an island powered by wind, sunlight

c m y k c m y k

Bengaluru ●● Monday ●● 14 December 2009

Defence ministerAbdul Qadir asksIraq Parliamentfor funds torecruit informers.

12

InternationalIran’s PresidentAhmadinejadpledges hissupport toHamas leader.

Venezuelan PrezHugo Chavezsigns cooperationagreement worth$3.2 bn with Cuba.

DDCC

‘Zardari assets worth $1.5 bn’ Islamabad, Dec. 13 Pak-istan’s National Account-ability Bureau (NAB) is setto submit details of Presi-dent Asif Ali Zardari’s ille-gal assets, worth 1.5 billiondollars before the SupremeCourt on Monday.TheDawn quoted the NAB, asalleging that Zardari hadaccumulated these assetsthrough ‘illegal means’.However, Zardari deniedthat he owned any illegalassets.

Sources saidthat Zardari’sillegal assetshad been confis-cated by NAB,but they werede-frozen with-

in days of the promulgationof the National Reconcilia-tion Ordinancein 2007.

Presidential spokesmanFarhatullah Babar con-firmed that Zardari hadtaken back all his frozenassets through courts after

the NRO was implemented.The NAB had filed nine

cases against Zardari, which

includes allegation thatassets worth 66 million dol-lars were still held by a

Swiss Court after they werefrozen in SGS-Cotecna pre-shipment inspection case.

So far, NAB has spent mil-lions of rupees to investigateseveral cases filed againstPPP leaders but failed toprove any of them.

According to Pakistan’sHigh Commissioner in theUK, Wajid Shamsul Hassan,the NAB spent over 660million rupees only on casesof PPP leaders tried in SwissCourt. — Agencies

Zardari

Ops to go on,says GilaniIslamabad/ Peshawar,Dec. 13: Taking a U-turn,Pakistan Premier YousufRaza Gilani has said themilitary offensive againstTaliban in the restive SouthWaziristan tribal regionwould continue and that hecould not provide a timeframe for completing it,hours after declaring that ithas ended.

Mr Gilani initially said inLahore on Saturday that theoffensive against theTehrik-e-Taliban Pakistanin South Waziristan Agency“has ended” and there wasnow “talk of (an operation)in Orakzai Agency”.

Hours later, the PrimeMinister told the media inKarachi that the operationin South Waziristan wouldcontinue. “This operationhas continued with greatsuccess and the strongholdsof militants have been cap-tured and a large quantity ofweapons and ammunitionhas been recovered,” hesaid, adding he could notgive a time frame for com-pleting the offensive.

If somebody had gainedthe impression that the mili-tary operation would beconcluded, “it could havebeen in a different context,”Mr Gilani said. The govern-ment would chase militantswherever they take refuge.

“We will take militaryaction wherever we getinformation about the pres-ence of militants,” he said.The military says about 600militants and over 60 sol-diers have died in fightingin Waziristan since a cam-paign was launched thereagainst the Taliban in Octo-ber. Troops have secured

most Taliban strongholds inthe region but top militantleaders continue to be atlarge. — PTI

Taliban willbe crushed,says BrownDC CORRESPONDENT

LONDON

Dec. 13: British PrimeMinister Gordon Brownmade a surprise visit toAfghanistan this weekendand stayed with the soldiersovernight.

This was Mr Brown’sthird visit to Afghanistan in2009 and he stayedovernight at Kandahar Air-field, the coalition head-quarters for the region.

This is the first time thatBritish Premier has stayedovernight either inAfghanistan or Iraq andbecame the first British PMsince World War II tospend the night in a combatzone. “I wanted to be herewith the troops to thankthem for what they aredoing. I wanted to see whatit was like working withthem,” Mr Brown said.

The PM stayed in a pre-fabricated and corrugatedshed, which was surround-ed by concrete blast walls.

No bindingemissioncuts: Ramesh■ Continued from Page 1

He said India could notaccept any binding emis-sion norms and this hadbeen agreed with China.Brazil, Singapore and So-uth Korea had also agreedwith India’s position.

He said there were stillvery many differences, forinstance between the USand the EU, and the US andChina. There also continueto be differences betweenthe position of the small is-land nations and Africa. Hesaid the US was saying noto the Kyoto Protocol. “Butif there’s a failure in Cope-nhagen, it will not be bec-ause of India.” He said thecountry had taken up dis-cussions in a constructivemanner, but there were nomajor clashes happening. Ifthere were clashes, it wasbetween the US and China.

He said India had agreedto a two-degree Celsius li-mit on global average tem-perature rise by 2050, butthis implied that India wo-uld retain its right to “equi-table atmospheric space”,which means there shouldbe no limit on India’s exp-ansion of electricity supplyto the rural areas.

Islamabad:Pakistan PMYousaf RazaGilani onSundayasked Indiato revive thedialogue process toresolve the bilateralissues, reports our Pak-istan correspondent. “Wecall upon India to resumea dialogue to settle allcontentious issuesbetween the two coun-tries,” Mr Gilani said.Talking to reporters inMultan, PM Gilani saidthe dialogue standoff willonly benefit the terrorists.“Pakistan wants friendlyties with all neighbouringcountries includingIndia,” he added.

Mr Gilani’s commentscame a day after heaccused India of sponsor-ing insurgency in thetroubled Balochistanprovince. The Pakistaniauthorities have beenclaiming “evidences” ofthe Indian involvement interrorism in the country.The interior ministry, lastday, said it had handedover the “evidences” tothe foreign ministry toshare it with Indiathrough the diplomaticand other channels.

‘India mustrevive talks’

kiosk

Prosperidad, Philippines:Gunmen freed Sunday the47 hostages they were hold-ing at a jungle hideout inthe southern Philippinesafter government negotia-tors agreed not to arrest theoutlaws for the abductionsor past murder charges,officials said.

The remote jungleencampment had been sur-rounded by troops andsnipers. Vice governor San-tiago Cane of Agusan delSur province said thehostages left aboard twoarmy trucks. The gunmen— former government-armed militiamen — thensurrendered their assaultrifles, grenades and ammu-nition. “Declaring officiallythat all hostages are free.Yes, at last,” Cane toldreporters. Relieved afterthree days in captivity, themostly male hostageswaved and smiled at jour-nalists and army troopswaiting at a nearby village.

Hostages freedafter negotiation

London, Dec. 13: ItalianPrime Minister SilvioBerlusconi shocked leadersat an EU summit by send-ing them doodles showingwomen’s underwearthrough the ages. He passedround his etchings ofbloomers and thongs as theleaders discussed climatechange at the meeting inBrussels on Friday, theMail on Sunday reported.

Mr Berlusconi’s vulgarprank caused titters amongsome, but indignationamong others who passedthem back to him, the reportsaid.

Berlusconishocks EU meet

London, Dec. 13: Theestranged husband of a 28-year-old woman of Indianorigin, who died after beingleft mutilated and near-death in northwest Londonon November 16, has beenre-arrested and chargedwith her murder, reportsour correspondent.

British-born GeetaAulakh, a mother of twochildren, was found fatallyinjured by passers-by atVerulam Road in Green-ford, north-west London, ataround 7 pm on November16. She was suffering froma head injury and one herhands had been severed.She was taken by ambu-lance to Charing CrossHospital where she waspronounced dead.

Indian held forwife’s murder

Tigers killed in cold blood: FonsekaColombo, Dec. 13: SriLankan troops shot deadsurrendering Tamil Tigerleaders on the orders of thedefence secretary, the for-mer army chief who is nowrunning for president saidon Sunday.

General Sarath Fonsekasaid Gotabhaya Rajapakse— the brother of the currentpresident — instructed fieldcommanders not to takeprisoners in the days before the Tamil Tiger sepa-ratists were defeated inMay.

“Gotabhaya Rajapaksespoke directly with (com-mander) Shavendra Silvaand told him not to

accommodate any surren-dering LTTE leaders andthat they must all be killed,”Fonseka told reporters at ameeting of opposition par-ties.

Fonseka said he was awayin China and was unaware

that Rajapakse was givingdirect orders to officers inthe field during the finalstages of battle against theTigers, officially known asthe Liberation Tigers ofTamil Eelam.

He said he only learnt after

the war that senior Tigerrebels had used foreignmediators to organise a planin which they would carrywhite flags and give them-selves up.

Fonseka led the army’ssuccessful offensive tofinally crush the LTTE andend the island’s decades-long ethnic conflict, but helater fell out with PresidentMahinda Rajapakse and thedefence secretary.

He resigned last month,accusing the government ofsidelining him, and is nowattempting to unseat Presi-dent Rajapakse in electionson January 26.

— AFP

Progress on nuke treatywith US, says KremlinWashington, Dec. 13: Rus-sia and the United States aremaking “substantialprogress” on negotiationsfor a successor to an expirednuclear weapons treaty,according to a Kremlinstatement.

President Barack Obamaand Russian PresidentDmitry Medvedev spoke indetail this weekend aboutthe negotiations and agreedto extend the talks, accord-ing to the statement.

An Obama administrationofficial confirmed the two

presidents spoke by tele-phone Saturday about the

negotiations, but offered nofurther details. The officialspoke on condition ofanonymity because theadministration had notannounced the discussionpublicly.

The Strategic ArmsReduction Treaty, known asSTART, expired December5. Both governments havespent several months nego-tiating a new pact thatwould further reduce thesize of the nuclear arsenalson both sides.

— AP

An island poweredby wind, sunlightSAMSO, an island which isa train-cum-ferry ride awayfrom Copenhagen, has apopulation of 4,200islanders. Until about 1997,it used to import most of itsenergy requirement. Now,it derives all the energy itneeds for lighting the islandup from 21 massive windturbines — 11 on land and10 at sea — and gets 75 percent of its heating energyrequirement from solarpower and biomass.

Large towns on the island,like Nordby and Marup, areconnected to communityheating systems for heatingwater and homes. Animpressive solar heatinginstallation, with some2,500 square metres of solarpanels, lies between Nord-by and Marup, ensuring hotwater supply.

Samsingers heat up theirhomes by burning straw in acentral heating system, andpower their vehicles withbiofuel.

“They are activelyinvolved. Many haveinvested in the future bybuying shares in the windturbine company or a dis-trict heating plant via a co-operative scheme,” saidSoren Hermansen, director

of the Samso Energy Acad-emy. Each wind turbine atsea produces enough ener-gy to power 2,000 house-holds. So, what do Sam-singers do with the extraenergy? The 10 wind tur-bines at sea send more cleanelectricity every year to themainland grid than theSamsingers use on up anddown transport by ferries.

Of course, there are timeswhen the wind dies downand the island has to borrowelectricity from the main-land grid, but hey, when thewinds return, they morethan pay back. In effect,then, Samso proudly claimsto be 100 per cent ‘carbonneutral’.

MARIANNE DE NAZARETH

China asserts itselfon global stageHARDEV SANOTRA

FC | COPENHAGEN

Dec. 13: As a nation thathad generally kept a lowprofile, China is now assert-ing itself in more ways thanone. In keeping with its hu-ge economy and increasingdiplomatic clout, the coun-try is reaching out and mak-ing its presence felt at theCopenhagen conference.There is a new-found confi-dence missing in earlierinternational conferences.

Those who have coveredsuch conferences know thedifficulty in reaching out toChinese delegates. Seekinganswers to questions, gener-ally lapped up Western del-egates, used to be a problemwith members from theAsian giant. Silence wasoften the answer.

Not anymore.China has come with a

delegation of over 120 peo-ple headed by China’sdeputy climate negotiatorYu Qingtai, an articulateman who does not flinch atuncomfortable questions.He gives clear, precisereplies in perfect English.“We have come with a dele-gation of over 100 people

because this is an importantconference. We want tocover all the aspects of cli-mate change debate,” Yutold Financial Chronicle atthe end of one session.

And it’s no longer reticentabout taking on the UnitedStates, something whichhad been left to the morevocal developing countries.

“I was shocked to read thestatement of the US specialenvoy which was extremelyirresponsible,” vice foreignminister He Yafei toldreporters reacting to ToddStern’s comment thatmoney for mitigation oradaptation steps should notgo to China.

Given the fact that devel-oped countries have donenothing but empty talk, theyhave no right to make anyrequests, said Xie Zhenhua,China’s top climate negotia-tior. Earlier, Mr Yu said hewould advice Americanleaders to “do some soulsearching.” These are notwords that one would havenormally heard from Chi-nese diplomats. If thegloves are off, it shows anassertive and confidentChina looking for a centralrole on the world stage.

FOR A GREENER WORLD COPENHAGEN DIARY

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Afghan President Hamid Karzai meet Afghan and British troops atthe Kandahar airbase on Sunday. — AP

“Gotabhaya Rajapaksespoke directly with (com-mander) Shavendra Silvaand told him not to accom-modate any surrenderingLTTE leaders and that they

must all be killed.”— Gen. Fonseka

Gilani

The expired STARTtreaty, signed by then-Soviet president MikhailGorbachev and presidentGeorge H.W. Bush,required each country tocut its nuclear warheadsby at least one-fourth, toabout 6,000, and toimplement procedures forverifying that each sidewas sticking to theagreement.

mistaken identity

Archbishop Desmond Tutu hands over a petitionsigned by 5,12,894 people to United Nations climatechief Yvo de Boer on a stage in central CopenhagenDecember 13, 2009. Copenhagen is the host city forthe United Nations Climate Change Conference.

— REUTERS

■ The Kyoto Protocolplaces restrictions on theemission of six green-house gases. Each of thesix have a different globalwarming potential, but thatpotential is oftenexpressed in terms of acarbon dioxide equivalent— the amount of CO2 thatwould cause the sameamount of warming.■ Carbon footprint is ameasure of how muchcarbon an individual or anorganization emits in agiven period of time, orthe amount of carbonemitted during the manu-facture of a product. ■ Carbon intensity refersto how much carbon acountry emits per unit ofGDP.■ Carbon sink is anythingthat absorbs carbon fromthe atmosphere. Theworld’s oceans andforests are the biggestcarbon sinks, but the termcan also refer to aprocess, activity or mech-anism that does the job. ■ Carbon leakage hap-pens when an industry,faced with stiff restrictionson carbon emissions, relo-cates to countries wherethe emission regime isweaker.

DID YOUKNOW?

AMERICAN-BORN terror suspect David Headley had notonly actively played a role in conducting reconnaissance oftargets in Mumbai but was also present in a control unit inPakistan along with the masterminds of the attacks to guide10 Lashker-e-Tayyaba terrorists to carry out strikes in themegapolis. Sources privy to the investigations of the terrorsuspect’s trail in India said Headley was very much presentin the room from where the 10 LeT terrorists were beingguided to various locations during the 26/11 attacks.

26/11: headley was in LeT control unit