The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Israeli planes strike office of Hamas Prime Minister
Obama calls up Netanyahu, Egypt’s Mursi to de-escalate tension in Gaza

Gaza/Jerusalem, November 17
Israeli aircraft bombed Hamas government buildings in Gaza on Saturday, including the prime minister's office, after Israel's cabinet authorised the mobilisation of up to 75,000 reservists, preparing for a possible ground invasion.

Palestinian militants in Gaza kept up their cross-border rocket salvoes. One rocket hit an apartment building in the Israeli Mediterranean port city of Ashdod, ripping into several balconies, and police said five people were injured.

Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that runs the Gaza Strip, said Israeli missiles wrecked the office building of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, where he had met on Friday with the Egyptian Prime Minister, and struck a police headquarters.

With Israeli tanks and artillery positioned along the Gaza border and no end in sight to hostilities now in their fourth day, Tunisia's foreign minister travelled to the enclave in a show of Arab solidarity.

Officials in Gaza said 41 Palestinians, nearly half of them civilians, including eight children and a pregnant woman, had been killed since Israel began its air strikes. Three Israeli civilians were killed by a rocket on Thursday.

In Cairo, a presidential source said Egypt's leader, Mohamed Mursi, would hold four-way talks with the Qatari emir, the PM of Turkey and Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal in the Egyptian capital on Saturday to discuss the Gaza crisis.

Egypt has been working to reinstate calm between Israel and Hamas after an informal ceasefire brokered by Cairo broke down over the past weeks.

Israel started its massive air campaign on Wednesday with the declared aim of deterring Hamas from launching rockets that have plagued its southern communities for years.

The operation has drawn Western support for what US and European leaders have called Israel's right to self-defence, along with appeals to both sides to avoid civilian casualties.

Hamas says it is committed to continued confrontation with Israel and is eager not to seem any less resolute than smaller, more radical groups that have emerged in Gaza in recent years. The Islamist movement has ruled Gaza since 2007. Israel pulled settlers out of Gaza in 2005 but has maintains a blockade of the tiny, densely populated coastal territory.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expected to visit Israel and Egypt next week to push for an end to the fighting in Gaza, UN diplomats said on Friday. Israel rushed an "Iron Dome" missile interceptor battery to the Tel Aviv area on Saturday after the city, its commercial centre, came under rocket fire from Gaza on Friday for the second straight day.

In Washington, US President Barack Obama commended Egypt's efforts to help defuse the Gaza violence in a call to Mursi on Friday, the White House said in a statement, and underscored his hope of restoring stability there.

On Friday, Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil paid a high-profile visit to Gaza, denouncing what he called Israeli aggression and saying Cairo was prepared to mediate a truce. Egypt's Islamist government is allied with Hamas but Cairo is also party to a 1979 peace treaty with Israel.

In a call to Netanyahu, Obama discussed options for "de-escalating" the situation, the White House said, adding that the president "reiterated US support for Israel's right to defend itself, and expressed regret over the loss of Israeli and Palestinian civilian lives". — Reuters

China’s Xi Jinping takes over as military chief

Beijing, November 17
China's new leader Xi Jinping today formally took over as the country's military chief, presiding over the first meeting of the powerful 11-member Military Commission, the highest body of the country's defence command structure.

Xi, 59, was chosen as the new General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) and also appointed as the Chairman of the Military Commission on Thursday at the end of the 18th Party Congress.

The 11-member Commission previously had both the outgoing President Hu Jintao and Xi as Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively.

Under the new set up, Xi would be the lone civilian member, heading the Commission while the rest of the 10 members were drawn from the army, Navy and Air Force of the 2.3 million strong People's Liberation Army (PLA).

Observers say there was no likelihood of any civilian leader to be inducted into the Commission, unlike in the previous set up, which makes Xi the most powerful Chinese leaders in the recent years as he holds the post of General Secretary of the Party, Chief of the Military and will also takeover as the President of the country.

He would take over as the President in March when Hu and the rest of his government formally relinquish their posts and hand over power to the new team headed by Xi.

The first meeting of the new military command that took place here today was also was also attended by Hu.

Both Hu and Xi urged the Chinese army under the CPC's command to be absolutely loyal and accomplish historic missions, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Hu and Xi asked the military to make continuous efforts to advance army building and to fulfil the historic missions shouldered by the military.

Highlighting the election of new leaders by the Communist Party in its just concluded 18 th Communist Party Congress, Hu said the leadership transition is conducive to the enduring peace and stability of the nation as well as the long-lasting development of the national defence and army building.

He said Xi is a competent general secretary of the Party and a competent chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission.

Xi has the necessary experience to work with the army as he was previously the Vice Chairman of the Commission. The party's decision to name Xi as the Chairman of the Central Military Commission is very appropriate, 69-year-old Hu said.

"Comrade Xi Jinping can, for sure, shoulder great responsibilities of being chairman of the Central Military Commission while uniting and leading the commission to fulfill the great historic missions," he said. — PTI

Train ploughs into school bus in Egypt, 50 killed

Cairo, November 17
At least 50 persons, mostly nursery school children, were killed and 18 others injured today when their bus was hit by a speeding train in central Egypt after a railway crossing guard apparently fell asleep, triggering angry demonstrations and resignations.

The incident took place near al-Mandara village in Manfalut district of Assiut province, 350 km south of Egyptian capital Cairo.

The train was heading to Aswan from Cairo and crashed into the bus at the junction between the road and the railway, they said.

The children aged between four and six were on their way to a religious institute where they studied. Assiut Governor Yehya Keshk was quoted as saying by Egypt's Ahram Online that 50 persons were killed and 18 injured, seven of them critically, in the accident.

The worker manning the railroad crossing, which had been left open, was apparently asleep when the bus tried to cross the tracks. "He has been arrested of course," Keshk told the State TV.

According to Egypt's Ministry of Interior, mostly children were among the dead. The bus driver and his assistant were also killed in the incident.

President Mohamed Morsi ordered authorities "to offer all assistance to the families of the victims," the state-run MENA news agency said.

It said Prime Minister Hisham Qandil rushed to the village of Manfalout, accompanied by ministers of health and education to look into the cause of the collision.

In a swift move, Transport Minister Rashad al-Metini resigned, saying he "accepts responsibility" for the accident. Egyptian Railway Authority head Mostafa Qenawi also quit and Morsi has accepted his resignation.

Distraught relatives blocked the road at the accident site and were "collecting the remaining body parts," Osama Seddik, an eyewitness, told Egypt's Ahram Online.

Seddik also quoted the families in the village as claiming that the railway crossing guard was asleep when the bus carrying the children drove over the track.

Relatives of the children staged angry demonstrations in the aftermath of the tragedy. Egypt's Prosecutor-General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud has ordered an investigation.

Ahram Online quoted a statement from the country's railway authority as saying that the bus driver drove over the crossing even though the warning lights and sirens were on.

Acting Director of the railway authority Hussein Zakaria was quoted as saying that families of the school children gathered at the accident site were preventing railway workers from removing the wreckage from the track.

According to a report published in July last year by the Central Authority for Public Transport, road and rail accidents claimed over 7,000 lives in Egypt in 2010, a rise of 7.9 per cent over the previous year.

In the worst railway disaster in Egypt, a total of 363 people were killed in February 2002 when a train heading to southern Egypt caught fire. — PTI

Irish govt must clarify on abortion issue: Amnesty

London, November 17
Observing that the tragic death of Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar illustrates a gap in Irish law, rights group Amnesty today asked Ireland to ensure that its domestic policy on access to abortion is in line with international human rights law. Amnesty International has written to Irish Minister for Health James Reilly over the issue expressing its concern.

It said Amnesty is concerned that the tragic case of Savita illustrates a gap in Irish law and policy on the most basic human rights level-that is a woman's right to access abortion where her life is at risk.

"International human rights law is clear about the right of a woman to access a safe and legal abortion where her life is at risk," said Colm O'Gorman, Executive Director of Amnesty International in Ireland.

"Successive Irish governments have failed in their duty to provide the necessary clarity on how this right is protected and vindicated, leaving women in Ireland in a very vulnerable position. Government must offer this clarity without further delay," he said.

Noting this right has already been established as a Constitutional principle by the Irish Supreme Court, the body expressed concern about lack of clarity on the issue.

"Ireland has been subject to criticism from international human rights bodies for its failure to bring domestic legislation in line with international human rights principles, including a very clear ruling from the European Court of Human Rights," said Marianne Mollmann, senior policy advisor at Amnesty International Secretariat.

Savita, a 31-year old Indian dentist after doctors refused to terminate her pregnancy even after telling her that she was miscarrying.

The incident has reignited the debate over right to abortion in cases of risk in the Catholic country.

The report of the UN's Review of Ireland's human rights record in October last year contains repeated calls from UN member states to bring Ireland's domestic law in line with international human rights obligations and at the very least regulate access to life-saving abortions.

In 2011 the UN Committee Against Torture urged Ireland to clarify the scope of legal abortion through statutory law. — PTI

Will not be rushed to amend laws: Irish PM

London: With an Indian dentist's tragic death igniting protests over right to abortion in Ireland, Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has said he was awaiting a report by an expert group on the issue but will not be rushed into an immediate decision. Kenny said his government would go through the report and indicated it will take its own time in arriving at a decision.

Woman foils son’s plot to attack Twilight screening

Chicago, November 17
A Missouri mother foiled her son's plot to kill people at the latest Twilight film when she told the police he was off his medication and had bought assaults weapons, court documents showed.

The police found Blaec Lammers (20) at a Sonic fast food restaurant on Thursday after his mother told them she was worried because the guns he had purchased were similar to those used in the recent massacre at a Colorado screening of Batman.

Lammers went quietly to the police station where he initially told detectives that he bought the guns to go hunting, a probable cause statement said.

"Lammers stated that he was quiet, kind of a loner, had recently purchased firearms... and had homicidal thoughts," detective Dustin Ross wrote.

He then admitted that he'd bought the guns "with the intention of shooting up the movie theatre" in his hometown of Bolivar, Missouri, tonight.

He told the officers he planned to "walk into the store and just start shooting people at random". Lammers told the police he had purchased 400 rounds of ammunition and decided that if he ran out "he would just break the glass where the ammunition is being stored and get some more and keep on shooting until the police arrived". — AFP

What should Obama call it: Burma or Myanmar?

Washington, November 17
President Barack Obama's landmark visit to Myanmar, known by the US as Burma, brings up an unusual problem of protocol: What does he call it?

If recent practice by the visiting US officials is any guide, Obama will sidestep the issue by using neither name on Monday when he becomes the first sitting American President to visit the country.

The former ruling junta summarily changed the name 23 years ago without consulting the people -- a typically high-handed act by an unpopular regime that had gunned down hundreds of anti-government protesters the year before. The change was opposed by democracy advocates who stuck with "Burma".

As the country has opened up politically, shifting from five decades of direct military rule, the linguistic battle lines have blurred some.

The US, Britain, Canada and New Zealand still officially refer it to it as Burma. But as the relations with the reformist government of President Thein Sein have blossomed in the past year and dignitaries have beaten a path to his door, they've become less dogmatic about using the old name.

Last December, when Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton became the highest-ranking US visitor to Myanmar in 56 years, she mostly referred to it as "this country", and did the same this September when she met Thein Sein in New York and announced easing of sanctions.

Visiting US senators have used both names. Even at congressional hearings in Washington, there's an occasional mention of "Myanmar". "Burma" is something Myanmar officials can get sore about.

"You might think this is a small matter, but the use of 'Myanmar' is a matter of national integrity," Foreign Minister Wanna Maung Lwin told visiting US envoy Joseph Yun in May 2011, according to the Myanmar Times newspaper. "Using the correct name of the country shows equality and mutual respect," Lwin said.

This summer, the Myanmar authorities also warned opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi after she used "Burma" during high-profile trips abroad, saying "Republic of the Union of Myanmar" is enshrined in the constitution. She asserted her right to say what she wants, but has also said she's open to either name.

"It's for each individual to make his or her own choice as to which he or she uses," the Nobel laureate said in a Washington speech in September that many interpreted as a green light for the US to change its policy.

The truth is that for most Burmese, the name debate doesn't matter. — AP

US eases import limits on Myanmar goods

The US on Friday eased decade-old import restrictions on Myanmar goods just days before President Barack Obama sets foot on the Southeast Asian nation. The Treasury Department said the move was taken to support the ongoing reform efforts in the nation, encourage "further change" and offer new opportunities for businesses in both countries, Xinhua reported. As a result, the US will open up to most products from Myanmar under a waiver and general licence with the exception of jadeite and rubies mined or extracted from the country, and jewellery containing them. Washington restored diplomatic relations with Myanmar in July.

Kelley had visited White House thrice

Florida socialite Jill Kelley

Washington, November 17
An Obama administration official says a Florida socialite whose emails triggered the eventual downfall of CIA Director David Petraeus visited the White House three times this year with her sister, twice eating in the Executive Mansion cafeteria.

The official says Jill Kelley, who initiated an investigation that ultimately unveiled Petraeus' extramarital affair, and her sister had two "courtesy" meals at the White House cafeteria as guests of a mid-level White House aide.

Kelley and her family also received a White House tour. The visits occurred during the past three months.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because those visitor records have not yet been made public.

The official said the White House aide who hosted her met the Kelley family at MacDill Air Force Base near their Tampa home. — AP

Yoga industry grows as Indian spiritualism sweeping Nordic nations
Aditi Tandon in Copenhagen

In the late 1960s when the Hippie counter culture craze was invading Europe, particularly Denmark, a young Dane chose to turn his attention away and travel all the way to India to learn the art of yogic meditation.

Today, he is the among the topmost practitioners of Indian spiritual traditions in this cold north European country, sharing with tens of thousands of his disciples the fruits of yogic philosophies which have of late become a rage in Denmark and other Nordic nations. No surprise then that Swami Janakananda’s posh yoga studio stands in the heart of central Copenhagen in a place called Kobmagergade, otherwise known for its swanky European pubs that never seem to sleep.

But in the midst of structures that embody the dominant consumerist culture of Europe, the meditation studio has an identity of its own. It sees heavy visitation during weekdays, mirroring a new trend sweeping these faraway Nordic nations where yoga and ayurveda are becoming million dollar industries, growing every year at an estimated rate of over 30 per cent. The Swami, who has long abandoned his Danish name Joergen, now runs the most respected yoga chain in Denmark, the Scandinavian Yoga and Meditation School, which has scores of mutually independent yoga schools across Northern Europe.

Headquartered in Copenhagen, the school has earned a reputation for not just imparting meditative training but also producing a fine cadre of yoga teachers who offer yoga courses in the state supported Adult Education Centres across the country. Among the many streams such as cooking, languages, computers and music, these centres of non formal education (meant for those aged 18 years and above) offer yoga as the most preferred with 24 basic lectures costing around 850 Danish Krones (close to Rs 8,500). Lectures can go up to 68 depending on the length of the course. This is an interesting contrast from India where yoga and meditation as optional courses were introduced in the Central Board of Secondary Education schools only last year.

But in Denmark, Indian spiritual practices have become a way of life with an estimated one in 10 Danes having attended a spiritual course at least once in their lifetime. An ongoing debate in Denmark is whether the government should subsidise adult education centres which it partially funds. Olaf Hansen, an expert in Danish culture and a regular at Swami Janakanada’s classes, says, "The debate is on because Indian spiritual influences can be seen all over Denmark, including at these centres which have come up in the remotest corners. Ever since Swami Janakananda showed the way, many Danes have travelled to India to learn yoga and returned to disseminate it. I have personally attended the Scandinavian Yoga School and it has been truly enriching."

The school teaches breathing exercises, kriya and tantra yoga, with Swami Janakananda admitting that his Indian stint in Bihar under Swami Satyananda between 1965 and 1968 changed his understanding of life. "I was fortunate to go to India. Swamiji personally taught me the practices and I learnt to remain increasingly conscious and awake. I took ‘diksha’ on the Shivaratri day on February 15, 1969 and joined the Paramhansa order which was founded by Srimat Shankaracharya," he says, adding that meditation is not geographically bound to the East and some archaeological studies in Denmark have shown traces of yoga in the oldest Danish historical texts called ‘Etta’.

Swami Janakananda has now published a book "Yoga, Tantra and Meditation in my Daily Life" translated from Danish into nine languages and has also produced a CD to guide people in deep relaxation (Yoga Nidra).

Ironic it may sound that a population consistently voted as the "happiest" in the World Happiness Index should increasingly depending on meditation for peace, but Mustafa Kamal, professor of cultural encounters at the University of Roskilde, Denmark, explains, "Anthropological studies on Danes have shown they are a wealthy but a lonely population."

A large number of Danes, including top corporate honchos, are now also taking to ayurveda to de-stress. A short drive away from Copenhagen, Quantum Care Centre, set up by a Danish woman named Jet Izabella Thurmann, uses ayurvedic panchkarma massage and food in her highly frequented "Anti Stress Workshops". Steen Hansen, a chartered accountant and partner in the famous accountancy firm Grant Thorton, who attended ayurveda classes, says, "This workshop provided me with useful tools to help manage stressful situations." An essential part of the workshop is the learning of ayurveda, the consumption of Indian cardamom coffee and ayurvedic "vata tea and cake".

The yoga rage is now also spreading to Sweden and Finland. As Suzanne Raneke, a former TV anchor from Goteberg, Sweden, a yoga practitioner herself, points out, "Yoga is very big in Nordic countries and Indian spiritual practices are helping us bury our stress and find inner peace."

Such is the influence of Indian spiritualism in this part of the world that the Danish Cultural Institute, the apex culture research body in Denmark, is hoping to use the sector for advancing Indo-Danish relations. The institute is planning to open its branch in New Delhi early next year, its 12th outside Denmark and fourth in BRICS having set up one each in China, Brazil and Russia.

Deep roots

Joergen, alias Swami Janakananda, came to India in 1960’s and learnt the art of yogic meditation

He set up the Scandinavian Yoga and Meditation School in Copenhagen which has branches across Northern Europe

The school offers yoga with 24 basic lectures costing around 850 Danish Krones (close to Rs 8,500)

In Denmark, an estimated one in 10 Danes have attended an Indian spiritual course at least once in their lifetime