Fauja Singh to inaugurate Australian Sikh Games
Melbourne, March 23
Fauja Singh, the world's oldest marathon runner, is set to inaugurate the 26th Australian Sikh Games to be held here on March 29.

Washington, March 23
China has secretly entered into an agreement with Pakistan to construct a third nuclear reactor at Chashma in Punjab province that the Obama administration says will violate Beijing's promises under an international anti-nuclear weapons accord, a media report said.

"According to US intelligence and diplomatic officials, the secret agreement for the Chashma 3 reactor was signed in Beijing during the visit by a delegation from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission from February 15 to 18," The Washington Free Beacon reported.

The agreement calls for the state-run China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) to construct a 1,000-megawatt power plant at Chashma, where two earlier Chinese reactors were built, the American website said.

While there was no confirmation of the news story from Pakistan or China, The Washington Free Beacon quoted an unidentified State Department official, who said that such a Chinese move would be in violation of its international promise.

China, which joined NSG in 2005, agreed not to sell additional reactors to Pakistan beyond the two reactors sold earlier.

Under NSG guidelines, China is not permitted to sell nuclear goods to any country that is not part of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) participating governments have discussed the issue of China's expansion of nuclear cooperation with Pakistan at the last several NSG plenary sessions," a State Department official was quoted as saying.

"We remain concerned that a transfer of new reactors at Chashma appears to extend beyond the cooperation that was 'grandfathered' in when China was approved for membership in the NSG," the official told The Washington Free Beacon, which reported that the US is expected to protest the sale at an upcoming NSG meeting in June.

According to Henry Sokolski, director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, China appears to be keeping the nuclear deal secret to avoid international opposition.

Mark Hibbs, from the Carnegie Endowment's Nuclear Policy Programme, said that there was nothing in the NSG guidelines which prevents the Chashma 3 reactor sale.

"The rub is that the NSG guidelines are voluntary understandings of governments," Hibbs told the Free Beacon.

"There is no enforcement mechanism. There is, however, a forum for dealing with information that suggests that a participating government is not upholding the guidelines," he said.

According to Hibbs, when China joined the NSG in 2004, it provided the NSG a list of nuclear items which said it intended to provide to Pakistan under a longstanding bilateral agreement between the two countries.

"This list did not include additional power reactors beyond those already agreed to and under construction in 2004," he argued.

However, China has been arguing that the additional nuclear power reactors to Pakistan are allowed under its earlier contracts. — PTI

Moscow, March 23
China's new leader Xi Jinping today hailed strong relations between Russia and China as a guarantee of world peace, as he continued his first foreign trip as President with a speech to students in Moscow.

"Strong Chinese-Russian relations at a high level not only answer our own interests, but serve as an important, reliable guarantee of international strategic balance and peace," he said during a televised speech in comments that were translated into Russian.

He was speaking at the prestigious Moscow State Institute of International Relations, a day after meeting his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and overseeing the signing of a raft of energy and other agreements.

"Chinese and Russian relations are some of the most important bilateral relations in the world. Our relations are the best among the bilateral relations between great powers," said Xi.

Once bitter foes during the Cold War, Moscow and Beijing have boosted cooperation in recent years to counterbalance US global dominance.

At the UN Security Council, China and Russia have both vetoed resolutions to impose sanctions on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, which is locked in a bloody two-year conflict with the opposition. — AFP 

Melbourne, March 23
Fauja Singh, the world's oldest marathon runner, is set to inaugurate the 26th Australian Sikh Games to be held here on March 29.

The India-origin runner, who is turning 102 on April 1, had recently announced his retirement after participating in the Hong Kong marathon.

He said he has decided to give up marathon because of health reasons but will continue to run for charity works. "I have quit marathons but I will continue to run. Running is my addiction and I am alive because of this activity," Fauja Singh said at a press conference here today. "I am growing old and losing weight," he said, giving reasons why he decided to quit.

Fauja Singh is currently visiting the country for the first time and has been invited to participate in the opening ceremony of the Australian Sikh Games this year. He will be participating in a run tomorrow which has been organised for a charity for children. He is also going to be felicitated by the New South Wales Parliament next week.

Fauja Singh, who was a farmer in Punjab before settling in England, has competed in nine 26-mile marathons in London, Toronto and New York.

He said during his last race in Honk Kong, he was hurt after a nasty fall but that did not stop him from breaking his previous record in 10-km marathon.

"I was hurt and bled profusely but then God was with me and I finished the race," he said.

He rubbished reports that he had challenged Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to run with him, saying that he had never said like that. "Indian PM is different person. I regard him as one of the finest brains in the world. For me it will be even privilege to see him," he said. — PTI 

Bangkok, March 23
At least 62 Myanmar refugees have been killed and over 200 injured when a fire swept through their camp in northern Thailand, with officials fearing that the toll could rise further.

Earlier, 30 refugees were reported killed when a fire broke out last evening at the Mae Surin refugee camp in Mae Hong Son province.

Over 32 bodies were found in the burnt camp and the death toll could rise further, chief of the Mae Hong Son Public Health Office Paisarn Thanyawinitchakul said.