China suspends US meat imports

15th July 2007, 6:47 WST
China has suspended imports of chicken feet, pig ears and other animal products from seven US companies - including the world's largest meat processor - in an apparent attempt to turn the tables on American complaints about tainted products from China.
The meat was contaminated with salmonella, feed additives and veterinary drugs, according to a list posted on the website of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine late Friday.
China's food and drug safety record has come under scrutiny in recent months following North American dog and cat deaths blamed on tainted Chinese pet food ingredients.
Worries at home and around the world have heightened as a growing number of Chinese products have been found tainted with dangerous levels of toxins and chemicals.
However, as China works to improve its food safety, authorities have prominently announced rejected imports - apparently to show it is not the only country with food export safety problems.
Frozen poultry products from Tyson Foods Inc, the world's largest meat processor, were found to be contaminated with salmonella, the Chinese product quality agency said.
Other imports barred by China included frozen chicken feet from Sanderson Farms Inc tainted with residue of an anti-parasite drug, as well as frozen pork ribs from Cargill Meat Solutions Corp that contained a leanness-enhancing feed additive, the AQSIQ said.
A Cargill spokesman denied the agency's claims, while a Tyson spokeswoman said the company knew nothing about the tainted product. Sanderson Farms officials were not immediately available for comment.
China's imports of foreign meat are growing but the country still supplies most of its own. Pork is the country's staple meat and most of the pigs are raised domestically.
However, a contagious disease that affects pigs has killed tens of thousands in China this year, and many farmers have stopped raising pigs because of worries they would lose money if the animals died. As a result, pork prices have shot up 43 per cent in the last year, a jump so serious that China's cabinet held an emergency session and Premier Wen Jiabao made public appearances to address concerns.
Additionally, though there may not be much demand for chicken feet and pig ears in the US, stewed versions of both are popular dishes in China.
The AQSIQ said frozen pig ears from Kansas City, Missouri-based Van Luin Foods USA, Inc were found to contain the leanness-enhancing feed additive ractopamine. Products from two Atlanta, Georgia-based companies were also named on the list: frozen chicken feet tainted with salmonella from Intervision Foods, and frozen pork tainted with ractopamine from AJC International, Inc.
Sausage casing from a seventh company, listed by the AQSIQ as "Thumph Foods," was also found to contain ractopamine. It was not clear whether the agency was referring to Triumph Foods of St Joseph, Missouri.
Mark Klein, a spokesman for Minneapolis-based Cargill Inc, disputed the Chinese inspectors' findings that his company's products were tainted and said Cargill hoped to resolve the issue by working with US and Chinese officials.
"We're proud of our products and our processes, and we'll be delighted to talk about them with all concerned," he said.
Cargill is the parent company of Wichita, Kansas-based Cargill Meat Solutions Corp, which as of 2005 was the ninth leading pork producer in the US, according to the National Pork Producers Council.
Libby Lawson, a spokeswoman for Tyson Foods from headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas, said the company was "disappointed with this news from China and are investigating these claims as this is the first we've heard of this development."
"We have received no notice from the Chinese government about this matter. We will work with the US and Chinese government to get this matter resolved," she said.
Attempts to reach officials with the other suspended US producers were unsuccessful Friday night.
Cargill, Van Luin and "Thumph Foods" were given 45 days to correct the problems, while the others were suspended from imports, though the AQSIQ did not say for how long.
It was also unclear whether the bans covered only the products in question, or all of the companies' imports.
A duty officer at the agency Saturday said he did not know details.
Beijing has taken steps in recent days to improve its product safety. It executed the former head of its drug regulation agency for taking bribes, and banned toothpaste makers from using a chemical found in antifreeze.
Officials have also vowed to better integrate China's fractured regulatory system, which splits responsibility among at least six agencies. Blurred lines between them often enable the country's countless illegal operations to escape detection.
China's government has thoroughly investigated each case of substandard products, the official Xinhua News Agency on Saturday quoted Li Yuanping, director of the AQSIQ's import and export bureau, as saying.
"All of them are exceptional cases," he said in the report, adding more than 99 per cent of China's exports meet standards.
"There is no such thing as zero risk. In term of food safety, it's impossible for any country to make 100 per cent of their foodstuff safe," he was quoted as saying. "China-made products should not be labeled as substandard just because of a few bad producers."
Beijing has previously rejected shipments of substandard orange pulp, dried apricots, raisins and health supplements from the US.

Sushila Koirala dies

सुशिला कोइरालाको निधन

Chandra Shekhar died of cancer

New Delhi: Former prime Minister Chandra Shekhar died of cancer in Delhi on Sunday morning. He was 80.

Shekhar died at 0845 hours IST, said a doctor of the Apollo Hospital where the former PM was admitted three months ago.

"He was suffering from multiple myloma," Dr Rakesh Chopra, senior consultant, oncology told PTI. Shekhar is survived by two sons.

Shekhar became India’s eleventh Prime Minister on November 10, 1990 and resigned on June 21, 1991. He was a Lok Sabha member from Ballia in Uttar Pradesh and chief of the Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya).

FOUR DECADES IN POLITICS:

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condoled Shekhar’s death, calling him a truly secular nationalist who was committed to people’s welfare and national development.

Former PM V P Singh described Shekhar “one of the tallest political personalities in India” and “a man of conviction and warmth.”

From Young Turk to seven-month PM

Shekhar was called Chankaya and Bhishma Pitamaha of Indian politics for his vast experience in public life.

He had friends in all political parties and believed that there are no permanent foes or friends in politics.

Shekhar was born on July 1, 1927 in a farmer's family in Ibrahimpatti in Ballia. He was a student leader in Allahabad University and joined the socialist movement in the 1950s.

His first big break in politics came in 1962 when he was elected to the Rajya Sabha as a member of the Praja Socialist Party.

In 1965 he joined the Congress and soon became the general secretary of its Parliamentary Party. As an MP, Chandra Shekhar opposed policies he thought were creating monopolies.

He and other ‘Young Turks’—leaders who opposed Indira Gandhi’s ‘elitist’ policies—in the Congress were imprisoned during the Emergency. Shekhar became the president of the Janata Party, which was formed in 1977 and formed the first non-Congress government at the Centre.

When the Nation Front came to power in 1989, Shekhar believed he must get the Prime Minister’s post but was shocked when V P Singh was chosen to head the coalition government.

Shekhar became bitter against V P Singh and deputy PM Devi Lal and worked against the government during Mandal agitation and finally brought it down in 1990.

Chandra Shekhar became Prime Minister with the Congress’ support though he himself had only some 60 MPs of his own. His government survived for seven months—a tumultuous period when India was on the brink of bankruptcy with its foreign exchange reserves almost empty.

A staunch socialist, Chandra Shekhar was forced to accept the terms of international lending institutions. His government had to pledge gold at the international market and could not present the Budget because the Congress withdrew support after alleging that it was spying on Rajiv Gandhi.

After his government fell, Chandra Shekhar gradually lost his political influence but acquired the image of an elder statesman who was respected by all parties.

He was always in support for Nepal's struggle for democracy and peace. Late Sheker, a close friend of Nepal, Nepali Congress party and specially Koirala family will be forever remembered in Nepal's political circle for his positive persuasive role in 1990 democracy movement.

Forces continue to fire on mosque

Jul 7, 2007

S ecurity forces ringing a besieged mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan, pummeled Islamic radicals with gunfire yesterday, as concern grew that many of those still inside - including children - were being held against their will. While more than 1,200 people have fled the mosque since the siege began Tuesday, authorities estimated that several hundred remain within. Only a few dozen are suspected to be hard-core radicals; others appear to want to leave, but have been prevented from doing so. The government has refrained from launching a full-scale invasion of the mosque compound, even though the militants are believed to be severely outgunned. In the meantime, thousands of heavily armed rangers and commandos have formed a tight cordon around the compound. Clerics at the pro-Taliban Red Mosque want to turn Pakistan into a theocracy, and over the past few months, students at an affiliated madrassa, or religious school, have abducted alleged prostitutes and threatened video store owners with attacks. On Tuesday, a clash between the radicals and government forces left at least 19 people dead. The government of President Pervez Musharraf has wrestled with how to respond the mosque for months, but is now demanding an unconditional surrender from the radicals. After indicating Thursday night that he would leave the mosque peacefully, firebrand cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi said in a televised interview yesterday that he had decided to fight to the death. "We can be martyred, but we will not court arrest," he said. Ghazi's older brother, Maulana Abdul Aziz, was arrested Wednesday night as he attempted to flee the mosque disguised in a burqa. He has since been subjected to nationwide ridicule, with newspapers dubbing him "Auntie Aziz." Supplies are rumored to be running low in the mosque and in the adjacent madrassa, and Tariq Azim Khan, the state information minister, said the government's approach going forward would be "to tire them out, not fire them out." The strategy, he said, was designed to allow more people to give up before security forces attempt a raid. But militants yesterday tried to thwart those plans. At around 1 p.m., a contingent of family members of those still inside approached the mosque hoping to retrieve their loved ones. Instead, they were met with gunfire. At least one person was slightly wounded in the attack. "They said, 'We will not hand over your children,' and they fired on us," said Yasar Shah, who came to Islamabad from a village in western Pakistan. "My sister is in there. I have to get her back." A young woman named Attia, her eyes downcast and her face etched with pain, said that three of her young children were in the mosque, but that only one has come out, despite her attempts to get them all back. The other two - 5 and 9 years old - remained inside. She said she sent her children to the madrassa because her husband was addicted to drugs and she lacked the money to feed or house them. "I sent them here to study," said Attia, who goes by one name. "Now I don't know whether they are alive or not." Later in the day, some students were able to make it out of the mosque, but government officials said Ghazi appears to be keeping the rest as a way of forestalling an all-out assault. "The cleric inside is using these children as hostages," said Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad, a military spokesman. Not everyone is hoping they make it out alive. "If my sister dies, she will be a martyr, and we will be happy," said Mohammad Khalid, who stood with other family members outside the mosque yesterday afternoon. "We are here to take her body back." The siege in normally placid Islamabad has become an emblem in Pakistan for a broader struggle against the growing threat of extremism. Musharraf, considered a key U.S. counterterrorism ally, has taken extraordinary criticism from Pakistani moderates, who feel his refusal to turn the country back over to civilian leadership after eight years of military rule has fostered greater radicalism. But Islamic terrorist groups have their own problems with Musharraf. Yesterday, unknown assailants fired a submachine gun from an urban rooftop at Musharraf's plane, though the shots did not come close and security officials said they did not regard the attack as a serious assassination attempt. Investigators later recovered the gun - along with two anti-aircraft weapons that had apparently not been fired - from a home in Rawalpindi, Arshad said. The home was located a mile or two from the air force base where Musharraf's plane took off yesterday morning as he left on a tour of flood-affected areas in the nation's south. The police were still searching for whoever fired the weapon as of yesterday evening. Musharraf has survived assassination attempts by extremist groups in the past. It was not immediately clear whether yesterday's attack was connected to the siege at the Red Mosque. Elsewhere in Pakistan yesterday, four soldiers, including two officers, were killed in a suicide attack. The attack took place in an area of western Pakistan that is known as a militant stronghold.