GMR row: India tells Maldives not to take any coercive action

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MALE/NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday made it clear to the Maldives that no arbitrary or coercive measure should be taken in the GMR case pending the outcome of the legal proceedings, underlining that any such action would inevitably have adverse consequences for bilateral relations.

This was conveyed by external affairs minister Salman Khurshid when his Maldivian counterpart Abdul Samad Abdullah telephoned him up in the wake of the scrapping of the airport contract to the GMR by the Maldivian government Abdullah had mentioned that his government would not allow relations between India and Maldives to be undermined and that there was consensus on this issue, Syed Akbaruddin, the external affairs ministry spokesperson, told reporters here.

Khurshid reminded his Maldivian counterpart of his earlier discussions and stressed that "the legal processes involved in the GMR case should be permitted to take their own course based on the contractual obligations of the parties involved".

"The Maldivian government should not allow the situation to go out of hand," said the spokesperson while giving details of the telephonic conversation and the message conveyed by Khurshid to Abdullah.

"In this context, it is expected that no arbitrary and coercive measures should be taken pending the outcome of the legal process underway," said the spokesperson.

"Resort to any such actions would inevitably have adverse consequences for relations between India and the Maldives," he added.

In response to another question regarding the volatile situation in the Maldives, the spokesperson said India was concerned over reports from the Maldives about continuing violence and intimidation against elected representatives and expressions of radical sentiments.

"There is need to ensure that the rule of law is upheld and principles and tenets of democracy are maintained. We will continue to monitor the situation closely," he said.

However, the Maldives government has decided to go ahead with its plan to take full control of Male airport after ousting India's GMR. The call by the Maldives foreign minister was aimed at pacifying India, which is deeply upset over the cancellation of the airport contract given to Indian firm GMR.

The Maldives minister explained legal and other reasons behind the cancellation of the project, said official sources.

The sources added that Abdullah sought India's understanding and hoped it will not hurt bilateral ties, said the sources.

Abdullah conveyed to Khurshid that a detailed communication on the GMR issue will be sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

On his part, Khurshid conveyed India's displeasure at the decision and underlined that the scrapping of the biggest single Indian FDI in the Maldives will negatively impact bilateral trade ties and the larger relationship.

In a move to put pressure on Male, India has put on hold aid to the Maldives after the Maldives government Monday decided to take control of the international airport despite a Singapore court staying the suspension of the contract given to India's GMR-led consortium.

The high court of Singapore suspended the Maldives government's decision last week to terminate the $500 million contract awarded to the consortium for developing the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport at Male.

The Maldives government, however, has chosen to defy the court order.

"We will continue the airport takeover and Inshallah next Saturday onwards MACL (state-controlled Maldives Airport Company Ltd) will be running the airport," Defence minister and acting transport minister Mohamed Nazim told reporters in Male Monday.

Upset at the Maldives government's attitude, India has put on hold $25-million budgetary commitment to Male, said reliable sources Monday. The bilateral ties will be affected, said the sources. The Indian government is also studying the court order and its implications, said the sources.

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Pictures We Love: Best of November

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Photograph by Qais Usyan, AFP/Getty Images

The family of a five-year-old Afghan girl, victim of an alleged rape by a 22-year-old man, sits at her hospital bedside in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, on November 12. News agencies reported that the assailant, a neighbor, was later detained by police.

(Read about the continued struggle of women in Afghanistan in National Geographic magazine.)

Why We Love It

"The perspective and stark lighting reinforce how small and defenseless this little girl is—her body engulfed by the bed and blankets, with only her feet showing. The bedframe appears to trap her and her family, just as they are trapped in this cycle of violence."—Monica Corcoran, senior photo editor

"This image has a symbolic quality. The light draws our attention immediately to the girl. We see, however, nothing to identify her. It could be any girl who is lying there. Her family at her bedside and their facial expressions indicate that rape affects not only the victim. Overall, this image shows the universality of human suffering."—Amina El Banayosy, photo intern

Published December 4, 2012

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Alaska Serial Killer Buried Murder Kits Across US

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Israel Keyes, the Alaskan man whoconfessed to seven murders before killing himself in a jail cell, told police that he traveled the country to find victims and buried caches of weapons, money and tools for disposing of bodies to use in future crimes.


The FBI also released an ominous list of 35 trips Keyes made around the U.S., Mexico and Canada over the last eight years.


Keyes, 34, the owner of an Anchorage construction company, was in jail charged with the February murder of Samantha Koenig, 18. While in jail he had been confessing to at least seven other killings in Washington, New York and Vermont. He was found dead in his Alaska jail cell on Sunday in an apparent suicide.


Investigators are now piecing together a deadly puzzle that is uncovering a macabre lifestyle of Keyes traveling to kill simply because he "liked to do it," prosecutors said.


"In a series of interviews with law enforcement, Keyes described significant planning and preparation for his murders, reflecting a meticulous and organized approach to the crimes," the Anchorage FBI office said in a statement.


The FBI has released a timeline of Keyes' travels that showed nearly three dozen trips between 2004 and 2012. The destinations of the trips are vague, described only by U.S. region in most cases, but span the entire country, including Hawaii. There are also trips to Canada and Mexico listed.


"Keyes also admitted traveling to various locations to leave supplies he planned to use in a future crime. Keyes buried caches throughout the United States," the FBI said.










Missing Alaska Barista Had Past Restraining Order Watch Video







Authorities have already recovered two caches, one in Alaska and one in New York, that contained money, weapons and items for disposing of bodies. Keyes indicated that there were other supply boxes buried across the country.


He funded his travel with the proceeds from bank robberies, authorities said.


"Investigators believe that Keyes did not know any of his victims prior to their abductions," the FBI said. "He described several remote locations that he frequented to look for victims--parks, campgrounds, trailheads, cemeteries, boating areas, etc."


Keyes told authorities that his victims received little if any media attention when they disappeared. Authorities said that "based on his own research," Keyes said that one of his victims had been recovered, but the death was ruled accidental. Investigators said they have not identified the victim or location of that alleged crime.


Before his death, Keyes indicated that, in addition to Koenig and a Vermont couple, he killed four people in Washington State and one person in New York, but did not give the victims' names, authorities said.


"It was not unusual for Keyes to fly into an airport, rent a car, and drive hundreds of miles to his final destination," the FBI said.


That is precisely what Keyes did in the murder of Bill and Lorraine Currier in Essex, Vt., last year. He flew from Alaska to Chicago in June 2011. He rented a car in Chicago and drove to Vermont where he spent three days looking for his next victims and planning the slaying.


"When [Keyes] left Alaska, he left with the specific purpose of kidnapping and murdering someone," Chittenden County State Attorney T. J. Donovan said at the press conference. "He was specifically looking for a house that had an attached garage, no car in the driveway, no children, no dog."


The Curriers, unfortunately, fit all of Keyes' criteria. He spent three days in Vermont before striking. He even took out a three-day fishing license and fished before the slayings.


Keyes abducted the couple from their home and murdered them in an abandoned barn he had located before breaking into the Curriers' home. After binding the couple with plastic cuffs, the beat the husband with a shovel and then shot him. The wife was raped and strangled.


"By all accounts, [the Curriers] were friendly, peaceful, good people who encountered a force of pure evil acting at random," an investigator said at today's news conference. Authorities called the ongoing investigation a "huge case, national in scope."






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Top accounting firms face charges over China data

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WASHINGTON: US market regulators charged the China affiliates of five top accounting firms Monday with violation of securities laws for refusing to provide audit data related to China-based companies.

"The audit materials are being sought as part of SEC investigations into potential wrongdoing by nine China-based companies whose securities are publicly traded in the US," the Securities and Exchange Commission said.

The five firms charged were BDO China Dahua, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Certified Public Accountants, Ernst & Young Hua Ming, KPMG Huazhen, and PricewaterhouseCoopers Zhong Tian.

The SEC said they violated the Securities Exchange Act and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which requires foreign public accounting firms to provide the SEC upon request with audit work papers involving any company trading on US markets.

SEC investigators have been trying to obtain the data for months from the audit firms but they have refused to cooperate, it said in a statement.

"Only with access to work papers of foreign public accounting firms can the SEC test the quality of the underlying audits and protect investors from the dangers of accounting fraud," said Robert Khuzami, director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement.

"Firms that conduct audits knowing they cannot comply with laws requiring access to these work papers face serious sanctions."

- AFP/fa



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NRHM scam: CBI files chargesheet against Pradeep Shukla

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GHAZIABAD: The CBI today filed chargesheet against senior IAS officer Pradeep Shukla in connection with alleged irregularities in upgrading of 89 district hospitals in the state, under National Rural Health Mission scheme, causing a loss of Rs 16 crore to the exchequer.

The agency had received sanction to prosecute Shukla, the then family welfare secretary, on November 30 from the Centre after that a chargesheet was filed before special CBI court today.

Shukla and officials of UP Processing and Construction Cooperative Federation Ltd (PACCFED), including its managing director V K Chowdhary, the then DG of family welfare S P Ram, Moradabad-based businessman Saurabh Jain, and his firms were booked by the agency in January this year.

While remaining accused were chargesheeted in May this year, the charge sheet against Shukla was pending because CBI was awaiting sanction for his prosecution.

The 55-year-old UP-cadre IAS officer, serving as member revenue board, was arrested by the agency in May but was released on bail.

After release, Shukla joined back as member revenue board but the UP government issued orders of him being "deemed suspended".

CBI alleged officials of PACCFED favoured ineligible firms and released payment of Rs 16.93 crore on the basis of forged documents.

In its chargesheet, the agency alleged Shukla along with Ram entered in criminal conspiracy with private firms and gave contract related to upgrading of district hospitals in Uttar Pradesh worth Rs 89 crore on the basis of forged documents.

Out of Rs 16 crore loss caused to exchequer, more than Rs 13 crore was allegedly cornered by Jain, close confidante of former family welfare minister Babu Singh Kushwaha, who used it to bribe public servants and also invested in various companies.

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Photos: Kilauea Lava Reaches the Sea

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Kate Middleton Is Pregnant, in Hospital

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Kate Middleton is pregnant.


The most eagerly awaited pregnancy was announced today by St. James Palace on behalf of Middleton and her husband Prince William.


The child, whether boy or girl, will eventually be heir to the British throne according to new legislation awaiting final approval.


The duchess was admitted to King Edward VII Hospital today in central London with hyperemesis gravidarum, an acute morning sickness which requires supplementary hydration and nutrients, the palace said.


Prince William is by his wife's side at the hospital, according to Britain's Press Association.


Click here for photos of Kate through the years.


"As the pregnancy is in its very early stages, Her Royal Highness is expected to stay in hospital for several days and will require a period of rest thereafter," the statement said.


The royal family was clearly delighted with the news.


"Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting a baby," the palace said in a statement today. "The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Harry and members of both families are delighted with the news."


British Prime Minister David Cameron also reacted to the big news, telling BBC, "It's absolutely wonderful news and I'm sure everyone around the country will be celebrating with them tonight."


The prime minister told BBC that he found out when "I was handed a note in a meeting. And I have to say, it was difficult to keep it a secret."


The baby will be the queen's third great-grandchild.






Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images











Kate Middleton Pregnant, Admitted to Hospital Watch Video









Click here to vote for a royal name for a royal baby.


Robert Lacey, author of the definitive book "Majesty" said, "The British public and indeed the whole world will be delighted for the same, it keeps the monarchy going. The royal wedding brought a magic back to the monarchy and people are fascinated by William and Catherine."


The announcement follows relentless public and media speculation about when Prince William and his wife would have an heir. The guessing game began almost immediately after the couple said, "I do."


Click here for an interactive look at William and Kate's love story.


Tabloids began snapping close-ups of Middleton's stomach for any indication of a baby bump. Baby rumors abounded when the duchess held a baby at a press event and when she declined peanut butter at another event. British physicians are known to warn women against eating peanuts during pregnancy. When the couple got a dog, Lupo, headlines wondered if they were practicing for another addition to the family.


Click here for more on royal heirs around the world.


The palace, which rarely comments on speculation, took the unusual step of saying, "We would be the ones to make the announcement, not Hollywood."


"It is quite strange reading about it, but I try not to let it bother me," Prince William said in an interview with ABC News' Katie Couric in May 2012. "I'm just very keen to have a family and both Catherine and I are looking forward to having a family in the future."


Asked by Couric if there was anything else he wanted to share, he coyly answered, "You won't get anything out of me. Tight lipped."


Due to a dramatic change in the rules of succession, the royal couple's first-born will likely be the heir to the throne, regardless of the baby's gender.


Last year, the heads of 16 Commonwealth countries agreed to a change in the rules of succession so that first-born children of either gender can take the throne. Queen Elizabeth II was only eligible to be monarch because her father had no male children. The British Parliament must still amend existing law to make the succession change official.


"Put simply, if the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were to have a little girl, that girl would one day be our queen," British Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters in 2011.


Royal babies have typically been born within one year of marriage. Princess Diana gave birth to William just 11 months after her wedding and the queen gave birth to Prince Charles six days before her first wedding anniversary.


Prince William and Kate were married on April 29, 2011.


William, who has long been known for making privacy a priority, will now be faced with the inevitable fascination with his first child. And the scrutiny will doubtless be familiar to him.






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Footbal: Barton stars as Marseille beat Brest

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PARIS: Joey Barton was at the centre of both goals as Marseille bounced back from their crushing midweek defeat to Lyon by meting out a 2-1 win to Brest on Sunday.

Elie Baup's men, swept aside 4-1 by Lyon on Wednesday, were back in business inflicting a first home loss of the season on Brest to move up two places into second on 29 points, two behind their midweek tormentors.

Souleymane Diawara put Marseille into a 34th minute lead.

Set up by Barton, the Senegal defender, largely absent in Wednesday's game, broke the deadlock when firing the ball under the crossbar from the edge of the box.

Brest were back on level terms three minutes from the break, with close season signing Dutch striker Charlison Benschop wrong footing Marseille keeper Steve Mandanda off a corner.

The second half was 11 minutes old when Marseille regained the advantage.

Once again, Barton was key. The English midfielder picking up Mathieu Valbuena's cross to feed Andre Ayew who poked the ball home past Brest keeper Alexis Thebaux.

Marseille, who dominated most of the game, deservedly held on for a welcome three points.

This was a bright ending to an uncomfortable week for Marseille, some of whose fans were critical of club president Vincent Labrune for openly laughing during their team's defeat to Lyon on images shown on French television.

Troyes host Rennes and Toulouse are at Lorient in sunday's two late games.

On Saturday, Lyon underlined their title credentials as they beat defending champions Montpellier 1-0, while chasing Paris Saint-Germain slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Nice.

- AFP/fa



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FDI in retail to safeguard international market mafias' interest: BJP

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ANI Dec 1, 2012, 03.28PM IST

NEW DELHI: India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today said retail reform is a step taken by the Congress led-federal government to safeguard the interests of the international market mafias at the cost of national interest.

BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Saturday that voting inside the parliament would decide as to who is in favour of national interest and who is working for international interests.

"The government feels that their responsibility is to safeguard the interest of international market mafias instead of national interest and for saving the interest of international market mafias, the government is ready to compromise with national interests. Now, the parliament will decide as to who is in support of international market mafias and who are supporting national interests," said Naqvi.

The government's decision to allow foreign supermarket chains such as Wal-Mart had triggered protest not only from opposition parties but also from some of its allies.

BJP had sought debate on the issue of allowing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the retail sector, under the rule that entails voting after discussions.

Meanwhile, Minister in the Prime Minister Office (PMO), V Narayanaswamy said the government would answer all the queries raised by the opposition parties in the parliament and will explain the benefits of allowing FDI in retail sector.

The lower house of parliament has set December 04 and 05 as the date to vote and debate on FDI. The dates for the upper house are yet to be decided.

Narayanaswamy said the government is confident of becoming victorious in the debate.

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Photos: Kilauea Lava Reaches the Sea

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