The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

38 die in Hong Kong ferry disaster, six crew arrested
Over 100 taken to hospital z Govt vows thorough investigation

Hong Kong, October 2
The Hong Kong police arrested six crew on Tuesday after a ferry and a company boat carrying more than 120 staff and family celebrating the mid-autumn festival collided, killing 38 persons as the boat sank.

The boat, belonging to Hongkong Electric Co, controlled by billionaire Li Ka-shing, was taking passengers to watch fireworks in the city's Victoria Harbour on Monday when the two vessels collided near the picturesque outlying island of Lamma.

Five children were among the dead. More than 100 persons were taken to hospital, with nine suffering serious injuries or in critical condition, the government said in a statement. "We suspect that somebody did not fulfil their responsibility, that's why we made the arrests," Police Commissioner Andy Tsang said. "We do not rule out the possibility that further arrests will be made." The arrests involved crew of both vessels.

The collision sparked a major rescue involving dive teams, helicopters and boats that saw scores plucked from the sea. A large crane on a barge was connected to the stricken boat.

"Within 10 minutes, the ship had sunk. We had to wait at least 20 minutes before we were rescued," said one male survivor, wrapped in a blanket. Survivors said people had to break windows to swim to the surface. "We thought we were going to die. Everyone was trapped inside," said a middle-aged woman.

Hongkong Electric, a unit of Power Assets Holdings, which is controlled by Asia's richest man Li, said the boat had capacity to hold up to 200 people. The tragedy was the worst to hit Hong Kong since 1996 when more than 40 people died in a fire in a commercial building.

The ferry, owned by Hong Kong and Kowloon Ferry Holdings, suffered a badly damaged bow in the collision but made it safely to the pier on Lamma, an island popular with tourists and expatriates about a half-hour away from downtown Hong Kong. Several of its roughly 100 passengers and crew were injured.

"After the accident, it was all chaos and people were crying. Then water began seeping in and the vessel began to tilt to one side and people were all told to stand on the other side and everyone started putting on life jackets," a passenger said.

Hong Kong is home to one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, but serious accidents are rare. The city is known for its high-quality public services and advanced infrastructure. A spokeswoman for Hong Kong and Kowloon Ferry said the company was trying to assess what happened.

Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying visited survivors and pledged a thorough investigation. He declared three days of mourning starting on Thursday.

Thousands of Hong Kong residents live on outlying islands such as Lamma, which lies about three km (two miles) southwest of Hong Kong Island. — Reuters

Russia warns West against Syria intervention

Moscow, October 2
Russia today urged the West not to "search for pretexts" in order to conduct direct operations in Syria while also calling on Damascus and Ankara to exercise restraint along their flashpoint border.

"In our contacts with NATO partners... we call upon them not to search for pretexts to carry out a military scenario or initiatives like humanitarian corridors and buffer zones," Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told the Interfax news agency.

Russia opposes any military action against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad as the violence rages, accusing the West of fuelling the 18-month conflict by allowing arms to flow to the opposition.

It has vetoed three UN Security Council resolutions condemning Assad's role in the unrest, with President Vladimir Putin blaming the violence on the West's approach to the conflict.

Speculation over possible intervention in Syria intensified in recent weeks because of the regime's stockpiles of chemical weapons and reports that the army had carried out tests with the arms.

Violence had also begun to spill over the border to NATO-member Turkey, with shells fired from the Syrian side landing on Turkish soil. — AFP

Nepal cinemas stop showing Bollywood films

Kathmandu, October 2
Bowing to pressure from a breakaway faction of the ruling Maoists, theatres across Nepal have stopped showing Hindi movies to express solidarity with the outfit's anti-India stand.

"Fifty cinema halls, which were showing Hindi films, stopped screening Indian movies from Monday," said Raj Kumar Rai, Chairman of Nepal Film Producers Association.

"We have expressed solidarity to the Maoists' demand to stop screening of Hindi movies in the halls across the country," Rai told PTI.

The move has affected entertainment of around 100,000 people causing loss of millions of rupees, he said.

"Although we are not against Hindi cinema, we have agreed to halt the screening of Hindi movies for the next 10 days so as to promote Nepalese movies," he said.

Not only Hindi movies, but all foreign films have negatively impacted our indigenous film industry and we hope that this campaign will to some extent help in promoting Nepali movies, he said.

"We want the government to regularise the screening of foreign films so as to encourage the indigenously made films." The government should adopt proper tax policy and also control the screening of foreign films which are adversely affecting the local film industries, he added.

The CPN-Maoist led by hardline leader Mohan Vaidya had issued a warning at the end of last month, saying that Hindi films were spreading "hatred against Nepal". The outfit also threatened to stop movement of vehicles bearing Indian number plate from entering Nepal as part of its 70 point demands submitted to the government.

However, the party had allowed the movement of Indian vehicles carrying essentials like cooking gas, diesel and kerosene. — PTI

Britain spending £11K a day to keep Assange holed up

London, October 2
It is costing a whopping £11,000 a day for Britain to ensure that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, holed up in the Ecuadorean embassy here, does not flee the country.

The final bill could be much more as the 41-year-old continues to defy extradition to Sweden where he is suspected of sexually assaulting two women.

Scotland Yard confirmed it costs £11,000 every day to ensure that the Australian does not flee his bolthole at the Ecuadorean Embassy, the Daily Mail reported. The police bill for staking out the embassy where Assange is holed up has already reached more than £1 million.

Officers have been watching the property in Knightsbridge, West London, since Assange breached his bail and claimed asylum in June. They have been told to arrest him if he puts "one toe" outside.

Ecuador granted political asylum to Assange in August after he took refuge in the country's embassy in London.

Ecuadorean foreign minister Ricardo Pinto has warned Assange he could be in the embassy for a decade if he is not allowed to leave Britain.

Critics have called on the Metropolitan Police to end the costly stakeout. London Mayor Boris Johnson confirmed the policing bill between June 20 and September 10 was £905,000.

If the costs continued at the average of £11,000 a day the total would now be over £1.1 million.

Last week, Foreign Secretary William Hague admitted there is "no sign of any breakthrough" after meeting his Ecuadorean counterpart Ricardo Pinto at the United Nations in New York.

The comments came after the hacking activist accused the US of persecuting WikiLeaks and torturing Bradley Manning, the soldier accused of leaking classified documents. — PTI

Obama, Romney battle it out in Denver today
US Presidential debate Economy, domestic policy top agenda in first of the three debates

READY FOR THE FINAL KILL: US President Barack Obama at a campaign office in Nevada; and (right) Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks at a campaign rally in Denver. — Reuters/AFP

Washington, October 2
US President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney are running neck and neck in a series of national polls ahead of the first of the three presidential debates to be held in Denver tomorrow with economy and domestic policy to be on top of the agenda.

Ahead of the Denver clash, the two leaders yesterday started making last minute preparations for what is the make or break moment for both Obama and Romney; who aspire to lead the country for the next four years.

Obama (51) was huddling with his top advisers at a desert resort in Nevada, while 65-year-old Romney was practicing with his close aides in Massachusetts where he also spent most of the weekend working with his debate team.

The debates, a regular feature of American presidential campaigns since 1960, allow a chance to measure up the leaders who would be President as they stand side-by-side.

Being organised by the Commission on Presidential Debates, Obama and Romney over the course of this month would meet each other for three presidential debates.

Besides the one at Denver on October 3, the two leaders would debate again on October 16 in New York and October 22 in Florida.

The two vice-presidential candidates, incumbent Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan of the Republican party, would debate each other in Kentucky.

To be moderated by Lim Lehrer, host of the News Hour on PBS, the focus of the Denver debate would be on domestic policy and be divided into six time segments of approximately 15 minutes each.

The New York debate would be moderated by candy Crowley of CNN and would take the form of a town meeting, in which citizens will ask questions of the candidates on foreign and domestic issues.

Hosted by Bob Schieffer of the Face the Nation on CBS news, the third and final debate in Florida will focus on foreign policy.

Over the weekend, Obama at a campaign speech said that Romney is a good debater. "Governor Romney, he's a good debater. I'm just okay," Obama said during a campaign event in Nevada.

"But what I'm most concerned about is having a serious discussion about what we need to do to keep the country growing and restore security for hardworking Americans.

That's what people are going to be listening for. That's the debate that you deserve," Obama said.

"It is not just a choice between two candidates or two political parties. It's a choice between two different paths for this country. It's a choice between two fundamentally different visions for our nation," he said.

Paul Ryan, the running mate of Romney, said that the US President is a good debater, indicating that both the camps are trying to lower their expectations.

At the same time both the camps intensified the attack on the other camp. The presidential election is scheduled for November 6. — PTI

Gunmen kill 46 students in Nigeria varsity attack

Abuja, October 2
At least 26 students were killed and several others injured when unidentified gunmen wearing military uniform attacked a hostel in northern Nigeria today.

Gunmen invaded the hostel of Mubi Polytechnic in northern state of Adamawa, killing 26 students, police sources said. A lecturer told reporters that the number of dead could be as much as 40. He said that the gunmen wore military attire and told the students to identify themselves by name.

According to him, some of them were spared after mentioning their names but no reason was given by the assailants for the identification process. The invaders used guns and knives in killing the students.

The spokesman of the oil-rich African country's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Yushua Shuaib said he cannot say whether the assailants were members of a violent sect that is notorious within the region.

A curfew has been imposed on the city but that did not deter the frightened students from fleeing the place in droves.

Several killings in the state have been carried out by a Muslim militant sect called Boko Haram which wants to convert the people of northern Nigeria to Islam by force and install a Sharia government.

The oil-rich African country's 150 million people are equally divided among Muslims and Christians.

The group is against Western education and influence and has been carrying out its violent activities since 2009 when its leader, Muhammed Yusuf was killed extra-judicially by the police. — PTI

Indian-origin doc’s ‘Gandhigiri’ in UK

London, October 2
A pioneering Indian-origin brain doctor, inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, has set on a five-day hunger strike here to protest "unfair" treatment meted to him and his colleagues by the National Health Service for raising concerns about Britain's health services.

Dr Narinder Kapur, a world authority on brain behaviour, was sacked from a Cambridge hospital in 2010 for blowing the whistle over underqualified and unsupervised staff treating patients at the hospital, a practice he claimed was endangering patients.

In July, a British employment tribunal ruled that the 62-year-old former president of the British Neuropsychological Society had been unfairly dismissed, but he was not reinstated, the MailOnline reported today.

"I undertake this five-day hunger-strike with reluctance but with resolve. It pains my heart to see how failures in the NHS have contributed directly or indirectly to harming patient care, to a waste of public funds and to distress for NHS staff and their families," Dr Kapur said.

"I take my inspiration from the actions and words of Mahatma Gandhi, whose birthday is on October 2, and who also engaged in peaceful protests that included fasting." The doctor today staged the second day of the five-day hunger strike outside the Department of Health head office.

Dr Kapur believes the NHS is rife with "failures" and feels staff are not treated or managed correctly, which has lead to the mistreatment of patients. — PTI

Sri Lanka’s war displaced hope for better days

Mannar, October 2
Abdul Rafique was just 25-year old when he and his family left their land and belongings that they had in a small village in this northern Sri Lankan district in 1990 when the LTTE expelled Muslims from the region in an ethnic-cleansing drive.

Having lived for 20 years in various government-run camps that lacked even basic facilities, Rafique returned to his native village of Periyamadhu in 2010 only to find vast tracts of empty land and scars of the decades-old bloodshed by the LTTE and the Sri Lankan Army.

Two years later, Rafique, now 47 and father of four children, is one of the beneficiaries of the Indian Housing Project that envisages building of 43,000 new houses for Tamils displaced due to the civil war.

Rafique, who is into farming now, could just not hide his happiness because he is sure that the days of uncertainty and fear is over and it is just a matter of time before he can call a building his own after over two decades.

"After the war ended, we came here in 2010. Almost all the families who were forced out of this village by Tigers returned together. Since then we have been living in temporary shelters that do not have even toilet facilities," he told PTI here.

Recalling the day in October 1990 when the LTTE gave just a few hours of time to the Muslims to leave Jaffna and other areas in the entire Northern Province, then controlled by it, Rafique says he and his family could pack only necessary things in the time given by the outfit.

Over 75,000 Muslims are estimated to have been thrown out of the northern region by the LTTE. "When I returned as a married man with my wife and children, I could see nothing here," he said.

The tale of 76-year-old Abdul Khader is no different. He also left behind everything that he earned to save his and his family's life in 1990 and returned only in 2010, a year after the war ended.

Having been selected to get SLR 5.5 lakh to build a house through the Indian project, Khader hopes to spend his last days in his own house with his grand children.

"I left my village when I was in my early fifties and returned as a very old man. Now I will get money to build house. I hope to live a peaceful life," he says.

And the icing on the cake is neither Muslims nor Tamils have hatred for each other. They say since they had lived together for decades before the conflict started, they can continue to live together.

Ponnambalam, a Hindu Tamil, says Muslims and Tamils have been living in harmony ever since the end of the war and that peace has returned to the north since 2009.

The expulsion of Muslims by LTTE began in 1990 with the oufit forcing out 1,500 people from Chavakacheri and extending it to Kilinochchi, Mannar and eventually to Jaffna, the cultural capital of ethnic Tamils.

Sri Lankan Muslims still carry bitter memories over the expulsion and never reconciled with the LTTE despite an apology from its chief late Velupillai Prabhkaran. — PTI