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India’s Global Steel eyes stake in N. Korean mines-paper

April 6, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

NEW DELHI, April 5 (Reuters) – Pramod Mittal, chairman of privately-held Global Steel Holdings, is negotiating with the North Korean government for a stake in the country’s Musan iron ore mines, The Economic Times newspaper reported on Monday.

Basic Materials

Global Steel could be negotiating with Pyongyang for development rights to Musan for a fixed period, where Global Steel would do the mining and get to buy an agreed portion of the reserves, the report said citing people familiar with the development.

Pramod Mittal, who is the younger sibling of steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, had visited North Korea last week to hold talks with senior government officials to work out the procedures for a share of Musan’s reserves, the paper said, adding the mines hold an estimated reserves of more than 7 billion tonnes.

The report, however, quoted Pramod Mittal as saying that the firm was not looking for any stake in Musan and that the visit to North Korea was to “further business interests.” (Writing by Devidutta Tripathy; editing by Malini Menon)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Lakshmi Mittal, North Korea, paper, Pramod Mittal, reserves

British troops far from defeating Taliban, says Brit Defence Secretary

September 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sep.16 (ANI): British troops are a long way from winning the battle against a resilient Taliban in Afghanistan, and the conflict in the country could lead to “major shifts” in military spending, said British Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth.

“We are facing a resilient enemy which we are far from succeeding against yet,” he told an audience of defence experts at King’s College London.

“I reject the proposition we are not making progress. I also reject the proposition a reduced military presence will lead to less Taliban success,” The Telegraph quoted Ainsworth, as saying further.

A leading thinktank warned earlier that the presence of large numbers of foreign troops in Afghanistan made it harder to achieve a political settlement to the conflict.

The International Institute for Strategic Studies said western forces in Afghanistan needed a “more cunning” strategy if they were to achieve their aims.

Ainsworth said a military failure in Afghanistan would have “profound consequences for our national security” and “undermine the Nato alliance”.

He also called for an open debate about future defence policy and how money for the military should be spent before the government publishes a defence review green paper in advance of next year’s general election. (ANI)

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Scientists develop ‘electronic nose’ that can sniff out toxins by changing colors

September 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 14 (ANI): A team of scientists has developed a sensor that works as an ‘electronic nose’ in sniffing out some known poisonous gases and toxins, simply by changing colors.

Support for the development and application of this electronic nose comes from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Once fully developed, the sensor could be useful in detecting high exposures to toxic industrial chemicals that pose serious health risks in the workplace or through accidental exposure.

While physicists have radiation badges to protect them in the workplace, chemists and workers who handle chemicals do not have equivalent devices to monitor their exposure to potentially toxic chemicals.

The investigators hope to be able to market the wearable sensor within a few years.

“The project fits into the overall goal of a component of the GEI Exposure Biology Program that the NIEHS has the lead on, which is to develop technologies to monitor and better understand how environmental exposures affect disease risk,” said NIEHS Director Linda Birnbaum.

“This paper brings us one step closer to having a small wearable sensor that can detect multiple airborne toxins,” she added.

Kenneth S. Suslick, the M.T. Schmidt Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and his colleagues have created what they refer to as an optoelectronic nose, an artificial nose for the detection of toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) that is simple, fast, inexpensive, and works by visualizing colors.

“We have a disposable 36-dye sensor array that changes colors when exposed to different chemicals. The pattern of the color change is a unique molecular fingerprint for any toxic gas and also tells us its concentration,” said Suslick.

“By comparing that pattern to a library of color fingerprints, we can identify and quantify the TICs in a matter of seconds,” he added.

The power of this sensor to identify so many volatile toxins stems from the increased range of interactions that are used to discriminate the response of the array.

To test the application of their color sensor array, the researchers chose 19 representative examples of toxic industrial chemicals.

Chemicals such as ammonia, chlorine, nitric acid and sulfur dioxide at concentrations known to be immediately dangerous to life or health were included.

The arrays were exposed to the chemicals for two minutes.

Most of the chemicals were identified from the array color change in a number of seconds and almost 90 percent of them were detected within two minutes. (ANI)

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50,000 American Muslims to attend prayer meeting on Washington Mall on Sep.25

September 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep.13 (ANI): At least 50,000 American Muslims will participate in a national prayer gathering for September 25 in Washington, D.C.

According to a report filed by The Star-Ledger, the gathering is taking place in the city’s National Mall area and is being organised by representatives of a mosque in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

The paper quoted Hassen Abdellah, president of the Dar-ul-Islam mosque and an event organizer, as saying: “Most of the time, when Muslims go to Washington, D.C., they go there to protest some type of event…This is not a protest. Never has the Islamic community prayed on Capitol Hill for the soul of America. We’re Americans. We need to change the face of Islam so people don’t feel every Muslim believes America is ‘the great Satan,’ because we love America.”

The Star-Ledger reports that “A permit from the Capitol Hill police, granted July 28, allows access to the area by the West Front of the Capitol building from 4 a.m. to 7 p.m. on September 25, but the main gathering will occur at 1 p.m., for the Friday prayer service.

Abdellah said he expects 50,000 people to attend, from mosques around the country, though non-Muslims are welcome, too.”

Abdellah stated the idea germinated after President Obama’s inaugural speech, and was reinforced by this summer’s Cairo address: “For the first time in my lifetime,”

Abdellah said, “I heard someone of his stature speaking about Islam and Muslims not in an adversarial sense, but in the sense of being welcome and acknowledging we are integral citizens in the society-that we’re gainfully employed, we’re educated.”(ANI)

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‘Mysterious messages’ penned by MJ in final hours emerge

September 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, September 13 (ANI): A string of messages penned by Michael Jackson in his final hours have come to light.

Post-its notes and sheets of paper, scribbled as “wishes for the world” have reportedly been found on the mirror in the late singer’s bathroom.

The notes allegedly show the King of Pop’s bizarre state of mind before he died of drug addiction on June 25, reports the News of the World.

Pals of the singer believe Jackson was using the notes as means to prepare himself for his comeback concerts in London.

Note number one, found on the right of Jackson’s gold-framed mirror, apparently read: “I am so grateful that I am a magnet for miracles.”

Note number two, pinned to the bottom of the mirror, a message in large handwriting said: “Love, no violence ever!” And underneath, in smaller handwriting, he had added: “Remember a beautiful future promise of tomorrow.”

Note number three was a startling reminder to perform the hit charity single he recorded with soul legend Lionel Ritchie in 1985, saying: “Do We Are The World in show”.

Note number four read “Call Temperton”, referring to British songwriter and producer Rod Temperton, who co-wrote several Jackson songs including Thriller and Rock With You.

A source said: “It’s worrying that he had to write reminders about things as obvious as these while he was rehearsing for his tour…But the drugs he was taking obviously had a huge impact on his mind and memory.” (ANI)

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Asian-origin RAF medic sues British Military for “Paki” and “terrorist” jibe cover up

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sep. 11 (ANI): An Asian origin Royal Air Force medic, who was racially abused and assaulted by senior colleagues, has claimed that British military investigators tried to cover up his complaints.

The British-born medic told an employment tribunal in central London that he was called a “Paki” and “terrorist”, was grabbed around the throat and threatened with a beating while he was serving in Afghanistan in 2007.

The man, referred to as AB, also blamed the military for not dealing with his complaints properly.

The Independent quoted his legal representative Jude Bunting as saying that members of the Army’s Special Investigation Branch had purposely dragged their feet when dealing with the complaints.

However, Captain Gary Ward, who worked on the AB investigation, said the allegations were “absolutely ridiculous”.

The hearing continues, the paper reports. (ANI)

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Manchester City not in 47-mn pounds deal for Tevez

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sep 12 (ANI): No deal was struck with Manchester City to pay a British record transfer fee of 47 million pounds for Carlos Tevez to MSI, the company fronted by Kia Joorabchian which owned the player before his move to City.

A spokesman for Kia Joorabchian last night denied that Manchester City had struck a deal to pay 47 million pounds for Tevez to MSI.

A report last night alleged that City had agreed to pay 47 million pounds for the Argentine forward, as opposed to 25.5 million pounds, the figure widely reported as the fee City paid to lure him from Manchester United.

“It’s not true,” a spokesman for Joorabchain said of the 47 million pounds figure. The spokesman said that he expected Joorabchian, and possibly City, to issue a formal denial today.

Rumours have circulated for several weeks that City had agreed to pay considerably more for Tevez than the 25.5 million pounds reported at the time of his move, The Independent reports.

Last night’s reports suggested that City had agreed to an initial 15 million pounds payment for Tevez, with two 16 million pounds payments to come.

If City did agree to pay 47 million pounds for Tevez, as alleged last night, that figure would smash the British record of 32.5 million pounds that City paid in 2008 for Robinho.

It would cast fresh light on the magnitude of the ambitions of City’s Middle Eastern owners, and on their willingness to pay massive sums for players, the paper reports. (ANI)

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US accepts Iranian offer to hold discussions

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep. 11 (ANI): The United States has accepted Iran’s proposal to hold talks, despite the Islamic republic announcing that it would not bring its future nuclear programs on the discussions table.

The decision to engage directly with Iran would put a senior representative of the Obama administration at the bargaining table, along with emissaries from five other nations, for the first time since Obama took office, the New York Times reports.

The decision is bound to raise protests from conservatives and human rights groups.

Earlier on Friday, senior administration officials said that their expectations from the talks were extremely low.

“We’ll be looking to see if they are willing to engage seriously on these issues. If we have talks, we will plan to bring up the nuclear issue,” paper quoted US State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley, as saying.

They added that the United States could make a case for imposing far stronger sanctions on Iran if diplomatic engagements fail.

Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany are going to be present on the discussion table, who in the past have negotiated with Iran even without the presence of an American representative.

Iran made its offer to meet in a five-page letter delivered to several nations on Wednesday.

But the letter said nothing about Iran’s nuclear program. However, this week Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed never to halt the fuel production.

Within less than 48 hours the Obama administration said they would consider the offer to meet.

Even though it is unclear who will represent the US on the discussion table, but most probably William J. Burns, the under secretary of state for political affairs, will lead America.

Earlier, Burns was quoted as saying that the Obama administration had begun preparing sanctions against Iran, so that it would be ready to implement them at the end of the year. (ANI)

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