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Monday, March 23, 2009
Mumbai attack trial begins
MUMBAI Sometimes breaking into laughter, the man accused of being the lone surviving gunman in last year's Mumbai attacks told an Indian court on Monday that he was from Pakistan and wanted legal assistance, officials said.The trial of Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, whom police formally charged in February with 'waging war' against India, began on Monday via a video link with his prison in Mumbai. Gunmen killed 166 people in a three-day rampage in the city last November. A bearded Kasab smiled and looked composed when the judge asked him whether he had received a copy of the charges and if he wanted an attorney, a government lawyer said. 'I don't have a lawyer,' special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam quoted him as telling the judge. 'He was smiling throughout and said that he was from Faridkot in Pakistan,' Nikam said. 'He started laughing when the judge asked him if he understood everything in the charge sheet.' Police say Kasab, who faces a maximum sentence of death by hanging, was injured in a shootout. Pictures of the young man, wearing sneakers and carrying an automatic rifle and backpack, were published around the world after the attacks. Kasab has since been held in jail, with Indian lawyers refusing to defend him. 'He had earlier requested legal assistance from Pakistan. We need some more time to appoint a lawyer to defend him,'Nikam told the judge. The case will be heard again on March 30. Authorities have cited security fears as behind the decision to not produce Kasab in person for the hearings till a special bomb-proof concrete cage inside a Mumbai jail is ready. Police and jail officers have said Kasab, who on Monday was wearing a black T-shirt and blue jeans, has been cooperating. 'He has confessed that he is from Pakistan and has also asked the court for legal assistance,' Rakesh Maria, the chief investigator in the case, told Reuters. Two Indians – Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin – accused of being members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group and of scouting Mumbai landmarks before the attacks also appeared in court by video conference. 'They have both requested for lawyers and the court will take a decision,' Nikam added. India has charged 38 people, including Kasab and the two Indians, in connection with the case. Most of the accused reside in Pakistan, the Indian government says. The charge sheet, which runs to some 11,000 pages, contains accounts of more than 2,200 witnesses as well as other evidence provided by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, which helped Indian police with the probe.
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China to Continue Buying U.S. Debt, Official Says
BEIJING China will continue buying U.S. government debt while paying close attention to possible fluctuations in the value of those assets, a vice governor of Beijing's central bank said Monday. Investing in U.S. Treasury bills is "an important component part of China's foreign currency reserve investments," People's Bank of China Vice Governor Hu Xiaolian said at a news conference on Monday. "So as an important component we are naturally relatively concerned with the safety and profitability of U.S. government bonds," Hu said -- a statement apparently aimed at concerns that rising debt to fund Washington's stimulus package could spur inflation and weaken the dollar. China is Washington's biggest foreign creditor, holding an estimated $1 trillion in U.S. government debt. A weaker dollar would erode the value of those assets. Hu's comments follow remarks earlier this month from Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao that he was "a little bit worried" about China's holdings of U.S. government debt. Wen called on the U.S. to honor its commitments, remain credit-worthy, and ensure the safety of Chinese assets. China's investments are likely to be a major topic of discussion when Chinese President Hu Jintao meets with President Barack Obama on the sidelines of an April 2 summit in London of the Group of 20 major economies called to discuss remedies for the global financial crisis.
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Pakistan needs $40bn for infrastructure development: ADB
RAWALPINDI Pakistan’s physical infrastructure is inadequate in comparison with world standards and has been identified as one of the critical reasons holding back more rapid economic growth in the country.An assessment report on the private sector carried out by the Asian Development Bank stated that the infrastructure sector in the country consists of power, telecommunications, roads, ports, railways, air transport, urban infrastructure, information technology cyber parks, and industrial estates. The public sector has been the main provider of basic infrastructure in Pakistan. However, given the major unmet needs and limited fiscal space, the government’s capacity to address the infrastructure deficit is severely constrained. To augment limited public resources for infrastructure, private sector participation in infrastructure development has to be encouraged by creating the necessary enabling environment for increased private sector involvement. While Pakistan holds up generally well on infrastructure sector performance compared to other South Asian and low income countries, it is clearly way below the averages for the OECD countries. Pakistan’s electricity and power infrastructure has already come under major strain, and there is a danger that the infrastructure sector in its totality will become a major bottleneck for continued growth and development unless a well designed long-term strategy to enhance infrastructure investment and expand private sector participation in infrastructure development is evolved and implemented.
Users can now call an email message back
WASHINGTON Just about everybody has sent an email, noticed a mistake as they hit the ‘send’ button and wanted to call it back. Google’s Gmail now gives users a brief window to do just that.An ‘Undo Send’ feature introduced in Google’s email programme holds a message for five seconds before sending it. Gmail’s sent mail confirmation message now includes an ‘Undo’ link. Clicking on ‘Undo’ will return a message to its draft form. The feature does not, however, allow a user to recall a message that’s already been sent. ‘It just holds your message for five seconds so you have a chance to hit the panic button,’ Google said in a post on Thursday on the official Gmail blog announcing the new feature.
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Report: Iran Dismisses U.S. Outreach as a 'Slogan'
President Obama intends to press ahead with efforts to open a dialogue with Iran despite an apparent setback yesterday when Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme religious leader, dismissed U.S. overtures as a “slogan” offering no real change.Obama and his aides had already been considering a direct approach to Khamenei as a possible follow-up to the president's unprecedented video address to the Iranian people, released on Friday.Khamenei’s initial response was not encouraging, but U.S. officials and European diplomats noted that the Iranian leader did not rule out a future breakthrough. A familiar chant of “Death to America” echoed around a religious shrine in the northeastern city of Mashhad as Khamenei complained that Obama had “insulted the Islamic republic of Iran from the first day." He added: “If you are right that change has come, where is that change? Make it clear for us what has changed.” His remarks came as a nuclear powered U.S. submarine — the USS Hartford — collided at sea with an amphibious vessel, the USS New Orleans, off the Straits of Hormuz. Fifteen sailors were injured, but the submarine’s atomic propulsion system was undamaged. The Iranian leader's comments followed a striking attempt by Obama to break the deadlock with the country. The president marked the beginning of the Persian new year with conciliatory remarks intended to establish a new commitment to diplomacy after years of bellicose exchanges between Tehran and the administration of former President George W. Bush. In the video — subtitled in Farsi — Obama pledged to pursue “constructive ties." The president noted that the process would “not be advanced by threats," and referred to Iran as an “Islamic republic," signalling his readiness to deal with the current religious leadership.