North Korea confirms latest missile test

SEOUL: North Korea confirmed Monday its second missile test in recent days, with leader Kim Jong-Un overseeing the drill just days before Chinese president Xi Jinping visits South Korea.

The South Korean military said Sunday's test was of two short-range Scud missiles with a range of about 500 kilometres (300 miles).

A despatch by the North's official KCNA news agency was unclear about the type of missile, mentioning, "tactical rockets" and "precision-guided missiles".

A few days earlier, a similar despatch had hailed the test of a new "cutting-edge" guided missile as a "breakthrough" in the North's military capability.

Pyongyang has in the past made extravagant claims about its ballistic missile capability, and experts are divided as to how far the country has gone in developing its missile systems under UN sanctions.

North Korea carries out regular missile tests, sometimes for technical reasons but often as a show of force to register its displeasure with events elsewhere.

The two latest tests come ahead of Xi's visit to Seoul for talks with South Korean President Park Geun-Hye.

China is North Korea's sole major ally and key economic benefactor, and the fact that Xi is visiting Seoul before Pyongyang has been seen by some as a deliberate snub.

For all its leverage, China has grown increasingly frustrated with North Korea's refusal to curb its nuclear weapons programme as well its penchant for raising regional tension.

According to KCNA, Kim argued that the missile tests "had not the slightest impact" on regional peace and security, and were in fact a guarantor of regional stability.

"Durable peace can be protected only when one is so strong that nobody dares provoke one and it can be guaranteed by one's own strength," said Kim, who personally oversaw both the latest tests.

Tensions between North and South Korea have been running high for months, with each accusing the other of provocations.

Most recently, the North's army threatened a "devastating strike" after the South held a live-fire drill near the flashpoint maritime border in the Yellow Sea.

In March, the two sides traded hundreds of shells across the border off the west coast after the North dropped shells in the South's waters during a live-fire drill.

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Singapore foreign minister arrives today to engage with Modi govt

NEW DELHI: Singapore foreign minister K Shanmugam, who arrives here on Monday, will be the first leader from the Asian power to establish contact with the Modi government. He joins a power-packed group, including French foreign minister Laurent Fabius and US Republican leader John McCain, to establish contact with the new Indian government.

Singapore emerged as the top source for FDI into India in 2013, investing $5.98 billion here, which totals about 25 per cent of India's total FDI. But there is much more to the Singapore relationship. Among other things, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had built a special personal relationship with former PM Goh Chok Tong. Officials said Singapore was interested in sharing "niche expertise" with India, such as "public sector governance, urban planning, infrastructure development, education and skills development, etc." A Singapore official said, "We expect to reaffirm our longstanding and warm relations with India as well as explore how both countries can elevate our relations to a higher level."

Shanmugam is expected to meet the PM in New Delhi, but plans to meet a broad spectrum of Indian leadership in Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai. He will hold talks with his counterpart Sushma Swaraj, telecom minister Ravishankar Prasad, finance and defence minister Arun Jaitley and national security adviser Ajit Doval. In Hyderabad, Shanmugam is scheduled to meet Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Telangana Chief Minister KC Rao. Andhra Pradesh is probably the only Indian state to have had an outreach office in Singapore. In Chennai, he will meet Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, along with top business leaders.

As close partners in Asean, India and Singapore enjoy a particularly high level of mutual confidence. The bilateral relationship has expanded from an economic one to strategic. Singapore went through a bit of a wrinkle with India in the last few years, particularly after an Indian government report described it as a "tax haven", which elicited a high-level protest from the Singapore PM himself.

India will be looking for greater economic interaction and one of the conversations on the table would be on the fate of the RCEP. India is scheduled to become the Asean-FTA partner facilitator by holding the next round of negotiations in India in December. Singapore held the fifth round of talks past week and the broad hope is to have it signed and sealed by 2015. "Through RCEP, India will join a dynamic economic community that comprises nearly 45% of the world's population with a combined GDP of $21.4 trillion," said an official.

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Singapore foreign minister arrives today to engage with Modi govt

NEW DELHI: Singapore foreign minister K Shanmugam, who arrives here on Monday, will be the first leader from the Asian power to establish contact with the Modi government. He joins a power-packed group, including French foreign minister Laurent Fabius and US Republican leader John McCain, to establish contact with the new Indian government.

Singapore emerged as the top source for FDI into India in 2013, investing $5.98 billion here, which totals about 25 per cent of India's total FDI. But there is much more to the Singapore relationship. Among other things, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had built a special personal relationship with former PM Goh Chok Tong. Officials said Singapore was interested in sharing "niche expertise" with India, such as "public sector governance, urban planning, infrastructure development, education and skills development, etc." A Singapore official said, "We expect to reaffirm our longstanding and warm relations with India as well as explore how both countries can elevate our relations to a higher level."

Shanmugam is expected to meet the PM in New Delhi, but plans to meet a broad spectrum of Indian leadership in Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai. He will hold talks with his counterpart Sushma Swaraj, telecom minister Ravishankar Prasad, finance and defence minister Arun Jaitley and national security adviser Ajit Doval. In Hyderabad, Shanmugam is scheduled to meet Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Telangana Chief Minister KC Rao. Andhra Pradesh is probably the only Indian state to have had an outreach office in Singapore. In Chennai, he will meet Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, along with top business leaders.

As close partners in Asean, India and Singapore enjoy a particularly high level of mutual confidence. The bilateral relationship has expanded from an economic one to strategic. Singapore went through a bit of a wrinkle with India in the last few years, particularly after an Indian government report described it as a "tax haven", which elicited a high-level protest from the Singapore PM himself.

India will be looking for greater economic interaction and one of the conversations on the table would be on the fate of the RCEP. India is scheduled to become the Asean-FTA partner facilitator by holding the next round of negotiations in India in December. Singapore held the fifth round of talks past week and the broad hope is to have it signed and sealed by 2015. "Through RCEP, India will join a dynamic economic community that comprises nearly 45% of the world's population with a combined GDP of $21.4 trillion," said an official.

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Man shot dead in Thailand mosque attack: Police

BANGKOK: Gunmen opened fire at a mosque in insurgency-hit southern Thailand Monday, killing one man and injuring another a day after Muslims began observing the holy month of Ramzan, police said.

The pre-dawn attack by suspected militants in Pattani province appeared to target a Muslim deputy village chief but instead fatally wounded a 66-year-old man after morning prayers, said Police Lieutenant Colonel Somchai Janyoung.

"The man died at hospital after suffering two gunshot wounds at the mosque, he was the father of the imam (mosque's leader). The deputy village chief escaped with minor injuries to his leg," Somchai said.

He could not clarify exactly how many gunmen were at the scene. Thailand's three Muslim-majority southernmost provinces are in the grip of a decade-long insurgency which has seen more than 6,000 people killed — the majority of them civilians.

The rebels are fighting for a level of autonomy, accusing Thai authorities of riding roughshod over their distinct culture and carrying out human rights abuses.

These grievances are frequently seized upon by militants as a reason for targeted killings of Buddhist and Muslim representatives of the Thai state, including teachers, government officials and security forces.

The fasting month of Ramzan is sacred for the world's estimated 1.6 billion Muslims because it is during that month that tradition says the Koran was revealed to the Prophet Mohammed.

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India, China release first encyclopedia of cultural contacts

BEIJING: India and China on Monday released the first encyclopedia on their age-old cultural contacts, tracing back their history to over 2,000 years, starting from the visit of Chinese scholar Huen Tsang to India in the 7th century to bring Buddhist scriptures to China.

The two volumes of the encyclopedia jointly compiled by scholars of India and China was released by Vice President M H Ansari and his Chinese counterpart Li Yuanchao during their bilateral meeting.

Ansari is on a five-day visit to China which ends today. The idea of encyclopedia of India-China Cultural Contacts, which also covers the trade and diplomatic ties, was mooted during the visit of former Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao to India in December 2010.

The book traces back the centuries old civilisation links that started with the visit of Huen Tsang to India in the 7th century to bring Buddhist scriptures to China.

India-China relations have expanded significantly in both scope and intensity over the past decade, according to an official statement.

Both sides have attached great importance to cooperation on a wide range of issues with people-to-people exchanges forming an important aspect of our bilateral relations.

The two sides recognize the importance of expanding such contacts, thereby contributing towards enhanced mutual understanding.

With this shared understanding, during the visit of Wen to India in 2010, the leaders of India and China agreed on a project involving compilation of an encyclopedia of India-China cultural contacts, it said.

The work of compilation of the encyclopedia was undertaken by a joint compilation committee comprising of officials and scholars from both India and China.

The encyclopedia was released in both English and Chinese versions. It features over 700 entries, encapsulating the rich history of contacts and exchanges between the two countries in the trade, economic, literary, cultural and philosophical spheres.

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China to reopen embassy in Somalia closed in 1991

BEIJING: China is reopening its embassy in Somalia some 23 years after evacuating its diplomats as the East African nation plunged into civil war.

Foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Monday the decision came after Somalia established its first government and parliament in 21 years. He said Beijing would send a delegation to Somalia on Tuesday.

Hong told reporters: "Somalia has entered a new stage of its peace process," which "brings a new opportunity for the development of China-Somalia relations."

Chinese diplomats left Somalia in January 1991 after a longtime dictator was overthrown and warlords turned on each other, plunging the country into chaos.

The United States announced in June it would appoint an ambassador to Somalia but said it had no immediate plans to reopen its embassy.

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Argentina's vice-president Amado Boudou charged with bribery

BUENOS AIRES: An Argentine judge has charged vice-president Amado Boudou with bribery and conducting business incompatible with public office in the acquisition of the company that prints the country's currency and of later benefiting from government contracts.

Boudou is accused of using shell companies and secret middlemen to gain control of the company that was given contracts to print the Argentine peso and campaign material for the ticket he shared with President Cristina Fernandez.

Federal judge Ariel Lijo's decision was published Friday night on the justice department's website.

Boudou is the first sitting Argentine vice president since the nation emerged from military dictatorship in 1983 to face such charges. He could be sentenced to between one and six years in prison, and banned from holding public office.

Boudou says he is innocent of the accusations.

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Bobby Womack, singer with brave 2nd act, dies at the age of 70

Bobby Womack, a colorful and highly influential R&B singer-songwriter who influenced artists from the Rolling Stones to Damon Albarn, has died. He was 70.

On Friday, Womack's publicist Sonya Kolowrat said that the singer had died, but she could provide no other details.

Womack was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease two years ago and overcame addiction and multiple health issues, including prostate cancer, to pull off a second act in his career.

Womack performed recently at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival and seemed in good health and spirits. He had been scheduled to perform at multiple events across Europe in July and August.

He told the BBC in 2013 that the Alzheimer's diagnosis came after he began having difficulty remembering his songs and the names of people he had worked with.

And there have been many.

The soul singer cut a wide path through the music business as a performer and songwriter in a career that spanned seven decades. Womack was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009, long after he'd lost his fortune and his career to addiction.

He spoke of kicking his substance abuse problems in a 2012 interview with The Associated Press and all the friends he'd lost to drugs over the years.

"I think the biggest move for me was to get away from the drug scene," Womack said. "It wasn't easy. It was hard because everybody I knew did drugs. ... They didn't know when to turn it off. So for me looking at Wilson Pickett, close friends of mine, Sly Stone, Jim Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and I can go on and on and on, and I say all of them died because of drugs."

According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website, Womack was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and sang gospel music at a young age, performing with his brothers in The Womack Brothers. Under the influence of gospel and R&B legend Sam Cooke, who signed the group to his personal label, Womack moved into secular music. In the early 1960s his group recorded "It's All Over Now," which was covered and by the Stones and became the band's first number-one hit.

His songs have been recorded by multiple artists, and he played as a session musician in Memphis in the 1960s.

Albarn and XL Recordings president Richard Russell helped Womack regain his career with 2012 comeback album "The Bravest Man in the Universe." The album was a departure for Womack, full of electronic music and beats. But it was lauded by critics for a simple reason: That distinctive voice of his still brought chills.

"I don't think he ever really thought that he would do anything again," Albarn said of Womack in March. ``Watching his rehabilitation and watching his ability to confront new material and new challenges was nothing short of miraculous at the time, and he still today continues to battle his demons and his illness. But he's a beautiful person and when he opens his mouth and that voice comes out, it is something that is somehow touched by God.''

Gospel singer Candi Staton knew Womack since they were children and she toured with him.

"He had a style that nobody else could ever capture," she said in a statement. "I loved him and I will miss him so, so very much."

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Panama court orders release of jailed North Korean sailors

PANAMA CITY: A Panamanian court on Friday ordered the release of three North Korean ship officers who were jailed after they were caught smuggling Cuban weapons through the Central American country.

The court absolved the captain and two officers, ruling that charges against them fell outside of Panama's jurisdiction, the country's judicial authority said in a statement.

The Chong Chon Gang ship was seized in July last year for smuggling Soviet-era arms, including two MiG-21 jet fighters, under thousands of tonnes of sugar.

Thirty-two North Korean sailors and the ship were released back in February.

A United Nations report issued in March said North Korea has developed sophisticated ways to circumvent United Nations sanctions, including the suspected use of its embassies to facilitate an illegal trade in weapons.

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US drones over Baghdad as Iraq battles for Tikrit

BAGHDAD: The US military has started flying armed drones over Baghdad to defend American troops and diplomats as Iraqi forces took their fight against Sunni insurgents to the strategic militant-held city of Tikrit.

Iraq's top Shiite cleric urged the country's leaders to unite, after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki conceded political measures are needed to defeat the offensive that has killed more than 1,000 people and overrun major parts of five provinces.

In further fallout, the president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region said there was no going back on his ethnic group's self-rule in disputed territory, including the divided northern oil city Kirkuk, now defended against the militants by Kurdish Peshmerga fighters.

International agencies also raised alarm bells over the humanitarian consequences of the fighting, with up to 10,000 people having fled a northern Christian town in recent days and 1.2 million displaced by unrest in Iraq this year.

A senior US official said "a few" armed drones were being used over Baghdad as a precaution to safeguard Americans in the Iraqi capital if necessary.

But officials said the drones would not be used for offensive strikes against the Sunni Arab militant offensive, led by jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) but involving other groups as well.

The Pentagon acknowledged that among the manned and unmanned aircraft flying over Iraq to carry out surveillance, some were carrying bombs and missiles — without specifying if those planes were drones.

"The reason that some of those aircraft are armed is primarily for force protection reasons now that we have introduced into the country some military advisers whose objective will be to operate outside the confines of the embassy," spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said.

Maliki insisted that "Baghdad is safe." A retired US general, James Conway, echoed those remarks, saying that "the worst is over" as militants will be unable to take Baghdad, the south or Kurdish areas.

In Tikrit, Iraqi forces have swooped into Tikrit University by helicopter, and a police major reported periodic clashes there on Friday.

A senior army officer said Iraqi forces were targeting militants in Tikrit with air strikes to protect forces at the university and prepare for an assault on the hometown of executed dictator Saddam Hussein.

Another senior officer said taking the university was an important step towards regaining control of Tikrit, which the militants seized on June 11.

The operation is the latest effort to regain the initiative after security forces wilted in the face of the initial insurgent onslaught launched on June 9.

Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani said Baghdad could no longer object to Kurdish self-rule in Kirkuk and other towns from which federal forces withdrew in the face of the militant advance.

"Now, this (issue)... is achieved," he said, referring to a constitutional article meant to address the Kurds' decades-old ambition to incorporate the territory in their autonomous region in the north over the objections of successive governments in Baghdad.

"We have been patient for 10 years with the federal government to solve the problems of these (disputed) areas," Barzani said.

"There were Iraqi forces in these areas, and then there was a security vacuum, and Peshmerga forces went to fill this vacuum."

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who is revered within the majority Shiite community, meanwhile urged Iraqi leaders to unite and form a government quickly after parliament convenes Tuesday.

Sistani's remarks echoed those of British Foreign Secretary William Hague and US Secretary of State John Kerry, who visited Jeddah as Washington unveiled a $500 million plan to arm and train moderate Syrian Sunni rebels to help fight the ISIL-led militants.

On Thursday, Maliki, who has publicly focused on a military response to the crisis, said political measures were also necessary, ahead of the July 1 opening of the new parliament elected on April 30.

Iraq has also appealed for US air strikes against the militants, but Washington has only offered up to 300 military advisers.

Washington has stopped short of saying Maliki must go, but has left little doubt it feels he has squandered the opportunity to rebuild Iraq since US troops withdrew in 2011.

Mortar fire south of Baghdad on Friday killed at least five people, while shelling and clashes in Diyala province to the northeast killed 10 more, four of them soldiers.

Maliki's security spokesman has said hundreds of soldiers have been killed since the offensive began, while the UN puts the overall death toll at nearly 1,100.

The International Organisation for Migration warned that aid workers could not reach tens of thousands of Iraqis displaced by the violence, and called for humanitarian corridors to be established.

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GAIL pipeline fire death toll rises to 16, six in critical condition

HYDERABAD: The death toll in the GAIL pipeline fire tragedy in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh rose to 16 with an injured succumbing on Saturday, while six people were battling for life with severe burns, police said.

At least 15 people were killed and nearly two dozen others injured when a leaking gas pipeline of GAIL caught fire and triggered a blast in Nagaram village in the coastal district, about 560km from Hyderabad.

"A baby girl, who was undergoing treatment for severe burns, died today (Saturday) at a private hospital in Kakinada. With this the toll in the incident rose to 16," East Godavari district superintendent of police G Vijay Kumar told PTI over phone.

The SP said that 20 others who suffered burn injuries were undergoing treatment at different hospitals. The condition of at least six of them remains critical as they have suffered around 80% burns.

The leaping flames from the pipeline passing through the village in Mamidikuduru mandal quickly swept through nearby houses and coconut plantations, leaving behind a trail of destruction.

Leaking gas had enveloped some areas of the village and the tragedy occurred when a tea shop vendor lit up a stove, setting off a blast, police had earlier said.

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UPSC aspirants, protesting near PM's residence, detained

NEW DELHI: Over 200 Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) aspirants staging a protest near prime minister's house against the changes made in their examination pattern were detained by police early Saturday.

These people were protesting here since Friday morning and wanted to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apprise him of their concerns.

"We will keep protesting till our demands are met,"Gurjinder Kaur, who came from G.T.B Nagar, north Delhi, told IANS. "We were earlier assured by BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu of paying attention to our demands and concerns. But nothing happened which forced us to come here and sit on protest."

On Saturday, at around 4.30am, the police suddenly boarded them into buses and took them to the parliament street police station.

Women protesters accused police of brutality while pushing them into buses and taking to police station.

Police said that the protesters were asked to leave the area as it is a high security zone and near prime minister's residence 7, Race Course Road. The action was taken after several reminders to vacate the place.

On Friday, four metro stations, falling in central Delhi, had been closed for few hours due to the protests. Also, the intersection of Aurangzeb road and Tuglak road was closed since last evening due to the protest.

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Obama names Christopher Hart to head US transportation safety board

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama on Thursday named lawyer and longtime transportation civil servant Christopher Hart to be chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.

Hart is currently a board member of the NTSB and is serving as acting chairman. He has held senior positions at the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the department of transportation. He was a member of the NTSB from 1990-1993.

Hart is a licensed pilot. His great uncle, James Herman Banning, was the first African-American to receive a pilot's license issued by the US government in 1926, according to Hart's NTSB biography.

The five-member NTSB is an independent federal agency that investigates civil aviation and other transportation accidents. It ruled on Tuesday that the crash of Asiana flight 214 in San Francisco last year that killed three people was the result of pilot error but recommended modifications to the Boeing 777's flight controls.

Hart's five-year term as a member of the NTSB expires at the end of 2017. If confirmed by the Senate, he would serve a two-year term as chairman.

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Two dead in stampede at Madagascar independence fete

ANTANANARIVO: At least two people were killed and 26 injured on Thursday when celebrations to mark Madagascar's independence triggered a stadium stampede.

"There are two dead and 26 injured," Jean Claude Razafimahandry, a hospital director, told AFP.

He said the rush was caused by "overcrowding at the entrance of the Mahamasina stadium" in the capital Antananarivo.

The dead were a male teenager and a woman in her fifties. Madagascar, which recently returned to democracy following a coup in 2009, was celebrating 54 years since its independence from France.

The US state department said in statement earlier in the day that "this year's anniversary carries special significance as the first since Madagascar's return to democratic rule."

It encouraged the newly elected government of President Hery Rajaonarimampianina "to show its commitment to the Malagasy people by governing with transparency and respect for human rights and the rule of law."

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White House sends $60 billion war-funding request to Congress

WASHINGTON: The White House sent Congress a 2015 war-funding request on Thursday of nearly $60 billion, a drop of $20 billion from the current fiscal year after President Barack Obama decided to withdraw all but 9,800 troops from Afghanistan by Dec 31.

Obama, in a letter to the House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, asked for $58.6 billion for the war in Afghanistan and other overseas military activity, the smallest Pentagon war-funding request in a decade.

In addition to funding the Afghanistan war, the request also seeks $500 million to support Syria's moderate opposition, $1.5 billion to support stability in the countries bordering Syria that have been flooded with refugees and $140 million for non-operational training in Iraq.

The administration request was about $20 billion less than the current fiscal year, which ends on Sept 30, and $20 billion less than the $79.4 billion place-holder figure in its budget submission to Congress in February.

The request to Boehner also included $1.4 billion in Overseas Contingency Operations funds for the state department, bringing its total request to $7.3 billion. The department had asked for $5.9 billion for overseas operations in its February budget.

The Overseas Contingency Operations request on Thursday included $5 billion for a new Counterterrorism Partnership Fund and $1 billion for a European Reassurance Initiative. About $5 billion of the total would fall under the Pentagon's budget and the remainder under the state department.

The White House said the counterterrorism fund would be used to respond to emerging threats by "empowering and enabling our partners around the globe."

About $2.5 billion would go to train and equip nations fighting terrorist groups that threaten the United States and its allies. The fund, for example, would cover the cost of sending US commandos to train troops in other countries.

The administration proposed spending up to $140 million to provide assistance to Baghdad, including non-operational training to help Iraqi forces address shortfalls in intelligence gathering, air sovereignty, logistics, maintenance and combined arms operations.

Senator Carl Levin, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, welcomed the funding request, saying the $500 million to support Syrian opposition members matched language supported by members of his panel.

Representative Buck McKeon, Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said his panel would examine the request closely, especially the new counterterrorism fund, but warned: "Congress is not a rubber stamp."

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Japan marks 20 years since first sarin attack by doomsday cult

TOKYO: Japan on Friday marked 20 years since the first deadly sarin gas attack by a doomsday cult, which later terrorized the nation by releasing the chemical on Tokyo's subway.

The 1994 attack in mountainous Matsumoto is regarded as the world's first terror act using nerve gas against civilians in peace time, and targeted a judge handling a civil suit involving the home-grown group.

Yoshiyuki Kono, who reported the incident to authorities but was erroneously regarded as the prime suspect by media at the time, told national broadcaster NHK that society must remember.

"It's impossible to stop memories from fading ... But there were lessons learned from it, and I think we should make good use of those lessons," he said.

On the night of June 27, 1994, members of the Aum Supreme Truth cult released the Nazi-invented sarin in Matsumoto city, with the dual focus of killing the judge and testing the efficacy of nerve gas.

The judge did not die, but the attack killed seven others immediately, followed by Kono's wife, who died in 2008 after years of suffering from the damage to her nerves inflicted that night.

The attack horrified and puzzled investigators unfamiliar with nerve gas, which injured some 600 others in the city.

The cult, led by half-blind guru Shoko Asahara, continued its activities aimed at toppling Japan's social order, believing doomsday was imminent.

On March 20, 1995, the cult orchestrated the notorious sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway, killing 13 people and injuring thousands.

Thirteen Aum members are on death row after being convicted over the subway attack.

Asahara peddled a blend of Buddhist and Hindu dogma mixed with apocalyptic messages.

He developed an obsession with sarin gas and became paranoid that his enemies would attack him with it.

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First batch of Amarnath Yatra pilgrims flagged off in Jammu

JAMMU: The first batch of Amarnath Yatra was flagged off by Jammu & Kashmir tourism minister Ghulam Ahmad Mir on Friday from Jammu.

He said that due to heavy snowfall at Pahalgam-Chandanwari route, the yatra will start from Baltal route on Saturday and further review of the traditional Pahalgam route will be taken on June 30.

According to Mir, the first batch of 900 pilgrims left the Jammu base camp.

A pilgrim, Puja Sharma, said that, "We have been told that due to heavy snowfall on the Pahalgam route, the yatra will be diverted towards the Baltal route. There are no arrangements here for pilgrims like us. We are just being asked to fill forms."

Every year, nearly six lakh pilgrims take this difficult yatra to see the snow shivlingam situated at Amarnath. This year, the yatra may prove to be bit more treacherous as the traditional route Pahalgam-Chandanwari has witnessed heavy snowfall.

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Ukraine signs trade agreement with EU, draws Russian threat

BRUSSELS: Ukraine signed a free-trade and political cooperation agreement with the European Union on Friday that has been at the heart of the country's political crisis, drawing an immediate threat of "grave consequences" from Russia.

Georgia and Moldova signed similar deals, holding out the prospect of deep economic integration and unfettered access to the EU's 500 million citizens.

"Over the last months, Ukraine paid the highest possible price to make her European dreams come true," Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told EU leaders at a signing ceremony in Brussels.

Russia immediately said "grave consequences" would follow.

Ukraine's former pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovich turned his back on signing the EU agreement last November in favour of closer ties with Moscow, prompting months of street protests that eventually led to his fleeing the country. Soon afterwards, Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea region, drawing outrage and sanctions from the United States and EU.

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US to disband anti-terror force in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines: American and Filipino officials have said that the US is disbanding an anti-terror task force composed of hundreds of elite military forces after more than a decade of helping fight al-Qaida-linked militants in the southern Philippines.

Defense secretary Voltaire Gazmin, on Thursday, said that Philippines has been notified by US officials of their plan to deactivate the Joint Special Operations Task Force Philippines, adding that the number of American military personnel has been considerably been reduced in the south.

US embassy spokesman Kurt Hoyer said that the success of the task force in helping Filipino forces beat back militants has led American military planners "to begin on a transition plan where the JSOTF-P as a task force will no longer exist".

Some US troops will remain to ensure the militants cannot recover.

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US economy shrinks at annual rate of 2.9%, most in five years

The author has posted comments on this articlePTI | Jun 26, 2014, 04.05AM IST

WASHINGTON: The American economy contracted at an annual rate of 2.9 per cent in the first quarter of this year, the sharpest drop experienced by the US in the last five years.

This drop follows an increase of 3.4 per cent at an annual rate in the second half of 2013.

The entire decline in overall GDP in the first quarter can be accounted for by a decline in exports and a slowdown in inventory investment, two particularly volatile components of GDP.

Jason Furman, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, said the first-quarter GDP was revised down, largely reflecting a re-estimation of consumer spending on health care, which was substantially lower than originally reported, as well as exports, which were below the initial estimates.

"The GDP data can be volatile from quarter to quarter; a range of other data show a more positive picture for the first quarter, and more up-to-date indicators from April and May suggest that the economy is on track for a rebound in the second quarter," he said.

"The recovery from the Great Recession, however, remains incomplete, and the president will continue to do everything he can to support the recovery, either by acting through executive action or by working with Congress on steps that would boost growth and speed job creation," Furman said.

According to the report released by Bureau of Economic Analysis, the downward revision to first-quarter GDP growth was concentrated in two areas: consumer spending on health care services and net exports.

The performance of the economy in the first quarter as measured by GDP was significantly below other independently calculated measures.

For instance, aggregate hours worked by private-sector production and non-supervisory workers as measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics grew 1.4 per cent at an annual rate in the first quarter, while industrial output in the manufacturing sector as measured by the Federal Reserve increased 2.1 per cent at an annual rate, Furman said.

'The Wall Street Journal' said in the US economy contracted at a worse pace than previously estimated in the first quarter, marking its sharpest pullback since the recession ended five years ago.

Five years into the recovery, high unemployment and stagnant incomes continue to restrain consumer spending, which accounts for more than two thirds of US economic output.

Consumer spending grew by a one per cent pace in the first quarter, revised down from the previous estimate of 3.1 per cent, it said.

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US sanctions two LeT leaders

WASHINGTON: The US on Wednesday slapped sanctions on two key figures of Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), blamed for the deadly 2008 Mumbai terror attack in which nearly 170 people were killed and hundreds injured.

The Department of Treasury added Nazir Ahmad Chaudhry and Muhammad Hussein Gill, who have served as vice president and chief financial officer of the LeT respectively, to its list of specially designated global terrorists, Xinhua reported.

The sanctions ensue freeze of their assets on US soil and bar American citizens from doing business with them.

"In targeting Lashkar-e-Taiba leadership, today's action demonstrates our unrelenting commitment to combatting terrorism by disrupting terrorist groups' financial activities," David Cohen, treasury department undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.

The US State Department listed LeT as a foreign terrorist organisation in December 2001, and the group was added to the UN sanctions list in 2005.

The Treasury Department said the group was responsible for the November 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai.

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UN security council blacklists Boko Haram leader, splinter group

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations security council sanctioned the leader of Nigeria's Boko Haram and a splinter group on Wednesday, the first individual and entity to be designated by the world body since the Islamist militant group was blacklisted, diplomats said.

Leader Abubakar Shekau and Boko Haram faction Ansaru will be banned from international travel and their assets frozen under the UN al-Qaida sanctions list.

Russia placed a "technical hold" on the designations two weeks ago because it needed more time to review the listings, but diplomats said they lifted the hold on Wednesday, allowing the sanctions to come into force.

Last month, the security council al-Qaida sanctions committee blacklisted Boko Haram at the request of Nigeria, following global outrage when the group kidnapped more than 250 girls from a school in remote northeastern Nigeria on April 14.

The Islamist militant group was described in the UN listing as an affiliate of al-Qaida and the Organization of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). It is subjected to a travel ban, an asset freeze and an arms embargo.

Boko Haram faction Ansaru, blamed for the killing of several Western hostages, is AQIM's bona fide affiliate in Nigeria, and called itself "al-Qaida in the Land Beyond the Sahara" in a video with a British and Italian hostage in 2011.

Ansaru broke off from Boko Haram in protest at its killing 186 mostly Muslim civilians in the medieval Islamic city of Kano in early 2012.

Shekau is the purported leader of Boko Haram. A year ago, US secretary of state John Kerry authorized a reward of up to $7 million for information leading to his location.

Boko Haram's five-year-old insurgency is aimed at reviving a medieval Islamic caliphate in modern Nigeria, whose 170 million people are split about evenly between Christians and Muslims. The group is becoming, by far, the biggest security threat to Africa's top oil producer.

Boko Haram, which in the Hausa language broadly means "Western education is sinful," is loosely modeled on the Taliban movement in Afghanistan.

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Britain's David Cameron headed for defeat in EU posts battle

BRUSSELS: Britain's David Cameron is headed for defeat at an EU summit on Thursday after being abandoned by his allies in a battle to block the nomination of Jean-Claude Juncker as European Commission chief.

European Union leaders gather at the World War I killing fields of Ypres in Belgium to kick off two days of fiery talks in what is the most bitter dispute seen in Europe since the height of the euro crisis.

After commemorating the start of the 1914-18 war, the 28 heads of state and government will hold an informal dinner to set the bloc's new five-year policies, with the Juncker row officially banned on Thursday, but the atmosphere expected to be strained.

With tensions high between Cameron and his European peers, European Council president Herman Van Rompuy is to issue a statement after the dinner.

After posing in a rowing-boat just two weeks ago with anti-Juncker allies the Dutch and Swedish premiers, Cameron saw the pair abandon the cause on the eve of the summit.

"We will support Juncker's candidacy," Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told parliament shortly after Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt made a similar statement before a Swedish parliament committee.

As for Germany's Angela Merkel, who was also in the boat and originally reticent over the choice of centre-right Juncker, she too has since changed her tune.

Even centre-left leaders have backed Juncker's contentious candidacy, leaving Cameron with a single known ally at the summit table — Hungary's much-criticised Viktor Orban.

Cameron has blasted the former Luxembourg premier, who until last year was Europe's longest-serving leader, as a tired face and a federalist unlikely to promote reforms able to convince British voters to remain inside the EU at an in/out referendum in 2017.

The summit "will be rich in emotions, rich in events, rich in substance," said a senior EU diplomat.

Keen to avoid embarrassing friction between Britain and others at the Ypres ceremony held to honour peace, Van Rompuy has demanded the 28 EU leaders avoid the Juncker dispute until Friday, diplomats said.

"We are not perfect but for many people outside Europe we are still ... a model of peace, of democracy, of prosperity," Van Rompuy said last week.

On Friday, Cameron wants Van Rompuy to call an unprecedented vote by EU leaders over Juncker's nomination, rather than take a decision by consensus which has been the usual practice.

Adding salt to London's wound, Merkel said on Wednesday it would be "no tragedy" should Juncker win the prestigious Commission job with less than a unanimous vote.

The Commission, or EU executive, is the only Brussels institution able to propose legislation. It also polices the rules of the single market and recently won the power to oversee national budgets.

The British leader told Van Rompuy this week that he also opposed the fact that Juncker was put forward by the European Parliament's conservative group -- the EPP -- which lost seats but still emerged as the largest single group after May elections.

"I believe that the European Commission president should be chosen by the elected heads of government and heads of state on the European Council. That is the right approach and it is wrong to sign up to this power grab by the parties of Europe and the European Parliament," Cameron said Wednesday.

Juncker's appointment moreover is part of a package of top job changes as the EU moves into a new term following the May 25 elections that saw humiliating gains for the anti-EU parties, including victories in Britain and France, against the traditional centre-right, centre-left parties.

Van Rompuy is to step down in November and diplomats and analysts say his replacement by Denmark's young premier Helle Thorning-Schmidt -- who made headlines with a selfie with Barack Obama at the Nelson Mandela funeral -- might please Britain, though not France.

Or Cameron might gain a vital portfolio on the 28-member Commission. Centre-left powers France and Italy, which are also supporting Juncker, meanwhile are calling on Brussels to boost efforts to pump up economic growth and job creation over the next five years.

Italy's popular young premier Matteo Renzi, who increasingly is taking the lead on the left from French President Francois Hollande, conditioned his support for Juncker on a softening in the German-inspired austerity policies that Brussels has adopted in recent years to tame the eurozone debt crisis.

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Britain's Gatwick Airport says passenger growth boosts earnings

LONDON: Gatwick Airport, Britain's second busiest airport which is competing to be chosen as the site for a new runway, said rising passenger numbers helped boost core earnings in its last financial year.

Gatwick, which is privately owned and run by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), posted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation of 259.4 million pounds in the twelve months ended March 31, 14.2% higher than the year earlier period.

Earnings were boosted by a 4.8% rise in the number of travellers using the airport, with airlines such as easyJet , Norwegian and IAG unit British Airways adding services.

Gatwick, south of London, has been short listed by a government commission as a possible location for a new runway in the densely populated London area, along with two options at the country's busiest airport Heathrow.

"Gatwick's growth to around 36 million passengers this year demonstrates how we are successfully competing in the London market and why we are best-placed to deliver the UK's next new runway," chief executive Stewart Wingate said in a statement on Thursday.

Heathrow, located west of London, handled 72.3 million passengers in 2013.

Lawmakers and business leaders agree that Britain needs new runways to help it remain economically competitive but building more capacity around London is unpopular with voters and a decision on expansion has been repeatedly pushed back.

The commission is due to make a recommendation on where to build the new runway next summer.

GIP retains a 42% controlling stake in Gatwick. Other shareholders are the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, National Pension Service of Korea, California Public Employees' Retirement System and the Future Fund of Australia.

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9 fishermen dead, 3 missing after trawlers collide off Peru

LIMA, Peru: Peruvian officials say nine commercial fishermen are known dead and three are missing after two trawlers collided off the nation's central coast, capsizing one.

Navy spokesman Captain Colver Ruiz says the collision occurred just after midnight on Tuesday about 13 nautical miles from the port of Pisco. He says all 15 crewmen on the Marisol II were thrown into the sea when it capsized, and the three who were rescued had nearly drowned.

Ruiz says the incident is under investigation.

He says both 15-meter (50-foot) trawlers were fishing for anchoveta, which is mostly processed into fishmeal for export.

The ship that remained afloat belongs to Tasa, the world's No. 1 producer of fishmeal.

Peru's coastal waters are the world's leading source of anchoveta, the most heavily exploited fish in history.

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China sends first minister-level official to Taiwan

TAIPEI, Taiwan: China has sent its first-ever ministerial-level official to Taiwan for four days of meetings to rebuild ties with the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its own, after mass protests in Taipei set back relations earlier this year.

Zhang Zhijun, minister of Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office, reached the island's main airport just before noon on Wednesday to speak privately with his government counterpart about cutting import tariffs and establishing consular-style offices helpful to investors and tourists.

China and Taiwan have been separately ruled since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s. China sees the island as part of its territory that eventually must be reunified — by force if necessary — despite a Taiwanese public largely wary of the notion of Chinese rule. In 2008, Beijing set aside its military threats to sign agreements binding its economy to that of the investment-hungry island.

But in March, hundreds of student-led protesters forcibly occupied parliament in Taipei to stop ratification of a two-way service trade liberalization pact. The 24-day action dubbed the Sunflower Movement spiraled into the thousands, many of whom demanded an end to Taiwan's engagement with China, which they still see as an enemy.

"Zhang wants to show to the world, Taiwan and the mainland included, that the two sides are moving closer in spite of the Sunflower Movement earlier this year," says Lenoard Chu, a China studies professor retired from National Chengchi University in Taipei.

As the official travels around Taiwan through Saturday, he is expected to try to head off any new protests by shunning strong political statements during scheduled chats with students, low-income people and a figure in Taiwan's anti-China chief opposition party.

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Gopal Subramaniam seeks withdrawal of candidature as a judge of SC

NEW DELHI: Senior advocate Gopal Subramaniam on Wednesday asked the Chief Justice of India to withdraw the recommendation about his candidature as the judge of the Supreme Court.

Subramaniam's office said that he has written a letter to the Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice R M Lodha requesting him to "withdraw" the recommendation for his elevation as the judge of the apex court.

READ ALSO: Centre cites 2G probe, Radia links to oppose Gopal Subramaniam's appointment as SC judge

56-year-old Subramaniam, who served as the solicitor general during the previous UPA regime, has been "let down" by the decision of the NDA government asking the collegium to reconsider his name as the judge of the apex court while clearing the proposal for the candidature of three others, his office said.

"In the circumstances, he (Subramaniam) does not feel that his name should be reconsidered for elevation to the judge of the Supreme Court, so he has written a letter to CJI to withdraw his candidature as the judge of the Supreme Court," it said.

The government had earlier cleared the names of Calcutta high court Chief Justice Arun Mishra, Orissa high court Chief Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and senior advocate Rohinton Nariman for elevation to the Supreme Court.

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4 bombs in Cairo metro stations, at least 2 hurt: Police

CAIRO: Four makeshift bombs exploded within minutes of each other at three Cairo metro stations during morning rush hour on Wednesday, wounding at least two people, police said.

The explosive devices were "very primary" and of "low intensity", a police official told AFP.

Militants have stepped up attacks in Egypt, mostly against security forces, since the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 and the authorities launched a deadly crackdown on his supporters.

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Nearly 50 killed in Central Africa since Monday: Peacekeepers

BANGUI, Central African Republic: Nearly 50 people have been killed in three days in a fresh surge of sectarian violence in the Central African Republic triggered by a massacre of Muslims by a Christian militia, a peacekeeping officer said.

"Most of the victims were shot or stabbed to death," the officer from the African Union force MISCA told AFP, adding the killings had taken place in the central Bambari region since Monday.

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Gunmen kill three Iran police near Iraq frontier

TEHRAN: Unidentified gunmen have killed three Iranian police on patrol in the northwest of the country near the border with Iraq, the Mehr news agency reported on Wednesday.

Tuesday night's attack comes after the authorities in Shia-ruled Iran beefed up security along the frontier in response to a Sunni militant offensive that has captured swathes of Iraqi territory.

The police were killed near the village of Taze-Abad, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the border with Iraq, said Mehr.

An official familiar with the attack denied the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) carried out the attack, or that the jihadist group leading the offensive in Iraq had entered Iran.

The attack comes just days after the Iranian army clashed in the same region with suspected forces of the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK).

The clash, which took place on Saturday, killed at least one member from the ranks of the PJAK, the main Kurdish armed movement opposed to Tehran based in northeastern Iraq, media reports said.

Iran supports the Iraqi government of Shia Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in its fight with the Sunni militants who have seized control of vast stretches Iraqi territory since June 9, including second city Mosul.

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Attack from Syria kills Israeli teen on Golan, Israel says

JERUSALEM: An attack from inside Syria on Sunday killed a 13-year-old Israeli boy on the occupied Golan Heights, the first fatality on Israel's side of the frontier since the Syrian civil war began, relatives and the military said.

Israeli tanks fired at Syrian army positions in response to what an Israeli military spokesman described as an intentional attack.

The Defense Ministry said the teenager, an Arab citizen of Israel from a village in the Galilee, had accompanied his father, one of the ministry's civilian contractors, to the Golan, and that two other people were wounded in the incident.

Israeli officials initially said the boy, Mohammed Qaraqara, was 15. Relatives said he was 13. "He was an excellent student, everyone loved him," his cousin, Salah Qaraqara, 52, told Reuters.

A military spokesman said it was not yet clear whether a roadside bomb or an artillery shell or mortar round, fired from Syria across the frontier fence on the Golan, had struck the water tanker in which the group had been traveling.

"This is the most substantial event that we have had on the border with Syria since the beginning of the (Syrian civil) war," the spokesman said.

Shelling from the Syrian civil war has occasionally spilled over onto the Golan, including what Israel has said were deliberate attacks on its troops. Israel captured the plateau from Syria in a 1967 war and annexed it in a move that is not internationally recognised.While the Syrian army has a presence on the Golan, some areas are controlled by rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad, including al-Qaida-inspired militants hostile to the Jewish state.

Israel says Hezbollah guerrillas from Lebanon are also operating, on Assad's behalf, on the Golan. Israeli officials have voiced concern that Israel will increasingly become a target during and after the Syrian conflict.

Last March, four Israeli soldiers were wounded in a roadside bombing along the Golan frontier. Israel responded to that incident by launching air strikes against Syrian military sites.

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Pentagon confirms critical US missile defence test successful

WASHINGTON: The US missile defence system managed by Boeing Co hit a simulated enemy missile over the Pacific in a critical test on Sunday, the US defence department said.

"This is a very important step in our continuing efforts to improve and increase the reliability of our homeland ballistic missile defense system," said Missile Defense Agency director Vice-Admiral James Syring.

The Pentagon said initial indications showed that all components involved in the test performed as designed. It said programme officials will spend the next several months assessing the performance of the system using telemetry and other data obtained during the test.

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Mauritanian President Abdel Aziz re-elected with 82% of polled votes

NOUAKCHOTT: Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz has been re-elected for another five-year term with 81.89 per cent of the votes, the head of the national election commission announced on Sunday after a vote boycotted by most of the opposition.

Turnout in the June 21 election was 56.4 per cent, Abdellahi Ould Soueid Ahmed told a news conference.

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26 dead, 3 missing in southern China rainstorms

BEIJING: China says five days of rainstorms in southern China have left 26 people dead and three missing and led to direct economic losses of 4 billion yuan ($650 million).

The official Xinhua News Agency said late Sunday that 11 of the fatalities from the rainstorms starting Wednesday occurred in Hunan province. The five other provinces affected included Jiangxi and Fujian.

The rainstorms have led to floods and landslides and toppled more than 8,700 houses, damaged another 66,000 and left 42,000 hectares of crops unusable, Xinhua said, citing the ministry of civil affairs.

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Australian PM introduces bill to repeal carbon tax

CANBERRA: Prime Minister Tony Abbott has reintroduced legislation to the Australian Parliament that would repeal a carbon tax that the nation's worst greenhouse gas polluters have to pay.

The opposition center-left Labor Party and minor Greens party used their Senate majority in March to block the bills to remove the tax, which was introduced by a Labor government in July 2012.

But with new senators taking their seats on July 7 for the first time since Abbott's conservative coalition government won elections in September, the bills are expected to be passed by a narrow margin.

While introducing the bills to the House of Representatives where the government holds a clear majority, Abbott said on Monday that voters had rejected the tax by electing his government.

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8 HuJI militants sentenced to death in Bangladesh for 2001 attack

DHAKA: Eight HuJI militants, including its chief, were on Monday sentenced to death by a Bangladeshi court for a 2001 bomb attack targeting Bengali new year celebrations that claimed 10 lives.

"They shall be hanged by the neck till they are dead," additional metropolitan judge Ruhul Amin pronounced in a crowded courtroom as detained Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI) chief Mufty Abdul Hannan and seven others appeared in the dock under heavy security vigil.

"The attack was carried out to destabilise the country and create panic," Amin said.

The court also handed down life imprisonment to six others, three of them still on the run. Hannan along with seven others faced the trial in person after arrest.

A prison van escorted by several police cars brought the detained militants to the court complex here.

Armed police contingents and security officials in plain clothes kept a sharp vigil, allowing people inside the court only after thorough security checks.

The HuJI operatives carried out the bomb attack in 2001 in Ramna Batmul here as people were celebrating the Bengali New Year 'Pahela Baishakh' which the militants claimed was "anti-Islamic".

The court indicted the outlawed HuJI chief and 13 others for the blasts on April 16, 2009, and subsequently recorded statements of 61 prosecution witnesses.

The United States has designated HuJI as a foreign terrorist organisation.

The 2001 bombing case was the second major charge that brought HuJI men in dock after police in June 2008 formally pressed charges against 21 HuJI operatives and an ex-junior minister of the then BNP government for a grenade attack on Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina on August 21, 2004.

Hasina narrowly escaped the attack but a total of 24 people were killed.

The banned outfit is also believed to have carried out several other blasts including an attack on a Communist Party rally in 2005 in which five people were killed.

Bangladesh-born former British envoy in Dhaka Anwar Chowdhury had escaped that attack sustaining minor injuries.

HuJI announced its emergence on April 30, 1992, in Bangladesh when its operatives wearing sleeveless olive combat jackets over 'shelwar-kameez' held a news conference and described how they had fought in the previous Afghan war.

They had demanded that Bangladesh be turned into an Islamic state of their brand.

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South Korea launches manhunt for soldier who killed 5 comrades

SEOUL: South Korean special forces joined a manhunt on Sunday for a soldier who killed five comrades in a grenade and gun attack at a base near the North Korean border, and once dawn broke military helicopters began scouring the forested hillsides.

The soldier shot dead five of his fellow unit members and wounded seven others late on Saturday at a outpost in the base at Goseong county, a mountainous region that borders the North on the eastern coast of the peninsula.

He then fled into the night carrying a firearm, ammunition and a grenade, according to military officials.

Yonhap news agency named the soldier, and gave more details of what happened at the base.

"Sergeant Lim was to be discharged three months later on September 16," Yonhap reported. "He first threw a grenade and then opened fire. He was returning after completing his day shift duty."

The number of military personnel involved in the search was the equivalent of nine battalions, a colonel with the Army's Eighth Corps told a media briefing.

Yonhap reported that special forces had been deployed and helicopters were sweeping the search area.

"A cordon operation is underway along with guard posts in the demilitarized zone," a military official was quoted as saying.

The Demilitarized Zone is a 4-kilometre (2.5-mile) wide swathe of land serving as a buffer between the two Koreas since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

"We have secured a cordon that will prevent him from entering areas where civilians live. We have notified village foremen to make sure residents do not move around and report to us if they spot the shooter," the official said.

The shooting comes at a sensitive period for South Korea, with the nation still in shock after the death of more than 300 people, mostly school children, in a ferry disaster in April.

The defense ministry issued an apology to the nation over the shooting. The military has been criticised over similar incidents in the past.

"I offer my sincere apology to Koreans for causing worry," said Kim Min-seok, the ministry spokesman.

"We have formed a team of 48 to investigate the accident and will have families of the dead present at the crime scene investigation."

The military has been criticized before for lax discipline in some units and failure to prevent previous cases where soldiers, suffering personal problems, have shot fellow soldiers.

All able-bodied South Korean men must serve about two years under a conscription system, and there are concerns that new recruits are softer than in the past, and find it harder to adapt to military life.

The South Korean military has more than 600,000 troops, aimed at deterring aggression by North Korea, which is one of the world's most militarised states. North and South Korea are technically still at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

In a similar incident in 2011, a South Korean marine went on a shooting spree at a base near the tense maritime border with North Korea, killing four fellow soldiers before trying to blow himself up with a hand grenade.

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Train to Vaishno Devi set for launch before Rail Budget

NEW DELHI: After missing several deadlines, Railways has finally got the mandatory safety clearance from the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) to commission the much-awaited train service to Katra, the base camp of Mata Vaishno Devi shrine, before the Rail Budget 2014-15.

The 25km long Udhampur-Katra rail section in Jammu and Kashmir is slated to be inaugurated by this month-end by Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with railway minister Sadananda Gowda.

The CRS had conducted the inspection of the Udhampur-Katra line, constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 1,050 crore, for three days from January 27.

There were certain issues raised by the CRS and the mandatory clearance was obtained this month after those were addressed, said a senior railway ministry official.

Although a date for opening of the Katra line is yet to be finalised, it will most probably be before the Rail Budget as all preparations for the inaugural run are almost complete, the official added.

The NDA government's first Rail Budget is expected to be presented on July 9. Ahead of that exercise, railways has hiked passenger fares by 14.2 per cent.

There has been a trial run of the Udhampur-Katra service after it got the CRS clearance.

The 53km-long Jammu-Udhampur rail line is already operational and once the Udhampur-Katra line, which is a part of the Kashmir rail link project, is made operational, the trains will be able to come up to Katra directly. That would enable pilgrims headed to the Vaishno Devi shrine to travel directly to the base camp at Katra.

Railways is considering extending Jammu Mail and Sampark Kranti trains up to Katra, besides introducing new trains, including Katra-Kalka Express, Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Udhampur Express, and Ahmedabad-Udhampur Express.

According to the official, there are demands from several zones for train services to Katra.

A set of local trains from Jammu to Katra and Pathankot to Katra are also likely to be introduced to cater to the rush of Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrims from Jammu and Pathankot to Katra.

An estimated 10 million devotees visit the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine every year.

The line to Katra has seven tunnels and over 30 small and big bridges. Katra station has been completed with modern facilities, including tourist guide counter, cloak room, waiting hall, VIP lounge, escalators and lifts and parking space on either side.

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Ratan Tata gets honorary doctorate from Canada's York University

The author has posted comments on this articleTNN | Jun 22, 2014, 09.37AM IST

TORONTO: Canada's world-famous York University has conferred an honorary doctor of laws degree on former Tata group chairman Ratan Tata for his quest for innovation and role in promoting corporate social responsibility.

Tata flew into Toronto to receive the honour bestowed on him at the 2014 spring convocation of York University's Schulich School of Business at the weekend.

A citation read by Professor Dirk Matten said the most inspiring feature of Tata's life and career has been that he has always gone beyond conventional wisdom, trusting his judgement, and worked very hard to turn his own vision into reality. Matten quoted Tata as saying, "I don't believe in taking right decisions; I take decisions and then make them right."

Accepting the honour, Tata told the august gathering, "I just want to tell you how deeply indebted and deeply moved I am to receive this honour that you have bestowed."

Tata said, "I had no idea that this university and this business school had done the various things ... moved beyond the shores of Canada to reflect the internationality of the world we live in today."

The chairman emeritus of Tata Sons reminded the graduating 500 students about their responsibilities as they step into what he called "a troubled world."

Tata told the students, "As you go out into the world, many of you will be leaders of countries and or businesses - just remember that there are millions of people who are less fortunate than you are and that hopefully one of the achievements you will make in your life will be making a difference."

Praising Tata, Dezso J. Horvath, dean of the Schulich School of Business, said Tata embodied core values and principles taught at his business school - a global mindset, an unbending commitment to excellence, a spirit of innovation and an ingrained belief that business can help improve society.

Turning to the graduating students who come from all parts of the world, the dean said, "If there is an individual you should look to as a role model throughout the course of your business careers, it would have to be today's honorary degree recipient, Ratan Tata."

The dean also told the students, "For inspiration, you can look to Ratan Tata, who history will record as one of the great architects of modern India and one of the great global visionaries in business. The values and qualities he demonstrated - a desire to connect with the world, a drive for excellence, a quest for innovation - these are qualities that we at Schulich also aspire to."

Tata was among the 12 recipients of honorary doctorate from York University.

"Each of these diversely talented and principled leaders is distinguished in his or her field, and all have demonstrated a commitment to higher learning, social justice and service to society that makes them the best possible role models for our graduates," said York University President and Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri.

The audience heard how Tata, during his 20-year tenure as chairman of Tata Sons, turned the group into a global giant by taking its revenue from $5 billion to $100 billion, acquiring Tetley, Jaguar Land Rover and Corus, and creating the world's smallest car Tata Nano.

A man who has become a global icon of corporate social responsibility now fittingly heads the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, the Sir Ratan Tata Trust and other smaller trusts which collectively hold 66% shares in the holding company Tata Sons.

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Senior Kerala trade union leader SCS Menon passes away

KOCHI: Veteran independent trade union leader of Kerala S C S Menon passed away at his residence here after prolonged illness.

He was 92. Menon had been ailing for some time and passed away last night, his family said.

He had anchored independent trade union in the state, and is survived by his wife and two daughters.

Menon was instrumental in building up the trade union movement irrespective of political affiliation and had led nearly 50 unions simultaneously for over five decades.

Menon began his career as a chemist in Fertilisers and Chemical Travancore (FACT) in 1946. An agitation in the company in 1949 changed the course of his life and he became a trade union leader.

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Adani brothers discharged in cheating case by Maharashtra court

The author has posted comments on this articlePTI | Jun 22, 2014, 01.10PM IST

MUMBAI: In a major relief to Gautam and Rajesh Adani, a local court has discharged the industrialists in a case of cheating and criminal conspiracy related to purchase and sale of shares.

The Serious Fraud Investigating Office (SFIO) had, in 2012, filed a chargesheet against twelve accused including the Adani brothers, Adani Exports Limited and Adani Agro Private Limited.

According to SFIO, Adani Agro allegedly provided funds and shares to Ketan Parekh entities for running illegal activities in the capital.

The agency also alleged that the promoters off-loaded their share holding when share price was at peak and started purchasing it when the prices went down, to maintain their share holding in the company and earn profit.

"Mere allegation that the Adanis have purchased the shares when the prices were low and sold it when the prices were high does not constitute an offence of cheating," observed Additional chief metropolitan magistrate R M Khan in the order recently.

Though the Adanis were discharged on May 9, the copy of the detailed order was given last week only.

The court observed that "deception" is the necessary ingredient for the offence of cheating under the section.

"The complainant (SFIO) is therefore necessarily bound to prove that the inducement has been caused by the deception exercised by the accused," the court said.

It also observed that the case of conspiracy was also not made out.

"In order to bring home the charge of conspiracy, it is necessary to establish that there was an agreement between the parties for doing an unlawful act by illegal means," the court noted.

"There is no averment in complaint sufficient to show that the Adanis have committed an act of criminal conspiracy or cheating," it said.

The judge also observed that there was no "report" by any member of the public against the Adanis that they have been cheated.

Adani's counsel had argued that there is no material which prima facie constitutes any offence. However, the SFIO had argued in the court that there are specific allegations against the Adanis mentioned in the charge sheet.

Meanwhile, department sources told PTI that they would study the order in detail and then decide in due course of time whether to challenge it in a higher court.

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Hundreds of thousands vote in Hong Kong democracy 'poll' in defiance of Beijing

ONG KONG: Nearly 600,000 votes have been cast in three days of an unofficial referendum on democratic reforms in Hong Kong, part of a civil campaign that has been branded illegal by the former British colony and by Communist Party authorities in Beijing.

Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with wide-ranging autonomy under the formula of "one country, two systems", along with an undated promise of universal suffrage.

But social tensions have risen steadily, with many residents concerned that civil liberties are being eroded and with pro-democracy activists threatening to blockade part of the city's financial district if China doesn't stick to its promise.

Polling in the unofficical referendum was extended from June 22 until June 29 after the voting website received billions of hits in an apparent cyberattack last week that prompted organisers to open 15 polling booths across the city on Sunday. Residents have so far voted online and via smartphones.

While Beijing says Hong Kong can go ahead with a vote in 2017 for the city's top leader, Hong Kong's mini-constitution, the Basic Law, specifies that only a nominating committee can pick leadership candidates. Pro-democracy activists say this should be changed to allow public nominations.

"What is the point of one man, one vote if at the end of the day we have to vote from three puppets or four puppets anointed by Beijing?" Anson Chan, Hong Kong's former top civil servant and a key supporter of the vote, said on Sunday.

The unofficial referendum comes a week after Beijing released a white paper in which it reasserted its authority over Hong Kong, a move that unnerved and enraged many in the city, raising fears of direct intervention.

At one polling station, about 20 people from pro-Beijing group Caring Hong Kong Power shouted at voters who braved the rain, urging them not to cast ballots.

"You are sending your children to the battlefield," one shouted at a voter.

The referendum, organized by the Occupy Central protest group, offers voters three options, which all include a popular vote. There is also an option to abstain, but no breakdown of the results has been provided.

More than 590,000 votes had been cast by midday on Sunday, according to organisers, or nearly 10 percent of Hong Kong's population of seven million.

Occupy Central had said it hoped the referendum would draw up to 300,000 people and it aims to mobilize thousands on to the streets of the city's financial district as part of its campaign to demand full democracy.

It's been a busy few weeks for pro- and anti-establishment groups. Pro-Beijing group Silent Majority released a video last week warning of possible deaths and general mayhem if the Occupy Central protests proceed. In one scene, a dagger pierces a throbbing heart that symbolizes the central business district.

At a sing-along rally in support of the referendum on Friday, more than 100 people gathered in Central to sing "Do You Hear the People Sing?" from the musical Les Miserables.

Pro-Beijing newspapers, Chinese officials and Hong Kong business tycoons have strongly criticized the Occupy Central campaign, saying it will harm Hong Kong.

Activists say it is a peaceful movement demanding a "genuine choice" for Hong Kong voters.

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Three US troops, military dog killed in Afghanistan blast

KABUL: A Taliban attack killed three American soldiers and a military dog in southern Afghanistan on Friday, officials said, in the latest sign of the insurgents' capability as the coalition winds down operations.

Nato's International Security Assistance Force will end its combat mission later this year, leaving the Afghan police and army to take on full responsibility for battling the resilient Taliban insurgency.

"Three ISAF service members and one ISAF canine died following an improvised explosive device attack in southern Afghanistan today," the Nato force said in a statement.

US defense officials confirmed they were Americans. Military dogs are often used to sniff for explosives, though they have proved unpopular with Afghan civilians as they are seen as unclean by many Muslims.

The attack occurred in the volatile Nad Ali district of Helmand province, according to Afghan officials.

"The bomb was carried on a motorbike and detonated close to an ISAF patrol," the provincial governor's spokesman Omar Zawak told AFP.

The Taliban claimed responsibility via a text message sent to media organizations.

The last major incident involving Nato troops was 10 days ago, when five US soldiers were killed in an accidental "friendly fire" air strike in Zabul province during clashes with insurgents.

All 50,000 remaining Nato combat troops are due to leave the country by the end of this year, though a small US deployment will remain until the end of 2016 if a long-delayed deal is signed between Washington and Kabul.

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54 injured in blast near Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: As many as 54 people were injured, seven of them critically, after a powerful explosion occurred at a shrine in Pakistan here on Friday night, a media report said.

Fify-four people were injured in the blast. Thirty four were taken to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) hospital where four are in critical condition, Dawn News quoted.

Nine are being treated in Benazir Hospital and 11 are shifted to Poly Clinic Hospital. Residents, however, put the number of injured much higher at 70 to 80.

The blast took place at the shrine of Nange Badshah, next to the famous Chan Pir Badsah shrine in Pindorian neighbourhood on the outskirts of Islamabad.

The likely terror attack took place on second day of the three-day annual fair.

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Hundreds of Indian construction workers possibly stranded in Iraq: Amnesty International

NEW DELHI: Evidence has emerged which suggests that several hundred Indian nationals may be stranded in the Najaf province of Iraq, unable to return home because their employer refuses to return their passports, said Amnesty International India on Saturday.

With fighting between state forces and armed groups intensifying and affecting civilians across Iraq, the stranded Indian workers could be facing rising dangers.

All the workers are reportedly employed with an infrastructure and construction company. Amnesty International India spoke with some of these workers, who said they have not been paid salaries for the past five months.

Baljinder Singh (name changed), one of the migrant workers, told Amnesty International India over the phone: "The employer holds all our passports and refuses to return them. We have been restricting ourselves to the company premises since the conflict began because we are scared. Without our passports we can't leave this country, and every passing day makes us feel more and more unsafe. We just want to go home."

Singh said that the workers had raised this concern with the Indian embassy in Baghdad, which asked them to provide their passport details via text message. The workers sent the details on the morning of 19 June and are now awaiting a response.

Daljit Singh (name changed), another employee at the company, said: "I have been working here for over two years and my employer is withholding more than US $ 1500 of my salary. Most of my colleagues are in the same situation."

The workers said their employer had told them that they were safe and would be moved to safer locations if they perceived a threat from the armed groups led by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Avtar Singh (name changed), another employee, said: "Many of us have huge debts back home. But we don't care about money anymore. We only want to return to our families immediately. We are only about 200kms from the conflict zone. Danger is approaching and we can feel it."

Amnesty International India called the main telephone lines of the construction company as well as the mobile phones of three of its managers on June 20, but could not speak to anyone for response over allegations being made by some of their workers against them.

Amnesty International India welcomes the Indian government's initiatives to evacuate stranded workers quickly and urges it to pay special attention to migrant workers who may have had to handover their passports and other travel documents to their employers.

Migrant workers, including those from India, are among the most vulnerable groups in Iraq as fighting between government forces and armed groups led by ISIS spreads to other areas in the country. Around 46 Indian nurses are trapped in a hospital in the city of Tikrit, which is controlled by armed groups. There are reports that ISIS and other armed groups have abducted 40 Indian workers in the city of Mosul. On June 20, 44 workers, including Turkish nationals who were abducted near the city of Kirkuk on Wednesday were handed over to the police forces in Kirkuk.

Amnesty International calls on ISIS and other armed groups to immediately and unconditionally release all unharmed civilians they are holding as hostages, and end all attacks on civilians.

Under international humanitarian law, state and non-state actors are obligated to take necessary precautions to avoid endangering the civilian population. The parties to the conflict must facilitate the safe passage of all civilians wishing to flee the fighting. Amnesty International also calls upon the Kurdistan Regional Government and the authorities of neighboring countries to provide fleeing civilians with refuge.

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Fugitive's wife arrested over South Korean ferry disaster

SEOUL: South Korean police on Saturday made apparent headway in the manhunt for a fugitive businessman wanted over April's ferry disaster with the capture of his wife.

Kwon Yun-Ja, 72, was arrested at a flat in the southern suburbs of Seoul following a successful ambush, Yonhap news agency said.

But her husband Yoo Byun-Eun, 73, was not at the site. YTN TV showed Kwon, her face covered with a dark brimmed hat, being taken into custody at the Incheon Prosecutor's Office.

Investigators want to question her to obtain information that may lead to the capture of her husband.

Yoo is the patriarch of the family behind Chonghaejin Marine Co., which owned and operated the 6,825-tonne Sewol ferry which sank on April 16 with the loss of around 300 lives, most of them schoolchildren.

He is wanted for questioning on possible charges of embezzlement and criminal negligence, as prosecutors investigate the extent to which the Sewol disaster was caused by a lack of safety standards and regulatory violations.

Yoo has no direct stake in Chonghaejin, but his children and close aides control it through a complex web of holding companies.

His wife Kwon was accused of diverting funds from one of Chonghaejin's subsidiaries where she serves as the CEO.

A reward of 500 million won ($490,000) has been offered for information leading to the capture of Yoo and 100 million won for that of his eldest son, Yoo Dae-Kyun.

Last week, thousands of police twice raided the compound of a splinter religious group in pursuit of Yoo but to no avail. Yoo is reportedly the de-facto leader of the church.

Several church followers suspected of helping Yoo evade a nationwide dragnet have also been arrested after he defied an official summons to surrender to prosecutors.

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Rail communication disrupted due to heavy rains in Bangladesh

DHAKA: A heavy downpour on Saturday disrupted the rail communication in several parts of Bangladesh, including the capital Dhaka, and temporarily halted movement of ships at the country's largest seaport, officials said.

They said the torrential rain has damaged railway tracks in Tangail district, forcing them to halt movement of trains on the route from Dhaka. Hundreds of passengers in two inter-city trains on either side of the damaged tracks were stranded midway following suspension of the services.

"We are trying to fix the problem in soonest possible time despite the continued rains," a railway spokesman said.

The incessant rains, that began on Thursday, have hit normal life in parts of Bangladesh including the capital Dhaka.

The movement of ships and freight at the Chittagong Port was also suspended at the due the rains. Most of the freight movement is handled by this deepwater seaport, dominated by trade in containerized manufactured products especially garments, jute and jute goods, leather products, fertilizers and seafood.

"The ship movements at the port channel have been suspended temporarily from 7am due to torrential rain," said Mohibul Haque, administrative director of the port.

Met office said a "deep convection is continuing over north Bay and adjoining coastal area of Bangladesh" and asked fishermen to avoid sea until further notice.

It warned of possible landslides in Chittagong and three southeastern hill districts.

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Adequate security arrangements for Amarnath yatra, no threat: DGP

JAMMU: Ruling out any specific threat with regard to the Amarnath yatra, DGP, J&K K Rajindra Kumar on Saturday said elaborate security arrangements have been put in place at the ground level to deal with any challenges in connection with the yatra.

"There are no specific threat to Amarnath Yatra, but going by the inputs that used to come to us in the past few years, we are taking all necessary precautionary precautions. But there is nothing specific on records", DGP told reporters.

"All the security arrangements have been put in place for Amarnath yatra. The government of India (GoI) have made the forces available, which we needed for Amarnath yatra", he said.

This year's annual Amarnath pilgrimage in South Kashmir Himalayas will begin on June 28 this year and conclude on Raksha Bandhan falling on August 10.

"Central armed police forces have been put on our disposal, whose development on the ground has been made. All the routes have been inspected from Lakhanpur to Baltal and also from Phalagan routes, where the security setup have been put on the ground", DGP said.

"There are no specific inputs with regard to threat to Amarnath yatra, but we have made elaborate security arrangements by J&K Police and central forces to deal with any challenge in connection with yatra", Kumar said.

He further said that all necessary arrangements have been taken to ensure every possible precaution is taken and prevent even any such attempt.

"We have made adequate arrangements. I assure you we have put in sound security system in place. We have perfect synergy among all the forces including among Army, BSF, CRPF and Police," he said.

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Search for missing Malaysian plane MH370 shifts south

CANBERRA: An investigator says the next phase of the seabed search for the missing Malaysian plane will focus on an area of the Indian Ocean hundreds of kilometers (miles) south of the first suspected crash site.

Chief commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, Martin Dolan, said on Friday that an announcement will be made next week on where a 60,000 square kilometer (23,000 square mile) search of the ocean floor for wreckage using powerful sonar equipment will be focused.

Dolan says he expects the most likely crash site will be hundreds of kilometers (miles) south of where a remote-controlled underwater drone scoured the seabed where acoustic signals suspected to have come from the plane's black boxes were thought to have come from.

The Malaysia Airlines flight vanished on March 8.

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Indian origin writer Salman Rushdie wins PEN/Pinter writing prize

LONDON: The writers' group PEN is honoring Salman Rushdie for his "outstanding" literary output and support for freedom of expression.

The India-born writer, who spent years in hiding after his novel "The Satanic Verses" drew a death edict from Iran's religious authorities, was named winner on Friday of the PEN/Pinter prize.

The award was established in 2009 in memory of Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter. His widow, Antonia Fraser, said Pinter had "respected Salman twice over, both for his work and his great personal courage."

The prize goes jointly to a British writer seen as sharing Pinter's "unflinching, unswerving" gaze on society, and an international writer who has faced persecution, chosen by the British winner and PEN.

The co-winner will be announced at an October 9 ceremony in London.

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Primary school building collapses in China; 4 missing

BEIJING: Four persons, including two children, are missing after a two-story building of a village primary school collapsed early today in China's eastern Jiangxi Province.

The building of the primary school in Dangkou Village, Yihuang County, collapsed due to rainstorm-triggered mud flow, local government said.

Two children - aged five and seven - are among the missing. The rescue operation is under way, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

More than 2,700 people were evacuated after downpours battered Fuzhou City, Jiangxi yesterday and early today, the report said.

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Helpline soon for women facing violence in Chhattisgarh

RAIPUR: In a bid to provide protection to women facing violence, a first-of-its-kind integrated helpline-cum-crisis centre is soon to be launched in Chhattisgarh.

A 24X7 women's helpline, number-181, will soon be opened in the state which aims to provide aid for post-violence trauma as also protection to women from any form of violence.

As per the guidelines of the ministry of women and child development (WCD), the state government is taking up the initiative for which, initially, nodal agencies will be established at Raipur and Durg in collaboration with NGOs, state WCD department secretary, Subrat Sahu, told PTI.

"The trial of the system has already been started and it will be officially launched in a month or two," Sahu said, adding that enough publicity will be done to make people aware about it.

It is primarily designed to assist women facing any sort of crisis, including rape, molestation, trafficking, abuse and allegations of practising witchcraft, within their family, in society or at the workplace.

The helpline will also provide efficient and fast-response mechanisms for addressing post-violence trauma and to ensure protection of women from any form of violence.

That would be followed by rehabilitation through short and long-term physical and psychological treatment, including skill development, as per the guidelines from the WCD department.

The nodal agencies at Raipur and Durg will handle the calls from across the state and directly look after cases within a 50-km radius.

For cases beyond that ambit, they will pass on necessary instructions to police stations and other agencies at the relevant location, the guidelines added.

The other provisions under the facility include setting up of short-term shelter homes in Raipur and Bhilai-Durg (if required), residential transit care centres for treatment of 50 mentally-ill women at one time in Raipur and rehabilitative /residential transit care homes with facilities for vocational or skill development training for victims of violence.

As of now, a women's helpline, number-1091, is operational under police management.

As per state police records, 1,137 rape cases were reported between 2013 and January 15 this year in Chhattisgarh. The number for previous years was: 1,145 in 2012-13, 1,076 in 2011-12 and 1,128 in 2010-11.

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HPCL-Mittal shuts unit at Bhatinda refinery after fire

The author has posted comments on this articleReuters | Jun 20, 2014, 12.41PM IST

NEW DELHI: HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd, part owned by steel tycoon LN Mittal, has shut a vacuum gas oil unit on Friday after a fire at its 180,000 barrels per day Bathinda refinery, its managing director Prabh Das said.

"Only the fire-hit VGO unit has been shut, rest of the refinery is operating normally," he told Reuters, adding the unit will be restarted soon.

The fire has been contained and there were no casualties.

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MOS for home affairs Kiren Rijiju to attend Asian ministerial conference in Bangkok next week

NEW DELHI: A high-level Indian delegation, led by minister of state for home affairs Kiren Rijiju, will be engaging with Asian leaders in Bangkok next week in an inter-governmental meeting to draw up a strategy for inclusion of Asia's agenda in the successor to the Hyogo Framework.

The Asian ministerial conference will review 10 years of implementation of the Hyogo Framework of Action and discuss how to deal with increasing disaster risks, which are seriously threatening development gains and the region's economies.

"It is also the final opportunity for the region to discuss the Asian issues that will be included in the successor to the Hyogo Framework that will be announced at the Third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in March 2015 in Sendai, Japan," said a press note from the UN office for disaster risk reduction (UNISDR).

India is among 86 countries which have set up a national platform for disaster risk reduction and already has a 10,000-strong highly trained force to work on rescue and relief operations in case of natural or man-made disasters. The 10 battalions of India's National Disaster Response Force comprise of soldiers drawn from its paramilitary forces trained in commando operations.

India's efforts on disaster risk reduction have been lauded by UNISDR chief, Margareta Wahlstrom, particularly when the local administration in Odisha successfully evacuated almost one million people before cyclone Phailin hit the state in October 2013.

"We have started work on documenting the Odisha success story and will highlight it as an example in the lead-up to the third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, in 2015. It is easy to talk about problems and failures. We have to bring into people's minds what works," Wahlstrom had said.

India's national platform for disaster risk reduction provides important support to the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action, the global agreement on reducing disaster losses.

According to UNISDR, last year's disaster losses cost more than $ 53.8 billion in Asia, which represented almost half the global figure.

The Bangkok inter-ministerial meet next week will have 2,500 delegates, including 20 ministers and industry leaders from more than 39 countries in Asia and the Pacific.

The meeting, hosted by the Royal Thai government in collaboration with the UNISDR, is the last Asian regional inter-governmental gathering before the completion of the Hyogo Framework for Action that was adopted in Kobe, Japan in 2005 by 168 governments.

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