BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Olympics to 'rebound from crisis'

 

The head of the International Olympic Committee has said the Beijing Games will rebound from "crisis" after days of protests along the torch route.

Jacques Rogge told a meeting of national committees in the Chinese capital that they should assure their countries the Games would succeed.

The US stage of the torch relay passed off amid confusion and tight security in San Francisco on Wednesday.

The route was totally changed at the last minute amid anti-Chinese protests.

Torch-bearers were immersed in a cocoon of security, surrounded by dozens of police officers and Chinese guards in track-suits.

Self Tags: Olympic Torch, Beijing Olympics

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Olympics to 'rebound from crisis'

Highly-skilled Indian workers win court challenge in UK-UK-World-The Times of India

 

LONDON: An estimated 30,000 Indians and 19,000 other non-Europeans successfully overturned the British government's hardline new rules for highly-skilled migrant workers on Tuesday with the High Court decisively ruling the immigration changes "unlawful" and a rank "abuse of (administrative) power".
Tuesday's legal triumph for the Highly-Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP), the non-profit campaign organisation that was the lead appellant in the 14-month case, puts Britain's progressively-tighter immigration policies under the microscope.
It comes almost exactly six months after thousands of Indian doctors won their High Court challenge to the British government to force it to treat them on a par with European medics.
The High Court judgement dismissed the government's argument that it was in the "public interest...the national interest" retrospectively to apply changes to HSMP visas.
The ruling, by Judge Sir George Newman, means that Britain will be forced to grant entry, residence and/or settlement to non-European Union nationals who entered the UK under the 2002 HSMP rules.
But a defiant government said it wants to appeal.
Newman said, in his landmark judgement, "In the circumstances, I am satisfied that the terms of the original scheme should be honoured and that there is no good reason why those already on the scheme shall not enjoy the benefits of it as originally offered to them. Good administration and straightforward dealing with the public require it. Not to restrain the impact of the changes would, in my judgment, give rise to conspicuous unfairness and an abuse of power."
Flushed with victory, an ebullient Amit Kapadia, the HSMP Forum's executive director, told TOI, "We are relieved and happy and very glad that British justice is available as a last resort when there is a clear abuse of power by the government. This is a lesson for this government and those in the future".
The judge ruled that it was only fair the UK apply the original HSMP rules to thousands of non-European nationals who migrated to the UK in the "legitimate expectation" they were entitled to a year-long stay, a two-year visa extension, then a further three years before applying for settlement.
He ruled it unlawful to apply the 2006 points-based immigration rules to existing HSMP visa-holders as criteria for remaining in the UK.
But the judge ruled that "the old scheme constituted an integrated and entire programme and that it was not open to the government to alter the terms and conditions upon which the pre-arranged stages were to be implemented."
The High Court ruling means that hundreds of Indian HSMP visa-holders who were forced to go back to India can now legitimately ask to return to the UK. It will also finally mean the freedom from fear – of deportation – for 100,000 Indians here, which is thought to signify the total number of HSMP visa-holders and their families.
Indian HSMP visa-holders said they felt "vindicated" in their claim, first revealed by TOI, that they had been suddenly disenfranchised by Britain's allegedly "racist, Idi Amin-style immigration policies".
The HSMP Forum, which brought its legal challenge against the government with the thousands of pounds it collected from its often-impecunious members, said it was a comeuppance for "the immigration department (which) was obsessed with defending their decision and were not open to any reasoning. We had no other recourse but to approach the judiciary".

Highly-skilled Indian workers win court challenge in UK-UK-World-The Times of India

Inflation at new high, hits the 7%-mark

Self Tags: Inflation, Price Rise, Difficulties for aam aadmi, Higher Food Prices

April 04, 2008 12:17 IST
Last Updated: April 04, 2008 12:49 IST

Inflation galloped to 7 per cent for the week ended March 22, on higher prices of food, vegetables, minerals and manufactured items, even as measures to tame prices are expected to take effect only in 2-3 weeks.
Inflation growth in the previous week was 6.68 per cent and was 6.54 per cent in the corresponding week a year-ago.
On Monday, the government decided to abolish import duty  on crude form of edible oils, cut rate on refined edible oils and ban non-basmati rice exports among other measures to ease the pressure off prices.
However, Manila-based Asian Development Bank expects these measures to influence prices only by the month end.
The high rate of inflation could also prompt the Reserve Bank of India to take monetary measures, like hike in interest rate or tighten money supply through hike in CRR.
During the week, prices of fruits and vegetable, pulses, cereals, eggs, meat and fish went up, while condiments and spices were cheaper. The mineral category-index shot up by 38.2 per cent driven by 46 per cent rise in prices of iron ore.
In the manufactured items category, sunflower oil, vanaspati, butter, mustard oil, sugar and groundnut oil became expensive, while prices of ghee, coconut oil mellowed down by 1 per cent each.
At the same time, prices of steel ingots, alloy steel casting were higher. However, car chassis moved down by one per cent.

Also Read:

• What you must know about inflation
• Price rise: A curse on the aam aadmi

Inflation at new high, hits the 7%-mark

The Hindu News Update Service

Kallis, de Villiers cement South Africa's position

Ahmedabad (PTI): Jacques Kallis and A B de Villiers cemented South Africa's already dominant position with a record fifth wicket 189-run stand to take the visitors to 306 for four at lunch in the second cricket Test against India here on Friday.

The duo, who joined forces on Thursday when the visitors were 117 for four replying to the Indian first innings total of 76, faced 279 balls during the stand, leaving the visitors ahead of the home team by 230 runs.

At lunch, Kallis was unbeaten on 97, three short of his 30th Test century, while the more attacking de Villiers, who completed his fifth ton and first against India in the last over before lunch, was on 102.

The duo's unfinished stand overhauled the previous fifth-wicket best of 164 between Kallis and Lance Klusener against the hosts done at Bangalore during the 1999-2000 visit by the Proteas.

The well-settled pair, which resumed at the overnight 223 for four, was hardly troubled by the Indian bowlers in the opening hour of play, barring once when Kallis was nearly bowled off his gloves.

Kallis was lucky that the ball hit the stumps without disturbing the bails when he batted against off spinner Harbhajan Singh, the hosts' most penetrative bowler on Thursday.

Later, the burly all-rounder survived a close leg before appeal when trying to pull Indian pacer S Sreesanth. TV replays indicated he could have been declared out.

Kallis and de Villiers added 83 runs in 29 overs in the session, with the former scoring 37 and the more enterprising de Villiers adding 43 to slowly take the match away from India's grasp.

In the first over after drinks, de Villiers, who once again showed fleetness of foot to negotiate the spinners, survived a run-out attempt when on 89 in 270 for four.

The batsman tapped R P Singh to the vacant fine leg position and, after a yes-no with partner Kallis, was trying to scamper to the non-striker's end when Mahendra Singh Dhoni collected the ball and threw it wide of the bowler whose aim at the stumps after a dive was way off the mark.

At lunch, the powerfully built Kallis had hit 11 fours and a six, while facing 223 balls and staying for 287 minutes at the crease.

The Indian attack looked mostly clueless. The pacers tried to dig the ball in on the slow pitch offering low bounce and were hammered with pull shots by the 32-year-old Kallis.

The rub of the green also seemed to go against their attempts to come back into the game after having become the first team from the country to be bowled out in the first session of a Test match on Thursday.

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Self Tags: S.Africa V/s India, Ahmedabad Test Match, Kallis, Cricket in India

The Hindu News Update Service