Korea to use taekwondo for overseas peace mission

World Friends Korea, the local version of the Peace Corps of the United States, unveiled a plan Wednesday to use taekwondo, a traditional Korean martial art, to promote peace and friendship in underdeveloped countries around the world.

The measure reflects a growing interest in Korean culture in Asia and Africa and the country's strengthening economic and cultural ties with the regions.

In a report to President Lee Myung-bak at Cheong Wa Dae, the organization, run by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), said its top priority this year is to enhance mutual understanding of culture and lifestyles between Korea and countries in need.

One of the ideas is to teach taekwondo to the younger generation. It has formed a group of young martial artists to demonstrate their abilities in the countries.

The organization said it will also open the door to senior citizens who are interested in goodwill activities overseas.

"It is very meaningful to help less-developed nations fight poverty and promote economic growth. It is our obligation and it is our privilege," President Lee said in a congratulatory message. "I hope you will become good friends of the countries and help them better understand Korean culture and people."

The expansion of overseas volunteering is one of the 10 projects the Presidential Council on Nation Branding adopted last year to help the country become a more responsible member of the international community.

The council, headed by former Korea University President Euh Yoon-dae, was created in January last year at the instruction of President Lee.

World Friends Korea was launched in May last year as the unified organization for the country's overseas volunteer activities. Until then, ministries and government agencies organized their own volunteer programs.

This year, Korea plans to send about 2,500 volunteers around the globe. Including those who belong to civic and religious groups, the number of Korean volunteers overseas is expected to surpass 3,000.

They will work with governments, schools, non-profit organizations and business people in various areas, including education, the environment, agriculture and information technology.

Currently, the U.S. is the only country that sends more than 3,000 volunteers abroad annually.

Disney to build new 2,000-room Art of Animation Resort

Walt Disney World is about to begin building its first new hotel in seven years, a 2,000-room resort that will open in 2012.
Disney’s Art of Animation Resort will feature 1,120 suites with room for as many as six people each and another 864 traditional hotel rooms, with a design theme based on four of the company’s most popular animated movies.
The complex will be priced as a “value” hotel, at the low end of Disney World’s scale, similar to Disney’s Pop Century and All-Star resorts, where standard rates begin at $82 a night.
The announcement is one of the strongest signals yet from Disney that it thinks a sustained recovery is under way from the long travel slump brought on by the global recession. Disney executives, who have been weighing construction of a family-suites hotel for several years, finally approved the project in January.
But in deciding to add another lower-priced hotel, Disney also appears to be betting that travelers will continue the frugal spending habits many adopted during the downturn. Disney has been relying on discounts to sustain attendance during the past year, and executives acknowledged Tuesday that consumers are still searching for deals even as Disney attempts to return to pre-recession prices

Deepika all set to sashay down Cannes red carpet

For those involved in cinema the world over, the annual Cannes Film Festival is without question the most happening place to be.
So, later this week, when Deepika Padukone [ Images ] sashays down the red carpet at the 63rd annual Cannes [ Images ] Film Festival, she'll know she's reached new heights!
Even more interestingly, Deepika will be wearing a sensuous sari designed by Indian designer Rohit Bal. Lucky Deepika, because it's Bal's first work since falling ill with a heart ailment and having surgery earlier this year.
Speaking on the issue of whether Deepika should don a Western or Indian garment at the event, Bal revealed in an interview to an Indian daily newspaper, that, 'There's a lot of criticism on why Indian women wear Western outfits at red carpets of premiere events. This year Deepika will show the world how beautiful saris are. She will be wearing a beautiful, super sexy saree.'
In another interview, Bal clarified that the sari would be 'ivory' in colour!
For her part, Deepika seems really, really excited. "It is a great honour to walk the red carpet representing India [ Images ] in Cannes and it's a great joy to work with Rohit again," she told the Indian daily newspaper.
Unfortunately, due to her super busy schedule, she'll only be in Cannes for one day, for the premiere of French film Tournee (On Tour), directed by Mathieu Amalric, which is competing for festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or.

More than 5% of Scots are alcohol dependent

In this week's Scrubbing Up, Dr Catriona Morton says drastic measures are needed to save Scottish drinkers from themselves.
In order to curb dangerous drinking, supermarkets must be prevented from selling cheap alcohol and awarding loyalty points with purchases, she says.
We are facing a new pandemic - alcohol as a major risk factor for poor health.

In Scotland, the majority of adults are exceeding recommended drinking limits and 5% (probably more) are alcohol-dependent.
Voluntary codes, hazard-labelling and NHS health promotion efforts are simply not working - so we need to hit the drinking culture at the heart by introducing minimum pricing, and removing supermarket loyalty points for alcohol.
Scotland now has the world's eighth-highest level of alcohol consumption.
We need to do something now to protect not only the health of Scots but the NHS.

I have teenage patients admitted from casualty as they are too alcohol-intoxicated to safely go home: occasionally they have to be put on a ventilator in intensive care

Pandemics require robust, evidence-based policies.
The doubling of alcohol consumption in the last 40 years reflects a marked reduction in relative price: some alcohol now costs less than bottled water.
A feature of young people's binge drinking is that they 'pre-load', by relying on shop-bought alcohol.
The home is the commonest drinking location for 75% of Scots.
Supermarkets are therefore crucial, because of their 'special deals' around cheap alcohol.
Our society doesn't allow loyalty points on cigarette purchases, as it seems perverse to have additional incentives to buying harmful toxins.
Loyalty points do, albeit indirectly, make alcohol cheaper.
Unlike cigarettes, alcohol does not necessarily harm at "low doses", but our epidemic is because of pervasive high levels of intake, and this is more than sufficient to justify restricting both price and points.
Working as a GP in a Scottish urban practice means that I have teenage patients admitted from casualty as they are too alcohol-intoxicated to safely go home: occasionally they have to be put on a ventilator in intensive care until the alcohol wears off.
And many GPs will have witnessed the devastation families face when adults in their thirties and forties - some with relatively young children - die of liver failure or cancer, due to alcohol.

The Scottish Government needs to urgently take action on this - by supporting minimum pricing and dropping loyalty points and encouraging the UK government to follow suit

Following the Scottish smoking ban in enclosed public places, there has been a 20% drop in heart attack admissions in non-smokers ( and a 17% year-on-year drop overall).
Whilst not all of this may be attributable to smoking behaviour, the ban has clearly had a major impact. In people from smoke-free households, the level of nicotine by-products in adults fell by almost half, as their exposure to passive smoke fell - and perhaps most important of all, by a third in children.
Prior to the smoking ban, there was good public health evidence to support it - we now face the same scenario in relation to alcohol.
The Scottish Government needs to urgently take action on this - by supporting minimum pricing and dropping loyalty points and encouraging the UK government to follow suit.
Such a move would be welcomed by health professionals both north and south of the border.
The financial burdens to Scotland of this continued level of drinking are commensurate: over �400 million NHS costs, �170 million for social work and all told, an estimated �2.25 billion a year. There are the terrible costs to people's lives too - six alcohol deaths per day in Scotland, a reflection of our world-leading rise in cirrhosis.
Alcohol is severely undermining the well-being of Scotland and we should again support a sensible, proportionate, and life-saving public health measure.

Biomass Energy Market in China

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/8b3504/biomass_energy_mar) has announced the addition of the "Biomass Energy Market in China" report to their offering.
With an ever increasing importance in energy reservation, there has been rapid development in the Chinese biomass energy market in the past few years. Evidence is mounting that the ass energy industry in China will enjoy promising prospects in the long run.
At present, technology bottlenecks and insufficient grain feedstock supply are two major obstacles for the development of biomass energy products, including liquid biofuel, biopower generation, solid biofuel and biomass gas.
Rapid economic development of China would drive the demand for energy to rise continuously. However, since fossil fuel has already been in short supply, China would vigorously promote the development of biomass energy industry instead. Besides, China boasts abundant biomass resources such as rice/wheat straw, corn cob, etc., which would further advance China's motivation in this field.
To facilitate the sustainable and sound development of biomass energy industry, Chinese government released a series of policies to set medium and long target for each biomass energy product and provide fiscal subsidy for some important products.
To figure out the current situation and prospect of biomass energy and the limitations for future development in China, the report covers the information on feedstock and their production situation, marketing channels, consumption situation, and future forecast etc. Among them, the feedstock supply and current technology of each biomass energy product are especially given an insightful analysis.
Besides, the authors provide you with an insightful analysis on these other questions:

• What is the situation of raw material supply and its influence on biomass energy production in China?
• Who are key active and potential players in China's biomass energy industry?
• What are the key factors affecting each Chinese biomass energy product?
• What is the competition situation in Chinese biomass energy industry?
• What is the trend of each Chinese biomass energy product in the near future?
• How about the policies and incentive for biomass energy industry in China?
• Where are the opportunities in the Chinese biomass energy industry?

China's first 8-speed automatic transmission launched

Shanghai, May 12 (Gasgoo.com) China's first 8-speed automatic transmission, developed by Shengrui Transmission Co., Ltd. (located in Weifang city Shandong province), has been launched to the market.

It is China's first 8-speed automatic transmission, with independent intellectual property rights, and the first FF (Front-engine Front-drive) 8-speed automatic transmission in the world as well.

The automatic transmission, as one of the core automotive powertrain components, is an integration of machinery, electricity, fluid and electronic control and a technology-intensive product, with high added value.

In early 2007, Shengrui Transmission Co. started to cooperate with Chemnitz University of Technology, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and many other units at home and abroad to develop the FF (Front-engine Front-drive) 8-speed automatic transmission that has independent intellectual property rights and has reached the international advanced level.

On an individual enterprise basis, the cooperation started among industries, universities and research institutes, taking advantage of superior resources domestic and overseas.

At present, the prototype of this 8-speed automatic transmission has been completed and tested, with all testing results meeting its design target.

Taiwan Mobile, China Unicom Co-Provide Low Rate Roaming Service

Taipei, May 12, 2010 (CENS)-Taiwan Mobile Corp. and China Unicom Communications Group Co., Ltd. will jointly launch a mobile roaming service that is advantageous to travelers in Taiwan and mainland China.

The service, according to the companies, will charge the travelers on local-connection basis, not on international-connection basis, which is currently the principle on which mobile-service providers charge roaming-service customers.

The service is estimated to halve the NT$12-13 per minute currently for mobile calls delivered across the Taiwan Straits.

Industry executives expect Taiwan`s other mobile-service providers including Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd., Far EasTone Telecom Co., Ltd. and Vibo Telecom Inc. to follow suit soon after the Taiwan Mobile-China Unicom deal.

According to statistics recently released by Tourist Bureau of Taiwan`s Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC), last year alone approximately 4.48 million Taiwanese travelled to the mainland and around 970,000 mainland Chinese travelled to Taiwan. The mainland traveler number represented a 195.3% increase from a year earlier.

Taiwan Cement Aims to Rank Among Top-3 Producers in China

Taipei, May 12, 2010 (CENS)--After acquiring Prosperity International with 400 million Hong Kong dollars, Taiwan Cement has become the largest cement producer in southern China, as well as aiming to expand presence in other parts of China.

Taiwan Cement noted it would increase investments in Sichuan province, southwestern China. The acquisition of Prosperity International results in Taiwan Cement having a cement plant in Chongqing of Sichuan province, which will resume mass production by the end of this year.

In addition, Taiwan Cement has invested 800 million renminbi to set up a cement kiln in Guangan of Sichuan province which is capable of rolling out 45 million tons of cement, with the plant expected to begin mass production sometime in 2011.

C.C. Huang, vice president of Taiwan Cement, said his company will see annual production capacity in China reach 50 million tons in 2012, ahead of schedule.

After acquiring Prosperity International, Taiwan Cement has expanded presence from Southern China to southwestern and northeastern China. For instance, the company has a joint-venture cement plant with Kunming Steel in Yunnan province, in which Taiwan Cement holds 35% stake, that can produce six million tons of cement per year.

The company`s newly established plant in Lianing of northeastern China will begin mass production sometime this month, with annual capacity of two million tons.

Taiwan Cement will have 43 million tons in annual production capacity in China by the end of this year, making the firm a top-3 in China.

7 children killed in latest attack at China school

BEIJING — An attacker hacked seven children and one teacher to death Wednesday and wounded 20 other people in a rampage at a kindergarten in northwest China, the latest in a string of savage assaults at the country's schools.
The slayings occurred despite a countrywide boost in security at schools, with gates and security cameras installed and additional police and guards posted at entrances.
The attack happened at 8 a.m. (0000 GMT) at a kindergarten in Nanzheng county of Hanzhong city, the official Xinhua News Agency said. It did not give the ages of the victims or say who attacked them.
Liu Xiaoming, deputy director of the propaganda department of Hanzhong city, confirmed that seven children and one teacher were killed and that about 20 others had been wounded.
"The murderer killed himself afterward," Liu told The Associated Press. He said he did not have any other information.
A Nanzheng county resident reached by phone said crowds had gathered outside the kindergarten, but information was spotty. He said the assailant was believed to have been a local villager surnamed Wu, aged in his late 40s, who owned the house in which the kindergarten was located.
"I saw him before and he looked quite normal," said the man, who would identify himself only by his surname, Li.
The attack is the fifth major incident at schools and kindergartens since late March, sparking security fears among parents, officials and educators.
In Hanzhong, an industrial city of 3.72 million people, nearly 2,000 police officers and security guards had been detailed to patrol public schools, kindergartens and surrounding areas beginning last week, according to a statement posted on the city government's official website.
Sociologists say the attacks reflect a lack of support for the mentally ill and rising stress resulting from huge social inequalities in China's fast-changing society. Such issues have largely been ignored in state media's reporting on the attacks, which have focused instead on increases in security in an effort to quell public fear and potential unrest.
The assaults began with an attack on a primary school in March in the city of Nanping in Fujian province where eight children were stabbed and slashed to death by a former community clinic doctor with a history of mental health problems.
The man convicted for that crime was executed on April 28, the same day a 33-year-old former teacher broke into a primary school in the southern city of Leizhou in Guangdong province and wounded 15 students and a teacher with a knife.
The following day in Taixing city in Jiangsu province, a 47-year-old unemployed man armed with an 8-inch (20-centimeter) knife wounded 29 kindergarten students — five seriously — plus two teachers and a security guard.
Just hours later, a farmer hit five elementary students with a hammer in the eastern city of Weifang before burning himself to death.
The government has sought to show it has the problem under control, mindful especially of worries among middle-class families who, limited in most cases to one child due to population control policies, invest huge amounts of money and effort to raise their offspring.

India: Muslim representation in Indian Civil Services – An Analysis

Among 875 selected candidates, this year, 21 are Muslims. Last year, out of 791 selected candidates, 31 were Muslims. Hence, from around 4% in 2009 the Muslims’ selection in the Civil Services Examination, popularly known as IAS exams, has come down to around 2.5%. Only remarkable achievement this year is that the topper is a Muslim, Shah Faesal, coming from Kashmir.

Before Faesal, the IAS topper from the community was Amir Subhani of Bihar in the year 1987. Jawed Usmani of UP was IAS topper in 1977. Syed Shahabuddin, ex-Member of Parliament and, presently, the President of All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, was the first Muslim from Bihar to get second rank in civil services exam in 1958. That was then the highest rank a Muslim got since Independence. In 2001 Shahla Nigar, also from Bihar, became the first Muslim woman to get second rank, the highest ever in 50 years for a Muslim woman.

Many of the analysts are observing that since the percentage of Muslim graduates works out to be nearly four per cent, their selection is not much below this ratio. This analysis is based on half-truth, illogical, misleading and totally wrong notions. There is also an attempt to dilute the demand of Muslims' reservation in government services by convincing the people that graduates among them happen to be lower, hence lower representation. Scientifically, until the proportion of non-Muslim graduates is taken into account, a logical analysis cannot be carried out.

According to Sachar Committee Report, the proportion of Muslim graduates, during 2004-05 was 3.4 per cent. Among the 'General Hindus' it was found to be 15.3 per cent, among 'SC/ST Hindus' it was 2.2 per cent, among 'OBC Hindus' it was 4.4 per cent and among 'other minorities' it was 8.9 per cent. In short, roughly 7.7 per cent of non Muslims were found to be graduates as against 3.4 per cent among Muslims. (Page 67, Sachar Committee Report)

We don’t have detailed data on the above social sections. However, one can broadly conclude that this 7.7 per cent of non-Muslim graduates could corner 96 per cent and 97.5 per cent of seats in the Civil Services Examination in the year 2009 and 2010 respectively, leaving 4 per cent and 2.5 per cent for Muslims in the respective years. That means the ratio of success among non-Muslim graduates was more than twelve times of the ratio of graduates among them, whereas, for the Muslims it was almost at par.

Therefore, to analyse the issue of gross under-representation of Muslims in the Civil Services, the whole issue needs to be studied in to-to. Hence, the reasons for under-representation are not only those that meet our eyes!

‘CSIR, DRDO, ISRO labs should help solve India's problems’

New Delhi: Former President A P J Abdul Kalam today emphasised on collaboration between various research labs of CSIR, DRDO and ISRO to find out solution to the major challenges confronting the country.

Speaking at Technology Day function, organised by Ministry of Science and Technology, Kalam said the country faces a number of challenges including the gap in quality of life in urban and rural areas, poor quality water and dismal healthcare facilities.

He said CSIR has 37 laboratories while DRDO has about 50 labs and the ISRO has a number of labs which need to come together to address the problems.

"Each lab has a technical core competence. They should come together to have an integrated system," he said at the function attended by Science and Technology Minister Prithviraj Chavan.

Energy scarcity and poor quality drinking water are among the major problems faced by people in the country, he said.

Chavan said the Technology Day celebration was started in 1998 when India was lagging behind in development of technology. However, the situation has changed and India has achieved a lot in development of technological know-how, he said.

Kalam distributed awards to organisations for successful commercialisation of indigenous technology.

India for international terrorism convention

UNITED NATIONS: Calling terrorism a global threat to democracy and development, India has called for the early adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT).

"Terrorism poses an extremely serious threat to all states and all societies," Hardeep Singh Puri, India's Permanent Representative to the UN, said Tuesday during a Security Council debate on the work of three committees set up to support efforts to combat terrorism.

Noting "terrorism threatens democracy and democratic values" and "aims to destroy lives and reverse development," he said India has an abiding interest in expeditiously concluding the CCIT.

"The backdrop of the latest terrorism related incidents once again underscore that terrorism is a global threat and requires a coordinated and concerted global response," Puri said.

"An early adoption of CCIT is in the interests of all Member States and would provide impetus to multilateral and collective action to countering international terrorism efforts," he said.

Noting almost, all the elements of the proposed CCIT have passed muster by legal experts, Puri said: "What is required now is the necessary political will to ensure the early adoption of the CCIT."

Reiterating that India will continue to work closely with the counter terrorism mechanisms established by the Security Council, he said it welcomed efforts to use open dialogue as a means to build closer cooperation within the international system.

"What we need is the necessary political will accompanied with concerted and resolute action to effectively combat the scourge of terrorism," Puri said.

"There are deep concerns about the potential nexus between clandestine proliferation and terrorism and the ever-present danger of such weapons or vulnerable nuclear materials falling into the hands of non-state actors," he said adding, "International solidarity and shared determination are absolutely imperative to combat this scourge effectively."

The heads of the three committees set up by the Security Council to support the efforts of Member States to combat terrorism also reported increased cooperation within the past six months among their respective bodies and their expert groups, and voiced the need for the Council's guidance to better coordinate future efforts.

"Cooperation is a crucial element in efforts against the threat of terrorism, in particular in relation to the use of nuclear arms, chemical and biological," said Ambassador Claude Heller of Mexico, in a joint statement on behalf of three panels.

DP World’s $1 Billion India Container Port to Challenge Colombo

DP World Ltd. said as much as $1 billion may be invested in the first Indian port able to handle the largest container ships as the company tries to challenge Colombo’s grip on India’s maritime trade with Europe and China.

“What we are trying to do is compete in the regional and international market,” Anil Singh, the company’s India head, said in an interview in Mumbai yesterday. “It will change the logistic pattern of the country.”

The new terminal in Kochi, south India, which is due to open in August, will be able to handle the 13,000-container capacity ships commonly used on Asia-to-Europe routes. Presently, these long-haul vessels are unable to stop in India, which forces the nation’s importers and exporters to spend an extra $150 million a year ferrying goods to and from Colombo, Singapore or Dubai, Singh said.

DP World, controlled by Dubai World, spent about 13 billion rupees ($288 million) on the first phase of the new Kochi facility, which will have an initial capacity of 1 million twenty-foot equivalent containers a year, Singh said. The remainder of the investment will cover a second phase, which will add another 3 million boxes of capacity within five years, he said. Container Corp. of India Ltd. is among three other partners in the terminal venture.

London Listing

DP World will pay for its share of the investment using its own funds, Singh said. Financial difficulties at Dubai World have had no impact on expansion plans, he said. DP World, which is preparing to sell shares in London, has risen 12 percent this year in Dubai trading.

The Indian government is also dredging Kochi port and building rail links to help boost traffic, Singh said. The government has also agreed to reduce port fees that are presently more than eight times higher than Colombo’s for larger ships to help boost traffic, he said. These fees are separate from terminal charges.

Kochi aims to lure large container vessels from Colombo, which presently handle as much as 40 percent of India’s transshipment trade, according to Singh. Indian shippers use the Sri Lankan port because of lower costs, deepwater facilities and looser regulations.

Sri Lanka, some 31 kilometers (19 miles) southeast of India, is also boosting its port facilities to tap growing Asia- Europe trade and rising intra-Asia traffic. Colombo is set to build a fourth container terminal, while Hambantota port is also planning to add facilities.

8 Million Containers

DP World already handles almost half of India’s 8 million annual container volume at five ports across the country, Singh said. The company, which has spent about 80 billion rupees in India, is pursuing further projects and expansion plans in the country, he said.

Worldwide, the port operator runs terminals in 31 countries from the U.K. to China. It handled 43.3 million containers at 50 ports last year. The company, now the world’s fourth-largest container terminal operator, began services about 35 years ago with one port. In 2006, it bought Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. for $6.8 billion.

Dubai World, the state-owned holding company that owns 80 percent of DP World, is seeking to restructure as much as $22 billion of debt. The company has said that DP World isn’t a part of its debt restructuring.

China steel ripe for consolidation: ArcelorMittal

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China's steel industry is ripe for consolidation in coming years, but the process elsewhere has largely run its course, the head of ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, said on Tuesday.
Lakshmi Mittal
The ArcelorMittal chief said he believed China, the world's largest producer, would have companies making an annual 50 to 70 million tonnes in four to five years. China's largest steelmaker Baosteel shipped some 35 million tonnes in 2008.
ArcelorMittal, with some 8% of the world market, shipped 110 million tonnes in 2007 before the economic crisis forced it into production cuts.
Mittal also predicted continuing growth of investment in India, which could lead overall production there to double to some 120 million tonnes.
The World Steel Association has forecast the BRIC countries—the Middle East and Africa—will consume about 60% of steel in 2010 from about 50% in 2007. The developing world made up some 60% of global steel output in 2007.
Mittal said that output in the developed world would recover to pre-crisis levels in about three years, but he did not see major growth in volume afterwards.
Steel operations in North America and Europe would continue to lead product development, making steel lighter, stronger and more environmentally friendly.
Mittal said global trends had reinforced ArcelorMittal's strategy to focus investment on emerging markets as well as to increase its self-sufficiency in iron ore and coal.
The latter has become even more important after a switch to shorter-term pricing by the world's big three iron ore miners — Vale, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
Mittal said the move from annual contracts meant steelmakers would have to redraw deals with their customers to pass on raw material price changes.
"We are in discussions with our customers that they will have to change their business model too," he said.
told the company's annual shareholders meeting he expected developing countries to make up 70% of global output in four to five years. The developed world would still lead product development.
"Outside China the steel industry is well consolidated. I really do not see major consolidation transactions in the steel industry, albeit there could be smaller opportunities available," Mittal said.

HTC launches Windows-based HTC Mini in India for Rs.23,490

HTC Corp launched on Tuesday a new touchscreen handset named. HTC Mini in the Indian market. The handset is windows-based and makes use of HTC Sense technology.

“The HTC HD mini fulfils a desire from some customers to bring the capabilities and experience of the HTC HD2 to a more compact design,” said Ajay Sharma, Country Head, HTC India. “The integration of HTC Sense and Windows Phone on HD mini and HD2 gives customers an additional choice for an advanced Windows mobile phone that is sleek, well crafted and easy to use.”

The handset is also positioned around its design and looks including a bright yellow structure under the battery cover which promises to offer surprise when the phone is opened. The phone also has HTC Peep allocation which allows user to Tweet using the mobile phone.

It supports Microsoft Office as well as Adobe PDF.

The model is available for a price of Rs.23,490/.

Pakistan Needs To Do More To Combat Terror: U.S.

American Ambassador to India Timothy J Roemer has said his country is co-operating at the highest level to provide India access to the accused in the 2008 Mumbai attacks--Pakistan-born naturalilzed American David Headley, alias Dawood Gilani, even as it says Islamabad has to do more to fight terror to ensure that India and America are safe.

"India is an indispensable ally of the U.S...we share information on security issues and work together in places around the globe, like in Afghanistan," he told reporters Tuesday after paying tributes to the 26/11 attack martyrs at Marine Drive in Mumbai.

Asserting that Washington has been providing indirect access to sharing intelligence for months about that acquired information, he said now the door was open and the opportunity existed for New Delhi in the weeks ahead to get direct access in the appropriate way and at the appropriate time to Headley.

"We work together in historic ways on providing access to people like David Headley where the U.S. is co-operating at the highest level to eventually provide access to this person who helped pull off the savagery of the attack on Mumbai on 26/11," he added.

Acknowledging Pakistan's contribution to fight terror, he said Islamabad needed to do a lot more to combat the menace to ensure that India and America were safe.

"Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's comments underscore that while Pakistan has done a lot (to fight terror), it needed to do more to help protect countries like the U.S. and India from terrorist attacks," he said.

Roemer's strong message to Pakistan came a day after Clinton rapped the Islamic country for not revealing enough on Osama bin Laden and just days after she warned Islamabad of "severe consequences" if the May 1 aborted terrorist bomb attack in the Times Square, New York, were to be traced to Pakistan.

On India's concerns over the alleged diversion of U.S. aid to Pakistan to fund terror activities directed at it, Roemer said the Obama administration would ensure that Pakistan used the American aid properly.

On the scheduled meeting of the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan in mid-July, he said "it is important that India and Pakistan talk."

Drawing parallels with two policemen who had laid down their lives in the U.S. while protecting those working at the Capitol Hill during an attack and the sacrifice of the Mumbai policemen, Roemer said President Obama asked him to go to Indian financial capital to pay respect to the police officers and men who laid down their lives protecting the city and its people from attack.

Sarosh Homi Kapadia: The new Chief Justice Of India

The 62-year-old Justice S H Kapadia has been sworn as the Chief Justice Of India by President Pratibha Patil today at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh along with former Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and other VIPs attended the swearing ceremony.

The tenure of Justice Kapadia would continue till September 29, 2012. He is a very knowledgeable man with intense wisdom over various issues. He has also received great compliments for his tax laws knowledge. Huge responsibility awaits the CJI as he has to reduce the pending cases from various high courts and trials.

Justice Kapadia wrote in a letter to V R Krishna Iyer, former Supreme Court Judge as a reply to his congratulatory letter saying, "I come from a poor family. I started my career as a class IV employee and the only asset I possess is integrity. Even as a judge of the Supreme Court, I have used my knowledge of accounts and economics for the welfare of the downtrodden including tribals and workmen. I hope to fulfill my obligation to the Constitution in the matter of achieving the goal of inclusive growth."

Breaking News ! Pakistan News ! India News ! Business News ! Entertainment News ! Fashion News ! Kashmir News ! Sports News ! World News ! Urdu News ! Christmas Gifts Browse > Home / Business News / Textile Value Added Units on Strike Textile Value Added Units on Strike

Thousands of factory workers and owners jointly took out protest rallies, blocked the traffic on Sheikhpura Road and Millat Road and burnt an office of Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco).

Thousands of textile factories of value-added textile sector observed strike on Tuesday and demanded complete ban on export of yarn and cotton from the country reported by A Pakistan News.
At various places police resorted to baton charge to maintain law and order, and more than two dozen protestors were arrested. The strike was observed by 300 home textile manufacturing units, 450 textile printing mills, 1100 hosiery units, 300 dyeing units, 400 sizing units, 500 stitching units and hundreds of small ancillary unit.
Thousands of workers of these units came out of their factories in Khurrianwala industrial belt carrying black flags and holding banners and placards with slogans like ‘Save the value-added industry’, ‘Save the country’ and ‘Immediate ban on export of yarn and cotton’.
Chanting slogans, the protest rally marched towards Millat Chowk and joined the hosiery workers’ rally. These rallies blocked traffic and burnt tyres. Police restored to baton charge, injuring 10 workers and taking into custody 20 workers. From Millat chowk, the rallies marched towards District Council Chowk where rallies from other parts of the city like Jhang Road, Sammundri Road, Sargodha Road and Jaranwala Road also joined.
At District Council chowk, sit-in and a demonstration were held. Chairman of Pakistan Textile Exporters Association Khurram Mukhtar said that cotton and yarn were the basic and most essential raw material of the value-added sector constituting 40 percent of total input. The value-added textile industry is unable to operate if this basic raw material is not available.

US air campaign in Pakistan zeros in on North Waziristan, Bahadar

The controversial US air campaign in Pakistan’s tribal areas has continued unabated in 2010, and is on track to exceed the number of strikes carried out in 2009. So far this year, the US has carried out 35 strikes, just 18 shy of the 2009 total. With six and a half months left in 2010, the 2009 total should be surpassed sometime in July at the current pace. The strikes continue to target top leaders of al Qaeda, the Taliban, and allied jihadist groups based in the tribal areas, as well as the jihadist infrastructure and operatives used to carry out attacks against the Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the West.
Some interesting trends have developed since the beginning of 2010. North Waziristan, the hub for the Taliban, al Qaeda and allied jihadists, has become the primary focal point of the attacks. More than half of the strikes have taken place in the tribal areas controlled by North Waziristan Taliban leader Hafiz Gul Bahadar, while attacks against the Haqqani Network’s sanctuaries have decreased. And the strikes continue to hit a wide variety of targets.
North Waziristan is the eye of the storm
The shift in focus from South Waziristan to North Waziristan that began in September 2009 has continued, with 100 percent of the 35 strikes so far this year occurring in North Waziristan. Miramshah has been the most frequently targeted region within North Waziristan, accounting for nearly more than a third of all strikes so far this year, (13 of 35 strikes, or 37 percent). The Datta Khel region, a known haven for al Qaeda's military and command, is second on the targeting list, accounting for a quarter of the strikes (13 of 35 strikes, or 23 percent).
Hafiz Gul Bahadar’s territory is most hit
So far in 2010, more than half of the Predator strikes (19 of 35 Predator strikes, or 54 percent), have hit targets in territory controlled by Hafiz Gul Bahadar, far more than any other Taliban commander. Looking at the last 10 strikes, eight of those have taken place in Bahadar's areas. And the last seven strikes have hit targets in Bahadar's areas. The concentrated focus on Bahadar represents a significant shift in targeting priorities -- prior to 2010, Bahadar's territory had only been targeted four times in the past 5 years. At the end of 2009, the Haqqani Network was the primary focus of US strikes in Pakistan.

January 2010 saw the largest number of strikes since program began in 2004

The 11 strikes in January 2010 represented the highest single-month total in terms of frequency of Predator strikes since the program began in 2004, surpassing the 10 strikes that occurred in October 2008. The strikes were ramped up after a Jordanian al Qaeda operative and double agent carried out a suicide attack at Combat Outpost Chapman in Afghanistan's Khost province in late December 2009. The bomber killed seven CIA officials, including the station chief, and a Jordanian intelligence officer.

After the Dec. 30 suicide attack, the US hunted Hakeemullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, who took shelter in North Waziristan. Hakeemullah appeared with the Jordanian suicide bomber on a martyrdom tape that was released shortly after the attack. Hakeemullah was rumored to have been killed in a strike on Jan. 14, but he later appeared on a videotape that was produced on April 19 and released on May 2, just one day after the failed car bombing in Times Square, New York City. On the tape, Hakeemullah threatened to carry out attacks inside the US.
High Value Targets
Over the past year, 20 top Taliban and al Qaeda leaders and operatives have been killed (between April 1, 2009 and April 1, 2010) by Predator strikes in Pakistan. This accounts for 44 percent of the total High Value Targets confirmed to have been killed since 2004. Among those killed since April 1, 2009 include: Abdullah Said al Libi, the top commander of the Shadow Army; Zuhaib al Zahib, a senior commander in the Shadow Army; Saleh al Somali, the leader of al Qaeda's external network; Qari Mohammad Zafar, a leader of the al Qaeda and Taliban-linked Fedayeen-i-Islam; Mansur al Shami, an al Qaeda ideologue and aide to al Qaeda’s leader in Afghanistan, Mustafa Abu Yazid; Haji Omar Khan, a senior Taliban leader in North Waziristan; Mohammed Haqqani, a military commander in the Haqqani Network and brother of Siraj; and Sheikh Mansoor, an al Qaeda Shadow Army commander [see LWJ report, “Senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 – 2010” for the full list of leaders and operatives killed].
Purpose of strikes
Much of the media's reporting on the air campaign continues to focus on the deaths of senior al Qaeda leaders. But the campaign has more than one objective. Certainly the US is targeting al Qaeda's senior leadership in an effort to disrupt the overall command and control of the terror group, but the attacks are also aimed at hitting al Qaeda's external operations network and disrupting the Taliban's operations in both Afghanistan and in Pakistan.
First and foremost, the primary objective of the air campaign has been to disrupt al Qaeda’s external network and prevent the group from striking at the US and her allies. The campaign has targeted camps known to house foreigners as well as trainers and leaders for the network. Al Qaeda operatives known to have lived in the West and holding foreign passports have been killed in several Predator strikes. One such strike on an al Qaeda camp in South Waziristan on Aug. 30, 2008, killed two Canadian passport holders as they trained in the camp. Also, since May 14, 2008, the US has killed three of the leaders of al Qaeda’s external operations branch: Abu Sulayman Jazairi, Osama al Kini, and Saleh al Somali. Other senior operatives involved in a Qaeda’s external operations network have also been killed in the attacks.
Another major objective has been to disrupt the Taliban and al Qaeda's operations in Afghanistan. The Taliban in Afghanistan receive significant support from within Pakistan. Taliban groups that are very active against Coalition forces in Afghanistan, such as the Haqqani Network, the Mehsud Taliban, and Mullah Nazir, have flourished in Pakistan's lawless tribal areas. The US has targeted both Taliban leaders and fighters during these strikes. The Haqqani Network, for instance, is the most heavily targeted group because it both conducts operations in Afghanistan and harbors al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan. Several large Taliban training camps that are known to train fighters for the Afghan front have been the targets of attack. For instance, a training camp in Kurram operated by an Afghan Taliban commander was hit on Feb. 16, 2009. As noted Said al Libi, the top commander of the Shadow Army, and Zuhaib al Zahib, a senior commander in the Shadow Army were killed during a strike in December 2009. The Lashkar al Zil is al Qaeda's military unit that partners with the Taliban on both sides of the border.
Along with targeting al Qaeda's external operations network and the Taliban's Afghan operations in Pakistan, the US has also targeted Pakistani Taliban commanders who threaten the stability of the Pakistani state. The US hunted Baitullah Mehsud for a year before killing him in a strike in early August of 2009. Several of Baitullah's deputies have also been killed this past year. And Hakeemullah was the target of US strikes in January. The US only stopped targeting as it was thought he was killed. The US has an interest in preventing nuclear Pakistan from becoming a failed state and also needs to keep its supply lines open through Pakistan and into Afghanistan. More than 70 percent of the US and NATO supplies travel through Pakistan's northwest.

Pakistan's Privatization Minister to attend 6th WIEF in Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur : Pakistan's Minister for Privatization, Senator Waqar Ahmad, will represent his Prime Minister, Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, at the 6th World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) here next week.
In a statement here Tuesday, the Pakistan High Commission (embassy) said Pakistan would set up a pavilion at the WIEF exhibition to showcase its products, including mangoes, handicraft, women's garments and traditional jewellery.
It said Pakistan would also be represented in the Businesswomen's Forum and the Young Leaders' Forum.
The two-day WIEF, starting May 19, would focus on forging co-operation among the member states in areas such as tourism, small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), water management, branding, technology for education, entrepreneurship and business ethics, innovation and Islamic banking.
The forum is expected to be attended by a number of heads of state and government.

Commodities Buzz: Cotton Crisis Sparks Rallies In Pakistan

Global production of cotton is down due to poor weather in China and the U.S. It has also been hurt as more farmers in the U.S. have switched to crops such as soybeans. China has turned to Pakistan to meet its shortage of yarn. Pakistan yarn producers cut local supply contracts and exported to China, where prices were higher, local textile producers say.
World raw-cotton production is set to fall short of demand in the current crop year that ends July 31. The U.S. Department of Agriculture expects cotton mills to consume 115.9 million cotton bales this year while production will only be 102.9 million bales. This will lead to stockpiles being drawn down and further shortages of cotton and yarn, such as what Pakistan is already suffering.
Thousands of Pakistani textile and garment workers took to the streets Tuesday to call for an immediate ban on yarn and cotton exports, as a global cotton shortage has forced some textile factories into bankruptcy. The industry organizations that called for the rally estimated that 50,000 people protested in Faisalabad, a city in Punjab province, which is the heart of Pakistan's textile industry. In Karachi, a southern port city, 5,000 people rallied. Organizers said they need a two-month government ban on yarn and cotton exports to protect the industry after a poor global harvest of cotton this year led to a shortage for textile and garment makers. A number of Pakistani factories have shut and others are running below capacity after their yarn costs soared by almost 100%, throwing people out of work in a country where poverty levels are already high.
Yarn exports should be immediately banned, said Mohsin Ayub Mirza, a textile manufacturer in Karachi and chairman of the Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers & Exporter's Association. He said 20 to 30 big yarn producers in Pakistan were making huge profits by exporting to China, while the local textile industry was suffering. Zafar Mahmood, Pakistan's commerce secretary, declined to comment on the protests or whether the government plans to meet the protestors' demands.
The textile sector is key for Pakistan's economy: It accounts for 55% of the nation's $20 billion in annual exports and employs 17 million people. In Faisalabad alone, 600,000 people are employed in the textile and garment industry. The country's economy is expected to grow between 2% and 3% this year, but that forecast could be unattainable if the textile sector woes continue, economists say. Earlier this year, Pakistan's government imposed temporary export quotas on yarn. But these have failed to stop the shortage, textile producers say.

Kasab's confessional statement presented before Pak Supreme Court

Islamabad, May 12 (ANI): The confessional statement of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks was presented before the Pakistan Supreme Court.

Khawaja Sultan Ahmed, lawyer for Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, a suspect in the Mumbai terrorist attacks case, presented the statement on Tuesday before a three-member SC bench - comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.


The apex court bench adjourned the hearing for two weeks after receiving Kasab's statement, which is in English and Hindi.

The court observed that it required time to go through the long confessional statement, the Daily Times reports.

The bench was hearing an appeal filed by Lakhvi, one of the seven suspects being tried by an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi.

In his confessional statement, Kasab named Lakhvi as the ringleader in connection with the Mumbai terror attacks.

Ahmed however argued that Kasab's confessional statement had no legal value in Pakistan.

"The statement was not given in a Pakistani court, so Lakhvi cannot be named as a co-accused in the case or be tried," he said.

US says studying Pak, China nuclear deal

WASHINGTON—The United States has said it was carefully reviewing China’s plans to build two civilian nuclear reactors in Pakistan, urging all nations to respect non-proliferation commitments. The China National Nuclear Corporation has agreed to finance two more civilian reactors at the Chashma site in Pakistan.
US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg said that discussions were underway about the issue and the United States has not “reached a final conclusion.” “But it’s something we’re obviously looking at very carefully,” Steinberg said in response to a question at a forum at the Brookings Institution.
“I think it’s important to scrupulously honor these non-proliferation commitments,” he said. “We’ll want to continue to engage on the question, about whether this is permitted under the understandings of the IAEA.”
Analysts believe that China was emboldened to go ahead with the deal after the United States in 2008 signed a landmark nuclear agreement with Pakistan’s arch-rival India. Pakistan, a frontline state against extremism, has also been pressing the United States for a nuclear deal similar to India’s. US officials have promised to look into it.
The United States says it has identified a group in Pakistan that may be expanding its focus from the region to a more global situation and would want to see Pakistan take steps to eliminate this threat.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said this while replying to a volley of questions about the threats given by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Pakistan and Attorney General in the aftermath of botched Times Square bombing. He said there’s a clear link between what happened in Times Square and Pakistan.
“We’re trying to understand fully what that means. And to the extent that Pakistan is already taking aggressive action against the Pakistan Taliban, we’ll evaluate whether additional steps are warranted”.
To a question, the spokesman said the US government has recognized for some time that we are not immune to the same developments and trends that we’ve seen elsewhere. “There is the potential for homegrown threat. We’ve seen it in this instance and others and we are reacting accordingly”. Mr Crowley said the US has been focused on the extremist threat from South Asia and more specifically from Pakistan for some time. There have been global implications to these groups and individuals that have a link to Pakistan, but this is another manifestation that the threat is not staying there.
He said the as they have seen for some time, the threat has links to the United States. We’ve seen now at least two or three recent attacks that have a clear link to Pakistan and the consequences are felt inthe United States, whether it’s Fort Hood, whether it’s Chicago, and now Times Square.
He said the US is not ignoring the threat in Pakistan. “We’ve been focused on the threat in Pakistan as it remains primarily of a regional issue, and we should always remind ourselves that notwithstanding the near misses that we have seen here or the tragedy that happened at Fort Hood, it is Pakistan itself that probably arguably has suffered the greatest from extremism in the region”.
The spokesman said as they learn more about a group that appears to be broadening its sights and specifically focused on the United States, they draw implications from that and will adjust their strategy going forward and would look to Pakistan to do the same.

US Reacted With Applause On The Advancement Indo-Pak For Dialogue On July

Reacting to the India and Pakistan’s advancement for further talks on July after the telephonic session between the two nation’s Foreign Ministers SM Krishna and Mahmoud Qureshi respectively, United States appreciated the move on Wednesday.

Highlighting on the session of telephonic round of talks between Quershi and Krishna which headed for a meet on July for a better development into the process of creating stronger ties between the nations, the Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, PJ Crowley appreciated, "We always welcome dialogue and better relations between India and Pakistan, they do have some meetings coming up in the near future. We certainly welcome that dialogue.”

The outcome result of the talks entirely depends on both the countries, Crowley sighted, “but the pace, the scope and the character of that dialogue is obviously of the Indian and Pakistani governments to decide.”

Since US shares good relationship with both India and Pakistan, they want that the both the nations to be cooperative in all undertakings that enhances their relations, US assistant secretary highlighted, "We have a strong relationship with India. We have a strong relationship with Pakistan. We have encouraged better relations between the two countries. But the nature of that relationship is ultimately up to them. They are neighbours.”

Hillary’s statement like Indian outbursts

The United States has also started talking in India’s tone and terror on the issue of terrorism besides hurling identical threats to Pakistan. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has, in a TV interview, threatened Pakistan with ‘very severe consequences’ if any more terror plot like the failed Times Square bombing was traced to its tribal territory. The threat is, of course, not different from New Delhi’s warning of dire results should another Mumbai like incident take place in India. Like Indian outbursts, Hillary’s statement is also totally uncalled for since she has, in the same breath, acknowledged Pakistan’s positive role in the fight against terror. It’s rather provocative in view of Pakistan’s predicaments that it has long endured due to its support to the US military operations in Afghanistan.

Hillary’s statement was backed by US Attorney General Eric Holder. ‘If Pakistan fails to take appropriate action against the Taliban, the US will’, he said. He, however, played down the prospect of a direct US military action in Pakistan by saying that ‘Islamabad has been cooperative with us and we have been satisfied with the work they have done’. There is, however, glaring contradiction in the statements of the Obama administration and US military officials on the issue of accused Faisal Shahzad’s conduct. Gen David Petraeus, chief of the US anti-terror war in Afghanistan and Iraq says that Faisal was the ‘lone wolf’, who was ‘inspired’ by militants in Pakistan but doesn’t have direct contact with them. His view was endorsed by Secretary for Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. But Attorney General Eric Holder and Chief counter-terrorism advisor John Brennan have taken a totally different stance. Holder firmly said that the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan was behind the failed attack. ‘We have now developed evidence that shows the Pakistani Taliban were behind the attack…we know that they helped facilitate it, they helped finance it and that he was working at their direction’, he said.

Interestingly, The New York Times has termed this contradiction as a calculated measure to increase pressure on Pak army to attack the Taliban’s bastion in North Waziristan. It’s evident from the contradictory statements that the incident is being used as a pretext to intimidate Pakistan to make it submit to the persistent US demands for military action in North Waziristan agency that the Pak Army has hitherto hesitated in order to avoid opening of new fronts since the forces are already committed in several areas in the Tribal Areas. It’s disgusting that that the United States has opted to play tricks with Pakistan even after a decade of its unwavered cooperation in its war against terror during which Pakistan has rendered more sacrifices than any other country in the world. The casualties suffered by Pakistan’s military and civilian population are far more than the NATO forces in Afghanistan. It has also committed more troops in the anti-terror war than the combined strength of the NATO forces. Yet it’s being pressured to ‘do more’ in utter disregard to the objective realities.

The truth is that Faisal is not a Pakistani citizen even by descent. He is US citizen and has nothing to do with the Pakistani Taliban. He has never received bomb making training in Waziristan as alleged in the after-thought assertions by the Obama administration officials contrary to Gen Patearus’s categorical statement that he was the ‘lone wolf’ inspired by the terrorists in Pakistan. The ugly aspect of the situation is that Pakistan is being made scapegoat for no rhyme or reason. Hillary Clinton’s threatening tone talk is totally uncalled for. The people of Pakistan have obviously been dismayed at her statement as they had the presumption that she is an ardent supporter of truth. Their presumption has unfortunately been shattered. No one knows better than the US Secretary of State herself that Pakistan itself is the victim of terrorism. It has also amply proven through its conduct over the past decade that it’s opposed to the menace of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

Islamabad has had enough of the bitter consequence of its support to the US invasion of Afghanistan as well as its war against al-Qaeda in the landlocked country. It has long endured death and destruction at the hands of terrorists, who have not spared even the places of worship and killed Pakistan’s men, women and children mercilessly in the pursuit of their heinous agenda. Pakistan has fought bravely against the terrorists. Its recent military operations in Swat and SouthWaziristan agency have been acknowledged worldwide as its unequivocal commitment to weed out the menace from its soil. Yet the threat of ‘very severe consequences’ in case of an incident like the one at Times Square is simply regrettable. It’s a brazen attempt to focus as if Pakistan is directly involved in the incident with no justification whatsoever. The people of Pakistan don’t mind such outbursts from the India that is yet to reconcile to the existence of Pakistan as a sovereign country, but a statement of this kind from US Secretary of State is totally unwarranted.

It’s rather offensive. Pakistan’s tragedy is that it’s not only being targeted by the terrorists and militants but is also being subjected to unabated drone attacks by the United States resulting in massive civilian casualties. There have been 34 missile strikes so far this year, at least two every week, according to figures compiled by the New America Foundation. This compares to 53 for all of last year and 30 during the last year of the Bush administration. It’s also reported that the size of the drone fleet deployed over Pakistan has been doubled since Obama took office in January 2009. Civilian deaths caused by Western arms are a source of deep anger in Pakistan. Indeed, while claiming that only a handful of civilians have been slain in the missile attacks, US officials acknowledge that the CIA does not know the names of the more than 500 people it admits to have been killed. According to the New America Foundation, of the up to 247 people reported killed in attacks carried out so far in 2010 only seven have been publicly identified as militants.

Pakistan ambassador to Tehran survives attack

TEHRAN: Pakistan’s ambassador to Tehran was injured and taken to hospital on Tuesday when he was attacked by an Afghan national, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman told state-run television.
“The Pakistan ambassador’s car has been attacked by an Afghan. The ambassador has been injured and he is in hospital. The Afghan national has been arrested,” the spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted as saying. Foreign Office spokesman, Abdul Basit has also confirmed the attack on ambassador to Iran, Mohammad Bakhsh Abbasi and said he is safe. He also quelled rumors that the ambassador’s two guards were killed in the attack, saying that the attacker tried to stab Abbasi, but was stopped by the guards.
However, Tehran police chief said the ambassador was injured in a confrontation. “The ambassador went to a gym several times a week without his bodyguards. This afternoon while he was on his way he had a clash with a 21-year-old Afghan, he was injured on the head and fell,” police chief Hossein Sajedi-Nia told ISNA news agency. “Policemen appeared on the scene after phone calls by people and arrested that person,” he said. “The ambassador is well now and the detained man is being interrogated.”
The ambassador’s nephew Jaffar Abbasi, told Express 24/7 that the diplomat was in the hospital sustained minimal injuries. He also confirmed that Abbasi’s guards were uninjured. He said there were no further details yet, on the motivation of the attack. Abbasi has been a banker prior to his appointment to this diplomatic assignment. He is believed to be close to President Zardari. In the past he was once tipped to be made Governor of the State Bank.

Pakistan frees man held over Karachi airport security scare

KARACHI — Pakistan police Tuesday released a man who was detained at Karachi airport as he tried to board a plane for the Middle East with batteries and an electrical circuit in his shoes, police said.
Faiz Mohammad, a 30-year-old civil engineer, was held on Sunday when a scanner sounded an alarm as he proceeded towards boarding a Thai Airways flight to Muscat.
Mohammad, who not carrying any explosives, told police his footwear had an inbuilt massage system.
Police and intelligence agencies questioned him extensively before clearing him of trying to commit any terror activity in the plane, Karachi's chief police investigator Niaz Khoso said.
"The joint investigation team extensively questioned and in the end found him innocent," Khoso told AFP. "The man has been released," he said.
"We also engaged our experts and people in the market who confirmed that the shoes he was wearing were for massage comfort and easily available in the market," Khoso said.
He said that as it was the first such incident "it made all of us alarmed."
Karachi's Airport Security Force spokesman Mohammad Munir on Sunday called the discovery of four batteries, a circuit and an on-off button in Mohammad's shoes as "worrying".
Khoso said the detention was not a mock exercise by the airport authorities to check their security efficiency.
"It was certainly not a sort of mock exercise. The problem was just that no passenger in the past had earlier been seen with such shoes," he said.
Mohammad told investigators that he was travelling to Muscat, where he had worked for a construction company, to set up his own business.
Pakistan suffers from chronic violence at the hands of Islamist militants. Bomb attacks across the country have killed 3,300 people since July 2007.
A British man, Richard Reid, tried to blow up a transatlantic jet in December 2001 with explosives hidden in his shoes.

United States rules out any cut in aid to Pakistan

Washington, May 12 (PTI) The US has ruled out any cut in its assistance to Pakistan in view of the recent revelation that Tehrek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is responsible for the failed Times Square bomb attempt, as demanded by certain American lawmakers.

"Well, as the Secretary (of State, Hillary Clinton) said in that very interview (to CBS news), we are satisfied with the cooperation that we have received from Pakistan in this investigation," Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs P J Crowley said.

"As she said, we have seen a sea change in change of attitudes within Pakistan over the last couple of years, but that we want and expect more from Pakistan going forward," Crowley said.

A day before, Special US Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke too had ruled out that there was any such move to cut the aid to Pakistan.

India-Pakistan Polemics

The prime ministers of India and Pakistan agreed in Thimphu, Bhutan, recently that the two countries should have foreign minister-level talks, the dates of which are to be worked out through diplomatic channels. India is wary of talks with Pakistan for fear of getting into another Sharm al Sheikh-style trap. New Delhi, meanwhile, doesn’t see any utility in carrying on with the so-called composite dialogue process under which the two sides have been holding talks on eight specific issues for well over a decade. Islamabad, on the other hand, wants business as usual.
Pakistan made known its penchant for the composite dialogue process when Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi addressed the National Assembly on May 4. He said Pakistan had returned to its ‘historical’ stand on Kashmir and that the dialogue with India will not be referred to as a ‘composite dialogue’ but will henceforth be a ‘comprehensive dialogue’ as Pakistan had originally wanted it to be called. Though he said one should not worry too much about changes in nomenclature as long as such changes don’t indicate a turnaround in Pakistan’s foreign policy, he hastened to add that the eight points specified in the previous format would continue to be addressed as before. He also once again referred to Kashmir as the core issue that needs to be addressed in such a way that the people of the state are included in the peace process, whatever the mutually agreed format.
To those that don’t follow India-Pakistan relations on a day-to-day basis, this all just means that the two sides are continuing to put their shoes on the wrong foot. India has never agreed to a tripartite format of talks (India, Pakistan and the people of Kashmir). India’s consistent stand—and a government in New Delhi reverses this trend at its own peril—has been that Kashmir is a bilateral dispute and so there’s no scope for a third party’s involvement.

Prince Of Persia The Forgotten Sands 2010 Official Soundtracks Listen Online Hot And Exclusive

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is an upcoming multiplatform videogame developed by Ubisoftdue for release on May 18, 2010, in North America and May 20 in Europe.The game is a latest installment in the Prince of Persia series, and will mark a return to the storyline started by Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. The Wii and PSP versions are being developed by Ubisoft Quebec; the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows are being handled by Ubisoft Montreal with the help of Ubisoft Singapore, while the DS version is being made at Casablanca.

Listen The Prince Of Persia The Forgotten Sands Soundtracks Below


1 Garden



2 Camros



3 Zahrah's Sacrifice



4 Sacred Ascent



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Microsoft's Dream.Build.Play 2010 winners announced

Dream.Build.Play is a competition where semi-pro and indy game developers are asked to create innovative video games for Xbox 360 using XNA Game Studio. This year the four winners got their piece of $75,000 in cash as well as the opportunity for their game to show up on XBLA.
Microsoft says that there were over 350 games submitted from 110 countries for this year's contest. Only four won:

• Nicolas Daures, France, won $40k for Lumi, a 2D action/puzzler
• Nenin Ananbanchachai, Thailand, won $20k for A.R.E.S, a 2.5D run-and-gunner
• Yoichi Hayashi, Japan, won $10 for Prismatic Solid, a rail shooter
• Norman and Steven Hunt, UK, won $5k for Beat Hazard, a twin-stick shooter

If you take the time to watch the gameplay footage (above and below the jump) from all the winners, I'm sure you'll be impressed. The first place entrant, Lumi, as seen above, looks great. Killer art and music. I'm more into 3rd place pew-happy Prismatic Solid, though.
As a bonus this year, Old Spice teamed up to offer up a prize called the Old Spice Challenge. The community voted, and the winner is an action-adventure called Newton vs. The Horde. Graham Stewart and his dev team take home $60,000 for the win. To celebrate, they're giving away copies of the game to the first 8,000 people that visit the Old Spice page on Xbox Live.
Congrats to all the winners. I'm looking forward to playing all of these!

Video Games | Beat Hazard | Debut Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Bill Gates on Microsoft’s Pen-based Tablet Projects, Steve Jobs and iPad

Now things are taking a U-turn again, or sort of anyway. If you thought that Microsoft has buried the Courier project somewhere in their labs, you might be wrong, as it now looks like that some parts of that ambitious Courier project may return in the upcoming Tablets from Microsoft. Recently, Bill Gates in an interview said that Microsoft is working on Tablets which would use a pen-based input method (as opposed to finger-only mechanism in Apple iPad) which would go mainstream in students.

Now whether Courier is born again, or if it will be now used as a reference for the future devices is yet to be seen. But if these words of Bill Gates are anything to go by, we might see some of it in action soon.

Microsoft has a lot of different tablet projects that we’re pursuing. We think that work with the pen that Microsoft pioneered will become a mainstream for students. It can give you a device that you can not only read, but also create documents at the same time.

Bill Gates also praised Steve Jobs and Apple on their successful Tablet attempt – the iPad:

Buffett: “Steve Jobs has done a terrific job. And there will be companies that excel. And occasionally they will excel because of luck, but usually they excel because of brains.”
Gates: ‘Yes, I think both in general and in the specific, Apple’s done a great job.”

If anything, this statement of Gates proves that Microsoft didn’t ditch out the Courier entirely. The emphasis on a pen-based input for Tablets to create documents does relate to the Courier in one way or the other, see our previous post here on the Courier and you’ll know what we’re talking about. Now it makes us wonder, what will the Tablet look like? Is it the Courier after all? Was killing the Courier project part of plan to cover up for something which Microsoft has been working on for ages, and Gates just blurt it out? We can’t say for sure, but Bill Gates’ statement does point out to something cool which Microsoft is working on, and we can’t wait to see what it is. And of course the biggest question of all is: will it be good enough to compete with the iPad?.

Google's Browser Trumps Microsoft's

Chrome's increase in market share was nearly equal to security-prone Internet Explorer's drop in usage share, according to NetApplications

May 04, 2010 | 03:58 PM

Google's Chrome Web browser continued to gain market share in April, grabbing most of the increase at the expense of Microsoft's Internet Explorer, a monthly report released Monday showed.
As of the end of April, Chrome was used by 6.73% of the people visiting the 40,000 Web sites monitored by NetApplications for its customers. The number marked an increase 0.6% from March.
Chrome's increase was nearly equal to Internet Explorer's drop in usage share, which fell 0.7% month-to-month to 59.95%. It was the first time NetApplications had shown IE falling below 60%.
Chrome's usage share has grown steadily since its release in December 2008, according to NetApplications. IE, on the other hand, has been losing share for years, mostly because of security problems and a failure to keep up with the competition.
However, Microsoft is not ready to give up the browser battle. The company last month released a preview of Internet Explorer 9 at the MIX10 conference in Las Vegas.
At the time, Dean Hachamovitch, general manager of Internet Explorer at Microsoft, characterized IE9 as "the first browser to take standard Web patterns that developers use and run them better on modern PCs through Windows."
Among the many new elements supported in IE9 includes HTML5, the evolving next-generation standard for Web pages, including CSS3, Scalable Vector Graphics, XHTML parsing, and tags for H.264/MPEG4 and MP3/AAC codecs. The browser also includes support for hardware acceleration to speed up the rendering of graphics and text.
In the latest NetApplications usage share, Mozilla's Firefox and Apple's Safari each saw a gain of 0.07%, rising to 24.59% and 4.72%, respectively. Opera fell by an equal amount to 2.30%.

Asian countries ahead in green investment

NEW YORK, May 4 (UPI) -- Asian nations -- particularly China and South Korea -- are ahead of other major world economies when it comes to the "green" investment portion of economic and employment recovery plans, says a new book co-published by the United Nations.

In his book, "A Global Green New Deal: Rethinking the Economic Recovery," Edward Barbier, a leading economist and consultant to the U.N. Environmental Program's Global Green New Deal/Green Economy Initiative, urges Group of 20 countries to unite to promote a sustainable global economic recovery.

"Without a long-term vision on how to further catalyze and embed the environment within the economy, Barbier said in a release, "there is a real danger that many of the G20's green stimuli will wither and simply go to waste."

When the UNEP launched its Green New Deal policy brief during its annual gathering of environment ministers in February 2009 it recommended that each country spend 1 percent of gross domestic product on green initiatives.

With the exception of several Asian economies, U.N. Undersecretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said, "there remains a gap between ambition and action."

China and South Korea each spend 3 percent of GDP on environmental sectors, Barbier's book reports. That compares with the United States' green stimulus, which accounts for 0.7 percent of GDP and the European Union, which represents 0.2 percent of GDP.

"The problems of energy insecurity, climate change, environmental degradation and global poverty will only worsen if we fail to green our current global economic recovery efforts," warns Barbier, an economics professor at the University of Wyoming.

Barbier notes in the book that China, the world's second biggest energy consumer, spent more than one-third of its stimulus package -- 3 percent of GDP -- on initiatives such as high-speed rail systems as well as boosting the country's already-accelerating growth in wind and solar power and energy-efficient lighting.

China is the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.

With a renewable energy sector valued at $17 billion, China is the leading global producer of solar cells, wind turbines and solar water heaters, employing nearly 1 million people.

As for South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest energy consumer and polluter, it is allocating 95 percent of its fiscal stimulus -- also 3 percent of GDP -- for environmental sectors, including low-emission vehicles.

When opening a global environment summit in Seoul last month, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak cited the $19.8 million restoration of South Korea's four major rivers as a "representative" Green New Deal project aimed both at protecting the environment and fostering economic growth.

Puducherry bags pride of place at Shanghai expo

The Puducherry Pavilion at World Expo 2010 Shanghai. Photo: Special Arangement

Exhibits its unique urban initiatives at a separate pavilion

Puducherry is now part of a major innovation at the ongoing World Expo 2010 in Shanghai.

For the first time in the history of the World Expo, besides the national pavilions, select cities across the world are being showcased for their best practices that could offer solution to some of the pressing urban issues. Puducherry is one of the 32 cities to exhibit its unique urban initiatives and has a separate pavilion in the Urban Best Practices Area (UBPA). The other Indian city to share the honours is Ahmedabad.

Based on the recommendations of the World Bank, the Shanghai Expo Committee invited the Puducherry Municipality to exhibit its Asia Urbs integrated program for urban environmental management and heritage preservation.

Heritage conservation

Between 2002 and 2004, the Puducherry government, along with INTACH Puducherry, implemented the Asia Urbs Programme to improve the quality of life in the old city through heritage conservation.

Many buildings were restored through a matching grant scheme that shared as much as half the costs of the project. A participatory conservation practice was also initiated and important public spaces in the city were taken up for improvement.

European Union provided a grant of Euro 700,000 and two European cities, Urbino (Italy) and Villeneuve-sur-Lot (France), partnered in this project.

Inspiring example

Ajit Koujalgi, INTACH Coordinator, in an e-mail interview from Shanghai told The Hindu that the programme implemented in Puducherry could serve as an inspiring example to many historic cities in the developing world that were struggling to save their heritage.

“Panels and video screens in the pavilion display salient features of the projects and a small shop and a cafe bring Puducherry closer to the visitors — to taste, feel and take home.

The main message of the Puducherry pavilion is that the heritage preservation requires the participation of building owners, civil society and serious commitment from governments to provide financial assistance and enact legislation to protect heritage buildings and precincts,” Mr. Koujalgi said.

Components shipped

The Department of Tourism, Puducherry, took up the pavilion project and it was built by a Chinese contractor in Shanghai based on the designs provided. Some of the components for the pavilion were shipped from Puducherry. The INTACH Puducherry Chapter acted as the facilitator.

The Shanghai World Expo was inaugurated on April 30 and will be open to public till October 31. The Puducherry pavilion is in Case Joint Pavilion 1, UBPA Section.

Made in China: Cyber-spying system, with focus on India

NEW DELHI: Reports of a China-based cyber spy network targetting the Indian military and the consequent alert sounded by Army authorities may be only the tip of the iceberg -- investigations have revealed a fully dedicated India-specific espionage system aimed at business, diplomatic, strategic and academic interests.

The detailed research and investigations carried out by Canada-based authors of the report 'Shadows in the Cloud' and experts from India's NTRO have pointed to a command and control system that used free web-hosting services and social networking sites like Twitter, Baidu blogs and Google. These accounts were manipulated by a "core" of servers based in Chengdu in China.

The report, released in early April, received fairly wide publicity but its fuller implications are only now beginning to sink in. The largely India-centric cyber warfare system is described as "son of ghost net", an allusion to a Chinese effort to infiltrate the Tibetan exile community. The current investigations also began in Dharamshala but revealed a larger intent linked to an underground hacking community in Chengdu.

An email used in ghostnet turned up in the Shadows probe as well and is identified as losttemp33@hotmail and was associated with Xfocus and Isbase, two popular Chinese hacking forums and possibly was a student of master hackers Glacier and Sunwear. The individual is believed to have studied at University of Electronic Science and Technology at Chengdu in Sichuan.

The Canadian team used a domain name system (DNS) sinkhole to turn IP addresses into domain names by grabbing suspect servers abandoned after ghostnet investigations. The list of compromised Indian computers is disturbing: machines at Indian missions at Kabul, Moscow, Dubai, Abuja, US, Serbia, Belgium, Germany, Cyprus, UK and Zimbabwe were infected.

A machine at the National Security Council Secretariat was tapped as were computers at military engineering services at Kolkata, Bangalore and Jalandhar. Computers linked to the 21 Mountain Artillery Brigade, the Air Force Station at Race Course Road opposite the PM's residence, the Army Institute of Technology at Pune and Military College of Electronics and Mechanical Engineering at Secunderabad were also compromised.

Thinktanks such as the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses and publications like India Strategic and FORCE were also targeted as were corporations like DLF Limited, Tata and YKK India. Computers at the National Maritime Foundation and Gujarat Chemical Port Terminal Compnay were also hit.

On-ground investigations at Dharamshala, where the Tibetan exile community is headquartered, showed that computers were beaconing with server 'jdusnemsaz' in Chongqing in China. Interestingly, while Chengdu has a military research bureau, Chongqing is host to several triads -- criminal networks with connections to the Chinese government and Communist Party.

In a lucky break, the Canadian team was able to recover data being removed by attackers and discovered a list of compromised computers. Registering and monitoring four of the domain names revealed by the earlier ghostnet probe, they reached those used in the shadows network like www.assam2008.net, aaa.msnxy,net, sysroots.net, www.lookbyturns.com and www.macfeeresponse.org.

The investigations showed that the infected email or social networking accounts were infiltrated with malware which then allowed the compromised computer to receive more sophisticated software through attachments. All through, there was a core of master servers based in China that kept a close check on infiltration of computers and transfer of all sorts of documents from personal details to missile analysis to safe drop zones.