Posts Tagged ‘china’
Written by Rahul on 04 September 2009
London, September 4 (ANI): India has rejected applications from two US companies for patents on two key AIDS drugs in a move that could mean more people in poor countries will have access to life-saving medicines.
According to a report in Nature News, the decisions are the latest in a string of legal victories for Cipla, India’s largest generic drug maker.
The move could also signal that patent offices in emerging economies are set to take a tougher line than industrialized countries on which drugs deserve patents.
India’s patent office rejected claims by Gilead on Tenofovir – a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, which is a frontline drug against HIV/AIDS in poor countries – and by Tibotec on Darunavir, a newer and more expensive protease inhibitor used as a second-line drug.
Both drugs block enzymes that HIV needs to replicate.
The rejection of patents on the two drugs opens the way for India to not only produce cheaper generics for its own population, but also export them to countries where the drug is not patented – reaffirming India’s role as the ‘pharmacy’ of poor countries.
“We are delighted that we have been vindicated,” said Yusuf Hamied, chairman and managing director of Cipla.
The major battle was over Tenofovir, given its extensive use.
In 2006, Cipla and a group of Indian and Brazilian non-government organizations (NGOs) independently filed oppositions to Gilead’s patent applications on the drug – marking the first time foreign NGOs had joined Indian ones in contesting a drug patent, a move motivated by the fact that the decision could impact pricing of the drug in Brazil.
Gilead responded by striking a deal the same year with 13 other Indian generic manufacturers, giving them a license to make the drug for a 5 percent royalty.
“Gilead was worried that they might lose, so they offered licenses, but these came with a sting in the tail,” said Michelle Childs, director of Medecins sans Frontieres’s Access to Essential Medicines Campaign.
Manufacturers could only buy the active ingredient – the most expensive part of a drug – from Gilead-approved suppliers, and they could only sell the drug to 95 of the poorest countries, not to middle-income countries such as China and Brazil which nonetheless have substantial poor populations.
Together these restrictions limited the price reductions the generic makers could offer, according to Childs.
“The Indian patent office decision now guarantees such countries access to a cheap generic supplier,” she said.
“Cipla decided to fight rather than sign up to the license; it took a risk and it has paid off,” said Childs. (ANI)
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Written by Rahul on 20 August 2009
Oslo (Norway), Aug.19 (ANI): Pakistan’s Minister for Kashmir Affairs, Qamar Zaman Kaira, today said that neither his country nor the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party would compromise with India on the Kashmir issue.
Kaira, who is also Pakistan’s Information and Broadcasting Minister, expressed these views in a meeting with Sardar Ali Shahnawaz Khan, advisor to chairman of Christian Democratic Party in Oslo, Norway.
Kaira said that Pakistan is ready for dialogue with India for a peaceful solution of the Kashmir issue, but added that Islamabad would only accept a solution that was acceptable to all Kashmiris.
Pakistan, he said, has not shied away from taking up the Kashmir issue at the diplomatic level. He said President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani had raised the Kashmir issue at all international forums.
According to the Dawn, he asked Shah Nawaz to urge New Delhi to start serious talk on Kashmir.
The Kashmir conflict refers to the territorial dispute over Kashmir, the northwesternmost region of the Indian subcontinent. The parties to the dispute are India, Pakistan, China and the people of Kashmir.
India claims the entire former Dogra princely state of Jammu and Kashmir and presently administers approximately 43 percent of the region including most of Jammu, Kashmir Valley, Ladakh and the Siachen Glacier. India’s claim is contested by Pakistan which controls approximately 37 percent of Kashmir, mainly Azad Kashmir and the northern areas of Gilgit and Baltistan. In addition, China controls 20 percent of Kashmir including Aksai Chin which it occupied following the brief Sino-Indian War of 1962 and the Trans-Karakoram Tract, also known as the Shaksam Valley, that was ceded to it by Pakistan in 1963.
India’s official position is that Kashmir is an “integral part” of India. Pakistan’s official position is that Kashmir is a disputed territory whose final status must be determined by the people of Kashmir. Certain Kashmiri independence groups believe that Kashmir should be independent of both India and Pakistan.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars over Kashmir: in 1947, 1965, and 1999. India and China have clashed once, in 1962 over Aksai Chin as well as the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. India and Pakistan have also been involved in several skirmishes over Siachen Glacier.
The Kashmir dispute has been a part of UN deliberations since 1948. Pakistan has demanded that the dispute be resolved as per the UN resolutions of 1948 and 1949. India, however, maintains that the these resolutions are being wrongly interpreted by Islamabad. (ANI)
Tags: addition, advisor, Aksai, Aksai Chin, Ali Shahnawaz, ANI, Arunachal, Asif, Asif Ali Zardari, Aug, Azad, Azad Kashmir, Baltistan, broadcasting, certain, chairman, chin, china, christian, Christian Democratic Party, claim, conflict, country, dawn, Democratic, Dialogue, Diplomatic Level, dispute, Dogra, following, Gilani, Gilgit, Glacier, independence, india, india pakistan, indian subcontinent, information, Islamabad, issue, jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, jammu kashmir, kaira, Karakoram, kashmir, Kashmir Conflict, Kashmir India, Kashmir valley, Kashmiri, kashmiris, Khan, Ladakh, level, meeting, minister, New Delhi, northeastern Indian, northwesternmost, Norway, Oslo, oslo norway, Pak, Pakistan, pakistan peoples party, part, party, percent, position, PPP, Pradesh, president, Prime, Qamar, Raza, region, sardar, Sardar Ali, Shah Nawaz, Shahnawaz, Shaksam Valley, Siachen, Siachen Glacier, Sino, solution, state, state of jammu and kashmir, status, subcontinent, Syed, talk, territorial, territory, Today, tract, trans, war, Yousuf, Zaman, zardari
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Written by Rahul on 20 August 2009
New Delhi, Aug. 19 (ANI): A Chinese woman, who was sold and then smuggled to a different location by a woman trafficker, fell for the latter’s brother and stayed with him for more than 12 years.
Luo Yulian, a resident in Zhenyuan county, Guizhou province, was sold and smuggled to Xuwen county, Guangdong province, by a woman named Pan Nianmei in October 1996.
Luo Yulian later met Pan Nianmei’s brother Pan Nianyou, who was also involved in trafficking prostitutes, and had an affair with him, reports the China Daily.hen the police caught Pan Nianyou, who is listed as a wanted criminal, they were surprised that Luo still stayed with him. (ANI)
Tags: brother, china, chinese prostitute, chinese woman, guangdong province, Guizhou Province, Met, New Delhi, Prostitutes, trafficker, Trafficking
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Written by Rahul on 20 August 2009
New Delhi, Aug 19 (ANI): It’s been 24 years since Bo Laidong joined old people’s university to major in calligraphy, but the 89-year-old Chinese is still planning to be associated with the institution for at least another five years.
Laidong joined the educational institution in 1985, a year after the institution was set up, reports the China Daily.
And Bo wants to continue for another five years to participate in the institution’s 30th anniversary celebrations.
Bo has won several accolades for calligraphy in national competitions. (ANI)
Tags: 24 years, 30th anniversary, ANI, anniversary, Anniversary Celebrations, Aug, bo, Bo Laidong, calligraphy, china, china daily, Chinese, Chinese Calligraphy, Daily, educational institution, institution, National Competitions, New Delhi, people, s university, student, university, year
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Written by Rahul on 11 August 2009
Karauli (Rajasthan), Aug 11 (ANI): The district authorities of Karauli in Rajasthan have introduced the thumb impression system to register the physical presence of workers engaged in the projects under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA).
This move has been initiated by them to minimise the leakage of allotted government funds through fake job cards and bogus attendance records.
Daily wage workers under the NREGA said some individuals manipulate and even make three to four fake job cards in favour one person.
“It affects us because some people make fake job cards using their powers. I have a family of ten members and we were supposed to get two job cards, which we do not have. But people with money and power get around three to four job cards,” said Dilip, a labourer engaged in NREGA project.
Considering such trends, the authorities said that the use of the thumb impression machine would minimise the chances of getting forge job cards since it records and registers the thumb impression of a worker.
“To break the nexus of fake job cards in the NREGA, we have introduced thump impression machine to take the attendance of workers. In this, we use the biometric technology and take the thump impression of a worker because a person can fake his job card and signature, but he or she cannot fake the thumb impression.
After taking the thumb impression, we get the details of the person registered in his job card,” said Neeraj Kumar Pawan, collector.
The specially designed machine works on biometric technology and saves the thumb impression of a worker.
The machine is imported from Japan and China, cost around rupees 25,000 each. The device is battery operated and can be easily carried at work sites.
The attendance of a worker is registered in this device and the payment is done on the basis of data recorded in it. By Lokendra Singh (ANI)
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Written by Rahul on 10 August 2009
New Delhi, Aug 10 (ANI): Defence Minister A.K.Antony said on Monday that the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) will be amended every year to improve country’s acquisition policy for the armed forces, instead of once in two or three years as has been the practice.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a seminar here today Antony said, “We have taken a decision that instead of every two or three years, we will amend the DPP annually so that by learning we would be able to improve it every year.”
The Government will amend the DPP in the next few months that further give new impetus to indigenisation process, he said.
Antony informed that the Government is working on a roadmap for speedy indigenisation of procurement and added that the new policy helps to establish a very strong defence industrial base in the country within next ten years.
Expressing satisfaction over recently concluded Sino- India talks, he said, “according to my information, the talks ended on a positive note and it was fruitful and the whole atmosphere was also very cordial.”
India will continue talks with China to find an amicable solution to the long pending border dispute with Beijing, Antony added.
“The dialogues are continuing and we have decided that through it, we must try to sort out all issues with China regarding our border dispute and it will continue,” Antony said. (ANI)
Tags: acquisition policy, Antony, armed forces, atmosphere, Beijing, border dispute, china, Defence Minister, defence procurement, dialogues, dpp, impetus, india talks, New Delhi, procurement procedure, roadmap, satisfaction, sidelines, Speedy, strong defence
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Written by Rahul on 21 April 2009
Joginder Tuteja, Bollywood Trade News Network
It’s a massacre situation out there at the box office. Bollywood has witnessed flops earlier as well but a) the volumes have been a little lesser and b) they are interspersed by at least one average runner a month. However, the state of Bollywood today is unbelievable to say the least. Of course the quality of movies has been terrible but its then audiences too are not even willing to give any chance whatsoever to them which is resulting in a horrible state of affairs.
This is pretty much reflected in the way last week’s releases have fared at the box office. EK SE BURE DO, COFFEE HOUSE, PAL PAL DIL KE SSAAT, SCHOOL DAYS and ROYAL UTSAV – each of these six films has struggled to complete a one week run at theaters, hence adding on to the pile of disasters. Collections of most of the films have been so pathetic that numbers read in thousands, let aside lakhs. In fact it appears like quite time has passed by when a film crossed the 1 crore mark at the box office. And to think of it, till about a few months, records were being created for the best first week total (remember SINGH IS KINNG, RAB NE BANA DI JODI and then GHAJINI?).
The downfall of big films started with CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA and from there on all biggies like BILLU BARBER, DELHI 6 and most recently 8X10 TASVEER fell flat at the box office. Such was the after effect of these movies that smaller films were also not spared, something which is reflected in six disasters that have been seen in the week gone by.
With this week’s releases DASHAVTAR and MERI PADOSAN too failing to find an audience, it is only going to be addition of two more disasters in the Bollywood report card this year.
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Written by Rahul on 20 April 2009
Treviso, Italy – Food security and efforts to stabilize global food prices were set to dominate the first-ever meeting of agriculture ministers from the Group of Eight (G8) which began Saturday.
But the potentially divisive issue of protectionism was also likely to crop up in the talks which are being held near the northeastern Italian city of Treviso and are scheduled to run until April 20.
Setting some of the tone on the topic on Saturday, was Italian Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia, whose country currently holds the G8 presidency.
Declaring himself a “believer in the (free) market,” Zaia however added that “if the alternative is closing hundreds or thousands of farms, then I don’t have doubts: I will fight to maintain (import) duties.”
But speaking to reporters on Saturday ahead of the talks with his counterparts from the other G8 nations – US, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Canada and Russia – Zaia confirmed that food security remained the main issue.
A policy document, prepared by the Italian presidency ahead of the talks calls for “immediate interventions” aimed at doubling by 2050 global agriculture production to ensure that the world’s fast-growing population have enough to eat.
Zaia said provisions to boost food security would be contained in a final document prepared by the G8 agriculture ministers for the end of the three-day meeting.
However, with food security being about both “quantity and quality,” Zaia said he intended to put forward Italy’s case for the “defence of genuine products.”
“Out of 10 food products in the world billed as Italian, only one actually comes from Italy,” he said.
The need to fight counterfeit foods such as cheese “made in China but being sold as Italian mozzarella,” was linked to ensuring health standards and should be of major international concern he added.
Zaia said the measures contained in the document would also be fruit of consultation with agriculture ministers from Brazil, China, India, Mexico, South Africa, Argentina, Australia and Egypt who have also been invited to attend several sessions of the meeting.
“I am confident the document we adopt here will be accepted by the G8 summit,” Zaia said, referring to the main meeting of G8 government leaders scheduled for July.
G8 agriculture ministers also plan to look at ways to stabilize prices, especially in the wake of the sharp increase for commodities such as wheat and rice in 2008 – a situation that triggered riots in dozens of nations.
While prices have since fallen by as much as 40-50 per cent, they are still well above their pre-crisis levels with global cereal prices for example, still some 70 per cent higher than in 2005.
The price hike has had a major impact in pushing the number of the world’s undernourished people to 963 million, as estimated by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. (dpa)
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Written by Rahul on 14 April 2009
Joginder Tuteja, Bollywood Trade News Network
Ready for last two years, FROZEN will finally release in theaters on 1st May. Current stand off between producers and multiplexes has resulted in quite a few films coming out of cold storage and FROZEN is one of them.
Starring Danny Denzongpa in the lead who plays the role of ‘Karma’, the film depicts the life of a family whose dream like existence is interrupted by inevitable odds, one after the other. Made in Hindi and Ladakhi, the film was shot at an average height of 12000 feet above sea level in Ladakh, the eastern part of Jammu and Kashmir, bordering China.
Produced and directed by Shivajee Chandrabhushan, the film has received 18 highly acclaimed awards. Not just that, it has also toured 30 international film festivals over the period of time and would now be seeing a release in India. Interestingly, the film would be seeing a staggered release. While in Mumbai the film will be screened beginning 1st May, in other cities it would arrive on later dates.
After a few forgettable outings in films like KARZZZZ, CHAMKU and BIG BROTHER, one hopes that Danny has sunk his teeth into something really worthwhile in FROZEN where he plays a central protagonist. Some of the other films in which Danny would be seen in months to come are ACID FACTORY, TEEN PATTI and LUCK.
Coming back to FROZEN, the film also stars Shilpa Shukla of CHAK DE INDIA fame. Others in the case comprise of Yashpal Sharma, Raj Zutshi, Aamir Bashir, Shakeel Khan and Denzil Smith.
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Written by Rahul on 10 April 2009
Steven Baker, Bollywood Trade News Network
Aishwarya Rai has done it, Frieda Pinto is doing it, and now Payal Rohatgi is set to become the latest Indian export to Hollywood. The former Big Boss contestant’s route from B-grade flicks to mainstream success has not been easy.
“I did not have anybody to guide me on what kind of films I should look at, and I goofed up in that big time,” says Payal. “The journey for me was very difficult but I worked on myself to be stronger as an actor and rejected many movies.”
This included turning down Yash Raj Productions offer of a part in TASHAN. Payal explains, “The role was not the kind I was willing to do, but I would definitely like to work with them in the future- and I know I will.”
The 36 CHINA TOWN and CORPORATE star recently wowed the crowd when she made a presence at this year’s Filmfare Awards. The actor, whose latest release DIL KABADDI saw her paired opposite Irrfan Khan, is buoyant about her career at home and abroad.
Hoping to follow her co-star’s overseas success, Payal says, “SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE has been a great achievement,” adding, “It has opened the doors of Hollywood for Indian cinema.” She reveals, “My fans will see me in a lot of different roles which I will start working on soon. There are a couple of big things lined up including a Hollywood project.”
(Steven Baker is a UK writer who divides his time between London, Delhi, and Mumbai. Best known for his writing on the Hindi film industry, his work regularly appears in a range of Indian, NRI, and international publications. Steven Baker is presently the Co-ordinator of the British Council’s Creative Writing course in New Delhi. He has also appeared in 15 Bollywood films).
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Written by Rahul on 08 April 2009
Beijing – China has called for a cautious response from the United Nations Security Council over North Korea’s rocket launch at the weekend.
“Concerning resolution 1718, the UN Security Council should act carefully,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said on Tuesday, referring to a resolution passed after North Korea’s nuclear test in 2006.
Resolution 1718 demands that North Korea does “not conduct any further nuclear test or launch a ballistic missile.”
“There are similarities but also differences between rocket and missile technology. Launching a satellite is different in nature from launching a missile or a nuclear test. This issue also involves a country’s right to peacefully use space,” Jiang said.
The foreign ministry’s response suggests that China is not, at this stage, viewing the launch as a violation of the resolution, in contrast to the position of the United States and Japan.
North Korea on Sunday launched what it said was a rocket to bring a communications satellite into orbit, while the US and its neighbours South Korea and Japan believe the launch served as a cover for testing a Taepodong-2 long-range ballistic missile.(dpa)
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Written by Rahul on 08 April 2009
WASHINGTON: An American state Senate
has adopted a resolution asking the Obama Administration and the US Congress to give “diplomatic
recognition” to Tibet and take “forceful” action to end “repression” of human rights by China in the Himalayan region.
Passed by the Vermont state Senate, the resolution called on the US Congress and the international community to treat the plight of the Tibetan people as an “urgent matter of highest priority.”
The resolution adopted last week sought recognition of the Tibetan political autonomy and also urged the US Congress and the Obama Administration to ask China to sincerely negotiate with the representatives of the Dalai Lama to solve the Tibet Problem.
Condemning the continuing “repression” of the Tibetan people, the Vermont state Senate expressed its solidarity with the individuals who participated in the anti-China protests that occurred around the world on March 10.
The resolution emphasised that the people of Tibet “lived in peace and harmony for centuries” and that the “army of the People’s Republic of China illegally invaded” the peaceful Himalayan region.
Alleging the Tibetans have been deprived of any right to self-determination, the resolution said “it is now nearly impossible” for the people of Tibet to continue their “distinctive cultural practices and religious observances.”
The resolution also highlighted those Tibetans who were killed, and those who remained missing or were in prison in the aftermath of China’s crackdown on Tibetans in March 2008.
Tags: action, administration, aftermath, Alleging, anti, Army, autonomy, china, china protests, community, Condemning, congress, crackdown, cultural practices, Dalai, dalai lama, diplomatic recognition, emphasised, Forceful Action, harmony, Himalayan, himalayan region, Lama, March, matter, obama, peace, peace and harmony, People Of Tibet, plight, political autonomy, priority, prison, problem, recognition, region, Religious Observances, repression, Republic, republic of china, resolution, right, self determination, Senate, solidarity, state, Tibet, Tibetan, tibetans, U.S. Senate, Urgent Matter, us, us congress, Vermont, Vermont State Senate, Washington, week, world
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Written by Rahul on 08 April 2009
Tokyo – Japan’s foreign reserves exceeded 1 trillion dollars in March, thanks to gains in the appraisal values of its US Treasury bond holdings and euro-denominated assets, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday.
The nation’s foreign reserves totaled 1.02 trillion dollars, up from 9.2 billion dollars in the previous month.
Japan held 905.53 billion dollars in foreign securities as of March 31 while its foreign currency deposits amounted to 84.2 billion dollars.
The nation had 7.43 billion dollars of those deposits in foreign central banks and the Basel-based Bank for International Settlements, 20.9 billion dollars in Japanese banks and 55.88 billion dollars in foreign financial institutions.
Gold reserves totaled 22.55 billion dollars.
Japan had 2.95 billion dollars in International Monetary Fund (IMF) reserve positions and 2.95 billion dollars in IMF special drawing rights.
Other reserve assets came to 366 million dollars.
Japan was the world’s second-largest holder of foreign reserves after China, according to IMF data.
Japan’s foreign exchange reserves consist mainly of securities and deposits denominated in foreign currencies, gold, and reserve positions and special drawing rights at the IMF.
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Written by Rahul on 08 April 2009
Washington – The 13 victims of Friday’s shooting at a service center for immigrants in a New York town included two US citizens and people from seven other countries.
The largest number of victims – four – were from China, ranging in age from 22 to 54, the Binghamton Press and Sun-Bulletin reported online Monday.
The information was released by city officials in Binghamton, where the shootings took place at the American Civic Association, which provides services to refugees and immigrants and classes to prepare them for US citizenship naturalization.
Among the victims of the killer, himself a Vietnamese immigrant, were a married couple from Haiti, who left behind a daughter, age 6, and a son, age 12.
The couple, Marc Henry Bernard, 44, and Maria Sonia Bernard, 46, worked in entry-level jobs at McDonalds, the Sun Bulletin reported.
The other victims came one each from Vietnam, Iraq, the Philippines, Pakistan and Brazil.
The two dead Americans were Roberta King, who was teaching the English class where most of the killings took place, and Maria Zobniw, a receptionist in the lobby. The alleged shooter, Jiverly Wong, 42, blazed into the centre firing two hand guns.
A second receptionist survived her wounds, as did three others who suffered gunshots.
Immigrants who aspire to US citizenship must pass a test in English on American civic life, and learning the language is the first step on the path.
The Press and Sun-Bulletin quoted from an e-mail sent by one of Zobniw’s relatives, who wrote that the victims were “simply all representative of (the) aspiration for the realization of the American dream.”
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Written by Rahul on 08 April 2009
New York – The five veto-wielding powers and Japan continued wrestling Monday over Japan’s insistence on a sharpened UN resolution against North Korea for testing a ballistic missile over the weekend.
The UN ambassadors from the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain held their second negotiating session with Japan since Sunday, when a three-hour session of the full Security Council ended with no results.
Tokyo requested the emergency Security Council sessions after Pyonyang sent a missile over Japanese territory that fell into the Pacific Ocean, according to US and Japanese officials. North Korea insists it put a satellite into orbit, but no evidence of the orbiter has been found.
Japanese UN Ambassador Yukio Takasu pushed Monday for a clear directive to Pyongyang that it violated a 2006 UN resolution that forbade North Korea to test ballistic missiles.
Takasu argued that the long-range missiles threaten not only Japan but also the security of the international community.
Beijing and Moscow are reluctant to rule that a violation occurred and have warned against escalating tensions over the disagreement.
On Monday in Washington, US State Department spokesman Robert Wood warned that the matter was “complicated” and beset by “difficult diplomacy” in the search for agreement on a strong, effective international reaction.
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Written by Rahul on 07 April 2009
Washington, April 7 (DPA) The US warned Monday of ‘difficult diplomacy’ in finding agreement on a strong, effective international reaction to North Korea’s defiant launching of a missile over the weekend.
‘The issue’s a bit complicated, as you know, and it’s going to take time,’ Robert Wood, deputy spokesperson for the US State Department, told reporters. ‘It’s not something, I would suspect, that we could resolve in the next day or so. It’s going to take time.’
The United Nations Security Council entered its second day of efforts to agree on an answer to North Korea’s violation of a 2006 resolution that banned it from conducting ballistic missile activities.
On Sunday morning (North Korea time), Pyongyang launched what it claimed was a satellite. Others said it was a Taepo-dong 2 missile that Japan says crossed its territory.
The US and Japan say that North Korea did not intend to launch a satellite but rather test a long-range missile as part of its nuclear weapons programme. The US says the missile fell into the ocean, while Pyongyang says it put the satellite into orbit.
China and Russia, two of the security council’s veto-wielding members, have expressed understanding for Japan’s request that the council rule that North Korea violated the resolution.
But the two countries do not agree with the US, Britain and France, the remaining three veto-wielders, that the rocket launch violated the resolutions.
‘It’s complex. We’ve got to make sure that we send a very strong and unified message to the North about this, and to would- be proliferators, those who are out there thinking about either conducting these types of launches or … to proliferate weapons
further,’ Wood said.
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Written by Rahul on 07 April 2009
New Delhi, April 7 (IANS) There were huge expectations from Akshay Kumar-starrer ‘8X10 Tasveer’, but the supernatural thriller has failed to impress audiences and fallen flat at the box office.
Releasing after a lean period of almost two months, the film was expected to be a box-office saviour — instead it turned out to be another A-list flop.
Despite being the first and only Bollywood film that opened in the second quarter year, it is Akshay’s second big-budget dud in the year after ‘Chandni Chowk To China’ that opened the first quarter for biggies this year.
It is also director Nagesh Kukunoor’s second endeavour gone wrong at the box office in terms of commercial cinema post ‘Bombay To Bangkok’ (2008).
‘The reaction to ‘Tasveer’ is not at all up to the mark. It is in fact very disappointing. Neither the public reaction nor the collections are good — considering the fact that it is an Akshay Kumar starrer and that it opened as a solo release over a long weekend due to Ram Navami,’ Sakshi Mehra, an exhibitor and president of the Motion Pictures Association of Delhi-Uttar Pradesh, told IANS.
‘The business for the film started falling Sunday onwards, when otherwise, it should have soared. And with the bad word of mouth now, there is no chance even for it to improve at the box office,’ he added.
Released April 3, ‘8X10 Tasveer’ also stars Ayesha Takia, Sharmila Tagore, Javed Jaffery, Girish Karnad, Anant Mahadevan and Benjamin Gilani in pivotal roles.
It is the story of a young man Jai (Akshay) who has a supernatural gift to look into the past of dead people by looking at their 8×10 photographs.
A PVR official said on the condition of anonymity that ‘the film has managed to collect 40 percent over the opening weekend despite holidays.’ He further added that the collections are slow.
Made on a budget of approximately Rs.600 million, ‘8X10 Tasveer’ released with around 1,500 prints worldwide and the least hype for any Akshay starrer since the last four years. The actor too was reported to be underplaying the promotion of the film.
Trade analysts are not even excepting more than the initial business for the movie.
‘The film is dull and shatters all hopes from a director like Nagesh Kukunoor. People had high expectations from the film, as it was after a long gap that a big-budget movie was hitting the screens but it all went wrong,’ said an industry source from Mumbai.
‘Whatever audiences it managed to draw over the weekend was courtesy Akshay and the supernatural element. However, due to its horrible packaging, it is going to suffer a bad word-of-mouth. It is not likely that the movie will survive more than a week or 10 days at the maximum,’ he added.
Utpal Acharya, vice-president (programming and distribution) of Inox Leisure, added: ‘It’s a different movie altogether and not an in and out masala commercial cinema but due to Akshay’s fan following, people have visited the theatres and it has been a good weekend with around 45 percent occupancy overall.’
‘The movie has done good and has been liked by the multiplex audience. However, it doesn’t have a life more than around two weeks,’ he added.
Meanwhile, with the ongoing confrontation between the producer and distributors on one side and the exhibitors on the other over revenue sharing for forthcoming projects, April is again in the dry mode with only low-budget films on the anvil.
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Written by Rahul on 05 April 2009
London, April 2 (Xinhua) British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Thursday that China deserves the right to demand more say and representation in the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Brown told reporters after the G20 summit that China pledged to contribute $40 billion to the international financial institutions, while the European Union (EU) and Japan offered $100 billion respectively.
Brown stressed that China has the right to demand more representation in the International Monetary Fund and a time table has been set to make the change to this effect.
Calling it a ‘new era’ for global cooperation, Brown said countries will work together for a more sustainable, more open and fairer world.
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Written by Rahul on 05 April 2009
Urumqi (China), April 2 (Xinhua) A bomb blast in an office building Thursday left one dead and two injured in Urumqi in China’s northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the police said.
A man detonated the explosives at 2.10 p.m., killing himself, the police said. Two other people were injured in the explosion.
Han Wushun, 42, threatened the office workers and demanded the company, Xinjiang Beixin Road and Bridge Construction Co. Ltd, to pay him 4,500 yuan ($662) in unpaid wages, before detonating the explosives, the police said.
Han had sued the company for the money, but lost the case in July last year, police said.
Han walked into the first floor of the building and told an office worker that ‘Society is unfair. I don’t want to live any more’.
Han said he wanted to talk to the head of the company.
The explosion damaged some office facilities, according to police.
The police launched an investigation into the incident.
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Written by Rahul on 05 April 2009
Vatican City, April 2 (DPA) The Vatican Thursday said it felt ‘deep pain’ over the re-arrest of an elderly Roman Catholic bishop from China’s ‘underground’ church which remains loyal to the pope.
The Police Monday arrested Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo of Zhengding, a county in China’s Hebei Province some 260 km south of the capital Beijing, Catholic media reported.
The 74-year-old Zhiguo has spent some 20 years in prison and has reportedly been taken into custody a dozen times since 2004.
The latest arrest ‘unfortunately is not an isolated case’, the Vatican statement said.
‘Other clerics are also deprived of their freedom and subject to undue pressures and limitations in their pastoral activities,’ it added.
Monday’s arrest came as a Vatican commission began meeting in Rome to review conditions faced by Catholics in China.
China’s estimated 13 million Catholics are spilt between the state-sanctioned Patriotic Catholic Association and the underground church.
The commission, whose meeting ended Wednesday, in its discussions also drew upon participants’ ‘own sometimes-harsh experiences’, the Vatican said.
It ‘highlighted complex problems of the current ecclesial situation in China, problems deriving not just from internal difficulties of the Church, but also from the uneasy relations with the civil authorities’, the Vatican statement said.
The Vatican does not have diplomatic relations with China, whose officially atheist government cut ties in the early 1950s.
Pope Benedict was seen to break new ground in relations with Beijing when in June 2007 he sent a letter to Chinese Catholics expressing admiration for the Chinese people, but also the need for greater religious freedom in China.
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