outh African President Jacob Zuma has visited Nelson Mandela in hospital and says he looks well after a restful night. Mr Zuma's spokesperson said, the President has been reassured that Mr Mandela is in the hands of a competent medical team at the hospital in Pretoria. The 94-year-old was admitted to a hospital on Satyrday to undergo some medical tests.

 In one of the deadliest protests since the end of the apartheid era, at least 36 striking South African miners were shot dead by police at a platinum mine, sending shock waves across the country.

The police in bulletproof vests, some on horseback, fired at a crowd of workers armed with spears, clubs and machetes, with some gunfire also heard from the workers' camp.
The miners at the Lonmin platinum mine in Marikana have been demanding a three-fold salary hike, refusing an order by their union to return to work so that employers could enter into negotiations.

Police said they fired after several unsuccessful attempts to disperse protesters with water cannons, tear gas and stun grenades. Senior police officials showed photographs to prove that the police acted in self-defence.
The incident was roundly condemned by all sectors of society, including all political parties and religious leaders.

President Jacob Zuma who cut short a trip to neighboring Mozambique for a summit of regional leaders said he had instructed law enforcement agencies to
do everything possible to bring the situation under controland to bring the perpetrators of the violence to book.

There are reports that South Africa's former police chief Jackie Selebi is to be freed early from his 15-year sentence for corruption on health grounds. Selebi, a former Interpol head, needs dialysis for kidney failure. He was jailed in 2010 after being found guilty of taking bribes from a drug dealer. Selebi's successor was also suspended last year on corruption

The 9th World Hindi Conference, WHC will be held in South African city Johannesburg from 22 to 24 of September this year. The main theme of the conference is Bhasha Ki Asmita Aur Hindi Ka Vaishvik Sandarbh. An official release says that a Steering Committee headed by the Minister of State for External Affairs Mrs Preneet Kaur, has been constituted to deliberate on various aspects of the conference. An organizing committee has also been formed in South Africa headed by Indian High Commissioner Virendra Gupta for coordinate. Hindi Shiksha Sangh a voluntary Hindi organization in South Africa is the local partner for the conference. Nine academic sessions, cultural programmes and exhibitions on various aspects of Hindi including IT applications in the field of Hindi will be organised during the conference. An exhibition on the life and works of Mahatma Gandhi will also be shown.
Our correspondent adds that organisation of World Hindi Conferences began more than three decades ago when the 1st World Hindi Conference was held in Nagpur in January, 1975 under the aegis of Rashtrabhasha Prachar Samiti, Wardha. In all, eight World Hindi Conferences have been held so far in different countries including India, Mauritius,Trinidad and Tobago United Kingdom , Suriname and USA.

South Africa, Australia and New Zealand will host the biggest radio telescope ever built. The nations belonging to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) organisation took the decision at a meeting today. The 1.5 billion euro SKA's huge fields of antennas will sweep the sky for answers to the major outstanding questions in astronomy. 

They will probe the early Universe, test Einstein's theory of gravity and even search for alien intelligent life. The project aims to produce a radio telescope with a collecting area of one million square metres - equivalent to about 200 football pitches.

President Pratibha Devi Singh Patil, now on a visit to South Africa, has lauded the close relationship between the two countries. Unveiling the bust of Mahatma Gandhi in the Constitutional Court Complex of South Africa in Johannesburg today she said the two nations not only share the history against colonialism, racialism and tyranny but also commitment to democracy and rule of law. Both the countries are promoting global peace and security, social justice besides cooperating in the war on poverty and unemployment. 

She said, India and South Africa are also upholding fundamental principles of peace, non-violence and dialogue to maintain the global order of equality and justice based on Gandhian values.

Mrs. Patil said that South Africa is a country with which India has very deep rooted links. People of India owe a deep sense of attitude to South Africa for giving India "The Mahatma". Mrs. Patil left for Capetown this evening.

President Mrs. Pratibha Patil has left for South Africa from Seychelles this morning on the second leg of her two-nation visit to boost India’s friendly ties with the African country. Our correspondent covering the President’s visit reports, several agreements are likely to be signed by the two countries during this visit.Our correspondent reports that Mrs.Patil's visit to South Africa is another indication of New Delhi's growing ties with Pretoria.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had visited the country in October last year for the IBSA Summit. South Africa President Jacob Zuma was in New Delhi last month for the BRICS Summit and had paid a state visit to India in June 2010 in what was then his first bilateral visit to any Asian country.

A business delegation is also accompanying Mrs.Patil that will address the India-South Africa Business Forum meet. Trade between India and South Africa was pegged at over 11 billion US Dollars in 2010-11, of which imports were more than seven billion and exports around four billion. The trade turnover target has been revised to 15 billion US Dollars by 2015.

he President Mrs.Pratibha Devi Singh Patil will be on a nine day state visit to South Africa and Seychelles beginning Sunday. She will be accompanied by a huge business delegation to both the countries. Briefing the newsmen in New Delhi today, Secretary West in the External Affairs Ministry Mr. M. Ganapathi said, the visits are expected to provide a platform for an extensive exchange of views on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest. 

He said, the presence of a business delegation will allow for greater business to business engagement providing for expansion in trade, economic and investment related activity between India, Seychelles and South Africa. Mr. Ganapathi said, the visits will encourage greater people-to-people contact and provide greater content and meaning to India’s partnership with both Seychelles and South Africa.

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The US President, Barack Obama, has told his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, that both their countries have an interest in addressing the nuclear programme in Iran and North Korea.  President Obama urged Beijing to do more to restrain his Communist ally.

Mr Obama said that America would not allow more and more regimes to possess the world's most deadly weapons. He also said that the United States would work with Russia to pursue further reductions in their nuclear arsenals.

Global challenges to tackle international terrorism, climate change, food and energy security, developmental issues and the international financial crisis will dominate the agenda of the fourth BRICS Summit taking place in New Delhi next week. Presidents of the BRICS countries including Russian President Dimitry Medvedev, Chinese President Hu Jin Tao, President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil and President Jacob Zuma of South Africa are expected to participate in the summit. 

India will assume the Chairmanship of the BRICS Grouping at the Summit on the 29th of this month. the summit envisages to increase trade and investment between the members of the grouping and also reflect on global peace, security, stability among other issues. He said, two Frame work Agreements including one on Interbank Cooperation Agreement are also to be signed by the member nations. An Action plan and a Delhi Declaration will be issued at the end of the Summit. 

 He said, the President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff will also be extending her stay after the Summit on a State Visit to India.