Guru Nanak Birth Anniversary: 8,000 Sikhs Arrive In Pak To Celebrate The Occasion

ISLAMABAD: About 8,000 Sikh pilgrims from various countries, including India, Afghanistan and Britain, have arrived in Pakistan to join celebrations marking the 543rd birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.

The three-day celebrations began at Nanaka Sahib, the birthplace of the founder of the Sikh religion, on Tuesday.

Among the 'yatris' or pilgrims are over 3,000 Sikhs from India who travelled across the border in three special trains.

The pilgrims will visit Nankana Sahib, Gurdwara Panja Sahib at Hasanaadal, Dera Sahib and other holy sites.

The administration and law enforcement agencies have put in place tight security arrangements to prevent any untoward incidents during the celebrations.

Additional Secretary (Shrines) Zahid Hussain Bokhari welcomed the Indian Sikhs who crossed over by train at the Wagah border.

The government has opened special outlets of money changers and the National Bank of Pakistan at the border to facilitate the pilgrims.

Authorities also set up a dispensary, arrangements for food and additional visa counters for speedy clearance of the pilgrims.

Sikh leaders Malkar Singh and Jaspal Singh told the media that they were pleased to be in the land of their spiritual leader.

They expressed satisfaction at the arrangements made by the Pakistan government for the yatris.

They were thankful to the government and people of Pakistan for the hospitality accorded to them.

Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee member Sardar Sham Singh urged the governments of Pakistan and India to simplify the visa procedures for Sikh pilgrims.

The Indian Sikh pilgrims are expected to return by November 17.

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United States Looking At Ways To Put 'Additional Pressure' On Iran

WASHINGTON: The United States said on Wednesday it is looking at ways to put "additional pressure" on Tehran after the United Nations released a report hardening suspicions that Iran is seeking atomic weapons.

"These are very serious allegations, serious charges, and it's incumbent on Iran to at last engage with the IAEA in a credible and transparent manner to address these concerns," state department spokesman Mark Toner said.

President Barack Obama's administration is "going to consult (with allies and partners) and look at ways to impose additional pressure on Iran," Toner told reporters, adding Washington was considering "a range of options" against the Islamic republic.

"I don't want to rule anything out or anything in," he said, adding that unilateral sanctions were a possibility.

The International Atomic Energy Agency disclosed on Tuesday it had found "credible" intelligence showing Iran's interest in nuclear weapons -- the first time the UN nuclear watchdog has so explicitly supported claims initially raised by Israel and the United States.

Iran has been subjected to four rounds of UN Security Council resolutions in retaliation for its nuclear program, the latest coming in June 2010 in a resolution expanding the arms embargo and barring the country from sensitive activities like uranium mining.

The following month, Obama signed into law the toughest ever US sanctions on Iran, aimed at choking off Iran's access to imports of refined petroleum products like gasoline and jet fuel and curbing its access to the international banking system.

But the release of the damning IAEA report saw the permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany -- a grouping known as the P5+1 -- emerge divided over Iran.

France and Britain joined a US call for an even stronger punishment, while Russia ruled out backing new sanctions and held urgent consultations with its ally.

But Toner insisted that the P5+1 "continues to be very coherent," noting that Washington was in consultations with other members of the group.

"We're all of one mind in our concern over Iran's nuclear program and in our shared goal of having Iran address the international community's concerns about it," he added.

Tehran meanwhile said the country stands "ready for useful and positive talks" on its nuclear program as long as they are held on the basis of equality and respect.

Earlier, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had reacted with a more defiant tone, saying Iran "will not budge an iota" on its nuclear program, which he insists is for peaceful ends to produce electricity for civilian purposes.

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Uk Students Protest Fee Hike

LONDON: Students marched through London on Wednesday to protest cuts to public spending and a big increase in tuition fees.

Police said more than 2,000 people were taking part as the march set off with chants of "No ifs, no buts, no education cuts".

Some 4,000 police officers were deployed along the route, which wound from the University of London to the city's financial district. At Trafalgar Square, a group of protesters erected more than 20 tents at the foot of Nelson's Column in the latest spinoff of the Occupy Wall Street protest camp movement.

Annette Webb, an international development student at Portsmouth University, said tripling tuition fees to £9,000 from next year "will price out most students". "It will mean that education is only for the rich and I believe it should be for everyone," she said.

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China Coal Mine Blast Kills 20, Traps 23

BEIJING: At least 20 workers were killed and another 23 were trapped underground after a blast at a mine in China on Thursday, state media said, in the latest disaster to hit the country's vast mining industry.

The mine was hit by a "coal and gas outburst" -- a sudden and violent ejection of coal, gas and rock from a coal face in a mine, which can cause serious injuries and damage machinery, a local mine safety official said.

The official China News Service (CNS) said 20 people had been confirmed dead, and that efforts to rescue the remaining 23 from the mine in the southwestern province of Yunnan were being hampered by a gas leak.

"Eighteen rescue workers are down in the coal mine, but the high levels of gas could cause an explosion, making it hard to progress with the rescue," Tan Xiaopeng, the head of the local firefighting department, told CNS.

The accident at the privately run Sizhuang Coal Mine comes days after a rock blast in a coal mine in the central province of Henan trapped dozens of workers underground.

Most were eventually pulled out after a 40-hour rescue operation, though 10 were killed.

Coal mine accidents are common in China, where work safety is often neglected by bosses seeking a quick profit.

Last year, 2,433 people died in coal mining accidents in the country, according to official statistics -- a rate of more than six workers per day.

Labour rights groups, however, say the actual death toll is likely to be much higher, partly due to under-reporting of accidents as mine bosses seek to limit their economic losses and avoid punishment.

China's rapid economic growth has caused demand for energy, including coal, to surge.

The Asian nation is the world's leading consumer of coal, relying on it for 70 percent of its growing energy needs.

Over the past eight years it has on average built one coal-fired power station a week. And with the arrival of winter, mines are operating at full capacity.

Fatalities at Chinese coal mines peaked in 2002 when 6,995 deaths were recorded, sparking efforts by the government to boost safety standards.

In its latest campaign, the government last year issued a policy that required six kinds of safety systems -- including rescue facilities -- to be installed in all coal mines within three years.

But accidents still occur on a regular basis. Last month, a gas explosion at a state-owned coal mine in the central province of Hunan left 29 miners dead.

Earlier in October, blasts at mines in the southwestern city of Chongqing and the northern province of Shaanxi killed 13 and 11 miners respectively.

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Turkey : Quake Kills 7, Dozens Trapped

ANKARA : Rescue workers have pulled out 23 survivors from the rubble of three buildings, collapsed by an earthquake in eastern Turkey, the country's disaster management authority said Thursday. At least seven were killed and dozens of others trapped.

Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said Wednesday's quake toppled 25 buildings in the city of Van but only three of them were occupied since the others have been evacuated after suffering damages in last month's powerful temblor.

Atalay said Thursday that the rescue work was now concentrating at the site of two collapsed hotels and one apartment building. The disaster management authority said 23 survivors were pulled out along with the bodies of seven people.

The magnitude-5.7 quake was a grim replay of the previous magnitude-7.2 earthquake that hit Oct. 23, killing more than 600 people.

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Ashwin Must Guard Against Complacency, Says Akram

NEW DELHI: Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram praised Indian off-spinner R Ashwin for his excellent Test debut against the West Indies, in which he finished with a nine-wicket haul, but warned him against becoming complacent.

"What I like about Ashwin is that he is not scared of flighting the ball, not just in Tests, but in T20s and ODI cricket too. He has got the variety, he has the carom ball, the quicker one and an easy action," said Akram.

"Ashwin is young and his height allows him to get extra bounce. He bowled excellently in the second innings."

With a nine-wicket haul, including six in the second innings, Ashwin became only the third cricketer to get a Man of the Match award on debut.

Akram, however, said the youngster must guard against complacency.

"His start has been terrific. But what I do not want to see with Ashwin is what happened with Sri Lanka mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis. When Mendis came on to the scene he was unplayable but later everybody learnt what he does. So that is where Ashwin needs to change his tactics and develop more," said the former skipper.

The 45-year-old Akram also felt that having proved his worth with his guile and variations, the offie is expected to seal a berth for himself for the upcoming Australia tour.

"I am sure after this performance he will be selected for the Australia tour," the cricketer-turned-commentator said.

Although Ashwin's nine wickets in the match overshadowed Pragyan Ojha's 6 for 72 in the West Indies' first innings but Akram insisted that the pair can emerge as a spin twin for India in the future.

"They (Ashwin and Ojha) can be quite a team together, Ashwin has been very consistent off late, Ojha can turn the ball too. But the big test for them is not at home against the West Indies, it has to be Australia.

"Looking at the way Ojha is bowling, he too can make the cut for the big series. The Australia series will test the true mettle of these two spinners. Both of them have the ability to play consistently for India, especially under sub-continental conditions," the pace legend said.

Akram also said that with both the youngsters grabbing opportunities, it will be tough for Harbhajan Singh to make a comeback.

"With Ashwin picking up wickets in almost each game, it will be difficult for Harbhajan to make a return. There is pressure on him big time now. He has to play first class cricket and pick up wickets if he is looking to make it to the Australia series," he said.

Harbhajan was dropped from the Indian squad for the India-England five-match ODI series, followed by the on-going Test series against the West Indies at home, after his dismal show in England.

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Fallout With Tendulkar My Biggest Regret: Chapp

MELBOURNE: India's controversial former cricket coach Greg Chappell claims the biggest regret of his tumultuous three-year stint there was the fallout with senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar with whom he simply failed to "communicate" properly.

Chappell, who served as India coach from 2005 to 2007, admitted in his new autobiography 'Fierce Foucs' that he tried to push hurried improvements in the team which led to his downfall, especially after his relations with senior players such as Tendulkar soured.

"My biggest regret was falling out with Sachin over him batting at number four in the one-day team. It was a shame because he and I had some intense and beneficial talks together prior to that. My impatience to see improvement across the board was my undoing in the end," writes the former Australian captain.

"The mistakes I made were not particularly 'western' but the same kind of mistakes I'd made as a captain in my playing days. I didn't communicate my plans well enough to the senior players. I should have let guys like Tendulkar, (VVS) Laxman and (Virender) Sehwag know that although I was an agent of change, they were still part of our Test future.

"When I did communicate with them, I was sometimes too abrupt. Once in South Africa, I called in Sachin and Sehwag to ask more of them, I could tell by the look on their faces that they were affronted," he recalled.

"Later (Rahul) Dravid, who was in the room, said 'Greg, they've never been spoken to like that before'," he wrote.

Chappell dubbed his stay in India as 'tenuous' alleging that the BCCI tried to make his stint uncomfortable, delaying paying his bills and wages.

"Throughout our living arrangements at the Taj Westend in Bangalore had always seemed tenuous. The BCCI was usually late in paying our bills, and Judy (his wife), along in Bangalore for much of the time I was touring, often didn't know whether my employer was looking after its commitments or not," Chappell claimed.

"The wages for me, Ian Frazer and other support staff were sometimes paid months late. I saw it more as back channel attempts to make life uncomfortable and push towards throwing it in. Things improved markedly under the (Sharad) Pawar regime," Chappell wrote.

In one of the chapter titled 'A New Hope', Chappell revealed that during his tenure he got to understand the kind of pressure Indian cricketers lived with, especially Tendulkar.

"A glimpse of them was a life-changing event...We were playing an unrelenting amount of cricket to satisfy the demand, at least 50 per cent more than Australia were playing and the pressure was beyond belief," he wrote.

"Nobody was carrying that pressure more than Sachin. Not even Don Bradman carried expectations like this, and Sachin had been bearing it since 1989," he said.

"When the team travelled, he would snap on his headphones, not look sideways, and shut it all out. There was a constant frenzy trying to get in at him. The energy it would have taken for him to let that kind of excitement in would have drained him dry," he further wrote.

Chappell revealed that he had asked Tendulkar to have a day off but the veteran batsman never wanted to because of the expectations of him.

"If he didn't train and then performed badly, he'd have been blamed. People would notice. And there was no relief for him going out onto the streets, either. He just couldn't get any rest," he explained.

Chappell wrote that once he asked Tendulkar that it would be hard to find time to keep in touch with his friends due to India's tight schedule, to which Tendulkar replied 'Greg, you would have more friends in India than I've got.

"This is how it is to be Sachin Tendulkar," Chappell wrote.

Recalling his conversation with Tendulkar during his early time with the team, Chappell said, "He was frustrated with his form and wracked with self doubt."

"For him, the challenge was to think like he had when he was a young player. Over my time, in the first 12 months, we had three or four such discussions," he wrote.

Chappell also mentioned that after he was attacked at the Cuttack airport in 2007, he decided that whatever happened in the World Cup, he was not going to stay in the job.

"Apparently a leading newspaper carried a story the day after the incident titled 'Five better reasons to whack" Chappell. "I just wasn't interested in signing on for a longer period if I was going to be the target of every malcontent in the country," he wrote.

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Saarc Summit: India, Pak Declare 'New Chapter' In Ties, Agree On 26/11 Justice

ADDU: Seeking to put past acrimony behind, India and Pakistan on Thursday talked about writing "a new chapter" in their tense ties, with Islamabad assuring New Delhi that the terrorists behind the Mumbai carnage will be brought to justice soon.

Marking a forward movement in their ties that have languished since 26/11 attacks nearly three years ago, the two sides agreed to push a host of initiatives, including the revival of the joint commission, a preferential trade agreement and liberal visa regime.

India conveyed to Pakistan the imperative need to punish perpetrators of 26/11 carnage, that dipped ties between the neighbours, and underlined that terror should not be allowed to spoil improving relations between them.

Pakistan on its part promised to conclude the trial of the Mumbai terror accused in its custody and declared that Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving 26/11 terrorist, should be hanged.

In a sign of the new spirit of mutual accommodation and positive progress in dialogue, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani vowed to open a new chapter in ties and hoped the next round of talks will be "more productive and constructive."

Meeting on the sidelines of the 17th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) summit here, the two leaders held delegation-level talks for around half an hour in a seaside beach cottage at the idyllic Shangri La resort hotel and followed it up with nearly 45 minutes of one-on-one talks.

Coming out after their meeting, the two smiled and made brief statements before the media in which they virtually echoed each other in their desire to start a new phase in relations.

Describing Gilani as "man of peace," Manmohan Singh said that the dialogue process, which the two countries resumed early this year, has yielded positive results, but stressed that "more needs to be done.

"We will review the dialogue with the expectation that all the issues which have bedevilled the relations will be discussed with all the sincerity the two sides can bring to the table," Manmohan Singh said. "We have wasted a lot of time in acrimonious debate in the past. The time has come to write a new chapter in relations between India and Pakistan," he said.

He said the next round of talks "should be far more productive and result-oriented and bring the two countries closer to each other."

Gilani, too, struck an upbeat note. "We had a good meeting. I hope the next round of talks will be more constructive and open a new chapter in relations between the two countries."

"We openly discussed all issues, including core issues related to water, terror, Sir Creek and Siachen," Gilani said.

Briefing reporters after the talks, foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai stressed that the talks signaled an end to the period of "accusations and counter-accusations" and stressed on key initiatives that emerged from the talks.

"The joint commission, which have not met since 2005, will be revived," he said.

Building on positive momentum generated by Pakistan granting India Most Favoured Nation status, Mathai said the two countries are now planning to move towards a preferential trade agreement that is set to give a substantial boost to trade between the two countries.

The liberalized visa regime should be signed at the earliest, Mathai said, adding that the two sides also decided to fast-track implementation of cross-border trade and confidence-building measures that were finalized during talks between the foreign ministers of the two countries in July.

The feel-good factor in bilateral relations was more than visible, but with justice still elusive for 26/11 victims nearly three years after the carnage that froze their peace process, India made it clear that relations can thrive only in a atmosphere free from terror and enmity.

"Terrorism is a perennial concern. We have an obligation to ensure that it does not spoil relations between the two countries," Mathai told reporters about the message Manmohan conveyed to Gilani during their talks.

Manmohan Singh told Gilani that "it is imperative to bring the perpetrators of 26/11 attacks to justice", said Mathai.

The Pakistani side promised to bring the trial of the seven terrorists who perpetrated Mumbai terror to conclusion and pointed that the judicial commission which will be visiting India soon will positively impact the judicial process of bringing 26/11 perpetrators to justice. In a surprisingly blunt assertion, Pakistan's interior minister Rehman Malik declared that Ajmal Kasab is a non-state actor, a convicted terrorist and should be sent to the gallows.

"Kasab is a terrorist, a non-state actor who should go to gallows and his accomplices too. So should perpetrators of the Samjhauta Express blast," said Malik. Mathai said that India will respond soon on the dates of the proposed visit of the judicial commission.

The commission is expected to record the statements of Mumbai additional chief metropolitan magistrate RV Sawant Waghule and investigating officer Ramesh Mahale, who had recorded the confessional statement of Kasab, convicted of the terror attack.

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Colombia Says Farc Rebel Leader Killed

BOGOTA: Colombian forces killed top FARC rebel leader Alfonso Cano on Friday in the biggest blow yet to Latin America's longest insurgency and a triumph for President Juan Manuel Santos, the Defense Ministry said.

While unlikely to bring a swift end to nearly five decades of war in the Andean nation, his death will further damage the rebels' ability to regroup and coordinate the high profile attacks that have brought it worldwide notoriety.

There were few immediate details of the killing, which occurred during combat, according to a ministry official.

"It's true he's dead," he told Reuters. Even prior to its decapitation, the FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, had been battered by a US-backed military campaign that began in 2002, and the waning insurgency has lost several other key commanders in the past four years.

"This brings us closer to victory and peace so that we can stop killing each other," said Jorge Cordero, a 19-year-old soldier in the north of Bogota

The death of Cano, 63, who took over leadership of the rebels after their founder died in 2008, was a major strategic victory for Santos, who came to office last year promising to keep up a hard-line stance against the guerrillas.

The government had offered up to $3.7 million for information that would lead to his capture.

The death of the bespectacled and bearded rebel commander, a former student activist and communist youth member, followed the killing late last year of one of his main henchmen, Mono Jojoy, in a bombardment and assault on his camp.

REBELS WEAKEST IN DECADES

"It's going to be more and more hard for them to get through the next years," said Alfredo Rangel, an independent security analyst.

"There's no leader with the intensity that Cano has and it will be hard to get someone to replace him. In the short term there will be a lack of leadership. The end won't be automatic or immediate but we are coming to the end of the FARC."

Cano went from being a middle-class youth in the capital Bogota to the top FARC leader after taking part in peace talks in neighboring Venezuela and Mexico during the 1990s.

The strike that killed him underscored how Colombia's military can now attack rebel leaders deep in the mountains and jungles. Once a powerful force controlling large swaths of Colombia, the FARC is at its weakest in decades.

Violence, bombings and kidnapping from the conflict have eased sharply as Colombian troops use better intelligence, US training and technology to take the fight to the rebels.

Foreign investment in Colombia has surged since the military crackdown began in 2002, especially in oil and mining. But the FARC and other armed groups have continued to pose a threat in rural areas where the state's presence is weak and cocaine trafficking lets the rebels finance their operations.

Desertions and military operations have whittled down rebel ranks to about 7,000 fighters, but the FARC has survived for more than 40 years, and still has a cadre of experienced mid-level commanders. Rebels rely increasingly on hit-and-run tactics and ambushes in rural areas.

The FARC, whose rebels have made incursions into Venezuela and Ecuador at times to elude Colombia's army, are on the US list of terrorist organizations.

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