India would be under pressure on ties with Iran: Curtis

Washington: Now that Israeli diplomats have been targeted in India, the country will have to seriously factor the costs of oil trade with Iran to its rapidly growing defence ties with Israel, a noted American expert said today.

"India will find it increasingly difficult to placate both Iran, on the one hand, and the US and Israel, on the other," Lisa Curtis of The Heritage Foundation said after the bombing on an Israeli diplomatic vehicles in New Delhi.

Curtis, a well-known US expert on South Asian issues, said India will have to seriously factor the costs of oil trade with Iran to its rapidly-growing defence partnership with Israel.

"In the coming months, India and Israel are expected to sign a number of military contracts involving co-production and sophisticated Israeli technologies," she said. It will be increasingly difficult for Indian officials to sweep under the carpet their growing trade ties with Tehran, she said.

Skills of Indian strategists who seek to balance India's role as a growing global power with its need to guard against the prospect of rising regional instability will be tested in coming months as the international confrontation with Iran intensifies, she noted.

Curtis argued the US must continue to press India to stay in step with the international sanctions regime against Iran, but US officials should also be more sensitive to India's concerns about Afghanistan.

"US officials should reassure their Indian counterparts that Washington will remain engaged with Afghanistan diplomatically, financially, and even militarily to some degree, long after 2014 when the US combat mission is set to expire," she said.

"Washington should also quell any suspicions that it is getting ready to strike a deal with the Taliban that would embolden extremists in the region and sacrifice the hard-won social gains made over the last decade," Curtis said.

Black money: Indians have stashed over $500bn in banks abroad, says CBI

NEW DELHI: Indians are the largest depositors in banks abroad with an estimated 500 billion US dollars (nearly Rs 24.5 lakh crore) of illegal money stashed by them in tax havens, the CBI director said on Monday.

India, in particular, has suffered from the flow of illegal funds to tax havens such as Mauritius, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, British Virgin islands etc.

"It is estimated that around 500 billion dollars of illegal money belonging to Indians is deposited in tax havens abroad. Largest depositors in Swiss Banks are also reported to be Indians," CBI director A P Singh said speaking at the inauguration of first interpol global programme on anti-corruption and asset recovery.

He said getting information about such illegal transactions is a time taking process as investigators have to peel each layer by sending judicial requests to the country where such deposits have been made.

"53 per cent of the countries said to be least corrupt by the Transparency International Index are offshore tax havens, where most of the corrupt money goes. The tax havens include New Zealand which is ranked as the least corrupt country, Singapore ranked number five and Switzerland number seven," Singh said.

He said there is a lack of political will in the leading tax haven states to part with the information because they are aware of the extent to which their economies have become "geared to this flow of illegal capitals from the poorer countries."

Indian woman in UAE ready to give police statement after surviving suicide bid

DUBAI: An Indian woman, who was found in her apartment in Dubai with her wrists slashed in an apparent suicide bid, along with the bodies of her husband and daughter, has recovered and will soon give a statement to the police.

Last month, Dubai police found Sreesha, 30, screaming hysterically in her bathroom after slashing her wrist and she was hospitalized in a critical condition.

Her husband Rijesh, 32, was found hanging from the ceiling in his flat and their five-year-old daughter Avanti dead in her room without any apparent signs of what caused her death.

According to sources, Sreesha, the sole survivor of the family, will soon be discharged from the hospital, Gulf News reports.

"However, whenever police investigation is involved (such as criminal cases or traffic accidents), the police are first notified before the patient is discharged," the source added.

According to hospital staff, Sreesha earlier said that 'she does not remember anything that happened, and told her relatives that the last thing she remembers is going to sleep the night before.'

Meanwhile, forensic investigations established that the child was smothered to death with a pillow and that the father committed suicide by hanging himself.

If it is proven that Sreesha was also involved in suffocating her daughter, she would face charges of murder and attempted suicide.

Thai Government Insists Bangkok Blasts Not Terrorism-Related

Bangkok - Authorities in Thailand say an Iranian man detonated explosives in Bangkok, damaging a rented house and severely injuring himself and a few bystanders.  But the government insists there is no evidence suggesting the man was a terrorist or related to last month’s arrest of a suspected Hezbollah operative and a large amount of explosives. 

Authorities say the Iranian national accidentally blew his legs off Tuesday in eastern Bangkok after throwing explosives he was carrying at police.

Government spokeswoman Thitima Chaisang says the man and two other Iranian accomplices had detonated a bomb earlier in their rented house in the Thai capital and were attempting to flee.

“So, one of them was running from the house and called a taxi but taxi did not answer, did not want him to get in.  So, he throws the bomb to the taxi and then he ran away and he met police," Thitima explained.  "So, he tried to throw another bomb, the third one, to the police but it did not work.  He bombed himself.  So, he lost his legs.”

A few people nearby were also injured and police are still looking for the accomplices.
Thitima says police believe the Iranian men were making bombs in the house but their intended target was not clear.

Nonetheless, she says Thai intelligence dismissed concerns they might be terrorists.
In January, Thai police arrested a Lebanese man believed to be linked to the terrorist group Hezbollah.  He led police to a stockpile of four tons of explosives.

His arrest came as the United States and other embassies issued warnings of a possible terrorist attack in Bangkok.

Thai authorities, some worried about the effect on tourism, denied Bangkok was the intended target and insisted the explosives were meant for export.

The Tuesday Bangkok blasts occurred a day after two bomb attacks targeting Israeli diplomats in Georgia and India.

Israel accused Iran and the Iranian-supported Hezbollah of being behind the attacks while Tehran denies it is responsible.

Thai authorities blame foreigner for 3 explosions, wounded civilians

BANGKOK—A man carrying explosives blew off his own legs and wounded four other people in two blasts Tuesday in Bangkok, Thai authorities said.
Security forces found more explosives in the assailant’s rented house in the capital, but it was not known what targets they might have been meant for, Police Gen. Pansiri Prapawat said.
A day earlier, an Israeli diplomatic car was bombed in New Delhi, and Israel blamed Iran for that attack. Authorities did not immediately say if a link was suspected, but Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said in Jerusalem, “we can’t rule out any possibility.”
One of the blasts in Bangkok damaged a taxi, and a grenade detonated as the assailant carried it down a sidewalk outside a Thai school, said Col. Warawut Taweechaikarn, a senior police officer in the district.
Photos of the wounded Iranian man showed him covered in dark soot on a sidewalk outside the school strewn with broken glass. A dark satchel nearby was investigated by a bomb disposal unit.
Pansiri said a passport found at the scene indicated the man was Saeid Moradi from Iran. Authorities in Tehran could not immediately be reached for comment.
Three Thai men and one Thai woman were brought to Kluaynamthai Hospital for treatment of injuries, Suwinai Busarakamwong, a doctor there, said.
A third blast occurred inside a rented house on the same road, busy with businesses and apartment blocks, but it injured no one.
Last month, a Lebanese-Swedish man with alleged links to pro-Iranian Hezbollah militants was detained by Thai police. He led authorities to a warehouse filled with more than 8,800 pounds (4,000 kilograms) of urea fertilizer and several gallons of liquid ammonium nitrate.
Israel and the United States at the time warned their citizens to be alert in the capital, but Thai authorities said Thailand appeared to have been a staging ground but not the target of any attack.
Pansiri said that “so far, we haven’t found any links between these two cases.”
He said Moradi had been renting the house in Bangkok with two other unidentified foreigners. Immigration police are trying to trace Moradi’s movements, but initial reports indicated he had travelled to Bangkok from the southern Thai resort town of Phuket on Feb. 8.
Bangkok’s blasts came one day after bombs targeted Israeli diplomats in India and Georgia. The attack in India wounded four people, while the device found in Georgia did not explode. Iran has denied it was responsible.
In Jerusalem, Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said there was not yet any sign that any targets in Bangkok were Israeli or Jewish.
Israeli police have increased the state of alert in the country, emphasizing public places, foreign embassies and offices, as well as Ben-Gurion International Airport.
Thailand has rarely been a target for foreign terrorists, although a domestic Muslim insurgency in the country’s south has involved bombings of civilian targets.

17 Indians jailed over bootlegging, murder charges in UAE may be deported soon

DUBAI: A group of 17 Indian men in the UAE, who were sentenced to six months in jail over bootlegging and murder charges are likely to be deported soon, their lawyer has said.

The men faced charges of bootlegging in January this year.

The death sentence imposed on them for the murder of a Pakistani man, Misri Khan, was commuted in September last year, after the victim's family was paid 3.4 million Dirham in blood money.

Defence lawyer Bindu Chettur said that the 17 men have already served their six-month terms.

"They have been in jail for more than two years and six months for bootlegging and murder. The judgement was pronounced in the judge's chamber today and we are waiting for the details of the verdict," Gulf News quoted Chettur, as saying.

The men have been in jail since 2009 for the murder of Khan and for assaulting three others during a bootlegging fight in the Emirate of Sharjah.

According to the report, the civil case against the 17 Indians, in which two men have sought compensation for injuries sustained in the bootlegging brawl, is scheduled for February 15.

The court is expected to examine the degree of disability of the injured and decide the future course of action.

Meanwhile, out of the 61 Indians accused in cases of bootlegging-murder in Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman, all except three have escaped the death penalty or life imprisonment, with 25 having returned home in the last few months and the remainder serving commuted terms.

No evidence to name any country in Delhi car blast: India

NEW DELHI: As investigators try hard to find clues, Union home secretary R K Singh today said there was no evidence till now to suggest involvement of any country in the bomb attack on an Israeli diplomat here.

"We have no evidence to name any country. It's premature to take any country's name," he told reporters when asked whether there was Iranian hand in yesterday's terror attack which left four persons including an Israeli diplomat injured.

The Home Secretary said the investigators were yet to zero in on people behind the crime and no material has suggested involvement of any particular country.

"We don't have any idea who planted it. There is no material to show involvement of any country. The perpetrators behind the attack will be known only after the investigation is completed," he said.

Meanwhile, official sources said there was no prior intelligence input about yesterday's terror strike and the device used to carry out the blast was very sophisticated and it was used in India for the first time.

After examination of the blast site, forensic experts have concluded that neither any battery nor any circuit was used in the bomb but traces of aluminium were found from the spot. The experts also said that RDX was also not used in the explosion.

Meanwhile, the Home Ministry has issued an advisory to all states to beef up security in Jewish establishments and for Israeli tourists visiting India.

The Centre also told the states hosting diplomatic missions of Israel, the United States and other Western countries, to beef up security there. The Home Ministry also advised the states not to allow parking near any missions and make alternative arrangements for it.

Jet Airways suspends pilot for allowing trainee to be co-pilot

NEW DELHI: Jet Airways had suspended the pilot of one of its flights and another cockpit crew for two and half months for allowing a trainee pilot to take over from co-pilot to land the plane in Mumbai, endangering all those onboard. Aviation regulator DGCA had asked the Jet to take action against the pilot and the chief of its flight safety in connection with the incident that had taken place about four months ago, official sources said. A Jet Airways spokesperson said the action against the pilot and another member of the cockpit crew was taken based on "appropriate investigations and a confidential report".
The commander, who had asked the co-pilot to make way for the trainee pilot on board, was suspended for two and half months. However, he resumed flying after serving out his suspension period. DGCA had asked the Jet Airways to take action against the chief of its flight safety in connection with the incident. The airlines spokesperson said "we have been in discussion with DGCA. They are completely satisfied with the steps taken". "In line with international practises on enforcing safety, a voluntary and confidential reporting system exists in Jet Airways for all its employees", she said.

We are ready to help solve EU debt crisis: China

CHINA: China's Premier Wen Jiabao said Tuesday his country was ready to increase its participation in efforts to resolve Europe's debt crisis, after holding talks with EU leaders in Beijing.

Wen said China wanted to see Europe -- its biggest trading partner -- "maintain stability and prosperity", a day after ratings agency Moody's downgraded Italy, Spain and Portugal.

The two sides also agreed during the talks to give fresh impetus to Beijing's efforts to attain full market economy status (MES) for China in the European Union, according to a joint communique issued after the summit.

"China is ready to increase its participation in resolving the EU debt problems," the Chinese premier told journalists after meeting EU president Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso.

China was considering using Europe's bail-out funds to help address the continent's fiscal woes, Wen added, without elaborating further on how the Asian power might be prepared to contribute.

China has made clear its growing concerns over the crisis in Europe, repeatedly urging EU leaders to get a grip on the situation, which the foreign ministry said this week had reached a "critical juncture".

European leaders last year approached China, which holds the world's largest foreign exchange reserves, to invest in a bail-out fund to rescue debt-stricken states.

EU leaders will discuss in March whether to boost the size of the 500 billion euro European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the permanent rescue fund due to begin operating in July.

Van Rompuy said he welcomed "the readiness of China to cooperate with the European Union in order to ensure the financial stability of the eurozone.

"We have not just navigated a difficult bend, but we have turned a corner," he added.

Leaders of the 17-nation eurozone and eight other EU nations agreed last month to create a new fiscal pact requiring signatories to put balanced budgets into law.

But Moody's this week questioned whether Europe was pulling together adequate resources to deal with the crisis as it chopped the debt ratings of Italy, Spain and Portugal.

The ratings agency also put France, Britain and Austria on warning, saying they were increasingly vulnerable to the eurozone crisis, which has brought Greece to the brink of bankruptcy and triggered violence in a number of cities.

Wen's comments came after the International Monetary Fund warned last week that an escalation of the EU debt crisis could slash China's economic growth in half this year.

Meanwhile, China and the EU stressed in the joint communique that the two sides should work towards resolving the MES issue "in a swift and comprehensive way."

Beijing has long demanded that the European Union accord China full market economy status, a technical designation that would remove certain restrictions to Chinese exports and investments in Europe.

EU leaders say the Asian giant has not yet met the necessary conditions, pointing out that most of China's largest companies are state-owned and their leaders appointed by the government.

Wen pledged that China would improve its laws and regulations in relation to foreign investment, enhance protection of intellectual property and improve its investment environment.

"China will continue to fully meet its World Trade Organization commitments," he said. "It will continue to expand market access."

The two sides also discussed the crisis in Syria, after China and Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution condemning the regime's bloody crackdown on protests, drawing international ire.

"China will absolutely not protect any party, including the government in Syria," Wen told reporters, as the international community warned of a humanitarian disaster in Syria.

Since the crackdown was launched less than a year ago, more than 6,000 people have been killed, monitors say.

The United States has called the rare double veto a "travesty", while one Syrian opposition group said it had handed President Bashar al-Assad's regime a "licence to kill".

Barroso and Van Rompuy will also hold talks with China's President Hu Jintao on Wednesday as part of the summit, which was originally due to take place in October, but had to be postponed due to the debt crisis.

Green tax on outside vehicles in Shimla from Feb 20

SHIMLA: To reduce vehicle congestion in popular hill resort, Shimla, the Himachal Pradesh government on Monday approved a civic body's proposal to impose green tax on outside vehicles entering the city. The urban development department issued a notification authorizing the municipal corporation to impose green taxes on outside vehicles on the pattern of tax levied in Manali.
The green tax would come into effect from February 20, officials said. The Corporation would earn Rs six crore annually from the green tax, they said.

Construction of Ram temple should begin by 2014: Singhal

JAIPUR: A senior VHP leader today said the issue of Ram temple construction in Ayodhya could be "resolved" in Parliament instead of a court, expressing hope that work on building the structure should begin by 2014.

"If a proposal regarding the issue is brought in Parliament, it would get support of its members. We talked with many MPs who assured us to support the matter if it is brought in Parliament," VHP leader Ashok Singhal told reporters here.

"This is a matter above politics. I think that instead of court, the issue possibly can be resolved in Parliament because Members of Parliament are in its favour," he said.

He said the construction of the temple should begin from 2014.

"It is our hope and desire that the construction of grand temple in Ayodha should begin by 2014 because several years have already passed," Singhal added.

Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, makes Valentine's Day trip to Liverpool

LONDON - Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, is spending her first Valentine's Day as a married woman nearly 8,000 miles away from her husband.

The former Kate Middleton, 30, spent the romantic holiday on a solo visit to the English city of Liverpool, while Prince William is currently deployed as a helicopter search-and-rescue pilot in the remote Falkland Islands.

Pictures: Kate, Duchess of Cambridge
Pictures: Kate's royal looks

Her first stop was The Brink, an alcohol-free bar linked to Action on Addiction, one of the charities she supports.

Kate, wearing a brown belted coat by Hobbs, shook hands with staff and met community leaders during the visit, according to the Telegraph. She was served a smoothie named "The Duchess" in her honor, which reportedly contained almonds, skim milk, honey, banana and a dash of cream.

But just because Kate was short a prince doesn't mean she was short a valentine - the duchess got a card and a bouquet of red roses from 8-year-old Jaqson Johnston-Lynch, whose mother works at the charity. Speaking before the royal's arrival, he told reporters that he would tell Kate: "Happy Valentine's Day, your Royal Highness. I'm sorry Prince William can't be here."

According to the Daily Mail, Kate accepted the young boy's gift with a "gracious smile," and told Jaqson and his mother that she received flowers and a card from William that morning.

The duchess then went on to visit Liverpool's Alder Hay Children's Hospital. The Daily Mail reports that she was given a tour of the hospital's facilities, including the oncology and burn units. She was also to meet with Aimee Haswell, a 7-year-old girl suffering from a rare heart condition, according to the Telegraph.

Last week, Kate took on her first solo royal engagement, visiting London's National Portrait Gallery, of which she is patron, to tour a special exhibit of Lucian Freud's work.