50 feared killed in suspension bridge collapse in Arunachal

ITANAGAR: At least 50 people were feared killed when a suspension bridge over the Kameng river collapsed at Seppa in East Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday evening.

Superintendent of Police Kime Aya said the casulties occurred when villagers, who had set out to hunt, were crossing the bridge at around 5:30pm.

The entire bridge collapsed with all those on it falling into the river, he said.

He said two persons managed to swim to safety but around 50 others were feared dead.

The swift current in the river was hindering rescue operations, Aya said.

All Formula One teams are cheats, claims Irvine

London, Sep 18 (ANI): Ex-Ferrari driver Eddie Irvine has claimed that all Formula One teams are cheats.

Irvine says there has been an overreaction to the race-fixing charges being levelled at the Renault team.

He admitted the Crashgate scandal that cost Renault team chief Flavio Briatore and technical boss Pat Symonds their jobs had gone too far.

“F1 is a war and all is fair in war. When I was in various teams you would do anything to win. You pushed people off, you did whatever you could do to win,” he said.

“This is probably slightly on the wrong side of the cheating thing, but in F1 – if you look back at days gone past – then every team has done it. They will cheat, bend the rules, do whatever they could, sabotage opponents.

“Nothing was beyond the realms of decency and that is what F1 always is. It is not a pure sport,’ The Sun quoted Irvine, as saying.

The Renault team still has to appear before the World Motor Sport Council in Paris on Monday where they face a massive fine, race suspension or even being kicked out of the sport.

But Irvine reckons they could escape with a more lenient penalty amid fears that another team is about to leave the sport.

Irvine, who also raced for Jordan and Jaguar, added: “If you think that McLaren got a 100 million dollars fine for having some papers of the Ferrari team, what punishment is relevant here? It is complete banning. But I don’t believe that is going to happen as F1 cannot afford to lose more teams.”

Briatore threatened to sue Piquet Snr after the three-time world champ made the revelations about his son. (ANI)

BJP to boycott Rajasthan Assembly session

Jaipur, Aug 26 (ANI): The legislature party of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajasthan Unit on Wednesday unanimously decided to boycott the State Assembly session commencing from August 27 to press for the revoking of suspension of three of its MLAs.

The legislature party held its meeting here on Wednesday to finalise the strategy for the Assembly session. Leader of Opposition Vasundhara Raje chaired the meeting, which was attended by more than 70 MLAs.

Speaking to the media after the meeting Deputy leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Ghanshyam Timwari said, “Today’s meeting decided to boycott all the proceedings of the Assembly, and also to stay away from the meetings of legislative committees unless and until the treasury benches make a move to revoke the suspension of three MLAs.”

“The party legislatures will sit for dharana before the main gate of the Assembly, and protest against the illegal suspension of the legislatures,” Tiwari added.

The meeting decided to stay away from the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting on Thursday as a first step of boycott.

According to sources the meeting did not discuss the election of new Leader of Opposition in place of Raje, who has been asked by the party’s central leadership to relinquish the post.

State Assembly Speaker Deepender Singh Shekhavat suspended MLAs Gyandeo Ahuja, Bhawani Singh Rajawat and Hemsingh Bhadana for the remaining period of the Assembly on July 28.

Rajasthan Assembly witnessed uproar on the last day of the session on July 28, following the Supreme Court’s notice to the state Home Department for failing to arrest Parbat Singh, an accused of raping a British national in 2007.

Rajasthan Assembly is meeting for a short duration from Thursday after a gap of one month. (ANI)

Raje to hold BJP Legislature Party meeting in Jaipur

Jaipur, Aug 26 (ANI): Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, will hold a meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Legislature Party here on Wednesday, to chalk out strategy for the upcoming State Assembly session.

According to sources, the issue of electing a new Leader of Opposition as per the direction of party’s high command is not likely to figure in the meeting.

Raje, who has been asked by the BJP central leadership to resign from the leadership of the party’s legislature wing is, appears to be in no mood to quit.

She returned to Jaipur on Tuesday evening from Delhi after holding meetings with party chief Rajnath Singh and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani.

According to party’s deputy whip Rajendra Rathore; the meeting is likely to take up the issue of suspension of three MLAs from the State Assembly.

Speaker Deepender Singh Shekhavat suspended MLAs Gyandeo Ahuja, Bhawani Singh Rajawat and Hemsingh Bhadana on July 28 for the remaining period of the Assembly.

The BJP, which boycotted all the legislative committee meetings, in protest against the suspension will decide on attending the House Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting to fix the agenda for the remaining days of the session.

Most of the legislatures are in favor of boycotting the committees till the suspension is revoked, sources said. (ANI)

Orangutans can counter dangerous tree vibrations by moving in an irregular rhythm

Washington, July 28 (ANI): A team of scientists has found that the orangutan can counter dangerous tree vibrations by its ability to move with an irregular rhythm.

According to Professor Robin Crompton, from the University of Liverpool’s School of Biomedical Sciences, there is a problem in the movement of animals through the canopy of tropical forests, where there are highly flexible branches.

“Most animals, such as the chimpanzee, respond to these challenges by flexing their limbs to bring their body closer to the branch. Orangutans, however, are the largest arboreal mammal and so they are likely to face more severe difficulties due to weight,” he said.

“If they move in a regular fashion, like their smaller relatives, we get a ‘wobbly bridge’ situation, whereby the movement of the branches increases,” he added.

“Orangutans have developed a unique way of coping with these problems; they move in an irregular way which includes upright walking, four-limbed suspension from branches and tree-swaying, whereby they move branches backwards and forwards, with increasing magnitude, until they are able to cross large gaps between trees,” according to Dr Susannah Thorpe, from the University of Birmingham’s School of Biosciences.

The team studied orangutans in Sumatra, where the animal is predicted to be the first great ape to become extinct.

This new research could further shed light into the way orangutans use their habitat, which could support new conservation programmes.

“If the destruction of forest land does not slow down, the Sumatran orangutan could be extinct within the next decade,” Dr Thorpe said.

“Now that we know more about how they move through the trees and the unique way that they adapt to challenges in their environment we can better understand their needs.

This could help with reintroducing rescued animals to the forests and efforts to conserve their environment,” she added. (ANI)

‘Racist’ Oz Davis Cup star banned for calling opponent ‘f***ing kaffir’

Sydney, July 9 (ANI): The ATP has banned Western Australian Davis Cup star Brydan Klein for six months for calling his South African opponent Raven Klaasen a “f***ing kaffir” during a teenager tournament in Eastbourne, UK.

The massive ban follows a previous 14,000 dollars fine, the maximum possible under the ATP, and a suspension by the Australian Institute of Sport.

Despite issuing a public apology, the ATP today told Klein he would not be allowed to play in any tournaments in the next six months, as well as adding 10,000 dollars to his fine, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

An ATP statement said Klein had been suspended from the ATP World Tour and ATP Challenger Tour tournaments, having been found to have committed the Player Major Offense, Aggravated Behaviour under its code of conduct.

Klein has the option of appealing the penalty or accepting a reduced penalty option.

If he enrolls in and successfully completes a racial sensitivity training course, which is acceptable to the ATP, within the first four months of the suspension, the remaining two months’ suspension and the additional fine will be waived, the paper said.

The penalty is effective from July 20, 2009 unless he appeals the decision. A Tennis Australia spokesman confirmed the ban after Tennis West president Dean Williams said he was sad but not surprised because of Klein’s previous track record.

In a statement after the incident, Klein said he deeply regretted his actions, the paper reports.

“I would like to clarify my position on an incident that occurred during my match against Raven Klaasen in the last round of qualifying for the AEGON International at Eastbourne on June 14,” Klein said.

“I deeply regret my serious error in judgment in using this word and I am very sorry for the offence this has caused. After the match I called my opponent Raven and apologised for what had happened and also apologised for any offence caused to his support team,” he added. (ANI)

Laser beam powered optical transistor may lead to ultrafast light-based computers

London, July 2 (ANI): Swiss researchers have made an optical transistor that uses one laser beam to control another, an instrument that could form the heart of a future generation of ultrafast light-based computers.

Conventional computers are based on transistors, which allow one electrode to control the current moving through the device and are combined to form logic gates and processors.

According to a report in New Scientist, the new component achieves the same thing, but for laser beams, not electric currents.

A green laser beam is used to control the power of an orange laser beam passing through the device.

This offers another possible route to light-based rather than electronic, computing.

Such “photonic” computing is desirable because components using optical fibres carrying light could be much faster than those using wires to carry electricity.

However, previous attempts to make optical transistors for such circuits only produced very weak effects.

The new device could change that.

To make their device, Vahid Sandoghdar and colleagues at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, suspended tetradecane, a hydrocarbon dye, in an organic liquid.

They then froze the suspension to -272 degrees Celsius using liquid helium – creating a crystalline matrix in which individual dye molecules could be targeted with lasers.

When a finely tuned orange laser beam is trained on a dye molecule, it efficiently soaks up most of it up – leaving a much weaker “output” beam to continue beyond the dye.

But when the molecule is also targeted with a green laser beam, it starts to produce strong orange light of its own and so boosts the power of the orange output beam.

This effect is down to the hydrocarbon molecule absorbing the green light, only to lose the equivalent energy in the form of orange light.

“That light constructively interferes with the incoming orange beam and makes it brighter,” said Sandoghar’s colleague Jaesuk Hwang.

Using the green beam to switch the orange output beam from weak to strong is analogous to the way a transistor’s control electrode switches a current between “on” and “off” voltages, and hence the 0s and 1s of digital data.

Doing it with a single molecule means billions could be packed into future photonic chips. (ANI)

Tribals block national highway alleging security forces for atrocities

Durgapur (West Bengal), June 30 (ANI): Armed with bows and arrows, many tribals blocked the national highway leading to Durgapur in Hooghly district of West Bengal on Tuesday to express their fury over security forces’ alleged atrocities in the guise of flushing out Maoists in Lalgarh region of west Medinipur district.

Protestors under the banner of Jharkhand Disom Party (JDP), a tribal organisation, alleged that the security personnel had committed grave atrocities by targeting innocent villagers, the tribal community, in particular, during their combing operation in search of Maoist rebels.

To vent their ire against this, the supporters of JDP blocked the traffic on the road leading to the steel city of Durgapur and onward to New Delhi for over two hours. They were demanding suspension of the mopping up operation by the uniformed personnel.

“We are demanding to stop the atrocities on the innocent tribals in the name of curbing Maoists in Lalgarh,” said Laxmikanta Hansda, a tribal leader of Jharkhand Disom Party.

Police and Paramilitary forces began their final assault on a Maoist stronghold, Katapahari region of Paschimi (west) Medinipur district in West Bengal on Monday (June 29).

According to local reports, the state and central security forces in their joint operation have surrounded the Maoist bastion at Katrapahari, 6 kilometres from the epicentre Lalgarh. They were in the process of beginning of a two-pronged assault from the north and south to flush out the rebels.

On June 20, Police had regained control of Lalgarh, which was earlier captured by the Maoist rebels in one of the most brazen attacks in recent years that sparked unease among investors in the communist-ruled state.

Since then the Maoists have eluded the security forces, which are now aggressively looking for them.

Earlier this week, the Government at the Centre banned and formally labelled the Maoist insurgents “a terrorist group”, hoping it would give security forces more enforcement powers after the rebels briefly created a ‘liberated zone’ in West Bengal. (ANI)

Shri Amarnath Yatra suspended from Jammu

Jammu, June 24 (ANI): The ongoing Shri Amarnath Yatra had to be suspended from Jammu base camp on Wednesday due to a large number of devotees stranded at transit base camp at Baltal.

Over 15,000 pilgrims are stranded at the transit camp.

According to police officials in Jammu, “No batch was allowed to Baltal base camp from here today. The yatra was suspended as there is a heavy rush of stranded devotees at Baltal.”

Over 2,700 pilgrims have been left waiting for resumption of the Yatra at Jammu base camp in Bhagwati Nagar due to the suspension.

Jammu and Kashmir government and Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) has set up three base camps at Bhagwati Nagar in Jammu, at Nunwan in Pahalgam and at Baltal to arrange for boarding and lodging facilities to pilgrims visiting cave shrine.

While, Jammu base camp facilitates boarding and lodging for over 20,000 pilgrims at a time, Baltal and Nunwan can house over 5,000 pilgrims at a time.

About 70,000 pilgrims have paid obeisance at the 3888 mt Amarnath cave shrine till now.

On Tuesday, a high level team headed by SASB Chief Executive Officer B B Viyas carried out an aerial survey of the traditional Pahalgam route to take a final decision on opening of the route, which has been covered with snow for last few days, to the pilgrims.

The team has submitted its report on resumption of yatra via traditional Pahalgam route to Governor N N Vohra. (ANI)

Cyclonic storm ‘Aila’ likely to hit West Bengal

New Delhi, May 25 (ANI): The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned that the cyclonic storm “AILA” is likely to intensify further and move in a near northerly direction and ross West Bengal coast near longitude 88.00 E (near Sagar Island) on Monday evening,

Gale wind of 100 kmph is likely along West Bengal and north Orissa coasts during next 18 hours.

Sea condition will be very high along and off West Bengal and north Orissa coasts during the same period.

Storm surge of about 2-3 meters above astronomical tide is likely to inundate the coastal areas of south 24-Pargana and Midnapur districts of West Bengal at the time of landfall.

Extensive damage to thatched roofs and huts, minor damage to power and communication lines due to uprooting of trees and flooding of escape routs over coastal districts of West Bengal and north Orissa are expected.

The IMD has advised total suspension of fishing operations and suggested moving the coastal hutment dwellers to safer places.

People in affected areas have been advised to remain indoors.

The system over northwest and adjoining central Bay of Bengal intensified further, moved northwards and lay centred at 8:30 (IST) of today over northwest Bay of Bengal near lat. 20.50 N and long. 88.00 E, about 140 km east-southeast of Chandbali, 130 km south of Sagar Island and 280 km southwest of Khepupara (Bangladesh). (ANI)

Phelps makes splashing comeback after suspension

Washington, May 16 (ANI): Olympic golden boy Michael Phelps has returned with a bang after three-month suspension following the pot scandal.

The 23-year-old swimmer easily qualified for the finals of two events at the Charlotte Ultraswim with a record time.

Phelps was second in the last heat of the 200-meter freestyle at 1 minute, 50.46 seconds, and came back to win the final heat of the 100 butterfly in 53.41 seconds.

In both events, he had the third-fastest time overall.

Phelps says that he is eager to start working toward some new goals.

“It’s kind of like Tiger (Woods) working on his putting game or his pitching game,” CBS News quoted Phelps as saying,

“It’s sort of completing the whole package,” he added. (ANI)

Sachs thanks Brand for boosting his career with prank sex call

London, May 5 (ANI): Andrew Sachs has expressed his gratitude to Russell Brand for his radio-prank sex call because the scandal boosted his career.

The 78-year-old had been due to be a phone-in guest on a late-night radio show with RJ Brand and DJ Jonathan Ross.

On being unavailable, he had received four messages on his home phone from the pair claiming the former had slept with his granddaughter, Georgina Baillie.

The October incident, in which Brand spoke of his prior sexual relationship with the goth-styled model while Ross passed lewd comments, had led to a record number of complaints and criticism resulting in the suspension of both presenters from their positions at the BBC Radio 2.

And Sachs has now thanked the two for bringing his profile back to the limelight with the row.

“I came out of it very well. My profile’s up. Great! They did me good. Thank you very much,” the Daily Star quoted him as saying. (ANI)

Australia face World Twenty20 dilemma over Lee, Watson

Abu Dhabi, May 4 (ANI): Australian cricket team coach Tim Nielsen believes that the selectors will be taking a chance on Brett Lee and Shane Watson when it comes to choosing the World Twenty20 squad on Tuesday.

Both Lee and Watson are planning to make their competitive bowling comeback in Australia’s Twenty20 match against Pakistan in Dubai on Friday.

For 32-year-old Lee, it will be his first game since surgery to repair ankle stress fractures after last year’s Boxing Day Test, reports Fox.

Watson has played as a batsman during the five-game one-day series against Pakistan, but he has not bowled since last November as he returns from back stress fractures.

“It’s not ideal obviously,” Nielsen said of the timing.

The good news for Australia is that they should be able to replace the players in the squad – at the discretion of the event’s technical committee – if the pair’s injury comebacks do not progress as planned.

Lee and Watson are not the only comeback players with whom selectors face an interesting decision.

All-rounder Andrew Symonds, who returned for the one-day series against Pakistan after missing much of the previous eight months through suspension and injury, has not entirely convinced in his return.

His only innings of note was a match-winning 58 in game two, with just 24 runs in three other innings for a series average of 20.5.

But his game-changing potential with the bat, as well as handy off-spin and brilliant fielding is likely to see him selected.

The bulk of the squad is expected to come from the 15 one-day squad members in the United Arab Emirates, plus the resting Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey and Mitchell Johnson. (ANI)

Malay Indian MP sues Govt, Speaker for suspension from House

Kuala Lumpur, Apr.23 (ANI): The Malay Indian Member of Parliament from Puchong, Gobind Singh Deo, has filed a suit against the Dewan Rakyat Speaker, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Aziz, the Dewan Rakyat secretary and the Government of Malaysia for his suspension from the House for a year, including losing his remunerations, was null and void.

Karpal Singh and Co represented him in the suit, reports The Star.

Last month, Gobind was suspended from Parliament for a year for alleging that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, who was then deputy premier, was involved in a murder case and being in contempt of the House.

The suspension came after the Dewan Rakyat voted for a motion against him.

Gobind was told he would be paid any allowance or given any benefits accrued to MPs during the suspension. (ANI)

Ultra Motor Company launches much awaited e-scooter Marathon Lite

Ultra Motor Company, a leading electric cycle and electric scooter manufacturer, has finally launched its much awaited low speed scooter `Marathon Lite’ in the Indian market.

The latest revealed vehicle comes with exciting new features like a 250w motor and 48V/20AH power packed battery, Magnetic Anti Theft Lock System, Spacious under seat storage option, Front Telescopic Suspension in Black, Yellow and Blue colour variants.

The latest scooter gives a maximum speed of 25 km per hour and covers a distance of 70 km with single charge. The company has fixed price tag of Rs. 25,850/- .

Presently, the company is present in both “High Speed” and “High Range” category of Electric Two Wheelers in India. The products include a High Speed Electric Scooter `Velociti’ and a High Range Electric Scooter, `Marathon’.

Ultra Motor Company plans to introduce more new products in year 2010. The company has set itself a target of 50,000 units in FY10 and is set to expand their exclusive dealership network across India to about 300 retail showrooms by September `09.

Soruce From – http://news.infibeam.com/blog/news/2009/04/20/ultra_motor_company_rolls_out_popular_e_scooter_in_india.html

Malaysian Indian speaker suspends assembly secretary

Ipoh (Malaysia), April 19 (IANS) Malaysian Indian Speaker of Perak state assembly V. Sivakumar has suspended the secretary of the house, a week after the federal court gave a ruling on his powers as the presiding officer.

The apex court last week ruled that Sivakumar did not have the authority to suspend the state’s chief minister and six ministers and bar them from attending the assembly.

The court revoked the suspension and ruled that the ministers could attend the assembly and participate in the proceedings.

Sivakumar Saturday again suspended State Assembly secretary Abdullah Antong Sabri, this time for issuing notices to convene a sitting May 7 without his knowledge.

Sabri had faced Sivakumar’s wrath last month for failing to act impartially over the convening of an emergency sitting March 3.

‘Don’t you think it is necessary to consult the speaker first? Who is the head of the house? It is embarrassing because I was the last person to know,’ Sivakumar was quoted by The Star Sunday.

‘He (Sabri) didn’t consult me at all and as far as I know, I did not hear anything from the palace,’ he told media.

Sivakumar said he would seek an audience with the royal constitutional head to clarify the matter.

He believed it was ‘another ploy to belittle and insult the assembly’.

The constitutional crisis has its genesis in the change of government in Perak state in February. The government elected last year lost majority due to defection and a new government took office.

Sivakumar refused to recognise the new government headed by Mentri Besar (chief minister) Zambry Abdul Qadir.

Following the suspension of the chief minister and six ministers, the matter was referred to the police.

Perak State Secretary Abdul Rahman Hashim said Sivakumar has no authority to suspend Sabri.

Assembly regulations require that it be convened within six months of the last session. The last day for that would be May 13.

China tightens noose on press

Beijing, Apr. 17 (ANI): In an attempt to tighten the noose on the Chinese media, the nation’s media watchdog has issued a circular sermonizing the responsibilities and credibility of the press.

The General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) has urged newspapers and organizations to verify the facts to ensure truthfulness and objectivity in their news coverage.

To facilitate it, the organizations must be strict in hiring reporters and editors. Those with a track record of fabricating news stories or seeking profit by abusing their jobs should not be employed, the circular read.

The circular also required press administrators to strengthen supervision over media organizations and news production, and punish violators with warnings, fines or suspension of businesses.

The GAPP also told the media organizations to offer employees regular training on laws, regulations and professional ethics.

Reporters should carefully verify news sources, conduct in-person interviews, and never distort facts or fabricate stories based on hearsay or imagination, the circular said.

“Editors-in-chief of newspapers carrying false reports should openly apologize to the public or even resign in accordance with the degree of damage done. The journalists concerned should also be held accountable,” Xinhua quoted the circular , as saying.

The administration had earlier named and shamed six newspapers for carrying false reports.

According to GAPP, the mass-circular Beijing Times reported last year that the China Merchants Bank (CMB) lost a book value at more than 10 billion Hong Kong dollars from Hong Kong’s Wing Lung Bank.

The report based on incorrect data collected by reporters led to the tumbling of CMB’s stock price and the fall of the entire banking stocks on that day. (ANI)

UN warns of bloodbath for 100,000 Sri Lankans

New York/Colombo – More than 100,000 people are in mortal danger in Sri Lanka if security forces continue their offensive against dug-in rebels, the United Nations warned Wednesday.

John Holmes, the UN emergency relief coordinator, appealed to the Sri Lankan military to extend its holiday pause of operations against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

“The situation is simply catastrophic,” said Holmes, who warned of a bloodbath if the army mounts what is expected to be one last tightening of the shrinking perimeter around the rebels.

Earlier Wednesday, the security forces resumed military operations in the north-eastern part of the country, ending a 48-hour suspension of military operations to mark traditional New Year celebrations.

A spokesman for the Sri Lankan military said it would continue with operations aimed at rescuing what the government estimates are 50,000 civilians who remain trapped in Mullativu district, 395 kilometres north-east of the capital.

It was not clear why the UN puts the number at twice that figure.

According to local estimates, the Tamil rebels retain control of an area less than 20 square kilometres where the civilians are held. But Holmes estimated the area at only 14 square kilometres.

Holmes charged that the rebels were using civilians as their protective shields. He said the 48-hour pause was not long enough to bring enough civilians out of danger, or to deliver humanitarian aid.

During the 48-hour period in which the military suspended offensive operations at least one soldier was killed by sniper fire by the rebels and three others were injured.

Tamil rebels called for a permanent truce Tuesday, but the Sri Lankan government has not accepted the offer.(dpa)

I will decide, Malaysian PM tells coalition partners

Kuala Lumpur, April 15 (IANS) Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has said Indian and Chinese partners in the ruling coalition were free to air their views on government-formation but he would be the one to decide.

Razak, who took office April 3, is scheduled to chair his first cabinet meeting Wednesday.

Razak was responding to demands by the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) for better representation and allocation of ‘senior’ portfolios and of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) for the post of a second deputy prime Minister.

‘I am the one who will decide,’ Razak was quoted as saying by New Straits Times Wednesday.

Along with the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the MCA and the MIC are major partners of Barisan Nasional (BN) that has ruled the country since the independence in 1957.

Malaysia has majority Malays, 33 percent ethnic Chinese and eight percent Indians.

Three MIC nominees in the Razak government are Human Resource Development Minister S. Subramaniam and two junior ministers, M. Sarvanan and K. Devamani.

Media reports said Razak wants to begin his tenure by reviewing the controversial Internal Security Act (ISA).

‘We want it (review) to be done very soon. I will discuss this with the home minister. I have some ideas but I will have to discuss them with him first. Then, we will announce it when the time comes,’ Razak said.

Razak, on his first day as the country’s sixth prime minister, freed 13 ISA detainees and lifted the suspension of two opposition papers-Harakah and Suara Keadilan.

Those released include an Indian national with fake travel documents and two activists of the Hindu Rights Action Front (Hindraf).

Three more Hindraf activists, who staged a protest rally in November 2007, are still in jail under ISA. They are serving two-year terms.

Tibetans in India condemn Chinese death sentence for riots

Dharamshala/New Delhi, Apr 16 (ANI): Tibetans refugees living in India came out strongly against death sentences awarded to two Tibetans for their alleged role in the spate of riots that rocked Lhasa in 2008.

To express their solidarity with the convicted fellow Tibetans, the office bearers of the Students for Free Tibet (SFT) addressed a press conference here on Wednesday.

Members of the SFT have submitted a petition urging the Chinese Government to stop the execution and also the ill treatment being meted out to the Tibetan prisoners in Lhasa.

At the press conference, Tenzin Cheoying, President, SFT read out the contents of the petition.

“We appeal to your esteem office to give urgent attention to the cases of Lobsang Gyalsten and Loyak – sentenced to death, Tenzin Phuntsok and Kangtsuk – sentenced to death with two year suspension and Dawa Sangpo sentenced to life imprisonment given by Lhasa People’s Intermediate Court on April 8,” said Tenzin Cheoying.

“We do not believe that these trials were conducted according to the international judicial standards. We the Minister of Justice Wu Aiying to review all four death sentences with immediate effect and allow these cases to be impartially investigated with further trials to be conducted openly and with due regard to international legal standards,” added Tenzin Cheoying.

Further, he said that the recent verdict passed by Lhasa People’s Intermediate Court is a blatant attempt to stop the Tibetans from speaking against the Chinese’s regime.

He also appealed to the Chinese Minister of Justice to provide the names and whereabouts of thousands of Tibetans still detained for their suspected role in the last year’s event.

“We also demand that all cases related to the events of March and April 2008 are suspended until a full and independent enquiry into events around these states is held. And a full list of names and whereabouts of the 1200 and more Tibetans still detained in relations to the last year’s event,” added Tenzin Cheoying.

He mentioned that through this petition, the Tibetans in-exile want to implore upon the Chinese Government to stop the execution. He also appealed to the international community to put pressure on China.

Meanwhile, Tibetans residing in New Delhi also staged a peaceful protest rally.

Carrying Tibetan flags and shouting ‘Free Tibet’ slogans, the protesters marched through the streets to condemn the death sentence pronounced by the Chinese administration.

“We have staged this peaceful protest at Janta Mantar because four Tibetans were given death sentence in China. The Chinese Government passed down four death sentences, one life imprisonment. Two was immediate death sentence and two death sentences in within two years time,” said Kunchok, member, Tibetan Youth Congress, New Delhi.

Earlier, China’s official Xinhua news agency had confirmed that two Tibetans have been sentenced to death for their role in riots in Tibet’s regional capital of Lhasa last year.

They were found guilty of ‘igniting fatal fires’ during the riots. (ANI)