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Mayawati slams Congress party’s austerity drive

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Lucknow, Sep 18 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has ridiculed Congress party’s austerity drive, terming it as a ploy to steer attention away from the steep price rise.

Addressing a mass rally here on Thursday, Mayawati hit out at the Congress party, calling its austerity drive “a drama.”

“Because of the wrong doings by the Congress government at the centre, the prices are rising due to which poor people across the country are suffering. And now to cover up its weaknesses, they have cut down on its travelling expenses by flying economy class and travelling by train. All this is just a drama,” Mayawati said.

“With a drought looming and elections in some states approaching, the Congress-led government has embarked on a much-publicised austerity drive,” she added.

In a country where the hierarchy of politicians is determined by the size of their bungalows and their convoys, Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi has asked party leaders to give up a fifth of their salaries for drought-relief work, and she flew economy class on a commercial flight to Mumbai to launch the poll campaign.

The finance ministry has appealed for fewer overseas trips with smaller entourages, and a ban on conferences in luxury hotels.

Bharatiya Janata Party and other political parties have criticised the austerity measures in view of the economic downturn and drought-like situation prevailing in the country as a case of ‘tokenism’. (ANI)

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Swann hopes to wake England pals from their one-day slumber

September 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sep.15 (ANI): Off-spinner Graeme Swann is hoping to give a wake up call to his England team-mates when they take on Australia in the fifth of the seven match NatWest series.

The day-night clash is to be played at Trent Bridge tonight.

The spin ace told SunSport: “I’m going to try to lift the camp. I find it easy to have a laugh while playing cricket – and it’s probably more important to do that when you are losing. I don’t target anyone in particular with the piss-taking. It is whoever walks in the dressing room at the wrong time. But you can’t kid anyone, we’ve played terrible cricket in the one-day series so far.”

England’s one-day form needs a sharp hand-brake turn if they are to stand any chance in the upcoming Champions Trophy in South Africa. Their mini-World Cup campaign starts on September 25 and once again you wouldn’t back them to bag the silverware.

Swann was meeting fans on the Ashes Urn Tour. (ANI)

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Daniel Craig tops Sexy Male Movie Chests poll

September 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sep 4 (ANI): Brit actor Daniel Craig has come out tops in a new poll conducted on sexy male movie chests.

The survey by LOVEFiLM.com showed that a whopping 34 percent film fans voted 41-year-old Craig’s skimpy trunks scene in ‘Casino Royale’ as their favourite.

Scottish actor Gerard Butler came in second for his role in ’300′, while American actor Brad Pitt came in third for his role in ‘Troy’.

‘Borat’ star Sacha Baron Cohen took the fourth place, Sean Connery the fifth with his role in ‘Thunderball’, and Leonardo DiCaprio came in sixth for his role in ‘Beach’.

Actor Hank Azaria landed in the seventh place with his role in 2004′s ‘Along Came Polly’, late singer and actor Elvis Presley took the eighth spot with his role in ‘Blue Hawaii’.

Russell Brand was placed on the ninth spot for his role in ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’, and the tenth place went to Jan-Michael Vincent for 60s surf movie ‘Big Wednesday’. (ANI)

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UK leads world in under-age drinking

September 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, September 2 (ANI): When it comes to binge drinking, British teenagers take the cake as compared to youngsters from anywhere else in the globe, reveals an international survey.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) research found a fifth of 13-year-olds confessed getting boozed up more than once, a figure four times than found in countries like Sweden, the US and the Netherlands.

The report, based on figures taken in 2005 to 2006, also found that teenage girls were more likely to have been drunk than boys, reports the Daily Star.

Half of 15-year-old females in the UK admitted getting drunk, that was treble the number as compared to France.oys, as many as 44 per cent, also confessed having been smashed.

Children’s Minister Dawn Prim-arolo said: “It is disappointing to see the UK rated so low for risky behaviour. However, we have introduced a number of initiatives to help teen-agers and their families make informed decisions about their behaviour.” (ANI)

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Former Australian players slam selection panel for Ashes defeat

August 25, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Sydney, Aug 25(ANI): Former Australian cricketers Shane Warne and Tom Moody have criticised the selectors, following Australia’s Ashes-losing defeat in the Fifth Test at The Oval.

Warne said that he was “staggered” by the decision to leave spinner Nathan Hauritz out of the side, while Moody said that selectors had got the decision “horribly wrong”, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

“I do not know who had the final say on selection, whether it was the selectors themselves, or Ricky, or what degree of input came from Tim Nielsen, the coach. We all make mistakes and somebody, somewhere, will have to take the blame for this one,” Warne wrote in The Times.

Moody said that the decision to not pick a genuine spinner on a slow and turning pitch at The Oval was “inexcusable”.

“If anything, you would be looking to play two. But, Australia chose not to and paid the price dearly,” Moody said.

“It was quite clear to me Clark was the one that had to miss out, even though he bowled particularly well at Headingley. At the end of the day, you’ve got to pick horses for courses, and that Test wicket is a place, where you always have to employ a spinner,” he added.

Meanwhile, Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland has backed Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of the selection panel, and fellow selectors Jamie Cox, David Boon and Merv Hughes, and said that selectors were in no way “accountable for us losing the Ashes”.

“It was only six or seven months ago that we had a fantastic series in South Africa and beat the No.1 team in the world with a pretty similar line-up, and the selectors were hailed for their selections and the perceived risks they took in backing young talent,” Sutherland said. (ANI)

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Winning The Ashes would be the greatest feat of my career, says Flintoff

August 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Aug.19 (ANI): England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has said that winning The Ashes this summer would be the greatest feat of his career.

Recalling England’s epic 2005 Ashes triumph, Flintoff, who scored 402 runs, took 24 wickets and was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year, said the difference back then was England believed they would win.

Now, as they head in the Fifth Test decider at The Oval tomorrow, he says the team’s expectations are lower because of the change and turmoil in the ranks.

England has had two coaches and four captains since June last year.

“If we win this one, it will be a far greater achievement than 2005. Our win then was fantastic but the side had performed well over a period of time and beaten everyone in the world.

We played Australia expecting to win. I’m not saying we’re not expecting to do it this time but the side has changed a heck of a lot over the past 12 months,” The Sun quoted Flintoff, as saying.

England was then protecting a 2-1 lead, but this time they are locked at 1-1 and Australia only need a draw to retain the little urn.

It is England’s biggest must-win match for a generation.

“Now, I’m just pleased to be here with an opportunity to play on Thursday – it is going to be an unbelievably good game,” Flintoff said,

He is sure to be given a rousing send-off because there is no player who enjoys a closer rapport with the fans. They view him as one of their own – a big lad with talent who enjoys a beer and a night out. (ANI)

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Milla Jovovich says she sometimes can’t pronounce her name!

August 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Aug 18 (ANI): Milla Jovovich has admitted that she finds it difficult to pronounce her own name.

The supermodel tuned actress,33, says she finds Jovovich a mouthful, especially after getting drunk.

The Fifth Element star said she sympathised with anybody else who struggles with it.

The Daily Express quoted her as saying: “There are many times where even I, at certain points in the evening, after a few drinks, can’t pronounce my own surname. “(ANI)

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Rain prayers in Rajouri

July 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Rajouri, July 2 (ANI): Residents offered prayers for rains at a shrine in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri District, putting all their hopes on divine intervention.

Situated near to the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan, the shrine of saint Sain Lal Din at Sorah Pani is said to cure all woes of devotees and fulfil all their wishes.

Devotees from the state and from outside are visiting the shrine with the hope that with god’s grace there shall be rain.

“There were prayers especially for the rain and for prosperity in the country. By the grace of god everything will be sorted out and nothing will remain unsolved,” said Ali Shah Bokhari, a resident.

Lack of rains has caused concerns among the people across the country. Thus, farmers are desperately seeking divine intervention.

The four-month (June-September) monsoon is the main source of water for irrigation in the country.

Ample rainfall helps agricultural output, which contributes a fifth of the country’s gross domestic product. (ANI)

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Scientists warn against routinely using aspirin to prevent heart attacks, strokes

May 29, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, May 29 (ANI): British scientists at the University of Oxford say that low-dose aspirin should not routinely be used to prevent heart attacks and strokes because the risk of harm largely cancelled out the benefits of taking the drug.

Study leader Professor Colin Baigent from the Clinical Trial Service Unit looked at heart attacks and strokes and major bleeds-a potential side effect of aspirin-in six primary prevention trials, involving 95,000 people at low to average risk cardiovascular disease, and 16 trials involving 17,000 people at high risk-because they had already had a heart attack or stroke.

The research team observed that the use of aspirin in the lower-risk group was found to reduce non-fatal heart attacks by around a fifth, with no difference in the risk of stroke or deaths from vascular causes.

The researchers even found aspirin use to increased the risk of internal bleeding by around a third.

They, however, conceded that among in those patients who had already had a heart attack or stroke and were at risk of having another, the benefits clearly outweighed the chance of adverse events.

Baigent said tjat drug safety was vital when making recommendations that affected tens of millions of healthy people.

“We don’t have good evidence that, for healthy people, the benefits of long-term aspirin exceed the risks by an appropriate margin,” the BBC quoted him as saying.

“I think the guideline groups will find it useful to have the data analysed in that way,” he added.

Ellen Mason, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation said: “It is better for doctors to weigh up the benefit and risk of prescribing aspirin on an individual basis, rather than develop a blanket guideline suggesting everyone at risk of heart disease is routinely given aspirin.” (ANI)

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Fifth phase witnesses approximately 62 percent polling for Lok Sabha

May 13, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, May 13 (ANI): The fifth and final phase of general elections 2009 witnessed an overall 62 percent polling for 86 Lok Sabha constituencies across nine states and two union territories.

The polling for general elections to Lok Sabha came to an end on Wednesday. The polling was by and large peaceful except for stray incidents of violence in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.

The last phase saw violence with one death being reported from West Bengal and one from Tamil Nadu.

The counting for all the Lok Sabha seats will be held on May 16.

In Jammu and Kashmir moderate to heavy polling has been reported in the fifth and final phase of elections in the Baramulla and Ladkah Parliamentary constituencies. Latest reports say about forty percent voters had caste their votes in the Baramulla constituency while as the percentage in the Ladakh seat touched around 60 percent.

In Tamil Nadu, 55 per cent voting was recorded. In Puducherry, an estimated 66 per cent voters exercised their franchise to elect the Union Territory’s lone representative in the Lok Sabha.

In Uttar Pradesh, over 50 per cent voters exercised their franchise in the polling for 14 seats of the Western and Rohilakhand region.

In Uttarakhand, more than 35 per cent voting has been recorded in five constituencies. n Punjab, an estimated 62 per cent polling was reported in the nine Lok Sabha seats.

In Himachal Pradesh, 50 to 55 per cent polling was reported in all the four constituencies.

Prominent candidates in the fray include Home Minister P Chidambaram, DMK’s T R Baalu, Dayanidhi Maran and M K Azhagiri, Congress’ Md Azharuddin, BJP’s Maneka and Varun Gandhi and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, MDMK’s Vaiko and SP’s Jayaprada.

Polling has been completed to 457 Lok Sabha seats since the exercise began on April 16.

The Lok Sabha has 545 members, but elections are held to 543 seats as two members are nominated from the Anglo-Indian community. (ANI)

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Brown set for humiliating third place in June 4 elections

May 11, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, May 10 (ANI): British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Labour Party is heading for a humiliating third place, trailing the Liberal Democrats as well as the Tories as it heads into the June 4 elections in 34 English local authorities.

Brown has been battered by revelations over ministerial expenses and a series of embarrassing climb-downs, which would be affecting his party’s election prospects in next month’s local elections.

An analysis for The Sunday Times by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher, predicted that Labour will lose all four of the councils it controls and half the 500 seats it is defending.

Senior aides have warned Brown that if Labour comes third in the elections next month, a challenge to his leadership is almost inevitable.

It comes as more Labour ministers and backbenchers faced embarrassing disclosures about taxpayer-funded expenses.

Hazel Blears, the Communities’ Secretary, faces questions over the sale of a flat she had designated as a second home. She made a profit of 45,000 pounds on the sale but paid no capital gains tax.

Work And Pensions Minister Kitty Ussher carried out a 20,000 pounds makeover on her run-down Victorian townhouse using taxpayer-funded expenses, The Times reports.

A YouGov poll for The Sunday Times puts the Tories on 43 percent, up two points on last month, with Labour down seven on 27 percent and the Liberal Democrats up two on 18 percent. It predicts Labour will get barely more than a fifth of the vote in European parliament elections, also to be held on June 4.

The prime minister suffered a new blow this weekend as a top Labour official, who had played a key role in Brown’s elevation to No 10, labelled him a “disaster”.

Peter Watt, former party general secretary, said: “At the moment the government appears to have absolutely no direction.” (ANI)

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Two out of three Brits don’t think Muslims are loyal

May 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, May 8 (ANI): Two out of three Britons think that Muslims living in the United Kingdom are not loyal to their country.

According to a new Gallup poll, only 36 percent Brits think that they can trust Muslims.

The recent poll has frightened the experts, who fear that the image of peaceful Muslims has been seriously damaged by a few ranting fundamentalists, such as Anjem Choudary and Abu Izzadeen.

“It’s not surprising that a large percentage of non-Muslims think Muslims are not loyal. Every day we see reports of Muslims who are trying to attack this country. It’s not surprising people see a link between fundamentalists and the wider Muslim community,” the Daily Star quoted Centre for Social Cohesion Director Douglas Murray, as saying.

The poll also found that up to a fifth of Muslim residents felt no allegiance to Britain.

“This means up to half a million. It’s in this pool that terrorists can find their recruitment area,” Murray said.

British Muslims also tend to hold more conservative views than their counterparts in the rest of Europe. They are more strongly against gays, abortion, pornography, suicide and sex outside marriage.

Only three percent of Muslims here believe sex before marriage is permissible.

“It’s not a pick-and-choose buffet. If you live in Britain you have to adopt and accept this way of life. We can’t force people to have positive attitudes to co-habiting or sex before marriage but we can encourage people not to live lives apart,” Murray said.

“The biggest mistake we’ve made in this country is to encourage people to live in separate communities. It means that people not only don’t feel loyalty but they feel they don’t have to feel loyalty,” he added.

Despite the figures, Dalia Mogahed, executive director of the Gallup Centre for Muslim Studies, said: “British Muslims want to be part of the wider community and contribute to society.” (ANI)

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‘US ship violated international laws by confronting Chinese vessel’

May 7, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, May 7 (ANI): China’s Foreign Ministry has said that the US surveillance ship that got into a confrontation with Chinese fishing vessels on Friday in the Yellow Sea violated international and Chinese laws.

The USNS Victorious, designed for anti-submarine warfare and underwater mapping, was engaged in routine operations in international waters, said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.

But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu disagreed. “The fact is that the USNS Victorious conducted activities in China’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Yellow Sea without China’s permission. China has expressed concern over this issue,” he said.

Whitman said on Wednesday that two Chinese vessels came within 27 metres of the USNS Victorious on Friday about 110 km off the Chinese coast, forcing it to sound an alarm and turn on its fire hoses to deter the vessels.

They did not withdraw until a Chinese military ship arrived in response to an American call for assistance and shined a light on the fishing vessels to end the hour-long incident; the China Daily quoted him, as saying.

China always handles foreign vessels’ activities in its EEZs in accordance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and relevant domestic laws, Ma said.

“We demand that the US take effective measures to prevent similar acts from happening,” Ma added.

The incident is the fifth of its kind within the past two months, unnamed US defense officials said.

The standoff peaked in early March when Chinese vessels and a US surveillance ship, the Impeccable, faced off about 120 km south of the island province of Hainan, which some Western media reported is the site of a Chinese submarine base. (ANI)

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Obama stumbles over Spanish holiday greeting

May 5, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 5 (ANI): US President Barack Obama, it seems, still needs to work on improving his Spanish, as he used the wrong word at the opening of the Cinco de Mayo celebrations at the White House.
As he welcomed guests to observe the Mexican holiday, the US president called the event “Cinco de Cuatro” prompting giggles from the crowd before he corrected himself.

“Welcome to Cinco de Cuatro – Cinco de Mayo at the White House,” said Mr Obama, in what appeared to be an attempt to note they were celebrating on the fourth of May instead of the fifth.
Cinco de cuatro means “five of four” in Spanish.

“We are a day early, but we always like to get a head start here at the Obama White House,” The Telegraph quoted Obama, as saying.

During the presidential campaign, Obama acknowledged his Spanish skills were not great.

“My accent’s always been good. It’s just that I only know 15 words,” he said.

The holiday, which marks Mexican troops’ defeat of French soldiers on May 5, 1862. (ANI)

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Having a bad teacher in first year can harm kids’ entire academic life

April 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, April 26 (ANI): Having a bad teacher in the reception year can harm a child’s entire education, according to a new study.

Researchers at Durham University found that the effect of having an exceptionally poor – or an unusually good – teacher in the first year at primary school was still detectable six years later.

The findings suggest that many pupils are being betrayed by schools that, in an effort to rise up national league tables, concentrate their best teachers on pupils about to take their Sats tests at the age of 11.

“More effort needs to be spent on the most valuable years which are the earliest years,” Times Online quoted study’s lead author Peter Tymms, professor of education at Durham University, as saying.

For the study, the researchers analysed the progress in learning vocabulary, reading and mathematics of more than 73,000 primary school pupils who were tested at the beginning of their schooling in 1999 and then annually until 2005.

Kids who were in classes in the bottom 16 percent of progress in the reception year performed, on average, around a fifth of a level worse in their Sats test than those whose class progress was average.

On the other hand, those whose classes progressed most in reception year performed about a fifth of a level better.

According to researchers, the effect of good and bad teaching is cumulative, so if a child is unlucky enough to have a poor teacher every year of their primary school career, this would make a difference of an entire level in their test performance.

“The residual effect lasts as long as we can measure it,” said Tymms.

The study is published in the journal Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability. (ANI)

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Banknet Summit to discuss top priorities for banks in 2009

April 24, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Mumbai, Apr 23(ANI/Business Wire India): Banknet’s “Fifth Annual CTO-CXO Summit” will be held in Mumbai on June 5.

It will have discussions on the top priorities for banks in 2009 in Four Focused Sessions.

Fifth Edition of CTO-CXO Summit will commence with an exclusive “Round Table Session” where top executives of major banks, FI’s will have an in-depth discussion on role of technology in providing effective solutions to banks in managing downturn and building up business.

Summit will bring together on one platform C-level Executives like CEO, COO, CIO, CTO and a large number of senior functionaries from BFSI and IT-ITES sector.

Nearly 700 financial institutions / companies from 24 countries had been represented at earlier Banknet Conferences. This included delegates from nearly every major bank in India.

Banknet Team interactions with the senior bankers in India made it clear that priorities are now changing. Operational efficiency and cost cutting are definitely the order of the day. Banks in India will continue spending on technology especially in the priority areas in 2009.

On the basis of industry feedbacks, Banknet has identified the “Top Priority Areas for Banks in 2009″ as mobile banking and payments; risk management and compliance; – cyber security and frauds and business intelligence, CRM, data mining. (ANI)

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Flintoff backs fair play scheme for Brit kids

April 21, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Apr 21 (ANI): England cricketing hero Andrew Flintoff is backing a scheme in which kids are being taught how to play fair in sport after a survey showed elbowing, tripping and hair-pulling are among common tactics mentioned by 52 percent of the eight to 16-year-olds questioned.

Under the new scheme, youngsters aged eight to 14 in 3,000 primary and secondary schools involved with the Cricket Foundation’s Chance to Shine programme will receive a two-hour ‘Spirit of Cricket’ session.

It’s massively important as a sportsman to play hard, play fair, respect your opponent and respect yourself,” Sky News quoted Flintoff, as saying.

The poll also found less than a fifth of girls would consider doing something unfair to win, compared with a third of boys.

According to the results, Liverpool is the place where children see unfair play most often while Plymouth is the place least likely to find cheaters.

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the Cricket Foundation commissioned the survey.

MCC head of cricket John Stephenson said the organisation “strongly believes that competition is good for children and that sport should be played to win”. (ANI)

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Cognizant in talks to buy UK’s Pa Consulting: report

April 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

MUMBAI (Reuters) – Outsourcer Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH.O) is in talks to buy UK-based Pa Consulting in a deal valued at $300 million to $350 million to strengthen its presence in Europe, the Economic Times said on Monday.

The talks are at an early stage, the newspaper said, citing unnamed sources.

“We do not comment on market speculation,” the paper quoted Cognizant’s chief financial officer, Gordon Coburn, as saying in an email.

The paper said Pa Consulting did not wish to publicise or discuss any alliance or partnership.

Cognizant officials could not be immediately reached for comment on the report.

Pa reported a profit of $9.4 million in 2008 on revenue of $342 million and has 3,000 employees, the paper said. Cognizant, based in Teaneck, New Jersey, gets a fifth of its total revenue from Europe, the paper said.

(Reporting by Narayanan Somasundaram; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)

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We may have been wrong in not engaging with the US,’ says Castro

April 18, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Caracas (Venezuela), Apr.18 (ANI): Raul Castro, the brother of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and de facto leader of the island nation 90 miles south of Florida, has admitted that his country may have been wrong in not engaging with the United States.

Speaking at a meeting of leftist leaders heading to the 34-nation summit here eager to represent Cuba’s interests. He said his country’s previous refusal to engage the U.S. earlier might have been a mistake.
“We could be wrong, we admit it. We’re human beings. We’re willing to sit down to talk as it should be done, whenever.” Fox News quoted Castro as saying.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton embraced Castro’s overture.

“We are taking a very serious look at how we intend to respond,” Clinton said.

The only condition Castro set for the talks with Washington was for the White House to respect “the Cuban people’s right to self-determination.”

In Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, President Obama on Friday embraced new calls from Cuba’s communist government to engage in talks– as well as the possibility that the country could lift press restrictions and free political prisoners as part of those talks.

At the Fifth Summit of the Americas, Obama repeated the kind of remarks toward the Castro regime that marked his campaign for the presidency.

“The United States seeks a new beginning with Cuba. I know there is a longer journey that must be travelled in overcoming decades of mistrust, but there are critical steps we can take toward a new day,” Obama said.

Obama noted in his speech at the summit’s opening ceremonies that his administration will allow Cuban Americans to visit the island and send money to families back there.

“The United States has changed over time. It has not always been easy, but it has changed. And so I think it’s important to remind my fellow leaders that it’s not just the United States that has to change. All of us have responsibilities to look towards the future,” Obama said.(ANI)

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U.S. names official as U.S.-Mexican “border czar”

April 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration on Wednesday named a former U.S. Justice Department official who was “border czar” during Bill Clinton’s presidency to lead its efforts to crack down on drug-related violence along the U.S.-Mexican border.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced the appointment of Alan Bersin, a former federal prosecutor, during a visit to El Paso, Texas.

It took place one day before U.S. President Barack Obama planned to stop in Mexico before traveling to Trinidad and Tobago for the Fifth Summit of the Americas.

The Obama administration also announced on Wednesday it was placing three Mexican drug gangs — the Sinaloa Cartel, Los Zetas and La Familia Michoacana — on a list of significant foreign narcotics traffickers targeted for special sanctions.

The move allows the U.S. government to freeze all cartel assets in U.S. jurisdiction and bar Americans from dealing with funds linked to the groups and their operatives.

Bersin, a former U.S. attorney in San Diego, served as the “border czar” to then-Attorney General Janet Reno during the Clinton administration. He also served as California’s education secretary and superintendent of schools in San Diego.

“He will lead the efforts to make our borders safe while working to promote commerce and trade,” Napolitano said in a statement.

Speaking later at a news conference in Nogales, Arizona, she added that Bersin would work as a “special envoy” facilitating cooperation among U.S. federal, state and local authorities and their Mexican counterparts.

“His … sole mission is to make sure that all of the things happening with Mexico right now are happening in real time and producing the kinds of results that we anticipate,” she said.

White House officials said on Monday that Obama’s visit to Mexico was a signal of support for Mexican President Felipe Calderon and his efforts to confront violent drug trafficking gangs.

Curbing drug cartel violence is a top concern for authorities in both the United States and Mexico, where warring traffickers killed 6,300 people last year.

The U.S. government announced plans last month to help Mexican authorities combat the gangs south of the border, as well as stepping up efforts to choke off the southbound flow of U.S. guns and drug-smuggling profits to the cartels.

Napolitano said Bersin, who begins work immediately, will have the title of assistant secretary for international affairs and special representative for border affairs.

(Writing by JoAnne Allen; Additional reporting by James Vicini in Washington and Tim Gaynor in Nogales; Editing by Peter Cooney)

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