for a new protocol is also an attempt to weaken the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol sets binding targets for 37 developed countries countries for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to an average of five per cent against 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012. Copenhagen was swamped by thousands of protestors who demanded strong action from the delegates at the conference. Several of them were detained as the protests turned violent but were set free except for 13 who were still in custody. The first draft treaty submitted to the conference on Friday was criticised by both the developed and developing nations for different reasons. The developed countries dubbed the document as "flawed" for not imposing obligations on emerging economies to check global warming, while India objected to the mention of a peaking year till which the emissions would be allowed to increase. "Several provisions in the draft are inconsistent and obviously in conflict with the convention provisions pertinent to historical responsibility and equity," Sharma said. However, EU, like Tuvalu and AOSIS have said here that this Copenhagen summit needs to produce a document much stronger than the Kyoto Protocol that neither puts obligations on US nor on emerging economies. R K Pachauri, Head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, warned that failure to come out with a pact to combat global warming will be a "major setback" to the world. "If we are able to get a good agreement it would create an enormous amount of confidence in the ability of human society to be able to act on a multilateral basis. "If we fail I don't think everything is lost but it certainly would be a major setback," he said. Sweden's environment minister, Andreas Carlgren said: "If we were to end up with an agreement where the only legally binding part would be the Kyoto Protocol then we would not manage to achieve what is needed." — PTI
|
|
Dialogue only way forward between India, Pak: Gilani
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Sunday reiterated that composite dialogue was the only way forward between India and Pakistan. Gilani also said it was extremely important for both countries to defeat the ongoing wave of terrorism in the region. Talking to the media in Multan, Gilani said Pakistan was trying to establish better relations with the neighbours, including India, and said all outstanding issues, like Kashmir, must be resolved. Speaking about the ongoing wave of militancy, he said those who challenge the writ of the government would be dealt with firmly. In an earlier statement in Lahore, Gilani hinted that the military operation in South Waziristan is almost over and the army was now preparing for an operation in the nearby Orakzai area. Many critics wondered how could the premier pre-warn the militants about the planning operation in Orakzai. But a few hours later, in a typical flip-flop even on matters of sensitive nature, the Prime Minister told reporters in Karachi that he must have talked about the fresh operation in a different context. Replying to a question by journalists after attending the 8th convocation of the Government College University (GCU), Lahore, on Saturday, Gilani said an operation in Orakzai Agency is under consideration as the military action in South Waziristan Agency (SWA) is almost over. “The situation has also improved in the Malakand Division after the military operation,” he added. Asked whether the government was ready for dialogue with militants instead of carrying on the operation as was being demanded by Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan the PM said Imran Khan is not fully aware of the ground situation. “Together we will try to convince him (Imran).” In Islamabad Imran Khan told newsmen that two leading militant groups have responded positively to his offer of mediation to convince the militants to forego violence and resolve issues through dialogue. He said he was prepared to go to the conflict area to launch a peace offensive. Gilani said an amnesty for all in Balochistan was also under consideration. “We want negotiations with the Baloch leaders and are already in touch with them,” he added. About the alleged violation of the law by US diplomats, he said: “No one is above the law in Pakistan.” He said institutions should be made powerful in the country, adding that if it was not done, the Constitution would be vulnerable to attacks.
|
|
Nepal Major in custody
For the first time in the history of Nepal after the April 2006, uprising military police has taken a senior Army officer, Major Niranjan Basnet into custody on charge of being involved in the torture and murder of a civilian in Himalayan nation five years ago.
Military police arrested Basnet, a prime accused in the Maina Sunuwar’s case, from the Tribhuvan International Airport on Saturday on his return from the United Nations Peace Keeping Mission in Chad. After receiving pressures from national and international human rights groups not to assign the Army officer who was allegedly involved in breaching human rights, the UN had expelled him from the mission, and the government of Nepal gave consent to the Army to arrest him. He has been detained at Nepal Army headquarters, Bhadrakali. Major Basnet is one of the four Army officers accused of torturing to death a 15-year-old girl Maina Sunuwar in Kavre in 2004. Although, Nepal Army had taken action against three other officers involved in the incident, it had acquitted Basnet saying Basnet’s involvement in the case could not be established.
|
|
Italy to ban plastic surgery for u-18 girls
London, December 13 According to the latest figures, more than 10,000 teenage girls had surgery in 2008 - with many of them getting the operation as a gift from their parents. Now, the government would introduce a legislation which will make it illegal for females under 18 to have plastic surgery. In fact, the authorities want to clamp down on the growing number of cases where unauthorised and authorised surgeons have caused problems with botched operations or substandard silicon implants. Francesca Martini, an undersecretary within Italy's welfare ministry, said the government wanted an official register of surgeons qualified to perform plastic surgery drawn up. "This legislation is aimed at the growing number of girls under 18 who have breast enhancement surgery purely for fashion reasons and have no idea of risks involved. Far too many adolescent girls are unaware of the fact that there are risks with this type of surgery. At the moment we've a Wild West, cowboy style system of plastic surgery for young women and this must stop," she said. — PTI
|
|
Philippines hostage crisis ends
Prosperidad, December 13 A Reuters team saw the remaining 42 hostages brought down from the mountain hideout of the gunmen and driven to Prosperidad town in a convoy in heavy rain, with the leading car carrying a banner saying “Peace reigns in Agusan”. The gunmen were also in the convoy after surrendering their weapons. “At last the crisis is over,” provincial vice-governor Santiago Cane told reporters. “The guns, bullets and grenades of these men are with me now.” The hostage crisis in the lawless Mindanao region came just three weeks after 57 persons were massacred in nearby Maguindanao province in an attack bound to raise tensions ahead of a presidential election next year. The Mindanao region is full of bandits, communist guerrillas and Islamic rebels. Powerful local families maintain large private armies and feuding among them is common. Financial markets have more or less shrugged off the massacre and the hostage crisis since they took place in Mindanao, which is far away from Manila and Luzon island, the industrial centre of the country. But analysts have said any prospects of violence spreading in the run-up to May’s election could cast a pall over investor sentiment. In Agusan, negotiators had said the hostage-takers had demanded that murder cases against them be dropped. They had also demanded police disarm rivals from the same tribe, with whom they are feuding. Clan wars, known locally as “rido”, are common in the south. — Reuters
|
|
Lankan army killed surrendering LTTE leaders: Fonseka
Colombo, December 13 In an explosive interview to The Sunday Leader, Gen Fonseka, opposition presidential candidate, said no information was communicated to him in the final days of the war that three key LTTE leaders -Nadesan, Pulidevan and Ramesh- had opted to surrender. Fonseka said communications were instead confined between the LTTE leaders, Norway, various foreign parties, Basil Rajapaksa, Member of Parliament and the powerful senior adviser to the President and such information was never conveyed to him as he supervised the final stages of the war. “Later, I learnt that Basil had conveyed this information to Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa - who in turn spoke with Brigadier Shavendra Silva, Commander of the Army’s 58th Division, giving orders not to accommodate any LTTE leaders attempting surrender and that ‘they must all be killed’,” he said. Fonseka’s remark drew sharp reaction from the government which described it as a “great betrayal”. Disaster Management and Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, who addressed an urgently called media briefing, said Fonseka owes an explanation on his charges as it would tantamount to speaking against the army that had a clean record. Samarasinghe, who along with two other ministers attended the media briefing, said this contradicted Fonseka’s own statement on July 10 where, among other things, he said he was being restrained from taking action against the LTTE. Fonseka, who resigned last month accusing the government of sidelining him, said it was President’s advisor Basil Rajapaksa together with Gothabaya Rajapaksa who through foreign intermediaries conveyed a message to the LTTE leaders who wished to surrender to walk out carrying a piece of white cloth. “It was their idea,” he said, adding sometime between midnight on May 17 and the early hours of the next morning, the three men and their family members were shot dead. The government later claimed that troops found bodies of three key LTTE leaders identified as Balasingham Nadesan, political head of LTTE, Seevaratnam Pulidevan, head of LTTE peace secretariat, and senior LTTE commander Ramesh during the mop-up operations on the morning of May 18, the paper said. Meanwhile, Presidential Advisor Basil refuted this “damning” charge. “The Norwegians never got in touch with me over this particular incident. I have been in touch with the Norwegians over various issues pertaining to the conflict but never once on this particular issue,” he said. Describing the retired army general’s charges as part of the effort to destabilise the country, Samarasinghe told reporters that statement was made by Fonseka for political gains. — PTI
|
|
|
Indian migrants in UK want dual citizenship
London, December 13 In a letter to Singh, executive director of HSMP Forum Amit Kapadia said the current categories of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) and People of Indian Origin (PIO) cards fell short of the security provided by a full Indian passport. Kapadia noted that Indian immigrants constituted a vast presence in 180 countries, and had a deep sense of commitment to their adopted countries. He wrote: "Having pursued our goals relentlessly for years, many of us have earned the right to citizenship, which consolidates our position in our adopted country and facilitates investments in our home country in terms of trade, property and other financial matters". He added: "Although we have embraced a different culture and a way of life, India still remains our home to which most of us return at regular intervals. Such investments are our way of offering gratitude to the motherland, and also serve the country's economy". Kapadia regretted that at a time when Indian migrants were in a better position to make significant contribution to the country's economy, the Indian government was denying them dual citizenship. Dual citizenship, he said, was very important for those Indian migrants who had already obtained citizenship of the adopted country and for those who were in a state of dilemma in applying for foreign "The OCI and POI cards fall short of the security that is given by the Indian passport. It robs us of the psychological assurance about our national identity and severs our sense of belonging with our motherland," Kapadia added. The OCI card, he said, deprived migrants of the right to vote, and noted that Indian immigrants in the UK enjoyed voting rights in UK elections as citizens of the Commonwealth. "Today, Indian professionals are scattered all over the globe and India cannot afford to stick to the single citizenship policy if it wishes to harness on the achievements and the influence wielded by Indian immigrants.Majority of the democratic countries offer dual citizenship to its citizens or permit their citizens to hold on to their citizenship even when they apply for foreign citizenship," Kapadia wrote. — PTI
|
|
|
Aussie, Chinese officials urge pandas to reproduce
Adelaide, December 13 "Look after yourselves, keep healthy and active, eat your greens and maybe, when the time is right, think about starting a family," Governor General Quentin Bryce said in a speech directed at Funi and Wang Wang, who were sprawled against nearby boulders, chewing bamboo shoots. "There are not enough of you in this world." Chinese Ambassador Zhang Junsai said he was already thinking of Australian names for a possible panda cub. "Wang Wang and Funi carry the friendship and greetings from the Chinese people," he told the gathering, explaining that Funi means "Lucky Girl" and Wang Wang means "Net Net". "Who can rule out the possibility that the lucky girl will fall into the net of love and later have a lovely baby?" Zhang said. "This would be a great achievement of the joint Australia-China conservation programme." The pandas, aged three and four , are the only giant pandas in the southern hemisphere. — AP
|
|
Nobel economics laureate Samuelson dies
Boston, December 13 Samuelson was the first American to be awarded a Nobel prize in economics - in 1970, the second year of the award. At the time, the Swedish Academy cited Samuelson for having “done more than any other contemporary economist to raise the level of scientific analysis in economic theory”. Samuelson insisted that mathematics was essential to economic analysis. In his seminal 1947 work, Foundations of Economic Analysis, Samuelson chastised his profession for practicing “mental gymnastics of a particularly depraved type”, and being “highly trained athletes who never ran a race”. Samuelson helped lift MIT’s economics department to its current stature as a world-renowned research and teaching institution. Among MIT’s prominent alumni are Federal Reserve Bank chairman Ben Bernanke, Nobel laureate New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, and Christina Romer, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Samuelson’s signature textbook, “Economics: An Introductory Analysis”, has been translated into 40 languages and has sold more than 4 million copies since its publication in 1948. Paul Anthony Samuelson was born in Gary, Indiana, in 1915. He graduated from the University of Chicago and received a master’s and doctorate from Harvard University. He was an adviser to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, and for years wrote a popular column in Newsweek magazine. — Reuters
|
|
Drive against Taliban will continue: Gilani
Islamabad/Peshawar, December 13 Gilani told mediapersons in Lahore that the offensive against the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan in South Waziristan Agency “has ended” and there was now “talk of (an operation) in Orakzai Agency”. Hours later, Gilani told the media in Karachi that the operation in South Waziristan would continue. “This operation has continued with success and the strongholds of militants have been captured and a large quantity of weapons and ammunition has been recovered,” he said. He said he could not give a timeframe for completing the offensive. If somebody had gained the impression that the military operation would be concluded, “it could have been in a different context,” Gilani added. The government will chase militants wherever they take refuge. “We will take military action wherever we get information about the presence of militants,” he added. Meanwhile, a militant commander wanted by police for several incidents of sabotage and insurgency was among the 16 rebels killed during operations by troops in areas of Kurram Agency, which has been affected by sectarian strife over the past two years. The local administration of Kurram Agency decided that members of the Shia Toori tribe would work with law enforcers to maintain peace during the Islamic month of Muharram. Sectarian clashes have occurred in the area during Muharram in the past. In the restive Swat valley, three militants were killed during search operations. Six militants were captured while five more surrendered to security forces, the military said. In South Waziristan, troops operating in the Shakai, Jandola and Razmak sectors linked up at Dawatoi after clearing different militant-held areas. A militant was apprehended in Shakai sector, as security forces sanitised various areas and destroyed three caves that were being used as hideouts by the rebels. — PTI
|
|
Obama’s half-brother is ‘image ambassador’
Beijing, December 13 Mark Obama Ndesandjo was named “image ambassador” on Friday by the Shenzhen Youth League for teaching piano to orphans in the city where he lives, the Beijing News reported. Since moving to Shenzhen in 2002, Ndesandjo has given lessons once a week to orphans at the Shenzhen Social Welfare Centre, the paper said. The son of President Obama’s late father and his third wife Ruth Nidesand, Ndesandjo runs a business consultancy in China. During Obama’s visit to China last month, the two had a brief but emotional reunion in Beijing. “We had a big hug. And my wife and he had a big, big hug. He was very powerful, very intense because he’s my big brother,” Ndesandjo said in an interview with CNN at that time. “We did not know each other when they were growing up, but have met from time to time as adults and always manage to re-forge the bond,” Ndesandjo said. Ndesandjo revealed in a semi-autobiographical book that he was often physically abused by his father Barack Obama Sr - a revelation President Obama said was not entirely surprising. “I haven’t read the book. But it’s no secret that my father was a troubled person,” Obama told the CNN. — AFP
|
|
Prince William to be next British King?
London, December 13 The Queen believes that William - rather than her son Prince Charles - represents the best long-term interests of the monarchy, and this move is intended to groom him as a "Shadow King", the Daily Mail reported, citing a secret document. In fact, the information is contained in a briefing note written by British Chancellor Alistair Darling's Treasury officials about new financial arrangements for Prince Charles and his sons - Princes William and Harry. Key paragraphs, disclosing the reason for the changes, are blacked out. But the newspaper claims to have obtained an uncensored version of the document. One blacked-out line states that "the Princes (William and Harry) will increasingly incur expenditure when undertaking engagements on behalf of The Queen". Another censored section, stressing the key role for William, says that "from next year, it is expected that HRH The Prince William will spend a significant part of his time on official engagements... we need to put the necessary provisions in place in anticipation of that." — PTI
|
|
Akram: Indian docs did their best
Lahore, December 13 “The doctors in Lahore took no pains to treat Huma, who died in Chennai in October, as they failed to diagnose her problems. They were more interested in making money,” Akram said. “After failing to cure Huma, they asked me to pay $150,000 to arrange an air ambulance to Singapore for her treatment,” he said. Akram also refuted claims by doctors in Lahore that Huma's condition had been improving before the unsuccessful move was made to shift her to Singapore. He said the doctors in India did their best to save his wife and Apollo Hospital in Chennai refused to charge for her treatment. Asked if he was satisfied at the cancellation of the licences of these doctors, he said he did not want to comment on the issue, but "something had to be done to stop" the practice of doctors not taking proper care of patients. The committee on health of the National Assembly or Lower House of Parliament, unanimously agreed that Huma's death was caused by "criminal negligence" on the part of doctors at both these hospitals. It recommended that the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) immediately cancel the licence of 22 senior doctors. A senior official of National Defence Hospital said the Parliamentary panel's direction will be challenged in the court. He claimed Akram's decision of shift his wife to Singapore was responsible for her death. — PTI
|
|
|
Super-massive black holes found
Washington, December 13 The scientists used world's two largest optical/infrared telescopes - Keck - on top of Mauna Kea in Hawaii to find these black holes or dying stars that are called active galactic. “Astronomers have been trying to see directly what exactly is going on in the vicinity of these accreting super-massive black holes,” said co-author Robert Antonucci, a UC Santa Barbara astrophysicist. He explained that the nuclei of many galaxies show intense radiation from X-ray to optical, infrared, and radio, where the nucleus may exhibit a strong jet -- a linear feature carrying particles and magnetic energy out from a central super-massive black hole. For the first time, the team observed a quasar with an active galactic nucleus, as part of the group of four black holes located more than a billion light years from the earth. The team also used the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) to follow up the Keck observations, to obtain current near-infrared images of the target galaxies. Scientists believe these active nuclei are powered by accreting super-massive black holes. The accreting gas and dust are especially bright in the optical and infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The researchers can now separate the emission from the regions outside the black hole from that in the very close vicinity of the black hole. This is the location of the most interesting physical process, the actual swallowing of matter by the black hole. “While not resolving this extremely small region directly, we can now better subtract the contribution from surrounding matter when we take a spectrum of the black hole and its surroundings, isolating the spectrum from the matter actually being consumed and lost forever by the hole," said Antonucci. In 2003, astronomer Mark Swain at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and his collaborators used the Keck Interferometer to observe the material accreting around one super-massive black hole, called NGC 4151. This is one of the brightest black holes in the optical and infrared wavelengths. The observations provided astronomers with the first direct clue about the inner region of a super-massive black hole system, said Antonucci. "The results looked puzzling in 2003," Kishimoto said, adding "but with the new data and with more external information, we are quite sure of what we are seeing." According to the team's results, the Keck Interferometer has just begun to resolve the outer region of an active galactic nucleus's accreting gas, where co-existing dust grains are hot enough to evaporate, transitioning directly from a solid to a gas. — PTI
|
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Tribal gunmen freed dozens of hostages in the southern Philippines today after authorities transferred murder cases against them to a tribal court and disarmed both them and a rival group. The gunmen had abducted 71 persons in Agusan del Sur province on Thursday as they fled the police pursuing them after a gunbattle with their rivals, but had freed 29 over the next two days.
