Nirmal Om newsline

Pakistani paramilitary Rangers and police continued their "surgical" operations in the troubled city on Friday raiding more areas and arresting around 70 suspects in efforts to combat ethnic and political violence here that has claimed over 500 lives since July. Police officials said the suspected criminals and target killers were arrested during house to house search operations from different areas of Pakistan's commercial hub. They said a number weapons have also been recovered. In an interesting development, the Rangers and police also conducted search operation in the congested Liaquatabad area, which is a stronghold of the Mutthaida Qaumi Movement (MQM), a strong political party in Karachi. The government had launched the "surgical" operations, giving special police powers to the Rangers, after more than 200 people were killed in ethnic, political and crime related violence this month.

Talking to reporters after a meeting with the representatives of Civil Society Activists on Tuesday evening, the Finance Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherejee said that the dialogue has begun and it will continue. Official correspondent reports that the two and half hours meeting concluded in which the Government side was represented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Law Minister Salman Khurshid and Member of Parliament from Delhi, Sandeep Dikshit. The Civil Society group comprises Prashant Bhushan, Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi. The talks were held at North Block, New Delhi. Earlier, in a related development, the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh wrote a letter to Anna Hazare saying that Jan Lokpal Bill will be presented before the Standing Committee if Lok Sabha Speaker allows so. The Prime Minister said that if Anna Hazare is keen about the time and speed of the passage of the Lokpal bill, Government will formally request the Standing Committee to fast track their deliberations. ...

CHENGDU: US Vice President Joe Biden said Sunday that the world's biggest economy would never default on its debts, during a visit aimed at boosting Chinese confidence in America's beleaguered finances. In a speech to hundreds of university students in the vast southwestern city of Chengdu, Biden also urged China to "cherish" a free flow of information between the government and public, as the communist state quells dissent anew. Biden said at Sichuan University that the United States remained the "single best bet" for investment -- despite the historic downgrade this month of the country's top-notch credit rating by Standard & Poor's. "The United States has never defaulted and never will," he said, on the final day of his first official visit to China as vice president.Chinese leaders including Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice President Xi Jinping have been conciliatory in their public appearances with Biden.