Alabama gunman 'had a hit list'

A man who killed 10 people in a series of shootings in the US state of Alabama, before killing himself, had drawn up a "hit list"

Investigators discovered the list while searching the gunman's home.

Michael McLendon, 28, burned down his house, before firing on homes, shops and vehicles in the towns of Samson and Geneva near the Florida border.

It also emerged that McLendon had once joined a police academy, but left after only a week.

McLendon's victims included several members of his family and the wife and daughter of a local police officer. The list included the names of a number of McLendon's former employers, including a sausage factory at which he had recently left his job.

The bloodshed began when McLendon shot his mother in the house where the two of them lived in Kinston, near Samson.

He then placed his mother's body on a couch and set the house on fire.

N Korea 'satellite test date set'

North Korea plans to carry out a controversial rocket launch between 4 and 8 April, officials in Seoul say.
Pyongyang had informed an international shipping organisation of the date for the launch, the officials said.

The South and the US believe Pyongyang could be preparing to test-fire a long-range missile and have warned it not to go ahead with the launch.

But North Korea insists it is preparing to send up a communications satellite, not a missile.
It has said any attempt to shoot it down will result in war.

North Korea's neighbours believe it is planning to test-fire the Taepodong 2 missile - which is capable of reaching Alaska - from the Musudan-ri base in Hwadae on its north-east coast.

It first tested the missile in July 2006, but it failed less than a minute after launch.
Earlier this month Japan suggested it could deploy a vessel equipped with missile interceptor technology to the Sea of Japan (East Sea) to shoot the rocket down.

On Thursday, it called on North Korea to exercise restraint, saying it "would not tolerate" its moves to raise tensions in the region.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7938844.stm

Pope 'admits Holocaust row error'

Pope Benedict XVI has written to senior clergy to acknowledge "mistakes" in the lifting of the excommunication of a bishop who has denied the Holocaust.

The Pope reportedly says in the letter that the move had been badly explained and the Vatican had not checked the bishop's background thoroughly enough.
But he also laments the "vehemence" of those who disagreed with the decision.

The Vatican has asked the British bishop, Richard Williamson, to recant his views, but he has not done so.

Bishop Williamson disputed that six million Jews had died at the hands of the Nazis during World War II, and claimed that none had died in gas chambers.

The bishop said last month that if he had known the full harm his comments would cause, he would not have made them.

the Vatican immediately rejected the apology and told him to "unequivocally and publicly" withdraw his remarks.

The case led to protests from Holocaust survivors, world Jewish leaders and groups, as well as German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The four bishops have been asked by the Vatican to recognise the authority of the Pope and the Second Vatican Council and talks are planned to seek to resolve the "open questions" in the Church's relationship with the Society of St Pius X.

Bishop Williamson returned to the UK last month after he was asked to leave Argentina, where he had been the head of a seminary

Iraqi jailed for Bush shoe attack

An Iraqi journalist hailed as a hero in the Arab world for throwing his shoes at former US President George W Bush has been jailed for three years.

Muntadar al-Zaidi had pleaded not guilty as his trial resumed in Baghdad, telling the judge: "My reaction was natural, just like any Iraqi."
Hitting someone with a shoe is a grave insult to Arabs. Zaidi could have been jailed for 15 years for the assault.

Mr Bush, on a farewell trip to Iraq in December, shrugged off the incident.
The head of Zaidi's defence team Dhiaa al-Saadi described the sentence as "harsh and is not in harmony with the law"

Defence lawyers had called for the charges to be dismissed, saying Mr Bush had never been in serious danger.
During the assault at a news conference in Baghdad on 15 December, Zaidi shouted that Mr Bush was "a dog" and the shoes were "a farewell kiss" from those who had been killed, orphaned or widowed in Iraq.
Mr Bush ducked the shoes and appeared untroubled by the incident, joking shortly after that he knew they were a size 10.

Mr Zaidi has been held in custody ever since. His lawyers said he was beaten by prison guards, although he has looked healthy at court appearances.
His actions were condemned by the Iraqi government as "shameful", but he was celebrated as a hero by thousands across the world.

Child protection facing criticism

Too many children are abused because social work departments fail to protect them, a report is expected to say.
Lord Laming's review was commissioned by the government after the brutal death of 17-month-old Baby P in Haringey, north London.

It will recommend how best to improve child protection across England.
Ahead of its publication, Children's Secretary Ed Balls will announce a new training regime for senior children's services managers. Child protection has been under the microscope since details of Baby P's case came to light.

The toddler died in August 2007 having suffered months of abuse, despite being seen 60 times by various professionals, including doctors and social workers.

Social workers do a vital but tough job, often under difficult circumstances - but there are real challenges around leadership, retention and career progression =Ed Balls

Lord Laming has already prompted one major reform of England's child protection system - with his inquiry into the horrific death of Victoria Climbie in the same borough four years ago.

clashes mark protest in pakistan

Police in the Pakistani city of Karachi have used sticks to beat up protesters outside the high court, as lawyers began an anti-government protest march.
Organisers intend the four-day march to culminate in a sit-in at the parliament in the capital, Islamabad, on Monday.

The demonstrators want President Asif Ali Zardari to fulfill a pledge to reinstate all judges sacked under former President Pervez Musharraf.
The government says the march is aimed at destabilising the country.

Police say they have arrested more than 400 opposition activists in the past few days.
The authorities have also banned political gatherings across the country, saying they could trigger bloodshed.
Despite the ban on political gatherings, a group of Jamaat-e-Islami party activists managed to arrive near the court and a scuffle broke out with the police.

The police used batons and sticks to beat back the protesters. Dozens of demonstrators were arrested.


Activists believe the ban on political gatherings is a bid to disrupt the rallies around the country, which they are calling the "long march". They have pledged that they will be peaceful.

The protest follows a heightening of tensions in Pakistan, after a court ruling barring opposition leader Nawaz Sharif and his brother from holding public office. Mr Sharif has backed the lawyers' demand for the judges to be reinstated and has called on Pakistanis to join the demonstration.

Zambia's agri-business powerhouse

Turning the countryside into a viable, sustainable industry on a much larger scale is something people here have talked about for ages.
But until now, it has not happened.
That is because it takes more than mother nature's blessing to turn Zambia into an African breadbasket.


Empty plastic sterilised bottles roll down a Zammilk production line about 50 km north of Lusaka.

It takes less than three seconds for a machine to spray yoghurt into each bottle.
Further down the line, another machine screws the lids on. The bottles are then whisked off to sell in shops.

This factory is not just producing yoghurt, but also fresh milk, cultured milk, and a popular flavoured drink called Zamsip.

Over 25,000 litres of milk products are processed here every day.
The company that runs this processing plant, Zambeef, began as a small butcher shop in the capital, Lusaka in 1991.


Since then it has grown to become one of the biggest food production businesses in Africa.
Place "Zam" in front of just about any food product, and there is a pretty good chance this company is producing it

When it comes to farming, Zambia certainly will not be starting from scratch.
The country's share of food and other farm products in total exports has been increasing - from less than 5% in the 1980s to more than 20% today.

Zambia is also better able to feed itself, becoming mostly self-sufficient in staple products like wheat and maize.
Now, the Zambeef success story might just provide enough incentive for Zambian policy makers to place agriculture at the centre of a new economic strategy.

CRIME VICTIMS 'DATA LOST IN POST

The personal details of more than 2,300 crime victims were lost in the post by Gwent Police, BBC Wales has discovered.

A CD went missing in May 2007, but the force said those affected were not told because it was decided their details could not be accessed.

Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to the four Welsh forces also uncovered cases of staff using police national computers without authorisation.

South Wales Police were the only force which refused to release information.
BBC Wales has referred South Wales Police's refusal to give details of security breaches to the information commissioner's office, which also rules on whether public bodies are implementing the freedom of information law properly.

Gwent Police said its CD had been sent to another organisation but, while the envelope arrived, the disc was missing.
It contained details of victims of theft, burglary and other offences, and was password-protected but not encrypted.

North Wales Police revealed that four members of its staff over a three-year period had accessed the police computer without authorisation.
This led to one employee resigning, the force said.

There were six other incidents of personal details being disclosed, either accidentally or without authorisation which led to warnings being issued to North Wales Police staff members.

South Wales Police would not release any details, arguing it would cost too much money because of the way much of the information was stored.

RBS makes £1.7bn mortgage promise

The Royal Bank of Scotland is promising to pump £1.7bn worth of mortgages into the Scottish housing market over the course of the coming year.
Finance Secretary John Swinney has welcomed the move.

He claims the bank's action will help re-invigorate the property market north of the border.
Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy said the move highlighted the "positive effects" of the government's action so far to bring stability to the banking sector.

The lending package includes £500m released through the Treasury's Asset Protection Scheme, aimed at bringing financial stability to Britain's banks during the global downturn.

RBS said it would continue to offer customers loans of up to 90% to help first-time buyers get on to the property ladder and said it was committed to releasing further funds to help reinvigorate Scotland's housing market if customer demand dictated.

I hope this will help first-time buyers get on to the property ladder and give Scotland's housing market a lift - John SwinneyFinance Secretary

Paul Geddes, chief executive of consumer banking at RBS Group, said: "Our message to customers in Scotland is very clear, we are now more than ever open for mortgage business.
"We hope the latest commitment goes some way to refuelling the Scottish economy and provides borrowers with the financial means to get back on track and realise their plans for the future."

Scottish secretary Mr Murphy said: "When the UK Government moved decisively to underpin our banks it was to save the lifeline services they provide for individuals and businesses and to allow us to keep moving economically.

"Today's news shows we were right to do so and highlights the positive effects which are emerging as a result."

Finance secretary John Swinney said the bank's action would help re-invigorate Scotland's property market in a "challenging global economic climate".

"With interest rates having reached a record low, it is crucial that the banks now lend effectively and appropriately to help householders and businesses across Scotland," he added.
"I hope this will help first-time buyers get on to the property ladder and give Scotland's housing market a lift."

JADE GOODY LEAVES LONDON HOSPITAL

Terminally ill reality TV star Jade Goody has left hospital.
The 27-year-old Big Brother star was carried into an ambulance after leaving the Royal Marsden Hospital in west London with her husband Jack Tweed.

Earlier, her publicist Max Clifford said she was "desperate" to return to her Essex home to see her children.
Goody, diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2008, has been told she has just weeks to live after the disease spread to her liver, groin and bowel.

"They are going back home," said Mr Clifford.

"Obviously, they've decided she's well enough to go. One of the nurses is going with her."
"She wants to spend as much time as possible with the boys and Jack,. "At the moment, that's very difficult."

Top private school to drop GCSEs

A top private boys' school in Manchester is dropping GCSEs because the courses are not challenging enough.

Manchester Grammar School (MGS) will follow the International GCSE (IGCSE) from September, it has revealed.

In 2005 the school axed GSCE maths in favour of the IGCSE equivalent, which is predominately exam based.

The school currently offers the IGCSE in biology, chemistry and physics.

English language, English literature, history, religious studies, modern foreign languages, Latin and music will be available to study at the start of the next academic year

the changes were "cumbersome and time-consuming" and would "restrict the ability of schools like MGS to provide inspirational teaching for the most able pupils".

"It is aimed at international students and therefore does not major on English cultural or historical concepts and achievements.

"It does not include compulsory study of Shakespeare or any other classic author - which are protected in the national curriculum. Nor does the maths IGCSE have a basic non-calculator test."
"Most GCSEs contain coursework and in the new specifications this will be replaced by controlled assessment. IGCSEs contain neither coursework nor controlled assessment.

"Increasingly only children from richer families can take high quality exams.

Repeatedly asked the government to change the rules so that all children can take high quality international exams."

Indian meal starter lasts 50 years

Papads, or poppadoms, are the traditional restaurant starter and go with dips and chutneys. They are a thin wafer of lentil, chickpeas, black gram, salt and oil. Various types of seasonings are added.

The Lijjat trade began when seven Gujarati housewives decided to exploit the only skill they knew - cooking.

The "seven sisters", as they are fondly remembered, started production with the princely sum of 80 rupees (now $1.50), borrowed from a good Samaritan, Chaganlal Karamsi Parekh, a social worker with entrepreneurial brains.

The trade began to expand as a co-operative. In a few years they had branches all over Mumbai and in subsequent years all across India.

Foreign dignitaries visited their factories. The women received one award after another. Exports flourished. They were on a roll - from poppadoms they branched out into soaps, savouries, chutneys and pickles.

Financial independence for these women translates into empowerment.
Most of the 45,000-strong female workforce live in slums or one-room hutments, with communal bathrooms and toilets.

They are still part of what is known as the working class. But working for Lijjat Papads gives them financial security.

They are now capable of taking decisions, sending their children to schools and keeping their men on the straight and narrow.

Mr Jwarijka says it has done their self-esteem the world of good.

Indeed the Lijjat women seem to have proved that success does not necessarily need money and infrastructure, as long as there is determination.

Talking to the Afghan Taleban

US President Barack Obama has been devising a new strategy to tackle the Taleban threat in Afghanistan and has not ruled out some "tactical" negotiations to undermine the insurgency

Before the fall of the Taleban government in 2001, Mullah Zaeef was its ambassador to Pakistan.
After being picked up, he spent three years in US detention. He now lives on the outskirts of Kabul in a building with armed guards, no doubt partly to protect him and partly to keep an eye on him.

The mullah is an advocate of negotiations between the Taleban and the Afghan government and even with the US but only under the right conditions.

Taleban side that the purpose of talks is simply to weaken and divide the movement.
Among the conditions the Taleban want are the lifting of UN sanctions against Taleban leaders and a guarantee of their security.

Negotiations clearly require a partner and Mullah Zaeef, perhaps unsurprisingly, argues that the Taleban are a strong and coherent movement, one that has set up what he calls a "shadow government" providing justice in large parts of the country.

There have been internal reports over whether to negotiate and what position to take, particularly whether all foreign troops would have to leave before they stopped fighting, or whether some kind of commitment or timetable would be enough.

Some who fight are opportunistic, doing it for the money, others are more ideological.
In the south, the Quetta Shura and Mullah Omar predominate and they are said to be focused on the traditional aim of getting rid of foreign troops and imposing Islamic Sharia law.
But in the east, those fighting have closer links to Waziristan in Pakistan and also the foreign fighters linked to al-Qaeda.

There are other groups, like that of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who is currently fighting the US but who some believe might be amenable to a deal.

Afghanistan's neighbours as well as other countries have sought to pursue their own agendas by using different factions and groups within the country to dominate at the exclusion of others.
"Everyone is trying to make it their own. After 30 years none of them won Afghanistan. They destroyed Afghanistan

Western diplomats make clear that the single change that would put most pressure on the Taleban would be the denial of their sanctuaries and safe havens over the border in Pakistan.
A few voices in Washington even say the fight against the Taleban in Afghanistan is a case of "wrong enemy, wrong country".
In other words, the US should really be fighting al-Qaeda in Pakistan.
Cutting deals with the Taleban in Afghanistan may also look slightly awkward when the US has been critical of the deals that Pakistan has struck with the Taleban in its own territory.

So while there is much talk about negotiations, there is little sign they will make substantive progress for some time.

The IRA's history of splits

The attacks against the military and police in Northern Ireland are part of a pattern in Irish history in which dissident groups split away from mainstream Republican organisations to maintain their dream of a united Ireland.

The question always arises as to whether these groups themselves then take over as the main flag-bearers.

Lessons from history

But because they exist does not necessarily mean that breakaways will succeed. The history of Irish republicanism shows that only when the conditions are right can dissident groups take over.

The Irish Republican Army was founded in 1919 in the uprising against British rule in Ireland. It was a very successful guerrilla organisation but, even in victory, it almost immediately faced what has become the traditional republican dilemma: should there be a compromise which falls short of the all-Ireland ambition?

There was a split between those led by Michael Collins who accepted that while British rule in 26 counties of Ireland would end, in the North, where there was a majority in favour of the ties with Britain, it would not. Collins negotiated and signed the Anglo-Irish treaty in 1921, allowing six counties in the North to remain with Britain, as Northern Ireland.

Those opposed launched their own war. One of their leaders declared: "We repudiate the Dail", the Irish parliament, which accepted the compromise agreement. Collins was himself shot dead in an ambush but the dissidents were beaten as the majority of the people favoured the compromise. In this case, the breakaway group did not succeed.

However, the IRA, clinging to its traditional aim, never went away and from time to time resurfaced as one faction more militant than another gained control.

There was an IRA bombing campaign in Britain in 1939 and 1940, when there were, by the British count, 127 "outrages". But amid the crisis of a world war, the campaign achieved little beyond keeping the dream alive.

Ten die in Alabama shooting spree

A gunman has killed at least nine people in a series of shootings across two towns in the southern US state of Alabama before killing himself.

Officials say there were at least four separate shooting incidents.

The gunman fired on homes, a petrol station, shops and vehicles in Samson and Geneva near the Florida border.

Five people - including a child - were killed in one home. Several of the victims are believed to have been members of the gunman's family.

The gunman has not been formally identified, but was named in the local press as Michael McLendon.

The bloodshed began when the suspect is thought to have burned down a house where he lived with his mother in Kinston, near Samson, local coroner Robert Preachers told the Associated Press news agency.

Officials said they had not been able to get inside the house to determine a cause of death and determine whether the woman was the 10th victim of the killing spree.
Shock

The coroner said it was believed the suspect then headed to Samson where he shot and killed five people - four adults and a child - in one home.

"He started in his mother's house. Then he went to Samson and he killed his granny and granddaddy and aunt and uncle. He cleaned his family out," Mr Preachers said.

Police are investigating shootings in four different locationsThe gunman then killed one person each in two other homes, before killing someone at a Samson supply store, and another person at a service station.

A police officer told Reuters news agency that two of the dead were the wife and child of a deputy sheriff.

"He just cruised his automobile through Samson and was spraying the people with semi-automatic weapons [fire] at random," the Reverend Mike Shirah, of Geneva's Maple Baptist Church, told the BBC.

Samson Mayor Clay King said the town had opened a crisis centre at a local church.
"I've lived here 44 years and never, never dreamed of this happening," Mr King told AP.
From Samson, the gunman drove 19km (12 miles) east to Geneva. At one point, officers rammed his car and gunfire was exchanged.


Geneva police chief Frankie Lindsay says he was saved by his bullet-proof vest when the man shot at his patrol with an automatic weapon.

"About 11 rounds hit my vehicle," he told the BBC. "Some of the shrapnel from the bullets did enter my shoulder."

The suspect fired a total of 30 rounds during the exchange with police, officials say.
The gunman then went inside a metal products plant where he is believed to have once worked, and shot himself.

There is no indication yet of a motive for the killings. The FBI has sent an agent to assist the local sheriff's office.

Samson has a population of about 2,000 people. Geneva's population is about about 4,400.
The towns are in a quiet rural area, our correspondent adds, and the local community are shocked that this incident has happened in such a place.

US-China talks as sea row rumbles

The US ship had behaved "like a spy" and China's action was "totally within our rights", state media quoted senior naval officials as saying.

The US said on Monday that five Chinese vessels had manoeuvred dangerously close to its surveillance ship.

The row comes ahead of talks between the US and Chinese foreign ministers.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi in Washington later on Wednesday for talks aimed at preparing the way for a meeting between the two countries' presidents at the G20 meeting next month.

Correspondents say Mrs Clinton and Mr Yang will try to tone down the dispute and build on the goodwill from Mrs Clinton's recent visit to Beijing.

But there are also tensions over Tibet, in the wake of Tuesday's 50th anniversary of the uprising in Lhasa that forced the Dalai Lama into exile.

A Chinese spokesman urged the US "to stop using the Tibet issue to interfere in China's internal affairs", AFP reported, after the White House said it was "deeply concerned" about human rights in Tibet.

'Violated'

The row erupted after the naval confrontation on Sunday.

The US said five Chinese ships harassed an unarmed US navy surveillance vessel, the USNS Impeccable, while it was on routine operations in international waters 75 miles (120km) south of Hainan island.

But China rejected the US complaint as "totally inaccurate" and accused it of breaking international law by operating in its Exclusive Economic Zone.

"What was the ship doing? Anyone with eyes can see and our navy can see even more clearly," the China Daily quoted Vice Admiral Jin Mao, former vice-commander of the navy, as saying.
"It's like a man with a criminal record wandering just outside the gate of a family home. When the host comes out to find out what he is doing there, the man complains that the host had violated his rights."

The newspaper also quoted Rear-Admiral Zhang Deshun, the navy's deputy chief-of-staff, calling the US vessel a spy ship.

China views most of the South China Sea as its territory - but the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also lay claim to islands there.

Under international law, Chinese territorial waters extend 12 nautical miles (22km) off its coast and its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) extends 200 nautical miles.

The boundaries of China's EEZ remain disputed, while Beijing and Washington differ on which activities are permitted by law within a nation's EEZ.

China says that any intelligence data gathering by foreign governments within its EEZ is illegal - but the US does not agree with this.

The Impeccable is used to map the ocean floor with sonar. The information is used by the US navy to steer its own submarines or track those of other nations.

Will the gun attack in Northern Ireland derail peace?

"...there can never be peace in Ireland until the foreign, oppressive British presence is removed, leaving all the Irish people as a unit to control their own affairs and determine their own destinies as a sovereign people, free in mind and body, separate and distinct physically, culturally and economically."

The IRA said they disbanded this is living proof that the IRA will never disband. They are the people destroying the two countrys community's. They will never get an all ireland resorting to violence

Like all political extremists they pose for a cause when in fact they are in it for themselves. Where you have deprived people in your population, they will always have followers to their cause. Take the suicide bombers, do you ever see one of their leaders strapping a bomb to themselves? No, they brainwash simple or deprived people with promises of a better future or a wonderful hereafter. Whilst the majority of us have an active brain, they will never win or go to heaven for their misdeeds.
We are discussing whether a few racist, homicidal maniacs with guns and bombs should decide the future of Ireland and the UK, or whether elected representatives from every part of the community should sit down and decide between them a fair compromise.Will the shootings derail the peace process? Of course not!

1921 Treaty was foisted upon Michael Collins. Lloyd George the PM told Collins that if the Treaty was not signed that there would be a full-scale invasion and military occupation of Ireland so it can't be said that the Treaty was not signed under duress. There was to a Boundary Commission to settle the borders of the new NI entity but it never materialised. Also, to correct some posters, the Good Friday Agreement guaranteed anyone born in NI a right to be Irish or British or both.

"Britain merely liked the look of the North, populated it with their own people, spent centuries gerrymandering to keep it "local", and denied some citizens the vote till the 50s.Not the same really is it ?
Actually those planted in NI were Scots who were returning to their ancestral lands (Ireland) but having become protestant in the meantime. They have now been there 400 years, as long as the Vikings were in Ireland and far longer than those who colonised the USA.

US Congress eases curbs on Cuba

The US Congress has voted to lift restrictions on relations with Cuba imposed by the Bush administration.

Cuban-Americans will be allowed to travel to the island once a year and send more money to relatives there.

Curbs on sending medicines and food have also been eased. The measures were part of a $410bn bill to fund US government operations.

The legislation was approved by the Senate after clearing the House of Representatives last month.

The bill was supported by two Cuban-American senators who had initially opposed it.
They changed their votes after receiving assurances from the Obama administration that the changes did not amount to a major reversal of the 47-year-old US trade embargo on Cuba.

Lifeline

The legislation overturns rules imposed by the Bush administration which limited travel to just two weeks every three years, and confined visits to immediate family members.

President Obama - who needs to sign the bill - has said he supports it.

He has also indicated that he would be open to dialogue with Cuba's leaders.

But he has said that like previous American presidents, he will only consider a full lifting of the embargo once Cuba's communist government makes significant moves such as the holding of democratic elections.

Cuba's President Raul Castro has said he is prepared to negotiate with the new US administration, providing there are no preconditions.

The BBC's Michael Voss in Havana says remittances from Cuban-Americans will provide an important lifeline in a country where the average salary is about $20 a month.

Hariprasad Chaurasia enthrals audience

Swara Raga Laya-A Confluence of Indian Music, held at the Indian Embassy lawns recently, provided a wonderful treat to the classical music lovers of Muscat. The programme was held under the auspices of Anil Wadhwa, Indian ambassador to the Sultanate.
The audience had a mesmerising evening with Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and Dr N Ramani, masters of the bansuri and flute They were ably accompanied on the mridangam by Bombay Balaji and on the tabla by Subhankar Banerjee.
The edifice of Indian music is swara and laya. It can be said that a musician who has complete mastery of these two aspects, is called a Maha Vidwan. Raga, quintessentially captures the essence of both swara and laya and combined with the imagination of the artists, elevates the audience to a different level altogether. Swara Raga Laya was based on this theme.
Pandit Hariprasad gave the concert a superlative start with Raga Jog followed by a Bengali folk song. It could be said that the whole audience were completely engrossed and dipped in the essence of Raga Jog, and the song which followed.
Debopriya Ranadive, a disciple of Pandit Hariprasad, provided able support on the bansuri and was extremely melodious. Subhankar Banerjee, being a regular with Pandit Hariprasad, was giving the necessary fillip to the entire song and, thereby, raising the music played to a heavenly level. It was then the turn of Dr N. Ramani to start his solo performance accompanied by Bombay Balaji on the mridangam.
He aptly started the concert with endaro mahanubavulu, one of the pancharatna of Saint Tyagaraja. The percussion accompaniment for this song was exemplary with absolutely no hindrance to the imagination of Dr N. Ramani.
Thereafter, ninnuvina in navarasa kanada gave an idea of how well both Ramani and Balaji could handle speed with clarity and bhava. Nagumomu was the piece de resistance, which completely took the audience along to an elevated level.
The thani avartanam, which followed, was crisp and extremely calculative. The intricacies of laya came to the fore and it was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience. The concluding song was in Raga Desh. After the individual performances and just before Ramani could get back to the jugalbandi, Pandit Hariprasad played a festival song to coincide with the forthcoming Holi festival. This brought the audience into the mood of playing Holi.
It was then the turn of all four to get together for the jugalbandi. Raga Bhoopali (Hindustani) and Mohanam (Carnatic) was selected for elaboration.
The Pallavi that followed was set to adi taal (Carnatic) and teen taal (Hindustani). The percussion duet between Bombay Balaji and Subhankar Banerjee gave a fitting finale to the concert.

INDIA TOPS IN HIRING PLAN

India tops a list of nations likely to keep a steady pace of hiring in the April-June quarter of 2009 with one in every four Indian companies surveyed saying it plans to recruit.

South Africa came second in the 33-country study that featured 3,600 Indian companies and 72,000 employers worldwide, according to HR consulting firm Manpower.

The survey’s benchmark net employment outlook (NEO) for India improved from 19% in the previous quarter to 25% in April-June, said the firm’s India MD Naresh Malhan. NEO is arrived at subtracting the percentage of employers expecting to see a decrease in employment at their location in the next quarter from those anticipating total employment to increase.

India had registered a NEO of 42% for Q2 2008, which has now dipped to 25%, indicating the impact of the global slowdown. The relatively slow pace of hiring in the second quarter can be attributed to the employers’ focus on maintaining their workforce at current levels. Also, hiring intentions across all industry sectors have softened, as organisations review their requirements at the beginning of the fiscal year,” Mr Malhan said.


Employers in all the seven industry sectors surveyed said they expected the headcount to grow in the next quarter. The services sector was the most optimistic with a strong net outlook of 29%. Sectors such as transportation & utilities, (23%) manufacturing (22%), public administration & education (22%), insurance, finance and real estate (21%) are all likely to see robust hiring in the next quarter.

Also, employers in all four regions across the country predict a strong labour market for April-June, 2009. “The most optimistic forecast is from the eastern region, where the net employment outlook stands at 27%, followed by south, west and north at 24%, 23% and 22%, respectively,” the survey said. South Africa had a NEO of 14% while China registered 4%, and the US just 1%.

First edition Harry Potter book sells for $19,120

A Dallas auction house says a soft-cover copy of the first Harry Potter book sold for just over USD 19,000.

The winning bidder was a vintage comic book collector from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. His wife is a fan of the Harry Potter series. "Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone," was one of only 200 copies from the first printing issued with illustrated wrappers by London publisher Bloomsbury.

The 1997 book includes an illustrated card signed by author JK Rowling. The book was published in the US as "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.' The winning bid of USD 19,120 was nearly double the previous record for a soft-cover Harry Potter book, Heritage Auction Galleries said.

Pakistan not alone, India also unsafe to tour: Crowe

Former New Zealand player Martin Crowe on Monday said India has joined Pakistan as an unsafe country to tour due to terror strikes on its major cities like Mumbai and Delhi last year.

"The time has come for the cricketing world to accept that touring Pakistan is an absolute no go zone ever again. While sad for their talented top cricketers, Pakistan is completely unsafe and contemplation of playing there again has got to stop. But they are not alone.

"In May last year, just 24 hours before I flew with the IPL Royal Challengers to Jaipur for a nothing Twenty20 match, eight bombs went off three-minutes apart killing over 100 civilians and tourists as it ripped through the crowded Pink Palace," Crowe wrote in a local daily.

"We were forced to play the match a day later in front of an empty stadium and 3000 soldiers. It was a joke to be told to play and an affront to the families of those killed," he said. "That's why you can't just isolate Pakistan. Lives have been taken on a regular basis from terror attacks in India over the last year in major cities like Mumbai in November the worst Bangalore in July and Delhi in September.

These were significant and show it's happening almost monthly," Crowe said. "Having toured all around India with the IPL, the worst and scariest aspect is that when you leave your hotel you have no further control on anything.

Once you start travelling by road you are at the mercy of every little tuk tuk, every intersection and every traffic jam," Crowe added. The former Kiwi captain admitted that terror attacks were possible anywhere in the world but said probability was much higher in the sub-continent.

"Maybe, though, someone, even the most famous of all, Sachin Tendulkar, might get severely hurt or disabled from a flying piece of shrapnel or glass. "Yes, it could happen in London, or Paris, or Madrid, as it did in the most alarming manner of all in New York.

But the reality is that the odds and the feeling of those odds shortening are against you in the sub-continent," he said. Crowe vowed never to return to Pakistan in the wake of the terror attack on Sri Lankan players in Lahore, saying he could no longer trust "anyone" in the strife-torn country.

"Bottom line is that never again will anyone trust anyone or anything in that environment. There is no longer a thing called a "guarantee". That's now hogwash," he said.

IPL security to be centrally managed, budget up 10 times: Modi

Asserting that security of the players was paramount, IPL commissioner Lalit Modi on Tuesday said the cover around the participating cricketers at the Twenty20 event would be centrally-managed and the budget for it 10 times more than last year.




"Security is paramount for us. Players, officials and fans are all very important. Players' security was the responsibility of the teams last year but this time we have gone venue by venue managing the security centrally.
Of course we will coordinate with the teams," Modi said at a function to unveil the new logo for IPL second season that starts April 10. Ahmedabad and Visakhapatnam are the two new venues added to the IPL season II and Modi said talks were also on to get Nagpur and Dharmshala on the roster but he didn't give out the much-awaited schedule, saying it was still being fine-tuned.

"We are talking to Dharmshala and Nagpur is also in fray. Schedule is still being fine-tunes as I speak," he said. Explaining the security plan, Modi revealed the IPL will not leave to the teams this year and take control of the arrangements centrally.

"From the minute a (foreign) player lands here to the minute he leaves India. From the minute an Indian players enters the hotel to the minute he leaves, we will be managing the security. It's a cumbersome template that was used during the India-England Test series last year.

"That was a rigorous plan put in place, shared with the government and the international board, in that case the England and Wales Cricket Board," he added. "Security (budget) will be 10 times more than last year," he said without divulging the exact figure.

On the reported apprehensions of the foreign players and the host state governments, Modi said, "Three state governments (of the eight involved) have already given us their clearance in writing. The other five are expected to give it in a day or so.

One state government had asked for a change of date and we are working it out." "No foreign player has so far contacted the IPL to say that he is apprehensive. They have never been uncomfortable about coming here.

India is not Pakistan, we are a safe country," he said. Modi also rejected the Federation of International Cricketers Association's demands for a say in the security arrangements for IPL. "The IPL is conducted by BCCI and the BCCI talks directly to the Boards.

We have never been in touch with FICA. But of course they will talk to the other Boards and coordinate with them," he said. Modi added that the tickets sales will start next week and IPL matches will be shown in multiplexes too.

Dalai Lama blasts 'brutal crackdown' in Tibet

China has launched a “brutal crackdown'' in Tibet since protests shook the Himalayan region last year, the Dalai Lama said on Tuesday in a speech to mark the 50th anniversary of the failed uprising that sent him into exile.

Tibetan culture and identity are “nearing extinction,'' he said in this Indian hill town, where the Tibetan spiritual leader and the self-proclaimed government-in-exile have been based since shortly after fleeing their homeland.

“The Tibetan people are regarded like criminals, deserving to be put to death.'' “These 50 years have brought untold suffering and destruction to the land and people of Tibet,'' he told about 2,000 people, including Buddhist monks, Tibetan schoolchildren and a handful of foreign supporters.

The group gathered in a courtyard that separates the Dalai Lama's home from the town's main temple, and monks blowing enormous conch shells and long brass horns heralded his arrival. “Even today, Tibetans in Tibet live in constant fear and the Chinese authorities remain constantly suspicious of them,'' the Dalai Lama said.

While his comments were unusually strong for a man known for his deeply pacifist beliefs, he also urged that any change come peacefully and reiterated his support for the “Middle Way,'' which calls for significant Tibetan autonomy under Chinese rule. “I have no doubt that the justice of Tibetan cause will prevail if we continue to tread a path of truth and non-violence,'' he said.

While Beijing claims Tibet has been part of Chinese territory for centuries, Tibet was a deeply isolated theocracy until 1951, when Chinese troops invaded Lhasa, the regional capital. Tuesday's anniversary marked March 10, 1959 riots inside Tibet against Chinese rule which lead to a crackdown and,

later that month, the Dalai Lama's dramatic flight across the Himalayas and into exile. Last year, a peaceful commemoration of the 1959 uprising by monks in Lhasa erupted into anti-Chinese rioting four days later and spread to surrounding provinces, the most sustained and violent demonstrations by Tibetans in decades. This year, China has largely sealed off Tibet to the outside world.

Recent visitors to Lhasa have described armed police posted on rooftops. Local governments in Tibetan areas have ordered foreign tourists out, and foreign journalists have been detained and told to leave. Internet and text-messaging services, which helped spread word of last year's protests, have been unplugged in parts of the region.

Following the protests, China has stepped up its campaign to vilify the Dalai Lama, accusing him of leading a campaign to split the region from the rest of the country. The Dalai Lama insists, though, that he does not want Tibetan independence, saying he is only seeking greater autonomy for the region to protect its unique Buddhist culture.

INTERSHIP STIPENDS FALL

Internship, the first foray into the professional world for thousands of students, has taken a hard knock as the clouds of economic slowdown hang heavy.

The number of companies visiting campuses has dwindled sharply. Those dropping by are accepting fewer interns. Students, placement cells in B-schools as well as career counsellors say that the size of stipends has shrunk and pre-placement offers (PPOs) are hard to come by.

The going is rough even for students in top institutes. Says Shreya Sharma, a fourth year student at National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, “Usually every one gets placed by December. But this year a lot of projects were put on hold and many diploma students are yet toKanika Pachauri, in her final year at New Delhi’s National Institute of Fashion Technology, says the internship process usually begins in mid-November but this year kept getting postponed.“Companies we had approached earlier backed out last moment,” she says.

While each NIFT intern is paid Rs 10,000, they are getting about half of that.She finally got placed but explains how the game has changed. “While getting placed with the company they interned for was the norm, some interns have been categorically told that they will not be placed. My company hasn’t said anything. I’m keeping my fingers crossed,” she says.Business school officials too admit that the internship process has become more difficult. Chairman Anil Somani of Fostiima Business School says that the number of companies hiring has gone down by 60-70%. be placed.” She adds that while NID averages 50-60 companies at a placement do each year, this year only a fraction of that figure came to campus.

Till last year, at least 50% of the students got PPOs, this year, only 25% did. “Corporates are either delaying the joining date, reducing the package or going back on their commitment. The highest amount an intern got as stipend last year was Rs 30,000 per month but the highest this year is Rs 18,000,” says Somani.

Career counsellor Jayanti Ghose points out that stipends were never the ‘focus’ for interns. “For a long time the stipend was supposed to cover the cost of transportation and incidental expenses. In the last few years, when businesses were doing well, the stipends had become a focus for many students. Just as salaries have become more conservative and realistic with the slowdown, stipends have been affected likewise.”

And PPOs, she says, were rare in any case. In the final analysis, what counts is the experience. “There isn’t a very drastic impact on placement prospects in this aspect in the current scenario,” she says

Placement coordinator for IIT, Delhi, Kushal Sen agrees. “In any case, only about 20% of the students earn stipends and placement is preferred over a PPO as with a placement, the student can join any industry he likes whereas he has to intern with the industry he’s specifically training for,” he says.

Having interns in a company has its advantages. Sen and C S Venkataratnam of International Management Institute, point out, interns are very low cost to company.“All the company needs to do is assign some work to the students, put them on some project. And this is also the best way for the company to network,” says Sen.

Venkataratnam is confident that, despite the difficulties, his students will be placed by March.“It depends on the attitude of the company,” he observes, “Some companies are taking interns as they’re cheap labour. Also, because they are fresh, they can come up with creative solutions to complex problems.”

NIFTY SLIPS DOWN

Indian equities were subdued on Monday as global markets declined on concerns of recessionary pressure on economy.

All the sectoral indices were in the red with IT and oil & gas space worst hit. Market is likely to remain volatile in a narrow range as traders are expected to stay away from taking fresh positions ahead of a truncated week.

"Dow closed in the positive but all other Asian markets are negative. IIP data is slated for release on March 12, 2009, and market expects it to come in at -1.5%. We, however, believe that the number will not disappoint the market.

We continue to believe that 2009 will be the year of consolidation and any sharp decline in markets must be used as an opportunity to invest aggressively. For the day, we expect the market to open down and continue its selling pressure," said Religare Report.

At 10:30 am, National Stock Exchange's Nifty was at 2588.85, down 31.30 points or 1.19 per cent. The index touched an intra-day low of 2583.60 and high of 2621.25. Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex was at 8224.56, down 101.26 points or 1.22 per cent. The broader index hit a low of 8213.90 and high of 8259.22 in early trade.

"Trend deciding level for the day is 8,240 / 2,596. Nifty trades above this level during the first half-an-hour of trade then we may witness a further rally up to 8,433 / 2,652. However, if Nifty trades below 8,240 / 2,596 for the first half-an-hour of trade then it may correct up to 8,133 - 7,940 / 2,564 - 2,507," said Angel Broking note.

BSE Midcap Index slipped 0.64 per cent and BSE Smallcap declined 0.45 per cent. Amongst the sectoral indices BSE IT Index was down 1.99 per cent, BSE Oil&gas Index was down 1.72 per cent and BSE FMCG Index declined 1.45 per cent. BPCL (-3.11%), Hindustan Unilever (-3.08%), TCS (-2.45%), Reliance Capital (-2.36%), Punjab National Bank (-2.28%) were the top Nifty losers.

HDFC (2.27%), Cairn India (2.05%), Ranbaxy Laboratories (1.59%), HDFC Bank (1.53%) and Hero Honda (0.19%) were amongst the gainers.

Shares of Sterlite

Industries declined despite the company's plans to buy US based Asarco for $1.7 billion. The scrip was down 2.62 per cent. Satyam Computers surged over 14 per cent on reports that the company had commenced a competitive bidding process for selection of an investor to acquire 51 per cent equity interest in the company.

Meanwhile, US stocks ended on a flat note on Friday, with the Dow and S&P rebounding late in the day to end higher as surging oil prices lifted energy stocks and offset a sell-off in technology shares on bets that the slowing economy will sap consumer spending on gadgets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 32.50 points, or 0.49 per cent, to 6,626.94.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index inched up 0.12 percent, to 683.38. But the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 5.74 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 1,293.85. Asian markets declined led by banks on capital concerns. Nikkei fell 1.03 per cent, Hang Seng lost 1.76 per cent and Straits Times lost 1.96 per cent. Kospi was up 0.35 per cent.

BILL CASEY ...WHERE HAVE U GONE???

As an unprecedented, colossal “stimulus” package was passed by the new president and Congress, something rather extraordinary slid beneath the public eye: Leon Panetta was confirmed as our next director of central intelligence—i.e., as head of the CIA.

Personally, I had a unique inside angle on this political theater. Here at Grove City College a few weeks ago we hosted Herb Meyer, who in the 1980s had been the right-hand man to President Reagan’s CIA director, Bill Casey. Meyer was one of those behind-the-scenes, unsung heroes of the Cold War, who worked with Casey to take down the Soviet empire through numerous means ranging from economic warfare to aiding anti-communist forces from Krakow to Kabul. He was the subject of our third annual Ronald Reagan Lecture.

As I arrived at Meyer’s room to pick him up, I was greeted by a genial, pleasant man who was worked up over what he was watching on television. Meyer was enduring C-SPAN’s coverage of Panetta’s confirmation hearings for CIA director. Something really insidious was on display at those hearings: a curious consensus that if American intelligence—heaven help us—knew there was a ticking bomb in a major city, and had in possession the terrorist who knew the bomb’s location, that it would be wrong to “torture” the suspect to disclose the location.

This is where the unceasing hatred of George W. Bush has finally brought us: bloody irrationality. In truth, everyone in that Senate room knew it would be imperative to use whatever time-tested techniques to prevent, say, two million innocents from morphing into a mushroom cloud over Manhattan. Of course, if such a scenario ever develops, every senator in that room—plus the New York Times editorial board—would urge Panetta to begin water-boarding the suspect immediately.

Yet, at this point in the sad state of the republic, none of the gentlemen could dare make such an untoward claim. “Can you believe this?” Meyer shouted at me and the TV as we observed this political spectacle.

No, I could not. Or maybe I could.

That’s just one illustration of the new man in charge and the new mindset at the CIA.

But the crisis is even more acute. One of Herb Meyer’s most crucial reminders is the thing that made Bill Casey’s CIA different, and what made Ronald Reagan’s presidency different: it was the objective to win, to win the war, the Cold War—and to think creatively, outside-the-box, to make that happen. As Meyer emphasizes, Casey was a maverick, and a maverick was needed to win the Cold War, just as one is needed now to win the War on Terror. To win today will require the right CIA director (like a Casey), the right president (like a Ronald Reagan), the right head of the National Security Council (Bill Clark), the right secretary of defense (Cap Weinberger), plus an Ed Meese, a Jean Kirkpatrick, and the unappreciated folks in the shadows, individuals like Roger Robinson (at the NSC) and Herb Meyer at the CIA.

“Reagan didn’t play to lose,” says Meyer. “He played to win. And that’s what made him different from every other president.” Meyer puts it this way:

Ronald Reagan was the first Western leader whose objective was to win. Now I suggest to you that there is a gigantic difference between playing not to lose and playing to win. It’s different emotionally, it’s different psychologically, and, of course, it’s different practically…. It was Reagan’s judgment that the time had come to play offense—that they [the Soviets] could be had. When he made that decision … it flowed from a decision to play to win.

And Reagan needed Bill Casey at the CIA to achieve this. As Casey’s special assistant, and as vice chair of the National Intelligence Council, Meyer observed the full scope and brunt of the Reagan strategy. That strategy, said Meyer, citing the tandem of Reagan and Casey, was “very dangerous … very gutsy…. And there were a lot of people who said, ‘Oh dear, you’re right, the bear is wounded. Don’t poke sticks at a wounded bear.’ But the Reagan-Casey approach was: ‘Hey, my enemy is on his knees. It’s a good time to break his head.’

”They broke the head of the bear through a multi-pronged approach, carefully and successfully calculated to avoid armed conflict and nuclear war—to win peacefully. As Meyer described it, they launched a systematic campaign to identify Soviet economic weaknesses. “What we realized is that the CIA had been monitoring Soviet strengths,” said Meyer. “It was not looking at Soviet weaknesses.” With Reagan’s backing and urging, Casey and crew searched for vulnerabilities that they could exploit to accelerate a Soviet collapse.

That is not where we stand today in the War on Terror. We need people who are not concerned with being politically correct, who will take risks, who will think outside the box, who, first and foremost, will play to win. “We win and they lose,” as Ronald Reagan had put it in January 1977, four years before he was inaugurated president.

Bill Casey did not care what the press thought about him, nor the encomiums of the kind of senators who postured before the C-SPAN cameras to demonstrate their humanity before Leon Panetta. Casey did what he did for the right reasons, to change history for the better, and not for himself or his career. It was mix of bravado and creativity, of breaking the mold. It was exactly the opposite of what we have just sworn in.

FRONTPAGEMAGAZINE.COM

WALLAC'S DAUGHTER MARKS SELMA ANNIVERSARY

The nation's first black attorney general and Gov. George C. Wallace's daughter celebrated the Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march Sunday — 44 years after state troopers from her father's administration beat marchers as they started the landmark journey.
Peggy Wallace Kennedy introduced Attorney General Eric Holder at a historic Selma church filled to overflowing.

"It's reconciliation and redemption," Wallace's daughter said.

Selma's annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee, commemorating the 1965 voting rights march, brought together civil rights leaders Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Joseph Lowery in addition to the attorney general and several members of Congress, including Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., who was beaten in the original Selma march. More than a thousand people took part in recreating the march Sunday.

Holder and Kennedy embraced at Brown Chapel AME Church, where marchers organized on March 7, 1965, to begin their 50-mile trek to Montgomery.

SOME COMMENTS :

Wallace was a Democrat, but the southern Democrat of the time was vastly different from the national party. Blacks after the Civil War became Republicans for what should be obvious reasons..

"We must commit ourselves to continuing to defend the Voting Rights Act, which is under attack," Holder said.

I am sure addressing this group in the South was done only as a reminded of the terrible injustice that was done to Blacks on a particular Sunday ( Bloody Sunday ) to keep us from vothing. This is what promoted the passage of the Voting Right Act

Stock market recovery likely will be years in the making

Investors who are still card-carrying members of the buy-and-hold club are no doubt wondering how long it will take stocks — once they stop falling — to regain their hefty losses.
The answer: probably longer than the 18 months it took for the Standard & Poor's 500 index to plunge 56.3%.

If there is a silver lining to the pain being inflicted by the current bear market, it is the knowledge that the stock market fully recovered from its worst fall ever: an 89% drop during the Great Depression. Of course, it took 25 years for the market to climb back to its prior peak.

Will today's investors have to wait that long? Using Friday's close of 683 on the S&P 500, it would take the market benchmark eight years to climb back to its October 2007 peak of 1565, assuming annual returns of 10%, the long-term average, Bespoke Investment Group says.

And for investors who are thinking of bailing out of stocks for good, it would take 28 years to get even if they flee to long-term Treasury notes at the current annual yield of 2.88%.

Wealth advisers say it's counterproductive to get too caught up in get-back-to-even scenarios. They say investors' time would be better spent revisiting their financial plan and reassessing the type of lifestyle they will be able to craft going forward.

"It is important for investors to understand the magnitude of the damage and to be realistic in terms of the time frame for recovery," says Tony Ogorek, an investment adviser at Ogorek Wealth Management.

"It is more comforting to have a plan," adds Ogorek, who believes this market period will be viewed in hindsight as a temporary, yet big, setback.

The average trough-to-peak recovery period after bear markets is 3.3 years, InvesTech Research says.

The big question is if it makes sense for squeamish investors to bail out now — with stocks down almost 60%.

There are two answers, says Kurt Brouwer of wealth management firm Brouwer & Janachowski: "One is emotional; one is objective."

Objectively, he says, there has been only one time in history where selling out after such a steep decline would have been the right trade: in 1930-31 before the final flush in 1932 that knocked stocks down almost 90%.

"Unless you believe that we are in the Great Depression II, this is probably a buying opportunity," Brouwer says.

The emotional answer is that if people can't take the pain and want to sell, they should do so, he says. But with the understanding that "one of these days the market will turn around, and they will probably miss a lot of the rally."

EXPERT SAYS : Illegal immigrants might get stimulus jobs,

Tens of thousands of jobs created by the economic stimulus law could end up filled by illegal immigrants, particularly in big states such as California where undocumented workers are heavily represented in construction, experts on both sides of the issue say.

Studies by two conservative think tanks estimate immigrants in the United States illegally could take 300,000 construction jobs, or 15% of the 2 million jobs that new taxpayer-financed projects are predicted to create.

They fault Congress for failing to require that employers certify legal immigration status of workers before hiring by using a Department of Homeland Security program called E-Verify. The program allows employers to check the validity of Social Security numbers provided by new hires. It is available to employers on a voluntary basis.

"They could have deterred this, but they chose not to," said Steven Camarota, director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies.

He said a federal requirement that employers use E-Verify would have reduced, if not eliminated, the hiring of immigrants in this country illegally.

An advocacy group for immigrants, illegal and legal, did not disagree with the 300,000 estimate. Camarota says the estimate is based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey and other independent findings that 15% of all construction workers in the USA are either illegal immigrants or lack the status of legal immigrant authorized to work.

But Jorge-Mario Cabrera, director of education for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, said it is impossible to predict with certainty because it is unknown how many jobless immigrant construction workers may leave the U.S., frustrated by the economic recession, before the new spending produces jobs.

He questioned the Center for Immigration Studies' motives.
"Those are fear tactics. … 'The immigrants are here to take your job,' " Cabrera said. "I think that we really should be focusing on economic progress for all."

The center is a Washington policy organization that, its website says, "seeks fewer immigrants but a warmer welcome for those admitted." Cabrera says his group believes unauthorized immigrants working in this country contribute to the economy.

A similar hiring estimate was produced in a report in February by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Senior research fellow Robert Rector wrote, "Without specific mechanisms to ensure that workers are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants authorized to work, it is likely that 15% of these workers, or 300,000, would be illegal immigrants."

The version of the stimulus bill passed by the House of Representatives included a provision requiring employers to check immigration status with the E-Verify system before hiring. The Senate did not include such a provision, and it was not in the version sent to President Obama.

The Obama administration has delayed until at least May 21 a Bush administration executive order requiring federal contractors to use the E-Verify system in hiring. It had been scheduled to take effect in January. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed suit seeking to block the requirement, joined by the Associated Builders and Contractors and other business organizations.

The business groups and immigrant advocacy groups argue that the E-Verify database is riddled with errors that could result in millions of workers being wrongly identified as not authorized for work. They say requiring its use before hiring would impose a cost burden on employers and open them to lawsuits.

Camarota said illegal immigrants working in construction are concentrated in California, Arizona and Texas along the border with Mexico, as well as Florida, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina and Georgia.