W O R L D

Pak: No new offensive against Taliban
Islamabad, January 21
Amid the visit of US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, the Pakistani Army today said it would not launch any new military strikes against Taliban militants in the restive South Waziristan region for six months to a year, as it wants more time to consolidate existing gains.

Attacks on Indians regrettable: Rudd
Melbourne, January 21
Amid allegations of racism in Australia, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today said the recent attacks on Indian youths were “regrettable” but insisted that these should be seen in the context of broader incidences of violence against locals and students of other ethnic groups.

Bacteria are ‘big thinkers’: Study
Washington, January 21
American scientists have found that bacteria are “big thinkers” and more capable of complex decision-making than previously thought, a discovery that could lead to innovations in medicine and agriculture fields.

Thai elephants collect money for victims of the recent Haiti earthquake in Bangkok on Thursday. — Reuters

Rana pleads for bail, says he won’t flee
Chicago, January 21
Pakistani-Canadian LeT operative Tahawwur Rana, set to be arraigned along with his accomplice David Headley next week over the Mumbai attacks, today made a desperate bid to seek bail, pleading before a court here that he would not escape from the US as it would only force him to live as a fugitive.

Eliminate Taliban’s safe havens: Gates
Islamabad, January 21
Making a distinction between some violent extremist groups and others is counterproductive, US defence secretary Robert Gates today told Pakistan that Taliban safe havens along the Af-Pak border have to be eliminated or both nations would suffer "more lethal and brazen attacks". 

Kapoor is honorary Nepal Army Gen
Amidst widespread criticism and protest by the main Opposition party, Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists, Nepal’s President Dr Ram Baran Yadav today conferred the visiting Indian Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor with the title of honorary of General of Nepal Army.

Rahman back in Oscar race
Los Angeles, January 21
Musician AR Rahman’s first Hollywood film ‘Couple’s Retreat’ has won him a place in the Oscar shortlist yet again for ‘Best Original Song’.  The Tamil song ‘Na Na’ has been shortlisted for nomination in the original song category for the 82nd Academy Awards.

Pak: No new offensive against Taliban

Islamabad, January 21
Amid the visit of US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, the Pakistani Army today said it would not launch any new military strikes against Taliban militants in the restive South Waziristan region for six months to a year, as it wants more time to consolidate existing gains.

Military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told reporters that it would take “between six months to a year to completely stabilise” South Waziristan, which was needed before security forces opened up any new fronts.

Securing and stabilising the Pakistani Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan in the northwest tribal belt will take between six months and a year, Abbas said.

“We are not talking years,” Abbas told reporters while travelling with Gates. “Six months to a year” would be needed before Pakistan could stabilise existing gains and expand any operations, he said.

Islamabad sent about 30,000 troops backed by fighter jets and helicopter gunships into battle in the lawless region bordering Afghanistan in October, and says they are making progress and militants are fleeing.

His comments came as visiting US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said he planned to ask Pakistani leaders about plans to broaden their campaign to North Waziristan, which borders South Waziristan, the Dawn reported.

Abbas dismissed criticism that Pakistan had been slow to move against the Haqqani network said the CIA had failed to provide “actionable intelligence”.

Earlier, making a distinction between some violent extremist groups and others is counterproductive, US defence secretary Robert Gates told Pakistan that Taliban safe havens along the Af-Pak border have to be eliminated or both nations would suffer "more lethal and brazen attacks".

Gates said, "It is important to remember that the Pakistani Taliban operates in collusion with both the Taliban in Afghanistan and Al-Qaida. So it impossible to separate these groups."

Saying that the chief reason for his visit was to develop a broader strategic dialogue with Pakistan, Gates writing in 'The News' made it clear that there was a link between Afghanistan's stability and Pakistan's stability.

His comments come as Islamabad has mounted a big military campaign against Pakistani Taliban faction that are attacking the state, but resisted US pressure to attack other Taliban groups like the powerful Haqqani network, who do not attack Pakistan but cross the border to fight US and NATO troops in Afghanistan.

"If history is any indication, safe havens for either Taliban, on either side of the border in the long run lead to more lethal and more brazen attacks in both nations," Gates wrote in an article in a leading Pakistani newspaper.

He praised the military offensive launched against the Taliban in recent months. Apparently referring to trust deficit between Washington and Islamabad, Gates said that US wanted to relinquish grievances of the past held by both sides. — PTI

Attacks on Indians regrettable: Rudd

Melbourne, January 21
Amid allegations of racism in Australia, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today said the recent attacks on Indian youths were “regrettable” but insisted that these should be seen in the context of broader incidences of violence against locals and students of other ethnic groups.

He told reporters in Adelaide: “Regrettably, there have been some incidents recently, let’s accept that, but let’s put it into context of the broader incidences of violence to students of other ethnic backgrounds, against Australian students and in particular parts of our large cities at any given time of the day. I think it’s important to keep all this into its context.”

New Delhi yesterday warned Australia that its people-to-people ties with Australia might be “adversely affected” if the violence against Indians in Australia did not halt now.

Indian External Affairs Minister SM Krishna said he was “deeply anguished” over the assault on an Indian taxi driver in Melbourne’s northern parts on Saturday.

“Unless there is immediate stop to the attacks, our people-to-people level exchanges, which include the area of education and tourism, will get adversely affected,” the Minister said.

Nearly 100 cases of attacks on Indians, mostly students, were reported in Australia in 2009 as against 17 incidents of assaults in 2008.

Krishna urged Australia to bring the attackers to book and to put in place “effective security measures” that will increase the sense of well-being among Indians in that country.

Relations between India and Australia came under a strain following a string of attacks on Indians, including the fatal stabbing of Nitin Garg in Melbourne January 2.

Rudd appealed for the attacks to be kept in context.

“Obviously, these are difficult matters in India, they are difficult matters in Australia,” AAP quoted Rudd as saying.

“We are working through them in a practical and effective way over time.”

He said some 100,000 Indians were currently studying in Australia.

“The truth is this: the vast majority of Indian students in Australia are embraced entirely by the Australian community, get on with their business of studying hard, getting their qualifications and going off to do whatever they want to do with their lives.

There has been a series of attacks on Indians in Australia with Indian taxi drivers being targeted in some of the recent incidents.

As many as three Indian taxi drivers were attacked in different Australian cities on January 16. While a 25-year-old Indian taxi driver was assaulted in Melbourne, two Indian taxi drivers, one of whom was a student, were attacked in Australia’s Ballarat city.

The attacks came a day after a man was sentenced to three months in jail for assaulting and threatening to kill another Indian taxi driver in Melbourne.

The spate of attacks on Indians in Australia has caused an outcry in India. Two of the vicious attacks proved fatal. — Agencies

Bacteria are ‘big thinkers’: Study

Washington, January 21
American scientists have found that bacteria are “big thinkers” and more capable of complex decision-making than previously thought, a discovery that could lead to innovations in medicine and agriculture fields.

Researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, said: “Bacteria are, in their way, big thinkers, and we found that they can feel about the environment around them using their receptors”. Until now, scientists have been unable to study how bacteria’s individual receptors directly affect their behaviour and ability to adapt to the environment.

For the study, published in journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Gladys Alexandre and her team looked at the functioning of complex soil bacterium Azospirillum brasilense’s receptors. And they came to the conclusion that with the help of the amino acids in the sensory part of the receptor, bacteria can feel about the environment around them, Science Daily said. — PTI

Rana pleads for bail, says he won’t flee

Chicago, January 21
Pakistani-Canadian LeT operative Tahawwur Rana, set to be arraigned along with his accomplice David Headley next week over the Mumbai attacks, today made a desperate bid to seek bail, pleading before a court here that he would not escape from the US as it would only force him to live as a fugitive.

Rana and Headley, both 49, who were indicted on January 14 by a federal grand jury on charges of being involved in the Mumbai attacks, were to be arraigned today, but it has now been rescheduled for next week. The arraignment of Rana will take place on January 25 while for Pakistani-American Headley it has been set for January 27 before Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys in the Northern District of Illinois court, US Attorney's Office spokesman Randall Samborn said.

Rana, meanwhile, told the US District court that his escape from the US would only force him to live as an international fugitive and his knowledge of immigration business would not help him run from a federal indictment, amid prosecutors' opposition to his bail. Charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists in India, Rana filed in the court his seven page reply to the government's response to the motion made by him last month seeking revocation of his detention order.

Federal prosecutors, who have been opposing his bail plea, have said Rana's incentive to flee has been heightened by the maximum term of life imprisonment he now faces if convicted. Through his lawyer Patrick Blegen, Rana replied that any increased incentive for him to flee from a term of life as opposed to a term of 30 years is negligible. "Defendant is 49-years-old and a sentence of 30 years is tantamount to life imprisonment.

Moreover, defendant would be forced to abandon his family, forfeit the property of his friends and family and live the rest of his life as an international fugitive. This option is surely no more attractive given the increase in his maximum sentence from a term of 30 years imprisonment to a term of life," Blegen said in the reply.

Rana's family has said it would post a million dollar bond to secure his release. On January 7, Rana had claimed in his bail plea that he was a Pakistani army deserter and would not be able flee home due to fears of reprisal, but failed to get a reprieve. He had appeared before District Judge Matthew Kennelly, who refused to hear the plea after prosecutors said they expected the indictment by January 14, which could send the case to a different judge.

Later, the 12 count indictment contained the identical charges that were filed against Headley on December 7 while adding Rana as a defendant in three of the counts charging material support of the terror plots in Denmark and India, as well as in support of terrorist outfit the Lashkar-e-Taiba. — PTI

Eliminate Taliban’s safe havens: Gates

Islamabad, January 21
Making a distinction between some violent extremist groups and others is counterproductive, US defence secretary Robert Gates today told Pakistan that Taliban safe havens along the Af-Pak border have to be eliminated or both nations would suffer "more lethal and brazen attacks". Arriving on a crucial visit to Islamabad, Gates said, "It is important to remember that the Pakistani Taliban operates in collusion with both the Taliban in Afghanistan and Al-Qaeda. So it impossible to separate these groups."

Saying that the chief reason for his visit was to develop a broader strategic dialogue with Pakistan, Gates writing in 'The News' made it clear that there was a link between Afghanistan's stability and Pakistan's stability.

His comments come as Islamabad has mounted a big military campaign against Pakistani Taliban faction that are attacking the state, but resisted US pressure to attack other Taliban groups like the powerful Haqqani network, who do not attack Pakistan but cross the border to fight US and NATO troops in Afghanistan.

"If history is any indication, safe havens for either Taliban, on either side of the border in the long run lead to more lethal and more brazen attacks in both nations," Gates wrote in an article in a leading Pakistani newspaper. US defence secretary said, "Only by pressuring all of these groups on both sides of the border will Afghanistan and Pakistan be able to rid themselves of this scourge for good." — PTI

Kapoor is honorary Nepal Army Gen
Bishnu Budhathoki writes from Kathmandu

Amidst widespread criticism and protest by the main Opposition party, Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists, Nepal’s President Dr Ram Baran Yadav today conferred the visiting Indian Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor with the title of honorary of General of Nepal Army.

Organising a special programme at the President’s Office in Shital Niwas, President Dr Yadav awarded the court of arms to the Indian Army Chief Kapoor, who arrived on Tuesday on his goodwill visit on the invitation of Nepal Army Chief General Chhatra Man Singh Gurung.

It has been a tradition to confer the honorary rank to the visiting Army chief. Earlier, India’s President Pratibha Patel had awarded similar honour to the Nepal Army Chief while he was in India last month.

The Maoists leaders have been protesting in and outside the parliament by raising concerns over the media report that the Indian Army Chief had given a statement by going against the peace agreement. They have also demanded a clarification from the government regarding Kapoor’s controversial statement and urged not to invite and honour him without making his views clear.

Kapoor also met Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, Defence Minister Bidhya Bhandari and Army Chief Gurung.

Rahman back in Oscar race

Los Angeles, January 21
Musician AR Rahman’s first Hollywood film ‘Couple’s Retreat’ has won him a place in the Oscar shortlist yet again for ‘Best Original Song’. The Tamil song ‘Na Na’ has been shortlisted for nomination in the original song category for the 82nd Academy Awards.

The number is special for Rahman as it also marks his six-year-old son Alim’s debut as a singer. The song will be competing with 62 other songs from eligible feature-length motion pictures for nomination, which will be announced February 2, reported the official website of the Academy awards. — PTI