Asia Africa Intelligence Wire articles from September 2002

Asia Africa Intelligence Wire archives from September 2002

Sultan's heirs: Sabah is ours.
September 1, 2002... (From Manila Standard) The Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo, fueled by indignation over the alleged maltreatment of Filipino deportees by the Malaysian government, asserted its claim to Sabah yesterday. "Let it be known that we have...

GMA tells PNP: Hit 226 drug rings.
September 1, 2002... (From Manila Standard) After chalking up gains in the fight against kidnap gangs, President Arroyo yesterday ordered the Philippine National Police to go after 11 international and 215 local drug syndicates operating in the Philippines....

Church running out of holy priests.
September 1, 2002... (From Manila Standard) "We are running out of saintly priests." Celebrating his first year as a bishop yesterday, Manila Auxiliary Bishop Socrates Villegas disclosed a plan to heal fallen priests--and it is not to send them a...

Ordeal begins for bar bets.
September 1, 2002... (From Manila Standard) The ordeal begins. Exactly 4,761 law students will take the first of their four-part bar examinations across four Sundays at De La Salle University today. This year's examinees represent a 30 percent increase...

Sailors face rough sailing.
September 1, 2002... (From Manila Standard) Filipino seafarers are losing out to rivals because of poor training, Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr. said yesterday. "There is something noteworthy about working abroad and the Filipinos are determined to...

And now, preschool for poor kids.
September 1, 2002... (From Manila Standard) Ever wonder why poor kids from public schools have difficulty adjusting to grade one and eventually drop out? The Department of Education will attack the problem by giving five-year-olds living in fifth- and...

Piatco slams Hitlerite plan on airport terminal.
September 1, 2002... (From Manila Standard) Presidential adviser on special projects Gloria Tan-Climaco is drawing flak from a terminal builder for her Hitlerite plan to have government take over Terminal 3 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. ...

Judiciary vows to pursue reforms.
September 1, 2002... (From Manila Standard) Supreme Court Associate Justice Artemio Panganiban has admitted before the American business community that the judiciary is indeed beset by corruption, incompetence and backlog of cases. In his speech at the...

Cocobank linked to tax scam.
September 1, 2002... (From Manila Standard) Investigators have found what could be the first of several links between the P431 million income tax diversion scam and an P8 million value-added tax scam involving a congressman's restaurant chain. A source in...

Merged IT companies make fresh start.
September 1, 2002... (From Manila Standard) A lot of eyebrows were raised when Nilo Cruz, who used to be president and managing director of Compaq Philippines, was appointed to head the new Hewlett-Packard's local office, edging out Raymund del Val, the former...

Jaworski's son freed on bail, admits drinking.
September 1, 2002... (From Manila Standard) Senator Robert Jaworski's youngest son Ryan and two of his friends were released from the San Juan town jail Friday night after posting bail for illegal gun charges. Ryan Jaworski, 27, paid P140,000 bail for two...

Repeal of death penalty to boost Strunk extradition.
September 1, 2002... (From Manila Standard) The possible repeal of the death penalty may boost the government's bid to have American Rod Strunk extradited to the Philippines for the murder of his wife Nida Blanca. National Bureau of Investigation Director...

Minimum expectations.
September 1, 2002... (From Manila Standard) WE DO not begrudge the Malaysians for desiring to rid themselves of illegal immigrants. They have every right to do so. Illegal immigrants pay no taxes, deprive their citizens of jobs, and are wont to break other...

The next military czar.
September 1, 2002... (From Manila Standard) FOR several weeks now, military generals have been engaged in a different kind of battle. They are trying to upstage each other in portraying themselves in the media as God's gift to the military organization. ...

Not enough spice in salt law.
September 1, 2002... (From Manila Standard) Seven years after ASIN Law (RA 8172 or an Act Promoting Salt Iodization Nationwide) was enacted, a mere 22 percent of the Philippine population uses iodized salt. The ASIN Law is being poorly implemented, says a...

Humanist concepts in teaching.
September 1, 2002... (From Manila Standard) Crucial to the success of curriculum reform is the willingness and ability of teachers to process the students' learning capabilities, integrating the intangible and humanist concepts with methodologies of science...

Malpractice bill discredits art of healing -- PCP.
September 1, 2002... (From Manila Standard) The Philippine College of Physicians (PCP), the umbrella organization of specialists in internal medicine, said House Bill 4955, or the Medical Malpractice Act maligns and compromises the "art of healing" and...

Montenegrin ruling party rejects DOS's draft charter as inter-Serbian accord.
September 1, 2002... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Belgrade, 1 September: Miodrag Vukovic, member of the Constitutional Commission from the Democratic Party of Socialists [DPS], said today that it was absolutely not true that the latest text of...

Macedonia: Ethnic Albanian leaders call for protectorate.
September 1, 2002... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Leaders of ethnic Albanian parties in Macedonia have accused the Macedonian authorities of deliberately raising tensions in the country ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections. They appealed...

Macedonia: Party urges resolution on inviolability of country's name.
September 1, 2002... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Skopje, 1 September: Leader of the Progressive Party Petar Bocvarov sent letter of suggestion to President Boris Trajkovski for adoption of a resolution on inviolability of the country's...

Croatia: Istrian party, Norwegian consulate premises broken into in Rijeka.
September 1, 2002... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Rijeka, 1 September: The premises of the Norwegian consulate in Rijeka and those of the local branches of the Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS) and the Democratic Centre (DC) parties were broken...

Yugoslavia, Russia discuss ways of increasing Yugoslav exports to Russia.
September 1, 2002... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Belgrade, 1 September: Yugoslav Deputy Premier and Foreign Trade Minister Miroljub Labus said in Belgrade on Sunday [1 September] that it is necessary to modify the free-trade agreement with...

UN-sponsored multhiethnic cultural centre opens in Kosovo.
September 1, 2002... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Kosovska Mitrovica, 1 September: The UN civil administrator in Kosovo, Michael Steiner, on Saturday [31 August] night opened a multiethnic cultural centre in Kosovska Mitrovica. He called on the...

CLEAN UP ELECTORAL ROLLS, SAYS RAFIDAH.
September 1, 2002... (From Bernama The Malaysian National News Agency) SEREMBAN, Sept 1 (Bernama) -- Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz has asked the Election Commission (EC) to ensure that a single version of untainted electoral rolls is used for future...

NEXT POLLS CRUCIAL FOR BN AND FUTURE GENERATIONS.
September 1, 2002... (From Bernama The Malaysian National News Agency) KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 (Bernama) -- The next general election, to be held by 2004, would be one of the most important wars ever fought by the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN), BN Youth head Datuk...

PPP WANTS SEATS BACK AT NEXT ELECTION.
September 1, 2002... (From Bernama The Malaysian National News Agency) KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 (Bernama) -- The People's Progressive Party (PPP) should be allowed to contest eight parliamentary and 18 state constituencies in the next general election, matching the...

Amma explains her letter: she supported Congress, not Sonia.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa today denied having supported Sonia Gandhi's candidature for Prime Ministership and yet again reiterated that Sonia Gandhi, being a foreigner, would never be acceptable to her...

Ground Beneath Her Feet.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) 'Farming is serious business, not all song and dance in waving wheat fields as in the movies'THE tall poplar trees whisper a little as a dark shadow silently streaks past them. A dog barks in the distant wilderness....

Pill for UTI: half dose of reforms, the rest bailout.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) In a dramatic bailout-cum-reforms package worth Rs 14,561 crore, the government today announced it would split the Unit Trust of India into two, one part of which would be privatised. This part, UTI-2, comprises all...

Once upon a time, they went bandit-hunting.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) Some were injured. Others were killed. Many simply retired. India's most wanted man has outlived - and outsmarted - all the men who have hunted him. All over Karnataka and Tamil Nadu - even Uttar Pradesh, the homeland...

Carte blanche given to STF, state silent on emissary.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) On the seventh day of the hostage drama today, Karnataka gave a virtual carte blanche to the STF to act ''according to demands of the situation'' to facilitate release of former minister Nagappa but refused to confirm...

City of Tiny Lights.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) THE fleeting television images of the furious swells of the Valtava river as they threatened to submerge the historical Charles Bridge were enough to trigger an anxiety attack. Would the city, which survived the World...

Hello, Your Lordship.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) In the name of ''better relations and goodwill with the Supreme Court,'' the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) has given to the Chief Justice of India, his 25 fellow judges and the three court registrars the...

Off The Front Page.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) For them, we're only a part of this season of conflict. The 'deadly minuet' of threat and counter threat between India and Pakistan has now settled comfortably alongside the American troops' hunt for al Qaeda in...

Mistress of the Night.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) MUCH before British Prime Minister Tony Blair's wife Cherie inquired about the authenticity of her voluptuous, heaving bustline and kicked off a controversy of sorts in the UK, Ayesha Dharker had revealed, during a...

It\\'s a Jungle Out There.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) FORMERLY known as the safest city for women in India, Mumbai is searching its soul. After an audience of five watched a train rape, the confidence of every woman in the city is shaken. Especially those who have come...

Once Again, By The River.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) The Tiger by the River By Ravi Shankar Etteth Viking India Price: Rs 395Swati Varma is heading back to Panayur, Kerala, with his beloved wife's ashes in an urn. Heartsick over her sudden loss, he isn't prepared for...

Spoke in Congress wheel, made in Italy.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) WELL, well, well. Who would have thought that Sonia Gandhi's former tea party companion and ally in government toppling would one day spell out for her exactly why she should abandon her dream of becoming Prime...

Bookmark.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut When literary critics and everyday readers started rewinding to pick their favourite novels of the century past, there were few points of agreement. Ulysses must have pride of...

Bombay Fizz.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) SITTING in her home in British Columbia, Canada, Hiro Boga has leaned across the continents, splayed her fingers in the sands of Juhu beach in Bombay and built a castle of memories. Parsi girl grows up, goes to study...

Whitewashing Operation Clean-up.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) For many years, the Election Commission was a silent presence. Electoral rolls were revised, election schedules announced, candidates filed their nominations, long campaigns were conducted, polling took place, ballot...

What\\'s cooking? Don\\'t ask Amma.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) I take pleasure in introducing to all readers 'Our Chef for the Week'. She is a well-known personality who regularly stirs the nation with her unusual cooking skills. Ladies and Gentleman, introducing Ms...

On the shelf.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) My Years With Boss at Gemini StudioBy AshokamitranOrient LongmanPrice: Rs 110 THIS delightful collection of articles on Gemini Studio and its brilliant entrepreneur S.S. Vasan, where Tamil writer Ashokamitran worked...

'We will catch Veerappan, and soon\\'.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) Veerappan gained a huge amount of money from the kidnap of Kannada matinee idol Dr Rajkumar. That money has now been used to engage mercenaries to kidnapp former minister H Nagappa. But I don't have any information...

Newsreel: 25.08.02.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) » The petrol pump stain refuses to wash. This week, the Supreme Court puts paid to the Government's hopes that it had brushed the scam under the carpet by cancelling all dealerships since January 2000. Staying...

Jaswant Cleans On...
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) Fed up with the Central Public Works Department's sloppy upkeep of North Block, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh wants the housekeeping and cleaning of the offices to be privatised. Finance Secretary S Narayan conveyed...

Cricket in Control.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) Chandu Borde at the Poona Club cricket groundCHANDU BORDE, , chairman, national selection committee, Board of Control for Cricket in India, gestures towards the grassy green expanse behind him. ''I owe everything to...

Madhuri Magic: Off the Air?
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) IF there's really someone somewhere, here's hoping she is watching the much-hyped Madhuri marriage show Kahin Naa Kahin Koi Hai. Insider sources say that the serial has run into rough weather as no couples are coming...

'An award is confirmation I can act\\'.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) SHOBANA breezes into the room, apologising even as she walks in. ''Sorry, I didn't think the photo shoot would take up so much time,'' she says by way of explanation for her delayed arrival. But then, ever since she...

Stringing it Together.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) Puran Bhatt PuppeteerTHE Kathputhali colony in the Capital is a bewildering maze of narrow congested streets and bottled-up talent. Men play complicated tunes and show off their juggling while handing you bio-datas,...

Heat From The Haze.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) "This eagerness on the part of the government to refuse to accept the possibility that this brown haze could drastically change our lives is, quite plainly, stupid," says one of the study team's scientists When Klaus...

Outsiders on the Fringe.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) Today is the last day of a hectic month of arts activity in Edinburgh, as the Fringe, which began on August 21, comes to a regretted end. On High Street, across the Royal Mile, hordes of spiffy merry-makers from all...

It is all Greek to us.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) ON August 6, The Indian Express carried an article titled 'How to avoid a Greek tragedy'. It dealt with the conservation of the 2,500-year-old Parthenon in preparation of the 2004 Summer Olympics that are to be held...

Modi\\'s Gaurav Yatra: Plying safe.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) Phagvel in Kheda district, from where Chief Minister Narendra Modi's Gujarat Gaurav yatra will be flagged off, has been turned into a fortress. With the Congress-backed Bhathi Sena threatening to disrupt Modi's yatra,...

Divide over good earth.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) While delegates at the Earth Summit sat in the marble-lined precincts of plush Sandton city deadlocked on how best to reduce poverty, nearly 10,000 NGOs and local activists began marching from Alexandra, the poorest...

16-yr-old 'raped\\' by ex-lover, his father, cousins.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) Eight months after her wedding, the 16-year-old went home to see her parents. Only to be stripped, beaten and allegedly raped by an ex-lover, Vikram Parmar, his father and cousins. Today, her husband wants to leave...

WB row: Maya sharpens axe again.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) As another officer, sports secretary Kashmira Singh, was shifted today over an order reserving 50-per cent seats in sports colleges and hostels, speculation mounted that CM Mayawati was planning to axe some others for...

End of a 40-yr wait.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) In Gujarat, that hasn't had a reason to cheer in a long time now, water from Narmada river is now providing succour to the parched Saurashtra. For Lathi taluka in Amreli district and other areas of Saurashtra, 550 km...

Club won\\'t play ball.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) The irony is rich. Ramachandra Guha, one of India's leading cricket writers, visits Bombay Gymkhana for a photo session to promote his latest book on cricket; the club, one of the country's oldest institutions...

CISF to take over from Black Cats as VIP shield.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) It's time now for the National Security Guard's elite Black Cats to return to their barracks and hone their counter-insurgency operation skills. Replacing them will be the CISF's up-coming Special Security Group...

All About Allergies.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) WHILE food is not the only substance one can be allergic to (there are pollen allergies, drug allergies, sting allergies), it is certainly the commonest trigger, and the one most easily avoided. The bad news is that...

Hurriyat all set to expel Lone sons.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) A battle of wits has begun in Kashmir's separatist conglomerate, the Hurriyat Conference, aimed at expelling the People's Conference led by the sons of assassinated leader Abdul Gani Lone - Sajjad and Bilal Lone -...

Younger by the Year.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) GROW younger, live longer! Interested? Read on, because today's column is a salute to an 88-year-young gentleman. Enter M F Husain saab. (Sorry! Did I say 'enter'? I take that back, this world-famous artist doesn't...

Package for IFCI, IDBI soon.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) The government would announce a similar bailout package for IFCI next week. According to finance minister, "a package similar to UTI would be announced for IFCI next week. Elaborating finance secretary S Narayan said...

42 per cent of UTI to be privatised.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) Apart from announcing a Rs 14,561 crore bailout package for the beleaguered UTI, and ending the anxiety of its 15 million or so investors, the government plans to split UTI into two parts, one of which is to be...

Not judgement errors.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) The Unit Trust of India (UTI) chairman has established a no-nonsense reputation and is working hard to fulfil his mandate by revamping the organisation and through ruthless efforts to recover investors' money. Why...

Vision for the Future.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) TILL A few days ago, Kewal's eyes were good only for crying. Yet the other day, when the bandages were finally removed from his eyes, he had no trouble identifying Dr Debaprasad Kar as the person responsible for...

Two Leaves and a Nip in the Bud.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) THE good news first: India is still the world's largest producer of tea. The bad news: Its share in world export has plummeted from 50 per cent in 1950 to 13 per cent (2001 figures). With the tea industry facing a...

IT bears no Fruit for Farmers.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) THE Mahiti Kendra (Information Centre) stands right next to a three-acre field where Laxman Gadekar grows cotton and sugarcane in Dadh village, Ahmednagar district. At the click of a mouse, the computer at the Kendra...

Agartala-Dhaka bus service.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) WITH Bangladesh finally giving its nod to the much-awaited bus service between Agartala and Dhaka, a long-cherished dream of the people of far-flung Tripura is now on the verge of fulfillment. Once the bus service...

What are Marxists Afraid of?
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) THIRTY years is a long enough time to go without a leader. It is also a long time for a leaderless movement to survive. So, when the Kamtapur agitation makes headlines today with acts of violence, it is as much a...

The wizard VS The wall.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) It's the cumulative effect of sponsorships, centuries and a surfeit of one-day cricket. Every promising cricketer today would rather be like Tendulkar, hitting fours and sixes in a whirlwind of destruction, than...

History\\'s lesson: All the great teams need a Dravid.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) Let's not get too maudlin about this, shall we? Or, as many have of late, climb on the Rahul Dravid bandwagon. As if it was unknown before Trent Bridge and Headingley that he has long had remarkable talents and...

Ask Laloo and he says it\\'s just an 'image problem\\'.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) Laloo's raillery and repartee of yesteryear have today given way to bluff and bluster. More so when you confront him with facts. Over two hours he spent with AJIT KUMAR JHA of The Sunday Express, he called up at...

India go Dutch at the goal feast.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) It was the stuff that miracles are made off. The Indian youth brigade served notice to the world's top hockey powers when they held Olympic champions the Netherlands 3-3 in a sensational match in the Champions Trophy...

Look at each face, multiply the anguish.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) RAM B YADAV, asst accountant 3 CHILDREN Salary due since 1 year BIHAR SMALL SCALE INDUSTRIES CORPANJAN KUMAR, peon no. of children: NA Salary due since 1994 BIHAR STATE HANDLOOM & HANDICRAFT LONGI DEVI, sweeper 2...

Parking your short-term surpluses.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) Here is an actively managed cash fund, which has consistently outperformed its peers. With below-average expenses, this fund is a suitable candidate for parking short-term surpluses. This actively managed short-term...

Shedding light.
September 1, 2002... (From Bangkok Post) Byline: Story by KARNJARIYA SUKRUNG The painting shows a bright yellow centre over a brilliant red background. It depicts a yellow star's wonderful brightness, said its 13-year-old creator, who is blind. There...

No one\\'s buying online yet.
September 1, 2002... (From Indian Express) DESPITE the fact that Internet usage in India has grown from a meagre 0.7 million subscribers in November 1998 to over 3.4 million subscribers today-and is expected to touch 35 million in another two years -e-commerce...

Pushing buttons.
September 1, 2002... (From Bangkok Post) Byline: Story by NILUBOL PORNPITAGPAN To step into an exhibition by Chiang Mai-based Padungsak Kojasamrong is to be provoked to think. Last November Padungsak staged a performance art piece at Chiang Mai...

Anyone fancy a cute cockroach?
September 1, 2002... (From Bangkok Post) Byline: Roger Crutchley You may have seen the story last week about how a growing number of people in Thailand are importing cockroaches as pets. This isn't any ordinary cockroach, but the splendidly-named...

Social scene of another sort.
September 1, 2002... (From Bangkok Post) Byline: Story by USNISA SUKHSVASTI `When His Majesty [King Mohammad] came to Thailand in February 2002, I had the opportunity to welcome his aunt, Lalla Fatima, to my house with her entourage of 10 ladies. I was...

Songkhla lake to be cleaned to help residents _ Thaksin.
September 1, 2002... (From Bangkok Post) Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has vowed to clean up Songkhla lake to help improve the livelihood of 1.2 million people depending on Thailand's largest brackish-water lake. ``The lake is very important. But it is...

Kraisak urges visit to Taipei to settle row.
September 1, 2002... (From Bangkok Post) Byline: Post reporters The government should send someone to Taiwan to find a way out of the diplomatic row that is threatening the future of Thai workers there, the senate foreign affairs committee chairman said...