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CBI arrests police inspector in Minister's mistress Madhumita Shukla's murder

          Lucknow, Nov 15: A police inspector in Uttar Pradesh was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday on charges of destroying evidence and illegal confinement of an IIT student in the Madhumita Shukla murder case. CBI sources said that inspector Yagya Narayan Dixit was arrested from his house here this morning. They said Dixit had attempted to tamper with the evidence of the murder case.

          Madhumita Shukla was murdered at her home here on May 9 this year. Dixit is also responsible for illegally confining Anuj Mishra, an IIT Kanpur student, for his alleged involvement in the murder case, police added. With this, the total number of arrests made in the case has gone up to five. Besides Dixit, former State Minister Amarmani Tripathi, his nephew Rohit Chaturvedi, Madhumita's alleged killers Santosh Kumar Rai alias Satya Prakash and and Prakash Chandra Pandey have been arrested. Amarmani Tripathi, the prime accused in the case, is in judicial custody. Dixit's role had been under investigation for a long time but in the absence of credible evidence, the CBI had not been able to arrest him so far. Interrogation of arrested suspects provided the agency with vital information regarding Dixit's role and he was subsequently arrested.

India allays Arab fears over ties with Israel
-by N Bhadran Nair

          Damascus, Nov 15: India on Saturday allayed Arab fears over increased military cooperation with Israel. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said New Delhi's cooperation with Tel Aviv will not be at the cost of its traditional relations with Arab nations. "Our friends in the Arab world should rest assured in this regard. The important point is India has not, and will not, dilute any aspect of its relationship with Arab countries," said Vajpayee in an interview with Syria Times. The interview appeared on Saturday to coincide with Vajpayee's visit to Damascus. Referring to the escalation of tensions in the region, especially between Syria and Israel, Vajpayee said: "India is distressed at the continuing spiral of violence and counter-violence. We believe that a comprehensive and just solution should be found through peaceful negotiations."

          Vajpayee, who will hold talks with President President Assad and Prime Minister Mohamad Naji Otri, is expected to personally allay any fears of Syria or the Arab world about India's increasing military relations with Israel. Meanwhile, India will sign several agreements of cooperation with Syria at the end of delegation level talks today. This includes an agreement for exploration and production of oil from an onland block. ONGC's overseas arm ONGC Videsh will invest 15 million dollars in the first exploration phase after signing the production-sharing contract (PSC) with the Syrian Government. Another major tie up with Damascus is in the Biotechnology Sector. Prime Minister Vajpayee and President Assad will jointly inaugurate the Indo- Syrian Centre for Biotechnology in the Campus of Damascus University today. India has provided one million rupees for equipment for the biotechnology centre.

US soldier death toll in Iraq hits 400 mark (Go To Top)

          Dubai, Nov 15: The death of an American soldier on Saturday has led to the total death toll rising to 400 in Iraq since hostilities were started there on March 20. According to news agency reports quoted by the News, the British military has reported 52 deaths so far in Iraq. Sixteen Italians also have died, along with one soldier each from Denmark, Spain, Ukraine and Poland.

Sikh pilgrims return from Lahore (Go To Top)

          Wagah, Nov 15: A group of Sikh pilgrims returned from Pakistan on Saturday after visiting Gurdwaras to pay obeisance to their religious leader. The pilgrims, who had gone to Lahore to pray at Nankanna Sahib gurdwara on the 534th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, founder of Sikhism, returned via Wagah border. The pilgrims, however, said they were unhappy with the functioning of shrines in Pakistan. Paramjit Singh Sarna, a pilgrim from the national capital, suggested that Indians should also be given a role in the functioning of the Sikh shrines in Pakistan as the Pakistani Sikhs are not well-versed with their rituals. The group also visited Nankana Sahib, Panja Sahib, Sacha Sahib and Dera Sahib shrines in Lahore.

          Every year, thousands of Sikh pilgrims from across the world congregate in Pakistan to participate in the birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev. Last year, when the nuclear rivals were on the verge of their fourth war, only 50 Sikhs from India made a token visit to Pakistan. A few thousand followers of the Sikh religion are living in Pakistan but majority of them migrated to India after the partition in 1947.

15 killed in Istanbul blasts (Go To Top)

          Nicosia, Nov 15: At least 15 people were on Saturday killed in explosions near two synagogues in the Turkish city of Istanbul. Turkish officials said car bombs rocked Istanbul's largest synagogue, the Neve Shalom, in Beyoglu district, and another synagogue nearby. Turkey's interior minister said 146 people were wounded in the attacks, which occurred minutes apart. A group called the Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front said it was responsible, Turkish media reported. Israel has denounced the blasts as "criminal terror attacks". Turkish Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said seven people were killed in Beyoglu and eight in Sisli, after earlier saying that 23 people had died.

          The Neve Shalom synagogue was the scene of an attack in 1986, when Palestinian gunmen killed 22 worshippers and wounded six others during a Sabbath service. Turkish police said they were still investigating possible links to other radical groups, including the al-Qaeda network.

Anti-imperialism forum demands early pullout of troops from Iraq (Go To Top)

          Kolkata, Nov 15: An anti-imperialism group on Saturday demanded immediate withdrawal of international troops from war-ravaged Iraq. The forum, with delegates from the United States, France, Palestine, Syria and Bangladesh, said the Iraqi people were against, what it termed as, the hegemonistic designs of the U.S. Heather Cottin from Washington D.C warned of intensified protests if the world super-power persisted with its occupation of the oil-rich nation. "Right now we have the demand that bring the troops home now, end the occupation of Iraq. That's right now our very most important activity. We are going back to Washington, there may be more demand if United States extends its attempted hegimony over the rest of the region. I don't think it's going to be able to do it so very easily because Iraqi people have basically risen up a powerful resistance and have taken the most powerful country in the world and put it back on its heels," Cottin said after the forum's meeting in Kolkata. The demand comes barely a day after President George W. Bush promised that the United States would stay in Iraq until it was free and peaceful.

Advani says improved ties with China will benefit Arunachal (Go To Top)

          Itanagar, Nov 15: Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani on Saturday said Arunachal Pradesh would be benefited most by the improvement in bilateral relations with its nuclear neighbour China. "I hope that this change in atmosphere (after Vajpayee's visit to China) should be good for relations between India and China. The main beneficiaries of this will indeed be the people of Arunachal Pradesh," Advani, who was on a two-day visit to Arunachal Pradesh, said in capital Itanagar.

          An improvement in India-China bilateral relations was set in motion when Vajpayee visited China in June, the first visit by an Indian prime minister in a decade in a new push to settle the border dispute. A Chinese delegation visited New Delhi last month to hold discussions with the Indian leadership to resolve the dispute over the border areas including parts of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. Bureaucrats of the two countries have been negotiating since 1998 to map out where exactly their 3,500-km border lies but have met with little success. Nuclear-armed India and China fought a brief border war in 1962 and despite a thaw in ties and growing trade in recent years, their relations have been characterised by mutual suspicion.

EU will seek Indian views on WTO problems at Delhi summit (Go To Top)
-by Trevor Barnard

          Brussels, Nov 15: The WTO will undoubtedly take a prominent place in discussions at the fourth EU/India summit meeting in Delhi on November 29, but the issue is unlikely to move forward significantly, because the EU is in the middle of a re-think on how to tackle the problems that presented themselves at Cancun in September. For the EU that failure was a serious setback, not least because the European body felt that the biggest losers were the developing countries. To avoid another disastrous failure at the next ministerial conference, the EU believes it needs a period of reflection before deciding on how to approach the task of getting the Doha round back on track.

          The Cancun stumbling blocks are identified as: divergence of views within the G-20 group of developing countries, particularly the conflicting views of Brazil and India on agriculture; strong concerns among members of the G-90 group of African, Caribbean and Pacific countries about trade preferences they currently enjoy; worries about the emergence of China as a force in the world economy; criticism of the EU and US positions on agriculture; criticism of the US cotton regime; and difficulties with the established WTO working procedures within an organisation now numbering 148 members.

          The outcome of the EU's period of reflection will be put to its trade ministers early next month, and then to the EU Council two weeks later. A senior official in the EU's Trade Directorate said: "India is a very important partner in bilateral trade, and as a party to WTO negotiations, where India took a significant position at Doha and Cancun. So we have every interest in discussing with the Government of India what moves they might be able to make and finding common grounds where the EU and India can work together".

          In the interests of promoting bilateral trade, the EU has completed negotiations with India on a customs agreement and this should be formally concluded at the Delhi summit. It encompasses co-operation in drawing up common trade classifications to improve transparency; establishing common standards based on international rules; technical assistance based on best practices in order to speed up formalities and controls; and measures to counter fraud.

Randhir Singh is re-elected CGF VP (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, Nov 15: Randhir Singh, the Secretary General of the Indian Olympic Association, was unanimously re-elected Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) Vice-President from the Asian region on Saturday. Reports reaching here from Montego Bay in Jamaica said Singh would serve in the post for four years.

Hyderabad to host 2004 national badminton championships (Go To Top)

          Hyderbad, Nov 15: The Gachibowli Indoor Stadium here will host the 68th Senior National Badminton Championships in January- February 2004, as the Karnataka Badminton Association (KBA) has expressed its inability to host the event. Andhra Pradesh State Badminton Association (APSBA) sources on Saturday said that the dates for the event would be announced on Sunday. The APSBA Executive Committee would also decide on the holding of the 59th Inter-State Badminton Championships and Veteran Nationals in the State, official sources said.

-ANI

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