Pak Frees 89 Indian Prisoners

Islamabad : Pakistan today freed 89 Indian prisoners, including fishermen, from a jail in the port city of Karachi as part of a process initiated by the two countries to speed up the release of people held in each other's prisons for inadvertently crossing land and maritime boundaries.

After being released from Malir Jail, the Indian prisoners boarded buses that would take them to Lahore to be handed over to Indian authorities at the Wagah land border crossing tomorrow.

The Indian prisoners were arrested between September 2009 and January last year, TV news channels reported.

Their release was a follow-up to a meeting of the Interior and Home Secretaries of India and Pakistan in New Delhi last month.

Nasir Aslam Zahid, Chairman of the NGO Prisoners Welfare and Legal Aid Committee, told reporters that Pakistani authorities had granted consular access to another 33 Indian prisoners being held in Malir Jail.

They too will be released in the near future after the completion of certain formalities, he said.

"It is our endeavour to remove hurdles and delays in the release of detained fishermen on both sides of the border," Zahid said.

On April 11, India released 39 Pakistani prisoners. Both countries exchanged lists of prisoners during the meeting of the Interior and Home Secretaries last month.

The two countries are scheduled to exchange complete lists of prisoners on July 1 under an agreement on consular access signed in May 2008.

The process of releasing prisoners, which suffered a setback in the wake of the Mumbai attacks in November 2008, has picked up pace after the two countries recently agreed to resume their stalled peace process. PTI

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BRICS Leaders Criticize Use Of Force In Libya

Sanya (China) : India and four other nations of the BRICS grouping today collectively voiced their opposition to the use of force in Libya and pitched for a central role for the United Nations and regional organisations in resolving the matter.

Reflecting on the situation in the Middle East and North African countries at the Summit of Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS), Prime Minister Manmohan Singh observed that there was a "shift of power towards ordinary citizens" and "people were determining their own future".

Singh, along with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and South African President Jacob Zuma, discussed the volatile situation in that region, particularly Libya, and its impact on the five emerging nations.

"We share the principle that the use of force should be avoided," said a Declaration issued here after Summit.

The Declaration, however, refrained from calling for an end to the NATO airstrikes on Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi's military assets.

The five countries, all of which are interestingly members of the UN Security Council at present, pledged to continue their cooperation in the world body on Libya. While Russia and China are the permanent members, India, Brazil and South Africa are non-permanent members.

"We are of the view that all the parties should resolve their differences through peaceful means and dialogue in which the UN and regional organisations should as appropriate play their role," said the Declaration of the Summit.

They expressed support for the African Union High-Level Panel Initiative on Libya.

Expressing concern over the "turbulence" in the Middle East, the North African and West African regions, the leaders said, "We underscore that the concurrent presence of all five BRICS countries in the Security Council during the year of 2011 is a valuable opportunity to work closely together on issues of peace and security, to strengthen multilateral approaches and to facilitate future coordination on issues under UN Security Council consideration".

They "sincerely" wished that the affected countries achieve peace, stability, prosperity and progress and "enjoy their due standing and dignity in the world according to legitimate aspirations of their peoples".

The BRICS maintained that independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of each nation should be respected.

Addressing the Summit, Hu emphasised the need for abiding by the "purposes and principles" of the UN Charter and bringing into full play the central role of the UN and Security Council in peace-keeping, peace-making and peace-building.

"We should seek peaceful settlement to international disputes through dialogue and consultation," he said.

Medvedev said the leaders voiced concern over the situation in Libya and felt that it should be addressed through political and diplomatic means and not through use of force.

In this regard, he commended the initiative taken by the African Union (AU).

Zuma, who is leading the African initiative to address the Libyan crisis, said the AU roadmap was designed to assist Libyans to arrive at a lasting political solution. PTI

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NATO Ministers Meet On Libya As Air Strikes Intensify

Berlin : NATO foreign ministers gathered today in Berlin amid calls for increased air strikes on Muammar Gaddafi’s forces and growing divisions among world powers over whether to arm Libya’s rebels.

The meeting came as NATO planes put on a show of force today above the Libyan front line, with rebels reporting they were bombing targets on the road leading west, towards the key oil town of Brega, and beyond that Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte and, farther, the capital Tripoli.

France and Britain agreed to step up military pressure on Gaddafi’s forces after an international contact group on Libya meeting in Doha promised the rebels cash and the means to defend themselves.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron agreed on increased military pressure at a working dinner in Paris ahead of the Berlin meeting, a source in the French presidency said.

“All means must be made available” in the fight against Gaddafi, the source said, amid efforts by London and Paris to step up pressure on their NATO allies to help defeat his regime.

The diplomatic moves came amid rising friction within the alliance over the NATO air campaign in Libya that has so far failed to change the balance of power on the ground.

In Doha, the international contact group on Libya decided after a daylong gathering yesterday to set up a “temporary financial mechanism” to aid the rebels seeking to oust Gaddafi.

It “affirmed that Gaddafi’s regime has lost all legitimacy and he should leave and allow the Libyan people to decide their future.”

While there was a consensus that Gaddafi must go, differences emerged over arming the rebels.  The rebel leadership said in a Tweet: “We’re discussing weapons deals with countries that officially recognised the council; we’ve been getting positive replies.”

The meeting’s final statement said “participants in the contact group agreed to continue to provide support to the opposition, including material support.” Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani told reporters this refers to “humanitarian means, and also means of defence.

And that means that the Libyan people should get the means that they need to defend themselves.” But he seemed to acknowledge that this view was not universally held.

He said “people gathered here have different interpretations,” while reiterating that “the first thing that the Libyan people need is self-defence.”(AFP)

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Rs 30 Lakhs Spent On Anna Hazare 4-Day Fast

New Delhi, Apr 14: Anna Hazare and his associates brought the government to its knees on the Lokpal Bill issue through a campaign on which a little over Rs 30 lakh was spent in the past one year.

According to details provided by 'India Against Corruption' (IAC), which spearheaded the campaign, it received a total donation of Rs 82,87,668 while it spent Rs 32,69,900 for the campaign.

"We have issued receipts to all the donors and have maintained a record of their details. We issued receipts on account of Public Cause Research Foundation which is acting as secretariat for the campaign," an IAC spokesperson said.

According to IAC, they spent Rs 9,47,344 for tent, bed, sound system and hall booking for the Jantar Mantar protest and other programmes. An amount of Rs 8,93,938 was spent on telephone calls while another Rs 4,61,382 was spent on travelling.  PTI

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BJP Lambasts Mamata, Mayawati For Athlete-Throwing Incident

New Delhi : Expressing shock at volleyball player Arunima Sinha being thrown out of a train in Bareilly, BJP today held both Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati responsible for the incident.

"BJP is shocked at the incident of a lady being thrown out from a train. She is a volleybal player of national stature. She was lying unattended on the railway tracks for six hours. This is tragic and absolutely shocking," BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said.

Holding both Banerjee and Mayawati responsible for the incident, she said while it shows how unsafe women passengers are in trains it is also an index of the poor law and order scenario in Uttar Pradesh.

"This is an utter failure of Mamata Banerjee's Railways. Shows the inefficiency with which the Railways is functioning and how there is no safety for women passengers. She should leave her election campaigning for a day and meet the victim to see for herself why this incident took place," Sitharaman said.

BJP has demanded that Banerjee accept responsibility for the incident and fix accountability of Government Railway Police and other Railways officials in the sloppiness shown in handling the case.

"The future of this lady has been shattered. An inquiry should be conducted into how this incident had come to pass.

Both Railways and UP government are equally responsible for this state of affairs. Women are not safe in UP," she said.

The opposition party lamented the fact that such an incident had taken place despite women at the helm of affairs of both Railways and UP.

Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari termed the incident as "extremely unfortunate, tragic and regrettable" and demanded that all the agencies which had the responsibilty to provide a safe train journey to the player should ensure that she is properly rehabilitated.

Noting that rehabilitation does not just mean compensation, he said the agencies concerned should also try to give her a purpose of life.

On the volleyball player lying on the tracks for six hours after being thrown out of the train, Tewari said it reflected the poor law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh. PTI

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Polling Official Applied Indelible Ink On Amputated Limb In Kerala

Kottayam : A man whose left arm was amputated after an accident has complained that he was "harassed and insulted" by presiding officer in a booth in Poonjar segment by insisting that the indelible ink should be applied on the tip of the cut off limb during voting to assembly polls yesterady.

Official sources said the incident betrayed ignorance of election rules on the part of polling officer as it was clear in the rules that if a voter did not have fingers on the left arm the ink could be applied to index finger on right arm.

Antony (47) had gone to cast his vote in a booth at Erumeli in Poonjar assembly segment. When he held out his right hand, a polling personnel applied the ink on his finger on the right palm. But soon enough, the presiding officer intervened and inistited that though the voter did not have fingers on the left arm, the ink should be rubbed on the tip of the amputated limb itself.

"They harassed and insulted me. I was put in a traumatised state. For a moment I felt that I would return without voting", Antony told PTI.

He said the polling officers declined to be convinced despite he repeatedly telling them that in previous elections it was on right index finger the ink was applied. They kept on insisting that under the rules the ink should be applied on the "tip" of the left hand.

Antony, an employee in the state electricity board, had his left forearm operated and removed in 1988 after he suffered a shock while working on a 11KV line.

He said in the past elections, he had in fact received sympathetic consideration from polling officials as he was a physically challenged person. This was for the first time that he faced such a "shock" in the polling booth, he said.

Antony said he had faxed a complaint to EC officials reagarding the "harassment" he suffered.

When contacted, district administration officals said the presiding officer had apologised to Antony in writing.

However, Antony said he had not received any such apology from the officer regretting what had happened.

Meanwhile, human rights campaigners decried the incident describing it as "shocking and inhuman." PTI

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Superslim silicene

You're never far from silicon. This material is used to make the computer chips inside cell phones, computers, MP3 players and other electronic devices. Even if you don't use these devices, silicon is just beneath your feet: It makes up more than one-quarter of the weight of the Earth's crust.

Silicon comes in many forms, from large rock crystals to tiny grains of sand. Now there’s one more: Scientists have created sheets of silicon that are only one atom thick. This creation is called silicene. If you zoom in far enough with a powerful microscope, each sheet looks like a honeycomb. Both structures are made of connected hexagons.

At a scientific meeting in Dallas on March 24, physicist Antoine Fleurence presented a new way to make silicene. Fleurence and his colleagues at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Ishikawa found a way to create silicene slices. When they used X-rays to study their creation, they saw the familiar honeycomb pattern.

Though silicon is in the ground, don't go looking for silicene sheets there: They're so thin they are invisible to the naked eye. And the sheets can be forged only in the laboratory — not in nature. The physicists who made silicene were inspired by graphene, a similar material that was first found in 2004. Like silicene, graphene has the thickness of a single atom. Graphene also has a honeycomb shape. Unlike silicene, which is made of silicon atoms, graphene is made of carbon atoms.

At the time of its discovery, graphene was the thinnest and most expensive material in the world. Since then, scientists have found new and cheaper ways to make the material. Graphene is strong and flexible, and it conducts electricity. Scientists envision using this wonderstuff for portable electronics — like electronic paper you can roll up and tuck into your pocket.

Graphene is considered so important that in 2010, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, the physicists from the University of Manchester who first isolated the material, received the Nobel Prize in Physics. Geim and Novoselov, as well as other teams of physicists, have gone on to build new and small electronic components from graphene.

Graphene is considered so important that in 2010, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, the physicists from the University of Manchester who first isolated the material, received the Nobel Prize in Physics. Geim and Novoselov, as well as other teams of physicists, have gone on to build new and small electronic components from graphene.

“Silicon has the advantage of being more [useful] in today’s electronics,” he said at the March meeting in Dallas.

Silicene has a few more hurdles to overcome before it can compete with graphene. Scientists need to continue testing the material's ability to conduct electricity. And silicene also needs to be easy to make. The scientists who first made graphene used only Scotch tape and a graphite material similar to pencil lead.

There’s no similarly easy experiment behind silicene, but that doesn't mean it’s not worth watching. In the future, silicene could be a big player in the world of small electronics.

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