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India Beat Zimbabwe HARARE: India beat Zimbabwe by 83 runs in their World Cup Group A match on Wednesday. Javagal Srinath made the early breakthroughs with Mark Vermeulen caught behind for a duck off his sixth ball. Sachin Tendulkar was adjudged man of the match. (Details) Vajpayee Rules Out War With Pakistan NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Wednesday ruled out any possibility of a war with arch-rival Pakistan. Vajpayee also expressed his disapproval of a possible U.S-led military strike on Iraq. "There should be no war between US and Iraq nor between India and Pakistan," he told the Lok Sabha (lower House of Parliament) in reply to a question over India's stand on Pakistan. India and Pakistan came close to war last year over a terrorist attack on parliament and charges that Pakistan supports rebels fighting New Delhi's rule in Jammu and Kashmir. Tensions were defused by international diplomacy and a Pakistani promise to stop militant incursions. Islamabad denies giving the rebels military support but says it gives moral backing to what it calls a "legitimate" Kashmiri freedom struggle. Relations between the two South Asian neighbours remain tense. While New Delhi maintains "cross border terrorism" has not stopped in Jammu and Kashmir, India's only Muslim majority province, Islamabad says the "root causes" of terrorism must be addressed and seeks mediation of the international community. Fencing, I-card To Curb Illegal Immigration (Go To Top) NEW DELHI: Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that the Centre was taking various measures including fencing the Indo-Bangla border and distributing citizen's identity cards to detect and identify the illegal immigrants from the eastern neighbour. Speaking during Question Hour, he said the identity card scheme had already been started as a pilot project in 13 States and the process would be completed soon. A national register would be formed, according to him. Advani, however, could not specify the number of foreigners, including Bangladeshis and Pakistanis, who had unauthorisedly come in and were staying in India. "Only estimates can be given which are awful and frightening," he said. NDA Allies, Opposition Protest against BPCL, HPCL Disinvestment (Go To Top) NEW DELHI: Loud protests were voiced both by the Opposition and Treasury benches in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday against the Government's decision to disinvest two major public sector oil companies - BPCL and HPCL. The Government's allies who joined the Opposition included Shiv Sena and Samata Party. The members were particularly irked by the reply of disinvestment minister Arun Shourie that the attorney-general had opined that parliamentary legislation, sanction or approval was not necessary to effectuate the "in-principle policy decision" of disinvestment of these undertakings. The agitated members demanded immediate summoning of the attorney-general to the House. Walk-out in RS Over POTA (Go To Top) NEW DELHI: The entire Opposition in the Rajya Sabha staged a walk-out on Wednesday over a remark by Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani that there was nothing on record which could prove misuse of POTA in Uttar Pradesh. Irked at the statement, Opposition members said the BJP-led NDA was not keeping its promise it had made when POTA was adopted by Parliament. It may be recalled that Independent MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh, alias Raja Bhaiyya, was last month arrested under POTA alongwith his father Uday Pratap Singh by the Mayawati-led Government. Since then the Opposition has been continuously describing it as "political witch-hunting" by Mayawati and the BJP. Intervening in the discussion over the POTA controversy in the State, Advani said, "there is nothing on record to say that POTA has been misused in Uttar Pradesh. Let the court tell." Reacting strongly to Advani's remark, senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee said the Union home minister was not meeting justice by saying that POTA was not being misued in UP. Godhra Accused To Be Booked under POTA (Go To Top) AHMEDABAD: Police in Gujarat on Wednesday said they have decided to book the accused of the Godhra train tragedy under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). Fifty-nine Hindu activists travelling in a train were torched by a suspected Muslim mob in Godhra last year. The massacre sparked off reprisal attacks against Muslims and more than 1,000 people, including Hindus, were killed. AK Bhargava, the State's additional director-general of police, said the decision to invoke POTA was taken after much deliberations. "As we went ahead with investigation, it was made clear to us that all ingredients required for POTA were clear and so we booked all the 131 accused under POTA," Bhargava said. He said the main accused, Maulvi Hussain Umerji and Zabir Yamiun Behra, had confessed their involvement in the crime. Muslims Protest Bush Plan To Attack Iraq (Go To Top) NEW DELHI: Dozens of Muslims took to streets of the Capital on Wednesday to send a passionate message to US President George W Bush not to invade Iraq and to give peace a chance. The protest comes in the wake of reports that Bush is planning to take a decision on attacking Iraq in the next two weeks. Protestors shouted slogans in support of their "Iraqi brothers" and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. In a huge wave of demonstrations not seen since the Vietnam era, anti-war marches around the globe have called on the US President to back off his hawkish stance towards Baghdad, which his administration accuses of hiding weapons of mass destruction that pose a global threat. Baghdad accuses Washington of preparing for a "war-for-oil" against Iraq, the world's eighth largest oil exporter. New US Law to Affect Thousands of Pak Immigrants (Go To Top) WASHINGTON: A new law proposed by attorney-general John Ashcroft could adversely affect thousands of Pakistanis and other immigrants living in the United States, including those who already have acquired American citizenship, reports Dawn. The proposed law, entitled the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003, would allow authorities to arbitrarily arrest American citizens, wiretap their telephones, rescind their citizenship and send them back to the countries of their origin. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says the proposed law goes further than the US Patriot Act, adopted after the Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, "in eroding checks and balances on presidential power and contains a number of measures that are of questionable effectiveness, but are sure to infringe on civil liberties." On the other hand, Pakistan has been assured that a large number of immigrants won't be deported. The assurance came from US Assistant Attorney General Relf F Bond while addressing a delegation of Pakistani-American Business Association. BT's
Indian Call Centre Plans Spark Trade Union Concerns(Go
To Top) LONDON: British Telecom's plans to move its 'Directory Enquiries' service to call centres in New Delhi have been met with strong opposition from trade union leaders, who see it as yet another instance of British jobs being lost to cheaper workers overseas. The famous 192 number is called 700 million times a year by people wanting to find a telephone number in the United Kingdom, and most callers would agree that it is an efficient service, giving quick and accurate response. But it is soon to be split into several specialised services and opened up to commercial competition. BT's move is clearly to save costs in the face of such competition. The concern of the Communications Workers Union is the potential loss of about 700 jobs in call centres around the country, most of them filled by agency workers who have worked for BT for many years. The Union's National Officer, Sally Bridge, said: "BT have a social and economic responsibility to preserve jobs in the UK." Beckham Hit, But No Stitches Required: Ferguson(Go To Top) LONDON: Fiery Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has admitted that he kicked a boot across the changing room following Saturday's 2-0 defeat at the hands of Arsenal. But he said that David Beckham, who was hit in the face by the boot, did not have stitches in the wound. Refusing to apologise, Ferguson was quoted in People News as saying that contrary to reports, David Beckham did not have stitches - it was a graze which was dealt with by a doctor. "There is no problem and we move on. That is all there is to say." Beckham, meanwhile, has banned wife Victoria from speaking to the press about the incident, or indeed from giving Sir Alex a piece of her mind. Ice Broken, Spice Girls Pledge To Bury the Past (Go To Top) LONDON: The re-union dinner of former Spice Girls has been described by sources as emotional, relaxed and fruitful. Geri Halliwell wept and apologised for quitting the Spice Girls when she joined her former band-mates at Victoria's 'Beckingham Palace' mansion on the Essex-Herts border. Guilt-ridden Ginger broke down as she recalled problems between the girls. She used memory cards to remind herself of specific incidents. Mel B, Mel C, Victoria Beckham and Emma Bunton then apologised to Geri for failing to support her enough through her eating disorders. Aides ruled out a comeback from the five in the immediate future. But according to a report in the Sun, "the ice has been broken and door opened". Sporty Spice Mel C - the most successful solo artiste following the band's demise - is the sticking point. Perhaps significantly, she was the first to leave the party at 11.45 pm. She told her ex-bandmates: "There's no point in ever going back." But now that they are getting on well again, the other four are keen to re-group - possibly next year - for a Christmas 2004 greatest hits album and a one-off gig. Kylie Sexiest of All (Go To Top) LONDON: Kylie Minogue, 34, was voted as the sexiest woman in a celebrity list in a poll dominated by stars in their 30s. The sensuous star had the sexiest body ahead of Latino singer and actress Jennifer Lopez, 32, and American pop star Britney Spears, 21, according to readers of British celebrity magazine Heat. Liz Hurley, 37, was the oldest woman to feature, finishing eighth - behind Posh Spice Victoria Beckham, 28, Tomb Raider star Angelina Jolie, 27, and Friends actress Jennifer Aniston, 34, but ahead of singer Anastacia, 29, and Oscar nominee Catherine Zeta-Jones, 33, says a report in News.com.au -ANI |