Pakistani troops buried in Kashmir avalanche - Al Jazeera

Rescue mission under way near Siachen glacier where at least 117 soldiers and personnel are reported to be trapped.

The Siachen glacier, with over 150 military outposts, is the highest battleground in the world [Al Jazeera]

Rescue operations are under way after an avalanche hit a Pakistani army base in the disputed Kashmir region, burying more than 100 soldiers under the Himalayan snow. The soldiers were operating near the Siachen glacier in the northern tip of Kashmir when the avalanche hit in the early morning hours of Saturday. "At six o'clock this morning this avalanche hit a [military] headquarters," Major-General Athar Abbas, the Pakistan military spokesman, said. "Over 100 soldiers and personnel are trapped." Speaking to Al Jazeera, Abbas said a rescue operation using helicopters, search dogs and soldiers is under way but warned "it will take days to complete the rescue operations" due to the climate and the difficulty of  terrain. Despite describing the slide as "a massive scale avalanche", Abbas said Pakistani forces remain hopeful. A team of doctors and paramedics has also been rushed to the high-altitude region, which suffers extreme weather conditions, with temperatures on the Siachen glacier plummeting to as low as minus 70 degrees Celsius (minus 94F) during the winter. More than 12 hours after the disaster, no survivors have been found so far. The Associated Press news agency quoted a security official as identifying the trapped battalion as being headquartered in Gayari sector. Military sources have told Al Jazeera that helicopters had been flown to what has been described as the "very remote location" on the glacier. "This is an extremely remote region, and it would be difficult to continue the rescue effort at night," reported Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder from Islamabad. "And so far, there is no good news coming out, despite the fact that military is still saying that this is a rescue operation," he said. Hyder said that with more than 150 military outposts surrounding the glacier, the Pakistan and Indian sides face not only each other but "also face nature ... [on] the highest battleground in the world". Difficult terrain Shaukat Qadir, a former Brigadier in the Pakistani army, who has been to Siachen on numerous occasions, told Al Jazeera: "This is the biggest casualty that has ever happened." "We have fantastic accommodation for the soldiers. When you walk on this terrain you never know when it would come down, and certainly you cannot predict an avalanche," he said. The Siachen glacier, on the tip of the Kashmir region that both Pakistan and India claim, is home to an estimated 15,000 soldiers from both nations. Siachen, rising to 6,000 metres above sea level, has seen more soldiers die near the Karakoram base from weather-related incidents than gunfire since 1984. Qadir said: "Well, the fact of matter is that 70 per cent of the people have died because of natural causes, and I think this is the time we ended this damn conflict, which has absolutely no explanation." "I can just hope [President Asif Ali] Zardari talks about this with [Indian Prime Minister] Manmohan Singh [on his visit to India on April 8] and settles this issue for both, us and Indians."

SRI LANKA RECORDS BEST-EVER ECONOMIC GROWTH - REPORT

Sri Lanka’s economy grew by 8.3 percent last year, the fastest expansion since independence from Britain in 1948, the census and statistics department said.

The rate compared with an expansion of 8.0 percent in 2010, the first full year after government forces defeated Tamil Tiger rebels in May 2009 and declared an end to nearly 40 years of fighting.

“The 8.3 percent growth (in 2011) is the highest GDP growth ever achieved since independence,” the department said, adding that it was also the first time that 8.0 percent growth was recorded in two consecutive years.

But the Central Bank of Sri Lanka on late Thursday announced a 75 basis point increase in its benchmark lending rate to 9.75 percent -- its second hike in two months -- in a bid “to anchor inflationary expectations”.

The bank said in a statement that the move comes amid “signs that credit growth is continuing at an undesired pace”.

It said year-on-year inflation rose to 5.5 percent last month compared to 2.7 percent in February.

The impressive overall growth figures for 2011 come at a time when worries are mounting about the economy because of a widening trade deficit, rapidly expanding credit and high inflation.

Fears of a balance-of-payments crisis have prompted the government to revive an International Monetary Fund rescue package, suspended since last year.

The IMF announced it would release a $427-million installment this week as part of a package negotiated in 2009.

The $2.6-billion package is intended to build Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves.

Sri Lanka has sought to overcome its balance-of-payments troubles by hiking interest rates in February, allowing its currency to fall and imposing new taxes to curb imports.

The central bank has revised its growth projection for 2012 to 7.2 percent, down from an earlier estimate of 8.0 percent after the new monetary and fiscal measures were announced.

Last year, per capita income increased to $2,836, up from $2,400 the previous year. Tourism has been a big growth area after the end of the Tamil separatist war, with earnings in the sector jumping 41.4 percent last year, AFP reports.

U.S. press supports Mitt Romney: Russia is number one enemy

The recent statement by the favorite Republican primaries and the most likely opponent of Barack Obama in the upcoming elections, Mitt Romney, that Russia for the United States remains a "geopolitical enemy number one", is justified. This opinion was expressed by The Chicago Tribune, noting that Russia at every opportunity puts a spoke in the wheel of American foreign policy.

"Russia, once an old foe, is again proving to be a major obstacle for America's foreign interests, and will continue to be a thorn in the country's side as long as oil prices remain high", writes columnist John Bennett.

That's a good geographical position, which provided Russia the opportunity to dispose of the huge reserves of hydrocarbons, the paper explains the possibility of Moscow to be of this "thorn". The paper refers to recent values of oil prices: $ 105 - at that price a barrel of oil (apparently, it is about the US light crude oil on the stock exchange NYMEH) was trading in mid-afternoon on Tuesday.

"Putin still aspires for Russia to be a superpower. There are only two ways for Russia to achieve that: nuclear weapons, and oil and natural gas sales", said Steven Pifer, a former US ambassador to Ukraine. He also notes that "if oil prices come down Putin will have some very tough decisions to make at home ... between guns versus butter". And most likely, say other experts, the Russian president will choose the "butter" that is, financial investments in the social sphere.

But even if oil and gas prices come down and there would not be options for increasing combat effectiveness, Moscow will still find a way to annoy Washington, the newspaper is sure. As it is happening now: Moscow is obstructing US efforts to force Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions. Or, for example, on Syria, Russia has acted unanimously with China vetoing western resolution in the United Nations Security Council.

Surely we can expect something similar with regard to North Korea preparing the launch of a ballistic missile, is sure the author of an article in The Chicago Tribune. It is to be noted that the Russian Foreign Ministry has expressed "deep concern" over North Korea's plans, but urged the international community to "accurately and correctly calibrated response" to the forthcoming launch.

Russia, in any case will follow the same line against the US, and it's not just the fact that Moscow is in these countries has strategic interests. It is just such a psychology of Russia, the newspaper writes.

"They have a very sovereigntist, non-interventionalist view of world affairs", the author writes. That means Moscow fundamentally opposes Western efforts to boss around the world's strongmen, with which Russian leaders have much in common, the newspaper concludes.

And soon, this pattern of behavior will be manifested in bilateral relations with the United States, says The International Herald Tribune. Newspaper's sources say that Putin's suspicion and mistrust of the United States is genuine, rather than mere electoral rhetoric.

"He allowed the reset to happen, though he never used the word. He is less of a natural diplomat than Medvedev, and has a less benign view of the United States", the article's author Charles Grant writes, and notes that the "reset" has brought practical benefits to both countries. In any case, Putin, and the next president of the United States are aware that there are reasons to prevent the deterioration of relations. But it will not a "reset": there will not that cordiality that prevailed between Obama and Medvedev.

Lanka has 18m mobile users

Sri Lanka had 18,417 million mobile subscribers at the end of September 2011, with a net addition of 241,000, down from 438,000 in June 2011.

Sri Lankan operators are searching for additional growth drivers to offset the declining subscriber growth opportunities.

Mobile service providers in Sri Lanka are taking steps to increase the number of postpaid users. Companies are also looking at the broadband sector.Mobile broadband adoption is growing rapidly. According to a Sri Lankan telecom regulator, there were 260,000 internet and email subscribers and 120,000 broadband subscribers in the country in September 2010.

The push continued into Q1 2011 and Q2 2011. According to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) the combined internet and mobile broadband subscriber figures increased to 673,000 and 692,000 respectively.

At the end of September 2011, the CBSL said there were 722,000 subscribers.

The momentum coincided with telecom companies' efforts to improve their mobile data networks.

After attracting interest from companies such as Sri Lanka Telecom, Tata Communications and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam, as well as UAE-based Emirates Telecommunications Corporation in the last few years, Suntel was finally acquired by Dialog Broadband Networks, a subsidiary of Dialog Axiata in December 2011.

-Telecom Lead Asia

ETA targets Rs. 2,000m in visa fees

The Immigration and Emigration Department has set a targeted income of Rs. 2,000 million from visa fees under the Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) scheme.

The Controller General of the Department Chulananda Perera said that the Government has earned a record income of Rs. 600 million from January 1, the day the ETA was launched until the third week of March.

“There was much resistance to the scheme at the outset but this trend has now changed,” he said.

Over 335,050 tourists and other visitors had arrived in Sri Lanka, under the ETA.

Of them, the majority 19 percent were from India, 12 percent from UK and 8 percent from Germany, followed by France and the Russian Federation.

He said, “This is one of the innovative changes effected by the Immigration and Emigration Department and we are proud of its progress, ”he said. MF

Afghanistan and US 'close to night raid deal - Al Jazeera

Agreement would give lead role to Afghan forces, as raid footage shows innocent family looking shocked and frightened.

Al Jazeera understands that US and Afghan officials are close to signing a deal on the future of controversial night raids, which have become a major hurdle in discussions over the long-term relations between the two countries. The agreement will give Afghan security forces the lead role in the operations and provide Afghan judicial oversight, officials said. NATO footage of one such raid, which was filmed in the Sarobi district east of Kabul, shows family members looking shocked and frightened as their home is searched by soldiers and a man is questioned. No charges were brought as a result of the raid and the family were entirely innocent. The deal is expected to help clear the way for a broader strategic partnership agreement that will govern the US presence in Afghanistan once Afghan forces take full responsibility for security by the end of 2014. Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith, reporting from Kabul, said :"the operations will be primarily Afghan-led, although foreign forces will be playing a role in planning and executing. "Essentially, it will be Afghan military going to Afghan houses, which addresses a major culture sensitivity about the night raids.” A US defence official, who spoke to Reuters news agency on condition of anonymity, said there was general acceptance on both sides that Afghans should take the lead role in any night raids and that there should be some form of warrant system to give Afghans judicial oversight of the process, the official said. But some differences remain over issues related to the detention of people for interrogation, the official said. Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has been pressing for an end to the night raids, said some raids had violated Afghan sovereignty. The president’s team has been increasingly divided over long term relations with the US, with some of their disagreements resulting in clashes, as previously reported by Al Jazeera. The United States has been pressing to wrap up the long-delayed strategic partnership agreement with Afghanistan ahead of a NATO summit in Chicago in May. The two countries last month signed an agreement transferring a major US-run prison to Afghan authority, leaving military raids of Afghan homes in the middle of the night as the primary sticking point to achieving a broader strategic partnership deal.

Saeed demands proof after US bounty

Hafiz Saeed, the leader of a Pakistan-based group blamed for the 2008 attacks on Mumbai, has demanded proof after the US announced a $10m bounty on his head.

In an exclusive interview to Al Jazeera, Saeed said the US move was prompted by the fact that he had beenorganising rallies against the reopening of supply lines through Pakistan to NATO forces in Afghanistan.

"We are not hiding in caves for bounties to be set on finding us. I think the US is frustrated because we are taking out countrywide protests against the resumption of NATO supplies and drone strikes," Saeed said. 

"I believe either the US has very little knowledge and is basing its decisions on wrong information being provided by India or they are just frustrated".

Wendy Sherman, the US undersecretary of state, on a visit to India, said a $3m bounty had also been announced for Abul Rehman Makki, the brother-in-law of Saeed.

Rewards for Justice, a programme sponsored by the US State Department, announced the cash reward for the 62-year old Saeed on its website.

"Saeed is suspected of masterminding numerous terrorist attacks, including the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which resulted in the deaths of 166 people, including six American citizens,” the page said.

Ajmal Kasab, the only surviving gunman involved in the three-day rampage in November 2008, has been sentenced to death by an Indian court.

Kasab accused Saeed of organising the attack, which involved 10 gunmen, 9 of whom were killed during the shootout.

Lashkar-e-Taiba, designated as a terrorist organisation by the US in December 2001, is accused by India of carrying out several attacks, including the one on Mumbai.

"Popular man"

India welcomed the move as a reflection of India and US's commitment "to bring perpetrators of the Mumbai terrorist attacks" to justice.

Mumbai Attacks

Timeline: Mumbai assault   ISI link to Mumbai attack claimed   FBI was 'alerted' to Mumbai plot   Mumbai attacker sentenced to death   Hafiz Saeed rejects Indian charges

"[The bounty] sends a strong signal to Lashkar-e-Taiba as also its members and patrons that the international community remains united in combating terrorism," Syed Akbaruddin, spokesman for India's ministry of external affairs said on Twitter.

Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder, reporting from Lahore, where Saeed is believed to be based, said Pakistan was pressured to ban Saeed's outfits after the US invasion of Afghanistan. Lashkar-e-Taiba was the military wing of his larger organisation, Jamaat-ud-Dawah.

"He started a foundation, and his men played a key role in aid efforts after earthquake in Kashmir, and the floods in Pakistan. They still are the main frontline in any calamity. He has denied that he has any links to militancy," our correspondent said.

“A man who is popular across the country- it's not going to go down very well. It is also symbolic - that the annoucment came in India, by a high ranking US diplomat. That will be an irritant.”

The announcement comes as Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan's president, is due to visit India for the first time since the attacks in Mumbai.

The bounty on Saeed, same as the Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar, is only second to Ayman al Zawahiri, who succeeded Osama bin Laden as the al-Qaeda chief. Zawahiri has $25m bounty on his head. Saeed is the fifth Pakistani national on the list.