N. Korea frees U.S. journalists

North Korea on Wednesday released the two American reporters who had been imprisoned in the country since March, issuing a “special pardon” following the surprise visit of the former U.S. President, Bill Clinton.

On Tuesday, Mr. Clinton met North Korean leader Kim Jong-I1, the first high-level visit from the U.S to Pyongyang in almost a decade, and made the case for the release of the journalists. In March, Laura Ling (32) and Euna Lee (36), reporters with American television channel Current TV, were detained by authorities when they were filming a report along the country’s border on the influx of North Korean refugees in to china. They were accused of illegally crossing the border and had been sentenced to 12 years of hard labour for “hostile acts” against the country. State media in North Korea reported that following meetings with Mr. Clinton, Mr. Kim issued a “special pardon” in keeping with the country’s “humanitarian and peace-loving policy.” But analysts have suggested the release had more to do with some sort of “package deal” North Korea struck with the U.S. to end its political and economic isolation – a suggestion Washington has strongly denied.

North Korea currently faces a range of sanctions, which were recently expanded by the United Nation after the country conducted a nuclear test and a series of missile tests in May. In April, North Korea quit the Six-Party Talks initiative set up by the U.S. along with China, Russia, Japan and South Korea to bring about denucleraisation and stability in the region.

On Wednesday, U.S. officials in Washington denied that any sort of political deal had been struck during Mr. Clinton’s visit. Officials said they had no role in planning the visit and described it as a “private mission”. They also rejected reports made by North Korean media on Tuesday that Mr. Clinton had carried a message for Mr. Kim from President Barack Obama. U.S. officials revealed how Mr. Clinton’s surprise visit – the first high-level visit from Washington since Mr. Clinton’s own Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited Pyongyang in 2000 – came about.

Officials said Ms. Ling and Ms. Lee had informed their parents in a telephone call that Pyongyang had specifically said it would consider their release only if Mr. Clinton made a trip as a peace envoy. On this occasion, Pyongyang kept up its end of the bargain. Less than 24 hours after he touched down in North Korea, Mr. Clinton left in his private jet in the early hours of Wednesday with the two reporters.

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Agriculture, most important area of India –U.S. collaboration: Hillary

New Delhi: U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton on Sunday said agriculture would be the strongest and most important puller of cooperation between the United States and India. During a visit to the Indian agriculture research institute here (IARI), Ms.clinton said: “we collaborated for more than 50 years and today we are called to collaborate once again. We have to work together because it is imperative that we invest in science, that we do more to link farms and markets so that farmers can sell their products, that we extend export of technology and training to bring more assistance to the farmers as a vulnerable community worldwide, and we strengthen our response to climate change which threatens the waterways in the agriculture part of the world”.

Ms.Clinton said that with just 3 percent of world’s cropland, India fed 17 percent of the world’s population. “as we look to strengthen agriculture and fight hunger, particularly in south Asia, Africa and elsewhere, India’s leadership is absolutely crucial. I think the bio-security and bio-diversity challenge that we confront is one that we can meet,” she said. Stating that the problem of hunger and malnutrition affected nearly a billion people in the world, the U.S. secretary of state expressed the belief that the world had the resources to face the challenge. She said it was the signature issue of the Obama administration to do what could be done to fight hunger and extend food security.

“And India is well positioned to help us lead this fight. Work has already begun. I just saw that the scientists are developing seeds that produce higher yield, crops that require less water, farm equipment that conserve energy. All of this is part of meeting the challenge that we face from global hunger,” she said, adding that research was a critical component of the comprehensive approach to improving agriculture.

She said there was a need to connect the laboratories where new technologies were being developed and research was being done-to the fields, where the farmers laboured, to the markets, where the crops were sold, and finally to the Labour of the farmers. However, Mr.Clinton said the job at hand was not for the government alone and that private sector had an essential role to play and so did universities, research laboratories, institutions and non governmental organizations.

Ms.Clinton, who was received by union agriculture minister shared power, visited the IARI to oversee the research and education programmes of the Indian council of agriculture research and the work of many of the consultative group on international agricultural research centers that had been key U.S. partners since the green revolution.

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