CISF
detains two Kuwaitis for trying to load crackers onto flight
Chennai:
Officials from the Central Industrial Security force
(CISF) today detained two Kuwaiti Airways officials on charges
of attempting to load unchecked suitcases stuffed with crackers
in violation of security norms. Earlier panic gripped the
airport premises when authorities initially suspected the
suitcases to be laden with explosives. However, a later
search revealed the suitcases contained crackers. As per
reports, the two persons, a cargo manager and a supervisor,
were intercepted by CISF personnel, near the "air side"
area of the airport when they were trying to load the unchecked
cases on to the Kuwait bound flight. Airport officials finally
handed over the custody of the cases to the local police.
Jayalalitha
is the first Asian woman to get human rights award (Go
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Chennai:
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha has become
the first Asian woman to receive the "Golden Star of Honour
and Dignity Award" instituted by the International Human
Rights Defence Committee. She was bestowed the award on
Monday evening in recognition of her contribution in the
field of upliftment of women and weaker sections of the
society, and for removing gender bias. Besides, steps taken
by her government like the setting up of all-women police
stations and an exclusive women's commando unit, instituting
an award in the name of India-born astronaut Kalpana Chawla
and the "cradle baby" scheme to prevent female infanticide,
had qualified her for the award. The International Human
Rights Defence Committee is based in the Ukraine. UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan, Russian President Vladimir Putin and
Iceland Prime Minister David Oddsson are the other major
recipients of the award. Director of the Human Rights Committee
Albert Kitcher presented her with the award at a function
in Chennai. He said: "We are delighted to present our highest
honour to the most remarkable and distinguished women leader
of Asia." Speaking on the occasion, Jayalalitha said she
would continue with her work for the upliftment of women
and weaker sections of the society "I stand before you in
all humility to receive this award today. It has been my
good fortune to have been able to serve the people of Tamil
Nadu whom I love more than my life. My vision is to make
Tamil Nadu the number one state in the country in all respects
- be it in terms of economic development, social advancement
and in particular to be the first in giving a fair deal
to women and weaker sections of society," said Jayalalitha.
Former
Lankan premier Wickremasinghe meets Manmohan (Go
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New
Delhi: Former Sri Lankan prime minister Ranil Wickremasinghe
today called on Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and discussed
the peace process in the Island nation and various other
issues. The Leader of Opposition in the Sri Lankan parliament
met the Prime Minister in his South Bloc office, PMO sources
said. Wickremasinghe is in the country on a private visit.
The Lankan leader had met External Affairs Minister K. Natwar
Singh yesterday.
Pakistan
tests 'nuclear' missile (Go
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Islamabad:
Pakistan has tested a medium-range nuclear-capable missile
which could hit targets deep in neighbouring India. A Pakistani
official said the test was not intended to send any message
to its nuclear-armed neighbour. The Hatf-V Ghauri missile
has a range of 1,500 km and can carry nuclear warheads.
Both India and Pakistan routinely test their missiles and
correspondents do not expect Tuesday's launch to affect
current peace moves. A senior Pakistani defence official
told the Associated Press that India and other neighbouring
countries had been given prior warning of the test.
Pak
has 55 to 90 nuclear weapons (Go
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Washington:
Pakistan has in its possession at least 55 to 90 nuclear
weapons, if an analysis of fissile material stockpile carried
out by two American experts is to be believed. According
to David Albright and Kimberly Kramer, Pakistan's fissile
material stockpile has always been difficult to assess,
but now they claim that it is large enough to rival that
of India. The Daily Times quoted the two authors as warning
that "military stocks in India, Pakistan, and Israel are
continuing to grow is an important indicator of the need
for an international ban on the production of fissile material
for nuclear weapons." To substantiate their contention,
they said Pakistans stockpile of plutonium is between 20
and 60 kilograms, while its stock of highly enriched uranium
(HEU) is between 1,200 and 1,250 kilograms, and the number
of nuclear weapons it has manufactured is estimated at between
55 and 90. Compared to Pakistan, India has 300-470 kilograms
of plutonium and it has the possibility of producing HEU,
while its arsenal contains between 55 and 115 nuclear weapons.
Israel on the other hand possesses between 510 and 650 kilograms
of plutonium, while its stock of HEU is not known. The number
of nuclear weapons it stocks is between 110 and 290. At
the end of 2003 there were more than 3,700 metric tons of
plutonium and highly enriched uranium (uranium enriched
to 20 percent or more uranium 235), enough for hundreds
of thousands of nuclear weapons, in about 60 countries.
Did
George Bush cheat during his face-off with Kerry? (Go
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Sydney:
US President George Bush's aides have denied rumours
that he received answers from an advisor during his high-profile,
pre-election debate with Democrat candidate John Kerry,
with the help of a transmitter that was fitted in his suit.
Several reports have been doing the rounds that during the
face- off, which took place earlier last week, a noticeable
bulge could be seen under Bush's jacket, which was actually
a transmitter through which he could hear the answers. The
reports, which have supported themselves with photographs
of the bulge, also said that they had reached the conclusion
because several times during the debate, Bush stopped in
mid-sentence as if waiting to hear the rest of the answer,
reports the Sydney Morning Herald. A spokesperson for Bush
has called the claims "preposterous", but he did not elaborate
on what the bulge could have been while officials at the
White House refused to comment. George Bush's tailor, Georges
de Paris, however, explained that it was just a fold in
his suit and nothing more than that.
Race-hate
crimes in UK increased eleven-fold in a decade (Go
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London:
The motivation to attack or abuse a person or persons
from different racial backgrounds has shockingly increased
eleven fold in Britain since 1994. According to an unpublished
survey prepared by the charity Victim Support, 33,374 people
claimed that they had been targeted in the last year because
of their skin colour. In 1994, the same charity handled
3,072 similar complaints. The report will according to The
Independent reveal that the number increased to 20,508 in
2000-01; 23,130 in 2001-02; it fell slightly to 20,950 in
2002-03 and then jumped to 33,374 in 2003- 04. According
to paper, the charity further goes on to say that the racial
attacks covered all types of offences, including arson attacks
on homes and places of worship, wounding and assault, verbal
abuse, racist letters and leaflets through the post, harassment
and bullying at work or school. Ten per cent of the victims
counselled by the charity suffered racially motivated attacks
or abuse, compared with just one per cent a year ago, adding
that now it was struggling to devote required staff to deal
with such incidents.
"Race crime has rocketed through the roof. The rise is startling.
No other crime we deal with has gone up as fast as racially
motivated crime," a charity spokesman was quoted as saying.
Much of the increase in racially-motivated crimes is being
attributed to changes in crime reporting since the murder
of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence. There is no doubt
that racial tensions are growing along with a fear psychosis
in certain communities. For instance, Jewish groups have
warned of an increase in anti-Semitic assaults, while a
commission looking into reports of Islamophobia, has found
attacks on mosques and individual Muslims rising since the
September 11, 2001 aerial attacks in the US. "These figures
are worrying and reinforce our anecdotal evidence that racially
motivated crime is on the up. They could also show that
ethnic minorities are feeling more confident in coming forward
to report these crimes," a spokeswoman for the Commission
for Racial Equality was quoted as saying.
Infosys
net up by 48.64 pc (Go
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Bangalore:
Country's software major Infosys Technologies today
reported a 48.64 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 447.37
crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2004. This
is over Rs 300.98 crore posted in the corresponding period
last year. The company reported revenues of Rs 1749.33 crore
for the period July-September, which is an increase of 51.88
per cent over Rs 1151.80 crore during the same period last
year.
