India troops vacate Kashmir schools and hospitals

Troops have vacated all hospitals and schools in Indian-administered Kashmir because of the improving security situation there, India says.

Speaking during a visit to the state, Defense Minister AK Antony said that paramilitary police would take over more responsibilities from the army.

He said that from mid-January they would be responsible for security on the key Jammu-Srinagar highway.

In December Mr Anthony said that 30,000 troops had been withdrawn from Kashmir.

Commandeered

"This has been done to reduce the visibility of the army, without in anyway diluting out counter-militant grid," Mr Antony said while reviewing security in the region on Wednesday.

"The process of winning hearts and minds of people is never an easy one."

A 20-year insurgency against Indian rule in Jammu and Kashmir has claimed more than 47,000 lives since 1990.

During that time the army has often commandeered hospital and school buildings for counter-insurgency duties.

Mr Antony said that hard work by the security forces and local people had reduced the level of violence in Jammu and Kashmir, but warned that militant attempts at infiltration from Pakistan had increased.

The BBC's Altaf Hussain in Srinagar says that Wednesday's announcement is bound to be welcomed, even though troops still continue to occupy private land, some of it farmland.

Last year the state government disclosed that troops were occupying more than 50,000 hectares of land, our correspondent says.

Violence has decreased considerably in the Kashmir valley since India and Pakistan started a peace process in 2004.

But talks were suspended after the 2008 Mumbai (Bombay) attacks in which 174 people were killed, including nine gunmen.

Kashmir has been a flashpoint between India and Pakistan for more than 50 years and the scene of two of their three wars.

India sent its troops into Kashmir's towns and villages 20 years ago to deal with a worsening insurgency, but correspondents say that their presence there remains deeply unpopular.

Source: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8457345.stm.

Pakistan had ceded some Jammu and Kashmir territory to China in exchange for nuclear and missile technologies

Sudir Chadda
Jan. 13, 2010

China did not become the best friend of Pakistan for free. Pakistan got its nuclear bombs and missiles from China in exchange of gifting illegally occupied Indian land of Jammu and Kashmir to China.

Pakistan had ceded some territory to China in 1963. At an India-Pakistan peace conference here on Monday, People’s Conference Chairman Sajjad Gani Lone had accused Islamabad of gifting Kashmiri territory under its occupation to China.

Pakistan's nuclear and missile technology program started with the Chinese technologies provided to Islamabad in exchange of Kashmiri land ceded to communist China.

One always wonders how North Korea and Pakistan got missile technology without a strong space research program. Now you know how China illegally gave it to Pakistan in exchange of 750 square miles of Kashmiri land that belongs to India.

Source: India Daily.
Link: http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/21310.asp.

Greek prime minister condemns bomb attack on parliament

Sun, 10 Jan 2010

Athens - Greek Prime Minister Giorgos Papandreou vowed that "democracy cannot be terrorized" Sunday, after visiting the scene of a bomb explosion outside the parliament building in Athens. The powerful explosion shook the center of the capital Saturday evening, although there were no injuries and little physical damage.

A warning had been telephoned through to a leading Greek newspaper 10 minutes before the blast.

The bomb was of medium strength and placed in a rubbish bin left in the small ornamental garden outside the front of the parliament, police confirmed Sunday.

The authorities believe one of a number of small, leftist or anarchist groups will have been behind the attack.

"Democracy cannot be terrorized," Papandreou said after himself visiting the scene of the blast.

According to the Minister for Civil Defense, Michalis Chrysochoidis, targeting the parliament building was a "symbolic act", but he vowed the "perpetrators will be held to account."

Later Saturday evening, after the blast, a number of fake bomb alerts were phoned in to the authorities.(1800 GMT).

Police had already cut off traffic and cleared the area after an anonymous caller contacted the Greek daily Eltherotypia newspaper ten minutes before the detonation of the bomb.

Since police killed a 15-year-old demonstrator in December 2008, the Greek capital has been beset by violent protests and multiple bombings against police stations, banks and state agencies.

The violence over the last year has left one policeman dead in the last year and seven more wounded, some seriously. Police stations, vehicles and banks have been common targets of attacks.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/302918,greek-prime-minister-condemns-bomb-attack-on-parliament.html.

Gun ban takes effect in Philippines ahead of May elections

Sun, 10 Jan 2010

Manila - A nationwide gun ban took effect Sunday in the Philippines as part of efforts to reduce violence ahead of general elections in May, police said. Under the ban, only state law enforcers and authorized private protection agents are allowed to carry firearms, Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina, national police spokesman, said.

Espina said permits to carry firearms issued to civilians are generally suspended during the election period, which runs from Sunday through June 15.

Gun owners can apply for exemptions with the Commission on Elections, but they have to go undergo a strict process and be able to prove that they are under threat.

Police have set up 3,500 checkpoints all over the Philippines to enforce the gun ban, Espina said.

At least 12 people were arrested in the first few hours since the ban took effect.

"There are no excuses that can be entertained for violating the gun ban," Espina said.

Police must also be in uniform to carry their firearms, otherwise they would be in violation of the gun ban, he added.

Espina assured the public that police officers manning checkpoints around the country have been given "strict instructions to observe proper decorum and human rights provisions."

"Any complaints can be channeled to the nearest police stations if abuses are committed," he added.

Elections in the Philippines have traditionally been marred by violence and allegations of massive cheating. In the last national elections in 2007, more than 140 people were killed in poll-related violence.

More than 18,000 positions are up for grabs in the elections on May 10, including president, vice president, senators, congressional representatives, governors, and mayors.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/302919,gun-ban-takes-effect-in-philippines-ahead-of-may-elections.html.

Over 200 dead in India's cold snap

Sun, 10 Jan 2010

New Delhi - At least 239 people have died as bitterly cold weather has swept across northern and eastern India over the past week, news reports said Sunday. More than 15 people died Saturday night in northern Uttar Pradesh state, NDTV news channel reported.

In national capital Delhi, the minimum temperature rose marginally to nine degrees centigrade whilst the maximum stood at 12 degrees, the lowest in five years.

Most victims were either the elderly or the poor, who have inadequate shelter and warm clothing.

Dense fog over many parts of northern India continued to disrupt train and air services and affected road traffic.

India's meteorological department said the cold weather conditions were due to western disturbances that led to snowfall in the hill states and upper regions of the Himalayas.

The department said the cold wave was likely to continue for another one to two days.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/302928,over-200-dead-in-indias-cold-snap.html.

China's exports fall in 2009 but rebound in December

Sun, 10 Jan 2010

Beijing - China's export value fell by 16 per cent in 2009 but monthly exports rose by 18 per cent in December, in a possible sign of economic recovery, the government said Sunday. China's total foreign trade value dropped by 14 per cent to 2.21 trillion dollars last year, while its trade surplus fell 34 per cent to 196.1 billion dollars, the General Administration of Customs said.

Exports were down to 1.2 trillion dollars and imports dropped to 1.01 trillion dollars, 11 per cent below the 2008 figure, the customs report said.

But total trade rose by 33 per cent year-on-year to 243 billion dollars in December, with exports valued at 130.7 billion dollars, up 18 per cent, and monthly imports soaring by 56 per cent to 112.3 billion dollars.

China's huge trade surplus has created friction with the United States and Europe, where critics have accused China of deliberately overvaluing its currency to make imports to China more expensive and keep the price of Chinese exports artificially low.

In a commentary on Sunday, the official Xinhua news agency said China had contributed to global economic recovery by trying to boost domestic consumption last year as exports fell, including a 4 trillion yuan (580 billion dollars) economic stimulus package.

"Closely related with the developed economies through its high reliance on foreign trade, the Chinese economy also felt the impact from the crisis," the agency said.

"Export growth slowed down, some factories were closed and workers went home as fewer orders came," it said.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/302927,chinas-exports-fall-in-2009-but-rebound-in-december.html.

Hamas: If Shalit deal fails, 'it will be Netanyahu's fault'

Sun, 10 Jan 2010

Cairo - If a deal to release the hostage Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit fails, "it will be Netanyahu's fault," leading Hamas politician Moussa Abu Marzouq said Sunday. Hamas captured Shalit near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip in 2006, and a deal to see him freed in return for the release of several hundred Palestinian prisoners by Israel has been brewing for months.

Hamas' exiled deputy political leader told the daily al-Hayat that he expected a German mediator to convey Israel's "final decision" on a deal within two days.

"If the deal fails, It will be Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's fault," Abu Marzouq said.

Abu Marzouq also criticized the German mediator brokering the indirect talks alongside Egyptian intelligence officials for the current impasse in negotiations.

"The mediator did not take some steps he should have taken," Abu Marzouq told the daily.

Abu Marzouq said that both Netanyahu and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had retracted offers they had originally made in the negotiations, but that Netanyahu had done so more often.

The Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharanot on Friday reported that Netanyahu had discussed with Olmert the details of what had scuppered negotiations on a prisoner-swap deal in March 2009.

Abu Marzouq said recent talks had faltered on the release of a few Palestinian militants.

"The number of those Israel refuses to release is not high," he told the daily.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/302926,hamas-if-shalit-deal-fails-it-will-be-netanyahus-fault.html.