Doha, July 8 (IANS) The Indians started their campaign in the World Junior Individual squash championship here Sunday by winning three of their four matches. Deepak Mishra, Vivek Dinodia and Vrishab Kotian won their first round encounters without much bother. The only casualty was Kush Kumar, who went down to higher-ranked Pakistani Syed Hamzah Shah Bukhari. Kush played well moving his opponent to the corners of the court but the older and more experienced Bukhari forced the Indian into making errors. Mahesh Mangaonkar and Abhishek Pradhan will play their round two matches later Sunday after a bye and walkover respectively. The results (Indian matches): Junior Men (Round 1): Deepak Mishra bt Yousif Ali (Kuwait) 11-4 11-6 12-10; Vivek Dinodia bt Blessing Muhwate (ZIM) 11-1 11-7 11-1; Vrishab Kotian bt Taiki Kaido (JPN) 11-3, 11-4, 11-4; Syed Hamzah Shah Bukhari (PAK) bt Kush Kumar 11-3, 11-5, 11-3.

Beijing, July 8 (IANS)Beijing has described US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's criticism of China at the latest Friends of Syria meeting as "unacceptable", Xinhua reported. On Friday, Clinton criticised China and Russia, saying both the countries should be told that they would pay a price for their support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. She said Russia and China were "holding up progress" in a settlement to the 16-month crisis, describing their stances as "no longer tolerable". On Saturday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu Weimin during a regular press conference said: "China is not impeding the process of resolving the Syrian issues." "On the contrary, China has made an important contribution to safeguarding the UN Charter, the basic norms governing international relations, the peace and stability of the region and the fundamental interests of the Syrian people as well as pursuing a political solution to the Syrian issues," Liu added. The spokesperson said the Geneva meeting, a ministerial-level gathering of the Action Group on Syria in which China played a constructive role, produced positive outcomes. On June 30, the Geneva meeting gathered foreign ministers of the UN Security Council's five permanent members along with Turkey, Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq, plus representatives of the UN, the Arab League and the European Union. The ministers agreed that a transitional government should be set up in Syria to end the conflict but did not stipulate the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad. China's impartial and constructive stance as well as its diplomatic efforts have been widely recognised and supported by the international community, said Liu, adding that any efforts to blame the image of China or make mischief between it and other nations will end in vain.

Abu Dhabi, July 7 (IANS/WAM) The Khalifa Bin Zayed Humanitarian Foundation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has distributed 1,300 food parcels among needy people in Yemen. UAE President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has assured food aid worth 500 million dirhams ($136 million) to Yemen. Around 300 food parcels were given to people at Mashhour village in Aden province. In Aden city, people received 1,000 food kits that contained staple items like rice, flour, sugar, edible oil and milk powder. Juma Al Kuwaiti, head of the foundation aid team, said Mashhour village lacked basic necessities, water and shelter, along with electricity and medicines. --IANS/WAM pm/vd

Mumbai, July 2 (IANS) Reliance Globalcom, a unit of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group, Monday said it has launched a subsea cable service in Iraq that will substantially increase the war-ravaged country's communication and broadband links to the outside world. Reliance Globalcom has introduced the new service in partnership with Iraqi Telecommunications and Post Company (ITPC). Both these firms have jointly developed Al-Faw Cable Landing Station in Iraq that will be used to provide the service. With this development, Reliance Globalcom is now the first private subsea service provider to activate submarine capacity and directly connect Iraq seamlessly to the countries in the Middle East, Asia, Europe and North America, Reliance Globalcom said in a statement. Considering the low broadband penetration in Iraq, the Falcon (submarine cable) landing provides a significant milestone towards establishing direct connectivity from Iraq to the rest of the world, and will help boost the country's telecom sector. "Falcon offers seamless connectivity globally and will help connect Iraq to the rest of the world through the reach of our global network. This opens a new opportunity for multi-national companies around the world to have a better communication with Iraq and operate from this country," said Rory Cole, chief operating officer of Reliance Globalcom. Consumers can now enjoy better quality in broadband services and higher internet speeds. The new station built with an initial design capacity of 680 Gbps with two diverse routes, would use 50 Gbps on each route in order to cater to the existing market demand. The two diverse routes are integrated into the Falcon network, thereby offering a resilient network. "The Middle East is one of the fastest growing regions in the world and Reliance has a very strong presence, with a network reach spread across 11 countries," Cole. "Our association with Iraqi Telecommunications and Post Company (ITPC) is yet another testimony to our leadership position and commitment to the region in providing network infrastructure that will play a major role in the development of business opportunities in Iraq by leveraging on Reliance Globalcom's network assets globally," he added. Al-Faw Cable Landing Station will connect Iraq to all the key Middle East countries like Oman, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Egypt, through Reliance Globalcom's Falcon submarine cable. Falcon's interconnection with FEA ensures further seamless connectivity and diversity to major global destinations on the Reliance Globalcom network including London, New York, Mumbai and Hong Kong. Commenting on the deal, Iraq's communication minister Mohammed Allawi said: "This is an extremely important strategic initiative undertaken by ITPC and Reliance Globalcom. This will facilitate the connectivity of all the countries in the Middle East region to Iraq and will also significantly improve the quality and speed as well as the reliability of Iraq's connectivity to the rest of the world."

Kuwait, July 1 (IANS/WAM) Kuwait's emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah. Sheikh Sabah has received the prime minister's resignation, "in line with the government keenness and serious effort to abide by all legal and constitutional aspects, warranted for sound execution of the rule of the constitutional court, issued on the 20th of the past month, reported Kuwait News Agency (KUNA). --IANS/WAM sd/vt