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WASHINGTON: India on Monday warned it would oppose the UN treaty banning nuclear tests, calling it disciminatory, despite President Barack Obama's hopes that the United States will ratify it.Shyam Saran, India's special envoy on nuclear issues, conceded on a visit to Washington that the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) could prove to be a "contentious" issue with the new US administration.The CTBT would ban all nuclear explosions for any purpose. It cannot come into effect as nuclear powers such as the United States and China have not ratified it or, in the case of India and rival Pakistan, even signed it.Saran said India opposed the CTBT because it "was not explicitly linked to the goal of nuclear disarmament.""For India, this was crucial since it was not acceptable to legitimize, in any way, a permanent division between nuclear weapons states and non-nuclear weapons states," he said at the Brookings Institution.

NEW DELHI: The U.N. human rights chief urged India Monday to counter suspicion against its Muslim minority following the Mumbai attacks and warned the country's strict anti-terror measures threatened human rights.India is still on edge after gunmen killed 166 people in a three-day rampage on the financial hub last November.Hundreds of Muslims were detained and questioned over the attacks, angering rights activists who said innocent people were caught up in the backlash."The horrific terrorist attack in Mumbai has also polarized society and risks stoking suspicions against the Muslim community," said U.N Human Rights chief Navanethem Pillay."Both internal and external terrorist threats have led to counter-terrorist measures that put human rights at risk," Pillay said in New Delhi during her India visit.Religious and caste-based prejudices remain entrenched in Indian society, she said.Secular India has a long history of tensions between its majority Hindus and min...

LONDON: Stars including Belfast’s Kenneth Branagh, Rhys Ifans, Gemma Arterton and Bill Nighy turned out last night for the world premiere of The Boat That Rocked. A red carpet wound through the middle of London’s Leicester Square as women dressed in skimpy 60s outfits danced on a plinth with vinyl record discs in the background. The movie, from the director of Love Actually, Richard Curtis, is about young people, the 1960s and pop music. It centres around a band of DJs who captivate Britain by playing music that defines a generation as pirate radio plays rock and pop from the high seas 24 hours a day. Those behind the film said that more than half the population of Britain listened to the pirates every single day.

NEW DELHI: A dim lit stage and haunting music provided a perfect setting for fashion designer Rohit Bal’’s collection at the grand finale of the Delhi Fashion Week here last evening.Mysteries of the night unfolded in a mystical and myriad presentation as models walked the ramp in Bal’’s collection aptly titled ”Raat”.Known for his creativity on ramp, Bal again surprised everybody by his intense and dark collection inspired by danger and darkness and all things evil.Silks, heavy cottons, net. Voiles, silk jerseys, organza and felt, all the fabrics were used imaginatively to create dresses in silhouetted ranging from the opulence of Marie Antoinette to Victorian and Vintage.

SYDNEY: The 11 surviving whales from a pod of 80 that came ashore on Australia's west coast were being loaded Tuesday onto trucks at Hamelin Bay to be taken for release at a better spot 20 kilometers away.Seven of the 11 whales, including a mother and calf, have completed the journey and are at Flinders Bay in a holding pen. The plan is to gather the long-finned pilot whales and release them into the Indian Ocean at sunset.Flinders Bay was picked because it is deep, sheltered and far enough from the original stranding site to deter the whales from coming back on shore.

LOS ANGELES: A moderate, 4.7-magnitude earthquake shook southern California Tuesday, according to the US Geological Survey, with no immediate reports of injuries or damage.The tremor hit 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers) underground, centered some three miles (four kilometers) from Bombay Beach, which is on the Salton Sea, a large lake in the Salton Sink desert basin, the USGS reported.The town is some 90 miles (144 kilometers) west of San Diego. Geologists say an earthquake capable of causing widespread destruction is 99 percent certain of hitting California within the next 30 years.A study published last year said a 7.8 magnitude quake could kill 1,800 people, injure 50,000 more and damage 300,000 buildings.A 6.7 earthquake in Los Angeles in 1994 left at least 60 people dead and caused an estimated 10 billion dollars in damage, while a 6.9 quake in San Francisco in 1989 claimed 67 lives.

SYDNEY: A rare ginger monkey born at an Australian zoo has made its public debut - after being rejected by its mother. Elka, a Francois Langur monkey, is being hand-raised by staff at Taronga Zoo in Sydney.Her birth came as somewhat of a surprise to zoo keepers who were not entirely sure the mother, Saigon, was even pregnant.They will now temporarily look after the orange-haired leaf-eating monkey because of her mother's rejection. Elka's parents have black fur but it is common for infants to be bright orange.It is thought the colour helps parents to spot their infants in the wild."Primates are quite an intelligent group of animals, a lot of their social development depends on learning," senior primate keeper Mandy Mclellan said."Often first time mums might not have enough exposure to other females giving birth so they haven't learned social skills and haven't learned what they need to do with these little babies."Keepers will raise Elka for many mon...

SRINAGAR: In an encounter between Indian Army troops and Kashmiri Mujahideen, an officer and seven troops were killed and many more injured. It is suspected that five Mujahideen were also injured in the shootout.Lieutenant Colonel J.S Brar, Indian army spokesman in Srinagar, while confirming the incident disclosed that on specific information regarding presence of Mujahideen in the area, army troops carried out search and cordon operation in Shamswari forests of Kupwara district. The Mujahideen surrounded the troops and did not allow them to flee. In a continuous gunfight, Major Mohit Sharma of 1 Para and seven other soldiers were killed while five Mujahideen and equal number of civilians were injured.