UPDATE 1-H&M June same-store sales up 9 pct, below forecasts

July 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

STOCKHOLM, July 15 (Reuters) – Swedish fashion giant Hennes & Mauritz (HMb.ST) pulled clear of a disappointing spring season on Thursday with a jump in June same-store sales, although the figure fell short of expectations.

The global chain, known for its knock-down prices and celebrity guest designers, has caught an upswing in demand from shoppers in its main markets as consumer confidence edges up in the midst of a patchy global recovery.

It said sales at established stores open for more than one financial year rose 9 percent in June from the same month last year, undershooting the 9.6 percent rise seen in a Reuters poll. Same-store sales had fallen in both April and May.

The rise was unsurprising, as H&M had flagged an upbeat figure in its second quarter earnings report last month while warning that currency swings and rising costs could hit its gross margin later this year. [ID:nLDE65M0SR]

Total sales were up 20 percent, compared with a forecast rise of 21 percent in the Reuters poll.

H&M’s June figures compared favourably with rival U.S. chain Gap Inc (GPS.N), which last week reported flat comparable store sales for June, sending its shares down sharply. [ID:nN08223093] (Reporting by Nick Vinocur; Editing by Hans Peters)

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German Bund futures up 1/2 point at 129.81

July 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 5 (Reuters) – German Bund futures were up half a point on the day at a session peak of 129.81 on Monday as worries swirled about a double-dip recession in the United States and Europe following poor non-farm payrolls data Friday.

But the gains were exaggerated by anaemic volumes in the midst of a U.S. market holiday and a lack of investors in the summer period.

“The focus remains on the double-dip recession expectations for the world economy, although the moves are totally exaggerated by thin volumes,” said Marc Ostwald, a bond strategist at Monument Securities in London.

By 0748 GMT, the September Bund future FGBLc1 was up 42 ticks on the day at 129.73, and shy of resistance at 129.86, the June 29 high. (Reporting by George Matlock)

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UPDATE 2-K+S’s 2nd potash mark-up adds to signs of recovery

June 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

FRANKFURT, June 11 (Reuters) – German salt miner K+S (SDFG.DE) raised the prices for its main product potash for the second time since March, reassuring investors that fertiliser demand in its largest European market was gaining traction.

K+S, the world’s fourth-largest potash supplier, will charge 8 euros more, or 305 euros ($367.2) per tonne of the key crop nutrient, from June 15, it said on Friday.

“We continue to see good demand in Europe,” the company said, adding it also had to narrow the gap to higher world market prices of standard potash.

The weak euro has made it more expensive for European farmers to procure potash from outside Europe, where it is sold in dollars, now trading at around $400 (330 euros) a tonne.

“This is an encouraging signal after the price slump in 2009 and the bottoming-out earlier this year,” said Hamburger Sparkasse analyst Marco Guenther.

“The upward price trend underpins the good prospects for 2011.”

The shares extended gains and were up 3.2 percent at 39.25 euros at 1032 GMT, outperforming the 0.2 percent gain of the STOXX Europe 600 Chemicals .SX4PE.

K+S had lifted the potash price to 297 euros per tonne in March from 285 euros, the first mark-up since the global financial crisis caused a slump in fertiliser demand.

K+S’s Canadian rivals Potash Corp (POT.TO), Mosaic Co (MOS.N) and Agrium Inc (AGU.TO) are all in the midst of expanding their output from existing mines as global demand for the crop mineral recovers.

The industry is banking on pent-up demand from farmers who last year held back on potash use, speculating on a decline in fertiliser costs while suffering from low grain prices.

Resurgent fertiliser demand helped K+S post forecast-beating first-quarter results in May but its full-year sales volume outlook remained behind those of its main rivals. [ID:nLDE6492QC] (Editing by Mike Nesbit) ($1=.8307 euros)

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Most married military couples are satisfied

May 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 16 (ANI): Majority of married people at an Army post are satisfied with their relationship, despite challenges faced like deployments, a study at Kansas State University has found.

“Because of the stressors that have been on the military and military families, particularly in the last decade, it”s easy to focus on the difficulty and dysfunction of their marriages,” said Jared Anderson, assistant professor of family studies and human services at K-State. “But I think one of the things that this study does is look at what makes these families resilient in the midst of ongoing stress.”

K-State researchers in family studies and human services studied the marital quality of military couples and identified factors that relate to relationship distress.

Their findings showed that the vast majority of people in the sample were non-distressed in their relationship. The researchers include Anderson; Matthew Johnson, graduate student in marriage and family therapy, Manhattan; and Laura Cline, senior in family studies and human services, Overland Park.

Anderson studies how couples develop and maintain strong marriages, and conversely, the factors that contribute to relationship problems. By understanding factors associated with distress, he said interventions could be developed to target at-risk marriages.

“I think it”s just as important, or more important, to learn factors of non-distressed marriages because that gives us a picture into what we can actually do to replicate that for other families,” Anderson said.

He said there is much information about successful civilian marriages, which can be partly applied to military marriages, though there are differences. The researchers said it is important to understand marital quality in military couples because it”s associated with marital stability and personal well-being. Additionally, the quality of a soldier”s marriage has potential implications for soldier retention and readiness.

The study used data collected in spring 2008 and included a sample of 700 U.S. Army soldiers and 390 spouses of soldiers at Fort Riley. Participants completed a survey that included demographic and quality of life questions, including measures for marital satisfaction.

After analyzing the data, the researchers found that the majority of the participants fell in the non-distressed range of their marital satisfaction. The findings showed that 81 percent of soldiers and 85 percent of spouses were categorized as relationally non-distressed.

The researchers also looked at factors that differentiated the participants categorized as distressed and non-distressed in their relationship. Overall, soldiers were 1.7 times more likely to be relationally distressed than the spouses of soldiers in the sample. While no factors were associated with distress or non-distress for the partners of spouses of soldiers, there were several variables linked to relational distress for soldiers.

A greater likelihood of being relationally distressed was associated with soldiers whose families did not accompany them to their current duty station and soldiers with newer marriages, who were dating or engaged versus being married and who were lower in rank.

The study also looked for an association between the number of deployments and relational distress. Almost all of the soldiers in the study sample had been deployed at least once, and one-third of the soldiers had been deployed two or more times.

“Deployment didn”t factor into distress,” Anderson said. “It”s interesting, but within context it makes sense.” (ANI)

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Pak must shun India ‘obsession’, Afghan ‘meddling’ ‘bad habits’: Obama

May 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 13 (ANI): Noting Pakistan’s ‘obsession’ with India, US President Barack Obama has said that Islamabad must shun the ‘bad’ custom of viewing its neighbouring nation as a primary threat and realise that it was extremists emanating from its own soil that are threatening the country’s very existence.

Speaking during a joint press conference with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Obama pointed out that his administration was working both with the Pakistani and Afghan leadership to help them do away with some of their ‘bad habits’ and old suspicions.

While describing Pakistan’s obsession with India as one of its ‘bad habits’, he acknowledged that Islamabad is now slowly overcoming the practice.

“I think there has been in the past a view on the part of Pakistan that their primary rival, India, was their only concern,” The Dawn quoted Obama, as saying.

“What you’ve seen over the last several months is a growing recognition that they have a cancer in their midst; that the extremist organisations that have been allowed to congregate and use as a base the frontier areas to then go into Afghanistan, that now threatens Pakistan’s sovereignty,” he added.

Responding to a comment of an Afghan journalist that Pakistan was the “the only reason that Afghanistan was not civilised today”, the US President said Washington was determined to help improve relations between Islamabad and Kabul.

“Our goal is to break down some of the old suspicions and the old bad habits and continue to work with the Pakistani government to see their interest in a stable Afghanistan which is free from foreign meddling,” he said.

During the briefing, Karzai was asked about reconciliation with the Taliban, to which he replied that there are “thousands of Taliban who are not against Afghanistan or against the Afghan people or their country; who are not against America either or the rest of the world”.

Karzai said there are many Afghan Taliban who wanted to come back if provided an opportunity and political means to do so.

“It’s this group of the Taliban that you’re addressing in the peace Jirga. It is this group that is our intention,” he said.

Without mentioning Pakistan, the Afghan President said that the Taliban being controlled from ‘outside’ were increasing troubles for his country. (ANI)

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Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones in midst of NYC bomb scare

May 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 10 (ANI): Actor Michael Douglas, his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones and their two sons landed in the midst of a bomb scare in Manhattan recently.

The couple and their kids, Dylan and Carys, were on their way home from a Mother’s Day brunch on Manhattan’s Upper West Side on May 9, when police and the bomb squad converged on the area, reports Radar Online.

It emerged that an SUV parked near the Museum of Natural History, had come under suspicion, and authorities were called.

An eyewitness revealed that when the Douglas children became concerned about all the activity on their street, their dad reassured them that it was just “because it’s Mother’s Day”. (ANI)

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Scantily clad single mums call for help in Melbourne

May 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Melbourne, May 6 (ANI): Single mothers have taken to Melbourne”s Central Business District clad in negligees, pyjamas and dressing gowns to draw attention to their plight in the midst of “mothers” day shopping madness”.

The mothers” day themed “breakfast in bed” protest aimed to draw attention to the rate of poverty among single mother families in Australia, reports news.com.au.

Council of Single Mothers and their Children project worker Kerry Davies called on the Federal Government to take responsibility for collecting more than a billion dollars in unpaid child support owed to children in single parent families.

She urged the State Government to cap the cost of private rent and boost the amount of subsidized housing. (ANI)

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Publication of the 6th Edition of the TRUFFLE 100, the Benchmark Ranking of France’s Top 100 Software Companies

April 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The sector has resisted the economic crisis and is innovating and creating jobs

SMEs are driving the industry
PARIS–(Business Wire)–
Truffle Capital, the leading European private equity firm, has just published
(in collaboration with analysts at CXP and with the support of the Syntec
Informatique industry body) the 6th edition of the Truffle 100 France ranking of
the country’s top software companies.

“2009 was a particularly difficult year. However, in the midst of this major
crisis, the French software industry demonstrated that it was surprisingly
resilient. Turnover grew slightly and the industry remained profitable while
innovating, preparing for the future and continuing to invest heavily in R&D.
The 100 software companies of the Truffle 100 announced the net creation of 500
skilled jobs,” commented Bernard-Louis Roques, Managing Partner for IT at
Truffle Capital. “The software industry continues to innovate and is resolutely
turned towards the future, creating new jobs in the midst of the crisis and
investing more in R&D in 2009 than in 2008. Rather than giving way to
short-termism, software companies are pragmatic optimists and 45% believe that
they will do well as the economy recovers,” added Bernard-Louis Roques.

According to Syntec Informatique, these R&D jobs confirm the research tax credit
positive impact on employment within the software industry.

Industry turnover increased from €3.8 billion in 2008 to €4 billion in 2009,
although profits fell from 7.6% to 4.3% of total turnover. The economic crisis
hit large companies harder than it did SMEs, since only 60% of the top 50
companies maintained or grew their sales, versus 76% of the 50 smallest.

An innovative sector that creates jobs – In 2009, 750 million Euros have been
spent in France for the R&D (700 million in 2008), reflecting the resumption of
investment in this promising sector. Staff numbers in general and R&D staff
numbers in particular continue to grow, rising from 51,198 in 2008 to 53,933 in
2009 and from 10,089 to 10,518, respectively.

An uneven distribution – Despite strong sector dynamism and an increase in total
turnover, there is a very uneven distribution in terms of sales figures.

Small companies – the industry drivers – Although the multinationals are still
present, they are still suffering as a result of the economic crisis and the
SMEs have taken over the reins. The SMEs feel that they are rightly eligible for
France’s research tax credit and may also benefit from the country’s National
Bond Scheme. They offer the best returns on investment for public funding in
terms of home-grown (and not offshore), skilled jobs and lasting contributions
to future economic growth.

Government measures – Software publishers are massively in favour of a Small
Business Act as a key measure for boosting their growth and job creation
capacity. They also believe that they are natural recipients of France’s
national funding schemes (such as the research tax credit and the National Bond
Scheme).

Methodology

The Truffle 100 questionnaire is available on the web at

http://www.truffle100.com/.

About Truffle Capital:

Founded in 2002 in Paris, Truffle Capital is a leading independent European
private equity firm and number two in France dedicated to investing in and
building technology leaders in the life sciences, IT and energy sectors.

ALIZE RP
Caroline Carmagnol, +33 6 64 18 99 59
caroline@alizerp.com
or
Charles Catherinot, +33 1 42 68 86 42
charles@alizerp.com

Copyright Business Wire 2010

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Publication of the 6th Edition of the TRUFFLE 100, the Benchmark Ranking of France’s Top 100 Software Companies

April 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The sector has resisted the economic crisis and is innovating and creating jobs

SMEs are driving the industry
PARIS–(Business Wire)–
Truffle Capital, the leading European private equity firm, has just published
(in collaboration with analysts at CXP and with the support of the Syntec
Informatique industry body) the 6th edition of the Truffle 100 France ranking of
the country’s top software companies.

“2009 was a particularly difficult year. However, in the midst of this major
crisis, the French software industry demonstrated that it was surprisingly
resilient. Turnover grew slightly and the industry remained profitable while
innovating, preparing for the future and continuing to invest heavily in R&D.
The 100 software companies of the Truffle 100 announced the net creation of 500
skilled jobs,” commented Bernard-Louis Roques, Managing Partner for IT at
Truffle Capital. “The software industry continues to innovate and is resolutely
turned towards the future, creating new jobs in the midst of the crisis and
investing more in R&D in 2009 than in 2008. Rather than giving way to
short-termism, software companies are pragmatic optimists and 45% believe that
they will do well as the economy recovers,” added Bernard-Louis Roques.

According to Syntec Informatique, these R&D jobs confirm the research tax credit
positive impact on employment within the software industry.

Industry turnover increased from €3.8 billion in 2008 to €4 billion in 2009,
although profits fell from 7.6% to 4.3% of total turnover. The economic crisis
hit large companies harder than it did SMEs, since only 60% of the top 50
companies maintained or grew their sales, versus 76% of the 50 smallest.

An innovative sector that creates jobs – In 2009, 750 million Euros have been
spent in France for the R&D (700 million in 2008), reflecting the resumption of
investment in this promising sector. Staff numbers in general and R&D staff
numbers in particular continue to grow, rising from 51,198 in 2008 to 53,933 in
2009 and from 10,089 to 10,518, respectively.

An uneven distribution – Despite strong sector dynamism and an increase in total
turnover, there is a very uneven distribution in terms of sales figures.

Small companies – the industry drivers – Although the multinationals are still
present, they are still suffering as a result of the economic crisis and the
SMEs have taken over the reins. The SMEs feel that they are rightly eligible for
France’s research tax credit and may also benefit from the country’s National
Bond Scheme. They offer the best returns on investment for public funding in
terms of home-grown (and not offshore), skilled jobs and lasting contributions
to future economic growth.

Government measures – Software publishers are massively in favour of a Small
Business Act as a key measure for boosting their growth and job creation
capacity. They also believe that they are natural recipients of France’s
national funding schemes (such as the research tax credit and the National Bond
Scheme).

Methodology

The Truffle 100 questionnaire is available on the web at

http://www.truffle100.com/.

About Truffle Capital:

Founded in 2002 in Paris, Truffle Capital is a leading independent European
private equity firm and number two in France dedicated to investing in and
building technology leaders in the life sciences, IT and energy sectors.

ALIZE RP
Caroline Carmagnol, +33 6 64 18 99 59
caroline@alizerp.com
or
Charles Catherinot, +33 1 42 68 86 42
charles@alizerp.com

Copyright Business Wire 2010

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

UPDATE 1-IMF says Poland right to delay euro adoption-paper

March 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

WARSAW, March 29 (Reuters) – Poland was right to put off swapping its currency for the euro because the move gave it the flexibility to absorb the effects of the global crisis, the head of the IMF was quoted on Monday as saying.

“The Polish government’s decision to delay the euro adoption is correct right now,” the International Monetary Fund’s Dominique Strauss-Kahn told the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper ahead of his visit to Poland on Monday.

“Poland should still set the adoption of the euro as its goal,” he said.

Poland’s centre-right government ditched plans to swap the zloty for the common currency in 2012 and no longer has a specific goal, although several officials have said the move would be possible in 2015.

A deputy finance minister said last month Poland will most likely reapply to the IMF to extend its $20.6 billion Flexible Credit Line (FCL), which it received a year ago in the midst of the financial crisis.

Poland managed to escape the global downturn mostly unscathed, emerging as the European Union’s lone member to dodge a recession. But the zloty fell as much as 30 percent in 2009 to the euro before regaining about 10 percent. (Reporting by Chris Borowski)

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Liam Neeson praised for filming ‘Chloe’ after wife Natasha Richardson’s death

March 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New York, Mar 22 (ANI): Irish actor Liam Neeson has been praised for his efforts in continuing with the shooting of erotic thriller ‘Chloe’, after the passing away of his wife actress Natasha Richardson.

This time last year, Neeson, 57, was in the midst of shooting in Toronto when word came that his beloved wife, had suffered a skiing accident that eventually claimed her life.

Neeson, could not make it to the New York premiere of ‘Chloe’ on March 16, but director Atom Egoyan was there to attest to the valour Neeson showed by coming back to the set for four days after his wife’s death.

“We tried to protect him,” the New York Daily News quoted Egoyan as saying.

“No one knew when exactly he was coming back. But he was nothing less than heroic, especially considering the story,” he said.

The actor and Julianne Moore play a couple who rediscover their passion when she tries to tempt him into having an extramarital affair.

“Nobody forced him to come back. No one tried to talk to him about what happened. He’s an amazing man,” Amanda Seyfried, who played the “other woman”, added. (ANI)

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Now, Victoria Police in midst of racism scandal

March 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Melbourne, Mar 16(ANI): Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Simon Overland has defended his officers after a report accused the force of racially discriminating against African youth.

A Springvale Monash Legal Service report claimed that police officers labeled young African men as “monkey” and “black c***”, took photographs of them gathered on the streets for intelligence purposes and, in one case, took off their uniforms to bash black men in a public park.

Overland also vowed that if the bashing allegations were true, those involved would be investigated and charged.

“If that””s happened, it””s criminal and if we find evidence of that I would expect that officer or those officers to be charged,” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Overland, as saying.

“Racist attitudes held by members of Victoria Police – that is not OK. Acting on those racial attitudes is clearly not OK and where we find it people can expect that I will deal with them in the strongest possible terms,” he added.

Overland further said his message that racism was unacceptable was getting through to most officers.

“The vast majority of my staff actually understands that message all too well and in fact not only understand it, they are not racist. They absolutely understand their responsibilities to the community,” he said.

However, Springvale Monash Legal Service director Helen Yandell said racism was entrenched in the force.

“There is a culture (of racism) in Victoria Police,” Helen said.

“We can””t say it””s a few isolated bad cops when we””re talking about across three major regions across Melbourne (Flemington, Dandenong and Braybrook) and communities that are quite widespread,” she added. (ANI)

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Senator to speak at Brisbane anti-cult conference

March 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Independent South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon will address a conference in Brisbane which claims to be the first specifically organised to help people who have left cults.

Senator Xenophon has been campaigning for an inquiry into the Church of Scientology and its tax exempt status.

In a speech in Parliament late last year he raised allegations of false imprisonment, coerced abortions and embezzlement of church funds, of physical violence and intimidation, blackmail and the widespread and deliberate abuse of information.

The Cult Information and Family Support Group Queensland’s two-day conference starts in Brisbane today.

It will hear from American experts, and Senator Nick Xenophon will speak at the conference tomorrow.

The support group’s spokeswoman Helen Pomery says former members of cults tend to suffer in silence.

“There are far more than we know about here in Australia,” she said.

“Although we know that cults exist and we perhaps hear about a lot of the extreme ones from America they’re certainly here in our midst in Australia.”

She says workshops at the conference will allow them to connect with each other.

“Many of these people have never had any treatment before,” Ms Pomery said.

“They’ve gone away, they’ve resumed their lives, they’ve shelved a lot of the issues, and this is the first time they really have a chance to start to process the pain that they’ve suppressed within themselves.”

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Driver dies in Miley Cyrus tour bus crash

November 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The driver of a tour bus for Miley Cyrus died on Friday when the vehicle crashed in Virginia, but the teen singer was not on-board, police said.

The bus ran off the side of the road and overturned on its side, and the 53 year-old driver, William G. Douglas of Austin, Texas, died at the scene, Virginia State Police said.

After the crash, nine passengers who were on-board walked out through the vehicle’s front windshield, police said.

Cyrus, who is on a concert tour for which the bus was hired, was not in the vehicle when it crashed.

The Cyrus family said in a statement, “We are deeply saddened by the loss of Bill ‘Uncle Bill’ Douglas. … Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family in the midst of this tragedy. He will truly be missed.”

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis: Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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Western envoys expect run-off in Afghanistan election

September 3, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Paris, Sep. 3 (ANI): Western envoys to Afghanistan have said that their respective governments should “be prepared for a run-off” in the Afghanistan presidential election if too many votes are ruled “irregular.”

If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, a run-off between the top two vote getters will be held. The latest results show that incumbent president Hamid Karzai has 47.3 percent of the vote with more than 60 percent of the ballots counted.

The meeting of German, French, British, UN, and US envoys to Afghanistan here was regarded as a show of unity and support in the midst of an Afghan mission seen as unpopular in Europe and dubbed by some US media as “Mr. Obama’s war.”

In European circles, the meeting was also seen as an effort to pressure Afghan President Karzai in the wake of some 1,000 complaints of ballot stuffing and fraud now under review, and to garner support for US efforts to target of irregular election behavior and corruption, the Christian Science Monitor reports.

Hosted by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, the gathering also included British envoy Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, Germany’s Bernd Mutzelburg, US envoy Richard Holbrooke, Karl Eide of the UN, and 22 other representatives.

The Afghanistan Election Commission is now going through nearly 1,000 complaints, of which 600 have been addressed, the envoys said – predicting they would finish the process by September 17. (ANI)

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One killed in police firing during violence in West Bengal

August 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Ramjibanpu (West Bengal), Aug 29(ANI): A student died in police firing after violence broke out following a road accident in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district on Saturday.

A motorbike driver was killed in a head-on collision with a truck and a group of enraged residents had set the truck and a police vehicle on fire.

Following the violence, the police had to resort to lob tear gas shells and fire at the mob, in the midst of which a student was killed.

“I asked him (a student, who is killed allegedly in firing by police) to get aside, but he said that security personnel were only trying to scare off and will not fire. While we were talking they opened fire and he got hit on his neck and fell down. And after that we ran for rescue as he was shouting for water and help,” said Monchi Doloi, an eyewitness.

Protesting against the firing, locals blocked the State highway. (ANI)

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Despite high male hormone levels, controversial athlete Caster Semenya is a woman: ASA

August 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Aug. 29 (ANI): Star athlete Caster Semenya, who is in midst of a gender row, might have higher than average male hormone levels – but is within the official limits for a woman, Athletics South Africa has said.

“Caster Semenya was tested three years ago when she started competing and it was found that she is a woman. She may have rather high levels of male hormones, but she is definitely a woman,” The Sun quoted, an ASA insider, as saying.

Doubts about the muscular 18-year-old’s gender surfaced last week when she won gold in the women’s 800m at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin.

Doctors are conducting detailed gender probes on the orders of the International Association of Athletics Federations.

But bosses at Athletics South Africa – the star’s home nation – insist urine tests have already proved she is a female.

Reports have suggested Semenya’s body could contain up to three times the normal amount of testosterone for a woman.

But ASA anti-doping chairman Chris Hattingh said such theories had already been discounted after officials in South Africa subjected her to their series of urine tests. (ANI)

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RSS will not interfere in BJP’s internal affairs: Mohan Bhagwat

August 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Aug.28 (ANI): Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Mohan Bhagwat said on Friday that the outfit will not interfere in the day-to-day workings of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is in the midst of a major crisis of confidence.

Addressing a press conference at ‘Keshavkunj’, the RSS headquarters in the national capital, he said that in the 83 years of its history, the RSS had always projected the need for working together in a united manner, and not allowing personal differences to take precedence over matters of national interest.

He said that the RSS would continue to focus on taking its work to unite India forward and as far as the BJP is concerned, “it is for the party leadership to decide on the issue.”

He said: “All like minded people should work together for progress of the country.”

Bhagwat’s comments came after his meetings on Thursday with BJP president Rajnath Singh and senior leader Murli Manhar Joshi. The discussion with Singh lasted for one-and-a-half hours.

BJP leader Varun Gandhi also met him on Friday morning for about 45 minutes.

Bhagwat had on August 18 called for an end to factionalism in the BJP, the political wing of the Sangh Parivar, and said the party leadership should make way for younger leaders.

The expulsion of Jaswant Singh, two days after the launch of his latest book-Jinnah: India -Partition – Independence, has been criticised by senior leaders Arun Shourie and Yashwant Sinha.

Shourie has called on the RSS to take over the leadership of the BJP. (ANI)

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How can jihadis termed as heroes now be arch-enemies, asks Pak paper

July 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, July 10 (ANI): A leading Pakistani daily has asked how is it possible to rationally explain to the people of the country that militants who were termed as heroes of yesteryear by the state are the arch-enemies today.

Speaking about the root cause of Pakistan’s problems, President Asif Ali Zardari said that the military’s erstwhile ‘strategic assets’ were the ones against whom military operations were now required, The Dawn says.

And in a meeting with retired senior bureaucrats in Islamabad on Tuesday, Zardari again said that “militants and extremists had been deliberately created and nurtured as a policy to achieve some short-term tactical objectives.”

The paper asks Zardari that if the policy of creating militants was wrong earlier, then it is wrong now. It cannot be any other way.

It would be not possible to explain to Pakistani people that the heroes of yesteryear are the arch-enemies of today. The militants’ religious justifications remain the same; what’s changed is that the militants were fighting the state’s ‘enemies’ yesterday, but now have turned their guns on the state and its allies.

The paper asks should we have ever used jihadi proxies to fight the Russians in Afghanistan? Should we have ever supported the idea of armed jihad in Kashmir? Should we have ever sought to retain our influence in Afghanistan through the Taliban?

If any of those choices ever made sense, then we should have no complaints about the rise of Talibanisation in Pakistan because we created the climate and opportunity for them to run amok, it adds.

It further says that fault is of course not of Pakistan alone and the US obsession with the Soviet enemy, happily colluded in the creation of Muslim warriors.

Pakistan’s Middle Eastern and Gulf allies were happy to create a Sunni army to counter the ‘threat’ from post-revolution Shia Iran, but at the end of the day it was Pakistani soil on which they were primarily nurtured.

The jihadis were raised in our midst we should have always been wary of the extreme blowback we are now confronted with, the Dawn says. (ANI)

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Leave Flintoff alone, says ex-Lancashire mate Stuart Law

July 8, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, July 8 (ANI): Former Lancashire captain Stuart Law believes that England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff should not be a topic of discussion and that the ECB should value the cricketing giant who is in their midst.

Flintoff is public property again and an expectant nation is at loggerheads over whether to delight in his humanity or to suspect that his ill-timed lapse into unprofessionalism so close to the Australia series is a harbinger of doom in the Tests that lie ahead.

But Law, who played one Test and 54 ODIs for Australia, sees it differently.

“People tag people. They do that to Freddie. He has celebrated an Ashes victory and not many Englishmen have done that. He is a young man who enjoys a beer as every young man does, but you will not see a guy work harder. His detractors, mate, I’d like to see them live his life for a few weeks, to do all that rehab every day to fight back from his injuries, to receive a phone call from his physio saying ‘we need you here, now’, and to put himself through it again. They couldn’t cope for more than a few minutes,” The Guardian quoted Law, as saying.

“Freddie is the most selfless man I have ever met. He doesn’t care about himself. He cares about others. He will have been distraught enough because he had let his teammates down. I have seen him just after injury and he is destroyed, heartbroken and he feels that he is letting everybody down if he can’t play like he his supposed to. He has learned to cope with that now but it has taken him a long time,” he added.

Law, now on a one-day contract at Derbyshire.

Lancashire coach Moores is too polite to advise England coach Andy Flower.

But he did predict that England could anticipate Flintoff at full throttle:

“Fred doesn’t hold back a lot. You wouldn’t want that. That’s not how he plays. You want him to play full out. That’s what makes him different. He has his ability to raise his game for big games. One of the big challenges is can you get it out of you when you really want to? Fred has shown he can do that,” said Moores. (ANI)

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