India's
troop reduction move significant: Benazir
Islamabad:
Former Pakistan President Benazir Bhutto has said that
India's decision to reduce troops in Jammu and Kashmir area
is an important step forward in the process of confidence
building between the two countries. Describing the announcement
significant for its symbolic importance, she expressed hope
that it would act as an impetus to Indo-Pak peace talks
scheduled for this December. "Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
had decided to reduce troops following "an improvement in
the security situation" in Jammu and Kashmir. However, it
is not known how big the troop reduction will be," Bhutto
added.
India
still to respond to Pak for foreign secretary talks (Go
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Islamabad:
The much hyped Indo-Pak foreign secretary level talks
still seems a long way off, as India is still to respond
to Pakistan's proposals for holding the talks on December
21 and 22. According to the Daily Times, India has still
not yet given any response to Pakistan even though Islamabad
is waiting for an early 'nod' from New Delhi. The foreign
secretary talks it is believed will take forward the historic
meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan
President General Pervez Musharraf on the sidelines of the
UN General Assembly Summit on September 24, 2004. "The foreign
secretaries will meet next month and once again will take
up the issue of Kashmir in light of discussions between
President Musharraf and Prime Minister Singh in their 'historic'
meeting in New York," the paper quoted a source as saying.
As per the report, Pakistan was less likely to accept the
idea of a 'soft border' on the Line of Control (LoC) as
a long term solution to the Kashmir imbroglio as such a
move has the possibility of dividing the Kashmiri people
something to which Pakistan is quite averse. "Let the proponents
of the soft border on the Line of Control dare visit the
area and see for themselves how 'soft' the border can be,"
an official said.
Lalu
Yadav is an instant abroad too (Go
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by N Bhadran Nair
Cairo/Abu
Dhabi: Railway Minister Lalu Prasad may have his following
within India, but his popularity abroad also can never be
underestimated. Prasad, who accomapnied an Indian delegation
to the Egyptian capital Cairo to attend the funeral ceremony
of former Palestinian president Yasser Arafat, was an instant
hit there too. Lalu was quite bemused when an Omanian Minister
shook his hands and said "Congress, Congress, Parliament,
I know you." Lalu, however, showed no signs of backing down,
and jocularly retorted "No, I am RJD" Even at the Abu Dhabi
Airport's duty free shop, people of various nationalities
mobbed Lalu and sought his autograph, while many were lucky
enough to get themselves photographed with him. The RJD
leader, who took time off during a technical halt to shop
for some dates for his children, almost missed out the venture,
thanks to the large crowd surrounding him. His other ministerial
colleagues, including External Affairs Minister K. Natwar
Singh and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad,
expressed chagrin as well as amusement at his plight. Lalu
too responded with equal elan, enquiring about their families
and jobs in Abu Dhabi, while waving his hands to those who
sought his attention from a floor above.
The
Arabs, too, were bemused by the popularity of the Bihar
leader, and posed for photographs with Lalu, while the security
personnel at the airport vied with each other to accost
and escort him through various outlets, paying scant heed
to their prescribed duties. On the other hand External Affairs
Minister Natwar Singh and his ministeral colleagues had
a bad time at Cairo. They were stopped at the gate of Al
Galaa Military grounds, made to alight from their vehicles,
and even the gates closed on their face. Ultimately, after
much persuasion by Indian Embassy officials that it was
indeed the Indian official delegation, the Presidential
Security Guards allowed them to walk in, whereas the delegates
who came ahead of them drove straight drive in. The Egyptians
were quite paranoid about the security, that the British
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw preferred to stay back at the
gate and later joined the delegation members of other countries
at the procession.
Suha
Arafat is now 'Miss Moneybags' (Go
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Washington:
Suha Arafat, who jealously guarded her husband, Yasser
Arafat's bedside during his final hours, and brought his
body home from France for burial on Friday, has reportedly
managed to seal a deal that will make her a very rich widow.
If a New York Times report is anything to go by, Suha, 41,
has reached a 22 million dollar a year settlement with the
Palestinian Authority for divulging the secrets of her husband's
fortune. Arafat's wife had been demanding half his billions
in hidden assets and had threatened to withhold details
about where to find them from the new Palestinian leadership,
according to newspapers in Italy and Israel, the NYT report
claims. After intense negotiations, she agreed to a deal
with Arafat's successor as PLO chief, Mahmoud Abbas, when
he visited the French military hospital where he was admitted
during his final days. According to one account in Corriere
de la Serra, Suha will receive 22 million dollars a year
from the Palestinian Authority budget.
Another
account, cited by the newspapers Maariv and La Repubblica,
said Suha will receive: A one-time payment of 20 million
dollars. A stipend of 35,000 dollars a month for life. More
than 10 million dollars that was discovered last year by
French authorities investigating money laundering. On Friday,
French sources said that earlier this week, Suha had turned
down a two million dollar offer. That settlement would have
allowed doctors to complete medical tests to determine what
illness proved fatal to the 75-year-old Palestinian leader.
Palestinian officials would not discuss the negotiations
in detail yesterday. But Arafat's longtime financial adviser,
Mohammed Rashid, said earlier this week that the Palestinian
Authority would consider any "reasonable" proposal from
Suha. Rashid and Suha, dubbed by the Palestinian press as
"Miss Moneybags," are regarded as two of the few people
who know where Arafat's fortune is hidden.
Estimates
of Arafat's hidden assets, stashed in secret accounts around
the world, reach at least four billion dollars. Sources
say Suha is already playing kingmaker to determine who leads
the Palestinians in the post-Arafat era. She has reportedly
endorsed Farouk Kadoumi, a Tunisian-based radical, to lead
Arafat's Fatah political faction and claim the leadership
of all Palestinians. But a majority of the Palestinians
regard her as a foreign interloper who convinced Arafat's
doctors to allow him to go to Paris for diagnosis two weeks
ago, and then used French law to block anyone but her from
sharing his final hours. Suha, who lives in Paris with the
couple's daughter, Zahwa, refused to allow Palestinian officials
into Arafat's hospital room. It was only after intense negotiations
this week that she permitted Palestinian Prime Minister
Ahmed Qureia to see Arafat last Tuesday, two days before
his death.
Cochin
emerging as hottest BPO destination (Go
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Cochin:
Cochin is fast becoming the most preferred destination
for business process outsourcing (BPO). Several companies
are setting up offices in this port city due to low costs,
easy availability of skilled manpower and easy connectivity.
A Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) survey ranked Kerala
as the second best in overall composite ranking, next only
to Delhi. Kerala, with a population of about 32 million,
has a literacy rate of 90.92 percent, among the highest
in the country. A number of IT industries are moving to
Cochin given the state's vast pool of skilled human resource,
largely peaceful situation and improving infrastructure.
"A number of things that make Kerala an attractive destination
for outsourcing, to name a few - high, literacy rate and
high level of education is something that would attract
somebody who would like to set up a business here. Another
thing that comes to my mind is the special economic zone
which offers a lot of incentives for companies who would
like to invest here," said Peter Martin, Political and Economic
Advisor, Consulate General of the United States at Chennai.
Cochin
offers one of the cheapest available bandwidths in the country,
with the advantage of being located at the landing points
of both satellite and submarine cable links. Both Sea-Me-
We 3 and SAFE international submarine cables land at Cochin.
The city is one of the 16 landing points across the world
for the submarine cable. The cable system has an ultimate
capacity of 120 gbps that enables it to convey a total of
5.8 million simultaneous telephone channels. Neeraj Bhargava,
CEO, WNS Global Services, said: "I think that it has a fairly
attractive location, the infrastructure is improving and
also the traders see a lot of talent available here and
finally from the point of view of our customers here. It's
a well known and a good place to visit and a large part
of convincing people work in India and make sure that they
have a good time when they come here and Kerala certainly
offers that prospect." The outsourcing industry, which also
includes BPO (also called back office operations) including
software applications, accounts for Indian exports worth
12.5 billion US dollars. The outsourcing industry is projecting
growth of 50 percent in 2004-2005. The US alone accounts
for more than 70 percent of the country's outsourcing business
and software exports.
