India, Nepal must join hands: Prachanda

At least 50, 000 people have been displaced, five dead and dozens missing in Nepal due to the collapsing of the Saptakoshi Barrage in Sunsari district.
Four Village Development Committees, Haripur, Sripur, Laukahi, and western Kusaha have been affected. Suman Ghimire from the Disaster Management Section of the Home Ministry said 20,000 people have been rescued and are being looked after in 16 camps in Inaruwa and Saptari. The East-West Highway has also been affected.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) and other political leaders visited the flood-hit areas. After inspecting the temporary shelters, Mr. Prachanda said: “We should have thought about the situation’s severity at least some months back, which could have avoided this calamity.”
He said Nepal and India should take the issue seriously to avoid calamities in the future.

I’m staying right here, says Musharraf

Pervez Musharraf, who resigned as President of Pakistan on Monday, has told supporters he is not going anywhere out of the country, and intends to stay on here and “relax.”
Dismissing reports that he was looking for exile destinations abroad, the retired General Musharraf told a group of parliamentarians from the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) who called on him on Wednesday that he wants to continue living in Pakistan.A Mukesh fan
“He said ‘I am going to be around, my house [in Chak Shahzad on the capital’s outskirts] will be ready in three months, I will move in there, smoke my cigars, play bridge with my friends, relax’,” PML (Q) secretary-general Mushahid Hussain Sayed told The Hindu. And no, General Musharraf was not listening to the Rafi song “Udh jaa re panchchi, ab des hua begana” on his first day of retirement, as reported by The News.
Mr. Sayed said when he teased him about that, General Musharraf told him the report could not be more incorrect, as he is a Mukesh fan and does not like Rafi that much.
The former President was dressed in shirt sleeves and khakis, and “looking very relaxed,” Mr. Sayed said.
Media reports have said he will leave the country soon, perhaps under the pretext of going on a pilgrimage to Mecca, and from there, perhaps go the U.S. where his son and brother live.
“I don’t know if he is going on a holiday somewhere, but he was extremely clear that he was going to stay on in Pakistan,” said Marvi Memon, a PML (Q) National Assembly member, who was also in the group that went to see him at his official home in Rawalpindi. “He said he was going to relax for a while.”
Ms. Memon said around 30 PML (Q) parliamentarians paid a “courtesy call” on General Musharraf, the creator of the party in 2001 with hacked out chunks of Nawaz Sharif ‘s Pakistan Muslim League (N) and defectors from the Pakistan People’s Party. Mr. Sayed called it a “visit to express solidarity” with General Musharraf, and denying reports the PML (Q) had asked him to take over the leadership of the party, said the parliamentarians had advised him to keep away from politics.
“Our advice to him was also that he should take a back seat. We too would live to move on. The Musharraf era is over, and the post-Musharraf era has begun,” said Mr. Sayed. “The PML (Q) would live to play its role as a robust vibrant opposition, and Pervez Musharraf should play the role of Citizen Musharraf. He should enjoy himself in the surroundings of Islamabad.”
The PML (Q) leader said a Nixon model-agreement had been clinched for the former President — “resignation, no impeachment, no charges, no case, no prosecution” — and the guarantor “lives within a 10-mile radius of Islamabad,” hinting that it was the Rawalpindi-headquartered Pakistan Army and more specifically, Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.
Meanwhile, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, leader of the Jamiat-e-Ulema Islami, and Awami National Party leader Asfandyar Wali Khan said there were no differences in the ruling coalition on the judges’ issue and it would be resolved “amicably with a consensus” by this weekend

India for fresh WTO talks if flaws are removed, says Kamal Nath

India on Tuesday indicated to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) its readiness for another go at reaching a world trade agreement provided the flaws in multilateral rules are effectively addressed and removed.
“If the basis of the round [Doha negotiations initiated seven years ago] has to see a change in its very objectives, it would be a tough going for global trade integration,” Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said while sharing the dais with WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy at a CUTS-FICCI organised conference on global development goals.
Responding to Mr. Lamy’s remarks, Mr. Nath unequivocally declared that “revival of the weakest” and “not survival of the fittest” should form the core of the negotiations for reaching an agreement.
Otherwise, he warned that the renewed attempt being made by Mr. Lamy and others to bring the talks back on track could meet the fate of the recently abandoned talks in Geneva. While India, he said, was keen on resumption of multilateral negotiations, “it cannot be expected to accept the flaws — the price developing countries are being asked to pay for developed countries to cut subsidies,” he said.
Later in the day, Mr. Lamy met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He is understood to have sought a clear indication whether India wanted to move ahead in the troubled Doha negotiations or take a pause.
The meeting was significant as the WTO chief has renewed efforts to bridge differences, mainly on the issue of the safeguard for agriculture in the developing countries, between India and the U.S. following the failure of the Geneva talks a fortnight ago on the issue, known as the Special Safeguard Mechanism in WTO parlance.
“My simple message here in Delhi and next week in Washington is that (members should) look carefully at what is on the table and not on results, listen to all WTO members and efforts should be to conclude the talks,” Mr. Lamy had said earlier.After getting the feedback from New Delhi based on consultations with the Prime Minister and the Commerce Minister, industry and the NGOs, Mr. Lamy will visit Washington next week.
Mr. Lamy said after his meetings with Dr. Singh and Mr. Nath: “The good news is there may be still a possibility to move this forward and conclude negotiations within the time-frame, that is end-2008.”
Speaking at the CUTS-FICCI meet, Mr. Lamy had observed that if the WTO could not reach a deal, the U.S. agricultural trade distorting subsidies could see a sharp jump to over $48 billion a year from a ceiling of $14.5 billion, which the Bush administration had offered at the Geneva Mini-Ministerial Meeting.
If the Round was not to conclude, “the U.S. will be able to spend much more (on subsidies),” Mr. Lamy said.
The WTO chief, who is India within two weeks of the collapse of Geneva talks to seek India’s help for reviving the negotiations, said the success of the Doha Round could result in worldwide duty cuts of $150 billion a year.
Further, he said, two-third of these cuts would be expected from the rich nations. In other words, this would be the level of market access for the developing countries. Mr. Lamy, however, acknowledged that the current food crisis is also a result of the lack of investment in the developing countries. “One of the reasons for decline in production is the trade distorting subsidies and high tariffs in the rich countries,” he added.
Mr. Nath also underlined that the devil lies in the details of the proposals being put on the negotiating table.
“If the EU says we are going to reduce tariffs for airplanes, what does it mean for India and Africa,” he asked during the interaction attended among others by several diplomats from Africa.
Signalling to the American negotiators that India would fully leverage the issue of high cotton subsidies in the negotiations, Mr. Nath said: “I want to import cotton from Africa. But if there is 40 per cent subsidy in the U.S., my industry is not going to buy it from Africa.”
Significantly, Mr. Nath received support from the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Supachai Panitchpakdi, who said, “I would have thought cotton would have become a goodwill case...cotton must be tackled seriously.” Dwelling on the reasons for failure of the negotiations between 30 trade ministers, Mr. Nath said India could not have accepted a remedy against import surges with several strings attached. Differences over the level of Special Safeguard Mechanism between the U.S. and India proved to be a deal-breaker in Geneva, he said

Status quo not possible: Moscow

The status quo in South Ossetia and Abkhazia is no longer possible,” said Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who brokered peace settlement in the Caucasus crisis, will now go to Tbilisi to secure President Mikheil Saakashvili’s agreement to the peace terms negotiated in Moscow.
As the peace plan was presented in Moscow Mr. Saakashvili in Tbilisi announced Georgia’s withdrawal from the Commonwealth of Independent States and repudiation of peacekeeping agreements with Russia regarding South Ossetia and Abkhazia signed in the 1990s. He declared the Russian peacekeepers an “occupational force.”
Russia sent troops to South Ossetia last Friday to stop Georgia’s massive offensive against its breakaway territory in which some 2,000 civilians and about 20 Russian peacekeepers were killed. In five days of fighting the Russian forces recaptured the regional capital Tskhinvali, pushed back Georgian troops, and largely destroyed Georgia’s military infrastructure in air raids deep inside its territory.
In Abkhazia, the other breakaway territory of Georgia, separatist forces launched a military offensive on Tuesday to oust Georgian troops out of a demilitarized zone on the border with Georgia.
On Monday night Russian paratroopers deployed in Abkhazia a day earlier carried out raids deep inside Georgian territory to destroy military bases from where Georgia could sent reinforcements to its troops sealed off in Abkhazia. The Russian military said they were not taking part in the Abkhaz assault on the Georgian forces. U.S. criticised
Russia has accused the U.S. of inspiring Georgia’s foiled offensive in the breakaway territory of South Ossetia and helping prepare for it.
“The invasion plan was rehearsed and perfected during Georgian-American war games in Georgia,” said Deputy Chief of Staff of Russia’s Armed Forces, General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, at a press conference on Tuesday.
About 1,000 U.S. troops took part in large-scale military exercises with the Georgian military held recently in the area from where Georgia began its offensive to regain control over South Ossetia last Thursday, he said. Earlier, Russia’s envoy to the U.N. accused Washington of giving a go-ahead for Georgia’s invasion of South Ossetia.
“It is hard to imagine that Georgia could dare to launch its aggression against South Ossetia without a nod from abroad,” said Vitaly Churkin, adding: “We hate to think that the U.S. gave a green light for the assault

All-party team to visit Jammu, valley

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Wednesday that various suggestions were given at the all-party meeting here to end the violence in Jammu and Kashmir over the Amarnath land transfer issue. All decisions taken at the meeting were unanimous, he said.
Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil said there was no difficulty if an all-party delegation visited Jammu for holding talks with the agitationists.
(Agencies reported that a multi-party team will visit Jammu and the Kashmir valley as well. An official in the Prime Minister’s Office said it would also travel to the area where the land transfer had become a bone of contention. The team would also interact with Amarnath yatris.)
Asked pointedly if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) offered to take the initiative in defusing the situation in Jammu and help restore peace, Mr. Mukherjee said that the BJP agreed to the suggestions made at the meeting. “Senior leaders like the party president Rajnath Singh, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh and Arun Jaitley attended the meeting from the BJP. Their attitude was supportive,” he said. PM’s warning
In his opening remarks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave a detailed assessment of the grim situation and cautioned that there was a possibility and danger of the situation turning communal and spreading to other States. Describing it as serious, Dr. Singh said that people were suffering because of stoppage of supply of medicines, food and other essential items.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi appealed to all the leaders to lend their support to the government to tackle the situation so that peace and normality could be restored fast.
She also appealed to the leaders to put up a united effort for dealing with the situation rising above their narrow political considerations.
Informed sources said the all-party meeting, attended by 39 parties, witnessed lengthy and heated arguments among the former J&K Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, People’s Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah.
Sources said that Mr. Mukherjee impressed upon the Left leaders A.B. Bardhan and Sitaram Yechury to request the BJP to take the lead in clinching the initiative for holding talks with the Sangharsh Samiti in Jammu, which is spearheading the agitation there.
Interestingly, it was the first all-party meeting attended by the Left leaders after the four parties withdrew support to the UPA government last month.
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The Olympic torch relay began its final leg in Beijing on Wednesday, travelling through the host city, which celebrated the torch arrival with flying flags and beaming smiles.
“Beijing is fully ready for the Olympic Games. The city is opening its arms to guests from around the world,” said Beijing Mayor Guo Jinlong at a brief ceremony. The torch returned from a journey of 129 days and 1,37,000 km through six continents under the theme “Journey of Harmony,” the longest since the tradition started at the 1936 Berlin Games.
A cheerful and eager crowd had gathered in Tiananmen Square since early morning, holding high the Chinese national flag and Olympic flags. Besides them was a clock numbering the days before the Games start. The square was decorated with a multitude of flowers, Olympic signs and flags were seen in every corner and songs with Olympic themes were played in taxies passing by.
In the northern part of the city, the National Stadium and National Aquatics Centre — nicknamed Bird’s Nest and Water Cube, respectively — showed their magnificence. After a century-old Olympic expectation and seven years of preparation, China is opening its arms to guests from all over the world with hospitality, and with confidence.
All venues and facilities are in operation, and all staff are in their posts. Most of the 205 delegations have checked into the Olympic Village, and were satisfied with the best-ever Olympic venues. Volunteers could be the first ones to impress guests with hospitality.
There were about 47,000 volunteers for the Sydney Games, while Beijing has nearly 1,00,000 in Olympic venues, 4,00,000 around the venues and along the streets, and 1 million serving in communities. Meanwhile, drivers of about 67,000 taxis in Beijing wore their new uniform, a yellow shirt and blue trousers, for the first time on August 1.
“They say our taxi drivers are the face of Beijing. We should leave visitors a good first impression,” said driver Jin Shunhai. On the same day, about 25,000 security personnel started working on thousands of buses and at stations to remove possible safety risks during the Games.
The security personnel, comprising mechanics, management and support personnel of the Beijing Public Transport Holdings Ltd., were deployed at every bus station and on every bus.
Beijingers were also encouraged to learn English, queue for buses, stop spitting and use correct translations for restaurant menus.
China has also been opening up to international media. The government issued a series of regulations at the end of 2006, which stipulated foreign journalists could conduct interviews in China as long as they had consent from the intended interviewees.Open door
“China’s open door to the foreign media will not close after the Games,” said Liu Binjie, the General Administration of Press and Publication Minister. With this policy, the international media reported China’s preparations for the Olympic gala, and the violent protests in Tibet, Zhejiang and Guizhou, as well as other scandals.
The open-door policy has shown the confidence of the Chinese government, which now believes negative reports, seen in every country, cannot negate what China’s achievements over the past 30 years, said Yin Yungong, a member of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Li Meiying, a 67-year-old retiree, greeted foreign photographers with smiles at a downtown plaza, where she dances for daily exercise. “Welcome to China watching Olympic Games!” Ms. Li told the photographers in English. — Xinhua

Pandas take centre stage on Olympics-eve

With only two days to go for the Olympics to start, the Chinese capital is abuzz with excitement and anticipation alike. The air has miraculously cleared, 40 million potted plants are in place to beautify the cityscape, and special protest pens have been set up for any malcontents to hold demonstrations in. Tens of thousands of foreign visitors are pouring in.
But it is not only the stars of the sporting world and the visiting heads of state who are making headlines here. As is inevitable in China, pandas are stealing some of the Olympics limelight as well.
A little distance from the main venues, thick crowds gather through the day to sneak a peak at a cuddly crew of eight giant pandas, specially brought from the Wolong Nature Reserve in Sichuan province for the duration of the Games.
Wolong hosts China’s largest captive breeding programme for pandas, as well as more than 140 wild pandas. All, save one, of the reserve’s captive pandas survived the quake, but it is unclear how many wild pandas may have perished.
The “Olympics pandas,” as they have been dubbed, on display at the Beijing zoo are thus attracting even more than their usual share of sympathy, being seen by some visitors as a symbol of survival in the face of tragedy. Adjustment
According to Wu Zhao Guo, the director of the zoo, although the pandas suffered from nervous exhaustion in their first few days in Beijing, they have slowly adjusted to their new setting and seem to have left the trauma of the quake behind them. Indeed, while they gobble up long stems of bamboo and cavort around their lush pens in play, they look anything but unhappy. Some six million people are expected to visit the bears by November, when they will be sent home.
In China, the giant panda, an animal that is exclusive to its bamboo forests, has long been part of a nationalistic discourse that has imbued it with a unique symbolic importance. Saving pandas has been a priority for the government, and no costs have been spared — while animals such as the Yangtze river dolphin have died out.
Gifting pandas is a favoured tool of Chinese diplomacy: over the years panda power has come to rank alongside ping-pong diplomacy in achieving diplomatic breakthroughs.
Pandas, moreover, have a long and honourable Olympics history. The first pandas ever to be sent abroad went to Los Angeles for the 1984 Olympics — the first Games China participated in after a gap of over three decades.Duty
An explanatory plaque at the Beijing zoo attributes Beijing’s successful bid for the 2008 Olympics in part to the popularity of a panda display held in Moscow in July 2001 during the bidding process. “The giant pandas perfectly fulfilled their historic duty,” the plaque concludes.
For panda enthusiast there is further good news. According to the Director of the Zoological Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Wei Fuwen, the future of the once threatened animal is increasingly looking secure. His recent research strives to prove that the panda is not at an evolutionary dead-end as was thought.
While the official figure for giant pandas in the wild is around 1,600, up from some 1,000 a decade ago, Professor Wei’s research puts the number at 2,000-plus. He holds that although wild pandas may not quite be out of the woods yet, they are no longer critically endangered.
While the debate on the panda’s future continues, the eight Olympics bears seem content to munch on their bamboo and pose for the cameras, seemingly unaware of the excitement they are causing.

Mafia don Gotti arrested in U.S.

John A. “Junior” Gotti has been arrested on charges linking him to three New York murders, said a law enforcement official on Tuesday.
Gotti (44) was arrested by the FBI at his Long Island home. Federal authorities in Tampa, Florida, are expected to announce a racketeering indictment, charging Gotti with murder conspiracy in connection with killings in the late 1980s and early 1990s, according to the official. A separate indictment charges five other men with racketeering.
It alleges some of them were involved with Gotti in one of the three New York murders, according to the official. It also alleges a fourth killing in New York, not linked to Gotti. He and two other suspects are expected to appear in a Manhattan federal court on Tuesday for a removal hearing. At least one other man has been arrested in Florida. Gotti is the son of “Dapper Don” John Gotti, the late Gambino family boss. In 1999, Gotti Junior pleaded guilty to racketeering crimes including bribery, extortion, gambling and fraud. He was sentenced to 77 months in prison and was released in 2005.
Gotti also was tried three times in Manhattan on racketeering charges for an alleged plot to kidnap Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa. The trials in 2005 and 2006 ended in hung juries and mistrials.
Federal prosecutors announced at the time that they were giving up — and Gotti said he had long since retired from his life of crime. —AP

Government not budging from Singur

The State government is not budging from Singur and neither are the Tatas; there is no reason for worry,” Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, said here on Tuesday reacting to threats by the Trinamool Congress to intensify its stir over the setting up of the Tata Motors’ automobile project there.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has called for indefinite stir outside the project site from August 24 till 400 acres of land (out of the 997 acres acquired) that she claims was acquired without the consent of the farmers is handed back to them. This land, she has said, was not required to set up the plant.
“Not even an inch more of land necessary for the project has been acquired,” Mr. Bhattacharjee said, ridiculing the demand to return the land in question.
“There is still time for the Opposition to sit for relevant discussions over the Singur issue,” he said. “We are willing to show respect to the Opposition but not for talks that are irrelevant and illogical,” Mr. Bhattacharjee added.
He was speaking at a function to commemorate the 120th birth anniversary of Muzaffar Ahmed, a pioneering figure in the Communist movement in the country.
Security will be tightened in and around the Tata Motors’s automobile manufacturing project in view of the Trinamool agitation.
Work on the project was going on as per the schedule and the first car, it was hoped, would be rolling out of the factory by the Pujas, State’s Industries Minister Nirupam Sen said earlier in the day.
Dismissing reports in a section of the media that the Tata Motors authorities were considering pulling out of Singur, he said that the State government had “no such information.”
Mr. Sen said that Ravi Kant, managing director, Tata Motors, had visited the project site the last time he was in the State. “Seventy-five per cent of the (construction) work had been completed by then and I hope some more has been completed since. I still hope that the cars will be coming out (of the plant) by the Puja,” he said.
State’s Home Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakravarty along with Director General of Police A.B. Vohra had a meeting with officials of the Tata Motors at Singur.
“The State government can only give alternative land (to those claiming that their plots at Singur had been forcibly acquired) if it does have land to give. It will have to acquire such land elsewhere and there could be similar problems then,” Mr. Sen said.

Japan for India signing NPT

Japan has asked India to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). It also hopes that a free trade agreement between the two countries would be finalised by the time Prime Minister Manohan Singh visits Tokyo by the year-end.
While Tokyo understood the need for India to diversify its sources of energy, it wanted to be sure that the India-U.S. nuclear deal would not undermine the non-proliferation regime, Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura told newspersons at the end of the second strategic dialogue with his counterpart Pranab Mukherjee here on Tuesday.
Mr. Mukherjee responded, saying the nuclear deal was limited only to peaceful energy programme. “We would also like to have access to nuclear technology with the cooperation of the international community. We are fully aware of Japan’s sensitivity and reiterate our firm commitment to total nuclear disarmament and strictly adhere to the conditionalities of non-proliferation as enshrined in various international treaties.”
He said: “Though India has not signed the NPT our commitment with respect to nuclear trade is impeccable,” he added.
Other senior diplomats said Japan intended to “actively participate” at the NSG meeting in a manner that would not hamper but strengthen the international disarmament and non-proliferation regime.
Meeting a day before the 63rd anniversary of the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the two Ministers decided to further step up cooperation in the field of security and continue high level exchanges and bilateral consultation.
On the security front, Japan expected a greater resolution to work together during Dr. Singh’s visit. And as was the case last year, it was willing to participate in the India-U.S. joint naval exercises, the Japanese Minister said. Free trade agreement
In his meetings with Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, Mr. Koumora touched upon the need to hasten the free trade agreement (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement - CEPA) and expressed satisfaction that the increase in bilateral trade was on track to touch the targeted figure of $20 billion by 2010.
The two sides also touched on the progress made in the dedicated freight corridor in which an investment of $80 to 100 billion from Japan is anticipated. Japan is hoping that India would opt for electrified traction for “environmental reasons.”

Mulford hoping only for ‘clean exemption’

NEW DELHI: The United States expects the Nuclear Suppliers Group to amend its guidelines to accommodate India this month and will then table the India-U.S. civil nuclear agreement before Congress in September first week, U.S. Ambassador David Mulford has said.
“The U.S. understands that India will not sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. This was the basis of the negotiations with which we had gone forward and that was addressed throughout the negotiations,’ he told journalists here over phone from Washington on Tuesday.
On the clean exemption issue, he offered a personal opinion. “Unconditional is not a very good word in this context…. there is a huge amount of work on this understanding and, therefore, to use the word unconditional to me is oversimplification. I will be hoping only for a clean exemption. That is my personal view and not of the U.S. government,” he said.
Mr. Mulford said the U.S. had launched a major diplomatic offensive to convince the NSG nations to approve India’s entry into global civil nuclear trade and was confident that the U.S. sponsored draft would soon be ready for circulation among the 45-member countries.
He, however, did not wish to speculate on whether Congress would be able to approve the agreement in the short time that is left before it goes into recess.
“The U.S. Congress is a sovereign body and it has its own procedure and rules. So at this point, nobody really knows whether it will be able to act in the very short period of time at its disposal. What we are trying is to position the 123 Agreement in Congress. The goal is to complete the NSG process in August and submit it in early September,” he told journalists over phone from Washington.
“The notice period can be changed but it is not possible to speak on behalf of Congress,” he added, when asked whether Congress would waive the mandatory time period for considering the bill.
Mr. Mulford said:
“The U.S. is very heavily engaged in a major diplomatic offensive at all levels. We continue to move forward and are working very closely with the Government of India to coordinate this process. We are working out the language we want to submit to the NSG. One that is done, we will submit it to the NSG and hope it moves quickly in August.
“We want to underline that we have already shared the draft with India. We want to get the right sort of draft that will be most effective with the NSG. In the coming days we will complete the work and distribute it to NSG members.”
Refusing to speculate about what will happen at the NSG meeting, he expected “people to listen seriously and hope at the end of the day they will accept. We would not wish to see the additional points raised so that they become part of the process. This is a very complex process and we are now moving to the final stage. And obviously we hope that all players come together at the NSG and accept that the aim of this to normalise civilian nuclear process with India.”
Mr. Mulford could not confirm whether President George Bush had invited Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for a visit next month. But, if Dr. Singh goes to attend the United Nations General Assembly in September, “it is possible for them to meet,” he said.

ANAND RETAINS CROWNS

World champion Viswanathan Anand produced a masterly display to crush young challenger Norway’s Magnus Carlsen 3-1 to win the 13th Grenkeleasing rapid world chess championship at Mainz, Germany, on Sunday.
In the best-of-four rapid games, Anand won the first two games in 50 moves and then drew the third in 56 moves to make sure of the title. In the inconsequential fourth game, the players agreed to a draw in just 11 moves.Great run
This was Anand’s 11th title-victory in the tournament and ninth on the trot. Anand won in 1997, 1998 and 2000 before the chess festival moved from Frankfurt to Mainz. Since then, Anand has tamed Vladimir Kramnik (2001), Ruslan Ponomariov (2002), Judit Polgar (2003), Alexei Shirov (2004), Alexander Grischuk (2005), Teimour Radjabov (2006), Levon Aronian (2007) and added Carlsen to the list this year.
On Sunday, Anand punished the teenager in the first game that followed the opening moves of Sicilian Defence. In the middle game, Carlsen chose to give up his queen for a rook but that did not help his cause.
In the second game, Anand played black and seized the initiative early in Catalan. Again, it was Carlsen who was on the defensive. Anand went 2-0 up when Carlsen gave up as he could not prevent the loss of a rook.
The third game saw Anand settle for a draw after pressing for victory with an extra pawn. With the title decided, the players drew the fourth game quickly.
For the third place, Alexander Morozevich defeated Hungary’s Judit Polgar in the fourth game for a 2.5-1.5 victory. Kore holds Rodshtein
In the World junior chess championship, which began at Gaziantop, Greece on Sunday, Akshayraj Kore surprisingly held second seed Maxim Rodshtein of Israel in the first round.
However, GM G.N. Gopal lost the opener, while Abhijeet Gupta was held in the second. Parimarjan Negi, seeded 26, won both his matches to be among the leaders.
Similarly, in the girls’ section, top seed D. Harika and Padmini Rout won two games each to set up an interesting third-round clash.
The results:
Rapid world championship (final): Viswanathan Anand (3) bt Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 1); Game 1: Anand bt Carlsen in 50 moves; Game 2: Carlsen lost to Anand in 50; Game 3: Anand drew with Carlsen in 56 moves; Game 4: Carlsen drew with Anand in 11 moves.
For third place: Alexander Morozevich (Rus, 2.5) bt Judit Polgar (Hun, 1.5).
World junior championship (involving Indians):
Open (second round): Deep Sengupta (1.5) drew with Wesley So (Phi, 1.5); Ashwin Jayaram (1) lost to Martyn Kravtsiv (Ukr, 2); Daniel Baratoshi (Rom, 1.5) drew with Abhijeet Gupta (1.5); Parimarjan Negi (2) bt Daniele Vocaturo (Ita, 1); Davit Bendize (Geo, 1.5) drew with S. Arun Prasad (1.5); Akshat Nukin (Kaz, 0.5) lost to Akshayraj Kore (1.5); G.N. Gopal (1) bt Tyler Hughes (USA, 0); P. Karthikeyan (1) bt Slavisa Ilic (Bih, 0); Vishnu Prasanna (1) bt Atsuhiko Kobaysashi (Jpn, 0); Eray Gurcan (Tur, 0) lost to Sahaj Grover (1).
First round: Rauf Mamedov (Aze) bt Karthikeyan; Kore drew with Maxim Rodshtein (Isr); Nguyen Ngoc Troung Son (Vie) bt Vishnu; Orkhan Abdulov (Aze) bt Gopal; Grover lost to David Howell (Eng); Abhijeet bt Ivan Serenac (Srb); Gareth Oliver (Aus) lost to Negi; Arun bt Can Ertan (Tur); Atsuhiko Kobayashi (Jpn) lost to Deep; Pratish Ramsurrup (RSA) lost to Ashwin.
Girls (second round): Anya Corke (Hkg, 1) lost to D. Harika (2); Nafisa Muminova (Uzb, 1.5) drew with Mary Ann Gomes (1.5); Zoja Severiukhina (Rus, 1.5) drew with Kruttika Nadig (1.5); Soumya Swaminathan (1) lost to Sona Pertlova (Cze, 2); R. Preethi (1) lost to Gulmira Dauletova (Kaz, 2); Silvia-Raluca Sgircea (Rou, 1) lost to Padmini Rout (2).
First round: Harika bt Madina Davletbayeva (Kaz); Mary bt Jovena Eric (Srb); Marsel Efroimski (Isr) lost to Soumya; Padmini bt Daleen Wiid (RSA); Kruttika bt Liria Caetano Garcia (Bra); Saadet Kaya (Tur) lost to Preethi.
Kavala International (fifth round): Vladislav Nevednichy (Rou, 3) drew with Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury (3); Alexander Zubarev (Ukr, 3) drew with V. Saravanan (3); Slavoljub Marjanovic (Srb, 3.5) drew with Prathamesh Mokal (2.5); S. Satyapragyan (3.5) bt Ekaterini Fakhiridou (Gre, 2.5).
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A CURIOUS BUT FACINATING TEST MATCH

The second Test which concluded here on Sunday confirmed what has been known for a while now but requires to be shown anew, scrubbed of the glaze that is applied by constant cricket.
These, to name two, are: a playing strip that offers bounce — whatever else be its failings — will spark rich, varied, fulfilling Test cricket between two closely matched opponents; this Indian team over the last few years has proven itself not just as a formidable touring side, but as one that is particularly combative when down for the count.
The Galle International Stadium wicket, hollowed and re-laid after the tsunami had caked it with salt, was a curious surface. It appeared a pitch of two parts — dryly cracked at the half closer to the City End, moistly spotted at the end back-dropped by the fort. It produced both a double-hundred at very nearly a run a ball, and a rush of nine wickets in a two-and-a-half hour session.Something for everyone
Virender Sehwag, the author of the double-century, said the ball came on. Ajantha Mendis, who scalped ten, found his undercut carom ball skidding like a fish on ice. Ishant Sharma, having flogged the strip from his 6ft 6in frame, raised discomforting bounce.
The conditions arranged themselves for a fascinating Test match. Through the four days, the spinners found turn — both slow and sharp — and the seamers found cut. To add to all this, the breeze from the sea brought drift and swing.
The contest progressed rapidly, finishing a day early despite losing nearly four hours to a sharp shower; yet there were moments when the cricket snailed along. The shape of battle was determined by spin, but two vital blows with the game still open were struck with the new ball before lunch on day four.
It was indeed a curious Test match, comprised — as Mike Brearley wrote describing the coincident Test between England and South Africa — of the brilliant and the brainless. Although rich, varied, and fulfilling, the second Test didn’t produce consistently sound cricket.
Perhaps it was a good thing, for the sublime moments — and there were several — were thrown into relief, contrasted against the mundane. Shifting gears
India won the Test because it lifted itself when the game was in the balance. This quality, more than any other, has come to define the side. India did it in Galle through Sehwag, Gambhir, Harbhajan, and Ishant — and each time the increase in intensity was palpable.
Sehwag showed the way, carrying his bat in the first innings and sweeping the cloak of mystery off Mendis and Murali. His role in emancipating a sometimes careworn-looking middle-order has not always been given its due (shockingly, after all he has done, he is still seen in some quarters as a hit-or-miss batsman), but at Galle there was no more significant performance.
Gambhir’s two half-centuries, supporting Sehwag’s 201 n.o. and 50, allowed India swift getaways in both innings — agenda-setting in the first, distance-opening in the second. Moreover, Gambhir’s mastery in playing spin, particularly in reading Mendis, bought India tactical space for its middle order.
Harbhajan stopped Sri Lanka in its tracks, arresting the momentum Malinda Warnapura and Kumar Sangakkara had built. The off-spinner’s spell after tea on the second day ensured India would gain the first-innings lead. Ishant realised that a shortening of length was required, and on finding his rhythm delivered a spell of prolonged hostility, breaking Sri Lanka in the second innings.Bouncing back
What makes the comeback from the innings-and-239-run defeat in the first Test all the more remarkable is the fact that there were moments at the SSC when India appeared singularly incapable of such resilience.
But this side, as Anil Kumble pointed out, has done it before.
For a team perceived to possess a soft underbelly (an impression that has surprisingly lingered), India’s record in crunch situations is impressive.
In the last two and a half years, India has overmastered opponents in Kingston and Johannesburg (2006), Trent Bridge (2007), and Perth (2008).
The other facet vital in being recognised as the world’s best — the ability to string together wins, getting the job done day-in, day-out — is yet to be achieved, which is why India isn’t Australia but the side Australia fears most.

POWER WORDS ON M.PS BRIBARY MATTER

Three United Progressive Alliance (UPA) allies on Monday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of stage-managing the “cash for vote” scam for political gains.
Addressing a joint press conference here, leaders of the Lok Jan Shakti Party (LJP), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) said the BJP could be charged with suppression of truth as it did not report the matter to the police when a bribe was allegedly offered to its MPs.
A CD was shown to the media as ‘proof’ that it was a BJP act. “All the claims of the BJP leaders have been proved wrong,” SP chief Mulayam Singh said. He said when some people visited the BJP MP Ashok Argal’s house to deliver money, the matter should have been reported to the police and fingerprints immediately lifted.
The CD shows Faggan Singh Kulaste (BJP MP) admitting that the show was planned by his party and that he had never met Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh at his residence. “The entire incident was cooked up by the BJP to make it an issue in the next elections,” Mr. Mulayam Singh alleged. The disc shows Mr. Amar Singh’s alleged aide Sanjeev Saxena going inside the BJP leader Arun Jaitley’s house and coming out with a heavy bag suggesting that the money for the “bribe” was arranged by him.
Mr. Amar Singh, accused of being involved in the scam, questioned the integrity of the BJP leaders. He said that assuming he had given the money the complainants should have asked for a forensic test.
On Sanjeev Saxena’s role, the Samajwadi Party leaders said that he was close to Shahid Siddiqui and had left the party along with him to join the Bahujan Samaj Party. Being probed on the SMS sent by him on behalf of the party, they said he (Mr. Saxena) had disassociated himself from the party on July 20.
Union Chemicals and Fertilizer Minister Ram Vilas Paswan (LJP) said the three MPs should have informed the Lok Sabha Speaker when the offer was made to them. Why were the people entertained and allowed to bring the money, he sought to know. “No one believed it”
Demanding that a narco-analysis test be carried out on the MPs who made the allegation, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad said the BJP had been “exposed” and no one actually believed the scam.

INDIA AND KABUL TOGETHER ATTACK ON TERRARISUM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday pledged to not allow terrorism come in the way of India’s “abiding commitment to Afghanistan’s efforts to build a democratic, pluralistic and stable polity” and announced the allocation of an additional $450 million in assistance to the war-torn nation.
The announcement came after discussions with visiting Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai.
Describing the July 7 terrorist attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul as an attack on the friendship between India and Afghanistan, Dr. Singh said terrorism had no barriers and was not bound by any restraints.
The additional aid, coming on top of the existing commitments totalling $750 million, will push the quantum of New Delhi’s assistance to Kabul above $1 billion, a sign of the importance India attaches to peace and stability in the newest member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.
India has just completed the construction of the Zaranj-Dalaram road, part of a larger project to create a route for Indian exports via Iran. Ready to host meet
Dr. Singh expressed India’s willingness to host a meeting of the Joint Coordination Monitoring Board (JCMB), the multilateral body that oversees and harmonises the efforts of countries contributing financially and militarily for restoration of peace in Afghanistan.
Other members of the JCMB include the U.S., China, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Japan, Germany and the U.K.
In a statement, Mr. Karzai said India and Afghanistan together faced the “challenges of terrorism, of cold-blooded, brutal murderous activity” and that the two countries had no option “but to be united in fighting the menace.”