State Bank of India strike dislocates economy
SANAT MUKHERJEE, KOLKATA
Apr 4: The countrywide indefinite strike by over two lakh officers and
employees of the 9,000 State Bank of Indias offices totally disrupted the
countrys economy. The SBI employees struck work from Monday in support of their
demand for pension revision and allied charter of demands.
The situation in Kolkata following the two-day strike by the SBI
officers and staff deteriorated fast. None of the SBI offices in West Bengal was open
today. Meanwhile, the SBI management requested the SBI customers to utilise the services
of all associated SBI banks and a selected government and private banks.
The strike caused unspeakable sufferings to lakhs of salaried employees
and pensioners and other clients. Commercial activities faced disruption. Cheques issued
by SBI or on the striking bank remained stalled, as the striking banks did not carry out
clearings. According to banking circles, SBI generally handled 25 million transactions in
a day.
In another development, the Indian government made it clear that New
Delhi would not concede to higher pension demand of the striking SBI employees. If its
demand were conceded then it would have cascading effects upon other banks. A Finance
Ministry spokesman told media persons in New Delhi today that SBI strike had affected
Indian economy to a great extent.
With ATMs not being replenished, the bank clients were put to further
hardships. It was reported that the clients were making dashes to different ATMs to
withdraw as much money as possible. Long queues were noticed before a limited number of
ATMs having some cash left in the machines
SBI chairman A K Parwar said, "We are trying to sort out the
issue. We are talking to all concerned and hope to find a solution to the impasse
soon." Meanwhile, a report said that the RBI initiated clearing operation in most of
the major centres operated by the SBI. But it admitted that transactions in which SBI was
involved party did not take place. The number of RTGS transactions was restricted to only
170 against normal operation of over 800 RTGS.
The sponsors of SBI strike All India State bank Officers
Federation and All India State Bank of India Staff Federation iterated that strike
would continue till the demands were met. "We have been waiting for the revision in
the pension scheme for last 14 years," a spokesman of SBI unions said. He said that
last pension revision came into force in 1997 and 2002.
Meanwhile, the central chief labour commissioner initiated action to
bring the contending parties to the negotiating table. A meeting of the concerned parties
was convened on April 5. An All India Radio report said that the SBI striking employees
expressed desire to sit in negotiation table to find the solution to the impasse.
Moussaoui given death sentence for 9/11 attacks
AFP, ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA
Apr 4: A US jury ruled Monday that would-be Al-Qaeda suicide pilot
Zacarias Moussaoui is eligible for execution, deciding his lies cost lives in the
September 11 attacks.
"You will never get my blood, God curse you all," Moussaoui,
the only person tried in the United States over the deadly 2001 strikes, shouted at the
public benches as he was led from court. A new phase of the trial, with harrowing
testimony from survivors and relatives of some of the nearly 3,000 people who perished,
will begin Thursday, to decide whether the sentence is carried out.
Judge Leonie Brinkema pierced the suffocating tension of the seventh
floor courtroom, in the Washington suburb of Alexandria, Virginia, as she read out the
verdict.
She declared the jury had found against Moussaoui on three capital
counts of conspiracy to commit terrorism, conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction
and conspiracy to destroy aircraft.
"Ladies and gentlemen, are these ... your unanimous
verdicts?" Brinkema asked, drawing nods from the nine men and three women who had
deliberated for 19 hours stretched across three days.
Moussaoui, who stunned the trial last week by declaring he had been
picked to fly a hijacked airliner into the White House on September 11, 2001, sat in a
trance-like state, muttering what seemed to be a prayer as the verdict was read out, a
smile playing across his lips.
Before he was led into court, wearing a green prison jumpsuit and
white-knit cap, Moussaoui had chanted loudly in an adjacent holding cell.
"Allah Akbar" (God is great) and other, undecipherable shouts
were heard. Relatives of some of the September 11 victims, who sat for days watching court
testimony, were in the third row of the courtroom.
"We couldn't have a better closing, for all of us, even those who
don't believe in the death penalty," said Rosemary Dillard, who lost her husband Eddy
in the attacks.
"We know he is guilty."
Abraham Scott broke down as he remembered his wife Janice, who perished
at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. "It's very emotional ... it's hard to
describe. I thought I would be delighted but I wasn't.
"I don't think Moussaoui is totally to blame, even though I think
he deserves death. I equally blame the government." Lorie Van Auken, a 9/11 widow
from New Jersey, said she did not think Moussaoui should be eligible for death.
"I don't think he contributed to what happened on September 11th.
I think he's been scapegoated," she said.
Also in New York, Charles Wolf, who lost his wife in the World Trade
Centre, worried that if the jury follows through and says Moussaoui should be put to
death, he would be rewarded with the martyrdom he craves.
"I don't want to play into his hands, I want to be smarter than
that," Wolf said.
The US government, which saw its failure to stop the attacks exposed in
a catalogue of bungles, missteps and mistakes highlighted by defence lawyers, savoured a
legal victory in the war on terror.
"We are pleased with the jury's ruling in this important
case," Justice Department spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos said in a statement. "Our
efforts on behalf of the victims of 9/11 will continue as we pursue the next phase of this
trial," Scolinos said.
A French lawyer representing Moussaoui said defence lawyers would wage
an "at all costs" battle to save his life.
"We are going to do all we can in an attempt to convince the jury
... that the death penalty should not be carried out," Francois Roux told AFP in a
telephone interview.
The defence team, he said, was working on framing a picture of Zacarias
Moussaoui's past, personality and deprived upbringing in France, and would call several
French witnesses to testify either in person or by video link.
The jury's decision means they accepted the government's argument that
Moussaoui's lies, "with lethal intent", in jail after his arrest in August 2001
directly resulted in the deaths of at least one person on September 11.
Had he told about his knowledge of the plot, authorities would have
been able to unroll a massive prevention operation, and would have stood a chance of
stopping the attacks, the government claimed.
Defence lawyers had urged the jury not to make the 37-year-old
Frenchman a hero, and to deny him the matyrdom on which he appeared to have set his
sights.
Defence counsel Edward MacMahon said: "Moussaoui was not involved
in the 9/11 plot, no matter what he says."
Moussaoui stunned the trial with his claim that Al-Qaeda leader Osama
bin Laden had ordered him to fly an airliner into the White House on September 11. The
jury will now have to decide whether Moussaoui should be executed or go to jail for life,
without the possibility of parole. The new hearings will start on Thursday.
Police, students clash ahead of anti-king protests in Nepal
Rights groups call on rebels to extend ceasefire
AFP, KATHMANDU, NEPAL
Apr 4: Police fired tear gas, used batons and arrested at least 12
students during clashes in Kathmandu on Tuesday, two days before an anti-royal general
strike.
Security forces moved in to disperse demonstrations on two campuses in
the city centre. An AFP reporter saw students throwing rocks at police at one of the
protests.
"At least a dozen students were detained and several others
injured in clashes with riot police," Mahendra Sharma, president of the Nepal
Students Union, told the news agency.
Political parties ousted by King Gyanendra 13 months ago have called
for a four-day general strike starting Thursday, with a large anti-royal demonstration
slated for Saturday.
Students have begun demonstrating to show their support for the strike
and protest programme, Sharma said.
At Shanker Dev campus in Kathmandu, around 100 students burnt tyres,
shouted anti-royal slogans and lobbed stones at police. Indra Karki, a student leader from
the capital's Tri-Chandra college, said at least seven students were hurt when police
baton-charged around 40 protesters Tuesday morning.
On Monday Maoist rebels called a temporary halt to hostilities around
the capital in support of political parties in their protest.
King Gyanendra took direct control of the troubled nation after blaming
the government for failing to stem a decade-long Maoist insurgency.
In January the government disrupted a planned anti-royal protest by
detaining hundreds of political and human rights activists, imposing a curfew, cutting
mobile phone lines and banning public gatherings The government has updated its Terrorists
and Disruptive Activities Control and Punishment Ordinance to make it even stricter, local
media reported Tuesday.
One provision "says that those people who give direct or indirect
financial support to the Maoists or provide them with shelter would be labelled
terrorists," the Himalayan Times said.
Rights groups have frequently pointed out that civilians often have no
choice when asked to house or feed the rebels. The revised ordinance was approved by the
king late last month, The Kathmandu Post said.
"An individual who disseminates the information of the terrorists
could face one to three years in prison," the newspaper quoted the provision as
saying.
Since the Maoists launched the insurgency aimed at turning Nepal into a
communist republic, at least 12,500 people have been killed.
Meanwhile, international human rights organisations Tuesday called on
Nepal's Maoist rebels to extend a partial ceasefire beyond the capital to prove their
commitment to ending a decade of hostilities.
The rebels announced Monday a temporary halt to their military
offensive in the Kathmandu valley ahead of a mass anti-royal protest planned for the
capital on Thursday.
"What is urgently needed now is some consistent demonstration by
the Maoist leadership and cadres across the country that they are fully committed to
respecting their obligations under international humanitarian law," said Purna Sen,
Amnesty International's Asia Pacific programme director. Opposition politicians earlier
welcomed the truce but also said it should apply nationwide.
Rights groups have catalogued serious human rights abuses by both the
rebels and security services during a decade of the Maoist's "people's war". The
rebels said the ceasefire was called to assist political parties, which formed a loose
alliance with the Maoists when King Gyanendra took direct control of the country 13 months
ago, in organising the demonstration.
Friendly fire probed in death of US and Canadian troops
AFP, KABUL
Apr 4: Coalition forces in Afghanistan said Tuesday they were
investigating if friendly fire had caused casualties during a clash with suspected Taliban
last week in which a Canadian and a US soldier died.
Five soldiers-one US, one Afghan and three Canadian-were also wounded
in the March 29 battle that erupted in volatile southern Helmand province after one of the
biggest attacks on a coalition base in months.
The US-led coalition had decided an investigation was warranted after
reviewing reports of the attack, it said in a statement.
"The investigation will determine all the facts and circumstances
surrounding the incident, including whether any of the casualties may have resulted from
friendly fire," it said.
A combined Afghan, Canadian and US team will carry out the
investigation. At least 32 insurgents were killed after they attacked the coalition base
in Sangin district with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms, the coalition
said at the time.
US-led forces responded by calling in warplanes that dropped three
500-pound bombs and two 1,000-pound bombs and also fired high-explosive rockets, guided
missiles and incendiary rounds.
The Canadian was the first to be killed in action in Afghanistan this
year, while the American was the 13th.
Four Canadian soldiers were killed by friendly fire in April 2002 when
a US F-16 fighter pilot mistook troops in a live-fire training exercise for Taliban
fighters and dropped a 500-pound laser-guided bomb on them.
The pilot was found guilty of dereliction of duty, reprimanded for
"willful misconduct" and fined.
Saddam, 6 others charged for '80s crackdown on Kurds
AP, BAGHDAD, IRAQ
Apr 4: The Iraq tribunal on Tuesday announced new criminal charges
against Saddam Hussein and six others in a 1980s crackdown against the Kurds, including
the gassing of thousands of civilians in the village of Halabja.
Investigative judge Raid Juhi said the charges against Saddam and the
others had been filed with another judge, who will review the evidence and order a trial
date. The move is tantamount to an indictment under the Iraqi legal system.
The case involves Saddam's role in Operation Anfal, a three-phase move
against Kurds in northern Iraq in the late 1980s. Anfal included the March 16 gas attack
against Halabja in which 5,000 people, including women and children died.
Human rights groups consider the Halabja attack one of the gravest
atrocities allegedly committed by Saddam's regime.
"These people were subjected to forced displacement and illegal
detentions of thousands of civilians," Juhi said. "They were placed in different
detentions centers. The villages were destroyed and burned. Homes and houses of
worshippers and buildings of civilians were leveled without reason or a military
requirement."
Others accused in the Anfal case include Saddam's cousin, Ali Hassan
Majid, or "Chemical Ali," and former Defense Minister Sultan Hashim Ahmad.
Saddam and seven others have been on trial since October 19 in a
separate case - the deaths of more than 140 Shiite Muslims following a 1982 assassination
attempt against him in the town of Dujail. Iraqi authorities chose to try Saddam
separately for various alleged crimes rather than lump all the cases into one proceeding.
The Dujail trial was the first of what Iraqi authorities say could be
up to a dozen proceedings. Saddam could face death by hanging of convicted in the Dujail
case. It is unclear whether the sentence would be carried out while other trials were in
progress.
Nine US soldiers killed in Iraq
AP, BAGHDAD, IRAQ
Apr 9: Nine more American troops died in Iraq, the US military reported
Monday, five of them in a vehicle accident in a remote, rain-soaked western area. Their
deaths brought the number of service members killed so far this month to 13 - nearly half
the number who died in all of March.
Three more Americans - two Marines and a sailor - were missing in the
Sunday accident in which a truck overturned near Asad air base, a US statement said. All
the dead were Marines, the statement added.
It gave no reason for the accident except that it was not a result of
hostile fire. Heavy rains fell over the area during the weekend.
Also Sunday, three Marines and a sailor were killed by "hostile
fire" in Anbar province, which includes the Asad base, the military said. No further
details, including the precise location, were released.
It was the first time that four American troops had been killed in a
single attack since Feb. 22, when four soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division died in a
bombing in northern Iraq.
Thirty-one US troops died in Iraq in March, the lowest monthly death
toll for US forces since February 2004. But the relatively good news quickly became worse
on the first day of April, when four troops were killed including two pilots who died when
their Apache helicopter crashed.
US officials said the helicopter was probably shot down. The militant
al-Rashideen Army claimed responsibility, and Al-Jazeera television aired footage Monday
provided by the insurgents which they claimed showed parts of the wreckage.
Although US casualties have been on the decline, deaths among Iraqis
have increased because of rising tensions between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. At least 1,038
Iraqi civilians died last month in war-related violence, according to an Associated Press
count.
The AP count showed at least 375 Iraqi civilians killed in December,
608 in January and 741 in February. Most of the increase appeared a result of a sharp rise
in the number of civilians found dead throughout Baghdad - apparent victims of sectarian
reprisal killings.
The alarming rise in civilian toll has put new urgency into efforts by
Iraqi politicians to form a new national unity government following the December
elections. That message was delivered by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw during a two-day visit that ended Monday.
"First and foremost, the purpose of this trip is to encourage and
to urge the Iraqis to do what the Iraqis must do because the Iraqi people deserve
it," Rice said. "But yes, the American people, the British people ... need to
know that everything is being done to keep progress moving."
During their visit, Rice and Straw avoided any public call for Prime
Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to step aside as the Shiite nominee for a second term - a key
demand of Sunni and Kurdish politicians before they will join a new government.
Nevertheless, the visit clearly increased pressure on al-Jaafari, and
for the first time officials of his own Shiite bloc called for him to step down.
Following the visit, al-Jaafari's supporters scrambled Monday to try to
rally support for him, even as other politicians sought ways to remove him if he refused
to step aside.
Iran tests second radar-avoiding missile
AGENCIES, TEHRAN, IRAN
Apr 4: Iran said Tuesday it has tested a second new radar-avoiding
missile during war games in the Persian Gulf that the military says are aimed at preparing
the country's defences against the United States if attacked.
The new surface-to-sea missile is equipped with remote-control and
searching systems, the state-run television reported Tuesday.
On Friday, the country tested the Fajr-3, a missile that it said can
avoid radars and hit several targets simultaneously using multiple warheads. Iran also has
tested what it calls two new torpedoes.
The Revolutionary Guards, the elite branch of Iran's military, have
been holding their manoeuvres - code-named the "Great Prophet" - since Friday,
touting what they call domestically built technological advances in their armed forces.
But some experts say it appears some of the technology has come from
other countries, possibly Russia, and some experts also have questioned just how adept the
missiles are at evading radar.
It has not been possible to verify Iran's claims for the new armaments.
But the country has made clear it aims to send a message of strength to the United States
amid heightened tensions over its nuclear program.
The UN Security Council has demanded Iran give up uranium enrichment, a
crucial part of the nuclear process. Washington is pressing for sanctions if Tehran
continues its refusal to do so, though US officials have not ruled out military action as
an eventual option, insisting they will not allow Iran to gain a nuclear arsenal.
In Russia, a Kremlin-allied lawmaker on Tuesday criticized the recent
torpedo and missile tests as a counterproductive show of might at a time when it should be
trying to allay fears that it is trying to build a nuclear weapon.
"It is clear that Iran is demonstrating its muscle in order to
forestall any discussions of a possible operation using force against Iran,"
Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, was quoted
as saying according to the RIA Novosti news agency.
Delay to resign from US House
AP, WASHINGTON
Apr 4: Succumbing to scandal, former Majority Leader Tom Delay intends
to resign from Congress within weeks, closing out a career that blended unflinching
conservatism with a bare-knuckled political style.
DeLay is scheduled to appear on Fox News Channel Tuesday morning at 9
a.m. ET.
Republican officials said Monday night they expect the Texan to quit
his seat later this spring. He was first elected in 1984, and conceded he faced a
difficult race for re-election.
"He has served our nation with integrity and honor," said
Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, who succeeded DeLay in his leadership post earlier
this year.
But Democrats said the developments marked more than the end to one
man's career in Congress.
"Tom DeLay's decision to leave Congress is just the latest piece
of evidence that the Republican Party is a party in disarray, a party out of ideas and out
of energy," said Bill Burton, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign
Committee.
Rivals reject Thaksin's offer
AFP, BANGKOK
Apr 4: Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's rivals Tuesday rejected
his calls for compromise after troubled weekend elections, in a further sign that the
country's political turmoil is unlikely to end soon.
"It's too late for national reconciliation," Democrat party
head Abhisit Vejjajiva said after a meeting of the three political parties that boycotted
Sunday's polls.
Both Abhisit and leaders of an anti-Thaksin protest movement again
demanded that the embattled premier resign as a way to pull Thailand out of crisis.
"If Thaksin quits, it would be easier ... than when he is at the center of
conflict," Abhisit told reporters.
The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which spearheaded two months
of street rallies against Thaksin, said they would resume their protests on Friday unless
the premier quit.
"PAD representatives this afternoon will submit a letter to the
prime minister asking him to resign. If he resigns, PAD will call off the planned rally on
April 7," spokesman Suriyasai Katasila told reporters. In an open letter to Thaksin,
the coalition said: "The PAD appreciates that the prime minister has shown his desire
for national reconciliation".
Kuwaiti women vote for the first time
AFP, KUWAIT CITY
Apr 4: Kuwaiti women began casting votes for the first time Tuesday in
a by-election for a municipal council seat, less than a year after winning full political
rights in the oil-rich Gulf state.
Two women are among eight candidates running for the seat in the
district of Salmiya, about 15 kilometres (10 miles) southeast of the capital.
"It's certainly a historical moment for me. I felt very happy
while casting my vote," Afaf Abdullah, a pharmacist, told AFP outside a polling
station.
"I had participated in cooperative society elections before, but
the feeling here is totally different. I feel that justice has been achieved for Kuwaiti
women."
Voting began slowly as Tuesday is a normal working day but is expected
to pick up before ballots close at 8 pm (1700 GMT).
The district has 28,000 eligible voters, 60 percent of whom are women,
representing the Shiite minority, tribal voters and other Sunnis.
Iran-US talks to be held in Baghdad
AFP, TEHRAN
Apr 4: Talks between Iran and the United States on the situation in
Iraq will take place in Baghdad with Iraqi participation, Iran's charge d'affaires in Iraq
Hassan Kazemi Gomi said Tuesday.
In an interview with the government daily Iran, Gomi said: "For
the moment, it has been decided that these negotiations will take place in Baghdad with
participation by the Iraqi side on Iraq as the first subject and they will be
transparent." He added: "The negotiating process and the level of responsibility
of the negotiating team will depend on the progress obtained in the discussions." No
date had been set, he said. Iran and the US agreed that an Iraqi government "should
be formed as rapidly as possible and insist that there should be a government of national
unity," Gomi declared.
Two more killed in Kashmir
AFP, SRINAGAR, KASHMIR, INDIA
Apr 4: A municipal councilor was shot dead Tuesday by suspected Islamic
militants, the second such incident in three days, while a policeman was also killed in
revolt-hit Indian Kashmir, police said.
A member of the state's ruling Congress party, Wali Mohammed Dar, was
shot dead by militants in the town of Baramulla, 55 kilometers (34 miles) north of the
summer capital Srinagar, a police spokesman said. "He died on the spot," the
spokesman said. On Sunday another municipal councilor Mohammed Afzal Dar, not related to
Tuesday's victim, was shot dead near Sopore, 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Srinagar.
Meanwhile, also on Tuesday, suspected militants killed a policeman in southern Pulwama
district by slitting his throat, police said.
China's premier arrives in Fiji
AFP, NADI
Apr 4: Wen Jiabao arrived in Fiji Tuesday as the first Chinese premier
to visit the Pacific islands, seeking to deepen China's influence in the region and
contain Taiwan's diplomatic clout.
China has become increasingly involved in the Pacific islands in recent
years and Wen's visit opens a new chapter in the relationship.
He will hold brief meetings with leaders from eight Pacific island
countries and open the first China-Pacific Islands Countries Economic Development and
Cooperation Forum on Wednesday during a brief 22-hour stay. "It will become a
milestone in the development of relations between China and Pacific Island countries and
provide a new platform and important opportunity for expanding cooperation and common
development betweeen us," Wen said of the forum at a state dinner in his honour.
UN for help to demine Sudan
AFP, CAIRO
Apr 4: The United Nations called Tuesday for urgent action to support
demining operations in southern Sudan, warning that the war-ravaged region could not
rebuild amid the risk of landmines.
The UN's mine action office in Sudan, in a statement issued to mark the
first International Day for Mine Awareness, stressed that thousands of landmines were
obstructing the implementation of Sudan's peace deal. "Landmines and explosive
remnants of war (ERW) continue to kill and maim people of Sudan, they also continue to
hamper delivery of humanitarian aid, return of refugees and internally displaced
people," it said.
Brides protest remarks
AFP, TAIPEI
Apr 4: Dozens of Vietnamese women married to Taiwanese men Tuesday
protested against a local political party after one of its parliamentarians made what they
called racist comments.
The backlash comes after Liao Pen-yen, a member of Taiwan Solidarity
Union (TSU), last week asked Taiwanese immigration authorities to require health checks
for Vietnamese brides, saying they may have "biochemical remnants of the Vietnam
War" in their bodies and may pass them onto their children. The Vietnamese women
unfurled a banner reading "Taiwan must not tolerate fascist remarks infringing human
rights" at the headquarters of TSU, a radical pro-independence party. They also
demanded that the TSU suspend Liao's membership for at least two months.
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