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Ukraine president returns to work as protests persist - Times Of India You are here: Home>Collections>ProtestUkraine president returns to work as protests persistAFP Feb 3, 2014, 11.20AM ISTTags:Viktor Yanukovych|Ukraine protest|Ukraine president returns to work(Yanukovych has offered…)

KIEV: Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych returns to work on Monday from four days of sick leave after opposition leaders appealed for Western assistance and an injured militant accused of rioting left the country for medical treatment.

As he recovers from what officials said was an "acute respiratory infection", Yanukovych faces a crisis with no solution in sight that has dragged on for over two months and has pitted Russia against Europe and the United States.

Opposition leaders have asked the West, which has so far pledged only verbal support for their cause, to mediate in talks with Yanukovych to prevent "misunderstandings".

They have also requested "real financial aid" after more than two months of protests that have left much of central Kiev looking like a war zone and hobbled an already frail economy.

Speaking to a protest rally of over 60,000 people on Sunday, former economy minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Western officials had assured him that funding was on its way.

"They are ready to do it," he told the crowd. The case of Dmytro Bulatov showed the international resonance of events in Ukraine after EU and US officials reacted with shock to his account of being kidnapped and tortured.

Bowing to pressure, a Kiev court on Sunday allowed the 35-year-old to leave the country for treatment in Lithuania and he was quickly taken by ambulance to the airport.

Bulatov said he was "crucified" by his unidentified captors before being released in a forest last week and images of his bloodied face were broadcast around the world.

Ukrainian authorities have cast doubt on the veracity of his story and Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara dismissed his injuries as "a scratch" before retracting the comment.

The case has been highlighted by the opposition as an example of what it says is a "secret repression" against protesters in which pro-government vigilantes have been employed.

The protests touched off in November when Yanukovych turned his back on a partnership deal with the European Union under pressure from Moscow — Ukraine's former master.

They have since expanded beyond Kiev into traditionally pro-opposition western Ukraine but also into central and eastern parts normally considered a heartland for Yanukovych.

BANGKOK: Anti-government protesters planned to forge ahead on Monday with efforts to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, a day after a disrupted election that is unlikely to settle Thailand's long-running political conflict.

The demonstrators blocked balloting in a fifth of the country's constituencies and say Yingluck must resign and make way for an appointed "people's council" to overhaul a political system they say has been taken hostage by her billionaire brother and former premier, Thaksin Shinawatra.

Sunday's election, which the main opposition party boycotted, is almost certain to return Yingluck to power and, with voting passing off peacefully across the north and northeast, Yingluck's supporters will no doubt claim a legitimate mandate.

But the vote is unlikely to change the dysfunctional status quo in a country popular with tourists and investors yet blighted by eight years of polarisation and turmoil, pitting the Bangkok-based middle class and royalist establishment against the mostly poor, rural supporters of the Shinawatras.

The election was peaceful, apart from a few scuffles, with no repeat of the chaos seen the previous day, when supporters and opponents of Yingluck clashed in north Bangkok. Seven people were wounded by gunshots or explosions.

The protesters, led by former opposition politician Suthep Thaugsuban, have rallied in Bangkok since November to try to oust Yingluck. They wanted electoral rules rewritten before any election and have vowed to keep up the protests.

"I'm confident this election won't lead to the formation of a new government," Suthep told supporters late on Sunday.

He said it was premature for ministers to say the vote had gone smoothly.

"We will gather en masse in Bangkok once more but, before then, we will deal with Yingluck and other ministers. We will surround their houses until they cannot leave," he said.

However, Suthep is closing protest camps at two of the seven big intersections that his supporters have blockaded since mid-January, at Victory Monument and Lat Phrao, citing security reasons. A third run by an allied group at a huge government administrative complex may also be closed.

Suthep is to lead a march on Monday that will end at another camp at Lumpini Park in the centre of Bangkok.

YINGLUCK REMAINS CARETAKER PM

Voting on Sunday was disrupted in 18 percent of constituencies nationwide, 69 out of 375, the Election Commission said, affecting 18 of 77 provinces. Neither the result nor the turnout was announced.

The disruption means it could be weeks before parliamentary seats are filled, so Yingluck will remain a caretaker with no policy authority.

"Having gone through more than two months of protests, the election will strengthen Yingluck's position, but her troubles are not over yet," said Kan Yuanyong, director of the Siam Intelligence Unit think tank.

"We'll see a continuation of the conflict, the standoff remains and the likelihood of more violence could increase."

The Election Commission said it expected legal challenges to be lodged as early as Monday to try to invalidate the poll and attack the legitimacy of the government

Yingluck said the election was a "positive signal", but a lasting solution was needed.

"This election is part of the democratic process," she told reporters. "I hope all sides can help solve each of the country's problems."

The protesters say former telecoms tycoon Thaksin has subverted a fragile democracy with populist politics such as doling out subsidies, cheap loans and healthcare to woo the poor and guarantee victory for his parties in every election since 2001.

Thaksin's critics also accuse him of disrespecting Thailand's revered monarchy, which he denies.

The anti-Shinawatra demonstrators enjoy broad support from southerners and Bangkok's middle class and are tacitly backed by a royalist oligarchy that sees Thaksin as a corrupt crony capitalist and resents the rapid rise of his political order.

Thaksin has lived abroad since 2008 to avoid a jail term for a graft conviction he says was politically motivated. Critics say Yingluck is merely a stand-in for him.

Thaksin's supporters accuse the military and the establishment, including the judiciary, of colluding over the years to oust his governments.

The military, which has staged numerous coups since Thailand became a constitutional monarchy in 1932, overthrew Thaksin in 2006 but so far has stayed aloof this time.

With several cases against Yingluck and her party taken up by the courts, Thaksin's supporters fear judges might intervene again and they have threatened to stage their own protests if the government is ousted, either by the courts or the military.

About 1,000 curious onlookers crowded the dock for a glimpse of the long-haired fisherman, who smiled and waved briefly before he was whisked away for a medical check-up at Majuro Hospital.

The castaway told US ambassador Thomas Armbruster, who was acting as an interpreter for Marshall Islands authorities, that he was originally from El Salvador but had been living in Mexico for 15 years before his epic voyage.

"He said he is a shrimp and shark fisherman," Armbruster said on Monday in Majuro minutes after talking to him. "He looked better than one would expect."

And foreign ministry officials said he had told them during a debriefing aboard the patrol boat that his full name was Jose Salvador Albarengo.

He was found disorientated and clad only in ragged underpants last Thursday, after his 24-foot (7.3-metre) fibreglass boat floated onto a reef at Ebon Atoll, the southernmost cluster of coral islands in the Marshalls.

Unable to speak English, he communicated to his rescuers through pictures and gestures that he had survived by eating turtles, birds and fish and drinking turtle blood when there was no rain.

No details have yet emerged about why he began drifting the 12,500 kilometre (8,000 mile) expanse between southern Mexico and the Marshall Islands, or about the fate of a companion he said had died a few months ago.

Marshall Islands immigration chief Damien Jacklick said authorities were still gathering information and the foreign affairs department planned to contact overseas officials for his repatriation.

"With the help of the US ambassador, we were able to obtain information on his family members in El Salvador and the United States," he said. "We hope this information will help us track down his family."

Medics plan to give Albarengo a thorough medical check before he is interviewed by detectives.

Stories of survival in the vast Pacific are not uncommon. In 2006, three Mexicans made international headlines when they were discovered drifting, also in a small fibreglass boat near the Marshall Islands, nine months after setting out on a shark-fishing expedition.

UN delegation meets with armed groups in Mali - The Hindu var _comscore = _comscore || [];_comscore.push({ c1: "2", c2: "11398210" });(function() {var s = document.createElement("script"), el = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.async = true;s.src = (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js";el.parentNode.insertBefore(s, el);})(); Follow Today's Paper Archive Subscriptions RSS Feeds Site Map ePaperMobileApps Social SEARCH

Home News Opinion Business Sport S & T Features Books In-depth Jobs Classifieds International South Asia World International» WorldBAMAKO,February 4, 2014 Updated: February 4, 2014 10:10 IST
UN delegation meets with armed groups in Mali APShare · Comment · print · TweetTOPICS World Mali
diplomacy peace negotiations
unrest, conflicts and war armed conflict The U.N. Security Council met on Monday with representatives of armed Tuareg groups active in northern Mali as part of an effort to accelerate peace talks with the government, though participants said disagreements on conditions for the talks had not been resolved.

Tuareg rebels launched a rebellion in northern Mali in early 2012 that gave way to a military coup, allowing them to take control of the country’s north. However, al-Qaeda-linked Islamic extremists later took over much of the north, prompting France to launch a military intervention in early 2013.

Though Mali held successful presidential and legislative elections last year, security in the north remains precarious, and the National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad in particular maintains a strong presence in and around the northern city of Kidal.

Despite the efforts of various mediators, negotiations between the armed groups in the north and the government of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita have stalled. Last month, Tuareg rebels withdrew from negotiations set to take place in Algeria after concluding that their push for greater autonomy would not be addressed. Authorities in Bamako are emphasizing a decentralization process that would bolster the Bamako-based government’s presence throughout the country.

One of the chief goals of the Security Council visit, which ended on Monday, was to accelerate peace talks with all groups in northern Mali.

The visiting U.N. delegation also met with local authorities and received briefings on the work of the country’s U.N. peacekeeping mission. On Sunday France’s U.N. ambassador Gerard Araud said the mission would reach its full operational capacity in July, one year after it took over peacekeeping activities.

Keywords: Mali unrest, Tuareg rebels, al-Qaeda, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, united nations, UNSC

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Most PopularMost CommentedSaudi king orders punishing jihadi fighters UK admits ‘limited’ role in Operation Blue Star Big winter storm hits US East, disrupts travel Mandela’s estate worth $4.1 million A village cut off by floods since Xmas Three dead in attack on Muslim family in southern Thailand 2, including shooter killed at US business park Magnitude-6.1 earthquake hits Indonesia Syrian airstrikes kill at least 18 in Aleppo Russia slams opposition in Ukraine for ‘inflaming’ crisis Devyani’s immunity a fabrication: Bharara (29) Saudi king orders punishing jihadi fighters (5) A village cut off by floods since Xmas (1) Queen Elizabeth II to make state visit to France (1) Three dead in attack on Muslim family in southern Thailand Mandela’s estate worth $4.1 million

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Strong earthquake rattles Greek island - Major EarthquakeStrong earthquake rattles Greek islandAFP Feb 3, 2014, 10.04AM IST Geological Survey|Strong earthquake rattles Greek island|Greek island of Cephalonia

ATHENS: A strong 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck near the Greek island of Cephalonia in the Ionian Sea early on Monday, the the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported.

The quake hit at 5:08am (0308 GMT) with its epicentre just 12 kilometres (7 miles) from the town of Lixourion, 300 kilometres west of Athens, the USGS said.

There were no immediate reports of any damage or casualties. A 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck the same region late last month. That quake was felt on several Ionian islands and as far away as the capital Athens.

Greece is one of Europe's most earthquake-prone countries. Cephalonia has previously been struck on several occasions and in August 1953 virtually every house on the island was destroyed during a major earthquake.

The island was also the setting for the popular novel Captain Corelli's Mandolin, about a Second World War romance between an Italian soldier and a local woman. A 2001 movie of the same name, starring Nicolas Cage and Penelope Cruz, was filmed on the island.

The Mediterranean region as a whole is seismically active due to the convergence of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates.

Anti-graft body opposes Zardari's acquittal in cases -

AcquittalAnti-graft body opposes Zardari's acquittal in casesPTI Feb 3, 2014, 07.39PM ISTTags:Nab|Benazir Bhutto|Asif Ali Zardari

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's anti-graft watchdog on Monday opposed a petition filed by former President Asif Ali Zardari seeking acquittal in five cases against him for alleged corruption.

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor Akbar Tarar submitted the rejoinder to Zardari's petition. The cases against the Pakistan People's Party leader date back to the time when his slain wife Benazir Bhutto was the premier.

Anti-corruption court Judge Mohammad Bashir conducted the hearing in the five cases against Zardari.

Zardari's counsel, former Law Minister Farooq H Naek, filed the petition for his acquittal in the cases related to alleged financial irregularities and kickbacks paid for government contracts.

Naek contended that there was no solid evidence or witness against his client and therefore, the court should acquit him.

Talking to media outside the court, Naek said NAB had opposed Zardari's acquittal and would present its witnesses at the next hearing on February 24.

Zardari became head of the PPP after Bhutto was killed by a suicide bomber in December 2007. The party was routed in last year's general election. Zardari enjoyed immunity from prosecution in criminal cases while serving as President till September 2013.

About 1,000 curious onlookers crowded the dock for a glimpse of the long-haired fisherman, who smiled and waved briefly before he was whisked away for a medical check-up at Majuro Hospital.

The castaway told US ambassador Thomas Armbruster, who was acting as an interpreter for Marshall Islands authorities, that he was originally from El Salvador but had been living in Mexico for 15 years before his epic voyage.

"He said he is a shrimp and shark fisherman," Armbruster said on Monday in Majuro minutes after talking to him. "He looked better than one would expect."

And foreign ministry officials said he had told them during a debriefing aboard the patrol boat that his full name was Jose Salvador Albarengo.

He was found disorientated and clad only in ragged underpants last Thursday, after his 24-foot (7.3-metre) fibreglass boat floated onto a reef at Ebon Atoll, the southernmost cluster of coral islands in the Marshalls.

Unable to speak English, he communicated to his rescuers through pictures and gestures that he had survived by eating turtles, birds and fish and drinking turtle blood when there was no rain.

No details have yet emerged about why he began drifting the 12,500 kilometre (8,000 mile) expanse between southern Mexico and the Marshall Islands, or about the fate of a companion he said had died a few months ago.

Marshall Islands immigration chief Damien Jacklick said authorities were still gathering information and the foreign affairs department planned to contact overseas officials for his repatriation.

"With the help of the US ambassador, we were able to obtain information on his family members in El Salvador and the United States," he said. "We hope this information will help us track down his family."

Medics plan to give Albarengo a thorough medical check before he is interviewed by detectives.

Stories of survival in the vast Pacific are not uncommon. In 2006, three Mexicans made international headlines when they were discovered drifting, also in a small fibreglass boat near the Marshall Islands, nine months after setting out on a shark-fishing expedition.

Russians jailed for stabbing, burning 'gay man' - Times Of India You are here: Home>CollectionsRussians jailed for stabbing, burning 'gay man'AFP Feb 3, 2014, 06.16PM ISTTags:Vladimir Putin|Russian court|Russia Gays

MOSCOW: A Russian court on Monday handed down long jail sentences to three men who stabbed and kicked a man they believed to be gay and then set him on fire.

The men, all from the same village in the region of Kamchatka in far eastern Russia, committed the murder last May because they were "convinced of the non-traditional sexual orientation of their fellow villager," regional prosecutors said in a statement, using a euphemism for being gay.

a strict-regime prison colony," prosecutors said.

The men "lured the man in his car to a deserted part of the forest. There, the eldest man stabbed the victim multiple times in the chest, face and neck, and two others kicked him."

Finally they placed the 29-year-old victim in his car and set the vehicle alight using petrol, prosecutors said.

The men who committed the murder are now aged 26, 22 and 18, with the youngest still a minor at the time of the crime.

It was highly unusual for prosecutors to state publicly that the motive was homophobia. However the men were prosecuted for murder, not for a hate crime, a classification that is rarely used.

In a hugely controversial move decried by gay activists and the West, Russia imposed sanctions for the promotion of "gay propaganda" to minors.

Activists say the measure has helped inflame anti-gay sentiment in the country. President Vladimir Putin has denied that gays and lesbians face discrimination.

In the southern Russian city of Volgograd, a man last year was tortured to death for saying he was gay.

War crimes: no response to Northern Council’s demand -

January 30, 2014 01:40 IST War crimes: no response to Northern Council’s demandMeera SrinivasanShare · Comment(1) · print · TweetTOPICS World Sri Lanka unrest, conflicts and war Holding a probe would only cause chaos: officialTwo days after the Northern Provincial Council demanded an international inquiry into alleged war crimes, the Sri Lankan government has not responded to the resolution that goes against its own position on an outside investigation, but an official aide to President Mahinda Rajapaksa said in Washington that holding an international probe would only cause chaos.

Secretary to the President, Lalith Weeratunga, currently in the United States to lobby against a possibly strong resolution in Geneva, said the country needed at least five years – from the July 2012 date which the Sri Lankan government considers as the start of its reconciliation process – for the effort to take root, news agency Reuters has reported..

The report, published in the state-owned Daily News on Wednesday, quoted him as saying: “After 26 years of conflict ... we want to make it a sustainable peace. It's a very delicate, delicate process.”

Mr. Weeratunga said: “If there is an international investigation, the whole period has to be investigated - from the 1980s onward - which includes the two-year tenure of the Indian peacekeeping force, which will upset India, which will upset our relationship with India.”

Observers here say that by adopting the resolution, the NPC is being openly hostile to the Sri Lankan administration.

Speaking to The Hindu, Dayan Jayatilleka, a former Sri Lankan envoy to the U.N. in Geneva said the resolution did not present the Council as a pragmatic partner in the process of political resettlement. “The resolutions are not only premature, but dangerously polarising,” he said.

Keywords: Sri Lanka war crimes, war crimes probe demand, Northern Provincial Council, Lalith Weeratunga, Mahinda Rajapaksa

View comment(1)Post Comment RELATED NEWS “Resolution reflects people’s feelings”

January 29, 2014 Sri Lanka mass grave toll reaches 50January 28, 2014 US to press Sri Lanka again at UN rights council January 28, 2014 Sri Lanka’s Northern Council seeks international war crimes probeJanuary 27, 2014 More In: South Asia | International | News Tweet Comments(1)RecommendedPost a comment The resolution is not only polarizing and not conducive to
reconciliation, it is illegal, as Sri Lanka, like India, the US and
Israel, has not ratified the Rome ICC War Crimes Treaty, and therefore
the UN Security Council - not the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva -
must authorize a war crimes investigation and prosecution. China and
Russia will veto such action on the Security Council, so the US and
the UK really do not have any political power to make this happen.

And war crimes against a government fighting an internationally
declared terrorist group (LTTE) is a dicey proposition, as the
terrorists routinely commit war crimes by killing innocent civilians
and use civilians as human shields to attempt evade the military
consequences of their actions. This is not like two states fighting,
and one state fighting dirty by deliberately targeting civilians. The
Sri Lanka war is similar to the US War on Terror, in which killed a
lot of civilians to take out Al Qaeda terrorist leaders.from: Metteyya Brahmana Posted on: Jan 30, 2014 at 08:22 IST

Most PopularMost CommentedNawaz Sharif forms panel for talks with Taliban War crimes: no response to Northern Council’s demand Blasts kill four security personnel in Pakistan Plebiscite in Kashmir an inherent right: Noorani “Resolution reflects people’s feelings” Bangladesh parliament begins session US to press Sri Lanka again at UN rights council Pakistan air strikes kill top Taliban leaders, 33 Uzbek fighters Koirala set to become Nepal PM 20 security personnel killed in bomb blast in Bannu Plebiscite in Kashmir an inherent right: Noorani (2) War crimes: no response to Northern Council’s demand (1)

AP A file photo of Canadian pop star Justin Bieber. Canadian pop star Justin Bieber surrendered to Toronto police Wednesday evening in connection with an alleged assault on a limo driver last month.
Bieber, 19, arrived at Toronto Police 52 Division around 7:30 pm (0030 GMT) ET in a large, black SUV.
He was ushered into the police station through a scrum of reporters and fans that had gathered outside.
Toronto TV news station CP24 showed a young girl with a message for the singer: “I love you and I’ll come to jail with you.” In the Toronto case, CBC News reported that Bieber would be officially charged at the 52 station, with a notice to appear at a later date.
Toronto police have been looking into the assault allegations stemming from a December 29 incident.
Toronto police have said they were called to the area of Dundas Street West and University Avenue that evening to investigate allegations that a member of Bieber’s entourage assaulted a limo driver.
Bieber, 19, was seen at the Air Canada Centre during that night’s hockey game, but investigators believe he was in the limo at the time of the alleged attack.
Just last week in Miami, Florida, the teenage pop star was charged with driving under the influence while drag racing in a Lamborghini, resisting police without violence and driving with an expired licence.
Earlier in January in Los Angeles, sheriff’s detectives found drugs at Bieber’s home during a vandalism investigation against the popular singer. Bieber is suspected in the vandalism case of pelting a neighbour’s house with eggs, but not in the drug discovery which was found with his friend.
In one of the quirky overlaps of entertainment and politics, more than 150,000 US residents have put their signatures on a petition to the White House to demand the US government deport the entertainer.
Bieber has legal residence in the United States.
The signers agreed with the statement that Bieber wrongly represented the world of pop culture, was a risk to public safety and a terrible influence on “our nation’s youth.” “We would like to see the dangerous, reckless, destructive and drug abusing Justin Bieber deported and his green card revoked,” the petition on the White House’s We the People, says the website.

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Seven militants killed in Sinai raidDPAShare · Comment · print · TweetTOPICS World Egypt unrest, conflicts and war Seven Islamist militants have been killed in an air raid in Egypt’s restive Sinai peninsula, the country’s armed forces said on Thursday.
The seven died in “a strike by the air force on two houses belonging to highly dangerous takfiri [Islamist extremist] elements loyal to the terrorist [Muslim] Brotherhood organization south of Sheikh Zuwaid on Wednesday morning”, military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Ali wrote on his official Facebook page.
Militant attacks in Sinai have increased in intensity and have spread to mainland Egypt since the deposition by the military of Islamist president Mohammed Morsy.
Many of the attacks, including recent bombings in Cairo and the assassination on Tuesday of a senior security official, have been claimed by a radical group called Ansar Beit al-Maqdis.
The authorities have blamed Morsy’s Muslim Brotherhood for the attacks, and have designated it a terrorist organization.
The Brotherhood, for its part, has condemned the attacks and occasionally suggested that they are orchestrated by the security forces. Learn more »

AP Indian Ambassador to the United States S. Jaishankar Although it has been scarcely over a month since he took over the reins as India’s Ambassador to the U.S. S. Jaishankar in his first public address showed the power of quiet but effective diplomacy as he laid out the case for improving the sentiment surrounding the India-U.S. relationship while appreciating that “the grand strategy underwriting our ties is fundamentally sound.”
Bilateral ties have recently been rocked by the case of former Indian Deputy Consul General Devyani Khobragade, whose arrest on visa fraud charges in New York on December 12 sparked off an intense diplomatic crises that clearly engulfed the new Ambassador’s schedule when he arrived at the end of December 2013.
While Mr. Jaishankar admitted that this episode had been “truly distressing,” he added that what it did highlight was the need for “greater sensitivity, for better understanding and for stronger oversight of our ties.”
In his speech at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace the Ambassador proceeded to carefully pick apart the various factors driving such sentiment and in each case sought to make a compelling argument for why they could significantly improve.
On the positive side, Mr. Jaishankar noted, “comfort levels” in the bilateral relationship were higher than ever before in the light of India-U.S. trilateral dialogues held with Japan and with Afghanistan, and continuing geostrategic convergence that has changed the grand strategy of cooperation between the two countries “from rocket science to a no-brainer.”
However, he reflected, the “problem of sentiment” likely stemmed from the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, no actual deals inked in the pursuit of the civil nuclear deal and New Delhi’s denial of the medium multi-role combat aircraft contract to Washington.
Although the shift in economic conditions appeared to have created a greater focus on tax disputes, localisation and Intellectual Property concerns on the U.S. side and immigration reform, market access, protectionism and totalisation on the Indian one, Mr. Jaishankar assured, “India is concerned about its reputation, and we mean to act to show that we are open to international business.”
To this end the Ambassador highlighted the fact that bilateral trade has quadrupled to $100 billion in the last seven years and investments have crossed the $50 billion mark; that a recent study of 68 Indian companies revealed that their collective investments in the U.S. exceeded $17 billion; and that Indian aircraft orders for the C17 Globemaster, the P8 Poseidon and the C130J Super Hercules supported 40,000 jobs in the defence industry.
Looking forward, Mr. Jaishankar underscored India’s continuing commitment to “Safe Harbor” rules, the clarification of transfer pricing regulations, efforts at limiting the impact of the ‘Preferential Market Access’ policy for IT and telecommunications on the private sector, and maintaining the 100 per cent FDI limit on brown field pharmaceutical acquisitions.
Discussions on tax dispute resolution and the Bilateral Investment Treaty were set to kick off “very shortly,” he added.
Simultaneously the Ambassador expressed concern over the Senate proposal for immigration reform, a policy area that U.S. President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech on Tuesday indicated could come to the fore again.
Mr. Jaishankar said that India was concerned that the Senate bill “defines a category called the H1-B dependent employer, anybody who has more than 15 per cent, which is a very, very low threshold.”
While such a definition would economically disadvantage the company in question, the Ambassador noted, the bill “basically attacks the business model which a lot of companies, not just Indian companies, have in the U.S. We think this is a bad idea [not only because] … their absence is going to hurt the U.S. economy as well.”
He added that he hoped that “something much more balanced and fairer comes out of the House’s deliberations,” on the bill and this could shape the Indian perception of how open the U.S. economy is.

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Italian marines case may impact ties with India: EU - The Hindu var _comscore = _comscore || [];_comscore.push({ c1: "2", c2: "11398210" });(function() {var s = document.createElement("script"), el = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.async = true;s.src = (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js";el.parentNode.insertBefore(s, el);})(); Follow Today's Paper Archive Subscriptions RSS Feeds Site Map ePaperMobileApps Social SEARCH

Home News Opinion Business Sport S & T Features Books In-depth Jobs Classifieds National Andhra Pradesh Karnataka Kerala Tamil Nadu Other States News» NationalBrussels,January 30, 2014 Updated: January 30, 2014 10:03 IST
Italian marines case may impact ties with India: EU IANSShare  ·   Comment(5)  ·  print  ·   TweetTOPICS World Italy
crime murder
crime, law and justice international law justice and rights
diplomacy international relations India The president of the European Commission has said the issue of the Italian marines in India may have an “impact” on the European Union-India relations and “will be assessed carefully”.Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, met Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta in Brussels Wednesday and discussed the case of the two Italian marines who are being held in India.“A point that Prime Minister Letta has raised with me and on which we have been in close contact with the Italian authorities is the issue of the Italian marines in India. The European Union (EU) continues to follow the situation very closely,” Barroso told a joint press conference with Letta afer the meeting.“Any decision on the case may have an impact on the overall European Union-India relations and will be assessed carefully. The European Union encourages India to find, as a matter of urgency, a mutually satisfactory solution to the longstanding case of the Italian marines arrested in February 2012, in accordance with international law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” he said.Barroso said “this issue has also a bearing on the global fight against piracy, to which the European Union is strongly committed”.He said “the European Union is opposed to the use of the death penalty in all cases and under any circumstances”. The European Commission is the executive body of the 28-member European Union.The two Italian marines — Salvatore Girone and Massimiliano Latorre — are facing trial for murder in India. The two were detained in February 2012 when they shot dead two Indian fishermen while guarding an Italian oil tanker off Kerala, mistaking the fishermen for pirates.The Italian prime minister had sought European states’ help to find a positive solution to the case.“We want the marines case to finish soon, as soon as possible,” Xinhua quoted Letta as saying following talks with President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy and Barroso.Italian government’s envoy Staffan De Mistura is set to head for New Delhi Thursday, while reports said a representative of the Italian government could meet the new Russian ambassador to Rome next week, asking him to intercede with Indian authorities in the case.Earlier, a 16-member Italian parliamentary delegation arrived in India on a two-day visit (Jan 27-28) to express support and solidarity with the two marines.“The death penalty would be an attack on Italy,” Fabrizio Cicchitto, a delegate member and chairman of the parliament’s lower house foreign affairs committee, said.
Keywords: Enrica Lexie, Italian Marines, Kerala fishermen killing, Latorre Massimiliano, Salvatore Girone, India-Italy relations, NIA probe, European Union
View comments(5)Post Comment RELATED NEWS Make a genuine attempt to resolve Italian marines case, SC tells A-GJanuary 20, 2014 NIA opposes Italian Marines exemption pleaJanuary 8, 2014 NIA to file charge sheet against two Italian marines soonJanuary 21, 2014 More In: National | News | International Tweet Comments(5)RecommendedPost a comment Death penalty is barbaric and imprisonment till end of life with no
opportunity for remission under any circumstances is cruel. It is for
courts to award any punishment.

It is unacceptable in the interest of justice, however, for any
external govt, or any collective of govts, to lobby for turning a
blind eye to crimes committed by their nationals. The West has got
used to enforcing its self-interest (from slavery, lynching to
colonisation) over the last few centuries. Respect for all humanity â??
the world order in 21st century - demands that the West understands
that human beings all over the world have the same expectations about
adherence to law and right to equal justice (even though, at a given
point in time, some national govts can be more unjust than others), as
their own citizens.

India should uphold law and justice for its citizens and not feel
obligated to acquiesce to unjust bullying by the West, as in past
centuries.from: D Mahapatra Posted on: Jan 30, 2014 at 11:37 IST
So European Union does not believe in death penalty, but they do not
mind killing two innocent Indians. The continent that indiscriminately
tortured and killed Africans and killed their own brethren by the
millions is trying to teach India morals. What hypocrites!from: ramur Posted on: Jan 30, 2014 at 11:09 IST
The government of India might face difficulties in this Marine issue.
As elections are ahead, the popular demand for justice can not be ignored.
Also, as India has good diplomatic relations with the EU, their views are required to be considered. The marines should be punished, but that must not hamper our foreign relations. Delhi should take a balanced stance to deal with the situation.from: S. ALTAP Posted on: Jan 30, 2014 at 10:44 IST
Arm twisting by the EU. The diplomatic jargon 'a mutually satisfactory solution ' means let the marines go free and we will not disturb your business interests.
We should take a leaf out of the US handling of Indian Diplomat and stick to out procedures and allow the law to takes its course. from: mani sandilya Posted on: Jan 30, 2014 at 10:43 IST
The European Union maybe opposed to the death penalty. There are plenty
of nations, India included, however, which are not opposed to the death
penalty. Since, the case is being tried under Indian law, the guilty
could be handed the death penalty. In my view, this is extremely
unlikely. But, the pressure being brought on India by the European
Union is frankly, shameful. The European "whites" still think they can
get away with blackmail. I agree, though, that the case should be
decided quickly. from: Carlos de Souza Posted on: Jan 30, 2014 at 10:27 IST
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TweetTOPICS World Russia Ukraine The tug of war between Russia and the West over Ukraine intensified on Wednesday even as the Ukrainian Parliament struggled to defuse the crisis amid warnings of “civil war.”
Russia’s Parliament accused the Ukrainian opposition of encouraging “pogroms” and “aggression” against police and blasted Western politicians for “destabilising” the situation in Ukraine.
A strongly worded statement unanimously voted by the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian Parliament, described the protests in Ukraine as “a well-organised campaign aimed at discrediting and overthrowing the legitimate government.”
Russian senators expressed “indignation” at Western politicians who “unceremoniously interfere in the internal affairs of Ukraine and deliberately provoke instability in the country.”
The Russian statement came as the West stepped up pressure on Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to go the extra mile to accommodate the opposition. The concessions Mr. Yanukovych made on Tuesday in accepting the resignation of the government and in scrapping anti-protest laws that triggered violent clashes in the streets of the capital failed to appease the opposition.
U.S. President Barack Obama weighed in on Ukraine in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, saying: “In Ukraine, we stand for the principle that all people have the right to express themselves freely and peacefully, and have a say in their country’s future.”
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden placed two calls to Mr. Yanukovych on Monday urging him to pull back riot police. The European Union’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, and Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele arrived in Kiev on Wednesday for talks with Mr. Yanukovych.
As Ukrainian Parliament debated amnesty for protesters on Wednesday, former President Leonid Kravchuk warned the country stood on the “brink of civil war.” “It is a revolution,” Mr. Kravchuk said, addressing the law makers.Mr. Yanukovych agreed to grant amnesty to all protesters, but only if demonstrators stop street protests and vacate buildings. However, opposition leaders wanted the condition to be dropped.

Keywords: Ukraine crisis, Ukranian protests, pro-EU protests, Kiev protests, anti-protest laws
RELATED NEWS Ukrainian premier submits resignation January 28, 2014 Putin raps West for meddling in Ukraine's crisisJanuary 28, 2014 Ukraine PM resigns to facilitate settlementJanuary 28, 2014 Biden calls Ukraine President, urges end to standoffJanuary 28, 2014 EU leaders curtail Russia summitJanuary 27, 2014 Ukraine’s opposition ups its demandsJanuary 26, 2014 Opposition rejects Ukraine leader’s concessionsJanuary 25, 2014 It’s a coup bid: Russia January 23, 2014 More In: World | International | News Tweet Learn more »

AP A 2011 file photo of the BMW i8 concept supercar with trademark gull-wing doors at the 64th Frankfurt Auto Show in Frankfurt AP Photo A test driver has written off a prototype of BMW’s upcoming i8 hybrid supercar after skidding off a greasy trunk road near the Bavarian town of Freising.
“He was going a little bit too fast,” police spokesman Nikolaus Bischof told Germany’s Autobild gazette. The 30-year-old pilot was not breaking the limit, but the speed at which he was travelling was “not appropriate considering the wet road conditions.” The test driver lost control of the exclusive petrol-electric sports car which crashed into a metal barrier and spun around to face traffic on the wrong side of the road.
The man escaped injury and was able to clamber out of one of the car’s distinctive up-and-over gull-wing doors.
BMW spokesman Wieland Buech declined to put a figure on the value of the written-off car. The much-vaunted i8 is being launched as a rival to high-end Porsche and Ferrari models.
The high-performance car goes on sale with prices starting at €126,000 ($172,000). The testbed vehicle was worth more, owing to sophisticated measuring equipment on board. Learn more »

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January 29, 2014 23:27 IST U.K. to take in Syrian refugeesParvathi MenonShare · Comment · print · TweetTOPICS World Syria
unrest, conflicts and war civil unrest U.K. will provide sanctuary to “some of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees” Home Secretary Theresa May announced in Parliament on Wednesday. Victims of sexual violence and torture, women and children at risk, and those in need of urgent medical care will be given priority, she said, with numbers “in the hundreds.”

This represents a widely welcomed turnaround in the government’s position on taking in refugees from Syria. The U.K. had earlier refused to participate in the global resettlement programme of the UNHCR that had asked western governments to resettle 30,000 Syrian refugees in their countries, on the grounds that it was already a major donor of humanitarian aid to Syria.
The Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme announced will, first, target the most vulnerable Syrians in camps for whom “evacuation is the only way out.” Such persons will be identified in consultation with the UNHCR.
Second, the scheme will work in addition to other resettlement schemes already there, notably the Gateway programme and the U.K.’s existing asylum programme. Under the second, around 3500 Syrian asylum seekers have been relocated in the U.K., Ms. May said.
Thirdly, the programme will not subscribe to quotas laid down by the UNHCR even though it will work in parallel with the organisation.
From being a country that had the second largest refugee population settled within its borders, Syria is today the country with the largest refugee exodus. An estimated 2.3 million Syrians have fled the country, a majority of whom are in camps in the neighbouring countries of Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq. UNHCR forecasts that the numbers will swell to 4.1 million by the end of 2014.
The case for opening its borders to Syrian refugees, even in a limited way, was reportedly pressed for strongly by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg with support from Prime Minister David Cameron. They did so against initial resistance from the Home Department that is seeking to reduce net migration to the U.K. to 100,000 by 2015.
Pressure came from other sources too. In late 2013 a group of 25 charities wrote an open letter in The Independent to the Prime Minister asking that Britain join other western governments in accepting Syrian refugees.
Maurice Wren, Chief Executive of Refugee Council, said “Opening our doors to offer safety to the most vulnerable refugees fleeing Syria is the ultimate act of humanity.”

Most PopularMost CommentedKhobragade redux at Indian Ambassador’s first public address Test driver wrecks BMW i8 prototype Norway lawmakers nominate Snowden for Nobel Spying on allies harms security: Merkel U.N. chief meets Fidel Castro Russia-West tussle continues, as Ukraine grapples with crisis Obama bats for the middle class U.K. to take in Syrian refugees Syrian talks resume amid no hope of breakthrough Cutting benefits to the poor at whose cost? Khobragade redux at Indian Ambassador’s first public address (5) India extravaganza at Press Club gala (1) Spying on allies harms security: Merkel (1) Norway lawmakers nominate Snowden for Nobel

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S Korean gold medalist banned for doping violationAPShare · Comment · print · TweetTOPICS sport sports disciplinary action Olympic badminton gold medalist Lee Yong-dae and fellow-South Korean Kim Ki-jung have been handed one year suspensions by the sport’s world governing body for missing doping tests.
In a statement this week, the Malaysian-based Badminton World Federation said as part of its testing program of international level players, “Kim and Lee were required to provide whereabouts information for the BWF to conduct out-of-competition testing. In 2013, both athletes accumulated three whereabouts failures in connection with this administrative process.”
Lee and Kim appeared earlier this month before a three-member BWF Doping Hearing Panel, which found there were extenuating circumstances to only sanction the players for one year instead of the maximum two years because the Badminton Korea Association failed to “make diligent efforts to keep the BWF informed about the players’ whereabouts.”
The pair is banned from participating in any sanctioned competition from Jan. 23, 2014 to midnight on Jan. 23, 2015. They have the right to appeal their bans to the Court of Arbitration for Sport by Feb. 17.
South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that Badminton Korea Association executive director Kim Jung-soo insisted the two athletes only violated administrative procedures and haven’t failed doping tests.
“They have never taken any banned substances,” Kim said. “They have never refused any test or tried to avoid being tested. They have passed all of the doping tests at multiple international competitions.” Learn more »

AP In this January 25, 2014 photo, U.N. mediator Lakhdar Brahimi gestures during a press briefing at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva. Syrian negotiators have resumed talks over the country’s future a day after cutting short their discussions over a U.S. decision to resume aid to the opposition.
The government and opposition delegates met with the U.N.-Arab League mediator Lakhdar Brahimi on Wednesday, but chances for a breakthrough before everyone goes home on Friday appear almost nil as both sides continue to blame each other for an impasse.
A deal to allow humanitarian aid into the besieged city of Homs remain stalled, with the Syrian delegation demanding assurances the U.S. aid will not go to “armed and terrorist groups” in the central city.
The negotiations aimed at ending Syria’s three-year-old conflict began on January 24, 2014 in Geneva and Mr. Brahimi has said both sides were willing to continue despite lack of progress. Learn more »

Home News Opinion Business Sport S & T Features Books In-depth Jobs Classifieds Health Medicine Policy & Issues Health» Policy & IssuesRiyadh,January 29, 2014 Updated: January 29, 2014 17:50 IST Saudi Arabia reports 59th coronavirus deathDPAShare · Comment · print · TweetTOPICS World Saudi Arabia
health disease A Saudi citizen died on Wednesday of the MERS coronavirus, bringing the total number of deaths in the kingdom to 59, the country’s Health Ministry reported on its website.
The victim was 60 years old and suffered from chronic illnesses, the ministry said.
The World Health Organization said this week that the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases of the MERS coronavirus since September 2012 stood at 180, including 77 deaths.
MERS triggers flu-like symptoms and can lead to kidney failure and severe pneumonia.
Most cases have been reported in Saudi Arabia, with smaller concentrations in other Gulf countries. There have also been cases in Europe and North Africa linked to travellers returning from the region.
Around 800 people died of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), also a form of coronavirus, ten years ago. Learn more »

AP German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks during a government statement as part of a meeting of the German federal parliament in Berlin on Wednesday. German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned on Wednesday that country who spies on their allies risk destroying trust, resulting in less rather than more security.

Ms. Merkel used her inaugural address to Parliament after her re-election to slam the United States and Britain over their spy programs. Among the allegations to surface from secret U.S. government documents released by former NSA analyst Edward Snowden last year are that friendly countries and their leaders including Merkel have been the target of electronic eavesdropping.

The U.S. says its surveillance programmes are focused on threats to national security, including terrorism.

“Actions where the ends justify the means, where everything that is technically possible is done, harms trust,” Ms. Merkel said. “It sows distrust. In the end there will be less, not more, security.”

The German leader said her government felt a responsibility to protect the privacy rights of its citizens, too. But she rejected calls to pressure Washington into signing a “no spy” agreement between the two countries by suspending trade talks between the U.S. and the European Union.

“I am leading these talks with the force of our arguments,” she said. “I think we have good ones.”

She indicated she did not expect any easy solution, saying “it’s a long path ahead.”

Ms. Merkel also said despite the recent friction, the “trans-Atlantic partnership remains of outstanding importance.”

“Germany cannot wish for a better partner than the United States of America,” she said.

That remark drew immediate criticism by opposition Left Party leader Gregor Gysi for what he called her “submissiveness toward the United States.”

Ms. Merkel has accepted an invitation from U.S. President Barack Obama to visit Washington in the coming months, though no date has been set. Her spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters Wednesday that the spying issue would be discussed during the visit.

AP This aerial image made from an Egyptian army helicopter shows a general view of green lasers lighting up a pro-military rally marking the third anniversary of the uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak in Tahrir Square in Cairo on Saturday. AP An Egyptian masked policeman guards Cairo's state security chief, Osama al-Saghir, third right, as he visits Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the 2011 uprising, in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014. Demonstrators began gathering Saturday in Egypt’s Tahrir Square to mark the third anniversary of the start of its 2011 revolution, though streets remained empty elsewhere in a city on edge following a spate of bombings claimed by militants. At least 29 people were killed and over 170 injured in clashes in Egypt today as bomb attacks and rival protests marked the third anniversary of the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak. Thousands of supporters of the military-backed government gathered in high-profile locations including Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square -- the focal point of the 18-day popular revolt. The people rallying waved Egyptian flags and banners showing army chief Gen Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whom many urged to run for president. But police dispersed anti-government protesters in Cairo and elsewhere. The worst violence was directed at supporters of deposed President Mohammed Morsi, who staged dozens of rallies across the country. Witnesses reported deadly clashes in Minya, Giza, Alexandria and several other governorates, and the health ministry said that 29 people were dead and more than 170 wounded). There were reports of numerous deaths in Alf Maskan, a neighbourhood in eastern Cairo, though the exact number could not be confirmed. The Muslim Brotherhood said in a statement that more than 50 people have been killed nationwide, though casualty figures released by the group have often been exaggerated in the past, Al Jazeera reported. Armed groups also staged three attacks on security forces, the most spectacular of which reportedly brought down a military helicopter in North Sinai. Two explosions rocked Cairo early on Saturday and a third followed in Suez, targeting a police base. Activists opposed to both the army and the Brotherhood also tried to lay claim to the streets, with a rally in the Mohandiseen district. They were chased off, only to re-group several hours later, blocks away from Tahrir, where security forces fired tear gas and live ammunition. However, the main pro-military event in Tahrir Square was peaceful, protected by a heavy deployment of soldiers and police. The crowds gathered in the square made little mention of the 2011 uprising that toppled Mubarak and instead they came to celebrate Sisi who deposed Morsi in July. Army helicopters orbited overhead, dropping Egyptian flags and coupons for free blankets. Crowds arrived throughout the afternoon, many of them chanting “the people demand the execution of the Brotherhood.” Local media reported that an army helicopter was shot down near the town of Sheikh Zuweid in North Sinai, possibly by a missile. A military spokesman confirmed the helicopter crash, but would not comment on the cause. The interior ministry confirmed a bombing outside a security barracks in Suez, which injured at least nine people. And a small explosion at a police building in eastern Cairo injured one person. The fresh attacks raised fears of further violence a day after four blasts, including a suicide bombing at the police headquarters, killed six persons and wounded nearly 100. An al-Qaeda-inspired militant group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (Champions of Jerusalem) claimed responsibility for yesterday’s attacks. Islamist militants have stepped up attacks on security forces in the region since Sisi toppled Morsi in July, with hundreds killed. Security sources told Ahram Online that at least 300 people were arrested in today’s protests across Egypt. Thousands of supporters of the interim military-backed government also gathered to celebrate the anniversary of the revolution in Tahrir and other squares around the country.
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Officials wearing masks and protective suits piled dead chickens into black plastic bags at Hong Kong's Cheung Sha Wan market Tuesday, where the virus was found, television footage showed.

Cheung Sha Wan -- Hong Kong's only wholesale poultry market --- is now shut for 21 days for disinfection.

Vendors are unable to buy live chickens and farmers have nowhere to send their stock, leaving traders and shoppers disappointed in the holiday period.

Traditionally Hong Kongers buy a live chicken for Lunar New Year celebrations with family.

"I wanted to buy one for my mother for the festival," one shopper in the city's bustling Wan Chai Road food market said.

"But now there is none, I will have to buy something else. Live chickens just taste better than frozen chickens. The texture is different," said the woman, who gave her name as Monica.

At a nearby live chicken stall the normally full cages were empty.

"Of course there is inconvenience because we still need to pay the rent and we want to get paid. The sales volume will be affected", a 59-year-old trader who gave his surname as Law said.

Protest at slaughter

The mass cull started at 10:00 am and was set to last for 10 hours, the agriculture department spokesman said.

Chickens would be given a "chemical treatment" to kill them, after which they would be sent to a landfill, he added.

The move comes days after Hong Kong introduced widespread testing of imported live poultry following growing public concern over the safety of imports, particularly from the mainland.

Local chicken farmers and wholesalers questioned why chicken imports suspected to contain viruses had not been stopped at border checkpoints, but a government spokesman said that there was nowhere to keep them.

"The government should be held fully responsible. It should have stopped the chickens at the border until they were confirmed to be clear of bird flu," wholesaler Cheng Chin-keung told the South China Morning Post Tuesday.

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Uttar Pradesh
politics election
parties and movements
Some analysts are unsure if the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) can replicate its Delhi electoral feat in UP. Allahabad-based researcher-analyst Badri Narayan Tiwari said the AAP was unlikely to cause any upset in major constituencies.
“Without a proper structure, the party could end up with a voting percentage comparable to that of fringe parties like the Quami Ekta Dal,” he said.
Mr. Tiwari felt that the AAP could dent the urban, middle class and youth votes of the Congress and the BJP but did not foresee its making any impact on State parties such as the SP and the Bahujan Samaj Party.
The BJP and the Congress were also dismissive of the AAP’s prospects. While BJP state president Laxmikant Bajpai said the fledgling party would have “no impact whatsoever,” Congress spokesperson Dwijendra Tripathi said the AAP’s development agenda would make “no difference” in Amethi and Rae Bareli.
“Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are established leaders from these constituencies. The AAP has chosen to attack these seats merely to gain popularity,” he said.
The AAP, meanwhile, held a Jan Sabha in Allahabad on Tuesday and pledged support to the students’ movement against ‘corruption’ in the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission. The AAP and the BJP are offering support to the largely apolitical students’ movement with party workers attending demonstrations.
In an incident on Monday, a scuffle broke out between workers of the AAP and the Congress on the Ramlila ground in Amethi during a public debate organized by a TV channel. AAP workers, who were outnumbered, alleged that they were manhandled and chased away from the place.
AAP worker Manish Dwivedi, who was allegedly beaten up, said “250-300 Congress workers were there when we reached the spot. They were trying to force us to remove our caps and when we resisted, they lashed out at us.” Amethi station officer O.P Singh said the incident was a minor one and the AAP had not lodged any complaint.

Keywords: AAP poll prospects, Amethi constituency
2013: The Year That Was2013: A year in international business 2013: A year in international businessBoeing Dreamliners take wing after being grounded; Cyprus makes a last-minute bailout; Microsoft acquires Nokia; a mixed bag from Apple; digital world transacts through bitcoins; the Fed finally tapers and lots more in this year’s international business events. Compiled by V. Bharathkumar... »
Controversies sans frontiers 2013Controversies sans frontiers 2013U.S.'s massive surveillance programme that outraged nations, British Prime Minister's visit to Jaffna to heal the wounds of displaced Sri Lankan Tamils, and turmoil in Egypt after Morsy's ouster are some of the major events that took place in 2013. Compiled by T. Arvind... »
Lights, camera ...blockbuster: Indian cinema 2013Lights, camera ...blockbuster: Indian cinema 2013From mega controversies and bans (Vishwaroopam , Ram Leela ) to surprise hits (Lunchbox, Soodu Kavvum) with many forgettable flops (All in all Azhagu Raja) in between, Indian cinema had them all in 2013. A flashback in 27 frames compiled by Lavanya Prabhakaran.... »
Battling nature and human folly: India’s worst disasters in 2013Battling nature and human folly: India’s worst disasters in 2013A cloudburst unleashed the fury of dammed rivers and swept away entire villages in Uttarakhand killing more than 6000 while a last minute re-scheduling of trains saw more than a 30 pilgrims killed when a footoverbridge collapsed at Allahabad railway station - a list of the disasters that shook India in 2013. Compiled by Preethi Ramamoorthy... »
Voters decide: Elections around the world 2013Voters decide: Elections around the world 2013Political stability for a better economy, thumbs up for good governance, swing between Left and Right, or a change for better reforms… voters from Pakistan to Venezuela made their choices. Compiled by K Deepalakshmi.... »

CAG audit of telcosWill the Delhi HC order on CAG audit of private telecom firms usher transparency in allocation of natural resources? Yes No Can’t sayLatest in this section National entrance test for PG medical quota admissions from 2015–16 Complaints galore on day one of RTE admission process Government committed to protecting interests of Kannada: Siddaramaiah Proposal to abolish many taxes before BJP Parliamentary Board Homework done, India ready for Geneva meet on Syria Congress, BJP dismissive of AAP in U.P. CBI report finds 33 benami transactions in Adarsh “There was a bid to lure people into jehadi activities” Bangladesh post-poll violence hits minorities PM to lay stone for nuclear power plant in Haryana KeralaLDF walkout, sathyagraha, over Western Ghats reports Kerala HC grants bail to Saritha in two more cases Crowd control goes haywire at Sabarimala Mohanlal calls on NSS chief Vizhinjam seaport: date extended for global tenderAndhra PradeshKavitha’s ‘explosive remarks’ create flutter Telangana MLAs oppose changes, voting on bill Pro-Telangana students clash with cops; 40 held Seemandhra TDP and YSRC members may not be suspended Chaos continues at Andhra Pradesh assembly over bifurcationKarnatakaGovernment committed to protecting interests of Kannada: Siddaramaiah Complaints galore on day one of RTE admission process National entrance test for PG medical quota admissions from 2015–16 Changes likely in professional colleges Act for 2015-16 Sugarcane farmers to launch indefinite agitation on Jan. 13 Tamil NaduKarunanidhi warns Alagiri of disciplinary action Scrap unviable Sethu project: T.N. Centre's response ‘inadequate’ in fishermen’s arrest: Jayalalithaa SC allows TN appeal against discharge of two ex-ministers in assets cases Hindustan Motors seeks shareholder nod for Tiruvallur plant sale

AP US Secretary of State John Kerry. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has extended his congratulations to India on the occasion of Republic Day, in the process further signaling Washington’s intention to move forward “with our high-level dialogues and exchanges soon.”

His comment, while typical of the annual statement released by the State Department, attains further significance in the wake of diplomatic hostilities between the two countries spiking following the December 12, 2013 arrest of Devyani Khobragade, India’s former Deputy Consul General in New York.

On Saturday, Mr. Kerry said that on behalf of President Barack Obama and the people of the U.S. he was “delighted to send best wishes to the people of the Republic of India as you celebrate Republic Day on January 26.”

On a reflective note the Secretary added, “The real magic of India lies as much in its promising future as it does in its rich heritage. I'll never forget my first visit to India nearly 20 years ago on a U.S. Senate Congressional trade delegation. The dynamism I saw then continues today. India is a country on the move.”

His comments come after weeks of intense diplomatic parleying culminated in Ms. Khobragade, whose strip-search in the custody of U.S. Marshals sparked outrage in India, being granted full diplomatic immunity by the State Department after her transfer to a new role in the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations was accepted.

Under cover of this immunity Ms. Khobragade was asked to leave the U.S. and she did so on January 9, 2014, however not before being indicted on two criminal charges, felonies relating to visa fraud and the alleged underpayment and overworking of her domestic employee Sangeeta Richard.

While Ms. Richard is likely to receive a T-visa, usually given to victims of human trafficking, going forward, Ms. Khobragade will probably have an arrest warrant issued against her should she ever decide to return to the U.S. Her husband and two daughters, all U.S. citizens, remain in New York.

Even as a cold frost gripped Washington there was a measure of warmth emanating from the State Department this week, however, and Mr. Kerry highlighted recent high-level meetings between the Indian and U.S. sides.

He said, “When I spoke with External Affairs Minister Khurshid in Montreaux this past week, we agreed that both our peoples benefit when the world’s largest and oldest democracies work closely together… and that our countries remain firmly committed to the indispensable U.S.-India partnership.”

Indian Ambassador to the U.S., S. Jaishankar has also recently hinted at a post-Khobragade thaw in bilateral relations, yet indicated to media this week that there may be a push for greater clarity on interpretations of diplomatic and consular immunity, the principle that has been the focus of discussions since the senior diplomat’s arrest last month.

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AP “I affirm to you that the will of the Egyptian people will not be broken,” Adly Mansour said, condemning recent bomb attacks on security force bases. Egypt will hold presidential elections before parliamentary polls, interim President Adly Mansour announced on Sunday, in a move changing the transitional plan laid down after the Army overthrew president Mohamed Morsy last year.

In a brief television address, Mr. Mansour — installed as interim President after Mr. Morsy’s ouster in July — said that nominations would open in the coming days, and that he would issue amended electoral laws to underpin the change.

The amended constitution approved in a referendum earlier this month left it up to Mr. Mansour to decide whether presidential or parliamentary elections would be held first.

Though the transitional plan, outlined in July, envisioned parliamentary elections as the first step after a new constitution was approved, many politicians have argued that presidential polls are the first priority.

Mr. Mansour did not indicate a date for the polls.

There is widespread speculation that Army chief Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi, seen as the architect of Mr. Morsy’s ouster, will run for president.

Separately, Mr. Mansour condemned recent bomb attacks on security force bases.

“These terrorist attacks aim at breaking the will of the Egyptian people ... I affirm to you that the will of the Egyptian people will not be broken,” he said.

The interim President also said that he had asked the prosecutor general to ensure that investigations against detainees, especially students, be carried out speedily “to ensure the early release of all those who have not committed any crime punishable by law.” Security forces have detained thousands of protesters and suspected Islamists since Mr. Morsy was removed from office last year. Many were arrested during the recent wave of protests by mainly Islamist university students.

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12 dead as violence hits China's Xinjiang: Authorities - Times Of India You are here: Home>Collections>Xinjiang12 dead as violence hits China's Xinjiang: AuthoritiesAFP Jan 25, 2014, 03.36PM ISTTags:Xinjiang|Uighur minority|Muslim region

BEIJING: Six people died in explosions and another six were shot dead by police in China's Xinjiang, authorities said on Saturday, in the latest wave of violence to hit the restive region.

The violence in Xinhe in Aksu prefecture in China's far west appears to be linked to triple explosions that rocked the same area on Friday evening, which authorities said resulted in three deaths.

It is unclear if the three deaths reported Friday are included in the latest tally of 12 fatalities.

"As police were dealing with violent incidents a mob threw explosives," with six people killed by police, five arrested and another six killed as they "committed the offence", the Tianshan news portal, which is run by the local government, said Saturday.

Xinhe is an area located at China's extreme west, on its border with Kyrgyzstan and populated predominantly by members of the country's Uighur minority.

Tianshan reported late Friday that triple explosions killed three people and wounded two others in the same area of the largely Muslim region.

One person was killed after two blasts in a hairdressing salon and market, while two others died inside a car which "self exploded" when surrounded by police, Tianshan said.

The vast western region has for years been hit by sporadic unrest by predominantly Muslim Uighurs, which rights groups say is driven by cultural oppression, intrusive security measures and immigration by Han Chinese.

In recent months it has seen more regular violent incidents, usually involving men armed with knives and explosives, according to official media.

Beijing attributes the unrest to religious extremists and separatism. The most serious recent violent incident took place in the Turpan area of Xinjiang, leaving at least 35 people dead in June.

On Friday, the Constitutional Court ruled that the government, in agreement with the Election Commission, could postpone the polls. But Yingluck's Pheu Thai party questioned the legal basis for the ruling.

One official, Thanin Boonsuwan, suggested that the court's ruling did not meet conditions set down by law or precedent. He said that the court decision was merely an opinion and did not mandate a postponement.

The debate over postponing the election came as polling stations across the country were preparing for advance voting on Sunday despite threats from protesters to block it.

Suphot Thariwiboon, an election worker in Bangkok, said there were concerns that protesters will occupy the polling stations, or block access for voters.

The outcome of Sunday's advance voting is seen as a harbinger for the main vote. Some 49 million of the country's 64 million people are eligible to vote, and 2.16 million of them have applied for advance voting. In the country's last general election in 2011, 35 million of 47 million registered voters cast their ballots.

Pheu Thai officials hinted the government would consider a postponement of the Feb. 2 vote if the opposition Democrat Party, which plans to boycott the polls, agrees to take part, and if anti-government demonstrators cease their protests.

Neither the Democrats nor the protesters have agreed to those conditions.

"This isn't about compromise," protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban said. "The people (protesting) will never go home because what the people want is political and national reform."

Yingluck and the Election Commission are set to meet on Tuesday to discuss the election plans.

Commissioner Theerawat Theerarojwit said the election body believes the vote should be postponed so that the contending sides can first talk with each other.

"As for the February 2 election, I don't believe it can be held," he told reporters. "It won't be able to be held because if there are elections on that day people could get hurt, and the (Elections Commission) doesn't want people to get hurt."

Even if the polls go ahead, it is possible that protesters' efforts to block candidates and voters may result in some legislative seats not being filled, denying Parliament a quorum and keeping it from convening, which would prevent a new government from being formed.

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Syrian government and opposition meet for first time in presence of mediator: UN - Times Of India You are here: Home>CollectionsSyrian government and opposition meet for first time in presence of mediator: UNReuters Jan 25, 2014, 03.38PM ISTTags:united nations|Lakhdar Brahimi|Brahimi(UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi's…)

GENEVA: Syria's warring sides met briefly together in the same room on Saturday for the first time since peace talks started in Geneva, the UN said.

UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi's spokeswoman confirmed on Saturday morning that he and the two sides were meeting in the same room.

The meeting, during which Brahimi spoke while the two delegations had listened, wrapped up in under half an hour, a source inside the room told AFP.

The delegations had been due to sit down early Friday at UN headquarters in Geneva for their first direct talks, but Brahimi was unable to get them into the same room after the opposition insisted the regime must be prepared to discuss Assad leaving power.

Following the brief meeting Saturday morning, the two sides were believed to have moved to separate offices, with Brahimi shuttling between them.

The UN mediator was expected to try to coax the two parties back into the same room for an afternoon session seen focusing on humanitarian issues, especially the situation in the besieged central city of Homs.

With neither side appearing ready for serious concessions, mediators will be focusing on short-term deals to keep the process moving forward, including on localised ceasefires, freer humanitarian access and prisoner exchanges.

Opposition Coalition official Ahmad Ramadan told AFP weekend talks would focus on Homs, where hundreds of families are living under siege with near-daily shelling and the barest of supplies.

"We will talk exclusively about... how to put an end to the siege of Homs, ensuring humanitarian corridors to besieged areas and stopping the regime's bombing and killing," Ramadan said Friday.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad denied that the talks would focus on Homs.

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Protesters, police in standoff in Kiev after sporadic clashes - Times Of India You are here: Home>Collections>Security ForcesProtesters, police in standoff in Kiev after sporadic clashesPTI Jan 25, 2014, 02.02PM ISTTags:Protesters-police standoff|Kiev unrest|Kiev sporadic clashes

KIEV: Protesters and Ukrainian police were on Saturday still locked in a tense standoff in Kiev after a night of sporadic clashes that erupted despite a truce.

The epicentre of the two month-long crisis was relatively calm early today but hundreds of protesters were still at the scene with the security forces on the other side of their lines.

Overnight, demonstrators had hurled Molotov cocktails at police who responded with stun grenades and rubber bullets, AFP correspondents said.

The exchanges on Grushevsky Street in Kiev lacked the ferocious intensity of those earlier in the week but will raise concerns about the sustainability of the truce.

The clashes had killed five activists earlier in the week, according to protesters. The authorities have confirmed two shooting deaths but insisted police were not involved.

Demonstrators also set fire again to the barricade of tyres they have made at their frontline, sending black smoke and yellow flames into the night sky. Protesters constantly threw new tyres on the fire to keep the blaze going.

The wind blew the noxious smoke towards the police, leaving the demonstrators almost invisible for the security forces.

However by the morning, the protesters allowed the fires to dwindle almost to nothing and used them mainly to warm themselves on another freezing day in Kiev, where temperatures plummeted to -20 Celsius overnight.

The police and protesters had since Thursday morning largely observed a truce brokered by opposition leader and world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko to give negotiations a chance.

The interior ministry meanwhile said a body of a police officer was found in southern Kiev, though without linking it to the protesters or clashes which have mostly engulfed the city centre.

The ministry further accused the opposition camp's security of "attacking three police officers" near the Independence Square protest hub, injuring one of them with a knife and holding the other two captive.

The opposition denied responsibility for the attack or the killing yesterday and asked the police "not to provoke the situation by spreading false and dangerous news."

"The resistance headquarters categorically denies this and consider this a conscious provocation done in order to stoke police outrage against the protesters," said a statement posted on the website of the Batkyvschina (Fatherland) party early today.

An al-Qaida inspired group - Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, or Partisans of Jerusalem - claimed responsibility for the bombings, all of them targeting police, and urged ordinary Egyptian "Muslims" to stay away from police buildings.

Police sealed off the capital's main squares as supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, toppled by the military in July, readied counter-demonstrations to the commemorations called by the authorities.

The Islamists have announced more than a dozen planned marches from Cairo mosques for Saturday to launch 18 days of protests.

On Friday, clashes pitting Morsi supporters against their opponents and police killed 14 people nationwide.

Police, who have killed hundreds of Islamist protesters in street clashes since Morsi's overthrow, have vowed to put a stop to their planned demonstrations.

But they have encouraged Egyptians to turn out in support of the interim government, and some politicians called for rallies to back army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the general who overthrew Morsi in July.

Tahrir Square, epicentre of the popular revolt that toppled autocratic president Hosni Mubarak in 2011, was closed off by police and soldiers ahead of the commemorations.

Morsi's Islamist supporters condemned Friday's bomb blasts as they have previous attacks on the police and army.

But following a previous attack on a police building in December, also claimed by Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, the authorities declared Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood a "terrorist organisation", making even expressions of verbal support punishable by heavy prison sentences.

That view has been taken to heart by the Brotherhood's opponents - after each of Friday's bombings, crowds gathered brandishing posters of Sisi and shouting praise for the government he installed.

Officials in the government and military have been hinting for days that the turnout at the pro-government rallies on Saturday could be a bellwether for a run by Sisi in a presidential election promised for later this year.

Mubarak was forced to step down on February 11, 2011 after 18 days of demonstrations that left some 850 people dead, ending his three-decade rule of the Arab world's most populous country.

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Faced with a weeks-long standoff in Anbar province, west of Baghdad, and Iraq's worst protracted unrest since 2008, authorities have been urged by foreign leaders to pursue political reconciliation in a bid to undercut support for militants.

But Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has taken a hard line with a view to the looming election, and officials have trumpeted security operations.

Shelling began late on Friday in the south Fallujah neighbourhood of Nazal and continued into the early hours of Saturday, killing eight people, including a young child, and wounding seven, said Doctor Ahmed Shami of the city's main hospital.

Residents of the city on Baghdad's doorstep blame the army for the shelling. Defence officials insist the military is not responsible.

Near Anbar provincial capital Ramadi farther west, security officials said they killed 20 militants in the Albu Faraj area, state television reported.

Fallujah and parts of Ramadi have been in the hands of anti-government fighters for weeks, some of them from the Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

It is the first time militants have exercised such open control in Iraqi cities since the peak of the violence that followed the 2003 US-led invasion.

Fighting erupted in the Ramadi area on December 30, when security forces cleared a year-old Sunni Arab protest camp.

The violence then spread to Fallujah, as militants moved in and seized the city and parts of Ramadi after security forces withdrew.

The government says it is fighting Al-Qaeda while Fallujah residents and tribal sheikhs have said ISIL has tightened its grip on the city. But other militant groups and anti-government tribes have also been involved in battling government forces in Anbar.

The protracted standoff has prompted more than 140,000 people to flee their homes, the UN refugee agency said on Friday, with its spokesman Peter Kessler describing it as the worst displacement in Iraq since the 2006-08 sectarian conflict.

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No pact without peace process: Karzai - Times Of India You are here: Home>CollectionsNo pact without peace process: KarzaiAP Jan 25, 2014, 02.21PM ISTTags:Taliban|Hamid karzai|bilateral security agreement(Karzai has repeatedly…)

KABUL, Afghanistan: Afghan President Hamid Karzai says he will not sign a security pact with the United States unless Washington and Pakistan launch a peace process with Taliban insurgents.

Karzai has repeatedly refused to approve the Bilateral Security Agreement, which allows American troops to remain in Afghanistan beyond the end of this year.

The US wants Karzai to accept a residual force of foreigners to stay on and back up the new Afghan security forces, but Karzai says before accepting the terms governing that force, he wants Washington to help resume peace talks. Pakistan's help is seen as key to that having any chance of success.

"If US is not willing to accept our conditions on the BSA they can leave anytime and Afghan will go without foreigners,'' Karzai told reporters on Saturday.

30 hurt in AAP-police clash; Kejriwal ends protest:

New Delhi, January 21:

At least 30 people, including 19 policemen, were injured Tuesday when Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supporters clashed with the police during a sit-in here. Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Tuesday evening called off his street protest followed an appeal by Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung.

Over 100 AAP protesters Tuesday forcefully entered Rafi Marg that leads to the protest site after pushing through barricades, resulting in a clash with the police.

Earlier, Kejriwal said he was determined to continue the protest near the Rail Bhavan, where he and his cabinet members were stopped Monday while on their way to the union home ministry to demand that the Delhi Police be brought under their control and action taken against five police officers.

Police tried to stop the advancing AAP volunteers who did not pay heed, resulting in a scuffle.

"At least 11 people were injured in the clash and were taken to hospital while 18 policemen were hurt," a police officer told IANS.

"One of our policeman suffered a broken nose," said the officer.

Meanwhile, an AAP leader said three people, including a woman, have been admitted to a hospital while six others who received minor injuries were discharged.

The AAP supporters had earlier pelted stones at police officials and injuring constable Dinesh Gupta, posted at the Mukherjee Nagar police station, who was hurt near his eye and was rushed to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital where his condition was stable.

"They (AAP) are pelting stones intermittently. We will take legal action as required," Joint Commissioner of Police Mukesh Kumar Meena told IANS.

A journalist, Nagendra Nath Mishra, who tried to enter the protest site was allegedly beaten up by police.

--IANS

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