Modi: Pakistan has been taught befitting lesson, Imran: Resolve Kashmir dispute

Pakistan has been taught befitting lesson: Modi
AGENCIES


Dhamangaon (Maharashtra), Oct 10: As firing from across the border declined, Prime Minister NarendraModi Friday said Pakistan has been taught a "befitting lesson" with the Army "shutting their mouth".
"Pakistan has got a befitting lesson. They will not dare to repeat it again. Our jawans have shut their mouth," he said addressing an election rally here on Friday.
The Prime Minister said those living close to the border with Pakistan who had to leave their homes following nine days of heavy mortar shelling and firing will be adequately compensated by the Centre.
"I assure you, the government of India will act promptly to provide adequate compensation to those who had to leave their homes due to shelling and migrate elsewhere," he said.
Modi also slammed Congress for targeting him over his government's response.
"Congress is busy issuing statements over what is happening on the Pakistan border. This is not the time for empty 'boli' (talk) by them, but for 'goli' (bullet) by our jawans," he said.

Imran Khan asks Modi to use his mandate to resolve Kashmir dispute
Last update at : Sat, 11 Oct 2014 11:15:58 IST


Lahore, Oct 11: Opposition leader and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Party chairman Imran Khan Friday asked Prime Minster Narendra Modi to use his mandate to resolve Kashmir issue.

"Modi! I give you a free suggestion. The Indian people have given you mandate. You should show a big heart and act like a statesman on Kashmir issue," Khan said today while addressing a big public rally.

The cricketer-turned-politician further said: "There has been extreme poverty in the sub-continent. Instead of fighting a war and wasting money on weapons, Pakistan and India should do something to end poverty."

He said both the countries should take measures for lasting peace besides increasing the trade volume between them.

Castigating Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for not condemning "Indian aggression" on the LoC, Imran Khan said: "There has been not a word from Nawaz Sharif on Indian aggression at the LoC that resulted killing of many Pakistanis.

"I on behalf of Nawaz Sharif tell Modi that Pakistan is not afraid of its aggression. If you think Pakistanis will be intimidated by Indian firing at the LoC then you are seriously mistaken. Pakistan is united to face any aggression." PTI 

ENB-Documents: Full text of Alfred Nobel's Will

ENB-Documents: Full text of Alfred Nobel's Will: Full text of Alfred Nobel's Will I, the undersigned, Alfred Bernhard Nobel, do hereby, after mature deliberation, declare the follo...

Growth worries slam stocks, oil, emerging markets

A pedestrian looks at an electronic board showing the stock market indices of various countries outside a brokerage in Tokyo August 8, 2014. Reuters/Yuya Shino

Growth worries slam stocks, oil, emerging marketsBY YASMEEN ABUTALEB

NEW YORK Fri Oct 10, 2014 5:37pm EDT

(Reuters) - Stocks in major global markets closed out one of their worst weeks of the year on Friday, with an index of global equities hitting an eight-month low, and oil slumping to a four-year low as worries about slowing global economic growth darkened the investment outlook.

Major Wall Street stock indexes fell for the third straight week, with the S&P 500 suffering its worst week since mid-2012, as selling accelerating late in the day.

Investors fled to the safety of government debt, with the 30-year Treasury bond's yield nearing the 3.0 percent level for the first time since May 2013.

Money managers have scrambled to reduce big bets in stocks and other risky assets as expectations for world economic growth have shifted in recent days. A raft of weak indicators from Europe and China in particular have collided with concerns about the U.S. Federal Reserve's plans to reduce monetary stimulus.

"In a vacuum of policy response, investors are selling first and asking questions later," said Jim McDonald, chief investment strategist at Chicago-based Northern Trust Asset Management, which has about $924 billion in assets under management.

"It smells like there is a high degree of involvement from systematic traders, rather than fundamental traders. The magnitude of the move has been disproportionate to the change in the fundamentals," he said.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 115.15 points, or 0.69 percent, to 16,544.1, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 22.08 points, or 1.15 percent, to 1,906.13 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 102.10 points, or 2.33 percent, to 4,276.24.

The MSCI all-country world index .MIWD00000PUS ended down 1.6 percent to hit its lowest level since February, while the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index ended down more than 1.5 percent. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index .MSCIEF fell 1.8 percent.

In a sign of increased volatility, the CBOE Volatility Index .VIX, or VIX, the market's favored gauge of Wall Street anxiety closed at 21.24, its highest level since December 2012, as more investors paid up for protection against further declines. More than 27 million contracts traded in the U.S. options market Friday, according to Trade Alert data, the busiest day of the year.

Concerns about global growth and rising oil production hit oil prices hard. Brent crude oil LCOc1 fell to $89.62 a barrel, after seeing its lowest level since December 2010 at $88.11. U.S. November crude CLc1 fell to $85.32 a barrel.

The risk aversion has boosted buying in safe-haven government debt. Lipper data shows U.S.-based taxable bond funds attracted $12.7 billion in inflows for the week ended Wednesday, a one-week record, while U.S. equity funds saw $6.7 billion in outflows, with most coming from exchange-traded funds.

The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note US10YT=RR fell to 2.2910 percent on Friday, the lowest level since June, and was up 10/32 in price.

Later this month, the Federal Reserve is set to end its asset purchase program that has been credited with boosting stock and bond markets over the past two years. Many observers doubt the recent stimulus measures unveiled by the European Central Bank will make up for the Fed program that some believe has masked underlying issues with demand.

"To some level, people forget how markets trade back and forth - it's not an ever-rising move with shallow pullbacks," said Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Greenwich, Connecticut.

A string of dismal data from Germany and other large euro zone economies in recent weeks has fed anxiety over a possible return to recession in the region, and the jury is still out on the ECB's proposed policy response.

Some investors have been speculating that the ECB will be forced to launch a sovereign bond-buying program, styled on the Fed's quantitative easing.

China's shares ended down on Friday as investors remained cautious ahead of September economic data due next week. Economists expect the Chinese economy to have grown at its weakest pace in more than five years, according to a Reuters poll.

The U.S. dollar index .DXY, which tracks the greenback against six major currencies, was up 0.44 percent at 85.902. Against the euro EUR=, the dollar was up 0.61 percent at $1.2613. The dollar fell 0.1 percent against the yen to 107.71 yen JPY=.

Euro zone bond yields bounced off record lows after top Federal Reserve officials hinted at an interest rate rise in the middle of next year, reversing some bets for a longer period of near-zero rates.

(Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Leslie Adler)

மலையகக் கட்சிகளுடனும் பேச்சுவார்த்தை நடத்த எதிர்பார்க்கிறோம் - கூட்டமைப்பு

மலையகக் கட்சிகளுடனும் பேச்சுவார்த்தை நடத்த எதிர்பார்க்கிறோம் - கூட்டமைப்பு

மலையக தமிழ் மக்களை பிரதிநிதித்துவப் படுத்தும் அரசியல் கட்சிகளுடன் பேச்சுவார்த்தை நடத்த எதிர்பார்ப்பதாக, தமிழ் தேசிய கூட்டமைப்பு தெரிவித்துள்ளது.

கூட்டமைப்பின் நாடாளுமன்ற உறுப்பினர் சுரேஷ் பிரேமசந்திரன், இதனை உள்நாட்டு ஊடகம் ஒன்றுக்கு கூறியுள்ளார்.

அண்மையில் தமிழ் தேசிய கூட்டமைப்பு இந்தியா சென்றிருந்தது.

இதன் போது தமிழ் தேசிய கூட்டமைப்பை வலுப்படுத்தும் வகையில், ஏனைய தமிழ் சமூகங்களுடனும் இணைந்து புதிய சக்தியை உருவாக்க வேண்டும் என்று இந்திய பிரதமர் கோரி இருந்தார்.

இதன் அடிப்படையில் தமிழ் தேசிய கூட்டமைப்பு விரைவில் சிறிலங்கா முஸ்லிம் காங்கிரஸை சந்திக்கிறது.

இதன் தொடர்ச்சியாக மலையகத்தை பிரதிநிதித்துவப் படுத்துகின்ற கட்சிகளையும் கூட்டமைப்பு சந்திக்கவிருப்பதாக அவர் கூறியுள்ளார்.

சந்திரிக்காவின் ஆதரவை பெற பொதுச் சின்னத்திற்கு இணங்கிய ரணில்?

சந்திரிக்காவின் ஆதரவை பெற பொதுச் சின்னத்திற்கு இணங்கிய ரணில்?
[ வெள்ளிக்கிழமை, 10 ஒக்ரோபர் 2014, 11:46.47 AM GMT ]

எதிர்வரும் ஜனாதிபதித் தேர்தலில் முன்னாள் ஜனாதிபதி சந்திரிக்கா பண்டாரநாயக்க குமாரதுங்கவின் ஆதரவை பெற்றுக்கொள்ள, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சியின் ஜனாதிபதி வேட்பாளர் ரணில் விக்ரமசிங்க பொதுச் சின்னத்தில் போட்டியிட இணங்கியுள்ளதாக தகவல்கள் வெளியாகியுள்ளன.
ஜனாதிபதித் தேர்தலில் ஸ்ரீலங்கா சுதந்திரக் கட்சியின் அமைச்சர்கள் பலரின் ஆதரவை பெற்று தருவது தொடர்பில் முன்னாள் ஜனாதிபதி, ரணில் விக்ரமசிங்கவிடம் கொள்கை ரீதியான வேலைத்திட்டத்தை முன்வைத்துள்ளார்.

அத்துடன் பதிவு செய்யப்பட்ட ஏனைய கட்சிகளின் ஆதரவுடன் பொதுச் சின்னத்தில் போட்டியிடுவது கட்டாயம் என்ற நிபந்தனையையும் அவர் முன்வைத்துள்ளதாக ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சியின் தலைமையக தரப்பின் தகவல்கள் தெரிவிக்கின்றன.

ஜனாதிபதித் தேர்தல் அறிவிக்கப்பட்டதும் சுதந்திரக் கட்சியின் 40 அமைச்சர்கள், ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சியின் வேட்பாளருக்கு ஆதரவு தெரிவித்து தம்முடன் இணைந்து கொள்ள இருப்பதாக அந்த கட்சியின் பொதுச் செயலாளர் திஸ்ஸ அத்தநாயக்க தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.

இந்த அமைச்சர்களுடன் பேச்சுவார்த்தை நடத்தும் குழுவிற்கு திஸ்ஸ அத்தநாயக்கவே தலைமை தாங்குகிறார்.

மனோ கணேசன்- சரத் பொன்சேகா சந்திப்பு: ஜனாதிபதி தேர்தல் தொடர்பாக கலந்துரையாடல்

File Photos

மனோ கணேசன்- சரத் பொன்சேகா சந்திப்பு: ஜனாதிபதி தேர்தல் தொடர்பாக கலந்துரையாடல்

Submitted by MD.Lucias on Fri, 10/10/2014 - 18:55

ஜனநாயக கட்சி தலைவர் சரத் பொன்சேகா, ஜனநாயக மக்கள் முன்னணி தலைவர் மனோ கணேசன் இடையில் இன்று மாலை சந்திப்பு ஒன்று இடம்பெற்றுள்ளது.

ஜனநாயக கட்சி அலுவலகத்தில் நடைபெற்ற சந்திப்பில், மனோ கணேசனுடன், கட்சியின் அரசியல்குழு உறுப்பினர்களான எஸ். ராஜேந்திரன், சண். குகவரதன், பிரியாணி குணரத்ன ஆகியோரும் இடம் பெற்றனர்.

இந்த சந்திப்பின் போது, உத்தேச ஜனாதிபதி தேர்தல் தொடர்பான விடயங்கள்  கலந்துரையாடப்பட்டுள்ளன.

பொது எதிரணியின் வேட்பாளராக ஐக்கிய தேசிய கட்சியின் வேட்பாளர் போட்டியிடுவதையும், அதேவேளை இந்த பொது எதிர்கட்சி கூட்டணி ஒரு பொது சின்னத்தில் களமிறங்க வேண்டும் என்பதையும் தான் வலியுறுத்தி வருவதாகவும் சரத் பொன்சேகா தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.

அத்துடன் கடந்த காலங்களை போல், ஐக்கிய தேசிய கட்சியின் தலைவர் மீதும், பொது எதிர்கட்சி கூட்டணியின் மீதும், புலி முத்திரை குத்தி இனவாத பிரசாரத்தை முன்னெடுக்க இந்த அரசுக்கு தான் இடமளிக்க போவதில்லை என்றும்,  இது தொடர்பான இறுதி நிலைபாட்டை உரிய வேளையில் அறிவிப்பதாகவும் சரத் பொன்சேகா கூறியுள்ளதாகவும்,  ஜனநாயக கட்சியும்,  ஜனநாயக மக்கள் முன்னணியும், பொது எதிரணியில் காத்திரமான பங்கை கூட்டாக வகிக்க வேண்டும் என முடிவு செய்யப்பட்டதாகவும் ஜனநாயக மக்கள் முன்னணியின் ஊடக செயலகம் விடுத்துள்ள செய்தி குறிப்பில் தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

Sri Lanka needs structural adjustments for sustained growth: World Bank

Sri Lanka needs structural adjustments for sustained growth: World Bank

COLOMBO, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank said on Friday that Sri Lanka's short-term macroeconomic outlook remains positive, but warned the country's growth will depend on structural adjustments in the external and fiscal sectors and the implementation of sound macro-management policies.

In its latest economic report on South Asian countries, the World Bank says the outlook for Sri Lanka remains positive with an expected 7.8 percent GDP growth in 2014, subdued inflationary pressures, an improving external position and further fiscal consolidation and debt reduction.

The report titled "South Asia Economic Focus" forecasts 8.2 percent GDP growth for Sri Lanka in 2015 while on average the South Asian countries, which include India, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Maldives, will see a growth of 6.0 percent.

The expected 7.8 percent GDP growth of Sri Lanka for 2014 is to be supported by major contributions from expansion of infrastructure facilities and growth in trade and services, especially in the areas of tourism, transport, telecommunication, ports and financial services.

However, the World Bank noted that the sustainable growth over the medium to long term will depend upon the structural adjustments in the external and fiscal sectors and the implementation of sound macro-management policies.

"Physical infrastructure investments need to be followed by investments in human capital and Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) promotion and efforts to enhance competitiveness are important measures to attain the government's sustained growth aspirations," it said.

Headline inflation ran to a 28-month low of 2.8 percent in June 2014 and inflationary pressures are expected to remain subdued for the rest of the year despite the fact that the prevailing drought in many parts of the country could trigger supply disturbances leading to temporary price fluctuations.

Relatively stable international commodity prices and contained demand pressures against a backdrop of sluggish private credit growth will help to keep the inflation under control.

The World Bank noted that the Sri Lankan authorities are committed to fiscal consolidation and debt reduction. A slight improvement in revenue collection and continued fiscal consolidation would help reduce the deficit to 5.3 percent of GDP, it said.

Looking further ahead, increased revenue will depend largely on the government's ability to support the growth through public investments, the report noted.

Although risks to the outlook from the international environment appear moderate, Sri Lanka has to watch out for a likely rise in global interest rates as the advanced economies taper down their extraordinary stimulus measures with economic recovery.

IMF, WB எபோலா குற்றவாளிகள்

If Kobani falls, Kurdish fury will undoubtedly grow.

The Opinion Pages | EDITORIAL

Mr. Erdogan’s Dangerous Game
Turkey’s Refusal to Fight ISIS Hurts the Kurds
By THE EDITORIAL BOARDOCT. 8, 2014

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, once aspired to lead the Muslim world. At this time of regional crisis, he has been anything but a leader. Turkish troops and tanks have been standing passively behind a chicken-wire border fence while a mile away in Syria, Islamic extremists are besieging the town of Kobani and its Kurdish population.

This is an indictment of Mr. Erdogan and his cynical political calculations. By keeping his forces on the sidelines and refusing to help in other ways — like allowing Kurdish fighters to pass through Turkey — he seeks not only to weaken the Kurds, but also, in a test of will with President Obama, to force the United States to help him oust President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, whom he detests.

It is also evidence of the confusion and internal tensions that affect Mr. Obama’s work-in-progress strategy to degrade and defeat the Islamic State, the Sunni Muslim extremist group also called ISIS or ISIL. Kurdish fighters in Kobani have been struggling for weeks to repel the Islamic State. To help, the Americans stepped up airstrikes that began to push the ISIS fighters back, although gun battles and explosions continued on Wednesday.

But all sides — the Americans, Mr. Erdogan and the Kurds — agree that ground forces are necessary to capitalize on the air power. No dice, says Mr. Erdogan, unless the United States provides more support to rebels trying to overthrow Mr. Assad and creates a no-fly zone to deter the Syrian Air Force as well as a buffer zone along the Turkish border to shelter thousands of Syrian refugees who have fled the fighting.

No one can deny Mr. Assad’s brutality in the civil war, but Mr. Obama has rightly resisted involvement in that war and has insisted that the focus should be on degrading ISIS, not going after the Syrian leader. The biggest risk in his decision to attack ISIS in Syria from the air is that it could put America on a slippery slope to a war that he has otherwise sought to avoid.

Mr. Erdogan’s behavior is hardly worthy of a NATO ally. He was so eager to oust Mr. Assad that he enabled ISIS and other militants by allowing fighters, weapons and revenues to flow through Turkey. If Mr. Erdogan refuses to defend Kobani and seriously join the fight against the Islamic State, he will further enable a savage terrorist group and ensure a poisonous long-term instability on his border.

He has also complicated his standing at home. His hesitation in helping the Syrian Kurds has enraged Turkey’s Kurdish minority, which staged protests against the Turkish government on Wednesday that reportedly led to the deaths of 21 people. Mr. Erdogan fears that defending Kobani would strengthen the Syrian Kurds, who have won de facto control of many border areas as they seek autonomy much like their Kurdish brethren in Iraq. But if Kobani falls, Kurdish fury will undoubtedly grow.

The Americans have been trying hard to resolve differences with Mr. Erdogan in recent days, but these large gaps are deeply threatening to the 50-plus-nation coalition that the United States has assembled. One has to wonder why such a profound dispute was not worked out before Mr. Obama took action in Syria.

Turkey's tough choice: Take on ISIS or the PKK?

Turkey's tough choice: Take on ISIS or the PKK?
By Gönül Tol, Special to CNN
October 9, 2014 -- Updated 1234 GMT (2034 HKT)

Editor's note: Gönül Tol is the founding director of The Middle East Institute's Center for Turkish Studies and an adjunct professor at George Washington University's Institute for Middle East Studies. The views expressed in this commentary are entirely those of the author.

(CNN) -- Turkey is in a tough spot. It has ISIS militants threatening the Syrian border town of Kobani, inching ever closer to confronting Turkish security forces. In addition thousands of Syrian Kurds, fleeing ISIS attacks, have massed along its border, adding further to Ankara's troubles.
Amid mounting pressure to become more active in the U.S.-led international coalition against ISIS, the Turkish parliament last week overwhelmingly authorized its military to make incursions into Syria and Iraq; also to allow foreign troops to operate out of Turkish bases. The move has been greeted in Western capitals as a welcome sign that Turkey is finally fully on board with the anti-ISIS coalition.

Yet the Turkish parliament's actions herald neither a complete about-face in policy toward Syria nor immediate military action against ISIS. Indeed, Turkey's reasons for joining the war may be more to do with suppressing Kurdish separatists and removing the al-Assad regime than with destroying the jihadist group.

Toppling the leadership in Damascus and keeping in check the Syrian Kurds who are closely linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, have long been Ankara's priorities in Syria.

 Turkey authorizes strikes on ISIS ISIS forces enter Kobani, sources say Biden regrets saying allies helped ISIS Cam catches ISIS shelling Syrian city

The wording of last week's parliamentary resolution -- which states that "the terrorist elements of the outlawed PKK still exist in northern Iraq" -- suggests that Kurdish separatists still remain the Turkish government's top concern.

The vote does not signal intervention against ISIS any time soon: despite thousands of Syrian Kurdish refugees and ISIS's fast advance towards Turkey's southern border, Ankara seems unwilling to act. Turkey's defense minister Ismet Yilmaz said: "Don't expect an imminent step after the approval of the authorization request."

Rather, the Turkish government is likely to give its full cooperation to the campaign against ISIS so that it can secure agreement of a U.S.-backed no-fly zone in Syria: this, Ankara believes, would address both concerns.

Turkey thinks that Assad regime's ability to attack mainstream opposition forces from the air has strengthened ISIS, causing the Free Syrian Army to flee and allowing the Islamic militants to capture the vacant territory. Enforcing a no-fly zone over Syria would ground al-Assad's air force and boost rebels fighting to topple him: it could also establish a Turkish military presence, ridding northern Syria of Kurdish fighters linked to the PKK and smothering the autonomous Kurdish region. Turkey has become increasingly uneasy about the emergence of yet another Kurdish entity on its frontier after the PKK-affiliated Syrian Kurdish groups established autonomy in northern Syria.

The military and diplomatic boost that the PKK has received through its effective fight against ISIS has also worsened the situation for Ankara. In response to the growing ISIS threat, the PKK, the Peshmerga, and the People's Protection Unit (the PKK-linked Kurdish militia group fighting in Syria), have established a united Kurdish front, with the PKK militants coming to the aid of Peshmerga fighters and halting the jihadi group's advance into the autonomous region of northern Iraq. The People's Protection Unit was the main force battling ISIS, and it helped thousands of Yazidis escape from the western part of the region as ISIS attacked.

The PKK has effectively become the West's best hope for on-the-ground troops, winning the group positive reviews in Western media. Since the group started its assault against ISIS in northern Iraq, there has been a lot of talk in Western capitals about removing the PKK from the terror list.

The fight against ISIS has also empowered the PKK militarily: Turkey is concerned that that weapons sent to the Peshmerga might ultimately end up in the hands of the PKK at a time when Ankara is moving forward with a deal that would disarm its group. The Turkish government puts the blame for this on the West but Ankara's overtures towards its own Kurdish minority have been mostly strained by its own short-sighted Syria policy.

The ongoing conflict around Kobani has underscored the many challenges the Syrian war poses for the peace process Ankara launched in 2012 in an effort to end the 30-year old Kurdish insurgency. The intensified shelling in Kobani has angered Kurds on the Turkish side of the border, who have blamed the Turkish government for allowing ISIS to fester and not doing enough to stop its assault against Kurds.

Turkey's reluctance to get involved for fear of empowering Kurdish militants in Turkey is now contributing to the growing discord between Kurds and the government. Last week, after reports that Turkey closed the border gates to impede the flight of Kurds from Kobani, Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK's imprisoned leader, warned that if ISIS carried out a "massacre" in Kobani then the peace process with the PKK could end.

If engaged by Ankara, the PKK-linked groups in Syria could be integrated into the moderate Syrian opposition and become an effective fighting force against the al-Assad regime. But the Turkish government's increasingly harsh rhetoric against the group signals that such a shift in Ankara's thinking is not in the works. Last week, Erdogan said "While the ISIS terror organization is causing turmoil in the Middle East, there has been ongoing PKK terror in my country for the last 32 years, and yet the world was never troubled by it. Why? Because this terror organization did not carry the name 'Islam.'"

If Turkey keeps seeing the PKK a bigger threat than ISIS activities in Syria, then the legislation passed last week is unlikely to lead to a deeper involvement of Turkey in the fight against the jihadist group.