Badal in Israel, talks trade, agriculture

November 11th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - The Shiromani Akali Dal Wednesday said it will involve like-minded parties in raising the plight of the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in the winter session of parliament. "The Akali Dal, along with all like-minded parties, will raise the issue of the Congress's deliberate attempts to scuttle the trial of Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler on flimsy grounds in the winter session of parliament and force the government to expedite trial in this 25 years old case," Akali Dal president and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said here.

November 10th, 2009 COLOMBO - Sri Lankan trade unions Tuesday decided to go ahead with their planned three-day strike to protest against the delay in pay hike. The trade unions of port, fuel, electricity and water sectors have jointly called for the strike despite government's promise to raise the salaries of workers, Xinhua reported.

November 3rd, 2009 Spring Design sues Barnes & Noble over e-readerNEW YORK — Technology company Spring Design said Tuesday it filed a lawsuit against Barnes & Noble alleging it misappropriated trade secrets and violated a nondisclosure agreement when it launched its electronic reader Nook last month. Spring Design said Nook's features are too close to its Alex e-reader.

October 31st, 2009 CHANDIGARH - The Punjab government has asked the state police to train English-speaking youth from the state to make them employable in western countries as security guards, according to Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who is also the state's home minister. Speaking at a meeting of national security agencies in New Delhi Saturday, Badal said that the police have created state of the art training facilities in the Punjab Security Training Institute located at Jahankhelan near Hoshiarpur, 160 km from here, to train youth and organise their employment as security guards in western countries.

October 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - A city court Saturday allowed the counsel of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims to examine the CD in which Congress leader Jagdish Tytler has been shown standing next to the body of former prime minister Indira Gandhi. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Rakesh Pandit asked the counsel for the victims' association to examine the eight CDs in the court Nov 16.

October 27th, 2009 LUXEMBOURG - Sri Lanka must grant proper treatment to people who fled the fighting between government and Tamil Tiger forces if it is to have any chance of a peaceful settlement, European Union foreign ministers said Tuesday. "They won the war, now they must win the peace, and we stand ready to help them," Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said after talks with EU counterparts in Luxembourg.

October 16th, 2009 GENEVA - The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted Friday the war crimes report of Justice Richard Goldstone regarding the conflict in and around the Gaza Strip last December and January, setting the stage for possible further international action. On the 47-member body, 25 states voted in favour of a resolution tabled by the Palestinians and 11 delegates abstained.

October 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Experts Monday called for changing the laws on sex trafficking so the perpetrators of the trade are punished, instead of the victims, and effective measures are taken to ensure rehabilitation. "Let's not victimize the victims of sex trafficking further.

October 8th, 2009 GENEVA - The US Thursday asked the World Trade Organisation to rule on a European Union (EU) ban on US poultry treated with chemicals. The US contends the EU ban does not comply with international trade rules, saying methods used in the country which involve chemicals are safe.

October 6th, 2009 Trade officials to probe Toyota patent claimNEW YORK — U.S. trade officials said they will launch an investigation into whether Toyota Motor Corp.

October 1st, 2009 Israel charges Russian-born tycoon with fraudJERUSALEM — Israeli authorities charged an enigmatic Russian-born tycoon who has fled the country with fraud and money laundering, according to court documents filed Thursday. Prosecutors say Arkady Gaydamak conspired with senior Israeli banking executives to conceal financial activities worth around $175 million.

September 16th, 2009 TEL AVIV - An Israeli activist who gave evidence to a UN commission investigating Israel's winter offensive in the Gaza Strip accused the head of the commission Wednesday of sleeping during his testimony. "I was flown to testify in front of the committee at the UN headquarters in Geneva and during my testimony, which included raw video footage of children running from rocket fire, Richard Goldstone fell asleep," Noam Bedein charged in a statement sent to journalists.

September 12th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Italy does not mind more immigrants from India, provided they come legally, says Italy's ambassador to India, a man who estimates that the number of illegal Indian settlers in Italy is over the half the number of legal immigrants. "Apart from the movement of goods and investments, we consider movement of people of utmost importance for the overall growth of Italy.

September 4th, 2009 Rio Tinto suspends iron ore talks with ChinaSYDNEY — Iron ore suppliers and China have broken off price talks and it is unclear when they will resume, an executive of Rio Tinto Ltd., which is negotiating for the suppliers, said Friday. The talks on supply contracts for the supply year that began July 1 are deadlocked over how deeply to cut prices following two years of sharp increases.

September 1st, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal Tuesday pulled up the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) over its failure to ensure that good quality text books are distributed free among Scheduled Castes (SC) students of the state. The laxity of the PSEB has led to its failure to distribute free books among the nearly 150,000 SC students in Punjab.