India and China withdraw troops from Himalayan face off

By Fayaz Bukhari and Satarupa Bhattacharjya

SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI, Indian (Reuters) - India and China simultaneously withdrew troops from camps a few meters apart in a Himalayan desert on Sunday, apparently ending a three-week standoff on a freezing plateau where the border is disputed and the Asian giants fought a war 50 years ago.

The two sides stood down after reaching an agreement during a meeting between border commanders, an Indian army official told Reuters, after the tension threatened to overshadow a planned visit by India's foreign minister to Beijing on Thursday.

But it was not immediately clear how far China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers had withdrawn - Delhi had claimed they were 19 km (12 miles) beyond the point it understands to be the border with China, a vaguely defined de facto line called the Line of Actual Control, which neither side agrees on.

Defence and foreign ministry spokesmen did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

"Our troops have moved one kilometer backwards from the position they were on since April 16," said the officer, from the Indian army's Northern Command, which oversees the disputed region on the fringes of India's Jammu and Kashmir state.

"Chinese troops have also moved away from their position they were holding on since April 15 when they intruded in Indian territory. It is not clear yet how (far) the PLA moved back."

India considered it the worst border incursion for years.

New Delhi often appears insecure about relations with its powerful neighbor, despite slowly warming relations between Asia's largest countries. China is India's top trade partner, but the unresolved border sours the friendship.

India's opposition and much of the media has been critical of the government's handling of the standoff, drawing parallels with a 1962 war which ended in its humiliating defeat. On Friday, parliament was adjourned after members shouted "Get China out, save the country".

"YOU ARE IN CHINESE TERRITORY"

India says Chinese troops intruded into its territory on the western rim of the Himalayas on April 15. Some officials and experts believe the incursion signaled Chinese concern about increased Indian military activity in the area.

A group of about 30 Chinese soldiers, backed by helicopters, had pitched several tents near a 16th century Silk Road campsite called Daulat Beg Oldi, close to an air strip New Delhi uses to support troops on the Siachen glacier.

Each day since, Indian and Chinese soldiers and border guards left their camps and stood about 100 meters (330 feet) apart on the Depsang Plain, a 5,000 meter (16,400 feet) high desert ringed by jagged peaks of the Karakoram range.

Winter temperatures can drop to minus 30 degrees centigrade, and the area is lashed by icy strong winds all year round.

A photograph released by a source in the Indian army showed a group of six Chinese soldiers on a rock-strewn landscape holding a bright orange banner that read, in English and Mandarin, "This is the Line of Actual Control, You are in Chinese territory".

Delhi reopened the Daulat Beg Oldi airstrip in 2008. Two other runways, out of use since the war, have been opened and Daulat Beg Oldi has been upgraded since.

Siachen, at the north of the disputed region of Kashmir, is claimed by both India and Pakistan and has the dubious distinction of being the world's highest battlefield.

Tensions are likely to persist given India and China's increased presence in an area that for centuries was largely unclaimed and criss-crossed with caravan routes. Now the land abuts the Karakoram Highway joining Pakistan to China, which Beijing hopes to develop further as trade route linking it to the Arabian Sea port of Gwadar.

Speaking before Sunday's resolution, Srikanth Kondapalli, an Indian analyst who specialises in China studies, said the dispute lay close to large hydroelectric projects and an ambitious plan to expand the Karakoram highway.

He said the lack of agreement about where the border lies, combined with increased military and infrastructure activity meant more flashpoints were likely.

"It is a no-man's land," said Kondapalli, who considers the current standoff to be more serious than the usual cross-border incidents. "Even if the (present) issue is resolved, this will only flare up."

(Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Jon Hemming)

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Collapsed building owner arrested on India border

SAVAR, Bangladesh (AP) — The owner of an illegally-constructed building that collapsed last week in a deadly heap in a Dhaka suburb was arrested at a border crossing with India on Sunday in a dramatic operation by members of an elite commando force, a government minister said.

A fleeing Mohammed Sohel Rana was arrested near the land-crossing in Benapole in western Bangladesh, just as he was about to cross into India's West Bengal state, said Jahangir Kabir Nanak, junior minister for local government. He said Rana is being brought back by helicopter to the capital Dhaka where he faces charges of negligence.

The arrest by the Rapid Action Battalion was announced on a loudspeaker at the site of the collapsed building in a Dhaka suburb, where people greeted it with cheers and claps. At least 362 people are confirmed to have died in the collapse of the 8-story building on Wednesday. Three of its floors were built illegally.

The death toll is expected to rise but it is already the deadliest tragedy to hit Bangladesh's garment industry, which is worth $20 billion annually and a mainstay of the economy. The collapse and previous disasters in garment factories have focused attention on the poor working conditions of workers who toil for as little as $38 a month to produce clothing for top international brands.

Rana, a small-time politician from the ruling party, had been on the run since Wednesday. He last appeared in public in front of Rana Plaza on Tuesday after huge cracks appeared in the structure. However, he assured tenants, including five garment factories, that the building was safe.

A bank and some shops on the first floor shut their premises on Wednesday after police ordered an evacuation, but managers of the garment factories on the upper floor told workers to continue their shifts.

Hours later Rana Plaza was reduced to rubble, and most victims were crushed by massive blocks of concrete and mortar falling on them. A garment manufacturers' group said the factories in the building employed 3,122 workers, but it was not clear how many were inside it when it collapsed. About 2,500 survivors have been accounted for.

On Sunday, rescuers located nine people alive inside the rubble on Sunday, as authorities announced they will now use heavy equipment to drill a central hole from the top to look for survivors and dead bodies.

Army Maj. Gen. Chowdhury Hasan Suhrawardy, the coordinator of the rescue operations, said they will try to save the nine people first by manually shifting concrete blocks with the help of light equipment such as pick axes and shovels.

"But if we fail we will start our next phase within hours," which would involve manual efforts as well as heavy equipment, including hydraulic cranes and cutters to bore a hole from the top of the collapsed building, he told reporters.

The purpose is to "continue the operation to recover both survivors and dead bodies. In this stage, we have no other choice but to use some heavy equipment. We will start it within a few hours. Manual operation and use of small equipment is not enough," he said.

The work will be carried out carefully so as not to mutilate bodies, he said. All the equipment is in place, "from a small blade to everything. We have engaged many private sector companies which supplied us equipment, even some heavy ones."

In rare good news, a female worker was pulled out alive on Sunday. Hasan Akbari, a rescuer, said when he tried to extricate a man next to the woman, "he said his body was being torn apart. So I had to let go. But God willing, we will be able to rescue him with more help very soon."

On Saturday, police took six people into custody, including three owners of two factories who were placed under arrest. Also under detention Rana's wife and two government engineers who were involved in giving approval for the building design.

Working round-the-clock, rescuers have used bare hands and shovels, passing chunks of brick and concrete down a human chain away from the collapsed structure. On the ground, mixed in the debris were several pairs of pink cotton pants, a mud-covered navy blue sock and a pile of green uncut fabric.

The badly decomposed bodies pulled out of the rubble were kept at a makeshift morgue at the nearby Adharchandra High School before being handed over to families. Many people milled around at the school, waving photos of their missing loved ones.

Rana was a local leader of ruling Awami League's youth front. His arrest, and that of the factory owners, was ordered by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is also the Awami League leader.

The disaster is the worst ever for the country's booming and powerful garment industry, surpassing a fire five months ago that killed 112 people and brought widespread pledges to improve worker-safety standards. But since then very little has changed in Bangladesh, where low wages have made it a magnet for numerous global brands.

Bangladesh's garment industry was the third largest in the world in 2011, after China and Italy, having grown rapidly in the past decade. The country's minimum wage is the equivalent of about $38 a month.

Among the garment makers in the building were Phantom Apparels, Phantom Tac, Ether Tex, New Wave Style and New Wave Bottoms. Altogether, they produced several million shirts, pants and other garments a year.

The New Wave companies, according to their website, make clothing for several major North American and European retailers.

Britain's Primark acknowledged it was using a factory in Rana Plaza, but many other retailers distanced themselves from the disaster, saying they were not involved with the factories at the time of the collapse or had not recently ordered garments from them.

Wal-Mart said none of its clothing had been authorized to be made in the facility, but it is investigating whether there was any unauthorized production.

__

AP writers Farid Hossain and Gillian Wong in Dhaka contributed to this report.

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India actor Dutt wants time before prison term

Apr 15 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $4,139,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $3,137,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,442,389 4. Adam Scott (Australia) $2,100,469 5. Steve Stricker $1,935,340 6. Phil Mickelson $1,764,680 7. Dustin Johnson $1,748,907 8. Jason Day $1,659,565 9. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 10. Keegan Bradley $1,430,347 11. Charles Howell III $1,393,806 12. John Merrick $1,375,757 13. Russell Henley $1,331,434 14. Michael Thompson $1,310,709 15. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 16. Bill Haas $1,271,553 17. Billy Horschel $1,254,224 18. ...

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Italy foreign minister quits over India case

ROME (AP) — Italy's foreign minister resigned Tuesday to protest his government's decision to send two marines back to India to face trial in the deaths of two fishermen.

Minister Giulio Terzi made the surprise announcement to Parliament after offering a report on the case of the Italian marines to lawmakers. He denied the government had no knowledge of his March 11 decision not to send the two sailors back to face trial in Italy.

"I can no longer be part of this government," Terzi declared.

A career diplomat, Terzi said he was quitting in solidarity with the marines and because he disagreed with the government's decision to send them back but his "voice was not listened to." He also said wanted to safeguard Italy's image abroad.

Caretaker Premier Mario Monti expressed "astonishment" at the decision and said in a statement that he had not been informed ahead of time, even though they had met earlier in the day to discuss Terzi's report to lawmakers.

Monti said he would address the case in both houses of Parliament on Wednesday.

President Giorgio Napolitano, in the meantime, gave Monti the foreign ministry portfolio. Monti's caretaker government remains in place until a new government can be formed following inconclusive national elections last month. Center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani, who is in consultations on forming a new government, declined comment on the case.

The sailors — Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone — were part of a military security team on a cargo ship when they fired at a fishing boat in 2012, killing two Indian fishermen. The marines said they mistook them for pirates.

The marines had been allowed to return to Italy to vote in the Feb. 24-25 national election and were scheduled to return to India on March 22 — as they had after being allowed to spend Christmas with the families in Italy.

Terzi announced on March 11 that they would not return to India, expressing concern that their rights were not being respected there. Italy has insisted that the shooting happened in international waters and that Rome should have jurisdiction.

Italy, however, sent them back last week, saying it had received written assurances that India would not impose the death penalty in the event of a conviction.

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Italy to return 2 marine murder suspects to India

ROME (AP) — Italy said it would return two marines to India by Friday to face murder charges in the shooting deaths of two fishermen, reversing a decision that escalated diplomatic tensions.

The government said Friday it decided to return the men after receiving written assurance from Indian authorities that their "fundamental rights" would be respected. Friday had been the return date originally agreed upon when India permitted the pair to travel to Italy to vote in national elections last month.

Marines Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone agreed to the decision and were to leave immediately and will live in the Italian embassy in New Delhi, officials said.

The move overturns a March 11 decision by the Italian Foreign Ministry that the marines would not go back because the decision to try them in India violated their rights.

The Indian Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that the men should be tried by a special court to be set up by the central government in consultation with the chief justice. The decision removed the case from the jurisdiction of the southern state of Kerala, near where the shooting took place.

The case had turned into a full-blown spat between India and Italy, with the Indian Supreme Court banning the Italian ambassador from leaving the country. Italy insisted that any restrictions on its ambassador's movements violated conventions on diplomatic relations.

The marines were part of a military security team on a cargo ship when they fired at a fishing boat in February 2012, killing the two fishermen. The marines said they mistook the fishing boat for a pirate craft.

India contends the shooting happened in Indian waters, while Italy has insisted the shooting happened in international waters during an international anti-piracy mission and Italy should have jurisdiction.

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Tougher sex crime law in India after gang rape protests

By Nita Bhalla

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India approved on Thursday a tougher new law to punish sex crimes, including death for repeat rape offenders, after the fatal gang rape of a student in December sparked unprecedented protests over the treatment of women in the country.

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013 or "anti-rape law" puts in place a slew of new provisions and tougher punishments, which include criminalizing voyeurism and stalking and making acid attacks and human trafficking specific offences.

The legislation is seen as a crucial step towards curbing rising cases of violence against women in the largely patriarchal country, but activists said it was weak and warned that much would depend on enforcement.

"Such legislation has come to India for the first time and the parliament has given its approval. It will create a revolution in the country," Home Affairs Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde told Reuters shortly after lawmakers approved it.

Rape is just one of many violations women suffer in India, ranging from female feticide and dowry murders to acid attacks, trafficking and so-called honor killings.

But the savagery of the December 16 assault, where a 23-year-old student was gang-raped for an hour and tortured with an iron rod damaging her internal organs, shook the conscience of many Indians and stirred national debate about gender abuses.

Thousands took to the streets across India for days, forcing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government to constitute a panel to recommend ways to strengthen laws to protect women. The new law incorporates some of the panel's suggestions.

The law maintains life imprisonment for rape as the maximum sentence, yet sets down the death penalty for repeat offenders and those whose victims are left in a "vegetative state".

It also expands the meaning of rape to include penetration of the mouth, anus, urethra or vagina with the penis or any other object without consent.

Gang rape has been recognized as an offence, while sexual harassment has been redefined to include unwelcome advances with sexual overtures and showing pornography without consent.

The law also punishes police and hospital authorities with imprisonment of up to two years if they fail to register a complaint or treat a victim.

Women's groups expressed satisfaction that their fight had brought change, but said the law should have been stronger.

Marital rape, for instance, remains legitimate, and the age of consent has been set at 18 years instead of 16, and politicians charged with rape can still run in elections -despite the government-panel recommending otherwise.

The law's proper enforcement remains key, activists said.

"I am not expecting wonderful progress in implementation. That is our next struggle," said Kavita Krishnan, secretary of the All India Progressive Women's Association.

"So this new law is not the end, but a step in a very long battle for gender equality in this country."

(Additional reporting by Nigam Prusty; Editing by Ron Popeski)

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Key India government ally withdraws from coalition

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A key regional ally pulled out of India's ruling coalition on Tuesday in protest against the government's position on a U.S.-backed United Nations resolution on war crimes carried out during Sri Lanka's civil war.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is based in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, and has often pressured the Indian government to do more to protect Sri Lanka's minority Tamil population.

The DMK has 18 seats in the lower of house of parliament as part of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's coalition, which already rules in a minority. Singh's Congress party can continue to govern with parliamentary support from two other regional parties.

(Reporting by Matthias Williams, editing by Ross Colvin)

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Six arrested for gang-raping Swiss tourist in India: police

BHOPAL, India (Reuters) - Police have arrested six men accused of the gang-rape of a Swiss tourist who was camping with her husband in an Indian forest in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.

All the accused will go before a magistrate on Monday, Dilip Arya, deputy inspector general of police, told Reuters. Police have also recovered the couple's valuables.

The assault on the 39-year-old Swiss woman on Friday night came three months after a 23-year-old physiotherapy student was gang-raped and beaten in a moving bus and thrown bleeding on to the street in a case that sparked outrage in the country. She died later in hospital in Singapore.

The latest incident has again turned the spotlight on the security of women in the world's largest democracy.

One woman is raped every 20 minutes in India, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. But police estimate only four out of 10 rapes are reported, largely due to victims' fear of being shamed by their families and communities.

The Swiss woman and her husband were touring the state by bicycle and were camping overnight in the forest. Arya told Reuters on Saturday that seven men attacked the couple in their tent and four of them raped the woman.

However, police investigation later found out that only six people were involved in the crime, he said.

Those arrested are identified as Baba, Bhuta, Rampro, Bishnu, Gaja and Nitin. They all aged between 20 and 25 years and belong to a local tribe known as the Kanjar, Arya said. They were also carrying a firearm.

No information was immediately available on the defendants' account of events.

The woman and her husband have left the state and are now at the Swiss embassy in New Delhi.

"A decision regarding the next steps to be made in the interest of the two concerned Swiss citizens will be made with them in due course," a spokesman for the Swiss Ministry for Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

After the physiotherapy student was raped and beaten in Delhi last December, millions of Indians took to the streets demanding the death penalty for her attackers and official action to reduce the number of assaults on women.

Four men and a juvenile are on trial for that attack. A sixth defendant, who police say was the ringleader, was found dead in his cell on Monday.

(Additional reporting by Silke Koltrowitz; Writing by Rajesh Kumar Singh; Editing by Stephen Powell)

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India lets Italian marines on murder rap go home to vote

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's Supreme Court on Friday allowed two Italian marines charged with the murder of two fishermen off the coast of India to return home to vote in this month's general election.

The two sailors, members of a military security team protecting a cargo ship from pirate attacks, are accused of shooting the fishermen they say they mistook for pirates off the southern state of Kerala in February last year, sparking a diplomatic row between New Delhi and Rome.

"The judges were sympathetic to the marines' request to exercise their democratic right of casting their votes," Diljeet Titus, one of the lawyers representing the Italian marines, told Reuters.

Last month, the Supreme Court said in a long-awaited ruling that India had jurisdiction to try marines Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, setting the stage for a criminal trial that could further sour ties between India and Italy.

Italy had challenged India's right to try the two, arguing that the shooting had taken place in international waters.

The Italians spent Christmas in Italy last year, after a Kerala court allowed them to join their families for the holiday, on condition that they returned to India by January 10, which they did.

The marines are currently held at the Italian embassy in New Delhi. They report to a police station once a week.

(Reporting by Annie Banerji; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Nick Macfie)

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