Sri Lanka president urges LTTE to lay down weapons, surrender
INT46International/Terrorism/DefenceSri Lanka president urges LTTE to lay down weapons, surrenderColombo, Oct 11 IANS Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa Saturday reiterated his government's commitment to "eradicate terrorism" in the island nation and urged the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam LTTE to surrender with their weapons and enter the democratic mainstream to achieve lasting peace.Rajapaksa made these remarks at an All-Party Conference APC he summoned after several months to apprise its members of the current developments on his government's effort "to eradicate terrorism, establish peace and restore democracy throughout the country", his office said in a statement. "I wish to once again very clearly call on the LTTE to lay down their arms and surrender. They should act in this manner and enter the democratic political process. Our aim should be to ensure the democratic political rights of our Tamil brethren," Rajapaksa has been quoted as telling the APC.The APC was set up in 2006 by Rajapaksa and tasked to suggest a system of devolution to solve Sri Lanka's ethnic problem.It met without the main opposition United National Party UNP and the radical Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna JVP, which is considered the third political forces in the country.Pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance TNA sources said it was not invited for the APC. Claiming that the country has "reached an important juncture in the difficult path of eradicating terrorism", the president stressed the importance for the political forces in the country to work together "not to betray the people in their eager search for democracy and peace, away from the path of violence"."However difficult it may be, it is my belief that the efforts to find political solutions to political issues should be continued. It is my belief that there are no military solutions to political questions," Rajapaksa said. "It is our duty to ensure to the Tamil people of the North the same democratic rights as enjoyed by the people in all other parts of the country. Military operations have become necessary to eradicate terrorism from the country and enthrone democracy throughout the land," the president said.New entry to Saturday's APC was the renegade rebel leader and newly appointed parliamentarian, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, who leads the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal TMVP, an ally of the ruling coalition. According to the president's office statement, the representatives of the parties present at the conference supported Rajapaksa's initiative "to end terrorism and restore peace in the country, and also the measures being taken to ease the temporary hardships faced by the people of the North due to the ongoing military operations".After several rounds of meeting, the APC early this year recommended the government to fully implement the provisions already contained in the 13th amendment to the constitution. The 13th amendment to Sri Lanka's constitution came after the Indo-Lanka Accord in 1987 and talks about devolving powers to the provincial councils as a unit of devolution.--Indo-Asian News Servicepk/am/jg515 Words*11101713
2008-10-11 09:04:09Iran opposition to challenge Ahmadinejad in polls
INT49International/PoliticsIran opposition to challenge Ahmadinejad in pollsTehran, Oct 11 DPA Iranian opposition groups are preparing to mount a challenge to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in next June's presidential elections, local media reported Saturday. Mehdi Karroubi, the 71-year-old head of the moderate Etemad Melli National Trust party, will most likely be the first to confirm his candidacy for the June 12, 2009 elections in a press conference Sunday. Reformers are still hoping to persuade former president Mohammad Khatami to run for office, but the 65-year-old cleric has not yet decided. An alternative for Khatami could reportedly be former vice-president Mohamad-Ali Najafi, 56, who is currently member of the Tehran City Council. Another potential candidate from the opposition camp could be the former National Security Council Hassan Rowhani, 60, a moderate cleric who is also close to influential ex-president Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani. All four are known to be fiercely opposed to Ahmadinejad's policies but observers believe that too many candidates would result in them splitting up the opposition vote, to Ahmadinejad's advantage. There have been reports that the conservative groups critical of the president might choose Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani as their candidate. But the former chief nuclear negotiator Saturday said he had no plans to run. Another candidate from the conservative camp could be Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf who is popular in the capital and respected by the system due to his time as the capital's police chief. The 50-year-old technocrat is however not well known in other Iranian provinces. Ahmadinejad, 52, hopes to get the unanimous support of the ultra-conservative factions, but even clerical circles are critical of the president's adventurous policies, both in foreign affairs and in the economy. Constantly-increasing inflation, officially at almost 30 percent but believed to be even higher, is the biggest problem currently facing Ahmedinejad, along with Iran's international political isolation due to his insistence on continuing to pursue controversial nuclear projects. While new packages and plans have so far failed to bring the desired economic results, those who voted for Ahmadinejad because of his promises to implement economic reforms in favour of the poor are gradually losing faith in him.--DPAsnb/jg385 Words11101811
2008-10-11 09:01:09Former top officer to address PUP
Former PSNI assistant chief constable Peter Sheridan is to address the Progressive Unionist Party's annual conference. ...
2008-10-11 05:01:16German bows out as Lib Dem leader
Mike German will bow out as Welsh Liberal Democrat leader with a speech to his party's autumn conference later...
2008-10-11 05:05:16Interplanetary voyages - Man's quest for a second home
INT15International/ScienceInterplanetary voyages - Man's quest for a second homeBy Andrei KislyakovMoscow, Oct 11 RIA Novosti Deep space exploration is becoming an ever bigger part of national space programmes. Currently, missions to the Moon and Mars are considered feasible.The US has announced preparation for another space probe launch to collect data from the martian atmosphere, scheduled for 2013.In Russia, martian exploration is confined to ground tests so far. The project Mars-500, aimed at determining the effect of a space flight over months on the crew, will be launched soon under the aegis of the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems IMBP.Meanwhile, despite active preparation for long interplanetary voyages, the necessity of using manned vehicles for these expensive and dangerous enterprises is still undecided.Scientists and many other people have doubts.Today there is no need to prove that the secrets of life's basic building blocks are related to space. Revealing these secrets would enable us to simulate basic life processes, therefore granting us the key to the essence of birth, evolution and death.Obviously, it is impossible to gain this knowledge without sending a human to space for long period.Moreover, there are pragmatic reasons for manned interplanetary flights. All the Earth's resources have been calculated, enabling us to determine how long they will last.According to recent calculations, hydrocarbons will last for no more than 80 to 140 years. The idea of using uranium as an extensive source of energy is also not very encouraging, as it is still to be quarried over the next few decades.It is clear that soon we may have to leave the Earth in search of other places to live. Manned missions to the Earth's closest neighbours, currently in preparation, should not be regarded as purely scientific experiments. Such flights are part of a search for a way to provide life support in extraterrestrial space.This is the principle which guides Russian scientists, approaching the task of creating a new life support system LSS for interplanetary missions, including lunar and martian bases.Participants of the international conference on Life Support Systems as a Means of Human Exploration of Outer Space, held in late September at the Russian Academy of Sciences, mentioned the necessity of developing a conceptually new closed-cycle LSS for long-range space flights.Yury Sinyak, head of a department at the IMBP, says: "The primary task for interplanetary mission preparation is increasing the circularity of the LSS". This system will differ radically from the one installed on the ISS, which provides no complete substance cycle.Scientists say the development of an LSS capable of ensuring full regeneration of basic vital life elements will take at least 10 years. The main challenge is to ensure a continuous supply of oxygen, water and food, and bio-waste disposal.Development of a closed-cycle system, however, is only part of the major problem of life support in space."A further development of manned space flight technology will require a full-featured living environment involving employment of planetary resources and including biological elements as part of an LSS," a report by Energia Corporation scientists says.-RIA Novostidkg/jg558 Words11100836
2008-10-11 00:00:00Vaiko protests attacks on Tamils in Sri Lanka, courts arrest
NAT92National/Diplomacy/Politics/RightsVaiko protests attacks on Tamils in Sri Lanka, courts arrestChennai, Oct 10 IANS MDMK leader Vaiko Friday courted arrest here Friday, protesting against the central and state governments not doing enough to stop attacks against Tamils in Sri Lanka."Our protest is against both the central and state governments that are speaking with a forked tongue on the issue of the suffering Tamils of Sri Lanka. While the centre is colluding with Colombo's military machine indulging in genocide, the state government is issuing bland statements of eyewash," Vaiko told reporters before being arrested in the heart of the state capital.He was released later in the evening. AIADMK leader Jayalalitha had earlier blamed the LTTE for escalating the civil war that has killed "thousands of innocent civilians... including India's former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi", called for a halt of military aid to Sri Lanka and demanded that the minority Tamils of the neighbouring country be accorded opportunities to live honourably and peacefully in autonomous regions united by a federal government.The ruling DMK had Thursday called for an all party conference Oct 14 to discuss the issue, which both AIADMK and MDMK are slated to boycott. Jayalalitha had slammed Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi for not acting to save the minority Tamils of Sri Lanka from continuing suffering and quietly allowing the Indian government's collusion with the Sri Lankan military establishment.The Sri Lankan diplomatic mission here has, however, remained tight-lipped over the developments.During a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier this month, Karunanidhi had demanded that India lodge a strong protest with the island's diplomatic mission in New Delhi against attacks on Tamils in Sri Lanka and Indian fishermen allegedly by the island's defence establishment.--Indo-Asian News Servicetsv/mv/vm306 Words10102322
2008-10-10 14:06:12Asean to study impact of trade liberation on health
INT56International/Diplomacy/Health/BusinessAsean to study impact of trade liberation on healthManila, Oct 10 DPA Southeast Asian health ministers Friday called for a study on the impact of trade liberalisation on health to ensure that people are protected from harmful products that are easily distributed across borders. The ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Asean also agreed that there was a need to look into the negative effects of increasing migration of health workers. The Asean health ministers were meeting in Manila with their counterparts from China, Japan and South Korea. The scandal over tainted Chinese milk and dairy products dominated the discussions. "The health ministers share the common view that globalisation and trade liberalisation may contribute to positive and negative implications to the health sector," said Philippine Health Secretary Francisco Duque. Duque said the ministers welcomed the "move to mount a regional initiative... to discuss and to develop approaches to address the negative impact of trade liberalisation". Chinese Vice Minister for Health Liu Qian assured his counterparts that Beijing has put in place the necessary measures to resolve the melamine-milk scandal that has spread to various countries in Asia. "The Chinese government is urging all exporters to follow our market rule banning all tainted milk and milk products," he told a press conference after the meeting. "All the products in the market are now safe." During the meeting, the participating health ministers agreed that melamine, even at the "minutest amount, should never be added deliberately to any food product." Chinese milk and dairy products laced with melamine - a binding agent and coating for particle, fibre and laminated board - have been linked to the deaths of four Chinese babies. More than 50,000 children fell ill after consuming the contaminated products. Since the scandal broke out, more than 30 countries, including Asean member countries, have banned, recalled or found contamination in dairy products from China. Asean consists of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar Burma.--DPAsnb/dg363 Words10101905
2008-10-10 10:00:10World Food Day to stress on climate change, bio-energy
INT48International/Energy/EnvironmentWorld Food Day to stress on climate change, bio-energyRome, Oct 10 Xinhua Climate change and bio-energy are the focus of this year's World Food Day activities, expected to involve over 150 countries, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation FAO said Friday.FAO celebrates World Food Day each year Oct 16, the day on which the organisation was founded in 1945."Global warming is already under way and adaptation strategies are now a matter of urgency, especially for the most vulnerable poor countries. Hundreds of millions of small-scale farmers, fishermen and forest-dependent people will be worst-hit by climate change," said Alexander Mueller, FAO assistant director-general for Natural Resources Management and Environment Department. "Adaptation strategies, especially for the most vulnerable poor countries, where most of the over 920 million hungry people live, need to be urgently developed, reviewing land use plans, food security programs, fisheries and forestry policies to protect the poor from climate change," said Mueller. The FAO Committee on World Food Security, with representatives from more than 100 countries and a number of civil society organisations, will meet in Rome Oct 14-17 to assess trends in the world food security and nutrition situation. Suzanne Mubarak, wife of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, will deliver the keynote address at the World Food Day ceremony in Rome Oct 16. Former US president Bill Clinton will participate in a ceremony at the United Nations in New York Oct 23. Major World Food Day events are planned in Albania, Egypt, Morocco, South Korea and a number of Asian and Latin American countries during October. For example, the president of Colombia will participate in World Food Day event in Medellin. In Ecuador, roundtable discussions and seminars on the World Food Day theme are scheduled. A third edition of the popular Run for Food will take place in Rome Oct 19 involving over 4,000 people with a similar event to be held simultaneously in Milan. Together with the European Professional Football League EPFL, FAO will also launch its Professional Football against Hunger initiative Oct 15 in Rome. This campaign, with a special emphasis on raising awareness among young people, will involve 960 clubs that are EPFL members. Among other activities, the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry will hold a World Food Day seminar in Stockholm Oct 16. On the same day, in Brussels a joint conference on the food crisis will take place between the EU Agricultural Information Centre, the European Parliament Development Commission and FAO.Also on World Food Day, Ireland's Freedom from Hunger Council will organise a seminar in Dublin. Similar events are planned throughout Italy. In Spain, the annual WFD Telefood gala will take place Nov 8 over a period of seven hours. --Xinhuapb/dkg/vt487 Words10101639
2008-10-10 08:00:00SRINAGAR
NAT13National/Politics/EconomyBusy schedule awaits prime minister in SrinagarSrinagar, Oct 10 IANS Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who arrives here Friday afternoon, has a busy schedule ahead on his two day visit to the valley.After inaugurating the first phase of the 450 MW Baglihar Power Project in the Jammu region, the Prime Minister will arrive here to hold consultations with the major political parties in Jammu and Kashmir."The consultations have been necessitated because of a lack of consensus among the political parties about the timing of the forthcoming assembly elections in the state," sources here told IANS."Invitations for the meeting have already been extended to all mainstream political parties. The meeting is scheduled at 5 p.m. Friday at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre SKICC in Srinagar," sources said.The prime minister will hold a media conference here after the meeting with the political parties.He is scheduled to spend the night in the Jammu and Kashmir summer capital Srinagar.On Saturday, Singh will inaugurate the valley's first train on the Qazigund-Srinagar-Rajwansher section connecting south and north Kashmir districts.The ambitious multi-billion Kashmir rail link would finally connect the landlocked valley with the rest of the country after it becomes fully operational next year.Rs.22.75 billion have been spent on the Qazigund-Baramulla section of the rail link in the valley which is 119 km long.The Kashmir rail project was accorded national project status by the central government in 2001.Laying the rail link between the valley and the rest of the country has been Indian railways' most challenging task.The prime minister will board the train on its symbolic run after flagging it off from the Nowgam station near Srinagar Saturday morning.The diesel multiple unit DMU train has air-conditioned coaches with push-back seats and heating arrangements to suit the weather conditions in the valley.--Indo-Asian News Servicefa/ak/jg334 Words*10101258
2008-10-10 04:00:00Prime Minister to arrive in J-K today
Srinagar, Oct 10 ANI: Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will arrive in Jammu and Kashmir on a two-day visit today. During his visit, Dr. Singh is scheduled to inaugurate the 450 MW Baglihar Hydro Electric Power Project in Ramban district.This is the third power project commissioned in the border state on river Chenab. The Baglihar Project has been completed at a cost of Rs. 5200 crores and will generate 2800 million units of electricity every year.Later, Dr. Singh will fly to Srinagar where he will meet leaders of various political parties including National Conference, Congress, PDP, CPM and Panthers Party. On Saturday, Dr. Singh will flag off the first train connecting Srinagar to central Kashmir from Nowgam to Budgam. He will board the Diesel Multiple Unit DMU train from Nowgam station as a symbolic gesture.The inauguration of this train service was a part of the plan to connect Baramulla to Qazigund.The commercial use of the train will take some time to start. ANI
2008-10-10 02:54:38
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