The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Will Bobby Jindal be Republican Vice-Prez candidate in the US?
KV Prasad in Washington DC

speculation rife
The announcement from Romney camp could come any time now
His “faith-based extremism” could be a risk area for rivals to attack Jindal, says a report
His name did the rounds when John McCain contested against Barack Obama

Washington DC, July 26
With the Presidential race in the United States about to enter the home stretch, speculation on who could be the running mate of the presumptive Republican candidate Mitt Romney continues here and among the names doing rounds is Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.

Reports suggest the announcement from Romney camp could come any time now. There are numerous suggestions from political pundits on with whom the former Massachusetts Governor should split ticket with.

While there could be arguments both for and against the young Governor, whose parents migrated to the United States from Punjab, the Huffington Post ran an article listing possible running mates of Mitt Romney and concluded that his “faith-based extremism” could be a risk area for rivals to attack him.

“If Jindal runs for national office, Democrats will publicise his authorship of a New Oxford Review article about "spiritual warfare" and attending an exorcism, as well as his signing an anti-evolution bill as Governor,” the report said while offering similar minuses for other possible contenders.

As for watchers of the US Presidential elections-2012, it could be certainly interesting to see if Bobby Jindal is offered a ticket and he actually accepts the offer. His name did the rounds when John McCain contested against Barack Obama last time, but eventually Sarah Palin became his running mate.

Irrespective of the eventual development, the 41-year-old Republican is among the leading political leaders for the GOP (Grand Old Party), as the Republican Party is known in American politics.

Senior Indian officials here say the Louisiana Governor has fond memories of his visits to the country where his parents Amar and Raj migrated from. The Governor Jindal, wife Supriya and children making a trip to India is said to be a distinct possibility.

The interaction could be part of a regular diplomatic exercise of outreach but can also been seen as an attempt by New Delhi to keep open channels of communication with the GOP and its leadership ahead of the crucial election this November.

Syrian forces step-up attack, pound Aleppo, Damascus
UN Chief Ban Ki-moon urges end to slaughter

Beirut, July 26
Damascus and Syria's second biggest city, Aleppo, came under shell fire on Thursday as troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad stepped up efforts to crush rebels threatening the government's two main power centres.

One of the most senior figures to defect from Assad's inner circle, Brigadier General Manaf Tlas, put himself forward as

someone who could help unite the fragmented opposition inside and outside Syria on a blueprint for a transfer of power.

A bomb attack that killed four of Assad's closest lieutenants last week prompted predictions among his enemies that the 46-year-old president's time in power was drawing to a close.

But in the days that have followed that attack, Assad's forces have noticeably toughened their response to the armed revolt, with fixed-wing combat aircraft seen in action over Aleppo and rebel fighters said by opposition sources to have been summarily executed on the streets of Damascus.

Residents in the capital reported a shell landing in southern districts every minute on Thursday morning. Helicopters were attacking the Hajar-al-Aswad district, one of the last rebel strongholds in the city after days of street fighting, opposition activists said.

After a major assault on rebels in Damascus last week, the army has turned to Aleppo, reinforcing troops there with an armoured column that had been operating in a northern province, apparent evidence of the government's aim not to lose control of Syria's commercial capital, a city of 2.5 million.

Fierce clashes raged in the early hours of Thursday in Aleppo, and an activist said rebels now controlled half of the city, a claim that could not be independently verified.

"There was shelling this morning on the Salaheddine and Mashhad districts," said Aleppo activist Abu Hisham. "Now it has stopped, but helicopters are buzzing overhead."

Activists said 24 people were killed in fighting in and around Aleppo on Wednesday, swelling a national death toll of about 18,000 since the revolt against Assad began 16 months ago.

In the Syrian capital, a resident in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp reported heavy shelling, particularly near the southern Hajar al-Aswad district. — Reuters

‘don’t repeat bosnia mistake’

Srebrenica, Bosnia: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned world powers on Thursday not to repeat in Syria the mistakes they made in Bosnia, during a landmark visit to Srebrenica where UN peacekeepers failed to prevent the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys. The United Nations had designated the enclave in eastern Bosnia a "safe haven" for Muslim refugees, but peacekeepers stood by helplessly as Bosnian Serb forces carried out the slaughter in 1995. It followed three years of hand-wringing and hesitation by divided world powers reluctant to intervene in the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

Anuj Bidve’s killer convicted of murder

London, July 26
British national Kiaran Stapleton was today found guilty of the murder of Indian student Anuj Bidve on December 26. He will be sentenced tomorrow.

Kiaran Stapleton, 21, who once called himself 'Psycho' Stapleton in a court hearing, had earlier admitted manslaughter but not murder, on grounds of diminished responsibility, but his plea was not accepted by prosecutors and the case went to trial from June 25.

The trial which lasted a little over one month was attended by Bidve's parents Subhash and Yogini, who had arrived from Pune.

The jury, which retired earlier today to consider its verdict, took 90 minutes to reach the 'guilty' decision. The verdict that Stapleton was guilty of murder, and not manslaughter as he had pleaded, is likely to lead to a more stringent punishment.

After the verdict was announced, Bidve's mother Yogini cried while his father Subhash bowed in his seat and later held his hands to his face. — PTI

2 Indians killed, one injured in Nigeria attack
Ashok Tuteja/TNS

New Delhi, July 26
Two Indians were murdered and another was seriously injured by unidentified assailants in Nigeria, provoking a strong reaction from New Delhi.

The attackers brutally murdered Shanker Saha and Bokul Chander Mondal, both 35, and seriously wounded Biresh Yadav yesterday after an unprovoked armed attack on premises of M/s Adebar Trades and Industries Ltd in Maiduguri (Borno State), Nigeria. Yadav is currently battling for life at Maiduguri University Teaching Hospital. The attackers took away money before leaving.

Strongly condemning the killings, senior officials here said India has sought an official report from the Nigerian authorities and a probe into the gruesome incident.

Indian High Commission has expressed shock and contacted Nigerian authorities to seek an official report on the incident. "The High Commission has sought a thorough investigation by the Nigerian authorities to bring the perpetrators brought to book," the officials said.

The three Indians victims were working with a concern engaged since 2007 in processing and export of gum arabic, gainfully employing up to 100 Nigerian nationals.

Bo Xilai’s wife charged with murdering Briton

Beijing, July 26
China will try Gu Kailai, the wife of ousted Politburo member Bo Xilai, on charges of murdering a British man, state media said on Thursday in the latest turn in a scandal that has rocked the government in Beijing and could bring Gu the death penalty.

The contentious dismissal of Bo has already shaken the Communist Party's looming once-in-a-decade succession, and now Gu and family aide Zhang Xiaojun will be prosecuted for allegedly poisoning businessman Neil Heywood last year over "conflict of economic interests", the official Xinhua news agency said.

"The facts of the two defendants' crime are clear, and the evidence is irrefutable and substantial," said the Xinhua report summarising the indictment. Therefore, the two defendants should be charged with intentional homicide."

Gu and Zhang will face trial in Hefei, a city in eastern China, far from Chongqing, the sprawling municipality in the southwest where Bo made his political base and where Heywood died in a hillside hotel in November.

Bo has not been named as a suspect in the murder case, but he is separately under investigation by party authorities and could also face trial at a later time. — Reuters

Bitter row over humble samosa in Pak

Islamabad, July 26
Pakistanis will have to shell out more for samosas following a Supreme Court ruling, a move that has left a leading Pakistani daily wondering whether it was the "court’s best use of time".

An editorial in the Dawn Wednesday said that the days of the cheap samosa are over.

"While the savoury little delight is consumed with great relish by Pakistanis around the year, sales of the samosa skyrocket during Ramzan as it is a staple of the iftaar spread," it said.

The Supreme Court has set aside a notification of the Punjab government regulating the price of samosas.

The editorial recalled that in 2009 the Lahore government had fixed the price of the crispy delight at Rs 6 per samosa. The bakers and sweet-makers of Punjab went to court.

"When the Lahore High Court turned down their petition, the bakers appealed to the Supreme Court. They felt the samosa did not fall within the purview of the Punjab Foodstuffs (Control) Act, 1958, hence the government could not fix its prices, a notion the apex court seemed to agree with," said the daily.

The daily noted that while the commercial bakers will rejoice at the verdict, "others waiting for justice in Pakistan’s ever-clogged judicial system may be wondering when their turn will come".

"With a question of interpretation of a law at stake, the Supreme Court was the ultimate forum for resolving the matter," it said. — IANS

10 die in Pak market blast

Islamabad, July 26
Ten persons, including two children, were killed and over 20 others injured when a bomb went off at a market in the restive Bajaur tribal region of northwest Pakistan today, officials said.

The blast occurred at Pusht Bazar in Salarzai area of Bajaur Agency. At least five shops and several vehicles were destroyed by the blast.

The bomb was planted in a pick-up truck parked in the market. Security forces cordoned off the area and conducted a search operation.

No group claimed responsibility for the incident. — PTI

Pak cabinet for liaison on oil purchase with India
Afzal Khan in Islamabad

The Federal cabinet has directed the petroleum and natural resources ministry to initiate talks with India to explore possibility of purchase of POL products.

The cabinet which met here under Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf also approved signing the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the United States on new terms of engagement and restoration of NATO supply routes.

Briefing media representatives later, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said this is in line with parliamentary committee’s guidelines that there would be no hidden or unwritten agreement with any foreign country and every agreement would be in black and white.

Draft of the MoU was finalised after extensive consultations and input from all relevant ministries and armed forces, which reflect transparency in the government’s foreign relations, he noted.

Referring to POL imports from India, the minister said, “For import of gas from Iran, we will have to lay about 1,000 km pipeline, but for import of natural gas from India, we will have to lay only 60 km pipeline and if it is feasible, it can provide instant relief to the nation.”