Soul searching for PM after loss - Arab Times noodles back in India: Nestle’s hugely popular Maggi...

World News Roundup

ARAB TIMES, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2015

16INTERNATIONAL

Subcontinent

Japanese Prince Akishino and his wife Princess Kiko visit the Sugarloaf Mountain on the last day of their official visit to Brazil to mark the 120 years of the Japan-Brazil friendship, in Rio de Janeiro,Brazil on Nov 8. (AFP)

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar(center), is surrounded by media per-sonnel as he greets supporters aftervictory in Bihar state elections in

Patna, India on Nov 8. (AP)

Raheel Nawaz

Maggie noodles back in India:Nestle’s hugely popular Maggi noodlesreturned Monday to shelves in India fivemonths after the government banned themover lead levels, in one of the biggestcrises to hit the Swiss giant.

India’s food safety watchdog bannedthe noodles nationwide in June after testresults showed packets exceeded legallimits of lead, while criticising Nestle forfailing to list flavour enhancer monosodi-um glutamate (MSG) on labels.

But the Bombay High Court, the high-est court in the western city now knownas Mumbai, overturned the ruling twomonths later, calling it “arbitrary” andordered fresh tests.

Nestle said last month those tests hadfound that Maggi noodles were safe toeat. It has restarted production at three ofits five India plants.

Nestle lost more than 75 million Swissfrancs ($74.7 million) over the ban, whichforced it to destroy more than 37,000tonnes of the noodles, India’s leadingbrand.

“What we have been through has beenlike a life crisis for a human being,”Nestle India Managing Director SureshNarayanan told reporters on Monday.

“It will need investments to nurtureback the brand into the health that it was,”he said of Maggi, which previouslyaccounted for about 30 percent of thecompany’s Indian sales. (AFP)

❑ ❑ ❑

Lanka minister resigns: Sri Lanka’slaw and order minister quit on Monday toavert a possible split in the ruling coali-tion government after he defended a secu-rity firm amid a probe into allegations of a“floating armoury”.

Tilak Marapana, an ex-attorney generalhandpicked by Prime Minister RanilWickremesinghe, last week defended pri-vate security firm Avant Garde in parlia-ment.

Police this year seized more than 3,000weapons in 20 containers from thearmoury, run by Avant Garde and dockedin the southern port of Galle.

Marapana represented Avant Gardebefore he was appointed minister inSeptember.

A faction of Wickremesinghe’s rulingUnited National Party (UNP) along withsome civil society groups had demandedMarapana’s resignation after his speech.The ongoing probes are conducted by thepolice, which come under Marapana’sministry.

“Some members of the government andpublic suspect that my position as the lawand order minister could have an impacton the ongoing investigations conductedby the police. So I have decided toresign,” Marapana told reporters.

The investigations are part of a wideprobe of alleged corrupt deals during theadministration of former presidentMahinda Rajapaksa. (RTRS)

❑ ❑ ❑

Death toll rises to 53: A Pakistaniofficial says the death toll from the col-lapse of a factory building last week hasrisen to 53.

Jam Sajjad Hussain said Monday thatrescuers have sifted through nearly all thedebris from the collapse of a four-storybuilding in the eastern city of Lahore.

Rescuers have retrieved 100 livingworkers from the rubble, including ateenager whose family assumed he wasdead.

The cause of Wednesday’s collapse isyet to be determined.

The building caved in a week after apowerful earthquake in neighboringAfghanistan killed nearly 400 people inboth countries. (AP)

❑ ❑ ❑

Nepal forced to cancel flights:Airlines in Nepal have been forced to can-

cel more than half of their domesticflights because of an ongoing fuel short-age, an official said Monday.

More than 70 percent of domesticflights were canceled Sunday and abouthalf were canceled Monday, said UtsavRaj Kharel, the manager of Kathmandu’sairport.

International flights were operating ona normal schedule because they arerequired to fill their tanks before flying toNepal.

Passengers were stranded by the can-celed flights in Kathmandu, the capital,and other cities. About 2,000 passen-gers a day normally fly in and out ofKathmandu’s airport on domesticroutes.

For weeks, members of the Madhesi

Army chief to visit USPakistan’s army chief GeneralRaheel Sharif is set to visit the UnitedStates next week to hold talks withtop officials on security issues includ-ing the stalled Afghan peaceprocess, the military said Sunday.

The November 15-20 visit comesweeks after a trip by Pakistani PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif, and is viewedby analysts as a US attempt to dealdirectly with the country’s powerfulmilitary, which sets its defence policy.

“COAS (Chief of Army Staff) willvisit USA from 15-20 November. Willhold meetings with military and polit-ical leadership on wide ranging secu-rity issues,” military spokesmanLieutenant General Asim Bajwaannounced on Twitter.

A senior Pakistani security officialtold AFP that the two sides wouldalso discuss reconciliation inAfghanistan and Pakistan’s ongoingmilitary operations against Talibanmilitants in its northwestern tribalareas.

The US sees Pakistan as one ofthe few states with influence over theextremists, and the new Talibanleader Akhtar Mansour is believed tohave close ties to Islamabad.

But some in Washington believePakistan has not done enough tobring its influence to bear and to per-suade the group to renounce vio-lence. (AFP)

India

Bihar major setback for Modi

Soul searching for PM after lossNEW DELHI, Nov 9, (Agencies):Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modiwill meet leaders of his party onMonday to discuss whether to over-haul policies and priorities in thewake of a humiliating defeat in elec-tions in the eastern state of Bihar.

Modi was due to huddle with a dozensenior colleagues of his Hindu national-ist party, including its president AmitShah, Finance Minister Arun Jaitleyand Home Minister Rajnath Singh,party and government officials said.

“The party has to do a detailedanalysis of the outcome of the elec-tion and take any necessary steps,”said Parliamentary Affairs MinisterVenkaiah Naidu.

Sunday’s loss in Bihar, India’s thirdmost populous and poorest state, isthe most significant setback for Modisince he won a crushing victory in ageneral election last year.

For the first time since he came topower, party leaders are openly start-ing to question the direction of thegovernment.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)office in New Delhi was virtuallydeserted on Monday, with only a fewworkers compiling newspaper clip-pings on the election defeat.

Security guards turned away offer-ings of sweets and gifts for Diwali, aHindu festival being celebrated thisweek.

Indian shares, bonds and the rupeefell to six-week lows as investors whohad backed Modi fretted that hewould struggle to push economicreforms through parliament against anemboldened opposition.

The Bihar loss may hamper Modi’sreform agenda because he needs towin most state elections in the nextthree years to gain full control of par-liament. India’s states are representedin the upper house, where the BJPlacks a majority.

The government announced onMonday that parliament will resumefor the winter session on Nov 26.Over the last year, Modi has struggledto pass laws, including tax and labour

reforms, and now faces an oppositionwith political momentum.

The election came against a back-ground of concerns in India over inci-dents in which Muslims have beentargeted by Hindu zealots. There havebeen protests by prominent intellectu-als at what they call a climate of ris-ing intolerance.

Some BJP lawmakers called for theparty to promote a more unifyingagenda focusing on economic devel-opment, after a campaign in Biharthat sought to polarise voters alongcaste and religious lines.

“We have to be single mindedlyfocused on development, develop-ment, development,” said ChandanMitra, a BJP member of parliament.“We can’t afford to be distracted byanything else.”

ProblemA senior BJP leader, who asked not

to be named, said the problem wasthat Modi sidelined too many people.

“Modi thinks he can do it all atonce. He wants economic growth,social and cultural revolution, to winpolitical battles and project himself asa statesman,” he said.

“If he wins then every voice of dis-sent can be silenced, but if he fails thenevery voice of dissent is going to build.”

The election was one of the mostvicious in recent years.

At one of dozens of election ralliesaddressed by Modi, he accused rivalparties of snatching economic bene-fits from lower-caste Hindus andhanding them over to a religiousminority, a comment interpreted as aveiled reference to Muslims.

The election commission banned sev-eral party posters they said could incitehatred. One banned poster showed ayoung Hindu woman embracing a gar-landed cow, an animal sacred to Hindus.

The BJP president was also criti-cised for comments suggesting that ifhis party lost, the result would be cel-ebrated in arch-rival Pakistan.

In contrast, Chief Minister NitishKumar, who led the anti-Modi alliance

in Bihar, was able to trade on his recordof turning around a state that was oncewidely considered to be among India’smost corrupt and lawless.

Arun Shourie, a minister in the lastBJP government, called for a changein course.

“We should be grateful to the peo-ple of Bihar because the direction hasbeen halted,” he told NDTV. Askedwhat went wrong with the party’sBihar campaign, he said “everything”.

India’s finance minister vowedMonday to push ahead with much-needed reforms after his party’s drub-bing at a key weekend state poll hikedfears of a slowdown in the govern-ment’s agenda.

Analysts said the loss was a blowto Modi’s appeal as an invinciblevote-winner after he stormed topower at last year’s general electionwith the biggest mandate in 30 years.

Galvanised opposition parties arenow expected to step up efforts toderail the Modi government’s plans topush promised economic reformsthrough the national parliament.

India’s stock exchange fell as muchas 2.3 percent in Monday’s morningsession on the BJP’s defeat beforerecovering some losses.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley saidthe government would press on withinitiatives including a long-awaitednational sales tax despite lacking thenumbers in parliament’s upper house.

Jaitley also denied the election was areferendum on the Modi’s government17 months in power, while also saying“each one of us will take the blame”.

“I don’t see it as a setback to theeconomy... structural reforms willcontinue. They should continue at arapid pace,” Jaitley said in an inter-view with ET Now TV network.

“Every election is not a referen-dum. A state election is not a referen-dum. You are not contesting on anyone issue,” he said.

A coalition of rival, regional partiesclinched 178 seats in the 243-seatBihar assembly, more than triple thenumber of the BJP on 53.

ethnic community protesting Nepal’s newconstitution have blocked the southernborder with India, preventing fuel and

other essential items from entering thecountry.

India, which has close cultural ties with

the Madhesis, has also restricted fuel sup-plies to Nepal, which relies on its giantneighbor for most of its fuel. (AP)

Pakistani Muslims return after attending one of the world’s largest Islamic reli-gious meetings — the Tablighi Ijtema — in Raiwind on the outskirts of Lahore onNov 8. The Tablighi Ijtema is an annual feature, founded by religious scholarsmore than five decades ago and focused exclusively on preaching Islam. (AFP)

Lat/Am

6 arrested over murder: Police havedetained six people in northern Mexico inconnection with the killing of the fatherand brother of movie director AlejandroMonteverde.

Federal police chief Francisco Galindosaid Sunday the arrests were made theprevious day during an operation in thesouth of Tamaulipas state.

He said the sus-pects were holdingsix Central Americanmigrants hostage atthe time of theirarrest and their ganghas been linked to 20cases of kidnappingor homicide. Thegang operated insouthern Tamaulipasand Veracruz state,an area controlled bythe Gulf Cartel.

The bodies of Juan Manuel GomezFernandez and Juan Manuel GomezMonteverde - the father and brother of theMexican movie director - were found Sept19 in Pueblo Viejo in northern Veracruz.The men had been reported missing Sept4.

Monteverde is married to actress andformer Miss USA Ali Landry. (AP)

❑ ❑ ❑

Mexico group slams prosecutors:Mexico’s National Human RightsCommission is criticizing the AttorneyGeneral’s Office for failing to address allthe recommendations it made in Julyabout the investigation into the fate of 43missing college students.

In a document released Sunday, thecommission said the office’s response toits report has been “insufficient andimprecise” and prosecutors have failed toprovide documentation to supports someof their positions.

The human rights commission issued alist of 32 omissions in and recommenda-tions for the investigation of the disap-pearance of the teachers’ college students,a case that has sparked large protests andoutrage around the world.

The students from the southern state ofGuerrero disappeared in the city of Igualawhile commandeering transit buses totake them to a protest. The AttorneyGeneral’s Office says the students weredetained by local police on Sept 26, 2014,and handed over to a drug cartel, whichkilled and incinerated them at a dump.Their remains were allegedly put ingarbage bags and dumped in a nearbyriver. (AP)

❑ ❑ ❑

Macri leads in presidential race:Challenger Mauricio Macri took the leadin Argentina’s presidential election raceagainst his ruling party rival, a pollshowed on Sunday, two weeks before theNov 22 run-off vote.

The Management & Fit survey putMacri eight points ahead with the backingof 51.8 percent of voters, including a pro-jected share of undecided votes. His rival,Daniel Scioli, had 43.6 percent support.

The numbers indicate Macri and his“Let’s Change” alliance have maintainedtheir momentum, after a surprisinglystrong performance in the first round thatstunned the ruling Front for Victory partyand left Scioli scrambling to regain theinitiative.

However, more than one in 10 ofArgentina’s 32 million voters are stillundecided, leaving the presidential raceopen. Macri’s lead narrows to six pointswith 46.3 percent of support when unde-cided votes are excluded from the candi-dates’ count.

The outcome of the election will shapehow the South American country tacklesits economic woes, including high infla-tion, an over-valued peso and a centralbank running precariously low on dollars.(RTRS)

❑ ❑ ❑

US intel jet violated airspace:Venezuela claims a US Coast Guard planeit describes as an intelligence aircraft vio-lated the South American country’s air-space.

Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino saidSunday the Dash-8 aircraft flew out ofCuracao, a Dutch island not far offVenezuela’s Caribbean coast. He said thatduring a 30-minute period the plane twiceentered Venezuelan airspace over the tinyarchipelago of Los Monjes on Fridaywhile performing what appeared to be areconnaissance mission in the Gulf ofVenezuela, which is also bounded byColombia.

In comments on the state channelTelesur, Padrino said other US recon-naissance and military transport aircrafthad flown close to Venezuela in recentdays.

While he offered no evidence to backthe claims, he said the timing of theapparent maneuvers, as the country pre-pares for key legislative elections nextmonth, was suspicious, recalling other USmilitary exercises that allegedly precededa brief coup in 2002 against thenPresident Hugo Chavez. (AP)

❑ ❑ ❑

‘Slim chances of missing people’:The 28 people missing since the failure oftwo dams at an iron ore mine flooded avillage in southeastern Brazil are unlikelyto be found alive, the governor of theaffected state said Sunday.

Speaking at a news conference, MinasGerais Gov. Fernando Pimentel said itwas still not known what triggeredThursday’s failure of dams at the Samarcomine, which sent viscous red mud, waterand debris flooding into the hamlet ofBento Rodrigues, flattening all but ahandful of buildings.

The mud tide has continued tospread, causing flooding in other near-by towns, pouring into an area river andthreatening the water supply of severalcities in the neighboring state ofEspirito Santo.

“One lost human life would be irrepara-ble - imagine 28,” Pimentel was quoted assaying by the Rio de Janeiro newspaper OGlobo. “It’s a disaster, a tragedy of greatdimension.”

One person has been confirmed dead,and 15 village residents and 13 mineworkers are listed as missing, the gover-nor and the state fire department saidSunday. (AP)

Alejandro

Maldives could lift‘emergency’ earlyCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Nov 9,(AP): The foreign minister of theMaldives said Monday that amonthlong state of emergencydeclared by the president lastweek may be lifted early.

Foreign Minister DunyaMaumoon said by phone fromthe Maldives’ capital, Male,that the emergency wasdeclared in the face of anunprecedented security threat,but that information fromdefense officials gives hopethat it could be reviewed in thecoming days.